i was raised with blood on my hands (you taught me anger was kindness)

by rhaeblack66

Summary:

When Kymopoleia realizes that there is a storm in the Atlantic that is not of her creation, she goes to investigate the source. What she finds is a little girl who looks strikingly familiar.

It wasn't like she was going to just abandon the girl - her sister! Not like her own family had done to her. At least things wouldn't be boring anymore.

Notes:

I am seriously addicted to the very niche side of pjo fanfic where Percy bonds with the godly side of his family. Combine that with my love for Female!Percy and you get this. Any references to gods outside of Greek mythology and I'm probably using Wikipedia so if I get anything wrong please correct me. There is a very, very loose plot. What is it, you ask? Your guess is as good as mine, bud.

Chapter 1

Kymopoleia, goddess of violent storms and waves, would probably be the first to admit that she didn’t pay much attention to what her father was doing. The relationship between the two of them was strained, and her interactions with her mother were civil at best. She was too wild, too unpredictable for them to feel comfortable with her around, which, wow, hypocritical much? Those were the traits she inherited from her father, after all. 

But she couldn’t help but be curious when a particularly violent storm started forming off the coast of Long Island. A storm that wasn’t her doing. It didn’t have the same signature of any of the storm gods she usually interacted with. Besides, it wasn't like she was doing anything else.

So Kym made her way to Long Island in the hopes of finding something that would be at least mildly entertaining. It certainly paid off. 

There was a lone girl sitting on the beach, letting the water lap at her feet. She couldn’t be very old, a mere child by mortal standards, but she was looking out at the sea with a look that Kym often saw reflected in her own. That alone was enough to draw her in, but when she took a moment to take in the rest of her appearance, well, that was when Kym knew she was hooked. 

The young girl had dark curls, tan skin, and green eyes that Kym would recognize anywhere. She almost wanted to laugh. Poseidon had broken his oath, then. Honestly, she was surprised that he had lasted as long as he did. Everyone in their pantheon, and even those outside of it, knew that such an oath wasn’t going to last. Asking the big three not to have kids? Yeah, right. 

Wait. 

This was a child of Poseidon. Her half sibling. A demigod. And this was a girl . Holy Hades, this was getting better by the minute. Poseidon had never had a demigod daughter before. Sure, he had tons of goddesses as children, but all of his demigod children had been sons. They were all beginning to think he was simply incapable of having a demigod daughter. Which was probably for the best, actually. Poseidon didn’t really know how to parent a daughter. 

Yet here she stood, the first demigod daughter of Poseidon. And she was shaping up to be more like Kym than their dear father would probably prefer. And as the first mortal daughter of Poseidon, the girl was bound to be extremely powerful. Add onto that the fact that it had been decades since Poseidon had a child? Yeah, she was going to be an absolute terror to behold. Kym couldn’t wait. 

It was a shame. If it had been a son born with her powers, Poseidon would be over the moon with excitement. A pang of disappointment and - dare she say it - empathy went through her at the thought. She knew very well what fate probably awaited the girl when she entered the godly world. After all, she had experienced much of the same treatment herself. 

All of Poseidon’s godly daughters were often more powerful than his sons, as much as he seemed to hate to admit it. Triton was the Crown Prince of the seas, yet he was a mere messenger god when his sisters were infinitely more powerful. Rhode was older than him too, and yet she was cast aside and married to Helios. Not that her older sister minded that marriage, but still, it showed how little Poseidon thought of his daughters. 

Rhode was a queen in her own right and her marriage to Helios just made her more influential in the godly spheres. Even though Helios was retired from godly duties now, he still held sway over their relatives as one of the elder beings of the universe and Rhode benefited from that. Plus, they were hopelessly in love with each other. At least one of them got a happy marriage out of their parents meddling. 

Kym loved her sisters. They were the only people in her family she actually enjoyed talking to and who understood what it was like. Princesses of the sea they may all be, but they did not hold much power in their father’s court beyond their titles. Not like Triton did. 

Kym came after Rhode in age, and after her came Triton, the little thief. Then there were her little sisters - Herophile and Benthesikyme. Herophile had inherited the power of prophecy and was extremely gifted at what she did. Yet Poseidon didn’t pay much attention to her. He had given up prophecy as one of his domains eons ago, and he seemed to forget that one of his daughters still held said gift. Benthesikyme was a queen herself, just like Rhodes, and held power over peaceful waves. Benni was much more gentler than Kym herself, and so was able to tolerate their parents’ presence more often than she and even Rhode were able to. Honestly, that in and of itself was a gift. 

And those were just her full siblings - the son and daughters of Amphitrite and Poseidon. There were countless others. She meant it when she said the thought of Poseidon staying celibate was a long shot. Some of her half siblings were closer to their immediate family than others. There was Chrysaor, although he mostly stayed in the Mediterranean with his crew. Charybdis, the tragic girl, was one of her favorites. She would visit her sister more often than some of the others. 

These thoughts occupy her mind as she makes her way to the young girl with a storm in her eyes and around her very being. It was an impressive display of power for one so young. Kym couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit proud of her little half-sister. She could imagine her meeting their sisters now. Benni would adore her and Herophile would treasure her. Rhode would mother her and teach her how to survive in the world they lived in. And Kym, of course, would teach her how to make badass storms and be the best older sister ever. Oh, it had been so long since she had had a new little sister. 

“Hello, little demigod,” Kym greets, sitting on the sand beside her sister. She is in a more human form, but has not gotten rid of her godly aspects entirely. Her hair remains in the form of jellyfish tentacles that curl around her waist, and her eyes show a bit too much of her divinity, but otherwise she looks the same as any other human. With as much power as the girl held, trying to keep her ignorant of their world - as her mother was no doubt attempting to do - would only hinder her. Luckily for her, Kym was here to help her adjust. 

The girl looks up at her and gods, that expression is all Rhode. Kym can’t help the little smirk that makes its way onto her face. 

“Hello.” Hm. No reaction to the demigod part. Although she is making a storm. It can’t be too much of a jump to make. 

“Do you have a name, little sister?” Kym asks. The girl’s eyes widen at the familial term. 

“Persephone, but I prefer Persie, please,” she says, her soft voice in direct contrast to the storm in her eyes. 

“My name is Kymopoleia, but you can call me Kym, Persie.”

“Why did you call me little sister?” Persie asks. A curious little thing. Well, Kym can relate. 

“Your father is also my father. And you are much younger than me, little kraken. Hence, little sister,” Kym answers. Oh dear, she’s given the girl a nickname. She’s becoming attached in record time. 

“Are you a goddess?” Persie asks. Curious and intelligent. A dangerous combination. Not to worry though, Kym and her sisters will make sure she grows up well. Poseidon may not care for his daughters, but Kym would be damned before she let anything touch the precious little storm maker in front of her. She had no doubt her sisters would agree after they met their newest addition. 

“I am indeed. The goddess of violent storms and waves, at your service,” Kym announces with a flourish of her hand. She studies Persie for a reaction of some kind, but the change in her expression is only minimal. She seems to grow excited at the mention of storms which makes Kym’s own excitement grow in turn. 

“I like your hair,” Persie says shyly, before giving in to her eagerness. “If you’re the goddess of storms, does that mean you can create them? Like I do?”
“Just so,” Kym answers, a true smirk cutting across her face. Most people, some gods even, flinch away when she smiles like that. She’s well known for her violent and temperamental nature. And yet, Persie only smiles wider. 

“Can you teach me? I can only make storms when I’m really mad. And then I don’t know how to make them stop,” Persie says, a bit of fear creeping into her tone when she admits how little control she has over her powers. Kym remembers that feeling from her own youth, however many eons ago. She remembers the terror she felt when she leveled cities and the hurt at the fear in her family’s eyes (never her sisters, but her parents and brother). She wouldn’t let the little storm before her go through that any longer than she already had. 

“I would be delighted.”

Persie beams. 

“Do you know who my father is, then?” she asks, quieter this time. 

“You are the daughter of the Poseidon, God of the Seas, Storms, Earthquakes, Droughts, Floods, and Horses. King of Atlantis, the Earthshaker, and the Stormbringer,” Kym announces, only slightly sarcastic when listing off their father’s many titles. “And that, my little storm, makes you a princess of Atlantis.”
Persie’s eyes are wide at Kym’s declaration. She supposes it is a lot to drop on a kid. Oh well. Too late for that. 

“A princess? Atlantis is real?” she asks. 

“Of course. All the Greek gods are, do you know anything about them?”

“Yeah,” Persie nods. “My mom told me a bit about Greek mythology when I was little.”

“Good. I’ll probably have to teach you more, but it’s good you know some of the basics,” Kym says, a bit amused at the girl referring to herself as little in the past tense, as if she still wasn’t basically a baby. Herophile would absolutely be cooing over her, right about now. “And you’ll have to meet our other sisters, eventually. But I want to keep you to myself right now. Finders, keepers, and all that. But enough of that, we can talk more about that later.”

Persie just stares up at her, wide eyed. It was kind of a nice feeling. 

“We have other sisters?”

Kym snorts. Oh, baby sister, if only you knew.

“There are numerous other children of Poseidon, but I’ll introduce you to my full sisters, Rhode, Benni, and Herophile. They’ll love you.”

“Oh,” Persie answers, wringing her hands together in the first sign of discomfort since Kym had sat down with her. She frowns at this. 

“Why does that worry you?” 

Persie looks up at her in shock, abruptly placing her hands back at her sides. 

“It doesn’t,” she answers, much too quickly to be anything but an attempt at covering the truth. Kym levels a look at her, daring her to try to and lie. She could remember when Benni was still young and tried to get away with things. She was out of practice, but luckily it worked on Persie. She relents, continuing in a small voice. “Just, why would they like me?”

And Kym wants to rage at the self doubt in her little sister’s voice, the self deprecation she was all too familiar with. It was the kind of unsurety that arose from conditions where one was outcast amongst their peers. What had happened to make Persie feel such a thing at such a young age. Was it the girl’s mother? Her father might be neglectful, but he was usually better about choosing his partners. It didn’t matter. Kym would drown whoever was responsible the second they touched water. She would not grant them the mercy of a peaceful death. 

