Chapter Text
“We can keep this short, ‘cause I know Jason really needs to talk to you.” Will said, plopping down on one of the empty bunks.
“I’m confused about that, not gonna lie.” Percy admitted, dropping onto his bunk and kicking off his shoes, picking up the one Thalia had shot earlier and poking at the hole. “I mean, I didn’t think we really got along or anything. I barely interacted with any of them on the whole quest, and when we did it was usually a work together or die scenario.”
“Like what?” Will asked curiously, tossing a stress ball to him while he tossed one up and down to himself.
“Like, well, the first time we really worked together was when the Romans caught up to us in Charleston and tried stopping us. We used our powers combined to cause a pretty instant hurricane that allowed us to get away. Other than that, me, Piper, and Jason freed a bunch of dying nymphs from a Nymphaeum in Rome. That was crazy. Jason and I fought Otis and Ephialtes together before … well, before the fall. After we got out, none of the others acted the same around me, not even Annabeth. Probably especially her. She saw all the shit I did, and it scared her, I guess. I scared her. There was this storm, though. Caused by my sister, Kymopaleia, who was helping Polybotes. I could have deflected the poison wave he sent after me, but I didn’t. I was tired of everyone being afraid of me, tired of trying not to have a panic attack when I was alone for more than five minutes, just … just tired. And Jason saw it. Saw I was pretty much ready to die. I don’t know, man. I just don’t really know anything anymore.”
“That’s a lot of shit, dude.” Will grumbled, but it made Percy snort a laugh.
“Suppose it is.”
“What do you mean you didn’t interact with anyone, though?”
“I mean, I made pretty good friends with Hazel and Frank before we left, so I had them, sort of. We went on a quest together, and learned on the fly how well we work together. Got comfortable together. But when they all picked us up … you know, the first thing Annabeth did, when she saw me, was to judo flip me? In front of the entire Roman legion.”
“That … could have gone horribly wrong. Attacking a Praeter.”
“Could have, yeah. But I laughed it off so they would know I didn’t take it as a serious threat against me. Reyna backed me up and I didn’t even have to ask her to. I didn’t know Leo, Piper, or Jason when we got on the ship. They knew my name, but nothing about me aside from Annabeth and I were dating when I went missing. Leo was terrified of me the whole time, would barely look me in the eyes, if he looked at me at all. Piper just kept looking at me like I was an annoying mosquito she couldn’t get rid of. Annabeth was lost in her computer, trying to decipher what the quest from her mother was, so even though we’d been apart for so long, she didn’t really talk to me. I just … I was sort of a spare part that no one knew what to do with.”
“Nico told me that Hazel told him Leo said he felt like that.” Will frowned.
“I get that. Jason and Piper were always off doing coupley things if Piper and Annabeth weren’t training together. Hazel and Frank pretty much kept to themselves, but they included Leo a few times since Hazel knew Leo’s great-great grandfather. When we rescued Nico, not gonna lie, I was actually looking forward to having someone around for a little while that would actually talk to me like I wasn’t some disease, but that didn’t play out either. Little shit was pissed at me for a lot and didn’t tell me anything until the whole ordeal was over.”
“It’s hard for some people to come to terms with their sexuality, Perce.” Will chastised lightly.
“Yeah, I know, but he could have yelled at me earlier or something. Got it off his chest instead of letting it eat him up inside. I’m glad we’re good now, I am. I just wish I’d known how much no one on that entire quest really wanted me there.” Percy sighed heavily. “I heard Piper and Annabeth talking, once. They were talking about how much she needed to be there to control me.”
“What?” Will asked, his voice nearly a growl as he sat up.
“Seems it isn’t only the gods who think I need to be controlled.” Percy said throwing the stress ball high enough it hit the ceiling. “I mean, do I make that bad of decisions? Have I done something so horrible that everyone just sees me as another one of dad’s monstrous children? I don’t get it, Will. What the fuck did I do to make people dislike or distrust me so much?”
