The Healing of Travis Stoll
A/N: Here's a planned three-shot I wrote to try and cure writer's block. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I had a dream...I owned Percy Jackson and the Olympians...and then I woke up.
Part One – The Healing
"Daddy, tell me about mommy," Six year old Althea Anastasia Stoll piped up as her father walked into her room. It was her favorite time of the day, bedtime. The routine had always been the same ever since she was a little baby, and she loved it. She didn't get to see much of her dad during the day. He was there in the morning to drop her off to school before he headed off to work in the city. He was an electrical engineer, working for a company that Malcolm owned, a son of Athena that he had known since they were six. They hadn't been very close growing up, especially during their teenager years when Travis and his brother Connor did nothing but ridicule the boy, but as they grew older, Malcolm got to know Travis better, and Travis learnt not to insult Malcolm. Now, they were close friends.
He worked from eight thirty in the morning to six pm, leaving Althea to stay with her Uncle Connor until Travis came to pick her up. Connor, like Travis had a family of his own. He had settled down with a daughter of Hecate, Chelsea and they lived about twenty minutes away from where Travis had an apartment. Connor and Chelsea had a son named Lysander, who was a year younger than Althea and like a brother. They did almost everything together, just like Travis and Connor once did. Travis did his best to pick his daughter up from his brother's house before the clock hit six thirty. Once the pair had reached the small apartment that Travis had managed to buy, it was dinner time. Half the time, Travis just bought take-outs, as he was never a cook, but he always attempted to make at least one home cooked meal for himself and his daughter. Most of the time though, their dinner was due to Chelsea's wonderful homemade cooking that she insisted they take home with them. Like clockwork, Althea would always be ready to go to sleep at seven thirty, seven forty five at the latest. Travis Stoll couldn't help but smile at his daughter as he stepped into her room. Although he wasn't going to openly admit anything, he was rather proud of the room they had decorated together.
Last year, Althea had decided that her favorite colors were yellow and purple, and she had decided that she wanted her room those colors. At first, Travis had done his best to convince his daughter otherwise, thinking that she would change her mind within a few years. Yet, she was a stubborn little fighter, just like her mother was, sometimes even more. Travis finally gave in and that same year, they painted her room a pale yellow, before going to Spotlight and buying her some new furniture. A yellow beanbag, purple bed covers, a purple bedside lamp, a yellow fluffy rug, yellow curtains that matched her walls and they had even found a yellow and purple teddy bear that Althea had insisted she must have. They had spent quite a bit of Travis' personal savings, the money he had originally saved to buy a new car with, but he thought that his daughter's happiness was worth it. Just seeing the look on her face once the room was finished filled Travis' heart with joy.
Althea was now seated on the side of her bed, ready to go to sleep and certainly excited for this time of day. It was her favorite part, as it was the time she got to spend with her most favorite person of all, her daddy. Travis joined his daughter, standing next to her with a wry grin.
She looks so much like her mother, the voice at the back of his mind whispered. Travis shook his head, sending his own chocolate brown curls to fly around his head. Althea giggled, showing her pearly white baby teeth and a dimple on the left side of her cheek.
"It's getting late sweetie," he replied, glancing down at his watch. In reality, it was only about seven thirty, but there were many things that Travis needed to complete before he went to bed that night. The lunch and dinner dishes were still stacked up next to the sink in a dirty pile, and although he didn't want to clean them, he knew that he was going to end up washing them anyway because Althea hated the mere sight of any bug or insect. As well as the dishes, Travis needed to get the laundry started, make Althea's lunch for school tomorrow, phone his mother and get a bunch of paperwork for his job.
