Drachma For Your Thoughts (Percy)

[Isaac Winters]

Isaac sat outside the Athena Cabin, staring out at the other cabins. There weren't a whole lot of spots at camp where you could go and just be by yourself and think. You really couldn't get alone time in your cabin, unless you had one to yourself. Isaac wasn't that lucky. There were several children of Athena, and Cabin Six was home to all of them while they were here. It wasn't like Isaac had anything against his half-siblings, it's just that at times he just wanted to be alone with his thoughts. That, and he still had issues trusting the other campers.

He sighed, staring off into the distance, though he really didn't see any of it at the moment. Trust was something that hadn't come easily for around a year now. Part of him thought he should be over this by now, but another part knew that logic had little to do with emotions and that there was no way to know how long he'd feel like this. So he found himself out here, like this, every time he thought about his dad. Isaac never really talked to people about how he felt, especially his feelings toward how things had ended with his father. Maybe it was something to do with his inability to trust, although he told himself it was because so many half-bloods had issues with their mortal parents, and sometimes even with their immortal parents. No one wanted to hear another person's sob story. Ignore the fact that this was totally proven wrong by Isaac's own empathic nature.

Isaac stood up and started pacing. There was no point in sitting here any longer. These feelings never faded, or never seemed to. Besides, if he kept sitting there staring off into space someone might figure out something was wrong. That was the last thing he needed. My daddy-issues don't deserve that kind of attention. I'm no different from anyone else. Though the problem now remained that right now he didn't know what else to do. He kind of hoped something would happen and take his mind of this for a moment. Not that they needed drama at camp with what had been going on lately, but... well, he needed a distraction.

[Ψ ADMIN SUSHI Ψ]

Son of Poseidon's Log. Day two after the partial success of Annabeth’s quest. I can’t bring myself to face Annabeth. Stupid Phobos has really etched himself into my brain; I guess I know how Luke felt...a little. But I can’t help but believe in Phobos as cuckoo for coco puffs as that sounds. I mean, I see it in Annabeth’s eyes when she looks at Luke. I remember how she used to talk about him and I don’t believe that she ever thought of him as just a friend. I’m starting to think that Phobos bringing Luke back wasn’t just a half-baked scheme. I don’t know where the Gods are in all of this, Dad hasn’t answered me and I’m starting to think he won’t. I can’t look Annabeth in the face, not after the things I said to her. I need to figure this out and fast, I don’t want to lose her....memo to self, hide journal better so Gabriel doesn’t find it next time. Second memo to self, ask for new demigod sister.

-percy

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Percy shut the leather bound journal his mother had gotten him for Christmas last year. He didn’t think he would get much use out of the thing but in the past couple days Percy had taken to writing quite a bit. Previous entries were never as personal as the recent ones, but he didn’t have his best friend and girlfriend to talk to. He swung his feet over the side of his bunk and slid the journal behind the small table beside the bed. He would devise a better place to hide the journal later. Right now Percy couldn’t stand being locked up in cabin three any longer.

Yesterday Percy spent the day in placed Annabeth wouldn’t think to look for him, should she want to find him. Percy skipped out on breakfast again this morning and half of the activities. His stomach was complaining at him for not caring enough to eat. Percy would be at dinner later tonight; he knew it would be impossible to avoid Annabeth forever. He didn’t like avoiding her or not seeing her but Percy needed time for his head to clear, and mostly for Phobos to evacuate the premises. An entire day passed without that annoying god whispering things in his head. Percy didn’t even dream last night, or if he did he couldn’t remember what it was about.

Percy slid his feet into his beat up red chucks, pocketed Riptide and left the Poseidon cabin behind him. He stood out in the quad area for a second glancing around at the other cabins. He was searching for signs of Annabeth or Luke. Nothing. They would probably be down in the arena or arts and crafts. Percy heaved a sigh and started off past the other cabins forcing smiles to those who greeted him in passing. He didn’t linger long enough to hold full conversations.

