Chapter Text
Percy had never been really one to pray before. But also, he had never really been one to believe Gods were real before today either. And then, well, he had met his camp director. And then everything he thought he knew had been turned on its head.
And suddenly it seemed the easiest way to contact his Dad. It was a bizarre twist of fate that he was to pray to him of all things.
Percy didn’t know who his Dad was for sure. But he had a strong suspicion. Strong enough that he was pretty sure he knew who to direct his nightly prayers at, at least. At the very least, he knew it was something water-related, so that gave him a direction in general to direct his prayers.
And sure, there was a chance this wouldn’t work. His Dad was a God. He was sure he was busy. Especially if he was right about who he was. And he was one of the Eldest Gods. He wasn’t sure how much time he had to listen to him. And if his previous track record had anything to go by he would probably be ignored.
But…he had to at least try, right?
Since, well, some of the camp things just seemed bizarre, and he just felt like someone needed to know. Even if his Dad probably wouldn’t listen. And he probably wouldn’t get a reply back. Something about him being out there just made him talk.
Even if no one else got it.
(And definitely no one else got it.
Luke had given him an odd look when he had asked about this. Had said that wasn’t a thing anyone really did here. The only thing for the Gods they did was the meal sacrifices they did.
Though Percy hadn’t missed the look he had received from Mr. D. over the dinner table after their conversation had finished.)
After checking in with Luke about cabin rules. And finding out that he just needed to be back in the cabin by a certain time. Or else, apparently, the cleaning harpies would eat him.
(Which what the? Why hadn’t Chiron told him about that during their tour? That seemed kind of like an important detail that shouldn’t have been glossed over. ‘By the way, we have a curfew that if you miss, you're going to be eaten by literal man-eating harpies!’
How was this place even real?)
Part of him is itching to go to the Long Island Sound. And sit on the edge of the break and start praying there. But with how far that is from Cabin 11, and with that warning ringing in his ears. He’s afraid that will leave him with not enough time for a prayer.
So he’ll have to settle for the camp lake instead. And hope that his dad doesn’t get too annoyed, that isn’t technically his domain.
Something about just touching the water. Makes him feel like he’s making more of a connection with his Dad, even though he can’t really explain why. So he takes off his shoes and socks and dangles his feet over the water until his toes are just skimming the surface of the lake.
And just starts praying.
Hey, Dad, it’s Percy-
Poseidon had been in the middle of another argument/meeting with Zeus about the missing master bolt when he had received the prayer from Perseus.
Now Poseidon is used to receiving prayers from most of his followers. And outside of certain exceptions, he doesn’t pay a lot of attention to them, with those exceptions being his mortal children.
And considering his youngest child had just learned about their world. Let alone found out that he should be doing any form of prayer. He wasn’t expecting to hear from him.
And if he did, he was expecting it to be during the nightly meal sacrifice.
Not later in the night, when most of the campers were winding down for the night. And getting ready to go to bed. So this was a bit of a shock, to say the least.
But as his son started to pray, it seemed like some of it was less about needing to pray in a traditional sense and more about maybe just needing to vent about the day’s events.
Choosing to split his consciousness for the moment. So part of his could entertain Zeus’ argument (it wasn’t like it was anything he hadn’t heard a hundred times in the last six months at this point). While he listened to his son’s prayer.
Since, well, it had been a long time since he had a child at the camp. So it had been a while since he had more than passing information through the naiads who lived within the lake.
And while Percy would only have so much knowledge about the inner workings at this point. It was still information he hadn’t had access to in a while.
-Chiron mentioned the fact that apparently he spent the whole year at Yancy Academy because of me-
And apparently chose to start really paying attention to his son’s prayer at a concerning time.
Since Chiron shouldn’t be taking that much time off from the camp as the camp director, but considering there were other instructors at the camp, it wasn’t the end of the world, Poseidon supposed.
That much he did remember from the last time he had a child at the camp.
-Saying he had made his first house call in ages. Made me feel guilty about the whole situation, if I hadn’t survived, he would have wasted a whole year-
Poseidon twitched at that. It was taking a lot of effort not to just flash into the camp at the moment and give the old centaur a piece of his mind at that particular nugget alone. And they were just getting started on what Chiron had told his son.
But for his son’s sake, he needed to play the long game and gather more information to present to Zeus. So he couldn’t just do what his first instinct was, as hard as that was at the moment.
-Because apparently surviving to camp was the first test.-
Oh, Poseidon had a few strong opinions about that. Since he did not remember that being a thing. And he would be having words with both Zeus and the centaur at the first possible chance about that.
-Oh, and then there’s this weird thing that also Chiron said, he mentioned one of the girls took care of me. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing except I later found out she’s a daughter of Athena, which confused me because, like, I’m still kinda new at this, but… I thought Apollo was the God of Healing?
