Chapter Text
If you had told any member of the Atlantean royal family that the next time all of them would be in the same place for the first time in at least a few centuries would be over their current gathering subject:
They probably wouldn’t have believed you at the time.
Yet somehow that was the exact situation that had emerged.
A few weeks ago none of this had even seemed like something that could happen. Certainly no one knew something like this could happen.
A book detailing the story of Poseidon’s youngest demigod could even exist before it even occurred.
(The existence of a book detailing a demigods adventures isn’t as much of a shock. Its the timing.
Most stories of this nature took place long after the events after all. From what little that could be gathered so far from a singular chapter, this was all about future events.)
It was somehow causing problems before it even really got started.
It began shortly after the Spring Equinox.
Even years down the line, none of them are entirely sure how the books had ended up in their hands. Hermes certainly hadn’t delivered it. Triton hadn’t picked up a package matching the description.
It just one day had shown up in the families quarters.
A rectangular package containing five identical copies of the same exact book in English. Simply titled Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.
There was no note. No explanation. No one had come by to lay claim to the book it just had appeared. Admittedly you didn’t need instructions for the intent to be clear.
Someone wanted them to know of the coming events.
Why now? Why around apparently a certain demigod that the rest of the family now knew existed without a doubt? And not anything further in the future or back in the past Amphitrite wasn’t clear.
But it wasn’t even the thing that bothered her the most at the current moment. (Though she will be wondering why for a long while after.) Considering this was how she found out about her stepsons existence.
This wasn’t the ideal way for Amphitrite to find out Zeus was half right about the entire master bolt accusations. Her husband did have a son that he had told no one about.
This was not something they were supposed to be keeping from one another. So to say the least Amphitrite was not happy to discover this particular bit of information.
(Much later she would come to realize it wasn’t quite as black and white as Poseidon not wanting to inform her of his latest mortal lover and child.
Poseidon had been trying to protect his son in a round about way.
The less people who knew about the child, the less likely they were to be discovered. Since the child’s mother had been so adamantly anti camp for so long.
It had meant raising a child in ignorance of his heritance. By both not telling the child and not telling people who should be able to be told safely about said child.
Years later after many stories and quests and adventures where he got involved by either his choice or not, Amphitrite had to concede it was probably the best choice to make at the time.
But in the moment of finding out she was not happy.)
While the fates decision to give them this knowledge at all to begin with was unclear as of now.
The Morai very rarely acted in some capacity without reason. They didn’t need to be here stating it for it to be realized that the knowledge the books held was important.
Especially if this was going to become something more
Fates hands or not. Amphitrite privately admitted to herself she didn’t like this entire situation.
She didn’t hate heroes or demigods straight off like some other gods. She wasn’t Hera. She would rather meet them first before forming opinions of them.
That being said, she wasn’t entirely the biggest fan of hearing their stories. Some could get a bit much in the worst ways at times.
So even if the book’s purpose wasn’t very clear, she wasn’t entirely looking forward to the experience. Since without knowing how the book came to be, it felt like someone was trying to get in her good graces before even meeting her.
Which was not appreciated.
Admittedly she didn’t think a demigod could just make five books about his life. While they had no confirmation she still suspected the Morai were somehow involved in this.
Let alone have them appear without him along for the ride.
She at least realized that.
The book would have its uses.
Such as figuring out who the actual thief of the master bolt was. Amphitrite had tried to skip ahead to that information at first. But every time she had the book, it just reverted back to whatever page she had last read.
The message there being clear.
She would have to read the book in order. There would be no convenient skipping to a later point to find out what happened.
But even with all of that in mind it still took a while before any of them finished the first chapter.
Because even though it was clear they were meant to all be reading the books since they had all received a copy of it, things kept intruding.
For one: Poseidon was still dealing with the accusation of commanding his son to steal the bolt. While the book presented a possible unique chance to learn about him, time was a precious commodity that was hard to come by.
As for the others…
Amphitrite wasn’t entirely sure about her children’s progress outside of Triton who was using every excuse to not read about his half brother.
Not that Amphitrite had been much better she would later admit privately.
She hadn’t been that inclined to initially read the book. While her simmer at being presented with the book had died down rather fast, it still was an unpleasant idea in her opinion.
Until her husband got to the part about his son being attacked by a fury that things started to change.
Amphitrite had walked in on her husband commenting on the fury mess. Which had only caused confusion at first.
“What happened?”
As far as she was aware of, Hades had been staying out of the entire accusation mess. This seemed to suggest however that he had inserted himself into the argument surrounding the loss of the master bolt.
Though after a moment of thought more she dismisses it.
It would make no sense for him to only act now after the bolt was missing for months. He had steered clear of the entire thing after Zeus had found the item missing.
So a change in action would be a surprise to say the least.
Maybe it had something to do with the books they were supposed to be reading?
