Chapter Text
Percy was walking around the Independence Day Ball with his cousin Jason, surprisingly having a pretty good time, all things considered. The ballroom they were in consisted of tall, regal columns and windows as tall as the ceiling. Multiple gold chandeliers were hanging above them, with what seemed like thousands of jewels on them. Light reflected off the jewels from candles on the chandeliers, warming the large room. It was all just so–fancy–that it still took Percy’s breath away for a moment. After all, just a month ago, Percy had been a normal teenager living in New York with his mom and dog, Mrs. O’Leary. He only really had two friends, Grover, whom he had met in middle school after they were both bullied by the same girl, Nancy Bobofit, and Rachel, whom he and Grover had met at freshman orientation and had been stuck at the hip with since.
—Flashback—
The three of them formed an unbreakable trio of friends who always had each other’s backs. For the most part, they went unnoticed through high school, not being popular in any way. Only Rachel was well-known because of her father being a mega-rich business exec, but with how often Rachel protested the exact things that most people in Goode’s families got their money from, she wasn’t exactly popular either. And Percy and Grover were more likely to be bullied than anything. That was, until a month ago, when Percy’s mom, Sally, had unexpectedly picked him up from the skatepark where he had been hanging out with Grover. His mom had seemed nervous and wasn’t answering many of Percy's questions, which just made him more concerned. Sally gave him a brief explanation that this had something to do with his father’s family, but didn’t say much else.
She said that his father’s family wanted to get in contact with Percy and that it was extremely important. Never mind the fact that Percy’s father had never involved himself in his son’s life before, but Percy didn’t exactly have much time to remind his mom of that. They approached a limo, and before Percy could really process what was going on, they were inside and sitting across from a petite young woman with long dark hair and an iPad in hand that she would constantly type away on, who said her name was Melissa Aurai (“please just call me Mellie”). She was an administrative assistant who worked for his father, apparently, and was here to escort Percy and his mom to their meeting. A meeting with who, exactly? Percy wouldn’t find out until he got there, unfortunately. On the way there, Mellie had Percy and his mom read over and sign NDAs, which didn’t exactly calm his nerves.
They arrived at the Plaza Hotel, a hotel for the ultra-rich, which was so fancy that Percy had a hard time comprehending it. They went up the elevator to the penthouse, where their meeting was, before being patted down by security. They were only sitting down on a couch in the hotel room for what felt like a second before a man came in. He was white but tan, with chin-length black hair and the build of a swimmer. He wore a pressed, navy shirt and grey slacks with a matching jacket. The man introduced himself as Triton, and he, as Percy would soon find out, was his brother. Well, half-brother, but you get it.
Not only that, but Percy would find out that his father, the one whom he had never talked to or seen once in his life, was the newly crowned King of a country called Olympia. His brother Triton was the crown prince, and Percy was a prince and second in line for the throne. And this was all being told to him because his grandfather, another person he had never met before, had recently died and left the crown to Percy’s father, Poseidon, as Poseidon’s older brother, Hades, had abdicated the throne years before. If Percy thought this was a lot of names now, he was utterly unprepared for just how many people he would be meeting in the coming weeks.
Oh, and if Percy thought there was any way he was getting out of this because he was an illegitimate son? Ha, nope! His hopes were dashed very quickly as Triton explained that in Olympia, any child of the ruling monarch is included in the line of succession regardless of the parents’ marital status. So yeah, that sucked for Percy. When Percy asked why, exactly, he was being told about this now and not sooner, he got to be told that the whole reason his father wanted to meet him and introduce him to the rest of his family was so that he would have “an heir and a spare”! And wasn’t that so fun? Okay, so maybe that hadn’t been entirely what Triton said, but it was the part Percy latched on to. What Triton really said, with the help of Sally, was that Percy was going to be told when he turned 18, but when his grandfather died, Poseidon decided he wanted Percy to be told sooner so that he could be prepared to step into his role as a Prince of Olympia and be publicly recognized as an heir by his father. All of this was done partly because Poseidon was feeling “sentimental” (Triton’s words, not his), and partly because Poseidon’s younger brother and the person currently second in line for the throne, Zeus, was utterly incompetent.
The man was known as a playboy despite already being in his 40s, and had already been in so many scandals that he was well-known even in America, and though Percy had never heard of him before, he had heard of Zeus’ ex-wife, the American actress Beryl Grace, before. And yeah, that was a whole can of worms that Percy would prefer not to touch. But back to the story, Triton was here in New York to teach Percy everything he needed to know about being a prince, from how to walk, talk, sit, stand, eat, and dress like a prince, to studying languages, history, art, and political science, and even learning to dance. All within three weeks. Percy wasn’t exactly thrilled.
The next few weeks got off to a rough start, to say the least. He, for the life of him, just couldn’t seem to get along with Triton. The older man seemed to get annoyed by everything Percy did wrong, which was quite a lot considering he had never taken a single etiquette class in his life. During the first week, Percy met Luke, his new driver and bodyguard. The guy was blonde and always wore the stereotypical bodyguard fit, a black suit with glasses and one of those earpieces with a curled wire running down from it. He was honestly a breath of fresh air. He was still very formal with Percy, no matter how many times he insisted on him calling him “just Percy,” but he joked around with Percy too. Luke was tasked with driving him everywhere, from dropping off Mrs. O’Leary at doggy daycare every morning, to school, to the hotel, and anywhere else Percy went. Percy also very quickly got taken to a tailor to get formal clothes tailored to him, as well as a new haircut and a whole new wardrobe from a personal shopper named Silena. Percy also sat down with Mellie and gave her access to all his social media accounts, as well as scrubbing any other trace of him off the internet.
The second day, Percy had Luke drive him to Daedalus’ Doggy Daycare to drop off Mrs. O’Leary before driving to pick up Grover for school, having Luke park a block away from Goode so that no one would see them exiting a limo. This quickly became their routine for the next few weeks. Though Percy’s hopes of having a normal school day were crushed in his first period when he went to PE with Coach Nunley and accidentally hit Matt Sloan in the face with a dodgeball, which had him sent to Principal Dodds’ office. For that lovely accident, he got two days of detention with Mr. Blofis. At his and Triton’s lesson that day, when Triton found out about Percy’s detention, he gave him a slip of paper with things to study during that hour. The next day, during detention, Mr. Blofis ended up helping him read the books given to him on the topics, with his dyslexia making it extremely hard for him. Due to his detention, Percy ended up missing most of his swim practice, so Coach Hedge sent him home with a long workout to complete. Percy went to Triton’s lesson and–to his surprise–after mentioning his workout, Triton took them down to the hotel gym and joined him for part of his workout while quizzing him on the stuff he read about during detention.
Their lessons continued in mostly the same way for a week without incident. Some lessons were more discussions than actual classes, and some involved more practical skills like how to execute the perfect bow. Percy memorised the correct forms of address for any imaginable member of the aristocracy, learned when to bow and to whom, who he could expect to curtsy or bow to him, and so on. They practiced his introduction (“Hello, I am Perseus, Prince of Olympia.”) and the correct strength of grip for a handshake. They drank endless cups of tea, and Percy studied table settings and proper dining etiquette for any meal of the day. After that first week, Percy was starting to settle into his new routine. He was still usually late for school, but Luke always had some breakfast for him in the mornings. His friends got used to their ride to school every morning, and things seemed to be going well. However, the following Wednesday proved to Percy that, actually, he most definitely did not have a handle on things. When Grover and Percy arrived at school that morning, they were surprised to see a crowd of people surrounding the school gates. When they went to ask someone who they were waiting for, to their shock, everyone there turned around and all their cameras focused on them. Everyone started to crowd around them before Mr. Blofis saved him from the hounding press, dragging Percy inside the school as the press yelled questions after him.
