Ashton Irwin has always felt a little different than all the other kids at his school. He doesn't really have any friends, for one. Not because he can't seem to make any, but because he doesn't really see the point. He spends his time taking care of his younger siblings and watching over his mother to make sure she's doing alright. That, and the fact he's the only seventeen year old at his school who has absolutely zero talents.

Everyone's good at something. There's the swim team. The basketball team, baseball, football, all the sports. There's the smart kids, who excel in their grades and will probably grow up to be president or something one day. There's the socialites who always seem to have their schedule filled to the brim. The musicians, who pour their hearts into music and do great at it at the same time. Ashton Irwin is just... there. Existing, but not really doing anything. It can be a bit hurtful towards his self esteem but he tries not to let it bother him too much. He figures it won't do much good dwelling on insecurities anyway.

Sitting in class, he watches the teacher talk and lecture at the front of the class, drawing geometrical shapes and their calculations up on the board. He tries hard to concentrate but his eyes keep blurring, making the words difficult to decipher. He listens to all the classmates around him whisper and talk quietly to one another, making Ashton's chest hurt a bit. He even spotted the two kids who previously didn't have any friends either talking to one another, their eyes scanning the classroom around them, paying literally no attention to lesson ahead. Which is weird, because one of those kids is Calum, and he always pays attention to the lesson. Always.

Ashton rests his chin in his palm, doodling random shapes in his notebook. His curly hair tickles his fingers, his eyes stinging from lack of sleep. He's never been able to sleep well, nightmares and weird dreams always filling his mind at night. They never make much sense but they always leave Ashton feeling emotionally drained, as though every drip of energy has left his veins. It leaves him more of a shell of a person than an actual human being.

Ashton stays silent, hardly listening until the bell rings overhead, startling him. Ashton fumbles for his books as everyone starts leaving the classroom, the teacher abandoning her lesson as she erases the board. He throws his backpack over his shoulder, trying to avoid the gaze of everyone else around him.

He's not the tallest or the most muscled seventeen year old in the school, to say the least. He's, at best, lanky, and probably couldn't throw a punch if his life depended on it. Not to mention his curly hair is useless to brush and looks like it hasn't been combed in five years, and he has two deep dimples in his cheeks even when he isn't smiling. He's not exactly the figure of a handsome, popular high schooler.

Ashton pulls his backpack over his shoulder and slips out of the classroom, walking numbly through the school hallway. He presses against the lockers as he squeezes past the crowd, making his way towards the front doors. It takes a little while before he finally makes it out into the courtyard, the flood of students spilling out onto the grass. He takes a deep breath, watching the buses pull up to the curb. It's mostly for sophomores and freshmen, but he knows a few juniors take it as well. He's fortunate to have an old pickup truck that his mother got him for eight hundred bucks at most, and it barely starts up when it's cold in the morning, but Ashton couldn't care less. He's just glad he doesn't have to sit on a sweaty, crowded bus full of annoying high schoolers.

Ashton moves out of the way of the other students spilling from the front doors, leaning up against the wall and drumming his hands anxiously against the cold bricks. The traffic is always insane after school and he prefers to wait it out.

He's about to pick up his bag when a couple of familiar senior guys came sauntering over. They wear equally annoying smirks on their faces, eyes glittering with amusement as they surround Ashton. The eldest of the two, Charles, looks something like a brick, his face square and jaw firm. He has handsome features, deep set eyes and a rounded nose. His lips curve into a not-so-friendly smile.

Ashton smiles brightly. "Hey guys! I almost thought you forgot about me."

Charles grabs Ashton's backpack before he even can stop him. He passes it his little partner in crime, Jeremy, who opens it and starts rummaging inside. Jeremy is pretty much the opposite of Charles, with a thin, pointy face that reminds him of a bird. He has a long, crooked nose, as though it had been broken three time and never quite healed right. He has beady, dark eyes and a head full of thick black hair, a contrast to Charles's dirty blonde.

Ashton shoves his hands in his pocket, watching Jeremy search through the pockets. "Dunno why you keep trying to get money off me. You're not gonna find anything."

Charles looks back at Jeremy for confirmation. Jeremy shakes his head.

"Cause you're a broke little bitch and can't afford anything, can you?" Charles reaches out and shoves Ashton's unfortunately scrawny frame into the wall. "Cause your dad hated you so much that he left."

"I prefer to believe he was simply intimidated by my awesomeness," Ashton jokes through the slight pain in his left shoulder.

"Wait," Jeremy digs around in Ashton's bag some more. "Who's this, Irwin?"

