Chapter Text
Maybe Percy should've thought twice before killing a monster in front of two kids. Then again, he was also making sure they weren't going to die, so he felt like he had a valid excuse.
He kicked at the golden dust on the ground before turning to the two demigods.
They were clearly twins (unless it was a Stolls situation, which you never know). Same round face, almost exact same freckle patterns, same wavy black hair, same blue eyes… Actually, looking closer, Percy realized the boy’s left eye was lighter while the girl’s right eye was lighter. They both looked around ten years old.
When Percy looked at them, the girl hid behind her brother, who eyed Riptide warily. Percy quickly capped the pen-sword and tucked it behind his ear. He crouched down to their level, holding his hands up to show he wasn't a threat.
“It's okay," he assured. “I promise I'm safe. It's okay."
The girl peeked around her brother. Said brother still glared at Percy, which just looked cute to him, but he wasn't going to let the boy know that.
“My name is Percy. May I know yours?”
The boy started shaking his head, but the girl piped up. “I'm Mavis.”
The boy looked back to his sister— Mavis— with a look of betrayal which she just shrugged at. They seemed to have had a quick twin conversation before the boy muttered, “Matthew.”
Percy nodded and sat down. "Well, it's great to meet you both."
“What was that thing you stabbed?" Matthew blurted out.
“That was a gryphon–”
“Like from Greek Mythology?" Mavis gasped.
“Mav, that's ridiculous.”
“No, she's right,” Percy pointed out, which earned him a look of disbelief from Matthew.
“Oh, great, you're both crazy.”
Percy snorted. Oh boy, here we go.
To the kids’ credit, they both took it well. Matthew only gave Percy about ten “you're actually insane” looks during the explanation about Greek Gods and camp, so Percy called that a win. Meanwhile, Mavis looked excited about the whole thing. She kinda reminded Percy of little Nico. He silently prayed that this turned out better than last time.
“So, there's a camp on Long Island that's for people like us,” Matthew summed up.
“There is," Percy confirmed.
“And by ‘people like us’, you mean demigods," Matthew continued.
Percy nodded.
“I still think you're insane,” Matthew said.
“That's fair.”
“So the ADHD and dyslexia were for a reason?" Mavis asked.
“ADHD for fighting, dyslexia for reading Ancient Greek. I think," Percy added.
“So if we go to this camp, we'll be trained to survive?” Matthew asked skeptically.
“That's where I learned how to take that gryphon down," Percy confirmed.
The twins looked at each other— another twin conversation, Percy guessed— before looking back to Percy.
“So, how far is it?" Matthew conceded.
Percy smiled. Maybe the whole "mother hen” thing wasn't too far off.