It was only once they were away from the chaos inside that Percy learned the whole reason the press was outside, which was an article posted called “New York’s Very Own Prince Charming?” which included pictures taken of him from afar when going about his day the past week. He didn’t even notice someone had been following or taking pictures of him. But while that was shocking, finding out through Mr. Blofis calling his mom about the situation on her cell phone, which hadn’t been in his school file, that his English teacher was dating his mom was also not what he expected to find out on a Wednesday morning. The incident also caused Luke to have to follow him to every one of his classes from now on, which was also not what he wanted. After that, everyone seemed to be interested in Percy. Every class was filled with people staring at him and taking pictures of him, and reporters were asking every student they came across about the mysterious Percy Jackson and if they knew about him. For once, being so unpopular was paying off. Not to mention, online #princepercy was trending, with people asking all sorts of questions about him and his life. It all felt like too much.
Percy invited Grover and Rachel to Olympia to accompany him to the Independence Day Ball as a sort of vacation, which would end up being a great decision. Over the next week, his sudden popularity at Goode endured and ended up getting him invited to the movies by a Senior on his swim team, Corey Bailer, who had never spoken to him before in his life. Percy ended up saying yes and had to bargain a deal with Triton to let him go, which included joining Triton and an “associate” of his out for dinner the next evening without complaint. When Percy got home that night, it was to his mom sitting on the couch in the living room with the lights off, her arms wrapped around herself, and a blanket draped over her shoulders. Her eyes were glued to the TV screen, where a gossip news anchor sat on a sofa across from his mom’s old boyfriend, Gabe Ugliano.
Gabe had been a really nice guy when Percy’s mom had met him. He got Percy a new skateboard and taught him how to play cards. He took Percy’s mom out for nice dinners. Sure, maybe he wasn’t the most objectively handsome guy Percy had ever laid eyes on, but he could pretty much see what his mom had seen in him. That had all changed around the time that Gabe had moved in with them. The card games that used to be fun man-to-man bonding had turned into poker parties for Gabe’s buddies, where Percy was expected to fetch and carry beers and snacks for the guys. They probably could have lived with that except that it was followed by Gabe putting himself in charge of the finances. Well, sure, fine, he managed an appliance store which seemed to be doing alright, so maybe he did know more than Percy’s mom about money, but still. It turned out to be only the start of a slippery slope. Gabe had very quickly started treating Percy’s mom more like a combination of maid and cook than a girlfriend. He had a short temper–especially when he had been drinking–and Percy had found himself hiding out at the skatepark and Rachel’s house more and more.
When his mom wasn’t around, Percy also found himself being hit more than anything. It didn’t happen at first, but ramped up in frequency over time. He was always threatened not to tell his mom or anyone, so he kept his mouth shut. That lasted until the first time Gabe hit Percy with his mom in the apartment. That day, when Gabe had told Percy to fetch more drinks, Percy had impulsively told him to fuck off. Percy had crashed to the floor when Gabe’s fist connected with his face. His mom, who had been working away in the kitchen on her famous seven-layer dip, had gasped and dropped the glass casserole dish on the linoleum tile where it shattered. Percy’s mom had wasted no time in calling the cops, and that was the last day Gabe had set foot in their apartment. The Gabe on TV had put on weight since Percy had last seen him in person, which made him look even more like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes than before. He still only had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp as if that made him handsome or something.
On TV, Gabe gave his sob story about having raised Percy, and how Sally had taken Percy and most of his stuff from him in their divorce. Percy quickly turned off the TV, trying to reassure his mom that everyone would see through him. No one would believe him. Well, that was proved wrong the next day when the tabloids were plastered with headlines like: “Percy Kidnapped as a Child?” and “Shocking Custody Coverup!” So not exactly great. And to make it even better, when Percy arrived at school, reporters and paparazzi were surrounding the school gates again. He expected them this time, but paused when he heard one call out “Percy!” It was unusual for them to use his nickname, after all. They usually all called him “Perseus” or “Prince Perseus”. They all kept asking invasive questions that were starting to get on his last nerve. Luke was trying to pull him inside, but that was all for naught when he heard the fateful question. One paparazzi asked about his mom, “Has she always been selfish?” And what another one said in response was what really made him snap. “Yeah, what made her such a bitch?”
Now, Percy wasn’t exactly the violent type, but calling his mom a bitch was just a low blow that Percy couldn’t let go unanswered. So, while he couldn’t exactly tell which guy had said it, he didn’t care. He stormed four forceful paces to the nearest of the three and threw a punch. All Percy heard after that were shocked gasps, the sound of camera shutters, and the reporter howling, with his hands holding his nose and stark red blood dripping down between his fingers. The crowd was yelling, shoving microphones at Percy more aggressively than ever. Luke seized Percy around the middle and dragged him through the crowd, pushing and shoving cameramen out of his way as they went. Once inside, Percy knew he had screwed up. This was bad, really bad. Once calmed down, Percy went to English with a stone in his stomach. When he was called to the office through the intercom in the middle of class, Percy knew who was there.
And of course, right on cue, when Percy entered Principal Dodds’ office, Triton was inside. He was extremely mad and disappointed, to say the least, but Triton’s main concern was how he was going to have to do damage control with the press after this, so Percy considered it a win. That night was the dinner with Triton’s “associate,” who turned out to be Rachel’s father, Mr. Dare. The only thing that made the night better was the fact that Rachel was there too. Mr. Dare wasn’t exactly Percy’s biggest fan. He thought that he was a bad influence on Rachel (as if it wasn’t the other way around, if anything), but managed to put that aside for the dinner. In the middle of the evening, just when he thought it was going alright, Matt Sloan showed up. He “just so happened” to turn up at the exact same restaurant Percy was at, at the exact same time. He was there with his parents, and they both stood behind the teen during his and Percy’s entire interaction. Triton gave Percy a multitude of warning looks during their conversation and tried his best to curb Percy’s rudeness with his everlasting politeness and etiquette.
Sloan asked if he and Grover were going to come by the skatepark anytime soon and if Grover wanted to film, and Percy knew why he was asking. Sloan just wanted him interacting with Percy to be on video, or for the press to snap some pictures of them together and report on it. Yeah, right. That wasn’t happening. Eventually, Sloan got the hint and left, though Triton wasn’t exactly thrilled with how he handled their conversation. But whatever, Sloan was a bully anyway. Not long after, Rachel asked Percy if he wanted to get some air outside. Despite Triton’s glares that said he better not go anywhere, Percy went. He and Rachel spent some time talking on the balcony of the restaurant, unknowingly being filmed by paparazzi that wasted no time reporting on Percy apparently “joining the dating scene,” with “the daughter of the rich owner of Dare Enterprises, Rachel Dare.” Percy apologized to Rachel about the headlines, but she just brushed them off without a care. People were going to talk no matter what they did. That weekend, Percy and Grover went out to the movies and then for milkshakes with Corey Bailer and his friends, with Rachel having declined to join. They spent most of the time being talked over, not to, and when they were talked to, it was mostly about Percy’s trip to Olympia and how he’ll need a date for the Independence Day Ball. When Percy said he was inviting Rachel and Grover as his friends, Corey, of course, asked, “Aren’t we your friends too?”
So that’s what they were after. Percy shouldn’t have really been surprised. None of them had ever talked to him before he suddenly became a prince, after all. Grover went to defend Percy, and just when an argument was about to break out, a paparazzi took his photo through the glass of the shop, and Luke said they needed to leave. Percy quickly took the excuse, and he and Grover left together. So much for thinking he might actually have more than two friends. That night was the night that Percy, Grover, and Rachel had to pack for their trip to Olympia, with them having a sleepover at Percy’s before flying out the next day. It was at that sleepover that Percy was reminded that he was, in fact, going to have to meet a lot of his extended family when in Olympia, including his cousins. The exact people on his father’s side of the family had been put on the back burner, a bit. So that night, the three of them spent some time stalking the Instagrams of his cousins and their friends. Including his cousin Jason, Jason’s friend and rumored girlfriend Piper McLean, Jason’s friend Leo, and his cousins Bianca and Nico di Angelo.
