Drowning in the Siren's Song

Chapter 4

Percy was thoroughly enjoying his new life. It had been a month since he'd come to the reserve, and he had completely settled into the new environment and lifestyle. 

Ever since he was greeted by the Hydra on his first day, things were surprisingly hectic. He knew he was different and Oak had told him that his scent was especially stronger than most demigods, but he hadn't expected so many monsters to come after him. Though none of them were as bad as the Hydra and he could deal with them fairly easily, it was a danger to the forest itself.

Every encounter with a monster left some sort of damage behind. Fire would burn the trees, and bigger monsters destroyed them to reach him faster uprooting and trampling on the younger plants and animals. He was a danger to the nature spirits and the guilt lay heavily on him. He attracted them there, and he was partly responsible for all the dryads who got hurt at the end of the day.

Thus, after spending a sleepless night wandering the forest, thinking, he found a solution. Every night, when the moon was high and the night was quiet, he would go to the backside of the forest where their was a wide grassland. He would roam around, attracting the monsters in the vicinity, urging them to come out and get their own demigod meal.

And which sane monster would pass on such an opportunity? 

This way, he cleared the monsters in a safe place, where no harm would come to the nature spirits. The piece of land was isolated, away from the usual places where humans wandered in loud jeeps and was clear of any nature spirit, becoming the perfect place for a fight. Even the animals had taken note not to visit the grassland during the nights; the fights were too ferocious for even the fiercest predator in the forest. For their safety, Percy would kill them before the sun rose, making sure that even the tourists didn't get interrupted. 

It was also advantageous for him in several ways. After his fight with the Hydra, he had noticed how dependent he was on his water powers. He obviously had his powers as a siren which were polished to perfection, but it was the last of last resort he would use. He needed to be able to defend himself without any powers if he was going to keep his identity a secret.

If he showed his true power and a god noticed him, then even more dangerous and difficult situations would come his way. 

He viewed the ever- coming monsters as way to train himself, and he could see the results, even if it had only been a month. Since he fought in the darkness of the night and could not rely on sight alone, his senses had sharpened a great deal since then. He used his water powers to sense movements in air, honing the skill until he could hold his own against a monster even with his eyes closed. He was faster and more agile, the grass forcing him to step carefully if he didn't want to slip and fall.

But because of his nightly endeavors, his sleep schedule was severely messed up. He was still a child and with the amount of energy he burned, he required much more rest than he was getting. He ate healthily (The dryads didn't allow anything else) but just couldn't sleep since he was always on guard, even the subtle rustling of branches in wind waking him. 

The first few weeks were the worst. He would fight all night and stay on guard throughout the day as well, worrying if the monsters would come and attack again. He had persisted the same way until the dryads scolded him severely after looking at his sluggish movement and dark eyes.

"What if you collapse because of exhaustion or get hurt? Who will protect the forest then?" They guilt- tripped him into resting, knowing that his sense of responsibility was too pure to deny their scolding's. Assuring him that they would wake him if there was even a whisper of a monster nearby, he slept on one of their branches, curling up and passing out as soon as he closed his eyes.

That was how he'd developed the habit of climbing trees and sleeping between their branches. It wasn't an inconvenience since all he owned was the backpack Oak gave him, but it seemed like he was much favored in the forest. The dryads kept on arguing since they all wanted Percy to sleep on their trees, making the young boy embarrassed. 

He didn't want to upset anyone, so he kept switching his rest- place,  appeasing the spirits, even though some of them were uncomfortable to sleep on (like the pine tree, but she was really sweet about it). After a few days, even the naiads protested, making him go sleep in the river while they fawned over him, pulling his cheeks which had regained their chubbiness from the lost baby-fat. He had wriggled from under their hands, pretending to sleep so that they would stop, bright red. 

He discovered that, in a way, his habit of changing places to rest was an advantage for him. The forest rangers who come to check up on the reserve time to time wouldn't find anything suspicious and he could look after the forest and animals better since his areas kept changing.

He remembered how anxious the animals had been when a human suddenly popped up in a place which was supposed to be their haven. After being gawked at by the tourists, the distrust level was running high. 

Percy didn't want to make them uncomfortable so he would usually just stay away, letting them choose whether they wanted to come closer or flee. He knew just how scary it was to meet something unusual in a place they considered safe. 

But little did he know that the 'natures blessing' given to him by Oak didn't only increase his affinity with nature spirits but also joined him to nature in a way. He was a part of the family called earth, joined by a thin threat, but much thicker than any other human. 

The animals instinctively knew that he was not a predator and once they saw him saving the forest and fighting the monster which had killed a countless number of critters, they would approach him cautiously, sniffing and checking for harm. Not to mention, he was beautiful, attracting their attention with his gentle smile and glowing eyes. He would sit and watch, his eyes holding no greed which humans held in abundance. 

It didn't take them long to get used to his presence, and even lesser time was needed for them to accept him as a part of the forest. After a month, they didn't run away from him, and even some of the braver ones would poke their noses around, looking for food or pets. In return, he would do his best to help them, humming songs when he was sure no one was around and gathering water to the deeper parts of the forest. 

The forest had truly become his home, and its members were his family. And nothing made him happier to finally have a place which accepted him.