Chapter Text
Turns out what Poseidon meant by “actively fight” him was just to more actively resist, and prevent Percy from gaining control over the water rather than a literal spar.
Thank the gods . He didn’t know if he’d survive trying to gain control over the water that his father was holding while literally fighting the said god.
That being said, he still ended up exhausted, as if he had run laps around the entire perimeter of Camp Half-Blood. His abdomen was cramping up due to how much strain he applied every time he tried wrestling over Poseidon’s control of the water.
It was comical really. Poseidon just stood there, completely unbothered, while Percy looked like a wet dog.
They had been training for a while now. Poseidon would grab a hold of a section of water, and Percy would have to find it, and take control. Unlike the first time they did it—when Poseidon’s hold had been loose—whenever Percy did manage to somehow take hold of the water, it wouldn’t explode like a geyser. Instead, it was like a little ripple.
Though Percy was frustrated, Poseidon seemed satisfied. “You’re getting faster at detecting where my hold is.”
“Yeah. Detecting only,” Percy grumbled. His bottle of water was now empty and lay crushed in the sand.
Poseidon chuckled, ruffling Percy’s hair. “You’re doing well, son. We can’t expect you to overpower me so soon.”
Percy rolled his eyes. “I’m not ever going to overpower you, but I want to at least gain some control over the water within your presence.”
Poseidon’s eyes sparkled in amusement.
They had even tried doing it under the water. It definitely helped with Percy’s endurance, but it didn’t change the fact that he was still extremely exhausted after.
After that, Poseidon eventually took pity on him. “That’s enough for today. Good job, son.”
“Did I even do anything?” Percy asked, face flushed from exhaustion despite being in the water.
The duo began to walk out onto the shore. “You’re more connected with the sea now, Percy. It’s not perfect, no. But you are definitely more open to the feeling of the sea. This will help you moving forward. Don’t underestimate its importance.”
“I understand,” Percy nodded solemnly. “Thanks, dad.”
“Don’t thank me just yet,” Poseidon chuckled. “We still have a lot to cover.”
“Oh, I’m sure.”
They sat down side by side on the shore, letting Percy recover before they went back inside. Poseidon observed Percy as he thought about the previous projections.
“How is Tyson?” The god asked softly.
Percy glanced at his dad, surprised at the sudden question, before softening. A small smile grew on his face. “He’s doing well. At least, since the last time I saw him, anyways.” His smile dropped slightly at that.
“Good. That’s good,” Poseidon nodded, before frowning all of a sudden. “I’m sorry you felt it was unfair when Tyson was claimed, or when he was invited to my forges. I didn’t mean for you to feel that way.”
“No, I get it now,” Percy shook his head. “You sent us each other. I just didn’t realize it at the time. It wasn’t easy for either me or Tyson at first, but it all worked out between us in the end. I’m glad he’s my brother.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Poseidon smiled.
“Umm, about Polyphemus…” Percy fiddled with his fingers. “I’m sorry. I had to save Grover. We couldn’t avoid fighting him.”
Poseidon sighed. “It can’t be helped.”
Percy raised a brow. “You didn’t think that with Odysseus.”
Poseidon ran a hand down his face, groaning. “That’s different,” Poseidon muttered. “You and Tyson are also my children.”
Percy snorted at Poseidon’s annoyed expression. Probably because he brought Odysseus up.
“I didn’t know he was luring satyrs,” Poseidon looked down. “Much less eating them.”
Percy swallowed. “Yeah.”
“For what it’s worth, you followed your heart.” Poseidon looked at his son. “As cheesy as that sounds. You did what you believed was right, you saved your satyr friend, and you retrieved the Golden Fleece.”
Before Percy could reply, Poseidon stood up, offering his son a hand. “Alright, enough about that. Go ahead and get some rest, child. I know you are tired.”
“And who’s fault is that?” Percy shot back jokingly but took his father’s hand and got up. Together, they walked back inside.
Percy decided he was done for the day, and opted to freshen up instead of joining the other demigods who were all probably still training. Endurance for power training was very different from their endurance during weapons training.
This is why Percy found himself walking into an empty theater room after freshening up.
