Chapter Text
Oenomel (Greek ) something combining strength with sweetness
“I am always going to protect those that need protecting.” Percy said firmly, and for a second both gods felt the solemn vow resonate through them, the truth echoing powerfully, the sentiment naive and somewhat foolish but impossibly strong.
Percy keeps the puppy close to his chest as he runs, taking care to keep him protected from the thundering storm, internally amused at Zeus for being a drama queen.
When he barges in to his apartment he lets his backpack and jacket and hair dry off with a thought and runs inside.
Yes, that apartment was all his. A gift from the gods where the gods had pretended they hadn’t gifted it to him and he had pretended he didn’t know anything about it. It just wouldn’t do to show such deliberate and blatant favoritism.
Flinging off the backpack and throwing the jacket on the stand where it hooked itself with a flourish, Percy very carefully kneels down and opens his palm letting the little ball roll out on the floor.
When Percy had first tried to pick him up, the little pup had, despite being just barely old enough to walk steadily on both legs, tried to defend itself by attacking Percy. His palms had been scrapped up (which had by now thankfully healed by the rain) but Percy had been stubborn.
He had sat in the rain for a whole ten minutes, feeding the little one his own dinner. Percy had thought that a puppy this little would not be able to eat, but apparently he must have been older than he looked because he had easily torn up the meat through his razor sharp teeth and whimpered for more.
Percy hadn’t been able to say no.
Which is what brought him to his kitchen, hastily rummaging through his fridge for some more meat.
He keeps peering to see if the pup is okay which was stupid. Of course he was okay. Where would the pup even go? He was too young to run away.
When Percy walks over, the puppy wags his tail and pants happily and tries to walk towards Percy but fumbles on wobbly feet and slips. Percy can’t help but coo at him. What was it about little ones that made everything they do look adorable?
As the puppy tore happily through his food, Percy took the chance to see exactly what he had brought home.
The pup had a gorgeous black coat, almost yellow-golden eyes, small but not as small as Percy had thought in the darkness of the storm.
By the time, Percy took him in, the puppy had eaten his fill and looked to Percy, wagging his tail.
Percy was unsure on what to do now. Was the puppy full now? Or did he want more? Percy didn’t know much about dogs, he didn’t even know what breed this dog was supposed to be. He wasn’t one of the common ones, either an exotic variety or perhaps a hybrid kind.
He did know that a dog wagging his tail meant he was happy though. Or was that just a myth he had heard somewhere?
Percy carefully brought his fingers towards the puppy, wary of getting scratched or bitten again. Those teeth looked razor sharp and Percy suspected that the puppy could cut off his finger before he could even scream.
But apparently he was trusted now, because the puppy wagged his tail and walked closer, happily licking at Percy’s fingers, his legs looking much more steady now.
Percy frowned a little, wondering if his unsteady gait and clumsiness had little to do with him being so young and more to do with him being so hungry. Apparently, the puppy doesn’t like to see him frown because it attacked him and for a second there is a moment of instinctual panic and the realization that he can’t hurt a puppy even if it was feral, when the puppy tries to climb up on him, his paws in Percy’s shirt and trying to lick at his face but falling miserably short.
“What should I name you?” he wondered with a laugh sitting down cross-legged and letting the excited puppy on his lap when he tried to climb up. “Wait, are you a boy or a girl?”
Percy tried to lift him up, but apparently one feeding wasn’t enough to make the puppy trust him that much and though he didn’t attack again, he whimpered and squirmed uneasily in his hands until Percy dropped him back on safe ground, cooing lightly and running his fingers through his fur to calm him down.
A gender-neutral name then. “Alex.” He decides and pleased that his naming skills had improved since the last fiasco where he had named the Ophiotaurus Bessie and had to confess that in front of an entire council of powerful gods, moves on to playing with him.
Alex is the most awesome, most enthusiastic and lively friend Percy has ever had and he is always happy to see him. In the initial days, Percy had been worried about leaving Alex alone but had dubiously filled his bowls for both water and food and had reluctantly gone off to work.
Paul’s family was apparently made of terrifyingly rich businessmen with huge hearts for those they considered family. Percy who had always been a single child with little to no family to call his own (Camp was a whole new ballgame and he loved camp but it didn’t count) had been overwhelmed by the warm reception and the enthusiastic love by them all.
