A/N Here you are! Thank you to the new people who have added this to their favorites and/or alerts list!

Enjoy!

Miette

PS—Edited 3/21/12

**Disclaimer** I do not own anything that you may recognize as the intellectual property of Rick Riordan

Sophia felt as though she were trapped, her head spinning. The feeling almost reminded her of the time when she was 9 and she drank one of her moms 'Mike's Hard Lemonade' not realizing it had alcohol. She felt out of control, as though she were walking through a cloud. Fog was swirling around her. She tried to look around, she was on a hill? A mountain? She couldn't focus, there were loud noises, squeaks, scratches, screams. She was besieged by feelings and sensations, so much so that it was desensitizing. Images flashed before her eyes. She thought she recognized people but she wasn't sure. All she wanted to do was open her eyes and wake up!

'Sophia'

She jumped at the sound of her name, spoken inside her head.

'Sophia, you must wake up, my little Pearl'

Pearl? She thought, Pappoús? She tried to call out to her grandfather, the biological father of her father, the Greek god Poseidon, sure that was whose voice she heard. He was the only one that called her Pearl, his little Sea Pearl.

'You need to go home, you shouldn't be here.'

Here? Where am I, Pappoús?

'You are in Chaos, Pearl'

Another voice, 'Go home, Sophia. Before it's too late and even we can't help you. This place isn't for you.'

GiaGia? Her paternal Grandfather and maternal Grandmother, the goddess Athena, agreeing on something? Even in some bizarre dream Sophia was having?

'Yes, darling. Listen. Everyone is calling you. You must go back to them.'

Wait! Can't I talk to you guys? I haven't seen you in forever!

'No, Pearl, not now.'

'Go, we will try to visit you, soon.'

With that, Sophia felt the weight on her begin to lesson gradually.

"…Ambrosia…?"

"No, we…"

"…fine…"

"…worry…"

"…camp…"

"…fine…"

"…about…?"

"…Carter…"

"…how…?"

The voices that now swirled around Sophia made just as little sense as before, but now they were the familiar, comforting voices of her family.

"Niada?" Her voice was a rough whisper, "My Niada?"

"Sophia? Niada is fine, darling. Paige and Carter took care of her for you."

She slowly dragged open her heavy eyes, her parents were sitting beside her, relief clear on both of their faces.

"I've really messed up our standings, haven't I? Niada and mine?'

Annabeth almost laughed at her daughter, just glad she'd finally woken up, but she knew how important showing was to her, "I'm sorry, honey. There will be other shows."

"Everyone was here! And jumping tomorrow…"

"Honey, you will not be riding tomorrow. It maybe a little while before you're riding again."

It was then that Sophia actually took in her surroundings. "Where are we? Where is everyone?"

"Southampton Hospital, honey. You've been out for a while."

"Everyone is around; they're waiting for you to wake up. Do you want to see everyone for a minute? Or are you not feeling up to it?"

"No, I want to see everyone, but will you please ask Uncle Tyson to be calm?"

"Sure, honey." Percy leaned over and kissed his daughter's forehead before standing and going to stick his head out into the hall.

"Hi," Sophia felt bad about the concern she saw in the eyes of her G'ma and G'pa, Aunt Becca and Danny, Aunt Amie and her siblings.

"How are you feeling? You hit your head pretty hard."

"I'm frustrated that I don't get to wipe that smug look off of Trina's face tomorrow with the jumping."

"That's my girl!"

"Thanks, Aunt Becca."

"Next time, princess." Paul said, laying a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry you guys came all the way from the city and…"

"Sophia!" Sally glared at her granddaughter, "It isn't that far for us to come. Besides, we're still getting to have a nice weekend with you guys here."

"I'm so glad me ending up in the hospital equates to a good weekend for you, G'ma."

"Hush, you know what I mean."

Sophia laid back, while her family spoke and checked up on her, trying to remember exactly what happened that lead to her being here and feeling as though Naida had trampled her, not just thrown her.

"Honey, you've got a whole crowd of people waiting to see you, so we're going to go for now. We'll stay in the hospital, though and we're staying at the house for the weekend."

"But you guys…

"No buts, even Aunt Becca and Danny are staying. So you need to get better so you can come recoup at home, so we don't have to spend the weekend at this hospital."

"I'm fine!" She accepted hugs from her grandparents and aunt before they left to make room for the rest of her visitors.

Paige ran in, throwing her arms around her best friend, "Sof, you scared the heck out of me!"

"I'm ok, Paige! Geez!"