The next day, they got on a private jet headed to Olympia, and while on it, Percy quickly found out that he did not like flying. While flying, Triton sent Percy an itinerary of all he would be doing the next week, and it was a lot, to say the least. Triton’s explanation was that at first Percy wasn’t going to be doing all this, but because his identity had been revealed earlier than expected, the least he could do was make himself useful and go to some royal events over the course of the week. Percy didn’t even try to argue. When they arrived in Olympia, the first thing the trio noticed was the royal palace. It was less like a fairytale castle and more like a huge mansion. Constructed out of some kind of cream coloured stone with white columns and detailed trim under the eaves. The windows were all tall, and those on the first floor were accompanied by neatly maintained flower boxes. In between each of the windows were carvings of gods and goddesses. A grand stone staircase led from the driveway to a set of ridiculously big double doors on the second floor, watched by what Percy guessed were two honest-to-God footmen. The gravel circular driveway looped around a huge fountain and vibrant flower beds.
Not long after they arrived, Percy changed and was being whisked away to have a private breakfast with his father, Poseidon. It was the first time Percy was going to meet him, and he couldn’t be more nervous. When Poseidon arrived, Percy saw that he was a tall, broad man and had lighter skin than Percy, but was tanned as though he spent a lot of time on the beach. His black hair was cut short, and his full beard was neatly groomed. The suit he wore made him look serious, like some kind of businessman, but there were crinkled laugh lines at the corners of his green eyes. And when he saw Percy, his features broke into a warm smile. He said, “Perseus,” and held his arms out like he was expecting Percy to come running in for a hug. Percy did not. Poseidon’s grin faltered, and his arms fell slowly to his sides. Triton left the two of them alone, and it quickly became even more awkward. They started talking, and it didn’t go as badly as Percy thought it would. They agreed to start over in their relationship and spent some time walking around the grounds talking, which Percy actually enjoyed. They walked to the royal stables, where Percy met one of the stablehands, Charles Beckendorf. Percy also got to meet the horse his father was gifting him, despite him having zero horseback riding experience, whom he would go on to name Blackjack.
After that, Poseidon escorted him back to the palace for the long-awaited breakfast. They returned to the veranda where they had met to find Triton seated at a table with a woman who could only be his mother, Queen Amphitrite. Percy had no clue how he was supposed to talk to her. Queen Amphitrite had brown eyes and dark hair that was pulled back away from her face and twisted into a little bun at the base of her neck. A string of pearls lay against the base of her throat. She gazed coolly at Percy as he and Poseidon stepped onto the veranda. Breakfast was full of awkward small talk. The common ground Percy and his father had shared at the stables had quickly disintegrated. There was no instant connection, and the hobbies they had in common were few and far between. They were all avid equestrians, and they sailed regularly as a family. Percy had never set foot on a sailboat or ridden a horse in his life. He doubted any of them had skateboarded before or spent much time playing video games. When breakfast finished, Percy was given a tour of the palace by his cousin, Jason, whom he got to meet for the first time. He also got to meet his cousins Bianca and Nico, though his first impression of them was of Nico running away from his older sister as Bianca chased him, yelling at Nico for putting glue in her conditioner. Percy definitely wouldn’t consider that a bad first impression, though, just interesting.
He and Jason finished the tour before Percy spent the rest of the afternoon with Rachel and Grover, just chilling around. He got changed for dinner, but by the time Rachel and Grover decided he was ready, Percy was cutting it very close. Typical. He had gotten turned around on his way down from his room and was already a few minutes late. And to make it even better, this was dinner with the whole royal family, and it would be the first time he was meeting a lot of these people. Everyone else was already seated when he arrived. When he entered, the hum of conversation paused. Zeus commented on his tardiness, though Jason shot his father a look to stop him. Poseidon proceeded to introduce Percy to everyone, and as he was going around the table, Percy made a terrible mistake. You see, Triton had explained to him that his Uncle Hades had remarried, and that he had two children, Bianca and Nico, so there was really no reason for why he made the assumption he did. Alas, just as his father was getting to Persephone, instead of letting his father introduce her, Percy asked, “So you’re Bianca and Nico’s sister?” Jason spluttered. Nico spat out his drink, spraying it across the tablecloth. Bianca clapped a hand over her mouth to cover up a snort. From the other end of the table, Triton glared daggers at Percy.
Persephone lifted her chin and looked down her nose at Percy. Before she could say anything, Hades cut across her. “Persephone is my wife, boy.” Percy choked on his own breath. “Oh.” God, how stupid could he be? Before Percy could dig his hole any deeper, Nico spoke up. “Don’t worry, Perce,” said Nico. “Why would you guess that Dad would marry someone half his age?” Hades gave his son a stern look. “Nico…” “I can speak for myself,” said Persephone. Nico rounded on her. “Then are you gonna explain why you can’t find someone your own age to marry?” Hades slammed a fist onto the table, making all the place settings rattle. Percy jumped, but the others seemed relatively unfazed. Was this normal? “That’s enough! Nico, go to your room.” Nico looked indignant. “I haven’t eaten anything!” “Now!” Nico shoved himself away from the table. His chair scraped against the floor. “Fine! I don’t want to be here anyway.” Jason half-rose out of his seat. “I’ll make sure he gets there.” “You sit down,” snapped Hera. Jason sank back into his chair. Nico wrenched the door open before one of the footmen could beat him to it. He swung it closed in what likely would have been an impressive slam, but it was caught just in time and shut with a gentle click. “Well,” said Zeus. He downed the rest of his wine glass in two large gulps. “Welcome to Olympia, Percy Jackson.”
So that was how dinner went. It was mortifying in more ways than one, truly. After dinner, Jason and Bianca had invited him to join them and some of Jason’s friends in the game room for a movie, but Percy had said no, claiming he was too tired. He really didn’t want to make an even bigger idiot out of himself. Rachel and Grover had tried their best to be supportive when he told them what happened, but even they hadn’t been able to keep a straight face when he confessed his mistake with Persephone. The next day, his first engagement was brunch with the Olympian National Equestrian Team at 8:00 AM. There, Percy met a man with curly brown hair and a scruffy beard who wore a tweed suit and was using a wheelchair, whose name was Chiron. He was the Chef d'Equipe of the Equestrian team, and Percy had a good time talking to him; he was willing to answer any questions Percy had about horseback riding and the stables here, no matter how stupid they probably were. After that, he and Triton toured an Olympian public school and met some of the schoolchildren there, before having lunch with members of the Olympian Teachers Association. They then visited the Port of Olympia War Veterans Memorial, where Percy got the honor of placing a wreath on the grave of the Unknown Soldier. They also toured the Port of Olympia and the Olympia naval cruiser that was docked there.
Finally, at 8:00 PM, Percy had dinner with members of the Olympian Historians Association, where he was seated next to a sandy-haired man with a stubbly beard and intense brown eyes, who introduced himself as Frederick Chase. He was in Olympia doing research at the University of Olympus on some World War II stuff that Percy couldn’t remember. Dinner was dying down when he felt a kick at his leg under the table, and when he looked up to glare at Triton, his older half-brother nodded his head to a place behind him. Percy turned around to see Jason, peeking his head out of a secret passage in the wall. (One of the many that Rachel and Grover had gotten a tour of earlier that morning by the palace’s very own Nico di Angelo.) Percy was definitely not disappointed to skip out of dinner early, and left with Jason through the secret passage to a game room where many people already were, including Nico, Bianca, Rachel, Grover, as well as two people Percy had never met before, Leo Valdez and Piper McLean. They all hit it off, and Percy could definitely say he had a great time that night. The next day, Wednesday, was much the same, filled with other social obligations that Percy had as the shiniest new prince of Olympia.
At 10:00 AM, he and Triton had a tour of Olympian General Hospital, where they were able to visit some kids who were patients there. At 1:00 PM, they had lunch with the Olympian Board of Tourism, who, Triton assured him, would be very difficult to offend since they loved Poseidon more than just about anything. Apparently, Poseidon’s contributions to athletics and environmentalism had been excellent for the tourism industry. At 3:00 PM, Percy went on a tour of the Olympian National Art Museum with his cousins, Grover, Rachel, Leo, and Piper, who all got along like a house on fire. That part of his day was great, but what came next certainly wasn’t. After the tour, the last engagement before dinner was, humiliatingly, a TV interview which went about as badly as Percy expected. Finally, Percy went to dinner with the royal family (except for Hades and co.), the Prime Minister, and the Olympian military advisors. The dinner had been a tense affair. Apparently, one of the key military advisors did not get along with Poseidon in even the vaguest sense. Neither of them had made any attempt to hide their distaste for the other. As far as Percy could figure out, there had been some disagreement over the format of a war memorial in some city or other. The military advisor had won; Poseidon had never been able to quite let it go, and therefore, the advisor never missed an opportunity to rub it in. Really, nothing he learned in school or with Triton could ever have prepared Percy for just how childish world leaders could actually be. The next two days passed in a blur, and before he knew it, it was Saturday, the day before the Independence Day Ball.
