Reading The Unrelenting Frozen Seas

by BonesBoy15

The first chapter in the story of Andromeda Potter has ended, but the readers are not satisfied. Their host, the mysterious Seer, brings to them a new story for them to enjoy. Watch as Percy and the gang, as well as the Olympians, read about his sister Rhode and her trials.

11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.

The Unrelenting Frozen Seas: The Journey

Second Summer: I Get a Birthday Surprise

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Annabeth turned the page and cleared her throat. "Second Summer: I Get a Birthday surprise."

"Oh, I wonder what kind of surprise it is?" Aphrodite giggled.

Poseidon glared at her.

The morning after the traditional celebrations of a successful quest, Rhode found herself perched on a chair sitting on the front porch of the Big House, idly blowing at her wild bangs. All around her other campers were going about their business as usual. She on the other hand had resigned herself to boring a hole in the planks with a sneaker toe waiting for Chiron to start the discussion on how she had sent someone to Hades the hard way as he had promised.

"Ah, the fun talk." Ares nodded.

"As opposed to...?" Apollo inquired.

Ares shuddered. "The Talk."

All male gods and demigods shuddered at the thought of giving that speech. Apollo glared at Artemis, who crossed her arms and huffed.

"I was curious," She said.

"Yeah? Well, I wasn't."

Chiron's face was the picture of perfect calm, his fingers laced together as he sat across from her in Wheelchair Mode at the table that he and Mr. D would usually play pinochle on.

"Can you walk me through the situation?" The centaur started off, lacing his fingers together as he leaned forward on his elbows.

Rhode's eyes shifted to the bustling campers as she spoke, "We got through the obstacles, pretty easily mind you,

"Because Wizards and Witches overcomplicate things," Piper said.

"Mortals are dumb," Nico agreed.

and we ended up in a chamber blocked by colored flames. One potion let one of us go back. I got Lee to go so he could get a teacher. Then I took the other potion and went through. Su was on backup, waiting to follow me when the potion refilled itself. I entered the chamber and there was my DADA professor, possessed by Volde himself." the daughter of Poseidon snorted, "So stupid."

Chiron made a humming noise, "Possession...Willingly?" He inquired.

"Most likely not, probably got spooked into it," Ares said with a scowl. He didn't like possessed people. They were always weak.

Rhode shrugged, "I don't know, but once he started to attack, I didn't care. His curses bounced off Achilles' shield, so I was pretty safe for the most part." she turned to gave Chiron a quirked lip, "ADHD is just awesome for a fight, read his movements easy enough. Though," she made a sour face, "the number of useful spells I knew were...limited. So I got him in the face with a fireball."

"Burn baby burn," Leo grinned.

"Disco inferno!" Apollo cheered.

"No."

Apollo whined at Artemis' dismissal.

"...Effective." The trainer said dryly.

Rhode nodded, "Yep." Clearing her throat, she continued. "Anyways, then he exploded me-"

Chiron held up a hand to pause her, "Excuse me, 'Exploded' you?"

"He used Self-destruct," Percy said with a grin. "It was super effective."

"Funny, didn't you do the same?" Thalia asked him. "Making a volcano blow up? Releasing Typhon?"

"...Uh..." Percy cleared his throat and nudged Annabeth. "Read. Fast. Please."

"Something like that, blasted the ground, I think, and I went flying into a wall. Next was just a blur, I blocked a green light, tackled him into some shattered glass and instinct took over…" she trailed off, turning her head to look at the ocean, her eyes held a cold look in them, "Was what I did wrong?" She asked harshly, "The guy was trying to kill me, it was either him or me. And I like me a whole lot more."

"It's not bad reasoning," Ares said.

"Rhode," Chiron began with an understanding tone born from experience, making Rhode tilt her head to look at him in the corner of her eye, "I am not here to judge your actions. Merely to console and question if you are alright."

"Aw, but judging always leads to more fights!" Ares frowned. "Stupid centaur."

"Ares, behave yourself," Hera said with a frown.

Geez, Chiron was good at that. A few simple words and he could get you to relax. Rhode released a breath and her shoulders lost some tension as she turned back to face him fully. Propping her elbow on the table and resting her chin in her palm, "I'm fine."

"LIES!" Apollo declared.

She replied, but even as she said that, she couldn't help but avoid his eyes.

"Aha, see? I know my stuff!" Apollo smirked.

Artemis rolled her eyes and flicked his ear. "Be silent, brother."

"So mean..."

"Quiet."

"Twins." Hestia frowned at the two and then nodded at Annabeth. "Please continue."

She had no desire for her inner demons to be laid bare before the legendary trainer.

Looking up a bit, she saw a small frown on his face, like he didn't believe her, "I beg to differ. We may not have been able to talk much over last summer, especially about how you have been feeling in light of the things you have had to endure recently, but I feel it is paramount to speak now. Your action at school just makes it more urgent. So let us talk, shall we?"

"Okay." Rhode agreed after some hesitation.

"So Rhode, why you don't tell me, honestly this time, how you feel about having killed a mortal?" Chiron inquired softly.

"Oh, gag me. Who cares!? It's just a mortal," Ares said with a roll of his eyes behind his sunglasses. "It's not like they're going to go extinct anytime soon."

"Ares, be quiet so we may listen," Hera said with a frown.

"I… um… I honestly don't feel one way or another about it." Rhode admitted, a confused frown pulling at her lips. "I feel a bit guilty about that. I mean, shouldn't I be more upset about killing someone?"

"Perhaps." Chiron replied. "Or perhaps you are guilty not about the fact you killed, but in actuality some other aspect of the killing. After all, this Quirrell was actively trying to kill you.

"Bastard." Poseidon huffed.

"You said it," Percy agreed with his father.

Your heritage, experiences, and training have all prepared you for the possible need to kill when necessary. As such, to you it is not such a burden as say to an average mortal when you kill an enemy. Akin to how soldiers are desensitized to killing their enemies during the course of their training. In fact, you could argue that you are in some way a soldier of Olympus, no?"

"No." Poseidon frowned. His children were not soldiers, they were sailors or fishermen or...damn, warriors could be soldiers.

Rhode was quiet as she mulled this over, brow knitted in thought, "So...this is what we have to expect?" She asked in a low tone.

"If need be, yes." Chiron confirmed solemnly. "Though I must stress that you should do everything in your power to avoid being put in such a situation that requires it. Killing mortals is frowned upon, at best, by the gods."

"I don't mind it," Ares said.

"We do," the rest of the Olympians deadpanned.

Rhode frowned at that. The gods killed mortals all the time, often on nothing more than a whim.

"That's not true, we usually have a reason...Except for Ares," Hermes said while the warmonger grinned.

"It's fun. That's my reason."

"Must've gotten that from his father," Poseidon said.

"Those humans were getting uppity!" Zeus scowled.

"Uh-huh..."

"I need not explain myself to you!"

"Boys!" Hestia frowned. "Honestly, you were doing so well, too."

The hypocrites. She was smart enough not to voice that thought though, who knew who was listening. Her mind went to the voice that spoke to her in those dreams, and about how it said that the gods would kill her. She didn't want to prove it right by giving them an excuse.

"Don't listen to the creepy faceless voice," Leo said. "Never ends well."

"Now if it wasn't the act of killing that has upset you what has?" Chiron pressed kindly. "Search yourself Rhode, what is it really?"

"Search your feelings, you know it to be true," Apollo said.

Hermes grinned. "Love that line."

Despite herself, Rhode snorted a small laugh, "That's cheesy." She got a small smile from Chiron.

"Maybe. But it nevertheless is appropriate." Chiron said the amused smile still gracing his face.

"True." the daughter of Poseidon admitted. "Fine, I'll try." With that her face took on a look of relaxed concentration as she reflected on her feelings. She felt like she was in the eye of a hurricane of her emotions, trying desperately to make sense of the chaos of the storm.

"Like the Stormbringer himself," Zeus said scornfully.

Poseidon rolled his eyes. "We've been over this, I never chose that title. The mortals did. It stuck."

"Humph. A storm without lightning is merely a hurricane..."

"We're not doing this now, brother. I want to hear the story," Poseidon said firmly.

Zeus scoffed. "Fine. Read on, Annabeth Chase."

After about five minutes, she found her answers and duly reported them to her trainer. "I… err… think I'm upset about how I killed him and a little about why too."

"Go on," Chiron encouraged.

"Well, I killed him because I was angry with him for trying to kill me. And then I did the job in such a bloody way because I was pissed at him." Rhode explained.

"So you're upset because your anger got the better of you?" Chiron pressed as he sought more clarity.

"Much like Poseidon." Athena snorted.

"Shots fired!" Hermes chuckled.

"Quiet Hermes," Poseidon said with a huff. "And I suppose Athena's right...for once."

"For once!?" Athena glared at her rival.

"Poseidon," Hestia frowned at her brother.

"Sorry Sister, I won't interrupt anymore."

"Yeah." Rhode admitted in an embarrassed voice. "I know I have anger issues. Lady Thetis even said it was my Fatal Flaw and…"

"Lady Thetis told you it was your Fatal Flaw?" Chiron interrupted. "When?"

"Umm… Not long ago. She came to visit while I was swimming here at camp last summer."

"I see." Chiron said assuming a thoughtful expression as he continued to question the young demigoddess. "So you are upset that you let your Fatal Flaw cloud your judgment?"

"Sadly, it happens to Percy all the time," Thalia said.

Percy frowned at her. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"It can be."

"Yeah." Rhode nodded. "And it wasn't just when I killed Quirrell either. I got angry at Dumbledore too at the Farewell Feast. And a couple of times here and there too." She looked down at her feet at this, before continuing in a barely audible whisper, "I don't like it."

"Who in their right mind would like their Fatal Flaw?" Percy asked.

"You'd be surprised, Percy Jackson," Artemis said.

Chiron had heard her though and asked in as comforting a tone as possible, "And what exactly don't you like about it?"

"I don't like how it makes me act. I mean sure nothing really bad has happened because of it yet, except maybe leaving Quirrell a bloody mess. But I'm not stupid, I know that won't last." Rhode gave a sad smile, "With my luck? It's bound to get me into deep trouble sooner or later."

"Ah, sea metaphor. Deep trouble," Hermes grinned at the word play.

"Clever." Apollo agreed.

"I see." Chiron agreed. "So do you have any idea on how to deal with it?"

"...Lady Thetis suggested I let go."

"Let go. Let go of your anger...Let it go...Hm, I think I'm onto something," Apollo said thoughtfully.

Rhode said, staring down at her hands, sitting on her lap, and frowned at them, causing them to clench unconsciously, "But…" she struggled with her words. 'Let go'. It sounded so simple. Part of her wanted to, but another part didn't. Letting go meant she would be forgetting all the horrible things she'd endured and letting those who put her into those situations off scot-free, she couldn't do that!

"Rhode, it's completely acceptable to be angry," Chiron soothed, seeing the anger in her eyes, idly he noted that her eyes had grown from a vibrant sea green to a tumultuous green in her anger, much like her father. Coughing lightly, he drew her attention again as she blinked and looked up to stare at him, "But you need to learn to temper that anger. Control it, direct it, use it as fuel for what you want to do. Never let it control you."

"Hopefully it won't take her millennia like it did Poseidon."

"For once, I agree with you, Hades." Poseidon nodded.

He paused then waiting for the girl to acknowledge his words, when he saw her reluctantly nod he continued. "Now, the first thing to do that is to discover what are the roots of your anger. Like I mentioned in our talk about Dumbledore over the Winter Break, understanding will make dealing with things much easier."

Rhode tilted her head, when did she start feeling so angry at the world? She remembered how she hated the world as a child room, locked away in that dark, her prison. And then, thanks to the interference of her dad and Lady Thetis, she was free, and felt happy, truly happy for the first time in her short life.

Then, she made a friend, Thalia.

"Aw, Thalia made a friend. Huggles!"

"Percy, for your sake, never say that word again," Annabeth said without looking up from the book.

One who came to mean everything to her. She wasn't just her family, she wasn't just her best friend or her sister. Maybe more important than any of that she was a symbol of Rhode's freedom. Of the new life she had carved for herself alongside Thalia on the streets. Losing her meant she lost all that...

Sure she wasn't locked in her childhood prison again. But wasn't Camp, as homey as it was, just a prison too? With Hogwarts, with all its drama, even more so? At both she had far less freedom than she ever did whilst on the streets. So maybe it wasn't rational, and wasn't something she completely believed in, but ever since Thalia died it was like being imprisoned all over again, just in a fancier prison.

"Camp's not a prison," Percy mumbled.

"It is a bit restricting though," Poseidon said. "Rules and regulations...admittedly, not a lot, but still. She can't come and go as she pleases."

Percy wasn't convinced, but then again, he didn't live like Rhode, so he couldn't judge.

"...alia." Rhode murmured.

"Hm?" Chiron prompted.

Swallowing, the daughter of Poseidon said, "Thalia." she admitted, "It, it all started when she…" she couldn't finish it. She didn't want to.

"I see. So you're angry at those who are responsible for what happened to her?" Chiron hypothesized.

"Yeah. But not just them. I guess well…I'm angry the gods for putting us in that situation. At Annabeth for slowing us down because she was so young, Luke for not saving her, Grover for getting lost and allowing the monsters to catch up, myself for being so useless when she needed me… even Thalia for letting things happen that way. I blame everyone!"

"Irrational." Athena sniffed.

"Emotional," Apollo corrected. "Emotions are fickle, and not as alien to us as we'd like."

"...Why can't you be this mature all the time?" Artemis asked.

"Because it's no fun! Duh."

She shouted the last bit out, before calming slightly and continuing. "I know it doesn't make sense, but that's how I feel." she said with a broken and pain filled laugh, rubbing her eyes roughly, "But that's not even the worst part of it…"

"Then what is?" The ancient centaur asked quietly.

"The worst thing is…" For a moment Rhode couldn't bring herself to continue, but after a steadying breath did, "The worst thing is that the bit I'm most angry about isn't that Thalia is… gone… but what that means to me."

"And what exactly does it mean to you, Rhode?" Chiron pressed when the girl seemed reluctant to elaborate.

"It means that I'm caged again!"

The demigod children of the Big Three grimaced, as did the six children of Rhea. Entrapment was not a good feeling.

She shouted out. "And I know that doesn't make sense. By the gods, I know! But I can't help it." Rhode broke down into tears at this point and the immortal moved over to engulf the distraught child in his arms even as she stutteringly continued. "I mean…*sniff*…Camp is like a home to…and going to Hogwarts sucks… But…But I like Camp. …*sniff*… Here I have my family…and at school there's Su and Lee…even if everything else is a pain…but…." She lost all semblance of coherence at this point and the dam burst, her tears pouring out in full force.

"Bet she cries a river," Ares said with a smirk.

"That, I'd pay to see." Apollo chuckled.

"Quiet," Hera said to the two. They smartly clammed up.

