A/N: Hello everybody! My name is IDidn'tSignUp4This, and this is the first fanfic I'm publishing! So please, don't be too hard on me! I write all kinds of stuff, and I'll update whenever I'm on the computer and have a chappie written down.
Enjoy!

Disclaimer. I don't own any of Rick Riordan's works

Vici P.O.V.

I groaned. My dreams had been awful. I slowly opened one eye, then the other. Thankfully Noah and I don't share a room. Then I would have even less privacy, since he's kind of always spying on me. Or as he called it "Keeping an eye on his little sister". I am both older and taller than him. If only by three seconds and an inch. That meant he knew most of my secrets. Though usually, if he listens to any of my private conversations, he mostly ends up with some part of his head hurting. I'm slim and don't look like I could really hurt anybody, though I can actually hit somebody very hard. It's all in the technique. I continued my routine as I went into the bathroom to wash my face. I let the cool water run over my face. Immediately I felt better. I went back into my room and put my Inverness High Uniform on. Only a few more years of all that. On the way to the stairs I bumped into my sixteen-year-old, 6'1'' brother James, or since he doesn't let anybody call him that (he thinks it'll remind them too much of our deceased Grandpa James), everyone just calls him Jay.

"Sorry Vici! „ he apologized hurriedly.

"Ouch", I mumbled.

"You've got a hard head," he grunted, still rubbing his stubbly chin. Yeah, I'm almost six feet and a thirteen-year-old girl. Live with it.

"You too," I told him, showing just the smallest hint of a smile and lightly punching his shoulder. Then his phone vibrated. He checked the display.

"Sorry, this is really important, and really, really urgent"

Judging from the blush on his face, I guessed it was a text from his crush, Amelia. She was really nice and funny, and like Jay and I, a pretty big nerd. He left for his room. I hurried downstairs. Or better said I tried to. As soon as I was on the top step, my little sister Penelope, or as everyone calls her, Penny, came rushing towards me. That little eight-year-old is incredibly annoying, and also annoyingly cute. Her puppy-dog-eyes are so irresistible, they could get me to both jump down a cliff and curse loudly in ten different languages (if I knew so many, I only know English and a little Latin) over them. I picked her up and carried her down the stairs. Downstairs, my mum greeted me with the usual "Morning, Darling" and "Your lunchbox is on the table".

She glanced at Penny in my arms. "That little rascal did it again, didn't she?"

I nodded, grinning. Mum grinned and pushed a loose strand of her long strawberry blonde hair behind her ear. She was making a sketch of what Daedalus' Labyrinth could have looked like. Being an Archaeologist, she did that kind of stuff. That's also why we often spent time with our Uncle Alastair, our Aunt Claire, and our cousin Martha. Martha had fiery red hair, like our uncle. Jay was the only one of us who had that. And Jay was the only one of us with really straight hair. I glanced at Penny's black waves. They were a bit of an ocean, but so were Mum's and mine. I thought about my and Noah's blonde waves. They were like Grandpa James's. The only things we all had in common were: Sea green eyes, glasses or contacts, a natural tan, and a tall, slim, athletic build. I checked my phone, which had just buzzed. A text from my friend, a really mischievous guy named Lloyd Parkers. We were a weird match, snappy uptight me, and carefree, mischievous Lloyd. Just like us, he lived alone with his mum, who, by the way, is really nice and funny. His dad apparently just left half a year after Lloyd was born. Our dad...died from cancer, years ago. He's where Penny got the dark hair from, according to Mum. I hadn't seen Dad for nearly eight years, since around the time Penny was born. I dwelled on the memory a loud thumping made me snap back into the present. My idiot of a twin Noah was pounding down the stairs. I sighed and set Penny down on. Then Jay came downstairs. And then, the wall exploded, and somebody or something thundered: „You did me wrong!"

Noah snorted. I glared at him and Jay raised a questioning eyebrow. He put his hands up in defence.

"It was kinda of cheesy, y'know?"

Penny screamed as suddenly, the rubble fell onto our mother.

"NO!" my brothers and I screamed in unity, otherwise petrified with fear, unable to help, even though we wanted. After what felt like hours, we unfroze. Penny gave a high-pitched wail. Jay, who was nearest to her, pulled her close and gave her a hug.

"What in the name of God was that?!" Noah at last asked the question we all wanted to ask.

"Some kind of warning, possibly", Jay suggested meekly.

"But from whom?" I asked. Jay looked at me seriously, still holding Penny tight, and said: „I think that's for us to find out. But first, let us see if we can help Mum"

We tried to undig her from the rubble pile, but we couldn't do it. Then Jay decided to fish out his mobile and call the police and the fire brigade. Then he decided that we should go to our uncle, Alastair. So, we called our aunt and uncle, and then took the tram to their area of Inverness. When we got there, Uncle Alastair wanted to talk to Jay alone. So Jay left a sobbing Penny, and went to talk to Uncle Alastair.

When Jay returned, he had a grim and confused look on his face.

"Guys, we've gotta go to this summer camp in the New York. According to Al, we have some relatives there who own the place and stay there year-round. Apparently they'll help you find you dad."

I stared at him.

"Hold on, our dad? Isn't he yours too? What?"

"Turns out, your father's still alive. Mine isn't. And our mum isn't even my mum. And Al's not your uncle."

How could all that be? It could only be if our parents had cheated over time, if something had happened. We could not not be related. Our parents had always seemed eternally loyal to each other. Our father has been dead for over seven years. We were at the funeral. We saw his dead body. Whatever was going on here, it seemed that New York held answers.