Out of habit Percy looked over to the Athena cabin. If Annabeth came out at that exact moment Percy didn’t know what he would do. He could run away and further the whole awkwardness they had between them now, or he could stay and try not to come off like a complete idiot and apologize (without giving a valid excuse) for what he did. Knowing Annabeth she wouldn’t be so forgiving, not after Percy shouted at her. Percy’s options looked bleak. It was a damned if you do, damned if you don’t situation.

There was a camper outside pacing back and forth. Percy’s brow furrowed slightly in curiosity and he ventured over. As Percy crossed the quad he recognized the son of Athena as Isaac. He didn’t know any of Annabeth’s siblings well but he did recognize them by face and name, at least the ones who had been here for a while. Percy watched the boy pace for a few seconds before crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his head slightly.

“Isaac, what are you doing?” Percy’s eyes followed him back and forth. It was starting to make his head spin a little. He blinked and shook his head a little to snap himself out of the almost hypnotic pace that Isaac had going. “Dude, you’re making my dizzy. What up with back and forthness?”

WORD COUNT”714

[Isaac Winters]

Isaac had lost himself in his thoughts again, barely paying attention his own rhythmic pacing which was almost like a heartbeat to his stormy thoughts. He didn't notice Percy coming, and even when he first spoke Isaac's name the son of Athena thought he might have just imagined it. When Percy spoke the second time, though, Isaac spun around at the voice. There was a split second before he realized who it was where Isaac was tensed for a fight, then he relaxed.

"Hi, Percy," he said as he glanced to see if he'd made any sort of a scene. "Sorry about that, it's just... I..." Now came the difficult part. What did he tell Percy? Isaac knew who Percy Jackson was, but then it was hard not to know the son of Poseidon. After the last great prophecy and all the drama with Kronos, Percy was sort of a big hero at camp. That didn't say that Isaac was all that close to him though. He really didn't know the guy or know a whole lot more about him than who his Olympian parent was and that he was dating Annabeth, one of Isaac's sisters through Athena. Did Isaac trust Percy? In battle, yes, but not with his emotional issues. They weren't close enough for that.

That didn't answer the question of what to tell Percy, though. He wanted to say it was nothing, but that was an obvious lie. It was fairly apparent something was up, because people didn't just start pacing for the heck of it. At the same time, Isaac didn't really want to be completely open with Percy when he didn't know the guy all that well. He didn't exactly figure Percy would go and betray him, not unless he seriously wanted to piss Annabeth off. He wasn't exceptionally close to Annabeth, but they were siblings. Isaac didn't figure she'd be too keen to let it slide if Percy stabbed him in the back.

Isaac sighed and slipped his hands into the pockets of his jeans. Then spoke again. "I was thinking about my family. They've been on my mind a lot lately, and it's not exactly a topic that leads to warm and fuzzy feelings for me." Isaac shrugged. His eyes dropped to the ground and he kicked at the dirt with his dirty-white sneaker. "I've got another case of the typical story. My mortal parents couldn't deal with all the drama a half-blood son brought, so they kicked me out of the family and now the camp is my only home." Except for the fact that it wasn't quite that simple, not that anyone's story was.

His eyes came up again, looking at Percy's face. "Sorry. I know that's really vague, but I have issues trusting people after... after my dad..." But he couldn't bring himself to spill all the detail. He just sighed and gave Percy an apologetic look. "It's really nothing against you. I just don't really know you."

[Ψ ADMIN SUSHI Ψ]

It didn’t take a genius to see that something major was bothering this son of Athena. The constant pacing and the expression on his face was a dead give a way. Percy knew Annabeth was prone to come around the corner any minute but it would take a real jerk to walk away from a friend. Percy didn’t know Isaac too well, but Percy never had anything against any of Annabeth’s siblings. He may not have counted Isaac amongst his good friends but he figured he knew the kid enough to help him.