Chiron just comfortingly patted her on the back even as he soothingly said, "I'm sure you know this Rhode, but emotions are not supposed to make sense. People just feel the way they do because they do. You are no exception. You have no reason to feel upset for feeling the way you do. As for your anger, well, it is your Fatal Flaw so it will not be easy to manage but you won't be alone as you strive to do so. I'll be here if you ever need help with it, and I'm sure all your friends and family here at camp would be more than willing to do the same. So don't let this upset you, my dear girl, everything will be perfectly fine."

"And from that day forth, everything went downhill."

"Leo!"

"What? He said the jinx phrase!"

The next day found Rhode sparring with the Ares cabin. After her bout of crying, Chiron had let her clean up at the Big House, she had an image to maintain after all,

"That's right, protect your rep!" Thalia said with a nod.

before he had escorted her back to her cabin with instructions to have a good rest for the rest of the day and that he would get back to her tomorrow with some activities he felt would help her with her issues. Yes, that was what she was calling her anger problems, deal with it! The sparring was one such activity, hence her having a match against Fergus.

After the, uh, incident from last summer, nearly all of Ares cabin wasn't interested in getting the daughter of Poseidon to go psycho on them.

Poseidon frowned. His daughter wasn't psycho.

Ares scowled. Stupid wimps, they should fight anyway!

Fergus had called his siblings a bunch of wimps and, in a way, had taken Rhode under his wing, since he said she had a talent for punching stuff.

The match started with Rhode bobbing and weaving around the arena as her arms guarded her face. Rhode moved in for the first strike as with a cry, she twisted her hips, and launched a left straight.

It was blocked by Fergus, whose powerful arms counterattacked with a few jabs, testing her defenses.

Rhode struggled to block the ferocious attacks, and soon her guard was broken, leading her to get a knee to the gut and a right hook to the face, sending her sprawling to the ground.

As Rhode shook her head, getting back up, Fergus complained, "Come on, lass, give me something better." He said, picking his ear, "I could get one of my twit sibs to give me something with more umph."

Rhode scowled at him, getting angry, but that just seemed to make Fergus smile.

"Yes, use your anger. Strike me down. Join me...On the dark side," Leo said with a cackle.

Piper flicked his ear. "Knock it off."

"Ow! Not cool."

"There it is," the son of war said as he gave a large smile as Rhode stomped up and charged. Her punches were thrown harder and faster as the boy egged her on, trying to make her angry on purpose.

"Come on," Fergus grunted, his forearm going up to block a kick for his head. He quickly grabbed it, lifting Rhode up and tossing her to the ground, sitting on her back and locking it, getting a painful grunt from Rhode, "Getting too easy, lass." He chided with that damned smile on his face.

Then again, out of everyone in camp, Fergus was the best in Pankration. He could fight Argus, the head of camp security, on even footing.

"Should beat him anyway," Ares said with a snort.

"I'll show you easy!" Rhode snapped at him, struggling to get out of the hold.

Laughing the son of war let her go, eager to fight as usual. He got his wish when Rhode went to kick his shin, but sidestepped and countered with a halfhearted punch. Rhode dodged it, and got in a gut shot, getting a minor grunt from the Scottish son of war.

She was going to go for a second shot, but Fergus bear hugged her, strangling Rhode. She then did the only thing she could think of.

Knee him in the soft spot.

The demigods all winced while Thalia nodded.

"Smart move," she said.

Her hopes were quickly dashed as she connected with something hard.

"Ha!" Fergus barked in her face, "Think I'd let you do that again? I wore a cup this time."

That made the boys relax while Thalia frowned.

Rhode clicked her tongue, "So cheap." She muttered.

Fergus let her go, and she dodged a kick to her stomach, only to get a fist to her chest, knocking the air out of her, laying her flat.

Rhode panted heavily, they had been training for about an hour now, and her body felt like jelly from all the hits she took.

Water could only heal so much before the pain finally took its toll.

Speaking of water, Rhode winced her eyes shut as a bucket of ice water was dumped on her. Fergus called her water powered healing the most stupid yet handy power ever.

"It is a bit overpowered," Apollo said.

"Not my fault." Poseidon shrugged. It's not like he picked to let his children get healed by water. It was just a thing.

Since she just got back up to get smacked down again.

That was when she kneed his soft spot the first time.

Letting the arm holding the bucket slide to his side, Fergus grinned down at her, "Come on, don't tell me you're out of gas?"

"Give her some beans!"

Piper gave Leo a dry look. "Really?"

"It's a musical art. The more you eat the more you f-!"

"Leo Valdez," Hestia said with a stern frown while Apollo and Hermes began to snicker.

Leo wilted and shivered.

"Shut…up." Rhode mustered out the best she could, her breathing labored. Her everything hurt and whilst the water was slowly causing the pain to fade away, for the moment it was still there.

The son of war whined and planted his butt on the ground next to her, cupping his chin in one of his massive palms, "Alright, guess you did okay today." He mildly complemented.

"Okay?" Rhode panted out with a glare, which was pitiful at the moment mind you.

"Yep." The boy nodded, "Your defense needs some work, you over reach with your arm locks, and you're not big enough for throws outside your limited weight class." He critiqued her in an expert fashion, getting a frown from Rhode, "But, your arm and leg strikes are good, especially your gastrizein." He stated.

"Still needs work, if you ask me," Ares criticized. "Both of them."

"She is a trident user," Poseidon said. "And has a dagger in case things go wrong. As well as her shield."

"So? Fist fighting is the way to go!"

"You mean like how I kicked your butt?" Apollo asked.

"That doesn't count! I had dust in my eye!"

"Right, sure..."

"Okay, what else?" she asked him, wanting to get better. Fergus got this knowing look on his face as he went on.

"See, I got you figured out, lass." He stated, getting a frown from Rhode. Seeing this, he elaborated, "You got all this anger in you, and what do you do with it? You let it whip around like an unmanned fire hose instead of aiming it at the flames. You gotta learn to channel that anger, lass, or you're screwed." He bluntly said. Unwittingly repeating what Chiron had said the day before.

"A son of Ares with actual good advice? Is grandfather returning?" Athena asked.

Ares scowled at her. "If my kids know one thing, it's how to kick ass!"

"Not that well," Percy said.

"What'd you say, Jackson?"

"Enough!" Hestia frowned. "Honestly, it was going so well."

Anger prickled through Rhode's body, making her prop herself on her elbows, "Shut up!" she snapped at him. She knew Chiron hadn't ratted her out, he was too honorable for that, so having someone else point out her issues rankled her. Was she that obvious?

"See." Fergus pointed at her, "Right there. There's no shame in using your anger in a fight." He thumbed at himself, grinning, "How do you think we fight? Our dad's road rage on steroids with a war fetish.

"...I'm so glad Mars is my father," Frank said.

Ares glared at him. "Brat."

We got his odikinesis." He explained, getting a clueless look from Rhode, "Right? Seriously, I hate this fancy word shite for our powers. Basically, we use our anger to fight, like you do, but you're failing at this. Badly." He cheerfully noted.

"I'm fine." Rhode grunted, returning to lay on her back.

"Oh? Then why am I creaming you every time?"

"Ha! Choke on it, Poseidon."

"Didn't Percy beat you?" Poseidon asked innocently.

Ares glared at him. "I had a hangover!"

"Right...right..."

"That's only because you have height and muscle over me." The daughter of Poseidon said, "Give me a few years and I'll lay you flat." She stated firmly, wincing a bit as she moved her aching muscles.

Fergus just gave her a blank look, "Yeah, and I'm the magical unicorn fairy with a sidekick named princess handjob."

"I don't know how or where, but that's going in a song!" Apollo declared.

"It damn well better not!" Artemis hissed at him.

"Artemis!" Hestia glared at the goddess for her language.

Rhode growled at his dismissal, and his language, but that just made Fergus smile more at her. Meh, she couldn't just learn to control it through words, it took dedication, or being a child of war, to use your anger as a tool for combat.

He'll just keep beating her down and nudging her down the right direct while kicking her butt.

He was such a good samaritan.

"He really is," Ares said in agreement.

"Sadist seems more accurate," Jason said.

"What was that, Blondie?"

"Nothing, Ares."

"Well, let's hit the infirmary. Again." Fergus said, grabbing Rhode by the arm, ignoring her grunt of pain. He helped the daughter of Poseidon to the Big House, where some of the Apollo kids were healing injured campers, from basic wounds to a kid with an arrow in the knee. Ouch.

Apollo suddenly burst into laughter. "Oh, man...Skyrim...analogy for marriage."

Hera scowled. "Excuse me?"

"Don't worry, both the male and female NPCs say it." Apollo waved off her anger.

"...I dislike this Sky Realm."

Zeus frowned as Apollo and Hermes burst into more laughter. Hephaestus even cracked a smile.

"Again?" the daughter of Apollo with dyed hair, Atlanta, asked with a slightly arched brow at seeing the two.

"What can I say," Fergus grinned at her, dumping Rhode on a bed, earning a curse from the daughter of Poseidon. "She can't get enough of me." He said, leaning against a wall, crossing his arms, showing off his biceps, "Jealous?" He teased.

Atlanta rolled her eyes, "Please, Kilt-Boy." She scoffed and sat next to Rhode, starting to heal her bruises and sore muscles, "You wish."

Aphrodite suddenly grinned. "Oh...I see how it is."

Apollo's smile from his mirth before suddenly fell. "No."

"Oh yes."

"No!" Apollo frowned.

Fergus frowned, "You know, I got hurt too." He said to the girl, who then tossed him a small cube of ambrosia.

"There you go." She replied, sky blue eyes twinkling with mirth as she returned her attention back to Rhode.

The son of Ares grumbled and decided to ask the question on his mind, "So, you going with anyone to the fireworks?"

"NO! Absolutely-I forbid it! NO!" Apollo glared at the screen while Ares smirked.

"Protective much?"

"Fuck you! This isn't happening!"

"APOLLO!"

"Feel my pain," Poseidon said to the god.

He asked as casual as he could, munching on the small cube of ambrosia.

"Nope." Atlanta simply answered, "Feeling better?" She asked Rhode.

"Yeah." The younger girl said, relaxing on the bed.

Fergus, giving off a wild grin, asked, "Well, I'm free, you're free, so how about we go together?"

"So blunt!" Aphrodite tittered.

"So dead!" Apollo growled.

"Apollo, calm yourself." Artemis put a hand on his shoulder.

Ares smirked. "Yeah, sunspot. She can't be a virgin forever."

"You want another black eye, asshole?!"

"Bring it, pretty boy!"

"Ares, Apollo, that's enough!" Zeus glared at the two gods that had risen from their thrones. "Another word from either of you and I'll have you both mortalized working at a dump for a hundred years!"

The two gods sat down, both unwilling to test the punishment. Ares just continued to smirk while Apollo was calmed by his twin.

Atlanta paused her healing, getting a whine of protest from Rhode, as she turned to face Fergus, "You and me?" she pointed at him then herself.

Fergus just nodded.

Atlanta stood up, her stature still shorter than the massive son of war, "All romantic, on a blanket, watching the sky light up…and possibly make-out?

Apollo started to heat the air around them and light emitted off of him so brightly it made the demigods start to squint.

she asked, her finger on his broad shirt clad chest that had a ring of sweat around the collar.

"Well, if you're suggesting that last one..." Fergus smoothly stated, a smile on his face.

"Nope." Atlanta shot him down, getting a stumped look from the boy as she turned back to Rhode, giving her a small cup of nectar. Atlanta tilted her head to the side, Fergus seeing the sly smile on her lips, "I have other patients, see ya Fergus. Bye Rhode." She departed, a sway in her steps.

The son of war grumbled, a grunt escaping his lips, "Dammit, I love when she plays hard to get."

Apollo crossed his arms and grumbled in various languages. Artemis shook her head at his actions.

He smiled, he was a sucker like that and wasn't afraid to admit it.

Rhode was just looking at the son of Ares in confusion, idly sipping her nectar which tasted like liquid Skittles.

Older kids were weird.

"Yes, never act like them." Poseidon smirked.

It was July first.

Rhode, cupcake in hand, and with seven candles, was sitting next to Thalia's tree.

She placed the pastry down, pushing in each candle and, with her wand, lit them.

Glancing down at it with a sad look in her eye, Rhode said, "Hi, Jason."

"Hello, Rhode," Jason said, getting a shove from Piper.

She murmured softly, "Thalia, she...she would usually do this. We were a bit busy last summer, so we couldn't then, but I guess I'll be doing this in her stead from now on, okay?" she asked, as if the cupcake would give her an answer back.

Rhode looked up at the strong pine tree with a miserable look, then back to the cupcake, "I hope…I hope you're okay, Jason. It's a big scary world out there. Me and Thalia learned that first hand, a lot." She chuckled out weakly and grew quiet, "Thalia, she loves you so much, she misses you even more than anything in the world. I don't know if you're alive or not, but I hope you are,

Jason nodded. "Probably training."

for her sake, Jason. Happy birthday."

"Thanks Rhode."

"Rhode?" a voice in the distance called out, making the daughter of Poseidon turn to see Annabeth jogging up the hill. She viewed the cupcake with a furrowed brow and titled head, "What are you doing up here?" she asked, "With a cupcake?"

"Offering the cupcake as sacrifice." Ares smirked.

"The best sacrifice to be made," Hermes said with a grin.

Rhode gave her a sad smile, "That's a super duper secret, Bethy." She informed, pushing herself up and letting the candles burn, wax dripping over the treat.

Annabeth pouted, "You can tell me." She was great at keeping secrets!

Rhode poked her nose, getting a yip from the young blonde, "Nope. Can't say." She then gave a chiding look, "Plus, you shouldn't be so nosey about other people's business, Annabeth, it's not nice."

"Yeah, Annabeth."

"Shut up, Piper."

Annabeth just pouted further at not knowing.

"Don't you have a match with Tammy or something?" Rhode slyly redirected the daughter of Athena's thought process.

Annabeth gave a startled gasp, "You're right!" she shouted, rushing off to her cabin, "Thanks for the reminder!" she waved behind her, thinking of her coming victory.

Hazel giggled. "You were such a cute kid, Annabeth."

"Wasn't she, though? Then she had to grow up and like the dimwitted sea boy," Thalia sighed. "Where did I go wrong?"

"Hey!" Percy frowned.

Rhode smiled. Annabeth could be as smart as she wanted to be, but she was still a little kid.

She was too easy to trick at times.

Annabeth frowned while Percy and Thalia snickered.

"So, distract her with a possible match of wits? This I can do," Piper said.

"Quiet, McLean."

"So we all set?" Rhode asked, taking a sip of water from the bottle in her hand. She, Annabeth, and Luke were sitting on a picnic blanket out on the beach. All the other campers were scattered around on blankets too, friends chattering, couples snuggling close, under the dark sky that was dotted with stars.

"A wonderful evening for couples, Artemis," Aphrodite said with a grin.

"I had nothing to do with that," Artemis said as she frowned at Zeus.

The King of the Gods just remained stoic as ever.

It was July fourth, Independence Day.

And it was the camp's annual fireworks show by Cabin Nine.

