Chapter Text
The thing Percy hates most of all, is when the knowing won’t let him warn anyone that something terrible is about to happen.
There’s been times where it’s been a lot worse. He knew about Annabeth for years. Like, well before he ever met her, he knew her fate.
At least he didn’t know about this one years in advance?
He’s still known for months.
Even knew exactly when and where it would happen.
Honestly, he’s starting to think Winter Solstice is cursed or something.
Everything goes wrong around the Solstice. This is the third year in a row!
When Percy was twelve, Annabeth stole the Master Bolt and Hades’ Helm from Olympus. Not that they actually knew she did that ’til nearly six months later.
Last year, when he was thirteen, Luke Castellan poisoned Thalia’s tree and Percy, Clarisse and Nico di Angelo went on a quest to the Sea of Monsters. Officially, they went to ‘save camp’ by retrieving the Golden Fleece that Percy had ‘seen in one of his prophetic dreams’.
In reality, Annabeth got herself trapped by Polyphemus when she went searching for both the Fleece and a knife rumoured to break the shielding charms on Percy’s necklace.
Mostly, they’d gone to fetch Annabeth and return her to Castellan. She has a fate that wasn’t going to happen if she stayed trapped in the Sea of Monsters. Which is a little bit sad. Being married to Polyphemus is a far better fate than what’s actually in store for her.
The Golden Fleece’s now on Thalia’s tree and everyone says it’s responsible for Thalia’s ‘miraculous’ revival. The whole knife thing was a wild goose chase, it can’t cut through Percy’s necklace. Not that he needs to be ‘freed’. Annabeth’s got some pretty insane beliefs these days.
This year, when summer ended, Bianca finally chose a path. It is… not a very fun one. Before that, she was still wavering between options. So, Percy couldn’t really tell what would happen.
Then, Bianca decided she really doesn’t want to live at camp year round. Her brother, Nico, is year round, he shares a cabin with Percy which causes chaos in Olympus with the whole son of Poseidon and son of Hades peacefully cohabiting schtick.
Percy sees Nico as his little brother. While the quieter life that is year round camp sometimes drives him up the wall, Nico’s pretty happy moving between camp and the Underworld. And Atlantis.
Bianca, on the other hand… she wanted to experience the modern mortal world. She insisted she was going to do it by herself. Lee, Percy’s guardian and High Priest, runs the camp and normally makes sure any demigods who attend boarding school have an adult demigod or satyr nearby. Just in case.
Bianca refused all of it. Threatened to run away if they pushed her too hard. Bianca’s totally capable of some terrifying stuff if pushed past her limits. So, Lee let her go.
That’s when her path was set.
It means Percy got to spend four months knowing exactly what was coming, and the stupid Fates wouldn’t allow him to say a single word about it.
It’s kinda driving him insane at this point. The last time the Fates permitted him to talk about this path was January!
Literally, the last time he was able to even vaguely mention what was coming, was when he did the prophet thing to Lee and told him he needs to get hold of his fear or Percy will lose the anchor that keeps him at least somewhat in the real world.
To be fair to Hot Air, he really did take it onboard. He spent a tonne of time with his dad, Apollo and Percy’s dad, Poseidon, talking about the sight and the knowing and how he can support Percy when the prophet bits of him do weird stuff.
Even set him up a permanent bedroom in the Big House so the next time Percy gets hijacked, Lee will feel a little more secure and a little less inclined to have Mr D outright sedate him. It took rather too many half-truths from both Apollo and Percy to make that one happen. It’s gonna help, though. Eventually.
Some of it felt a little overboard, Lee instituted whole new routines of family time and made new attempts at making sure Percy has ‘being a kid’ time. Most of it’s good. Clarisse is less than impressed.
She does care about Percy, even if she tends to express her affection kinda roughly. Being trapped on a boat with Percy’s chaos tends to be that one step too far.
Then again, after that particular boat trip on Apeiron even Lee was regretting everything by the second day. Percy has an intense version of demigod ADHD and dyslexia, staying still is not in the instruction manual. Apeiron, ‘Unending’, was a gift from Triton and the sea gods. It’s awesome, but also kinda small.
On the outside it looks like a Navy Patrol Boat, on the inside, it’s like a tiny house style cabin. They’re still finding new storage spots and Percy thinks there may even be whole extra rooms hidden underneath the main cabin. If he could only find the right door.
It’s not actually large enough to prevent Percy’s unstoppable fidgeting from constantly disturbing Lee and Clarisse. Percy still thinks it’s good practice for them. Especially Clarisse, since she’s about to end up trapped in a car with four hyperactive demigods/immortals for like, days. Not that she knows that.
The changes Lee made have actually helped a lot. Just in time, too. Apollo was not joking when he said Percy’s abilities would start increasing after his thirteenth birthday. He’s fourteen now and if he thought being able to dream as far back as Pallas’ death four thousand years ago was impressive…
Before last year, Percy’s dreams were somewhat time-limited. He mostly dreamed of the peak of the age of the gods, the time of the old heroes but after Dionysus became an Olympian. Very occasionally he dreamed further back, to the loss of the Oracle of Dodona. Which was like, five millennia ago? Dates get kinda weird the further you go. But the Oracle of Dodona seemed to be the outer limit.
Percy’s still not sure why he’s always dreamed of the Oracle of Dodona, unless it’s the Fates’ version of a content warning. You know, the whole ‘stay away from Zeus because he can’t be trusted with prophets’ thing.
This year he’s dreamed of the time before the Oracle of Dodona died. Of new wars and new terrible things. He is… not so impressed with that. He ended up telling Lee not to look at his sketchbooks anymore. Apollo still checks them but if he notices the weirdness of some of the things Percy has seen, he’s learned not to ask.
The Fates may be preventing Percy from telling anyone what’s coming, but he still does dream of it. And he draws his dreams. If he doesn’t, he’d go totally insane. So, Apollo has some idea of what’s coming, just not when. He’s seen the drawings of his sister. When he tried to ask Percy about it, Percy refused to answer.
Since the drawings weren’t about Annabeth, Apollo actually trusted him and didn’t start questioning him about whether or not he was trying to prevent Annabeth’s fate.
Can’t have been fun for him though, seeing his twin sister like that. Though, it did mean when Percy asked for a very specific favour from Apollo, he did it without asking any further questions.
Percy hasn’t seen Artemis in ages. He hasn’t seen the Hunters at all. Last winter he’d had this feeling he wouldn’t see Zoe again, not ’til it was time. Hadn’t realised why. He’s very not happy with the reason he hasn’t seen Zoe since.
Stupid Zeus. After the King of the Gods’ way too heavy aura kinda temporarily broke Percy, Apollo negotiated an agreement to make him stop with the obsessive stalking. Unfortunately, Zeus announced it applied to all gods and now, unless they have an actual reason, Percy doesn’t see them.