Well, mostly empty. Near the center of the room, Paul sat alone in one of the beanbags, reading a book.
Percy walked towards him, curious as he squinted at the cover of the book, taking his time trying to read what it was.
“Are you seriously reading The Odyssey?” Percy plopped down beside his stepfather, sprawling across the beanbag next to him.
Paul looked up at him, startled as if only now realizing he had company. Paul smiled. “Yes. Yes, I am. The English translation, of course.”
“Of course.” Percy snorted. “Haven’t you read that about a hundred times now? Being an English teacher and all.”
Paul just shrugged, pushing his reading glasses higher up on his nose. “It’s a different experience, reading it now. We quite literally watched your own little version of the Odyssey after all.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Percy huffed as Paul chuckled at him. “How do you even read that? Greek or English, the way it's written makes my head hurt.”
“It was meant to be spread through oral tradition, that’s why it's structured like this,” Paul said, gesturing at the book he held. “Personally, I don’t mind it. The structure alone says so much about the culture and tradition back when this was first written down.”
“Such an English teacher,” Percy groaned.
“I aim to please,” Paul said cheekily before going back to reading. “Anyway, I just found it along with a bunch of other books on our desk in the room. I decided to read this to pass the time since, you know, I can’t really pass the time by training like you guys.”
“That’s fair,” Percy nodded. “Your cellphones weren’t transported along with you here, I assume?”
“Yup,” Paul replied, not taking his eyes off the pages of his book. “Even if they were, I don’t think the void has signal.”
Percy cracked a grin at that. “Probably not. Where’s mom?”
“Asleep. I’ll wake her soon, though. For dinner.” Paul flipped to the next page.
Percy hummed in acknowledgment. “I tired her out, didn’t I?”
“Not your fault,” Paul shook his head. “But those past few projections were quite…”
“Life-threatening?”
“Sure,” Paul finally looked away from his book to meet Percy’s eyes with a smile. “I was going to say intense, but that works too.”
“And you? How are you handling all of this?” Percy asked hesitantly.
Paul’s eyes softened. He placed a bookmark in between the pages where he stopped and closed the book, settling it down beside him. “I can’t lie, Perce, it still feels so unbelievable. Sometimes it feels like everyone here are just normal mortal people, and that the things we’re watching are just TV episodes. But then suddenly I’ll feel their divine presence reminding me that they’re actually the gods, or I’ll see you guys with your powers and weapons reminding me that you guys are half-god, too. Most of all, I see you get injured in real-time, and the reminder that this is your life slaps me in the face again.”
Percy frowned, but before he could say anything, Paul continued.
“But I don’t mind it. What matters to me is that you’re okay by the end of it. I don’t care if my mind feels like mush when the projections are over. I wouldn’t choose to trade this life for another as long as I have you and your mom.” Paul ended softly.
Percy sniffed, looking up at the ceiling as he lay in his beanbag. “I’m glad you and my mom found each other, Paul. Thank you, really.”
“I found you, too, Perce,” Paul rubbed his stepson’s shoulder. “You and your mom both mean so much to me and honestly? I’m glad we’re here. It means that we can be here for you in these hard times. We may not have been there when you actually went through these things, but we’re here now.”
“Thanks, Paul,” Percy said quietly. He went silent, hesitating, before he sat up and quickly pulled Paul into a hug.
Paul was surprised but hugged back nonetheless, maybe even tighter than Percy was hugging him.
Unbeknownst to the both of them, Poseidon watched this unfold from his place in the shadows of the gods’ corridor. He sighed, nodding to himself in approval before retreating back into his own quarters, ignoring the brief pang of jealousy and possessiveness in his chest.
Percy pulled back and laid back down as Paul smiled and picked up his book once again, resuming his reading. The two sat in comfortable silence for a while. Percy, for once, didn’t feel restless. He was tired—both from his training and the projections—and so he was content with just laying down and zoning out for a while.
Just as Percy was about to doze off, the door that led to the training area opened, and the theater was suddenly filled with the loud chatter of the teens. Most of them made their way back into their rooms or to the showers, all aiming to get some rest and freshen up before they would all eventually go for dinner later.