After all with the boy being a child of her husband, he was bound to attract some problems. Even before they discussed the master bolt being missing.
Though she hadn’t seen anything quite yet.
She was almost done with the first chapter. The last part she had read was about the child pushing a bully into the fountain via hydrokinesis. She had been planning to finish it tonight. Not thinking much of it at the time of putting it aside to read when she next had a spare moment.
It certainly hadn’t caused problems before now at least if it was the origin of her husbands reaction.
Apparently if it was causing distress she shouldn’t have waited at all.
It was Triton that ended up answering her question. “Uncle sent a fury after Perseus.”
Amphitrite blinked in surprise. That would definitely cause her husbands reaction. Though she had to say she was surprised to find this particular piece of information.
Though it is curious to think of a fury being sent after the supposed thief of the master bolt. (Even though based on what she had read so far she was starting to think that he wasn’t the thief.)
They served Hades not Zeus after all.
Which suggested an entirely different motivation behind her actions. Other than just wanting to kill a son of Poseidon.
“Is this something that just happened or is this something that came up in the book?”
If it was something that just happened they couldn’t do much about it. But if it happened in the book than they might have some avenues.
Though any reactions even if they weren’t against Hades himself would be limited. Since they weren’t supposed to be interacting with the demigod.
Approaching him might be akin to admitting guilt for some people.
“Book. Perseus ends up having to fight one of them that was disguised as his math teacher apparently before the end of the first chapter. He takes it down with one hit.”
Well that explained the comment from the other child about her not being human, she supposed. Though that made her curious what Percy’s friend was.
Most likely a satyr if she had to guess.
Though part of her wondered why if they knew there was something of their world in their school. Someone who needed to be protected in some form. Why it had been left unaddressed for so long?
Especially since she is fairly sure that Grover isn’t the only person from their world around Perseus.
Mr. Brunner sounded too suspiciously like part of the description of Chiron after all to completely dismiss at hand.
While the book wouldn’t let her go past the first chapter. She did see the evidence that had been mentioned. Percy fighting a fury and taking it down with no practice.
What is a bit surprising is Triton’s tone however being almost complimentary to the boy. It wasn’t that he was wrong to be impressed by it. It just was an unusual tone for her eldest to have.
He didn’t like mortals. And he didn’t like demigods usually. So for him to acknowledge something like this was basically unheard of.
“What it is impressive! Like I might not like the kid. But taking down a kindly one with one swing and no training isn’t exactly anything to scoff at.”
Amphitrite hummed in thought at that. She didn’t disagree. Regardless it was a notable accomplishment for any untrained swordsman. Though if it was the sword she was thinking of. It would go a ways in explaining it.
Either way it wasn’t a bad thing he had a natural talent with the sword. Since she had a feeling the fury attack might end up being the least of their worries at the end of the day.
Even if they managed to avoid a war with Zeus. There might be more troubles to worry about.
More that the book might tell them.
And more that they should all be aware of it seems if the amount of copies were anything to go by.
“I think we need to call a family meeting.”
After all one way to make sure no one made a rash action. Was arguably to have all present when reading.
Besides it had been a long enough time since they had all been in one place.
It would be good to see the rest of her children again. Regardless of the circumstances
Which lead them back to the current moment.
“I just don’t understand why this needs to be a family activity.” Kymopoleia so far had shown the least amount of interest in being here.
Whether it was because of their last argument, a lack of interest in her half brother or just rather be making storms elsewhere; or some combination of the three, was unclear to Amphitrite either.
She had come which only added to the confusion honestly.
She was happiest to have her here and happy they weren’t involved in yet another argument. Just not entirely sure if she was displeased about reading the book on why she had come.
Triton wasn’t happy about reading the book either. But he also lived here. So it wasn’t like he was being inconvenienced in a way that apparently the younger was feeling.
“Because the last time we tried to read separately at our own preferred pace. Your father nearly went straight to the underworld to have words with Hades.”
In hindsight maybe she should have seen this coming. The sea was protective of their own and her husband was especially known for it.
Add in the fact Perseus was a mortal and her husbands first mortal child in decades thanks to the oath. He was bound to maybe be more protective of one of his children than he had been in a while.
The fact it had happened so soon probably was what had caught her off guard in hindsight. She knew demigods had a penchant for finding trouble. She just hadn’t expected it to happen within the first chapter of the book if she was being honest.
She thought they would have at least a bit longer than one single chapter.
This really didn’t bode well for the child. If he was already getting into this level of trouble, with them only being one chapter in and him not having even been put on a quest yet.
(Not even starting on the fact that he wouldn’t even know what a quest was or how they worked at the moment.)
That earned her three surprised stares before Kymopoleia is the one to finally ask. Curiosity winning out over everything else. “Wait what did Uncle exactly do?”
