Chapter Text
He woke up in the morning and before he even opened his eyes, he thought to himself: I am Theseus Blofis.
I’m Theo, he reminded himself.
Theo.
Theo.
Theo.
Percy Jackson was the kid sleeping in the bunk across the cabin. He wasn't even 13 year old, and he'd just completed his first quest. He hadn’t seen the worst their world had to offer yet. Theo was someone different; Theo had fought wars and lost friends. Theo had lost a war and fought friends. Theo had traveled to the past. He was Theo; not Percy Jackson, hero of Olympus. And he needed to remind himself of that every day.
It was more important now than ever, since he was back in the Poseidon cabin.
In the Hermes Cabin, he could just be another nobody. He'd always been a little bit of a standout—he was older and he wore his battles on a body covered in scars, but still. He was among dozens of kids who were just looking for their place in a world that was out to make life hell for them. And Luke was there too. He was a very grounding influence on Theo, more than Theo had ever expected him to be. Luke was nothing and everything like Theo remembered. And now—well, now Luke was something else. Something close and special Theo couldn’t lose.
Luke had a lot of thoughts about following the rules and setting a good example that Per— that Theo had missed the last time they'd interacted as camper and counselor. They rang ironically, and it had its own adorable edge to it. But Luke followed the rules, even ones like no sharing a bunk when surrounded by 30 odd cousins and siblings.
But since pretty early on, long before they started dating, Theo had set up his bedroll next to Luke's bed. When things got bad at night, Theo could see Luke sticking out of the twin bed that was really too small for him, one of his hands close to Theo. And sometimes, Theo would reach out and grasp it, just for a moment. Just a reminder that things could be different. It was strange not being there anymore.
It was stranger still to be in a place he'd once spent so much time in. It wasn't really different, except Theo was sleeping on the other side of the cabin, because the Kid had chosen the bed that Theo had also chosen once upon a time, and Theo knew they needed space. It was strange too, to have a cabin mate. He'd had Tyson from time to time, but that wasn't the same as having another full-time camper. Before they'd gone to bed, Chiron had mentioned something about Theo being the new head camper, even though he'd been claimed late, because he was so much older, so much more experienced, and had been at camp longer. The Kid could have challenged him, of course, because he'd completed more quests (Ha!) but the Kid had just nodded along, looking quite thankful not to carry any additional burdens.
Theo had never had a camper before. He knew how to manage the schedules and the rotating duties, but he'd never had to manage another kid, really, unless you counted the last year, when he basically became Luke's co-counselor in the Hermes Cabin.
Honestly, he'd rather keep that schedule and hang out with them. But Hermes was so big, even two extra people who didn't have to be there might be a problem. He wanted to help Luke out, Gods know he needed it. He was shouldering the burden well, as far as Theo saw, but he was intimately aware of how quickly things could go south.
He'd been so angry recently. And he hadn't looked much happier last night when Theo had gotten claimed, even though one of his angers recently had been about that Theo wasn’t.
While the Kid was still asleep, Theo got up and got ready. This early, the communal showers were empty.
No one else was around. sunrise was just starting, but the sunup Apollo kids weren’t poking their heads out. Nor were any of the Ares kids heading to the arena for dawn bootcamp.
The only other soul was the girl poking at the fire at the center of the cabins.
“Lady Hestia,” he said. When he greeted her in the middle of a busy day, he tended towards small quick bows of his head. Since they were alone, he offered her a fuller sign of respect, bending at his waist.
“So attentive,” she said, but it was with a smile of delight.
“I’ve seen too much to not know the importance of the hearth, Aunt,” Theo said.
He always greeted her when he saw her, and he’d said the same thing many times. The truth was he liked a handful of the gods, but he respected Hestia. And he would pay her that respect whenever he could.
Sometimes they talked about the goings on and sometimes they talked about his past in bleak, vague terms.
“A son of Poseidon,” she said, but she nodded to his Legion Tattoo. She had never not known. Just like Chiron and Mr. D, though Dionysus had never been bothered to care.
“Yes.”
“I congratulate you,” she said. “And if I might make a suggestion. Perhaps a son of the sea god would do well to go to the beach this morning. I believe you will find something you need there.”
That was a polite command and a dismissal all at once. He bowed again and thanked the goddess for her advice, making his way to the beach.
He hoped his father wouldn’t make another appearance. He wanted to talk to Poseidon again like he wanted a hole in the head. Well, actually, Luke had said something about him looking hot with an earring, so maybe he’d prefer the hole.
Still, it was relaxing to be there, to see the ocean. In some ways, it made him dream of escape. He could slip in and disappear, let the world fight its wars. He’d sacrificed so much already, and he wanted to rest. Juno had once offered him a choice: carry her into New Rome or escape to the Pacific Ocean.
Now, he could escape to the Atlantic.
He hadn’t meant to stay this long anyway, and now that the Kid was here—
But there was so much in the world he knew needed to be done. He could get the golden fleece and free Thalia. He could get Bianca and Nico out of the Lotus Hotel. He could help Hylla and Reyna on Circe’s island. He could go to San Francisco and assassinate Octavian. He might be only fourteen now, but he was probably already being a dangerous bastard. He could swim to Rome and find the Athena Parthenos, save the little girl sleeping in Cabin Six the trouble.
