OH, CHÉRIE!¹ percy jackson

011

"get to the point, lord apollo."

"–alright, your many greats grandfather was a son of mine." he linked his fingers on his laps like that should answer the question to human existence.

"i'm sorry. what?"

"uhu," he leaned back against the car door. "those are the news i needed to bring, since i sense your little gift is starting to... develop. it shows up with puberty."

ivy was confused. no, more than confused. bewildered. befuddled. disoriented. she didn't even know what he meant. did that mean that chiron trained an ancestor of hers? and what gift. she didn't have anything more special than a limited edition hermès handbag that tobias gave her as a birthday gift.

"i– i don't have gifts, lord apollo. i only have my charmspeak, if that's what you mean."

he raised an eyebrow, grinning madly. "this is always my favorite part. hold out your hand, mini me." apollo gestured for her to give him her hand.

ivy held up her hand in a vertical position, like she was iron man about to blast somebody in the face. apollo tutted, turning her hand and positioning it vertically with her palm up. he looked from her palm to her face repeatedly, a giddy smile on his face.

"do you feel it?" he asked eagerly.

she waited. "feel what?"

apollo threw his hands up, pouting. "the tingle!"

"i don't feel any tingle!" ivy argued. the brunette was starting to think apollo was crazy.

the god looked at the sea below them, he groaned loudly in annoyance. personally, she didn't see anything, just pure sea.

"we're almost there, i'll have to visit you in your dreams to teach you once you figure it out. the best advice i can give you is make it your own."

ivy sighed exasperatedly. "that's lovely, if i knew what i was making my own."

apollo smiled knowingly. "don't worry, it's always getting the jump start that does it."

"and what is an example of a jump start?" she asked.

the god clapped his hands, looking to have won the biggest bingo game to an old grandma. once again he looked out to the sea. "something just like this."

before ivy could even ask or register what he was saying, apollo reached behind her to the passenger car door. he opened it and pushed it as far as he could and said, "remember the tingle!"

he pushed her off of the car.

ivy screamed as she free fell into the sea, watching as the red sports car got further away. she did not feeling any fucking tingle.

percy stood in front of c.c.'s mirrored wall, c.c. standing behind him said, "you see, percy... to unlock your potential, you'll need serious help. the first step is admitting that you're not happy the way you are."

he hated thinking about his appearance – like zits that would pop out every now and then, or the fact that his two front teeth weren't perfectly even, or that his hair never stayed down straight.

c.c.'s voice brought all of these things to mind, as if she were passing him under a microscope. and his clothes weren't cool either– percy felt a pang in his heart and his throat tightened just thinking about clothes. entirely because it made him think of ivy.