ARE YOU REALLY HER SON?
SYNOPSIS :: Have you ever wondered if the Gods and Goddesses would like to exchange children? Probably not, but here is a minor God who does a 'small experiment' on them!
WORD // CHARACTER COUNT :: 01.9k // 10.8k
T.W :: self-doubt, twice quoted two lines from two books of the Percy Jackson series, mention of Luke, Kronos, disowning children, prophecy shananigans, probably not accurate reactions, dead and stuff related to the War of Manhattan if you squint, other stuff i cant name, CUT OF BEFORE DRAMA (will put out part 02 if needed)
A/N :: this is an AU where Chris & Silena never joined Luke, actually Luke was never the vessel for Kronos (spoiler, it was Ethan!) and Charles survived :] i just like being happy okay. this is a weird idea but, it's kind of like a cabin exchange but at the cost of who you are! i would as the Romans but i havent read Heroes of Olympus yet. also i think i prefer standing by the idea that Rick forgot the age gap between Luke & Annabeth (i think it's mentioned by him somewhere?) so the 'crush' thing never existed, okay? okay!
"With the breath of winds, the trickery returns; Time bearing today, it will not stop before it burns. Warriors of eternity, forged in wood, will now bend To the sounds of power, beheading the past. The choice of one will waver them all, And uplifted shall be none."
Chiron nodded at the Oracle, allowing her to rest on the steps of the Big House. "I understand your concern but we cannot let this air so urgently."
His words meant to consolidate her but maybe it did the opposite. "What if it's with Percy again? I don't like how no one will be uplifted and again one person's choice.." Rachel presses, looking at the camp.
The summer had barely begun and campers were only coming in now. A prophecy was never any good.
"I understand, Miss Dare, yet, it may not be helped."
The redhead looked around. There was more than the usual twelve cabins. There were twenty now, all dedicated to each God and Goddess. Hell, most of the endangered demigods hadn't even arrived to camp yet.
"You know, you can't really avoid this one." Dionysus commented, coming around from the corner with his Diet Coke can. "What?" He stared back at the two faces gawking him, as a sip was taken from the can by him too.
"What does that mean?" Rachel stood up and approached the god. "What do you mean by 'it can't be avoided'?" In response, he only raised his hands.
"No prophecy can be. What're you trying to get out of me, kid?" Chiron sighs, gesturing for her to step back. "Nothing, Lord Dionysus. Is there anything we should look out for in this prophecy?"
And, as if trying to make them mad on purpose, the god only shrugs. "Just don't cry over it." Rachel groaned, rubbing a hand over her face, 'Real helpful', she muttered under her breath as she looked back to the main camp grounds.
"Has Percy come yet?" Chiron steps ahead of where she's looking, gazing out at the minimum amount of campers, as a few enter the boundary.
"Not quite." The sight was quite happy too. William, or Will, had just passed the border and fell into a strong hug with the Hades child, Nico. Dionysus followed his eyes and cackled quietly before moving ahead and going to his designated spot.
Probably to sit and sleep, or drink more Coke; really, his choice. "I really don't like where this is going," Rachel added, fiddling with her sleeve. Just then, a sound of panting erputed from behind them.
"GUYS! GUYS!"
Tripping over his feet, Grover stopped before he faceplanted into the grass. "Grover?" Chiron looked at the satyr who was panting and pointing at the back end of camp, a place mainly set for training drills. He kept trying to mutter something, but it ended up as gibberish.
"Camp.. hehh.. Doolo-" His chest was swelling as he sat on the floor. "Cabins- inlamed... He- Coming!" Rachel and Chiron, without turning their heads, gave a look to each other before Chiron leaned down to Grover.
"Catch your breath and slowly explain." Though, by the time Grover could, a horn blared and a familiar voice invited every resident of camp to gather by the Chariot Field.
"Is that.." Grover's eyes widened as the satyr hurriedly got up and made a run for the spot. "PERCY?!" His voice screeched throughout as the centaur sighed.
"I believe that is our queue as well." Rachel, however, didn't seem convinced. He began to walk without her, but she stopped him, "Who is it?"
"Hermes."
Again, the half-man continued his tredding. The redhead grumbled yet, trailed behind him.
Upon arriving, there were many recognizable faces like Silena, her boyfriend, Charlie, and so on... Hermes was high up on the spectator platform, near the horn.
"MEMBERS OF CAMP!" His voice was intentional, but too loud because of the horn. He clears his throat, stepping back a bit.
"I apologize, but I have some news! Terrible to some, rejoicing for others. I can't care less for either." The crowd was being pushed from between itself as Hermes started a small lecture on how Gods, or at least some of them, were presiding over a thought and had finally made a decision to do a 'small experiment' on camp.
Percy was rushing to find Chiron or Annabeth, whichever one was closer. "What's happening?" Chiron turned to the hero.
"You're being assigned to new cabins by Dolos." Behind him, Grover ran up and put his mortal hands on him. "He's got permission from the Gods! How- you guys are going to be in another person's custody!"
The messenger of the gods sees the commotion occurring between everyone as he announces the news. "Now, now! I will call names. Go and sit in the designated seats when your name is called. Cheating will get you a summer's worth of punishments."
Everyone, as if scared (which they mostly were), quietened down. "Now, only specific names are given, so be relieved." That did not ease the nerves of Percy and his friends. They knew that their names would be there - Come on, what are the chances there wouldn't? Like zero?
