pocket full of posies
❛ iii. the forbidden son ❜

━━━━━ THE NIGHTMARES WERE becoming worse.

No longer did Josephine dream of her father and those fitful nights were he would talk of her sufferings. She didn't think it could get any worse than that, but there she was, standing in her nightmare, tears in her eyes.

"I—I don't understand," she cried, her throat tight.

She hadn't expected a response, but a cold voice drawled, "In time."

Josephine looked around wildly, everything around her was dead—wilted plants, perishing trees, crushed flowerbeds, and a crumbling house. It was like the scene was falling apart around her. Even if she hadn't seen herself do it, Josephine knew she was at fault. That prickle underneath her skin, that burn at her fingertips, like something was boiling, growing underneath her skin.

"In time what?" she demanded, her voice wavering.

"In time," the cold voice repeated. "In time, you will understand."

"I—I don't—"

She gasped, pulling back from the crumbling house. The longer she stared, it started to look more and more like the house she had left Beau Easton in. Her childhood home that was built on the outskirts of Washington D.C. On the rotting front porch were the wilted yellow blooms from Delos Apollo had given Beau; Josephine could see the yellow petals curling into themselves. It was like they wanted to shield themselves from the horror about to take place.

Josephine wanted to run, wanted to do anything than watch the front door open, and a gaunt figure stand in the doorway. She took a step back, the dead grass crunching under her feet, and the empty eye sockets locked on her. Josephine froze.

"It will infect," the figure wailed in a desperate voice—in her father's voice—and the ground opened beneath Josephine's feet and she fell.

Josephine woke, shivering and bathed in cold sweat. Just outside the windows facing the east, Josephine could see the smallest amounts of sun rays poking out. The sun hanging inside Cabin Seven was starting to glow, spinning in circles. Josephine let out bursts of small breaths, looking over to her siblings. None of them were stirring just yet, leaving her the only one awake in the cabin.

Josephine laid back down, covering her eyes. That nightmare played over in her mind, over and over.

In time, that cold voice told her. In time, you will understand.

"Understand what ..." she muttered quietly.

✿

She and Annabeth were elected to help Percy settle into a routine. Josephine wanted to protest, but she knew that Lee and Chiron wouldn't let her get out of it.

Each morning Percy took Ancient Greek from Annabeth, talking about the gods and goddesses, and everything the boy must've assumed to all be myths.

The rest of the day, Percy would rotate through outdoor activities, looking for something he was good at. Chiron tried to teach him archery, but made a fast discovery that Percy was worse at archery than Josephine, something that was hard to achieve. Josephine winced as she watched Percy pull a stray arrow out of Chiron's tail.

Percy was also horrible at foot racing, too. The wood-nymph instructors left him in the dust. Josephine tried to tell Percy it was alright. ( "They've had centuries of running away from lovesick gods, Percy!" she told him with a smile. "I'm slower than a tree, Josephine. That's humiliating." the boy replied dryly. Her smile faded. "Well ... you'll get better in time!" )

He sucked at wrestling, too. Or perhaps that was just because Clarisse always volunteered to go against him. Every time Percy stepped on the mat, the daughter of Ares pulverized him.

"There's more where that came from, punk," Clarisse would threaten.

The only thing Percy excelled at was canoeing, which wasn't exactly the most ... heroic thing. It wasn't what Josephine expected from the boy who managed to defeat the Minotaur.

The senior campers and counselors were watching Percy like a hawk, trying to decide who his dad was, but it seemed impossible to decide. He wasn't as strong as the Ares kids, or as good at archery as Josephine's siblings. He didn't have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork or Dionysus's way with vine plants.

Josephine was sympathetic, offering help when she could, but there wasn't much she could do. She could offer sympathy and extend a branch, telling Percy all about her struggles about feeling different and struggling to find her way as a daughter of Apollo, but that would be admitting to all her insecurities, and she wasn't about to do that.

"It's okay, Percy," she insisted to him, nudging him with her shoulder. "We'll figure it out."