Being Hephaestus' kids, they weren't going to settle for a few lame red-white-and-blue explosions.

"Bor-ing!" Leo cried.

They'd anchored a barge offshore and loaded it with rockets the size of Patriot missiles. From what Rhode had heard, the blasts would be sequenced so tightly they'd look like frames of animation across the sky. Making herself comfortable, Rhode idly wondered if Gaige had a hand in this year's fireworks. That'd be fun.

"Everyone get your hardhats on and fall into the trenches," Hermes said, a hardhat on his head.

"This is going to be so cool, we missed the last one and Nils told me you haven't seen Camp Half-Blood until you've seen a fireworks show." Annabeth said, her cheeks and face painted with red, white, and blue stars on them. All the little kids had something on them too, a result of a collaboration between Cabins Seven and Ten, it was just that festive of a day.

Aphrodite and Apollo grinned at one another while the demigoddesses cooed teasingly at a flushed Annabeth.

"I hate all of you," she said as she tried to read on.

To Rhode, a British born, celebrating a successful rebellion against her home country wasn't exactly her idea of a great day, but she had grown to appreciate it due to the whole rebellion aspect of it. If it was one thing that she respected, it was a rebellion.

Percy grinned. "Viva la resistance."

"I'll drink to that," Poseidon said with a raised cup of iced tea.

"I know," Luke groaned, "Lee wouldn't shut up about it."

"When does he ever?" Rhode asked with a quirked lip.

Luke raised his own water bottle, "Hear hear." He cheered with a grin.

A megaphone was tapped and everyone turned to see Gaige, goggles on, holding the voice enhancing device. Her face was positively manic with glee.

"Hello Camp Half-Blood!" She greeted loudly, her voice oozing excitement, "Who's ready for a show?!"

"Whoo! Take it off! Ow!" Ares rubbed his head where Athena hit him. "What? She said it was a show, though it's not going to be that great with one of the cripple's kids."

Hephaestus glared at him and his beard lit up.

Everyone cheered wildly, making Gaige nod to herself.

"Yeah, I thought so. Well, get ready to have your pants' blown off!"

Gaige tossed the megaphone away without a care and held a handheld device with a big red button on it.

"LET THERE BE EXPLOSIONS OF BADASSITUDE!"

"Best. Sister. Ever." Leo grinned.

She pressed the button.

Fireworks exploded to life overhead: Theseus slaying the Minotaur,

Percy and Poseidon grinned.

Hercules slaying the Trojan sea monster,

Zeus smirked while Hera scowled.

"I did that, too," Jason said, getting a smile from his girlfriend and a nudge from his sister.

Achilles combating Hector of Troy,

Athena let a smirk show.

and finally Thomas Jefferson (who, by the way, was a son of Apollo)

"Be jealous!" Apollo crowed.

drawing up the Declaration of Independence.

The finale was the most amazing thing Rhode had ever scene. It was a couple of hundred-foot-tall Greek warriors crackling to life above the ocean along with some soldiers of Troy, the famous wall her father built in the background, fighting it out in a fierce battle, and then exploding into a million colors.

"That…" Rhode was speechless.

"Was…" Luke followed her example, slack jawed.

"AMAZING!" Annabeth gushed, her grey eyes twinkling from the spectacle.

It was clear that the fourth of July had just became a favorite day for the group of demigods.

One that they would never want to miss.

"...Aw, man, we missed last year's," Percy frowned. Stupid war.

"So like this?" Rhode asked Chiron as wisps of mist danced along her fingertips as she tried to perform the feat of control over the Mist that Chiron had instructed her to do. She was seated on the steps of Cabin Three as Chiron stood by her.

It had been a few days after the fourth of July and Rhode had been lucky enough to snag a lesson with Chiron.

As the Activities Director, Chiron had to try and help everyone, but with the help of older campers, his job was made easier as they helped to teach their younger siblings. But, since she was an only child, Rhode had no one to really help her train her own unique powers.

She mainly had to do that on her own.

"Trial and error," Ares grinned at the prospect.

But, then came Chiron, who had no doubt trained dozens of children of Poseidon over the centuries.

"Best. Trainer. Ever." Percy smirked as the other demigods nodded in agreement.

Currently, he was teaching her how to manipulate the Mist, the veil that covers the godly supernatural world from mortal eyes. A very powerful tool for a demigod to be able to control.

Chiron said that her gift with magic would no doubt make it easier to grasp the concept of the Mist.

And, so it seemed, that he was right.

"When is he ever wrong?" Apollo boasted.

Dionysus scowled at him. "A lot."

"Sure, right. Anyone other than Dionysus?"

"Yes, excellent job my dear." The centaur smiled "Now this is just the start of the control you can have over the Mist. Over time, it will become easier to manipulate."

"Lucky," Percy said with a pout. "The Mist hates me."

"Hecate might have something against you," Hermes said with a shrug. Even he acknowledged that Percy's luck with the Mist was horrible.

He explained to his student.

"Right." Rhode nodded, staring at the white wisps, "So with this I can control mortals' minds?" she asked, trying to bend the veil before her as instructed.

"Yes, but remember, in order to successfully control the Mist, you have to focus on what the target wants to see, not your desire that you want them to see."

"Awesome, so I just have to make my professors see me in detention and I am scot-free." Rhode smirked like the troublemaker she was, "No more detention~" She sang gleefully, getting a frown from Chiron.

"And that plan, while clever, is ruined." Percy shook his head.

"Rhode," he said in a lecturing tone that made the daughter of Poseidon groan, already knowing he was going to burst her happy bubble, "with great power, comes great responsibility. You must not squander the Mist for such trivialities." He added quickly.

Rhode, completely ignored that last part, and instead just stared at the trainer, "…Did you just honestly pull an Uncle Ben?" she asked.

"Yes. Yes I did." Chiron nodded sagely, "I simply adore that quote."

"Fun fact, Chiron inspired Uncle Ben," Apollo said with a grin.

He smiled at her, "But my statement still holds true, Rhode."

The daughter of Poseidon slumped on the steps with a pout, "Wow, way to take the wind out of my sails, Chiron."

"Sea? Wordplay!" Apollo and Hermes snickered.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "And these are two of the strongest gods we have. We're doomed."

"I'm glad to have done so now then." The centaur stated, sparks of mirth dancing across his warm brown eyes.

"You know, I think I'll write that down." Rhode rolled her almond shaped eyes, "Got a pen?" she asked and looked at his satchel that was resting near her. She noticed a disposable ballpoint pen with some writing on the side, probably the company logo, and grabbed it. She reached for the cap, to further her joke, missing the widening of Chiron's eyes, "Here, I'll jot it on my hand." She uncapped the pen.

And nearly lost an eye.

"Riptide!" Percy beamed and then scowled. "Wait, she won't take it will she?"

"I don't think so," Poseidon said with a smile.

"Holy Poseidon!" Rhode shouted in response to the pen's sudden transformation as she uncapped it into a shimmering bronze sword with a double-edged blade, a leather-wrapped grip and a flat hilt riveted with gold studs. It was about three feet in length and judging by the weight, she'd say it was about five pounds, "I thought it was the pen that was mightier than the sword, not the pen is actually the sword?!" She exclaimed.

"Yes, well, celestial bronze weapons come in all shapes and sizes, Rhode." Chiron said, sighing in relief that she didn't lose a finger or something, "Still, I would advise caution when rummaging through my satchel." He noted with a stern look, getting Rhode to give a sheepish one in return. "I carry around quite a few treasures that are best not misplaced, so you never know what item inside is more than it seems."

"Riptide is the best. Hands down." Percy grinned proudly while the other demigods rolled their eyes.

"Festus." Leo argued.

"Riptide wins."

"He's a dragon!"

"Riptide still wins."

"Sorry, just joking around." She weakly offered. She rolled her wrist, the blade of the xiphos shimmering in the light of the afternoon sun, "So this your standard sword or something?" Rhode asked him.

"Its name is Anaklusmos." Chiron stated, humor in his eyes once more.

"Riptide." Rhode instantly translated. Forcing her body up from the steps, she took a few paces away from Chiron, "So, it's yours?"

Percy frowned. "Mine."

"For the time being." The trainer commented aloofly as he watched Rhode perform a stab at a phantom opponent, swinging the blade around in her hand, getting a feel for it.

"This thing is perfect." The daughter of Poseidon breathed. None of the swords at camp felt good enough for her. She was actually going to forge her own during Arts and Crafts soon since it was just hard to find one with the right balance as she was a bit picky.

"Well, I'm glad you are enjoying yourself, Rhode, but I would like my writing instrument back." Chiron said, but the daughter of Poseidon was too enthralled with trying out Riptide to hear him. Using the sword with good form he mentally noted.

"Mine." Percy repeated with a frown.

"Geez, really?" Thalia asked.

"You want to give Jason your shield?"

"He doesn't need it."

"I wouldn't mind using it." Jason smiled at his sister.

Thalia hummed. "I see your point."

"This feels just like my trident." Rhode commented as she spun the blade in her hand, almost mesmerized by it as she made it glide through the air in a wide arc, "It is, isn't it?" she turned around, looking into Chiron's eyes.

Chiron nodded to her conclusion, "Yes, it was forged by a water being. No doubt another, such as yourself, would be able to bring out its full potential. But still, I would like it back, my dear."

"You know," Rhode smiled at him slyly, "my birthday is coming up, and this would be one heck of a gift from my best and most favorite teacher of all times." She said, unashamedly buttering him up, "I mean, who better than a child of Poseidon to use it?"

"Exactly...Only I'm the one that's going to use it," Percy said firmly.

"Who indeed." Chiron chuckled, trotting over and taking the sword from her and capping the sword tip, making it return to its pen form, "Forgive me, Rhode, but I cannot give you this. Even if your father gave it to me."

"Dad did?" she asked him, getting a nod, "Aw." She pouted at losing the chance to have the cool sword. She lazily kicked up some dirt and trekked back to the steps of her cabin, her pout in full force.

"The Poseidon Pout fails again." Hades smirked.

"Now, let's continue the lesson, yes?" the trainer said, putting the pen back into his satchel.

"Actually, I have a problem that you could maybe help me with." Rhode said, garnering Chiron's attention. At his raised brow, she continued, "See, I can sometimes do this ice thing." She went on to explain her ice powers, making Chiron rub his scruffy beard in thought.

"Hm, it seems you've an arctic gift from your father." He stated.

"Ice is hard," Percy said under his breath.

"Riptide, Percy."

"Point taken."

Rhode intelligently said, "What?" and blinked at him.

Chiron smiled, "Rhode, no two children of the gods are alike. You have a gift with ice. Why, I once knew a son of Poseidon who could boil water to scalding temperatures and melt monsters from the searing heat alone; and another even utilized water vapors to create a vast fog around himself."

Percy hummed. That actually sounded very useful.

"Don't try it Percy," Poseidon warned his son. "You may have an immunity and resistance, but there are still some things out of your reach."

Percy pouted.

"So, I have a rare gift?" Rhode concluded.

"Yes." Chiron nodded, "But not extremely rare, like say a child of Hephaestus being able to conjure fire. Last time that happened…well, let's just saying being a baker didn't pay off for the poor lad."

Leo frowned along with his father.

Ares just snickered. "Shitty baker anyway."

"Shut up, Ares."

He sighed with sadness, "Anyway, what I mean is, as before, no two children of the gods are alike. Why does one child of Apollo excel at healing while another one does with music? Or why is one child of Zeus is more accustomed to controlling the wind while another has a greater grasp with their electricity?

"Like us," Thalia said with a thumb to Jason.

Hera glowered while Zeus tried not to appear proud of his children.

It's all depends on the person. And for you, that gift is ice, a reflection of the arctic aspect of your father's domain, thus, you are most likely taking after that facet of his being."

Rhode knitted her brow, "Okay, I get that part. But my main question is, how do I control it?" she asked, looking somewhat down, "I mean, I've tried on my own, a lot." She sighed, her shoulders slumping, "But nothing I do works, I just get frustrated."

"My suggestion would be to look for something who knows ice far better than I." Chiron counseled.

"Who?"

The centaur smiled, "Why, our own Jack Frost of course."

"Of course!" Aphrodite giggled.

Poseidon suddenly brooded. "I don't like where this is going."

"Duh." Rhode palmed her face, "Why didn't I think of that?"

"It happens to everyone my dear." Chiron assured her, "Plus, you were only here for a month last summer and…a tad distracted." He delicately put.

Rhode nodded sadly to that, it was true.

"So, I would go seek counsel with Jack over the matter." Chiron reinforced. He paused to check his watch, a frown marring his face, "Sadly, I think this is all the time I can afford you, Rhode. Other lessons beckon after all." He told her.

"It would be better if he had some help," Apollo said to his father.

"He has Dionysus," Zeus said.

All of the gods, even Hera, gave him a dry look.

Rhode waved him off, "It's cool. I'll just go see Jack like you said. Thanks for the Mist lesson, Chiron." She smiled at him, getting him to give her one back. He reached for his satchel and slung it on. He galloped off to his next lesson as Rhode dug her heels into the dirt, mulling over where Jack could be causing mischief right now.

You could call him the camp's resident prankster. It was no wonder why he got along with Hermes kids so well.

Hermes hummed and rubbed his chin.

Setting her objective, Rhode pushed off the steps once more, determined to find the white haired Snowflake.

"Pet names already?"

"NO!" Poseidon growled.

As Rhode walked around, she eyed the basketball court, it looked like Cabin Seven was playing Cabin Eleven, but they were slipping around, falling on their butts and faces. The court was glimmering in the sun and she only needed one guess as to how it was covered in ice.

She scanned around, and looked up to see Jack grinning like an imp, sitting on his staff, bare feet dangling as he floated five feet off the ground.

"Impressive," Hermes said with a nod of approval.

She crept behind him as he let out a few sniggers and said, "What's up Snowflake?"

Jack yelped in surprise, nearly falling off his staff as he clung to it, still hovering in the air. He turned his head to glare at her, "Anyone tell you not to sneak up on people, Princess?"

Rhode frowned, "How many times did I tell you not to call me that?"

"How many times are you going to call me Snowflake?"

"Pet names!"

"NO!" Poseidon glared at the tittering goddess.

he maturely retorted and landed on his feet. He had gotten taller over the year, a few inches at most.

Rhode just huffed, crossing her arms, "Whatever." She brushed off their banter to get to the point, "Listen, I need some help."

Jack spun his staff, resting the crook on his shoulder, "Oh?" he asked intrigued and arched a brow, "Do tell."

They strolled down to the lake as Rhode explained her dilemma.

"So you can only change water into ice?" Jack asked curiously, obviously happy to have another cryokinetic around, "Not like this?" he asked, making a swirling jet of snow release from his opened palm, "Or this?" he inhaled and blew out an icy breeze from his lips.

"Aw, air kiss!"

"I'll kill him." Poseidon seethed.

Rhode sniffed the air, "Winter Mint?" she couldn't help but ask.

Jack smiled at her, his teeth as white as freshly fallen snow, "Of course." He said proudly.

