Chapter Text
When Percy and Annabeth arrived back home, New Rome wasn’t quite sure what to do. Percy had hoped that nobody would notice a change in him, and maybe if he was just really careful not to shed any blood in front of anyone else, he could pass off any weird stuff that happened as him being a son of the eldest three. Unfortunately, it seemed something in him had fundamentally changed in a very noticeable way, and the Romans most definitely noticed.
Hazel was the first person to approach him, catching him at a cafe getting lunch with Lily while Annabeth was at work. She and Frank had retired from the legion a couple of years ago and seemed to be settling nicely into civilian life.
“So, Percy.” Hazel sat down next to him at his table, her own drink in hand. “How was New York?”
“It was great,” Percy replied evenly, trying to stop Lily from grabbing her mac and cheese with her hands. “It was really nice to see my mom. Estelle’s getting older, and I’m a little worried she’s becoming a lot like me. I feel bad enough my mom had to raise one of me, let alone two.”
“Mhm.” Hazel drummed her fingers against her mug. “Nothing… unusual happened out there?”
Percy shrugged. “Well, you know. Attacked by a monster on the way in. Had to take an unplanned detour to shelter at Camp Half-blood for a little bit. Nothing too out of the ordinary.”
“You sure? Nothing changed with you while you were out there?”
Percy’s hand stilled halfway to Lily’s mouth with a piece of pasta. “No. Nothing’s up with me. Why do you ask?”
Hazel shrugged. “Just wondering. You’re at least three inches taller than the last time I saw you, which was what, two weeks ago? There’s bits of gold in your eyes. And I don’t believe you’re mortal anymore, are you?”
“Pluto. Of course,” Percy muttered. “Is it that obvious?”
“Everyone knows something’s different about you,” Hazel said. “Even folks who aren’t demigods at all. You’ve always had this powerful aura about you, but it’s been really intense ever since you came back from your trip. Percy…” she hesitated. “Did you somehow… ascend?”
“Dada!” Lily complained.
“You’ve eaten all your food, baby, I have nothing else to give you.” Percy showed her the empty bowl. Lily scowled, and Percy sighed wearily. “Yeah, I did. And before you ask, no I don’t know how or why. It just happened. I’m… I’m trying not to think about it too much.”
“That’s not a small thing, Percy,” Hazel said quietly, a slight tremor in her voice. “In fact, it’s basically unheard of. People are talking, they all know something’s happened to you. Some of them think we should worship you. Some don’t want you in New Rome at all. They say this isn’t a place for… for gods. Lots of people don’t believe it at all, but… it’s hard to deny.”
Percy looked at her with alarm. “You think people might try to kick us out of the city because of me?”
“I don’t think anyone is brave enough to try. People were terrified of you as a mortal. They’re so much more scared of you now. But there is definitely a very vocal minority who don’t want you here.” Hazel scooped Lily up, bouncing her on her lap. Lily giggled.
“Ay-zoo!”
“Hi, Lils.” The daughter of Pluto smiled softly at her.
“What about you?” Percy asked quietly.
“Me?”
“What do you think about… me?”
Hazel sighed. “Truthfully, Percy, I don’t know what to think. You’re one of my closest friends, and I hope that hasn’t changed too much, but… these are uncharted waters. I don’t really know what you’re supposed to do when your friend ascends to godhood.”
“No. Believe it or not, there isn’t a manual on what to do when you ascend to godhood, either.”
“So are you… some kind of sea god, now? Because of your father and all?”
“No. I’m still figuring things out, but I know I’m the god of loyalty, fluids, and protection. There’s more than that, but I haven’t figured them out yet. The other gods won’t tell me.”
“This is surreal.” Hazel held Lily up, letting her stand on her knees. “So you’re sort of a demigod now, aren’t you, Lils?”
“She’s not,” Percy said sharply, then immediately winced when he saw how Hazel had recoiled. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I forget that I’m… anyway. Lily isn’t a demigod, not even sort of. It’s really important that she isn’t, otherwise I… I’m not allowed to be in her life anymore.”
“Oh.” Understanding dawned on Hazel’s face. “Right, gods and their kids… gods, Percy, that sucks. I’m so sorry.”
“Yeah,” Percy muttered glumly. “I’m sorry too. Turns out there isn’t an undo button on ascension.”
Hazel shook her head. “You don’t need to apologise to me, I-“ she broke off suddenly as a tangible presence settled over the cafe. Other patrons inside fell silent, all of them cowering in fear as the doorway was filled with the silhouette of a man - no, a god - whose gaze swept across the interior.
“Perseus the Ascended,” a familiar voice boomed out, and with a heavy and purposeful stride the great war god Mars stepped inside the cafe.
Percy’s jaw clenched as he got to his feet. “It’s Percy. What are you doing here? You’re scaring everyone.”
Mars ignored him and came further inside until the two of them were almost within arm’s length of each other. “You’ve caused quite an upset among the gods, kid.”
“Can’t imagine how. Can we at least take this outside?”
Again Percy was ignored. Mars glanced down at Hazel, who hastily bowed her head to him, and a sinister grin split his face when he saw Lily still sitting in Hazel’s lap. “So this is the thing that’s caused so much arguing. So tiny I could almost squish it between my fingers.”
Percy’s blood boiled. “Try it and see what happens to you.”
Hazel flinched at the open challenge made to the god of war, but Mars just grinned at Percy. “Someone else might warn you to be careful, godling. You aren’t in control of your powers yet, are you?”
Percy took a deep breath and tried to force his anger down. As much as it infuriated him to admit, Mars was right. This dangerous domain he hadn’t claimed yet could end up hurting people if he wasn’t careful. “Why are you here, Mars?”
The Roman god of war shrugged. “Came to see you. I was intrigued. An ascended son of the sea god, but not a sea god yourself. No, you’re more like me. You’re a war god, kid.”
Percy’s mouth went dry. “What do you mean, a war god?”
“There’s different types of war gods. Rome has many. Even your people have multiple, graecus. All of us are for war, but for different aspects of war. It would do you good to figure out what type of war god you are.” Mars crossed his arms across his chest. “Hm. I’ll be back for you once you’ve figured yourself out. I’d like to see what you can do when you’re fully in control of your domains.”
Without any further warning he turned back around and walked out of the cafe. Percy was left standing in place, the eyes of all the cafe patrons now on him. In the back of his mind he heard whispers of silent prayers, people he didn’t know begging him not to hurt them. His heart sank and he turned away from them, taking Lily back from Hazel.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured again. “I think… we should go home. It was nice seeing you.”
“Percy…”
He didn’t wait long enough to find out what else Hazel wanted to say to him. He dumped a handful of denarii on the table to cover Lily’s food and walked out of the cafe, keeping his eyes low so that nobody would look at him and see how close he was to crying.