DU SOLEIL ET DE LA LUNE

A blonde man toyed absentmindedly with his Blackberry, sitting on one of the many couches the Starbucks had to offer. As he sat, he wondered how many people had their eyes on him. After all, even with the sunglasses, hoodie and scarf, someone this radiant was bound to attract some attention.

"Paulie?"

"Hey Rachel," he greeted, turning to the approaching redhead. "Is the kid with you?"

"Nice disguise you've got there," the teen commented as she nudged her companion forward. "Paulie, meet Percy Jackson. Percy, meet Paulo du Soleil, the CEO and owner of Chariot."

"Hey there Percy," Mr. Soleil waved, flashing his million-watt smile. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be having much effect on the surly looking boy that stood next to his redheaded friend.

Percy was not happy. He had twenty minutes to get home, thanks to his new curfew, and Rachel had abducted him from the bus stop. After the Posei incident, he and his mom had been on rocky terms. If he broke his grounding on the first day back at school, there'd be hell to pay. Staring at the head of Chariot, one of the most high end car names in the business, was not how he wanted to spend his limited Monday afternoon. "Hello, sir."

"Call me Paulie," he suggested, motioning for the two to sit down. "So dude, I hear you've been having some problems with Don Posei."

"...what?" Percy replied eloquently. What, had everyone known about his dad but him?

"No need to fret," the businessman said, wagging a finger at the two teens. He pulled something out of the baggy folds of his jacket and smacked a relatively thin package of papers onto the table. "I know everything about the situation. Including, something you need to be made aware of."

Leaning forward, Percy saw that the package was actually a newspaper section. Five seconds ago, he could've truthfully said that he'd never seen himself in the papers before. Now he found himself staring at a fuzzy image of himself getting into a cab with a very distraught Rachel. "What the hell is this?"

"Shh, be calm young grasshopper," Paulie cautioned. "There are people about."

"It's last year's incident," Rachel spoke up, unsurprised despite the turn of events.

"I know that," Percy huffed. He looked accusingly at her calm demeanour. "But why, after half a year, is this being dug up onto tomorrow's paper?"

Rachel gave a pleading look to her father's acquaintance, maybe Paulie could help with breaking the news? The business man just shrugged back and busied himself with his Blackberry. Apparently, Twitter and Facebook were currently more important than his socially helpless goddaughter. "Because, Percy, back then you were just a normal kid. Now you're Don Posei's illegitimate child who seems to have a history with Dare Enterprise's little princess."

Princess. Oh how she hated that word. Rachel felt some of her best friend's irritation melt away. His mouth was still curved into an impressive scowl, but his eyes held sympathy. They both knew how many worthless arguments, sleepless nights, and empty promises her status brought. She was Rachel Dare. It was bad enough that she was going to a public school. Heaven help us all if she decides to have any sense of free will.

"So what're we going to do?" Percy finally asked.

Normal procedure would be to stay low, to lock yourself up until the world forgot. But Rachel couldn't tell him that. No matter the revelation, Percy would always be the boy next door. He wasn't cut out for the drama, prestige and burden that the business world rained down on her every day. No, definitely not. Percy didn't deserve to be forgotten.

"Nothing," Rachel replied, steeling her voice with strength she didn't feel. Again, she looked to her godfather, hoping for his support. This time, he gazed back, and with the faintest of smiles gave a tiny nod.

"Nothing?" Percy echoed. He turned to his friend, seeing a glimmer of the girl that had begged him to take her away all those months ago. The girl who had crumpled under the weight of the world on her shoulders. The girl who had felt more at peace with her life the farther away she got from it. "Rach, are you sure?"

Rachel stared at the boy who'd been her best friend for eight years and unrequited love for two. Green eyes bore into each another, questioning, calculating, imploring: why?

Green the colour of ocean reefs asked: why are you shutting me out?

Green the colour of emerald clovers wondered: why can't you move on?

The unspoken questions rallied back and forth between them, flecked with disjointed memories.

A worried mom.

"I can't believe you'd do this, Percy," Sally Jackson said, more to herself than to her son.

Shame burned on his face as she paced restlessly. "I'm sorry Mom, but Rachel needed me."

She sighed and leaned on their tiny kitchen table. "Percy, you're loyal to your friends, and that's good, but what you did was wrong. We're lucky Mr. Dare isn't pressing charges for kidnapping."

A condescending father.

She stood defiantly as he glared daggers at her. Having a one-on-one talk with him was like standing in front of a firing squad. Peering out the glass curtains of their penthouse apartment, Rachel focused on the New York skyline. Her father's sermon washed over her; the words might as well have gone unspoken. She'd felt his stinging disappointment the second he found her curled up on a bench next to a judgemental Percy.

A defensive friend.

Rachel disliked her father.

Rachel liked Percy.

It should have been obvious who to pick.

But as they say, 'blood is thicker than water'.

So when her father gave an ultimatum, and Percy offered another option, better judgement gave into a lifetime's worth of emotions.

"Rachel, come back home or stay out of it," Dad had said, tiredness and frustration saturating his voice.

Percy squeezed her hand and whispered, "My mom wouldn't mind you in the house."

Rachel didn't remember the exact moment she'd yanked her hand out of her friend's but found herself making her way back to life as Dare enterprise's young heiress.