“You listen to me, Percy Jackson,” Will said sternly, leaning his elbows on his legs, “I don’t care what anyone else thinks, and neither should you. You were the one who turned down immortality to make sure we all have a better life. You were the one who told the gods to basically eat shit and be better parents. You were the one who gave up everything to make sure we were protected. You are the only one who needs to control you. No one else. If they don’t see it that way, then they don’t know you and their opinions are invalid. No one, and I mean no one, has the right to make you feel like crap without your permission.”
Percy stared at Will for a little while, letting the words sink in. Feeling them sink in.
“I didn’t do anything wrong, did I?” He asked in a voice that he knew was small, but couldn’t be bothered to mask for once.
“Gods, no, Percy. You’ve done everything right.” Will let out a rough exhale. “I’m gonna go get Nico, and we are all crashing here tonight. You should call Jason while I’m getting him out of his cave.”
“You don’t have to.” Percy said weakly.
“I know I don’t. But I want to. You don’t deserve to be alone.” Will said firmly, walking away while Percy could only stare after him blankly for a little bit. He pulled a drachma from his nightstand and made a rainbow above his bed, tossing it in. When he saw Jason, he was pacing in what looked like a living room.
“‘Sup Airbender.”
“I don’t understand that reference.” Jason said, frowning, his head tilted adorably; like a golden retriever puppy.
“Don’t worry about it.” Percy chuckled, rubbing his neck self consciously. “I suppose you want to ask, so go ahead.”
“How are you doing? With all this?” Jason asked, sitting back on a cushy armchair.
“Not great.” Percy shrugged, relaxing when he didn’t jump right into his second death wish in as many quests. “But I’ve been worse, so it is what it is. Glad mom isn’t here, she’d definitely go into labor and as much as I want to meet my baby sister, I want to do it when she’s ready, and not a day sooner.”
“Makes sense.” Jason chuckled. “How’s Thalia?”
“Eh, same as always. Overprotective, slightly overbearing, forgetting she’s not actually my older sister. Worried how this shit will affect all of us. She comes back at the end of this summer, so you’ll get to see her dramatic reentrance to the world.”
“Well, we are children of the Lord of the Sky.” Jason teased. “We’re meant to have dramatic entrances.”
“That’s true, I guess.” Percy snickered. “How are the Senators coping? Dakota taking it easy on the koolaid?”
“Gwen is actually getting him switched over to sugar free so she’s cutting down his sugar intake.” Jason shrugged.
“About time.” Percy said, blowing a raspberry. “Apparently I’m getting an involuntary sleepover tonight with Will and Nico. Should be interesting.”
“Ugh, I’m so glad Nico’s done making moon eyes at him all the time.” Jason groaned, grinning when Percy started laughing. “I was only there a few weeks and it was getting ridiculous!”
“It’s not much better, really.” Percy nodded. “You should come out, for the whole nonsense about our big quest, man. We can prank Thals together or lock Nico and Will in the weapons shed or push all of them in the lake. Oh! Or you, me, Thalia, Nico, and Hazel can take everyone out in an epic Capture the Flag game! All the kids of the Big Three, Roman and Greek, kicking ass and taking names.”
“Haven’t really decided if I’m gonna come out for that or not.” Jason admitted sheepishly.
“Why?” Percy asked curiously.
“I just …” Jason groaned and readjusted his glasses, “I just don’t know that I’m ready to be around Piper and Leo yet. She dumped me so she could try and figure some things out, and I get that, but I thought we could at least still be friends. She hasn’t talked to me in weeks, though. And Leo … Leo was a good friend, but I had no idea he was alive or on his way back or anything. It’s like … the quest was over and practically everyone dropped me. I’m not Praeter anymore, I’m not on a quest, I still don’t quite have all my memories back, and I lost the people I thought were my best friends, fake memories included or not. It sucks, dude.”
