Siren!Percy Jackson

Percy Jackson cannot sing. Ask Annabeth, Grover, the seven or a member of the Apollo cabin for a more professional opinion. He’s loud, brash, certainly enthusiastic, but will have most campers covering their ears and laughing along with his completely toneless attempt at the art.

And that’s what he needs them to think.

Being the child of prophecy left Percy ridiculously overpowered, to the point people fear him and that’s important. Percy doesn’t want this. Not only is he an inherently friendly guy, he’s already on thin ice with a good majority of the gods and finding out he’s got powers they don’t know about is one step away from immediate death or forced immortality, neither a viable option. He hunches and lowers his voice, purposely throws fights and rarely even considers going all out on the use of his powers. He tones down tales of his accomplishments, never drawing attention, always blending in.

He doesn’t sing.

The first time he did it he was a child. A kid who shouldn’t be showing any demigod traits for at least another half decade. He just wanted his juicebox. And his mother gave it to him. But her eyes were clouded over with a milky blue colour and her arm swayed where she stood, holding the juice out for him to take. He was humming and he didn’t know why but she was scaring him and he stopped and so did she. Percy didn’t understand it. Sally did, and it was the first secret he ever learnt to keep.

The thing with being a siren, is it’s not how it’s shown on tv. Sure it sounds nice to those who hear it, but in the same way a poisonous insect might show itself in pretty pink. It’s dangerous, more so than charmspeak, because while Percy keeps singing he has full, unbreakable control over anyone in hearing range and it’s terrifying. He understands just why it’s so dangerous years later, when he’s first described as a weapon. If someone can control him, control his power…he’s not being boastful when he says they could control anyone, he’s being honest, and he’s sure there’s gods that would try.

He comes clean to his father after the wars, the first person he’s ever actually told, because he’s terrified. Sure it’s easy enough to pretend to sing badly every now and then, but the gods are always watching and there’s been times he’s been forced to use it or die. A kid at camp saw him once. He had to manipulate him into forgetting. It haunts him the way he just smiled and nodded and walked away, agreeing complete with Percy’s will. Surprisingly, Poseidon understands the exact threat of having this power almost immediately, all too aware of the power hungry nature of his family, what that could mean for Percy, but there’s little he can do other than offer his protection if found out. There’s no way to remove a siren voice this strong, no way to prevent it.

So Percy Jackson cannot sing. Ask Annabeth, Grover, the seven or a member of the Apollo cabin for a more professional opinion. He is loud and brash and certainly enthusiastic, but you’ll never hear his true voice, or at least won’t remember you did.