Then Hermes began again, "Starting with those now in Dionysus' cabin!" The wine god, right behind him, let out a mixture of a groan and a chuckle; both mildly annoyed and amused.
"We have...Clarisse La Rue!"
Multiple gasps erupted from the crowd as Clarisse stepped out, her spear in hand. "What? Under what was this chosen?" Being the daughter of War, her anger was quite expected.
"The gods' favor, of course. Right, Brother?" Hermes looked back at Dionysus, who just shrugged, "Sure, I can be responsible for her, somewhat." he took a sip again, looking away.
The rest of the Ares cabin was asked to move out as Hermes looked way too cheerful and smug now. "My cabin. We have.... Annabeth Chase! Annabeth Chase?" As prompted, the girl stepped out of the crowd and took her spot without a word.
Percy, on the other hand, was looking more confused than a rat in a trap. His head was spinning constantly between Clarisse, Annabeth, and the two Gods up top. Hermes' face was scrunchized, but he continued.
"All Athena's cabin out! Our next cabin is Aphrodite's, where we have two condenters." There was an evident pause as Hermes and Dionysus were laughing amongst themselves. This both scared and even more puzzled the campers who were still awaiting their names. Chiron had even sat down, waiting for it.
"Nico di Angelo and... Perseus Jackson himself."
Silence etched through the field. These two were basically the only kids of their parents who were at camp. So, no one really left, but, wow, did the camp shake at this.
Nico just looked up and down, then up again as if cursing his father and the Olympians. Percy's voice was stuck in his throat.
"No, no, no more raising the dead or water mermaid business. You all will act like as if that God or Goddess were your parent!" Hermes clarified, seeing the hero's face and knowing what was on his mind.
"You- you can't do that!" Percy snaps back, hand already holding Riptide in his pocket. The God of grapevines and the God of lies stare at each other blankly.
Really, neither of them was in the mood for dueling a kid. They presumed Dolos wouldn't be either, so they turned back to him. "No fighting. Just accept it."
Meanwhile, Nico was trying to quietly shadow-travel out of the situation, but... Yeah, it wasn't working.
"Oh, yeah. For safer measures, your parents have disowned you this summer. Very me, if I say so myself."
Luke emerged from the shocked faces. His only reason to come back from Kronos' influence was that his father wouldn't abandon him and his mother again.
"Family, you promised." He said, looking up at his godly parent, who placed his gaze downwards. "Look, Luke-" but the Camp's Golden Boy wasn't going to have it.
"You seriously think you can just toss us in different cabins like that?! Why did you even AGREE in the first place?"
Chiron got up and put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Let him finish first, Luke." Being a bit older than the usual campers, he backed off. However, another child chose defiance today.
"I'm not going to Aphrodite's cabin." Nico's voice echoed through the field as he made his way out of the place through the bleachers.
"Hades will not accept you in his cabin, nor will Apollo. Be wise." That stopped him in his steps.
"I am NOT going to be sleeping in the same place as the girls who tried to set me up with Will."
Dionysus chuckled. "Boy, you think you have a choice? You can see you can't shadow-travel. What point do you want to make?"
Before Nico could speak again, Percy cut him off, "Why do the gods always try to intervene in our lives? Just because they're our parents, too, doesn't mean they can change everything about us to match them. We don't have to be their splitting image."
"There is nothing on that topic. I think you remember that you've already spoken on that after the War of Manhattan. This is a mutual agreement, but this time neither will Poseidon save you, nor will Zeus spare you. Better if you get accustomed to having cabinmates."
Percy didn't reply; instead just snatched out Riptide. If he had to fight Hermes and Dionysus just to get his way, he would. maybe it it wasn't for Annabeth.
"Percy, don't!"
For once, Percy didn't look at her. His eyes scanned for any trace of water. A puddle or anything. When he found his target, he tried his luck. Did nothing in the first attempt, but he tried again.
"I told you, nothing will happen. Accept your fate." Riptide slipped out of his hand. His eyes were still boring in that minimized spot.
Was he really anything other than Poseidon's son? He wanted to snap back, but all his mind was doing was reeling. To how he was no longer Sally Jackson's son, he was Poseidon's.
He survived the Styx because he was built for it-- fate, destiny. If that identity was to be taken now, was he really that same dyslexic kid from five years ago? Or had he become the person he feared, the same image of his father?
"You're going to lose your identity this way, Parker Jameson." Then it hit him harder than losing his powers. He didn't think about his friends, his girlfriend first, or the person who had raised him.
He tried to see if he was still his father's child.
His most prized possession.
Is he really losing himself, who he used to be?
"I'm Sally Jackson's son." He proclaimed, or at least he believed himself to be. "Are you, or are you just another one of Poseidon's sons?" Dionysus was stinging much harder than Hermes did.
He never expected himself to doubt that he was his mother's son, but maybe, he wasn't anymore. Maybe the Prophecies had altered him into his new self, the Demigod of Water; not a son of woman.
And no way in Hell, the Underworld or Tartarus would Percy accept that willingly.
The kid's chest was heaving, and he was holding his head up high. There wasn't much to account for but the falter in his stance. His hands trembled, and his locked gaze suddenly fell on Riptide, which was lying by his feet.