Percy, Jason, Leo, Piper, Grover, and Rachel were on their way to the beach for what Leo promised was the party of the year on the royal yacht. And Leo was mostly right. The party was epic. A DJ played music so loud that Percy would feel it pounding in his chest. The deck was crowded with a crush of bodies, and the night sky just made it even more magical. Security was almost nonexistent: anyone who passed the suits at the dock had full access to the free-for-all. It was like a scene from one of Triton’s nightmares. In the middle of the deck was a dance floor absolutely packed with bodies, and that’s where Percy and his friends headed next. It was all a blur of brightly coloured dresses and guys in designer shirts unbuttoned just so. Percy let himself get lost in the pounding beat and the crush of dancing bodies. After only a couple of songs, a girl with black eyes and long brown hair slid into place beside him. She was ballerina thin with legs a mile long and wore a skin-tight purple dress with spaghetti straps. None of which was his usual type, but he wasn’t blind; he knew she was drop-dead gorgeous. It took Percy a moment to realize that she was actually dancing with him, of all people, because she was so out of his league–until he remembered the metaphorical crown on his head had scouted him right out of little league into the pros.
They danced for a few songs before she took his hand and led him over to the railing. Out of the throng of bodies, Percy could tell that she smelled strongly of alcohol. She wobbled a little on her high heels. She introduced herself as Kelli, and Percy could tell she was beyond drunk. Percy warned her to be careful about the edge of the ship and turned around to get her some water when he heard a splash. At the railing, Kelli was gone. “Jesus!” Jason appeared at Percy’s side. “Did she just fall overboard?” They dashed to the railing. In the black water, Percy couldn’t make her out, but the water was frothing with bubbles like something heavy had crashed through the surface. “We’ve got to pull her out!” Percy yelled. Jason stared at him, uncomprehending. “Oh, for fuck’s sake you are useless.” Percy shucked off his jacket and shoes, shoved them into Jason’s arms, and climbed up on the railing. “Hey! What are you doing?” Percy dove. The water was freezing, and his clothes were immediately soaked and heavy. His eyes stung from the salt when he opened them underwater. He could see Kelli’s form surrounded by tiny bubbles. Her thrashing had stopped, and she drifted limply in the water. He kicked himself towards her and wrapped his arms under hers.
When he broke the surface again, he had her in his arms. He spat salt water out of his mouth and shook his head like a dog to get the water out of his eyes. He propelled them back toward the shore. Useless. Fucking. Royals. He thought bitterly with every kick. People were yelling on the boat. He could hear someone yelling about finding Luke and calling an ambulance. When he reached the beach, he dropped Kelli on her back. He could distantly hear Luke and the others yelling at him, but he didn’t pause to listen. He was no lifeguard, but everyone had to learn CPR in PE class. He tried to remember what they had practiced in the gym. He checked for breathing. Nothing. He checked for a pulse. Something. Maybe? He wasn’t sure. He pancaked one hand over the other in the middle of Kelli’s chest and started chest compressions. Staying alive, he sang in his head like Coach Hedge had once told him to, pumping his arms to the rhythm of the song, ah, ah, ah, ah. Staying alive, staying alive.
Water gurgled up out of Kelli’s mouth, and he shoved her onto her side. The water dribbled out of her mouth onto the sand. Still no signs of breathing. Percy vaguely remembered some warnings about masks and sanitation, but just then it didn’t seem important. He pinched Kelli’s nose and breathed directly into her mouth. One breath. Two breaths. Another round of chest compressions. One breath. Two breaths. Kelli jerked and started coughing. Percy sat back on his heels. “Jesus Christ, Percy!” He looked up. A crowd was gathering around them–Grover, Piper, Rachel, and Leo at the front. “I called 911,” said Grover. “He means 112,” said Rachel. She was on her knees beside them, wrapping a violently shivering and still coughing Kelli in what looked like Percy’s jacket. “There’s an ambulance coming.” Luke elbowed his way through the throng. “Your Highness, we need to leave.” Percy gaped at Luke. “What the hell are you talking about? I’m not going to leave her here!” He hadn’t even particularly liked Kelli during their brief interaction, but it seemed cold to leave her soaking wet and coughing on a beach in the dark. She had fallen off his family’s yacht during a party thrown for him. He could at least stick around until she got in a cab or something.
“Sir, Prince Jason has already been escorted–” “Jason left?” Percy demanded. “It’s protocol, sir,” Luke insisted. “If anyone sees–” “Don’t you have to do what I say, or something?” Percy interrupted. “Not until you are eighteen. Until then, I act in your best interest.” “Then you’re going to have to arrest me or something because I’m not going anywhere.” Percy folded his arms across his chest to further make his point. Luke looked torn. “Fine,” he eventually sighed, “but only until the ambulance gets here. I’m taking you back to the palace as soon as it’s here.” Luke followed through on his threat. As Kelli’s ambulance zipped off into the night, Percy was shepherded into one of the palace’s cars. “I want a front-row seat at your execution,” Piper called after him. “Yeah, yeah.” Percy waved her off. “Right in the splash zone, I got it.” With no time wasted, he was taken directly to his father’s office. It was full of the usual fancy furniture and paintings that Percy was used to from the rest of the palace, except that behind the desk was a worn office chair. The leather was cracked from excess use. Poseidon stood leaning over the desk, bracing his hands and looking at something on the table.
He looked up when Percy came in. If Percy had been expecting a pat on the back for his rescue mission, he was sorely mistaken. The king did not look very happy to see him. “When are you going to start acting responsibly?” he demanded without preamble. Percy blinked. “What?” Poseidon picked up what he had been looking at on the desk and handed it to Percy. It was a tablet like the one Mellie used. Percy swiped through the photos on the screen. They were grainy from the low light, but it was clear to see who was featured. There was Percy, soaking wet and wrapped in a blanket, watching as Kelli was checked out by the paramedics. “In case you didn’t notice, I’m the one who gave her CPR. She would have been unconscious for too long by the time the ambulance showed up.” “We could have been liable if anything had happened to that girl, Perseus. We are fortunate that one of our people tipped us off before the story broke.” Percy looked up at him. “Do you think I plan this kind of stuff? It just happens.” “You can't afford for it to ‘just happen’. Things ‘just happen’ to other people. We are supposed to be different. People look up to us, and we’re held to higher standards of behaviour. Can you try to grasp that concept?”
Percy hadn’t exactly been expecting to be fighting with his father that night, but here he was. Poseidon got mad at Percy for even being at that party in the first place, but when he mentioned needing to have a word with the head of Percy’s security, he got defensive. Luke didn’t do anything wrong, after all. If anything, Percy was the one to pressure him to stay. Even so, all Poseidon could do was sigh and sink back into his chair, briefly explaining to Percy that Luke was already on a probation of sorts due to an incident that happened during his first time in charge of a security detail. The evening went badly, to say the least. Since then, he had been kept away from positions of authority, that was until Percy came around. Percy was Luke’s chance to show he was responsible, and Percy had just blown it for him. His father explained that as soon as Percy was announced, a more suitable officer was intended to take over, but when his identity was leaked, Triton seemed to think that Percy had become attached to Luke and would be more comfortable staying with him. Poseidon allowed it, as he thought that perhaps Luke had learned from prior events. “I see now that I was mistaken.” Poseidon dismissed him soon after, and Percy made sure to slam the door on his way out.
