Work Text:
(In the direct aftermath of The Lightning Thief)
Percy groaned as his head hit the textbook in front of him. His mom had ordered it in Greek, to make it easier, but that didn’t mean it was enjoyable. After he’d gotten back from his first summer at Camp Half-Blood, a safe haven for the half-mortal children of the Greek Gods, Percy, and his mom, or really just his mom, had decided that it was important Percy knew more about his father’s world, focusing more on the seas, because she thought it was important Percy know about the world his father ruled. Because his father, the one he’d wondered about his whole life, was Poseidon. The god of the seas. King of Atlantis and overarching ruler of most water bodies anywhere in the world. That was terrifying.
Percy’s mom, knowing how much he struggled with school, had decided to break it into more manageable slices. They would split his studies between traditional Greek myths, sea-specific myths, and the sea itself. Percy really enjoyed the sessions on the sea itself, because it usually meant going to the aquarium and talking to the fish and other sea life there to learn about them and their lives. Even the traditional Greek myths were okay because it was more about learning about the monsters he could face and their weaknesses. But learning the sea in mythology? That sucked. No thirteen-year-old boy likes trying to memorize the names of gods of different parts of the seas, especially not when they have ADHD. Percy was also trying to learn as many of the famous Naiads and Nereids as he could, because he’d been helped by one and didn’t even know who she was.
As much as he hated to admit it, he thought that his mom was right, and his painfully boring studies were already helping. They had figured out that the god of the Mississippi had probably helped Percy reach the water when he had jumped out of the Arch in St. Louis, so they had burned an offering to it (him? All the river gods seemed to be male), and Percy had woken up with a small, very fresh, cotton sprig on his bedside table. Percy looked at the sprig, drier now, in a vase on the bookshelf. He had to do this, especially so that he could make sure he was respectful to his many, many siblings. With a sigh, he turned back to trying to figure out how to pronounce the name of one of his sisters, the goddess of storms, Kymopoleia. That seemed easier than another sister, Benthesikyme.
~~~
(After the completion of the quest in Sea of Monsters, but before the end of the book)
After spending half the summer with Tyson snoring in the bunk next to him, it was odd to be alone in Cabin #3 again. Percy had gotten used to having another person around. Used to being the head counselor for a cabin of more than one. He was…lonely. He still had friends, of course, but there was something different about sharing a cabin with someone who he felt a connection with. He waded deeper into the surf, greeting the happy dogfish sharks that came swimming over to greet him. He wished his father hadn’t summoned Tyson to the forges so soon. He knew Tyson would be happy, and safe, but that didn’t mean it didn’t suck to miss him.
Someone on the shore giggled, and Percy tried very hard to stifle his flinch. He hadn’t heard anyone coming, and the giggles brought to mind the cruel laughter of Drew and some of her siblings from the Aphrodite Cabin. The giggles continued, and Percy relaxed. That wasn’t cruelty, just joy. He turned around fully, silently apologizing to the small sharks as he stopped petting them.
There was a young girl sitting on the beach, apparently building a sand castle. She was about eight, and looked fairly familiar. She didn’t seem to notice that he was there, focussing on shaping a turret with her hands. She didn’t have a necklace, so she was probably a new camper, which means she’s probably in the Hermes cabin…Percy couldn’t remember her name. A wave curled around his ankles as he watched the sand form itself to her will. Almost unbidden, a name rose to the forefront of his name, one familiar from the struggles of studying with his mom over the course of the school year. Psamathe. The goddess of sand beaches.
Excitement filled him. There was another child of the sea at Camp Half Blood. He wasn’t alone.
Percy stepped out of the water to play with the girl, not noticing that one of the dog sharks had the same bright green eyes that he did, nor that it went racing off after he left.
~~~
Poseidon had always tried to check up on Percy when his son was in the sea. He had watched him grow that way, at least a little. It had been too easy to take the form of an octopus, or a starfish, or a crab and watch his son waddle around on chubby toddler legs, cooing over everything in the tide pools. He’d watched once, when Percy was four, when his son had found a jellyfish stranded on the beach and given his mother a heart attack by picking it up and carrying it back to the sea. Poseidon had never been more glad that Percy had apparently inherited some measure of protection from jellyfish toxin, because they were too brainless to recognize a prince of the sea.