Annabeth, of course, first made her way over to where Percy and Paul were sitting. “The Odyssey?” Annabeth asked with a grin as soon as she was close enough to decipher what Paul was reading.
“Mhmm,” Paul replied. “You sound less disgusted than Percy.”
Percy spluttered in indignation. “I wasn’t disgusted!”
Paul and Annabeth just laughed, ignoring Percy’s protests. “Of course,” Annabeth grinned. “The last set of projections reminded you of the Odyssey, huh?”
“Something like that,” Paul smiled.
Annabeth nodded in understanding. “My mom would approve.”
“My dad would not,” Percy snorted. “He hates the guy.”
Paul chuckled in amusement. Everything about Poseidon and Athena seemed to oppose each other. Everything except for their children, it seemed. “It’s funny because the things you two ended up doing must have reminded him of Odysseus.”
“Percy’s his son,” Annabeth said simply. “He has favoritism privileges, unlike Odysseus. Anyway, I’m going to go ahead and freshen up.”
“Yeah, you go do that you stink,” Percy joked as Annabeth began walking away.
“Lies! You know I don’t!” Annabeth yelled back, disappearing behind the doors to the bathrooms, but not before flipping Percy off.
Percy laughed as Paul shook his head fondly at the interaction, returning to his book.
Eventually, Percy did end up dozing off for a while, at least until he woke up to Piper poking him in the arm.
The son of Poseidon groaned before sitting up and looking at Piper who looked at him unapologetically. “Yes?” He asked.
“Annabeth’s a July baby, right?” Piper got straight to the point.
“Yeah, her birthday passed when…” Percy faltered, a pained expression flashing across his face. “Yeah.”
Piper nodded sadly. “Jason’s and Leo’s as well. Jason’s birthday specifically was when, well, that happened.”
“Oh,” Percy frowned. “What brought this up?”
Piper looked around, making sure that no one else was listening in. Paul still sat beside them, but she trusted that he wouldn’t spread anything. “I wanted to give them a proper birthday celebration, you know? It’s still technically July. We can make up for what happened. Give them something else to remember their birthday by for this year instead of what actually happened.”
“You want to plan a surprise birthday party for them?” Percy asked, a smile growing on his face.
“Nothing too big,” Piper nodded. “You in?”
“Of course,” Percy shook Piper’s hand. “Who else is in on it?”
“Just you so far,” Piper smiled sheepishly. “Wanted to confirm Annabeth’s birthday with you first.”
“Do you have a plan?” Percy asked next.
“Nope!”
“Nice,” Percy shook his head amusedly. “I can ask my mom to bake cakes. I’ll help her out with that. When do you want this?”
“That’s another thing,” Piper pointed at him. “I wanted to ask you when would be a good time.”
“I mean,” Percy thought about it carefully. “If you’re fine with tomorrow morning…or is that too soon?”
“Not at all!” Piper chirped. “The sooner the better, I say. I know the projections aren’t exactly the happiest, so if you think it should be done earlier, then I agree.”
“Yeah,” Percy sighed. “If we wait any later, the upcoming episodes might make the mood too depressing. We might not be able to find a good time for it anymore once we start the next set.”
“That bad?” Piper winced.
“Oh, you don’t know the half of it,” Percy rubbed his cheek. “But yeah, I know my mom would love to make cakes. We’ll get to that tonight, after dinner.”
“I’ll make sure they don’t see you guys then,” Piper nodded. “Though I’ll need your help with Annabeth.”
“Yeah, I got you,” Percy reassured. “I’ll let her know I’ll be with my mom for a while later tonight. She understands how much time with my mom means to me and won’t bother us.”
“Great!” Piper clapped. “I’ll ask Hazel and Frank if they can help me with setting up for tomorrow, too. I’ll keep it between us four first.”
“You can tell Thalia as well, she’ll want in. Especially for Jason and Annabeth,” Percy told the daughter of Aphrodite as she stood up and dusted her shorts off.
Piper snapped her fingers. “Right. Alright, thanks Perce! Sorry for disturbing your nap.”
Percy shook his head. How the hell was she so energetic? Or maybe Percy was just tired.
Yeah, he was definitely just tired.
