Climb (Percy Jackson x Reader)

twenty-one

✺ THE STRENGTH OF ABSOLUTE POWER ✺

"Dad spoke to me in a dream last night."

Percy nearly spits out his water, coughing as he chokes it down in a huge swallow. Tyson looks at him with a frown, confused at the reaction his words prompted. Grover thumps the half-blood on the back, shooting a concerned glance to Annabeth at her dining table.

"You good, Percy?" the daughter of Athena asks, her brow furrowed.

"Yep," he rasps, rubbing his neck. "I doubt I could die by swallowing my water the wrong way."

Rolling his eyes, Grover stops trying to clear Percy's airway.

"Whoo! Okay." Percy shakes his head, clearing his throat. "Sorry, big guy, you just caught me by surprise."

Tyson smiles. "That's okay!"

"Why were you surprised?" Grover asks, peering at the food on Annabeth's plate. "Can I have that?" Annabeth tosses a strawberry across the distance. "I mean"—he puts the entire strawberry into his mouth, a leaf poking out as he chews—"they can talk to y'all; we knew that already."

Percy runs a hand through his hair, tugging at the roots in consideration. "Yeah, I- I know. And Poseidon told me that he would be more involved, but I . . . didn't think it would be so quickly." He shrugs, turning to his brother. "But it's good that he reached out. What'd he say?"

Tyson looks up from his piece of toast, a massive scoop of peanut butter slathered on top. "He invited me to work in the forges because they could use some extra hands."

Percy blinks. "Oh."

Located in Atlantis, the Underwater Forges of the Cyclopes' primary duty was to make weapons for the gods of Olympus. Much like Atlantis itself, almost nothing was known about them.

Tyson takes a bite of his toast, the loud crunch pulling Percy out of his thoughts. The half-blood brushes off the hints of sadness that begin to inch through him, shaking his head lightly.

"What did you say?" he asks.

Spoken between chews, his answer is just perceptible to Percy: "Ah thaid ah'd goh. Eyh're guhna drain me."

To Annabeth, however, the words are both muffled and distanced. She scrunches her nose, looking at Grover. "What?" she whispers.

"He said he'd go," Grover says, glancing at the nodding Cyclops, "and that they're gonna . . . drain him?"

"Train him," Percy corrects.

"That makes more sense." Grover looks again to Annabeth. "They're gonna train him."

Annabeth tilts her head, her lips slightly pursed while she merely stares at the satyr.

Grover furrows his brow. "What?"

Annabeth chuckles, picking up her goblet. "Nothing."

Percy smiles at his brother, clapping his shoulder. "Well, that's awesome, buddy. I'm happy for you."

Tyson grins. "I'm happy for me, too."

— x —

(Y/N) stuffs her hands in her pockets, squinting against the salt-kissed wind. Humidity caresses her cheeks as she looks across the ocean, her hair trailing lazily around her temples.

Next to her, Grover talks happily with Tyson, offering questionable tips and hacks about surviving in the Forges. Annabeth, on (Y/N)'s other side, furrows her brow, but the daughter of Athena refuses to comment on the advice for a place that almost no one knew about.