Chapter Text
Ariel Vilar scrunched her nose as she watched people carrying things into her yacht. She was traveling from Cadiz to New York. It would’ve been faster to just fly over, but Ariel had never felt entirely comfortable in planes, even short flights from Madrid to London tended to leave her uneasy, she simply couldn’t stand the turbulence. So the sea was her alternative. She had always loved the sea, it tended to give her a sense of eerie calmness that nothing in her life managed to provide.
She, at twenty five years old, was an orphan, her parents and brother had died… in a car crash and she had learned to carry on. She had inherited all of the family assets which were a lot and turns out that she was set for life. Inheriting all of her family homes, cars and assets had left her uneasy. She had sold the helicopter and jets. She didn’t need those in her existence and had treasured her dad’s superyacht. Hence taking the thing with her to New York, it could easily double as a home if she found the Hamptons to be too unbearable.
Ariel was actually looking forward to the week at sea. She was going to have a captain and a skeleton crew managing the yacht, although she had spoken to the captain and had told him that if at any point of the trip she wanted to take over, she would. She had always enjoyed sailing and an eerie sense of navigation and coordinates.
“Miss Vilar, we are ready to depart,” one of her attendants said, she looked down to her phone and smiled at him.
“Thanks, I’ll see you guys on the other side,” she told the group.
“Of course, Miss,” the man smiled at her again and helped her into the yacht. She was quick to get to the main deck, placing her purse on one of the available couches. A glass of wine was already waiting for her along with some snacks.
She thanked the chef and sat down, removing her espadrilles and fishing a book out of her purse. She tended to go through kindles and ipads like if there was no tomorrow, which she always found odd. Technology and her didn’t mix that well, so of course she had mastered it out of spite, as most of the things in her life. She smiled to herself as she took a sip of her wine glass, she had a good feeling about New York.
Ariel was barely listening to the American man that was telling her all about the Marina and its amenities. She had just gone through customs and had parked her yacht and decided that it was going to be her main home. She didn’t want to deal with Americans more necessarily than she had to. She fixed her sunglasses which hid her sea green eyes from the blistering sun. She had already applied sunblock twice in just one morning.
Mostly, she was playing nice because even if she had the permit to park her yacht, she needed the american owner of the marina to not bother her, but her disgust with the man was growing by the second. She knew she was hot, and while most of the time it was not an inconvenience in Spain, it seemed that Americans didn’t see pretty girls often. The man was grating on Ariel’s nerves. She giggled when a rogue wave threw the man to the other side of the docks. Covering her mouth with her hand.
It was enough for the man to leave, embarrassed by the event and she was left thankfully alone to return to her yacht. Her crew she had dispatched to the house in the Hamptons, she could manage on her own since the food had been restocked and she did know how to cook. She’d call her crew if she needed anything from them. She took a quick shower before deciding on dressing for a hike. She tied her long black hair back in a high ponytail and grabbed her glasses and a small fashionable fanny pack where she put her keys and phone along with a small sunblock and chapstick along with her ID and money and credit cards just in case.
According to the map she had seen, Montauk had several walking trails and she figured that she wouldn’t get lost. She grabbed her car, a sleek black Maseratti R8 and drove at leisure to where she was heading. She figured she could stop at a restaurant and grab something to go on her way back or a snack. Ariel found the parking lot for the hiking trails with relative ease, she stretched a bit after locking up her car and applied sunblock again on her shoulders and face before she was off running.
She was a fast runner, she had always enjoyed sports. As a child she had been diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia, again, she had, out of spite managed to overcome her dyslexia and had decided to develop a love for books and languages, by age eleven she spoke five languages, english, spanish, french, italian and greek. She found Greek to be easy to pick up, especially the dialects and she had enjoyed vacationing in several islands in her youth.
She stopped after a while, frowning when she noticed something in the distance, was that a dragon? Sleeping on a… golden blanket? She lifted her sunglasses and blinked. That was a dragon… a dragon sleeping on a golden blanket.