“All the more reason for you to come.” Percy shrugged. “You aren’t coming for them, you’re coming for me. If we’re both stuck with someone as insane as Thalia Grace as our older sister, then we need to band together to survive it. She has this annoying mothering thing she does, and I know I’d appreciate having her mother someone other than me for a bit. You won’t even need to stay in that lame cabin of your dad’s. You can stay here. Ty won’t mind.”
“I don’t mind.” Tyson said, coming in and waving at Jason. “You should come.”
“How about I think about it and let you know before it’s time for all that?” Jason countered.
“That’s fine. We got a few more years and, like, between three and seven quests before that all happens.” Percy said, tilting his head a bit.
“Between three and seven? Those are very different numbers, dude.” Jason chuckled.
“It depends what the Fates want to show.” Percy admitted hesitantly. “I mean, I helped Clarisse with something once, then there was a thing with Thalia and Nico; can’t forget when I met Carter and Sadie Kane, Egyptian Magicians, let alone when Hermes and Apollo both showed up asking for help with a few things. Guess that makes it more between three and ten, though?”
“Have I mentioned your life is insane?” Jason laughed. “Because it really is.”
“Can’t argue with that.” Percy hummed. “How’s your project coming? Haven’t seen a ‘Kym’ action figure yet, so I know you haven’t finished.”
“Nah, still getting the designs all set for the additional temples at New Rome. Have most of them sorted, but still waiting on approval from the Senate for the dimensions and everything. Once we have the offering spaces set up we’ll move on to things like action figures. Maybe Tyson could help with that, actually.”
“What do you think, big guy? Want to help make some action figures?” Percy asked, grinning at his brother who smiled brightly, his eye shining.
“I can help?”
“Of course. I need someone good with building small things, and I’ve seen Percy’s shield, so I know you’re perfect for the job.” Jason agreed.
“I’d love to!” Tyson said excitedly.
“I’ll send you a list of what I’m thinking and you can take a look.” Jason said, ducking his head as if he were embarrassed about something. “And if I do come out, we can look at colors and stuff. Man. I might have just been talked into coming out. You really do have superpowers.”
“Do not.” Percy argued.
“Yes, you do.” Nico argued, flopping beside him on his bunk.
“Nico di Angelo,” Jason said faux sternly, his eyes shining with amusement, “is your shirt on inside out?” Percy looked at his cousin and burst out laughing when he saw it was, plus it was backwards.
“I hate you both.” Nico grumbled, crossing his arms, his face bright red.
“William Solace!” Jason yelled, laughing when he heard Will tripping over the door frame.
“What?” Will complained looking around, seeing Nico’s bright red face. Percy couldn’t stop laughing though and fell off the bed when Nico shoved him.
“Do we need to have a talk?” Jason asked, smiling brightly and trying not to laugh as much as Percy was.
“About what?” He asked in confusion.
“Nico’s shirt is inside out and backwards.” Tyson answered helpfully, grinning when Will’s face turned just as red. He quickly looked down and made sure his own shirt was on right before clearing his throat and crossing his arms.
“Honey, what we do in private is our business.” He said, his accent dragging the sounds out more.
“Uh huh. Sure. Right. Well, you kids behave yourselves. I’m gonna try and get some sleep for my sister’s rebirth from a tree tomorrow. See ya, Perce. Tyson.” Jason waved and cut off the message because Percy was still laughing on the floor.
“You still up, Perseus?” Triton asked as he knocked and opened the door.
“I’m awake.” Percy said, still chuckling and holding his side which ached from laughing so much. “But not really up.”
“Dare I ask?” Triton looked between Will, Nico, and Tyson.
“No.” Will and Nico replied instantly, both going red again. Triton grinned sharklike at their quick responses.
“I was just coming to see if you wanted to initiate phase one,” He said quickly, “but it looks like you’re all having too much fun for that.”
“Nope, I’m good. Let’s kick it off so tomorrow morning they get hit first thing.” Percy sighed, accepting the hand offered to pull him back to his feet.
“We don’t want to know.” Will said quickly, setting a bunch of books and notes on the spare bunk he always took. “Go do what you gotta do, but be back soon. I’m not interested in patching you up if the harpies catch you.”
