Percy Jackson

You'd think that, considering the fact that I punched and then proceeded to cut the person that misgenered and was possibly about to kick her ass, Annabeth would just be grateful and not ask me any questions about it. Maybe besides asking why I did it if I didn't know what she'd do back.

But no. I don't get that kind of luck.

"Where'd you get that dagger, by the way?"

Coming around the corner, Annabeth sat down next to me on deck. I'd offered to take first shift since I was restless after what happened with Circe. Annabeth seemed well rested, though— I supposed she's been up the longest. She took the last shift last night.

"Hm?" I hummed back.

"The dagger," she repeated. "That you used on Circe? You don't usually fight with a dagger. Why the change of heart?"

What do I tell her?

"Oh, yeah!" I responded, nodding my head. "I found it while I was digging through the boxes and throwing whatever metal I could find at the monster that had grabbed you— seems pretty cool. I figured that if that monster couldn't be hurt with normal celestial bronze, then a sorceress might also be immune to it, so... It was just a safer bet. I don't like it as much as Riptide, though— but it works."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Can I see it?"

"The dagger?"

"Yeah! It looked cool."

Hesitantly, praying that there wasn't a noticeable signature on the blade that would trace it back to whoever Luke got it from, I took the blade out from it's scabbard and handed it to the daughter of Athena.

For a moment, it was silent as she observed and seemed to admire the blade— running her hand along the hilt before raising it to the setting sun to see the reflection it would make.

"This is... The coolest think I've ever seen." She decided, which surprised me after the warning Luke gave me about using it this summer. "Do you think Beckendorf could make one of these? What's even in it? Celestial Bronze and steel, obviously, but..."

"Some sort of gold maybe? There's some brighter streaks," I pointed out to her. "And like... Onyx? Do they use onyx in blades?"

"Stygian Iron probably— it's an Underworld metal," Annabeth decided, handing it back to me. "that's a super cool find. I didn't even know they could make blades like that."

"I didn't either." I agreed, sighing. "Speaking of which, you doing okay? Circe... said some awful stuff."

Annabeth shrugged.

"I've... Gotten used to it, I guess," she responded, which felt wrong on a lot of different levels. "My family was cool with it, but kids at school... Not as much, and the school admin was also fucking annoying because most of the kids didn't even realize that I'm trans until I had gym second semester and the school forced me to use the boys locker room, which... Yeah. I've gotten used to it, but it did come out of nowhere, which... Sucked. I'm going to go to a different school this fall— one that's a little more friendly, hopefully. Understanding. How uh..."

She paused.

"How are things with your dad? I know he called, but... How is that?"

Exhaling, I tried to think back on how things have progressed with Gabe and I.

"It's been... Good, overall, but some things are still weird." I started, pulling my legs in and sheathing the dagger once again. "him being a demigod is both nice and not nice at the same time because I know that he knows what camp is like, generally speaking, and I don't have to explain every little thing to him, but I... Think he knows about the prophecy."

Annabeth opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.

"At first, I wasn't sure," I went on, wondering how much is too much to say. "He wasn't shocked when I told him who my sperm donor was, but he still had a... Visible reaction to it that I couldn't place at the time. I'd assumed it was shock. But then when I got home from camp, he really wanted to start doing more father/son stuff together— which, don't get me wrong, it's fun and I was glad. But I had to ask him to slow down because things were still kind of touchy, and he apologized and backed off a little. He's insisted that he wanted to make up for lost time, but hearing him talk to one of his other demigod friends... He definitely mentioned that he didn't know how much longer I would be with them before camp took me again or before the prophecy decided to unravel."

Annabeth blinked.

"He... He said that?"

I nodded my head.

"I'm not sure he knows what the age is, but I think he assumes it'll be sooner rather than later. I think it's part of why him and Mom have been talking about trying to have another kid, too— they won't have to be alone if I die."

"If you die," the slightly older demigod emphasized, nudging me. "it's a very devicive topic, and Chiron really doesn't want you knowing about it yet, which... I don't really know why, but that's why I was kind of stubborn about it yesterday. Sorry, by the way. Mr. D wanted to tell you, I'm surprised he didn't once Chiron left. He thought that if you knew, maybe you'd be more careful. Maybe you wouldn't die then, even if you are the birthday that starts it."

I shrugged, trying to relax as I leaned back.

