The Welcome Ceremony for Newbies!

Albert didn't know what else he could do to make sure he fixed the damage he caused by basically existing while helping things for Percy Jackson and his friends- future whatever gets a little better.

The butterfly effect of his actions the day he arrived is still little, he guessed. He should have kept more distance between him and the boy probably, but he felt guilty for knowing so much and not being able to actually do much without risking it going shit. Percy had lost his mom in front of his eyes, his only family in this world. Right now, he didn't know she had only been kidnapped and not actually dead, but still, he didn't know. 

Albert quickly walked his way back to cabin eleven. The place was just as busy as before, one of the kids said Luke, the counselor, had gone to find Chiron and get him and Jackson sleeping bags and that his other bags were there in a corner. Albert thanked him and asked for some instructions regarding how he could get a bath in this place, fortunately, the boy explained everything in good humor. 

By the time Albert has finished showering and putting on a clean set of clothes. He saw that Percy had just gotten back too, he was talking with 'Mr. I-Have-A-Cool-Scar'. He could guess what the two were talking about, he made no effort to join them or interfere too. Percy's relationship with Luke was one of the most important ones in his journey. He saw the helpful boy from before and went to talk to him, turned out he was one of the Stoll Brothers, Connor Stoll, a son of Hermes.

Connor told him about the workings of Cabin Eleven as well as told him about his brother, a full brother, not just a half-brother- Travis Stoll. They were a rare case where a god had more than one child with the same mortal. Their talk was abruptly interrupted by the sound of a horn being blown in the distance. A sound he heard before in war movies.

"Eleven, fall in!" Luke yelled a command.

The whole cabin, about more or less twenty-two people, counting himself and Percy filled in the common yard. The formation was lined up by seniority, so of course, he and Percy were the dead last. Campers came from other cabins, too, except for the empty cabins of the Big Three, Hades, Zeus, and Poseidon as well as Hera and Artemis. They marched up the hill to the mess hall pavilion. 

The Satyrs joined them in the meadow, and the Naiads emerged from the lake too. Some girls came out of the woods, from the literal woods. Albert guessed they were Dryads or maybe some wood spirit or nymphs. The pavilion itself was big, torches blazed around casting shadows around the marble tall columns 

All in all, there were maybe three hundred campers, dozens of satyrs, and dozens of other creatures and spirits gathered together. Right at the very center, a central fire burned brightly in a bronze brazier bigger than two bathtubs. Each of the twelve cabins had a designated table, covered in white cloth trimmed with purple. Some tables were empty of course, but the table of the children of Hermes was overcrowded as expected. He might have whispered to some of the boys to make so space for both him and Percy, ignoring the latter's gaze that reminded him of his grandmother when she was mad about him doing something a bit naughty.

He caught Percy staring at Grover sitting at table twelve with Mr. D, his uncle Joseph was there too and waved at him, one of his arms was bandaged, but he looked happy to see him, which made Albert feel a huge relief as he waved back. Some chubby boys looked way too much like Mr. D at that table, they were blond. Chiron on the other hand was not in one of the tables, but a bit far, after all, his body was too big and anatomically speaking challenged to sit at one of the tables. 

Annabeth sat at table six glaring daggers at him, which made him feel confused. The table of the children of Athena was filled with athletic kids and teenagers, all of them with the same shade of grey eyes and scholarly aura about them. There was a particularly tall boy with Asian features who crossed eyes with him, the boy, maybe a year older than him at best, waved at him with a bright smile! Albert felt like he must have seen it wrong and forced himself to look away. 

Clarisse sat behind them at Ares' table. She was looking at them with a confused and frustrated face, but mostly she was laughing and talking quite loudly with her half-siblings in a way that reminded Albert of when he read about Spartan Warriors.

Finally, Chiron stomped his hoof on the marble floor of the pavilion, and everybody felt silent and stared at him. The big centaur, who looked no older than thirty despite being thousands of years old, had a long white horse lower half, he raised his chalice, "To the Gods!"

Everybody else besides him and Percy proceeded to mirror Chiron's gesture and shouted, "To the Gods!"

Luke who was seated next to Percy and him out of all places, teaching them how to make any drink appear on their glasses. Percy looked happy seeing his Blue Cherry Coke. Albert's lips curled in a smile as he asked for Orange Juice. Luke was a source of complicated feelings to Albert, a rebel and a spy, already a traitor willing to throw a thirteen-year-old Percy under the bus to start a war between the Gods. Yet, he wasn't truly a terrible person, just one who was filled with resentment and rage at the violence and negligence imposed on demigods who were unfortunate enough to get the attention of that bastard manipulative Titan. Truth be told, Albert didn't want to simply hate him, not when he partially agreed with the cause, just not with the methods of Kronos.

