Chapter Text
There wasn’t much left of the Camp Half-Blood woods that Percy had not explored, with many hours spent in those woods training and playing Capture the Flag. But today he surprised himself, having managed to find a new clearing that was unfamiliar to him. The sun was just starting to set by the time he wandered in, with the it falling just below the tree line in front of him and leaving a gentle glow to the sky with the shadows growing larger from where the trees cast them on the ground. He was supposed to be meeting Annabeth, Piper, and Grover for their first meal back from NRU for the summer, and if he hurried he would be able to make it back in time, but right now he wanted to explore this new place more.
The clearing didn’t look like anything special, no whispering voices or ominous presences seemed to be emanating from the space. Instead there was just an eerie stillness that seemed to permeate it with a general lack of anything filling the space. The trees formed a perfect circle around the opening forming a clearing not much bigger than one of the cabins. Which was odd in and of itself and even more alarming to Percy was the trees they did not match any of the others Percy had encountered in the woods before.
Percy had spent a lot of time with different dryads, and walking through different types of forests but he wasn't familiar with the trees in front of him. They looked to be short for a tree, some looking no taller than ten feet off the ground. The base of the trees were woven and multi-trunked, with beautiful purple flowers hanging from the leaves.
Gingerly Percy walked into the opening, as he passed through the trees a familiar smell hit him that he could not place to a specific person. He had learned in all his dealings with the gods to tread carefully in new spaces, never knowing what could pop out, monster or god. He took one step and then two but felt no shift in the air as he came into the space. Thoughtfully he looked around the area to see any signs of godly involvement, or symbols of a magical nature, but he noticed nothing at first glance. The longer he stood there the more he felt at peace. It reminded him of returning to his and his mother's apartment after a long term at one of his special schools. Leaving Percy more relaxed than he had in weeks and it was as if the clearing was urging him to rest and find comfort in the soft looking grass.
Looking over his shoulder and all around the clearing he gingerly took a seat in the grassy opening, slowly lowering himself until his head rested gently on the ground looking up to the sky. Percy sighed heavily and let his mind wander. T he reason he wandered into the woods was to potentially cross paths with some monsters and release some pent up energy after the conversation he had had with Annabeth.
Annabeth had approached him in their apartment before finals week saying how exciting she was to be spending the summer at camp again, and maybe they could go down the bottom of the canoe lake like old times. Percy had taken this as a great sign, not picking up on Annabeth’s anxious habit of ringing her hands or lack of eye contact refusing to focus on him. Instead Percy just returned to the paragraph he had been attempting to read for the better part of an hour and dropped the conversation. Leaving himself to daydream of warm days in the sun, the smell of strawberries and enjoying the company of Annabeth in their personal bubble at the bottom of the canoe lake.
Unfortunately once they were actually at the bottom of the canoe lake in Percy’s air bubble creation, she hit him with some hard news. Annabeth was not fulfilled with their relationship, she felt something was missing in her life. It wasn’t that she didn’t love Percy and greatly enjoyed all their time and moments together; she just wanted something more. She brought up adding an alpha (Piper) into the relationship to try meet some deeper urges Annabeth had been having as of late.
Something Percy never liked to think about was the fact that he was an omega, or really that fact that he was anything more than a beta. His life was difficult enough being a demi-god; the fact he had to deal with another oddity of being an omega was a trait he had been hoping to avoid. Yet when Percy first turned thirteen on top of losing Annabeth, Zoe, Bianca, and ruining his relationship with Nico, he also came into his dynamic and nothing about Percy could be simple.
Everyone had acted shocked at first, saying he had the personality of an alpha with his quick temper and leadership skills. Soon those same words turned into explanations for his “omega nature”; the fact that he was loyal to a fault and willing to die for anyone he considered family. Plus the fact that he never grew past five foot 8 eight standing just an inch over Annabeth and having some of the largest thighs at camp helped to create an omega-like image to anyone new that met him.
All this to say Annabeth and Percy were both omegas and both very happy in their relationship with something stronger than love between the two of them and they were able to be a happy couple for 6 months. Then Hera snatched him away from all the people he loved and stole all the memories he had of them. Quickly 2 months flew by and the Giant War was fought and won, without any of the seven dying. Allowing Percy and Annabeth began their relationship right where it left off, but the two never seemed to progress past making-out and stay plastered to the other side. Annabeth would bring up doing more every now and again, asking if Percy wanted more from her. Every time Percy would say no he was happy with where their relationship was.
Percy was always a bit slow when it came to the relationship stuff, and didn’t think to ask if she wanted more in their relationship, not that he was sure he would be comfortable with that. Fortunately, Annabeth was always the smarter of the two of them. Unfortunately she noticed the problems in their relationship stating that they were in a more platonic way. That they would be better at raising their own children together instead of having children together. Which caught Percy completely off guard.
