Chapter 11: The Truth... Kind of

Camp Half-Blood

2460 AD

"Probably because you're related to me."

The eyes of the campers and gods all turned to a man wearing a black and white flannel over a white v neck t-shirt with black ripped jeans. The man had his arms crossed, leaning against one of the pillars in the dining pavilion with his eyes closed.

"Mr. Jackson?" The blonde with sky blue eyes asked. The teacher opened his eyes and approached the four demigods standing near the legendary trainer of heroes.

"Hello Cassie. Skyler. Noah. Atlanta." The man walked towards the god sitting at the table with the blue cookies. With a small smile, he reached forward and ate one. He smirked towards the man. "Heard you've been keeping these here for me. Thanks."

"Who are you?" Noah asked in disbelief.

"A demigod. Just like you."

"Yeah, right." The immortal camper with the choppy brown hair and mean looking face stated. "You are not just a demigod-"

"You're the best swordsman to ever live," the man with the pale skin and death black hair stated with his arms crossed as he came closer. "And you are one of the seven."

The younger campers all looked at the man in awe as he looked away, trying to avoid the attention he was receiving.

"Enough about me, we need to discuss what's coming-"

"No." The girl with the silver jacket, lighting blue eyes, and black hair started. "We deserve to know where you have been. How could you just leave us?"

The son of Poseidon looked at the daughter of Zeus with regret clear in his eyes.

"I didn't know I was going to be gone that long, Thals, I swear."

"We promised each other that we would be by each other's sides no matter what!" The son of Hades yelled. "And you left us! You were our brother!"

"Nico-"

"How could you leave us like that? Disappear without telling us? Without telling the seven? Telling Annabeth?"

The son of Poseidon's eyes hardened at the mention of her name. He glared at his cousin not caring that everyone was watching anymore.

"I left because I couldn't handle what I saw when I got back from the quest Athena sent me on! I was broken. Lost. I got an offer to be taken away from the people that broke me, so I left. The people I met fixed me. Made me better. They made me realize and learn things that you all held me back form! They made me realize there is life outside the gods!" The son of Poseidon took a deep breath. "Look, we can talk about this later, but first we need to talk about who my students saw die and what he warned me about."

"We also need to talk about the prophecy." Jackson turned to his niece who had a thoughtful, yet crestfallen look on her face.

"What was the prophecy? I showed up after it was said."

"The Fate's Champion shall return,

With many lessons that he's learned.

The one scattered, the medieval witch, and the golden eyes of War rise,

So shall the adopted child with the blue eyes.

The truth of the past softened,

And the traitor forgotten,

A single choice shall end his days.

Another shall raise and take his place.

To prevail or fail time shall stand,

The hero to show his final hand."

Jackson closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he heard Noah recall the prophecy.

"Mr. Jackson," Cassie said, gaining his attention, "you know some of the lines of the prophecy don't you?"

"The prophecy has already started." The son of Poseidon stated. "We are going to need a lot more help than before..."

"More help? We have the Roman's on our side."

"We need more than that. We need the people I met while I was gone."

~ ~ ~

The son of Poseidon stayed silent as many of his old friends came up and tried to talk to him. Many were angry and yelled at him, but he remained calm through it all.

"Why did you leave?" The sea's favorite son turned towards the girl sitting next to him. He saw the calculating grey eyes and raven black hair and smiled sadly.

"I had something bad happen and I couldn't stay at Camp anymore, so I left."

"That's not a great answer you know..."

"I know." He turned towards his little sister and showed off his signature lopsided smile. "Heard a lot about you, little sister. I'm proud you're not like the others."

"Like the others?"

"You are strong willed and don't put up with bullshit answers." He fully turned towards his sister and ignored the looks he was getting from his old friends. "You protect those who need protecting and put others before yourself. You aren't powerhungery or have a need for revenge. You are pure in every essence of the word. So yes, you are different from the other gods and goddesses."

"You heard a lot about me?"

"Of course I did." Jackson took her hand and his. "Even though I wasn't around I was still keeping tabs on you and Estella. Even though I wasn't there for you in the beginning I want to be there for you for the rest of your life."

"Swear on the Styx?"

"I swear on the Styx that I will try to be there for the rest of your life Coral."

Nothing happened and Coral hugged her brother and silently started crying. Jackson sat there and rubbed her back and whispered soothing words to the goddess until she broke their embrace.