"You should have seen the looks on the QB's faces when you fell. They couldn't decide if they should be worried about how badly you were hurt or relieved that you were out of the competition." Carter said from behind Paige, a small smile on his face.

"Yes well, there was no way I was catching up to Alex. I think I would have beaten Trina after tomorrow, though." She looked up at the sound of sniffling and held her arms out to Tyson, "I'm fine, Uncle Ty." She was glad he was at least trying to obey her father's instructions to stay calm, the last thing she needed on top of everything else was to deal with his hysterics.

Tyson hugged her gingerly, unusually conscious of his strength. "You're not dead," he sniffled.

"Nope, good as new." She smiled.

"Pony ok, too."

Carter laughed, "he insisted on checking on Naida after they put you in the ambulance."

"Thank you, Uncle Tyson. She's ok? Carter and Paige took good care of her for me?"

Tyson nodded, wiping is nose with an oversized tissue.

"Thanks, guys." She smiled at her friends

"Who are the QB's?" Rachel asked

"Some of the Aristobrats," Paige just brushed it off, "you know how those types are, Ms D."

"Yes," Rachel sighed, "I grew up with a few." Rachel had spent her share of summers in the Hamptons as the Dare Heiress before she became the Oracle. Her father still used the house on South Hampton, though she avoided visiting anytime she was around that coincided with her family being in residence, if she could.

"Yes! Then you met us, instead." Annabeth laughed.

After checking on Sophia, and making sure Percy and Annabeth were doing ok after their worry, Nico took advantage of everyones attention being occupied to pull Carter into the hall.

Carter stood, anxious and fidgeting as his older brother eyed him, not saying a word. Dealing with Nico in a bad mood was almost as disconcerting as dealing with their shared father in a foul mood. Finally, Carter couldn't take the silence or the stare any longer, "What?"

"Why are you here, Carter?"

"I told you, Sophia's my friend. She had asked ages ago if I could make it to the show. It was a big show for her and Naida. I told her I wouldn't be able to make it because I knew I'd already be at camp, but there wasn't much going on. I figured no one would miss me if I slipped off for one afternoon to see her cross country phase. I left this morning; I got here not long before her turn. I figured I'd watch her compete, hangout for a little bit, then go back to camp no one the wiser. Who would have thought that I would run into you and Eliza and the oracle at a horse show? It never occurred to me that you guys were Uncle Nic, Auntie E, and Auntie Rachel."

"It never occurred to you once who she was? You're friends with her and you never knew her last name?"

"Seriously, Nico? Yes I knew her last name, but Jackson isn't exactly a weird last name. Sophia Jackson, Percy and Annabeth Jackson, Michele Jackson, Andrew Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson-"

"Ok, I get the point."

Carter was glad Nico interrupted him because he was out of people to prove his point. "I didn't assume that the girl I met while she was mucking stalls in a stable on Montauk was the daughter of the two greatest demigods of our time. I mean, I've learned about her parents as living myths almost, not real flesh and blood people. It never crossed my mind."

"Nico, let him off. The only thing he did wrong was leave camp without permission. And it's not as though you never did that." Eliza put one arm around Nico's shoulders and the other around Carter's, "Sophia's asking for you, both of you."

"I was wondering where you guys were. Carter, come sit, I never realized they had Jeopardy on during the day!" she excitedly pointed to the tv hung over the bed.

"You always beat me." He complained as he stepped back into the room. Ignoring the 'And you didn't figure it out?' look Nico was giving him

Sophia just rolled her eyes. "Come on, now that I'm conscious, I can actually introduce you to my family." She was sitting up in bed, her color better then when he had left the room. Carter looked around and realized that Paige must have left while he was outside with Nico. "Mamma, Daddy, this is Carter Weston."

"Mr. Jackson, Mrs. Jackson." He shook hands with the couple, trying to ignore the feel of Nico's eyes staring daggers into his back. Apparently Nico was still not happy with this situation.

"It's good to finally meet you, Carter." Percy glared at his daughter.

"Daddy!"

"What? You've been riding with this boy for a while now, I just want to know what type of guy my princess is spending her time with. What are your intentions-"

"Mamma! Make him stop!"

"Stop, honey, you're embarrassing Sophia," Annabeth laughed as she chided her husband.

"Geez, thanks Mamma," Sophia rolled her eyes. "And this is Uncle Nico and Auntie E, Auntie Rachel, and Uncle Tyson."

Carter turned to the three people Sophia had just indicated, unsure of what to do. His brother, who he usually got along well with, was getting on Carter's bad side almost irrevocably.