So, shouldn’t one of his kids be in charge of taking care of me? Like, don’t get me wrong, I’m glad she helped me. But I’m just really confused right now-
That almost caused him to break concentration with his son right there because that was extremely alarming. While he did not pay much attention to the ongoing structure of the camp. He did know that there were camp allocation funds. He had heard it discussed during council meetings before.
So, for one, why was there a child taking care of his son instead of an adult? And for another, why was it one of Athena’s who was in charge of his son’s care?
He knew Apollo had raised Chiron. So, he had some understanding of the matter and possibly who was best suited to be placed in charge. But also, he should at the same time realize the importance of having an actual healer on hand.
Which was not a child of Athena, last he checked.
There was so much wrong with this situation. And it really was taking all his patience not to go to Camp Half Blood this very moment and demand answers from Chiron.
-And then Chiron wouldn’t show me the orientation video for some reason, but I kinda wish he did. Because I still had more questions at the end of the day. But I felt like I couldn’t ask them cause when I did try to ask him, either I got non answers or people just got annoyed with me.-
Well, that was just fantastic. And he wanted to know just why his son felt like he couldn’t ask to see the video of Chiron or any of the other campers. Again, something else to take up with the centaur.
-Oh, and speaking of things that don’t make sense. People kept telling me not to use names. And that names have power. But no one ever really stopped to fully explain what the power was. Or what I was doing when I used them. Like, I don’t mind saying the name. But just telling me that makes things kinda of confusing
Though admittedly, that was probably more on Mr. D. because he kept saying that and not elaborating.
Well, that was something Poseidon supposed. Not all of his issues that his son seemed to be having so far were a result of Chiron. Some of them were a result of Dionysus not explaining things.
Though he had to wonder if that was Dionysus being lazy. Or Dionysus following Chiron’s lead. Something to quiz the god about the next time he was at a council meeting at the very least.
-Also, there was this weird thing where Chiron, for some reason, I guess, was trying to make me angry, I guess, because he made some weird comment about how someday I would be just a story to just explain how little boys would get over losing their mothers-
Of all the irresponsible things to do-
Chiron had better hope he had no idea who his father was, since with the brewing war, that was an extremely irresponsible action, since it looked from Poseidon’s angle that he was trying to get Perseus to activate his abilities and initiate a claiming.
Which Poseidon was trying to avoid at the moment until things calmed down with the bolt. Since he knew Zeus finding out about his son’s heritage was not going to go well, no matter what.
But at least if he knew he wasn’t the thief. At least things were going to be less of a mess. And he would have thought Chiron would have realized that.
Was the centaur really that dead set on another godly war?
He really was going to have a lot to discuss with the centaur the next time he was at camp, it seemed. And it seemed like his son was not stopping anytime soon.
He tuned back in time just to hear the end part of the bit on Dionysus and his son’s commentary on that situation on that. He still wasn’t sure why Zeus had picked that punishment considering he usually went with the turn mortal punishment. But at the end of the day, he couldn’t exactly pick his brother’s brain on why he did things.
And honestly did not want to.
Though he wasn’t particularly happy with what Dionysus had done in response to Percy supposedly testing him, that wasn’t even testing. That was his son being confused about the situation since Sally hadn’t had a chance to explain to him. A consequence of his not coming to the camp sooner.
But there wasn’t much he could do about it, unfortunately, as long as Dionysus was mostly cloak and daggers since Chiron was the one in charge of staffing, as far as he was aware.
-Honestly, the idea of the Gods being real wouldn’t have been as much of a shock if Chiron had just maybe handled it better. Like, don’t get me wrong, I love Chiron, but…um, well, he kind of made the way you guys moved around more than a bit overwhelming?
Like maybe it was because I was just learning all of this at once. But it felt like he was giving more information than I really needed. Like all I needed to know was that you guys kept moving and a few examples.
Instead, Chiron just kept giving example after example. Which, I guess, was the teacher in him. But I don’t know if I remember half of what he told me, if I’m being honest?-
Well, that wasn’t the end of the world. Considering that was just about the fact that they had moved from Greece to different parts of the world. But he did have to wonder just how much the demigods were truly learning if Perseus were being overwhelmed in this scenario.
Since somehow Poseidon doubted he was the only one ending up like that.
But he could be wrong. The only way to know for sure would be to talk to his son. And of course, that was currently impossible due to the situation with Zeus.
-After that, Chiron started giving me a tour of camp. Only after shocking me with his form of a centaur. Which I’m not sure why he did it that way. Maybe he just expected me to remember he was a centaur. But after being info dumped on, I was kind of having a hard time remembering everything in my defense?-
Yeah, if Chiron had not summarized it very well. And knowing Sally had kept the information from him…it wasn’t entirely a surprise that the reveal had shocked his son.
