Chapter Text
It took Cas maybe an hour to convince Pepper to let her catch a cab back to Camp Half-Blood after the whole nearly getting blown up thing. It’s not that Cas doesn’t want to be around them….it’s that Cas really needs a return to normal just for a few days. Then she’ll fly right back to California. In fact, she’ll be there for Christmas.
A first for Cas because typically they celebrate the Winter Solstice and exchange gifts like mortals do for Christmas. Should be fun.
She is most certainly not hiding from the emotional fallout of the very recent parentage reveal now that everything looks to be slowing down. Nope.
Cas just needs a break.
For now that means she’s sleeping in her cabin on day three back at camp where she is pretending that the mortal world does not exist. There are no deadlines or meetings she needs to be in and absolutely zero mandatory projects requiring her attention. And there are definitely no emotionally complicated conversations to be had. She may swing by Bunker 9 later to see if the Hephaestus kids have anything for her to play with but that’s all in good fun.
Cas is being lazy and loving absolutely everything about it.
She should feel at least a little bit bad because they haven’t found any traces of Rachel yet and Reyna informed her that there’s no trail to track on that Sibylline book either. Cas isn’t worried though….she has a good feeling that it’s going to work out just fine.
Mostly.
Lazily she rolls out of bed and gets herself ready to face the day in this little slice of paradise. It’s almost eleven which is ridiculous for her but she really didn’t want to get up today. Vacation time is amazing but maybe she’ll help out with one of the Chariot lessons today seeing as it’s been a while and she never actually built one for her Cabin. She’s the only one in it currently (That was not a request for a sibling.) meaning there wasn’t really a point since it won’t get used. Circa five years ago she built and equipped the one for the Hermes cabin to race with. They didn’t win Tantalus’s stupid race due to very angry birds but it worked out for the best seeing as she befriended Clarisse that summer.
That was one of the best decisions of her life because everyone needs a six foot something child of Ares on their side. Especially Cas, because she makes Cas look small.
Anyway, Cas is taking it easy and doesn’t wander out until hunger drives her to lunch at which point she vaguely acknowledges the other campers around her but mostly ignores them. It’s self time.
So when she receives a text message from Percy:
Look who I found. Accompanied by a photograph of an acne riddled boy and a very scruffy looking little girl,
Cas is tempted to see how far across Long Island Sound she can throw her phone-it should be pretty far since her javelin toss is around 400 m on a good day-but Cas does not do that because she has responsibility tattooed into her bones.
Should I know them? Please, for the love of Olympus, Perseus Jackson, say it’s a joke. That she doesn’t know them nor does she need to know them.
Not the girl, she’s a new demigod. Okay…. This is Lester Papadopolous, formerly Apollo, the sun dude.
No.
She drops her phone because no….
Sure, Apollo wasn’t with the Olympian Council when Cas saw them months ago but she figured he was still in godly time out following the colossal failure that was Octavius.
This is so much better. Schadenfreude, the second greatest word in the english language, is the reason for what happens next. (The best word is defenestration because of Prague.)
She can’t help it. She laughs and it hurts she’s laughing so hard until Piper wanders over to see if Cas has spontaneously turned into a hyena. (There are spells for that so it’s possible.) Rather than provide any kind of articulate answer Cas hands her phone over to Piper so she can see it.
“Can that happen?” Oh right, sometimes Cas still forgets that Piper hasn’t spent as much time learning demigod history as Cas has.
She clears her throat and avoids looking at that picture or she’s going to crack up again because that right there is good justice. Apollo got a lot of demigods killed because his descendent sucked up to him so it’s only fitting that he has to live like one of them again. “Oh yeah, after he killed Python it happened and once after a fight with Zeus he had to work for Laomedon.”
“But wasn’t killing Python a good thing?” History lessons at the lunch table.