“Right,” she muttered under her breath before she turned back only to notice an archway. The columns looked to have been done in marble and the words CAMP HALFBLOOD were scribbled on top. She could sense that there was something odd with the area. In her teenage years she had called it her spider sense, she had loved to pretend that she was a hero of sorts and that she had a very good gut feeling.
She had picked up several sports, fencing, boxing, cross fit, swimming, all to try and manage her pent up energy. At twenty five it was much more manageable, she was an adult, she could force herself to sit still for long periods of time and to work as a normal person. Even when she didn’t want to. Now, however, there was a feeling of anticipation so she followed her gut and stepped through the archway. Nothing happened when she stepped through and she frowned again. The dragon was still there and looking incredibly real. She shook her head and continued walking until she found herself in the middle of the campsite and now several kids were looking at her.
“Uh… I got lost,” Ariel said sheepishly.
“Miss?” a voice called from her side and she turned to see a horse man… man horse… half man… much horse.
“Did I die?” she asked him.
“What?” the man asked.
She motioned towards his… body, “you have… a… condition, uh, Sir.”
The man chuckled despite the absurdity of it all, “how did you make it into the camp, Miss?”
“I just… walked through the archway… is the dragon sleeping on the golden blanket real?” she asked.
“Very real,” the man assured her.
She blinked at him again, “Okay… so this is… normal?”
“Very much so… and yet mortals should not be able to see it.”
“Mortals? Are you… implying that there are non mortals?”
“Indeed,” the man said, “follow me, Miss.”
“Uh, Ariel, Sir,” she said.
“Chiron,” he replied.
She followed him under the gaze of several more children, she was incredibly confused by them but followed the horse man. And then frowned.
“Are you by any chance… a centaur?” Ariel asked after a moment.
The man… centaur, looked at her and smiled, “so you are familiar with the myths?”
“As much as anyone, I guess… I sort of had a phase when I was a teen in which I loved Greek Mythology, I guess it was a normal teenage thing… Are you sure I’m not dead?”
“Why would you be dead, Miss Ariel?”
“I was on a hike… I could’ve hit my head with something, no?”
“No, I can assure you this is very real and you seem to be in perfect health,” Chiron told her.
Ariel nodded at him but was still unsure about the whole thing. It was the weirdest acid trip of her life and as a rule she tended to steer clear of drugs.
“If you say so, Mister Chiron.”
“Just Chiron, Miss Ariel.”
“Just Ariel, then,” Ariel replied.
Chiron nodded at her and led her into a nice big house with a lovely porch. There was a man there with a huge black dog that Ariel was immediatedly distracted by.
“Awww a puppy!” she said approaching the dog, Centaur forgotten in her memory as she cooed and petted the dog, “aww aren’t you the most gorgeous pup in the whole world? That’s a good pup.”
Chiron cleared his throat and Ariel remembered that there was a centaur and another man. She stepped back from the dog, a sheepish look on her face.
“Sorry… I just really like dogs,” she said with a smile.
“It’s all well, miss,” the man told her, “I am Quintus,” he said, extending his hand to her.
Ariel shook his hand, “Ariel.”
“Old for a demigod,” the man said, looking at Chiron.
Ariel turned to look at Chiron, “a what?”
“Demigod, Ariel, you read the name of the camp before entering, did you not?”
Ariel nodded, “camp half blood… oh… it was meant literally,” she tilted her head to the side, “so those kids are… demigods?”
Chiron nodded, “and I fear that so are you.”
“Me?” she asked skeptically, “uh… none of my parents were gods, I think I’d remember something like that.”
“Perhaps your mortal father isn’t your biological father,” Quintus offered.
“Wasn’t… he’s dead, and so is my mom and my younger brother,” Ariel told them.
“How?” Chiron asked.
“Car accident, drunk driver while they were returning home from a party,” she said with a sigh.