Add in the fact that Chiron seemed to be going for the shock and anger factor to try to reveal his heritage for some reason. And it wasn’t exactly the biggest surprise that Chiron had not given him any warning before pulling that stunt.
-And then there was the thing with Grover.
Like I was feeling bad about Grover cause it seems like he got in trouble for something that wasn’t really his fault. Like I was the one who ditched him at the bus station, which was okay, maybe a bit his fault for his comments. But I know he meant well in hindsight.
Just well seeing the Fates I think would freak most people out.-
It takes a lot for Poseidon not to have an audible reaction to that particular comment. Because what did Perseus mean they had seen the Fates? Why would they be appearing before his son of all people?
Like he knew his son, by all appearances, was fated to die. But not for another four years. And they usually didn’t cut the life strand this early. So what was the point of appearing this early?
Were they showing him his life strand? Another person’s? If so, whose and for what purpose?
He was going to be needing to do some reading when he was done at this meeting, apparently, since he felt like he was missing some important information about the morai right now.
-And he did manage to find me in Montauk rather impressively for someone who probably had no clue where I was heading outside of maybe some vague references when we were rooming together.
It wasn’t his fault that our car got blown up by lightning, and he got knocked unconscious by it! Like, how is he supposed to control that!-
It takes even more careful control for Poseidon not to turn to his brother and start yelling at him because there is no way that was an accident. Because what do you mean his son’s car got blown up by lightning!
Anger at his brother aside. His son does have a point. Expecting the satyr to magically regain consciousness from a magical lightning bolt blast was beyond comprehension. They had gotten lucky that he hadn’t been killed by it.
This was something outside of the satyr’s control, and he shouldn’t have been punished for it. So why were the camp leaders doing so if the way was going by the way his son was currently ranting in his prayer?
-And yet, because of something completely out of his control, according to Chiron, they may decide he didn’t complete his assignment despite getting me as far as he could under the circumstances.
And I guess they are blaming him for my Mom’s fate. Which again, how is that Grover’s fault?-
It wasn’t. The satyr’s main duty was to get the demigod they were assigned to across the line. And mortals weren’t allowed over the border, so the comment and decision were odd.
-Like, if anything, that was my fault for dragging her along to the border. Or whoever sent the Minotaur. Or the person who struck the car.-
Poseidon sighed. Something told him they were going to have an issue with Percy blaming himself for things that weren’t really his fault. However that was an issue to tackle for another time since that was a more minor issue all things considered.
-And then things got more uncomfortable.
I…I’m not sure how to view Chiron after this. Because if this is how he talks about one of my best friends behind his back. I’m kinda scared of what he says about me.-
Poseidon frowned at that. Just what had the trainer of heroes said that had unsettled his child so much?
-So, apparently, I’m the second time Grover's been allowed to look for demigods. The first time was five years ago; he didn’t give me many details, but it didn’t sound like it went well.
Poseidon frowned, tracking back in his head. Five years ago, there was an incident that didn’t go well. It could be a coincidence, but that sounded suspiciously like this might be the same satyr who had found Zeus’ own and had helped her, along with two other demigods, to the camp.
Yes, it had ended poorly. But he had thought most reasonable thinkers had considered it not the fault of the satyr, since 1. He had literally reached the camp border when the daughter of Zeus had been forced into an impossible choice 2. He had tried to make a sacrifice play from what Poseidon knew, and 3. He had literally succeeded in getting two other demigods there.
Along with getting the trio at least over several hundred miles from what he knew. That wasn’t a small accomplishment.
So…why wasn’t it being acknowledged for what it was?
Was Zeus mad about his failure?
That would explain it. But as far as he knew, his brother had never made his opinion known one way or another on how he felt about the survival of the other children involved in the incident. ...Including the satyr that had led them there.
So it was entirely possible that Chiron and the others had drawn their own conclusions.
-Anyways, because of that and because of everything messing up in the last steps with me. Which again was almost entirely out of his control. Now Chiron is saying he should pursue other dreams. Which is total crap.-
In this case, Poseidon is actually inclined to agree with his son. While he doesn’t have the full details of what happened in his son being relocated. What little his son did say hinted at a satyr who needed to be out looking more, not less.
Since according to Perseus, he had managed to track him out down in Montauk from his home in Manhattan. A distance that was not entirely close together. With only having scraps of information.
And who knew how much information he had when he had tracked down Zeus’ daughter and her friends, since they had been constantly on the run at that point.
No that satyr had a talent that needed to be encouraged. Not to be told to find a new career. And the audacity of the centaur to think otherwise because of circumstances beyond his control was astounding.
As soon as it was safe he was having an intervention with that centaur. Not just on behalf of his son’s sake. But on behalf of his satyr friend’s sake, apparently too.
Because someone needed too. And apparently no one was.
-Also Chiron made this weird comment. Cause well Mom disappeared in this flash of gold light-
Poseidon blinked well that…was unexpected. That seemed to suggest Sally was not dead but held hostage by another god. The question was whom? If he could figure out who he might be able to interfere.
