Life of A Young Demigod: Of Blood and Magic (Percy Jackson reader insert)

Into the Cold

I awoke early on December 22nd. Too early. It was probably around 2 AM, and I had a splitting headache. I glanced around the room, and, from the corner of my eye, saw a bluish-purple glow from out of my window. Despite my headache, I jumped up, excited. That light could only mean one thing. My mother was here.

I quickly put on warm clothes and rushed outside, being careful not to wake up anyone else in the Athena cabin. They probably wouldn't appreciate that, and I was still a guest here, no matter how much the cabin felt like where I belonged by now. As I exited the cabin, I saw her. Hecate. My mother. I hadn't seen her since the summer solstice, back on Olympus. She had said she would be busy, but that didn't make me miss her any less. I ran up and hugged her tightly. Most other gods would probably not be too keen on that, but my mother didn't mind.

She smiled down at me as I broke off the hug. "(Y/N), my dear! It is good to see you again!"

I smiled back. "You too, mom. I missed you."

She put on a more serious face. My smile wavered a bit. I had been hoping that she was just here to say hello, but, well, given the timing and the fact that the gods rarely stop by just for a quick hello, that was never particularly likely.

"Your training has been going well. It seems that every day you learn to better harness magic. That is good. You will need it in the days to come."

I sighed. "Thank you, mother. What is it you wish to discuss?"

"(Y/N), I assume you know that you are not my only child, correct?" I actually hadn't thought about that all too much. It makes sense that she would have other children, but I guess I just assumed that they would be at camp.

"That would make sense, yes."

"Good. I am ashamed to say that... not all of them are as, let's say well intentioned, as you are. Your old 'friend' Luke has been recruiting for Kronos, and one of my children has decided to join with him. His name is Johnathan Einvor, and he hides under our very noses, somewhere in New York City. He is skilled at disguising his location, so I do not know exactly where, however I do know what he is planning, and it must be stopped."

Great, I have an evil brother now.

"So what, you want me to go find him and convince him to abandon Kronos?"

She smiled a bit. "Ideally, yes. However above all else you must stop his plan. If he is not stopped, he will drastically accelerate Kronos' rise, and any hope we now have of avoiding a new Titan War will be gone. He has managed to acquire an artifact of mine that I had long thought lost, a bronze rod enchanted with some of my oldest and most powerful magic. It will allow him to, with the proper preparation, perform any one spell he could possibly imagine, perfectly. He aims to use it to gather the scattered pieces of Kronos' soul from Tartarus."

I gulped. If Kronos was to rise right now... no. I decided not to think about that outcome. We would stop it.

I went to speak, but my mother gestured for me to stop. "He plans to cast this spell just before midnight on the 25th. The day the mortals know as Christmas. They celebrate it then for a reason, you know. They do not fully understand it, but it is a day of powerful magic, where the essence of reality is at its most flexible. Come morning, you will inform Chiron that you are to meet with the Oracle. You must get a prophecy, I have conferred with Apollo and he believes it will help to guide you. If he questions you in any way, hand him this."

She opened her right hand to reveal a small metal token with her symbol imprinted on it. Two crossed torches, glowing with the same bluish-purple light that she was emitting. I took it and placed it in my pocket.

"I must go now. There are other matters that need my attention. Never forget my love for you, (Y/N). No matter what, you are my son, and one of the greatest I have ever had at that. This quest will be dangerous, I will not lie to you. But if anyone can complete it, it is you. Take Andromeda with you. She is wonderful, by the way. Don't tell her I said this, but you are a very lucky young man to have someone like her." She winked at me as she said this. I couldn't tell because of how cold it was out, but I was pretty sure I was blushing. "I will ask Morpheus to ensure you awake on time, you must begin your journey as soon as possible if you are to succeed. Farewell for now, my dear son."

With that, she smiled at me, and faded away. No grand exit this time I suppose.

Well. That was a lot. I guess I have a brother now, and I'm probably going to have to fight him. So much for a calm year.

I sighed, and thought for a moment about everything. Kronos had probably spoken into Johnathan's ear the same way he tried with me. I could hardly blame him for turning, especially if he had never been claimed, but what he was doing was dangerous. Deadly. Potentially disastrous. He needed to be stopped. I'd been hearing whispers for months of unclaimed kids going over to Kronos' side, we even had a few kids here at camp who had gone missing. With that and most people gone for the school year, it was just me, Andromeda, and a couple year rounders here and there who were still at camp. Only had two Athena campers around, which made things a bit too quiet in the cabin. After a couple minutes, I shook myself out of my daze. I needed to go rest. I had a big day ahead of me.