✔ | [1] 𝒞𝒶𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝒸 | ᴘᴇʀᴄʏ ᴊᴀᴄᴋꜱᴏɴ

𝓍𝒾𝒾. A brother decides to take matters into his own hands

❈ Mark Lancaster was tired.

He was tired of Annabeth Chase's bullshit and distrust and tired of Percy Jackson's very obvious anger towards his sister. Percy truly wasn't any good at hiding his emotions.

What had his sister done to deserve what had happened to her? What had she done but kept them safe and lay down her life to make sure they made it out alive?

His little sister didn't deserve Annabeth's distrust, suspicion, or uncaring attitude. She didn't deserve Percy's newfound anger and hate towards her.

Mark had known Helena the entirety of one week before she was whisked away from him, forced to go on a quest by a girl who hated her for no apparent reason, just because she was mentioned in some stupid prophecy. It didn't matter to him that he only knew her for a week. She was his little sister, and that meant he had to keep her safe.

Helena didn't want to go on the quest that much was clear, so for him to dream of her, to see her get separated from the group that he had trusted to protect her had sent him into a panic that had him pray to his father immediately. Ares, of course, had answered his son's call immediately.

Many people assumed that Ares was cruel to his children, but it was the opposite in reality. He cared for his children more than anyone could know. His children his were his, and he loved them as a father should because Ares knew what it was like to have to fight for your father's love and still not be enough. His children were his purpose, one of two reasons that he chose to live and breathe.

Although Ares didn't get much choice in the matter, he was immortal after all, he just thought he sounded really fucking poetic and awesome.

Ares might favour his daughters but his sons were just as important to him so when one of his eldest sons sent him a burnt offering asking for help about his favourite girl he could not help but answer. He had appeared to Mark not in his dreams, but in cabin 5 itself. It had been a while since he had visited his children, so he figured, why not kill two birds with one stone?

The children of Ares were gathered around discussing Mark's dream when the fireplace inside their cabin lit up, and the god of war himself stepped out.

"Hey, kiddos. Miss me?"

Ares smiled as his children swarmed around him and gathered to give him one big group hug.

"Okay, okay. Enough of that." Ares said. "Marko?"

"Polo. I'm here." Mark said, sending his dad a mock salute. "You're here about Hels, aren't you?"

Mark had a habit of hiding when he was a child, and Marko Polo had become his mother's only way of finding him. It came as a shock to him when his father picked up on it. Mark had taken to hiding one day after his first week at camp after some kids from the Hermes cabin told him the gods didn't care about their children.

Nobody had been able to find Mark, so he was surprised when some dude crouched down next to him ruffled his hair and said Polo. The old guy commented about how good this hiding place was. He had left after a few minutes but only after giving Mark a juice box.

Chiron had finally found Mark, but only thanks to a red glowing boar's head had appeared over his head, symbolising his claiming.

Ares nodded as he slouched down on a lounge chair by the fireplace. "Yeah. Where is she?"

"On a quest."

"Right, on a quest." Ares pauses for a moment before straightening up. "ON A WHAT?"

"She's on a quest father," Clarisse explains. "She was mentioned in the prophecy Annabeth Chase got about the labyrinth."