Of course he had known that Paul must be reasonably well-off. He had graduated from college and was working in one of the more elite private schools and had his own place and a good car and no student loans or housing debts or anything of the sort.
(Really Paul seemed almost too good to be true but then again Percy thought the same about his own mother so perhaps that was appropriate. And he was starting to suspect that Aphrodite might have had a hand in it. Percy had decided that he would forgive Aphrodite and her tendency to mess with his head and love life a thousand times if she kept his mother and step-father happy.)
The point was his parents were well off and adamant about including Percy in the family business.
You have a good head for business, Paul’s brother Arthur and his father had both insisted. Percy had been dubious but had relented for an internship in the months he had been looking for college and had been reasonably surprised by what business was actually about and how much he didn’t hate it.
So now he had a good well-paying job with his bosses being friendly family members (which he could not have imagined even in his wildest, most wistful fantasies), awesome friends from camp, a happy family but the thing he could always count on: a happy Alex who always welcomed him with a smile. Or at least the canine equivalent of a smile.
Alex was now firmly a member of Percy’s family and Percy always tended to get irrationally offended when someone called Alex a pet.
Alex was now much much bigger, his black fur was glossy, he had once hated baths but when he saw how much Percy loved water and how long he tended to stay in, he had reluctantly started getting in, at first just afraid of Percy drowning but slowly coming to tolerate and perhaps even like it.
When Percy knelt down to hug Alex, Alex could easily rest his head on Percy’s head, tucking him in under his chin as if Percy was a young pup who needed his protection and when Percy went to sleep, Alex would barge in and lay himself down beside Percy, the entirety of him focused on Percy and his protection.
In the earlier days when Alex had still been little, Percy had tried to set boundaries by locking the door and not letting him in. Alex had a dog bed and he could use it and it was very comfortable.
But Alex would just sit by Percy’s door and whimper to be let in and when Percy came out in the morning, he would still be sprawled outside the door, waiting for Percy.
Percy had lasted three whole nights before he gave in which was impressive and terrible because those three nights had been enough to convince Percy that he must be a monster to have tried to ignore Alex whining for help.
His whole morning work-out now also included Alex who tried to help and cheer Percy on in his own way, sometimes even trying to imitate what Percy was doing. For a dog, Percy decided he wasn’t half bad.
In the quieter evenings, when Percy was lazily watching TV or some Netflix or something (which generally didn’t happen often; his ADHD kept him moving and Percy did have a huge social circle and many responsibilities, to his mother and to Paul and his family and to the gods), Alex would also forego his usual enthusiasm to curl up on the couch with Percy.
Sometimes when he was feeling playful though, he would nudge and jump over Percy and try to roll him around until Percy gave up on watching whatever it was that he was halfheartedly watching and either play with Alex or if he felt too tired, go to bed.
And that was another thing. Alex had firmly set a bed-time for Percy. In camp, after curfew, no cabin could keep their lights on for too long. They didn’t want to either, with a lack of technology and no desire to read books (except for the Athenian cabin) they usually slept on time to wake up fresh the very next day.
Living alone though had given him the sort of freedom that made his sleeping habits worsen, his nightmares and prophetic dreams about the past, present, future amplifying those bad habits.
Alex though despite not knowing how to read a clock would start trying to usher Percy to bed at about 10. Percy didn’t remember when it had started. As a puppy, Alex had definitely not been this demanding.
But sleeping with Alex in the same house had calmed his nightmares and though no-one could do anything about his prophetic dreams, he didn’t wake up in cold sweat, panicked and numb at it anymore.
When Percy tried to skip breakfast, sometimes just to punish himself, just to see what happened (nothing did, of course), Alex would whimper and whine and Percy would come back home to a still-full bowl, Alex whining sadly with his paws over his eyes. Percy never even tried that anymore.
Sometimes when they walked around New York, just the two of them, some monster would attack, and usually before Alex could even growl, Percy had already cut them down with a calm movement of his sword. But once, just once, a monster had jumped him from behind while he had been battling two others.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t realized there was a monster at his back, he had amazing reflexes and practically had eyes in the back of his head. But there was nowhere to jump and before Percy could devise a brilliant terrifying plan to get out, Alex had already jumped behind him.