The next day, the final day of Percy’s trip, and the current day, was Sunday, May 8th. The long-awaited day of the Independence Day Ball. Rachel and Grover had met Percy at the front doors of the palace to prepare for the Independence Day Parade. Percy would be riding in a royal carriage with Triton, Amphitrite, and Poseidon, and Jason would be in another with his father and stepmother. Nico, Bianca, Leo, Piper, Rachel, and Grover were not invited to participate in the procession itself, but they were all going to shuttle into the centre of town together to join in the festivities. As he and Triton took their seats in the carriage, Triton informed Percy that after the parade, they were going to be viewing the Crown Jewels and each picking out a diadem for the ball tonight, as was traditional for the monarch’s children at the Independence Day Ball. Poseidon and Amphitrite joined them in the carriage soon after, and conversation ceased. As they drove by in the parade, people cheered and clapped and waved tiny Olympian flags. Percy pasted on the practiced smile Triton had taught him and waved back.
There was a large group of children outside a big townhouse-looking building that was signposted “Olympia’s Home for Children”. Looking back, Percy wouldn’t be able to identify what made him pause, but an insistent feeling in his gut would not let him pass the group by. “Stop the carriage,” Percy ordered. “Perseus,” Poseidon warned. Percy stood. The carriage stopped abruptly, causing a hold-up in the parade behind them, and several shouted orders at the front of the procession to halt. The music died out. The crowd’s cheers fell to muttering. “What are you doing?” Triton hissed. Percy was already climbing down from the carriage. “Just trust me on this,” he insisted. His eyes met Poseidon’s. “Please.” If Percy had thought the number of phones trained on him was overbearing before, it was even worse now. There was a mixed reaction when he approached the children’s shelter. The flashes of camera lenses intensified, and several people nearer to the shelter “awe”d at him. The kids themselves were abuzz with excitement. Some bounced up and down on the balls of their feet, and they waved their little Olympian flags enthusiastically. Percy introduced himself to the kids and invited them to join him in walking through the parade, to which they all enthusiastically agreed.
Percy glanced back at the carriage. Poseidon had turned in his seat to face them, a slight smile playing about his lips. The rest of the procession still stood at attention, waiting for Percy to return and someone to give the order to continue. One of the kids took his hand, and he and the kids rejoined the parade, walking behind the carriage he used to be in. Then, finally, after the parade ended, the night arrived. Percy stared at his reflection in the mirror. He was wearing his new tux, the one he had been fitted for at the tailor’s a couple of weeks ago. The bow tie at his throat felt like a dog collar tightened to near choking. He heard a knock on the door and opened it to find his father standing there. He came into the room to check up on his youngest son before the ball started, and after talking with him, Percy called his mom. Poseidon gave him a knowing look and drifted away, feigning interest in some probably priceless knick-knacks on the mantle. Talking with his mom brought him a load of revelations, some of which he had already unconsciously come to, that were just now being realized in his mind. After ending the call with his mom, Percy and his father managed to have a (short) heart-to-heart about Percy’s decision whether to stay in the royal life or go back to New York with his mother. His mind was already made up, but it was hard to admit that, even to himself.
The halls of the palace were bustling with assistants and servants, all trying to keep the night running smoothly. Poseidon guided Percy effortlessly through the palace to the ballroom. Triton and Amphitrite were already waiting for them there. On the other side of the double doors, Percy could hear the voices of the assembled guests murmuring their conversations. Amphitrite took Poseidon’s arm, and Percy fell into step behind them beside Triton. Triton nodded to him in acknowledgement, which was about as close to brotherly affection as Percy thought they were going to get. Poseidon gestured to the footmen, and they pulled the double doors open wide. Poseidon and Amphitrite stepped through the doors first, with Triton and Percy following shoulder to shoulder a step behind. The herald slammed his staff on the ground, one, two, three times. “Their Majesties King Poseidon and Queen Amphitrite and Their Royal Highnesses Crown Prince Triton and Prince Perseus.” There was a microphone on a small stand balanced on a stone bannister. Poseidon stepped up to it to address the crowd. “My fellow Olympians,” he said in his booming public speaking voice, “and honoured guests, good evening. Welcome to our Olympian Independence Day Ball. It is a pleasure to be with you all this evening. Before we officially open the ball, my son Prince Perseus would like to say a few words.”
Percy’s speech wasn’t bad, if he did say so himself. When he started, he managed to catch sight of Jason, Piper, Leo, Bianca, Nico, Grover, and Rachel all standing in one big knot in the crowd. When Percy caught their eyes, they all flashed him a synchronized double thumbs up. Jason mimed taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly. He ended up fumbling over his words a couple of times, but actually speaking his experience of suddenly coming into the royal life was relieving, in a way. The whole point of the speech was to introduce himself to the people of Olympia, and that was what he did. Not everyone may like Percy as a prince, but they would just have to live with it. He wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. When he finished his speech, the crowd broke into polite applause. Grover let loose a whistle that got him more than a few dirty looks.
And now that that was over with, the ball started in earnest. Triton snagged Percy off the dance floor and away from his friends after just one or two dances. He directed Percy around the edge of the ballroom, pressing him into brief conversations with all of the important people Percy was supposed to know and remember. Some of them were vaguely familiar from the previous week’s events, others were completely new. Triton and Percy especially made it a point to stop and talk to the Prime Minister, as well as her wife and son, Arcas, who was only around seven and seemed very disappointed to not be allowed to stay at the ball the whole night. Percy managed to cheer him up and said his goodbyes to the couple when Jason appeared at Percy’s side. Jason joined Percy in slowly wandering around the ballroom and made it a point to apologize for how he had left at the yacht party. Jason wasn’t used to not following protocol as much as Percy was; it was ingrained in him since he was young, after all. It was hard sometimes to make your own decisions with a life like Jason’s. Of course, Jason leaving when he had still didn’t sit right with Percy, but he did understand where his cousin was coming from.
“I’m just glad she’s okay,” said Percy. “She” being Kelli, the model who had fallen over the railing of the yacht. “Let’s forget about it. Time to move on.” Jason nodded, smiling slightly, “Whatever you say, man.” They stuck together, making their rounds of the ballroom, greeting various dignitaries and aristocrats. They had nearly finished a full lap when it happened.
–Back to the present–
Percy’s vision inexplicably started to blur, causing him to slow down. He didn’t want to trip, after all. His vision changed from crisp and clear to so blurry that Percy could barely make out shapes in front of him in a matter of moments; his vision almost flickered back and forth. Percy started to feel dizzy and nauseous, and knew from past experience that there was a high chance he was going to puke on Jason. And trust him, that would not be a fun experience for either party. With his vision going from blurry to clear so quickly, Percy had to slow down considerably. They weren’t even walking that fast to begin with, so his change in pace was noticed quickly by his cousin. “Percy? You okay?” Jason’s questions went unanswered as Percy clenched his eyes shut, trying to stop the dizziness. He leaned over so his hands were resting on his knees, and only vaguely felt it when Jason put his hand on his back to try to stabilize him. “You’re freaking me out, here, Percy.” Jason’s voice was laced with worry. Percy’s posture must have been getting noticed by the people attending the ball around them, as Percy heard Jason ask some people in a politely worried voice if they would back up and give Percy some space. Percy kept taking in deep breaths, but eventually gave up and fell to the tiled floor, half-sitting, half-lying down. He didn’t have much strength.
His hands rest on the cool tiled floor, now being one of the only things Percy could feel in relation to his body. “Hey Jason…” His words were slurred, and he found he couldn’t finish his sentence. Jason was really starting to panic, now. He was the only thing keeping Percy sitting up and not lying flat down on the ground, holding Percy’s torso up by his armpits. “Help! Someone!” Keeping this more private or under wraps went completely out the window when Percy seemingly passed out, his head bobbing down onto his chest like he was a puppet with his strings cut. His shouts did not go unanswered, with many of the medically trained people in the ball running over to see what was wrong. This was a prince of a country, after all, and a teenager. There were many reasons to be worried. While the doctors and medics at the ball gently took Percy from Jason’s hands and laid him down on the floor, those who knew Percy pushed their way through the crowd to get closer to him. Grover and Rachel were the first to arrive, having been the closest when Percy started to keel over and eventually pass out. “Oh my god, Perce,” Grover gasped when he saw the state Percy was in on the floor. He was pale, paler than Grover had ever seen the teen.