"Come on, you two," Luke said as he got up and brought them to the central fire. "Burnt offering for the Gods. They like the smell."

"You're kidding," Percy said in disbelief.

Luke gave him a helpless smile in response, warning them not to take this moment lightly. The teenage boy approached the fire, bowed his head, and tossed a cluster of fat big red grapes, saying, "Hermes."

Percy was next in line. Albert knew that Percy had no idea who his father was and probably what was going on in his head as he made his offer.

"You're next, my friend," Luke said, petting Albert on the shoulder and shooting him an awfully pretty smile.

Albert felt the urge to say that they were not friends, he didn't. He waited for Percy to go back to Luke and approached the fire on his own, a million thoughts in his head. Holding in his hand three red apples, he stared at the fire. He knew quite a few eyes were on him now, he was used to being the center of attention since he was a little kid, but even so, he felt the pressure.

He cleaned his throat and quietly stated as he threw the apples on the flames nobody could hear him, "Lady Aphrodite..." He hesitated for a moment before adding, "Hello, mother."

As he turned around the strangest thing happened, there was suddenly a collective gasp. Luke and Percy were also staring at him in surprise, they were blushing. Not only them but quite a lot of people, boys and girls, even the naiads were looking at him and blushing. Albert noticed a reddish-pink glow around him.

[You have been claimed by the goddess [Aphrodite]!]

[You have received the [Divine Blessing of Aphrodite]!]

The sound of the system echoed in his mind, he suddenly understood what was happening. He had been claimed by goddess... in front of everyone. He noticed something else and flinched, his clothes were gone! He wasn't naked, of course, his clothes... they changed. Albert looked at himself, he now wore ancient Greek clothing, a long white gown-like thing with golden details that maybe Greek royalty wore in their times. His arms and part of his chest were exposed, intricate bracelets made out of gold adorned his biceps, and they had sea shell patterns adorned in vines. Above his head he felt the weight of a crown, he could really see it, but he just knew it was some sort of crown, even his hair had been dried and oiled to shine in health

Albert raised his gaze to meet the crowd in confidence and mustering all he got to look calm and almost unbothered. The teachings of his grandfather about his posture and body language echoed in his mind, his father said that in this world, the way people perceive you holds a special kind of power that he should know how to wield properly and use in his favor. His father had been the leader of their company for decades, he knew what about these things.

"Interesting..." He heard as Luke quietly mused out loud, looking at him with an odd gaze. 

Percy was just dumbly staring at him with his mouth open. Quickly glancing over the faces around the pavilion, he got the feeling he was doing a great job. Even Clarisse was looking at him in surprise. Same with Annabeth.

Chiron went to where he stood by the central fire. The centaur stomped on the marble floor once again, before he folded his front legs and bowed to Albert, his voice echoed like thunder in the great hall, "Hail, Albert Alexander Gomes!" His words were filled with a somber and grave tone, "Son of Aphrodite, Lady of the Doves, Goddess of Love."

The Welcoming Ceremony got a bit noisy after that, Albert knew most of the talking was more or less related to the fact that one of the newbies who killed the Minotaur had been claimed. Clarisse was fuming at Ares' table, she was part of the group of campers who were skeptical about what happened that night. He had to say goodbye to Percy for the rest of the night since he would be sitting with his half-siblings at Aphrodite's table, but after seeing the other boy's helpless look, he just said they would meet again later that night since he would have to go get his stuff at cabin eleven anyways. 

"Hello, Albert," A girl, really pretty, said to him with gentle eyes, "I am Silena Beauregard, counselor of cabin ten, I am the one in charge of keeping the other kids in line. Drew is my second of command, she can be difficult, but she is not bad, not to our siblings. I hope you don't mind."

Silena was really pretty, Albert thought again as they walked to their table. Long straight black hair, fair skin, and a pair of gentle blue eyes. She was also polite and thoughtful, thinking about her role in the original timeline he felt sorry for how it went for her. 

"Our siblings?" Albert repeated with an amused tone, smiling at the prospects of that. "You're my sister then? Half-sister, I mean."