"Actually, we know Carter."

"Nico," with that one word, Carter tried to implore his brother not to say anything. He had a bad feeling Sophia was going to feel hurt by this. He'd never understood before, but today what Sophia had said in the past about not fitting in with her family, not being part of the same world made sense. Nearly every important person in her life was somehow connected to this world of Greek Mythology, and she was stuck with one foot in and one foot out. Now, here she was about to lose one of the few people she had that wasn't part of that crazy world of the gods, or so she thought.

Eliza laid a hand on Nico's arm, shaking her head slightly.

Rachel stepped up to Sophia's bed, "So, I think when you get out of here, you, your Mamma and I need to have a girl's day. How's that sound?"

Sophia, however was not to be distracted. She looked from her friend, to her Aunts and Uncle. "Out."

"Excuse me?" Annabeth turned to her daughter, a glare in her eyes for her rudeness.

Sophia laid back as deeply into the uncomfortable hospital bed as she could, fighting the childish urge to follow her already childish outburst by pulling her blankets over her head. "I'm sorry, would you guys please leave me alone for a little bit? I'm not feeling so well."

"Do you want me to get the nurse, honey?" Percy asked, concern written on his face.

"No, thanks, Daddy, I just need a bit of privacy." She rolled onto her side, away from everyone. She knew she was acting petty and childish, and no one understood why she was upset all of a sudden, but at the moment, she didn't really care. She could think of only one reason Uncle Nico, Aunt E, and Aunt Rachel would all know Carter, and she wasn't pleased.

Percy and Annabeth looked between their daughter, her aunts and uncle, and her friend confused as they stood. Rachel and Eliza both glared at the two sons of Hades as they walked out.

"Actually, Carter, stay a second."

He gulped turning back toward the bed, he wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing. "Sophia, I'm-"

"You're one of them," it wasn't a question. It was a statement. "Did one of them put you up to being my friend?" She waved her arm indicating her family who had just left the room, still facing away. "Or Uncle G? I know Auntie Juniper wouldn't. My first guess would have been Uncle Nico, so he could check up on me, he's even move over protective than Daddy, but evidently it wasn't him. GiaGia? Pappoús?"

"No, Sophia. I had no idea who you were until today. It's a crazy coincidence."

"All a coincidence is, is really really good planning on the part of someone."

"Well, that someone wasn't me and never let me in on their plan if they had one." He tried a smile, "I wasn't trying to lie to you. When I realized who you were, I decided I would tell you who I was, but well, I hadn't gotten the chance. You've sort of been unconscious."

"Who are you, then?"

"Son of Hades."

"Oh."

"You don't believe me about not knowing who you are when we met."

"No, I do believe you, it's just...I thought you were a friend who wasn't part of all of that crazy. I'm sorry, Carter. I just need to get used to think of you as a demi-god."

"I'm still me."

Sophia didn't respond. Again, not really caring even though she knew she was acting like a baby. She felt Carter squeeze her shoulder before he left.

"Thanks, Nico," Carter glared at his brother when he joined the adults in the seating area at the end of the hall. It took a great deal of self-control for Carter to not punch Nico.

"Ok, are you guys going to explain now?" Annabeth was not used to being confused or out of the loop, and being as her daughter was involved it made her even more anxious about it then she usually would be.

Carter glared at Nico, and answered quickly before he could, "I'm a half-blood, and Sophia didn't know. I'm sorry, Mr. Jackson, Mrs. Jackson, I wasn't trying to lie. I didn't know who she was! I mean, I knew who she was, but to me that's my friend Sophia Jackson from Montauk who's good with horses. She likes musicals, and puzzle games, and decorating shows. She usually wears dresses. She has a really close family, her mom and Uncle have an architecture firm, her dad does education for the state parks, with the wildlife and the ocean and the sound and stuff. She's got a temper and can't say no to sweets." He shrugged, "I didn't know that she was also Sophia Jackson, daughter of two of the greatest heroes of the modern Western World and the granddaughter of Athena and Poseidon. I mean, looking back now, some stuff fits, but…" Carter finally took a breath, he'd been speaking rapidly in his agitation, the words pouring out of his mouth.

"It's ok, we're not angry at you."

"Maybe not, Mrs Jackson, but Sophia is."

A/N Thanks for reading! Anything you have to say, including constructive criticism is appreciated! Please, review if you feel so moved!

Thanks!

Miette

PS— Again, I hoped things are a bit more clear, I think many answers and what not will be given in the next chap and things will become evident.

~~Miette