𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐄! percy jackson¹

004. capture the flag

chapter four
004. capture the flag

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    KLEOS.

    It was the Ancient Greek word for glory. Demigods have always been obsessed with the concept of glory, and I admit, I wasn't any different. Glory was both a curse as much as it was a shield. The more glory a demigod received▬the more monsters they slayed, the more quests they went on, and the more successes they carried meant the more attention the gods would pay them. They would become worthy in the eyes of their parents. But it also meant they became better competition▬for monsters, for other demigods, and the gods, too.

    Luke once explained it to me when I was younger. I could never understand why Thalia had been targeted so viciously by the gods and by every monster▬to the point that it had gotten her killed. I couldn't understand why being a Forbidden Child meant that she had deserved her death, and every task she had undertaken had been something she owed to the gods for simply existing. It wasn't her fault Zeus broke his oath, and yet she paid the price.

    "Annabeth is terrified of spiders," Luke had said to me once upon a time, sitting beside me by the campfire as we toasted our s'mores. I had been eight at the time. I used to be attached to Luke's hip, terrified to be left without him because I had been terrified she would lose Luke like we had lost Thalia. "But she's a lot bigger than they are. What do you think happens when she comes across one?"

    I remember thinking about it for a very long time, watching Luke pull our s'mores away from the fire. I had looked up at him, my eyes widening with a gasp of realisation. "She steps on them."

    Luke nodded. He blew on my s'more to cool it down for me first before handing it over. Even though heat never bothered me as much as it did everyone else. It had been a force of habit, maybe. He had always looked after me, basically raised me on the streets, shielding me from monsters and teaching me everything I know now. But now I understand more▬I understand that Luke had been a kid, too. He and Thalia were kids looking after two younger kids, trying to give Annabeth and me a childhood in a world that was out to kill us.

    "The two things you never want to be are small and scary at the same time," he had said to me gently. "Being special, like Thalia, scares the gods."

    I remember frowning at my s'more. "Special like me?"

    Even at eight, I knew the magical powers I had were not normal. No one else in my cabin had powers like me▬no one else at camp had powers like mine. I learnt pretty quickly how different I really was.

    "Yeah," Luke had nodded, watching me sadly. But then, he had nudged me gently with a smile. "But you don't have to worry about that, Claire. You're safe here, at camp. And you're safe with me. I'll always be here to protect you. And so will Thalia."

    We had glanced over at the tall pine tree standing higher than all the others on Half-Blood Hill.

    I understood better now what Luke had meant.

    The gods had demigods, not because they wanted children with mortals, but because they needed soldiers. Soldiers who could break the rules they were forced to follow by the ancient laws of the immortal world. But even demigods had their limits. The gods kept them in line so they would never become too powerful.

    But a Forbidden Child had the blood of the most powerful of the gods▬they were closer to the divine than they were human. They could do more than break the rules. Like the children of Kronos, a Forbidden Child had the freedom of a demigod and the power of the mightiest of gods▬they caused destruction, and with that destruction, the gods were afraid that they would one day overthrow them, too.