Chapter Eleven

Jason

Saturday, August 7th

As we were walking back towards House someone gasped. It was Percy.

"What? What is it?" Hazel frantically asked.

Percy ducked behind his father. "My mom is right there, in that boutique."

I looked across the street. Through the window of a store Jason could see woman with long black hair holding a few pairs of pants.

Jason spoke up, "I can go distract her while you go," he suggested.

Thalia nodded, "House is just up the street, I'll go with Jason."

Before anyone could reply, Jason and Thalia subtly entered the boutique.

"Hi," Thalia went straight up to her. "You're Percy's mom, right?"

The woman smiled at them, "Yes, who are you?"

"I'm Jason and this is my sister Thalia," Jason greeted. "We go to school with Percy and just came to say hi."

As Thalia struck up conversation with her Jason glanced out the window. They were gone. "Thalia, I think we should go, mom is expecting us home soon."

Thalia nodded, "It was nice meeting you Ms. Jackson."

Jason waved and they both left the boutique. "What would we do if we saw mom?" Jason asked.

Thalia shook her head, "Mom never goes out…unless it's with a new boyfriend."

Jason nodded as they walked into House. The Big 3 were gone. The others sat on the couch.

Percy spoke up when he saw them, "So we were talking and once we went outside we were okay but now, all of a sudden, we're sick again. I mean, not as much as before but…" Percy trailed off.

"Maybe House is making us sick?" Thalia wondered out loud.

"Why would it do that—" Bianca interrupted herself by sneezing.

Nico frowned, "Well maybe…House isn't as good as it seems."

Hazel looked down, "House couldn't be evil…"

"No, guys, this is silly," Jason reassured. "House isn't evil."

"Yeah," Percy agreed. "Who knows, and if it is House's doing, maybe House is just angry because we slammed the door like ten times."

Jason nodded, "Why would our dads send an evil House?"

"It's possible they didn't know," Thalia argued back. Thalia was extremely short tempered. After living with her for twelve years, Jason should know.

Hazel intervened quickly before things could get out of hand, "Guys stop. We don't know, let's just forget about it."

Bianca nodded, "Yeah, so what should we do now?" Jason could tell she was trying to change the subject.

"Let's go outside," Jason suggested.

"What if my mom is still out there?" Percy asked quietly as if she would hear him if he spoke any louder.

"Then we'll do the same thing. Stall and our main priority would be for you not to be seen," Thalia shrugged.

"Co—" Bianca stopped to sneeze. "The sooner we're out of House the sooner I stop being sick."

"I wonder if House has any money…" Nico asked.

"Well," Hazel started, "Maybe not House but our dads definitely do."

"Then let's go to the Empire State Building," Thalia grinned. "The card swipe thing is in my room."

"We can't just barge in and ask them for money," Jason protested. What if they were in the middle of something important?

"Their filthy rich!" Bianca reasoned. "Besides, we could just call this 'child support money.' They owe our moms thousands."

"It's true," Percy nodded. "They do owe us a lot of money. We could just ask for a bit of money and it'd barely be a dent in their wallets."

Hazel looked uncomfortable even though she was the one who had suggested the idea in the first place, "I mean, they could be busy."

Nico sighed, "Hazel's right. Not that I don't want money but it's not right to just barge in and demand money."

"Jason," Thalia turned to her brother. "Can't you consider this a late birthday gift or something?"

Jason looked down thinking about it, "Okay, fine."

Thalia cheered to herself as she skipped off to her room.

Percy walked back towards the group after peeking inside of Olympus headquarters. The six of them were crouched down against the black marble walls.

"Are they in there?" Nico whispered.

Percy nodded, "They're eating lunch."

"Alone?"

Percy nodded again, "They're just talking by themselves."

"Okay," Thalia shook out her hands as she stood. "Let's go."

The rest of them followed her into the meeting area. The Big 3's heads snapped towards them.

"What are you doing here?" Poseidon asked.

"We need money," Percy explained.

"What for?" Hades demanded.

"You owe us," Bianca said. "We're just taking a bit out of what you owe for child support."

"And birthdays," Thalia added bitterly. "Jason's birthday was a month ago and I bet you didn't even know."

"Thalia," Zeus sighed like he had to deal with this every day. "I do know. I know everything. And I'm sure my brothers would say the same about all of you."

Jason crossed his arms, "When was my birthday and how old did I turn?"

Zeus pursed his lips, "Um…July 6th and you're thirteen."

Jason glared in return, "Wrong answer."

Zeus looked away, "What about me?" Thalia asked. "Go on, guess. Or do you need a hint again?" Zeus didn't speak and Thalia angrily crossed her arms.

"Dad?" Percy asked hesitantly, "You know my birthday and age, right?"

Poseidon sighed heavily, "Percy—"

Percy sighed, "Please stop giving me half-hearted excuses as to why you don't know me. I've got a bit sick of listening to them and, frankly, it's just a stab in the heart. It doesn't help."

Hazel looked down, "Can we just have the money and leave? Please?"

Zeus sighed and pulled out his wallet. He gave out two credit cards, "Spend as much as you want."

His brothers did the same. Percy mumbled a thanks when given his. Hades grumbled as he passed out three cards.

As they left he could hear Hades talking, "I'm losing the most money here."

"I feel bad," Poseidon sighed. "They have a point, we don't know anything about them."

Zeus' were the last words he heard, "Well, it's not our fault we have a crazed father."