The boy sent her a look. "I know you're trying to make me feel better," he kicked a rock out of their way to the sword-fighting arena, "but it's not okay."

She frowned, keeping in step with him. "A lot of kids struggle in the beginning," she told him. "I know I did."

He glanced at her, the ends of his black hair hanging in his eyes. "You did?" he asked her, brushing the hair out of his face.

Josephine nodded. "Most kids here feel out of place in the beginning. It's all so different than how we were raised. Or it was very different from how I was raised. I mean, I grew up with only my dad, and then to find out I had a ton of siblings, it was jarring."

"Your dad didn't ever remarry?" Percy asked.

"No." Josephine shook her head, frowning. "No, he was, uh, too hung up on Apollo."

"Do you still talk to your dad? Either of them?" Percy pried.

Josephine tightened her hand on the dagger strapped to her waist. "No." She swallowed. "Like Annabeth said, they're busy."

And they don't care about you, that cruel voice reminded her. They didn't want you. A burden.

She smiled at Percy, doing her best to change the topic. "Don't worry about sword fighting. They're not gonna put against Clarisse with real weapons."

Percy looked like he wanted to apologize for crossing boundaries, but he just shrugged at the topic change. "It's with Cabin Eleven, so why are you going?"

"I want to." Josephine shrugged. "Maybe I'm hoping you'll be better with a sword than with a bow." She grinned at him.

The boy flushed. "Oh—ha-ha. Real funny, Posie."

"Don't call me Posie!" the daughter of Apollo snapped.

Josephine had long since understood that she had shitty parents. To just lie and say that they were busy made Josephine want to cry. Busy enough to ignore her entirely? Apollo acted like he was. Ever since that night that he claimed her, Apollo had never shown another sign. Nothing; no thunder when she prayed to him; no sign at the brazier every time she tossed in food for him; nothing.

She didn't want to hate Apollo, but to be treated so blatantly differently than her other siblings made Josephine want to stomp her way up to Olympus and give the sun god a piece of her mind.

But Josephine knew she would never be brave enough to do it.

✿

It was Percy's first sword-fighting lesson. Everybody from Cabin Eleven gathered in the big circular arena, where Luke would be their instructor. Josephine hung to the back, giving Percy a thumbs up.

Wyatt Fitzgerald nudged her in the side. "What's got you over here?"

Josephine nodded. "Percy. I wanna see how he is with a sword."

The son of Dike frowned at her. He had dark skin and coily hair cut close to his head. He always had a serious and tough expression, fit to match his tall posture. "Why?"

She shrugged. "He was bad with a bow so I'm hoping he's good with a sword."

"Like you?" Wyatt asked.

Josephine frowned to herself, she hated bringing up all the stuff she was bad at. "I guess so." She kept her response simple.

They started with basic stabbing and slashing, using some straw-stuffed dummies in Greek armor. Percy did alright, but he kept looking over at Josephine, as if he was looking for reassurance. She didn't know what to do for him; tell him he was holding the sword all wrong? That would embarrass him in front of the entirety of Cabin Eleven.

Soon, they moved on to dueling in pairs. Luke announced he would be Percy's partner, since this was his first time.

"Good luck," one of the campers told Percy. "Luke's the best swordsman in the last three hundred years."

"He'll go easy on you," Josephine promised as he sent her a look screaming Help!

Wyatt snorted. "Yeah, sure."

Luke showed Percy thrusts and parries and shield blocks the hard way. With every swipe, the boy got a little more battered and bruised. "Keep your guard up, Percy," Luke would say, then hit him in the ribs with the flat of his blade. "No, not that far up!" Whap! "Lunge!" Whap! "Now, back!" Whap!

By the time Luke called for a break, Percy was soaked in sweat. Everybody swarmed the drinks cooler. Josephine tentatively approached Percy.

"You said he'd go easy on me," he grumbled, chugging water.

"... I may have misspoke," she said plainly.

Percy sent her a look, catching Luke pouring ice water on his head. He dumped the water in his cup over his head, shaking his hair and splashing Josephine. She made a disgusted noise and stepped away from him.