Okay so apparently they needed to make sure everyone had actually read the first chapter. She was sure that as long as one of them who they knew had handled the next ones reading it wouldn’t be a problem.
At least for the current moment.
But it was best to keep the family on the same page as much as possible.
“He sent a fury after your half brother.”
Rhode frowned at that. “Wait, why? Last I checked he was the only Olympian currently not inserting them into the argument between father and our other uncle.”
Yes that was certainly the question of the past day it felt like.
“We are unsure of Hades’ reasoning at the moment. All we can assume is that his reasons will eventually be revealed at some point in the books we have yet to read.”
Him sending one out after Perseus suggested at least in part that he was looking for something himself. Maybe the bolt, maybe something else entirely. The furies were known as the goddesses of revenge for reason.
Though she would really think there would have been at least a hint of something in the first chapter. But as far as she could tell there had been none.
Perseus hadn’t known of their existence until one had cornered him in the museum.
So if it was for revenge then it seemed like they were being sent out of a misconstrued idea of who needed the vengeance for acting against Hades.
Which was curious to say the least.
It suggested that Hades felt he had been wronged in some capacity as well. However he was less willing to speak on it.
Maybe she should arrange a meeting with Persephone to see if she knew what might be troubling her husband?
It was something to consider at least.
“I assume everything turned out okay if father hasn’t already openly declared war on Hades. Though that raises the question of what exactly happened?”
That caused a variety of questions in response.
“He took it down in a short battle.”
“Really? I thought he didn’t know anything about us let alone most likely how to fight?”
Okay so at least Benthysikine had done some reading of the book. Enough to pick up on some of the details apparently.
But not enough to finish the chapter apparently.
“That’s got to be embarrassing for uncle.”
“He doesn’t as of currently.” Amphitrite agreed answering Benthysikines question and ignoring Kympoleia’s sniggering comment about embarrassing Hades.
It certainly wasn’t complimentary that was for sure. But she wasn’t going to actually say that.
“Well that’s impressive then.”
It was even more impressive after having actually read the first chapter in full. Most trained demigods would struggle against a fury. They were Hades torturers for a reason after all.
But he had managed to fall with one swing of a weapon.
(Even if it did somehow turn out to be beginners luck as the mortals liked to say. That was quiet a large amount of it.)
With it had made her stop to reconsider some thoughts she had been having. Since the whole adventure had begun.
Which brought them back to the present moment.
(Though with Zeus grandstanding about a deadline to return the bolt by. They might not have as much room to delay reading the rest of the book. As they had with reading the first chapter.
It was certainly going to be more of a balancing act with the remaining content.
Though she supposed they could have distributed the copies differently in hindsight. One copy could have worked for those that lived in Atlantis. Even if that would have made the process of reading even more difficult.
It had made sense to do so within the family at the time. There were five of them and five copies. It seemed intentional that was all they had been given.
Besides if they were right and the fates were behind this. If they wanted more people to read it. Then arguably they would receive a copy themselves.)
Since subtle inquiries into other gods receiving a copy of it had only resulted in strange looks. So it wasn’t entirely like they could explain how they knew about the attack that had yet to occur.
(Though why only them outside of the obvious she wasn’t entirely sure. It wasn’t like all of them entirely got along with demigods. Especially ones of her husbands at time.
Triton in particular was well known for having a history with them that wasn’t positive.)
She supposed Hades could have a copy of the book. They hadn’t exactly talked to the elder since the winter solstice. Too busy dealing with Zeus. So it wasn’t entirely out of the realm of possibility.
Though she had a feeling they would have known before now if he had.
“And I’m guessing the boy’s luck is not getting better with the further we get along?”
“We’re not entirely sure since none of us have read past the first chapter.” Amphitrite admitted.
Though likely the answer was yes.
“I mean if someone had enough adventures to fill an entire book about them, somehow I doubt that the fury showing up was the last incident. Or even the tamest.”
She had been thinking that the book meant that Perseus would be sent on a quest to retrieve the master bolt. Rhodes reasoning just added to it. Since a quest would definitely fill up a demigod’s story enough plausibly to create a full book apparently.
“What is the next chapter called anyway?”
Triton was the one to flip open the book to the next chapters open page. Eyebrow going up rather quickly as he read aloud. “ Three old ladies knit socks of death. ”
Poseidon was already on his feet again at that. Where he intended to go though was less certain. Since it wasn’t entirely clear what the threat was now. (Though Amphitrite already has some guesses based on the title alone.)
Maybe just to grab the boy at this point.
It certainly would be one way to get him to safety at least. It might have worked if they weren’t dealing with Zeus’ insistence that he had used said child to steal the master bolt.
As it is, Amphitrite can already feel the beginnings of a headache at the mere title. She already has a few guesses behind the meaning. Regardless of what it ended up being one thing was absolutely clear.
Reading this book was certainly going to be a trial in itself.
That much was for certain.