Percy Jackson

Between the day that Travis and I agreed to go on that first date and the end of the school year, I had set a record for numbers of days without going to inpatient treatment.

That being said, they weren't all good days: Estelle isn't sleeping through the night yet and I get just enough demigod dreams and nightmares that I honestly don't remember what it feels like to have a full night's rest anymore. That makes my anxiety worse and makes it really hard to focus at school, but thanks mostly to my teachers understanding that I spent like two and a half months, collectively, in the hospital this year, they let me pass and go into high school.

After giving birth, since she wasn't busy enough resting after giving birth, my mom had decided to start taking a writing class, where she met this English teacher named Paul. They'd been partnered together for a project, and since she just had a baby, Paul insisted he could come to the apartment if that was easiest for her, so I got to meet him.

"Paul, this is my husband, Gabe." Mom introduced him to us after letting him inside. He was a middle aged man with salt and pepper hair- definitely white and... Possibly Christian? I couldn't tell if his necklace was a cross or not. Gabe and Paul shook hands, sharing a nod as my mom put her hand on my back. "And this is our son, Percy."

"Percy, hey! It's nice to meet you," Paul said, putting a hand out for me to shake, and I knew there wouldn't be any consequence to shaking his hand, but my anxiety... "You're older than I imagined- what grade are you in? 9th? 10th?"

Didn't.

"Nice to meet you, too." I returned, crossing my arms, letting out a careful breath. "I, uh... I'm just finishing 8th grade, but I'm on the older end of my grade, so I'll be 15 in August."

Thankfully, he didn't seem to take it hard.

"Oh! So you're finishing middle school, congrats." The older man commented. "Do you know where you're going to high school yet? In a city like New York, you have a lot of options."

Shaking my head, I shrugged. "Just... Wherever will take me, probably. And not be stupid annoying about my ADHD and dyslexia and... Other things, I guess."

"Oh my god, you guys should check out Goode if you're worried about accommodations." Paul Blofis told my parents and I. "I think there's a tuition cost, but they offer scholarships and it has one of the most extensive student support programs in the city. My kids don't go there, but my sister's kids did and they did well with the support. One of them has autism and ADHD, the other is neurotypical, but they both enjoyed it and had good support teams. If you're worried about that sort of thing, I think you'd like it."

"We'll definitely add it to our list of schools to look at." Mom said, curbing that conversation before it could overwhelm me because at that point in time I was still worried about failing the 8th grade. "I didn't know you had kids, though! How many do you have?"

"How many? Three, but they don't live with me anymore." The English teacher explained with a let down tone. We all frowned. "Yeah, it's a long story. My partner and I had fostered and we're set to adopt all three of them after taking care of them for around... Five and a half years. But then my part er got sick and somebody I worked with back when I still taught middle school heard that I had a partner, not a wife and knew that we had kids and so in this awful move, the teacher and some of their friends filed a bunch of reports against us, which got overlooked, but then the judge took those reports mixed with the financial strain of my partner's medical bills at the time and ruled against the adoption. Took the kids away from us, which shattered both of us and my partner died not long after that.

"I wasn't able to see or hear from the kids for a few years after that, but when the oldest one started middle school, she was able to get her hands on a cell phone and a phone book and called me. Said that she missed me and that they were fostered by another family, but all three of them still think of me as and call me their dad. That was four years ago." Paul went on. "Now I get to see them occasionally, but their foster dad doesn't really like it so it's limited. Their mother is nice, though. Less homophobic than her husband is. I hope that doesn't bother you guys."

My dad put a hand up. "Don't worry about it- I have two dad's biologically. Don't ask how, I don't get it. Prehistoric IVF, probably."

After that, they started to work on their project, but because of that conversation, now I am at orientation for Goode High School with Rachel Elizabeth Dare and Travis. A school that Travis' mom might be able to afford as a flight attendant with only one kid attending, but my parents?

I'm fairly certain the only reason I got in, much less got a good scholarship to this place was because Paul put in a good word for me even though he's only met me twice.

Yeah, Goode High School was undoubtedly a rich kid school. Which wasn't completely new territory to me- Yancy was the same. It was a school for delinquents, but it was specifically for rich delinquents. That's why it was a boarding school.

I honestly wonder if Yancy being on there helped or hurt my case with admissions here because of that fact.

Regardless, though, because it's a rich kid school, it meant that Rachel's parents were okay with her attending the same school as me, and once Travis found out we got into the same school, he ended up talking to the new camp counselor/advisor and his mom about going to Goode as well.