"But daddy!" Hearing his daughter complained pulled Travis out of his mental agenda. He glanced down at the young girl, taking in her tanned skin, emerald green eyes that shined with curiosity and intelligence and the yellow and purple onesie that she so adorably sported. He picked her up, wrapping his strong arms around her waist as she squealed. Travis let out a laugh as he pulled the purple duvet from under the pillows before placing his daughter into the warm bed. He plonked himself next to her, sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Not tonight Althea," Travis tried hard to put a stern tone in his voice, but it had never been his strong point. She put her pouting face on as he pulled her covers up to her chin. Travis hated that look, the lost puppy gaze that almost made him give in to anything. He knew that he didn't have time to tell her a story tonight, the amount of paperwork he had to complete was insane. The pile was growing daily and although Malcolm was rather lenient when it came to the son of Hermes handing his work in on time, but most of it was three weeks overdue and the line needed to be drawn there. All that work alone, Travis had estimated, would take about two to three hours of sitting at his desk, something that he was never good at. The ADHD he had been diagnosed with never seemed to fade, much to his distaste. Besides, talking about Althea's mother was something that Travis was always very reluctant to do so. He hadn't told her much about the daughter of Demeter that had captured his heart, before tearing it in half.
He didn't think he was going to tell her the whole story until she was about fourteen, at the least. The story just bought back too many memories, ones that Travis would never forget, no matter how badly he wanted to. As well as that, he didn't want to ruin the childlike innocence that Althea had, the innocence that Travis prayed to the Gods she would keep for a long time. She had created stories about her mommy, portraying her as if she was a goddess herself and whenever Travis heard them, he struggled to maintain his happy-go-lucky composure. When he had finally managed to snap out of his train of thought, he glanced down at his daughter, surprised that she was already fast asleep. Althea usually took about an hour to go to bed every night, but he had vaguely remembered her mentioning something about playing a tiring game at school.
"Goodnight baby girl," Travis whispered softly, as to not want to wake his precious beauty up. He placed a chaste kiss on her forehead before getting up. He quietly turned on the night light before closing the main light and leaving the room, making sure that the door was left slightly ajar. As Travis made his way into the small area they called their kitchen, he thought more of his daughter. She was his life, the reason he had even bothered to make a living nowadays. He truly loved his daughter more than anything and anybody in the whole entire universe.
What about Katie Gardner? the familiar voice spoke softly in the back of his mind.
Well, he thought. Almost anybody.
Travis had no idea how it happened, but time flew. Althea was no longer a cute little girl who liked making daisy chains with her curled locks pulled into pigtails, she had somehow transformed into a fifteen year old teenager. Her priorities had definitely changed, although that was to be expected. It was inevitable really, even though Travis was always shocked whenever he thought about it. Overalls and matching tracksuit sets of many different colors had been given away and replaced with skinny jeans, labeled jerseys and tank tops. Gumboots and odd knee high socks were thrown out and high cut Converse sneakers with white ankle socks appeared. Gone were the simple days of elementary school, when the hardest equation they gave you definitely did not include letters or triangles. The days of basic reading, writing and arithmetic were but a daydream, reluctantly substituted with AP English, Greek mythology essays, physics and the ever despised geometry.
When Althea had turned eight years old, Travis finally decided to tell her about her grandfather, his dad, Hermes. He had debated with himself whether he wanted to tell her or not. Of course, once she found out, there was the glorious upside of recounting all the marvelous pranks that he and Connor had pulled, as well as the never-ending list of monsters that he liked to think he had killed, and there was always the long story about the second Titan War. Then again, Travis had countered inwardly, the knowledge that Althea would gain if he told her could possibly bring great harm to her, something that Travis had always tried to prevent. He, along with Connor and Chelsea, had a long and tiring discussion about the matter, as the younger Stoll and his wife were also uncertain if they should inform their now growing family of two children, with one on the way. Finally, all the Stolls had made up their mind and decided that it would be the best thing to tell both Althea and Lysander about everything, allowing the pair to go to Camp Half Blood for the first time in their lives.
When Travis had told Althea the truth that cold night of winter, just as she was about to go to bed, he thought that she was going to think that he was insane. Surprisingly for Travis, he got quite the shock that she merely accepted it, in fact, she had deemed like 'so awesome!' much to Travis' glee.