When he had felt his son step into the surf in the Long Island Sound, felt the misery coming from his child, he had been unable to stop himself from checking on him. Tyson had told him that Percy was safe, was unharmed, and seemed happy, but he had to check for himself. He joined the swarm of dogfish crowding around his son, pleased that Percy took the time to greet all of them, and make sure to pet each of them right where the sharks most liked it. He’d had countless children over the millennia, but few exhibited the same easy kindness that Percy did, and he rejoiced in it.
This close, it was easy to figure out why his son was so upset. The loneliness was deeply disheartening. He’d never been in a position where his children felt this kind of loneliness. They had always had siblings in his cabin. In fact, there had been some points where his more temperamental children had cursed at him for having so many children in his cabin. It had brought him a great deal of amusement, and, if possible, he had tried to guide another of his children to Camp Half-Blood just to irritate them. It had always worked.
Now, he couldn’t do that. He had no more demigod children, and Tyson was the youngest of his others. No other Cyclops could or would live at Camp Half-Blood, and they all, like Tyson, belonged in Atlantis. He didn’t know what to do, or how to help.
His son turned away, attention drawn by a child on the shore, and Poseidon almost paid her no mind, until he caught the scent of the sea on her, and took a second look. Psamathe’s daughter sits on her mother’s beach, building a castle of sand, and an idea strikes him.
As his son goes to play with the little one, Poseidon returns to Atlantis, thoughts racing in his head.
~~~
It takes maybe an hour to get everything lined up, and talk to Amphitrite to make sure his idea is actually a good one, and feasible. His wife was delighted by the idea, telling him he should announce it to all sea and water gods, not just Psamathe, though she agrees with him that telling Psamathe first might help the minor goddess. She offers to be the one to inform Chiron and Dionysus, so that Zeus cannot say that he is interfering with Percy, though he suspects that part of that is the desire to be nosy about Camp Half-Blood and Percy.
They ask Triton to write up the official pronouncement, and though their son grumbles a bit about demigods, he does seem pleased that they are attempting to unite the children of the sea, so he goes off with a pot of octopus ink and a sheath of kelp paper to write up a draft while Poseidon summons Psamathe.
The minor goddess enters his study cautiously, though she relaxes when she sees Amphitrite next to him, beaming. “My lord?”
“Ah, Psamathe, wonderful. Thank you for coming. We are introducing a new policy, but I wanted to speak to you about it first, as it will be relevant to you.”
The goddess hesitantly took a seat, clearly confused.
“I’m sure you’re aware that my son, Perseus, is attending Camp Half-Blood, and staying in my cabin there.” The goddess nodded, looking even more confused. “It was recently brought to my attention that he is not the only child of the sea there.” Some of Psamathe’s confusion cleared up, and her face warmed with love for her child. “However, there is not currently a place for any other children of the sea to live at Camp Half-Blood, other than the Hermes Cabin.”
Psamathe looked saddened. “I know, my lord. I did not know where else there was for her to go, but I do not want her sleeping on the floor of another god’s cabin.” She seemed ashamed, and Poseidon could feel Amphitrite sending currents to comfort her.
“We do not want that for her either. That’s where this proclamation comes in. We have already spoken to Chiron and Dionysus, and it has been agreed that any child claimed by a sea or water god or goddess will have a place in my cabin, under my protection. Starting with your child.”
Tears of joy sprang to Psamathe’s eyes, before something seemed to occur to her. “That’s truly wonderful my lord, and I am very grateful, but I do not have a symbol with which to claim my daughter, certainly not one that anyone would recognize.”
Poseidon will be forever grateful for his wife, because she knows what to do before he can even put a thought together. “Then you claim her in person, with my support. If you’re scared of Zeus, I will state your claim to her, and you can set up a bed for her with personal touches in Cabin #3. Whatever works best for you.” Poseidon nodded, fully willing to support his wife.
Amphitrite, he knew, had this under control, and she was quite happy to wrest control of this idea out of his hands, and he was smart enough not to get in her way.
The two goddesses swam out of his study together, planning exactly how to go about claiming the child and decorate her space.
~~~
Her name was Sarah. She was eight years old, and was mostly enjoying being at camp. She wasn’t quite sure about the Hermes Cabin, since it seemed a little crowded (Percy understood that, hadn’t he felt the same way?), and she also wasn’t a fan of a boy from the Ares cabin, who refused to call her Sarah, and said she was a boy and couldn’t have a girls name. Percy told her not to worry about it, he would handle it. Honestly, he would probably tell Clarisse and Silena and let them handle it. They would be worse than he could. And now that they’d actually worked together to save camp, maybe Clarisse would listen to him before pounding on him. Maybe.
