They know

Chapter 1

Destiny is not a matter of chance - it is a matter of choice.

It is not a thing to be waited for - it is a thing to be achieved.

~Unknown

Percy Jackson had enough of adventure. He had enough of people dying because they tried to save him. What was there about him that needed saving?
He was the one who gave them orders who made them join him in his quest for peace.
And yes - they did support him. Percy - as much as other people may think of the contrary- was not dumb. He knew that it was not his fault that the people died, that they with the hope of a better future joined him. Believed that he was their saviour, that he was the one who would stop their perils.

He was not. He was just a lost boy in the body of a teenager trying to make sense of the world they lived in. He was not their saviour. His actions were as selfish as they were good.
Being as it may that he -yes- did save people in his journey, Percy for not one second thought about it being only for the people.

He knew how they saw him. They thought about him as their leader. That his decisions where for the good of them all. They called him 'Leader' 'Prince' 'Big Brother' and some went as far as calling him 'Master'. Percy still did not know where that one came from.
He tried to stop them. He did not deserve their praise nor those names.

He wanted to scream. To ask if they were insane to put him on a pedestal. To make him seem like a god although they were ironically of the same status as him. They were all demigods. There was no 'you' or 'us'. They were one family.

And even if Percy did not want to be their leader. He could not deny their hopeful eyes. Nor shatter their dreams of a good future.
Yes, he -Percy Jackson- would take up the role that they bestowed on him. Be it that he would forsake his own future or his dreams of a peaceful life. He had the task to protect them to protect what they stood for and what they dreamed to achieve.

And maybe this was his destiny. Who knew? He sure did not. He was just glad he had friends that he could count on. And who knew maybe the job was not that bad?

On a later date he would regret ever saying that. And his decision to not just go up to the fates and kill them where they stood. Be damned if that would have been appreciated or not.