Chapter Text
Percy slipped next to Bianca and Thalia as they walked to the Big House.
Thalia had explained how sleeping arrangements worked.
“Chiron’s going to try putting you in Hermes’ cabin, which is where all the unclaimed campers go,” he picked up, “but there’s extra rooms in my cabin. Both of you are welcome.”
Bianca hesitated, though Nico nodded enthusiastically.
How he was so wide awake after that nap, Percy didn’t know.
“Don’t worry,” Thalia said. “I stay with him too because my cabin sucks.”
“My dad doesn’t mind,” Percy added, “and you’ll each get your own room. I think you could use the space.”
“We’ll…see what this Mr. Chiron says,” she said finally. “I don’t want to break any rules.”
The siblings grinned at each other.
“Don’t mean to burst your bubble,” Thalia said, “but us two simply existing is breaking a few rules.”
“Or really,” Percy said, “one big one.”
“We’ll explain it to you later,” Thalia promised. “For now…”
They climbed up the steps. Inside, flames crackled in the hearth. The air smelled like hot chocolate. Dionysus and Chiron were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlor.
Chiron was in his wheelchair. He smiled when he saw them. “Percy! Thalia! Ah, and this must be—”
“Nico di Angelo,” Percy introduced. “And his sister, Bianca di Angelo.”
Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. “You succeeded, then. We had received Grover’s message, but it was cut short…”
They were quiet.
His smile melted. “What’s wrong? And where is Annabeth?”
Dionysus sniffed, then looked up sharply. “Another one lost?”
“What do you mean?” Thalia asked. “Who else is lost?”
Grover trotted in and informed them that the Hunters were moved in. He was beat up, but smiling.
Percy eyed him wondering if another slap might knock him out of it.
Chiron frowned. “The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about.” He glanced at Nico and Bianca. “Grover, perhaps you should take our young friends to the den and show them our orientation film.”
“But…Oh, right. Yes, sir.”
“Orientation film?” Nico asked.
Bianca looked between Percy and Thalia, who both gestured for her to go ahead.
They followed Grover out of the room.
“Who else is missing?” Percy asked again when they were out of the room. He took one of the empty chairs. Thalia perched on the arm of it.
Chiron sighed. “Campers have been going missing,” he said. “Both inside and outside of camp.”
“He said ‘lost’,” Percy pointed out. “Not ‘missing,’ lost.”
“Is there a difference?” Dionysus mused.
Percy stared at him. “With you gods?” He asked. “Absolutely.”
Neither adult responded.
Thalia sighed.
They explained what happened at Westover.
Nico burst back into the room. “You’re a centaur!” He exclaimed, pointing at Chiron. “Cool!”
Bianca followed, looking a little overwhelmed.
Chiron managed a smile. “Yes, Mr. di Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in human form in this wheelchair for, ah, first encounters.”
Percy looked at him.
“For most first encounters.”
Thalia snorted.
“And, whoa!” Nico looked at Dionysus, who leaned away and squinted. “You’re the wine dude? No way?”
‘Wine-dude,’ Thalia mouthed. Percy snickered, though quickly stopped because ouch.
Thalia’s eyes narrowed.
“The wine dude?” Dionysus repeated. “The wine dude?”
Both siblings snorted and immediately looked away when Dionysus glared at them. His glare turned into a harsh squint at Percy’s circlet.
“Sorry,” Percy coughed.
“No, you’re not,” the god muttered. “Brat.”
“Love you too, Mr. D.”
He grumbled incomprehensibly. They watched Nico practically buzz in place for a moment.
“Percy,” Chiron finally said, “you and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we’ll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening. I will give the siblings a tour.”
“Capture the flag?” Percy asked. He raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Considering what apparently happened last time…”
Dionysus sighed loudly.
“It’s a tradition,” Chiron said, though it also sounded more like a sigh. Like he was already preparing for them to have to rebuild some cabins. “A friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit.”
“Yeah,” Thalia muttered. “I bet it’s real friendly.”
Percy grumbled in agreement. He pointed at the two siblings. “They’re staying with me, by the way. Dad already said yes.”