He waited for Isaac to say something or rather continue on. If Isaac didn’t want to talk the guy wouldn’t have started to say something just to drop off and forget about the whole thing. Percy had done that before and he always ended up spilling his freaking soul. He wasn’t great when it came to these kind of chats, Annabeth or Rachel were the people to go to. Perhaps Percy should just back out before it was too late and refer him to one of them.

“Come on, I don’t bite.” He said, probably not helping the situation. Isaac finally continued and Percy went into listening mode. The guy had parental problems. Who around here didn’t? Percy wished he could relate to Isaac more but his mom was always accepting of him and who he was, even Paul. He had met with many demigods though who had similar issues, and it angered Percy that these kids couldn’t have normal lives because they’re parents were cowards. You never gave up on family.

Percy sighed and folded his arms across his chest. He watched Isaac carefully when he mentioned something about his dad, but it was clear the kid didn’t want to talk about that. It seemed tough enough for Isaac to get out what he did; Percy couldn’t expect him to talk about specfic details. Like Isaac said they didn’t know each other well. “I understand. I mean the whole not knowing each other from Adam, I won’t take it personally.”

He thought for a second trying to come up with some kind of advice. “All of that drama balled up inside could make you explode if you don’t get it out in the open to someone. I should know. I was fortunate enough to not have a major problem with my family, well except Gabe but that’s another story. I know a lot of other demigods who are in your shoes and its not fair.”

Percy reached up and rubbed his neck stretching to give Isaac more than the whole, “you’re not alone” speech. He felt that it was over used and while it was effective most of the time Percy saw what happened to demigods with parental issues on the Godly side. Luke. Parents seemed to like to screw things up. Again, Percy’s mom was just awesome. He couldn’t ask for a better one and then his step-dad Paul was just as great. “As cheesy as this is going to sound, you’re not exactly alone here. A lot of people can’t deal with the truth well, but I can’t imagine your dad loves you any less. Sure he may be afraid, but I’m sure he really does love you.” lacking a better speech Percy ended with the “you’re not alone” one, it was over used but it didn’t make the point any less valid.

WORD COUNT”569

[Isaac Winters]

At least Percy understood about Isaac not trusting him. It wasn't anything against Percy himself, and all something that Isaac just kind of had to work his way back through. He'd used to trust people pretty easily. If this had been before everything that had made Isaac unable to trust, he'd be chatting with Percy like they'd known each other for years in no time. Isaac wasn't sure if he'd ever get back to that place, though. He'd be content with just being able to trust people without it taking months of knowing them.

Isaac listened to what Percy told him. It wasn't like it wasn't stuff he'd told himself, although sometimes it did help to hear it from someone else. Still, Isaac could tell that this wasn't exactly Percy's forte either. Isaac was much better with logic, knowledge, and thoughts than he was with emotion. Percy was a son of Poseidon, so that didn't exactly give him any advantages in the emotion department. All the same, Isaac was somewhat grateful that he was at least trying. That wasn't even taking into account that Percy was right, and Isaac had to tell someone about everything. Maybe that someone wouldn't be Percy, but as long as he got it out in the open. Maybe I'll tell Gail or Annabeth later, someone I won't have any issues opening up to.

But then there was Percy's closing statement. Not the part about Isaac not being alone, because he himself had stated that a lot of demi-gods had parental with one parent or the other. It was the part about Isaac's dad. Yeah, that was the kicker. His dad loved him. Then again, Percy wouldn't have had any idea he'd hit a nerve with Isaac by saying that. After all, Isaac had just avoided telling him what it was his dad had done that made it so hard for Isaac to trust other people. As much as he tried to avoid it, Isaac flinched at that statement.

Isaac sighed, trying to give Percy a smile. "You're probably right, about my dad, though it's hard to see it that way from where I stand." His hazel eyes cast about for something to focus on, anything but Percy. It was just really difficult, saying what Isaac wanted to say, even to someone he trusted. With Percy, he was expecting it may very well be painful. Not to mention it was kind of embarrassing, bearing his soul to his sister's boyfriend. He wasn't sure how Annabeth might feel about that.