"I still don't understand why you want to come here." I told my boyfriend as we walked into our high school for the first time together. "Is Connor not like, pissed that you're going to be gone all the time even though you're a councilor?"

Travis shrugged. "Connor doesn't care that much as long as I do most of the council stuff this summer. Which will be so much easier since they're finishing up cabins 14 and 15 this week. Mom asked if he wanted to go to school, too- even though he'd be in 8th grade so he wouldn't be here yet- but he's always had less interest in the mortal world than me. As for why I'm here-"

The son of Hermes lifted his hand, which in turn lifted my own hand as well because we were holding hands. "I'm here because then I get to see you almost every day instead of once a week, and then it's also easier to hang out with Rachel. Even if we don't have classes or lunch together, we can still hang out at each other's locker or something before classes start of wherever people are in school before the first class starts. I don't know, I've never gone."

"And I still think you're crazy for wanting to go- even if it's to see me." I argued as we sat on the end of a bleacher with just enough room next to us for Rachel in case we had to run out for magical, demigod reasons. "Have you ever had to write a paper?"

"Uh, yeah- on how accurate Homer's writings were compared to the actual stories. Chiron did not like my take on Achilles being a slave owner when he literally was."

"What language did you write the paper in?"

"What l- Ancient Greek, why wouldn't..." But as he said it, my amazing and wonderful boyfriend realized what I was pointing out. "I have to do everything in English now?"

I nodded. "Nobody here speaks Ancient Greek besides me, Trav. You have to do it all in English."

"But my English sucks," he responded, his body sinking in on itself as a familiar red head made her way towards us. "Then again, so does my math. That's dumb, though! There should be an Ancient Greek school."

I chuckled.

"Babe, I can't even find a Portuguese school that will take me, Ancient Greek is out of the question." I respoded as Rachel slid in to the cold metal benches on the other side of my boyfriend. "Are we still meeting up with Annabeth and Reyna after orientation?"

Nodding, Travis confirmed our plans.

"Ooh, you two going on a double date?" Rachel asked, nudging my boyfriend. "Before things get awkward and you have to be around Percy's ex all summer?"

"Things with Grover will be fine," I insisted. "A little awkward at first, probably, but we'll get past it." Unsure of that, though, I paused. "Hopefully."

"It'll be alright- he's not even avoiding me anymore, just the topic of our relationship." Travis reassured me, squeezing my hand. "Which, I figure, is fair enough. I think he's excited for things to be at least more normal than they have been, but the counsel still hasn't met with him, so he's always been like, a nervous wreck around the camp."

"They still haven't met with him?" I question, Travis shaking his head in confirmation. "He got back weeks ago, that's... Ridiculous."

My boyfriend shrugged. "I think they've been busy trying to help zone for the new city and managing the strawberry fields."

As Travis finished speaking, two girls in cheerleading outfits walked over to us, smiling at us, which was weird because we're at a school orientation. Why are you so happy right now?

I don't care that the motto of this school is "Goode is Good", it's still a high school and because of that, it sucks.

Regardless, the cheery cheerleaders sat down in front of us as the marching band began to play a tune that I'm sure was a desperate hope to get all of the students to shut up. Lucky for us, though, it was loud enough for me to talk to the others without the two girls overhearing.

"Do you know either of them?" I asked Rachel Elizabeth Dare. "Because it's way too early for them to be that friendly to strangers."

Rachel shook her head. "I've never met them before."

"If they're cheerleaders, maybe they aren't here for the same reason as us." The son of Hermes pointed out. "Since you don't have any swim gear yet, I'd assume any freshman that want to be cheerleaders also wouldn't have the gear yet. Maybe the school asked them to come here for like... Reasons? Make the place seem cooler?"

"With a motto like Goode is good?" I retorted, even though he did mention a good point. "They have their work cut out for them."

Elbowing me, Travis told me to at least pretend to try and give this school a shot during the orientation as somebody in a suit took to the stage that was set up in the middle of the gym.

After accidentally (or so he claims) silencing us with feedback from the microphone, the principal of Goode High School apologized and began to drone on about how excited he was for us to join the goodest team of learners in all of Manhattan and how much he thought we would love it here.

(I doubt I would love it, but I suppose that with two friends here I'd try a little harder not to get expelled).

After the painfully fake and overly nice speech from the principal, one of the cheerleaders in front of us got up to speak, introducing herself as Kelli, one of the cheerleaders and members of student council at Goode. Her friend, Tammi, was also a cheerleader and a member of the robotics team. They were just here to help give tours of the school apparently, but they still...