The two of them had a great deal of fun playing on the beach, Sarah’s powers making it very easy to build a sand castle for the ages, until the conch horn sounded to summon them for dinner. Connor showed up looking for Sarah right after the horn went off, so Percy, somewhat sadly, sent her off with Connor and brushed the sand off of himself, heading to dinner himself.
His first sign that something was weird was the woman standing next to Chiron and Mr. D. It was very clear she was a goddess, and the crab claws poking through her hair made it more clear that she was a sea-goddess. She caught sight of him and smiled before turning her attention back to Chiron. That was a good sign, right?
Once everyone had gathered and taken their seats, Chiron clopped a hoof against the tile in front of him, an unnecessary move to draw everyone’s attention to him. What few whispers had been happening died away. “Lady Amphitrite, Queen of the Seas, has an announcement to make.” Chiron announced. He seemed happy, and even Mr. D seemed slightly less moody. Percy’s heart sank. This was his stepmother. She had seemed happy to see him, but he was the product of an affair between his father and his mom, and she probably wasn’t as happy as she had made herself seem.
“Thank you, Chiron.” She moved gracefully, as if she was swimming rather than walking to where the children at the back could see her better. “My lord Poseidon and I have had an idea, which has turned into a new policy, one which will have some effect on you, and we thought you should all be informed of it as well. Thanks in part to young Perseus,” everyone turned to look at him, eyes full of questions he couldn’t answer.
“It has been brought to our attention that there are a number of children throughout the world that have sea gods and goddesses for parents. However, there is no cabin for them. That is unacceptable. We cannot build a new cabin without the approval of Olympus, as I’m sure you’re well aware, but that does not mean we cannot house them. My lord Poseidon is currently issuing this announcement to the gods and goddesses of the sea, as I am doing for you. All children of the sea are welcome, and will be protected, under the roof of Cabin #3.” More whispers broke out, unclaimed campers at the Hermes cabin getting hopeful looks for the first time in ages.
Amphitrite noticed, and seemed sad. “I can see that some of you are children of water, or of the sea, but I do not have the ability to claim you for your parent. My lord and I will encourage everyone to do so, and will aid them as we can, but tonight I am pleased to say that I can allow the first young camper to join Perseus in Cabin #3.”
Without thought, Percy looked at Sarah, who was watching Amphitrite with wide eyes. Had his father somehow heard his thoughts earlier? Had he seen him playing with Sarah? Was he finally going to have someone to share with?
“Young Sarah.” Amphitrite called. “Your mother, Psamathe, is the goddess of sand beaches. She has no symbol by which to claim you, at least not one that would be recognized out of the sea, but she would have you know her, and know that she loves you. She cannot be here herself. She is as bound by Zeus’ orders as all other gods, but she claims you, proudly, as her own.”
Sarah’s eyes turned towards Percy, awe in them, the same realization that he’d felt earlier hitting her. She wasn’t alone. Percy got up before he realized that he was moving, one hand out to escort her from the Hermes cabin towards his table. He wasn’t sure where that instinct came from, it seemed older, deeper than it should, but it felt right.
The clapping started slowly, and seemed to come from the Aphrodite cabin, but soon spread. Percy led Sarah to his table, and Travis brought her plate over, grinning at him gratefully. Sarah sat down across from him, a giddy grin across her face, and Percy could see calculating looks coming over the faces of other cabin counselors looking at the unclaimed kids at the Hermes table. Good. Maybe they could convince their parents to do something similar to what Poseidon had.
Lady Amphitrite was being ignored as campers whispered to each other as the applause died down, but she didn’t seem to mind. She turned to Mr. D and Chiron, said something to them, and then moved towards Percy and Sarah. She slid gracefully onto the bench beside Sarah, smiling warmly at them both. Her eyes were cautiously approving of Percy, and he knew that he’d somehow done something right. He’d take it.
“I will reiterate to you both that your parents are very proud of you, and love you very much.” Percy could feel himself blushing at that, even as his heart sped up. “If they could be here, they would.” Sarah looked overjoyed at that news, and Percy couldn’t blame her.
