"You know," Percy said, frowning, "I don't think this is going to work."

Ryker gave him a blank look, raising an eyebrow. He cast his eyes down, accidentally landing on the wooden box he'd shoved to the bottom of his trunk. "Does it bother you?"

"It's not about me."

"Of course it is. This is your home. I shouldn't intrude."

Percy hummed, idly petting Styx, who had flopped himself at the foot of Ryker's bed. "I mean, I'm fine with it. I'm not sure how Mrs. O'Leary is going to feel, though."

"Hellhounds are basically dogs. They can smell it when you're cheating on them," Ryker pointed out, "If you were really worried about that, you'd stop right now."

"But he's so fluffy!"

He rolled his eyes fondly, swiping a cookie from the container and sitting beside his brother.

"It's just for now," he told him, "Styx's favorite is Ally, but she's still on her tour and I guess he got bored with it. He'll probably be staying in the Zeus Cabin with her."

Ryker frowned suddenly with the realization of what he just said. Percy gave him an inquisitive look, and the eldest Poseidon twin just sighed, deciding that if he was being that obvious about it he shouldn't really try and hide it.

"It's been... a while since we've been apart for so long," he murmured, "And even longer since the last time we didn't sleep in the same place."

"Come on, dude!" Percy tugged on his arm with a sympathetic smile and all the excitement of a puppy who wanted a walk. "It'll be fine! They're literally just a couple of cabins over. We need some brother bonding time, anyway. Ooh, we can be co-head counselors like the Stolls, and I finally have a godly sibling to eat with at mealtimes when Tyson's not here, and-"

Ryker tilted his head at him. "Who's Tyson?"

Percy gave him a confused look. "Weren't you just at Poseidon's Palace?"

"Yeah, and?"

"Well Tyson's there. He's our little brother."

Ryker's jaw dropped. He knew Poseidon played favorites, but he didn't expect him to only bring up Percy and no one else, even if he was his full blooded brother.

"He's a monster, not a demigod," Percy clarified at the noticeable incredulity on Ryker's face, "A cyclops. A big teddy bear. I met him when I was around thirteen. He's a general and works in the forges. You'll love him, he's the best."

Ryker sat in silence for a little, pondering over this newfound information, which gave Percy the opportunity to sigh, something wistful passing through his eyes.

"I'm going to be honest for a little," Percy said, leaning back, "I'm always a little jealous when I hear people spent time at Dad's. I... I rarely get to."

"You had Mother," Ryker pointed out, "I think I would have preferred that."

"The cookies are always bluer when Mom won't let you eat them, huh?" Percy joked, nudging him a little.

"I've been meaning to ask about that actually," Ryker said, clinging to the change in subject and eyeing his cookie, "Mother said it was an inside joke."

"My stepfather," Percy scowled, "The one before Paul. I called him Smelly Gabe. He told us cookies couldn't be blue, so we had a little rebellion."

"The abusive, gambling drunk?" He remembered, something inside of him flaring up just at the mention, "You guys dealt with him, right? He can't bother you anymore?"

Percy gave an awkward laugh. "Ha, uh huh, yeah," he said nervously, "Mom, um... she took care of it."

"What do-"

Ryker was cut off by a knock at the door, instantly drawing their attention..

"Come in!" Percy yelled through a mouthful of cookie, audibly relieved. He gave Ryker an amused look, "Who knocks in this Camp?"

"Milli," Ryker greeted as the girl stepped through the door, subconscious tension releasing from his shoulders with a sigh, "How was the escort?"

She winced almost imperceptibly, but Ryker was just as observant of her as she was of him. His eyes darted to Percy, who was picking up a cookie to offer her without a care in the world, and he decided against bringing it up just yet. He also dismissed the fleeting thought that Percy was quite literally on the same mental wavelength as his year old baby sister.

"Fine," she said, "A couple of monsters, but between me, David, and Erin, they were no problem."

His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "Erin?"

Another strange look came over her face, another thing he had to remind himself to check in on later. "Yeah, she can fight. It surprised me, too."

She composed herself and took in the scene in the Poseidon Cabin, looking down at Percy, at his posture, completely at ease sitting on the bed his twin had claimed as his own, and at the blue cookies in his hand and hanging from his mouth. She gave Ryker a once over.

"I take it your meeting went well?" She asked it so gently Ryker felt his heart ache all over again with memories of his mother. That'd been happening a lot lately, and he wasn't quite sure how he felt about it yet. Nevertheless, her smile softened even further, and she accepted the cookie, pleased with herself. "Good."

Her eyebrows furrowed.

"Why is it blue?"

_______________

"Wait, so you're telling me that you just... hung out with the Hunt and never got shot at?"

"No, of course not. I got shot at a lot, actually."

"I- Okay. That's fair, at least."

"Some of the older girls took it as a betrayal at first," he mused, "That Lady Artemis would accept Father's terms and allow me to stay with them. Even the new Hunters were wary at best and scared or aggressive at worse. But they got over it eventually. Can't say getting over it stopped any of them from using me as target practice, though."

"Even Zoё?"