Because even when she loved Percy, she knew he didn't love her back.

At least with family, love was an obligation.

"Well," Paulie coughed, breaking the spell that had wrapped the two teens in a silence. "We'd all best be going. Haven't you got somewhere to be, Percy?"

Percy didn't budge. "Rachel, you're serious? I'm not supposed to do anything?"

"That's the plan," she replied, gently ushering her friend out of their booth. "Now get home before your mom starts freaking out."

"Okay...," he muttered. Scooting out of his seat, he slung his backpack onto his shoulder, and sent one last disbelieving look at Rachel. "Bye then."

"See you around," she said, though she probably wouldn't be. For the sake of dousing the press fire, they'd have to avoid each other to any extent possible.

"Sayonara, young grasshopper," Paulie waved.

Percy stood there for a second more before giving his friend a quick, lingering hug.

And with that, he was gone, leaving a red-faced Rachel in his wake.

"But soft, what light through yonder window breaks?" her godfather drawled. "It is the east, and Juliet is the sun!"

"Please don't, Paulie," Rachel said, stopping him before he got into one of his Shakespearean moods.

"Am I not allowed to comment on your romantic escapades?" he questioned with mock appal.

"No," she answered, amusement peppering the word.

"Well, let me at least get you a drink," he offered. "We can't just sit here and leave without ordering anything."

"A peppermint hot chocolate then," she said as he got up to order. "And thanks for being here, Paulie."

"No problemo," he smiled.

~O~o~O~

Thalia waited restively as her Headmistress flipped through paperwork. Wheelchairs and IVs filled her view and the antiseptic smell of hospitals filled her lungs. Being back in Caduceus was...unsettling.

A nurse approached them carrying Bianca di Angelo's file. "Ms. Diana de Lune?"

"That's me," the Headmistress said, looking up from the stack of admission papers sitting on her lap. She slid the sheaf off her lap and stood. "How is the girl?"

"Bianca is fine," the nurse replied. "Her father is with her right now."

"May I see her? We need to clear some things up for enrolment," Ms. de Lune stated.

"I'm sorry, but she refuses leave her brother's room," the nurse started. "And due to his delicate condition, he's only allowed two visitors at a time. You'd need to persuade Mr. Sedah out if you want to talk."

"Thalia," she addressed. "Go and send Mr. Sedah my way. Stay with the girl if she looks like she needs company."

"Yes ma'am," the student replied as she got up.

Walking through the familiar halls, Thalia was relieved that at least this time, she wasn't the patient.

"Hold the door!" she exclaimed as she watched the elevator door give a jerk. She hurried in and mumbled a quick 'thanks' before pushing the button for the seventh floor.

"Thalia?" called a deep, familiar voice.

Pleasant surprise coursed through her at the sound. "Luke?"

He stood there, signature smirk just as she remembered it. "It's nice to see you again, Thalia."

Something was off with him. "You too, Luke. How are—"

An airy voice cut in. "Luke, who's this?"

A fleeting grimace laced his features. His countenance softened as he turned towards the woman who'd spoken. "This is Thalia, Mom. You remember Thalia?"

"Thalia?" May Castellan echoed, fingers twiddling in her white-blonde hair. "Is she the clever little grey-eyed girl?"

"No, Mom," Luke replied. He gently eased her back into a wheelchair Thalia hadn't seen. "That was Annabeth. She's not a little girl anymore."

"Oh...," May trailed off, clutching her worn down, cherry-red handbag.

Luke sighed and faced his old friend. "So what are you doing in Caduceus?"

The last time you were here, you were half-dead, was the silent implication.

"Visiting a soon-to-be Huntington girl," Thalia replied, mentally comparing the fragile person in the wheelchair to vibrant Mrs. Castellan who used to give them ice cold Kool Aid every Saturday.

The obvious question remained unspoken: what's wrong with your mother?

"Another Hunter, huh?" Luke mused, leaning onto the wheelchair's handle bars.

"Yeah," Thalia confirmed. Soft beeps sounded as they drew closer to her floor. "How's your new school?"

"It's been good," the blonde replied. The elevator came to a stop as an electronic voice rattled out 'seventh floor'. "I guess I'll be seeing you around then, Thalia."

"Okay," the Hunter replied, uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

"Wait!" May cried. Thalia froze, mid-step, at the hysterical cry and turned towards her friend's mother. Mrs. Castellan dug frantically through her handbag, smiling once she found what she was looking for. Plucking the item out, she offered it to the confused girl. "Would you like a peanut butter sandwich, Thalia?"

"Thank you, Mrs. Castellan," Thalia said, smiling at the woman's clouded blue eyes and taking the plastic-wrapped treat. She looked up at Luke for what she suspected would be the last time in a long time as she stepped out of their elevator. "Bye, Luke. Your mom's awesome by the way. How did she know I had to skip lunch today?"

It might not have been the most tactful thing to say, but it was the truth.


Note: I've learned to stop promising updates, it only makes them come later. Anyway, some development in this chapter. Next up, Nico's condition (I know you're all dying to find out) and Thalia's back story (because EVERYONE has one in Notes :D). Also, May Castellan is the sweetest person to write :)