Eight year old Althea had been rather ecstatic to visit Camp for the first time, although she had not travelled much. Travis worked hard for both himself and his daughter, but there was never enough money for any extravagant holiday of any kind. Malcolm had so kindly offered the eldest Stoll a four week holiday during the upcoming summer to allow him to go to Camp along with Connor, Althea and Lysander. The two cousins were going to stay for a good part of the summer, while Travis would return after a month and Connor would go home after a few days, as Chelsea was ready to give birth. It was suffice to say that both Althea and Lysander had the best summer Camp Half Blood experience that went beyond their wildest dreams.
Since then, Lysander and Althea were annual summer campers, loving the environment at the camp, but their parents couldn't blame them. The pair were warmly welcomed by older campers that Travis and Connor had grown up with, many of them having families of their own and their children visiting camp also. Much to Travis' distaste, his daughter had befriended Jess Rodriguez, the younger daughter of Chris and Clarisse. Jess was a fun and feisty character, with stringy brown hair like her mother, but deep chocolate russet colored eyes that she could have only inherited from her father. Speaking of her father, she had also inherited Chris' Hermes identity, becoming one of the finest pranksters at camp, along with Althea and their cousin Lysander. The trio found happiness in pranking anyone and everyone, and both of the Stoll brothers were extremely pleased, to say the least.
Having Althea at camp every summer for six years was not only the major change from the small Stoll family. Once Travis could finally afford to, he tried to find a house closer to his brother, in a small suburb that was away from the city. He wanted a proper house, not a small dingy apartment. The Gods had blessed Travis, as he managed to find a comfortable home that he fell in love with the moment he saw it. It was about a three minute walk to reach Connor's place, something that all the Stolls liked. It was a two room flat, made of brick the color of damp dirt, a thought that immediately made Travis think of Katie. He tried not to dwell on the thought, wondering if Katie would like a house like this. The home had a roof the color of freshly mown grass, another thing that made Travis think of a certain daughter of Demeter. There were two French windows jutting out the front of the house, and the inside was newly carpeted, clean and spacious. The backyard was decent sized, making Althea love the area. She had always had a fascination with plants, a hobby that Travis knew she had inherited from her mother. The pair both loved the house, while Connor and his family were also pleased to have them living closer, so Travis sold the apartment and moved into the new house just before Althea's eleventh birthday.
The elder Stoll brother turned up the radio, liking the bass drum beat that was pounding through the car stereo. He nodded his head to the beat of the song, humming quietly to himself. As time seemed to go on, routines began to change and Travis could do nothing but accept it. After twelve faithful years of working for Malcolm, the son of Athena had decided to give Travis a higher rank, and a raise. He was now one of the managers in the division that he worked in, also earning enough money to allow his daughter to do the things she enjoyed, which were mainly cooking and gardening. But if there was one thing that Travis could live without in the change that was his daughter growing up, it was her different attitude when it came to the male population.
Since she was a young little girl up until she turned twelve, the boys that she ever bothered to even look at where her father, Uncle Connor and of course, her cousin Lysander. Apart from that, she barely blinked whenever a boy was around, unless she was sparring against them or telling them off for being the immature fools she thought most of the male populous were.
Until she met Thaddeus, or Thad for short. He was Malcolm's son, only about six months older than Althea. He was as smart as any relation to Athena should be, with blonde hair that fell just past his stormy grey eyes, an exact replica of what Malcolm used to be at his age. Thad and Althea had met at camp when they were twelve, and he managed to single handedly change her perspective of guys, and to be frank, Travis did not like it. He did not enjoy the fact that Althea was actually starting to have an attraction to the opposite gender and it really didn't help that he happened to be the son of his boss. He had thanked the Gods that the pair didn't go to the same school, but it didn't stop them from talking daily. By the time they had turned fifteen, they were practically dating, much to Althea's father's distaste.
All these thoughts were swirling through Travis' mind when his cell phone rang. He was surprised at the sudden sound and turned down the radio, pulling over as soon as he could. The demigod rarely got phone calls and when they did, they were always extremely important. He grabbed the Nokia that was lying in the passenger's seat and pressed the green call button, noting that the caller was his very own little brother.
"Hello?" Travis asked uncertainly, feeling like he was holding a bomb that was about to go off. You could never tell with Connor. Even after all these years, the elder Stoll could easily trust his brother with his life, but when it came to phone calls or wallets, that was a totally different story.