“Alex, no!” Percy cried in horror, his anger and fear giving him the strength to cut those monsters down even faster as he whirled around to see Alex trying to bite off a chunk off the hell-hound. Percy ran forward and struck down, the hell-hound dissolving in a burst of golden dust.
Percy frantically tried to check Alex for injuries while Alex whimpered and tried to check Percy for injuries and they both fumbled with each other’s limbs and managed nothing until Percy took a deep breath and said, “Wait, Alex. Stop!”
Alex froze, his tail moving slowly, anxiously as he stared at Percy. Percy selfishly moved Alex, checking on him first before showing Alex his arms which were unscathed. Alex bound forward and sniffed around Percy and only after he was sure Percy was okay, he laid his head down on Percy’s shoulder, eyes sad and round and big.
Percy felt guilty even though it wasn’t his fault and it wasn’t like he could have done anything about it anyway. He hugged Alex back, feeling unconditional love and loyalty and adoration from Alex and somehow felt more loved than he had in his entire life, which wasn’t fair to his mom or to Annabeth or to Paul or any of the others who had all tried his best, but Percy also knew that no matter what happened, Alex would always stand by his side.
It all culminated one day when trouble literally came knocking at his door in the form of a mischievous trickster god and a bright sunny god.
The knock sent Alex into a frenzy, who barked and ran to the front door, pawing at it.
“Off, Alex!” Percy said sternly, not happy at his door being scratched up. And well, they had to have some boundaries.
Percy understood Alex’s enthusiasm. He usually met his other friends at other locations, because Alex was over-the-top protective over Percy and once when Jason had come over to ‘spend the night’, Alex had tried his best to jump Jason when Jason had pushed Percy against the wall and tried to give him a hickey. (what, he was the son of a Greek god. Things like these just happened sometimes and his preferences changed all the time).
Jason had insisted he had seen murder in Alex’s eyes and he had almost been killed. Percy had just rolled his eyes at how much of a baby Jason was being. Alex was a sweetheart.
Anyway, incidents like these had convinced his friends and even the tenants of the same building to not come in and if they were ever in the area, they dropped him a message and he’d be the one to come out. (Mobiles were still hard, but Percy had to live his life and had just decided to embrace the craziness in his life.)
He opened the door a fraction and slipped out, Alex still whining and panting for attention. He was not happy that he was being left behind.
Both Apollo and Hermes looked at him with a raised eyebrow, looking at his awkward attempts to sneak out without letting out Alex, who was convinced that he was the sole reason for Percy’s continued life and vitality and meeting someone else without him would lead to his untimely demise.
“What was that?” Hermes snickered when Percy finally slipped out and closed the door behind him.
“Alex is a great friend. He worries. I’ll make it up to him.” Maybe feed him a few treats from his own hand or perhaps they could both eat ice-cream.
Apollo shook his head in amusement. “Is that the puppy you found out in the rain that day?”
“Yeah. But…were you stalking me, Apollo?” Apollo…Percy squinted in disbelief. Apollo might have almost blushed. Hermes looked at Apollo and snickered, but took pity on him. “You kept calling Zeus a drama queen. It was hilarious.”
“I said that out loud?!”
Hermes laughed and nodded. Apollo was still not meeting his eyes, but really right now Percy had bigger problems. “And I didn’t get smited down?”
“It’s smote down, and no. Zeus is trying to be a better uncle.”
Percy looked at him in disbelief, sure he had heard it wrong. “Zeus? An uncle? What, to me?” It was all so absurd he didn’t even know what to start laughing at. From behind the door, Alex whimpered.
“Alex, just give me 5 minutes. I’ll be right in, okay?” Alex didn’t make any more noises which Percy took to mean he understood.
“Alright, all that aside, why are you guys really here?”
Apollo took over, apparently over whatever had caused his bout of embarrassment. Apollo was just plain weird sometimes.
Don’t get Percy wrong, he was one of the nicest gods Percy had ever met and his mortal stint as Lester had only made him softer but that didn’t change his weird habits and the fact that Poseidon was startling wary of his and Apollo’s friendship which was also kinda weird because he hadn’t much cared about Annabeth or Jason but whatever. Percy didn’t much think about these things. Thinking too deep only made him more lost.