Not that he doesn’t still see plenty of gods! His godly older brother, Triton, still trains him and Clarisse twice a week on one of the far-too-many sea floor training grounds around camp. Apollo pops in and out as much as he wants, since he’s free to care for his prophet as he sees fit.
Poseidon, Percy’s actual father, also stops in frequently. Percy is still continuing his training with his earthquake and storm powers. He’s still kinda terrible at it, but Poseidon keeps saying he’s doing really well.
Plus, Poseidon is needed whenever Apollo attempts to train Percy to train his own natural ability to shield, rather than relying on the shield charm necklace he’s had since he was seven.
That’s another kinda annoying thing. Percy is not a normal prophet. Because of course not. That’d be way too easy. Percy’s prophet abilities come courtesy of the Fates. Or at least, that’s the working theory.
His abilities are equal parts the sight, from Apollo’s current domain of prophecy, and the knowing, which is drawn from Poseidon’s far older domain of prophecy.
Just after Apollo and Artemis were born, Apollo killed a great serpent called Python in order to claim the domain of prophecy. At his death, Python’s spirit took a host in the form of a clear sighted mortal and became the first of Apollo’s oracles. The Oracle of Delphi.
Until Percy came along, she was also the last of his oracles. It’s been over two thousand years since a prophet has been born and all of the oracles who hosted the spirits of previous oracles are also gone.
Over sixty years before Percy came along, Hades cursed the Oracle of Delphi and trapped the spirit inside the host. Until the curse is broken, the spirit inhabits the now mummified body of the last host. It’s stored in the attic of the Big House and it’s all kinds of terrifying.
It’s known for its ultra depressing prophecies and these days it’s gotten worse. The last one it gave was to Annabeth. When it basically told her she was going to die in the Sea of Monsters.
Annabeth went anyway because she was so sure Percy was being kept, like a captive? By Apollo, using his shield charm. The charm that lets Percy have a normal life and not be locked up in total isolation because of all the overwhelming.
Percy likes being a kid. He likes living at camp. A big chunk of his brain is still never in the real world, he’s always seeing bits and pieces of the past and future, but the shielding means that enough of him lives in the real world that he’s been able to have a childhood.
Prophets aren’t meant to have visions from, like, birth. It’s meant to start as little glimpses around their thirteenth birthday and not change to full visions until they’re like… in their twenties.
Percy’s visions started so early that no-one is actually certain of his age. Apollo thinks he might have been two or three, or it might have been even earlier.
Because, of course.
Percy misses seeing some of the gods because of Zeus’ stupid rule. He catches sight of Hestia occasionally, she sometimes sits tending the hearth at camp. Percy’s not sure whether she visits camp out of interest or to avoid the bickering gods. She’s one of the kinda stand-offish gods?
She’s perfectly nice and all, super caring, but she tends to avoid interacting, like ever. Even when Percy talks to her, she’s always kind and polite but never really engages. The couple of times he’s pushed at her she always says something that sounds all nice and sweet, but is also a touch too bitter. She hasn’t been an Olympian since Dionysus became a god, but Percy gets the feeling she’s still not okay with that change?
Technically, Amphy’s also meant to be following Zeus’ new rule, but the sea gods entirely ignore Zeus. They’ve got really good reasons for that. Four thousand years ago, back when even Apollo was a young god, Triton had two daughters. Pallas was his own child, or whatever counts as a bio kid when it comes to gods. Athena was adopted.
It didn’t matter to Tri. As far as he was concerned, they were his daughters and he loved them deeply.
Zeus was Athena’s actual father and well… Percy’s still not clear on what led to that final day, but at some point, Zeus arranged matters so that, during an exhibition fight in front of the entirety of the gods of Olympus, Zeus distracted Pallas and Athena murdered her. Thrust her spear straight through her heart.
Athena blamed Pallas for hesitating, and Triton for not training Pallas better. After that, the sea gods weren’t so fond of the land dwelling gods. Poseidon closed his domain to all non-sea gods.
Which also means the sea gods entirely ignore Zeus’ decrees about ‘ceasing their scrutiny of the prophet child’. And Percy still gets to see Amphy. She comes to camp pretty often, usually bringing Ariadne with her. She’s Mr D’s wife. Amphitrite and Ariadne have ‘recently become the best of friends’.
Mr D is the camp director. Dionysus. Zeus was in a real shitty mood in the years after the whole World War II/Godly war thing and decided Mr D was muscling on in his territory with a nymph. He sentenced Mr D to a hundred years of supervising the camp, no alcohol, no wife.
Then, Apollo brought a baby prophet to camp and decided he’d much rather the camp director be at full power. Now Mr D has full access to wine. As Ariadne is best friends with Amphy, it’s only natural she join her friend when she visits her stepson, after all.
Zeus has entirely failed to notice that Mr D isn’t actually being punished.
As much as Percy would rather be left out of the gods machinations, he’s totally okay with some of them. Not only the thing with Ariadne either. Aphrodite stops in now and then, usually to ask if he thinks there’ll be enough snow on the weekend for a ski trip. He can tell her anything and she’s super grateful and says she’s going to “drop in on the kids while she’s here.”
‘Dite just wants an excuse to visit her kids. The non-interference rules say that the gods can only speak to their kids for specific reasons. Gods like ‘Dite, find ways around the rules. Other gods, the ones who are real shit parents, like Hermes who is now at the top of Percy’s list of world’s worst fathers, use it as a reason to totally ignore their kids.
To the point Hermes doesn’t even know how many kids he has. Percy had been horrified to learn most of his kids don’t make it to camp
Apollo helped him work out how to target his dreams a bit better and he’s spent the past year tracking down a whole bunch of children of Hermes.
He feels a little bad about what it means for Travis and Connor, the Hermes Cabin Heads. Hermes cabin has always been overflowing, it houses unclaimed campers and claimed campers whose parents are not Olympians. Now it also houses a tonne more Hermes kids than it ever has before.
It’s kinda annoying. As soon as he found out all these kids were going unclaimed and unacknowledged, Percy was all for finding them, like, yesterday. But Grover was the one who volunteered to go and locate the kids and escort them to camp.
All those years trying to befriend the satyrs and Percy finally made headway with one, and then he goes and volunteers to not be at camp? Super annoying!
It’s even more frustrating, since Grover only volunteered for this because he knows how worried Percy is about the other Hermes kids. There’s no telling if Castellan knows about them or not, and Percy really doesn’t want even more kids dragged into Luke Castellan’s self-destructive spiral.
For the past year, Percy’s only seen Grover for like, a day, once every couple of months, when he brings a new kid in for Travis and Connor.
It means the camp feels extra empty. Nico’s always fun and the handful of kids that still stay year-round are good. Mostly.