"Especially Zoё," Ryker smirked fondly, "She was the closest thing I had to a best friend in the Hunt, and she was usually the one leading the raids against my tent."

"Sounds like her."

<*~*~*~*~*>

"Tell me about you and Annabeth."

"Wow, I didn't take you for the gossiping romantic type," Percy snickered, "What do you want to know?"

"I don't know," Ryker murmured, unfazed, "Anything."

"We met when I was twelve, we got together the day I turned sixteen, and we've been together ever since. "

"That's it?"

"What else is there to it?"

"I hear she's your lifeline. I hear she was your only memory."

Percy blushed red to the tips of his ears. "Who'd you hear that from?"

"The first one? Triton. The second one, Hera, and the fact that I was following you for most of your quest."

"Ignore the stinky cow lady for now. What?"

"What?"

"You didn't think to say hi? Meet your brother? Have a twin to twin bonding sleepover?"

"You were preoccupied with the prophecy and the looming end of the world at the time," Milli interjected for him, "A new brother would have only distracted you."

"... I hate that you Athena kids are usually right."

<*~*~*~*~*>

Annabeth poked her head through the door of the Poseidon Cabin just as they were beginning to fall into a comfortable silence, cookie container having long been emptied.

"Hey," she called in, "We're having a meeting at the Big House right now."

"A Head Counselor Meeting?" Percy asked, hopping off the bed, "Why? Did someone start using the Pegasi poop as radioactive projectiles again?"

Ryker just stared at him. "Why would-"

"Best not to ask."

"Lady Artemis is here," Annabeth said, "She's calling one. Something about why the sun's been setting early."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Look, if Apollo's taking a break just to flirt around, you can count me out-"

"He went missing," she said over him, making both Poseidon boys' eyes snap to her, "She can't find him."

"Of course he did," Percy sighed, falling dramatically against Ryker, to which the boy attempted to drop him, "Wah-! Ahem. Let's go see what Sunny Boy got himself into this time, then, Wise Girl. Don't destroy the Cabin while I'm gone."

"No, they're coming with us," Annabeth told him, turning to the newcomers, "Lady Artemis requested that the three of you be there."

He raised an eyebrow, and Milli spoke the words that were just on the tip of his tongue. "Are you sure?" She asked diplomatically, "It's a head counselor meeting, isn't it? We just got here today."

"But you're obviously more experienced than most new campers," Annabeth said, shrugging, "Besides, Allison is already there. And if Lady Artemis requests it, we have no reason to say no. I get the feeling... I get the feeling this is important."

"As long as it won't be an imposition," Milli ceded, standing, "We shouldn't keep the goddess waiting."

_______________

Ryker didn't know what he expected out of a Head Counselor meeting, but it certainly wasn't a bunch of teenagers gathered around a ping pong table and eating Cheez Whiz and crackers.

Although, knowing what he did about his brother and the rest of the camp, he really shouldn't have been surprised.

But even aside from that, none of it was more jarring to him than the presence of a dark haired girl wearing the silver circlet.

"Took you long enough to get here, Kelp Face," Thalia smirked, turning as Ryker entered the room, "Hurry it- Um... other Percy?" She leaned over to the hunter accompanying her. "Fiona, I thought you cleared me for concussion after that last fight."

"I have a twin!" Percy yelled excitedly, "Look!"

"I can see that," she said slowly, eyes flicking between the two boys, "How do you have a brother that no one knew about?"

She stopped, pinching the bridge of her nose with a sigh. "Actually, no. Don't answer that. Of course you have a secret twin."

"I only met him like five hours ago," Percy said, tone serious though a grin split his face, "And I'm gonna protect him with my life. Look how cute he is." He reached out to squish his cheeks with a hand, getting promptly slapped away. "Like a cat."

"Are we sure he's your twin? I feel like Sally would have told someone at some point." She turned to him, furrowing her eyebrows, "How's your archery?"

"Dreadful," Fiona cut in dryly, "But still not nearly as terrible as Perseus."

"There really are two Percys," Thalia gagged, shooting a teasing smirk at Percy, "I can't deal with this. I'm out."

"Fiona," Ryker greeted warmly, purposefully ignoring the lieutenant, nodding his head in respect, "Good to see you."

She returned the gesture. "Same to you, Ryker."

"Wait, huh?" Percy gaped, a hand over his heart in mock betrayal, "Hey! Why are you nicer to her than you are to me?"

"And you!" Thalia turned on the other Hunter, "How do you know him? I've known you for years and have never even once seen you not glare at a boy!"

"And?"

"You just smiled at him!"

"I've known him for a long time," Fiona said simply, "Even longer than you. I have lived, travelled, and fought beside him. And he has earned my trust."

"A boy with the Hunt? A not-jackalope boy with the Hunt? How have I never heard of this?"

"He left," she murmured, suddenly grim, "The day you joined the Hunt, they all left."

"The day I-" Thalia repeated, stopping as she paled, "Oh. So he- they- Oh."

She turned to them, ducking her head a little to hide the pain in her averted eyes. "I'm sorry I-"

Ally shoved her way in front of her brother, all but growling at the Lieutenant.