“I can think of a thousand reasons already, little kraken. Fear not. They shall adore you.”

“Really,” Persie asks, looking up at her with big eyes.

“Do you think I lie?”
“No!” she shakes her head fiercely. 

“Good. Now. Tell me why you think about yourself that way. Is it your mother’s doing?” Alright, so maybe Kym wasn’t the most subtle with her questioning, not like Rhode would be, but she figured it was best to get straight to the point rather than try to dance around the subject completely. 

“No,” Persie objects again, the same ferocity in her tone. “My mom is amazing! She just always has to work so I don’t get to see her a lot and I’m stuck with Smelly Gabe.”

Ah. Not the mom then, but still a mortal’s fault. 

“Oh?” Kym prompts, danger lurking beneath her tone. Yet Persie ignores it completely, continuing with her scorn for the mortal, too caught up in her own rage to notice Kym’s own building. 

“Yeah. He’s always mean to me and he calls me stupid, even though I try really hard in school! He’s the reason I came out here today. Mom’s working late and I couldn’t stand to be in the apartment anymore,” she explains, voicing her hatred of the man. Then she pauses again, absentmindedly bringing her hands back together to wring in front of her. There’s clearly more she wants to say.

“He is a terrible human,” Kym says gently, gentler than she has been in millenia. 

“He hits me sometimes,” Persie whispers, her voice barely a murmur above the raging winds surrounding them. Kym’s blood freezes at the utterance. A mortal dared lay his filthy hands on her little sister? “When mom’s not home. He says I can’t tell her because then he’ll hit her too. But you’re not my mom, you’re my big sister.”

Hearing Persie refer to her as a big sister somehow breaks Kym out of her rage induced haze enough to reel herself in, at least for the time being. Seems she would be paying this mortal a visit tonight, then. She knew Poseidon did not care as much for his daughters as he did his sons, knew that he was fickle with his affections, but she never would have imagined he would have allowed this abuse to continue. Was it possible he did not know of it? Was it possible he did not know of her ? Or was that simply wishful thinking?

“That’s right, I am your big sister,” Kym answers, voice deceptively calm. She doesn’t want Persie to think she’s upset with her, not when the girl is in such a vulnerable state. “Why don’t I help you calm down this storm a bit and then we can make a little trip to your apartment.”

“Okay,” she agrees, voice still small. Kym stands up gracefully, offering her hand to her sister and pulling her up when she takes it, putting a little bit more strength behind it than was necessary. Persie laughs at the resulting stumble she takes and Kym considers it a success. 

“You said your storms were connected to your emotions, yes?” Kym asks. Persie nods. “I’m guessing you were angry and upset earlier when you ran away and the storm reflected those feelings. You have to center yourself and calm yourself down to get the storm to calm down. Understand?”

“I think so.”

“Think of it like a reflection in a glass of water. When you feel something really strongly, it causes the water to ripple outwards, and the reaction builds. If you’re calm, then the water is calm.”

“I’m not good at being calm. All my teachers say I get angry too easily,” Persie admits. Oh, child, can Kym relate to that one. 

“That’s okay. I’ll be right here with you,” she comforts her. Kym holds her hands out in front of her, between the two of them. “Here, take my hands and try to copy my breathing. Just focus on each breath you take.”

Kym’s own hands dwarf Persie’s, and she can’t help but wonder how old the girl is. She’s not familiar with stages of mortal child development, and her sisters all grew up within a matter of days. She’d have to get herself updated on that. Her mom was busy, that was fine. Kym would watch over the girl herself. No way was she going to leave her little sister to fend for herself. 

Persie copies Kym as she takes in deep, exaggerated breaths. Slowly, the storm around them begins to calm down and the waves become less choppy. The storm itself really was an impressive display of power, especially for one so young. Kym wouldn’t be surprised if Persie was one of the first demigods to ascend in millenia. 

“I did it,” Persie says, astonishment coloring the words. She had so little faith in herself. Not to worry, Kym would change that. With the help of their sisters, of course. 

“You did it,” Kym affirms. “Now, why don’t you show me the way to your apartment so I can have a little chat with that stepfather of yours, hm?”

“You’ll be careful, though, right?” Persie asks. It’s adorable how much she cares, even only having met Kym a short while ago. A tad concerning too.

“Not to worry. I’m a goddess, remember? He won’t be able to touch me,” Kym answers amusedly. Persie nods in determination before leading the way to her apartment. As they make their way along the streets of New York City - and really, Kym needs to visit the mortal world more, none of it looks familiar, Kym changes her appearance to match those of the mortals around them. The mist was powerful, but there was a high probability she would be summoned to her father’s palace for what she was about to do. No need to add on the chance of having a mortal see her on top of that. 

With her hair now in the inky black waves that she inherited from her father - who in turn inherited them from grandmother Rhea - her and Persie look scarily alike. The similarities between the two were almost uncanny. It was delightful.

They reach Persie’s apartment and it takes every bit of her to not scoff at the place. Her sister was a princess, regardless of whether or not Poseidon decided to acknowledge her as one, and this was what she was forced to live in. Kym was about to spoil the shit out of her. Benni and Herophile would absolutely be so much worse.

“How… lovely,” she settles on, unwilling to offend her little sister regardless of the state of where she resided. Persie just shoots her a look - and oh she’s seen that face on Triton, isn’t that a scary thought - before answering. 

“You don’t have to be polite. Gabe makes it all disgusting,” she says with a roll of her eyes. While Kym doubted it was much to look at when clean, the numerous beer bottles and stench of cigarette smoke definitely wasn’t doing the place any favors. 

As if the mere mention of his name summoned the disgusting mortal himself, a whale of a man waddles out of the kitchen. She can see the moment Persie steals herself and straightens her spine in anticipation for what is to come, and can’t help but admire the girl for her bravery. 

“Is that you, brat?” the disgrace of a mortal man calls. 

“Persephone,” Kym says, using her sister’s full name for the first time that night. The girl in question looks up at her, gaze unwavering. “Would you like to stay for what I’m about to do or would you like to go to your room?”

Persie studies her, no doubt taking in the fury in Kym’s eyes and the barely restrained divinity leaking from her human form. She was not going to regret what she was about to do, but Persie was young. It was only fair to give her a choice. Besides, she didn’t think her little sister had too many of those. 

“I would like to stay,” she answers softly. Kym gives her a curt nod.

“Stay right here then. If you wish to leave at any time, wait for me in the hall.”

“Who are you?” the mortal - Gabe, Persie had called him - sneers when he notices Kym standing in the entryway. 

“Oh you needn’t worry about that,” Kym purrs, stalking forward with all the fury of the sea. 

“Now listen here, you -” he starts to rant, spittle flying from his lips, but Kym cuts him off. 

“Tell me, Gabriel, was it?” Kym asked, not waiting for a response. “Are you a religious man?”

“What kind of a question is that?” he splutters. “Get out of my house, you crazy lady!”

Kym laughs and the sound is harsh and unforgiving. It is not a mortal laugh. It is the sounds of ships capsizing from her storms, of waves crashing into one another, of men screaming as they succumb to their watery deaths. The mortal pales at the sound, and Kym grins with pleasure. Her teeth are sharp, more shark-like than anything. 

“What are you?” he whimpers as she takes a step forward. “Do you want the brat? You can have her!”

“You are a vile, pathetic excuse of a man,” Kym hisses, gripping his face with slender fingers that end in translucent claws. “I take great delight in ending your miserable existence. You have offended the sea, and you shall answer for your crimes.”

She very much does not look mortal now. She is not in her divine form, she doesn’t want to hurt Persie. Besides, such a death would be too quick for someone who has harmed her own so grievously. 

Kymopoleia is the goddess of violent storms, and that is the power she summons in a little apartment in a rundown part of New York City. She hones the rushing in her blood, focuses it on just the man in front of her, building the storm from the inside out. It’s a miniature version of one of her usual storms, but it holds the same amount of power. As it builds, it is disrupting his bodily functions, putting too much pressure on his mortal body. Eventually, he will reach his limits and his body will become one with the storm and he will cease to exist. It’s an extremely painful death and a trick she hasn’t used since the heydays of Ancient Greece. 

It’s what he deserves. 

Within a minute, the man is gone. Kym only regrets she couldn’t make it last longer. Mentally, she sends a quick prayer to Melinoe and Zagreus. The two were children of Hades and Persephone and surprisingly, some of her favorite family members. After her siblings, of course. She would check in with them later and ensure that the mortal found no reprieve, even in death. They would probably be delighted. 

And then Kym remembers that there is a very young, very impressionable young girl standing behind her who has watched the whole thing. Oh, well. Mine as well get her used to the brutality of the godly world now before she’s thrust into it later. 

Yet where she expected to see disgust and derision, even Rhode hadn’t been a fan of that trick of hers, Persie is worryingly blank. Maybe Kym shouldn’t be entrusted with kids. 

“Are you okay, little kraken?”

Persie blinks, almost surprised to be addressed, then breaks out into a grin.

“Is he really gone?”

“Oh, I can assure you he is with our uncle now. And trust me, he will find no rest in death, either. I shall make sure of it.”

Persie lets out a relieved laugh before furrowing her brow. 

“Our uncle?” she asks under her breath, talking to herself. “Do you mean Hades?”

“That would be the one. Believe me, he’s the better uncle. You do not want to be forced to deal with thunder head. He’s a pain in the ass,” Kym confirms. It was true, she much preferred Hades to Zeus. Not that she saw much of either of them, but she was close with Melinoe and Zagreus so she had heard enough about Hades over the centuries to know that he was infinitely better than the King of the Gods. 

Persie giggles and then launches herself forwards, wrapping her arms and legs around Kym’s torso in an uncanny impression of an octopus. Kym is caught off guard and stumbles a bit before regaining her balance. 