After they climbed out of the canoe lake, Annabeth asked if he would be okay with her going on a date with Piper tomorrow, in a more traditional alpha-omega relationship, with no changes to the relationship Percy and Annabeth already had. Leading Percy to where he is now, in the middle of the woods trying to vent his frustration, not at Annabeth, but a growing feeling there was something wrong with Percy like he was defective in some way.
Percy was always different at Camp Half-Blood being the one of the only child of the big three and the subject of two Great Prophecies. It had gotten more noticeable since he was working closely with Beckendorf and Selena, he found himself comparing the way Selena acted to the way he acted, not just in the terms of demigods. He felt like the world's biggest loser, watching the two of them together, she was the perfect partner to Beckendorf, she was caring but quick witted, able to match him in a way Percy had never seen. Percy on the other hand was violent and quick to temper, sure he cared deeply, willing to kill and die for Annabeth. But he was sharp and jagged, a puzzle piece to be thrown away because there was no match for him.
He thought he would be able to get away with his bad personality by being with Annabeth, playing up the role of the strong one in the couple, trying to force his edges to match that of an alpha instead. But she knew him better than anyone and she knew herself. Annabeth felt the disconnect is their relationship, they were vital to each other's happiness but they were not each other's happy ends.
Percy knew that this thought was ridiculous, real life didn’t have happy endings, there was no fairytale ending and when Percy was little he would have laughed at the thought of a fairytale relationship, smelly Gabe certainly didn’t evoke Prince Charming. Then Percy saw more of the world, he saw the way Paul treated his mother, how Beckendorf treated Selena, how Frank treated Hazel, and hope built in his chest.
Deep down Percy would love for someone else to be the decision-maker and fill the little gaps in his life. He just wanted to sit back and be normal for a little bit, with no feelings of guilt that he wasn’t enough for the person by his side. Annabeth was the closest he had come; they were easy together, leaving Percy comfortable but a guilt gnawed at him now knowing he wasn’t enough for her.
Percy took a large deep breath, holding it for a few seconds before letting it out trying to release all the guilt he felt building in his gut. Closing his eyes he relaxed into the ground and enjoyed the quiet atmosphere around him before looking up at the sky. The moon had taken the sun’s place at the edge of the tree line. He rose to his feet realizing that he might have caused a fuss at camp in his absence and cause Annabeth some distress after disappearing for what had to be a few hours. As he stood he felt it, a sudden shift in the air, something distinct and godly in nature. He turned around to see Aphrodite standing behind him with an amused look on her face.
”Hello Perseus” she stated with an emphasis on his full name
”Aphrodite, to what to do I owe this…pleasure” Percy gazed at her hoping to gain some insight into why she was suddenly appearing in front of him. “I hope you're not here to ask for a quest because it's summer break and that's more of a school year activity now.”
”Oh Perseus, I would never ask for something so mundane as a quest, I’m more of an epics and tragedies goddess myself” she said with a tone of condescension “I like to live with a little more flare, go big or go home and all that”
”Fine then what is it, you gods never come looking for me unless you want something and I’m not in a very giving mood at the moment.” What little peace he had found in this moment was quickly flying out the window with the reminder that he was still at the whims of the gods whether his personal life was struggling or not.
”It’s simple really dear Perseus” the use of his full name was really beginning to wear on Percy's nerves “I want to fix your love story, you and that Annabelle girl were really interesting for a while but then you had to go and get all domestic, blah” She began slowly circling Percy as she was talking looking him up and down. “Unfortunately, it looks like you could work things out, be happy as a third partner, and so loving and close to one another, offer each other comfort and love. Blah! But where’s your passion, where's your intensity, where’s your lust.” She finished that last word with a purr.
“Look lady, ANNABETH and I are working on things, finding our new normal and enjoying the time we have together, we don’t need all that extra stuff in our relationship we happy with what we’re doing”
“Oh come now Percy dear don’t lie to yourself, you know you want more. Yes I agree your relationship with that girl is strong and loving, but I know you want your own Piper. An alpha to give you what you want, what you need .” Aphrodite was closing in with each word she said, like a snake coiling in on its prey before squeezing the life from its eyes.
“The only problem I have is that your future is too solid. Fate has made your thread and even I can’t change the future they want for you, but the past well that time was so exciting and full of love stories, Helen and Paris, Odysseus and Penelope, Achilles and Patroclus. I think you could use a little love story of your own.”
Aphrodite moved before Percy even opened his mouth to respond, grabbing his shoulders with hands stronger than he would ever expect from the goddess of love, and shoved him hard to the ground. Percy braced himself ready to hit the ground and roll right back up to his feet ready to fight the goddess. But the ground was not coming as fast as he knew it should, instead it felt like he was floating for minutes, hours? He looked up at the sky and could still see the moon floating overhead, but the longer he looked the more stars appeared in the sky forming constellations he had never been able to see due to light pollution.
He started getting very tired and was overcome with the thought of sleeping. He tried to resist, to keep his eyes open longer, to keep from losing his target. But, he lost the fight just as he hit the ground, but it was strange he didn’t feel the grassy opening he had been in. Instead he felt sand and gravel with the sound of waves comforting him from a distance.