Chapter Text
THALIA GRACE is running on errands all across the country. Her grandfather is rising, and as a goddess herself, she has tasks that the half-mortals do not. Gathering the support of minor gods and nature spirits who should heed Olympus’s rule, and making note of who refuses her. To make matters worse, she hasn't heard from her best—and truly, only—friend in months. She wants a damn vacation.
ANNABETH CHASE is to her knowledge the second godling to live on Olympus. After her stunt last winter, her mother moved both of them into her temple. She's enjoying the increase in attention, and especially the contact with her immortal aunts and uncles, but she can't do anything up here. Jason is okay, but he doesn’t have any interest in quests or the mortal world. For all that it’s lovely, Olympus is another picture perfect prison. She wants out.
PERCY JACKSON misses his friends. Annabeth, a godling like him, and Thalia, an actual goddess. He's glad his mom moved down to Atlantis with his other two parents, but he still feels lonely. He’s got plenty of family, but not much in the way of friends. To make everything worse, he’s been dealing with an on-and-off again sickness that has everyone worried. His parents haven’t told him that they’re worried, not yet, but he can tell. He just wants to have fun, and not be watched over like he’ll fall over any minute.
“Hello, uncle,” Annabeth says.
Hephaestus is standing at the entrance to her mother’s temple, and he’s not here for a lesson. After everything that happened last winter, her mother had moved their apartment into her temple. For all she could move around more freely—Athena’s temple was much bigger than the home she grew up in, let alone Olympus—it also meant that her tutors had moved from mortals to Athena’s brothers and sisters.
“Hello, niece,” Hephaestus says.
Of all her tutors, he’s her favorite. He’s a little awkward, but he’s also the only one to call her niece, even if it’s not quite true. And, he apologized to her for the whole spiders and shield thing.
“What brings you to my mother’s temple?”
“I need a quest, and there are few demigods I would trust to complete it. None I would trust over you, little godling. I would do it myself, but one of my boys needs more attention.”
“What do you need?”
“The campers have a new project. A damaged defender, from over a century ago. With grandfather rising, they also face more and more monsters making their way to their safe haven. Unfortunately, they do not have the celestial bronze they need. There is some cast-off material from my forges that landed in the Sea of Monsters. It is the only store large enough to meet their needs. Otherwise, they would need to melt down their precious few weapons to form this defender. I cannot let them risk it.”
“Why not just tell them where it is? Surely if they want to build this, you can trust them.”
Hephaestus’s face darkens. “Father has forbidden communications with the camp. He fears of a spy, that any message we send our children to help could be intercepted and twisted against us. Against them.”
“I’ll do it.” Annabeth says.
“You agreed easier than I expected you to.”
“You’ve always treated me fairly, Uncle. If you say you need me, I believe you. It would be nice to see the mortal world again as well, even if only in passing. And, I have observed what my Mother has found about the camp. If something is not done soon, then they will likely all perish.”
“Very well. Thank you, niece. All I can give you is coordinates. 30° 62’ North 74° 34’ West.”
”Thank you, Lord Uncle,” Annabeth says, careful to be respectful in light of the boon Hephaestus has just given her.
“Fah! None of that now, girl. We are family, end of. You’ll call me Uncle, Hephaestus, or some derivation of those, you understand?”
“Yes, Uncle Heph,” Annabeth says, a cheeky grin crossing her face.
Hephaestus just rubs her hair lightly. “I’ll see you when you’re back, understand? I’ve had an idea for my forge and I want to see what you make of it.”
“Of course.”
“No! No, I don’t care what Hephaestus wants from you, you’re not going! Or, do you not remember the last time he was involved with a quest you were on?” Thalia demands as soon as she finds Annabeth with her bag already packed, on her way to the elevator down from Olympus.
“I’m going, and you can’t stop me, Thalia,” Annabeth says. “There’s more lives at stake than just my own.”
“He wants to send you into the Sea of Monsters!” Thalia protests. “That place is deadly. Even your mother’s favored hero barely survived, and even then, only at the cost of his entire crew!”
“But that was only because of the Gods’ interference. The lord of the seas would never curse his son’s ship to wander for a decade, and neither would Grandfather force me to choose between my crew and my return to my mother,” Annabeth counters. “Beyond that, this is a quest for an Olympian, to prepare our forces best for the upcoming war. Few among the gods would dare to weaken our position.”
“That doesn't make it safe! Or did you forget about all the things that tried to kill you?”