"When I was little, my dad use to promise me that he'd always have my back. That he'd always love me and stand by me. It was kind of cool, because I never knew him to have any hard feelings about Athena just leaving me with him." Isaac paused, his expression becoming somewhat distant. "And then I came to camp, the year you and Annabeth went into the labyrinth. I didn't go home again until after the battle of Manhattan. Even then, I only stayed until January."

His stay had been cut short, and by the last person he'd have expected. "I always thought if I got kicked out, it would be by my step-mom, Leah. She's hated me since I first started having issues with the monster attacks. She wouldn't even let me talk to my sister the time I cam home, so I have no clue what Alice thinks about all this." His voice cracked, and he faltered as he started the next part. "But... But it was my dad who told me I was too dangerous to be part of the family anymore. He was the one who told me to leave. He drove me here, dropped me off in silence, and he wouldn't even look at me when he was leaving."

Issac shook his head, blinking back the tears that inevitably came every time he talked about that. "So maybe he does love me, but it's hard to see it. I guess you could say he was scared, and I can't blame him, but it doesn't make it hurt less." His face was red, more from embarrassment than anything. In fact, he wasn't really angry at all right now. It was like he'd said, he felt hurt, betrayed even. "Sorry if that was more than you wanted to know."

Word Count: 760

[Ψ ADMIN SUSHI Ψ]

Percy was willing to help Isaac even though he knew Annabeth could show up any second, but maybe just maybe he was in a little over his head. As Isaac began talking about his past, his seemingly uncaring dad, his evil stepmother, and younger sister Percy started to feel a little overwhelmed. He definitely wasn’t good at this stuff. His sympathy for the guy didn’t falter though. It sounded like he had it rough growing up, but Percy had yet to meet a demigod who had an easy life. He listened silently and nodded in the appropriate places.

When Isaac finished Percy shook his head, “No it’s fine Isaac. If I didn’t want to know I would have skipped out when you first started.” He said in all honesty. Percy didn’t know how to proceed, from the sound of the story though Isaac’s Dad was probably just trying to protect his son and his family. It reminded him of Annabeth and her Dad. The two of them met on a solid ground and made up. His thoughts strayed further on Annabeth. Percy had to pull himself back to this present conversation.

“Look,” he cleared his throat “I know what its like to have a parent who doesn’t want you around. Well, I wouldn’t count Gabe as a parent more like a parasite that we couldn’t shake. He made life miserable for me, and the only thing that really made it all worthwhile was my mom. And she only stayed with him to protect me.” Percy was reaching but he did his best to relate to Isaac. He drew in a deep breath, held it for a second and exhaled.

“I’m not saying it’s the same but, it doesn’t sound like your Dad was dumping you here because he didn’t care about you. I mean yeah the way he did it wasn’t exactly executed well, but what would you have done if you were told your son was part God? That can’t be an easy piece of information to take in. If he didn’t care about you then he would have left you out in the streets where monster could have you for dinner. He didn’t though, he left you here at Camp Half-Blood, one place safe for demigods.” Percy scoffed and scratched the back of his neck. “Maybe you should try and talk to him. You never give up on family.”

At that line Percy thought about Calypso and what she had said on her island about standing by family. She stood by her father in the first Titan War because he was her father. Percy had a small revelation, he had been angry with his father for the summer because he hadn’t heard from him once. It wasn’t a reason to hate him; it was a reason to try harder. Percy licked his lips and nodded in deep thought.

Percy sighed and for second or third time he brought himself out of his wandering ADHD thoughts. “Isaac, I’m sorry what happened to you but to me it sounds like your dad is having a hard time coming to terms that you’re...well, you. You should try and talk with him.”