“How old are you?” Quintus asked curiously.
“Twenty five, turn twenty six in September,” she told them.
Chiron frowned again, “you are too old for the Camp.”
“Oh… I don't mean to stay here… I just got lost during my hike and wandered in… I’m staying in Montauk in my yacht.”
“A yacht? Where did you sail from?” Quintus asked.
“Spain… I was born in Spain.”
“Wouldn’t flying be faster?” Chiron asked her.
“I’m not really fond of planes… there’s always turbulence when I fly… no matter how many times I check the weather, it is like the sky has a grudge against me… it is annoying,” she said with a shrug.
“And you find the sea to be better?” Chiron asked her.
“Oh yes, I love the sea… I lived in Madrid for most of my life, but we’d also vacation around several islands at several points of the year. My mom used to joke that I should’ve been a mermaid or something, I was captain of the swimming team in high school.”
Someone called Quintus over so he had to excuse himself and leave, but Chiron led Ariel into the house and motioned for her to sit on a couch. Chiron asked her many questions about several different things. So she opened up to the centaur about her life, her parents, her growing up, her wealth and leaving europe.
“So… if I have a godly father… how can I know?” Ariel asked the man as they walked out of the Cabin after a while.
“Your godly parent would have to claim you,” Chiron told her.
“Aren’t I too old to be… claimed?”
“I do not believe so, you were guided here for a reason,” Chiron told her.
“Oh… well… that makes sense,” Ariel said.
“Have you encountered monsters in your life?”
“Uh… not really, are those real too?” she asked him.
Chiron nodded and spent the rest of the afternoon telling Ariel about the dangers of being a demigod out in the wild and how surprised he was that Ariel had made it that far in her life being a demigod since their life expectancy wasn’t really that high. Ariel had been horrified to know what those children went through and about the unclaimed ones and the dangers that quests posed.
“Uh… I thought the Heroes in the myths were old guys… not literal children, what the fuck is wrong with these guys?” Ariel asked in horror.
“It is the way of our world, Ariel,” Chiron told her with a sad sigh.
“Uh… no it ain’t, I’m going to keep all those kids safe… somehow, they need an adult to look out for them… and I am an able bodied adult,” Ariel told the man and stopped walking when they reached the shore of the lake. The sun was going down and the sunset looked incredible.
Chiron looked at Ariel who looked incredibly at ease with her eyes closed enjoying the breeze. She opened her eyes, familiar eyes that Chiron had seen upon another face, a younger face.
“Do you have any weapons of your own?” Chiron asked her.
Ariel shook her head, “should I start carrying a gun or something?”
Chiron shook his head and led Ariel away from the water and to one of the cabins. There was fire imagery and what seemed to be a forge, her eyes were wide as she looked around.
“Beckendorf?” Chiron called and a tall boy came into view.
“Sir?” the boy replied.
“I need a sword for Miss Ariel,” Chiron said.
Ariel waved her hand at the boy and he directed a smile her way.
“Of course, sir, give me a moment,” the boy replied and moved into the back of the sword and after weighing several swords he came back with a fine looking sword, “it is not named yet.”
“Can I name it?” Ariel asked, sounding excited.
The boy, Beckendorf nodded at her and handed her the sword.
“Anduril,” Ariel said, holding the sword in her hands, a grin on her face.
“Isn’t that?” Beckendorf asked and she nodded.
“It is,” she told him with a grin, “thank you… uh, Beckendorf?”
“Charlie,” the boy told her.
“Thank you, Charlie… how much do I owe you for this?”
The boy blinked at her, “nothing?”
“Truly? This is excellent craftsmanship,” Ariel said, holding the sword in her hand, “the balance is almost perfect, are you sure?”
Charlie nodded at her, a small blush upon his nose. Ariel looked at Chiron who was smiling at her.
“I trust you know how to wield it,” he said.
