cymophobia | percy jackson

𝑖𝑣

Ash practically skipped through the rest of the tour while Annabeth trudged alongside her grumpily. They showed him the metal shop, the arts-and-crafts room, and the climbing wall, which consisted of two faces that dropped boulders, spewed lava, and clashed together if you took too long. However, it appeared to Percy that the real attraction for the rest of the campers was them: the two girls, soaked in water, and then Percy himself, completely dry.

When they got back around to the canoe lake, Annabeth turned to him with a blank look on her face.

"I've got training to do," she said flatly. "Dinner's at 7:30. Just follow your cabin to the mess hall. Ash will make sure you get where you need to go."

Sensing she seemed kind of pissed at him, Percy attempted to apologize. "Guys, I'm sorry about the toilets."

"Don't be sorry, that was epic!" Ash exclaimed at the same time Annabeth grumbled, "Whatever, idiot."

He looked between the two of them. "It wasn't my fault."

Ash raised an eyebrow while Annabeth eyed him skeptically. Okay, yeah, it was definitely his fault.

"You need to talk to the Oracle," Annabeth decided.

"Who?"

"Not who. What. The Oracle. I'll ask Chiron." Ash nodded in agreement.

Percy looked away to the lake, wishing someone would give him a straight answer for once. He jumped as he noticed girls sitting at the base of the pier. They were wearing camp T-shirts but looked... different. Their hair billowed like seaweed and their eyes were a piercing yellow. They waved at him, and not exactly sure what else to do, he waved back.

Ash smirked, wiggling her fingers at the girls. "Don't encourage them," Annabeth warned, giving Ash a slap to the back of the head. "Naiads are terrible flirts."

"Naiads," Percy said, head swimming with the fishes. "That's it. I want to go home now."

Ash looked at him sympathetically. "I know this can all be terribly overwhelming, Percy, but camp is the only safe place on earth for kids like us. You are home."

"You mean mentally disturbed kids?"

"I mean, yeah," Ash scratched the back of her neck. "But also no."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Don't you get it, Percy? We mean not human. Not totally human anyway. Half human."

"Half human and half what?"

"I think you know," Ash murmured.

"God," Percy realized, eyes widening slightly. "Half god."

Annabeth nodded. "Your father isn't dead, Percy. He's one of the Olympians."

"That's... that's crazy."

Ash laughed. "Is it? What's the most common thing gods did in the old myths? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Haven't really changed their habits in the last few millennia."

"But those are just..."

"Myths?" Ash queried in amusement, quirking an eyebrow.

Percy swallowed. "But if all the kids around here are half-god--"

"Demigods," Annabeth corrected. "That's the official term. Or half-bloods."

"Then who's your dad?"

Annabeth's hands tightened on the railing of the pier and Ash put a hand on her shoulder. Touchy subject?

"My dad is a professor at West Point." Annabeth spoke through gritted teeth. "I haven't seen him since I was very small."

"So... he's human." Ash rolled her eyes at that.