Standing on the beach with Long Island Sound in front of him, and the open ocean just beyond that, he felt stifled and trapped here at camp.
He knew it was worse for Luke, and Theo couldn’t leave him. He couldn’t leave the Kid or Annabeth or Grover either. Not when he knew he could help. And Caster, Lee, Michael, Selina, Beckendorf, all the others. He owed it to them to find out who was filling Luke’s place in Kronos’s revised plans. And he owed it to himself, to his battered and bruised and still broken heart, to not return Luke to Kronos’s side. Theo wanted him and he didn’t have it in him to let something go like that by choice. Especially not after it had been so forcefully taken from him last time.
He ran a hand along the hilt of Annabeth’s sword. He didn’t even need to close his eyes; he could still see her bloody face, could still feel her dead weight in his arms.
And regardless, he’d dropped a little bit of a bombshell on the Kid the night before. That needed to be resolved. He knew there were memory erasing poisons. Magic had never really been his skill, but he couldn’t let the Kid go on knowing the truth.
It was dangerous to both of them, but it was also a lot to ask of him. He shouldn’t have to have the burden of Theo’s failed future on himself. He already had his own.
Theo wanted to curse the gods. If there was a Hecate Cabin this would be easy. But none of the Hecate kids he had known were in Cabin 11 now. He knew that there was a room in the big house full of ingredients for spells and potions. He’d probably have to go there and start reading later today.
“I’ve been waiting to get you alone.”
Theo let out a humorless laugh. It had been two years, but he recognized the voice.
“Hermes,” he said, turning to greet the god. He was in his tracksuit. Theo nodded to the caduceus, “George, Martha.”
Theo greeted the snakes mostly to put the god off. He doubted Poseidon had shared his own recent revelation about his extra son. And Hermes would certainly know he’d never met some random demigod.
The truth was, Theo had no idea what this could be about, so mind games were his only opening.
Hermes didn’t even seem to notice. “I have to thank you,” he said. “You saved my son.”
Percy— Damn, no, Theo, remembered being on this very beach when this very god asked him to bring Luke back to him. He hadn’t thought he would succeed, and he had not.
He remembered Hermes’ rage at Annabeth for not saving Luke before his body had been taken over by Kronos. It was easy to blame others for your own failures.
He would be lying if he said he hadn’t thought of those things at least a little when he set out on his quest to befriend Luke and free him from Kronos’ grasp. But he certainly hadn’t done it for the god’s praise.
“He was worth saving,” was all Theo said back.
The implication was clear; Theo could see that, as could Hermes.
“Yes,” Hermes nodded. “Yes.” Then he looked at Theo’s face and probably saw the judgement. “I tried,” he defended himself, “I gave him a quest.”
“A quest that had been done before,” Theo reminded him. “And a quest that didn’t need doing, so his friends died for nothing.” He sighed. Theo knew, if nothing else, that Hermes did love his son. “I know you tried. But that isn’t what heroes want, or what they need.”
“What does Luke need, then?” Hermes asked. Theo wasn’t sure if he wanted an actual answer, but he was going to get one.
“For you to claim all your unclaimed children in Cabin 11,” Theo said without hesitation, “so Luke doesn't have to look into the faces of his brothers and sisters that you are ignoring daily.”
Hermes blinked at him, like the thought that his son cared about his siblings had never occurred to him. It was almost a little insulting. Chris Rodrigues was so clearly barely holding it together. His state of mind wasn’t much better than Luke’s.
“You think Luke cares about that?”
“I think he mostly cares about that,” Theo said. “No hero isn’t in it a little bit for the glory.” That was in their blood, in their ichor, maybe. “But Luke has to look at those kids every day. And it’s bad for all of them. But knowing that you’ll sponsor anyone, and won’t even claim some of your own kids, it weighs on him.” Then, because the truth was, he genuinely didn’t hate Hermes, he added, “I know you all do it, I’d tell them all the same thing. I have.”
Hermes considered that, but he didn’t ask about the time travel, not like Poseidon. But it was clear he got the meaning. He knew that Theo was no stranger to gods, that he wasn’t really scared of them.
“So, claim my children.” He said it so matter of factly that it was a little bit upsetting. Something so easily done but that he’d never bothered with before. “Anything else?”
“Yeah,” Theo said, “Luke needs to get out of here.” He raised his arms, encompassing the camp.
“No, he can’t. It's dangerous and he doesn’t—”
“I don’t mean his needs to be kicked out,” Theo said. “But he’s 19, everyone else his age goes to college during the year. He should at least be able to go to community college a few days a week or something.” Theo shrugged; he hadn’t given the idea much thought.
He was about that age, too. Right before everything went wrong, he’d started to dream of the university in New Rome. Gaia had destroyed the city and the school. But that was okay; he’d never really thought he’d manage college anyway.
“I know he doesn’t— I know he can’t go to his mortal family,“ Theo had managed to sneak away and visit May Castellan once, during his year here. It had been incredibly sad, but he still wanted to go back, when he had a chance. “But he needs to see the real world, at least a little. You can’t protect him in the borders of camp forever.”