He hadn’t, but Percy would get his way.
As Amphitrite had said once, the god folded so fast under his eyes it was a miracle he hadn’t gone mortal and died from them yet.
Chiron sighed again, looking upwards as if asking why. He shooed them out.
“So how do we want to do this?” Percy asked as they worked their way to the cabins. “You take lead and I stay back?”
Thalia hummed. “You’re not much of a planner,” she said thoughtfully. “Or at least, not outwardly, too sneaky. If I take lead the attention will be on me.”
“Which will allow me to hang in the background,” Percy agreed. “Excellent. I don’t know about you, but I’m feeling a bit competitive.”
Her eyes gleamed. “Any chance to show the Hunters up.”
Over at the basketball court, a few of the Hunters were shooting hoops. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin. The Ares kid had his hand on his sword and the Hunter girl looked like she was going to exchange her basketball for a bow and arrow any second.
The siblings looked at each other.
They rock-paper-scissored.
Thalia cursed.
She stomped over.
Percy snickered and jogged to the cabins.
As he moved around, he learned three things.
First, very few campers stayed year-round. The few that did stay were going to provide an interesting mix-and-match of skills that could only be described as ‘chaos.’
Second, courtesy of a formerly sleeping Ares kid Percy had woken with no mercy, Clarisse was on a quest for Chiron. A “top secret” one.
Third, this was going to be a really interesting capture-the-flag game.
Percy grinned as he moved away from the Stoll brothers.
‘Show no mercy’ was a pretty good motto, if you asked him.
Finally he got to Cabin Three. As he dropped down the steps, he took a moment to reach for his father.
“Hey πατέρας, two more of my cousins arrived today. I’m claiming them as siblings. They’re staying with me until their cabin is built or they decide to do something else—don’t worry, Chiron and Uncle Z will give in soon, I’m sure of it.”
Nobody answered, but there was a distinctly amused brush of sea salt wind through his hair.
This was the most full the cabin would be in decades, Percy was sure.
He checked to make sure the empty rooms were clean and ready for use. Then he moved towards the back, where the fountain had been reshaped.
Perching on the edge, he finally turned his attention to his wristwatch and summoned the shield. It creaked noisily as it spiraled out. Thorn’s spikes had dented the brass in a dozen places. One gash kept the shield from opening all the way, so it looked like a pizza with two slices missing. The beautiful metal pictures that Tyson had crafted were all banged up.
He sighed, placing the shield down.
The gift from his brother was destroyed.
A glint caught his eye. On the wall, a spout like the head of a fish was carved over the pool, its eyes replaced by pearls. It poured water into the basin Percy was perched on the edge of, creating a small saltwater spring that then poured into the longer pool.
Unlike the relatively lukewarm pool below, this water was hot. It sent mist into the cold winter air like a sauna. It made the room feel warm.
In the bottom, a large amount of golden drachma shimmered.
Percy laughed softly and said, “Thanks, πατέρας.”
The water sloshed inside the basin, nipping at his fingers.
It was a reminder to keep in touch.
He opened the nearest window, and the wintry sunlight made a rainbow in the mist. Then he fished a coin out of the hot water.
“Iris, O Goddess of the Rainbow,” he said, “please accept my offering.”
He tossed the coin into the mist and it disappeared.
“My brother, Tyson, please,” he requested. “At the forges of the Cyclopes.”
The mist shimmered, and the image of his half brother appeared. He was surrounded by fire. He was bent over an anvil, hammering a red-hot sword blade. Sparks flew and flames swirled around his body. There was a marble-framed window behind him, and it looked out onto dark water—the bottom of the ocean.
It took a few tries to get his attention. Percy had to shout over the hammering and the roar of the flames.
His brother turned, and his one enormous eye widened. His face broke into a crooked grin. “Percy!”
He dropped the sword blade and ran at him, trying to give him a hug. Percy laughed slightly, “Tyson, it’s an Iris-message. I’m not really there.”
“Oh.” He came back into view, looking embarrassed. “Oh, I knew that. Yes.”
