✔️Myth Vs Spandex (Percy Jackson and the Avengers)

Chapter 18(Return To Normal?)

Percy was walking by the Hermes cabin when he overheard what Natasha was saying "But, Steve, they're all just kids."

"I agree, but they seem alright. We have both seen how hard they train."

"I know, but you know how I feel about child soldiers."

Percy stopped, sighing. He really shouldn't be surprised. The Avengers were adults, well except for Spiderman, it wasn't too farfetched to think that the would not like the idea of kids fighting. To be honest he hated the idea of the young campers having to face monster. He decided he might as well try and help them understand. At least, as much as he could. He doubted they would ever fully accept the idea of kids fighting, but he could at least try to make them more comfortable with the idea. He knocked on the door causing the conversation to stop. He walked in and sat on the bunk opposite of them.

"Hey guys,"

"Hello Percy." Steve said.

"So, you guys still some doubts?"

"It's just..." Steve started unsure of how to finish the statement.

"It's okay, I get it. We're kids. How can we be expected to fight at such a young age." Steve nodded while Natasha was just watching him. "The truth is that it is kind of scary and most of us don't live for very long." Percy chuckled, "I mean, I was supposed to die at sixteen" Steve flinched. "Sorry, that's probably not very funny. Well, in a sense, we don't have a choice. If we don't train then we will get killed sooner. At least training at camp gives us a bigger chance of survival. And," Percy shrugged, "We were born for this. We have enhanced strength and reflexes to allow us a better chance to survive."

"But, you're just children." Natasha said.

"Weren't you a kid when you were trained?" Percy asked Nat raising an eyebrow.

"That doesn't make this," she said gesturing to imply the entire camp, "easier to accept. We have spent a week here and I can see that you train hard and a lot of you are better warriors then some of the people I have fought. But you still have your whole lives ahead of you. And don't' you suffer from things like PTSD from battles? How do you handle that?"

Percy was silent for a time thinking about how to best answer that question.

"Well, we do suffer from things like PTSD. We wake up from nightmare and there are times when we experience flashbacks or depression. Like most soldiers coming back from war. But, our minds are also better built to handle those situations then a regular mortal's. We often recover faster. That's not to say that it's easy. We are also surrounded by people who know what we are going through and can help us through the worst of it. Chiron is also a really good person to talk to. But like I said, our minds are built differently. Able to categorize some of those experiences in such a way as to not have them at the forefront of our minds. That would be bad if we suddenly experienced a flashback in the midst of a battle. It would get us killed. So, yeah, I still wake up from nightmares and have some flashbacks, but we have each other and that helps."

Natasha nodded. What Percy was saying made sense. But still, it wasn't fair that children were forced to fight. She had been forced to kill in the Red Room and she didn't wish that on anyone else. But, as she well knew, life wasn't fair and you had to make the most of thing. Sometimes living hurts and you just had to make it worth the pain. To keep fighting for something better even when everything around you is trying to drown out all hope. If she had simply given up all those years ago she would never have met the Avengers. Would have never become a part of their messed up family. And she was glad that these kids had people to rely on. She hadn't had that luxury and every day had been a struggle to get up and continue with her life. Constantly searching for the tiniest ray of light in each day. That had been what she lived for. A tiny flicker of hope and light that would appear for a time before quickly disappearing again. She just had to keep chasing it. Because if she didn't she wasn't sure what would happen.