“That’s fair.” Percy nodded. “We’ll do our part, then Ty will do his at first break tomorrow.”
“Yay!” Tyson cheered, making Percy snicker some more.
“I’m using your shower, Percy.” Nico grumbled. “And stealing your sweatpants for being an asshole.”
“Whatever you say, Neeks.” Percy chuckled, following Triton outside.
“You’re letting him steal your clothes?” Triton asked, still grinning.
“He does it all the time at home.” Percy shrugged. “Mom thinks it’s funny how big everything is on him, but he refuses to wear things if mom gets them in his size. Just hides them in my drawers until I find them later and wonder why my pants are so short.”
“Well, at least it’s him instead of Tyson. He’d rip your clothes.” Triton agreed.
“True.” Percy sighed, looking up at the sky and smiling at the constellations. “Let’s get this done so I can try and get an hour or two of sleep.”
“An hour or two?” Triton frowned. “Don’t mortals need, like, at least six hours of sleep? Or more?”
“Yeah, but I can usually only get around two before I wake up from nightmares. It’s better than it used to be, and I can usually go back to sleep for a couple more. Just can’t get ‘em all in a row yet. I’ll get there. Probably. Who knows? Maybe all this shit we’re doing will help?”
“I’m sure your mother would appreciate that since she’s about to have an actual baby in the house.” Triton teased. Percy snorted and quickly covered his mouth so he wouldn’t make any more noise and give them away.
“Very funny.” Percy replied in a low voice. “Come on. Phase one is go!”
They crept around in the dark, sticking to the shadows and not making any noise as they set their traps. When they were done, Triton headed for the sea while Percy snuck back to his cabin to find Tyson, Will, and Nico all talking really loudly about the pirate ship Percy and Annabeth stole. He rolled his eyes and took a quick shower, falling into his bed after, while he watched everyone, laughing at how excited they seemed to be about everything.
He didn’t remember falling asleep, but he remembered waking up in a panic and backing himself into the nearest corner as he struggled to breathe. Once he came back to himself, he ran to the bathroom, getting sick until his stomach was empty. He brushed his teeth a little shakily, nearly falling as he walked back to his bed, but someone caught him and helped him get the rest of the way. He sat down and pulled his knees to his chest, trying to wind down.
“Wanna talk about it?” Nico asked quietly.
“No.” Percy exhaled, shaking his head, wincing when it sent a sharp pain through his temples.
“Might help.”
“It won’t. How long was I asleep?”
“Not quite two hours.”
“Sorry I woke you.”
“Don’t be. Wasn’t asleep yet.”
“Why not?” Percy asked curiously. He couldn’t really see Nico’s face in the dark cabin.
“Same reason you woke up. Nightmares. Instead of waking up every couple hours, my brain fights going to sleep at all most nights. Like, it’s almost like my body still thinks I’m trying to survive a death trance. I usually get to sleep around this time and wake up before breakfast.” Nico commented slowly.
“Fuckin’ sucks, man.” Percy sighed. “I’m so tired of it.”
“Me too.” Nico hummed. Eventually Percy stretched his legs back out, pressing them against Nico. Nico was laying the opposite way on the bed, but he’d fallen asleep while Percy was still trying to come down.
---
“They’re so cute!” Percy heard someone exclaim, making him frown. Why was someone talking so happily so early in the morning?
“Shh.” He shushed, covering his face with his hand. “‘M sleepin’ still.”
“Get up Kelp-head!” Thalia shouted, making him groan in annoyance.
“Fuck you.” He grumbled, sticking his finger in the air, not knowing where she was exactly.
“You’re funny.” She chuckled. “You don’t have a choice. Breakfast is in 10 minutes, so get your asses up.”
Percy groaned when the door to his cabin slammed shut. He kicked his leg, hitting Nico until he pinched his foot in retaliation. Nico cursed him out in Italian, and Percy cursed at him right back until they both finally sat up.