"Hey bro, you remember how you got a call from Chiron the other day?" Connor asked. It took Travis a second to figure out exactly what his younger brother was talking, his memory had never been a strong point. He vaguely remembered talking to his old camp counselor last week. The aging centaur had Iris Messaged the elder Stoll, asking him whether he was going to be busy for a part of the summer holidays. There had been a sudden overflow in new campers as if the Gods had suddenly remembered to claim their children and they all needed to be trained. Not just any type of training either, but Chiron wanted them to be well trained and prepared for anything. So, he had called all the campers that had survived the second Titan war. Percy and Annabeth were already all year camp counselors, living in a small house that Annabeth constructed on the camp grounds for her, Percy and their seven year old son who they named Michael Lee, after Michael Yew and Lee Fletcher, two sons of Apollo that had passed away during the war. Chris and Clarisse were also coming as Clarisse was always excited to strike fear into newbies' hearts. Other friends of Travis and Connor were also coming along, such as Will Solace, Nico Di Angelo and Jake Mason. The elder Stoll was pretty keen to come along, as long as it was okay with his boss. He had talked to Malcolm the day after and he granted Travis four weeks of leave and Malcolm was also going to visit Camp Half Blood when he got the chance to.
"Yeah, why's that?" Travis replied, wondering what his brother was trying to get at. He had also talked to his younger brother about the ordeal, wanting to know if Connor was going as well. As much as he wanted to go to camp and see the new campers squirm and pee their pants at the mere sight of Clarisse Rodriguez, but alas, he couldn't. Chelsea was due to give birth during mid-August and he knew that he was going to have to be there for his wife so she could break his hand (again). However, he was going to be dropping off Lysander and staying for two days before returning home.
"Well, Annabeth was talking to Chelsea and…" Connor trailed off, wondering why in Hades he had gotten stuck with telling Travis the news. He had argued with Chelsea that Annabeth or Percy should be the ones to tell him, seeing as they were the original people that Chiron had assigned to tell his brother. Yet, even the great Percy Jackson was too scared to feel the wrath unleashed when Travis got mad, which wasn't often, and did Connor thank the Gods for that. Since Connor was the younger brother, Annabeth had decided to tell his wife the news and order him to tell his brother.
"What?" Travis asked, trying his best not to snap. He hated suspense, unless he was waiting to see how someone would react when they got pranked. Other than that, his temper was extremely short and his attention span shorter than that. Connor also had this awful habit of pushing all his brother's buttons, a skill that Travis realized all younger brothers have.
"Uh. Er," Connor mumbled.
"Spit it out bro," Travis growled, rolling his eyes. He was secretly speculating whether or not Connor was being an idiot on purpose or if it just came naturally. Travis just wanted to get back on the road and go home to see his little girl. It was a Friday night, so it meant that they were going out for dinner and would go to the video store and grab a few movies.
"Katie's coming to camp," Connor's words came out quickly, like one massive word rolled into one. No words could explain how Travis felt as soon as he deciphered what his brother had said. He let in a sharp intake of breath and tried to stop the feeling of his heart shattering into pieces all over again. After sixteen years, Travis thought that he was over her, he really did. He wasn't wistfully thinking about her as much as he did when Althea was still a baby. His thoughts weren't always focused on what Katie might have been doing at a certain point in time. Sure, he hadn't tried to get with anybody else, but he was doing his best to get over her. So why did the mere mention of her name cause Travis to feel lightheaded?
Connor, who was still on the other side of the phone, was quite worried. There were not many things that caused his elder brother to become speechless, much less anything that included the female persuasion. But, Connor countered inwardly, Katie was just something else entirely. You had to be blind or deaf to not notice the way Katie had changed Travis. Okay, so he was still the funny prankster, who had the ego the size of the universe, but little things had changed. He was always on time for occasions; he stopped eating like a barbarian and he even started to wear clothes that were actually clean. After Katie had left Travis so suddenly, he was more than heartbroken. Connor could remember wondering how much pain Travis really felt as his elder brother tried to hide his hurt and pretend like he was fine being an eighteen year old single father with no house or job. "Trav?" Connor asked cautiously, unsure of how his brother would react. Since Katie had left, they had never once talked about her. Connor asked about it once, but Travis got so mad that he punched a hole in the wall, so his younger brother knew that he should never ask again. Travis made a non-committal noise that sounded like a grunt.