Jeremy pulls out a crumpled photograph from an inside pocket of his bag. He turns it around so Ashton can see, a cunning smile on his face. Ashton's little brother and sister smile back at him from the picture.

Ashton feels the humor drain from his chest. He reaches out and attempts to snatch the picture back but Jeremy holds it out of his reach. "Give it back."

"Is this your two other fuck up of siblings? Your dad left them too, huh?" Jeremy said, smiling as he realizes he reached Ashton's soft spot. "Guess all the Irwins are freaks, then."

Charles grabs the photograph and peers at it. "We could always just find them instead, you know. Bet they would do what we asked without complaint."

Ashton grows irritated. "Don't talk to them."

"Who's gonna stop us? You?" Charles teases. Ashton clenched his jaw, knowing very well that he isn't strong enough or brave enough to fight two senior boys who look like they put steroids into their cereal for breakfast.

Ashton feels anger well up into his lungs. He's furious, frankly, because he hates it when people try to pick on his siblings. He can handle people bullying him, he can try and throw it off with a few jokes and witty comebacks, but his siblings are too fragile to be made fun of. Jeremy and Charles have been messing with Ashton since he can remember, and he's grown accustomed to it. But he knows very well that they won't hesitate to go pick on his siblings if it means maybe getting some extra cash and getting on Ashton's nerves.

He doesn't really realize how angry he is until Charles tucks the photograph into his pocket, giving Ashton a satisfied smile.

"Give the picture back," Ashton says, his heart clamoring loudly in his chest. His hearing fades a bit.

Charles shakes his large head, seemingly enjoying Ashton's aggravation. "Told you, Irwin, your siblings might not be as stubborn as you are. Gotta do what we gotta do."

"I said, give the picture back!" Ashton shouts, and he sees Charles and Jeremy look taken aback for a second. Ashton's never yelled. He doesn't like yelling, frankly. Charles and Jeremy recover quickly, laughing Ashton's anger off with ease.

"You're overreacting. It's just a picture," Jeremy said.

The sky begins to grow a bit darker, clouds rolling in in thick waves, rumbling dully. The air drops a few degrees as the clouds fade from white to grey to nearly black in color, but Ashton doesn't notice. Rage fills his lungs as something inside him snaps.

"I don't care what the hell you say to me! I don't care when you try and take my money, my clothes, my bag, nothing! I couldn't give a shit. But don't think for a second that you can go and pick on my siblings the same way you pick on me. I've dealt with you both for years, you never leave me alone! Why can't you just stay away, huh?" Ashton is full out yelling now, gaining the attention of people nearby. Charles and Jeremy stare at him in bewilderment but they don't make a move to quiet him. Lightning ripples across the clouds.

Ashton sees the class genius, Calum, creep towards him with caution. One hand is outstretched towards Ashton, the other by his side. He eyes are trained on the sky above.

"Ashton, stop," he says, but Ashton can hardly hear him from the anger pushing through his ears. He feels fury towards Calum as well for wanting him to stop when he's finally stood up for himself.

"No! Why do you both expect me to just sit and take it?" Ashton trains his eyes on Charles's shocked face. "You will not be talking to my siblings. You put one hand on them and I'll make sure you regret it. You don't have the right to--"

"Ashton, stop!" Calum says again, louder. This time he looks straight at him, the quiet kid, Luke, by his side.

"You don't have the right to keep picking on me all the time and taking my stuff and you definitely don't have the right to pick on my family!" Ashton yells.

Jeremy is the first to back up, as if just noticing the brewing weather. "Okay, fine. Just calm down."

Charles shakes his head. "Such a freak." He pulls out the photograph and tosses it by Ashton's feet.

Ashton shakes with the amount of anger in his body. "Just leave me alone!"

On his last syllable, lighting strikes a nearby tree, sending a deafening sound of tree bark splitting through the air. Kids let loose screams, covering their ears. Ashton sees bark and branches scatter the school courtyard.

Before he can do anything else, Calum sprints forward and grabs Ashton's arm, yanking him away from the two seniors and pulling him away from the crowd.

Ashton stops, yanking his arm away from Calum's grip. "What the hell, man?"

Ashton has never talked to Calum before. Calum has never attempted to make conversation before. They've never even crossed paths. Which is why, when Calum narrows his deep brown eyes at Ashton as though everything were his fault, he's confused.

Calum huffs. "Are you alright?"

Ashton furrows his eyebrows. "What?"

Calum turns to Luke instead. "Did anyone get hurt?"