"What was that for?" she demanded, glaring at him.

Percy shrugged. "Saw Luke do it."

Josephine rolled her eyes. "Well, do you feel better?" she asked sarcastically.

"Yeah, I do." Percy nodded, getting himself another cup of water. Josephine watched him carefully, making sure he wasn't going to dump anymore. "Hey—why do you use a dagger? Archery is, like, your dad's whole thing. Apollo's whole thing, I mean."

Josephine straightened. "Can't rely solely on bows, don't you think?" she said as casually as she could, placing her hand on the hilt of her Celestial bronze daggers.

Percy watched her for a moment, and then he shrugged. "Guess you're right."

"Okay, everybody circle up!" Luke ordered. "If Percy doesn't mind, I want to give you a little demo."

Josephine nudged Percy. "Maybe this time, he'll go easier."

"You don't believe that," he grumbled to her.

"No, I don't," she admitted.

They all gathered around, most of them suppressing smiles. Josephine elbowed Wyatt as she noticed him trying to cover one. Luke told everybody he was going to demonstrate a disarming technique: how to twist the enemy's blade with the flat of your own sword so that the enemy had no choice but to drop his weapon.

"This is difficult," the son of Hermes stressed. "I've had it used against me. No laughing at Percy, now. Most swordsmen have to work years to master this technique."

He demonstrated the move on Percy in slow motion. Sure enough, the sword clattered out of Percy's hand.

"Now in real-time," Luke said, after Percy retrieved his weapon. "We keep sparring until one of us pulls it off. Ready, Percy?"

Percy nodded, and Luke came after him. Somehow, he kept Luke from getting to the hilt of his sword. He countered every attack Luke made. Percy tried an attack of his own, but Luke easily deflected it. The son of Hermes narrowed his eyes and pressed Percy harder.

Just when Josephine thought Percy was going to crumble, he tried the disarming move Luke had demonstrated.

Percy's blade hit the base of Luke's and he twisted, putting his whole weight into a downward thrust.

Clang.

Luke's sword rattled against the stones. The tip of Percy's blade was a couple of centimeters from his undefended chest.

The other campers were silent.

Percy lowered his sword. "Shit. Um—sorry."

For a moment, Luke was too stunned to speak.

"Sorry?" His scarred face broke into a grin. "By the gods, Percy, why are you sorry? Show me that again!"

Percy seemed hesitant, but agreed. Josephine was surprised, but impressed. There was no one she knew who could've done that disarming move on their first day, especially against Luke Castellan.

The second time, there was no contest. The moment their swords connected, Luke hit Percy's hilt and sent his weapon skidding across the floor.

After a long pause, Wyatt offered, "Beginner's luck?"

Josephine nudged him. "Don't say that!"

Luke wiped the sweat off his brow. He appraised Percy with an entirely new interest. "Maybe," he said. "But I wonder what Percy could do with a balanced sword ..."

✿

The dinners before a game of Capture the Flag were always filled with more excited buzzing than other nights. Austin and Kayla were yelling loudly at each other, but no one at Cabin Seven's table said anything since they were finally not arguing.

When the plates were cleared away, the conch horn sounded and every one stood at their tables. Campers yelled and cheered as Annabeth and two of her siblings ran into the pavilion carrying a silk banner. It was about ten feet long, glistening grey, with a painting of a barn owl above an olive tree. From the opposite side of the pavilion, Clarisse and her buddies ran in with another banner, of identical size, but gaudy red, painted with a bloody spear and a boar's head.

The teams for Capture the Flag were announced. Athena Cabin had made a temporary alliance with Apollo and Hermes cabins, the two biggest cabins at Camp, while Ares allied with Demeter, Aphrodite, Dionysus, and Hephaestus cabins. Out of all the cabins Clarisse had sided with, the Hephaestus Cabin would be the biggest threat. Dionysus Cabin only had two inhabitants, Castor and Pollux Winward, but they were never the aggressive type. And the Demeter Cabin had some kids in there with powers over plants, but they were just as unaggressive as Castor and Pollux. The Aphrodite Cabin had some who played, but most of Cabin Ten preferred to side on the sideline and cheer people on.