Well assuming it wasn’t Zeus.
Though he had a feeling if it was Zeus he would have already heard about it.
-So I was asking him about the Underworld-
Poseidon sighed in exasperation not liking where this was going. Even as he knows he probably should have seen this coming. Since if Zeus didn't have Sally, Hades was the most next likely candidate.
(Though that did introduce the troubling thought that Hades already knew about his son and his identity.)
-And what he said in response well I already kind of knew. Ya know Underworld is the place for the sprits of the dead. Everyone knows that. That’s not the part that’s been bugging me. The part that’s been bugging me is when he told me quote until we know more I would urge you to put that out of your mind end quote.-
Oh Poseidon did not like that.
Because while his son might not have understood the implications there. He certainly did understand what Chiron was saying.
Which was that Chiron had already decided despite the fact that the centaur should know better than Zeus. Had been at Yancy for almost a year according to his own son. And thus would know he wouldn’t have been at the solstice.
Had apparently come to the absolute absurd conclusion that he was the thief.
At least Zeus had the shield of not knowing that his son hadn’t actually known his son didn’t know the world until two days ago. Chiron did not have that same excuse.
The first time Poseidon had a chance he and the centaur were going to be having a long talk. Because he would not stand for one of his children being baselessly accused by an adult figure they should be able to trust. And one that definitely should know better.
-After that Chiron told me that the woods were stocked with something but wouldn’t tell me what they were when I tried to ask him. He just ignored the question for some reason? It wasn’t until I was talking with Annabeth later that she explained that they were monsters-
Poseidon just sat there blinking internally seething in rage for a moment. Trying to make sure he had heard that last part of the prayer correctly. Chiron had told his son that the woods were stocked. And when his son had understandably not understood what that had meant asked him what he was saying. Had asked him what he had meant.
Had just decided to skip the question?
He never thought he would be grateful to a child of Athena for a moment. But in that moment he was grateful to the girl for doing the bare minimum. And making sure his son knew what he meant. Because what if his son had gone into the woods not knowing what Chiron had meant?
He could have been killed!
Also that was not the only issue of the matter he realized for a moment. Why was the Athena girl answering his son’s questions. While he was not ungrateful that someone was answering his child’s questions. That suggested a few things that he was not entirely comfortable with about the camp structure.
Things that he was adding to a list that apparently needed to be brought to Chiron’s attention. Since he wasn’t entirely sure what the centaur was doing in his orientation to new campers.
But if this was how every camper was introduced. Then he had major concerns.
-Chiron seemed to forget I wouldn’t have my own sword and shield for some reason.-
Well that definitely wasn’t great. But wasn’t the worst issue of this prayer so far. He would add it to the list though since it showed again a lack of attention to detail from Chiron.
-After that we moved on and he showed me a bunch of stuff. Not a lot of stuff stood out though I noticed that Chiron didn’t seem to like the stables-
Oh he better not let his bias towards the pegasus steer his child away from his birthright.
Chiron had always had a weird complex about his horse half. And had an even odder relationship with any horses from what he had seen around the camp. And tended to steer campers he favored from horse related activities.
If Poseidon found out that he had encouraged such behavior. Intentionally or not of one of his children. He would not be happy. He was the father of horses. Pegasus riding or really anything involving horses was in their blood.
Chiron’s bias towards the animals should not be allowed to influence his children’s birthright. They would be having words if the centaur dared to be so bold!
-Then he mentioned about cabin challenges and how they had sword and spear fights. How they were usually not lethal-
That was Poseidon’s final straw as it turned out.
He could tolerate a lot. He could barely tolerate nearly taunting his son into showing his ability and putting a target on his back, he could barely tolerate the stocking the woods comment since another child had fixed that, but finding out about the cabin situation.
Finding out that was possibly a regular problem since Perseus had yet to mention about how often children had died at camp. And no one had apparently corrected Chiron.
Was the final straw for Poseidon.
Usually.
Usually?
What did Chiron mean by usually?
Poseidon racked his brain for a moment for a solid minute trying to remember when he could remember the last time he had heard one of his fellow Olympians talking about their children dying at the camp and he realized he couldn’t think of it. It had to have been decades. And yet the way Percy phrased it made it sound almost common occurrence.
This was a way bigger problem then he may have thought.
He internally swore. He didn’t want to out his child or the prayer. But if Chiron wasn’t actually protecting the children adequately. Then he may not have a choice in the matter.
He needed to tell Zeus of this developing situation now. But how to go about it?
If he just outed his child as praying to him. Then there was a solid chance his brother would just to the conclusion that he was the master bolt thief. He was going to have to play his cards carefully.
Could an oath on the Styx possibly work to absolve the issue? It definitely seemed like it would. But the wording would need to be iron clad.