Paul chuckled, closing his book. He heard everything. “Let’s go check in on your mom then, yeah? I feel like everyone’s getting ready for dinner soon. You can ask her about the cakes.”
Percy stretched, getting up along with Paul. “Yeah, let’s go do that.”
Annabeth dropped herself down on a bean bag with a sigh of relief, happy to be in fresh clothes and free of sweat.
“Don’t tell me I tired you out, Chase,” A voice drawled from beside her.
Annabeth looked over and saw Clarisse. She hadn’t realized that she was beside her.
“In your dreams, La Rue.” Annabeth rolled her eyes. Clarisse had ended up becoming her sparring buddy during their training session just now.
They both kind of just sat there for a bit. Clarisse was picking at her nails with a pocket knife, and Annabeth was just watching her friends move around the room, mingling with each other.
“Hey, Clarisse,” Annabeth suddenly said. Clarisse stopped what she was doing and looked up from her hands, raising an eyebrow.
“I, uh, just wanted to apologize,” Annabeth picked at the hem of her shirt, but she looked at Clarisse with sincerity in her eyes. “For, you know, crashing your quest.”
Clarisse furrowed her eyebrows. “No need. It needed to happen.”
“I mean sure, but,” Annabeth shook her head. “The way Percy and I handled it. We kind of questioned your every judgment when it was your quest.”
“It’s not like I was right all the time,” Clarisse wrinkled her nose.
“I just think we could have dealt with it better. Instead of straight-up arguing and insulting you.” Annabeth frowned. “I know we were all so much younger, but for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”
Clarisse observed Annabeth for a second, before lightly punching her arm. “Appreciate it, Chase. And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry too. I didn’t want to listen to you or Jackson at all.”
“You still don’t,” Annabeth snorted.
“Eh,” Clarisse shrugged. “I at least hear you guys out now, no? You get what I mean.”
She did get it. Out of arrogance and pride, she and Clarisse would bark out their opinions and insist they were right without really hearing the other out.
Ares and Athena. Both gods of war, yet of different aspects. The brain and the brawn. They were bound to clash (especially in Capture the Flag).
But they are both more mature now. They actually listened to each other when it mattered.
“We were all pretty high-strung back then, huh?” Annabeth cracked a smile.
“Tell me about it,” Clarisse huffed. “Anyway, I might as well get this out of my chest—I know we’ll be watching the Battle of Manhattan. Emotions will be all over the place so I’ll say it now so that we don’t get all awkward again once it comes up.”
Annabeth looked at Clarisse quizzically, wondering what she was going to say. She knew what the older girl was referencing, though. When the projections showed the events of the CSS Birmingham, the air got thick with awkward tension between Clarisse, and Annabeth and Percy.
Clarisse and Percy have already talked (fought?) it out between themselves. Looked like it was Annabeth’s turn this time.
“I’m sorry for my choices back then. I won’t apologize for how I felt, but sometimes I wonder if things would have ended up differently if I had just fought from the start.” Clarisse said.
Her voice was quiet, but the weight of her words laid heavy. Annabeth watched as Clarisse looked down at her wrist and ran a hand over a bracelet that she had never noticed before. It looked like a friendship bracelet from where she sat.
Clarisse seemed to catch herself, and before Annabeth could get a closer look at the accessory, Clarisse pulled the sleeve of her jacket down over it.
“A lot of things are going to be shown,” Annabeth nodded. “And that includes a lot of our stupid actions. We were children fighting a war. Let’s put it all behind us, yeah?”
Clarisse was silent for a moment, watching Annabeth with careful eyes before they softened ever so slightly. “Yeah.”
Annabeth gave her a smile. Clarisse cleared her throat and looked away, going back to picking at her nails with her knife. “Ugh. No more sappy stuff.”
Annabeth laughed.
Sally was awake when Paul and Percy entered the room.
She was sitting at the desk, scribbling in a notebook. She looked up when she heard the door open and smiled seeing her two favorite people. “Hey.”
“Have a good nap?” Paul asked as Percy dove straight for the bed, flopping on his stomach. Paul chuckled at his stepson’s antics, giving Sally a short peck on the forehead.
“I did,” Sally nodded.