WORD COUNT”530

[Isaac Winters]

Isaac didn't know what to think right now. To be perfectly honest, this didn't seem like something Percy did on a regular basis. That being said, his ideas weren't exactly half-baked or crazy. Maybe all it took was a different perspective on the situation to see it clearly. Issac hadn't exactly been raised by Percy's self-sacrificing mother, a woman who apparently had only stayed with this Greg guy to protect Percy, no doubt to hide him from the inevitable monster attacks. Isaac wasn't exactly sure if there was a reason to excuse the way his dad had gone and kicked him out. But to be entirely honest, he knew things would have been different if Leah had kicked him out. She'd have literally just told him to get his butt out the door. She'd have left it up to him to find shelter, to find a way to make it back to camp. Instead it had been his dad, and he'd been left here at camp, somewhere safe.

He couldn't be sure Percy was right, but there was some reasonable doubt now. There was a reason to believe that his dad was doing all of this for Isaac's safety. There was a reason to believe that he just didn't know how to deal with it all, and that he'd left his son somewhere safe while he tried to come to grips with everything. After all, it wasn't just talk that parents had dreams for their kids, dreams of things they'd do and become. No doubt his dad had dreamed things for Isaac's life. Things that weren't going to happen now, or maybe could still happen but only with a lot more effort. After all, no parent would have wanted this kind of life for their kid. Issac couldn't picture any parent dreaming of their son or daughter fighting monsters and being constantly put in dangerous situations.

He moved to sit down on the steps of Athena cabin. He looked at the ground as he said, "I never thought about that before, about how my dad felt, or about how he left me somewhere safe." Isaac looked up at Percy now. "I know I'm a child of Athena, and I'm supposed to be all wise and smart, but I've found that everyone's a little blinded by their own experiences. We all see and interpret situations differently because of what has happened to us in the past. And it's not a bad thing, it's normal, but it doesn't always mean that I feel better when the blinders come off."

In this case he felt worse, because he'd spent about a year and a half being mad at his dad, when really this might have been just as hard for him as it was for Isaac. Percy was right though, you never give up on family. Isaac's dad may have been guilty of that, but Isaac was just a guilty of having given up on his dad. He'd never even made an attempt to contact them since he'd gotten here. No letters, no phone calls, not a single word since that cold day in January when Isaac was left at camp feeling hurt and betrayed. And all he could possibly wonder now was, Is it too late to forgive him? Is it too late to write and hope that Percy is right?

"Annabeth... She wrote her dad a letter and patched things up with him, right?" Isaac knew that things were actually pretty good between Annabeth and her dad now, but he was pretty certain that they hadn't always been that way. "Do you think that will work for me? I mean... I've spent a year and a half mad at him for leaving me here, for what he said to me..." His words trailed off, but the implication was there. He was still wondering if it was too late to try and fix things. Percy had said that you never give up on family. And if that was true, then potentially it was never too late to fix things. Isaac wasn't expecting to get to go home this summer. He just wanted to be sure he still had a home to go back to.

Word Count 736

[Ψ ADMIN SUSHI Ψ]

Percy watched Isaac hoping that he hadn’t crossed a line or said anything to upset the guy. The last thing Percy needed was for one of Annabeth’s siblings to be pissed at him. Then again he was surprised Isaac wasn’t mad at him already for what happened between him and AB. No doubt it as all over camp now. He yelled at her and accused her of loving Luke. Percy wish he could take back what he said but there was no way around it. He was still set on keeping the whole Phobos mind tricks to himself. He would beat this on his own and he would never become like Luke.

Percy shrugged his shoulders and took a seat next to Isaac on the steps. “You shouldn’t sell yourself short. Besides what you just said sounded pretty darn smart to me.” For a second it was like speaking with Annabeth. Percy didn’t follow along directly but he was pretty sure he got the basic understanding of what Isaac was saying. He slapped Isaac on the back and got to his feet ready to take off. “Glad I could be off some help if any.”