“How are you?” Percy asked. “How’s the job?”
His eye lit up. “Love the job! Look!” He picked up the hot sword blade with his bare hands. “I made this!”
“That’s really cool!” Percy appraised the blade. “And it’s got your name on it.”
“Yes!” Tyson’s grin was almost blinding. He set the blade back down. “How is your present?”
Percy paused, glancing at the shield. He winced.
“Brother?”
“Sorry,” he cleared his throat. “Uh, it saved my life, but it kinda got…”
Tyson frowned. His eye glinted like dad’s did when Percy referenced any threat to his life.
“I’ll just show you.”
He picked the shield up and placed it into view. “Yeah…I didn’t think a manticore’s spikes were that strong.”
Tyson asked, “Were you injured?”
“I’m alright,” Percy assured. He huffed at Tyson’s searching look. “I am, Lady Artemis gave me some ambrosia for the poison. I’ll have to get her something in return…” He trailed off, considering.
Well, there was always—
“I will build you another shield,” Tyson stated. “It will be better, stronger.”
Percy placed the shield back down, frowning. “You probably have a lot of other work,” he protested. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
Tyson’s smile this time was smaller, but no less genuine. He said, “Percy is little Prince, I cannot get in trouble for ensuring his safety.”
Percy’s frown grew more pronounced.
He shifted topics.
“Have you heard anything concrete from ο πατέρας μας?” He asked. “The whispers I’m getting are picking up on some tensions, but he hasn’t mentioned anything.”
Tyson shifted on his feet. “Daddy is busy. He is worried about the war.”
Percy tensed. “What do you mean?”
Tyson sighed. He stuck the sword blade out of the window, where it made a cloud of boiling bubbles. When Tyson brought it back in, the metal was cool. “Old sea spirits making trouble. Aigaios. Oceanus. Those guys.”
“I met Oceanus,” Percy protested. “He was at the court meeting dad held. He seemed nice. Why would he be making trouble?”
“Not sure,” Tyson said. “Just know he is.”
“That’s not right,” Percy muttered. “Is there anything I can do?”
Tyson shook his head sadly. “We are arming the mermaids. They need a thousand more swords by tomorrow.” He looked at his sword blade and sighed. “Old spirits are protecting the bad boat.”
“More of a reason to not focus on the shield,” Percy emphasized.
The look Tyson gave him said he would be ignored.
“Ugh, you’re all ridiculous…The boat…the Princess Andromeda? Luke’s boat?”
“Yes. They made it hard to find. Protect it from Daddy’s storms. Otherwise he would smash it.”
“That’s certainly one way to deal with the situation.”
Tyson perked up, as if he’d just had another thought. “Annabeth! Is she there? Or Grover?”
His throat closed. How could he…He coughed. “No…they’re not here right now.”
“Tell them hello!” Tyson beamed. “Hello to Annabeth and Grover! And Clarisse, too! And Beckendorf! And Glenn!”
“I’ll pass it along when I can,” Percy said, smiling softly despite the lump in his throat.
“And, Percy, don’t worry about the bad boat. It is going away.”
“What do you mean?”
“Panama Canal! Very far away.”
Percy frowned. Why would Luke go there? Other than to cross, of course…
“All right,” he said. “That’s…good, I guess.”
In the forges, a deep voice bellowed something he couldn’t make out. Tyson flinched. “Got to get back to work! Boss will get mad. Good luck, Brother! I’ll have your new shield done soon!”
“Don’t worry too much—” But before Percy could finish, the image shimmered and faded.
He was left alone in his cabin.
The door opened.
“Sup, Perce!” Thalia’s bright eyes lit up the space. Her voice echoed down the hall. “The tour finished—it’s time for our chat.”
Bianca and Nico followed behind her, marveling at the inside of the cabin.
“This place is…”
“Wow!” Nico darted around. “Is that a pool? Is that a fountain?”
Both Thalia and Percy grinned, herding the youngest back towards the living room. Bianca followed, taking a seat on the corner of the loveseat.
“How’d the tour go?” Percy asked.
Thalia practically face planted onto the couch.
