"Are you sure this is the best option?" I asked looking at Apollo.

"Uncle P, even I know she'll try to avoid talking about this. She'll either try to distract me or she'll escape. So I need you in there."

I sighed and nodded. "This way."

I led him through my palace and into the room where I had left Percy. I opened the door and walked inside.

Percy glanced at us before returning her attention to her puzzle. "I didn't think you were serious."

"I told you, I want you to be happy and Apollo will be better at this than I am."

"What's the puzzle?" Apollo asked, sitting beside Percy.

"No idea. It was in a bag and there's no picture."

I pulled a chair over and sat across from them. "Percy, if you try to avoid this it will not end well for you."

"How are you planning on this being a legitimate threat?"

"I'll find something. Maybe make you hang out with Triton." I said.

Apollo kicked the coffee table away and leaned against the arm of the couch. A clipboard appeared in his hand. He asked her some simple questions like her name and age. Whether it was for the papers or to calibrate his innate ability to sense the truth I don't know.

"I'll start with the biggie first. Have you tried to kill yourself?"

Percy stared at Apollo and with every passing second dread piled upon me.

"No."

Apollo didn't seem upset and I sighed in relief.

"Have you thought about killing yourself? Or hurting yourself?"

"Yeah."

My heart ached and I had to resist the urge to hug her. Apollo said I can't do anything to distract. Including comforting Percy.

"Which one?" Apollo asked.

"Both."

"Did you...have you planned out how you would do it?"

"Either Riptide or a knife. I can't exactly drown myself you know."

I got up and walked out of the room. I couldn't deal with hearing that. I couldn't deal with hearing Percy say that.

I knew it was bad, but I really didn't think, or I didn't want to think, that she had planned out how she might kill herself.

It took a while and I went to talk to Amphitrite, meaning I was still talking to her when Apollo came to find me.

"Um, Uncle P? Can I...Can I talk to you real fast?" He asked, without looking at me.

"Sure. Where's Percy?"

"Asleep." He turned and walked into the hall. I followed after him and shut the door behind me.

"What did you want to talk about?"

Apollo swallowed. "She tried to kill herself."

"What?"

"She lied. I don't know when or how, but I know she tried to kill herself. It could have been from before the first prophecy, she might have tried to delay the prophecy. Or it could be more recent. I...I don't know anything else about it."

"Why didn't you say anything when she lied?"

"Because I didn't want you to interrupt. And Uncle P, whatever you do don't yell at her."

"She tried to-"

"I know, but if you don't want to make her upset you can't yell at her. You can't show her that you're angry."

"I'm not-"

"Yes you are." He sighed. "Listen, she doesn't want you guys to treat her any differently. So you're going to have to resist any urge you might have to try to coddle her. Now if you excuse me, I have a party to get to."

Apollo disappeared and I sighed. I turned and walked towards the room where Percy was. I opened the door and a small smile crossed my face.

Percy laid on the couch, a blanket draped over her. I caught a glimpse of Triton leaving the room and I chuckled. I sat down and gathered her into my arms.

She yawned and stretched before looking up at me. "Hi Dad." She mumbled.

"Why'd you lie?" I asked.

Her eyes widened and she looked away. "I hoped that he wouldn't have told you."

"When was it?"

"Does it matter? Now that you know you're never going to leave me alone. You're going to tell Mom and then Paul will find out and then nobody will leave me alone! And you know, honestly that's what I want right now. I want you guys to leave me the Hades alone. I want to go one day without you breathing down my neck and saying how much you love me and asking if I'm okay. Because, news flash, that doesn't help! It's just annoying!"

"When?" I growled.

She shrugged. "Do you think I wrote it down or something? Honestly I try to keep myself from thinking about that. I don't want to think about any of it."

Swallowing, I hugged her close to me. I pressed a kiss to the side of her head. "Please don't try again. I'm begging you, not as a god, as your dad."

"It's bad that you have to make that distinction. You should be able to be both. You shouldn't have to separate how you feel about me as a god and how you feel about me as your kid."

"I shouldn't have to tell you to not attempt to kill yourself." I said, not relaxing my grip on her. "I shouldn't have to worry about that."

She tried to pull away from me. "I shouldn't-"

I hushed her. "Just let me hold you. I want to pretend...I want to pretend that we're a normal family.  I want to have a little bit without thinking about this."

She relaxed into my grip. "That sounds nice. But you can't mention anything to Mom."

I pressed my lips together before sighing. "Deal."

Hey it's an update

I completely forgot it was nanowrite month and

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

So...I'm going to drink a bunch of orange juice

See yah