“Thank you,” Persie whispers in her ear, voice thick with emotion. Kym brings her hands up to support her little sister’s weight against her. 

“Of course. You are of the sea, and we protect our own,” she responds. “Although if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were part octopus.”

Persie giggles at this, squeezing Kym tighter. Kym just grins, well used to such treatment from Benni. Seems two of her little sisters were huggers. 

“Not an octopus!” Persie corrects. “A kraken.”

Kym barks a laugh at that. Seems she had taken a liking to her nickname, then. 

“My mistake,” she drawls. Kym lets her slide down until her feet touch the floor once more and observes her, checking the girl over once more to ensure she is entirely safe. She can just imagine the lecture she would get if she had managed to get their new sister injured within a few hours of meeting her. “How old are you?”

“I’m nine,” Persie grins.

“But you’re so tiny,” Kym says aghast. “Is that normal for mortals?”

“I don’t know. I think I’m small for my age. But I’ll grow!”
“I’m sure you will,” Kym ruffles her hair and Persie pouts before adopting a serious face once more. She mourns the loss of her sister truly acting her age. 

“Are you going to leave now?” Persie asks. 

“Yes.”

“Will you come back?”

“Of course. I have to go visit our sisters, and make a trip to see some of my friends, but I’ll be back in three days at the latest,” Kym says. 

“Promise?”

“I swear.”

“Okay, then,” Pesie nods, seemingly satisfied. “You will be safe?”

Kym laughs at the innocent questions. 

“Of course. I might even bring one of our sisters along with me when I return.”

“Really?”

“You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Chapter 2

Well, Kym was right about being summoned to the Atlantean Palace after her latest stunt. She had just flashed home - a modest palace of her own, gifted to her by Rhode and Helios as a wedding present - when she received the summons from one of Triton’s messengers. 

‘King Poseidon and Queen Amphitrite request your presence in Atlantis at your soonest convenience.’ Yeah, right. What a joke. Kym almost wanted to snort. She was definitely going to get yelled at and she was almost certainly going to have to deal with Triton’s stupid, smug face the whole time. Gods, she hated going to Atlantis. 

She still didn’t regret a thing. 

She would show any monster or god alike just what happens if they lay a hand on her little sister. She was the same way with Benni and Herophile - and Rhode to a lesser degree - and they were able to take care of themselves. Persie was mortal, she was even more at risk, no matter how powerful she was. 

It is with great reluctance, and not a small amount of grumbling under her breath, that Kym flashes herself outside the gates of Atlantis. It was a pretty city, but the entire ambience was ruined by the fact that her family resided inside. Oh, joy of joys. 

She makes her way inside the palace, the guards nodding to her as she swims along, and to the throne room. She was pretty much just assuming that that was where he and her mother would be. They weren’t very specific with their summons. 

“Oh, dear father of mine. I have answered your summons and come to your home post haste! Why hast thou called for me?” Kym announces, overly dramatic and just a slight sarcastic, as she throws open the double doors that lead into the throne room. Luckily, her parents are indeed in there. Otherwise, that would have been an embarrassing failure. 

“Kymopoleia,” Poseidon sighs wearily, already looking entirely done with being in her presence. Honestly, she might have just set a new record. 

“It is lovely to see you, Kym,” Amphitrite says from her throne beside Poseidon. Her mother disguises her irritation better than her father, but she can see the small signs that she also isn’t looking forward to this meeting. Aren’t her parents simply the best. 

“Thank you, mother,” she answers. “Why did you ask me here?”

“Were you in New York last night?” Poseidon asks. Straight to the point. Hopefully she will be getting out of here soon. She wanted to announce her news to her sisters. 

“I was indeed.”

“Zeus complained of a storm.” Oh shit. That would be Persie. She would have to move up the lessons on control, then. Not really her forte, but Rhode could help. Probably. In all honesty, control wasn’t really any of their priorities. The sea doesn’t like to be restrained, and all that. 

“That would be me. Goddess of violent storms, here,” Kym says, disguising her nerves behind a facade of carelessness. She would gladly take the blame for this one. “The mortals were being annoying and I wanted to shake things up a bit.”

“Just. Try not to get too close to Olympus. You know my brother gets fussy about us getting involved in his domains.”

Yeah, well it's not his domain is it? He was the god of the sky and lightning, great for him. She was the goddess of violent storms. What right did he have to tell her where she was able to create storms. 

“Yeah, yeah. Stay away from New York, got it. Was there anything else?”

“Don’t be so glib, Kymopoleia. You’re creating problems for your father,” Amphitrite interjected, a stern look on her frowning face. 

Believe her, Poseidon was plenty capable of creating problems all on his own. Especially when it came to Zeus. Or little demigods that he swore he wouldn’t have anymore. 

“As you say, mother,” is Kym’s only response. “Can I go now?”

“Yes, you can go,” Poseidon dismisses, looking for all the world like he would rather be arguing with Zeus than talking with her. Kym grits her teeth and smiles unkindly in response. 

“Mother. Father,” she nods her head briefly in each of their directions and then heads out the way she came in. That could have been a letter. Or an IM. Did they really have to make her come all this way just for them to scold her? It wasn’t like they were enjoying themselves either.

She makes her way through the halls, ignoring anyone she passes. She wasn’t in the mood to entertain any of the mers her parents employed. Not that she really ever was, though she supposed she might have to suffer through conversations with them if Persie wanted to be introduced to any of their subjects. Maybe she’d just pawn it off on Herophile. Or Benni. 

“And the prodigal daughter returns home once more,” comes an irritatingly familiar drawl. Kym curses internally, turning around with a grimace on her face. “What did you do this time, dear sister?”

“Triton. How lovely to see you. Don’t you have irrelevant messages to deliver?” 

Do the fates hate her? Is this ‘run into everyone Kym doesn’t want to see’ day? Will her husband be waiting for her around the corner? They haven’t seen each other in centuries and she’s not looking to break that streak. Was Tyche bored again?

“You’re as unrefined as ever,” he drawls. 

“And you’re your usual, dickish self. Is there a reason you’re bothering me or were you just bored?”

“Simply making sure you don’t throw another tantrum and level the palace once more,” Triton says. 

“Don’t worry. If I was going to do that again, I’d ensure you were inside when I reduced it to ruins,” Kym hisses. Why was he always such a brat? That happened once, literal eons ago. And she was totally justified in her reaction.

“So violent,” he tuts mockingly. “No wonder father only invites you to the palace when you’ve done something wrong.”

Kym wants to bash his face against the wall. Or maybe repeat her little trick from last night. That would be satisfying. 

“At least I’m not stuck playing errand boy as the heir to an immortal being ,” Kym retorts, sickeningly sweet. 

“You’re such a little -” Triton starts, puffing himself up before their mother interrupts them. 

“Children, behave,” Amphitrite scolds. “Kym, I thought you were leaving.”

“I am just. I just had to stop and say hello to my favorite brother,” she says, derision dripping from every word. “Have fun playing messenger boy, Triton.”
Kym hurries away as he hurls curses at her retreating figure. She snickers to herself. He was definitely going to get himself in trouble with some of what he was saying to her. That alone might have made the trip worth it. 

-

Her next stop is much more fun. It’s time to update her sisters on what she’s discovered. If there was one benefit to being summoned to Atlantis, it was that she now knew that her father was none the wiser when it came to her finding out about Persie. Not that him knowing would have stopped her from interfering, but it made her life so much easier that he was still in the dark. Luckily, Poseidon didn’t pay much attention to what she and her sisters did, so they should be perfectly fine to visit their latest addition. 

Kym had IM’ed them, asking if they could meet at Rhode’s palace this afternoon. It was their go to spot whenever they hung out. Rhode and Helios’ island was gorgeous but isolated, so they wouldn’t have to worry about anyone interrupting them. Other than Helios, that was. But he was normally pretty good about leaving them be. 

She emerges from the water on the shores of Rhodos and makes her way to the gilded palace where her sister and brother in law reside. Rhodos was always beautiful and rarely had poor weather, perhaps a byproduct of the fact that Helios used to be a sun deity. Still, Kym was grateful that Rhode had been wed to someone who she fell in love with and who loved her in turn. It was a rare fate amongst their family. 

“Well, look who’s finally arrived,” says Rhode when she spots Kym in the entryway. 

“Terribly sorry to keep you waiting,” Kym apologizes sarcastically. “Our dearest brother wanted to strike up a conversation with me. I got a tad bit held up.”

“Oh, I’m sure you loved that,” Rhode says. 

“Obviously.”

“Come, Herophile and Benni are already in the parlor.” 

Rhode leads her along the familiar path to the elegant parlor they normally meet in. The room has large, floor to ceiling windows along the wall facing out to sea that bathe it in sparkling sunlight. The room itself is tasteful and refined, handpicked by Rhode about a century ago. No doubt she would be working on redesigning it sometime soon. Her sister always did get bored when things stayed stagnant for too long. 

“You’re here!” cries Benni, interrupting whatever conversation she had been holding with Herophile. Kym shoots her a wry grin. 

“I am so happy to see - three letters, used to refer to a person,” says Herophile. Their youngest sister - or formerly youngest sister now - had inherited Poseidon’s ancient domain of prophecy. Their father had given it up long before she was born in favor of Apollo, but the Fates acted as they wished. Because of it, Herophile often forgot words, opting to use their definitions instead. All of them had gotten quite used to deciphering the little puzzles she gave. 

“I’m glad to see you, as well,” Kym says, ruffling her hair before plopping herself down onto one of the chaises. 

“Now, why did you call us all here? We weren’t supposed to meet up for another month yet, I thought. Something to do with you being called to Atlantis, perhaps?” Rhode questions. 

“Sort of, but not quite. Believe me, though. You’re going to want to hear this.”

“What is it?” asks Benthesikyme. 

“Father has broken his oath,” Kym announces with all the tact she is famous for - none. Rhode chokes on the sip of water she was taking and Benni leans forward in her seat in interest. Herophile remains calm, no doubt having foreseen something to do with this. Or simply not surprised at their father’s infidelity. 