Hermes probably wouldn’t even take his advice. But whatever, no one could ever accuse Theo of not trying. Percy Jackson always tried, whatever he called himself.
Hermes nodded and made a few notes in his tablet. Then he fixed his eyes on Theo. They were so like Luke’s, it was unnerving.
Not least because they weren’t hostile.
“And what boon do you want, Percy Jackson, or Theo Blofis?” Theo jumped at the use of his old name twice in less than 12 hours. “For your services to me and my son?”
“I didn’t do it for a reward,” Theo said. “I did it because Luke was worth saving.” And because he was right, but his methods were wrong. And that Theo now understood a fiery hatred of the gods. “But I do find myself in need of a memory potion,” Theo admitted. “Something to take away a specific, recent memory, and not harm the recipient.”
Hermes’ eyes narrowed. “For my son?”
“No,” Theo shook his head. “Not for any of your children. I’d rather not talk about it, but I’m willing to tell you if you really want to know.”
He’d probably leave out the bit about not being on Poseidon’s side, but of everyone except maybe Apollo, surely Hermes would understand the dangers of a mortal knowing too much.
Hermes reached into his mail bag and pulled out a little vial. “I’m not god of magic, but this should do.” He considered Theo. “I will consider your advice, son of Poseidon. I believe I see why my son likes you so much. You might want to look away.”
Theo did, and he could feel when Hermes assumed his full, godly form before vanishing.
He slipped the memory potion in his pocket and arrived at the dining pavilion just as everyone was trickling into breakfast.
The lonely Poseidon table was waiting for him. The Kid wasn’t awake yet. It had taken him months, last summer, to train himself not to head towards Cabin 3 in all things. And now he was having the opposite problem.
He glanced over to the over-crowded Hermes table. He wondered what the children of Hermes would say if they knew he’d just spoken to their dad. He wonders what Luke would say if he told him his dad gave a damn. Nothing good, probably.
Luke already looked exhausted and the morning had barely even started. Theo watched him glance to his side, where Theo had sat everyday for over a year, and then up at and over, to where Theo sat alone at Cabin 3’s table.
Theo gave his best smile. He’d been told it was charming.
Luke didn’t return it, as though he could hear what Theo was thinking: that he looks just like his father. That thought would definitely make Luke frown.
They held each other’s gaze. Theo trying to smile, Luke refusing. Luke’s anger was a constant threat. Not to Theo, not as a physical force, but for what it might inspire in him. He’d turned his back on Kronos once, but the Titan was still out there. And he must still be looking for some other hero for plots. Theo wouldn’t let him get Luke.
But he wasn’t sure what to do about the defeated look in Luke’s eyes. He wanted to go to him, but Luke had a lot of rules about respectability and professionalism in front of his campers. A good morning kiss might have been fine, but attempts at comfort would have been pretty soundly rejected in front of everyone.
It was one of Luke’s problems, Theo had learned. A great desire to seem strong at all times, in front of everyone.
Maybe he and the Kid would skip activities today and go make Luke cookies, or something. Luke loved chocolate chip cookies as long as they were blue, so they wouldn’t remind him of home.
He felt his smile become a little less forced at the thought. Luke didn’t break eye contact until there was a commotion from down the table.
Theo turned towards the noise to see the glowing caduceus above Chris’s head. Hermes had claimed one of his unclaimed children. Theo hadn’t had any hope, not really. He’d demanded it as a great reward last time, and even for one god, even for a small handful of kids, it had seemed like too much.
But Chris Rodriguez wasn’t going to be unclaimed and swept up into Kronos’s army by Luke, now.
Theo smiled to himself as he kneeled with the rest of camp.
He was still smiling, though the commotion had died down, when the Kid joined him. But he could still tell something was different in the air.
“What happened?” he asked, biting in to toast coated with the same crunchy peanut butter and strawberry jam as Theo’s.
“Chris Rodriguez got claimed this morning,” Theo told him. “Just before you showed up.”
He glanced at Cabin 11’s table, where Chris was still sitting.
“Who claimed him?”
“Hermes.”
The Kid frowned. “But, he’ll just still be stuck in Cabin 11, won’t he? With all those people.”
Theo knew what he meant. It was hard, being stuck on the floor of Cabin 11 for a week, unclaimed and orphaned. Theo remembered. And the Kid had surely found out that Chris had been in Cabin 11 for two summers already.
“It isn’t about having extra leg room,” Theo said. Poseidon’s cabin was free for the two of them, and for what Theo knew would be identical living habits. “It's about finding where you belong. And being seen by your dad.” Theo met his own eyes. “You understand that.”
The Kid didn’t hold his gaze for long, but he nodded, before sighing deeply. “You know everything I’m thinking, don’t you.”
“I know your thought processes,” Theo acknowledged, before lowering his voice quite a bit. “Because they’re mine. Or at least they were.”
The Kid froze, even stopped his chewing. Then his mouth fell open, so the whole of camp could see mashed bread, peanut butter, and strawberries. Theo had no compunction about reaching over the table and physically shutting the Kid’s mouth.
He’d thank him later. Annabeth was sitting with her siblings, but kept glancing their way. He would want to appear at least a little dignified in front of her.