"Percy?" Jackson tensed up as he heard her voice. "Please-"

"Please what?" Jackson looked at the immortal daughter of Athena with a cold look. "What do you want Chase?"

"Let me explain-"

"There is nothing you can do that can fix what you did." All of the campers and gods were looking at the two talk for the first time since he left. "You cheated on me. You broke my heart."

"Percy, I'm sorry." Jackson was silent for a few minutes before he stood and looked the girl in the eye.

"Out of everything that happened, I'm glad some good came out of it." Jackson looked towards the Athena table and looked at the grey eyed immortal with dark hair. "You did a good job raising her Annabeth. She is a good person with a pure soul."

Annabeth looked at her daughter as a tear dripped down her face.

"Annabeth, I can never forgive you for what you did." The daughter of Athena looked towards the ground. The man approached the girl and smiled lightly as he approached her. "Roxanne, I heard about you when I was in another continent."

"What?" Annabeth's daughter asked with wide eyes.

"The people you have helped talk highly of you. When I would talk to someone who had met you they always talked about how kind you were to them. You're a good person. Don't ever stop doing what you believe in." The champion of fate put a hand on her forehead for a second before taking it away.

"What did you just do?" Roxanne asked with wide eyes.

"Something I should have done a long time ago."

"Get away from her!" A god wearing a leather jacket with black hair yelled.

The two stood face to face, both glaring at each other.

"Why don't you tell them what you did?"

All but the gods watched with confusion. What could the god have done?

"What? That I took your girlfriend?" The god smirked.

"Do you know who Estella is?" Jackson snarled. 

"Your replacement. He only adopted her after you abandoned this place."

"She's my biological sister." Ares eyes slightly widened. 

The veteran campers all looked at the son of Poseidon in shock. He had a biological sister?

"Percy-" Jackson looked towards the girl with the silver jacket. "She's your sister? If Poseidon adopted her than-"

"Sally and Paul were her parents." The son of Hades stated with wide eyes. "Oh my gods."

The son of Poseidon yanked the man towards him by his jacket so that there was only a few centimeters from their faces.

"Nico, what happened?" The hunter asked with worry.

"How could you not tell them what you did?" The son of Poseidon snarled. "Almost all of your children have activated their curse. You could have prevented it."

"Shut up!" The god yelled.

The sea's rage went to open his mouth when he saw a flash of light from the corner of his eyes. He quickly pushed the man away and turned to where the flash came from.

"You have defied fate, God of war." The woman holding a string stated as she measured it. 

"You were to tell them of your crimes..." The woman knitting what looked to be a brown sock stated in a raspy voice.

"You may tell them, Jackson." The last old lady said as she snipped the string.

The three ladies looked at their champion with void faces as they saw the man glare at the god.

"Yes, you stole my girlfriend away." The man stated as he looked at the ground with his jaw clinched. He made eye contact with the god as his eyes turned cold as ice. "Everyone who knows me knows that my family means everything to me..."

"Perce-"

"He slaughter my mortal family."

The campers eyes widened as they looked at the god of war. The daughter of the affair backed away from her father and her siblings all looked down in shame.

"I found Estella under my mothers lifeless body."

"How could you?" Roxanne asked with tear filled eyes. "How could you take someone's family away from them in cold blood?"

"That's why you left." The daughter of Zeus turned towards the son of Poseidon with tears falling. "You found them."

"Sally and Paul were good people." The son of Hades stated. "They treated everyone of us like their own."

"He had it coming." 

The son of Poseidon went to attack but stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and met the silver eyes that comforted him when he found his family.

"Jackson..."

"I need..."

"Go."

The son of Poseidon's eyes started to glow before he disappeared. All of the gods and campers looked at the spot the man had been in before their rage filled eyes turned to the god that caused him so much pain.

"Why did you have to be my dad?" All eyes turned towards the daughter of Ares and Annabeth. "You have destroyed so many lives."

"I'm immortal. They were just things I could use to break him."

"Yes, you broke him..." The woman finishing the brown sock stated.

"But he repaired himself." The woman knitting another sock, this one looking like a peacock with sea-green stated.

"Why are you old hags here anyway?" The god smeared towards the Fates.

"The Fates champion..." Annabeth stated with wide eyes. "Percy is their champion."

"He goes by Jackson now." The silver eyed goddess stated. "He has for a long time."

"Milady?" The hunter with the lightning blue eyes asked. 

"The prophecy has started." The goddess said brushing off her lieutenant. "We must prepare for war."