“What are you doing now?” Percy asked curiously from his place on the bed, propping himself up with his arms.
“Oh, just writing for a little project I’m working on,” Sally closed the notebook. It wasn’t hers, just a random one she had found on the desk. It was empty, too. “Just because we’re here, doesn’t mean I have to stop working, yeah?”
Percy hummed in acknowledgment, laying back down completely on his mortal parents’ bed. It was big and comfortable.
Sally watched her son fondly. “Is it dinner time?”
“I don’t know,” Paul replied. To be fair, time technically didn’t exist in this place, and they didn’t have to wait for each other to have dinner.
But it seemed like everyone had an unspoken agreement to have meals together at the same time for a semblance of a routine. It helped keep them on track, and at least keep a good eating and sleeping schedule.
“It’s okay,” Percy mumbled sleepily. “At least one of them is bound to come looking for me once it’s time to eat.”
Sally got up and walked to the bed, sitting on the edge and running her hand through Percy’s hair. “Tired?”
“Mmm,” Percy leaned into his mom’s touch. “Trained with dad.”
“Ah,” Sally nodded in understanding.
They stayed like that for a while, Percy just laying on the bed while Sally sat beside him, stroking his head. No matter how old Percy got, he would always be her baby.
Paul had taken the chair that Sally vacated, back to reading.
“Oh, before I forget,” Percy suddenly said, once again propping himself up on his elbows to better face his mom.
Both Sally and Paul startled slightly. They both thought that the demigod had fallen asleep.
“Can you make some cakes, later?” Percy asked. “I’ll help.”
“Of course,” Sally said without hesitation. She was already planning on baking brownies. She could easily make cakes for now instead. “What for?”
“Annabeth’s, Jason’s, and Leo’s birthdays,” Percy explained. “They all happened a couple of weeks ago but we haven’t exactly been able to celebrate for, well, reasons.”
“I’d love to,” Sally ruffled Percy’s hair. “When do you want it done?”
“We can bake after dinner if that’s okay,” Percy smiled sheepishly, reaching up in an attempt to fix his hair. “Piper and I agreed that we should have the surprise tomorrow morning.”
“No problem,” Sally nodded. “But I hope they’re all okay with chocolate. With such short notice, I think it’ll be better if we just use the same batter for all three cakes.”
“Chocolate’s fine,” Percy agreed. “Besides, I’m a hundred percent positive that they’ll like anything you make so it doesn’t matter.”
“He’s not wrong,” Paul piped up, still engrossed in his book.
Sally chuckled. “Thanks, boys.”
Just as the conversation finished, someone knocked on their door. “Mrs. Jackson?”
“Come in!” Sally called out.
The door gently opened to reveal Grover. The satyr's eyes lit up when he saw that Percy was here, as well. “Great, you’re all here! It’s time for dinner.”
“Thanks, Grover dear,” Sally smiled at him before nudging Percy’s arm. “C’mon, honey. Time to get up.”
Percy groaned rolling over and groaning some more into the sheets of the bed before ultimately getting up anyway.
Grover laughed at him. “You can sleep as much as you want after dinner, sleepyhead. I know you’re hungry.” He said as he walked away, presumably to join the others in the dining room.
Percy huffed, but Grover wasn’t wrong as his stomach suddenly started to rumble. Sally and Paul laughed at his antics.
Together, the Jackson-Blofis family made their way to the dining room as well.
“I’ll get started on the cakes as soon as I finish eating. You can join me whenever you want, okay?” Sally whispered to Percy as they entered the dining room. Percy nodded before making his way to sit with Grover, Annabeth, and Thalia.
Percy slid into the seat beside Grover and across from Thalia. The daughter of Zeus snorted as she got a good look at Percy. “Your hair looks like a bird’s nest.”
Percy scowled, running a hand through his hair in an attempt to fix it. “Whatever,” he muttered. “I’m hungry.”
“I knew it,” Grover pumped his fist in the air. The four of them laughed together and began eating.
Halfway into their meals, another person suddenly joined their table, taking a seat beside Thalia with their plate and all.
Annabeth looked over to see who it was. “What’s up, Nico? Is everything all right?”