“Poseidon are you even listening to me?”
Well no time like the present he supposed. “I received an…interesting and concerning prayer from a camper earlier this evening.”
Zeus sits up straight in his throne coming to the most likely conclusion first apparently. Great. “So you do have a forbidden child then. Where is the bolt brother?”
Thankfully Poseidon has come up with a good response that he realizes he should have said when this whole mess started. And he can’t think of why he just hadn’t started with that.
It would have saved them all a lot of heartache from the beginning.
He just hopes his brother is still thinking actually logically. So that he will hear him out.
“Brother the forges are under the sea. If I had wanted access to the master bolt I would not have gone through the trouble of having someone steal it. As it is I swear on the styx that I have not nor has my son Perseus Jackson stolen the master bolt.”
That causes Zeus to snap his jaw shut stopping whatever he was going to tell him mid thought. Seeming to consider him for a moment before asking. “Then who would have?”
“I do not know. I will not deny that these recent events trouble me. But like I have been saying for the last six months I am content in my position. I have no interest in the throne of Olympus. I am happy enough with my own kingdom.”
Zeus sighed. “I feel like I am back at square one as the mortals say.”
“Maybe not. There were others on Olympus at the time. And they maybe should be taken into consideration.”
“Our other brother?”
“No…considering what else he has access to. If he wanted to overthrow Olympus. I don’t think he would make a bid for the master bolt.” He was more likely to use the monsters from Tartarus than to steal a Godly weapon in Poseidon’s mind.
Besides he would really like to avoid a godly war. And pinning it on Hades would just shift the blame onto him. And guarantee a war between Zeus and Hades. Instead of it being a war between Zeus and him. Which would only being incrementally better because of different domains.
“So who else then? I doubt someone in the council is behind this.”
“I don’t know. Maybe someone at the camp.” Admittedly it would have to be a fairly brazen act for someone to be confident enough to steal from a God. But if someone had the right sponsor he supposed they could. “Which actually I need to discuss something with you. My son has been mentioning some things that need to be addressed that are deeply concerning.”
Perseus hadn’t stopped praying while he had been talking to Zeus about the developments. And his concerns hadn’t stopped compiling. He had just kept a note of them as they had talked.
Now to hopefully put his brothers domains to actual use. Since he was fairly certain that if he could actually get his brother to enact his hospitality domain. Than they could get somewhere with this.
Since this would be more than offensive to him considering the more Perseus had talked. The worse the situation had gotten.
And he hadn’t even been at camp a day.
Poseidon had been keeping an eye on his son’s prayer as it had continued. While he had kept the conversation going with Zeus. And had realized the more Percy had talked.
The more of a problem they had been apparently ignoring for gods knows who longs.
The choice to mostly ignore names when they were said at camp. Because they were said so often might have been a mistake in hindsight. Since they might have been also ignoring dangers at camp.
Unfortunately it was also proving to not be that simple. Since while Zeus was also proving to be a lot more level headed since he had sworn the oath.
He also wasn’t quiet letting him go intervene at the camp situation quiet yet. Much to Poseidon’s growing situation.
Thankfully for once Zeus wasn’t trying to just ignore the issue. He simply wanted to gather more information before they confronted Chiron and Dionysus. Which admittedly Poseidon could see why his brother thought that was a good idea.
He just wanted to make sure his son was safe after tonight.
Zeus sighed. “I know you want to go check in on your son. However I am afraid if we show our cards too soon. Than we might not be able to gain enough information about what is going on at camp. Your son is already proving to be a wealth of information.”
“I just don’t like him being in danger.” His son shouldn’t even be in danger. This was supposed to be a safe haven for demigods. He shouldn’t have to worry about cabin fights, potential deaths, or monster summons apparently. And yet here they were.
“I know.”
“And I am concerned what that Athena child is planning. She does not know what my child can do.” Well not really anyway. She had only seen a taste of what his son could do as a child of his. “And she should have no interest in having my child on her team.”
“That’s not even starting on the fact that Chiron shouldn’t even be having him on a team.”
“That too.”
When had that rule been dropped? Children who were new to the camp were supposed to have been at camp at least two weeks when his last child had attended. That was to allow enough time for them to heal from any possible injuries. And to get them basic training.
Five days was not nearly enough time to be ready for capture the flag. What was Chiron thinking.
“If something happens to my son because we are waiting-”
“Then you have my authority to intervene and bring Apollo with you.”
“I’ll hold you to your word on that.” Since with the way the Athena child was behaving. He had a sinking feeling he was going to need to intervene.
He wanted to believe that he wouldn’t. But with the family history. He had his serious doubts that they would be lucky enough that nothing would happen. Too many things had happened between their families.
“I do have another question while we are speaking.”
“What about?”
“The satyr that was sent out to retrieve your daughter…”
“Your wondering my opinion on him I take it?”