Chiron hammered his hoof on the marble.

"Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed, and have no more than two guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves!"

He spread his hands, and the tables were suddenly covered with equipment: helmets, bronze swords, spears, and oxhide shields coated in metal. Josephine made sure the Celestial bronze acinaces dagger strapped to her waist was secured and picked up a Celestial bronze double-edged sword from off the table. Michael tossed her a chest plate, giving her a sly look.

"You know Annabeth's plan?" he asked.

"'Course I do," said Josephine, sliding the breastplate over her head. "I've heard it a million times. I think it's so dumb, by the way, using him as bait."

"He'll be fine." Michael waved his hand. "Just as long as we win. I'd hate to see what would happen to him when Clarisse and an angry Annabeth get to him."

Josephine sighed, but didn't argue. She put on the rest of her armor, pulling on her blue horsehair helmet over her head. She strapped the sword to the other side of her waist, catching Percy's wary eyes. His hands seemed to fidget around all the weapons, like he was afraid of accidentally stabbing himself.

Annabeth yelled, "Blue team, forward!"

Cheers rose up around Josephine as the blue team followed Annabeth down the path to the south woods. The red team yelled taunts at them as they headed off toward the north.

Percy caught up with Annabeth and Josephine. "Hey."

The daughter of Athena kept marching.

Josephine smiled at him. "You okay?"

Percy shrugged casually, but she didn't fail to notice how out of place he looked with armor on. "So what's the plan?" he asked. "Either of you got any magic items you can loan me?"

Josephine winced at the idea. Apollo would never give her something like that. He didn't even acknowledge her existence anymore.

Annabeth's hand drifted towards her pocket, where her Yankees baseball cap was stored at the moment. It was a gift from Athena and had the ability to make anyone who wore it turn invisible.

"Just watch Clarisse's spear," she told Percy. "You don't want that thing touching you. Otherwise, don't worry. We'll take the banner from Ares. Has Luke given you your job?"

"Border patrol," said Percy. "Whatever that means."

"It's easy. Stand by the creek, keep the reds away. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan."

Annabeth pushed ahead, leaving Percy in the dust. Josephine lagged behind, saying, "Don't worry, Percy. I'll be posted close to you. Shout if you get overwhelmed."

"Did I do anything to her?" Percy asked, jabbing his thumb in the direction Annabeth walked off in. "She doesn't seem to like me very much."

"It's not that," Josephine said. "Annabeth's just ... been through a lot. It takes her a while to warm up to people."

Not that Josephine blamed Annabeth for it. Watching her friend sacrifice herself and get turned into a tree would traumatize anyone.

It wasn't just a horrible fate that caused Thalia to get turned into a tree. The Big Three—Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades—all made an oath on the River Styx to never have children again. But it didn't last very long: Zeus had a daughter named Thalia seventeen years before. The Lord of the Sky got off easy as an immortal god, but Thalia was hunted like prey.

Hades wasn't happy that Zeus didn't hold up his end of the oath. But the Lord of the Dead couldn't do anything to the God of the Skys himself, so he targeted the closest thing: Thalia. Hades sent hoards of monsters after Thalia, Annabeth, Luke, and Grover. They nearly made it to Camp Half-Blood when the worst monsters from Tartarus got closer. But the daughter of Zeus didn't want to live as a hunted animal and decided she would take her fate into her own hands.

Thalia made her last stand on Half-Blood Hill. Her sacrifice allowed Annabeth and Luke, who were being led by Grover, to make it to Camp Half-Blood safely.

Josephine knew the story of Thalia, Daughter of Zeus, before anyone ever had a chance to tell her. She saw the lightning flash and thunder roll as a tree grows in an instant in her dreams. That was why she had so much respect for Luke and Annabeth, the two who had made it to camp with Thalia.

Thalia's tree, a great and tall pine tree, served as a border to keep camp safe from any monsters that managed to find them. The last of Thalia's life force powered the tree, keeping the magical borders in place.

