I've been working on my other stories as well, to anyone who's tracking those. I don't know when I'll be able to post, though.

Chapter 3

Most of the gods could tell if their children were physically injured or unwell when they were close enough (distance-wise), regardless of appearance. It was easier for the gods with fewer children, and easier still when the child in question was in direct line-of-sight.

Poseidon had always had a stronger knack for knowing than most of the other gods, though he had to be within sixty yards or so for it to work.

Percy's distress washed over him like a tidal wave.

"Out of my way!" Poseidon commanded, drawing the attention of every camper in the area to himself.

The older campers scrambled aside, either recognizing him personally or just realizing he was a god, falling to their knees as soon as they cleared a path.

The newer campers followed suit, not all of them sure what was going on, but knowing better than to ask in the face of the sense of barely contained power Poseidon radiated.

In an instant, the Sea God was at his son's side, dropping to one knee.

Percy blinked, vision still blurred with pain, but no longer blinded. He did his best to cover his distress, starting to sit.

Poseidon immediately eased an arm behind his shoulders as he shifted, then cast a sharp glance across the arena before returning his attention to his son. He knew quite well why Percy was trying to play it off as nothing but surprise, and he was not going to further any suspicions any of the campers held. "Percy, I need to speak with you," he stated, voice low but pitched to carry. "Come. We are going somewhere more private."

He flashed them out without waiting for a response.

Chiron cantered up and took control of the situation left behind with a bemused, "Well. That was… unexpected."

xxxx

Poseidon had no reservations about teleporting his injured son to the bottom of the sea—specifically, to his personal study in his underwater palace—still kneeling, one arm supporting Percy's shoulders. The water would ease his son's pain at the least and could heal him completely given enough time.

As expected, the demigod groaned in relief, sagging back against his father's supporting arm.

"I'm sorry, Percy," Poseidon apologized. "I did not mean to cause you injury."

Percy opened his eyes and offered a tired grin, "Inconvenient rock did that."

Poseidon smiled slightly at Percy's retained humor and apparent dismissal of any possible guilt, somewhere between relieved and disappointed as the demigod straightened away from his support. It was rare that he had the chance to physically aid his son, but still a good thing that Percy was recovered enough to no longer need it.

"So," Percy twisted to look at his father, "You wanted to talk?"

"Yes," Poseidon stood, offering a hand to pull his son to his feet as well, "It was far from serious enough to require relocating to here, but considering the circumstances…"

Percy rolled his shoulders and twisted an arm around to rub at his back, wincing a bit. "Yeah. Thanks for that. I'd have hated to stay at camp much longer."

"Are you still in pain?" It was an unnecessary question. Poseidon could sense the lingering discomfort, but it was fading.

Percy waved off the concern, "Only a little," he assured, not actually aware of that particular godly ability. He came to a quick decision—he trusted his father, as he trusted Annabeth. After feeling the currents around them to make sure there was no one else within hearing range, he confided, "My weak point's near my lower back. Landed on a sharp rock—it could have been bad without the armor, but…" he shrugged.

Poseidon flinched at the reminder of Percy's mortality. Knowing his son was in pain, knowing that he had been terribly hurt not only despite but because of his curse… that was bad enough. If Percy hadn't been wearing armor, a sharp rock—even the lightest scratch would have been fatal. He could have lost his son, and it would have been at least partially his own fault for causing such a distraction.

That thought almost drove his initial reason for finding Percy from his mind, the only thing bringing him back to the topic his son had almost died over being Percy's following question.

"Is something wrong?"

Poseidon dragged his thoughts away from his reactive fear, gesturing for Percy to take a seat in the sculpted shell chair next to his own desk, settling into a similar chair himself. "Not wrong, no. I wanted to see how you were doing. Now that the laws have been… loosened, I am permitted to do so upon occasion."

Percy smiled and the two settled in to talk.

xxxx

Percy felt much calmer about the whole 'Apollo courting him' thing by the time his father returned him to his cabin at Camp. At least he understood why Poseidon had allowed it. Apollo was faithful. That was… good to know.

Although there was a lingering edge of nervousness and 'what is Mom going to think' that he couldn't quite shake, he was actually starting to look forward to the date. Apollo was a pretty cool god, and the chance to get to know him wasn't exactly something that came up for demigods on a regular basis—not even his children.

Or, rather, especially not his children, what with the old laws. Now Apollo—and most of the other gods and goddesses—dropped in at Camp on an informal 'checking up on you' basis, he was still a god and therefore busy enough that the social calls for his kids were fairly few and far between.

Not to mention still somewhat frowned upon if they became too frequent, and Apollo couldn't exactly defy Zeus the way Poseidon and Hades occasionally did.

It suddenly occurred to Percy to wonder if Zeus knew about Apollo's interest in him. On second thought, he didn't want to know—thinking of which, it was coming up on five.

Percy groaned and went in search of his surrogate sister.

xxxx

Annabeth managed to take the news more-or-less in stride. Sure, she was surprised at Percy's first half-sheepish revelation, but it was Percy. Of course if anything like this were to come up in their generation, it would involve him.

Then his reason for coming to her despite knowing she was swamped with work that day came up. She couldn't help smirking a bit at his expense. "Oh, Percy…"

She didn't refuse, though. Percy probably needed all the help he could get, considering the day he'd had. "Come on, we need to hurry. You don't have a lot of time before Apollo gets here."

xxxx