Well. The new Hermes kids are kinda prickly and Thalia’s been a bit of a challenge. Percy tries to avoid her. Everything has been too quiet, which has left him with way too much time to think about things he does not want to think about.
Which brings him to today. In exactly one week, Bianca’s path is going to take an unexpected detour. Percy knows about it. Has known about it for months. Ever since she left for her new boarding school, Westover Hall in Maine.
Had Bianca not made such a fuss, Grover would have been assigned there. It actually really wouldn’t have helped any, but still. Grover’s awesome and Percy is super glad he can now call him a friend. It’s just that G-man’s not a fighter.
Especially not against… that.
Bianca won’t be able to fight it either. Not even with the extra training from the Hunters during that week Percy and Nico were on a quest.
Percy had other reasons for ensuring Bianca had that particular training.
Percy didn’t even attempt to do morning lessons this morning. He’d shown up for breakfast in the dining pavilion so Lee didn’t assume he’d been like, kidnapped, or something, then he completely bailed.
It’s still a week away. In theory, Percy could contact Artemis and she could collect Bianca and none of this will happen.
He huffs. He doesn’t even need the screeching alarms of the knowing to tell him that going against the Fates is an astronomically stupid idea.
“Perce?”
He shuts his eyes. Of course. Percy can’t even be allowed to sulk in peace.
It’s kinda impressive Lee tracked him down, actually. Percy’d figured it was only a matter of time until Lee went looking for him, so he’d tucked himself in behind a boulder way deep in the woods. Like, almost at the barrier deep.
And yet…
He tries a bright innocent smile, “Hey, Hot Air! Whatcha doing all the way out here?”
Lee’d already been filling that whole ‘blonde Adonis’ stereotype back when they’d first met. Now, at twenty-six and preparing for a zombie apocalypse that’s still not for Percy to know, Lee’s got the whole heroes-of-old vibe going on. He still mostly looks like a grown up version of his father, Apollo. Who is permanently sixteen because the sun god seems to think that’s the age of coolness or whatever.
Lee’s got Apollo’s golden-blonde hair, the same intense deep blue eyes and the same over-muscled shoulders most of Apollo’s kids have. Because all of them think shooting things with arrows is the height of emotional regulation. Add in that Lee rides herd on a camp full of underage demigods as his day job? Dude’s got the whole Ancient Greek commander vibe down pat.
Unfortunately for him, Percy knows exactly how much of a sap he really is.
Seriously. One little drifting episode from Zeus’ aura overwhelming him, and Lee ‘just happens’ to find a baby dragon to guard the Golden Fleece? The same one Percy was talking about non-stop before everything happened?
Total sap. Pure mush.
Lee is also a little too used to calling Percy on his bullshit. All those extra talks he’s been having with his dad about how to handle Percy’s prophetness have had the uncomfortable side effect of him being less willing to let Percy sidestep the uncomfortable talks.
For example, “There a reason you skipped out on lessons?”
Percy tries another super cheerful smile, “Uh. Teenage hormones?”
Oh. Ouch. That look was far too full of disappointed parent feels. Percy is not a fan.
“Percy.” Lee’s tone is dripping with disappointment. It’s the same tone he constantly uses on his Apollo. And that Apollo uses right back at his son.
Percy pulls a face, “I’m pissed at the Fates and not allowed to talk about it?”
Lee gives him a very sharp-eyed once over. “At all, or is it one specific thing?”
Lee’s still a mind reader. It’s both amazing, and totally sucks.
“Uh. Last time they let me discuss it was at the chariot race?”
“The path that was wavering?”
“Yeah. That one.”
Lee is still staring at him, arms crossed. Percy should probably be feeling, like, intimidated, right? He’s still sitting on the ground and there’s this whole towering Greek god impersonating parental figure standing over him and glaring at him?
Percy isn’t intimidated though. He’s kinda just entertained?
He waits. Yep. Called it. Lee slumps a bit and goes all plaintively, “Is it still wavering?”
Percy snickers. He is a terrible person. He loves Lee, like, so much, But teasing him is kinda fun?
“Nah, Hot Air. You did good. Knowing says you’re gonna handle this like a champ.”
Lee gives him a sour look. Too bad, so sad, Percy gets his fun where he can find it. “We gonna be dealing with Chase again?”
Percy hitches a shoulder, “Honestly? Don’t know. This next quest isn’t for me. I get the easy job. Though… you’re gonna hate it.”
Lee rolls his eyes and drops to sit beside Percy. “When don’t I hate it? I swear, I’m the only demigod who isn’t interested in adventures.”
“Pretty sure that’s why Mr D calls you ‘Hero’ now?”
That gets him a very impressive stink-eye, “Like I don’t know you’re encouraging him.”
Percy fires back, extra chirpily, “Well, I am the chaos causer?”
Lee decides giving Percy a noogie is the only appropriate revenge. When Percy finally wrestles free, he’s laughing and kinda very covered in dirt.
“Thought you were meant to be setting a good example?”
Lee snorts, “Yeah, such a good example that I now apparently intimidate new campers?”
Percy can’t help laughing at that, the poor guy’s face is so sad. That new Hermes kid was all of like, eight and she took one look at Lee and was totally terrified.
He does try to be a bit more comforting, “She’ll get over it, you know how it works. Hopefully we’ve found most of ‘em now.”
Now, Lee’s gone back to his ‘bit into a lemon’ face. Same, dude. “Yeah, I’m not loving having so many kids brought in at once. Still can’t believe we missed so many.”
“Well, even War God tells the parents to send the kids to camp. Deadbeat clearly doesn’t care.”
Percy refuses to give Hermes a respectful nickname. If he’s going to obsess over Castellan and ignore the rest of his kids, he doesn’t deserve respect. Especially since he has more children than any other god. Like, why?
Lee eyes him, “Do you know how many have gone to Castellan already?”
Seriously Lee? Why would you ask that?
Percy stares at him, face flat.
He sees the realisation cross his guardians face. “Oh. That bad?”
Percy hitches a shoulder, “It’s not great. There’s too many from before, the ones who never came to camp. Annabeth’s the youngest.”
Annabeth’s a year older than Percy so it means Castellan’s followers are less child army and more teenage rebellion. He still hates it.
“Any of Chase’s siblings?”
Percy keeps his face blank and gives no response. He knows what Lee’s actually asking and that is information that is not for anyone to know. Lee’s tried a thousand different angles at this point. He’s still not getting an answer.
Lee watches him for a moment and than switches to his next misleading question.
“Will Spot be here for Solstice or will she be visiting her people?”
Last year, Percy had asked Mr D to send his pet zebra away before everything kicked off. He still feels weird saying he has a pet zebra. Like, sure, to everyone who can’t talk to horses and horse-kind, Percy’s relationship with Spot looks like a person and their pet. But it’s not.
