Percy Jackson and the Quest to Save the gods

We Are a Family

Audria's POV

I woke up to a bright light and someone yelling at me to wake up. I opened my eyes, despite the urge to keep them shut, and saw Cade at the foot of the bed, fully awake and smiling at me. I blushed involuntarily due to the events last night; AKA Cade and I kissing.

"Goodmornin' sweetheart!" Cade said with a little southern twang.

I smiled and said, "Just 'cause I'm from the south doesn't mean I like boys who talk country."

His smiled faded for a second, but only for a second, then said, "Well sure ya do, missy! Now come on outside, uhh, I mean, come on out yonder and we'll have a good ole country breakfast together!"

I laughed and smiled at his effort to swoon me. He was wearing a Red Hot Chili Peppers t-shirt, complete with a pair of semi-dark jeans and red Nikes shoes. He looked, well, incredible, but he didn't have to know I thought that.

"Alright, alright, take me to this 'country breakfast' you ole fool." I said, laughing at the look on his face, like he was surprised I was actually going along with his plan.

"Okay, miss!" He said, stretching out his hand to meet mine.

I looked down and realized I was in my sleeping clothes.

"Uh, just let me change first, okay?"

He blushed slightly and I wondered why. "Yeah, of course! I'll, um, wait outside?"

Now it was my turn to blush. "Yeah, that's probably the best idea."

He laughed nervously and turned around to walk outside of the bedroom.

"Wait! Cade?" I said, not sure what I was doing.

He turned around, looking at me with his soft, grey-blue eyes.

"Yes, Audria?"

I walked toward him slowly, contemplating what I was going to do exactly. When I was so close to him I could hear his heartbeat, I kissed his cheek and pushed him through the door and closed it. Before I could close the door, he was already smiling at me, his beautiful eyes glowing.

I changed quickly and entered the kitchen with Cade beside me. Sally was in the kitchen fixing breakfast while Percy and Annabeth arm wrestled at the kitchen table.

"I'm going to beat you!" said Annabeth, clenching her jaw.

Percy laughed and said, "Oh really now?"

He was smiling and looked like he was just sitting back on the couch instead of in the middle of an arm wrestling match. Annabeth, on the other hand, was red faced and had a trickle of sweat building up on her left temple.

Percy finally ended the game with a quick move, slamming Annabeth's arm down on the table.

"I thought you were going to beat me, Wisegirl?" Percy said, smirking at Annabeth, who looked furious.

"I've always beat you! Have you been working out or something?"

Percy winked at Annabeth and said, "I'm just growing into the man I am. Getting big muscles, growing facial hair, and I even have a chest hair now."

Percy looked mighty pleased with himself and he lifted his shirt and pointed at his single chest hair, saying, "See!"

Annabeth studied it, then plucked it with her two fingers.

Percy looked horrified. "Annabeth! That was my only chest hair!"

Annabeth walked over to the trash can and threw away the hair, devilishly smiling at Percy.

"What chest hair, Percy? I don't see any."

Everyone laughed but Percy, who was still astonished at what had just happened.

"And, for the record, you do not have any facial hair either, sweetheart." Annabeth said, bending down to kiss his nose.

"I'm going to get you back for that." Percy warned, grinning at Annabeth, already seeming to have a plan.

Annabeth smiled at him and said, "I'll be waiting."

Percy's POV

"Breakfast is ready!" My beautiful mother called to us.

"Well it sure does smell mighty delicious, Miss Jackson!" Cade said.

My mom smiled at Cade and said, "Oh, dear, call me Sally!"

Cade smiled and said, "Of course, Sally."

"He sure is right, mom, is does smell amazing!" I chimed in, kissing mom on the cheek and grabbing a plate.

"Grab a plate, all of you! You hero's need a good meal!" Mom said, getting cups down from a cabinet over the counter.

We all got our breakfast and sweet tea, which was pretty amazing, and sat down on the couch while my mom asked us questions about the quest.

"Where are you going to go next?"

"Probably take a bus to Morristown. That would be a good place to start. Not that big, but it'll work." Annabeth said, satisfied with her plan.

"Yeah, that sounds good. 40.8 miles, about 50 minutes." Cade said.

I looked at Cade and thought, 'How in the name of Zeus did he know it was 40.8 miles?!' I mean, he could be wrong. I definitely couldn't tell you if he is, though. On the other hand, he is a son of Athena. I think he knows what he's talking about.

"Is that just a stopping point, or what?" Mom asked, obviously curious.

"I've done some research and I think there's a few minor gods that reside there that could hopefully help us with our quest." Annabeth said, taking another bite of her sunny side up egg.

My mom nodded and said, "Well, it sounds like y'all are off to a good start!"

I smiled and said, "Thanks to Annabeth."

"Hey, it's not just me!" Annabeth said, slightly blushing. "We're a team. We're all an important part of this quest."

I looked at Annabeth while she was saying this and wondering how one person could be so selfless and wonderful.

I kissed her cheek and agreed with her.

"You guys ready?" I asked, getting up to put my plate away.

Audria and Cade looked a little nervous, but that's understandable. This was their first quest. Annabeth and I have had our share of adventures outside of camp. They haven't had much real combat experience, but I believe they will do just fine.

"Yeah!" Cade and Audria said simultaneously. They looked at each other and laughed, and Annabeth and I looked at each other like 'What's going on with these two?'

My mom was tearing up. "Please be careful. If you need ANYTHING, just call me. You know my phone number. Just borrow any phone you can find. I will come get you, all of you. Please promise me you'll call if you get into trouble, Percy."

I promised I would, even though I knew I wouldn't.

Mom hugged me, squeezing me so tight I thought I had to get Annabeth to get her off of me. She hugged the others and told us to be careful, and told them she loved them.

"I love you, too, Sally." Audria said, tears in her eyes.

"You come back anytime you want, okay? We'll go play some ball or watch a movie or just talk. Anything you want." My mom said to Audria.

"Thank you, that means so much to me. Percy is really lucky to have a mom like you. I wish I had one like you." Audria said, a tear escaping down her cheek.

"Oh, honey, you do have one like me." She said, making Audria look confused. "It is me, sweetheart. I know you have a mother back home, but I'm your mother, too."

Audria started to cry and hugged my mom, who was also starting to cry. I walked over to them and hugged them.

"Audria, I meant it when I said you're my sister. We're a family." I said, looking at Audria and my mother.

"He's right," mom said. "We are a family."

I'm sorry that this wasn't a long chapter and didn't contain a lot of useless information towards the quest at hand, but I really wanted to get something out there so I cut the chapter in half so I could publish this one and continue working on the second half. I hope you enjoy! Reviews are much appreciated!