"Don't you dare."

"I-"

"Could you have done anything about it?"

"Wha-"

"Zoё Nightshade was one of the strongest people I've ever known. Could you have saved her life when she couldn't even have kept her own?"

"I- no-"

"Then don't apologize unless you have something to be sorry for. And if you could have saved her but didn't, we would never have forgiven you anyway."

Thalia's gaze sharpened, eyes narrowing. The electric blue of their glares crackled against each other for a moment before Thalia sat back, grinning.

"You," she said, obviously satisfied, "I like you. You've got fire. Any way I can get you to join the Hunt?"

"Don't bother, Thalia," Fiona sighed, "We've been trying for years. No decisions until she's fourteen."

"How old are you now, kid?"

"Thirteen."

"Oh, that's not nearly as bad as I expected it to be. And you're already smarter than Percy, wow."

"Hey!" Percy yelped, "I saved your life when I was thirteen!"

Thalia waved her hand flippantly. "It was a group effort."

"Did you like being a plant, Pinecone Face? I think that can be arranged."

"You wanna fight, Fish Food? I am literally wearing a quiver full of arrows."

"Bring it. You'll need the range to even have a chance."

"You-"

"If you two could reschedule this," Lady Artemis cut in, authority ringing in her voice despite her twelve year old stature, "There is an Olympian missing."

They jokingly rolled their eyes at each other and turned back to the table.

"How long have you known he's been missing?" Annabeth started as the chatter settled down.

"I have not seen him in over a month," Artemis said, "At least, not since the end of the Giant War. I assumed he was off sulking because of his foolish legacy's involvement. At worst, punished by Father."

"Right, because this whole thing was Apollo's fault," Percy grumbled sarcastically, "Because he raised Gaea and he made Octavian become the power hungry, plushie killer that he is. Because Zeus has always known how to fairly assign blame, right?"

"But?" Piper prompted, ignoring Percy's outburst.

"But Father swears he's done nothing. And the Sun Chariot is not being driven. He might be a slacker, but Apollo loves his chariot and he knows his duty. He truly is missing."

"Kidnapped like Juno was?" Jason asked, "Is that a possibility? Or maybe he's doing something and doesn't want anyone to know about it."

"Doing something?" Travis snickered, nudging his brother, "Yeah, probably."

Will matched Katie's dirty glare, who slapped him upside the head. "Focus, Travis," she scolded him.

"I would like to proceed with a prophecy," Artemis told them, "And prepare a quest to locate and save him."

Percy's eyes widened. "Not it," he said quickly, tapping his nose, "Not me."

"Percy, you just found your twin brother." Thalia reminded him.

"And? I know we're very handsome together, but you don't have to keep bringing it up."

"There's no way that's a coincidence. It has to be one of you."

"He showed up with five other demigods and a mortal. Could be one of them."

"Either way, the two of you are going to be involved."

"Leave my baby brother out of this."

"I'm your older brother."

"Are you sure?"

"That's what Mother and Father said."

"I refuse to believe that I'm the baby."

He arched an eyebrow, giving him a disbelieving look. Percy scrunched his face up at him. "Shush."

"We know he's missing," Artemis said, paying them no mind, "And we have to assume he's been kidnapped, as well. However, with the nights steadily growing longer... there are some associations and theories accompanying that that I'd prefer to never even have to consider, let alone allow to come to fruition."

"If you have any information at all, I think you should share it," Clarisse grunted, petulantly adding, "We're the ones who will be fighting, after all."

Thalia shot her a sharp look. She rolled her eyes in response. "Please."

That seemed to satisfy both the Lieutenant and the goddess, because her eyes narrowed and she answered darkly, "Nyx. Primordial of the Night."

No one really knew what that entailed, nor did they have time to think about what it meant for the war that was coming, but apparently Rachel did, if the glowing eyes and green smoke she was emitting was any indication. Artemis had barely finished speaking before the redhead was being overtaken by the spirit of Delphi.

"As deities of shadow and darkness arise,
A hero surrendered, the child of the skies.
The herald, the forge, and the warmth of home,
Aid the son of Apollo who is bound to the throne.

Return to a world of unquenchable flame,
Convergence with death, only one to blame.
Be drawn between blows to an unwinnable fight,
Faced with the prospect of endless night."

"That wasn't it," Ryker murmured softly, so softly that no one heard him over the line causing chaos around the table, "That wasn't my prophecy."

The head counselors were much more worried about something else.

"A hero surrendered, the child of the skies?" Piper croaked.

"Rock paper scissors for it?" Thalia joked weakly, "Best out of three?"

"Loser goes," Jason chuckled back, obviously strained, "I'll go scissors. You go rock."

"What if I wanna go paper, huh? Don't tell me what to do, baby brother."

"I won't let you-"

"Fight me."

"That won't be necessary," a voice cut in from the end of the table, "It's not either of you."

All eyes shot to the youngest present child of Zeus, arms folded and stare challenging.

"That's my destiny."

I've been on a prophecy writing rampage lately idk