A New Discovery

Chapter 1

     "Hello Percy" Dr.Solace, Will Solace's other father, who just happened to be the camp's demigod therapist or counselor, asked Percy to start off their session. Chiron was making the most involved demigods from the past couple years see him and get psych evaluations and just overall let things out. Mostly everyone came out with the same results that they already had and were fine. Percy was the last one and was kinda nervous because this was something he hadn't done since he was a small child and even then it took heavy convincing from his mom.
    "Hi." Percy responded uncomfortably. Just like with his mom, Percy was not happy to be here and was not comfortable talking to someone that he didn't know at all.
    "I can tell that you're uncomfortable but don't worry Percy, unless I see or hear something that I want to dig into more than this is the last session you will have to be in." He said reassuringly, but ended more hesitant and unsure of himself as he noticed Percy wringing his hands together only to wipe them on his jeans and then shake them and repeat the pattern over again consistently.
    "Yeah." Percy said almost breathlessly and started to look even more nervous.    
    Dr.Solace thought it was best to start the session than continue to try and comfort him seeing as it wasn't helping and said, "so you have dyslexia and adhd like most demigods do. So during the session I'm going to ask you questions about the war and other parts of your life."
"Alright." Percy answered shortly just wanting this to be over.
"So during the war you played a big part as one of the seven in the great prophecy, right."
"Yeah."
"I also know that you played a big part in the titan war too. I also was told about luke. Watching him die must have been very hard on you. Is that something you want to talk about?"
"It sucked, I guess. At first I was mad at him for betraying us and trying to kill me, but after a while I figured out that he was being controlled. And he really did have a good point, the gods should be better parents, but he didn't need to go and join the titans just to prove his point." Percy said kinda fast.
     Dr.Solace just nodded his head acknowledging the way that Percy was pointedly not looking at him the entire time.
"I see, that would be frustrating to me too. I know that it is also probably hard being seen as a leader and being held to that position everywhere you go. That's a lot of responsibility for someone so young. This all is a lot of responsibility."
    "Yeah, it makes me angry then too."
    "When does it make you angry?"
     "When everyone looks to me to know everything! I hate it so much, like how should I know what to do? I'm just a kid like everyone else. I've been in two wars, so what!?"Percy said frustrated and almost teared up. He thought that this would be hard but now that he was here he was just pouring his thoughts out to the man. He supposed that it was because he had been doing this for a while and knew what buttons to press on more closed off people.
    "Thank you for sharing that. I understand that that would make you frustrated. What about something that makes you happy for a change in pace? Do you have anything that makes you happy? Maybe an item or collection of items that make you happy? Or a type of animal?" The doctor said calmly so he could calm down Percy and also find out some answers of his own.
     Percy just took a deep breath before nodding and saying, "Yeah, I like sea animals. It might be a poseidon thing but ever since I was young I have always liked them. Also I like to collect and look at art." He answered with some excitement and passion. He really did like art and sea creatures. They were even better when he put them together and had ocean inspired pictures.
    "I sea. I like them too." Dr.Solace said smiling at Percy. It was as the doctor thought and he was worried about how this would affect the demigod upon hearing the news.
    "Percy, I know that dyslexia and adhd and add are very common side effects of being a demigod, but there is one more thing that is common among demigods too. Do you know what it might be?" he asked gently.
    "Uhm, no. i thought those were the only things." he said confused about what the doctor was getting at.
    "Well there is one more thing. Do you know what autism is? Maybe you have seen someone called this before on a more severe scale."
    At this Percy nodded and said, "yeah, at my old school, i've seen them multiple times. Everybody was nice to them though. I've never seen anyone here or at camp jupiter with autism though.'' Percy said even more confused now not knowing how this was supposed to be important to him.
    "Well, during our whole talk I've noticed some, well, major signs of autism that you seem to express. I'm almost positive that you are autistic Percy." At this Percy's eyes widened.
    The doctor continued. "The constant moving of your hands could be explained as a symptom from your adhd but it could also be something called stimming, meaning that you have an unconscious nervousness and need for stimulation which causes you to do this." Percy's hands immediately stopped moving once he heard this. "Another thing, you haven't looked at my face the whole time we've been in here, and that is also a tell tale sign of autism. Your nervousness to do something like talk to a counselor or someone you just don't really know is something else that was very obvious to me. You were on the verge of a panic attack when we first started talking." The doctor said, spouting even more infuriating evidence of this newfound bad luck that Percy had stumbled upon.
    "And your hobbies or obsessions if you would is another thing a lot of people with autism have. Some things would be like certain animals or movies and shows. When I heard you say you like sea animals and pieces of art that pretty much confirmed for me everything I needed to know." Dr.solace said finally done explaining his reasoning to the younger boy who looked destroyed and confused.
    "Y-you're sure that I have autism? Like 100 percent?" He asked still in disbelief and shock at what he was being told.
    "Yes I am, I'm so sorry Perseus. I know this is difficult for you to hear. Normally people find out early on but you have been through so much in your life up till now that you wouldn't have had time to get properly diagnosed." The doctor said gently. "If you would like, we can finish with this session. I would like you to come back but I know that after this you may not want to. But I will always be here if you need to talk or want any answers on what may be going on with you." And with that the doctor got up and with one final look at Percy said, "You may stay here until you are ready to leave."
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