“I know about the attack that Kronos has planned, Thalia! If we don't do something, they won't be able to stop him.”
“Fine,” Thalia concedes, clearly knowing too that what the former king is up to will cut the demigods down like so much grain. “Since I know you’re just gonna find a way down whether I want you to or not. But I’m coming too.”
Annabeth smiles. Not even off Olympus and already this quest is going better than the last.
“Hey Jase, how’re you doing today?” Thalia asks as she enters his room in the apartment Hera sectioned off for the three of them near her temple.
Jason pouts, clearly feeling frustrated.
“Mom took my favorite scroll, because she said I wasn’t getting enough homework done.”
“Okay, well, you know you need to keep up with your education. It’s not exactly like there’s a mortal school up here.”
“Ughh, I know, it’s just all so boring,” Jason whines, rolling his head back emphatically.
“I’m gonna be gone for a few days, probably longer than my last few trips for Dad. Annabeth wants to go on a quest for Hephaestus, something to help the demigods at Camp Half Blood stay safe. It shouldn’t take too long, but I probably won’t have time to split my essence and come check on you. I’m gonna need you to be on your best behaviour for our stepmother, okay?”
Jason rolls his eyes. “Okay, Thals.”
“That means no staying up late because you had too much nectar with dinner, or running around with wind spirits instead of working on your essays. Hera told me about last week.”
“Come on! I was gonna get around to it anyway! It was just so boring and Dylan was gonna go soon!”
Thalia smiles. He’s still a kid, and she’s so glad for it. He never had to face any of the things she did. “Still important to get the boring stuff done when you’re supposed to, kiddo.”
She turns around to head out, but before she can Jason speaks up again.
“Hey, Thalia? Why do you always call Mom something else?” Jason asks.
Thalia winces. “It’s complicated, Jase. You were only two when Hera took us in. I’d lived with Beryl for a long time. ‘Mom’ has some heavy memories for me, okay?”
“But haven’t we lived with Mom for as long as you lived with Beryl?”
“It’s not that simple, Jason. I’m just not ready for that yet, buddy.”
She hates lying to him, but her little brother thinks the world of Hera, and she knows it would break his heart if he knew the truth. She still has time, Bianca, Percy, and Nico are all older than him, and more likely to be the subject of the Great Prophecy. After she helps Annabeth get the Celestial Bronze, she’ll talk to Hera about it. No later. And depending on how that goes, she might grab Jason and run. She’s been on the run before, and Jason’s old enough now, compared to when Jupiter left. She can do it again.
Her half-brother, Malcolm Pace, is waiting at the Big House. He’s easy enough to recognize and remember, from all the times Athena mentions him at home.
“What are you doing here?” he demands, his voice hard.
She fights to keep a scowl off her face. Here her brother is, free to see the world and do as he pleases, and he’s criticizing her presence at camp.
“Uncle Hephaestus told me you’re reassembling an automaton of some kind, and you need more Celestial Bronze than you have here to complete it,” Annabeth says, forcing her voice to stay even.
“We don’t need your help,” Malcolm spits. “You’ve already been on a quest, why did Lord Hephaestus go to you?”
At this, she frowns. She’s already fought just to get here, so they can keep themselves safe, and he’s already refusing her help.
“Because, Uncle trusts me. He knows that I am loyal to Olympus, and he knows I will be successful. Is enough of Mother’s faith that you will be fine on your own not enough for you?”
Annabeth pushes past Malcolm, and steps back into the unusually decorated house she hasn’t seen since last summer. Inside, it’s largely the same as when she chased Percy inside to keep the quest for the master bolt in her grasp. Still plain decor, with the occasional hideous leopard themed decoration that Dionysus always insists on. And Seymour, of course.
She climbs the stairs, pushing open the door into the Attic, where Apollo’s oracle resides. The trophies that were there last summer are still dusty, and it’s still dark.
The oracle speaks with her Mother’s voice. “Approach, Seeker, and ask.”
“What must I do to retrieve my uncle’s Celestial Bronze?”
Green smoke flows from the corpse’s mouth once more, and Annabeth is surrounded by visions. Her friends, her mother, her father, her half-brother, and her uncle who sent her here form out of the shapeless mist.
Her father speaks first, green mist pouring from his mouth. “What you once ignored shall be twice repeated.”
Thalia steps forward next. “You will see waters heaved and past specters haunted.”
“Through friendly warnings unheeded you will meet strangers welcomed,” Malcolm says.