The thought of them, Percy and Annabeth together, filled Theo with a wave of sadness he wasn’t expecting.
But here it was. They were here, the two of them. Almost thirteen and alive. The world was bright and possible for them. They didn’t have to shoulder the weight of the sky. They didn’t have to fall into Tartarus. Annabeth didn’t have to die. This Kid didn’t have to hold her in his arms and watch the life leave her eyes.
He had hope. He had so much hope for them. So much hope for the future. Hermes was claiming his children, Poseidon would talk to his Roman sister, and Annabeth was alive.
“I was wondering if it was all a dream,” the Kid admitted.
“Nope,” Theo said, and held up a small bottle, shaking it a little. “But it can go away. This is a memory potion, it'll care of it.”
“What?" He asked, “No! You can't do that!”
“I can,” Theo said, “and more importantly, I should.”
Breakfast was clearing up. Poseidon Cabin had morning activities. But no one was liable to care if they didn’t show up, and so Theo guided the kid back to Cabin 3.
“You don’t want to know this,” he said as soon as he shut the door. “It’s dangerous.”
“You don’t trust me?” The Kid scoffed. “I’m you.”
12 year olds weren’t known for their self-reflection, apparently, because Theo barely trusted himself. His actual self. Himself-himself. The Theo-himself, let alone who he’d been at twelve. Who also didn’t actually trust himself.
“It isn’t about trust,” Theo said, which was also true. “It isn’t dangerous because I think you’ll spill the secret.” That was true, too. “It's dangerous because knowing the future is dangerous.”
“You know the future.”
“No.” Theo shook his head. “I know what happened to me. Things have shifted in some ways and not in others. I only think I know the future. And the rule for that kind of knowledge is if you try and change things, it almost always comes back and bites you in the ass. I know you’re new here, but read your mythologies. Learn them. History is full of heroes who tried to fight their prophecies, to escape their fate. Normally it just made things worse.”
“But—”
“And I’m trying anyway,” Theo said. “I’m trying to change things. I know I’ve changed things. Just being here changes things, and I’ve actively worked to change some other things. It's a dangerous, messy business, and it could very well blow up in my face.”
“Then why do it? You just said trying to change fate is impossible.”
“Well, I only know the future, not Fate. We have three of those for a reason.” He’d heard Zeus proclaim that, just before the battle had been lost. “There is wiggle room. I have to hope,” and maybe pray a little, to Hestia, “that I operate within that room. And also,” he didn’t want to tell the kid this, but he’d said some of it yesterday, with their Dad, “we lose. I don’t mean I lose. I mean the gods loose. I mean, I saw towns get swallowed up and Camp razed to the ground.” He could tell him. The Kid could take it, and he wouldn’t remember it anyway. “I saw people I know, friends, people I loved, people who are outside, doing their morning activities right now, die.”
He could see Connor’s charred body in his mind. Clarisse’s head, smashed with a rock; he’d only known her from her armor. Jason drowned in mud. Reyna riddled with arrows. A spear through Hazel’s neck. Frank’s pristine body, except for a palm full of ash. And he could still feel Annabeth’s blood on his hands. “Olympus fell. The world ended. I can’t actually picture something worse,” he admitted. “So even if bad things happen. Well, that’s one Fate that can’t really get worse.”
The Kid just sat there silently for a long time.
“But I want to help,” he finally said.
“I know,” Theo said, and he did. He knew deep in his bones that desire. He still felt it every day. “And you will. You’re part of this. We’re connected. I don’t know how. I only know what happened to me and some of that can’t happen to you anymore.” He didn’t say that he wished in some ways he could spare the Kid all of it. It was true, but he wouldn’t appreciate it. Besides, all demigods wanted some glory, in addition to wanting to help. Even Theo and this Kid. It stung, sometimes, with all he’d done, being here and no one knowing his deeds. He’d held the sky and navigated the Labyrinth and Tartarus and no one could see it. He couldn’t claim it.
As far as everyone was concerned, the Kid had completed more quests then him.
But his reputation didn’t matter. Not here, not now, not anymore.
Only saving what had been lost mattered. Annabeth, Luke, the Kid, everyone else here and at Camp Jupiter.
“But couldn’t I help more if I know?”
Theo shook his head. “Did you miss the part about knowing the future being dangerous?” He laughed. “More of us doing these things. I can go out of control so easily. Gods, Kid, the balancing act. It is a lot.”
“I can handle it.”
“Of course you can,” Theo agreed. “But it isn’t a matter of can. It's a matter of should. You’re just a child.”
“Well,” The Kid snapped back, “you’re just a teenager.”
It was so simple when he said that. Like all that separated them was six years and not a thousand other great and terrible things.
“Yeah,” Theo said simply, “but it's already too late for me. It doesn’t have to be too late for you. Not quite. Not yet.”
“But if I’m a part of it, you said so.”
“Kid,” Theo sighed. “You have a lot on your plate. And don’t say you don’t, because I know you. I know what you are going through. I know exactly what you are going through. You’re not free from this, from the squabblings of gods or the blood lust of monsters. You aren’t going to be free from the future, either. But I can make it so you don’t have to worry about it.”