“I just…” Nico trailed off, looking down. He took a deep breath as if finding his confidence before looking back up at them. “Is it next?”
Thalia’s brows furrowed in confusion. “What are you talking about?”
“The next set of projections,” Nico clarified. “Is it where I come in?”
Percy’s eyes widened as if only just remembering again what the next set of projections would be about.
He looked back to Nico, who seemed to know the answer but wanted confirmation.
Percy took a deep breath. “Yes,” He finally answered. “We met you the winter after the Sea of Monsters.” He also recognized the engravings on the projection box. The next set was definitely going to be about that winter.
“Oh,” Nico replied in a small voice.
Thalia looked around at their table, before letting out a bittersweet laugh. “What a coincidence,” she shook her head sadly. “We’re the survivors of that quest.”
Survivors. Meaning there were people that didn’t survive.
Percy looked down at his food. “I’m sorry, Nico. It’s my fault we have to go through all of this again.”
“Not your fault,” Annabeth said sternly.
Nico shook his head. “Annabeth’s right. You didn’t know this would happen.”
“Still,” Percy looked up at Nico. “Nico, this will be your first time seeing what actually happened. Grover, Thalia, and I were there .”
“I know,” Nico whispered, voice shaking slightly. “I need to know, Percy. I need to see how it happened. It’s not like I have a choice anyway.”
“I know,” Percy buried his face in his hands. “I’m sorry.”
Thalia looked at the two sadly. “Nico, we can warn you when it’s near. We can’t avoid watching it but the moment you need to stop and take a break, let us know, okay?”
Percy nodded in agreement. “I’ll be fine. We’ll go at your pace when we reach that part, all right? Don’t worry about the curse.” After all, he wasn’t physically injured in any way that would threaten his life at that point of the quest.
“I…okay,” Nico breathed, nodding slowly. “Okay, thanks.”
Thalia patted his shoulder. “Eat,” She pushed Nico’s plate towards him. “You’ll need it. I know I will. I don’t know how you three have dealt with this so far, you know, seeing your past selves and all the idiotic things you’ve done.”
“It’s not easy, that’s for sure,” Annabeth snorted, picking her fork back up to continue eating. “But it’s nothing compared to what Percy feels.”
Percy shook his head. “It’s still going to be hard,” he sighed. “We’ll be watching things you never meant for others to see.”
“We’ll get through it,” Thalia sighed. “Somehow.”
“Story of my life,” Percy muttered. “Sorry, Thals. Warning you now, my feelings towards you weren’t exactly all that friendly.”
“The feeling was mutual, I think,” Thalia shrugged. “Just remind me not to rile you up while the curse is affecting you.”
“I got you!” Grover saluted.
“Alright, goat boy. Thanks.” Thalia laughed. “On the bright side, we’ll be seeing ten-year-old Nico again.”
“Don’t remind me,” Nico groaned. Percy snorted, setting off the rest of the table into light laughter.
Soon, everyone was finishing up with dinner. The gods had all already left, and the demigods were also slowly trickling out of the room.
“Percy! Annabeth!” Piper called out. “We’re going to see if we can get a room with gameboards or something. Come with us!” She gestured to herself and the rest of the Seven. Piper met Percy’s eyes and winked.
Right. The surprise.
Annabeth looked at Percy. “You in?”
Percy shook his head. “I said I’d help my mom in the kitchen. She wanted to bake again since we finished her last batch of cookies. Besides, I’m exhausted. I’ll go straight to sleep after.”
“If you say so,” Annabeth shrugged. “I’ll join them, then.”
“Alright,” Percy chuckled. He gave Annabeth a short peck on the lips. “Good night, Wise Girl.”
“Night, Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth smiled. “And if you get any bad dreams again, you know where to find me.” She said seriously.
“Yup,” Percy reassured her. “Now, go. I know you’re itching to beat someone in a game.”
“You know me so well,” Annabeth grinned before jogging over to the rest of their friends. From behind Annabeth, Piper looked at Percy with an impressed look and gave him a thumbs up.
Percy rolled his eyes and gave her a shooing motion, gaining a laugh from Piper as they left the dining room.