“Honestly wondering your opinion on the entire trio I suppose. You never really speak about any of them.”
“No.” Zeus agreed. “Mainly because I prefer to keep discussions of that to a minimum in general.” Yeah Poseidon couldn’t blame him on that one. Probably if it involved one of his kids he would do the same. Thankfully it didn’t. “I don’t have much to say on the two demigods. But as for the satyr he did his job to the best of his capabilities my daughter just chose to turn back right at the edge of safety.”
“So you don’t blame him?”
“No if I blame anyone I blame Hades for sending the monsters.” Zeus said with a sigh. Poseidon knows better than to point out why Hades had sent those monsters. “Of course its entirely possible they could have run into other monsters. Fates knows what could have happened if he hadn’t sent them. Maybe other monsters would have gotten her. But he fulfilled his duties to the best of his abilities. Falling just short of camp is unfortunate. But shouldn’t be considered a complete failure.”
“You might want to have a conversation with the Council of Cloven Elders then.”
Zeus got a tired look at that. “They are treating it as a failure I take it.” Poseidon nodded. “Great add that to the list of things to address when we go into camp then.”
“Sooner than later. They want him to reconsider career options over failing to get my son to camp over your actions. Mind you he found your daughter with god knows how little guidance considering Chiron’s recent behavior. And managed to track my son a rather large distance on a hunch.”
“In other words they are proposing a preposterous idea?”
“To say the very least.”
Zeus winced. “I will definitely make it priority.”
“Thank you.”
He isn’t entirely sure what the old goats can do at the moment that could force Perseus’ friend onto a career path change at the moment. But he would rather not wait on this. Since at the very least he has a feeling if they ignore it is going to cause some long term problems.
Even if he isn’t entirely sure what they are right now.
“So I assume we will meet around same time tomorrow?” Of course there was a chance that his son would not pray tomorrow. But he had a feeling he would be back. It seemed like Perseus had found the prayer to be cathartic for him. And if nothing else…
“Yes even if your son does not pray again. We need to talk about whatever I do find in response to your son’s prayers.”
There was that as well.
“I assumed so. I really do hope that what Chiron was saying to him was a fear tactic since I don’t remember the council saying anything but…”
“You can’t shake the concern there is more to it?”
“No.”
“Well it’s worth investigating at the very least.” Zeus agreed before wincing. “I will admit I am concerned of what else is going on at the camp. If this is just what is being mentioned based on the first 24 hours-”
“Not even that.”
“What?”
“Perseus woke up mid day from what I can gather. So he’s not even been at the camp arguably a full 24 hours. And he’s seen all those problems.”
“Wonderful. That is giving me a lot of confidence on what we are going to find as we collect evidence.”
“Especially considering as of right now to be honest Dionysus is the least concerning of the two.”
Dionysus had shown some concerning behavior. And he understood why Zeus was focused on him since that was his son and that was an Olympion. However Chiron was the one that they had more details on.
“True. Though he should be keeping the centaur in check.”
“I mean how much power did you give him to keep him in check realistically?” Admittedly the God wasn’t mortal. Just stripped of one of his domains. His major domain, but only one of his domains. So he should be able to balance out the centaur.
“You know what it doesn’t matter at the moment. We’ll deal with it when we talk with both of them.” Zeus said with a sigh.
“You do know that he probably is causing his own problems right. Like I know my son mostly listed problems with Chiron but that is mainly because he interacted with the centaur. There were still some signs of issues with Dionysus.”
“I am aware. We will tackle one at a time. And I am not ignoring him. But it is hard to tackle him when we only have so much information at him. Especially when your son seems not inclined to go anywhere near him if going by his comments.”
Yes he hadn’t missed that either. He wasn’t entirely sure where his sons issue with the wine god was coming from though he had some theories. And he didn’t like any of them. Though he wasn’t entirely sure how to broach the subject with his child since this probably wasn’t something he would want to talk about.
Especially with a Godly parent he barely knew.
This would take some time before he would get answers to the questions. If he could ever get the answers.
“So if nothing happens at Capture the Flag? If everything proceeds like normal. When will we talk to them?” With his son no longer being accused of being the thief that did change how things were going to be handled he would assume.
Returning to Atlantis later that night showed a marked improvement that Poseidon wouldn’t have considered the day before. Oh sure Zeus was still unhappy about the missing master bolt situation. And that he suspected would continue until it was resolved. Not that he expected any less from his brother.
However during that conversation after the prayer he had seen a side of his brother he hadn’t seen in a long time. So invoking his hospitality domain not only as a means of possible protection for his son.
But to draw attention to the camp had definitely been the right call.
They would be meeting again tomorrow. And while the tension was still there. Poseidon was less certain of the war than he had been 24 hours ago.