Percy met Spot during his first quest, she was a circus zebra being transported to her new ‘home’ as the star of a Vegas magic show. She begged him for help, called him ‘her prince’. Percy had prayed to Mr D who had retrieved the animals. At the time Percy had figured he’d never see her again. Only for Mr D to ‘present’ her to Percy as a ‘quest trophy’.
In reality, Spot had asked Mr D to allow her to stay with Percy. Since Mr D is as bad as Percy when it comes to helping animals, Mr D let her, though he did it in the most chaotic way possible. Spot does visit with other zebra’s at a wildlife preservation sometimes, but she still prefers life at camp with Percy.
She’s even clingier now. She’s constantly fighting with a pegasus Percy saved last year, called Blackjack. Both consider Percy to be their human, and neither are willing to share. It’s fun.
Lee’s latest question is his way of asking if camp is going to come under attack again. Solstice is still two weeks away. Percy will definitely be sending her away next summer, but for now…
“Nah, she’s gonna spend the Solstice at camp I think.”
“And James?”
Percy rolls his eyes at Lee. If Spot’s staying, James will be too. James is a cursed demigod turned goldfish who lives in a sea god provided fish tank in Cabin Three. He’s a lot less exposed than the freely wandering zebra. And a little more experienced with the whole assessing risk thing.
Percy absolutely adores Spot, but she is a zebra, not a person. Her critical thinking skills are kinda limited. Case in point, her going to war with a pegasus stallion who is over twice her size.
His voice is a little too done with everything as he goes, “Hot Air, I really can’t say anything. It’ll happen soon. I’m gonna be fine and you’re gonna handle it like a champ. Camp will be safe, the knowing does not foresee any invasions this winter.”
There’s a lot of apology in Lee’s voice, “Sorry, Perce. I’m not so good at the waiting bits.”
“Uh huh, because I’m so much better at them?”
Lee huffs, “Okay. Fair. If I promise to stop harassing you over this, you think you might be willing to sulk a little closer to camp?”
Percy snarks back, “Later, too busy sulking now.”
Lee shakes his head at him and levers himself up off the ground. He ruffles Percy’s hair again before he heads off. He does make one final threat, that he’ll bar Percy from visiting Cerberus if he doesn’t show his face by dinner.
He totally will too. Lee’s mean like that.
________________________
According to Father, this little sitting room, set off the Underworld throne room, looks like the one Nico grew up in. He still doesn’t know for sure. While his past isn’t a total black hole, the specifics are less clear.
After Nico finally met Father, a couple of months after their trip to the Sea of Monsters, lots of his still blurry past memories fell into place. They still aren’t quite real, all of them are a little too fuzzy, but he doesn’t feel as adrift as he used to.
He knows Hades is his father, that Hades was heavily involved in his childhood. He also knows that he is the reason Nico doesn’t remember. The waters of the Lethe washed away their memories of their life before the Lotus Hotel.
What was a single month for them was eighty years in the outside world. Percy was the one who came and retrieved them from the hotel. Percy who gave Nico a new life in the outside world.
That was well over a full year ago now. Nico is eleven, almost twelve, and he’s been living at Camp Half-Blood ever since. Most of that time he’s been sharing a cabin with Percy.
Living with Percy is a little… unique. Percy is a prophet who sees the past and the future, and often can’t talk about. For the first six months Nico lived in Cabin Three, Percy was dealing with constant overwhelming auras from watching gods. Even he admits he ‘wasn’t all there’ during that time.
When all of that was finally sorted, Percy and Lee told Nico some kinda very concerning things about allowing his sister Bianca to choose her own path and they heavily emphasised all the reasons why Nico needed to not cling to her. Specifically because Nico has the sort of capacity for hate that can cause world wars.
Which isn’t terrifying. Not at all.
It did mean Nico knew he needed to give Bianca space to decide what she wanted to do.
The problem is that Bianca wants to join the Hunters. Artemis and Hades keep telling her not yet, but they won’t explain why.
Lee was very clear that Nico cannot hold Percy accountable for knowing something about the future and not sharing it with him. Nico understood Lee’s reasoning and agrees entirely. The prophet is not responsible.
Father on the other hand… Nico is still a little too bitter over the conversation they had after Bianca announced she was going to be attending a boarding school this year.
“If you had just TOLD her why she can’t, she wouldn’t have left!”
Nico is still kinda mortified by the way his voice cracked as he kind of… screamed in Father’s face?
Hades was entirely undaunted.
His voice was smooth and far too calm, “Your sister must choose her path. She would not respond well to anyones attempts to guide her, she must be free to make her own choices.
“Oh? And you know that how? You spying again?”
Father raised an eyebrow, “Your cousin would inform you immediately should my monitoring go beyond its current passive level. As sorry as I am for the consequences of it, I had good reason for sending you to the Lethe. Without Maria’s constant vigilance, your sister would have left home at five years old.”
That cooled Nico’s anger a little.
“Wait. She’s done this before?”
Hades snorted, “If not for the war, she would already have been at a boarding school. She has no need or wish for family, even then. Your cousin’s sister has far more interest in familial relationships than Bianca does.”
War Drum gets super aggressive and confrontational if anyone so much as implies she and Percy are siblings. Or that Lee is anything to her besides the unofficial camp director and her technical boss, because of the Priests of Apollo stuff.
Not even the gods dare call her Percy’s adopted sister. At least not where she might hear them. She is his Shield or his War Drum. Never sibling.
Nico’s voice turned a little too small, “Bi’s leaving because of me?”
Hades stared at him a moment, before his face softened, “Nico, she was always going to leave. It is as much a part of her nature as possessiveness is part of yours.”
He hated this, so much. He’d been fine before then, with the way Percy and Lee constantly separated him and Bianca. She was still at camp, he still knew where she was, that she was safe.
But then… At the end of summer she’d announced that Father enrolled her in a boarding school, one that was very much not on Lee’s approved ‘safe for demigods’ list. She’d insisted she was going and no-one was going to supervise her.
He focused on Father, tried to keep his voice calm and level, “Last winter, Percy and Lee told me that there used to be a path where I stayed at camp and Bi left, that she joined the Hunters and went on a quest with them. I made Percy promise to keep her safe. But he came back and Bi died.”
Father is entirely unsurprised, “Yes, I am aware of that path. It resulted in another Great War, you led the Underworld against Percy and my brother’s daughter.”
Nico’s voice dropped to a hissed whisper, “Bi’s going to die. Because you wouldn’t tell her why she can’t join the Hunters!”
Hades waved a dismissive hand, “If we had informed her why she cannot join, she would have left even earlier. Artemis will not risk the Great Prophecy or our alliance for your sister. The situation is more complex than you realise. Once a certain event occurs, she will be free to join the Hunters. Until then, she must wait. I did not expect her to remain at the camp indefinitely.”
Nico insisted, “Percy said she would die.”
