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They are in Alaska. Sitting by the shore. Working together with his mom, Percy managed to scrape enough money together for him and her to travel to Alaska by boat for a week. He had no idea why she insisted on Alaska. They had gone every winter, before meeting Gabe. But she had said, once he started gambling away their money, that they wouldn’t be able to go again.
And yet, despite this being the first winter since they met Gabe, she insisted they go. With or without Gabe.
In the end, they couldn't shake the man. But Percy was able to fish up enough funds to get them here. Even if by... less than legal actions. He would feel bad, but the joy and relief on his mom's face washed that away. She didn't even know it was Percy who got the money. He had convinced his stepfather to give it to his mom and say he won it from all his gambling. It had been incredibly risky, but it worked out. For a reason he couldn't fathom, Gabe had taken well to the idea of going to Alaska. It had only taken a little convincing and planting the idea that a perceived poker win, especially this big, would not only make his mom more willing to fund his games but also significantly help his reputation.
"Percy," She said, "I know you've noticed a lot of strange things in your life. A lot of unexplainable things."
The understatement of the century, Percy thought.
"Especially on this trip. I- I didn't want to tell you because belief is power. Knowing is what draws them in, what draws them to you. But you'll learn sooner or later, and it's best you hear this from me." Her voice is shaky now, scared like she doesn't want to continue. "All of that stuff. All those monsters and creatures no one will believe you about. Percy, they're real. You're not crazy, or hallucinating, or anything. They're all real. And we're descended from one of them."
"Wait, what?" Percy shrinks away from his mom, "Their- Their what? And... And we're descended from one of them? Will I end up hurting someone? That’s what monsters do, right?"
"Percy-"
"Why didn't you tell me!" He's crying now, "I don't want to hurt anyone! ... Except, maybe Smelly Gabe. Mommy, can we kill Smelly Gabe?"
"No, my little starfish." Sally says softly, pulling Percy into a hug, "You're not going to hurt anybody. Not even Smelly Gabe."
"But-"
"No buts, Perseus." He freezes at that. "Promise me you wouldn't hurt your stepfather."
"Fine," He pouts, "I promise."
"Good," She smiles, "Now let me explain."
Percy opens his mouth. His mom interrupts him, "That means no interrupts."
His mouth snaps shut, and he angrily stuffs his face in her shirt. She strokes the back of his head.
"A long time ago, my grandfather, who was a siren-"
"We're descended from those scary bird ladies, who lured people out to sea to drown?" Percy excitedly interrupts.
"No." She answered gently, "We're not. Those are Greek sirens. And while they exist, too, your great-grandfather was a Roman siren. He had a fish tail and looked like a mermaid."
"Really?"
"Really." She said, "I've only read you Ancient Greek tales, none from Ancient Rome. But when we get back home, would you like me too?"
"Yes!" Percy exclaims, "I want to know all about my great-grandfather."
"Then I'll make sure to check out some books from the library." Sally kissed his head, "But first we need to finish the story. Remember what I said about interruptions?"
"Yeah," Percy mumbled.
Sally smiled.
"So your great-grandfather, the Roman siren, washed up on shore because of a bad storm." She continued, "He was injured, so he couldn't swim back out to sea. But your great-grandmother soon found him. She healed him, and they fell in love. Giving birth to my dad."
"Why would she heal him, though?" He asked, "Or fall in love with him?"
"Why does anyone help anyone. Or fall in love at all?" She replied. "Some monsters might want to attack and hurt people. But others don't. They just want to live, like anyone else. Your great-grandfather was one of those nice sirens. He didn't want to hurt anyone. And your great-grandma could see that."
"Huh." He said, intelligently, "But wasn't she scared?"
Sally laughed, "Percy, do you know why others can't see the creatures you can?"
"No." He answered, "It's like they looked like normal people, to everyone else."
"They do." She replied. "There's something called the Mist. The Mist protects monsters from most people's sight. Some can see through the Mist, though. And those people are called Clear Sights. But your great-grandma wasn't one of them."
"So she didn't know great-grandpa was a monster?" Percy frowned, "That doesn't seem right."
"It's not." She agreed, "So he showed her one night. He used his powers to clear the Mist from her eyes. Do you know why she didn't run, my pearl?"
"No..."
"She didn't run because she already knew he was a good person. That he wouldn't hurt her."
