Author's note: Okay, you're going to have to bare with me whilst I reply to some reviews.
To Renesmee27: I am so glad you liked the chapter! I must admit, I wasn't sure, so your positive feedback is much appreciated. If you have any more suggestions, or anyone else for that matter, please let me know :)
To Not Hazel Levesque: Haha I think so. I should make a national dress up as voldemort day! Yeah, the bucket list is eccentric to say the least, and most of the items on it are completely unattainable, but they told me to dream big, so I did!
To Sora Loves Rain: Thanks! I'm glad you approve of the name, and you're too kind. So thanks again! I really love reading all your reviews.
To A-LovesHP: Haha I'm glad your enjoying it!
Sorry if I missed anyone off there. I've lost track of who I've got around to sending a PM and who I haven't and who I've put in the author's notes, but all reviews have made me very happy. You must be getting so bored of hearing that, but I'm actually bouncing up and down I'm so giddy-happy. So yeah. Normal child, right here.
So I've detained you long enough. You don't have to read all these readers notes, if there's anyone who does. This chapter was really bittersweet for me. Is it pathetic that I cried whilst writing it? Probably is, to be honest. Meh. I don't care, I did it, I'm not ashamed.
I don't own Percy Jackson.
Letting go has never been easy. Yet holding on can be as difficult. But strength is not measured by holding on but by letting go~ Len Santos
Percy rolled over onto his side, looking at the sunlight streaming in from the window, his stomach plummeting. Today was D-Day, the day to end all days...
And he wasn't ready. Not one bit.
Annabeth groaned, and rolled over to face him. "Morning." She muttered, looking at the alarm clock. "Big day today. Blue pancakes?"
Percy bit his lip and nodded.
"Cheer up, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth laughed. "We've still got the other two. It's just school."
"She's a Demigod, Annabeth. It's never just school. This is a life or death situation, monsters from every corner of New York will flock to her. How could they not? She's so powerful, and she's only 5, just a baby, and ADHD as well-"
Annabeth pressed her lips against his, effectively stopping the flow of words. She chuckled.
"Nothing is going to happen to her. I promise, if I thought anything could go wrong, anything at all, I would not be letting her go."
"She's still a baby." Percy insisted. Annabeth grinned, and jumped out of bed, pulling a dressing gown and slippers over her pyjamas.
"She won't be forever." She reminded him. "And we can't be the ones to hold her back. Besides, we're not the first people to do this. She'll be in a class with Aithan. It's not been easy on Hazel and Frank, either."
"Right." Percy muttered. Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"We're not giving her up or anything, you idiot. She is just going to school, nothing more. Not getting married or joining the hunters or going off to war or hosting the Oracle or anything even remotely fun- I mean dangerous. Now, come and help me make blue pancakes. And stop looking like you're walking to your death. I don't want to ruin her day, and she's got to be nervous and excited enough as it is."
So when his daughter ran around the corner, blond pigtails streaming out behind her, Percy didn't burst into tears. Instead, he held out his arms and allowed her to jump into them, swinging her in a circle. Suddenly, Percy flashbacked to his wedding day... Of holding Annabeth like this, of the sensation of knowing he wouldn't let go for the world...
Hugging his daughter a little tighter, he closed his eyes a moment, and thought about the moment he had first held her. Why was time going by so fast? He wanted it to stop, he wanted everything to halt, he wanted to grab his children and never let them go.
"How are you this morning, Sofia?" He laughed as his youngest daughter ran up to him and grabbed hold of his leg. Ethan watched a moment, before deciding he didn't want to miss out on all the fun, and grabbed Percy's other leg.
"Oomph." Percy laughed, taking struggling steps forward as his feet dragged. "And he's off, the fastest super-daddy-monster in the entire world. And what's this? A sofa? And he's falling, falling, falling! Aah, he's going to squash Kaia! And at the last moment, he pulls back and grabs Ethan and Sofia and- what's that I hear? You all want hugs?"
He swept all three wriggling children up at once as if they weighed nothing more than a bag of flour. Ignoring their squeals of protest, he planted kisses on each of their cheeks, then dropped them onto the sofa.
"RAWR! Super scary daddy monster coming through! Hungry super scary daddy monster, as it happens. I might have to eat you all!"
Annabeth stood in the kitchen doorway, laughing quietly to herself as she looked through the photographs she had just taken. "And the super scary mummy monster is here to save you all! Blue pancakes are on the table!" She laughed, grinning at Percy.
"These are good pancakes!" Laughed Percy.
"Daddy!" Reprimanded Kaia, pointing her fork at him. "Don't talk with your mouth full!"
Annabeth spluttered on her glass of water, laughing. "Silly Seaweed Brain. Could you please set some good examples for our children? Please?"
Percy shrugged, downing the glass of milk in front of him in one gulp and grinning at Ethan as he wiped off his milk moustache. "That's what you're for, Wise Girl."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Just do whatever Daddy doesn't do." She told them. "Are you all ready for big school, Kaia?"
"Yes. Can I have the chocolate spead?"
"Are you sure? You don't look very ready to me." Percy grinned.
"I've laid out your new school jumper on your bed, sweetheart. And once you've all brushed your teeth, I'll do you and Sofia's hair, and then we'd better get off." Annabeth sighed, looking at her watch. "And then daddy will drop Ethan and Sofia off at Grandma Athena's, and we'll both go to work. Daddy will be the one picking you up tonight, alright? I'm working late night on a project, but I should be back for tea."
"No problem." Said Percy, knowing the remainders were more for him than for Kaia.