“Stick ‘em with the pointy end?” Ariel asked innocently.
Ariel found herself back in her yacht, the sword resting in front of her and her burger all but forgotten. She was looking at the water, it was calm and the breeze was gentle. She had googled all that she could about the myths upon returning to her yacht and there was a lot to learn, and she had a very clear inkling on who her father could be. She walked below the deck, since she had decided to move the yacht away from the mainland upon arrival citing that she slept better in open seas, once anchored and hopefully away from monsters she could sleep better.
But sleep was the furthest thing from her mind, so she got to the back of the yacht, on the small platform and got on her knees and gently moved her fingers over the edge of the water, a frown on her face. It had been ages since she had prayed for anything in her life.
“Uh… Lord Poseidon…,” she said, dipping her fingers into the water, “hi, I’m Ariel Vilar… I stumbled upon a camp today, said to be full of demigod children… and honestly, I don’t think they’re safe, I have a bad feeling about it and I want to keep them safe… all of them.”
“And you think you can?” a new voice asked.
Ariel turned around, swearing internally that she had left her sword behind and stood up quickly to face the much taller man. His hair was black and his skin seemed to have a green-ish hue to it.
“Uh, not to be rude but, who are you?” she said, looking at the man.
“Your brother,” the man answered with a smirk.
Ariel tilted her head to the side as she tried to do a mental count of Poseidon’s godly children.
“Triton?” she asked.
He nodded, “You were praying to father and I’ve been observing you.”
“That’s creepy,” she told him, crossing her arms, “do you eavesdrop on every conversation your siblings have with dear old dad?”
“You shouldn’t exist,” Triton said.
“Rude.”
“And yet she does,” another voice answered.
Ariel turned around, deciding to turn her back to Triton and not an unknown newcomer. The man looked familiar… a bit like Triton without the whole green skin, but his eyes, even in the dim light, looked familiar.
“Poseidon?” she asked softly.
“Indeed, daughter,” he said with a smile.
“I’m… your daughter? As in… my mother cheated on my dad with you?”
He looked taken aback by her words, “your dad?”
“Uh, yes, the mortal guy that raised me and took care of me and made sure that I had all my needs covered… you know… a dad?”
“You have grown,” Poseidon said instead.
“People tend to do that,” was Ariel’s reply to him, arms still crossed, “I’m so very confused,” she said before sitting down on the couch.
“What is confusing to you, Ariel?” Poseidon asked, sitting down next to her, while Triton sat on her other side.
“All those in the camp, those were kids, I think the oldest there was probably seventeen… No grown demigods… and yet here I am, twenty five… never seen a monster in my life while literal kids are being sent out on quests that could kill them?”
“It is the way of heroes,” Poseidon said, sounding sad.
“Well, it shouldn’t be… none of you is going to win parent of the year at this pace,” Ariel said with a huff.
“Oh we know,” Triton said.
“The children could use your help,” Poseidon said after a moment.
“And they’ll get it, I’m not going to let kids die, not on my watch” Ariel said with a huff.
“You do not know how to use your powers,” Triton reminded her.
“I have powers?” Ariel asked skeptically.
Triton chuckled, “you are truly clueless? Where did your mortals keep you so that you were so protected?”
“I lived in Spain, Madrid to be exact,” Ariel told him.
“Ah… that explains it,” Poseidon said, “you were saved by happenstance, there are very few monsters in Europe at the moment.”
“I am… glad?”
“You should be,” Triton told her, “you could have been one of those kids you wish to save.”
“Will save,” Ariel said, “I’m nothing if not obstinate.”
Poseidon smiled at her, “Triton shall teach you how to control your powers.”
“Okay… that sounds good,” Ariel said, looking at Triton.
“And I believe you’ll need a weapon,” Poseidon said.
“Oh, Mister Chiron got me a sword from one of the kids, I named it Anduril,” Ariel told him, “it's back up there.”
“A weapon provided by me,” Poseidon clarified.