The son of Poseidon walked into the kitchen to find his mom already working on the batter. Paul was leaning against a counter on the side of the room, his book still in hand. Percy raised an eyebrow at him. His stepfather shrugged, raising his hands up in a surrendering motion. “Your mom kicked me out.”
Percy laughed, leaving Paul to his reading. Wow, he was really invested in that book.
“Aunt Hestia,” Percy said with barely concealed surprise as he approached his mom on the counter, suddenly realizing that his mom wasn’t the only one at the counter. The goddess was mixing all of the wet ingredients while his mom worked on the other bowl with the dry ingredients.
“Don’t mind me, child,” Hestia smiled at him. “I found your mother in here and wanted to help. I understand you and your friends are planning a surprise party for tomorrow morning?”
“Yeah. I don’t know how much of a party it’ll be but Piper’s in charge of that,” Percy smiled back at her as he went to wash his hands. “Thanks for the help, Auntie.”
“It’s my pleasure, nephew.”
“Where do you need me, mom?” Percy asked Sally who passed him the bowl of dry ingredients.
“Mix these with Lady Hestia’s bowl, please. I think we have to make another bowl,” Sally instructed, reaching for two more bowls as soon as Percy took the full one.
“Got it,” Percy took the bowl and walked over to Hestia’s side. Quietly, Percy began to pour the dry ingredients into the bowl that Hestia was still mixing. He did it in small doses to avoid the flour from exploding everywhere. The two worked efficiently together.
“I hope my brother wasn’t too hard on you,” Hestia hummed as she mixed.
“Surprisingly, it went well,” Percy gave her a smile and placed the now empty bowl aside. “He actually listened to the things I had to say. We didn’t end up at each other’s throats either.”
“That’s good,” Hestia nodded approvingly. “I know respect for the gods doesn’t come as easily for you, nephew, and I understand you have your reasons as well. However, I do appreciate that you are making the effort to at least address them civilly.”
“I’m sorry, Aunt Hestia,” Percy looked down.
Hestia shook her head, ceasing in her mixing and placing her hand on Percy’s shoulder. “It’s alright, Percy. Let’s just try to hold back on the insults said out loud, hmm?”
Percy smiled at her sheepishly, reaching out for the bowl and taking over the mixing of the batter. “I think I can do that. Although, I can’t control what the projections will say.”
“Those technically don’t count,” Hestia laughed gently. “They were your thoughts. They should have been private to you and you only.”
Percy nodded, lifting the whisk to check on the consistency of the batter. Looked good. He passed the bowl over to his mom. Sally thanked him and passed him the other bowls as she went on to start making the frosting. Once again, one bowl had the wet ingredients and the other had the dry. He handed one of the bowls to Hestia and they both started mixing again.
“I wanted to thank you, too,” Percy said. “You’ve been one of the reasons why Zeus has even been listening to us in the first place.”
Hestia shrugged. “He is my baby brother, after all. Being the eldest has its perks.” She and Percy laughed at that before she continued. “But seriously, it’s nothing, child. It’s about time the rest of the gods got a wake-up call regarding their children. They wouldn’t listen to me alone, I do not have any children. You and the rest of the demigods are the reason for the sudden change. I just had to help them swallow their pride.”
“Whatever it is, I really appreciate everything you’ve been doing Aunt Hestia,” Percy said sincerely, moving to pour the dry ingredients into the other bowl again. “Not just in here, but for our whole lives—even if you’re not the Hestia from our universe.”
“You are all my family, Perseus,” Hestia said softly as she continued to mix the batter. “It is because of you, the demigods, that I still have a hearth to tend to. Protecting that hearth is the least I can do.”
Hestia smiled at Percy as he gave her a small bow in thanks. They were also now finished with the second bowl of batter.
“Oven?” Percy asked his mom.
“Yes, please. I’ve already pre-heated it,” Sally said as she turned on the stand mixer for the frosting. “Thanks, darling.”
Percy handed Hestia one of the bowls filled with batter and took the other one for himself. Paul came up behind them, handing them 3 round cake pans of the same size. “Thanks, Paul,” Percy muttered and began to pour the batter into one of the pans. Hestia did the same.