"Huh."
Sally petted his head in silence for a couple of seconds. When it was clear he that wouldn't say anything else, she continued. "And because we are descendants of a siren. We have some of a siren's powers."
Percy's head shot up, his pupils dilated, "Really?"
"Really."
"So we can sing people to death? Can we sing Smelly Gabe to death?"
"Perseus." Sally maneuvered his head until he looked her in the eyes, "What did you promise?"
"Not to hurt my stepfather."
"Ever." She reaffirmed, "Never, ever, under any circumstance will you hurt your stepfather. Alright?"
Percy stayed quiet.
"But he hurts u- you." Percy cried, "He hurts you."
"Perseus. I'm fine, and I can handle myself. But this is serious." Her voice was firm. "Under no circumstances will you hurt your stepfather. Okay?"
"Okay." He whispered into her chest.
"Percy..."
"Okay! Under no circumstances will I hurt Smelly Gabe." He pulled away from his mom as he said it.
"Never, ever?"
"I- I will never, ever, ever, under any circumstances, hurt Smelly Gabe."
"Good. Now," She grabbed her son's hand, gently pulling him into her lap, "about our powers."
He turned his head back to her. "Yeah?"
"For starters, we don't have all a siren's powers. And those we do have are a lot weaker than a full-"
"Seriously?" Percy pouted. "What abilities do we have?"
"That varies from person to person, my little pearl." She rubbed his back. "Some can only understand Latin. Some can turn into a half-fish and breathe underwater. Some can't be lured by a siren's song. Some can see through the Mist, others can manipulate it. And others can have a weak siren song."
Sally paused, considering whether the last part was worth telling. Anyone could have prophetic dreams, however rare they are. But it was significantly more likely if you were part of a Pantheon. It might be too much to tell him for him to process. Still, her child was also a demigod. If he ever had any prophetic dreams... it would be good to know if she needed to send him to camp.
It was now or never.
"And others, every, every rarely, can see the future. Coming to them as visions in their dreams."
"Really?"
"Really."
Percy was silent for a while. Figeting with his mom's shirt.
"What powers do we have?"
"Well, to start, we can understand Latin without ever learning it. Remember the super-long names of those fish from the aquarium."
"Yeah? ..."
"Those names were in Latin."
"But I understood those!"
"Exactly."
"Oh... But then Mommy, I've seen some Latin words. If we automatically understand, why did my dyslexia make it hard to read? Like it wasn't as bad as normal. The letters didn't turn into birds, but letters like b and d swapped a lot. And it was still hard to read, even when it doesn't do that. And... and it makes my head hurt."
"Ah." Sally said, she didn't know her son had actual dyslexia on top of being a demigod, "Well, that's because you might understand it. But your dyslexia stays."
Percy stayed quiet.
"I know it's annoying. What's the point of a power if you have a hard enough time functioning without one?"
The seven-year-old nodded.
"But that doesn't mean the gift is useless. Just imagine all the conversations we can have in Latin. Gabe won't be able to understand. And! You can take Latin class. Maybe finally have some fun at school."
Percy stuck out his tongue. "Fat chance."
Sally signed. "We can at least try. I'll enroll you in Latin class when I can. Okay?"
"Okay... Though speaking Latin around Gabe sounds good. Annoying him sounds good."
"It does. Doesn't it?" The thought of a minor rebellion against Gabe made her smile.
"What other powers do we have? Only knowing Latin sounds boring." He tugged on her shirt.
"Well, another ability we share is being clear-sighted." Technically, for her son, it was because he was a demigod, but that didn't matter. "Personally, I can manipulate the mist."
"Can I do that too?"
"I can teach you to manipulate the mist, if you want." It would be a great skill for him to have. "I personally could do it from birth. But you, my precious pearl, have a different ability. I realized it during our last karaoke. You have a very weak siren song."
"Really?"
"Really." She said, "It's not strong, and you shouldn't use it on people. But you have it."
"Why not?"
"It's not right to force someone to do something," Sally explained. Percy opens his mouth, but she continues, "Think about how you feel when a teacher or Gabe makes you do something. If you abuse your song, that's what you'd be doing to everyone else. Even me."
He choked, and his hands clutched her shirt tightly.
"So don't use it?"
"Don't use it."
"Ever."
"Yeah." She took a deep breath, "You also can't tell anyone about any of this. Okay?"