"In all honesty? I don't think it changed much," I figured. "I'm still like, super anxious and I have bouts of depression that can sometimes turn into suicidal thoughts so... You know? If anything, Grover's mental link is my driving force to not die or anything because like, then he also dies and I'm not trying to be like Romeo and Juliet, so."

The daughter of Athena smiled.

"You are so in love with him."

I nudged her.

"Shut up," I insisted, even if my cheeks were a little nore pink. "there's literally a brand new couple on board, why don't you pick on them?"

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at me, asking if that was a serious question.

"Because Clarisse and I have never been able to stand each other? Also, they admitted their feelings and are together now, so it's boring." She informed me. "But you two, on the other hand, have been functioning like a borderline couple for the last year, but every time somebody asks about it it's all 'no, Annabeth, we're not together! We're just really good friends— we lived together so it's not weird I promise, it's strictly platonic.' As if you're fooling anyone."

"It was platonic!"

She pointed a suspicious glance at me.

"That's what they all say," she insisted. "go get some sleep— I'll take watch for a couple of hours. You definitely need it before reuniting with your boyfriend."

And, defeated to the fact, I just sighed and got up, telling her to wake us up if she had any issues.

I was going to go tell Grover how much she teased us.

•••

Call it a miracle: I actually got to sleep for longer than 3 hours that night.

No connection or vision from Grover, though, so I guess you win some you lose some.

I hope he's not married yet.

The next morning, I'd just been trying to relax and doodle as I stood near the railing of the deck.

We should get there today.

"What are you looking for?"

Jumping at the sudden noise, I noticed that Reyna had managed to sneak up on me. She was standing next to me now, looking in the same general direction I had been.

"What... Oh, sorry, I didn't hear you coming," I apologized initially. "And I'm just... Looking, I guess? Hoping that maybe the island we're stopping it will come into view, but it's kind of like watching paint dry. I'm just anxious."

"You seem anxious," she agreed, giving me a once over before looking back out to the ocean. "what part of the mission are you on? The rescue mission or the item retrieval?"

"Rescue mission, but I was intending on getting the Fleece if we somehow ended up in different places since we didn't all leave together." I clarified for the younger demigod. "I was going to leave regardless of if they wanted me to go or not."

Reyna crossed her arms, thinking to herself for a moment before asking me.

"And how did your girlfriend feel about that?" She questioned, but I couldn't even think of who she would assume to be my girlfriend. "I'm assuming she came with for a reason, right?

"You're assuming..." And I really must be gay if I couldn't even fathom who Reyna was talking about. "what?"

"Your girlfriend?" She repeated, motioning towards the other side of the deck, where Annabeth and Hylla were talking about gods knows what. They've been getting along fairly well today. "the Blondie? You punched an immortal sorceress for her, dude, she's gotta be your girlfriend."

"Hey, now, I punched Circe because she was a bigot," I insisted, rolling my eyes at the assumption. "I would've done the same if she'd been homophobic towards Silena or Clarisse. Trust me, Annabeth is not my girlfriend. She's here because she was like, chosen for the quest and she has experience. We're sort of friends."

Reyna raised an eyebrow.

"Sort of?"

I shrugged.

"We get along for like a week at a time before something usually happens and we argue or fight or whatever," I summarized, looking back out to the sea. "We're just very different and sometimes that works out well and sometimes it causes us to argue. I wouldn't want to be with somebody who I argue with as much as I do with her. I'm also gay, though, so.... It wouldn't work out regardless."

"Oh, you're gay?" The younger girl asked. "so what I'm hearing is that you have the hots for Mr. Rescue Mission?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, whatever, maybe." I tried to not let myself blush to insanely when I admitted the news. "why are you asking? Do you have the hots for Annabeth?"

Reyna avoided eye contact before giving me the worst lies ever to insist that she didn't have a small crush on Annabeth.

•••
Clarisse La Rue

"Hey, Babe," I said, breaking the silence as we both laid in Silena's makeshift bed—too lazy to get up since the other five were all on deck already. "What do you think Luke was actually doing on they cruise ship?"

For a moment, Silena tensed up at the question, before relaxing again.

"He said he was there for a college course, right? Marine biology or whatever?"

"Ecology, but yeah," I confirmed, sitting up so I could look down at the daughter of Aphrodite, who's head rested in my lap. "but the whole situation... It was almost like the monsters brought him to us. It felt really weird."

Silena shrugged.

"I guess, I didn't think too much about it," Silena said as I sensed her pour just a few drops of charmspeak into the statement, which she... Shouldn't have to do.