“It was super cool!” Nico jumped up and down on his heels. He bounded after his sister, sitting down so hard on the loveseat next to her it bounced the cushions.
Percy chuckled. He folded himself into the corner by Thalia and yanked the blanket laid over the armrest over him.
Bianca glared at Nico, reprimanding. She turned to them. “It was…fine.”
“Weird,” Percy fixed. He tapped his claws against the white embroidered waves of his blanket. “Don’t worry about sugar-coating. This must be super confusing for you.”
“Just a bit.”
Thalia pushed herself up so she was at least sitting.
“Totally normal,” she assured. “Do you have any questions?”
Nico’s hand raised in the air. “Yes!” He said, and then took a deep breath—
“Here we go,” Bianca murmured, almost in despair.
“—You mentioned we’re half-bloods, half-human, half-god, which means one of our parents is a god. Do you know which? Mr. Chiron said that since we don’t know we should be in the Hermes cabin, but this isn’t the Hermes cabin. Is this Poseidon’s cabin? What’s his stats? And are we going to get in trouble for being here? What about Thalia? Mr. Chiron pointed out her cabin is the lonely one at the end, but she’s obviously not there. He said this is Percy’s cabin, and even if he didn’t I could tell because he fits. Your crown is really pretty by the way, did your dad make it for you? Did you notice a lot of the other campers had nonhuman features? Is that alright here? Because I would like—”
Bianca covered his mouth. She looked truly exhausted.
Percy held up a finger.
“We’ll get to that. Yes. I don’t have his card so I don’t know but I’ll ask. No. Thals goes where she pleases. Yes. Yes. Yes.”
He looked at Thalia, then back to a stunned Bianca and Nico. “Did I get them all?”
Thalia snickered.
Then she started to address the first question. “So, to start right at the beginning, I’m Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus, and this is Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon. We’ve claimed each other as siblings because it feels right—because we can feel each other—and the reason you’re here is because we can feel the both of you as well. This isn’t something other kids can do…”
She looked at Percy.
“It seems to be a Big Three kid trait,” Percy finished. “So, the children of Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades…in both their Greek and Roman forms.”
Bianca shifted, and even Nico froze in place.
“We’re not children of Poseidon…” Bianca said slowly, “nor Zeus. That feels…wrong…so…”
Nico breathed harshly.
“Yes,” Percy said gently. “You are the children of Hades.”
That ended up being Bianca’s last straw.
She stood, startling her brother. There was a blank look in her eyes.
“I would like to go to bed now,” she announced.
Percy jumped up. “Of course, if you want to follow me, I’ll show you to your room.”
He led her down the hall, leaving Thalia with Nico, who seemed to be exploding with questions.
The second door down on the right, next to Thalia’s, felt right.
He opened the door for her, revealing a tastefully decorated space of dark purples, lilac, and grey.
Thank you, πατέρας, Percy thought.
“If you need anything—” He pointed to Thalia’s door. “—That’s Thalia’s room, and the one across from her’s is mine. Nico is going in the third one on that side. My brother is in the one between us when he visits. If you have any questions…”
“I’ll be sure to reach out,” Bianca said. She had a slight smile on her face, but she was still obviously distracted. “Thank you.”
“We’re siblings,” Percy said, “we take care of each other. If you get hungry, the conch shell should sound soon.”
She tilted her head in acknowledgment, and Percy left back down the hall.
Thalia looked up when he arrived, sitting on the floor with Nico. A small deck of Mythomagic cards were laid out in front of them, which reminded him…
“Hey, wait—” He darted into his room, and back out.
He joined them on the floor and grinned, holding out the deck of cards he had.
“That’s—” Nico gasped. “—My full deck! I thought I lost it!”
He snatched the cards, carefully running through them. There were near stars in his eyes as he added his smaller deck to the bigger one.
“We ran into each other in the Lotus Casino,” Percy explained to Thalia. “Smacked right into each other. He was gone before I could return them, and we were in a time crunch.”
Thalia leaned back against the couch. “When you returned the lightning bolt?”
He nodded.