"Uh, thanks for letting me know bro," Travis replied once he found his voice. He couldn't really think of much to say, heck, he could barely think to begin with. Connor could immediately tell that his brother was not okay. It wasn't just the dull tone in his voice or the way the last word had been spoken a tad higher, but it was more the reason that Travis had actually thanked him for anything. Before he could say anything, the dial tone sounded through his phone, indicating that his older brother had already hung up on him. The younger Stoll swore softly, praying to the Gods that his brother was going to be okay.
How he even managed to get home was beyond Travis Stoll's comprehension, although to be perfectly honest, he didn't quite care. He was feeling lucky that he had the power to drive to his house. He turned off the engine, but sat in the driver's seat for a moment, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel, his knuckles turning white.
C'mon Stoll, harden up, the voice in head told him firmly. Travis clenched his jaw tight, doing his best to maintain his composure. Suddenly, he found himself questioning exactly what he was doing. If someone had told him sixteen years ago that he would be single father to a beautifully talented young girl, living in a small suburb and actually depending on himself to make a living for himself, he would've laughed at them and politely asked if they belonged to a mental asylum. Travis had always thought that by the time he was thirty four, he would be living in a huge house near one of the coasts, happily settled down and married to Katie Gardner and being so rich that he would never have to work a day in his life. Yet, here he was, being the person that he never thought he'd be.
If Travis was being totally straightforward, he would have never thought that he'd make a decent father. It wasn't exactly like he had the best role model in the world. Even though Hermes was always looking out for his many demigod children, everyone had known that Luke Castilian was his favorite and look how good that turned out. Travis loved his mom to bits, but she wasn't exactly the role model parent figure either. Sure, she was the one that sent them to camp when Connor had turned seven so they could learn to protect themselves, but that was probably the only good thing she'd done. He always tried to wrack his mind of information about his mother, but there wasn't much there. Travis might've seen his mom maybe twice after he and his brother began all round campers. Not like that bothered him, Travis loved being at camp, in an environment where people actually wanted him around. Sometimes.
He wondered what his mother would have thought of her elder son if she knew that he impregnated his girlfriend at eighteen and actually wasn't the one to leave the relationship. Would she be proud that he stuck around to look after the baby? Or would she be disappointed that he and Katie had been so careless in the first place? Travis' thoughts drifted to Althea. He didn't know whether he wanted to tell her that her mother was going to be at camp this upcoming summer. He knew for a fact that Althea would be demanding all the information about her that Travis had been withholding for so many years. He wasn't sure that he would actually be able to tell her anything, in fear that he would break down.
Travis had promised himself many things, but he wasn't always the best at keeping them. He had promised himself that he would get over that daughter of Demeter, but that hadn't turned out so well, Travis thought with a wry smile. Yet, there was one promise he had managed to maintain. He had promised himself to never show himself vulnerable to his daughter. Travis loved her with all his heart and so much more, and had always wanted to be the best father figure possible for her. Of course, that wasn't possible and he always managed to screw up somehow (He's Travis Stoll, remember), but he had done everything he could to ensure her that he loved her and would do anything and then some to protect her. He wasn't going to be able to do that if he would tell her about Katie, but she did deserve to know. After a five minute internal battle between his conscience and his heart, he opened up the car door and stepped out. Here goes nothing, he thought reluctantly as he made his way to the front door of his house.