“Holy shit, did he pass out?” Rachel asked, her language not being noticed in the chaos surrounding them. One of the men kneeling on the ground next to Percy was the royal family’s blonde doctor, Apollo. He was young, in his mid-20s at most, but was extremely skilled. He had interned under the family’s old doctor for a while before being promoted to Head Doctor when he retired a year or two ago. Apollo gently but swiftly lifted Percy’s eyelids, using a small flashlight to flick light into each eye before rechecking the teen’s breathing and pulse. The gathering of people circling them was even larger now, and was continuing to grow as Poseidon finally made his way through the crowd to be at his youngest son’s side. His heart clenched at the sight Percy made on the floor as he demanded answers from Apollo on his son’s condition. The blond man’s face was scrunched up in frustration, “I’m not sure, your Majesty. His body acts as though he has just fallen asleep, and yet I can’t wake him up.” Poseidon’s worry increased. Another of the palace doctors pushed her way through the crowd with something in her hand, which Poseidon quickly identified as smelling salts. Apollo broke the stick open, placing it under Percy’s nose, and he himself stayed away from where the smell was coming from.
Seconds passed, then a minute, with Apollo repeatedly trying to use the salts to wake Percy to no avail. He eventually sighed and handed the stick back to the other doctor, who took it away. “I’m sorry, your Majesty, I’ll need to take him to the medical wing and see if we can wake him there, or see if there is something else wrong.” Poseidon nodded and raised his voice to ask those around them to back up and go back to what they were doing prior to this as they dealt with the situation. The crowd slowly moved away as a path was cleared for Percy to be taken away on a stretcher. It was far easier to carry him on, and it was always better to be safe than sorry. Grover, Rachel, Jason, Piper, Leo, Nico, and Bianca watched on in a group as Percy finally left the ballroom, Poseidon in tow, and they all huddled together to interrogate Jason. The blond son of Zeus didn’t have many answers, as everything happened so suddenly and unexpectedly. While disappointing, it wasn’t surprising. Meanwhile, Triton was making quick rounds around the room, doing some damage control as worry wracked up in the back of his mind, soothing the worries of the ball attendants and answering any questions he could. The pressure, as always, was weighing on him. He didn’t know his younger brother all that well, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t worried by his sudden condition.
While those in the ballroom all wondered what was going on, Poseidon sat in a chair against the wall as doctors all moved around his son, murmuring to each other. How this day ended up like this, he didn’t know. It was around an hour later that the door to the medical wing opened, his wife, Amphitrite, stepping inside. She quickly made her way over to him, not wasting time with small talk as she asked, “Has he woken up? Do they know what happened yet?” Poseidon shook his head sadly. “None of them have any answers. Percy hasn’t given any signs of waking up anytime soon, either.” God, his poor son. Amphitrite draped herself around the back of Poseidon’s shoulders, hugging him tight. “It’ll be alright, dear, he’ll wake up before you know it, I’m sure.” Poseidon nodded gratefully, even as the tingles of doubt entered his mind. Amphitrite spoke up again, “Triton has been keeping the masses happy, and the ball has, for the most part, resumed, I’m told. There are still lots of whispers and worries, of course, but it is better than nothing.” Even thinking about going back out there made his stomach twist. Suddenly Poseidon had a revelation, his face going pale.
“Oh no, are you feeling alright? It’s not happening to you, too, is it?” Amphitrite asked as Poseidon shook his head and rubbed his hands over his face in stress. “No, no. I just realized I’m going to have to call his mother and tell her what happened.” Amphitrite winced, remembering the intimidating, scary woman that Sally Jackson already was in her early stages of pregnancy. Well, scary when she wanted to be. She seemed to be a very kind person otherwise, and even Amphitrite had to admit that. Even in the awkward, tense discussions they had before Percy was born, between Kronos’ anger at his son and her own anger at Poseidon and the situation they were in, Sally was still exceptionally kind and never raised her voice once. To have to call her and tell her that during the one week you were in charge of your son in his entire life, he had some sort of medical emergency that had even highly trained doctors confused on how to help him. Well. Her husband had put them all in this situation to begin with, so this was now his problem.
Poseidon sighed, standing up and placing a kiss on his wife’s forehead. “I’m going to go call her now. Better to get it over with sooner rather than later.” Amphitrite nodded, “Good luck, my love.” Poseidon thanked her quietly and walked out of the room, internally cursing his existence. Poseidon walked some ways down the hallway until he got to a secluded room that was unoccupied. He pulled out his phone, took a deep breath, and pressed the call button under a contact he had saved oh so many years ago. “Poseidon? What’s wrong?” Sally Jackson’s concerned voice came over the speaker, picking up after a couple of rings and immediately getting to the point. It wasn’t as though Poseidon would just call her for a social visit in the middle of the Independence Day Ball, after all. She already knew this was about her son. “Sally, hi. Well, haha, about that…”
Triton wrung his hands nervously behind his back, stressed beyond belief. He wasn’t getting any answers, no matter how many times he sent servants into the hall to the medical wing to get updates from his father. Some couldn’t find the King, while others said he sent them away immediately, not letting them get a word out. This did nothing to stop Triton’s worry. Triton didn’t even notice his uncle, Hades, approaching him until the man was right next to him and cleared his throat. He startled, “Oh! Uh, yes, Uncle? What is it?” Hades said nothing and pulled Triton into a brief hug, letting go almost as quickly as he pulled Triton in. Even so, it almost made the prince’s eyes well up with tears. “It’s okay, go outside and breathe for a couple of minutes, then come back. I’m sure we’ll get news soon.” Triton nodded at Hades’ orders, immediately complying. His Uncle may have often been a man of few words, but that didn’t mean he didn’t care. And maybe getting some air would be good for him.
When Percy woke up, he found himself in bed in a room he had never seen before. It was nothing like the rooms in the palace. This one was more refined, with touches of Greek architecture and decorations here and there. The walls were a pale cream color, and the rest of the room was dressed in bland neutrals. The royal Olympian family crest was embroidered into a throw pillow on the bed, so Percy was sure he was still in the palace. Though it was extremely weird, because most rooms in the palace were, well, more glaringly royal with more ancient, expensive artifacts than this room was. Percy’s vision was clear now, and he wasn’t dizzy or nauseous anymore, so he considered that a plus. He didn’t remember exactly what happened, just that he got extremely dizzy and his vision was blurry when he was at the ball with Jason. Wait… the ball! Percy felt a surge of panic go through him. He totally missed the majority of the ball, if not the whole thing, at this point. He didn’t know how long it had been since then, or if it was even the same day. Well, Percy mused, there was nothing he could really do about it now if it were the next day.
Percy looked around the room once more, seeing that there were no windows in the room he could look out of. He sat up and climbed out of bed, realizing that he wasn’t in his suit from the ball, but rather a t-shirt and jeans that he would regularly wear to the skate park. He didn’t think he brought this particular set of clothes to Olympia, though, so he wasn’t exactly sure how he was wearing them right now. But anyway, there was only one door in the room, so Percy did the only thing he could think of and approached it. He slowly and carefully opened the door, peeped his head out, and looked around at a long hallway with identical closed doors all along each side of it. It was kind of creepy how long the hallway seemed to go on, with just a dead end on one side and a set of double doors lined in gold paneling on the other. It looked pretty important, so Percy cautiously walked out of the room and towards the double doors, not closing the door behind him in case it locked and the double doors didn’t open. He really didn’t want to be stranded in a hallway, after all.
Percy hesitantly pressed his ear against the door and heard the muffled sounds of people talking on the other side. It both made him more and less nervous, so he grabbed the handle of the door and, before he could think about it anymore, opened it. He was immediately greeted by tons of voices, lots of people inside the room, which was much larger than the one he woke up in, but was styled the same way. He could see that most of the people in the room were those who had also been at the Independence Day Ball, with some extra people Percy didn’t remember seeing there as well. None of them were dressed as they had been at the ball, instead dressed in more casual, comfortable outfits like Percy himself was. Percy glanced around from where he was standing, hoping to see his friends or cousins. Rachel was the first to notice him standing there, “Percy!” She yelled and ran over to him with obvious relief on her face. She threw herself on him and pulled him into a tight hug. “I’m so glad you’re here. Are you alright? How do you feel?”