Father shook his head, “Your cousin said that in a path that was no longer going to happen, your sister would die. We do not know where this new path will take her. What I do know, is that he cares deeply for the people around him. He constantly strives to give people a kinder path. If anything can be done to ease Bianca’s way, he will have done it.”
Nico stayed silent, scowling at the ground. “Nico.”
Father waited until Nico looked up and met his eyes, “Her path is her own. It may lead to great things. It may lead to her death. Either way. She chose this. You did not drive her away. She took time to consider her options and chose what she wanted. You do not bear the responsibility of her choice. The only responsibility you hold is over what you do next.”
Nico rolled his eyes, “I know. I don’t blame Percy. Like, at all. I know how hard this is for him.”
Father’s eyes hold too much understanding, “But you are blaming yourself.”
Nico looked away, “I… I like the life I have now. I like camp, I like being involved in all the stuff Percy does. And he and Lee have made sure I’m not constantly trapped there. It seems wrong, that I can feel so content and Bianca…”
Father’s tone was calm and almost gentle, “It has been over a year since she was like that. She is not running away from you, or from people’s expectations. She has merely chosen to explore her opportunities. She has no wish for support or protection. She knows where to go if she needs assistance.”
Nico’s voice rose as he accused Father, “She said it’s because she’s sick of waiting to be allowed to join the Hunters. Why didn’t you tell her about the prophecy?”
It got him a sharp look in response, “Because she would realise the girl is the reason we are delaying her initiation. Your cousin has been very clear that we must not pressure her. That whatever awaits her, she too must choose it without pressure.”
Nico eyed him, “Is this because Thalia is Sky King’s daughter?”
Father rolled his own eyes, “If that had been a concern, we would not have put so much effort into ensuring Bianca was older than her. We would have disposed of her.”
Nico winced, the gods are a little too callous when it comes to Thalia. They still have never explained why they are so certain that Thalia won’t side with Zeus, but they aren’t wrong. Thalia absolutely loathed her father.
His voice turned sharper, “War Drum told me about the Great Prophecy as soon as we were free of watchers.”
Father gave him an exhausted look, “Because Lee told her she could. You are extremely observant, it would have taken very little time for you realise your cousin was connected to something greater. And you would have ferreted the information out for yourself. It was far safer for all involved if you were told immediately about the prophecy and why he can’t be informed of it.”
Nico paused. Oh. “Even if Bi learned of it, she’d never tell Percy.”
“Precisely."
“She really ran away at five years old?”
There is a lot of fondness mixed with Father’s exasperation, “She’d packed a bag with food and clothes and declared she was going to England to work in a soup kitchen.”
That is unfortunately something Bi totally would do. “Lee says I can’t chase after her.”
Father’s voice was very firm, “No. You can’t. I’m told that your cousin is absolutely certain you will not change your path now you have chosen.”
Nico pulls a sour face, “Course not, I’d rather die than end up like Blondie.”
That conversation had been nearly six months ago now. Bianca should be returning to camp for the winter break and hopefully she might be feeling a little less bitter about the thing with the Hunters?
Nico is currently back in the same sitting room with Father and is attempting to work out whether he should try and lie about everything or be honest.
Father looks up from where he sits in an armchair and raises an eyebrow at his son, “If you are intending to prank me, I’d advise you spend less time considering your options.”
Nico rolls his eyes and drops heavily into a chair. “Nah, that doesn’t need thinking time, answer’s always yes.”
“You never did tell me where you found those three extremely pink diamanté collars in Cerberus’ size?”
Nico grins wickedly, “Can’t give away all my secrets.”
Father’s very long suffering sigh is beautiful. Father is not so happy with how much time Nico spends with Percy. Father says ‘one miniature Poseidon is already too many’.
Honesty it is, “Percy asked me to do a thing. Dunno what the gods have going on, don’t want to know. But I truly can’t think of a believable lie for this one.”
Father leans back casually but gives him a very sharp eyed look, “Is this from the boy’s knowing, or is he torturing the, uh, Deadbeat, again?”
Nico snorts. Father may pretend all he wants, but he is as fully invested in finding new creative ways to punish Hermes as Percy is.
“The knowing, I think? He hasn’t spoken of the future, like at all, since everything last winter, but this morning, just after I woke up, he said I should have you arrange something for me?”
Father gives him another look and waves a hand in a gesture to continue.
“He said that you should ask the Sun God for a protection necklace for me? Said something about, uh, ‘stygian adamant’ too?”
That catches Father’s attention, he demands a little too forcefully, “Adamant? Not iron?”
Nico’s eye’s widen a bit. That was very loud?
“Uh, yeah. Definitely said ‘stygian adamant.’ I’ve never heard of it?”
“You would not have. It is similar to forged adamantine but comes from the Underworld and is cooled in the Styx as stygian iron is.”
Nico blinks a moment. He does know there’s rather more adamantine floating around than land dwelling gods believe. Either that, or Percy and War Drum are carrying the entire Atlantean stockpile of the stuff. Since the ‘only’ adamantine Atlantis is supposed to have is Poseidon’s trident.
Nico hadn’t even realised an ability to identify metals by touch was an Underworld thing. Percy is not wrong about people being way too focused on ‘Hades equals death’. Father’s domains are a lot more expansive than even demigods realise.
Father pushes his surprise aside and asks, “Did he say what this is intended to protect you from?”
Nico shakes his head, “Not really, just talked about how Piper’s charmspeak is still getting stronger and then something super vague about silvertongue? Which I assume means Castellan. I honestly couldn’t tell if it was a misdirection or not.”
Father is thoughtful, one pale elegant finger tapping the armrest as his eyes stare into the distance.
“Very well, I will speak to my nephew and have one made for you. Be aware, you will need either his or my assistance to remove the necklace once you put it on.”
Huh. That’s interesting, “Like Percy’s then?”
“Yes, it is a side effect of the forging process. Such metals are not meant for mortals.”
Nico’s eyes widen, “And you’re willing to give me this, just on Percy’s say so?”
One corner of Father’s mouth quirks up, “I have done far more on far less these past few years. I have yet to regret it.”
________________________
Lee eventually admits defeat and gives up on any slight hopes he still harboured of his kid actually telling him what’s wrong. Or what’s going to happen. Fates’ weirdness it is.
He checks in briefly on the various classes in progress and their teacher’s attempts to corral the hyperactive demigods. No demigod enjoys forced stillness. Even with all Lee’s research, he still hasn’t found any form of mortal homeschool that is generally accepted by mortal employment and educational agencies, and doesn’t also require the kids to sit still and use their brains.
Lee only runs morning lessons when Percy is there. Every other possible candidate has categorically refused to be left alone with “your demon-child”. When Nico started joining Percy for lessons, Lee knew he had zero chance of ever handing that dubious honour off. It was cute when Percy was seven. It’s been getting steadily less adorable the older his kid gets. Not even Clarisse will willingly share lessons with him.