“We have a quest.”
“A quest?” Percy said dubiously. “Why don’t you guys ask one of the camps for help? They are just itching to prove themselves.”
“No, I don’t mean we want to assign a quest. I mean, the two of us have a quest. Zeus’ orders.”
“Gods have quests?”
“Sure. I mean, remember when the master-bolt was stolen, we were all assigned to go look for it. Except now we have to do this quest in pairs. Athena and Artemis teamed up. Hermes and me. Ares took his sons along for help. Hephaestus is ground-control.”
“Wow. Good effort. 10 out of 10. But I am not helping with whatever scheme you have somehow managed to now cook up and get in trouble with.”
“At least hear us out.” Apollo smiled brightly at him.
Percy gave him a dubious smile but nodded. He liked Apollo. Apollo was easily one of the nicest gods he had ever met and dropped by every now and then just to check up on Percy, which was sweet. And it also put him firmly in the category of ‘friend’.
“There’s a beast that has stirred up. It’s so old that not even the Big Three have ever seen it, just heard stories from older titans-”
“Seriously?” Percy never really thought about just how old the Big Three were but really, they were ancient and decrepit. They were there before man had even properly come out of their caves and had lived through and influenced them as they built civilization. If the Big Three had been buildings, they would have already fallen down and rotted and each and every brick that made them up would already have become powder again.
“C’mon, Perce.” Hermes coaxed. “This is dangerous stuff. What if we get killed? It might take days, weeks or maybe even months to crawl back, and it’ll be so painful.”
Percy put his hand on his waist, staring them down. “I am mortal. If I get killed, I am gone forever.”
They both looked taken aback by that. “You are mortal,” Apollo muttered. Percy didn’t know if it was a question or a realization or what. He just rolled his eyes and opened the front door again.
It all happened so suddenly Percy didn’t even have time to properly react.
Alex bound out happily, then somehow before Percy could react, he turned to Hermes and Apollo growling low in his throat just as Hermes caduceus activated into his full form, Hermes glowing dangerously and Apollo took out his bow and arrow, aiming towards Alex.
“No,” Percy shrieked in disbelief, throwing himself in the middle holding onto Alex so he wouldn’t try to attack the gods and get smote down.
“Percy, get away!” Apollo said tersely.
“No! I get it, sometimes Alex can be a bit much but he is mine and I love him and he’s a sweetheart, okay?”
Apollo and Hermes stare at him for a beat, which gives Percy the chance to look Alex in the eye and tell him off, “No, boy. Down you go!” Alex whimpered a little, still half-way up on Percy but slowly falls back on four legs and solid ground, tail between his legs.
“This is…Alex?” Apollo said, his voice faint.
“Yes, I get it. He is not always that friendly to strangers but it’s only ‘cos he is worried for me. And he wouldn’t have tried to attack you if you hadn’t taken out your weapons, you know. Just growled a little and tried to show you who is boss.”
Hermes and Apollo look at each other. There is a beat of incredulous silence.
“I’ll go report on Olympus. You stay here,” and before Percy could question what was happening, Hermes had already jogged away, to flash at a safer place.
Apollo tried for a brave smile.
“What in the name of Hades is going on?” Percy had gotten pretty good at saying hell instead of Hades and god instead of gods in public, but being around this side of the family just brought it out.
“Let’s just go in.” Apollo sighed and tried to slip through the open door, but Alex, the little rascal jumped up and barked alarmingly. Apollo yelped and took 3 large steps back.
“Are you scared of dogs?” Percy wondered, but didn’t question it further. He was used to gods and demigods having seemingly silly and unusual fears and triggers but they usually heralded greater tragedies, so Percy didn’t pry.
He coaxed Alex in and kept himself between Alex and Apollo, finally sitting on the floor, cross-legged which as he had expected prompted Alex to settle himself around him and Percy leaned behind him into his fur uncrossing his legs to side-saddle into Alex’s chest.
Before they could try to talk to each other, his front door barged open and Poseidon swirled in with that same casual grace that always made Percy smile. Alex growled, ears flat and paws but didn’t get up yet.
That’s why Percy had chosen to sit there. Alex wouldn’t disturb Percy if he could help it and that wouldn’t happen unless Alex was reasonably certain of a threat.