"Yeah, cool." Rhode said, getting a crooked smile from Jack at the unintended pun, "Let's stay focused here."

"A challenge for any demigod," Dionysus said with a snort.

She stated as they arrived at the lake.

"Well, let's see what you got." Jack said, holding his hand out to the lake.

Rhode frowned and extended her arms to the water. Closing her eyes, she concentrated for what felt like forever. Her brow was knitted and her frown deepened.

Jack, who was standing next to her, couldn't help but think she looked constipated.

"Awkward," Apollo said with a snicker.

After about five minutes, Rhode let her arms fall to her side. She turned to Jack, a pout on her face, "Nothing."

"I noticed." Jack said in return, a thoughtful look on his face as he leaned against his staff, "Hm, what's your center?" he asked her curiously.

"Huh?"

Jack elaborated, "Your center, you know, how you focus your powers." He looked out into the lake, a distant look in his icy blue eyes, "I know mine."

"Oh." Rhode blinked, "like the tugging feeling in my gut when I use my water powers?"

"Uh…" Jack said, looking at her strangely, "No, I meant mentally, not physically. You might want to see Chiron about that by the way." He suggested, making Rhode punch him in the arm,

"That little brat!" Poseidon seethed.

Percy rubbed his chin. "You know, that's not really a bad idea.

"Ow! Hey! I bruise easy!" He said, rubbing his arm. She really punched hard.

"Nothing's wrong with me." She scowled at him. Crossing her arms, Rhode continued, "So, this center thing? What's yours?" she asked, hoping for a guideline.

"Fun." Jack shrugged, getting a dubious look from Rhode, "What?"

"Fun?" the daughter of Poseidon said, "That's it?"

Jack gave her a smile, that made her feel almost as if it was Christmas already, making his icy blue eyes twinkling like stars, "Yeah, fun. Think about it. Snow gives you some of the best things in the world. It's magical in its own right. The perfect snow day."

"So true," Percy and Leo grinned.

The white haired boy started to list off, "A white Christmas, building a snowman, the perfect snowball fight, snow angels, sledding." He looked like he was living these events just as he talked about them, "Every kid always loves the snow. Sure, it's cold, it's a pain if it gets down your pants,

"A huge pain," Nico said with a nod of agreement.

but you can't help but love it, have fun with it." He explained, "That's my center."

Rhode gave him a skeptical look. She had no idea what her 'center' was, but she looked at the lake once more and raised her arms. Eyes screwed shut, the daughter of the sea concentrated on, well, fun. All the times she and Thalia played in the snow, just to escape the life they lived for five minutes and just be kids. Hanging out with some other kids in parks and joining a snowball fight, just having fun like a regular kid.

But as time moved on, frustration grew in Rhode's heart as she would open her eyes to see nothing but a shifting lake. That frustration turned into anger and she growled, tossing her arms up in the air, "Whatever!" she said, her patience spent on this stupid power that didn't even work right!

"Patience is not her strong suit." Zeus smirked.

But then, to her and Jack's amazement, where the lake met the grassy shore, frost built up and a thin sheet of ice the size of a piece of loose-leaf floated on the water.

"I…did it." Rhode said, than soon smiled, "I did it!" she said and hugged Jack around the neck in her happiness, "Whoa!" she cheered, Jack chuckling.

Poseidon's eye twitched while Aphrodite giggled.

"Yeah, I guess so. See?" he grinned at her, "Told you it would work."

"Yeah." She nodded and then noticed how close they were. Jack seemed to have noticed this too and they backed away from each other by a few paces, "Sorry." Rhode said with a sheepish smile, "I got excited."

"Good. Don't like him." Poseidon frowned.

"They could be cute." Aphrodite smiled.

Poseidon glared at her. "No."

"It's cool." Jack shrugged. He raised a fist to his mouth and coughed into it, clearing his throat, "So, anyway, you just have to train on that." He explained.

"I'll do that right now." Rhode said, and planted her butt by the lake.

"I'll help." Jack said, sitting nearby, smiling at her, getting one back.

"Thanks, Jack."

"No problem."

They continued to train. At first, Rhode still focused on the fun stuff about snow and ice, but would grow frustrated at times which is when it finally worked. After this happened a few times, it became clear to both of them that her 'center' wasn't fun at all, but anger. Rhode was conflicted by this, as yet another aspect of her nature was now tied to her Fatal Flaw. But she would think on that later, for now whilst she had Jack's help, she would milk it for what it was worth.

"Use your anger, join us on the dark side," Leo said. "we have cookies."

"It is tempting," Nico said with a nod.

With that discovery, Rhode's progress improved a great deal. So Jack moved on from coaching her through forming ice to pointing things out to her, like what she could do with her ice and such. He was a godsend,

"From Aphrodite," Apollo said with a grin.

Aphrodite tittered while Poseidon scowled.

his ideas would make her so much stronger.

As the practice continued, they eventually started to talk about themselves. Rhode was a bit more reserved while Jack was an open book on his life.

"And then he woke up with ice in his shoes." The son of the snow goddess snickered about one of his old pranks.

"That's funny." Rhode laughed, "Still, you sounded pretty young, how long have you been here?" she asked him curiously.

Jack smirked and pulled out his leather necklace, showing ten beads, "Been here since I was three years old."

"So...he's like the frosty version of Jason?" Leo asked.

"At least it's not boot camp." Thalia frowned.

"Thalia."

"You can't talk me out of it."

He bragged. He leaned back onto the grass, crossing his arms behind his head, "I've been here longer than most other campers you could say."

"What about your dad?" Rhode asked and Jack just shrugged.

"Hardly know him." At Rhode's confused look, he continued, "I mean, Chiron told me he just dumped me here when I was three years old. Never bothered to come back." He shrugged uncaringly.

The demigods frowned.

"That guy is probably decorating Khione's place," Hermes said with a chuckle.

"Poor boy," Hestia said with a frown. "We really need a god of fatherhood or something."

"I could-" "No." Hera interrupted her husband before he could speak.

"Oh." Rhode said, frowning a little. At seeing her sad face, Jack reassured her quickly.

"Hey hey, Princess, it's fine. Besides, I see Chiron as more of a dad anyway." He grinned, "Want to know how I was claimed?" he said, trying to lighten the mood.

Rhode just gestured him to go ahead.

"Well, I was four at the time." He smiled brightly, "I needed some help with my armor since little arms and all.

"The cutest widdle Greek the camp did ever see," Thalia said with a smirk.

Chiron was helping me strap in when I made this huge sneeze." The son of the snow goddess started laughing, "I sneezed so hard, I froze his entire beard! He had to chisel it off!"

"Oh, I like him!" Apollo chuckled.

he boomed with laughter, making Rhode join him.

"No way?" she asked between laughs.

"Oh yeah." Jack nodded, seemingly proud of himself at the deed.

"Oh man, how'd he take it?" Rhode pressed on, needing to know.

"He looked so weird." The boy said, "I think I still have a picture stashed after he tried to destroy all the copies that got passed around."

"I need to see that."

Jack just winked at her, "No prob, Princess."

"Thanks, Snowflake," Rhode grinned back at him.

"Aw, they're bonding." Aphrodite grinned.

Poseidon scowled. "I don't like him."

"You're biased."

They continued to talk, their training forgotten, just having a good time until they had to head to the pavilion for dinner.

Rhode had to admit, Jack was a pretty cool guy.

Poseidon growled. "I don't like him."

"Protective much?" Apollo asked.

"Atlanta is dating Fergus."

Apollo glowered. "So not cool, Uncle P."

Annabeth charged at Rhode with her dagger, making the older demigoddess block it with ease.

"You've got to go in a bit easier, Bethy." Rhode said, going for a half-hearted strike that let Annabeth dodge to the left, only for Rhode to step on her foot as soon as she moved there. Getting a yelp of pain, Rhode tripped the blonde with a kick, knocking the young girl to the ground. Sighing, Rhode put her free hand on her hip, "You have to let your opponent get in close and then step in. It's how you start the move."

Annabeth, sitting up with a pout, looked up to Rhode, "I'm trying." She said, Rhode was teaching her how to disarm with a dagger like she had promised last summer and it was pretty hard.

"Such a cute little student."

"Shut up, Thalia."

"I know, in a very eager way." Rhode smirked at her, "Sometimes you have to take it easy when learning something."

"Well maybe you shouldn't try to beat me up so much." Annabeth said with puffed up cheeks, resembling a chipmunk, "I mean, I am the birthday girl." She informed…for the twentieth time.

"So I've heard." Rhode nodded to humor her. It was the twelfth of July, the young daughter of Athena's birthday and she had just turned nine years old.

"Oh, one more year then she hits the double digits," Piper said with a smirk.

Annabeth glared at her. "I hate you."

"Love you too, Annabeth."

They had a party for her earlier. Silver and grey balloons, streamers, even a wonderful two tier cake glossed in silver frosting with buildings of different ages drawn around it.

Emily was the one who made it, she made sure everyone got a cake on their birthday. Apparently the daughter of love was an aspiring baker who gushed about her dream to bake in Paris. With how good Annabeth's cake tasted, Rhode thought she'd be famous in no time.

Aphrodite giggled happily.

She was eager for her own cake if it ended up half as well as Annabeth's.

Taking advantage of her musings, Annabeth went for a sneak attack, tricky little thing, but Rhode blocked it. She looked down into those owlishly blinking grey eyes and smiled, "Come on, you thought it was going to be that easy?"

"…A little." Annabeth admitted with a pout.

"So cute." Hazel grinned.

Annabeth buried her face in the book. "Kill me."

"I would, but then no one would read. So suck it up and read," Ares said with a smirk.

Shaking her head, the scion of the sea called for a time out and knelt down, "Okay," She started, gently grasping Annabeth's dagger wrist. She was holding it well enough, good grip was important after all. "Remember, when you clash your blade-"

"Slide in, press my thumb on my guard, and twist." Annabeth recited perfectly.

Rhode smiled at her and ruffled her blonde hair, getting a whine, "Exactly. Now, once more." She said, raising to her feet and took a few paces back.

Annabeth took a breath and narrowed her eyes, trying to put on her best game face. She only ended up looking adorable, like a small kitten.

The demigods snickered and giggled while Annabeth growled at them.

Said small kitten charged once more, but Rhode moved in as well and blocked some of the strikes, swaying left and right for the rest and would occasionally give Annabeth a few openings to try and rob the daughter of Poseidon of her weapon.

Rhode went for a weak strike, Annabeth seized the moment and clashed their daggers. Sliding in and adjusting her thumb, Annabeth twisted her wrist with all she had and sent Rhode's weapon clattering to the ground. The blonde paused, a look of awe on her round faced features, "I-I did it? I did!" she cheered, "I wo-" just as she was going to voice her victory, her arm was grabbed and she was twisted to the ground, face first.

"Oh, and the victory dance was ruined." Leo chuckled.

"Shut it, Valdez, or there won't be a potion to bring you back next time," Annabeth said with a glare.

She released a grunt from her lips as Rhode sat on her back, holding her dagger arm, "Just because you disarmed them, doesn't mean you've got them beat, Bethy."

Just because Rhode let her get the move off didn't mean she was going to let her win. She had a rep after all, Annabeth had to earn her victory.

"So not cool," Annabeth grumbled.

"I disagree," Thalia said with a shrug. "A rep is a rep."

"Ow." Annabeth muttered from Rhode's weight on her small frame.

Rhode, deciding they achieved what they sought out to do, released her friend's arm and stood up, bringing the blonde with her. She dusted off Annabeth's shirt and smiled at her, "Still, nice job."

"…You let me get the move off, didn't you?" The child of wisdom pouted, a knowing look in her eyes.

"You still did it." Rhode deflected, "That was the purpose of this little lesson."

Annabeth just wrinkled her nose, grumbling a little.

"You're too cute," Hazel said.

"I hate this book." Annabeth pouted.

The daughter of Poseidon offered a small laugh, "Come on, no pouting Bethy."

"Yeah, Annie. No pouting."

"Shut up, Thalia."

She said and moved over to where their stuff was. Grabbing a towel, she tossed it to Annabeth, who caught it, and grabbed another, wiping the sweat from her brow, "You still have a birthday gift after all."

The blonde, who was toweling her hair, blinked, "But, I got all my gifts." She said, a beaming smile on her face. All those books, oh it was going to be so much fun reading them.

Rhode rolled her eyes at the sparkles in Annabeth's eyes. Practically all her siblings got the young girl books. The sea child found that to be boring. Seriously, they lived in a library they claimed was a cabin, Annabeth had plenty of books to read. Get her something fun people, duh!

Athena frowned. "Books are fun."

Hermes snorted. "Lame."

"Well I got you one too, did you think I forgot?" she asked her young friend, getting a shake of her blonde head, "Good." Rhode nodded and picked up a small box in green paper. She handed it to Annabeth who proceeded to tear it to shreds.

Giddily, she opened it. Annabeth reached in and pulled out a snow globe, "Hm?" Annabeth tilted her head at it and gasped, "It's Big Ben!" she gushed, shaking it to get the flakes to fly.

Rhode gave her a smirk, "But that's not just a snow globe."

Annabeth gave her a confused look, shaking the snow globe once more, "Looks like a snow globe to me." She stated.

"Well, yeah, but it's also a promise." The daughter of Poseidon informed with a knowing smirk.

"For what?"

Rhode pulled Annabeth into a half-hug, smiling down at her, "When you get older, you, me, and Luke are going to Big Ben. That's the promise."

The demigods smiled at the sweet moment, but then frowned.

"Could Luke not...?" Percy began, not finishing the sentence while Hermes gained a look of hope in his eye.

"Don't get your hopes up, shorty," Ares said with a smirk. "This war is universal. Sometimes we win, sometimes we lose. But your boy is always the catalyst."

Hermes slumped his shoulders as Athena gave him an apologetic nod of agreement.

She said, making Annabeth nearly drop the snow globe in shock. She squealed in happiness and hugged Rhode as tight as she could, saying that she was the best.

Rhode laughed at that. The original plan was to go see Big Ben itself, but Chiron grounded that idea as soon as Rhode brought it up. They argued for a few minutes about it, until Chiron came up with a clever compromise, getting the daughter of the sea to relent.

"Spoil sport," Apollo said with a sigh.

"It's a good thing," Artemis said. Goodness knows what her nieces and nephews would do if Chiron let them run rampant.

Breaking out of her thoughts, Annabeth was listing all the stuff she wanted to do when they got there and how she was going to see if she could find a book on it right now.

Rhode ruffled her hair, "Happy Birthday, Annabeth."

"Thanks Rhode." Annabeth smiled, giving her another hug.

"Aww," the demigods cooed teasingly.

"I know where all of you sleep and I know all of your weaknesses," Annabeth said with a frown.

"You don't know where I sleep," Thalia said.

Annabeth glared at her. "I'll find you."

Rhode laughed to herself as she put down the plate containing a slice cake on her nightstand while moving to sit on her new bed. It was July thirty first and she had just had her first, well technically second, birthday at camp and the party just ended.