“Are you going to force me?” The Kid asked.
“I can,” Theo answered honestly, because he had always hated being lied to, figuring out a world created by half-truths. “I can do a lot of things you can’t do yet, also, since I’m a foot taller than you. But I don’t want to.”
“What do you want?”
“For you to accept my help. And for you to understand that I don’t know everything that’s coming, but I do know a lot of things are. You need to be focused on the tasks at hand, not some maybes or might-bes.”
“Kronos,” The Kid said. “Kronos is coming.”
“Yes.”
“He arranged the thief of the lightning bolt, didn’t he?” The Kid looked up at Theo, and he had to work very very hard to keep his face blank.
“Yes,” Theo agreed. “It was different from what happened for me. I knew it was coming and tried to stop it. I didn’t manage that, only to shift the events.” Memory potion or not, he had no intentions of telling the Kid what Luke did, and what Theo and Luke had to do to put it right.
He remembered still, being this Kid, sitting with Luke on the last day of summer and having his heart break. He didn’t know that’s what was happening at the time, of course. He’d thought it was the sting of betrayal. He thought it was poison of the scorpion.
He knew better now.
He had, at the very least, spared the Kid and Annabeth that.
“You don’t need to be focused on what happened to me,” Theo said, “or what I’m shifting. You need to focus on the fact that Kronos is looking for heroes to do his work for him. He has to have heroes do it. And I’m sorry to say he’s taken an interest in you, and you’re going to be on the front lines.”
“You know about the dreams.”
“I remember the dreams.”
“But if I know what to look out for—”
“I need you to be clear-eyed,” Theo offered. “I am looking for things, but the danger in that is that sometimes you find patterns that aren’t there. Hyper-awareness is a curse as much as it's a blessing.”
“You’re so smart, you’re so—” he flicked his hands at Theo, “everything. How can you really be me?”
“You’re me,” Theo said. “Anything I’ve ever done is something you could do too. Anything I am is something you’ll be one day.”
“Wouldn’t it be better for my self-confidence to know that?”
Theo laughed. “Wouldn’t you rather not have to worry about trying to live up to an arbitrary standard?” Then he sobered. “Please,” Theo said, let me do this for you. “Please,” let me do this for me.
Finally, The Kid nodded. “It will help?”
“It will help.” Theo agreed.
He sat on the bed next to the kid, on a bed he’d slept in for six years. Unused for sixty, save for a handful of nights.
“You’ll still be in the cabin with me?”
“Totally, we’re going to win all the canoe races and own at trireme practice.” Theo smiled. “I’m not going anywhere. Literally, I have nowhere else to go.” Except for the ocean, or a hundred problems he could go and try to solve early. But he couldn’t leave everyone here. “We’ll work more on your sword fighting. We’ll work on your powers. We’re in this together. I promise.”
The Kid nodded. “You don’t have a home. But your mom is my mom.”
“I know you saw her in the city,” Theo said. “Is she alright?”
“She wouldn’t let me kill Gabe.”
Theo grimaced. “Give it a few weeks,” he said, dead serious this time. He’d thought it over the last several months. “If it's still a problem, we’ll leave camp and take care of him. Mom won’t like it, and I’ll be honest, I don’t think we’ll need to, but he’d not be a problem anymore.”
“Do you miss her?”
“Every day,” Theo admitted. He felt that potion vial in his pocket. “That’s something I wish I could forget, sometimes, too.”
“I’ll take it,” The Kid said. “I’ll do it. If it will help. And—” And because it's too much, and I don’t want to know all the terrible things that will happen to me, he didn’t say. But Theo always knew what the Kid was thinking. How could he not.
“I know,” Theo said. “It's better this way.”
He handed the vial over.
The kid uncorked it and downed it in one go.
For a moment, nothing happened. He looked at the vial and then at Theo, a frown on his face. “I still re—” He was cut off mid sentence by his eyes falling shut, and then his whole body falling onto Theo.
After making sure he was just sleeping, Theo tucked him into bed.
It was strange, this kid who was him, but not quiet, but very much so.
And he would be here for him. For swords and powers, and anything else.
But he didn’t really feel like just waiting in here while he slept. Theo tucked the empty vial with his things and left the kid to his sleep.
Honestly, after the quest and post-quest excitement, he probably needed it, even without the potion.
So he strapped Annabeth’s drakon bone sword to his belt and went out to see what was up on a normal Tuesday at camp.
He loved bright sunny days at camp. Not that they ever had rainy days, at least not now that the lightning bolt was back with Zeus. They made him think of his own first summer. Those glorious days between returning from his quest and that last, terrible day when Luke tried to kill him. When he was running on a high of returning from his quest, his mother being alive, and the new reality of his life hadn’t made itself known.
He didn’t want to delve too deeply into his own psychology, but that memory just made him think of Luke, and thinking of Luke made him want to be with Luke.
Hermes had music on Tuesday mid-mornings. It was only ever popular with unclaimed kids who hoped a spot of brilliance might label them as an Apollo kid and get them noticed or by someone who wanted to make particularly loud and particularly bad noise.
