Chapter 7 || Percy

"What do you mean?" Percy froze.

"If you don't join, you won't be allowed in the safe-house in fear of suspicion you're on the other side. And if you're not in here, your looks will give your father away completely and you will be killed."

"Okay..." Percy said. "I'll do it."

"Good," Chiron said, giving him a watch.

"What's this?"

"Your father made it for you. It's your special watch, just like the one he has."

He looked at the bronze-colored accessory. When it hovered above his wrist, he noticed that the bottom of the watch shone a light. There was a trident, and when it changed from a trident, the sea-green light spelled out OLYMPIAN in all capital letters.

"Children of the important Olympians have the same watches as their parents. It's their way of communication. You will stay here to train with no contact with the outside world."

Percy faltered, staring at them.

"So..."

"You're not going to seventh grade. You're not seeing your friends."

It dawned on him. Complete isolation. Quarantine. He would be alone in his section of the mansion.

"But... why?" he asked.

"If you are an Olympian, especially a powerful Olympian like you, if you aren't trained, it's dangerous for them and it's dangerous for you. Just like your father wasn't allowed to go anywhere near you until you were ready, or until you'd been recognized. Our hopes for an Olympian is that they can go unnoticed, but if they can't, we bring them here."

"I know it's hard," Grover sighed, "But it's for the best. It's necessary. Plus, you'll make new friends here."

But no one could replace Thalia, Nico, and Annabeth.

"Let's get you a tour around the house, some training, more explanations... you get the mojo," Grover said.

Percy could only nod, the thought of never seeing Thalia, Nico, or Annabeth again. Annabeth... Her name was bliss to his ears. But Grover had already taken his hand, pulling him. Percy winced and Grover frowned. That's when Grover pulled Percy's shirt up to see the bruises.

"Holy Hera!" Grover jumped up in the air. "Your... Your stomach!"

"Gabe..." He looked to the floor. "He... He abused me ever since I was five. When my mom first married him."

"Alright," Grover said, leading Percy down the hall. "This is the first hall you'll pass. Don't worry, it all ends eventually. The most important children are the ones who look identical to their parents. We haven't seen many in years... but you are like a replica. The first hall you'll pass is where all the Hermes children live. If anyone were to infiltrate the house, the Hermes kids are all built with runner bodies, so they will deliver the messages fast."

Grover knocked on a door and a boy opened it. He had blonde hair with a scar running down his face that made Percy want to never have scars again.

"This is Luke," Grover said, "He's not the spitting image of Hermes, but with his eyes, it's obvious he's Hermes' kid."

"Hey," Luke said, "I'm guessing you're Percy?"

"How do you know about me?"

"Oh, everyone knows about you here. You're literally the only child Poseidon has."

"Oh..." it came out of Percy's mouth quietly.

"Well, nice meeting you!" Luke said before closing the door.

They turned down to the other hall.

"This second hall is where the Ares kids live. Every room leads up to an upstairs lounge area they can access through ladders. It's also where they could gather if they're being attacked, as it's easily sealed up. The Ares kids are the offense, so if an attack is to come, they'll be the first to fight. And I want you to meet two people."

Knocking. Then, a buff girl came out.

"What do you--oh, it's just you, Grover."

"Clarisse, I want you to meet Percy. Percy, this is Clarisse."

Clarisse raised an eyebrow, looking at Percy. Sizing him up.

"He really does look like Poseidon," she commented.

"Yeah," Grover chuckled.

"I just hope he can spy and kill like Poseidon. Thinking he'll be just like Poseidon is a miracle on its own already," Clarisse said tauntingly.

"She's just teasing you," Grover reassured him.

"Yeah," Clarisse leaned against the doorframe, "But I'll still cook you."

"Bye, Clarisse!" Grover called as she closed the door to her room.

They knocked on another door and an Asian boy came out.

"This is Frank, Percy. Frank, meet Percy. He's new."

"Oh... well, hi! I hope you like it here!"

They turned down the hall again and Grover looked around.

"Uh... this is where Apollo's children live. Because they play instruments and sing, their voices are pretty loud and they created a song that alerts everyone there's an attack. Yes, we layer the children based on if there's an attack. You can never be too careful."

Again, another turn.

"This is where Athena's children are. They're smart, but they're also strategic in thinking about battles. They normally plan out a battle, and the message gets passed on by the Hermes kids, who are normally already running everywhere to try and deliver messages."

Another turn into a different hall. Percy couldn't help but notice that each hall had a different tint to the tile. Red for Ares, bronze for Hermes, gray for Athena, and gold for Apollo. Now, they were in an area that was tinted silver.