Reclining onto the bed, she peered around her room. The spare bunk beds were gone. With the help of Lee, she had gotten them shrunk and stored in a shoebox on a shelf. They managed to cut the last bunk bed in half and put the two separate beds side by side to be mended together with transfiguration, Lee was pretty good at it.

With so much free space, Rhode, using her BlackBerry, made a few orders and bought some stuff using the money she exchanged at Gringotts and put in her new account at Bank of America. Her money manager wanted to have solid investments in both muggle and magical stock and so placed a good bit of her cash in the American bank to allow him to invest in the muggle side of things. Since her purchases were too pricey for her spending account, she'd had to dip into the investment money to pay for them, but she didn't think the few thousand dollars she spent made even a dent in the account's bottom line.

"Watch as it all goes down the toilet," Hades said with a smirk.

Now, Rhode never had major money before, so she only got practical stuff. A nice soft couch, a shelf, and a coffee table.

But she made one major purchase that really mattered.

She got a big TV.

"Best. Investment. Ever." Percy grinned.

Rhode, Annabeth, and Luke had been having Friday movie nights ever since. Su, Lee, Jack and her other friends had all joined them once or twice too. Though the clean up afterwards was a hassle from the snacks and stuff, it was well worth it.

Gaige had set up her cable and when asked how many channels she had access to, the daughter of Hephaestus merely said.

"All the channels."

"Want free cable? Go to the guy who invented it," Apollo said with a smirk.

And then proceeded to giggle uncontrollably, smiling madly.

Yeah, Gaige was weird like that.

"You think that'd be a bad thing," Leo said with a grin. "But it's not..."

Pushing off her large bed, she moved over to the huge corkboard she had purchased. All the pictures she had ever taken were scattered about, the good ones at least, along with the postcards she had from the various states she had visited during her travels. There were pictures of her group. Some of her and Luke, others of her and Annabeth. And then pictures of all of them, Thalia included, pinned up. She also had pictures of Su and Lee she had taken at Hogwarts. Even some of camp life with all her new friends. But in the center of all the pictures was the most important one.

It was of her and Thalia, around the first week they had met. Arms around each other's shoulders, smiling brightly at the camera.

"Aw," the group smiled at the hunter, who had a lopsided smile on her face.

Rhode raised her fingers to the image, lightly brushing Thalia's face, "Another year older, Thals. Miss you." She said sadly, leaning her forehead against the image, closing her eyes. She shook her head and turned to look over to the other gaping space in her cabin. She had ordered a drawing table, and with some art supplies exchanged for a few favors from Cabin Seven, she'd have a nice little art station where she could draw…with a spinning chair because that was a must for any art station, and also because it would be fun.

"Spinning chairs for the win!" the kids declared.

She turned to the mirror she had and viewed the scar adoring her forehead. It had faded a bit after the Horcrux had been removed, it was still there, but it had become more of a thin line and was not as protruding as it had been before. She traced it with her finger for a moment. Thanatos's quest coming back to mind and how she'd have to go back to Hogwarts. Ugh, it was her birthday, she didn't need to think about that now. She eyed her cloak hanging off her bedpost. It was still weird to know she had the cloak of death itself.

Hades hummed, wondering how he felt about Poseidon's daughter having a cloak of Thanatos'. Then again, if that fool wanted to give his niece a huge advantage, then he could sit back and watch the show when it all falls apart before him.

Rhode moved back to her cake, which Emily had made and literally moaned as she took a bite. It was a cake that literally tasted like Skittles. Apparently Emily melted some Skittles and drizzled the liquefied candy over the cake and let it seep in after it was baked. She then lathered it in sweet green frosting. Adding some colorful fish on the sides as decoration to top it off. Overall, it was a masterpiece of a cake.

Aphrodite smirked proudly. "Good girl!"

After finishing the slice, Rhode bounced back onto her bed and looked at the book on her nightstand. The Great Quotes of Winston Churchill. Annabeth's idea, the guy was actually her half-brother, and Rhode had to admit, he had a lot of good sayings.

Poseidon grinned while Zeus and Hades rolled their eyes.

Except that one about not washing his hands after using the toilet, that was gross. Luke had gotten her a huge Skittle supply, something she would be ever grateful for; and a pretty slick switchblade. It had a four inch polished brown wood handle and the blade was three inches of stainless steel, plus it folded. So it was pretty handy to carry. Would've come in handy last year, but hey, it was better late than never she reasoned.

Lee had gotten her some comic book, it was called Fathom. The main character was a girl with water powers, so it was pretty cool. Atlanta had given her some CDs to listen to, the No Way Out album by P. Diddy and the Astro Lounge album by Smash Mouth. Now, Rhode wasn't a Punk Purist like Thalia,

Thalia frowned. "Punk for life."

"Purists," Apollo hissed. "They're part of the reason some of my kids get bullied..."

Ares smirked. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"April 2nd, 2009." Apollo glared at Ares.

The god of war's smirk fell and he shrunk under his siblings' glares. "Okay, yeah, bullying is bad..."

Percy looked at Annabeth. "What happened on April 2nd?"

Annabeth frowned. "I don't know."

"Read, Annabeth. Worry about it another time," Athena said, though her cold gaze never left Ares uncomfortable form.

so when Atlanta said to try them out, she ended up liking the artists, it was very foot tapping.

And Emily had helped her get her first bra, it was still embarrassing to be taught on the topic. Rhode just hoped they didn't get bigger, it sounded like they'd be a pain later on if they did.

Poseidon groaned and rubbed his face while Percy turned a bit green.

Rolling around her soft sheets, Rhode came face to face with the stupidest gift she had gotten, and it of course came from Jack.

It was a plush toy. A plushie of a white baby seal with big sea green eyes. He said it was a perfect copy of herself when she pouts.

Piper, Annabeth and Hazel suddenly burst into snickers, which made the boys look at them oddly.

"What's so funny?" Percy asked.

The girls' snickering evolved into laughter. When they finished, they refused to answer why they laughed. They did keep stealing glances at Percy, which made the boys glare at him. Poor Percy just pouted, not understanding what he did.

Then the boys snickered.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Nothing, dude," Leo said with a snicker.

Reaching out, she poked one of the plastic eyes, "I look nothing like that." Rhode muttered to herself, poking it once more. With a huff, she twisted around, giving the baby seal the cold shoulder, "It's not even that cute." In the total time of ten seconds, she reached out behind her to grab it, bringing it in front of her to hug it, "Okay, so maybe it's a little cute…but it's still stupid."

"It is cute...like from a boyfriend to a-!"

"NO!" Poseidon glared at the tittering Aphrodite.

She soon released the stupid fuzz ball and looked out the window towards the sea. The afternoon sun was coming down and blended with the waters at the bottom of it, making it glisten. Rhode got up and grabbed her digital camera, taking a picture, smiling at the sight. Putting down the device, Rhode hummed in thought, "Maybe…yeah." She nodded and headed out of the cabin, wanting to take a swim before dinner.

Popping a piece of Trident bubblegum in her mouth,

The gods shook their head while Poseidon rolled his eyes. "It's situational."

"Unlikely," Athena said with a scoff.

Rhode headed for the beach. A part of her was hoping that maybe Thetis would show up or something, or maybe she would get a sign from her dad. She hoped.

I am awesome! A voice neighed boastfully in the sky and Rhode looked up to see a blaze of red zoom through the skies. The daughter of the Stormbringer laughed at seeing Flóga fly around. Her wings had finally grown big enough to support her body and she was learning to fly from the older pegasi. She was a natural of course, or as she liked to say; the bomb diggity.

"Blackjack's still cooler."

"Percy..."

"He is!"

Jason hummed. "I dunno...Tempest is pretty cool."

Rhode moved to see the crashing waves hit the sandy beach and remembered her first surfing lesson with Atlanta. The daughter of Apollo said she was a natural and could make some pretty wicked waves. Rhode had to admit, surfing was cool. She needed to get her own board for next summer for sure.

Percy rubbed his chin. "I wonder if I can surf."

"Ride the waves, Percy," Apollo said with a grin. He dropped his shades over his eyes and lounged in his throne. "The chicks dig surfers."

"He's more of a skateboarder," Hermes said.

"A punk, either way."

Wading through the waves, Rhode dove into the depths of the Long Island Sound.

Passing a school of fish, she made it back to the same rocky spot she met Thetis last time. Sitting down on the big rock, it felt like hours ticked by as she adjusted her position, floating around absentmindedly once the boredom set in, and pouty once she realized that it was just her and Skittles in the ocean.

Wait…Skittles?!

Rhode almost snapped her neck to see the hippocampus she had dubbed Skittles once more, "Skittles!"

"I forgot about that hippocampus," Hazel said.

she cheered and hugged the water horse around her neck, "You got bigger."

"That's what she said."

"Ares!" Hestia gave her nephew a burning glare.

She praised, stroking her scaly mane.

Skittles just whined in agreement, licking her face, getting a laugh from Rhode.

"If you're here that means," she stopped her sentence with excitement, looking forward to see Thetis.

Hephaestus smiled lightly and shifted in his seat.

She was momentarily disappointed because it certainly wasn't the beautiful sea nymph visiting her, unless she had a sex change, which Rhode found to be highly unlikely.

Hephaestus slumped slightly, and Poseidon hummed softly.

It was a tall man,

Zeus immediately glared at his brother.

Poseidon looked at his trident. "I should really have this cleaned...Hephaestus, would you like to come to the forges of my kingdom sometime?"

"Don't pretend you don't see me glaring at you, brother." Zeus growled.

"I wouldn't be opposed to checking on young Tyson's improvements," Hephaestus said.

The air around Zeus began to smell like ozone as his glare intensified.

"Calm yourself, Zeus." Hera put a hand on her husband's arm. "Remember, this is a glimpse into an alternate universe."

easily six feet and maybe a little taller than that. He seemed like some regular beachgoer. He wore leather sandals, khaki Bermuda shorts, and a Tommy Bahama shirt with fishes printed in an assortment of colors. His skin was deeply tanned, his hands scarred like an old-time fisherman's.

"Wow, that sounds like someone I know. But who could it be?" Apollo asked cheekily with a tap on his chin.

His hair was jet black, just like hers. His face had a soft smile on it, which made Rhode's chest feel tight for some reason. And his eyes, it was like looking in a mirror, sea green, which were surrounded by sun-crinkles like he smiled a lot.

Percy snickered. "It sounds exactly of what I thought when I first met Dad."

Poseidon smiled at the memory of his and Percy's "first" meeting.

Rhode's mouth felt dry just looking at the man, despite being in the ocean. Then, it was like a flash flood of old memories, ones she would hardly ever remember, moved to the front parts of her mind.

Her, cradled in his arms, as he whispered ancient Greek stories in her ear, adding his own personal commentary.

Zeus seethed silently.

Hades sent a dark glower to his brother. "Really?"

Poseidon smiled sheepishly. What could he say? He loved his little girls, almost as much as Oceanus did his.

Her in the bathtub, playing with a rubber ducky and bubbles with him. Pulling his beard while giggling happily and sucking her thumb, just staring up into those sea green eyes as she would say-

"Dad…"

"I'm telling mother." Hades glowered.

"I'll join you." Zeus grumbled.

Poseidon rolled his eyes. "Oh, like you two had never visited your children?"

"Visited, yes." Zeus ignored the way Hera frowned. "Played rubber ducky with them, no."

"Boys, please save it for later?" Hestia pleaded. She greatly wanted to see what happened next. Zeus and Hades huffed while Poseidon brooded at being made the bad guy. Content, Hestia turned to Annabeth with a smile. "Continue, dear."

She breathed out the word under her breath, nearly swallowing her gum. She was stunned, trying to register that her dad, Poseidon, god and king of the sea, was right before her.

In beachwear.

"Of course," Apollo said with a snicker. He sent a sly glance to his uncle. "If any young demigoddess happened by..."

"Shut up, Apollo."

She wasn't going to lie, that one came out of left field.

"Rhode." He said back, his voice was strong, but gentle at the same time, like a wave.

There was silence between the two as Skittles swam behind Rhode, and proceeded to use her head to nudge the daughter of the sea closer to her dad.

Poseidon silently vowed to find the equivalent to this 'Skittles' and deem the Hippocampus such as well as give it a treat.

"Man, that's one cool seahorse," Leo said with a chuckle.

"Boo." Percy grinned when Leo glared at him.

Rhode was trying to get over the shock that her godly parent was before her, right here, right now and so she didn't resist. It wasn't until she was only an arm's length away from her father that she recovered enough to gesture to the hippocampus to stop.

"Well, I guess I can say I beat Luke by a year." Rhode said the first thing that came to mind.

Let it be known that Rhode Evans suffers from Foot in Mouth syndrome.

"It's hereditary." The room, both Olympians and demigods, declared dryly.

Poseidon brooded, Percy pouted, and Frank frowned.

"I'm not as bad as Percy," he said. Percy sent him a betrayed look and Frank shrugged. "Sorry, but I'm not."

"You have your moments," Hazel said with a gentle pat on his arm.

Jason let a small smirk show. "The meeting a week ago."

"Oh come on! That doesn't count, I had a cookie made with milk before that!" Frank frowned. "I was set up!"

"Of course."

A maelstrom of emotions filtered through Rhode's heart, each trying to surface, struggling to be the first. The one that made it to the top was of course her anger.

"You cursed me by conceiving me in spite of an Oath on the River Styx?" She stated firmly, even as she threw her arms over her head in a sign of her frustration.

"Yes, well," Poseidon said, rubbing the back of his neck, "You see-"

"The River Styx."

"Yes, shame on you Poseidon."

"Shut up, Hades."

Rhode cut him off brazenly. Now, one would think it was nuts to interrupt a god, they had that whole 'No-No' to disrespect rule.

But Rhode hated rules, so she was going to speak her mind.

Percy smirked. "Amen to that."

"Hopefully, one day you'll get smote for it," Dionysus said.

Ares snorted. "Yeah, then they'll have to answer to his father."

Poseidon smirked. "Oh, they won't have to answer to me. I'll just sick Annabeth Chase on them. She'll likely be foaming at the mouth and I hear she's deadly with her sword."

Annabeth flushed at the praise.

"Ah-"

"Oath!" Rhode accused heatedly as she pointed her finger in her open palm.

Poseidon had a sheepish look on his face, which just felt so out of place on a god. Not that she was, as she thought about it, a particularly good judge of what a god should look like. Of the gods she had met, the triathlon fashioned Hermes, the child sized Artemis, the recovering addict that was Dionysus,

"Recovering? More like suffering of withdrawal," Dionysus grumbled with a small glare to his father.

and the trollish death god Thanatos, none of them had fit what she had imagined for a god in either terms of appearance or actions.

A good honest part of Rhode was mad at her dad. In fact, all demigods were mad at their parents to some degree.

The demigods sheepishly nodded in agreement to that while the gods frowned.

Oh, sure, they'd sing songs and praise about them, and others genuinely love their parents, as part of her did, no doubt. But there would always be that tiny spark in them, that little angry spark that was pissed that their parents made their lives dangerous, robbing them of normalcy. It ranges between demigods, but it was always there, no matter what.