They stumbled to breakfast together, ignoring Tyson and Will chatting animatedly already. They sat at the Hades table, hoping they’d be left alone, but as soon as they sat down they were surrounded by excited kids and way too many morning people. Percy put his face down on the table, and Nico put his on Percy’s back. Both of them planning to sleep a little bit longer.
Nico had stolen Percy’s swim team hoodie, along with his sweatpants, but Percy really didn’t care at the moment. He was wearing a New Rome hoodie that he’d gotten from Frank and Hazel in the mail for a late birthday present. Percy startled up in his seat, swinging an arm out and punching someone, knocking both him and Nico over, when someone touched his arm. They groaned from the ground.
“What the fuck, dude?” Nico complained, groaning when Will pulled him to his feet.
“Sorry.” Percy apologized, wiping a hand over his face. “Sorry, fuck, I don’t know what happened.”
“Someone who doesn’t know you react violently when you wake up, woke you up.” Nico yawned, reaching down and pulling him up.
“I didn’t know you’d have that bad of a reaction.” Leo said cautiously, twisting his hands from nearby. A bruise was blooming on his jaw from where Percy had caught him.
“He’s always woken up like that.” Nico said, yawning again. “Nearly took my head off once, so I learned the hard way. At least he didn’t attack you with a sword.”
“Noted.” Leo croaked. “Um, was just letting you know that they want to get started. No one else wanted to tell you, but I guess I know why, now.”
“Mm.” Percy hummed, yawning widely as they made their way to the amphitheater. He blinked several times when he arrived and had a bucket of water thrown in his face, Nico shrieking at getting hit as well. Percy shook out his head and dissipated the water from him and Nico quickly so they wouldn’t have to sit in wet clothes. “Thanks.”
“Wasn’t meant to be helpful.” Connor grumbled, looking annoyed with bright, bubble-gum pink hair. All of their shirts were also bedazzled, which Percy somehow forgot about. Percy pursed his lips and walked over to sit down, purposefully not looking at the Hermes kids. The younger ones seemed to enjoy their new look, while the older kids looked peeved at having been beaten to a prank.
“Ready to move on, then?” Percy asked, biting his lip as his voice cracked and he caught Travis and Connor both scowling at him.
Hecate started the memories back up once New Rome was present, all looking at the Hermes campers with attempts at not laughing outright. Percy sighed in contentment as he remembered how great it had been to maneuver the ship. He didn’t really care that people were hearing his young self’s thoughts about being scared at the moment. He wasn’t awake enough for that. This part was pretty dull, which was fine by him. He was perfectly ok starting the day slow.
After young Annabeth had slept for a little while and came above deck, she and young Percy started talking about what happened to Thalia. Grover threw something at him, which he caught and cheered. It was a bag of blue waffles that he’d somehow managed to get. Percy dug in, sharing one, and only one, with Nico who also slept through breakfast.
Percy shuddered as he felt the echoes of the dream he had. The whispering voices of ghosts trying to warn him of danger. As soon as the girl in his dream spoke, he was shoved to the ground, narrowly saving his last waffle.
“What the fuck, dude?” Percy whined, looking up at an angry Thalia.
“What the fuck, me? What the fuck, you?! How the hell did you manage to see everything about me correctly aside from my eye color? It’s closer than when you dreamed of me in the back of that fucking truck.”
“I don’t know.” Percy shrugged, shoving the waffle in his mouth as Thalia lunged at him. He rolled back, stopping in a crouch, unsure if she was going to keep attacking him or not. “I already told you I dreamed about you before you came back, asshole.”
“Yeah, but I thought you meant in more of an abstract sense! Not that you saw exactly what I looked like. This is creepy as shit!” Thalia exclaimed, lengthening her spear before swinging it at him. He had his sword up, blocking her easily.
“I was dreaming things connected to Luke and Kronos.” Percy grunted as he shoved her back. “I didn’t have control of this, of any of this!” He ducked as she swung at him again, her movements not as smooth as they usually were. Meaning something else was going on. He tried to keep himself calm so his lungs wouldn’t seize up.