Silena smiled back at him, taking him by the hand as they finally arrived. "Listen up, everyone! This is Albert, our new brother. I know you guys are curious about him, but please behave."

She was right, the children of Aphrodite were barely able to contain their excitement as they looked at him. Most of them were girls, like beside him, there were only three other boys and dozens of girls. The thing about them was that each and every one of them was charming in their own way, with different ethnicities, styles, and personalities, but they all seemed particularly ready to bombard him with questions. Albert sat next to Silena and an Asian girl named Drew.

"Hey, is it true you were there when the Minotaur was killed?!" A girl asked without any inhibitions. "Did that boy really kill it?"

Albert nodded in confirmation, looking rather calm as he hummed in agreement, "His name is Percy Jackson and yes, I was there."

"No way! I thought it was some sort of prank from the Hermes boys again!" Another girl commented, before asking, "Which state are you from? Can you tell us your story?"

"Yes yes, I also want to know!" One of the boys stated.

Albert then proceeded to tell them a little about his background, omitting some personal stuff. They were more invested in how exactly the battle against the Minotaur happened, but he wasn't keen on revealing much about it, so he cleverly avoided telling the role he played in it, his bullshit was obvious to some of the most curious girls, but none of them pried into it.

...

Percy was feeling weird.

He saw the moment Albert got claimed by his mom. Aphrodite no less. He turned all pretty and looked like a prince from the Greek stories his mother used to tell him when he was younger. Even Chiron bowed to him. His teacher! When he heard that they were going to be separated he felt a little anxious, first Grover and now Albert, he would have to stay all alone at cabin eleven. Albert told him that he was gonna come to talk to him later, but still, even if he was happy for him, the chatter and the girls ogling over him made him a little annoyed, even the boys were complimenting his beauty!

Percy really thought he was right, Albert's beauty was a dangerous and annoying thing sometimes and worse he didn't even know why he was so mad. 

A little before the ceremony, he had followed Albert's advice and went looking for Annabeth, but she suddenly popped up out of nowhere behind him. He asked her about the Oracle and she was thoughtful and quiet before confirming what Albert had explained before, saying she would talk to Chiron on his behalf.

Annabeth was a serious girl. She was too curious and lacked some tact though. She kept asking questions about the summer solstice, questions he didn't have answers to. She also asked questions about Albert and what he knew about him. Percy told her only the basics, he didn't feel like sharing the personal stuff Albert had told him just a little before. Annabeth was definitely not satisfied with what she got. Eventually, they kept talking and he found out she was a daughter of Athena, the Wisdom Goddess and he felt like she must be really smart.

The most important thing was the fact she invited him to participate and Capture the Flag on her team. He asked what it was about and she explained it was a war-like game that earned the winners glory and respect on camp, something he needed after encountering Clarisse.

"You got an interesting friend, Percy," Luke suddenly said taking him out of his stupor. "I have been here for a while now and never saw someone remain calm after being claimed, especially when it happened in such a flashy way."

Friend? Percy thought. Albert said he wasn't his friend. He always struggled to make friends, he only managed to befriend Grover before he got here, yet, he didn't feel like telling anyone the fact Albert didn't want to be his friend, something he was sure would change soon.

"Yeah, he is fine."

"Pity he is one of them though," A boy not far from him exclaimed, before laughing, "What can he do besides being a pretty face? Give a makeover to the monsters? Most of them are just shallow and vain like that."

Percy recalled the moment Albert faced the Minotaur, glowing eyes and terrible words. He didn't have to lift a finger to control the monster at that time, same with Clarisse before. Percy realized that these people were really wrong, they had no idea how awesome and cool Albert could be. However, before he opened his mouth to correct them, he felt all gloomy thinking that if they found out then they would swarm to him like flies and it would be even harder to convince him to before his friend.

"Will they participate in the Capture the Flag thing?" Percy asked Luke.

"You heard about that?" The older boy looked surprised.

"Annabeth wants me to be there, she says she has a plan to win"

Luke smirked as if he had just figured something particularly funny out. "I am sure she has a plan, and... not really. They don't usually do that and even if they do..."

"What?"

"They would probably be on the other team with the Ares' kids," Luke explained, in a matter-of-fact tone, "They would be our rivals."

...

Albert had managed to escape the reach of his sisters and brothers and quietly walked to cabin eleven to go get his bags. However, before he could ever get there, he was ambushed by a familiar face, who literally showed up out of nowhere. A pair of grey eyes narrowly assessed him.