Rachel, Travis and I all shared an uncomfortable look as Tammi introduced herself, confirming that we were all suspicious of them but knew that swinging a sword at them in the middle of a high school gym would not only be possible literal suicide (not that I'd care that much, but the others would), but it would most certainly be social suicide (which, to me, seemed worse than the prior option).

But here's the weird thing: besides sitting by us during the gymnasium section of orientation, Kelli nor Tammi made any efforts to stay near us like monsters would in the past when they're in school with me. And they weren't singling out other people, either, which would usually give away the fact that there's a new demigod here.

Which begged the question for me personally: are there monsters that just... Have normal lives?

Is that a thing?

The three of us are going out on a limb here by assuming they're monsters in the first place, but in the six months since we've met, Rachel's yet to be wrong about seeing or noticing a monster, so between her senses and Travis and I's hesitation about them...

I'm going to go out on a limb and assume they're monsters of some sort.

A part of me felt they were vaguely familiar, as well, though I couldn't place why. Maybe I saw them in the underworld, or fought another monster that's the same species as them?

It was definitely weird.

The rest of orientation was pretty standard, and thus kind of boring- Mom, Dad and I all had a super fast meeting with my counselor to confirm that my schedule would actually be appropriate for me and that they had the correct notes about my IEP and accommodations and whatever else, since apparently they actually cared about that at this school.

Or, they say they do. We'll find out in September, if I'm still able to go to school in September, if that's true.

After all, a lot can happen in three months.

The meeting being the last thing on my to-do list for orientation, I waited near the entrance of the school for Travis, and although they didn't have to, my parents stuck around as well. Seeing as he was on door duty, my mom was talking to Paul about an assignment for their class while Dad sat down with me on the steps, a silence between us.

Being raised by a demigod while also being a demigod is amazing at times, but weird or tense at others and it's for the same reason, more or less: Gabe knows.

He knows what camp is like, the knows how it feels to be in an extremely small cabin, he knows about the dreams and nightmares and monsters and... Everything.

He knows everything, and most of the time it's cool because so many things don't have to be spoken. He just gets it.

But sometimes those unspoken things aren't good things, and it can make things hard to talk about.

One of the unspoken things that Gabe knows about and understands is both the average life expectancy of a Greek demigod, and the Great Prophecy. Things that don't guarantee I die young, but that raise the likelihood by a lot. We haven't really talked about it, though.

With that, we also haven't talked a lot about my future. Not beyond the next months or maybe through high school, that is. Dad doesn't ask me questions about adult stuff- and I think it's because he's trying to mentally prepare himself for the nonzero chance that I die sooner rather than later.

I'm not sure if I noticed it last summer or not, but this last week I've noticed Dad being a little more distant specifically towards me.

Not in like, obvious ways. He's just been more insistent that mom rests when Estelle cries and he's also gone to Grandpa Gio's place at least once and like... He does those things normally, but it feels like it's increased since I've started packing for camp again.

Like he's trying to distract himself from the fact that I'm leaving and, like every other time I leave for camp stuff, nobody knows if I'll come back.

Because that's something he understands better than even I do, I think- my dad went to camp, and my dad probably had friends that I don't know about that died during their time at camp.

Even if his friends didn't die, he definitely knew kids that did.

And while Mom logically seems to understand the risk of me just being alive, between being married to Dad and being close with Thalia and Luke, a logical understanding can never measure up to a lived experience.

Dad lived it.

And now, as we sit in the steps of Goode High School, I could feel that my dad wanted to say something to me, but when so much goes unsaid, he doesn't say anything at all.

But I wish he would.

My dad is a demigod just like me, and yet I know almost nothing about his time at camp. He just... Doesn't talk about it.

Then again, besides some highlights that I hope won't scare them, I also don't tell my parents a lot about camp.

It just goes unsaid.

Mom remains blissful. Dad understands.

And we don't talk about it.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" Dad finally broke the fragile silence. "At camp this summer? Is Tyson going to be there?"

"I doubt Tyson will be there," I insisted, looking down. "Unless Poseidon makes him, I guess, but... I don't know why he'd want to come back to camp when he's literally living in Atlantis now, making weapons and junk. He's got it made."

And it's stupid, but talking about Tyson upset me, because I still don't get it.

Six months ago my sperm donor said we'd chat or talk more when I was in a better headspace, but he's never even attempted to reach out since then.

They voted to lift the ban on gods communicating with their kids, and he hasn't once stopped by or sent a letter or IMed or...

Anything.

And I don't want to care, and most of the time, I don't care. I don't actively think about my father most of the time, but sometimes...

"Do you think the gods actually care about us?"

The question didn't shock my dad as much as I'd expected it to. His expression dropped, he looked down at his hands.