He wasn't surprised when he was greeted by the sound of silence. Althea, although much like her father in the sense she liked to have a good time, was a lot quieter than Travis had ever been growing up. He guessed that she was in her room, so made his way over to the other house after he disregarded his jacket, tossing it on a nearby piece of furniture. As he neared his daughter's room, he could hear her voice clearly and couldn't help but smile at the beautiful sound. Travis paused near her door, taking in the posters and photos she had taped on the wooden door. There was a poster of some band that Travis had never heard of, but apparently they were his daughter's favorite. Surrounding the poster, were photos taped in askew angles. Most of them were of Althea and Lysander from when they were younger, but there were also a few with his daughter and Jess Rodriguez, and much to Travis' disapproval, was a picture of Althea and Thad, taken near the camp campfire. Malcolm's son had his arm around his daughter and they were both sitting far too close to each other for Travis' liking. He was about to knock on the door when he heard a second voice in the room. It wasn't the sound of music either, but a sound of a male's voice. As he listened in, he realized that it wasn't just any guy's voice, but Thaddeus'. Travis exhaled loudly, clenching his fist tightly.
"Althea," he growled in his warning tone, not bothering to wait for her response as he pushed the door open. As the door hit the wall with a resounding thump, he saw his daughter mutter something quickly, before pressing a button on her laptop and shutting it quickly.
"Uh, hey dad, I didn't know you were home," she replied with uncertainly, not quite knowing how he was going to react. She had been Skyping Thad weekly now, since they didn't get to see each that much, even though they lived in the same area. Seeing as he was Malcolm's son, he had inherited the bright mind and was accepted into a private school a few states away. They only really got to see each other during camp. Althea had wanted to tell her dad, but he knew that he wasn't too fond of the blonde haired boy.
"I bet you didn't," he replied, standing over her with his arms folded across his chest. He raised his eyebrow, but didn't bother to press the matter any further.
"Oh. Uncle Connor called this afternoon, said he wanted to talk to you about something," Althea said, doing her best to change the subject. Travis' face turned sour almost immediately; as if he had just swallowed a lemon whole and Althea raised her eyebrows. She knew that her dad and Uncle Connor had this weird sibling love-hate relationship, but he was always pretty excited to hear from his brother. Her dad had been busy with some stuff at work for the past week or so, as he was trying to get it all done before his leave, meaning he hadn't had much time to talk to anybody. As she was just about to open her mouth to ask if everything was okay, Travis started to talk.
"Althea, I need to talk to you," there was no denying the urgency and the seriousness in her dad's voice and that got the young girl quite worried. She never got used to hearing her father use that tone of voice, mainly for the fact that he hardly used it. She could only remember one time he had ever used that tone, and that was when Travis was just going to tell her about Camp and who her grandfather is. She couldn't think of anything to say, so merely patted the empty bed space next to her. Without a word, Travis sat down and took a deep breath. He obviously wasn't prepared to tell her what was going on, but she finally deserved to know. "Your mother's coming to camp."
A stunned silence filled the air. There was no word that could come to Althea's mind of how she was feeling. Shock couldn't even begin to cover the mix of emotions she was feeling. The dark haired girl felt the rush of oxygen leave her body and she remained speechless, unable to voice her conflicting feelings. She glanced up at her father and noticed something she had never seen before. It was pain. Sure, Althea had seen her dad curse his head off when he jammed his finger in the car door, and had definitely seen the pain caused by his favorite basketball team losing a game, but she had never seen pain like this. It was a deep raw pain etched into his dark eyes.
"Oh," Was all Althea managed to say when she had finally found her voice. There was a deep aching within her to ask about her mother, to know the details and to know what her mother was like, to know what she inherited from her. She wanted the most important question to be answered, why. Why did her mom leave? Even though her entire being was begging to ask why, she kept her mouth shut. Her dad was in obvious pain and it wasn't fair of her to talk those questions that he never dared to answer while she was growing up. Through the moment of silence, Travis looked up from the plain colored carpet to glance at his daughter. He was expecting her to start interrogating him about Katie and it was suffice to say that he was rather surprised when she didn't.
"You aren't going to ask me about her?" Travis asked his daughter, cocking his right eyebrow and staring at her with a slightly confused expression.
"I want to," Althea admitted with a rather shy expression engraved in her face. "But I won't," she added quickly, a bit too quickly. The eldest Stoll winced as he came to realization of what his daughter was doing.
"C'mon Al, you've waited long enough," he scooted closer to his daughter with the enthused sly smile that Katie had fallen for. "Let me tell you a story…"
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