“Sure,” Sort of, “It was before the first Gigantomachy though and Gaea wasn’t an enemy Zeus wanted. Python was her child and she demanded justice for his murder.” And Zeus provided but instead of imprisoning his golden child he was struck mortal and made to be a slave for nine years. Then he got to wash away the stain of his sin in a spring.
“So, Zeus made him a demigod?”
“Nope.” She grins, “Zeus made him a garden variety mortal.” No magic, no powers, just whatever personal skills he had. Despite being perfectly human a lot of monsters still wanted a go at the sun god.
Piper whistles before looking back at Cas’s phone, “Harsh.” Piper grins too.
Cas takes her phone back.
Bring Lester and the girl here. One of his children might help him out.
Because Cas sure as hell won’t.
But….
This could be a lead on their missing Oracle.
No.
Bad Cassandra.
Don’t get involved.
In a few days she’ll be back in California.
The drive from the Jackson household (or is it Blofis?) is a few hours so she’s quick to spread the news around camp and surprise surprise the Apollo campers are not overjoyed to learn about their father’s current circumstances. But it sure does explain why none of their prayers or offerings were bearing any fruit. Poor Kayla Knowles, a sixteen year old daughter of Apollo, was worried that she too would lose her abilities….or spontaneously vanish since her father isn’t a god anymore.
Cas is quick to reassure her and the other members of her cabin that both situations are unlikely to occur….she thinks. The first time this happened was before Apollo and Artemis had seats on their father’s council so civilization was still very young. He may not have had any little demigods yet. She doesn’t tell them that though, let them swarm their father when he arrives. Meanwhile, she’ll frantically message Nico and Will to please return to Camp so Cas doesn’t have to deal with Apollo too much.
The greater the number of older demigods around the better honestly. Preferably older ones that are technically further up the hierarchy than she is. Cas fought in two wars and took part in a massive quest, she wants no part in the sun god’s redemption arc. She’s busy and he’ll try to recruit heroes to do the grunt work for him because that’s what the Olympians do.
Oh….bad Cassandra. Bad thoughts.
Chiron though….she can’t him at the moment because he has a fabulous poker face but Mr. D isn’t here right now so Cas assumes there must be something big and godly going on outside of just Apollo. Come on, missing prophecies and a newly mortal god of prophecy….no obvious connection there at all.
This was supposed to be a vacation.
~~~
Hours later after Cas has used her frustration constructively to give the next generation some sword lessons, (She was not too rough, Travis. He should step into her ring next if he takes offense to her teaching style.) she’s showered and dressed and mentally prepared to see what comes next. The last few years have just been non stop and gods why….
Prophecies used to be mostly boring and centered around one to three demigods at a time and they were about simple quests like stealing dragon fire or finding a missing artifact. Then the Great Prophecy, then the Argo II, now this….Although this doesn’t have a prophecy because their Oracle is missing. With Apollo/Lester walking around among them there’s a chance that the Oracle of Delphi wouldn’t work even if Rachel was here.
And since Apollo is mortal he won’t have any future sight and he won’t be able to bless anyone with prophecy either. Joy.
Cas is so excited….
The other campers are milling around uncertain about how they should be acting. Should a god stripped of his immortality and status be treated with the same respect they would give him normally? The answer is probably yes and Cas will be struggling with the execution of said respectful behavior because Lester Papadopoulos…. She imagines that many of the others will feel the exact same way. However, he will get him immortality back eventually so it’s for the best that no one gets on his bad side. The gods can hold a grudge, poor Annabeth still finds cow pies at random from Hera.
Ha.
Given her name, Cas has never been a fan of Apollo. Being around him makes her scared that she’ll be cursed just like his ex that snubbed him just because they have the same name. Is it irrational? Maybe, but the gods are hardly ever fair by mortal standards. However, she has no issues with his children. Crackshots and doctors and poets and musicians. Their skills are highly diversified and their optimism is a beautiful thing in moderate doses.
