AN: So, I am sorry it took so long, but here it is! The next chapter Percy will begin her journey with Maeve to Camp Jupiter.
Before I go any further I want to point out that all information worth knowing is on my website, and is linked on my profile.
On another note, I will be updating The Sea's Daughter: Sea of Monsters soon, I am currently working on the next chapter. So sometime this weekend.
The next chapter of this story will probably be updated around the same time, so until next time,
Enjoy!
One More Day.
Chapter 10: Pray To Me.
Poseidon grinned as he looked at the photo in his hand.
In it was his daughter, smiling proudly as she held a little infant in her arms, and his son-in-law sat on her other side, smiling down at her and the baby.
Maeve Anna-Grace Castellan, he read the script that was on the bottom of the picture. On the back was a date, April 10th, 2010.
The baby herself had her eyes open and staring at the camera as if wondering what it was, odd for a newborn but he had remember that his granddaughter was barely human.
She had more godly blood than most.
Her eyes were shocking in themselves, and at first a brutal reminder that his granddaughter was also his half-sister through Kronos' contribution to her conception.
That didn't matter though, not to him.
Maeve looked so much like Percy when she was a newborn, other than the blond curls and golden-green eyes.
She also had features that could only come from Luke, features distinctive to children of Hermes.
Mischief seemed to already be forming on her little face – or maybe it was just because he was looking for these certain things that he noticed them so soon.
"Thank you for bringing this to me, Apollo," Poseidon finally said and he noticed the other gods still on Olympus were looking almost expectant.
"You're welcome," Apollo said, grinning as he sat on his golden throne carved with blazing suns.
"Well," Aphrodite began, standing with her hands on her slim curvy hips. "Don't just hog the picture, let us have a look! The child is of my bloodline too you know!"
Poseidon grinned at the love goddess and held the picture out to her.
"The baby is a girl," Poseidon told everyone smiling. "She looks like her parents, though I hope she isn't as mischievous as Luke for Percy's sake."
He chuckled along with nearly everyone else – minus Ares who was sharpening his sword, not that he ever did much else from what the others could tell.
Dionysus had returned to Camp Half-Blood, surprisingly enough considering how much he complained about the place.
"What is her name, brother?" Demeter asked, her interest peaked.
"Maeve," Aphrodite said, before Poseidon could answer, looking at the picture she'd taken from the sea god seconds before.
"Maeve, that's a lovely name," Hestia said, from her hearth which she poked at with her poker. "In Irish legend Maeve was warrior queen of Connacht. It means 'she who intoxicates'."
Ares laughed loudly.
"I remember that, wasn't she later called the Warrior Queen of the damned," Ares said and Athena looked at him surprised for a split second before nodding.
"Hmm, she started a war with one of her former husbands, and later caused the death...well a lot of people," Athena said, and Poseidon rolled his eyes.
"I doubt Percy or Luke knew that when they named her," Poseidon said. "Besides, a history of a name means little. It's what she does in the future that matters, not what some long dead queen did."
Athena sent her rival, a look of shock but there was more to it. almost pride and admiration that he could say something so wise and intellectual.
"Exactly," Aphrodite said, smiling as she passed the picture to Hermes who was also grinning proudly at the prospect of a granddaughter.
"Oh, she is going to be gorgeous when she grows up, just like her mother," Aphrodite said, clapping her hands together as she took a seat on her throne.
Poseidon frowned as did Hermes, who could tell from the picture in his hands that the love goddesses words would be true.
"I bet you can't wait to mess with her love life," Demeter chuckled and thanked Hermes who had passed the picture to her finally.
"Love life?" Hermes demanded, eyes a little wide.
Poseidon shook his head.
"No, Maeve could become a Hunter..."
Athena raised an eyebrow at her rival.
"Have you forgotten Maeve will become a goddess when she's of age?" Athena asked, and Poseidon glared shortly before shrugging.
"Than a virgin goddess," Poseidon said. "It could happen!"
Aphrodite snorted.
"Not likely," she said.
Zeus snickered at the look on his son and brother's faces.
It was rather amusing and he could definitely see why the two would need to worry when Maeve got older from the picture Demeter had passed to him.
She was bound to grow up to be as pretty as her mother, a unique beauty with golden-green eyes.
Hera rolled her eyes at all of this from her throne.