“Between your creepy-ass dreams, and Annabeth and Grover’s stories, you knew basically everything about me when I came back!” She shouted, her voice a little shaky. “You knew what I was like and you just kept your mouth shut and let me be cruel every time we talked! You let me blame you!” Her eyes were a little shiny, and Percy finally understood what was going on.
“Thalia,” he said gently, “hey, it isn’t your fault. We were both being used. Kronos and Luke, and everyone, all they ever tried to do was drive a wedge between us. Do you know why?” She clenched her jaw and shook her head minutely. “Because together we were too powerful. Together we were too strong. Together, you, me, Nico, we didn’t need them. We fucked up every single one of their plans because we chose to be family.”
“It’s bullshit.” She snarled, swinging at him again, but he grabbed her spear and flipped it so he had pulled her against him and trapped her in a hug. She fought him for a few seconds before giving in and hugging him, crying into his shoulder. “I’m so sorry. For all the shit I said.”
“Not your fault.” He said softly. “None of this was your fault. For fuck’s sake, none of it was even my fault. Or Nico’s. We were blamed for existing , Thals. Not because we’d done anything wrong, but because we existed. I don’t blame you for the shit you said when you got back. I don’t blame you for hating me even just a little. Yes, I dreamed about you. They wanted to use you against me. But we showed them, in the end.”
“Yeah. Yeah, we did.” Thalia sniffled.
“Fuck their plans.” Nico said, wrapping an arm over Thalia’s shoulders and leaning against her, turning it into a three way hug. “We choose.”
“We choose.” Percy agreed.
“We choose.” Thalia whispered.
“I didn’t say anything when you were being mean because I understood. You came back to a world that you didn’t recognize, with people you remembered being younger than they were, and someone new in the picture that had more or less taken your place and Luke’s. But you’re one of a kind, Thalia. You’re irreplaceable. Don’t you forget that.”
“Just stop.” She groaned, leaning back and wiping her face clean. “I can’t talk to you anymore right now. You’re being too understanding.” Percy chuckled and handed her spear back.
“We can talk later or not. Friendly fight might be more fun.” Percy shrugged.
“Maybe.” She reluctantly agreed, punching him on the arm before going and sitting with the hunters. Percy went and sat with Triton and Tyson, knowing that she needed some time to recover from her episode. Nico sat with the Apollo kids, right in the middle of the two of them. Probably so he could keep an eye on each of them.
“It’s definitely prophetic.” Lester said quietly to Rachel who was writing something down.
“Obviously.” Rachel scoffed. “I mean, I always saw strange things, things I couldn’t explain, even in dreams, but nothing like this. Not until the battle was closer. Do you think it has anything to do with …”
“No, no I don’t think so.” Lester shook his head. “My tasks are mine. Prophecy is still one of my domains. Or. It will be, once I get done with my quests. But prophecy, at this time, was still working correctly. I’ve only had one child who was prophetic that wasn’t supposed to be, and Poseidon only ever had one that was prophetic at all. Anyway he’s somehow descended from someone in my line?”
“Maybe.” Rachel tilted her head. “We’ll really have to dig, though. Maybe his prophetic senses are more tied to one of the other pantheons that his family came from?”
“That makes more sense.” Lester nodded.
“Can we continue?” Zeus asked, looking irritated, glaring at Lester and Rachel. Rachel was unbothered, but Lester shrank in on himself. Percy shifted, ready to get to his feet, when Triton and Amphitrite held him in place.
“Can you be polite for one fucking second?” Thalia retorted, still looking stressed. “Yes, we can continue, but we’re allowed a few seconds of a break to try and figure out what all this shit meant. You hate prophecy so much, I’m actually surprised you aren’t more irritated about his dreams. Hypnos has already said they are abnormal, even by demigod standards. Try and relax for a minute, fuck. We’re all stuck here for however long it takes. Then you won’t have to be stuck in an amphitheater full of people that you hate.”