Percy was surprised to find that most of the people around them were now looking at the pair, and Percy tried to just focus on answering Rachel’s questions and asking his own. “I feel okay now, thanks. And I’m, uh, glad you’re here too. Where exactly is… here?” Rachel pulled away, a conflicted expression on her face. “It’s hard to say.” Percy furrowed his eyebrows, confused. “I mean,” Rachel continued, “we don’t know where we are, just that there’s no way to get out of here. We’ve all tried, but everyone’s still trying to figure out more possible ways to get out that we can safely try, and who or what could have brought us all here.” Before Percy could even think of something to respond to that with, Rachel led him father into the room, taking him to where the rest of the royal family were waiting in groups. Percy saw Nico and Bianca first. Nico looked scared, the ten-year-old looking around wearily in the arms of Bianca, who was hugging him and trying to soothe him. It made Percy’s heart clench. Despite not knowing his extended family all that well, it still hurt to see a kid that young so scared.
“Percy! Oh, thank god,” Grover called, walking as quickly as he could over to Percy with his crutches. Percy and his friend hugged as soon as they were close enough, Percy resting his face in the juncture between Grover’s neck and shoulder as they held onto each other tightly. Other than his mom, Grover had always been his comfort person since they met. Whenever Percy was sad or overwhelmed, he knew he could just tell Grover that, and his friend would be there, just sitting with him or comforting him as long as he needed. Grover’s hugs seemed to be like magic, always making him feel even just a little bit better. So Percy was happy to be able to hug one of his closest friends right now, with how confusing and, honestly, scary everything was. Rachel rested her hand on Percy’s back, also doing her best to comfort her friend. Both Grover and Rachel knew just how confusing it was for them when they woke up here, in this strange place. They had woken up in the same room, paired together as everyone else seemed to be when they talked with them. Those married were paired up, unless they had a young, only child. Then the child was paired up with one of the parents, and usually the other parent would wake up in a room with one of their friends, at best, and a stranger at worst. Somehow those who knew each other tended to be paired up, especially if they were friends.
Seeing as Grover and Rachel were both only children without their parents in Olympia, and they were old enough to be without an adult, they were paired up. It made the whole waking up in a random room thing a whole lot better, being with someone you knew and trusted. Percy woke up on his own, the only person to do so. That was scary on its own right. Meanwhile, Grover’s yell caught the attention of the rest of Percy’s extended family, bringing Percy’s presence to their attention. When Percy finally pulled away from the hug after several minutes, still standing close to Grover, he looked around at his family members and saw that his father and uncles looked as though they had been arguing with each other, his step-mother and aunts standing off to the side, also having a tense conversation, clearly frustrated and worried.
Percy’s father stepped away from his uncles, stepping closer to his youngest son, “Percy, I’m glad you are alright. Did you just wake up in a room in the hall?” “Uh, yeah, I did.” Seeing Percy’s hesitant confusion, Poseidon explained, “All of us did, but I believe you are the last one to wake up. Was anyone else in the room when you woke up?” Percy awkwardly laughed, “No? Why would there be?” Grover spoke up, then, “Everyone else here woke up in the same room as someone else, in pairs. You’re the only person to wake up on your own.” Percy didn’t know if that was a good or bad thing, but as he was contemplating this, his uncle Hades stepped forward as well, either not seeing or ignoring the look Poseidon sent him. “Do you know anything about this? You were the first one to black out during the ball. And the last one to wake up.” Zeus stepped towards Percy as well, “If you do know something, we need to know now.”
Percy’s eyes widened as he saw how intimidating Zeus and Hades looked, peering down on him with serious expressions. Percy stuttered, racking his brain to think of something to say, trying to remember anything about the events leading up to his blackout. “Uh- I don’t- I swear I don’t remember anything.” Poseidon stepped between his son and brothers before this could go any further, “You can ask Percy any questions you want later, but you will do so with me present, and respectfully. Understood?” Percy couldn’t see, but Poseidon glared at his brothers, not willing to let them bully his son when he was obviously already scared and confused. Hades nodded while Zeus scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Are you being serious, Po? Don’t be dramatic. We were just asking the boy a question.” Jason interrupted before Percy could hear any more of the inevitable upcoming argument, “Come on, Percy, let’s talk over here.” He took Percy’s arm gently, walking him away from the Olympian brothers and towards his friends and cousins.
Percy saw in the group they were walking towards, there was one person there who had not been at the Independence Day Ball, whom Percy didn’t recognize. She was tall and had short black hair and electric blue eyes, and was wearing a black leather jacket and ripped jeans. He assumed she was Jason’s older sister, Thalia, who Percy had heard mentioned once or twice when Rachel and Grover told him about the Olympian royal family. She nodded to Percy when he approached, Percy nodding back, acknowledging each other even though they had never properly met. It wasn’t exactly very high on his priority list right now. In the group were Thalia, Piper, Leo, Nico, and Bianca, with Jason, Grover, and Rachel rejoining the group with Percy. The group greeted Percy, happy to see him awake as well. “Hey guys, so what exactly happened while I was out?” Percy scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
Leo was the first one to answer him, “Most of us were at the ball, but some of us were elsewhere, not even in the country, and we all sort of slowly started to feel the same symptoms–dizzy and nauseous–before we blacked out. It was like everyone was dropping like flies, one by one, going unconscious. Everyone was panicking; no one knew what was happening. You were the first one to pass out, and everyone was worried when it was just you who passed out. Imagine how it was when everyone was passing out like that.” Leo used his hands for emphasis, waving them around with wide eyes as he described what happened, reiterating what Percy already knew as well. “-We were able to open and search all the rooms in the hallway but one, so I assume you walked out of that last one-”
Leo even told him how Triton had been especially worried about Percy, and had asked everyone if they had seen Percy after they woke up. That made Percy feel a little bit better about his and Triton’s relationship, as even though he and Triton had gotten off on the wrong foot, and Percy was still pretty sure Triton hated him for being his father’s bastard child, at least he cared about him. Somewhat. Leo kept rambling on and on until Piper stopped him, an amused smile on her face. “Yes, Leo, we know. We were all there for that, but thanks.” Leo blushed, embarrassed, pink tinting his cheeks as he nodded, “Oh- haha, yeah, of course.”
“So we’re just stuck here?” Percy asked, “Basically, yeah.” Leo honestly didn’t seem to be as worried about the situation as other people were, having a pretty chill attitude about the whole thing. Inside, Leo was just as scared as the rest of them; he just didn’t let it show. Just as Percy was looking around the room, he saw a very familiar head of long, dark brown hair. “Mom!” Sally turned around, locking eyes with Percy from across the room. She quickly walked over to him, a smile on her face, happy to see her son. “Oh, Percy,” She hugged him tight, “I’m so glad you’re alright, your cousins told me what happened.” Percy looked back to see his friends and cousins turned away, talking, giving Percy and his mom as much privacy as they could. Percy was happy that his mom was one of the people who had been brought here from out of the country, as Percy knew he would need her support to get through whatever this was. “C’mon, sweetie, let’s go sit down, and you can tell me all about how your trip to Olympia has been.” Percy knew that his mom was just trying to distract him from what was going on, but Percy happily let her.
He and his mom sat down on one of the unoccupied couches nearby, sitting close together. Sally ran his hands through Percy’s hair as he started to tell her all about the trip, focusing on the good parts as opposed to the mildly to extremely embarrassing parts. He felt himself get more and more relaxed, enjoying the tranquil bubble that he and his mom were in as long as it would last.