Once both of their pans had been filled, they both poured their remaining batter into the remaining pan. Percy placed all three pans into the oven. “And now we wait,” He said as he closed the oven.
Sally switched the mixer off. “I’ll separate this into more bowls. Percy, you can choose the colors we need, then we can all mix.” She instructed as she opened the cupboards to retrieve more bowls to mix the frosting and food coloring in.
Percy nodded, looking around for the food coloring. Hestia pointed at one of the shelves.
Percy quickly found all the colors he needed, and together, the four of them—Sally finally allowed Paul to help out—got to mixing.
Around thirty minutes later, Hestia pulled the cakes out of the oven and set them aside on the counter to cool.
“Do you want to decorate them already?” Sally asked Percy.
He bit his lip in concentration, “Maybe I’ll wait for Piper and do it tomorrow morning before the surprise.”
“You’ll have to wake up earlier, then.” Sally looked at him with a pointed look.
Percy groaned. “Yeah, I know,” he huffed. “I’ll do it, though. I just need someone to wake me up…” He rubbed the back of his neck. The most effective way to wake Percy up was by another person. Sounds, like a simple alarm, weren't enough to get him up, especially not when he was tired as hell.
Sally chuckled. “I’ll make sure you’re up, then.” She glanced at the cakes still cooling down on the side. “You can go ahead and rest, dear. I’ll wait for the cakes to cool completely to crumb coat it, and then we can decorate it fully tomorrow.”
Sally began pushing her son out the door as Percy hesitated. “Are you sure? I can wait with you.”
“You’re exhausted, honey,” Sally shook her head. “I have company here, go get some rest. Besides, if you want to wake up early tomorrow, better sleep as early as possible. I took a nap a while ago, I’ll be fine.”
“She’s right, dear nephew,” Hestia chuckled fondly. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep her company.”
Percy shot the goddess a grateful look as his mom pushed him out of the kitchen.
“Alright, alright,” Percy relented. “Good night, mom.”
“Good night, dear.”
Percy yawned as he made his way back to his room. Damn, he really was exhausted, huh?
Before he could get inside his room, another door opened and out walked Piper. “Oh!” She lit up. “How’d it go?” She asked, pushing him into his room and closing the door. She didn’t want to risk any of the birthday celebrants overhearing this.
Percy blinked, suddenly inside his room. “You’re still up?”
“We just finished,” Piper shrugged. “Decided to call it a night after Leo and Annabeth almost blew the room up after an especially intense game of Monopoly. I was just about to see how you guys were doing, actually.”
“Figures,” Percy shook his head. “And we’re all good. Aunt Hestia gave us a hand which helped a lot. My mom is still finishing up in the kitchen, but I said we’d decorate them tomorrow. If that’s okay with you, of course.”
“Duh,” Piper nodded eagerly. “Hazel had the idea of opening one of the rooms to an already decorated venue so that we don’t have to set up that much. Just the cakes are left so I’d love to help out.”
“Great,” Percy walked over to his closet to find some pajamas he could change into. “We’ll have to get up earlier than the three, though. Jason especially, his military ass has him awake at the crack of dawn.” He rolled his eyes.
“True,” Piper laughed. “If I’m not in the kitchen by the time you’re up, feel free to wake me up, then.”
Percy closed his closet doors, pajamas in hand. “Do you really think I’ll be up before you?” He asked with an eyebrow raised.
“Never know,” Piper shrugged. “If it’s the other way around–”
“That’s more likely.”
“I’ll wake you up.” Piper finished.
“And if we both aren’t up, my mom will most definitely wake me up,” Percy said.
“So it’s possible that you will get up before me!” Piper pointed an accusing finger at him, her voice triumphant.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Percy laughed. “Now shoo, I’m beat. Let me sleep.”
“All right, Aquaman,” Piper grinned. “Good night!”
“Night Pipes,” Percy said, shutting the door after Piper walked out.
Percy quickly got changed. Before he could climb into his bed, he paused. He glanced at the far corner of his room where the closet cast a dark shadow, his senses feeling like something was there. As if someone were watching him.
He shook his head. I’m just exhausted, he told himself, finally getting under his covers and knocking out almost immediately.
Somewhere in her domain, the primordial of night chuckled to herself.