But because it didn’t require too much supervision, and had only resulted in one explosion during Theo’s entire time at camp, it also meant that Luke used it as a time to get some of his counselor duties done.
It had been less than 24 hours since Theo was “claimed” and he hadn’t talked to Luke about it at all.
Yesterday had been too much worry and excitement for it to really sink in, but last night had been the first time in a year he’d not gone to sleep on the floor next to Luke’s bed.
It was a sad thought.
He stood on the steps of the Hermes Cabin for what couldn’t be more than a minute or two, but it felt like a very long time. He’d liked it inside. He knew why the children of the minor gods felt disrespected, why the unclaimed felt forgotten, and he hated it. But Theo had arrived at camp perfectly secure in who he was, and so among the largest group, he’d found a great deal of comfort.
Luke would be reviewing reports inside, and Theo needed to see him. But he couldn’t help being worried about what his reaction might be.
He knocked on the door to make his presence known, but just went inside. Just like he expected, Luke was sitting cross-legged on his bed, a stack of papers in front of him. He looked the same as always: camp shirt, cargo shorts, sandals. The yellow of his hair was peaking out beneath the blue, and Theo wondered if it would be pushing his luck to get him to dye it again.
Theo had expected Luke to look up when he walked in. He wasn’t expecting the grin on his face when he saw Theo.
“Hey,” Luke said, “I was just thinking I’d go try and find you.” He practically bounded off his bed and across the crowded floor to Theo in the entryway.
He wrapped his arms around Theo, a little too tight, a little possessive.
Theo tended to like that. It made him feel real and present. He wasn’t just a lost soul drifting through the past by himself.
Luke sought a kiss too. Long and deep. He bit just a little at Theo’s lips, but unlike sometimes, there was no ferociousness to it. A few playful nips, as his hands felt up Theo’s flanks.
The door to Cabin 11 was still open beside them, and it was more than Luke ever normally wanted to do with even the potential of the audience.
Luke broke the kiss only for air, and he rested his scarred cheek next to Theo’s as they both panted just a little.
When Luke actually pulled away from him, keeping their hands clasped together, he was still grinning.
“You missed all the excitement,” he said.
“I saw Chris at breakfast,” Theo assured him.
“Yeah, I know,” Luke said, “but it didn’t stop with him.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I know! Lulu and Wendell both got claimed too. This morning, when we were walking to the rock wall. That’s three in one morning, all by Hermes.” He sounded like he couldn’t believe it, and Theo could barely believe it either. “Dad must be having a good day or something.”
Lulu Nester and Wendell Rhodes had Hermes’ smile and eyes, just like Luke. Those two and Chris were the only three Cabin 11 members whose parentage was speculated to be Hermes.
And now it wasn’t speculation at all.
Hermes had actually listened to his advice on how to help Luke. And Luke’s delighted laugh as he recounted the story, including Chris’ claiming again, was proof enough that it was doing just that.
“It’s awesome,” Luke repeated. “Everyone’s so happy and just, all of them today!”
“I’m happy too,” Theo promised. Luke’s grin was infectious. “For them and for you.”
Luke looked down. “It isn’t about me.”
“Babe,” the endearment was only a little stilted on his tongue, “you live to be a big brother. I know you’re excited about your new siblings.”
“They were always my siblings,” Luke corrected, but he was still smiling. “But it is nice to be able to actually claim them.”
Theo squeezed his hand, and Luke squeezed back, tighter even than when they had discovered the grove in the woods, but with none of the fear or reservation there.
“Speaking of literally all of this,” Luke said. His smile fell, just a little bit, his brow creasing in worry, “I didn’t get to talk to you last night. But you got claimed too, and got yourself a little brother. How’s that?”
“Cabin 3 might have too much space,” Theo said.
“I missed you last night,” Luke admitted. “Beside me, and also, because you’re the only one who can get Maya and Aime to settle down during lights out.” Maya Gate and Aime Cartier were 9 and 10, daughters of Hermes, and, having arrived at camp after having previously been only children, were now inseparable. And they treated every night in Cabin 11 like a slumber party. Their excitable chatter was always a low-level buzz.
“I miss everyone, too,” Theo said. The truth was, he hadn’t actually had the chance to miss them yet, short of breakfast, but he knew it was coming. “And I miss you.”
“I’ll bet,” Luke said. “But be honest, it's nice to have your place.”
Theo forced a smile. He didn’t have a place, not really. The Kid had a place, and Theo was a leftover loose end from a future that he would prevent at all costs.
“It feels like home,” he said, and only in speaking did he realize it was true. It was strange and uncentering. It stripped away all the transitory anonymity of the Cabin. But it was still home.
Luke kissed him. “I’m glad,” he said. “And I’m glad you are officially a head camper. I can split some of this junk with you.”
“I think that seems fair. If this week has shown us anything, it's that we're a pretty good team.”
That might be the great revelation of this entire terrible adventure, starting with him showing up six years in the past: his and Luke’s compatibility. Not romantically, really. He’d not noticed his own immature, confused, twelve year old feelings, but he could see them now. But that the camaraderie he’d had before the attack at the end of the first summer hadn’t all been an illusion. He and Luke could come together and make things happen.