He was about to turn and walk away but Isaac spoke again, this time bringing Annabeth into the conversation. Percy froze at looked down at Isaac. Why did he have mention Annabeth? He cleared his throat and sat back down next to Isaac. For a minute he was silent and his gaze remained straight a head of him. He inclined his head in Isaac’s direction and thought carefully before responding.

“Yeah, she did. And I guess from my understanding is that they are better than before.” He said. “You’re probably safer talking to Annabeth about the matter. I don’t want to give you the news that everything is all roses and sunshine when, and if, in reality they still have issues.” That was something else to add to the list of the things Percy didn’t need Annabeth getting mad at him for. He wasn’t about to give out false information to raise the hopes of her brother just to watch his world some tumbling down in the end. Was he over thinking all of this? Probably.

“Look, you won’t know how things are going to go unless you do something about it. He’s your dad; you can’t stay mad at him forever. At least, you shouldn’t especially if what he did was to protect you. And again you won’t know for certain how he feels unless you get off your ass and do something.” He scratched his head and pursed his lips. “You can’t spend your entire life mad. It’s not wise.” Percy nudged Isaac flashing one of his goofy grins.

WORD COUNT”456

[Isaac Winters]

Isaac had to wonder if Percy followed his thoughts when he'd been talking about how people saw things different. Annabeth or Gail probably would have followed it, but they were other kids of Athena. Sometimes he wondered how Percy could stand dating Annabeth if he didn't understand her half the time, but Isaac had never been in love. He certainly didn't know how it worked, so gods only knew he didn't have any right to be judging Percy.

Percy gave him a slap on the back and was about to leave before Isaac mentioned Annabeth's parent issues, and he almost regretted saying it afterward. For one, he probably should be asking Annabeth about it. It wasn't like he wasn't close to her, she was one of the people he trusted the most at this camp. Also, he knew Percy and Annabeth weren't exactly in great standing right now. To be honest, Isaac should be royally pissed off at the son of Poseidon, and probably he would have been if the circumstance had been different. As it was, he was more worried about his own problems than Annabeth's and Percy's love life right now, and Percy had actually bothered to stop and talk to him. There were a lot of campers who couldn't give a fat rat's behind how Isaac felt, and they would have just kept walking. On top of that, sitting outside Athena cabin with him right now was risking that he'd run into Annabeth, and gods only knew he was probably trying to avoid that.

Percy said what Isaac had been thinking, that he should talk to Annabeth at how things were with her dad. But even if they were a little better it meant there was hope. Percy didn't know how much Isaac just wanted to fix this, and if there was even a little chance of that it was good. He wasn't looking for perfection. He could fight with his dad now and then, that was normal for teenagers anyways, but he never again wanted to stay mad at his dad for this long. It was like Percy said, he wasn't going to know unless he actually did something. Isaac couldn't help but smile back a little about the comment about how staying mad wasn't wise, especially with the goofy smile Percy had on.

"Yeah, you're right. I've spent enough time being mad and making excuses for why I haven't done anything" Excuses like saying his dad should be the one to apologize to him first. Isaac ran a hand through his hair and sighed. This wasn't exactly the easy thing, but he should do it now before he lost the nerve. He gave Percy a smile again, "Thanks for listening. A lot of people wouldn't have. Heck, a lot of people didn't bother to stop walking by. And you... well, I know you have more than enough reason to want to avoid this particular cabin right now." It meant a lot to him, and he'd probably owe Percy now. Even if he didn't, he'd try to take it easy on him about the whole fight with Annabeth thing. Considering he was close to Annabeth and rather protective of his sibling, that was about all he could offer.

He stood up and looked back down at Percy. "I'm going to head into a cabin and write a letter to my dad, get this done while I haven't had time to think of more excuses." Meanwhile Percy might want to get going. Isaac didn't know where Annabeth was, so she could show up any second. He climbed the steps and opened the door to Athena cabin, turning back to say, "Thanks again."

Word Count: 647