Other cabins started bringing their plates up to sacrifice some of their food, and Lady Amphitrite shooed them up to join the others, fascination on her face. Percy led Sarah through her offering, thanking his father profusely with his own offering. The smoke changed to a sea breeze, dancing around the dining pavilion, and Percy could hear other campers exclaiming in delight at the change.
They rejoined Amphitrite at the Poseidon table, where she was staring at the plate in front of her in consternation. “I do not normally eat mortal food, especially land food, so this will be quite an experiment.”
There was a great deal of giggling, and the Naiads from the canoe pond came clambering onto the bench next to Percy and Sarah. They started burbling to Amphitrite, who was communicating in the same way.
Percy looked at Sarah, who was starting to look a little shell-shocked, and bent down to whisper, “It’s not normally so chaotic. Don’t worry. I’ve got your back.” She grinned back at him and relaxed, digging into the greek salad in front of her.
Amphitrite made eye contact with him and gave him a slight, but approving, nod. He could do this.
~~~
It took a great deal longer for Amphitrite to return to Atlantis than Poseidon had expected, and he had spent most of that time keeping Triton from surfacing to go looking for his mother. Between the two of them they had written and rewritten the declaration several times, trying to get it to Amphitrite’s standard. When his wife returned, she was smiling, and her hair had been braided and freshwater plants woven into it. “The Naiads at the canoe pond are quite kind, and have nothing but good things to say about your son.” She informed him, smugly satisfied.
“I will admit, from what I saw, he does seem to live up to what they told me. He took Psamathe’s daughter under his protection immediately, and was nothing but kind and courteous to myself and the naiads. I will be quite happy to have him watching over the other children of the sea.”
Poseidon felt himself fall in love with wife all over again, and smiled at her over his son gagging at them. If the boy was so uncomfortable with the love his parents held for each other, he should stop swimming in on them showing that love. He didn’t notice the mischievous glint in her eyes until it was too late. “His mother must be quite a woman. I shall have to meet her.”
Now it was Triton’s turn to be amused while Poseidon gaped at his wife, trying very hard not to get his hopes up about some of the images that were starting to occur to him. Amphitrite gave him a look that told him she knew exactly what he was thinking, grabbed the latest draft from Triton, and swam off to her own office. Still laughing, Triton left Poseidon sitting in his study, full of pride and love for his family.
~~~
Percy did manage to corner both Silena and Clarisse to tell them what Sarah had said about one of Clarisse’s brothers, before retreating for his life at the looks they both acquired. Maybe it would have been safer to tell just one or the other. He almost felt bad for the guy.
Almost.
When he’d shown Sarah into their cabin, it was clear that someone, likely Psamathe, had already chosen a bed for Sarah, and decorated it a little. There was a gift on the bed, a bucket and shovel designed to help with the creation of sand castles, and Percy was willing to bet that it was magicked in some way too. He helped Sarah unpack, more than ready to step up and be the best head counselor he could be.
He would make his dad, and Lady Amphitrite, and the rest of the gods of the sea, proud.
~~~
It took three days before Chiron intervened and forced Mark, son of Ares, out of the Ares cabin to shower, eat, and participate in camp activities. Unfortunately for Mark, he had to do all of these while dressed and made-up to look like a very unfortunate clown. The make-up wouldn’t wash off, and no matter what clothes he put on they magically turned into garishly hideous clown clothes.
Silena and Drew were called into the big house to discuss their behavior, but got off without punishment.
That same day, at dinner, Castor and Pollux – as well as Ophelia, a daughter of Melpomene, the muse of Tragedy, who had previously been sitting with the Hermes cabin – were joined by Mrs. D, instead of Mr. D.
Sarah happily reported that she was no longer being harassed, and Percy made a point to corner Mrs. D and ask what plans they needed to make to help Sarah when puberty started. Luckily, he was told that Mrs. D, Chiron, and maybe Apollo would deal with that. He would have had no clue where to start.
He didn’t say anything when the nymphs gave him and Sarah a little extra dessert that night, but he did burn it to Dionysus and Apollo for Sarah, so he thought it worked out. He might finally be figuring this whole demigod thing out.
~~~
Percy stared at the small pile of books his mom had gotten him for his birthday, each about some aspect of the ocean or the life within it.
Nevermind. He did not have it figured out. Not at all.