Percy's voice shook Josephine out of her stupor. She had completely missed what he said to her. "I'm sorry—what d'you say?"

"Your knife," he said. "Why'd you use it instead of a bow?"

"Dagger," she corrected. "And"—she took a breath—"I like daggers more than bows. I feel like I have more control."

Because of your zero capabilities with a bow. How embarrassing, said that mean voice, reminding her.

"Oh." Percy frowned. "I thought you'd like bows more since Apollo uses them a lot."

Josephine gave him a tense smile. "I just like my dagger over bows."

How the hell was she supposed to tell Percy she was horrible everything her father was the god of? Well—horrible at everything except the one thing she wished she wasn't capable of? Foresight was proving a much worse gift than Josephine ever had the foresight to predict.

It was a warm, sticky night. The woods were dark, with fireflies popping in and out of view. Annabeth stationed Percy next to a little creek that gurgled over some rocks, then she and the rest of the team scattered into the trees. Josephine grabbed a lower branch of an oak tree and pulled herself onto the branch, climbing a branch higher. She braced her back against the tree, keeping a close eye on Percy.

She was sure Percy knew she was around, he kept glancing in her direction, but Josephine wasn't sure if she could see him. She was there to make sure Clarisse didn't take things too far ( as the daughter of Ares always did ).

Josephine stretched out a crick in her neck, looking up to the sky above. The night sky was cloudless and the stars burned brightly. She always found the night pretty, when it wasn't complete darkness, that is. As silly and cliché as it was, she hated darkness and couldn't stand to be in it. And maybe that's why she found the moon and stars so pretty, it was easy to see them in the dark sky, and they lightened the land on Earth so it wasn't total darkness.

Far away, the conch horn blew. Josephine heard whoops and yells in the woods, the clanking of metal; kids fighting. Josephine's fingers rested impatiently on the double-edged sword, her blood burned with anticipation. As horrible as she was with a bow, she was great with weapons like swords and daggers. It was a slap in the face every time she tried to use a bow, but it was fuel to make her become better with swords and daggers.

Josephine grinned when she spotted Michael passing by Percy, leaping through the creek and into enemy territory. Her brother caught her eye briefly and winked before disappearing into the trees.

Percy's face fell and he stuck his bronze sword into the ground. That was the moment he realized just how boring border patrol was.

Josephine shifted, grabbing the branch above her head. She winced when it gave a quick snap! Percy whirled around, his green eyes landing on Josephine trying to regain her balance.

"So that's where you are!" he said loudly.

"Don't be so loud!" she chided him. "I told you I was going to be posted nearby."

"I didn't think you meant this close. Why?"

"I told you," she insisted. "Make sure you don't get overwhelmed. That's all."

Percy narrowed his eyes at her. "Why?" he demanded again.

"Did you not understand?" Josephine asked, frowning down at him.

"I did—" But a low canine growl cut him off.

Josephine tensed at the sound, sending a chill up her spine. It came from a line of trees near the two. Percy raised his shield instinctively, looking around wildly. The sound of Josephine pulling out her dagger was almost deafening.

But the growling stopped as quickly as it had started.

Josephine's eyebrows furrowed, tempted to go after the noise to find out what it was. She shared a look with Percy when the underbrush on the other side of the creek exploded. Five of Ares's kids came yelling and screaming out of the dark.

The plan—Annabeth's plan—had finally sprung into action.

"Cream the punk!" Clarisse screamed.

Her pig eyes glared through the slits of her helmet. She brandished a six-foot spear, its barbed metal tip flickering with red light. Her siblings had only the standard-issue bronze swords—the problem was; they knew how to use the weapons well and Percy was brand-new.

They charged across the stream. Josephine jumped and started climbing down her from her post in the oak tree. Percy managed to sidestep the first kid's swing, but they still managed to surround him, and Clarisse thrust at Percy with her spear. His shield deflected the point, but Josephine knew he was feeling the electricity from the spear.