"Luke's was really big." Ares smirked.

"His mother was cursed to insanity, he was attacked by monsters, forced to run from home, never really got a straight answer from me, and was enticed by Kronos," Hermes said, counting off his fingers.

But Rhode also knew that he went right to the millimeter of the line of the Ancient Laws, just for her sake to help when she needed him. For that she couldn't help but feel happy at seeing him before her.

Rhode hated how her feelings were conflicting right now, she should be mad, but was still happy. Stupid feelings, why did you have to be so confusing?

"And it seems denseness is also hereditary," Athena said with a smirk.

"And not only that! You didn't do anything to help the Potters stay safe from Voldejerk, or protect me from the Dursleys, or anything about Dumbledore when he was jerking around with my life! Where were you!" Rhode exclaimed at the top of her voice, bubbles escaping her lips at her volume.

"Blasted laws," Poseidon said with a scowl. A few other gods mimicked him, but Zeus gave him a steely glare.

"They are in place for a reason," Zeus said. He gave Dionysus a significant glance, thought it was quick.

She felt a sense of Deja Vu, it was like that time when Luke had met Hermes. She could definitely say she understood Luke better now.

"You're done?" Poseidon asked cautiously, eyes wary as if he was in front of a bomb in the form of a prepubescent girl.

"He's not wrong to feel that way," Apollo said. He gave his twin a wary glance.

Artemis glared at him. "Just because I choose to look this way, does not mean I act like one!"

"Unfortunately," Aphrodite sighed in dismay. Artemis glared at her.

"For now," Rhode replied testily. "But I reserve the right to continue when I feel like it."

"Of course." Poseidon said in agreement, nodding his head.

"Are you patronizing me, dad?" Rhode said warningly, eyes narrowed.

"No, no! I'm completely serious."

Poseidon nodded. He would not fault any of his children for wanting to voice their concerns.

Poseidon said to his daughter's surprise. "I know I have done many things that you can justly find fault with. Allowing you to vent your anger about them to me is the least I can do. That and of course apologize, which I do profusely."

"Dad..." Rhode uttered, at a loss for words in the face of her father's honesty. Recovering herself though she continued, "You're taking responsibility!?

"Actually, out of the three of them, Poseidon's the only one brash enough to take responsibility," Demeter said.

Hades glared at her. "I'm responsible!"

"For kidnapping!"

"Oh, for the love of-How are you still upset about that!?"

"She was my daughter!"

"Enough!" Hestia said with a frown.

But... the Oath? The Ancient Laws? Didn't they stop you from helping more?"

"They were obstacles, yes. But they weren't insurmountable. Difficult to do so, yes. But not impossible.

"I should check those laws." Zeus frowned.

"You won't." Poseidon smirked. "Then they won't work in your favor as well."

As your father, I should have tried harder. Especially after finding out how you had suffered." Poseidon said, even as his face clouded in grief at the hardships his Little Pearl

The younger generation of gods snickered or smiled while Poseidon's sisters gave him amused smirks.

"...Shut up..." Poseidon brooded.

Jason smirked at Percy. "What does he call you, then?"

"Percy." Percy said with a frown. He did send his father a glance, making Poseidon's brood appear more broody.

had to endure in her young life because of the burden her lineage placed upon her.

Seeing her father genuinely upset at what she had gone through cooled what simmering anger had remained from the dousing his honesty had left her with.

"The truth shall set you free!" Apollo grinned.

Hermes snorted. "Lying can be a lot better sometimes."

"Don't. Start." Hestia frowned at them.

In that moment, seeing her dad sad on her behalf she, if only for the moment, forgot about all the blame she put at his feet for all her tribulations. There and then, all that mattered was he was her dad and he cared about her and he was feeling sad and she needed to comfort him. Putting thoughts into action, Rhode closed the distance between her and the god and hugged him.

"Gasp." Apollo grinned.

"The biggest of softies when it came to his daughters," Hades said with a snort.

She wouldn't admit it out loud, but when he closed his powerful arms around her, she just felt happiness. Just to have her dad hold her like this? It was possibly the best birthday gift she could have asked for.

Percy smiled slightly. Yeah, nothing topped being praised or shown love from his dad. Well, that's not true. Getting a kiss from Annabeth was a pretty good gift, too.

When they released each other, Rhode moved back to arm's length, looking at her dad, "So, um…" she trailed off awkwardly, unsure what else to honestly say. She kind of got all she needed to off her chest.

Poseidon gestured to the rock she was sitting on previously and moved to sit down. Resting her legs against her chest and hugging them, Rhode looked at her dad out the corner of her eye as a shark passed by them.

"Duh nuh."

"Apollo..." Poseidon warned.

"Duh, nuh."

Poseidon gave Hermes a frown.

"Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-duh-nuh-dah-nuh." Percy grinned.

"Percy!"

"Duh-nuh-nah!" Leo crowed with a snicker.

Poseidon scowled. "I hate that theme."

"Can you be here, you know, Ancient Laws and all?

"Yes, Poseidon." Zeus glared at his brother. "Ancient Laws."

Poseidon shifted in his seat slightly, but there was a twinkle in his eye.

Rhode asked cautiously. She didn't want him getting in trouble because of her. Well, more trouble.

Poseidon had a twinkle in his eye, "Well, you are in the ocean. And I, as king of the ocean, can go anywhere in my domain. If say my child just so happened to be in my domain…I can sneak a visit."

Poseidon smirked at Zeus. "Shame your children can't fly long, isn't it?"

Hera scowled. "Remind me to invite Amphitrite to one of these...Perhaps Persephone, as well."

Demeter beamed at the thought while Hades and Poseidon glowered at the Queen of Heaven.

He winked, getting a smile from his daughter.

With that, a silence soon settled between them. It was uncomfortable so Rhode decided to speak, "So-"

"I-" Poseidon started and they both halted, "You can go first." He gestured.

"No, no, you first." Rhode encouraged with a similar gesture.

"Well," Poseidon cleared his throat, "How's school so far?" he said, curiosity in his tone.

Rhode wrinkled her nose, trying to formulate her answer, "Well, I did pretty good on my finals."

"Anyone else feel a bit awkward?" Hazel asked.

All of the demigods raised their hands.

"Oh, good. I thought it was just me."

"That's good."

"But I kind of get detentions left and right." She said, giving him a weak smile.

A faint smile played on his lips and he chuckled, "Obedience does not come naturally to you, does it?"

"Nope." Rhode said it with a clear sense of pride.

"I must take some blame for that, I suppose. The sea does not like to be restrained."

"The sea cannot be contained!" Percy grinned while Poseidon smirked.

Zeus rubbed his eyes. "I absolutely loathe that saying...and to think, you learned it from Oceanus back when he was civil."

"I hold no ill towards Oceanus," Poseidon said firmly. "Father was intimidating, despite his appearance at the time."

"Basically, Oceanus was just weak." Ares grinned.

He explained with mirth.

"…I like that saying." Rhode smiled, she just found her newest excuse to use in the future. Nice.

"It is very good to use," Percy said.

"I'll never let you get away with it." Annabeth smirked as Percy pouted.

Poseidon let out a proud chortle at that, making Rhode smile wider.

"Still, that place is a nuthouse!" Rhode complained, waving an arm in the water, "I mean, common sense just goes out the window there. What's up with that?"

Poseidon just shrugged, "Wizards had never been the brightest of the mortals from what I can remember."

"No mortal is really all that bright," Dionysus said with a snort. "They've gotten lazy."

"For once, Dionysus is correct," Athena said with a frown. That was a bittersweet admission.

Rhode rolled her eyes, "Duh."

The sea god stared at her then, giving a soft smile, "You have your mother's looks, the almond shape of her eyes as well, but my shade of green. It's like the perfect blend between the two of us." He complimented.

"I never want to hear that again," Zeus said.

"I doubt Amphitrite would either," Hera commented.

Poseidon brooded at her. "Why are you taking so many shots at me?"

"Goddess of Marriage, and others were very lenient with you concerning Percy Jackson," Hera sniffed.

At the mention of Lily, Rhode frowned, looking down as she prickled with anger. Seeing this, Poseidon frowned as well.

"…I... Rhode, I am sorry for what happene-"

"Dad," Rhode's voice was harsh and low, "I don't want to talk about her…not now."

"…I see." The god said and changed the topic, "Well, I'm glad that court nonsense is over with.

"Yes, as am I," Poseidon said with a frown.

A part of me just wanted to be up front and wash the situation away for you, maybe drown a few people who deserved it. But you know, no interference and all that." He said with a soured face.

Zeus glared at his brother. "It's the law."

"The law is stupid," Poseidon grumbled.

"It keeps us from destroying the world."

"It keeps us from our children."

"This argument is getting irritating." Hestia frowned at her brothers, who swiftly clammed up. Hestia was getting mad, that never ended well for anyone.

Leo suddenly grabbed Piper's arm, his eyes wide. "I feel threatened, do you feel threatened?"

"No..." Piper gave the boy a concerned look.

"You were watching?" Rhode asked, forgetting her annoyance at that stupid excuse of a case that it's mention had briefly brought up.

Poseidon nodded, "Of course I did. Zeus did too, he just loves his little courtroom dramas.

All of the gods smirked at their king. Zeus was stony and said nothing.

"...God of theatre..."

"Who said that!?" Zeus demanded, looking around the room at the laughing gods.

Jason got a sly low-five from Thalia, both of them smirking.

He has every Law and Order DVD box set you know." He rolled his eyes. Ugh, he just loved to talk about Jack McCoy and Lenny Briscoe.

Rhode gave a distasteful snort at the mention of her sky uncle, the guy wasn't really in her top ten.

"She's not in mine, either," Zeus said with a grunt. He glanced around the room again, trying to find the one that whispered. All he saw were smirking and snickering gods. Even Hestia. Zeus growled, sometimes he hated his family.

Poseidon pursed his lips. Okay, so no talking about Zeus. Best not even mention Hades as well, or her mother. The god inwardly sighed, this was probably why he didn't have daughters often, it was just so hard to read them.

"Girls are confusing," Frank said with a nod. All of the males in the room nodded in agreement to that.

The goddesses and demigoddesses smirked secretly while Annabeth continued.

"How's that trident coming along?" he asked her. Normally, his children just used swords, or spears, or knifes, you never see them use a trident besides Triton. Rhode however had shown to have a good arm for polearms,

Ares opened his mouth.

"I will shove my trident up your meatus, if you say anything, Ares."

Ares' mouth clicked shut and he paled significantly along with the other gods.

so he decided to give her a trident and was curious of what she thought of it.

"Pretty good." Rhode said, pulling out the spyglass, twirling it between her fingers, "Named it Spellbound."

"…Spellbound?" he repeated, making his daughter turn to him.

"Are you pouting?" Rhode asked, blinking at him.

"What? No! Of course not." He said with a broody look on his face. Spellbound? Seriously? What about the home team?!

"I would do that," Poseidon admitted shamelessly. The Seer had told him about the name prior to the actual naming on one of the walkabouts, and had given him time to come to terms with it.

Rhode just looked at his face, so that's where she got her broody look from. "So, I, uh, redecorated the cabin a bit…hope you don't mind." She said.

Poseidon, who had lost his broody look, waved her off, "No, no, it is your home. So you can change it as you see fit." He said, giving her permission, "Well, just the inside of course." He enforced.

"So unfair."

"If I let you have free reign, the entire cabin would be blue," Poseidon said to his brooding son.

"Blue is awesome!"

Annabeth shook her head. "Come off it, Seaweed Brain."

Percy pouted at his girlfriend.

"Cool," Rhode nodded, "Cool, I mean, all those spare beds were just taking up space. It's not like I have other siblings, right?" she asked with a laugh.

"No." Poseidon shook his head with a laugh, "Of course not." Though if one was sharp enough they would have heard the faintly anxious quality to it.

Percy smiled slightly while Poseidon coughed awkwardly under the stares of Zeus and Hades.

"I mean," Rhode thought on it, "I guess a brother or sister would be cool, but whatever." She shrugged, "I've got enough on my plate with Annabeth." She shook her head. That one was just a handful.

"Athena's daughter?" he asked, thankful for the change in subject. He received a nod, "I can never understand how you two wound up as friends."

"I certainly don't mind it, unlike somebody," Poseidon said with a smirk while Athena scowled at him.

Rhode groaned, "Just because you and her mom have a tiff doesn't mean we have to carry it on."

"Exactly," Poseidon said with a nod.

Athena frowned and crossed her arms. She still believed her favorite daughter could do better, but if she was happy, she wouldn't say anything. For now.

"Hm, true." Poseidon admitted.

"Still, horses and olives?"

"It was a big deal back then!" Poseidon protested.

"And that wasn't even the debate," Athena said with a smirk. "He made a spring with salt-water."

Poseidon rolled his eyes. "The equine are still much more useful than olives."

"Without olives, there wouldn't have been oil for candles!"

"Without horses, their trade would suffer!"

"Here we go again..." Hermes sighed.

"Enough, both of you!" Hestia said with a frown. Athena huffed and looked away while Poseidon brooded at bitter memories. "Honestly, why can't we seem to get through this chapter in peace?"

"Riiight." Rhode nodded in good humor.

Poseidon just grumbled and looked up at the surface, "Ah, it seems the dinner horn is blowing." He said to Rhode, getting a tiny frown from her.

A part of her still wanted to talk to her dad, but then again, he was a god. He had king of the sea stuff to do.

"No, these fish need to swarm in the Pacific and these fish need to go to the Atlantic." Percy grinned.

Poseidon frowned. "It's much more complicated than that, Percy."

Zeus snorted in disbelief. "Sure."

"Oh, like you have it harder than I do." Poseidon challenged.

"I have to keep the winds, clouds, storms and stars in check." Zeus frowned.

Poseidon rolled his eyes. "Yes, you mean you have to tell the spirits, gods and nymphs that control those things where to go. Have you ever tried talking to a tuna? A goldfish? Explaining why a swarm needs to be in a certain place or time? It's exhausting."

"Dead. Mortals." Was all Hades said on the matter.

Poseidon and Zeus conceded to that.

The sea god hummed, "Word through the grapevine is that you received a godly phone from Thanatos, correct?" Rhode nodded. "May I see it?" he asked and Rhode pulled it out of her pocket. Since it was a godly phone, it was waterproof.

"...Dad..."

"No." Zeus frowned at Poseidon.

"Oh, I'm sure they've all earned some reprieve," Aphrodite said with a smile. "Piper needs a way to stay in communication with Jason, after all."

Jason flushed lightly and Piper smiled at the thought of calling Jason via telephone. Iris Messaging him was fun, but there was always a third party that kept her eyes on the conversation.

Handing it to the god, he punched in some buttons. "There." He smiled and handed it back to her, "If you want to call me, for anything, you can."

"The Ancient Laws..."

"I'm not raising her, it's like an Iris Message to ask questions," Poseidon said with a shrug.