“I don’t hate you, daughter.” Zeus said, looking a little startled finally.
“Maybe not, but you don’t care for me.” Thalia said, glaring at him. “And that’s fine with me. If what you did to Apollo, let alone Mr. D, is showing how you care for your children, I’ll pass. Lady Hecate, please continue.”
Hecate looked a little nervously between Zeus and Thalia before resuming the memories. Percy unclenched his hands finally, wincing as his nails came out of his palms. Triton caught the movement and tutted at him as he hovered water over them to heal them. Percy rolled his eyes at his brother and focused back on the memories. He jumped when his younger self screamed himself awake.
“Daughter-” Athena hissed, when young Annabeth said she wanted to hear them, but Annabeth ignored her mother, still writing something in her notebook, Malcolm adding quiet comments occasionally.
Percy shook his head a little, suddenly feeling like he couldn’t actually hear anything, just as he had on the ship. He stuck his fingers in his ears and worked his jaw, but he still couldn’t hear anything. This wasn’t the same as what was happening before; well, aside from the magic in C.C.’s song. He tried to steady his breathing, focus on the sound of his heartbeat, not the things he couldn’t hear, but then all he could hear was everyone’s heartbeats. He could feel their blood pumping through their bodies, and started to panic a little. If he could feel that, then he could feel other things, so he sought out the water in the creek and let the gentle flow of it soothe him.
He didn’t look up again until he could hear, and was shocked by the mixture of crying, shouting, and cheering. What had he missed? He looked over at Triton who was looking at him funnily.
“What?” He asked, not sure he wanted the answer.
“You weren’t affected.” Triton said quietly, and the amphitheater noise died down.
“No.” Percy said slowly.
“When you touched her, you saw what she saw, not your own visions.” Triton continued, looking at his father. “You should have seen what you wanted and desired, not someone else.”
“I … I didn’t really desire anything, I guess.” Percy shrugged. “I mean, not aside from the faces I saw on the Sirens themselves.”
“That’s-” Triton wiped a hand over his face as if trying to compose himself, “that’s not how they work, Perseus.”
“Full name. Wow. I must have done something wrong.” He attempted to joke, but it fell flat as everyone just stared at him curiously.
“You did nothing wrong.” Triton reassured. “It’s just … even immortals who are aware of the Siren’s powers, who are able to stay away from them, will see something they desire, even if it is a desire they are unaware of. You saw only what Annabeth desired. The world rebuilt as she designed it, her friend back on her side, her parents reunited and caring for her. What this showed, essentially, is that the only thing you desire, is for those around you to have what they desire.”
“Is that such a bad thing?” Percy asked, feeling confused.
“It’s unheard of.” Triton said softly. “In all our histories and records, no one has ever encountered the Siren’s so directly and seen nothing for themselves. It’s … it’s remarkable.”
“You’re still saying that as if it’s a bad thing. It’s your tone.” Percy stated.
“That’s because none of us know how to process it.” Poseidon said gently. “It’s never happened before, son. Not once, in millenia.”
“I can’t tell you anything else.” Percy said, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. “Honestly, I missed that entire thing. I couldn’t hear anything when my memory self stopped up his ears, so I sort of stopped paying attention. I can’t tell you if I encountered them now if it would be any different, though. I don’t think I’ve changed that much. Same if I saw certain other entities. Like Melinoe. I didn’t see anything the first time I met her, but I’ve seen a lot more death since then. I’m not sure if I’d still just see her or not. But on those notes, I’d still rather not find out. I went through it once, I don’t want to do it again.”
“Strange.” Poseidon said, looking out toward the sea, eyes looking miles away. The same time, he heard a few other people mutter, “who’s Melinoe?” and “when in our names did he encounter her ?”.
“Right.” Percy nodded uncertainly. “So, if we’re done with pointing out how unusual I am again, can we move on to when we actually find Grover?”
“Of-” Hecate cleared her throat, still looking completely stunned, “of course.”