"What! Why?"
"Because most people aren't like great-grandma. If you tell them, they either won't believe you, or they'll... they get scared. They'll hurt you. And they'll hurt me, too."
"Why? That makes no sense."
"It's- It's just what people do when they get scared."
"I don't get it."
"Neither do I. But it's how the world works."
He turned his head to the side, humming. Sally rubbed circles into his back.
"Then why don't we go live with the other sirens?"
She sighed, "Because they don't like us. They... like controlling things. It makes them feel safe. Because having control means they have control of all the threats. Their fear is often so strong, it makes them hate us."
"That's dumb. And what does it have to do with us anyway?"
"See, us being different makes us unexpected and unknown, and thus controllable. Which-"
"Make them afraid." Percy cuts in, "Which makes them do dumb, mean, mean things."
"Yeah. Exactly."
"Would they eat us? Or drown us?"
"Maybe... maybe. This," Wow, explaining this was harder than she thought it would be. "Aaso applies to other monsters."
"Other monsters are real?"
"Yes, my little pearl. And they feel the same about us as sirens."
"Ah."
"Only, they're more dangerous to us because lots of them live on land. They also have the ability to smell us-"
"Wait, wait, wait." Percy looked her in the eyes, "We're smelly? We're like Smelly Gabe?"
She couldn't help herself; she huffed a laughed. "No. No, my little starfish. We're not-" Snort. "We're not like Smelly Gabe."
By some miracle, she managed to pull herself together, wiping tears from her eyes. "Monsters just have an innate sense of smell, stronger than most. It allows them to smell what someone is. Those with stronger noses can even smell your emotions."
"And they don't like us?"
"Unfortunately."
"That's scary."
"But it'll be okay. We've avoided them so far."
"If I just don't tell anyone, will we be safe?"
"Y-"
"Does Smelly Gabe know?"
"No."
"So don't tell him?"
"Yup."
"Okay."
"This is especially important because belief is power. Now that you know that you're part siren, it will be easier for monsters to smell you."
"Oh. So... the more you know, the easier it is to find you? Then, why did you tell me?"
"They might find you anyway. It would be better if you knew before then." Besides, she thought, he didn't know the thing that would truly bring them to him. They used to only wander into their area, but after this, she expected that monsters would try to find them. If he knew the full truth... most monsters would come like moths to a flame. She had to use both her mist abilities and Gabe's scent to prepare her son for this knowledge. She really didn't want to think about what would happen later on.
Sally pulled out a dagger. It was made of carbon steel and coated in imperial gold. She had gotten what little remained of her great-grandfather's stash of imperial gold. She had called in a favor with a nymph to get the material smelted down and have it encase the trusty dagger. If the blade were used on a mortal, the imperial gold would phase through them. They would proceed to get cut by the carbon steel. And of course, the imperial gold casing would hurt anyone from any Pantheon.
"Extremum statum," She told her son.
"Last Stand." He repeated in English.
"That is this dagger's name." She held it by the blade and offered it to her son. He took it gently, "If anyone, monster or not, tries to attack you. Use it to defend yourself."
He nodded and figured that didn't include Gabe. He also figured he needed to hide it from Gabe. It looked expensive.
"So this is mine?"
"Yes, and I will teach you to wield it when we get back home."
"Will you teach me to use the mist too?"
She smiled. "Of course."
"Oh," He said, "and Mommy. I think I have those dream things too."
She froze.
"Really?"
"Really!" He excitedly exclaimed, "I had a dream about Gabe before you met him. I also had one about this trip before you told us."
"Oh."
"And I don’t think these count, but sometimes I hear a scary voice. It sounds like sand and comes from a deep pit." Percy extended the word deep a long way, "But it’s really nice! Mommy, the voice is really nice! I love talking to the voice."
"Really?"
"Really."
Sally frowned. She may not know who that voice belongs to, but she highly doubts it wanted what was best for her child.
"Mommy?"
"My little pearl, do you remember what I said about stranger-danger?"
"Of course."
"Well, that voice is a stranger."
"No, it’s not!"
"It is to me, and you're my son. That means it’s my responsibility to keep you safe. So I’m setting a rule: you can’t speak or interact with that voice without my permission."
"Do I have your permission?"
She put on a gentle smile for him, "No. No, you don’t."
"Aw…" He pouted.