And that was with what little they had just been unable to cover based on Perseus’ prayer. He suspected there was even more lying in wait once they begun digging. Because this was just based on a testimony of a child who had only been at camp for less than a day.
“Your in a much better mood than I expected.” Amphitrite greeted him upon returning. “Did Zeus finally see sense?”
“In a sort. The bolt is still missing. And I think he may still suspect me but I am managing to redirect his attention thanks to an unexpected surprise.”
That caused his wife’s eyebrow to raise. “What kind of surprise?”
“Perseus has started praying to me.”
He spent the next hour filling in Amphitrite on what Perseus had told him. And as she became aware of just how bad the situation at camp was she became enraged in her own way.
He is not surprised. Those of the sea tend to look out for one another. And she had never been like Hera when it came to her stepchildren.
So she would not take well to the living situation Perseus was put into. And that was even before they started on how he had shown up at camp unfortunately.
He had already been planning to send a couple of things to Perseus via Triton to fill in the painful education gap. Since he did not trust the Athena child to actually educate his child the way he should be.
(Since among other things a 12 year old should be teaching another 12 year old. Though admittedly that was the least of his concerns involving the child of Athena. Since somehow she was working in the infirmary.
Which made him wonder just how much power had Chiron had given her. First she was allowed to be in a position she should absolutely not have as a teacher. Than she was allowed to do something she had no right to be working in-)
By the time he is done telling her of all he knows about. He knew by that look in his wife’s eyes and he knew that there was no way Triton was now just showing up to camp with just a few books he had originally planning on. “Just what did he have when he arrived at camp?”
“They were being chased down Long Island by the Minotaur. They didn’t have time to pack essentials. So as far as I know just the clothes he had on his back. One of the campers was able to…acquire some things for him. But it isn’t much.”
Maybe best not to mention the fact that those items were stolen. Since she already was less than pleased by the whole situation.
“What do you mean by acquire?”
Probably should have seen her picking up on the word choice. “He apparently had to steal them. Whether that is accurate I do not know. But that is what Perseus was told.”
Amphitrite pursed her lips in displeasure at that. “So the only items he has now are stolen. And everything else he has he literally walked into camp with after watching his mother be murdered?”
Yes he didn’t like the sound of it either. And he wasn’t sure why the situation for campers like Perseus arrival wasn’t better. But it wasn’t exactly something he had gotten around to inquiring Zeus about.
Something to pester his brother about tomorrow. Well, if they didn’t go back to arguing about the bolt again. Which he wasn’t entirely sure if they would or not.
It seemed like they had finally made some progress tonight with invoking the other domains. But Poseidon wasn’t entirely sure what that meant for their future.
“Yes.”
“Well that won’t do. What do children do in these kind of situations normally?”
“I am not sure. I know there is supposed to be a fund for this kind of thing. Where Perseus should have been able to buy clothes from but-”
“Apparently Perseus wasn’t given access to it?”
“No.” It like the staff that were supposed to be hired on for the camp. Was strangely missing. And they would need to be looking into that. Where was the funds for that actually going? “We are looking into it. But it will take a few days at least to find out where the money is actually going.”
“And in the mean time the child will have a clothing problem.”
“Unfortunately.” Which he intensely disliked. But did not have much control over.
“Well that simply won’t do.”
“Love-”
“I know you can’t do anything about the missing funds. But we can at least send him some discreet items can we not.”
“They can not be from us.” Not officially anyway. They would have to send it through Hermes Express. Admittedly at this point Zeus pretty much knew about the boy. But it wasn’t just Zeus he had to worry about. “While Zeus has accepted the situation he doesn’t want Chiron and Dionysus know we are watching the camp. Not until we have gathered more information remember?”
“I know. But I would rather he have something even if he doesn’t know it its from us yet.”
That was fair enough.
“Is there anything we can do for that satyr friend of his?”
Ah yes he probably should have expected her wanting to do something about that as well. Unfortunately that was a bit more complicated then helping with Perseus.
“Not that I am opposed to helping him but I also am not as sure how to help him. I know a lot less about his situation than I do Perseus’. His situation is more political.”
Like they could send the satyr some items that maybe could show their support he supposed. But considering the bigger issue at the moment was probably the known failure to guide Zeus’ daughter versus the failure to guide a son of a random unclaimed child.
It most likely wouldn’t make much of a difference at this point.
At least not until he put a claim down on Perseus.
Which, while safer to do now that Zeus was aware of his child’s identity. He did not want to do it quite yet since there was still the matter of Hades to deal with.
Percy was woken up early the next morning before the rest of the cabin by Luke shaking his shoulder. Telling him he was needed down at the Big House.
When he had asked what for, Luke had just shrugged at the question. Clearly as lost as he was by the summons. But said he would see him at breakfast. Before leaving him to his own devices.
Percy frowned at the small backpack on the table in confusion. He couldn’t think of anyone who would have left anything for him. He looked back up at Mr. D. “Are you sure it's for me?”