She draws on every ounce of strength to make herself serious when she hears people yelling that Percy has arrived with Apollo and a new demigod in tow. To be honest, Cas is excited about that part because this demigod must be Apollo’s sponsor/owner and she wonders what kind of person he found that he gave his allegiance to.
Rather than fight to get to them right away, Cas takes a page out of Annabeth’s book (she’s away dealing with mortal family stuff right now which is probably not as exciting as Cas’s mortal family stuff) and wisely sits on the porch of the Big House. They’ll get there eventually and it gives her the opportunity to perfect her poker face. It takes almost a half and hour for Percy to get to her and….he’s a mess. Gash over the eyebrow, bloodshot eyes, and sneezing.
“Damn Percy, what happened to you?” It was just supposed to be a drive. Percy and Annabeth shouldn’t be getting up to anything other than preparing to start school in New Rome. Currently, they’re the only Greeks invited to study there full time and Cas is working on expanding that.
He coughs, like actually coughs, like a sick person. “We were run off the road by some disease spirits.” Cas assumes he means Nosoi. Those things are nasty enough to infect a demigod. Wait run off the road?
“You alright?”
“Sure,” That’s comforting, “I kinda fucked over Paul’s car though….can you take a look?” Can she take a look at the car that still has the commemorative pegasus hoof dents in the hood from the battle of Manhattan? Yes, yes she can.
“I’m the one that asked you to bring them, Percy.” She’s feeling moderately guilty about that now though. If being a demigod equates being a living embodiment of Murphy’s Law then Percy got way more than his fair share of crap luck. “After we figure out what’s going on we can go take a look.”
He raises a brow at her, “I thought you were busy out in California.”
Dammit. “I am but I can help pick apart the problem and plan while I’m here.” A huge issue was just dropped in front of her. It’s not like Cas can ignore it. Especially when there’s scruffy homeless looking baby demigods involved. “How old is the girl anyway?”
“Meg is twelve.” Shit. “Yep.” Either she said that out loud or she’s broadcasting her emotions right now.
Cas sighs because she’s so young, “Right well, there are plenty of other demigods here to help them right now and Will and Nico should be here any minute.” Cas thinks they were on a date or something. Gods, those two are adorable. The angsty one is soft for the sunshine one….literally. “It doesn’t need to be us. There are others that can help them….”
“And people say personal loyalty is my fatal flaw.” There’s that stupid crooked grin.
“Ha, ha, Katara, we all know hyperfixation is my flaw along with the usual suspects.” Hubris and assuming her way is the right way along with a healthy dose of ignoring the world outside of what she needs for her goals. It’s something she’s been dealing with for years, same with Percy, and since Tartarus….well the lowest circle of hell is excellent for putting things into perspective. In the long run her handful of decades won’t be that important so she tries to pay more attention now. It’s a work in progress. “I’m a little fixated on demigods as a whole now. She falls in the category.”
“This one’s not so helpless, so don’t worry about her.” That’s unusual….Percy isn’t one to be off put by a demigod’s abilities.
“Would you like to share?” This had better be good.
“The girl summoned a giant karpos and named it Peaches.”
Huh, well then. A giant grain baby named Peaches that answers to a twelve year old girl named Meg. This is just getting more and more interesting by the minute. Cas wants to fly back to California now.
“So she's a plant kid and a strong one at that….do you think she might be one of Demeter’s?” It’s a good possibility but there are other agrarian and harvest gods out there. Truthfully, Cas can’t think of another one that could have a twelve year old strong enough to summon a giant karpos though.
“Maybe….she’s a bit rough to be one of Katie’s siblings though.” He doesn’t sound so sure about something and it’s always foreboding from Percy Jackson. He’s an absolute king at putting up a tough front especially after his time with Lupa in the Wolf House.
“Spill, Percy. We can’t work it out if you don’t tell me.” A long running trend with the overprotective ocean child. He used to try and do everything on his own. He’s better now but sometimes the sharing of brain power still eludes him.