The lanky blonde blinks his blue eyes at Calum and shakes his head. "No. I don't think so."

The dark haired boy looks up at the sky, which has, oddly, begun to clear. He lets out a breath, staring now at the tree that has nearly been split in half.

"Well, that answers my suspicions," says Calum. Ashton hates the fact that they keep talking as though he's not there. He huffs and feels the fury leave his body.

"I'm gonna leave now. I'd appreciate it if everyone would just leave me alone from now on," Ashton says and turns on his heel. He walks off towards his photograph and backpack, listening to Calum and Luke bicker quietly to one another as Ashton stalks away.

He just was able to shove the picture in his pocket and hike his backpack on his shoulder before Calum and Luke approach him yet again.

Ashton sighs. "I'm popular today, aren't I?"

Calum takes a deep breath. "This is going to sound odd, but it's not safe for you to leave and go home. The incident today with Charles and Jeremy probably attracted hundreds of monsters. They prefer to attack when demigods are unsuspecting, which means they'd attack while you're on your way home. Like the sphinx with Oedipus. Or they'd attack while you're with your siblings. Maybe the Empusa. Or the Minotaur. Or the--"

"Gods, Braniac. The poor dude has no idea what you're talking about," Luke interrupts.

Calum looks utterly confused. "But I explained why."

Luke turns to Ashton. "You notice the weird weather today? How suddenly it got all stormy and lightning striked and scared everyone and then it just-- cleared?"

Ashton blinks. "So what?"

"So..." Luke looks conflicted, like he isn't sure how to put his thoughts into words. "That wasn't just natural weather. We," he gestures to him and Calum, "think your anger caused it."

Ashton is so shocked that he lets out a laugh. "You think I can control the weather."

"I know it sounds ridiculous. Trust me, I know." Luke throws a look towards Calum, who shrugs. "But you need to believe us."

Ashton starts to argue but decides against it, seeing Calum's genuine and stern eyes. "Oookay," he says, drawing out the first syllable. "So, what. I'm supposed to just stay here so the monsters don't get me?"

Calum doesn't seem to hear Ashton's sarcasm. "Yes! Well, you can come with us. We know a safe haven for demigods where monsters can't get through."

Ashton blinks. "Sorry-- demigods?"

"See, I told you. You need to take it easy on the whole demigod revealing thing," Luke says to Calum. Calum waves him away with his hand.

"Demigods. Children of the gods. Didn't you ever take classic mythology?" Calum asks. Ashton narrows his eyes.

"Yeah, mythology. As in myths. As in not real. As in you're out of your mind," Ashton says.

"That's what I said too," Luke says absently. "And then I got attacked by a hydra."

Okay, Ashton thinks. They're both nuts.

"As fun as this conversation was, I have to go. Sorry to burst your bubble and all that." Ashton digs for his keys inside his bag, trying to find them in the mess of all his school books.

For a moment, Calum falls uncharacteristically quiet while Ashton searches. He hears Luke whisper, "Is that...?"

Ashton finally finds his keys at the bottom of his bag, pulling them out triumphantly. He holds them up to show them off to Calum but falters when he sees both Calum and Luke staring directly above Ashton's head. Ashton looks around him obliviously, feeling like that one dream where you show up to school in pajama pants by accident.

"Is it always that fast?" Luke asks Calum, sounding amazed.

Calum continues to stare above Ashton's head. "No. Definitely not."

Ashton looks up just in time to see something floating above his head-- yes, floating. It's the color of gold, round and shimmering, framing an astounding lightning bolt symbol. He tries to reach up and touch it but it slips straight through his hand like a hologram. He watches in silence as it fades away into nothing. Soon enough, Ashton's staring at the sky.

He looks back at Calum and Luke. "What was that?"

Calum seems slightly dazed, his answer delayed. "It's, uh... It's Zeus. He claimed you."

"Claimed me?"

Luke stares at Ashton with envy in his eyes. "From what I've heard, it never happens that fast. I haven't been claimed yet."

Calum blinks at Ashton, a faint smile on his face. "Welcome, Ashton Irwin. Son of Zeus: god of the sky, ruler of the Olympian gods."

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A/N: ashton's character! he's a sarcastic little shit. who can relate

i know a lot of you have read the percy jackson/heroes of olympus series. who is your favorite character?

mine's leo. fucking leo doesnt get enough credit for anything he does

anyway i hope all of you are doing well! stay hydrated. be positive. don't let bad thoughts into your head. thanks for reading! pls vote and comment your thoughts and tell ur frens about this story if they like mythology and 5sos!

i love you to the moon. bye