He felt a new level of disrespect, not even getting up to welcome his guest, but there was little to be done right now. “Hey, dad. I’d get up to greet you but Alex is pretty rabid right now. I am the only thing keeping him calm.”
Poseidon smiled at him, that same calm impassive smile. “Hello, Percy. I find you well. If you wouldn’t mind introducing us…?”
Percy’s smile widened. Poseidon was probably the first person to talk about Alex like he was an equal, which endeared his father to Percy even more. Percy cautiously got up, calling out to them to stay where they were.
“He is a little scared by you just barging in,” Percy explained. Apollo scoffed but neither said anything and Percy didn’t pursue it.
“Alex,” he called which made Alex turn to him expectantly. “Meet my dad, Poseidon.”
He walked towards Poseidon and grabbed his hand, ignoring the sudden shiver up his spine. There were barely a handful of times they had met and physical contact was even rarer, but the connection between a god and his half-blood was one of the strongest there was and it always felt special somehow, despite the physical distances between them.
Alex growled at Poseidon but made no further move to attack, which was pretty much what he had been expecting. Alex had definitely seen Jason and others in his apartment a few times but only got confrontational when someone tried to grab one of Percy’s things, startled or ‘hurt’ Percy or tried to enter without Percy.
Percy knelt with one knee in front of Alex, kissing him to calm him down which worked.
“Let him smell you,” Percy told Poseidon.
Poseidon let his hands in front of Alex and Alex growled a little, but still sniffed him without attacking. Done with his inspection, Alex ran back toward Percy, trying to roll him over, to which Percy growled back.
“He’ll tolerate you now,” Percy told Poseidon. “He is a little grumpy to anyone who isn’t me, so you’re on a probation of sorts right now, but he won’t hurt you. He’ll just complain to me about anything he thinks you’re doing wrong. Unless he thinks you’re hurting me.”
“Percy, do you even realize what he is?” Apollo asked. “That is the beast we were sent to hunt down!”
“Alex is no beast!” Percy snapped angrily.
“Percy, calm down.” Poseidon said soothingly. “What Apollo means to say is, Alex is a lot older than you think he is.”
Percy looked at Alex for a second, which was really all the time he needed to make a decision. “It doesn’t matter. Alex is my friend and I’ll protect him.”
“He doesn’t need your protection. He can give Olympian gods a run for their money. I bet he can even give The Big Three pause for awhile.” Apollo said exasperated.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Poseidon snapped, his pride clearly stung.
Percy bit back a smile, pleased to see Apollo’s ego contained firmly, not even flinching to admit that he might not be all powerful and perfect.
“Even if he is that powerful and dangerous,” Percy granted, still not believing it. Alex liked to eat his food off of Percy’s fingers for god’s sake, “it doesn’t matter. If you keep killing off anything or anyone with the slightest hint of power, you can never live or rule well.”
“You wanted to protect the Ophiotaurus too.” Poseidon mused.
“I am always going to protect those that need protecting.” Percy said firmly, and for a second both gods felt the solemn vow resonate through them, the truth echoing powerfully, the sentiment naïve and somewhat foolish but impossibly strong.
“Bessie and Alex are both innocent and they’re not hurting anybody.” Percy hugged Alex who was watching with narrowed slit eyes, steady legs prepared to strike, unsure of what had caused Percy distress but willing to fight to protect him.
“You will have to take your argument to the court.” Apollo said reluctantly. “Zeus might seem like an irrational paranoid fool-” Thunder sounded which they all ignored. “-but he is a fair and impassive judge. I am guessing Artemis or Athena or perhaps both of them might have a problem with it so they’ll argue against it. But I got your back. You can call me for help anytime.”
Poseidon glared at Apollo as he winked at Percy and Percy blushed a little, unsure if he was reading this right.
“I will stand by you.” Poseidon declared, eyes crinkling with a smile. He caressed Percy’s cheek endearingly, ignoring Alex’s low growl.
To Poseidon, it didn’t matter how powerful the beast might be or how much the Ophiotaurus might have cost them. He had always loved his children fiercely and he stood by Percy and his reckless schemes. They always paid off.
Sometimes all you needed was a good heart and a step in the right direction. Everything else came in time.