“Ooh can I get a trident? I always thought those looked cool,” Ariel asked the man, putting her best puppy eyes forward.
He handed Ariel a strange looking bracelet instead and showed her how to turn it into a golden looking trident.
“Ooooh this is so cool, thank you… uh… dad?” she said, looking at Poseidon who nodded at her, “right…,” she said before turning the trident back into a bracelet, “can I offer you guys anything?”
“What?” Triton asked.
“Like food or wine? I was eating dinner before I came down here, there should be enough food to share and the tiramisu is to die for,” Ariel smiled at them.
“Sure, sister… show us the way,” Triton said.
Ariel felt strange as she dined with the two gods in her yacht, but it also felt strangely right to her.
The next few weeks were brutal, Triton was a slave driver, pushing Ariel to the limits but she had learned to control her powers to an astonishing degree. While she could control the water, she felt better when she froze it and turned it into weapons.
“I’m like a waterbender!” Ariel exclaimed joyfully once she had learned hydrokinesis.
“A what?” Triton asked.
“A water bender? Don’t you guys have TV where you live?”
“Uh, there are no TVs in Atlantis,” Triton told her.
“We’re having a movie marathon… or series in this case, come on, I’m tired and hungry,” she said, dragging Triton inside much to his amusement.
Turns out Triton did enjoy Avatar and he and Ariel began discussing the differences between her powers and waterbending.
“So… like, humans are eighty percent water… their bodies are… how much true is that for monsters?” she asked him, “could I boil their blood from the inside and make them explode or something?”
“That’s… gruesome for you,” Triton said after a moment.
“Hello… I’m going to try and keep a bunch of kids safe from monsters,” she reminded him.
“We could practice… I could get us a bad mortal for us to practice first… how okay are you with murder?”
Ariel blinked at him, “the right amount… I guess?”
“Perfect.”
Turns out it was possible… and Ariel had a frightening proclivity to it. Even Triton had been surprised by it.
“You take to things incredibly fast,” He pointed out one night over dinner.
“I just like to think out of the box,” she told him with a shrug, they were eating tacos on the main deck, Triton had explained offerings to her and she had gotten a small portable fireplace where she had dropped a taco along with guac as an offering to her father, “things don’t have to be logical twenty four seven, powers cannot be approached logically, they sky’s the limit on this one.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Triton said before taking a bite of his taco, “this is really good.”
“I’m glad you like it… I’ve been thinking about sushi, but I don’t really know how to feel about eating raw fish anymore,” she said, scrunching her nose.
“You can eat fish,” Triton told her with a laugh, “it is the same about eating cattle.”
“The cattle don't talk back to me, fish boy,” she said, sticking her tongue out at him.
“The disrespect,” Triton huffed.
“Hey, you’re the one who decided that I was your younger sister, it is my task to be annoying and disrespectful to you, if not me, who else?”
“Our even younger brother?”
“We have a brother?”
“Technically two.”
“What?”
“One is a cyclops and the other is named Perseus.”
“Perseus like that guy who killed Medusa?”
“Perseus Jackson also killed Medusa once more,” Triton said.
Ariel narrowed her eyes at Triton, “and how old is Perseus?”
“About… thirteen? I think… I’m not sure?”
“And you left our baby brother to face a monster alone?!?”
“He’s faced monsters before Ariel, he’s actually very good at it.”
“He’s a child, he should be worrying about homework and girls… I think, not about surviving a monster attack, what the fuck?!”
Triton sighed, “we cannot intervene… I mean, us gods.”
“You’re intervening right now?”
“Not exactly, I am training you, once you return to the camp and father formally claims to you, I cannot intervene anymore… I’ll miss our talks.”
“You can come over anytime, mi casa es tu casa, brother,” she told him with a smile, “even if I’m not here, you can come and watch TV.”
“Really?”