"Is anyone going to release me?" Hera demanded and everyone seemed to ignore her.
"Where are Luke and Artemis?" Hephaestus grunted in question from his throne. "I suspect we wont see Luke for a while."
Apollo nodded.
"Luke is still with Percy," he said. "Artemis went to get the birth certificate to the hospital and stop by Percy's apartment to speak with Sally."
Poseidon nodded, happy that someone would let Sally know about her first grandchild's birth.
"I should tell May," Hermes muttered after a moment of thought.
"Hello!" Hera raged, seething as she glared around at her family.
Even Hestia, her kind, never angered by anything, patient, older sister was ignoring her.
"Will someone release me!" Hera exclaimed and finally the gods turned to her, some sighing.
"I'm sorry dear, you said something?" Zeus asked, seeming a bit amused.
Hera sneered momentarily and sighed.
"Please, I would appreciate it if someone would release me from these restraints," she said, as calmly and nicely as she could muster.
"I don't know, mother," Hephaestus said, scratching his beard. "Can you be trusted?"
Hera's eyes widened.
"Trusted!? Since when can we not trust family..."
There were collections of snorts at this.
"In this family," Demeter began. "It's rather common to not fully trust one another. Between kidnapping nieces and killing spouses demigod children and lovers..."
Demeter trailed off with the latter, looking directly at her younger sister.
"I was only doing what I thought was best for our family," Hera said with a sigh.
Hestia stood and looked at her younger sister, allowing herself to grow til her adult form and she looked at Hera with slightly disappointed eyes.
"Hera, I know your fatal flaw effects your quite a bit. But you should know, Perfect families do not exist. Perfection is just a word without an end to a viscous cycle," Hestia began, as if she were scolding a young child, but without the baby talk some mortals used when they thought the child wouldn't understand.
"You intentions were good, but as the mortals say. The path to hell is paved in good intentions," Hestia said. "I think we can agree to release you..."
"Hestia," Poseidon interrupted, not at all liking the idea.
Hera looked hopeful.
"If," Hestia continued. "If you swear by the River Styx to not attempt to separate Maeve from her parents without Persephone or Luke Castellans permission."
Hera sighed, looking around and then nodded.
"I swear on the River Styx to not attempt to harm or separate Maeve Castellan from her parents, without their permission," Hera swore and thunder boomed.
Hephaestus nodded and stood, coming over to disable the shackles.
"Do not break that oath, Hera," Zeus said, looking at his wife with more love and respect than she'd seen in a long time, but their was also a warning in them.
xXx
Sally Jackson-Blofis had been stricken by fear and a bit of depression for the last few months.
Ever since Annabeth, Thalia, Grover, and Nico had arrived to explain to her that her daughter was missing.
She'd been unsure how to take the news at the time, but soon she had broken down into tears at the thought that she may never see her daughter again.
Her daughter or her grandchild. Paul had comforted her as much as he could, but even he was worried about Percy.
He did what he could, and Sally tried to pull it together. For Paul and for when, not if, Percy would come home. She had to believe she would, and Luke – her son-in-law – made it easier for her to believe this.
If anyone would find Percy and bring her home, it would be that man.
Luke had visited her as often as he could over the months his wife had been missing and she could tell this hurt him as much if not more than it did her.
He assured her he'd find her, and that she'd be safe.
Sally couldn't help but believe him.
In April she couldn't help but feel hope fade some, this would be the month Percy would have had her baby, and she could only hope that somewhere safe Percy was getting ready for just that.
Luke hadn't returned since March – she was pretty sure it was the beginning of march – and he'd told her he'd found her but couldn't reveal more for Percy's own safety.
But what if something had gone wrong? What if that had changed in the last month?
Sally was brought out of her thoughts by a knocking at her door, and looking at her husband, who sat at the table in front of her grading papers, she sat her coffee down and stood.
"I'll get it," she said, smiling and walked to the front door.
Opening it she saw a young, yet beautiful girl, with silver and white colored clothes, auburn hair, and silver-yellow eyes (like the moon she thought). She could be no older than fourteen.
"Sally," the girl said, and with wide eyes Sally realized this was a goddess.
"Please come in," Sally said, and stepped aside for the goddess. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting an Olympian."
The goddess smiled.
"I see your sight is good, but that is to be expected," the girl said. "I am Artemis."
Sally gaped momentarily and smiled.