“And why are you so excited about this? Normally you can’t care less about our father’s mortal sons,” says Rhodes. 

“That’s just the thing. His latest demigod is a daughter! We have a new sister!” Kym announces, excitement thrumming in her veins. Rhode does a double take once more and now both Benni and Herophile look excited. 

“A girl?” Benni says in wonder. “Oh, how old is she? What’s her name?”

“Where does she - four letters, to make one’s home in?” asks Herophile. Rhode doesn’t ask anything, but she looks just as invested as their younger sisters. What choice does Kym have but to indulge them?

“Her name is Persephone Jackson, but she prefers to go by Persie. She’s only nine years old and she lives in New York City with her mother.”

“A baby!” Benni exclaims. It's pretty much the same thought Kym had herself when she saw Persie last night. To gods that had been alive for millenia, a nine year old was practically an infant. 

“I’m assuming that’s not all. You were called to Atlantis this morning, Kym. Why?” Rhode asks, discerning as ever. 

“There was a storm over Long Island last night. Uncle got tetchy about it,” Kym states petulantly. It wasn’t her storm, but she was taking the blame for it, so she figured she got to be a little bitter about Zeus’ dramatics. 

“And?”
“It wasn’t mine.”

“It was Persie’s? She must be - eight letters, for having great force,” Herophile muses. 

“Yeah. I went exploring to see if it was another weather god, and imagine my surprise when there was just a little girl who looked remarkably like Poseidon in the eye of the storm instead. Truly, father is lucky that I stumbled across her. She knew nothing about our world and Zeus might’ve discovered her if I wasn’t also present.”

“Aw, look at you being all protective over our baby sister,” Benni coos.

“Well, that’s not all,” Kym admits. “She was out there in the first place because a disgusting excuse of a mortal had struck her across the face and forced her out of her own home.”

She watches as the eyes of her sisters all collectively darken around her at that little piece of information. None of them would take any threats to their family lightly. They may all be minor goddesses, but they were still a force to be reckoned with. If push came to shove, they would have quite a few allies backing them up. 

“I’m assuming you took care of it? Otherwise, I must admit my disappointment, Kymopoleia and I’ll take care of it myself,” Rhode announces, voice deceptively calm. 

“Of course I already took care of him,” Kym scoffs. “What do you take me for? That reminds me, I need to call on Melinoe and Zagreus. He deserves special treatment for daring to lay his disgusting hands on one of ours.”

“I’m sure they’ll be more than happy to - five letters, do as you ask,” Herophile comments darkly. It’s always a bit unnerving to see her younger sister’s usually sunny disposition yield to her fury, as it so rarely happens. Persie already had herself some fierce protectors. 

“And if they don’t, I could always ask Helios if he could put a word in with Hades,” Rhode offers. Kym considers it for a moment before ultimately deciding against it. 

“It’d be best not to draw too much attention to her. You know what happened to the other demigod when uncle found out about her,” Kym decides. All of their faces pale at the reminder. Before, the untimely fate of Zeus’ daughter had been tragic, but ultimately unrelated to them. Now, however, with the very real threat of it happening to their latest family member, their uncles’ retribution seemed much more real and daunting. No wonder Poseidon had been attempting to keep Persie’s existence a secret, no matter how poor of a job he was doing.

“I want to meet her,” Benni proclaims, thankfully switching the conversation from the dark path it was beginning to take. 

“I told her I would visit her again tomorrow at the latest. Her mother works often and she doesn’t have much of anyone at home, especially now that her pig of a stepfather is gone,” Kym reveals. 

“Thank the gods,” Rhode mutters under her breath. 

“She’s excited to meet you all, but she’s shy and doesn’t think highly of herself,” she continues. 

“No doubt because of that mortal. If only we had found her sooner,” Benni huffs, eyes narrowed in consideration. In that moment, Kym is sure that if her sister could fight the universe, she would. 

“Plus, we need to help her understand her abilities. Kym said she was strong. If we want her to remain undetected, she needs to be able to control her powers,” Rhode points out. 

“And it will help her when she has to go on a - five letters, to search for something,” Herophile adds. 

“Ugh, don’t even remind me about the quests,” Benni bemoans. “Those stupid rules about divine intervention are going to drive me wild, I just know it.” 

She was right about that. Kym had only known Persie for a day, but if she was forced to watch while her baby sister was in mortal danger, there would definitely be quite a few natural disasters occuring. Demigods were not good for one’s stress levels, apparently. 

“We’ll just have to make sure she’s the best demigod who ever lived, then, won’t we?” Kym asks rhetorically. She was already planning out who she wanted to introduce Persie to and what she wanted to teach her. Maybe she could see if their grandparents had any magical artifacts or weapons they would give her? Persie could get all the help she could get, and it was like Kym had to let Oceanus and Tethys know who she would be giving it to. 

Out of all her siblings, she was on the best terms with Amphitrite’s parents. She thought it had something to do with being the outcast of the family. Oceanus and Tethys, for as much as they were related to the royal Atlantean family, weren’t often included in things and stayed to themselves in their palace in the depths of the ocean. Oh, Kym knew they talked to deities from other pantheons, but not many others did. 

“So, we’re decided then? You’ll all come with me tomorrow to see our littlest sister.”

Chapter 3

Kym is nervous. She can’t remember the last time she was actually nervous about something. Not apprehensive or dreadful, but anxious about how her littlest sister would react. Kym wasn’t known for being friendly or welcoming. She had driven off countless members of her family and it was rare that she actually managed to suffer through meetings with the other gods. Hell, most of the gods she actually did get along with were from other pantheons and were violent water deities themselves. How was she to manage taking care of a fragile, mortal child? 

With that in mind - and after she had calmed down from a minor mental breakdown over her unsuitability for taking care of a child - Rhode had suggested that they not overwhelm Persie by having her meet them all at once. As such, Rhode was the one they had decided would accompany Kym to meet Persie today, much to Benni and Herophile’s chagrin. Even Helios wanted to meet her, but they had decided to put that meeting off for as long as possible. The primordial deities might not care much for the gods’ attempt at playing politics - cough, cough, Zeus’ ridiculous rules - but they still didn’t need to go around advertising Persie’s existence. Especially not before she had a grasp on her powers. 

Helios, Selene, and Eos were primordial beings of the sun, moon, and dawn respectively. Retired though they may be, that didn’t make their presence any less daunting. No need to scare Persie off before she got to know any of them. Kym may have gotten used to Helios’ specific brand of eccentricity and chaos when he married Rhode, but that didn’t mean many other deities did. It was always fun to see the gods who visited flounder when they didn’t know how to react to Helios’ more out there tendencies. She was half convinced he did it just to spite them all at this point. It was hilarious. 

Still, even the thoughts of her crazy brother in law didn’t take Kym’s mind completely off of meeting up with Persie, and her fidgety behavior must have been evident because Rhode interrupted her musing with a sigh. 

“What are you worried about? You’ve already met her and she adored you. I’m the one who should be pacing a hole in the floor about it, not you.”

Kym shoots her sister a glare. Rhode could pretend to be the levelheaded one all she liked, and in comparison to Kym’s own volatile moods it was an accurate depiction, but she knew her sister was just as untameable as the rest of them. 

“I met her once and only for a few hours and then proceeded to discorporate her vile stepfather in a way that even some of our more brutal family members aren’t fond of. You at least have a blank slate to work with.”

Rhode simply rolls her eyes. 

“Now you’re being absurd. That mortal deserved it from what you told me. Besides, didn’t you talk to Melinoe and Zagreus about dealing with his eternal punishment. You said they agreed with your actions.”

“Yeah, because Chthonic deities such as the goddess of nightmares and the god of rebirth are such brilliant examples to base the mortals’ beliefs and morals off of,” Kym deadpans.

“Hey, they’re your friends,” Rhode says.

“I’m not a good example of moral righteousness either, Rhode! That’s the whole point,” Kym says, gesticulating wildly with her hands. 

“Look at it this way. You said Persie was only, what, nine? And she didn’t react poorly to you murdering that mortal? She’s probably more in line with your type of thinking already, and with us all raising her, she’ll end up fitting in right along with our more morally ambiguous thinking in no time,” Rhode points out. Wow. They were really not equipped to raise a mortal child. Oh, well. Poseidon should have thought of that before leaving his insanely powerful demigod somewhere where they could so easily find her. Really, this was all his fault. 

“Okay, you’re right. This is fine. We’re going to be fine,” Kym says, trying to calm herself down. There was a minor storm occurring somewhere off the coast of New Zealand at the moment. Whoops. She’d have to pay a visit to Tangaroa soon. It would probably be fine. The Maori god was as disposed to violence as he was to peace. Still, no need to push boundaries when her parents were already breathing down her neck enough as it is. 

“That is what I’ve been trying to tell you. Now, are we ready to go? I don’t want to wait all day,” Rhode complains. There is an undercurrent of energy that betrays how excited she truly is at the thought of meeting Persie. 

“Yeah, yeah. You’re as bad as your husband, you know.”

“You take that back,” Rhode gasps. 

“Never,” Kym cackles. 

-- 

When the two of them arrive on the shores of the beach Kym had first found Persie at, the little girl is already sitting there waiting for them. She looks much more relaxed than she had two nights prior. The waves are lapping gently at her feet and she sits calmly, simply enjoying being on the beach. 

“Kym!” Persie shouts, springing up from the sand when she spots the two of them. She rushes forward, the water not holding her back whatsoever, to launch herself at Kym. At the last moment, Kym realizes what’s about to happen and braces herself enough to catch the little demigod without sending them both tumbling down. “You’re here!”

“Of course I am. Did you doubt me, little sister?” Kym asks.

“Never,” Persie denies vehemently. Still in Kym’s arms, she suddenly realizes that there is another being with them. She tilts her head as she studies Rhode but doesn’t say anything. 

“I told you I was going to bring one of our sisters with me, didn’t I? This is Rhode,” Kym introduces. 