"At this point, it's really ranked on how powerful your parent is. But, since we're also talking about layers, we have the Hunters of Artemis. Just like Artemis is a virgin in the myths, she's also a maiden in real life. But she doesn't ride a moon chariot or control the moon. That's space. But she does specialize in the marketing of bows and arrows, as well as the wildlife in forests. Her band of girls? They live here. And I want you to meet someone, too."

A girl opened the door. She had a long, dark braid, dark eyes, and she had a small silver tiara resting on her head.

"What does thee want?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Percy, this is Zoë. She's the lieutenant of Artemis. Zoë, meet Percy, son of Poseidon."

Zoë raised an eyebrow, but shrugged.

"Don't be stuck-up," she narrowed her eyes, "Males who do that don't deserve any praise."

She slammed the door.

"Anti-men," Grover explained.

They went into the next hallway, the tiles showing shimmers of pink.

"This is the hallway for Aphrodite kids. Really, it's mostly for the kids she has that have kaleidoscope eyes. It's a trademark for whoever is her kid. She's in charge of all the dating apps, all the dating shows, all the makeup companies, clothing companies... yeah. And I'd like you to meet two people."

Grover knocked on two doors and two girls came out.

"This is Silena and this is Piper. Piper, Silena, this is Percy."

"Nice to meet you," both of them said.

Silena's eyes were baby blue while Piper's were kaleidoscope, changing colors each time you blinked.

"I'm just touring Percy around," Grover explained, "Anyways, see you later!"

Grover turned to the adjacent hall.

"Since a lot of cosmetic products use plants, and clothing is made from cotton, the Demeter kids normally live really close by because their parents are associated with each other."

They continued walking, Percy admiring the beautiful building.

"Next," Grover pointed to the hall they were entering, "This is the hall for Hephaestus kids. Even if the myths say Hephaestus is supposed to be ugly... he's not. He's not at all. They build stuff, he's in charge of all the electronic companies, the car companies... you know. You'll get tested on them soon. Don't worry, they're not hard to memorize. Here, you need to meet this person."

Grover knocked and a Latino boy jumped out, practically barreling into Percy.

"Oops! Sorry, man!" the boy grinned.

"Percy, this is Leo. Leo, meet Percy."

"Oh, you're Poseidon's son!" Leo grinned. "Well, nice to meet you!"

"We're gonna continue with the tour now, but see you, Leo!" Grover called as he lead Percy down another hall.

This one was shorter, and there weren't really any rooms. It seemed like a place to honor someone.

"This is the 'hall' for Hera. She doesn't have children, so it's really here in honor of her."

Percy was correct. They continued walking and the tiles glinted purple.

"This is the hall for Dionysus kids. Dionysus owns all the wine companies, and the grape companies. Easy enough to remember. He's always drunk."

More halls.

"Alright," Grover sighed, "We've reached the top three most powerful. They're all close together, because they don't have many children. They vowed to have as little as possible, in fear of them causing the collapse of the Olympian empire. Anyways, the first one you'll see is Hades."

The tiles seemed to glow darkness. Actually... that made no sense.

"I need you to meet a person. Hazel!"

Hazel walked out. Her golden eyes gleamed in the lights.

"Hey! Oh, is this Percy?"

"Yeah," Grover said, "Percy, this is Hazel, the only child of Hades that is really important."

"Why?" Percy frowned.

"Well, for some reason, wherever Hazel goes, she can always find some stone. It became pretty obvious to the enemy, so they started to hunt her down for it. Yeah."

"I like to say it's a curse," Hazel shrugged. "Anyways, nice meeting you!"

Grover took Percy down the hall again.

"This is your hall."

The tiles glinted sea-green.

"The whole hall is mine?" Percy whispered.

"Yep. Your room is one giant hall," Grover chuckled, "You're lucky you get one whole room."

"How many kids are here?" Percy asked as they walked down to the last hall.

"Uh... not many, Percy. Not a lot of space, like I said. But the people who need help get here. It's as simple as that. Finally... Zeus."

They were in the middle of a hall with blue-tinted tiles.

"Zeus owns the airline companies, the airports, the electricity in general... and yeah. But... you'd best be getting used to your room and all this stuff. I'll be back to check on you in a few minutes and we can hang out, okay? It's all really crazy... but you need to trust me on this."

Grover knocked on a door and a blonde boy came out with striking electric blue eyes.

"This is Jason. You can tell from his--"

"Electric blue eyes?" Percy raised his eyebrows.

The other twelve-year-old boy smiled.

"Same with your sea-green ones," he nodded.

"I'll give you some time to adjust," Grover said as Jason said his goodbyes, going back to his room.

Percy could only nod as Grover left him there. Alone. In the middle of a big mansion with kids he barely knew.

Schist.

But Percy, determined, walked out of the house. He had his hood up, making sure everything about him was unrecognizable. He had to go say goodbye to his friends.