A.N — Hello! I have returned to the world of Kane Chronicles and Percy Jackson fanfiction. I've actually had this idea, and quite a few chapters, for a – wow – couple years already, but I wanted to wait untill I had a few other stories finished before starting this. Now that I'm done one, I feel free to pursue this epic crossover.
A thing or two: This is 12 years after Kane Chronicles and 'end of HoO' (more on that in a sec), so Sadie is 25; Carter, Zia, and Walt 27; Percy and Annabeth and Chris and Clarisse 29; Jason, Piper, Leo also 27, and so on.
Second: I conceived this idea between the releases of Son of Neptune and Mark of Athena. There are references to MOA, but the story is mostly based off Lost Hero and Son of Neptune, explaining Jason and Reyna and Leo and Piper among other things. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy this, and stick around for the ride.
Chapter One — SADIE
"Sadie? Can I – can I come in?" My husband's concerned tone, coming through our bedroom door, nearly made me want to burst into tears again. Instead I gave weary permission and Walt entered the room. In his prime at twenty-seven, Walt Stone was, as my old thirteen-year-old self would say, hot. Muscular, more so now then when we first met, though not a lot. Staring into his warm brown eyes for hours was one of my favorite past times. Whilel I love my eyes, I would love more if our child inherited Walt's.
That is, if I could actually carry a child a whole nine months.
This train of thought finally turned on more waterworks, and I could taste salt on my cheeks as tears slid down my face. Walt crossed the room in three long strides and embraced me as I started sobbing. I got his shoulder soaked, but he didn't say a word, just held me and rocked me back and forth.
"I-I just don't understand," I gasped out after a while. "This..this was the third one. The third one, Walt. What am I doing wrong? Why-" my voice choked-"why won't they stay?"
"You're not doing anything wrong, Sadie," Walt assured me. "You're perfectly fine." He paused, then said informatively, "Anubis thinks it might be his fault. You know, since he's the god of" his voice trailed off "...death."
"No," I whispered, then more forcefully, "No." Walt looked at me, a little surprised but at that moment I needed to see Anubis, so I slipped into the Duat to glare at the god.
"Don't blame yourself," I ordered, only slightly aware of how hypocritical I was being - but I refused to let either of my men feel worse than necessary. I mean, Walt (and Anubis) did get me pregnant - three times! - and so after that it was my body's responsibility to make sure our baby was safe and healthy. My body had failed - I had failed. They didn't need to think it was their fault.
Anubis looked back at me, then cocked his head. He opened his mouth to speak, and I knew that even if I wasn't in the Duat, Walt would probably let him speak anyway.
"Well, then, you're not allowed to blame yourself, either, Sadie," Anubis said. My glare deepened, but he continued, ignoring me, "In fact, none of us are allowed to blame ourselves. Sadie, it's not your fault; Walt, it's not your fault; and, according to you two, it's not my fault. So let's all just stop blaming ourselves, let out our grief, and move on." I blinked, a little stunned, but I knew he was right. I pulled out of the Duat to see what Walt thought. He seemed to agree with Anubis, too. Well, at least we were all in agreement, then.
"Come on, Sadie," Walt said, forcing a small smile on his face as he stood up and offered me his hand. "Why don't we...why don't we go for a drive?"
"A drive?" I repeated dumbly. "Like, drive-in-a-car, that kind of drive?" Though dubious, I did sit up. Walt nodded.
"Yeah," he said. "Just you and me. And Anubis. We can – we can go anywhere, and just be...normal. Talk. Walk around, whatever." When he saw that I was still unsure he added quickly, "Of course, we don't have to. I just thought-" he broke off, and his eyes unfocused just a bit, so I knew he and Anubis were 'having words.' Then it was Anubis' voice from Walt's mouth: "Sadie, please just kiss us and cease his blabbering."
I laughed out loud, which I suspect was Anubis' goal all along, and complied with the god's wish.
-—-–-–—-
"What did I tell you, Sadie? Wasn't this a good idea?" WaIt asked triumphantly. I smiled and murmured assent as I stared out the window, watching the Manhattan scenery go by. It had taken a while to convince Anubis it was alright to go here (apparently there was some old threat he refused to talk about) but with the two of us (and the fact that Walt was in control), it wasn't too hard for us to win over Anubis.
Still, as we drove, I couldn't help but understand Anubis' aversion to this part of New York. I felt...intrusive, like there was something - or someone - that didn't want me there. Like I didn't belong there.
"Walt," I said suddenly. He looked at me concerned, and slowed down. "Walt, I want you to take me to the hospital."
"What?" His tone was alarmed. "The hospital? Sadie, why? Are you okay? What's wrong?" I waved away his worries.
"Walt, it's fine," I told him. "I just...I don't know. I just really want to go...to see the babies. Please, take me there." I could see he didn't want to - he didn't see how it would help any, but - eventually - he nodded and took me to the nearest hospital. Of course, both Walt and Anubis wanted to go with me (which meant they really didn't trust me to be okay) but after a while I got my way and they stayed by the car (good boys, anyone?) while I went inside.
With a little bit of glamour I was able to make it past staff or security guards. I mean, it wasn't like I was a terrorist or anything; if anything I was more of a masochist, or at the very least a glutton for punishment, for wanting to see the newborns.