“Are you a goddess, too? Like Kym?” 

“I am. I govern the island of Rhodos with my husband,” Rhode answers softly. 

“So you’re like a queen?” Persie asks, eyes wide. Rhode grins. 

“I suppose I am.”

“Why don’t we all step out of the ocean and back onto land? I’m sure it would look a bit odd if anyone were to pass us by,” Kym suggests. The Mist only did so much and she wasn’t about to take any chances with her newly discovered sibling. The three of them make their way back to the shoreline and settle onto the sand. 

“Mom was so surprised when Smelly Gabe never showed back up at the apartment. We had to go to the police station to report him missing. Some of the other tenants say they saw him leave the building, but I don’t know how that’s possible since you made him explode into nothing. Did you do something?” Persie rants excitedly. She talks quickly, barely stopping to take a breath. It reminds Kym of how Benni and Herophile were when they were younger. Honestly, they were still like that sometimes. 

“It was probably the Mist,” Rhode muses. “Although normally it only covers things up, instead of creating things that didn’t happen. I’d bet Melinoe got Hekate involved.”

Kym had great friends. She’d have to visit the Underworld sometime soon. Mel would probably want to meet Persie, but she wasn’t idiotic enough to bring her sister into Hades’ domain. That would be asking for trouble. She’d invite Mel and Zagreus to visit Persie on land some other time. 

“The Mist?” Persie asks, cocking her head like a baby dolphin. It was adorable. “What’s that?”

“Kym told you we are Greek goddesses, yes?” Rhode confirms. Persie nods. “Well, we are not the only things from the Greek myths to exist. There are all types of monsters and spirits that roam the earth, but the Mist keeps mortals from seeing them to protect them from our world.”

“Oh. Who is Hek-ah-tay, then?” Persie asks, deliberately sounding out the unfamiliar name.

“Hekate is the goddess of magic, crossroads, and necromancy. And a bunch of other domains, but the primary one for your question is magic. She’s in charge of the Mist,” Kym explains. “One of my friends, Melinoe, works closely with her, so she probably asked her to help cover up your stepfather’s disappearance.”

“Cool,” Persie breathes. 

“How much do you know about the Greek myths, Persie,” Rhode asks, taking in their little sister’s excitement. Persie shrugs. 

“The basics. Mom used to read me stories about them when I was little, but I don’t know a lot. Why?”

“You’re a part of our world now, and you need to understand how it works if you want to defend yourself. We should probably get you some books,” Rhode says, thinking to herself. 

“Like homework?” Persie asks, making a face. It’s clear what she thinks about the extra reading Rhode is about to assign, but it was necessary. “I’m not very good at reading. All the letters move around and then my teachers always get mad at me.”

Kym frowns. She vaguely remembers overhearing something about that being a common trait amongst demigods, but she hadn’t paid it any attention at the time. Damn, she was going to have to look up information on what was normal for demigods, wasn’t she?

“Don’t worry, these books should be easier for you to read. They’re in Ancient Greek and are from my personal library,” Rhode assures. “And they shouldn’t be too boring to read, anyway.”
“I don’t know Ancient Greek, though,” Persie frowns. Rhode waves away her concern. 

“Not to worry. Your brain is hardwired for the language, you’ll pick it up in no time. We should also get you started on Atlantean while we’re at it. I’ll bring you some books about Atlantis too. Any princess of the sea should know it.”

Rhode was such a nerd. It was probably best she was one of the first of their siblings introduced to Persie. Out of all of them, she would probably take best to teaching her the more intellectual parts of being a demigod. There was a reason she was often associated with Athena by the Ancient Greeks back in the day. In comparison, Kym was much more of a hands-on learner. 

“And they won’t be boring?” Persie asks, a slight frown still on her face. It’s clear she’s not enthusiastic about learning, but she’s not entirely opposed to it either. 

“There might be some boring parts, but they’re necessary for you to be able to survive. Besides, you’ll be able to break up the monotony with more exciting lessons from Kym in the meantime. And once you meet Benni and Herophile they’ll surely keep you occupied.”

“Okay,” Persie agrees, brightening up considerably at the thought of spending time doing other things as well. 

“Just promise me one thing,” Rhode says in mock seriousness. “You won’t say I’m your least favorite sister just because I make you read books.”

Persie giggles to herself and Kym can’t help but smile at the happiness on her face. 

“I promise.”

“Good. Now, I know Kym promised to help you control your powers, and I’m going to help you learn more about the myths, but we also need to teach you how to fight,” Rhode adds. 

“Ugh, none of us are particularly great at using weapons,” Kym says, scrunching up her nose in thought. She preferred to stick to using her powers, as did Bentheksyme, and Herophile didn’t often fight. Triton was the most adept at weapons, preferring a trident, but like hell would she reach out to that bastard to help with training Persie.

“You’re going to hate this, then,” Rhode says mischievously. Kym feels the color drain from her face, already dreading the thought. 

“Don’t even say it,” she hisses. 

“Chrysaor is one of the best swordsmen to have ever lived.”

“Why would you even utter his name,” Kym bemoans. “Just because he’s adept at one little weapon doesn’t mean we should entrust him with Persie. What if he sells her out? Or us out? Have you not forgotten that father would not be pleased with us interfering?”

“Oh don’t give me that look. First off, Chrysaor is more than adept at sword fighting and you know it. Secondly, he’s brilliant at multiple different weapons and if we want Persie to not only survive, but thrive in our world, she needs to have the best teacher available and we’re a bit limited when it comes to options at the moment. Thirdly, it's not like we’re going to leave her alone with him. I’m not an idiot,” Rhode says, looking down her nose at Kym. 

“Why do you think he would even help us in the first place?” Kym counters, throwing her hands in the air. 

“He owes me a favor,” Rhode answers. 

“Oh, great. That’s just what we need. Chrysaor only doing it because he has to. It’s not like that will end poorly at all.”

“You know that he always holds up his end of a deal,” Rhode says. “You just don’t like him because he embarrassed you a century ago. Get over it. He’s better than Triton.”

“That is not something that is difficult to achieve,” Kym deadpans.

“Who’s Chrysaor?” Persie asks. Kym startles, almost having forgotten she was listening in on our little debate. 

“A pain in the ass, that’s who,” Kym answers.

“He’s your older brother. He’s a pirate and is incredible with a sword and brilliant at a variety of other weapons,” Rhode says, rolling her eyes at Kym. 

“He sounds fun,” Persie says innocently. Kym pouts. They just don’t understand how annoying the little runt is. And no, Rhode, she is not begrudgingly fond of him, why would you even say that.

“He’s also the son of Medusa, so you know. There’s that,” Kym adds. Rhode shoots her a look. “What? I’m not going to send her into the deep end without all the facts. Isn’t that the whole point of us helping to raise her?”

“Um, doesn’t Medusa turn people to stone?” Persie asks hesitantly. 

“Well, yes. But Chrysaor isn’t all that bad. And the myths revolving around Medusa are all very convoluted and involve a lot of different interpretations depending on the era you’re looking at,” Rhode begins to lecture. Kym cuts her off, sure that Persie wasn’t in the mood to sit through one of Rhode’s history lessons. 

“Maybe save the historical interpretation for another time, yeah?” 

“Whatever,” Rhode huffs. 

“It’s up to you, little kraken. We could always try to find a different instructor. And one of us would always be with you when you were with him anyway,” Kym says. She has a feeling that she wouldn’t be able to argue her way out of this decision. Rhode could be frustratingly stubborn when she wanted to be. It was annoying. 

“I’ll be able to learn how to use a sword? And other weapons?” Persie asks. They both nod in affirmation. “Then I’d like to do it.”

“Perfect,” Rhode says. Her grin is shark like and Kym almost feels bad for her little brother at that point. Almost. She was still holding a grudge about the little prank he had pulled on her last time they were all summoned to Atlantis. Chrysaor was going to be teaching Persie whether he wanted to or not. “I’ll set that up later, then. For now, tell me a little bit about yourself. You said you live with your mom?”

“Yeah! My mom is great. She always makes the best food and she tells amazing stories. And she makes the best cookies ever. I’ll have to bring you some next time you come. You’re going to come back soon, right? I’m not busy right now because it’s summer, but I’m going back to school in August. Well, I’m going to a different school. I got kicked out of my last one because I accidentally pulled the wrong lever on this field trip to the aquarium and my whole class fell into the shark tank. I don’t know why they were all freaking out, though. The sharks were really nice. Actually, I thought they were talking to me. Is that a thing I can do? Talk to sea animals? Can you talk to sea animals? Are they sentient? Should I not be eating fish if I can talk to them? Is that like cannibalism since I’m part god or whatever. Am I part fish? Kym had cool hair that looked like a jellyfish last time. Are you guys part fish?” Persie says.

Kym is surprised that she managed to say all that without passing out. She was definitely going to get along swimmingly with Benni and Herophile. Hah. Get it, swimmingly? Yeah, okay, she’ll shut up now. 

“If anyone’s part fish, it's Triton. And I wouldn’t worry about offending him. He’s a little bitch on the best of days,” Kym mutters. “Although thank you for complimenting my hair. One of my forms is part jellyfish, so I like to keep it when I can. I figured I’d go for a more mortal look today, though.”

“So you can change forms? Can you look however you want? Is that something all gods can do?”

“For the most part, yeah. Our divine forms would disintegrate you if you saw them, so we always use mortal forms when we visit,” Kym explains. “I’m sure Rhode will end up telling you more about it during one of your lessons.”

“Did you say you were kicked out because your class fell into a shark tank?” Rhode interrupts, a mixture of confusion and shock on her face. Persie did say that, didn’t she? That was kind of impressive for a nine year old. Hermes would have been proud, not that he’ll ever know about her if Kym has anything to say about it. “How did that even happen?”

