acceptance. a quick pjo story.
Acceptance only goes so far. They can laugh with you, eat with you, hug and hold you, but that doesn't mean they don't watch you. Follow you with their eyes after an intense training session. Take a step back after the ground rumbles a little too much. Percy knows acceptance and he knows tolerance.
His mother accepts him. She never looks scared when he gets angry, never at her though. No, never at his mother, but at others. When the green of his eyes goes dark and his muscles tense and the sky gets cloudy and the air gets humid. She never backs away. She stands in the middle of his hurricane because for him to be this way, he must be hurting. Be scared or angry.
Grover accepts him. He stands at his side and stands firm when the winds get rough. As rain pours down and it gets hard to make Percy take his laser focus off of the enemy. He knows that being one of the people Percy protects is a blessing. Percy protects with his entire being and if that means using some of the things he learned while underground, then so be it.
Annabeth accepts him. This took a little while. There were times when Annabeth almost let her rational thoughts take over and change how she sees Percy. When Percy finished off Misery and broke open the ground and brought hundreds of monsters to death within minutes. Someone else might have been scared, but it only made Annabeth realize that Percy will do anything, and that means anything, to protect the people he cares about. The people he loves, and cherishes. The people he sees as his.
Tyson accepts him. Tyson admires him. Percy is his little-big brother and he can do no wrong. Anything Percy does is amazing and brave and Tyson loves him for protecting him with everything he has. Especially since Tyson knows not many would do that for someone like him.
Even Clarisse accepts him. Sees his mounting powers as something to respect. Knows that, even with their tense past, Percy would demolish the world for anyone on his side inluding her. All she needs to do was ask. He fights with is entire being and entire self to protect others and never wants anything in return. It confused her at first. How someone can be so selfless at the expense of their own life, but then she got to know him. And it all made sense.
There are other people that accept him. His father, Rachel, Thalia, Hazel and Nico, in another life, Luke.
Then there are people who tolerate him.
Chiron tolerates him. Now Chiron can say that he loves all of his children. All of the demigods that have walked through this camp no matter where they ended up with their short lives. But he can see a path infront of Percy that makes him uneasy. A path that could lead to destruction for many. At the end of the day, Chiron knows Percy is loyal. Aggressively loyal to his cause and that cause is the demigods. Many people see this and know that at the end of the day, if the gods continue to act the way they do, he would bring it all down to protect the demigods.
Jason tolerates him. They got to know each other pretty well on their last quest together, but not enough for any fears to be squashed out. They have fought before and this is how Jason knows. Knows that Percy is strong. His aura but itself is so strong it almost makes you feel as though you're drowning. He likes Percy, don't get him wrong, but he also knows that he needs to be careful.
Demigods at both camps tolerate him. They see Percy as a big hero with amazing powers that would fight to the ends of the world for them. But they also know that he is powerful and in their eyes, powerful people aren't the most forgiving. Percy himself has had conflicts with monsters, deities, gods. This makes him dangerous. Only someone, not mortal, could get away with acting this way towards the gods, to titans, to primortals. Only someone with a suffocating aura of sea salt and dirt and strength. Only someone who is not afraid to die. These people don't see that it's because he isn't afraid to die. That he would die for any of them. They might think that Percy isn't able to die, but really, it's because he doesn't care. As long as the people he protects lives, he accepts death like an old friend.