As she was halfway down the tree, Percy faltered and fell back. One of Clarisse's siblings, Sherman, slammed Percy in the chest with the butt of his sword and Percy hit the dirt. Josephine grabbed her dagger from her waist as the Ares kids laughed and taunted Percy.

"Give him a haircut," Clarisse chortled. "Grab his hair."

Percy managed to get to his feet and raised his sword, but Clarisse slammed it aside with her spear as sparks flew.

"Oh, wow." The daughter of Ares snickered. "I'm scared of this guy. Really scared."

"The flag is that way," Percy croaked, his voice weak. He seemed like he was trying to sound angry, but the way his voice squeaked made it a dead giveaway that he was scared.

"Yeah," one of Clarisse's siblings said. "But see, we don't care about the flag. We care about a guy who made our cabin look stupid."

"You do that without my help," Percy told them.

That definitely wasn't the right thing to say. Two of them came at Percy. He backed up towards the creek and tried to raise his shield, but Clarisse was too fast. Her spear struck Percy in the ribs. If he hadn't been wearing the armor breastplate, he would've been skewered straight through. Josephine gritted her teeth as she saw Percy's blood. She gripped her dagger tighter, raising it over her head.

"No maiming," Percy croaked.

"Oops," the guy said. "Guess I lost my dessert privilege."

Josephine drew back her arm and threw the dagger. It flew threw the air, piercing the son of Ares in the shoulder. He gasped and grabbed the hilt.

"I guess I lost mine, too," Josephine hissed.

It didn't help Percy too much, but it made Josephine feel better. Clarisse glowered at the daughter of Apollo resentfully. However, Clarisse and her other brother backed Percy further into the creek. Josephine climbed down the tree to keep the three in her line of sight. By the time she made it out of the tree, Clarisse's brother was already laying down in the creek with dazed eyes.

But that didn't deter Clarisse; she kept charging for Percy, the point of her electric spear crackling with energy. As soon as she made an attack, Percy caught the shaft between the edge of his shield and sword. It snapped like a twig.

Clarisse screamed. "You idiot! You asshole! You corpse-breath worm!"

There were certainly worse insults that would've come, but Percy smacked the daughter of Ares between the eyes with the butt of his sword and sent Clarisse stumbling back out of the creek.

Then Josephine heard yelling; elated screams; and she spotted Luke racing towards the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He was flanked by some of his siblings who were covering his retreat and some of Josephine's siblings, who were fighting off some of Hephaestus's kids. Clarisse and her siblings got up, and Clarisse muttered a dazed curse.

"A trick!" she shouted. "It was a trick."

They staggered after Luke, but it was too late. Everybody converged on the creek as Luke ran across into friendly territory. The blue team exploded into cheers. The red banner shimmered and turned silver. The boar and spear were replaced with a huge caduceus, the symbol of Hermes. Everybody on the blue team picked up Luke and started carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron cantered out of the woods and blew the conch horn.

The game was over. The blue team won.

Josephine walked over to Percy. "You alright?"

"You couldn't have stepped in sooner?" he asked bitterly.

"I was climbing out of a tree!" she defended herself. "Besides—you held your own against them. Good job!"

"It wasn't bad at all," Annabeth's voice agreed. She shimmered into view, her Yankees cap gripped in her hand tightly.

Percy started to frown at the daughter of Athena. "You set me up," he said. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out."

Annabeth shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."

"A plan to get me pulverized," Percy snapped.

"That's why we posted Josephine near you," said Annabeth. "She's amazing with a dagger and sword. And I would've helped, too, but ..." she shrugged, "you didn't need my help."

Josephine tried to give him a smile, but her eyes traveled down to where Clarisse had cut him. Her eyes widened, the gash along Percy's forearm, and from the blood that had been coming out of his arm—this healing cut wouldn't have been able to do that.

"Percy," she said urgently, "what's happening to that cut?"

The boy stared at her. "What do you mean? It's a sword cut. You saw it happen."

"No, it was a sword cut." Josephine shook her head, pointing to his arm. "Look at it now."