Since Percy didn’t even bother going to class today, Nico didn’t either. Lee hasn’t seen him, so he’s either pranking someone at the camp, in the Underworld or in Atlantis. Nico’s boundaries are essentially ‘not Olympus and not the mortal world outside Long Island,’ which leaves him a very wide range of options. Since Nico has a parent who actually does parent, it’s not Lee’s problem. Or so he keeps telling himself.
With both Nico and Percy absent, Kayla is happily supervising the Hephaestus, Dionysus and Demeter kids as they work through their homeschool material. There aren’t any underage year round Apollo kids anymore. Every year it gets distinctly weirder that they have no siblings younger than Percy. Dad doesn’t seem bothered, but it’s kinda freaking Lee out.
They still haven’t found a single child of Athena younger than Chase either. Lee is 99% sure Percy wouldn’t deliberately withhold the location of a demigod child. Lee hasn’t dared ask Percy outright if he knows why there aren’t any Athena kids. He’s exceptionally glad that younger Ares kids are still turning up. It’s probably the only time Lee is grateful for additional war kids… Two Olympians under the spell of Fates’ weirdness is already two to many.
The second class group is now Aphrodite, Ares and their one Zeus kid. Given how tense things are between Thalia and Percy, no way was he sticking them in the same room. Especially since Nico is guaranteed to take Percy’s side, no matter what. Clarisse catches Lee peeking in and rolls her eyes at him. Yep. That’s his kid. At least Sherman manages to mostly keep the small group of kids under control?
The camp’s third lesson group on the other hand…
He can hear the chaos well before he reaches the last building. Chiron, and siblings Travis and Connor Stoll are all attempting to manage the group of fifteen demigods, and they are… definitely failing.
There’s really not much Lee can actually do to help the situation. The gods might let them group the cabins as they see fit, but actually dividing up the kids within a single cabin?
No go. Bianca and Nico were exceptions to the rule. And only because their father doesn’t have a cabin and Hades negotiated directly with Poseidon and Artemis for his children’s housing and activities. Georgie was sort of the same, but her mother doesn’t have a cabin and again, the gods negotiated that and she stayed at camp as ‘a favour to Apollo’. In the nearly fifteen years Lee’s been at the camp, the only other time it was ‘allowed’ was when Chase decided she was going to spend all her time with Castellan and the Hermes campers.
He’s still not sure how that happened. Athena has always been the most difficult of the gods when it comes to her cabin. When Percy came along he was able to identify the parents of unclaimed campers and if their parent had a cabin, Percy ‘reassigned’ them away from Cabin Eleven. The rest of the gods allow their own unclaimed children to live in their cabin.
Athena continues to insist her children may only move to Cabin Six when they do something worthy and she officially claims them. There’s a sixteen year old boy in Hermes Cabin who Lee is fairly certain is another Athena kid, but there’s been no sign of a claiming.
Usually, new demigods trickle into camp at a fairly constant rate. Until last winter, the number of new Hermes campers stayed at around two or three at any given time, in addition to Travis and Connor. The new kids have time to settle and decompress and decide where and how they want to live once they’ve dealt with the weirdness that is finding out you’re not a nice normal mortal.
They stay anywhere from a few weeks to six months and then either return to their mortal parent, move into a camp-approved foster home with a demigod guardian, or go to a camp-approved boarding school. Some particularly powerful children may choose to live at camp year round, but mostly the campers don’t stay. Not anymore.
Still, they never really had more than three new campers in Hermes Cabin at a time. That’s no longer the case. Twelve of the fifteen current underage Hermes campers have been found since the summer. All twelve are unclaimed children of Hermes. Lee is seriously considering Poseidon’s suggestion to “just castrate the bastard.”
Every kid they bring safely to camp is one less for Castellan to find. If war is coming in less than two years, Lee will do whatever he must to keep the actual children away from the fight. He won’t be able to stop all of them. This whole thing is predicated on Percy turning sixteen, and where Percy goes, Nico follows. But Lee is hell-bent on them being the only fighters under sixteen.
He eventually decides to leave Chiron and the Stoll brothers to it. New campers are never happy about the ‘mortal home-school’ aspect of camp life. But it gives them options in the future. It’s also a daily reminder that they will have a future. That no matter what they’ve heard, demigods can and do survive to adulthood.
Lee has never been able to trace where or how that rumour started. Like, everyone knows stories of the old heroes as well as modern ones? Chiron is full of famous names from politicians to fashion icons and everything in between. And yet… Demigods still arrive at camp thinking their birthright is a death sentence.
While, sure, being a demigod isn’t exactly safe, it’s not a death sentence. Many do die, the ones who never make it to camp, the ones whose parents decide not to send to camp. There used to be a lot of monster attacks and kids died every year. But it’s better now. Lee’s done everything he can to make things better. He refuses to believe that being the child of a god means you’ll die before you turn twenty.
More kids make it to camp now too. Lee’s pretty sure his kid’s using it as a coping mechanism. With the way he keeps telling Lee the addresses of new demigods. Bit hard for a mortal parent to insist the divine world doesn’t exist when there’s a satyr or a centaur staring them down.
The only kid with an actual right to believe their parentage is a death sentence is Percy. Who has the completely nightmare inducing Great Prophecy hanging over his head. Not that his kid is all that aware of it. He says it’s ‘not for him to know’ and refuses to discuss it further. There’s a secondary prophecy that says Percy is not marked for death. It’s the bit of hope Lee’s clung to since he found out. Lee does know the actual wording of the Great Prophecy these days. And it is… grim.
Lee has this sinking feeling that Percy actually knows his own fate. He definitely knows Chase’s, not that he’s ever told anyone what it is. He apparently knows Castellan’s as well. And he readily admits that Chase and Percy’s ‘threads’ are entwined. Or run alongside each other? Lee’s heard both versions at this point.
Lee has at least learned to listen when Percy asks him to do something. Even when it’s something completely bizarre. Like the time he randomly announced in the middle of breakfast, “Crackle and War Drum need to know how to drive.”
Percy wouldn’t explain further. Clarisse is fifteen, it’s a little early but Lee was okay with teaching her. Thalia is twelve. Lee was less happy about that one. He still did it.
Or tried to. Thalia is not so fond of the driving lessons. She’s not so fond of Lee in general, for no other reason than he’s Percy’s guardian. Lee is sometimes very tempted to try and shake the answers out of Percy. He loves his kid to bits, but the summer before last he deliberately baited Piper into attacking him so he could fix her path. He’s now spent nearly a full year with Thalia at his throat and done nothing to stop her? Just… Why, Percy?
Lee’s day gets stranger after his chat with Percy. When he takes Clarisse out for another driving lesson in the camp’s kinda super sad people mover van, this happens.