“Sure, my Netflix subscription is yours to use, besides, someone needs to keep an eye on the yacht if I’m out somewhere keeping kids safe, this is currently my home,” she told him.
“And I shall keep it safe for you, sister,” Triton said.
“Thanks, we’re having sushi for lunch tomorrow,” she told him.
“As our last lunch together, it sounds fitting.”
“Last lunch?”
“At least for now… you ought to meet Perseus, do you not want to?”
“Of course I do, there’s a baby brother out there that needs to be protected,” she said with a smile.
Ariel found herself in a comfortable pair of jeans, a black t-shirt and a pair of boots that she had bought specifically for this. She stood at the entrance of the camp and walked in. By her request, Poseidon had turned her sword into a ring, it was easier to carry this way. She had decided to wear her long hair down and red lipstick since it was her thing. She walked through the camp aware of the stares on her and approached the big house.
“Chiron?” she called the centaur that was on the porch with Quincius.
“Ah, Ariel, you have returned and just in time for the war council,” he told her.
“The what?” she asked, following him towards where the campers were all assembled.
Ariel sat down and digested all of the things the kids spoke about. There was much more than she knew going on… kids turning on the gods and trying to bring Kronos back to life… that was bad and it couldn’t be allowed to happen, not when all those kids had so much to live for.
“I shall lead the Quest,” Ariel said standing.
“Ariel?” Chiron asked.
She looked at him, “these are children, Chiron, I’m not going to stand there and let them get themselves killed.”
“Uh, excuse me… who are you?” the blonde girl, Annabeth said.
Ariel was about to reply when the kids gasped, Ariel looked up to see a blue glowing trident floating above her head.
“I”m Ariel Vilar,” Ariel said with a smile, “And I guess that my dad’s decided to be dramatic today.”
“You’re my sister?” a boy asked, she could really see the similarities between them.
“You must be Perseus?”
“Percy,” the boy said.
“I was told that we have another brother… uh a cyclops?”
“Tyson?”
“So that’s his name? Yes, is he around?”
“Here!” a boy with sunglasses said.
Ariel smiled at him, “Hi, I’m Ariel, your sister.”
“I have a sister too?”
“So it seems,” she said and turned to Chiron, “What do I need?”
“A prophecy.”
Ariel was not entirely happy with going into the creepy attic and talking to equally creepy mummified Oracle.
“So you just live here?” Ariel asked the Oracle.
The mummy’s eyes glowed green, “Children of the Stormbringer come together and shall delve into the darkness of the maze, the dead, the traitor and the lost one raise, you shall heal the wounds of the ghost king with the power that you hold, a child of Athena shall face his fears and with a hero’s breath destroy what has been resisting.”
“Need to work on your Rhymes buddy,” Ariel said as she finished writing down the prophecy, “Thanks… uh, miss Oracle… Do you have a name?”
“A name was had, a long time has passed,” the mummy answered.
“Right… well thank you again… stay cozy, my friend,” Ariel said again, winking at the strange mummy, she could have sworn it smiled at her.
The rest of the children were waiting for her to return and Ariel read out the prophecy and groaned.
“This is bullshit… no offense on Miss Oracle, she’s only doing her job,” Ariel said looking at Chiron.
Chiron nodded at her, “who shall you take with you?”
“Well the thing was clear, children of the stormbringer? That's me, Percy and Tyson, Annabeth is a child of Athena and … I guess Grover has to come to see Pan.”
“Five for a quest?” Chiron asked thoughtfully.
“It is supposed to be a lucky number,” Ariel told him, “for the intelligent and adventurous.”
“Then I suppose it is your quest then,” Chiron told her.
Ariel nodded and looked at the kids, “I sorely wish there would be another way and to not put any of you in danger.”
Annabeth nodded at her, “we understand.”
Ariel sighed and reached out to squeeze Annabeth’s shoulder, “you shouldn’t, you should be children for a little while more. Unfortunately beggars can’t be choosers.”