It resurfaced an idea that I'd had a few weeks ago, though, that I'd quickly dismissed as soon as it came to me.

"After all, I don't know how college works or where he even goes to college," my girlfriend elaborated. "so I didn't worry about it. It's a little weird, but... I don't know."

Running my fingers through her hair, I debated how to word this without this possibly escalating into a fight that I really don't want to have with Silena so soon after finally getting together.

"Well duh, none of us have gone to college," I responded, thinking to myself for a moment before continuing. "Um, so you knew that he was lying, right?"

Silena sat up, the question catching her off guard, which seemed fair.

"I... What?"

"Well not like..." I started, offering a hand that I was extremely glad she still took. "Do you remember a month or two ago now when you went into the city for the day?"

Confused, Silena nodded her head.

"Of course, Chiron wouldn't let you get out of your activities for the day. Why?"

"Yeah because he's homophobic," I said back, which got her to smile. "Not actually, but... Not long after that, a week or two later I think, we were hanging out between dinner and campfire near Thalia's Tree and you did this really... Weird thing when we'd been leaving and I can't even describe what it was because I didn't see half of it because it took me a second to realize that you weren't walking next to me, but it was..."

I lost my voice for a moment, not knowing what I wanted to hear for an answer.

"Not long after that was when we started to realize that the tree was sick and that monsters had started to get in," I finished the thought for my girlfriend to hear. "And I didn't think anything of it at first because like, a lot of people go over by the tree, but then after running into Luke... He didn't seem all that confused or thrown off until he saw that I was with you, and maybe I'm just connecting things that don't need to be connected but did..."

Pursing my lips, I looked down at our hands before looking back up.

"Did you poison the tree?" I questioned. "Did you and Luke somehow plan to poison it because like... I don't even know why, maybe because he thinks that would somehow let her soul rest or... Why?"

Taking a breath, Silena exhaled and relaxed. Definitely thinking a little too hard about what she could say.

She opened her mouth, maybe debating if she could lie about it, before remembering that she's talking to me— the one person she can't really lie to.

"I... Remind me about how you're feeling about your dad again?"

I raised an eyebrow because that was definitely not relevant to the question at hand.

"That's not relevant right now, babe," I pointed out. "I promise I won't get mad, I just... Want to know. I'm not going to snitch— I'm not Annabeth."

Silena smiled, but I couldn't tell if it was a happy smile or not.

"It's more relevant than you'd think," she promised me, squeezing my hand for reassurance. "As for Thalia's Tree..."

She let out another breath, rolling her eyes.

"It wasn't Luke's idea originally, but he brought it up," my girlfriend confessed. "he insisted that he knew that there was a cure for it— he wasn't going to just let the camp get overrun by monsters and let everyone die. He told me about the Fleece about a week or so later— apparently Percy mentioned it to him when Grover first made their mental link. Told me to make sure that either Percy or I got a quest to go get it— but probably Percy, since... You know.'

But for a totally different reason, I found myself unable to respond.

It was a lot to take in, sure. Knowing that Silena did poison the tree with the intention to heal it again...

"Wh... Percy and Luke still talk?"

Silena shrugged.

"Apparently Luke found some of his stuff mixed in with some of stuff that got mixed between him and Travis, so he brought it to Percy's apartment not long after summer ended and Luke agreed to keep training him during the off season," she filled me in, which did actually make sense, knowing the two of them. "But then Percy didn't get the quest, and you're too stubborn to agree to somebody helping you, so I'm here now. I still adore you, but you're stubborn."

"I— okay and?" I responded, which got her to smile a little more happily this time. "If Luke had a cure ready, why poison the tree? What's the point? I don't get it.'

Silena sighed, looking at our hands as she spoke.

"He thinks, or maybe was convinced, that if the tree is poisoned and then healed again, it might... Revive Thalia? Like, basically bringing her back from the dead?"

I opened my mouth.

Nothing came out, though.

Why would somebody else want to bring Thalia...

Like I get that Luke misses her, but he had seemed content with what bad happened in the last two or three years I'd known him. It was still sensitive, but it felt like it had turned into a nostalgia thing.

And if it wasn't originally his idea, then what would bringing back the daughter of Zeus...

"Oh." I said, the dots starting to connect. "They... Who's... They're trying to speed the prophecy up?"

Silena shrugged.