“Lee?”
Clarisse is going all stiff and awkward again. This never bodes well. Lee knows he’s going to hate this. So much.
“Yes?”
She glares out the windscreen as she asks, “We ever gonna talk about how weird Prissy’s being?”
He snorts, “You mean with him insisting you need to learn to drive?”
“Well. Yeah? And Thalia too?”
Huh. Maybe somethings happened? Clarisse doesn’t usually make a fuss about the oddity that is Percy’s day to day existence. She’s more likely to go along with it and, if it turns out to be a prank, insist on a full out spar to exact her revenge. Triton always makes sure both kids aren’t too injured. Percy heals from just about anything if he’s in the ocean. Clarisse is a lot more breakable, not that it stops her.
Lee gives her a serious look, “He’s been very clear for the past year that there’s something coming that he can’t talk about it. That the Fates have insisted he be silent as it’s a fated path.”
It’s driving Lee completely insane, but Clarisse doesn’t need to know that. He’s the adult here, after all. His kids need to at least think Lee has his shit together.
“Yeah, but…” She makes a frustrated wordless gesture.
Yeah. Lee’s right there with her.
“Yeah, I know. I honestly don’t know what’s coming. I’m not sure anyone other than Percy knows. All we can do is listen when he asks us to do something, and hopefully in time it’ll be clear?”
She purses her lip, “He told me something yesterday. He was laughing at me, think he meant to say something else, but the words he said…”
She’s got Lee’s full attention now. He has gotten nowhere with Percy and he’s long run out of new angles to try.
He narrows his eyes at Clarisse, “What did he say?”
“They must not see the spear. Defender must be left here”
Lee stares at Clarisse and is very glad they are parked.
What? Percy, what? That makes no sense. Percy might be insistent that ‘someone’ shouldn’t see the spear, but that’s why it’s a pendant? Even in its pendant form it looks nothing like his kids’ other weapons.
Lee really hates how many weapons his kids carry. Even with all his new rules he knew he had no chance with his own kids. The day he’d finalised the new camp rules, Triton showed up at the Big House and told him all nice and calmly, “My brother and his Shield will not be beholden to the camp’s rules regarding weaponry.”
Not like Lee could do much. He can somewhat stop Clarisse bristling with knives but as for the rest… Percy’s celestial bronze sword, Anaklusmos or ‘Riptide’, a joint gift from the sea gods and his favourite hero Zoe, was bad enough. That was seven years ago. Since then, Triton has festooned his kids with weaponry. Clarisse has a frankly terrifying adamantine spear that he still doesn’t know the specs for. The sea gods had it forged from an eight year old Percy’s drawings.
The spear is officially named Amyntor, but in English it’s ‘Defender’. It’s made of a silvery metal with a cerulean shimmer to it. Other than the colour, it mostly looks like a standard spear. Though, Lee did notice the engraved conch shell below the blade when he’d first seen the weapon. Triton’s claiming symbol. Unlike the other weapons, Amyntor’s pendant form is still vaguely spear shaped. Just with an ultra modern style that makes Lee think of Zeus’ throne at Olympus.
Lee still hasn’t worked out whether Clarisse has never tried to take the Amyntor necklace off since he gave it to her nearly two years ago, or if she’s actually aware it’s adamantine like Percy’s and can’t be removed without a god’s assistance.
Lee tries to keep his face calm. From the look Clarisse gave him, he entirely failed, “And this wasn’t related to your conversation?”
She shakes her head, “No, I was pissed about Chiron’s latest training, and he was teasing me.”
She pauses before seeming to decide to go for it, “Last year, when we were still in the Sea of Monsters, he told me a quest was coming that would need me, but not him.”
Interesting. Percy did tell Lee the next quest isn’t for him, but to have known that a year ago?
“Huh. I think for the short term, nothing needs to be done, but if he says to leave ‘Defender’ here, I think you should. Do you want me to see about an alternate weapon for you?”
She huffs, “Amyntor’s got no match. I’ll be fine with Afosi. If the kid was really worried he’d have given me Katecho.”
Clarisse has a second identical looking spear made of the more ‘normal’ Atlantean Royal Forge’s ‘platinum compound’. No relation to the mortal metal. Triton calls Afosi, ‘Dedication’ her ‘practice weapon’. It’s still more lethal than any other spear at camp and she is not allowed to use it inside the barrier without Chiron or Triton supervising.
Since she hates Chiron, she never draws it and only trains with it on one of Triton’s sea floor training grounds. It clips to Clarisse’s bracelet and mostly exists as a C shaped pendant, like a charm bracelet would have.
Lee’s still not sure how Triton produced it so quickly. He honestly hadn’t expected Percy to insist Amyntor had to be kept hidden, halfway through that first quest. Triton had somehow snuck Afosi to Clarisse two days after Percy said something to Amphitrite about hiding Amyntor.
Percy has an adamantine trident that is a match to Amyntor, Katecho or ‘Hold Fast’. It’s meant to only have Poseidon’s trident engraved of it. Officially claiming Percy as a son of Poseidon. Percy gleefully told Lee that Triton had snuck a conch shell onto the ferrule anyway.
Katecho also has a few extra tricks to keep his sea kid grounded if he’s too far from his father’s domain. Lee has yet to see it in action outside of the times he’s watched the kids train with Triton. It is terrifying. He is very happy it mostly exists as another letter shaped pendant. “P” for Percy, he’s assuming. It’s a huge mark of honour to be permitted to wield a trident. No child of Poseidon would dare carry a trident without permission and most never receive it.
The idea of Percy giving Katecho to Clarisse…
Gods. Lee can just see that. Let’s not do that. Lee would like both his kids to survive what’s coming without pissing off any more gods than they already have. Poseidon might be fond of Percy’s adopted land dwelling sister but there’s fond and then there’s, uh, that.
He lets his voice turn as teasing as possible as he tells his kid, “I’m not so sure the world’s ready for a war kid wielding a royal Atlantean trident, but… Yeah. Perce would totally do that. Even if he didn’t need to.”
________________________
A week later, Percy watches in his dreams as it happens.
Bianca is walking down a huge entry hall, lined with antique weapons and old trophies. A sign announces it is Westover Hall. She’s dressed in casual clothes, wearing one of Thalia’s oversized leather jackets over her own clothes.
At the front door a grey haired man stands waiting for her. He wears a vaguely military style uniform, black pants with thin red lines running down the outside, a black jacket with enough shoulder padding to give him an ‘intimidating commander’ sort of stance.
Even his hair has been cut in an old fashioned high and tight style. The sort Clarisse’s favourite Ares auxiliary mocks for being preferred by ‘militia wannabe’s’.
The man stands stiffly, at attention, his multicoloured eyes, one blue, one brown, watching her sharply. A little too sharply.