"The goddess of the hunt, moon, childbirth, chastity, animals, and the wilderness," Sally said and Artemis grinned.
"Very good, not many remember all my titles," Artemis said.
Sally nodded and than frowned.
"Um, this is my husband, Paul Blofis," Sally said, turning to motion to Paul who seemed to shock to move.
Artemis nodded.
"Sally, I come bearing news of your daughter," Artemis said, and just like that Sally and Paul were both at attention.
"Is Percy alright?" Sally asked, sounding as worried as any good mother would be if their daughter had been missing for months.
Artemis smiled and slipped a photo out of her pocket and handed it to her.
"She had the baby earlier today," Artemis said. "It's a baby girl, Maeve Anna-Grace Castellan."
Sally stared at the picture with a large grin, taking in the child's appearance and recalling how similar Percy had looked at that age.
Her granddaughter had beautiful golden-green eyes, blonde curls sprouting from her head and features that were also seen on her son-in-law.
Like the slightly elfin features which she could only assume would be more defined as she got older.
Mostly though she seemed to take after both her parents, sans the golden color that consumed most her iris.
"She's beautiful," Sally said.
She was also relieved to see her daughter once again, after so long. She looked over joyed, and Luke was also in the picture, the image of a proud father.
"Maeve," Paul said, smiling. "It has Irish-Gaelic origin."
Sally smiled at her husband in amusement.
"Percy told me she chose the name months ago, in honor of me and May," Sally said and Artemis rose an eyebrow.
"If you don't mind me asking, how so?" the goddess asked.
"Maeve, it's a name that can connect to both of us. My middle name is Evelyn, the first three letters are in the name Maeve. As for May, the first three letters of Maeve is another way to spell May's name. I figure Percy and Luke plan to call her Mae as a nickname."
Artemis smiled and nodded.
"That makes sense," she said. "There is one other thing I wanted to explain to you before I left, Sally."
Sally blinked.
"What?" she asked.
Artemis sighed.
"I don't know if it's a good idea but many think you should know, and I happen to think so too. Your scent should be weak enough even after you know to keep monsters off you."
Sally canted her head to the side in confusion.
"What are you getting at, Lady Artemis?"
"Your mother, did she ever tell you about her family?"
Sally blinked.
"Now that I think about it...no. My mother just said her mother was in Rome most the time, very busy and that they'd not spoken face to face in a long time. I remember she used to tell me stories of how beautiful my grandmother was, but I've never met her."
"There is a reason for that, Sally," Artemis said. "We recently discovered that you weren't clear sighted. Your mother, Laura, was a roman demigod daughter of Venus. You are a legacy of Venus, and so is Percy."
"Legacy?" Sally echoed, her eyes wide.
"Legacies are those born of demigods. Laura married a mortal, and never told him her heritage because she wanted to protect him and you. She died before she could tell you."
Sally blinked hard, forcing back tears from her eyes at the thought of her mother. She had few memories of Laura Jackson, but she had pictures and always remembered how beautiful her mother had been.
She was also kind but when angered, well, Sally remembered it was always best not to anger her mother – not that her mother ever seemed to loose her temper with any child, not even herself.
"Venus is the roman name for Aphrodite, isn't it?" Paul asked, still surprised his wife had any connection to a god.
Artemis nodded.
"She is."
Sally sat down and nodded.
"Thank you, Lady Artemis, for telling me," Sally said. "It explains a lot."
Artemis nodded.
"I must go, things are in motion that Olympus is bit overwhelmed at the moment," Artemis said. "In case your scent does grow any, though it is unlikely given your age and mortal blood you do possess, I'd start carrying one of those spare weapons Percy leaves here."
Sally nodded.
"I will," she said, and before Artemis had left she asked, "Can you tell Percy I miss her, and hope she comes home safely?"
Artemis didn't want to tell the woman her daughter didn't have any memories of her, it would only upset her even more, best to leave that detail out.
And she could still tell Percy the message, even if it was later.
Artemis nodded and closed the door behind her, flashing back to where she knew her Hunters would be to tell them the new developments. Olympus opening back up and about Persephone.
xXx
Despite having just had her daughter the week before, Lupa was determined that she was to begin her training.
Percy could see why other demigods thought Lupa was a hard trainer to have, she was a slave driver.
