SALLY

I was up and cooking a buffet of breakfast foods before the sun fully rose. Most moms wouldn't know that before sending off kids to fight in a war, they needed a hearty breakfast. Most moms didn't know that just one course wouldn't be enough for a growing demigod.

So, I got early and started cooking. If cooking for 8 normal teenagers seemed daunting, try cooking for 8 demigod teenagers. Most of who haven't eaten a proper meal in over a week.

Jason was the first to wake up. He strolled in the kitchen at 7:00 on the dot, looking refreshed and well rested, even though he couldn't have gotten more than 5 hours of sleep the night before. "You're up early," I commented.

"I have a schedule like clockwork. I used to wake up this time when I was Praetor, so my bodies used to it."

"Well," I said, flipping a pancake. "As first up you can help me cook."

"I'm not much of a cook. Really—I almost burnt down the kitchen on the Argo II. I can do dishes, though."

"That would be just lovely. Thank you, Jason."

We stood next to each other and worked in silence. I wanted to ask him about the quest. I wanted to pry for every juicy detail I wasn't offered last night, but it seemed like he didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't pry.

The other five demigods trailed in from the living room a half an hour later. Nico rubbed his sleep bleary eyes and plopped down on a chair at the table. "'Morning," he mumbled. Nico rested his head in the hands and shut his eyes.

Paul trailed in afterwards. He was a sleeper, and, truthfully, I was happy he got an extra hour of sleep. He'd been known to snap and be irritable on less than six hours.

I started serving pancakes and eggs. Piper ran a hand through her hair—which just made it stick up more—as she politely declined the bacon. Leo grabbed a piece of bread from the center of the table and started toasting it with fire coming out of his hands. Unfortunately, he was sitting a little to close to Hazel and her shirt caught on fire. She cursed at him quite loudly but didn't seem fazed by the flames burning a hole in her sleeve. She calmly doused it with a glass of water and went on with her breakfast.

Paul stared at them, with his mouth gaping like a fish's. "What? How?"

Leo twirled a knife between his fingers. He looked a little too comfortable with the knife in my opinion. Again he nearly killed Hazel, as the knife slipped from his grip and bounced off the table a quarter inch away from her fingers.

"You see, Mr. Blowfis, I am quite the legend. I can shoot fire from my fingertips and my attractive qualities render villains speechless. If I was a superhero my name would be something like 'The Blaster Master'"

"Enough, Leo," snapped Frank. "We're all sick of it." Frank went back to irritably stabbing at his eggs.

I kept glancing at Percy and Annabeth's door. It was certainly like Percy to sleep in, but I was shocked they could sleep through the racket going on in here. "I'm going to check on Percy and Annabeth. I'll be right back." Paul gave my hand one quick squeeze.

I walked down the hallway to Percy's room. I didn't hear anything until I was just a few feet away from Percy's door. I stopped to listen, justifying it by saying to myself that it's not eavesdropping if I am looking out for his wellbeing.

"We're going to be okay, Percy," I heard Annabeth whisper. "One day this will all be behind us."

"Do you remember that night in the stables?" Percy asked.

"How can I forget? That might've been the last good night I had." I tensed up. What did they do in the stables? I was being stupid worrying about things like that, but as a mom it was my job.

"Do you remember what I said about one day living in New Rome and, uh, raising a family?" The bed creaked, and I assumed Percy had shifted to hold Annabeth better. Somewhere in the back of my mind I made a mental note to buy him a bigger bed.

"Percy…" Annabeth trailed off. "New Rome is going to attack Camp Half Blood. I don't think that opportunity is open to us anymore."

"It doesn't have to be in New Rome, Annabeth. One day, do you think we can get married and have kids and just live a normal life?" Tears pooled at the corners of my eyes. My baby was growing up.

"We're never, ever going to be normal, Percy."

They stopped talking for a little while. I raised my hand and moved it to the doorknob but froze. I wanted to just listen for little while longer. For some reason, hearing them talk like this made the knot in my stomach unclenched a little bit. They almost sounded like normal teenagers.

"You know, Annabeth, I meant it every time I said it in Tartarus."

"I know, Seaweed Brain. I meant it too."

"I didn't just say it because I thought we were going to die. I love you, Annabeth, and I will never stop loving you."

"I love you too."

"Come on. Everyone else is up. We should probably get ready to go back to camp."

I quickly backed away from the door, feeling hopeful that everything would get better.

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