They’d successfully managed Cabin 11 together. They’d successfully managed to frame Ares for the theft of the Lightning Bolt.
“Are we still admitting to that?” Luke asked.
“To each other, and only each other,” Theo said. “I don’t want to be vaporized, or turned into lions or something.”
“I think you’d make a handsome lion,” Luke offered.
“You probably would too,” Theo admitted. “You know, as long as you got a blue mane out of the deal.”
Here in this moment, with Luke, laughing together, he wanted to tell him everything. Or anything.
The truth about himself or the future or the nightmares that plagued him. The dangers of Kronos and the evils of Gaia. That once Luke had tried to destroy him, over and over again, and now he was one of the things that gave him hope.
But just one. Because Chris and Lulu and Wendell had been claimed because Hermes had listened to him. Because Percy Jackson was here and Annabeth was alive.
Fate always came to pass, but there was not only one path forward.
Luke would not try to kill The Kid when the summer ended. He wouldn’t recruit Chris to his demigod army.
Theo wanted to share.
But he held his tongue.
Or, more precisely, he shoved it down Luke’s throat, and then got the absolute pleasure of seeing Luke turn bright red when Little Maya and Aime and Lulu caught them, having come with a set of reed pipes, ready to share their newly ‘mastered’ version of Hilary Duff’s So Yesterday with their older brother.
Despite the embarrassment, Theo and Luke listened to the concert. Hand in hand, Luke’s body pressed against Theo’s side. When they were done, both boys clapped vigorously and proclaimed it some of the finest music they’d ever heard, clearly inspired by the Muses themselves.
They all made their way to the dining pavilion together, Aime hanging off of Theo, and Lulu not wanting to let go of her newly claimed brother.
All three of the girls protested when Theo made to break with them. And even Luke looked like he was on the verge of a pout.
Lunch was pretty lonely too, but he was in a better mood. He could see Chris, Lulu, and Wendell’s smiles, as wide as Luke’s, from his vantage point. He burned some baked beans for his dad, but sent the french fries Hermes' way. He hoped they got to the god, and not the fallen altar in Tartarus.
Despite it being lonely, he was glad the kid hadn’t shown up. He hoped he was still asleep, because he wanted to figure out just what the memory potion had done before he inflicted the rest of camp on the Kid.
Theo did pack away a grilled cheese sandwich for him later, then returned to the Poseidon Cabin.
He could still smell the faint whiff of smoke beneath the ocean breeze. His packs of cigarettes were still under one of the unused beds. He wouldn’t be able to come here and smoke anymore, which was kind of a bummer. It had been almost meditative, a few minutes alone, to center himself in this brave new world.
But it would set a bad example for the Kid.
Maybe he’d go to the beach or something now, or even out into the ocean. He could keep the ash from polluting anything.
He wanted to smoke now, but he knew the Kid would be able to smell it. So he dug out the book he’d borrowed from a reluctant Chiron. Aeneid, in the original Latin. It was one of the things he’d been working on through the year.
He’d never been a year-round camper. Everything was slower, less structured. He’d been focused mostly on his goal. He’d grown close to Luke partly in a deliberate effort to save him, but also because he knew he needed to improve his swordsmanship and there was no better teacher than Luke. But there was an expectation that they did something academic. After about a month of destroyed practice dummies, vaguely judgemental eyes and Luke taking him aside and quietly asking if he wanted to talk about his time ‘outside’ and the girl he’d lost there, Theo had decided too much over zealous training was liable to get him attention he didn’t want. So he committed himself to improving his Latin, among a few other things.
It got him raised looks from Chiron and Mr. D, and a couple of jokes about his old Legion tattoo from his fellow campers, not nothing more than that.
He could mostly make his way through the language of the poem, and it was interesting to compare it to the Iliad and the Odyssey.
So Theo read it while he waited for the Kid to wake up.
He stirred just as the refugee Trojans reached mainland Italy.
“Theo?” And it was always strange to hear his fake name on the Kid’s lips. “What are you doing here?”
“You really needed sleep,” Theo said, forcing a smile before the lie. “If you can’t remember, I got claimed last night. So we are officially cabin mates.”
He sat up, still in his morning camp clothes, but with his inky hair a mess.
Unfortunately for him, that was not going to improve.
He frowned at Theo. “I don’t remember—”
“You had a big day, and you were pretty out of it last night,” Theo said. “Do you remember getting back from your quest, and going to Olympus?”
The Kid’s frown deepened and Theo’s heart sank. He had not wanted to erase the thrill of victory or meeting Dad from his memory.
“Yeah,” the Kid finally said. “Yeah, I met my dad. On the beach?” He frowned again. “No, he was at Olympus. I met my dad.” He looked at Theo. “And your dad, too.”
“Yep,” Theo nodded. “I suspect a lot of money changed hands last night.”
“So you are a son of Poseidon, too,” the Kid said. He knew about the pact, and the prophecy. “Uncle Zeus is going to be mad, two of us. He only had one kid. And Hades too.”
“I’m hoping that getting claimed means Poseidon got a response to that,” Theo said. And if he didn't, well, Theo might drop a hint about Jason Grace, though he’d probably leave out the di Angelos in Nevada. He wanted, just for a second, to ask the Kid if he’d seen them at the hotel. “Or at least that claiming both of us are worth the potential issues.”
