CHAPTER IV
MY BABY IS HOME WITH US
ANNABETH POV
I turned to look at the girl Percy was talking to and seeing her made me cry anew…
Her presence here only means one thing, it's a confirmation of my twin sister's Makiling death…
Yes, for those of you who doesn't know it yet, I have a twin sister, we got separated at birth because her heritage was much…much more different than mine…although we do see each other regularly….Poor Marilag and Masinag, my niece and nephew lost their mother. I knew it was a bad idea to hide my daughter among my twin's kind but I was desperate, I don't want to lose my baby. I never even knew if I'd survive this far, if I didn't, well, at least my baby was well cared for by my sister even it means never being able to see Seraphim grow up…. I gently let Percy know that I want to stand….My feet hardly touch the ground when a brilliant rainbow message appeared, uh-oh…
LIRO POV
I felt my wife's demise and the energy travel from where our daughter Seraphim usually stays, an abode far away from the castle. With them gone, its as if the place withered and died…. I wanted to feel despair but I need to know if Seraphim is safe from harm, my Makiling will never forgive me if something happened to Seraphim. I scanned the room where the battle took place and found a faint residue of Seraphim's travel, my wife must have sent her to where Annabeth is. I'll never understand Makiling's and Annabeth's relationship, it's as if they share a secret they were afraid I'd find out. Everytime I tried to investigate it, an unseen force seems to warn me in pursuing it…. So I created a rainbow message to find out if Seraphim is with Annabeth, and what I saw made me gasp in disbelief, Makiling is gently assisted by a raven haired guy with a powerful aura….
"Makiling? Is that you? I though you were dead…."
PERCY POV
Makiling? She called Annabeth, Makiling? Hey…. Wait a minute, I look at Annabeth but she mouthed I'll explain later. I turned to the mysterious girl and without so much ceremony, mist travelled with her to the beach.
SERAPHIM POV
Surprise to see my father in the rainbow message, I was about to hug him when the raven haired guy gently hold my hand and whisk me away to a beach. It startled the 3 strange men who followed at the beach. What happened next is well…. You'll about to see.
POSEIDON POV
I was surprise when Perseus suddenly appeared with an unconscious Annabeth in his arms, even more surprise when the mysterious girl who is the living embodiment of the nexus awakened Annabeth. When I first appeared, I thought it was a Goddess from a different pantheon. The girl seemed to be encased in a protection glow, totally obscuring her real appearance…upon closer inspection however, she look so much like Percy… could she be my long lost granddaughter Seraphim? 11 years ago, at the request of Percy and Annabeth, I obscured the vision of everyone so they could marry quietly in a little church. A year later, Seraphim, my granddaughter was born, suddenly a lot of monsters pursued them, even with a tired-from-just-giving-birth Annabeth, they managed to run away. I heard Annabeth telling Percy to mist travel them away to an unknown location, but tired Percy couldn't do it so I channeled my power through Percy and sent them away. They went off the radar after that. I have never seen them again until now…. As for Percy, well, with the curse of Achilles with him again, he managed to defeat the monsters pursuing them. He spent the following years looking for his wife and daughter. Athena also knew the situation and where Annabeth and Seraphim were staying.
HADES POV
I don't know what the fuss is all about. Sure that Zeus with his eternal paranoia thinks that the embodiment of the Nexus was born. Even among us Olympians, legends abound. Sure the girl is pretty mysterious and she exudes a powerful aura like a Goddess but she couldn't possibly be the living Nexus.
I saw Poseidon closely looking at the girl, as if inspecting her face at close range and saw his eyes widened perceptibly….hmmm… it could mean something.
I pity the little girl, getting embroiled in a world such as ours… I remembered my daughters Bianca and Hazel, they could have had peaceful and wonderful lives… but being demigods….you get the picture. I saw Zeus walk imposingly towards the already frightened girl… I sighed inwardly and walk towards Zeus before my brother did something stupid that might brought our early extinction as gods.
"Zeus, what are you doing?"
ZEUS POV
I saw Poseidon's eyes widened imperceptibly upon close inspection of the little girl who exudes a powerful aura like a goddess. So I walk like a Kings of the gods that I am, saw the frightened look cross the little girl's face and even before I could open my mouth to ask the girl who she is, Hades walk towards me….
"Zeus, what are you doing?"
"Hades, I am merely going to ask the girl who she is and where she came from. I'm not going to harm her."
"Really Zeus? What if she really is the living nexus? What will you do with her? You knew the prophecy states that the only one who can order her would be her grandfather and father, and no amount of power we both have can change that."
"I'm not going to control her Hades, I am merely going to ask her a few questions."
SERAPHIM
What are they talking about? The living nexus? Surely they didn't think I was the one. My godly glow as they call is just a glamour to obscure my real face and protect me from those monsters…even before I could open my mouth to ask, the girl they called Annabeth came rushing towards us at break neck speed.
ANNABETH POV
I saw Liro, my brother-in-law looking at me strangely, calling me by my now-deceased twin's name. In order to preserve the secret, I nodded at Percy to whisk the strange but somehow familiar girl away from where we are, knowing that his father and uncles will follow him… To my relief, Percy was not being a seaweed brain about it and nod in recognition.