It took him a moment, but he did answer.

"I think some of them care." My dad answered. "Maybe not all the time, but... I don't know, kiddo, I wish they did. Has your sperm donor been trying to reach out since the ban was lifted?"

I shook my head, pulling my knees in.

"No- not that I thought he would anyways." I reasoned with my dad, feeling a careful hand on my back. "I just... I don't know. I don't know how to act around him and he always somehow says the worst thing and I just... Wish I never knew him, because before I knew him it was so easy to not care about him and I don't want to care and most of the time I don't care, but..."

Not wanting to hurt Gabe's feelings, I cut myself off.

"But he's still your father?" As a demigod, though, I guess he was able to infer the rest. "And not some nameless, faceless guy anymore?"

I sighed. "Is that bad? That doesn't make you feel bad, does it?"

"Wh- no, Percy." My dad tried to reassure me, squeezing my shoulder for support. "Of course it doesn't hurt my feelings- I know that Poseidon and I have completely different roles in your life, but that doesn't mean that you don't have to pretend one of us isn't your dad. I was horrible to you for years, and you still call me Dad; it's alright if you're compelled to call Poseidon your dad or your father or whatever, even if he's not really around. Just..."

For a moment, my dad lost his voice.

"Try to not let it get to you, if things between you two never seem quite right," my half mortal parent advised. "You'll just drive yourself crazy." Looking back, Dad stood up and messed with my hair. "Have fun on your double date- IM us tonight so we know you got to camp safe, if you don't change your mind about camp in the next few hours. Love ya, kiddo."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I'll be as careful as the monsters or whatever will let me be. Love you, too, Dad."

Seeing a pair of West Coast lesbians approach, I waved the two of them down as I walked to the bottom of the stairs to meet them, still not wanting to venture too far without Travis.

"Hey, you guys made it," I commented as Annabeth started to go for a hug, but then stopped herself. "Travis is still inside doing something or another with his mom, but I think he'll be out soon."

"I still can't believe you talked Travis into going to a mortal school." Annabeth responded, rolling her eyes. "Can I give you a hug?"

And after a conversation where so much finally began to be said, I was feeling weird, but in a way where the comfort might be nice, so I nodded, accepting a hug from one of my closer friends.

"Ready for camp?" Reyna questioned, punching my arm, causing me to tense, but not jump (my therapist would consider that progress).

That's not an easy question to answer, though. After all, I don't go there in hopes of seeing dad or wanting anything to do with him. The training can be fun, when my doctors allow me to do so. My cabin is kind of nice, but it gets lonely on my own and I'm not sure how I'd feel if Tyson was there. Good things are happening, but I'm worried it's going to be more stressful than not to worry about getting those things completed before Luke becomes fully possessed. My friends are there and so is my boyfriend, but also my Grandpa who I have a shaky relationship with.

If it wasn't for Travis, I probably wouldn't have gone to camp until after the solstice this year, if not the fourth of July, but...

"I guess so," was the easiest response, sensing my boyfriend appear to my right. I shrugged. "I guess there's only one way to find out, right?"

"We're going to have a blast at camp this summer- and anyone who tries to ruin that might just wake up with sand in their bed." Considering the idea, Travis got a mischievous grin across his face, of which I couldn't help but smile at. "Which would also be fun. Before then, though, we need to find a shitty ass chain that I can pocket a few cans of soda from if I want to know any sort of peace from my siblings tonight."

Reyna frowned. "Do you need money? I'm sure I could purchase whatever it is you need, Travis. Praetors earn salary, and I've not much use for it."

"Hm?" My boyfriend frowned. "Oh, no. I have money. Don't worry, I can pay for it."

Not any less confused, Reyna responded with an okay as we headed towards the nearest Whole Foods, where Travis managed to 'pocket' over a dozen pop cans and a pound of candy. I took a can of coke for myself as well as a pack of gum, and Annabeth probably would've stolen most of her stuff as well, had Reyna not paid for it all.

I did catch the daughter of Athena pocket a chapstick when her girlfriend wasn't looking, though.

"I could've paid for that, Anna!" Reyna said as we sat down in a nearby park to have a snack before heading to camp. "When did you grab that?"

Chuckling, Annabeth tucked the chapstick back in her pocket. "It's fine, Reyna- I grabbed it by the checkout. Whole Foods is such a massive company, they're not going to miss two dollars on a chapstick. Stuff's overcharged as it is, it serves them right. They sell the same thing at bodegas for like a dollar."

"Then why didn't we just go to the Bodega store?"