She expected only the best from the demigods she trained, much like someone Percy thought she knew, but the styles in training where completely different.
Percy would go for hours learning what Lupa taught her, in the beginning these fights were against her wolves.
Well, all but one.
One wolf had taken a shine to Maeve, and would not leave her side when Percy had to train.
Almost like a protective mother wolf with their pups. Lupa told her that the wolf was one of the oldest in her pack, for lack of better term, and had helped Lupa with Remus and Romulus.
The wolfs name was Shiva, and Percy would always thank the gray-silver wolf with the large amber eyes everyday after her training for watching over Maeve.
'You must pay attention to your surroundings, Persephone!'
Lupa called from her wolf form, watching as she was knocked into a tree by one of the wolves – a surprise attack while she dealt with the two in front of her.
She held no weapon, Lupa's training was like that. She saw no point in continuing to weapons if you could not defeat her wolves without their aid.
Defeating meant killing, but because the wolves were connected to her, and she was a goddess, they did not stay dead.
Nico would have said they re-spawned, and then after that thought she always had to wonder who Nico was.
She knew he was important to her, family, but she couldn't remember who and soon after she usually forgot what his name even was.
It was like someone playing ping-pong with her lost memories.
Percy rolled to the side away from one of the wolves who took the thirds distraction to pounce and she came up on her feet in a low crouching position.
She smirked as the two wolves, the one who'd knocked her over from behind and the one who'd pounced collided.
She grabbed the third wolf that growled and pounced at her while the other two recovered, around the neck.
Gasping softly as he wolfs teeth snapped next to her neck and ear, before she concentrated on the earth, and made the ground shake in a low earthquake, a newer trick she'd stumbled upon.
The earths sudden movement under them threw the wolf struggle with her off and she threw her weight into the wolf.
With strength you wouldn't think from a girl her size, but was rather common among demigods – more so children of Ares – she threw the wolf into a tree.
She saw it hit in just a way that it's spin snapped in the right location to be fatal, killing it momentarily.
Lupa growled, stepping forward stopping her other two wolves from attempting another attack at her.
Percy stood, dusted off her khaki tank top, camouflage skinny jeans, and watched as Lupa glowed and became human in form once more.
She nodded, a bit of pride in her silver eyes.
"Good, I believe we can move on now," Lupa said, but she seemed to be hesitant.
"Usually I would want to train you further on hand to hand, but there is no time. You must be ready by May. We only have five weeks, maybe less."
Percy nodded, a frown on her face.
"What do I do once I get to Camp Jupiter, for that matter how am I even going to get there? I have Maeve as well," Percy inquired and Lupa sighed.
"I think the answer to that lies with Ops," Lupa said, and nodding back at the Wolf House. "Come, we're finished for today."
Percy grinned and nodded, before taking off at a jog for the Wolf House.
Once inside she smiled at where Shiva was, curled around the furry cot she and Lupa had put together for Maeve to sleep on.
Maeve wasn't asleep though she was moving around, or at least her arms were but she seemed completely at ease with the large wolf above her.
Percy grinned and sat on her own cot, very similar to Maeve's which was right next to Maeve's, and ran a hand through Shiva's fur.
"Thank you Shiva, for watching her for me," Percy said.
Shiva growled a reply which she of course couldn't understand but by the tone she took for a 'your welcome'.
Smiling, Percy picked up the slightly chubby week old baby, and leaned back against the furs that made up her pillows – or as close to pillows as could be created – and Wolf House walls.
Shiva moved closer, curling up at Percy's side, and Percy positioned Maeve better in her arms. Maeve snuggled closer to her mother, her small hand pawing at her shirt and Percy chuckled.
"She seems to have inherited your apatite, Persephone," Lupa mused as she sat against the wall, preparing fish that had been previously caught and stored for latter use.
Percy's nose twitched and she sat Maeve on her lap carefully and began pulling her tank top up.
"I don't eat that much," she protested and Lupa laughed momentarily.
Percy rolled her eyes as she picked Maeve back up, and wondered how she was going to make her journey to Camp Jupiter.
It made a uncomfortable feeling in her stomach, what if something went wrong. Maeve was just a baby, but her scent was bound to be strong.
'Pray to me, my champion, and we shall talk tonight,' a familiar kind voice echoed in her mind and she nodded.
For now she had other things to worry about, such as finishing her training.