“Oh, the tour guide told me to pull a lever to feed them, and I swear he said the right one, but I guess he said the left one and we ended up falling into the tank. Nobody got hurt though so I don’t know why everyone was so freaked out,” Persie exclaims, pouting a little bit. Kym laughs at that. Yeah, her little sister was going to be a menace for sure. “It’s not the first time something like that has happened either.”

“Oh? What do you mean?” asks Rhode. This was going to be good, Kym could just tell. 

“Well, one time I went to a Catholic school and they had me exorcized because they thought I was possessed by a demon. I actually didn’t get kicked out of there, Mom pulled me out. Thinking back, it probably had to do with my powers, right?” Persie muses before quickly moving along. “Then there was a time that a cannon exploded our bus at a museum, but I maintain that that wasn’t my fault. Sometimes I just get kicked out because of my ‘disrespectful attitude’ and ‘unwillingness to follow the rules’, whatever that means. I’ve actually never stayed at a school for more than one year.”

“Oh my gods!” Kym laughs, clutching her sides. “I love you. You’re amazing. If you ever, and I mean ever, meet Hermes, he’s going to want to adopt you.”

Rhode looks absolutely confused. 

“How does that even happen to one person? I’m shocked they keep letting you into different schools.”

Persie pouts, but a smile threatens to overtake her face. It just makes Kym laugh harder. 

“The sea doesn’t like to be restrained,” Kym says, deepening her voice in an imitation of Poseidon. The amount of times their father used that excuse at council meetings when Zeus was being particularly irritating was innumerable. 

“You’re terrible,” says Rhode, but she looks fond of her antics nonetheless. 

“Never change, little kraken, never change,” Kym announces, finally managing to calm herself down. Persie is wearing a shit-eating grin. 

“If her mother ever finds out about us encouraging her daughter’s poor habits, she’s going to want to murder us,” Rhode mutters. 

“Luckily, sister dear, we are immortal beings.”

“For the sake of my sanity, little sister,” Rhode says, directing her attention to Persie. “Please try not to take too much after dear Kymopoleia here. One of her is already too much.”
“Hey! You’re so mean to me,” Kym cries. 

“Need I remind you of the multiple palaces you’ve destroyed?” Rhode asks, raising a brow chastisingly. 

“That was eons ago, let it go already,” Kym moans. 

“Hey, they weren’t my palaces,” Rhode says, her hands in the air in the universal signal for surrender. “Father is the one who has yet to let it go.”

“You destroyed palaces?” Persie asks, a look of wonder on her face. Kym cringes. So she destroyed a few buildings when she was still a young goddess. It wasn’t her fault no one taught her control. And yet no one would ever let her forget it!

“Maybe just a bit,” she admits. 

“See, Persie? Don’t follow Kym’s example. She’s a horrible influence,” Rhode announces. This air of superiority just wouldn’t do. 

“I seem to recall you almost flooding an island on your wedding night, my lovely elder sister,” Kym teases, an evil smirk on her face. Rhode goes red at the reminder. 

“Shut up, Kym! You said you wouldn’t bring that up!” Rhode hisses, launching herself at Kym. They both go tumbling in the sand, grappling with each other. Persie giggles from where she remains untouched by their mock battle. 

“All’s fair in love and war, Rhode,” Kym shoots back with a wide grin.

“Now you sound like Aphrodite. What would Enyo say?” Rhode tuts mockingly.

“Enyo would say to do whatever was necessary to rain complete and utter destruction down on your enemy.”

“I always forget how vindictive she is,” Rhode says. 

 “You forget how vindictive the goddess of destruction is?” Kym repeats, voice flat and disbelieving. 

“Oh, whatever.”

The two of them stand up, brushing the sand off of them and sitting back down beside Persie. 

“Will I get to meet our other sisters soon?” Persie asks once they’ve settled down again. 

“Of course. They can’t wait to meet you. We just didn’t want to overwhelm you when you first met one of us. Kym was worried,” Rhode says teasingly. 

“Well, excuse me for not wanting to put too much on her before she was ready. Next time I’ll just throw her in with the sharks,” she huffs. 

“But Kym,” Persie says with a sly look in her eyes. “I’ve already swam with sharks.”

Kym barks out a laugh at that, and her other two sisters follow shortly after. It's nice to be able to just sit on the shore and laugh with her siblings. Kym can’t recall the last time she’s done this. Sure, she meets up with her sisters on Rhodos every once in a while, but life had been getting monotonous lately. Even the Olympians’ usual dramatics hadn’t been enough to keep her entertained. Now, though, she was sure there would rarely be a boring moment when her little sister was involved. 

“I’ll give you that one, little sister. That was good,” Kym admits. 

“I have to get going soon,” Persie admits, frowning just the slightest bit. “Mom will be home in a little bit and I want to be back before she gets there.”

“Breaking the rules, Persie. How rebellious of you,” Kym chastises mockingly. 

“It’s not breaking the rules if you don’t get caught,” she defends. 

“Gods, Kym was right. Hermes will want to adopt you if he ever meets you,” Rhode says, vaguely horrified at the prospect. In all fairness to her, it was a terrifying thought. She turns her attention to Kym. “We can never let that happen.”

Persie erupts into laughter once more. 

Chapter 4

Benthesikyme and Herophile pester Kym for days after she and Rhode first go to visit Persie. It’s driving her up a wall. They could’ve annoyed Rhode just as easily, but no. It had to be Kym. Younger siblings were so annoying. Why did she even like them anyway?

She and Rhode had gone to visit Persie once more after their initial visit, and had managed to get her mother’s name - Sally Jackson - and deduce the fact that she was most likely a clear sighted mortal from Persie’s anecdotes about her. While great when it came to protecting Persie from the Greek world because she wasn’t left entirely defenseless, it was also extremely annoying because they didn’t want Sally to find out about them quite yet.

Nothing would make Kym abandon her sister, especially not the wishes of her mortal mother, but it would definitely make it more difficult. As such, she and Rhode had agreed to limit the amount of times they visited so as to not draw too much suspicion onto themselves and Persie. While they were gone, Persie was entertaining herself by reading the books Rhode had given her from her library. Just as she predicted, Persie picked up Ancient Greek easily and was enjoying being able to actually read a book for once without having to worry about her dyslexia. 

At the moment, Rhode was off badgering - sorry, bargaining with - their half brother Chrysaor to get him to train Persie. Kym didn’t really know what all that entailed, nor did she know just how Rhode got him to owe her a favor, but she also was content in not knowing the details. Rhode could be downright devious when she wanted to be. Kym had full faith in her sister’s ability to get her way. 

Unfortunately, that left her alone to brave Benni and Herophile’s constant whirlwind of complaints. They weren’t even making themselves useful. Kym was trying to figure out who she wanted to introduce Persie to - Melinoe and Zagreus had already called dibs on meeting her, but Enyo wanted to as well. Plus, she may have let it slip to Tangaroa when she visited him about Persie and now he wanted to meet her too. While it wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing to introduce Persie to the sea gods of other pantheons, Kym wasn’t quite there yet. Plus, sea gods no matter their pantheon were known to be protective but violent. She was going to have to make sure Persie had at least some form of protection before they went traversing through realms not belonging to their father. 

On that note, she also wanted to get Persie a weapon. Something befitting a princess of the sea. And a protective talisman wouldn’t hurt. Unfortunately, her options of deities to go to were limited if they wanted to keep her existence a secret. Gods were serious gossips. Her best bet would be to visit her grandparents, Oceanus and Tethys, but then they would want to know why she wanted them and it would all spiral from there. For now, she would keep searching for other options, but it wasn’t looking promising. Tethys was brilliant when it came to sea magicks and Oceanus would probably be able to help her find a weapon. If only they weren’t so damn nosy. 

All of this to say, she had enough to think about without her two annoying sisters bugging her every godsdamned minute. Which probably explained why the water around her had been getting increasingly choppy for the last few hours. 

“Come on, Kym. You could use a break anyway. And I can sense her up on the shore! She’s practically sitting in my waves at the moment,” Benni begs. 

“We just want to see our little - six letters, female sibling,” Herophile joins in, widening her eyes in an attempt to sway Kym. It only serves to make Kym want to bang her head against a wall. They weren’t going to give up. At this point, she was surprised they hadn’t gone to the surface by themselves, no matter what Rhode and Kym had told them. 

“Fine. I’ll take you up, but I’m not staying long. It’s up to Persie if she lets you stay or not,” Kym gives in. Knowing the little demigod, she would be ecstatic to have more company anyway. 

Kym was not used to having actual work to do. Normally she just lazed around and participated in whatever caught her eye. Sometimes she would go up to Olympus, there was always some type of party going on up there and she enjoyed spending time with Enyo and Tyche. All this planning was what Triton was for and she did not envy his position one bit. Persie better be damn grateful for all the thought she was putting into this. 

“Yes! Let’s go,” Benni zooms out of the room, already on her way to New York. Herophile is close behind her, not wasting any time. Kym sighs, preparing to flash herself there. Persie wasn’t going to know what hit her. 

--

When Kym arrives, it's to the sight of Benni and Herophile already on the shore sitting with Persie who is looking up at them wide eyed. Why did she have to get stuck with being the responsible sibling for the day. She was much more used to being the chaotic one in their family, not having to wrangle Benni and Herophile’s seemingly endless pit of energy. Seriously, why were they so hyper all the time? They were eons old, for the gods’ sake!

“Hello again, little sister,” Kym announces her presence. “Benni and Herophile simply couldn’t wait another minute to meet you. You would think after a few thousand years they would learn some patience.”

Benni pouts, crossing her arms, but backs off a bit from their littlest sister. Both of them have taken more mortal looking forms, although they haven’t disguised their divinity completely. 

Benthesikyme, like Kym herself, naturally takes a mortal form with dark hair and blue eyes, although that is where the similarities stop. Whereas Kym’s skin is so pale it's almost translucent, suited for the darkness at the bottom of the ocean, Benni’s is more sunkissed, although still lighter than Rhode’s. Where Kym’s eyes are dark, almost black, Benni’s are bright. Kym is aware that even in her mortal form she looks terrifying, but Benni’s hides her more violent disposition. 