"It's a gamble, but maybe? That or they're really hoping that she'll join them, because if they can get a child of the Big Three on their side..."

"On... Hold on, back up," I said, glancing to the door that leads above deck, making sure nobody was coming for this conversation. "Who's side? Who's trying to speed this up? It's not my dad, is it? I know he was involved in stuff last summer, but... He was a middle man, wasn't he? A demigod stole..."

I connected another dot.

"... Luke." I solved that mystery. "Luke stole the Bolt and framed Percy. Wh... Does Percy know that?"

"Oh, yeah, he learned that a long time ago, apparently," but Silena confirmed that she knew Luke stole the Bolt as well. "I didn't know about that while it happened, I only learned about it last month but... Yeah. Luke took it, your dad intercepted and Luke was able to convince him to hold onto it for a while. And Luke didn't get the chance to frame Percy— Thalia's dad did that on his own."

"I— okay. But why? Why steal the Bolt or poison the tree or... Continue to train Percy? What's the point?"

With a sad smile, Silena gave me a kiss on the temple before answering my question.

"I don't know if you'll get it," she started, which I... Didn't like. "You've like, always worshipped your dad, but it's just... Our parents suck, Clarisse."

Our parents?

She paused, looking down before meeting my gaze again.

"They... They have us and then make up a law so that way they can be deadbeats," she continued on. "So they can dump us onto our mortal parents to give them absolutely no support and set us up for failure in almost every feasible way— just to be told we'll be lucky to live long enough to go to college. And once we're in college? We get no more help. It's..."

She swallowed, trying to keep her emotions in check.

"Our friends die, and we're supposed to just... Be okay with that?" My girlfriend said, which was a decent point. "Or were supposed to just accept that we'll probably die or that... That were dogs to them. Pawns in games they should keep to themselves. It's not... Fair, it's not..."

I squeezed her hand.

"It's not like we want to tear down Olympus, I promise that that's not the point of this," she promised me, sounding desperate for me to understand that. "We're not... We're not destroying Olympus, because without it, we don't have Western civilization and as bad as it is, it's also good and we just... Want the gods to realize that they've made some shitty decisions and to change those decisions so that way kids don't like, feel like they should kill themselves because not only have they never met their godly parent, but once they're claimed, they learn it's hopeless to ever meet them. And if they do meet them... They're not parents. Luke met Hermes once, before he ran away, and his dad managed to both say that he was proud of Luke and that he didn't care enough about Luke to help him and his Mom out because it wasn't his fault that she was fucked in the head. Percy met his dad and the dude called Percy a wrongdoing in front of him and then apologized for the fact that he was born, to him. I met my mom once and all she did was make me feel dirty and like, wrong, for not wanting to be a serial eater and like it... She wasn't homophobic, but sometimes I think the conversation would've been better if she just was. I've never... Heard of a good story about demigods meeting their parents— maybe with the exception of Mr. D's kids."

"But Mr. D is also forced to be at camp," I concluded that thought. "Yeah, my dad wasn't... Super nice when we talked yesterday. I hadn't really thought about it since we were attacked and then the island stuff happened but... You guys have a plan then? Who is Luke working with?"

"Who... Well, a decent amount of demigods who either aren't at camp anymore for one reason or another," she listed off. "And then uh... You could call him Father Time, I guess? It's weird because the goals of Kronos and our goals aren't the same, but we don't... Have the ability to get the gods attention on our own so... There's also a financial backer to the whole situation, but Luke doesn't deal with that, so..."

When I tell you my eyes damn near popped out of my head when she said the name that started with a K, I'm serious.

"You... Like, the Titan? I'm sorry, is he crazy?"

Silena debated the idea.

"I mean... I can tell you that he has a plan that'll keep Percy alive if the prophecy unravels on his birthday," Silena promised me. "Or will keep him alive regardless. Trust me, the Titan won't like it."

I raised an eyebrow, afraid to hear more, but desperate to know how Luke intended on keeping the son of Poseidon alive.

"Tell me more."

"Promise not to tell anyone else?"

With my free hand, I held out a pinkie.

"Pinkie swear," I insisted. "And if you guys need more support... I'll see what I can do."

Silena smiled, intertwining our pinkies and touching our thumbs together.

"I'll pass the message along— but you might hate this idea."

"It can't be that bad."

"Oh, no," my girlfriend promised, leaning against me once more. "it's a lot worse."

•••
let's go lesbians let's goooooooo (have a photo of them on the house)