“She’s trained, Cassie.”
What?
That’s not possible. “Did you see her fight?” There’s no way because Cas’s cult problem was specific in wanting children of Nike as per ‘tradition.’ Bullshit honestly, but this cannot be them.
“She knew right away that she wouldn’t be able to fight directly and she wasn’t exactly surprised when….Peaches showed up just that it was a karpos.” Okay, that’s not bad. Basic analysis skills and a basic understanding of her control over nature.
“A parent could have taught her that.” A self aware mortal parent could have helped their demigod child to the best of their ability before….before what? Dumping her on the street in Manhattan. If it was a helpful parent the child would be unlikely to run away….
He shifts from foot to foot, “I don’t buy that. She was really uncomfortable meeting my mom,” Saint Sally Jackson is on the same level as Pepper Potts, “Like she wasn’t used to an adult being that nice to her.” This is a familiar song and dance.
Cas rubs her eyes in an attempt to relieve the headache that is already prepared to attack her. Gods, another group taking advantage of young demigods but what happened to this girl’s family? Or was it the family? It’s an awful thing for her to ask and there’s no fair way to approach it other than earning the girl’s….earning Meg’s trust but she doesn’t have time for that. She should leave the tragic backstory uncovering to Chiron and stick to her own business but a twelve year old possibly homeless girl….
No.
She can’t do that to herself.
There’s no way for Cas to solve everything for every demigod. Almost every demigod comes from a difficult past, she can’t change Meg’s history but she can help her feel welcome in Camp Half-Blood even if the girl is more dangerous than she looks.
Meg found her way to camp now though and, even if she’s bound to a mortal Apollo, she’ll get the full welcome and protection that comes with living here. This is including but not limited to getting harassed by children of Hermes and being tested by children of Ares all in good fun. And with such powerful plant gifts she’ll be a valuable ally for games that take place in the woods so she’ll have no shortage of people looking to work with her. The girl will be fine in Camp Half-Blood, so why does Cas feel like she’s missing something?
“Well, where are they?” Her question is answered with inordinate screaming from the direction of the main camp entrance. “I’ll assume there.”
~~~
Someone must have frightened their new flower child because there’s an angry looking karpos standing inside of Camp Half-Blood right now and they should not be able to get in without help. Neither Percy nor Cas choose to get involved, instead they watch as a random blonde boy (she’s getting Apollo cabin vibes) is flung away from the group. It is very impressive to watch since it sort of looks like an angry green tinted Gerber baby with wings and after every demigod takes a collective step back it shrinks away.
Convenient plant based body guard for a little girl and a former sun god.
Nice.
Chiron and Piper wander up next to her and Percy to watch the absolute mess going on right now.
“Should we do something?” Piper is such a caring person.
“We should probably let the mosh pit die down before we jump in.” Percy has become practical in his old age.
At least Cas got to see a demonstration of Meg’s power and control. No one looks injured and the one who was tossed like a sack of potatoes looks confused but unharmed. This is looking more and more like a well taught child of Demeter than a random demigod who got lucky to Cas. Dammit. She had been hoping that Percy was just paranoid. The look she exchanges with said waterboy is of the ‘I told you so variety’ and Cas tries not to be offended about being on the receiving end of that.
“This all looks strange.” Oh thank the Gods. Nico Di Angelo and Will Solace.
“You said it, Skull Child.” Did he get taller too? At this rate everyone will outstrip Cas. There was a time when Cas was taller than both Annabeth and Percy. Where did the time go?
“Perhaps it would be best if we escorted our new guests to the Big House.” Chiron, ever the voice of reason but Cas does not feel that approaching all of that is in her best interest at the moment.
“Excellent idea, good luck boys. Hi, Sunshine.” She quickly waves at Will before grabbing Piper and returning to the safety of the Big House. It shouldn’t be difficult for those three to wrangle Apollo and a twelve year old where they need them to go.