“The lightning bolt?” Nico asked. “What’s that? Do you mean Zeus’ weapon? Did you know he has a damage of 600 with those?”
“Yeah,” Percy rubbed the back of his neck, “I’d believe it. It was like carrying my own personal nuclear bomb. But, oh, you might want to not say the gods’ names.”
“Their names?” The boy asked.
Thalia nodded seriously. “Their names summon them, so they can listen in. We’re safe now because we’re in Uncle P’s cabin and he won’t let them overhear us, but you can never be too careful.”
“They usually do listen in, too. More than people realise,” Percy muttered, eyes going to the ceiling like he could glare at them personally. “The nosy bastards.”
“So what do I call them? Bianca said it was rude to not address people directly…”
“I usually use their familial ties,” Percy explained. “Like Uncle Z, Uncle H, cousin, and so on.”
“Mr. D is what we call Dionysus,” Thalia took over. “I used to call them by their patron animal—like Ares’ is a boar—”
“Or a dog,” Percy muttered.
“—Apollo’s is a raven, Athena’s is an owl, and so on. That’s what Annie and I used to do when we were on the run.”
“You were on the run?”
“Yeah. It was…not fun,” her eyes fell to the floor. She huffed, picking up the ‘Artemis’ card that had fluttered to the ground in front of her. “Being a demigod is dangerous enough; being the demigod of one of the Big Three? It’s…hard.”
“We’re beacons,” Percy said. “Monsters can smell us easier because we give off a stronger smell. You…being in the Lotus Casino probably saved your life somehow; the smell of that place is thrice stronger than anything else I’ve smelled so far. Do you remember anything? About coming out?”
Nico was quiet. He shuffled around the cards.
“No,” he finally said. “I mean, not really? It’s pretty hazy after. Almost like I was half-asleep the whole time. I remember…before we were placed in the hotel…”
His eyes furrowed. Both Percy and Thalia perked up.
“There was…a man, actually.” He blinked, hard. “Yeah, a man—he was gentle, careful, but sad. A woman…Water…Water…”
His face went slack. His eyes grew hazy, the goat-like pupil fading from black to grey. The bronze turned a frothy white. It spilled over his eyes, tracking down his face like tears. Three black specks stood out in his pupils, two getting dragged in the white stream, around and around and—
The air turned frigid.
“Nico!”
Percy snapped his fingers in front of the boy’s face, shattering whatever had taken him over. He looked stunned.
Thalia was on her feet the next second, Aegis in her hands and eyes on the corner of the room. Despite the impossibility, an unnerving shadow stood there.
Percy gathered the trembling boy in his arms. He peaked around Thalia’s legs.
Asphodels and poppies; the rustle of butterfly wings and the shifting of pitch black feathers.
“There is no trouble here,” Percy said, a hand snaking around Thalia’s ankle to keep her from lunging. “We won’t ask any more questions. They are safe.”
For a tense moment, Percy thought there would be a fight, but…
The shadow disappeared. Nico settled, unconscious, in Percy’s arms.
Thalia breathed, “Holy sh*t.”
“Agreed,” Percy murmured. He carefully wiped the tears off of Nico’s face.
“What the hell was that?!”
“A threat,” he said solemnly. “Someone doesn’t want us to ask any more questions.”
She cursed again, sheathing her weapon. “Couldn’t just ask nicely?” She hissed.
“Yeah,” Percy grumbled. “Couldn’t just ask nicely, eh Uncle Hades? You shouldn’t even be able to hear us…”
The asphodels in the air…shrugged.
Percy’s eyes narrowed. His eyes trailed to the shelves, where some of the undying asphodels were piled, waiting to be strung together to join the ones outside. Only the planted ones outside allowed him to travel, so…
“Rude,” he hissed. He nodded his head to the flowers when Thalia looked at him curiously.
Her eyes darkened.
She stomped over and collected the flowers. Careful not to drop one, she walked to the front door, opened it, and chucked the asphodels into the yard.
“Goodnight, Uncle Hades.”
She nearly slammed the door.
Before it shut all the way, there was the distinct sound of someone laughing at them on the wind.