Her uncle’s gravelly voice fills the space. “Through sickness, health, betrayal, and refuge you three will be corralled.”
“All in all to count one more unnumbered,” adds Percy.
Her mother speaks last. “And time’s hands will find you defeated.”
The visions recede, and Annabeth finds herself waiting for something more. Anything to mean that this, a quest that’s actually hers isn’t doomed for failure. But nothing comes. She spends what must be at least half an hour in that cramped, sweltering attic before she accepts nothing more will be coming, and descends the steps one at a time.
When she exits the odd house, she sees the son of Hermes from last year who helped them. The camp counsellor, the one looking for the traitor in his cabin who nearly sent them all to Tartarus.
“Hey kid, you feeling alright?” he asks.
“I’m fine,” she says. It’s not his problem if she fails her quest, her mother.
“Sure, but look, I know the kids the gods get their hands on don’t really stop by here often, but if you ever need someone to talk to,” he offers.
“I’m sorry,” she apologizes, “but I think in the wake of everything, I forgot your name.”
The man’s scar is pulled tight by his smile. “Luke. Luke Castellan. I’m not always here outside of the summer, but my father knows how to reach me.”
“Thank you, Luke,” she says, for lack of anything else to say.
Luke nods, apparently satisfied and walks back towards a gaggle of children with a bevy of shared features.
Mentally, Annabeth calls for Thalia. The quest needs to get started, and she won’t find what she needs here. The prophecy mentions three, and she knows who else she wants watching her back.
Percy is racing his older brother through the halls of the palace when he hears familiar voices faintly.
“I understand you and my son consider each other friends, but that does not give you leave to enter and exit my domain as you please,” his dad says, his tone short with anger.
“I understand, Lord Poseidon, but I come with a request for Percy’s aid. Camp Half-Blood’s borders are being tested by monsters daily, and Lord Hephaestus has requested my efforts in procuring supplies for a defender for the campers. I have been warned to trust few, and he has proven himself more than trustworthy. I trust only my mother and Lady Thalia above him.”
“That is high praise. But I am not so sure I should allow you to leave with my son, not after the last time brought him so close to my father. I will not risk his safety.”
Percy busts through the door, determined not to be left out of an adventure. “Annabeth? How’d you get permission to come down here? I thought our parents hated each other?”
“There’s a quest, Perce. Hephaestus wants us to gather some Celestial Bronze for the campers.”
“Hephaestus? Didn’t he try to kill us? Why’re you helping him out?”
“He tried to kill you?” his dad exclaims.
“It was an accident, and it was Ares’s fault anyway. Uncle Hephaestus isn’t too bad, once you get to know him. There’s been a prophecy, and it’s in the sea, rather than on land,” Annabeth reasons.
“C’mon, dad, please? If it’s in the sea, then you can keep an eye on me the whole time, and if the prophecy says I have to go, then you know I have to go,” Percy pleads. He hasn’t gotten to see either of his surface friends in so long.
“Percy,” his mom tries with that warning tone of hers. She never used it much before she moved in with them, but she has plenty of opportunities now.
“Mom,” Percy complains. He knows he’s whining at this point, but he doesn’t care. “You and Mother both have said you want me to socialize more, and this would be just that! And I’ve been getting pretty good with Riptide with Triton! I’ll be fine!”
“We will have a boat ready for the three of you,” Amphitrite interjects. “But you must not spend too long, Percy. Your lessons will need to resume, and while I trust Thalia to protect you, the old waters are dangerous, even for you.”
“Amphitrite,” Poseidon warned.
“Come on, that fever I had last week was fine! Nobody else got sick, and I’m feeling much better now!” Percy argues.
All three of his parents lock eyes. He knows there’s something about his fever that they haven’t told him yet, but if it comes back when he’s gone, he can just dip into the ocean and it will help heal him. Living in Atlantis is why he’s hardly ever felt sick, after all. In his father’s domain, the very sea around him reinforces him, brings him energy.
“We will give you a boat, one fitting to your status as a prince and your quest,” Amphitrite says after some clear silent discussion between his parents.
Percy winces. He knows exactly what that means.
“A word in private, Lady Thalia, before you leave?” his mom asks.
“Of course, ma’am,” Thalia replies.
“Please, there’s no need for that. Call me Sally, dear,” his mom says as she leads Thalia away.
He doesn’t know what that means, but he’s got a bad feeling about it too.