Percy watches as the mans image blurs slightly and he realises he is seeing what Bianca sees. Nico always sees through the Mist, it’s a side effect of being able to see essence. Bianca doesn’t have that particular ability, she can only see through the Mist with Nico’s help.
“You are leaving us early, Di Angelo?”
She stops in front of him and stands at attention, “Yes, Sir. Special liberty for religious practice.”
That’s one way to say ‘My dad’s a god and insists Winter Solstice is family time’.
“And this… religious practice requires you to leave a full week earlier than the other students? Christmas is still eleven days away.”
“Yes, Sir. I am not Christian."
The not-actually-a-teacher demands sharply, “Which religious practice will you be observing?”
Bianca still seems far too unconcerned. Can she not see?
“It is an old religion. No longer well known. The Commandant gave permission, Sir.”
“Very well.” He stands aside and gestures for her to leave.
She walks out the door and somehow doesn’t realise he follows right behind. This is why Lee doesn’t let campers attend unapproved schools. Even demigods can be fooled by the Mist. Bianca should have known she can’t see through the Mist. Uncle Hades certainly knows she can’t!
Percy’s been dreaming of this for months, but knowing this is a now-dream makes him desperately wish he could shake Bianca. It’s awful to watch helplessly as events unfold as they always have.
The man stalks her all the way to the main gates of the school. Percy watches and frowns, he hadn’t noticed before, but Bianca has not kept up her training since summer. She’s a little less battle ready, a little more mortal teenager. He can’t see any signs of hidden knives. That is… a very dangerous form of sulking. Especially for a demigod.
Suddenly, Percy is terrified. He’s seen this before, he knows she lives past tonight. But now…
He really hates the way everyone takes his statements as given. None of them know how often he’s utterly terrified he missed some small thing that’s going to entirely change the path.
Once they are beyond the main gates, the man speeds up and now he calls out in a low purr, “Miss Di Angelo.”
She turns and her eyes widen, “Dr Thorn? Why are you following me?”
She dodges sideways and ‘Dr Thorn’s’ two foot long spike just misses impaling her. Percy winces, surely they aren’t going to actually poison her?
“I would suggest you come quietly, you are quite alone, my dear.”
She stiffens and glares at him. Atta girl!
“And where would we be going?”
“There is someone who wishes to meet you. You are not faster than I. If you try to escape, I will still bring you to him. You’ll just be… a little worse for wear.”
Bianca is furious but she does go with him. Hopefully that means there is no poisoning in her near future? She still thinks ‘Dr Thorn’ is human. Somehow. Percy has no idea how. Manticores might have faces at the same height as mortals, but their body mass is like… twenty times that of a mortal?
They aren’t the weirdest monster Percy had ever seen, but they are up there on the weirdness scale. A human face on a giant oversized lion type creature. Instead of the fluffy lion tail, they have an absolutely giant scorpion tail, all topped with a cluster of massive two foot long black spikes. Like, the tail alone is a good ten feet long?
And, apparently, they can shoot the poison-tipped spikes like projectiles.
Bianca still hasn’t noticed this fact. It’s driving Percy insane.
They eventually stop at a snow covered cliff and ‘Dr Thorn’ makes a phone call telling someone the package is ready for collection.
Bianca finally demands, “Why would you want me? I’m just a random orphan!”
The manticore sneers at her, “Oh? The daughter of the Death Lord, a random orphan? I think not.”
Shock crosses her face, “How did you know that? Wait. Who are you?”
“My employer wishes to make you an offer. Since you are so determined to deny your birth family, you will be glad to know he wishes to offer you a new one.”
She stares at him, “You’re talking about Castellan, and Blondie. Uh. No, thanks.”
He waves dismissively, “It does not matter whether you agree or not. My employer has many methods of persuasion at his disposal. Though, be warned. He does not take well to being confused with a mere mortal such as the Thief God’s offspring.”
“Who is your employer then?”
“The General will explain everything, I’m sure.”
She glares at him, her dark eyes fiery, “Again. No, thank you.”
“As I said, you need not agree. You are needed to give my employer access to the worst monster of them all, the one whose death spells the end the age of the gods.”
Percy cringes. He so wishes ‘Dr Thorn’ wasn’t right about that.
“You’re insane! There’s no such thing!”
Bianca. Please. Shut up. Now.
She finally makes a move and tries to escape the manticore, he keeps her from escaping with his unending supply of spikes. So far, none have actually hit her. She does draw a single stygian iron knife, so at least she wasn’t entirely unarmed?
He keeps her hemmed in against the cliff as a black ultra-sleek helicopter finally makes an appearance, the dark silhouette of a person already dropping down on a rope ladder thing. They grab Bianca as the manticore stalks forward, knocking the knife from her hand. Bianca reflexively takes a step back, and straight off the edge of the cliff.
She’s rapidly contained and hoisted upwards into the helicopter, as a hunting horn sounds.
The same Hunters who were meant to be collecting Bianca and transporting her to camp for the Solstice.
Dr Thorn leaps from the cliff as the Hunters flow out of the woods.
The dream ends with strange kaleidoscopic flashes of the near future. None are remotely comforting.
Castellan and Annabeth stand beside a large man who kneels beneath thick twisting darkness that fills the entire sky. His hands are outstretched, the weight of the dark presses down on his back, curving his spine. He is speaking to Castellan and Annabeth but Percy cannot hear the words.
Castellan gestures to his watch and to the trapped man. His face is almost kind, his voice gentle. This is not silvertongue. Annabeth’s shoulders slump as she gives in.
Castellan stands with a cuffed Bianca beside Annabeth Chase who is trapped beneath the darkness. As the darkness presses Chase down into the ground. Unlike the man from before, she is barely able to push herself far enough off the ground to allow herself room to breathe. She seems seconds away from being crushed entirely.
Castellan’s face is impassive as he speaks coldly to Bianca and points to Chase. Bianca moves robotically, her face twisting with horror. She crouches beside Chase and the darkness comes collapsing down, like an earthquake and a landslide happening above her head instead of beneath her feet. She pushes up to meet it, and braces herself beneath the dark as Chase rolls free.
A cuffed Artemis is led to where Bianca still struggles beneath the weight, now with a faint silver streak in her dark hair. Artemis speaks sharply to Castellan, her face as fierce and full of anger as it was the day she killed Orion.
The final image lingers longer. Artemis is chained to the rocks and kneels on one knee, arms stretched above her as she supports the weight of the sky. Bianca lies beside her, collapsed and pale, but breathing. Artemis’s head is up and her eyes burn silver, she radiates the fury of the Huntress.
Her head tilts and she looks over and makes eye contact with Percy. “Child, do as the Fates demand. I can hold here as long as needed. Protect my Hunters.”
Percy shakes his head as the dream dissolves. Of course, Apollo found a way to warn his twin.