Herophile takes more after Rhode. She has blonde hair, although it's not as light as Rhode’s, whose hair is practically white. She’s much shorter than any of them, excluding Persie herself, of course. Kym takes great pride in being the tallest of her sisters. 

“I’m Benthesikyme, but you can call me Benni,” her sister introduces herself, grinning at Persie. The demigod in question smiles back blindingly. 

“I’m Persephone, but I go by Persie, which I’m guessing you already know.”

“It’s nice to meet you Persie! I’m Herophile. I’m a - seven letters, person who can see the future,” Herophile says, holding back where Benni had practically launched herself on the poor girl. Not that Persie couldn’t handle it. Kym was sure Persie would be matching their energy in no time. She’s enjoying this brief reprieve while it lasts. 

“A prophet,” Benni explains. Herophile nods. “She sometimes sees so many things that she can’t remember words all the time.”

“Cool!” Persie exclaims, leaning forward in an attempt to get closer to her older sister. Herophile lets out a small grin, relaxing at Persie’s easy acceptance of her. Kym never had any doubt that Persie would love Herophile as much as the rest of them do, but it relaxed her to see she was right. Her baby sister was already infinitely better than her father’s pompous demigod sons. Once, one of them had made Herophile cry and Kym had drowned him and his entire ship in a storm so violent it broke records. No one messed with her little sister. 

“It will be nice to be a big sister for once,” Herophile says, patting Persie gently on the top of her head. 

“Yeah, Herophile was the baby before you came along,” Benni teases, grinning all the while. Herophile simply sticks her tongue out at her. 

“So are you guys goddesses too?” Persie asks.

“Goddess of waves, at your service,” Benni mock bows. “Technically we’re sea nymphs, like our mother Amphitrite, but we’re basically goddesses. It’s just a technicality.”

“Prophecy,” Herophile says as an explanation. 

“So there can be multiple gods for one domain? In the books Rhode gave me it said Apollo was the god of prophecy,” Persie questions, tilting her head adorably. 

“Yeah, it’s all a complicated mess,” Kym answers. “The newer gods, like us and Apollo and all the children of the original six Olympians, often adopted domains from the elder gods. So Rhode’s husband Helios, used to be the deity of the sun, but he basically retired when Apollo was born and passed his domain down to him. Before gods like Apollo or Athena were born, one of our father’s domains was prophecy. I think he inherited it from Oceanus or Proteus, I’m not entirely sure. Anyway, because prophecy was once a domain of Poseidon, Herophile inherited it. However, whereas Apollo is capable of seeing the larger picture and speaking through his oracles, Herophile is much more limited than that. She sees only small glimpses of the future and only what the Morai want her to see. Her visions are much more tumultuous than Apollon’s.”

“Much like the sea itself,” Benni chirps. Kym inclines her head in her direction. Gods, she did not think she was going to get stuck giving a history lesson today. Where was Rhode when she needed her?

Persie nodded, the serious expression on her face looking out of place. Kym wanted to coo at her, but she had the feeling that would not go over well. 

“So when do I get to start learning about my powers?” Persie asks. 

“We can start whenever you wish. I’ll mainly be teaching you how to control and utilise your abilities, though I’m sure Benni and Herophile will want to take you sometimes as well. You’re free until you go back to school, yes?”

“Yeah. Mom works so I’m here a lot,” Persie says. “And you know where I live anyway, so you can always visit!”

Kym would probably refrain from just popping into the apartment randomly for a variety of reasons, not least because she didn’t wish to disintegrate anyone with her divine form. 

“Ooh, we’ll have to take you a whole bunch of places!” Benni chatters excitedly. “We can’t take you to Atlantis, but you can definitely visit Rhodos. That way you can meet Helios, and I think I heard Selene say she wanted to meet you so she might be there as well.”

“How does Selene even know about Persie?” Kym sighs defeatedly. She needs the godly equivalent to a nap. This is so much more work than she thought it would be. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Benni dismisses. “Selene doesn’t really talk to any of the other gods, so it's not like she’ll tell anyone.”

Yeah, Kym didn’t miss how her sister studiously sidestepped that question, but she was too tired to care. That could be Rhode’s problem. It was her sister in law, after all. 

“And we’ll take you to the Sea of Monsters!” Herophile adds. 

“Yes! You’ll have to meet Scylla and Charybdis. And I’m sure Circe will adore you!”

“Just make sure she doesn’t try to keep Persie forever,” Kym warns. At Persie’s alarmed look she adds, “She wouldn’t keep you there against your will. Probably. If you had been born a male, that would be a different story.”

Persie just shrugs it off. Huh. Maybe She should try to get Rhode to teach her some self preservation skills while she was at it. Kym didn’t really have any, and neither did Benni or Herophile, but Persie was mortal. She was pretty sure those were important to have for mortals. 

“And you’ll have to meet some of Kym’s - seven letters, word for close acquaintances,” Herophile chirps. 

“Kym, you have friends?” Persie asks, a grin on her face. Kym pauses, her jaw dropping as she just stares at her little sister for a minute. 

“That’s it. You’re no longer my favorite sister,” she sniffs haughtily. 

“Aww, come on,” Persie says, widening her eyes in a striking resemblance to a baby seal. 

“That trick won’t work forever, you know,” Kym says, truffling Persie’s hair. 

“All the more reason to use it now,” Persie gloats.

“Brat,” Kym says, rolling her eyes affectionately. Persie freezes beneath her touch and Kym immediately draws her hand back, squatting down so that she’s eye level with her sister. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Persie denies, shaking her head fervently. Kym makes eye contact with Benni and Herophile and they nod, giving the two of them some distance. 

“That didn’t look like nothing,” Kym says softly, careful not to touch Persie at all. “What did I do that made you freeze up like that? So that I know not to do it again.”

“It’s dumb.”

“If it's affecting you, it's not dumb, Persie.”
Persie just sits silently for a few seconds and Kym lets her. She wasn’t about to pressure her into saying anything she didn’t want to reveal, but she also wanted to make sure Persie knew that she was there if she did want to talk. Kym is doing her best to stay calm, but she’s mildly freaking out on the inside. She is so not good at dealing with emotions in a healthy way, but out of the available options at the moment, she was their best bet. 

“That’s just what Gabe used to call me. He never said my name,” Persie whispers. 

Now it’s Kym’s turn to freeze. Her blood boils at the thought of the mortal she had already taken care of. She wished it was as easy to deal with the lingering tendrils of his presence as it was to kill him. Persie never deserved to have to go through such a thing, no matter what benefits it may have had in the short run. 

“Hey,” she says. “Can I touch you?” 

At Persie’s nod of approval she reaches out and takes one of her little sister’s hands in her own. She looks so small like this, and Kym never wants to see her feel this way again. It makes Kym want to murder that man over and over again. The only thing calming her down is the knowledge that Melinoe and Zagreus won’t be letting him get any semblance of peace in the afterlife. 

“That is not dumb. I promise I will never call you that word again. I didn’t intend for this to happen.” Kym rubs a small circle with her thumb on the back of Persie’s hand, trying to soothe her in any way she can. “Does your mom know about this?”
“No,” Persie whispers. She says it so quietly that Kym had to strain to hear her even with her godly abilities. “Mom is already stressed out. I didn’t want to worry her any more than I already had.”

“I’m glad you trusted me with this,” Kym says. “You’ll come to me or Rhode or someone else you trust if there’s ever anything you need to talk about, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Persie agrees, a ghost of a smile on her face. She leans forward, wrapping Kym in a hug that she easily reciprocates. “I’m glad you’re my big sister.”
Kym will deny forever that she got a little misty eyed at those words. 

“I’m glad you’re my little sister,” she whispers into Persie’s ear. Kym stands up, gesturing to Benni and Herophile to come join them once more. “Now, I unfortunately have some work that needs to get done, but Benni and Herophile would love to keep you company if you’d like.”

Kym would be redoubling her efforts to find a protective talisman for her little sister. Maybe the risk that came with seeking out Oceanus and Tethys would be worth it. For Persie. 

“I’d like that.”

“Perfect. You’ll have to show them around the city, it’s been quite a few decades since they’ve explored the mortal world extensively,” Kym whispers conspiratorially. Persie grins in response. 

“Don’t worry. I’ll show them all the best places!” she puffs out her chest, a full blown grin overtaking her face. 

“I’ll be off then. Don’t let the two of them drag you into anything too crazy,” Kym says, planting a soft kiss on Persie’s forehead. With one meaningful look at the two goddesses she was leaving behind, she makes her way back to the ocean where she’ll be able to safely flash away.

Gods, she’s turning into Rhode, isn’t she? What is the world coming to?

Notes:

Kym's over here like, "oh no, look, feelings!"

Hope you enjoyed. I'm literally living for the pjo show at the moment it's amazing.

Chapter 5

Notes:

yay! new chapter!

Kym stalks through the halls of the palace she had been gifted as an engagement gift, taking solace in the deep sea. She rarely keeps many attendants on hand, only the bare minimum needed to keep the place running, but the few who do see her know better to bother her when she’s like this. There’s a pretty violent storm forming off the coast of California but Kym could care less at the moment. 

It was all the damn mortal’s fault. 

How dare he ever make her baby sister feel that way? He was nothing . His impact on the world was minimal at best and his lifespan was that of a fruit fly's to Kymopoleia. The mere thought of him anywhere near Persie was enough to have her seething. Damn what she said earlier about Oceanus and Tethys’ gossiping habits. They’d keep quiet about it or Kym would make them. She was a goddess of devastation, they should know better to risk her wrath no matter how old they were. 

If Poseidon didn’t see the use in protecting and defending their newest family member, fine. Kym would ensure that nothing ever touched her sister again. 

And then she would take a trip to the Underworld and take some of her fury out on the one responsible for this whole mess in the first place. It always helped to befriend Chthonic deities, she had learned. Melinoe would be ecstatic anyway. 