He said sincerely.

Rhode's heart warmed at that and looked at her contact list, "Amphitrite and Triton, too?" she asked with an arched brow.

"It's the family share plan." Poseidon explained.

"Oh."

"Still, I think you should head to dinner for now, Rhode." He told her.

Rhode, pocketing her phone, looked at her dad one last time and gave him an awkward hug, one he returned, "Well, um, bye, dad." She waved and started to swim away, back to the surface.

She was about five kicks away when Poseidon called out her name, "Rhode!"

She turned around.

There was a different light in his eyes, a fiery kind of pride. "Know that I love you, dearly. And whatever you do, know that you are mine. You are a true daughter of the Sea God." He told her firmly, a smile on his face.

And right then and there, she gave her dad the brightest smile she could offer and continued to swim back the Camp Half-Blood, feeling content.

"Aww..." The group sighed out. The demigods and younger gods burst into snickers, getting disapproving frowns from the goddesses and the demigoddesses.

Zeus huffed and Hades rolled his eyes while Poseidon smiled serenely at the moment.

Rhode grumbled as she headed to the forge. The forge had white marble columns lining walls stained with soot. Chimneys on the roof pumped smoke over a gable with carvings of gods and monsters. The forge was located at the edge of a stream, with water wheels spinning bronze gears.

As to why she was going there, Rhode had busted her sword (Again!) in practice. Seriously, she went through more swords then Luke, and that was saying something!

"Can't go wrong with a golf club." Leo joked.

So, she thought maybe Gaige could help her forge her own sword, since she had some…difficulties in Arts and Crafts.

"How is that even possible? Don't you sire the most Cyclopes?" Zeus asked his brother.

Poseidon stroked his beard in thought. "That's actually a good question..."

Hey, at least children of Hephaestus can take the heat, right?

It had only been a few days since she had turned twelve and saw her dad, Poseidon. In minor celebration of finally meeting him, she changed her hair streaks to a sea green color, to match her eyes. She was planning on changing them every summer.

"Boo! Make them blue!"

"Percy, be quiet."

As she made it to the forges, Rhode went to speak, but a hulking mass made her pause. She looked up to see a large floating legless torso with huge arms with claw-like fingers, and a square head that had a single large glowing red eye. It had art designs on it, like an Anarchy symbol, a skull, bones, a padlock heart, and even tally marks. It was by a wall, under a sign that said 'Gaige's Wall, No Touching!', and was the NRA's dream come true. It was lined with guns. Shotguns, rifles, handguns, even a sniper rifle or two…and was that a bazooka? Some were glowing and others looked normal.

"...I want to meet this girl..." Ares grinned.

"Fat chance." Hephaestus snorted.

There was also a handgun with a knife attached to it. It was on a plaque with the words 'Da Law' under it.

"Da law?" Hermes asked, a smile growing on his face.

"I am...d'law!" Apollo declared with an impeccable slur. The two burst into laughter while Artemis shook her head.

"You just had to have a judge comic book, Father..." Athena frowned at Zeus, who tried not to flush.

"I'm just saying Gaige, you could change the circuits here for more optimum power." The voice of Nils drew Rhode's eyes away to find that him at a work table, talking with Gaige.

"And I'm telling you that would ruin the laser eye calibrations!" Gaige shot back, annoyance in her tone, her usual celestial bronze arm was gone and replaced with a sleeker steel-like one as she rested her chin on it.

"Who's the one with an MD in engineering?" Nils asked her, making Gaige bark out a snorting laugh.

"Please," she rolled her eyes, "Unlike you, I don't need a flimsy piece of paper to tell me how much of a mechanical badass I am. I'm a freaking Mechromancer and you're just a code monkey."

"Points to the mechromancer," Hephaestus said with a smirk.

Athena huffed. "A degree is still very important."

"Bah. Useless mortal requirement."

"Yes," Nils nodded mockingly, "Says the one that wanted to use a nuclear power core." He shot right back.

Gaige scowled, "It's not my fault Chiron went all bent out of shape on that. I mean, it was only a little plutonium!

Hephaestus huffed. "I'm with my other's daughter on this one. A little plutonium never hurt anybody."

"Tell that to Nagasaki, Japan." Apollo snorted in disagreement.

But nooo! It was all radiation this, safety of the campers that. Bleh." She pouted and crossed her arms like a little kid, "So ruined my creative mojo that day!"

"Because that is the real issue." Nils said dryly at her childishness.

"I fear for the campers had Chiron been lost," Athena said.

Dionysus rolled his eyes as he opened a new can of Diet Coke. "Oh yes, because that would've just been oh so terrible. Cheeky centaur."

"Whatever!" Gaige threw her arms in the air, "Go back to building your little Gundams or something." She said, giving him a shooing motion with her metal limb, "Shoo, shoo."

Nils shook his head, "Why is it so hard to work with you?" he asked and went to exit the forge, "And for your information they are relaxing to build!" he said at the slight to his hobby.

"Gundams are really neat...you know if we had a Gundam when Gaia was around..." Leo grinned.

"No, Leo." The demigods returned simultaneously.

Leo pouted. "You guys all suck."

"I'm sure your girlfriend loves to hear that!" Gaige shouted, eyes on her blueprints.

Nils greeted Rhode as he left, muttering something about crazy geniuses.

Rhode wondered if she had just witnessed a clash of egos, because that's what it looked like.

"Ugh, Megan!" Gaige shouted, "I need hot cocoa!" she demanded, despite the sweltering heat of the forge.

"...Okay, she's weird." Apollo gave Hephaestus a grin. "I like her."

Hephaestus glared at him. "No."

Suddenly, a walking table about three feet high with a round, mahogany top, bronze base, three movable legs, and little steam vents sticking up on one side came over to her with a mug of what Rhode presumed was cocoa, on it.

"...She stole Buford!" Leo seethed.

"Actually, she's older than you," Piper pointed out.

"She stole his designs! I thought him up when I was five!"

"Let it go, Leo."

"Thank you!" Gaige sang out and patted the table, "You are just such a good girl," she cooed, "Seriously, best assistant ever."

Leo's head burst into flames, making Piper and Hazel cry out in surprise. He looked up and quickly patted it out, while the gods laughed and Hephaestus smirked.

"Chip off the ol' block, eh, Crip?" Ares asked with a snicker.

"Shut up, Ares."

She took a quick sip and gave a blissful sigh, "Dammit, that's really good."

The table, dubbed Megan, released some steam from its (her?) vents. It turned around and tapped her leg noisily at seeing Rhode.

"Huh?" Gaige said, mid-sip and turned around. After putting the mug down, she smiled, "Sup girl!" she cheered with that loony smile on her face.

"Hey Gaige," the daughter of Poseidon waved, "Get into a tiff with Nils?" she asked.

"Huh?" Gaige blinked but laughed, waving it off, "Nah, we just have too many different ideas and think differently. Seriously, outside my cabin, he's the only one I can honestly respect with engineering. He's more of the guy looking for alternative powers sources for mortals while I just want to build pure badassary."

"With plutonium." Athena drawled.

Hephaestus frowned. "Nothing wrong with that. I use plutonium on Olympus all the time."

The Olympians turned to him in shock, before Zeus spoke. "We'll be having a discussion about that."

Hephaestus shrugged. He'd just use it somewhere else.

She shrugged, "So, what're you here for?"

Rhode rubbed the back of her neck, "Well, I kind of need some help. I tried making a sword during Arts and Crafts and-"

"You set Chucky's hair on fire, yeah," Gaige gave a snorting giggle, "Man that was funny. He's going to be bald for a bit."

"I feel her pain," Percy said with a solemn nod.

Hades frowned. "I'm with Zeus, how is it your demigods have a lack of skills that your sired smiths are known and called upon for?"

"Maybe it's universal balance?" Poseidon suggested.

Apollo nodded. "Percy's OP enough as it is, can't have him making super weapons too."

Percy frowned. He wasn't OP...Was he?

"So…yeah, can you maybe help me?" Rhode asked the older girl with a sheepish smile.

Gaige's metal fingers rubbed her chin, "I could…for a price."

"What?" Rhode blinked, "But-!"

Gaige held up a hand to stop her, "I don't do work for free.

"Smart." Leo begrudgingly admitted.

"If you start charging, I'll force you to stay away from a forge," Piper said.

"...Darn."

My minions do. I, on the other hand, am an artist at making things to kill other things." She explained sagely, and gestured to the robot floating nearby, "Like Deathtrap here. He's my killbot. Say hi, boy."

Deathtrap raised one of its arms and waved at Rhode, before it settled it down and stood(?) perfectly still as it floated.

Creepy.

Ares turned to Hephaestus. "I want one."

"No."

"Aw, c'mon. I won't pick on you for...two days?"

"Three years."

"De-!"

"And swear it on the Styx."

Ares scowled. "Ass."

Hephaestus smirked. "No. I'm just not as dumb as you like to think I am."

"Isn't he just the cutest thing ever?" Gaige cooed at her mechanical baby of death and carnage.

Ares frowned, almost pouting, jealously. It really was.

"Uuh, sure." Rhode said, just to be safe. "So what do you want?"

"Hm," Gaige hummed and her eyes landed on Rhode's cuff bracelet, "That." She pointed.

Rhode took a step back, her hand clamped over the bracelet and glared heatedly at Gage, "Like hell!" she snapped.

"Hey, hey! Calm your burner girl, sheesh." The older girl rolled her eyes, "I didn't mean I wanted it. I just want to borrow it for a day."

"Why?" Rhode demanded, still edgy on the idea of giving her bracelet. She practically, never (ever!) took it off.

"Duh!" Gaige said as if it was the most obvious thing ever, "I want to study it."

"Makes sense," Hephaestus nodded.

She looked at the bracelet like it was some rare exotic jewel, "My dad made that in his heyday. Do you know what type of enchantments are on there? God-tier, god-tier ones!" she explained with a deep passion in her voice, "I want to look at them first hand." She said in an eager tone, "You can even stay as I check it out."

"Like she could decipher them." Athena scoffed.

Hephaestus stroked his beard. "Well..."

"...She better not be able to."

Rhode had a conflicted look in her eyes, "…You promise to give it right back?"

Gaige held up her metal arm and placed her real hand over her heart, "Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a cupcake in my eye." She swore with utmost seriousness.

"Cupcake?"

"I love cupcakes." Gaige nodded sagely.

"Mm...cupcake..." Frank grinned as one appeared in front of him.

Hazel shook her head at his antics while the other demigods started to snicker for some reason.

Rhode was hesitant, but after taking a few moments to debate it in her head, she carefully took off her bracelet and when she did, it felt as though her right wrist was naked. The weight that she had grown so accustomed to was gone. "Here." She said, handing it over and Gaige squealed in delight at it, grasping it with utmost care. She placed it down near her work station for further study. As Gaige got some tools out, she noticed Rhode taking sneaking glances at her arm.

"Wanna hear how I lost it?" the builder asked with a grin, getting a flush from Rhode.

"Yes!" The demigods leaned in eagerly.

"Back off, guys," Annabeth said with a frown. She couldn't read while crammed against her boyfriend. It was too distracting.

"Oh, I, um, I didn't mean to-" she fumbled with her words, but Gaige waved it off.

"Nah, I don't honestly care, so it's cool." Gaige said with a shrug, "So, wanna hear or not?" she asked while grabbing some measuring tape.

Rhode gave a small nod.

"C'mon, get on with it!" Apollo declared.

"Get on with-!"

"Hermes, shut up." Artemis frowned at the god. She was so sick of that Monty Python joke. Apollo used it every other day.

"So I was tinkering and I sliced my arm with some sheet metal. Not a big cut, barely went like halfway to the bone. And I was all like, ugh, stupid fleshy arm, why do you bleed?

"...Stupid fleshy arm..." Percy repeated slowly.

"Flesh does get in the way," Leo said with an understanding nod. Piper gave him a look and he blinked. "What? I'm loco, but I'm not that loco."

So, as blood began to spurt from the gash in my forearm, I realized it! A cybernetic limb!" Gaige smiled brightly, fanning her arms in the air, "So I figured, what the heck and sliced off the rest of my arm with a particle saw. Then Chiron was like 'Ah, eh, uh!' and blood was everywhere in the forge.

"I've heard worse reasons," Hephaestus said with a shrug.

"For self-amputation?" Apollo asked. "It's not only insanitary, but shows high mental instability."

But after a few hours and a few pints of blood later, I built a metal arm strong enough to smash concrete!" she cheered happily, beaming at her sheer genius and punched a nearby table, breaking it into timber, "Ehehe, yes! So metal, right?"

"…Uh, yes?" Rhode said, questioning Gaige's sanity. Like, a lot.

"Oh, she's crazy. Unscrewed." Dionysus nodded. He knew the second she was introduced.

Hephaestus shrugged. "Insanity and genius are two sides of the same coin."

"So...Athena's crazy?" Ares asked, getting a glare.

Hephaestus shrugged. "By that logic."

"Poor Percy. I'm sorry, son. Seems like you have a crazy mother-in-law," Poseidon said with a smirk.

"I will destroy you." Athena growled at her rival.

"Yeah, I know." Gaige nodded and held up the measuring tape, "Okay, first, let me get some measurements from you so I can make it just right."

Rhode just nodded and they were just about to get underway when a voice was heard at the entrance to the forge.

"Gaige, Gaige!"

Both girls turned to see Emily poking her head in the forge.

"Emily?" Gaige squeaked, sitting a little straighter.

Aphrodite arched a brow slightly and her lips spread. "What's this?"

The daughter of Aphrodite walked in, wiping her brow because she was already sweating from the heat, "Honestly, how can you stand it in here?"

"You get used to it." Gaige stated, her fleshy fingers tapping her worktable, "So, what's up?"

Emily put her hands on her curvy hips and said, "You honestly need to get out of here every once in a while, it's not good for your skin." She stated in a chiding way, making Gaige look the other way.

"It's fine." The builder argued weakly.

"...She likes her..." Piper blinked. She hummed. "I guess...it'd be a cute couple. The baker and the maker."

"Cute nothing. That's some fine form of entertainment." Apollo grinned. He glanced at the married god and goddess. "How is it your kids always somehow wind up falling for one or the other?"

"Coincidence." The two agreed with frowns on their faces.

Leo pursed his lips. "I don't know how to react to this...Is it hot or not?"

"It's very hot," Apollo confirmed. He yelped when Artemis slapped him. "What? It is!"

"No, it's not." Emily huffed and grabbed Gaige by her metal arm, "Come on, I got some cookies freshly baked. You can have some with the others."

Rhode saw Gaige's face heat up, must've been from the forges.

"But I have stuff of doom to make!"

"You can make them later, cookies first."

"…Better be double chocolate chip." Gaige relented as she was dragged from the forge.

"Your favorite, I know." Emily smiled brightly at her as she led Gaige along.

"Aww, they're cute!" Aphrodite smiled.

Artemis rolled her eyes. "Gag me."

"Boring prude."

"Intolerable harlot."

"Ladies." Hera's gaze made the two become quiet.