"You, who are you?" Annabeth asked, "How did you know about the Oracle? Percy came to me, he said you told him about it."

"Sorry? Wait did you just turn invisible?"

"Don't change the topic!" She sharply said.

Albert was a bit annoyed by her arrogant and honestly rude choice of action, he even contemplated using Charmspeak to send her away, but it would complicate things. Thinking for a moment he figured something out, he finally understood why he had just let go of them before and gave up on asking about the solstice. 

"You were spying on us at the deck, weren't you?" He asked.

"Yes". Annabeth shamelessly admitted. "It doesn't matter though."

"You are a pervert or something, turning invisible to watch people like a stalker?" 

Annabeth had the decency to look embarrassed at his direct words, "How about you just answer the question?"

This interrogation was not on his plans for the night, but then again unexpected things keep happening around him anyway. He decided to be a little honest and this might be helpful too. 

"You probably heard me at the deck before so I won't repeat myself," He started, before taking a deep breath, he felt resigned "I think you probably noticed the weird things around Percy Jackson, you're definitely not the only one."

"Where are you getting at?" She asked.

"I mean... you might be a daughter of Athena but that doesn't make you the only smart kid around," He stated neutrally, "I saw how disturbed the satyr who got me here was to see a monster so close to Camp, not any monster, but the Minotaur too. I saw how Percy's mother turned to dust instead of just dying like a normal person, that doesn't happen to normal mortals I suppose. The Underworld must also be real like Olympus. I also know that Chiron and even our resident God noticed some weird about this too, but none said anything about it as if they were avoiding something big."

Annabeth's eyes moved quickly as she heard him, a million thoughts seemed to flash in her eyes, and the girl continued, "How did you know about the Oracle and... why me? Why did you send him to me?"

"You out of everyone seemed particularly curious about Percy and you know something big must be happening too," He stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "Also, about the Oracle... I won't answer any more questions tonight. Now if you excuse me I have to go get my stuff, also don't spy on me again, girl. It's really creepy. I know I am pretty, but I don't need a fangirl."

Albert was partially waiting for the girl to block his path again, but she didn't. Looks like she knew not to push his buttons so recklessly. It must have taken her quite the courage to come to face him alone and risk being Charspoken into doing something against her will. Albert figured it out she must have discovered his skill from eavesdropping on him before and with his mother being what she was, it must have been a little on the nose now.

...

When he got to cabin eleven, Percy was waiting for him outside with his bags next to him. This made him smile, he didn't want to go inside if he was honest to himself. He would have to see Luke again, and now he knew the little thief had him on his books and might try to recruit him if he was smart enough. Percy told him about the Capture the Flag game. For some reason, he was avoiding eye contact and stuttering a bit. Albert tactfully ignored it, he grabbed his stuff and said his goodbyes.

"Wait!" Percy exclaimed.

"What?" He asked in honest surprise. 

Percy was looking at him in determination as he asked, "Why you don't like me? I keep thinking about it and it doesn't look like you hate me either. What did I do?"

Albert was caught off guard, he didn't expect Percy to notice or to bother and confront him. Now he felt he was standing at a crossroad with two very different paths ahead of him. He could lie or come up with an excuse and keep fooling the boy or he could just be honest at the price of Percy not trusting him. It was a difficult choice, but he refused to be victimized by his circumstances every time they met.

"I can't explain everything to you, Jackson," He stated as genuinely as possible, "I am not the kind of person you should get close to. I am not someone who can be fully honest with you either, that's just how it is and you deserve friends you can trust and that will trust you back. I can see your face when I used my powers on Clarisse before, you were a bit scared and I get it. I don't think you will ever be able to fully trust me either, not when I might use it against you or in a way you disapprove of. I am really not a good person and I won't claim to be one either." Albert paused before adding, "You are a nice guy and just know that I mean you no harm that's all, Jackson."

Albert just turned around leaving Percy standing still where he was. He had used his best poker face and he was tired. Tired of pretending for today. He could have been cold and fooled Percy, but that would make him just as sordid as Luke. Worse maybe. He hated the idea of being betrayed more than anything else in the world. He refused to claim to be a friend when he couldn't without fucking things up.

...

What went unnoticed by Albert was that his words and actions lingered in the minds of many individuals that night. Annabeth, Luke, Chiron, Grover, Joseph, and above all Percy. All of them were intrigued by him in one way or another, accidentally twisting the strings of Fate again.

All he hoped was that everything would be fine in the end.