Forty minutes later, Percy was still sitting on the couch with his mom, quiet now that he had run out of things to talk about, instead listening to his mom ramble on about one of her book ideas, something she wanted to write about one day. It was pretty interesting, and Percy was sure that his mom would become a best-selling author if she actually had the opportunity to write and publish all the stories she wanted to. Meanwhile, no one seemed to make any progress on finding a way out of here. They had looked through all the rooms in the hallway again, but no one else was in them, and there weren’t any ways out of them. Nothing interesting was in them, either. All the rooms were bare bones in furnishing, or they just had random vases or trinkets that were useless. There were windows in the main room, but they were long, thin windows near the ceiling of the main area, unreachable to them. By the time another twenty minutes had passed, Percy was starting to become increasingly impatient. Why couldn’t anyone, out of all the military and diplomatic leaders here, come up with a plan to escape? Percy hadn’t been able to come up with one himself, but he was hardly the most qualified one in the room to do so.
Sally was starting to notice her son’s restlessness, his leg bouncing up and down rapidly with a need to do something, fidgeting with his hands as well. Her stories had only lasted so long, after all, and she found herself unable to really help her son. There wasn’t much to do in the room; no one had their phones or any devices or any of their belongings. Percy was just thinking about how maybe they could make a human pyramid to reach the windows near the ceiling when suddenly a piece of paper fell on his lap, seemingly coming out of mid-air. He stared at the paper for a moment before his head snapped towards his mom, who was also staring at the paper, shocked. No one had any of their belongings, and there was nothing in the rooms for them to use, which included pads of paper. So, where had this piece of paper come from? Glancing around them, it looked like no one else noticed the paper, so Percy started to read it.
As soon as he did, his jaw dropped in shock. He got up as quickly as he could, ignoring his mom’s worried calling of his name. He ran over to his father and uncles, where they were circled up, still talking, weaving through people to get to them. “Dad! Dad!” It didn’t register for Percy what he just called Poseidon, but Percy did see his father had a surprised expression on his face when he got close to him. “I think I know something about how to get out of here,” Percy said, loud enough that everyone quickly quieted down and looked at him with interest. Poseidon immediately turned all his attention to Percy, “What is it?” Triton also stepped forward, looking at the piece of paper that Percy was holding. “I don’t know where it came from, but I found this note. I think it explains what happened to us.”
Poseidon’s eyebrows raised, and Zeus also crowded around Percy, now knowing that whatever Percy had to say was of interest to him. When Percy went to hand over the paper, Zeus and Poseidon both held out their hands, Zeus waving his hand sharply towards himself, gesturing for Percy to hand him the note. Percy handed his father the note, ignoring the look Zeus sent him. Poseidon read the note quickly, eyes scanning the page as he masked his shock behind a stoic expression to not panic anyone. When he finished reading the note, he looked up at Percy sharply, “Where exactly did you find this?” Percy shrugged, “I don’t know, it just sort of fell into my lap. I thought it fell from the ceiling at first, but that doesn’t make sense.” Zeus looked like he didn’t believe him, looking at him like one would a misbehaving child. “I’m not lying,” Percy crossed his arms in front of his chest, frustrated, “my mom can tell you it came from nowhere too.” Zeus was going to say something again, likely insulting him or his mom, until Poseidon spoke up, stopping the conversation before it could go any worse.
“Thank you, Percy,” Poseidon said. He didn’t offer any explanation, but he turned to the quickly growing crowd and said, “It seems we may have an explanation for why we are all here after all.” There was hope in many people’s eyes, people glancing from Poseidon to Percy, curious about the contents of the paper note. “I respect all of you too much to keep all of these details from you, so I ask that you just please do not freak out or interrupt me while I am reading this to you all,” Poseidon paused for a moment before beginning to read the note. Percy saw his cousins and friends join the rest of the royal family, having walked over to be closer to them.
“Dear room occupants,
I am the person who brought you here, and I mean you all no harm.
I have brought you here so that you all can know where–or rather who–you come from. To start, I have to say this: You are not the original versions of yourselves. This may sound confusing, but just know that the multiverse is real, and that there are multiple versions of the same person within it, so you are a variant of the original universe that you were in.
You are here to read about your original versions and figure out how this is different from your universe. To accomplish this, you will be given multiple books throughout your stay here. Time outside of this room has stopped, so everyone else in the world believes that you are still attending the Independence Day Ball, or whatever you were doing before you came here.
This book will explain everything you need to know about this other universe, and will be given to you shortly after you read this note.
From,
Anonymous.”
Once done reading, the room was immediately filled with shocked sounds and many conversations about it all going on at once. It was only when Hera spoke up that the conversation briefly paused, “We’re going to learn about the multiverse, through books?” She exclaimed in disbelief. The normally so composed woman was shocked, to put it lightly. Poseidon nodded, “It appears so,” he said calmly. “We shouldn’t panic about this.” Poseidon tried to make his voice sound as sure as possible. It wasn’t really helping, and Poseidon could tell by looking out at the crowd around him. No one was calm, which was understandable, but still not helpful to the situation. Looking around the room, something else clicked in Poseidon’s head. “I now suspect that the couches and seats were purposefully arranged in such a way that someone can read the book we will be given, with everyone else facing them.” The couches were arranged almost like an amphitheatre. “I suggest we start reading as soon as we get the book.”
“So where exactly is this book supposed to be coming from?” Zeus asked Poseidon, his voice still in a disbelieving tone. Poseidon sent his brother a look, “I don’t know everything, brother. But I imagine that someone would have to bring it to us. Maybe even the person who brought us all here. It may be our chance to question them some.” As if on cue, there was knocking on the double doors that led out to the hallway. Everyone turned towards them, glancing at each other to see who would answer the knocking. The Olympian Prime Minister was closest at the time, and she hesitantly walked over to the double doors, leaving her wife and son where they had been standing. She took a moment before opening both doors at once, ripping them open like one would a Band-Aid. She was surprised to see no one outside, only a book on the floor. She picked up the book and examined it. It had a matte blue cover, with no title or author name on the front or back. There were gold engravings on the book of waves and other swirls on the edges of the book.
It looked rather fancy, and the Prime Minister opened the book after she closed the doors again, walking slowly towards Poseidon. There was no publishing page or table of contents, only a title page, then it went straight into chapter one, which had a very weird title. She flipped to the back of the book, but again, all that was there was a blank page and the end of the final chapter. She refrained from reading the text and closed the book again. She handed the book over to Poseidon, “There’s no author or anything. But there is a title on the first page, which seems pertinent to what, or rather who, this book is about.” Poseidon nodded and thanked her, walking to the couch in the front of the room as he also looked at the cover of the book, examining it. “How can we trust this book? What if the book is full of lies?” Hades asked, skeptical of the information they had received so far. It was a valid question, but “I’m afraid we don’t. We will have to trust this book and whoever is keeping us here until we can prove otherwise.” Poseidon was again taking the lead in the room, using his authority to make sure that everyone was following his directions.
When he sat down on the couch in the front middle of the room, everyone else followed suit, each sitting with people they knew on couches close to the king. Triton and Amphitrite sat with Poseidon on the front couch. Percy, Grover, Rachel, and Sally sat on one couch in the middle front, with Jason, Thalia, Bianca, and Nico to the right and Hades, Persephone, Zeus, and Hera to their left. In the second row were Leo, Piper, Luke, and Charles on the middle couch, on the right couch were Annabeth, the “Freddy” man she was talking to earlier, Chiron, and Mellie, Poseidon’s assistant. On the left couch were some people Percy hadn’t noticed earlier: Silena, Daedalus, Coach Hedge, and Paul. Percy had no clue why Coach Hedge and Paul were here. They both didn’t really have a connection to any of the other people here except through him and his mom, in Paul’s case. It was also a weird group to be sitting together, but seeing as Coach Hedge and Paul knew each other from Goode, and all of them knew Percy in some way, it sort of made sense for them to see each other. It at least made more sense than for them to sit with some of the military advisors.
Speaking of, in the next row back were some of the military advisors and other important people Percy didn’t remember the names of, but he had met throughout his week in Olympia. Percy did recognize the one military advisor that Poseidon hated, and others he had met at the dinner with military advisors. Everyone else filed into the last couple of rows. Once everyone was seated, Poseidon stood up again and moved to the seat facing everyone else. “We should get started on reading the book now so that we can get out of here sooner rather than later. I will read first.” Poseidon opened the book to the first page, where there was a title printed. He cleared his throat, taking in the title again before glancing up at Percy. Percy knew that it couldn’t be good. “The title is… Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.”
What.