They were as adorable as I thought they would be. Small, red, cute. My heart hurt so bad looking at them. When would I get to see my own child, wrapped up in a blue or pink bundle? When would I get to experience the joys and pains of motherhood? It wasn't fair! Even Carter was a father, twice over. Of course, I love my two nephews, Julius and Iskander, to death and would never want anything bad to happen to them, but I was still jealous, especially of Zia. She was a mother, but not me. My brother's children were still not mine.
So wrapped up in my internal anguish that I didn't notice the woman next to me, who had seemed to be there ever since I was. Around Carter's age, but a little bit older, with curly blond hair, she was a pretty woman. Both an engagement and wedding ring adorned her finger. Suddenly I felt very angry and incredibly envious of her. She was probably here to admire her newborn; what a lucky git she was. I was a little ashamed of my feelings towards the stranger, but that hardly squelched them.
"Which is yours?" I asked, forcing the words through clenched teeth. Might as well be polite, right? The woman turned to me, startled. She looked a bit confused, but mostly sad. So sad it nearly hurt to look. Her eyes were a startling shade of gray.
"Oh!" she said. "Oh, no, none of them." Her tone was very...controlled like she was trying not to be so emotional. I cocked my head, a little bit puzzled and a lot bit curious.
"I..." the woman faltered. She took a deep breath and said very softly, "I lost a baby today. Miscarriage, you know."
Oh gods. How did I not know? The sadness in her eyes, the containment of tears, the baby-watching...gods, she was like me.
"I am so sorry," I stammered, though I of all people should know how futile and unwelcome that is. But the woman just nodded. Feeling the urge to — I don't know, clear the air, comfort her, something — I said, "I lost a baby today, too." The woman regarded me, then gave a sad, defeated sigh.
"Then I am also sorry." She paused, then put out her hand. "I'm Annabeth. Annabeth Chase-Jackson."
I took it and shook. An odd sensation passed over me, a rippling of...something. I shrugged it off and said, "Sadie Kane."
We were silent for a moment, then a wry smile appeared on Annabeth's face. "Just couldn't help it, huh?" she said, and I knew what she meant. Both she and I had been drawn to the babies that had made it to term - the ones that were not ours.
"Was..." I hesitated, not wanting to pry into her life, but finally I said, "Was this your...first loss?" Annabeth nodded sadly.
"You?" I closed my eyes, feeling the tears already pricking at my lashes.
"My third." Her eyes widened, perhaps in disbelief.
"Oh. Oh, that's...that's even worse!" I nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly. Annabeth paused, then asked carefully, "Does...does that mean you don't have any...other children?" I shook my head.
"You?" I asked. Her face brightened just a bit, and that alone gave me my answer. Once again I felt intense jealousy over this stranger, who at least was already a mother.
"Yes," she answered. "I have three: one girl and two boys." A small smile played at her mouth, like the very thought of her kids made her happy. I had seen that same look on Zia's face hundreds of times before.
"Well," I said, wanting to add something, "my brother has two children -boys. One- and two-years-old."
"That's how old my sons are!" she exclaimed. "My daughter is five."
"What are their names?" I asked, rather curious.
"The girl is Alayla, but she insists on 'Ally,' and the boys are Luke and Ethan," Annabeth answered
"Annabeth!" We turned at the shout to see a man running toward us. He was probably Annabeth's age, with black hair and a strong build. Belatedly I realized this must be Annabeth's husband.
"Annabeth," he said again when he reached us. "Are you...are you okay? You've been gone awhile. The kids are getting cranky." Annabeth smiled at him and kissed him.
"I'm fine. Oh, Percy, this is Sadie Kane," Annabeth introduced, turning to me. "Sadie, this is my husband, Percy Jackson." Percy smiled pleasantly at me and stuck out his hand. His eyes were beautiful, perhaps the most beautiful I'd ever seen: they were the color of the sea, bluish-green, or, maybe greenish-blue. As I took his hand I was nearly overwhelmed by the amount of raw POWER rolling off him. I managed to grit my teeth and smile back at him, but it was hard. This was much worse then the subtle pulse I had felt from Annabeth — and now I berated myself for not thinking more of that rippling sensation. I would have to talk to Anubis about this.
"It's nice to meet you," I ground out. I said to Annabeth, "You know, I should probably get back too. My husband is probably worried about me." Both of them, I thought idly. No doub Walt and Anubis were going out of their minds right now
Annabeth nodded. "I understand. Where do you live? Maybe we can meet again. I mean, if you don't mind," she added hastily. I considered it. I actually would like to see her again, even without investigating their strange power source. Thing was, though, Carter, Zia, Walt, and I (and Uncle Amos, occasionally) still lived at Brooklyn House, which to most people is a broken down warehouse. So I said,
"How about we back here tomorrow? Around 9:30, at the front doors, and we can go somewhere from there - a cafe or something?"
Annabeth nodded again. "Sounds good. I guess I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded as well and headed out.
When I got back to the car, Walt jumped up and rushed over to me. "Are you okay?" His voice had a slight overlap, which meant that the two of them were sharing a voice. It was weird sometimes, when Walt and Anubis said the same thing at the same time — it freaked Carter out, though not as much as when it was Anubis speaking out of Walt's mouth — that could get interesting, especially when they started arguing out loud.
I waved away their concerns and said I was fine. And, really, I was. Meeting Annabeth had been good for me. And I was looking forward to seeing her tomorrow. I'd tell the guys about the power I felt from them after our little date
So I said to Walt, "Let's just drive."