"Because they don't carry everything my siblings wanted," Travis answered as he emptied his bag to take stock. As somebody who has been stealing from corporations for many years, it still impresses me that Travis can get away with so much in one trip. "And I feel bad stealing from those guys, so I try not to when I'm at one... Unless the owners being an ass."

"But y- holy shit, how did you get so much without a coworker noticing?" Reyna asked. "I've traveled with pirates in my day and I've seen them take smaller treasure bounties than that."

Travis laughed, stacking almost all of it back into his bag besides a small bag of chips and a pop.

"It's super easy, but my old man is Hermes so it's kind of second nature." My boyfriend informed the Praetor. "Half the time I can just use slight of hand or I'm subtle enough that they don't care, but for a haul like that I just bend the Mist a little. That's probably why you didn't notice me as I was doing it- that or maybe you were just too distracted by your girlfriend."

The look Reyna gave my boyfriend made me understand how she went unquestioned as Praetor at Camp Jupiter, but seeing Annabeth smile smugly made the whole thing much less intimidating.

"I'm awfully good at distracting my girlfriend, aren't I?" The daughter of Athena retorted as the aforementioned girlfriend sighed. Travis and I couldn't help but laugh. "Not only am I pretty, but I'm smart and have such a way with words that she just can't keep her eyes or ears off me when I'm around. Campers out west both love me and hate me for the very reason."

"It was one time," Reyna defended herself, making me laugh hard enough to cause pain in my sides. "I lost track of time on one of our dates one singular time and Jason and Dakota would not give it up for weeks after that. Some of the old farts in the Senate were also upset about it because I was only a minute early to the Senate meeting and not my usual 10 to 15."

"A whole minute early?" I poked fun at the daughter of Bellona. "Gods, what will they do with you? Fire you? Put you on unemployment? What ever will you do then? Have more time to spend with your girlfriend?"

Reyna rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Yeah, right. I'd just get moved back down to Centurian and be stuck on guard duty all the time."

"We could fire you from the council," Annabeth told me. "Probably make your summer less stressful."

I scoffed. "Because I'm lucky enough that Mr. D would let me not go to the council meetings." I commented, worried about which version of my grandfather I'd get this summer. "He'd probably drag me there just to sit in the room and say nothing. Now that Chiron's gone... I have basically no reason to be there."

It's not like the kids like you anyways, that annoying voice in the back of my head reminded me. You're just useful to them, so they keep you around.

Having them as allies doesn't meant they're your friends.

"Yeah, but the meetings have always been stupid anyways." Travis tried to cheer me up a little. "Even before I had to go to them, I remember Luke complaining about them. I don't know why we still do them- nothing gets done during them. It could probably be an email."

"Except for the fact that if we tried to use email we'd probably get electrocuted from all of our devices refusing to work?" I pointed out.

"True, but it's not like our meetings are productive, so it'd get the same amount of things done." My boyfriend concurred. "We have like two productive meetings a year. That's it. Every other one just ends in people arguing or fighting or... Bullshit or some sort. Sometimes it's funny, but it's usually just annoying. Katie got in an argument with Malcolm last meeting about the best way to cultivate olive trees. Only way I didn't completely lose my mind was because I distracted myself with stealing some of Mr. D's Diet Coke from the vault for a bit before changing the combination on it."

Rolling my eyes, I couldn't help but smile as I took to leaning against my boyfriend. "He's going to kill you for that."

"Or turn you into a dolphin, at the very least." Annabeth agreed.

"Pfft, I'll be fine." The son of Hermes promised, wrapping his arms around me, causing the lesbians across from us to roll their eyes because gods forbid two boys who like each other be affectionate with one another. "That was last week and he hasn't accused me of anything yet, and if he does, he can't hurt me because it'd make you sad and then it'd make your Dad mad and I think Mr. D is scared of your dad. Which like, fair enough, I remember what happened, but... That just means he won't turn me into a dolphin. If he did, though... We could still talk, right? You have fish powers?"

"I... Can communicate with aquatic animals and horses, yeah," I confirmed, looking up at his pretty face. "But I'm not quite sure how socially acceptable it would be for me to start telling everyone that I'm dating a dolphin."

"Only one way to find out." Reyna interjected the conversation, standing after checking the time. Helping her girlfriend up, but leaving us hanging, she nodded towards the road. "Lets go see if the Director will even turn him into a dolphin in the first place- otherwise, we're all getting turned into dolphins for missing tonight's meeting."

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🫣 hey

In true fanfic author form I'm back after doing insane things (moving across the ocean and then moving again, going back to school)- this chapter has been slowly cooking bc I have ideas for botl but I've just been struggling with the transitionnnn but I hope you liked this<33