He got an annoyed grunt at that. “Quite sure they were quite explicit in their instructions.”
Percy was beyond confused on where it was coming from. His Mom was dead. She had no living family members. And sure he had prayed to his Dad last night. But why would they send him anything? They had never done anything before.
He got that Gods had busy lives. And they probably had their own rules about contacting them. And there was probably a reason he had stayed away before now. But why would he suddenly break contact now all of a sudden after 12 years?
And not just break contact but leave him a gift?
It didn’t make any sense.
It couldn’t actually be from him yet.
But Mr. D. seemed rather insistent it was when he tried to put it back. So he guessed it was. So Percy slung it over his back and after a moment walked out of the Big House looking for a quiet spot around camp.
He had a little bit of time before the conch horn would probably blow for breakfast. He should have some time to look through the backpack. And nosy cabinmates bombarded him with questions.
The backpack must have had some sort of charm on it. Because it definitely held more items than it should have been physically able to.
It was obvious to Percy that whoever had packed the bag. Had tried to put a considerable amount of effort and thought in what he was receiving from them. And hadn’t just thrown things half haphazardly together.
It had a few days of mortal clothes. Some clothes in a style he didn’t recognize but seemed comfortable enough which he guessed were probably from where his Dad came from. Some odd looking toys probably from same place as well. And a couple of stuffed animals.
(Part of Percy wanted to say he was maybe old for. But because of the way things were with Gabe he never really had gotten to have around. Not for long anyway. So he might not put them on display.
But he definitely was going to appreciate them none the less.)
Percy nearly cringed at first at finding some books at first. Since dyslexia made him and books not the best of friends. But after looking at the text he realized it didn’t nearly hurt his eyes as much as it normally did.
Weird.
Maybe this was a demigod thing?
Something maybe to ask Luke about when he got a chance? Or not depending on who this was from.
At the bottom of the backpack he found a folded letter. Written in the same script as the books. Unfolding it he found it was addressed to him. Inhaling sharply he realized it was from his Dad.
Perseus,
I received your prayer last night. I am relieved to here you arrived at camp safe and sound. Even if some of your fellow campers behavior leaves a bit to be desired.
Unfortunately for right now it isn’t safe for me to claim you due to outside circumstances. Nothing you did my son to be clear this is something that you’re relatives has caused. Though I am in the process of trying to smooth things out so I maybe able to make my claim in the coming days hopefully.
For now though you will have to remain in Cabin 11 even under the less then desirable circumstances of housing. Since this has also made us aware of a situation that had gone unnoticed by us. So thank you for that my son.
Your stepmother heard about your how your arrival at Camp Half-Blood went and thought that some additional comforts might help for the time being until it is safe for you to relocate to my cabin. Nothing overly fancy so you shouldn’t have to worry about your cabin mates trying to take it from you.
Just some extra change of clothes, a couple toys boys your age in Atlantis like, and some books in Atlantean. That should both hopefully bridge the educational gap that girl left the yesterday.
And just provide some recreational down time when you aren’t doing camp activities.
Take care for now. I cannot say when I will be in touch again. But do know I will be keeping an eye on you and will be receiving your prayers,
Your Father
P.S. According to your stepmother the clothes are spelled to automatically fit you so don’t worry about sizing.
Well that just about verified who his Dad was without saying who his Dad was. Even though he had already pretty much known yesterday. But he guessed if he was sending the books then well people were going to put it together to a certain extent.
Since it being in a certain extent just eliminated certain gods right off the bat.
(But then again so did the bathroom incident with Clarisse yesterday. Not like a whole lot of kids of Gods could probably control water like he had with zero training. It just no one was probably going to acknowledge it at this point.)
It was nice to know that someone was looking out for him already.
Though he had to wonder if his Dad had actually heard everything in his prayer. Because that had been a really long prayer. And well his Dad surely had better things to do than to listen to a prayer about his day at camp right?
Especially when he had a kingdom to run.
(Plus Percy really didn’t want to think about him actually listening to the whole prayer if he was being honest. That would be more than a bit mortifying. He would have definitely curbed his prayer if his Dad had gotten all of his unprocessed unfiltered thoughts if he thought that would happen!)
He was going to have to find a place to store this though. Since well he did remember that Hermes was the God of Thieves. And he didn’t entirely trust the rest of the cabin to try and run off with some of his things.
Especially knowing the current state of things. Since well his Dad had said they were looking into things. But it wasn’t like things were going to magically change in the cabin overnight or anytime soon probably.
And he had been around enough jealous kids before to know when to keep things close. Even if usually he wasn’t the one that usually had to keep a close eye on his things admittedly.
Slinging the backpack back over the shoulder he headed back to the cabins. He needed to at least find a place to store it before breakfast before he got to much attention from it.
Maybe Luke could help with it?