The Nature of a Demigod

Healing a Tree

"She doesn't hate you, Y/N-"

"Yeah, sure she doesn't. That's why she called me a weak, pathetic, pile of Augean dung..." The memories of my first trip to Olympus still stung. "And there's no telling what Artemis would do to me if I saw her again. So... Don't worry about me trying to overthrow the gods. It's not gonna happen."

The god looked me over with a tired expression, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Look, kid. Your mother's feelings about you are complicated, but she definitely doesn't hate you. I know that much."

"What-"

"I can't tell you, myself. The Olympians swore on the Styx against telling you. At her request."

"Well that's a pretty lame excuse. Why can't you tell me? She's made it pretty clear that she'd rather me have never been born." I spat, angrily, rubbing the side of my neck.

Suddenly, my hand ran over the pulsating veins crawling up my neck. I took a deep inhale and an equally large exhale. "Listen, kid." the messenger god said, a hand on my shoulder.

"I get it. She's not the best at conveying her feelings. She never has been, but she doesn't want you dead. Just believe me on that, would you?" I nodded, not believing him, still trying to calm my nerves.

Hermes adjusted the mailbag on his shoulder. "Y/N... the hardest part about being a god is that you must often act indirectly, especially when it comes to your own children. If we were to intervene every time our children had a problem... well, that would only create more problems and more resentment-"

"She's never acted on my life at all!"

Hermes clapped a hand over my mouth. "Listen... If you were to give it some thought... I think you'll realize that Artemis has been a bigger part of your life than you know. She's just... she's trying. But it's hard with everything. I just hope that Luke figures that out someday too. Whether you feel like you succeeded or not, you reminded Luke who he was. You spoke to him."

"I was going to kill him."

Hermes smacked himself on the forehead. "Family is messy, kid. Immortal families are messy forever. Sometimes, the best thing we can do is remind each other that we're actually family. And try to keep the killing and maiming to a minimum.

That sounded like a pretty shit way to go about family, but I thought about it. Maybe my mother had done more than a few things to help me along my way...

Maybe she did leave me at Camp as a baby. Somebody answered my prayers to let Annabeth still be alive. And then there was that tug of the gut that drew me out there to find Thalia and the others being pursued by the monsters. That moment that swung my life in a completely different direction. Nothing that really helped me, but maybe some things that helped shape me.

Even still... my thoughts about my mother turned sour. She couldn't have done any of those things on purpose. She's hated me from the moment I took my first breath. There's got to be something else playing into this story.

In the distance, the conch horn sounded, signaling curfew.

"You should get to bed," Hermes said. "I've helped you get into quite enough trouble this summer already. I really only came to make a delivery to Poseidon's kid and have a few words with you both."

I nodded and brushed my horse one final time. "Good luck tomorrow," Hermes said. "Fine team of horses you have there, though you'll excuse me if I root for the Hermes cabin." He gave me a two finger salute and stepped out of the stable.