The blood was gone completely. And where the cut had been, there was a long white scratch—a scar—but even that was fading. As Josephine looked on, it turned into a small scar, and then disappeared. A heavy feeling settled in her gut. She was quickly learning why there was a reason she kept having dreams about storms and sea-green eyes.

"I don't get it," Percy said.

Annabeth was thinking hard. Josephine could almost see the gears turning. The daughter of Athena looked down at Percy's feet, then at Clarisse's broken spear, and said, "Step out of the water, Percy."

"What—"

"Just do it."

He obliged but stumbled quickly. Josephine caught his arm, keeping him steady. She looked at where the cut had been, before quickly whipping her head over to Annabeth.

"Oh, Styx," Annabeth cursed. "This is not good. I didn't want ... I assumed it would be Zeus ..."

Percy frowned, ready to ask a question when a low growl filled Josephine's ears. It was the same growl as before. It made her skin crawl and a chill shoot up her spine.

Everyone fell silent, the air turned cold. Chiron shouted in Ancient Greek, "Stand ready! My bow!"

Josephine kept one hand on Percy as she pulled out her sword. Annabeth drew her sword.

On the rocks, just above them, was a dog the size of a rhino. Josephine's breath hitched in her throat as she caught a glimpse of its chilling red eyes and its dagger-like fangs.

It was a hellhound. But it was only looking at Percy. Who she was standing in front of.

( See? This is what participating in Camp more activities and campers got her. In between an angry hellhound and a boy she was sure wasn't supposed to exist. )

Nobody moved except Annabeth, who yelled, "Percy, run!"

Josephine tried to raise her sword, but the hellhound sailed over her with ease. The monster hit Percy and he stumbled back. She saw its razor-sharp claws dig through Percy's armor and swipe upwards. There was a cascade of thwacking sounds, like forty pieces of paper being ripped one after another. From the hellhound's neck sprouted a cluster of arrows. The monster fell dead at Percy's feet.

Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.

"Di immortales," Annabeth said. "That's a hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't ... they're not supposed to ..."

"Someone summoned it," Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."

Josephine frowned. She had told Percy that sometimes people summoned monsters as practical jokes, but never to actually take the life of another camper.

Luke came over, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone.

Clarisse yelled, "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

"Clarisse, are you braindead?" Josephine asked angrily. "You think Percy would summon a hellhound that wanted to kill him?"

"Be quiet, children," Chiron said.

They watched the body of the hellhound melt into shadow, soaking into the ground until it disappeared.

"You're wounded," Annabeth told the boy. "Quick, Percy, get in the water."

"I'm okay," he tried to say.

"No, you're not," she said. "Chiron, watch this."

Percy seemed to decide there was no use in arguing. He stepped back into the creek, and the wounds on his chest began healing instantly. Josephine watched in horror, connecting the dots of everything odd that had happened around Percy. Her dreams, the angry storms, the gods going quiet, her dreams.

She squinted when a bright green light appeared above everyone. She put her hand above her eyes, looking upwards. Floating above Percy's head, much like a hologram, spinning and gleaming in the dark night; a three-tipped spear. A trident.

Percy had been claimed, by Poseidon, who wasn't ever supposed to have half-blood children.

A few campers gasped, and Percy stared apologizing, "Look, I—I don't know why. I'm sorry ..."

But he trailed off at Josephine's expression. He followed her lead and looked above his head, but it was already fading by the time he looked. His sea-green eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of it.

"Your father," Annabeth murmured. "This is really not good."

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

Josephine wasn't sure what to do, but she followed Annabeth's lead. She kneeled, and that seem to set off a chain reaction. Campers started kneeling, even the Ares Cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.

"My father?" Percy asked, sounding completely bewildered.

"Poseidon," said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

Josephine wanted to cry. Why was she having dreams about storms and her childhood home? She didn't want any involvement in this.

✿  JUNE 17TH, 2023  /  same as last chapter,, idk what to say here

um,, the claiming scene was cool i guess?

about josephine's dreams- idk, you tell me

(i mean i do know, but i want to hear y'all guesses lmao)

not edited, so probably typos galore- sorry about that lol

anyways,, thoughts? opinions??