Rhode just scratched the back of her head, "Uh, what about my sword?"

She got no answer.

"When cookies are promised, all other projects are put on hold," Leo said with a smirk.

It was a Friday in mid-August. Rhode was looking over her newest sword that Gaige had forged for her and she had to say it was pretty good. It felt ten times better than any sword she'd ever used.

Well, except Riptide, but this one came pretty close.

"Nothing beats Riptide." Percy smirked.

Rhode took a sip of her morning milk and heard the clopping of hooves. Huh, Chiron was late this morning. She looked up and promptly spat out her milk in a fine mist at what was before her, coughing a bit as the white liquid dribbled down her chin.

In fact, everyone was either choking on their breakfast or spit-taking their drinks.

There was Chiron, in a pink, puffy and ruffled, prom dress.

"...FINALLY!" Percy crowed over the ones who knew the Centaur laughed. He leaned in eagerly. "Go on, go on! I have to know this story!"

Annabeth giggled at his enthusiasm while the gods smirked.

"Ah, yes. That was a very entertaining day," Dionysus said with a smile. "One of my favorites."

Rhode grabbed her digital camera and took a picture.

Snickers broke out as people were trying to keep calm. Some held their hands over their mouths, others bit their lips, as Chiron's sharp eyes scanned the crowd of half-bloods.

"Date tonight?" Mr. D asked the immortal trainer.

"He did dress nicely," Apollo said with a snort.

Hestia shook her head. "That's so cruel Apollo. Your own student?"

"How will he know I love him if I don't rib him every now and then?"

Aphrodite nodded. "He's got a point."

Chiron promptly ignored him.

Rhode looked over to table eleven, only they could have pulled this off. They had their best angel faces on, but no matter what, they were still grinning, bumping fists and low-fiving each other under the table.

"Good morning everyone." Chiron greeted the campers in a calm voice, as if he wasn't in a dress, "As you can see by my attire, I have been subjected to a prank.

"That's better than how it happened for us," Hermes said with a frown.

Percy's eager grin fell. "Aww...I'm never going to hear that story..."

"Well...maybe not now," Annabeth said with a smile.

Please note, that this is superglued to my skin and hide." He noted with a finger in the air, "Now, onto bigger news. We will be having a very special Capture the Flag later tonight. You see, it is a rare one cabin versus all event." He smiled, looking at Cabin Eleven, but mostly Lee, dead in the eye.

"What?" Lee blinked and that one word led to his downfall.

"Ooh...bad move, kiddo." Hermes winced. He shook his head. "Granted, Chiron's assumptions have sound reasoning...He stereotyped and intimidated my kid. Still, Lee should've kept his mouth shut."

"Or owned up to it."

Hermes rolled his eyes. "Whatever, Apollo."

"Thank you, Mr. Jordan, for volunteering your cabin." Chiron chortled with a scary smile.

"Hey, wait?! I didn't!"

"Nonsense." Chiron waved him off, a big smile on his face, "Why, just think of the praise you'll receive from the rest of your cabin for your daring nerve."

Lee was sweating a bit at the looks his cabin-mates were giving him.

"Now then, be sure to enjoy yourselves everyone, because I know I will." Chiron finished and started to eat his breakfast.

"I like this side of you." Mr. D smiled in praise of his co-worker.

"It was a very nice day...shame he went back to being cheeky once the dress came off," Dionysus said with a frown.

And that night it was the most one-sided slaughter of a CTF match recorded in the last fifty years.

And that's why the camp bead for that summer was a centaur in a prom dress. It was just that memorable. Chiron demanded another be issued out, but it was up to the head counselors what the bead was, and they didn't change their decision. Plus it made for funny moments when the trainer eyed the beads, as his eyebrow would twitch. Every. Single. Time.

"...I'm gonna ask one of my kids to tell me that story from that day," Apollo said.

Dionysus arched a brow. "I could tell you this story."

"Frankly, D, outside of being drunk, you suck at telling stories."

"Well...if I could-"

"No." Zeus frowned at Dionysus.

Dionysus sighed and sipped his Diet Coke. "That figures."

"I still can't believe we have to get all these books from this one guy." Rhode said as she licked her blue sea salt ice cream popsicle, "I mean, for all our other subjects we get to use all our other books from last year since they transfer to this one, but for DADA it's like I'm buying a whole new set of books." Rhode complained as she Luke, Annabeth, Lee, his mom, Su, and her dad walked down Diagon Alley together to get the Hogwarts students their school supplies for the year. They were currently heading towards Flourish and Bouts for their books after getting some ice cream and cashing up at Gringotts.

"I hear we have a celebrity as our new DADA teacher."

"...Okay, this is one guy I can't wait to see fall to Rhode." Apollo smirked.

Athena sniffed. "I completely agree. Messing with the minds of great wizards...and potentially our children?"

The Olympians all glowered at the thought.

Su smiled, enjoying her chocolate ice cream.

Rhode raised an eyebrow at her, "Didn't know you were a celeb type person, Su?"

The daughter of Demeter flushed, "I'm not, but I've heard that this one is really accomplished."

"Who is he?" Annabeth asked as she was licking some vanilla ice cream, getting some on her nose.

"Here." Luke said to Annabeth, giving her a napkin and tapping his nose. He took a bite out of his ice cream sandwich and pocketed his napkins.

Annabeth flushed and cleaned her nose quickly.

"D'aww..."

"Hazel. Shut it."

"Now, Annie..." Thalia began with a smirk.

"I can find the Hunters, Thalia. And you're not completely immortal."

Thalia continued to smirk.

Lee snorted, "Please, the guy is a first class fool." He brushed off, "I'm getting my books second hand or as cheap as I can get them. Then, once the year is over, I'm burning them." He stated, "I can't stand him."

"I have all his books," Mrs. Jordan said, making her son blanch. Mrs. Jordan was a tall curvy woman, like you'd see on a fashion magazine with the same complexion as her son with rich black brown hair that swirled down the middle of her back like chocolate curls. Her brown eyes danced with mischief, much like her son's would as the woman just gave off a mischievous nature.

"So my type." Hermes grinned. His grin slowly fell. "No...oh, no. No, no, no..." He let his hands cover his face and he groaned. "She's a fan."

"He did have a charming smile in the film," Aphrodite said with a smile.

"He's a tool/fool." Apollo, Hermes and Athena dryly declared.

"My book club raves about him," Mrs. Jordan shrugged. A housewife needed something to do other than watching morning shows and doing some side projects to keep busy.

Mr. Li gave a distasteful snort, "I agree with your son, the man is nothing but a Jester."

Rhode looked between them, "So, who is he?" repeating Annabeth's question.

"Gilderoy Lockhart." Su and Lee said, one in fascination, the other in distaste.

"Sounds unimportant." Rhode commented, licking her ice cream. Mm, salty.

"I believe this will be the most interesting of all chapters," Athena said with a smirk.

After finishing their frozen treats, they soon entered the bookstore. Rhode and Su going for their Lockhart books with Annabeth at their tails.

"Like the cute little bookworm she is." Piper teased with a smirk.

"McLean..."

"You can't deny it. Percy won't either."

Percy nodded in agreement to that.

Luke and Lee went to look at some other books, the latter informing his half-brother of some nice books on pranks. Mr. Li and Mrs. Jordan were just chatting with each other, comparing demigod children notes and swapping stories.

As soon as the girls started to read the titles, Rhode said, "Wanna share them and split the cost?" she said while looking at Break with a Banshee.

"I guess so. It would save money, plus we do our homework together and take the class at different times. So it's perfect." Su nodded while skimming some of Year with the Yeti.

"This looks dumb." Annabeth said as she was flipping the page from Travels with Trolls, "And the titles are weak."

"Thank you!" Apollo threw his arms up. "A good story needs a catching title, not something childish like that. Sure, maybe for Magic Treehouse or A-Z Mysteries or-!"

"We get it, Apollo," Artemis said with a smirk. "You like to read children books."

Apollo smirked back. "They tend to be the most entertaining."

As they went to purchase the books, Lee jogged up to them, "You will not believe what I heard." He grinned. His mother looked at him, intrigued.

"What now, you gossip hound?" Rhode smirked.

"When Lockhart was doing some autograph signing here, daddy Weasley and daddy Malfoy broke into a fight." He laughed, like it was hilarious.

Mrs. Jordan shook her head, "Poor Arthur, he has a good heart, but he can be so brash at times."

"I do enjoy the fact that someone took a shot at the Malfoy elder," Mr. Li smiled, "He's had it a long time coming."

Demeter frowned. "He shouldn't be so approving of violence."

"Says you," Ares said with a smirk.

"Father," Su chided with a tiny frown.

"See? Su agrees with me." Demeter nodded. "She's a smart girl."

"I wonder what type of love life she'll have," Aphrodite said with a smile.

Demeter glared at her. "You leave my girl alone."

"Hermollo." Poseidon's words made the two gods wince and keep their mouths shut.

Aphrodite just continued to smile.

"Right?" Lee nodded, "Ah man, to punch Malfoy senior in the face. Lucky him."

"Guy looked like a breeze could take him down." Rhode snorted.

"I hear we get the same shampoo." Mrs. Jordan winked, that got laughs all around.

After that, Rhode had to make a detour at Madam Malkin's Robes. Due to a growth spurt, she needed to get her uniform refitted. She noticed that the seamstress would enchant clothes and asked if they could enchant clothes to protect them. Madam Malkin laughed good-naturedly and said of course.

Rhode had Thalia's jacket charmed to protect it from the elements, fire damage, stains, and even added creature repellent charms.

"...Lady Artemis, I know what I want for my birthday."

Artemis smiled lightly at Thalia's love for her jacket. Outside of a hunt, she wore it all the time.

She picked out all the creatures she could afford with the cash on her then, which amounted to a little over a dozen different types of creatures, one of which she made sure to be spiders, for Annabeth's sake, just for the heck of it. It cost her a pretty penny but it was worth it.

Annabeth, who was looking at a Hogwarts uniform, practically begged her to have her hoodie charmed with the same effect.

Annabeth paused with a jealous frown on her face.

"Hey." Percy nudged her with a smile. "I'll squish any spider for you."

Annabeth smiled lightly at that.

"Less flirting, more reading," Piper said with a smirk.

The two flushed brightly and Annabeth cleared her throat.

Having the spare cash, though she had to borrow from Mrs. Jordan until she could get back to Gringotts for another top up, Rhode did so, but claimed it to be her coming Christmas gift.

Annabeth could handle that.

"Why were you eying the uniform?" Rhode ask the young blonde as she just handed over her hoodie.

"They look cool." Annabeth flushed and confessed.

"…You want one?"

Percy stared off into space at the thought of Annabeth dressed up like a schoolgirl.

He snapped out of it when Leo whistled. "That'd be hot." Percy glared at Leo and he shrugged. "What? Facts don't lie dude. You got a hot girlfriend. Don't pretend you didn't think of it."

Percy looked away when Annabeth glanced at him, his face red.

Rhode asked, getting Annabeth to look at her in shock.

"Yes" Annabeth shyly confirmed.

Rhode shrugged, "Why not. You can have something for Halloween."

Annabeth threw her arms around Rhode's waist, repeating 'thank you' over and over. And for the next twenty minutes, Annabeth happily went through her fitting for her very own tailored Ravenclaw uniform. All thanks to a little white lie saying she was a new student. Mrs. Jordan was very convincing.

"...I might need to check out England again. Been a while since I was there..." Hermes hummed.

"Hermes..."

"What? I have to make some deliveries overseas."

Su clapped her hands at the sight as Annabeth spun around in her cloak and uniform, "You look like a proper witch, Annabeth."

"Think I could sneak in?" the young blonde asked teasingly.

"It'd be tough without magic." Rhode pointed out with a small smile.

"Worth a shot." Annabeth stated.

Athena snorted. "Oxford would be better for her."

"...Oxford is a college." Hera arched a brow.

"...And?"

Hera conceded to that.

"Still, looks like we know what you're going as for Halloween." Luke chuckled.

"Now I just need a wand." Annabeth rubbed her chin.

"I'm not spending money on that, just grab a stick." Rhode said, crossing her arms.

Annabeth nodded with a pout.

"It's not as authentic..." Annabeth agreed.

"Just as phallic though."

"ARES!" Hestia glared at the god.

Ares held his hands up. "What? God of manliness! Just saying! I was siding with Poseidon's brat!"

"God of manliness my ass." Apollo whispered to Hermes.

"I heard that sunspot!"

"You wanna lose another boxing match?"

"I had sand in my eye!"

"Apollo. Ares." Zeus frowned at his sons.

After getting their jackets back, with Mr. Li and Mrs. Jordon helping to cover the unexpected costs for the moment. The group then made another trip to Gringotts so Rhode could withdraw some money to repay the adults, who only grudgingly accepted the money, and a little extra for some spending money whilst she was at school. After that last stop, they called it a day and returned to camp.

Hades snorted. "Generosity is nice, but handing out her mother's and stepfather's accumulated fortune? Foolhardy."

"Lily Evans and James Potter were kind characters," Apollo said. "Well, Lily more-so than James."

"...Be that as it may. I still think it foolhardy."

It was September first and it was time to head back to school. New students were bustling about Platform 9 3/4, friends greeting one another, families saying their goodbyes.

"Time to go." Rhode said, wearing her uniform. Turning to her family she hugged Luke and Annabeth goodbye as they stood in the booth.

"We'll see you at Christmas." Luke said with a smile, getting one in return from Rhode.

"And write as much as we can." Annabeth chirped.

"Just be sure to mind yourself and write, Su." Mr. Li said as he levitated Su's trunk into the overhead in the same booth.

"Yes, father." Su nodded.

"Such a good girl," Demeter said with a smile.

The train whistle blew, "Time to go, guys." Rhode smiled at them.

After one final goodbye, their families left the train and Rhode reclined in her seat.

"Excited?" Su asked her with a tiny smile.

"As long as I don't have to do anything like at the end of last year, I think I'll be good." Rhode said with a weak smile.

"Famous last words." Hazel shook her head.

And with that, the train jolted forward and started to leave the station.

It was time for their second year.

Annabeth closed the book with her lips pursed. She turned to Percy. "You know, Reyna really should be here."

"She can't." Frank shook his head. "When we discussed it before we returned, Reyna decided to stay back so that we wouldn't have just the council running Camp Jupiter."

"But time isn't the same here," Annabeth pointed out.

"She didn't want to risk it," Hazel said.

Piper chanced a glance at Aphrodite, who smirked back at her. "I think I know why she stayed back."

"Why?" Frank asked.

"It's not important."

"...So, if for some reason time doesn't change like it shouldn't, what are you doing now?" Jason asked. "Officially?"

"Oh, I'm on an important diplomatic mission for the camp." Frank smirked.

Ares snorted. "Boring."

---

AN: Well, there's the reason why I haven't included Reyna. For those that have read Blood of Olympus, you can figure out what that means. For those that haven't...PM me and I may tell you.

Either way, there's one thing I want you to do.

REVIEW!