A crack of lightning is all the warning anyone nearby gets before Kym materializes in front of the gates of Oceanus’ palace. He and Tethys both resided in the deepest part of the sea where light barely reached. The palace itself was intimidating, made entirely of adamantium and lit purely through Tethys’ magic, but Kym had always felt more welcome here than in Atlantis. 

She swims through the front gate, mindful of the fact that they probably already know she is here. Still, it would be rude to simply barge into their home. By the time she makes it to the front door, it had already been propped slightly open. Kym smirks a bit. She had an open invitation down here while the rest of her family had to be invited if they wished to see the two titans. Triton especially. It was always hilarious watching how coldly the two of them treated the royal Atlantean family when she knew the nicer side of them.

Hopefully they would enjoy Persie’s company just as much. It didn’t particularly matter if they did, but Kym did value their opinions. Much more than she did Posiedon and Amphitrite at any rate. 

“Kym!” her grandmother’s voice echoes in the open entryway. Tethys swims towards her, arms already open and Kym returns the embrace. “We weren’t expecting you.”

“Yes, I just had a question for you and Grandfather,” she says as Tethys pushes her out to arm’s length and looks her over. Her slate gray eyes stare at her and Kym keeps her face as calm as she is able to. Her grandmother has the uncanny ability to always see through her, no matter how hard Kym tries to disguise how she’s feeling. 

“You’re worried about something,” Tethys states in the knowing tone of hers. Kym doesn’t acknowledge it, continuing to stare straight at her instead. She trusts her grandparents as much as she trusts anyone, but they were all still gods. Normally, Kym had no need to worry about repercussions for her actions. This was entirely new territory and she wasn’t about to fuck it all up because she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Tethys only rolls her eyes fondly. “Fine. Don’t tell me yet. You know I’ll find out eventually.”

“Is Grandfather home?” Kym asks in response. 

“Straight to the point today, are you? I haven’t seen you this agitated in a few centuries.”

“Chatty today, aren’t you?” Kym says before the words can catch up to her. Seems Persie isn’t the only one without a brain to mouth filter. Maybe it was contagious. 

Tethys laughs before turning down one of the dark hallways. “Oceanus is in his study. You can ask us your question there, darling.”

Kym grins to herself when her grandmother turns her back to her. It had been a while since Kym had last visited and she had forgotten how much she enjoyed it. The atmosphere here was so much different than that in Atlantis. Kym knows she inherited more traits from the darker sides of the ocean and like recognizes like she supposes. The only exception was Poseidon, but honestly, who even cared about him anyway?

It doesn’t take long for them to get to Oceanus’ study. He looks up from whatever had him occupied and his face splits into a grin at the sight of her. 

“Paperwork so interesting that you couldn’t come greet your favorite grandchild?” Kym teases. Oceanus rolls his eyes at her before standing up to give her a hug in greeting. 

“Tedious, more like it. What brings you all the way down here?” 

“She had a question for us, dear. Something’s bothering her,” Tethys interjects before Kym gets the chance. 

“I didn’t say that,” Kym huffs. Tethys crosses her arms, pale green hair floating around her. 

“But am I wrong?” she questions. Oceanus watches their exchange in amusement, his eyes flicking back and forth between them. Kym knows that it's a losing battle. 

“No,” she mutters. Mine as well asks what she came here to ask. She sighs, bracing herself for their rejection. “I was wondering if you have any protective talismans you would be willing to part with?”

The two of them study her with eerily similar expressions. Spending millenia together makes you pick up some of each other's habits. The silence drags on and Kym resists the urge to fidget. She was a goddess, for Olympus’ sake. She would not falter in the face of her grandparents’ stares. 

Other gods didn’t have this problem, she grumbled to herself in the safety of her mind. Ares and Athena’s grandfather was chopped into a million pieces in Tartarus. They didn’t have to worry about his judging eyes on them. 

“Kymopoleia,” Oceanus announces, eyes still unwavering from her form. “Have you had a mortal child?”
“What the fuck?” she splutters, completely surprised at the line of questioning. How on earth did they come to that conclusion? “No! Why would you even say that?”

“You’re a goddess, Kym. There are very few reasons you would need a protective talisman and very few beings you are close enough with to ask us for one,” Tethys states matter of factly. Kym opens her mouth to respond but she holds up a hand to stop her. “I know that you are capable of making your own, so the only reason you would come to us was if you wanted it to be as strong as possible. What have you gotten yourself into that this is necessary?”

“I also wanted to take a look at your armory if possible?” Kym adds weakly. She wasn’t helping her case whatsoever. Tethys shoots her an incredulous look and Oceanus just shakes his head at her, but Kym could swear that he was smiling. 

“Kymopoleia!”

“What?” she asks. Tethys sighs. Exhausting her family in a single conversation is a talent, she swears. 

“You know you're always welcome to my armory, Kym. I don’t much use any of it any more, but there are sure to be plenty of interesting things in there,” Oceanus replies instead, interrupting the conversation. He’s leaning back against his desk leisurely now, probably entertained by Kym’s commitment to being difficult. 

“I’ll give you a talisman,” Tethys says, Kym grins at her. “As long as you tell me who it's for.”

Kym bats a stray jellyfish tentacle from her hair away from her face. She knew she was going to have to concede to her grandmother’s demands going into this and it wasn’t too large of a price to pay. They were bound to find out about Persie sooner or later at this rate. 

“Fine,” Kym sighs. “Her name is Persephone Jackson and she is father’s latest demigod child.”

“A daughter?” Oceanus asks, looking only slightly surprised. The fact that neither of them were shocked that Poseidon had broken the oath really said a lot about how many deities truly believed the three brothers were capable of abiding by it. As of now, Hades had lasted the longest, but that really wasn’t all too surprising. 

“And you care about her?” Tethys adds.

“Yes, a daughter. And yes, I care about her. I’m not a heartless monster, you know,” Kym answers, throwing her hands in the air. Family was exasperating.

“I know, darling, but you rarely take interest in your father’s demigod children. And even then, it’s normally only to torment them when you’re bored,” Tethys points out. 

Well. It wasn’t like she was wrong. 

“Well, I like this one. And so do Rhode, Benni, and Herophile,” Kym says petulantly. 

“A daughter?” Oceanus asks again, still hung up on that bit of information. “Poseidon will be insanely protective of her, no doubt. Most of his mortal children are sons.”

“You would think, wouldn’t you?” Kym explodes, the anger from earlier seeping back in. “But I found her in the center of a storm of her creation, entirely ignorant of our world and without a single protection placed upon her! He’s already broken the damn oath, the least he could do is make sure that neither of his brothers kill her for simply existing.”

“I take it you didn’t tell him about your little discovery then?” Oceanus asks. 

“Of course not,” Kym scoffs. “He’s already had his chance. She’s my baby sister now.”

“I’ll make you the talisman, darling. No need to worry. Any specific requests?” Tethys interjects, her soothing voice calming Kym down enough to focus back on the present. She thinks it over for a few seconds. Persie was rambunctious, that was for sure. And there was no doubt that she was going to get herself into plenty of crazy situations. 

“She’s only nine years old and she’s absolutely tiny. It would be best if it was something that automatically came back to her. Basic protections, of course. But I’d also appreciate it if you could have it alert me if she was in life threatening danger,” Kym decides. 

“Already expecting her to be getting into trouble?” Oceanus laughs. Kym smiles at that. 

“She’s my little sister. Of course she’ll be getting into trouble.”
“Not to mention that none of the Olympians will likely be pleased with her existence,” Tethys points out in a more sobering tone. It was a terrifying thought, but true nonetheless. Her grandmother is scribbling away on a piece of parchment already filled with notes and designs. Tethys was a powerful sorceress, it was why Kym came to her in the first place, but she also just enjoyed working with magick. “If she taps it three times, she’ll be transported here. It should only be used as a last resort, however. No doubt Poseidon will be alerted as soon as she appears in the ocean. That’ll be fun to explain.”

Kymopoleia stares at Tethys, her grandmother’s brow scrunched in concentration and still entirely absorbed in her designs. That was much more than a simple protection talisman. Kym hadn’t even dared to ask for something like that. Neither of her grandparents had any connection to Persie - she was the result of their daughter’s husband’s infidelity. 

“What? You don’t - I didn’t -'' Kym splutters out protests, the words dying on her lips as Tethys simply waves away her concern, not even looking up from her plans. 

“You’ve claimed the girl as your own Kymopoleia. I haven’t seen you this protective of someone since Herophile was born millenia ago. You came to me to have her protected, yes?”

“Yes,” Kym answers. 

“Then I’ll protect her to the best of my ability. You wouldn’t ask me to half-ass such an important project, would you?” Tethys asks, finally looking up from her plans. 

“No, but the political ramifications alone would be enough to reignite tensions between you and Poseidon, let alone --”

“Planning to steal Triton’s position as heir?” Oceanus teases.

“No.”

“Then stop worrying about the political ramifications. Gaia knows we don’t need a second version of that stick in the mud running around,” he says. His eyes soften as he looks at her. “We’re plenty capable of dealing with your father and brother. Don’t worry so much.”

“I know,” Kym whines, throwing herself down onto one of the chairs. “I’m turning into Rhode, I swear. It hasn’t even been a month!”

“Ah, yes. The struggles of being a parent.”

“I’m not parenting her,” Kym argues. “I’m just ensuring that she’s safe since Poseidon has proved himself incapable. And showing her how to use her powers. But she has a really strong affinity for storm making, and as the goddess of storms it’s practically my duty to make sure she reaches her full potential.”
“Whatever you say, Kym.” Oceanus’ eyes are filled with laughter. Kym crosses her arms and sinks further into the chair. “Do you wish to accompany me to the armory? Tethys will no doubt be busy for a while with this new project.”

“Alright.” The two of them walk out of the study and Tethys doesn’t even look up. “Do you have anything that will come back to her immediately? I have a feeling she’s going to need it.”

Notes:

Kym is actually crazy I love her. Like, she is wild and absolutely does not care for the consequences of her actions. Also baby Percy!