Note: Sorry it took so long to update this! The next chapter will be faster, I promise. Also, I've changed the first chapter's title, because the new one is so much better. Anyways, thank you so much to my first reviewer, Commander Ael! Guess what, you will have a cameo in the next chapter. Yay! Everyone, please review! I really appreciate it!
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or Watership Down, or anything in Percy Jackson and the Olympians or Watership Down.
Atalanta had two days before leaving on her impossible mission. She went through her daily activities mindlessly, thinking about how the heck she would carry on with her task. After dinner and the sing-along, she returned to her journal. She quickly (or at least as quickly as she could) read through her first entry. Then, she picked up her pencil, and began a new one.
Okay, I'm back. She sighed, knowing that that opening was totally lame.
Anyways, on with when I found out I was a half-blood. After breakfast the next day, where I learned about the offerings to the gods, I was called into the Big House. James escorted me.
"What is this all about?" I asked.
"Complications." muttered James.
Before I had a chance to ask what in the world he was talking about, we were there. I saw Mr. D. and Chiron still sitting there, as if they hadn't moved at all since last night.
"Atty Johansen, what exactly are you doing here?" asked the guy who I remembered as Mr. D., staring intently at his cards.
"I don't know, but sir, my name is Atalanta Johnson, not-"
Before I had a chance to finish, Mr. D. butted in again. "Of course you don't know, Atty, of course. We have a little complication by the name of your parents."
Chiron looked up. "I'm sure Mrs. Johnson will understand though, Mr. D. You do remember her, right?" When Mr. D. didn't respond, Chiron sighed, and then continued. "You don't remember Rebecca Goldberg?"
"How do you know my mom's name?" I asked.
"No." said Mr. D., ignoring my question, and answering Chiron's instead. "Was she one of the ones that survived?"
"Obviously." replied Chiron, also ignoring me.
"That narrows it down, but still, no."
Chiron turned to me. "Your mother went here when she was about your age. She was a daughter of… maybe she'd better tell you. I'll IM her for you, since you have no golden drachmas."
I was confused. "Wait… what? What exactly are golden drachmas?"
"They are the currency of the gods." he replied. "Of course, the ancient Greeks used silver drachmas, but the gods will use no less than pure gold." his explanation was smooth, as if he had said it many times before, which I didn't doubt that he had.
But one more thing about his sentence bothered me. "Why do you need golden drachmas to IM someone?" I asked.
Chiron stared. James quickly filled in for him. "I think you two are thinking of different IMs. Lanta, you're talking about Instant Messaging, right?" I nodded, sure that I wasn't forgetting something else with the initials IM. "I believe that Chiron is thinking of Iris Messaging."
Chiron sighed. "Mortals are so confusing with their so-called technology. Would you like me to demonstrate, Atalanta?" Without waiting for me to say anything, he walked to the lake. I followed, not wanting to get lost. The mist rising up from it shimmered in a faint rainbow. "I hope this is enough." muttered Chiron. He reached into his… saddlebag, I guess, and grabbed a golden coin: a golden drachma. He threw it into the mist. I was too stunned to say anything. "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering."
The mist glimmered. "Chiron," A soft voice said, "it's been a long time."
"Show me Rebecca Goldberg."
"Certainly." The mist glimmered again, and there was my mother! She was at home, staring out the window.
"Where is she?" asked a voice, my dad!
My mom was about to respond, but then saw the Iris Message. Her eyes widened. "No, no, by the gods, no!"
"What is it, honey?" My dad stepped into view. "What is that? Is that… Atalanta?"
"Hi Mom, Dad. Can you tell me what is going on?" I asked.
My dad looked stunned. "Am I hallucinating? What's happening?"
My mom looked dazed. "An Iris Message. I haven't seen one of those since… Camp Half-Blood." Then she realized that Chiron and James were there. "Chiron? Atalanta is a half-blood?"
Chiron looked puzzled. "You mean that you didn't know?"
My mom sighed. "I wanted to say this differently… but Atalanta dearest… we love you so much, you will always be our precious daughter… but… you're adopted."
"What? I-I-I… wh-what?" I stammered. I mean, I should've known it all along, since I had an immortal parent, but I was secretly hoping that there was a mistake, that Sasha and Zanita were wrong, that I wasn't a half-blood.
"I found out that I was a daughter of Nike, the goddess of victory, when I was about your age." For some reason my mom –well she wasn't really my mom… but oh well- wanted to tell me everything now. She feels guilty about this kind of stuff. Like the time when I realized that my gerbil was gone, and wasn't 'visiting his cousins in Oklahoma' -man that was depressing- anyways, on with what my mom was saying. "Strange things happened to me, but that all got resolved at Camp Half-Blood. I stayed in the Hermes cabin for a few summers. But no more strange things happened, I no longer saw monsters, and I became a perfectly happy half-blood pretending to be a mortal. I met your father. My sister…" she got a little choked up at this point, but I understood. Her sister, Samantha, disappeared when she was 28. She was never seen again. "She was very pretty, and smart, and I was sure that some god had stolen her away. Then I found you, on the porch, with a note. It was from my sister, saying to take care of you. She didn't tell me who your father was. I kept hoping that you were normal… I hoped so much that I almost believed it… almost…" She started sobbing. "I wanted you to have a normal life."
"What exactly is going on here?" asked my dad –no, my uncle- , wondering what the heck was happening.
"I'll explain it later." my mom –aunt- managed to choke out. Then she waved her hand through the mist, and broke the connection.
After that, I had a pretty normal life –or at least as normal as a half-blood's life could be- training, making friends, and having a good time. But that soon changed...
Travis Stoll called lights out, and Atalanta sighed. She wanted to keep writing, since she was so close to the part she wanted to write, the part that was the whole purpose of the journal, but it would have to wait. She re-hid the journal, and tried to sleep.
{"I'm worried about Fiver." Hazel said.
"All he does is stare into space and mutter 'It's coming, it's coming'." agreed Strawberry.
"I wish I knew what got into him." said Bigwig. "This certainly isn't like him... something must be wrong."}