Hermes and Hestia knew what he was, at least. What that meant for the rest of the Olympians remained to be seen. Dionysus seemed not to know. But he’d let that all be Poseidon’s problem for now.
The Kid looked around the cabin. “You choose that bunk?”
“I figured after Cabin 11, there was no shame in a little space,” Theo said. “But don’t worry, I also think we’ll be good roommates.” It was probably going to mean a lot of threes on cabin inspections, but that was ok. The two of them would be worth bargaining for in an alliance in capture the flag, and they could get some good shower privileges that way. Or they could jump in the lake.
“So—” The potion was clearly doing something with the Kid’s head, but he seemed as sharp as ever, just discombobulated for a moment. “That means we’re brothers, right?”
Theo fought against his own frown.
No.
No.
No, Theo— Percy, wanted to say. We are not brothers. That would be simple. That would be easy. You’re a ghost and I’m from a lost future. You’re a kid, and I’m whatever happens when you have to grow up too fast. I’m what you shouldn’t have to see. I’m here to help you, to save you.
“Yeah,” he said instead, after swallowing a dozen other responses. “I guess we are.”
“I’ve never had an older brother before,” the Kid said. But he wasn’t frowning now. He was starting to smile.
“I’ve—” What did Theo even say? He’d had Tyson, but that wasn’t really the same thing at all. He’d loved Tyson and Tyson loved him, but Tyson had known exactly who he was as a person, a cyclops. He wasn’t like the cabin siblings Theo had once observed from a far. He’d had brothers in arms: Frank, Nico, Jason, Leo, Beckendorf, all his other friends at camp. He’d watched all of them die, or else found their bodies in the aftermath of battle. All but Nico, at least, who’d still been alive before Theo had found himself on the side of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. They’d built Annabeth’s pyre together, and Nico had performed the funeral rites with tears in his eyes. Once he’d heard that Nico had a crush on Annabeth. At the time, he didn’t have it in him to care about anyone else’s feelings for her, but a year later, he wondered at it.
All of that was ancient history now. And even in a place steeped in ancient history, like Camp Half-Blood, it felt so disconnected to him now.
“I’ve never had a little brother either,” he said. He wasn’t sure if it was true. But he’d never had this. He’d definitely never had this.
Theo was good at figuring out the Kid. At knowing what he was going to do and why he was going to do it. He’d just managed to save his whole quest that way. But he didn’t expect him to jump out of bed and practically tackle Theo in a hug.
Theo’d had heavy, people-shaped objects hurl themselves at his chest before, so he managed to keep his footing. But it took him a long time to return the hug.
He’d never been on the receiving end of his own hug before. The kid’s hug before his quest had been quick and to the point. This was nice. Strong and sure. He wondered if he could still hug with this much affection, or if that had been burned out of him.
“I’m glad you’re my brother,” the Kid said. “I wouldn’t want it to be anyone else at camp.”
Theo patted his back awkwardly. He was so much shorter than Theo; he wouldn’t even be a proper teenager for well over a month.
He was in unfamiliar territory. What would he have wanted in an older brother when he was this kid?
Someone kind. Someone helpful. Someone knowledgeable. Someone smart. Someone who knew what the hell was going on. Someone who would have his back. Someone who’d look at him and see more than a long line of expulsions and a very young single mother.
Theo swallowed and closed his eyes. He was pretty sure he couldn’t be everything this Kid needed, even though he knew exactly what that was.
He’d try to guide him, and he’d always have his back. And he’d have to hope that would be enough.
And he’d make sure Percy always knew that he was a good kid who got dealt a shitty hand.
“I’m glad you’re my brother,” he said. “We’ll have each other’s backs.”
The Kid stepped away, grinning like mad. “Totally. This is going to be great. Sons of Poseidon, against the world. We’ll train and you can teach me everything you know about water powers and swords and—” His eyes lit up. “I even got a better sword. Did I show you yesterday?”
He didn’t wait for a response, just reached into his pocket and pulled out an ordinary looking ballpoint pen.
The sight of it might have hurt Theo, but Theo saw Annabeth Chase, Selina Beaurgard, and the Stoll Brothers every day.
The Kid uncapped it with an unpracticed flourish, and held the xiphos in his hand. A natural, easy fit for him.
“Anaklusmos,” Theo said, without having to read the inscription. “She’s a beauty,” he said with a smile. “Just what you need.”
“Bad things are coming,” the Kid said, “I— well, I need to get better. We need to be ready.”
Theo put his hand on the Kid’s shoulder. “I know. Like you said, sons of Poseidon against the world. We can do this, together.”
He’d told the Kid this morning that he intended to alter fate, even if he couldn’t completely defy it, and he would.
Luke had not fallen under Kronos’ spell. Chris Rodriguez wouldn’t join his army in despair. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase were safe and alive at camp, and had time and people to help them to where they’d need to be, eventually.
Theseus Blofis squeezed Percy Jackson’s shoulder.
“Come one, Brother,” he said. “We have work to do.”
He picked up a dead girl’s sword, and led the way to the training arena.