"Liro, I know what you are thinking but before you ask anything, lets walk to the forest and I'll explain everything there away from prying eyes and ears."
I lead him by the hand which earned me curious glares from the campers but I don't care, I never wanted anyone to know my family secret, since it will help in securing a peaceful life for my niece and nephew. Never mind that they have Olympian blood in them, if it helps them lead a normal monster free life, I will do this.
"Liro, I am Annabeth, I am your wife Makiling's twin sister. We are demigods, daughters of Athena, Goddess of wisdom. Our father is not entirely human as you can see… and in order for us to be safe from Olympian politics, we were separated at birth, I went to live with our father while Makiling went to live with our grandfather, seeing that she inherited more of your kind's powers than me, making it safe for her to live with the rest of you. No one knew we were twins except my husband Perseus and I prefer to keep it that way. It is for the protection of your children. My sister never wanted for them to be trained like I was, constantly in danger, never having a peaceful life, made even more dangerous now that I married God of the seas' son, Perseus. Do you understand? It's the reason why I choose to hide Seraphim, my own daughter with Makiling, knowing that if I get killed, she will lead a happy life…So we bound my daughter's powers in order to hide her from prying eyes… we made to look like she is your first born."
LIRO POV
My wife has an identical twin sister? And she never told me? At first I was hurt and confused…. I loved Makiling so much that I was willing to stand as Seraphim's father in place of her real one, all the while thinking the little girl I considered my own daughter is really my wife's own…..Now I understand her growing up years, of why she was always different from Marilag and Masinag, faster, stronger, more powerful than my own children….with a power that even surpass Makiling…..
I sighed, now I truly understand why everything happened…
"Liro, with Makiling gone, where did she hide my daughter Seraphim?"
"You mean you don't know? Don't you have some maternal instinct or something Annabeth? That beautiful little girl you saw awhile ago is your daughter Seraphim, she will be 10years old tomorrow. She was supposed to be introduce as our first born daughter, an heiress to the throne today if only those monsters didn't suddenly appear out of nowhere. Makiling thought that with Seraphim's power, she could protect the kingdom even more than we ever will but with things going awry, she taught Seraphim will be safer with her grandfather."
"I do have one Liro…it's just that I don't want anyone to know the secret about my daughter's own powers, if Makiling and I never bind it when she was born, then everyone who is power hungry will discover what my daughter is and will try to take her away. Yes Liro, she is the living nexus, it's the reason why even with her mere presence, every living thing gets energized, good or bad alike.. her mere touch will heal a dying soul. At her eighteenth birthday, that's where the binding will no longer take effect, but by then, she will be able to protect herself from harm. No one must know what she is, otherwise, everyone will try to harm her, especially Zeus, my husband's Uncle. When things settle down we will come visit you, but for now, we must never let those 3 gods know of your existence, they might take Marilag and Masinag here to be trained and you will be left with no heir, no children as a reminder of Makiling, do you honestly want that?"
I know when I am defeated, I seriously wanted to take Seraphim home with me but I knew it will endanger the entire kingdom, even the twins she considered her siblings. So projected all my love and thoughts to Seraphim,
"My child, I love you… under different circumstances, I would have taken you home without preamble, consequences can all go to hell…but, this is your birthplace, where you rightfully belong. It is where you will find your birth parents, where you will discover your heritage, don't worry we will see each other again after everything will return to normal, as normal as it can be anyhow….I may not be your biological father but I have always treated you as my own…. Be good, I will always be here for you, watching over you. Till we meet again Seraphim…"
I turned to hug Annabeth and kiss her forehead. I have never known my sister-in-law until now but then again, I also understand why she never revealed herself.
"Goodbye Annabeth, if only without this secrecy, I could have introduce you as the kingdom's long lost princess. I hope you will permit me to see Seraphim from time to time…"
ANNABETH POV
"Of course Liro, you will always be Seraphim's father."
With that, Liro disappeared in a shower of rainbow sparkles…and I ran towards the beach hoping nothing happened to reveal my daughter's real nature.
Just in time too, I think they are having an argument about my daughter, that at closer inspection, looks just like her father Percy.
I hug tightly and kiss her forehead…
"Percy, this is Seraphim, she's…."
I never got to say your daughter before Percy turned to hug a stunned little girl…
PERCY POV
This beautiful little girl is my long lost daughter? Who wouldn't be happy?
"I have been looking all over the world for you all these years, thank goodness you're here my daughter…I thought I lost you forever…"
Of course I created an uproar with that statement, with Poseidon hugging her granddaughter, Hades doing the same.
"You have a nexus for a daughter Percy?"
That of course is my Uncle Zeus…
"My Lord and Uncle, she is not a nexus, she is my daughter, a daughter of the sea with intelligence much like her mother, Annabeth. She might have inherited a different aspect of the sea. As for her glow, can you not see it's a protection glow? It is made by…"
Before I could continue, Athena appeared and hug her granddaughter briefly…
"I made the protection glow Father and I had ordered a nymph to hide her. I may not be able to help her parents directly, but I could help them hide my granddaughter from pursuing monsters. She is not a nexus by the looks of it"
I thank my mother-in-law profusely and tried not to think of anything directly related to a Nexus and my daughter, tried not to think of any lie the gods might detect….