"Can't I go to Gramma Athena's?" Kaia suddenly asked, in a small voice.
"Don't you want to go to big school?" Asked Annabeth in surprise. The girl across the table hesitated, and then shook her head. Annabeth met Percy's gaze from across the table.
"If you and Ethan are finished," Percy told Sofia. "Why don't you go and get dressed, and we'll meet you in a couple minutes."
"You don't want to go to big school, baby girl?" Percy asked, pulling her up onto his lap. "Why not?"
"Spiders." She whispered. "And mortals are strange."
"Gramma Sally isn't strange, or Grandpa Paul. They're mortals."
"Hang on a minute." Annabeth said, her face draining of colour. "Did you say spiders, sweetheart?"
"Under the bed." Kaia answered, burying her head in Percy's t-shirt. "The spider lady said she'd get me, at big school."
"No." Annabeth whispered, looking at her daughter in shock. "No."
Percy was incredibly pale, his eyes glinting jewel bright. "Listen to me, baby girl." He whispered, smoothing her hair. "The spider lady died, when me and your mummy were younger. And Aunty Rachel made doubly sure that there aren't going to be scary monsters at big school. Aunty Clarisse and Uncle Frank killed all the ones they could, and Uncle Grover and Uncle Hedge will be there all the time, making sure nothing hurts you. I promise you, mummy and daddy won't let anything hurt you. The spider lady lied. Everything is going to be alright, I swear on the River Styx."
"Kaia, look at me." Annabeth whispered. Kaia looked up from Percy's lap, green eyes wide and still brimming with tears. "You should tell mummy and daddy. Whenever something frightens you, especially spiders, we want to know. We can make it better. And I have a present for you, for being brave and going to big school." She unsheathed her bronze knife.
"Annabeth!" Percy exclaimed. She shot him a look that clearly said 'shut up if you know what's good for you'. She did that a lot.
"This is my special knife. I've fought a lot of monsters with this knife, monsters worse than the spider lady. You remember I taught you how to use this? Good. Well, if ever a monster attacks you, I want you to use this knife. I want you to protect yourself, alright?"
Percy bit his lip, watching, as Kaia took the knife in her small hands and gripped it tight. Great. Not only was her first word manticore, she was also a five year old with her own perfectly balanced offensive weapon. They were amazing parents...
"And as for the strange mortals." Annabeth laughed. "They might be strange, granted. Aunty Rachel is mortal, and she's- well, she's a bit weird, I'll give you that. But you're going to make some amazing mortal friends. Mummy and Daddy did, when they went to school. Everyone else is just as nervous as you, honey. In fact, you're better off than most. You already have Aithan, and Emily will start next year. All your other friends are going to go to mortal school. It's going to be equally difficult for them, I promise. It's just hard for you, because you're the first one to do it all."
"You're going to be fine." Percy whispered, more to himself than to his daughter, as he rubbed soothing circles on her back. Annabeth met his gaze and smiled. Kaia just put the knife in her pocket with a determined smile, a sort of fever lighting in her eyes...
Percy gave Kaia a piggyback down to the lobby, the position of honour, whilst Annabeth managed to grab hold of Ethan by the wrist with one hand, and held Sofia's hand with her other.
When the doors flew open, there was a surprise waiting for them...
Percy laughed, and set his daughter on her feet, planting a small kiss on her forehead.
"Surprise." Annabeth smirked.
"Didn't think we were going to let you go off to school without us did you?" Piper smiled, Emily and Jack at her heels as she hugged Kaia, who had always been a favourite with her. Who cared if she wasn't supposed to have favourites? "You and Aithan."
"We're your body guards, kid." Clarisse laughed. Percy still found it impossible to picture Chris, let alone Clarisse, with a child. Yet there was something oddly right about seeing Clarisse with her hair tumbling about her shoulders, her young son strapped to her back and a knife at her belt. "Anyone gives you any trouble, you just come to me. They'll never even see it coming."
Kaia grinned. "That's alright. I'd judo flip them."
Clarisse roared with laughter, as did almost everyone around them. She ruffled her hair. "That's my girl."
"Still, no one's going to cross you two. Let them try." Laughed Leo, igniting a ball of fire in his palm and throwing it up in the air then catching it. Calypso rolled her eyes and nudged him, extinguishing the flame with a mere look, though it was Leo who closed up his palm and let the fire die out.
"Come on them. Let's get this party started." Hazel laughed. Aithan had just pulled his hand out of hers and gone to stand protectively by Kaia. Emily jumped down from Piper's arms and went to join them, still sulky that she wouldn't be going to school with them yet.
And so the family of Demigods and Rachel made their way to school. And though they should have attracted every monster in New York, something (perhaps the mass of celestral bronze they displayed so openly) kept them away that day...
The playground was already full to the brim of giggling mortal children, playing tig or hide and seek or hanging upside down from the monkey bars. Frank put his hands on his sons shoulders, and Percy hugged his daughter to his side.
"You okay, baby girl?" He whispered, so no one but Annabeth could hear. Wordlessly, as if she didn't trust her voice, or (more likely) didn't know what to say, Kaia nodded.
They motley group were attracting a lot of attention. Mothers dropping off children in the playground stopped to stare, and kids in the middle of swinging from one side of the monkey bars to the other dropped clean off into the sand.
"Alright you two, no trouble, if you please." Hazel grinned.
"Yeah, no explosions." Leo added.
"Or sword fights." Clarisse smiled.
"Or summoning the dead." Nico laughed.
"Or supernatural storms." Thalia nudged Jason.
"Or creating tidal waves and flooding the bathrooms, because let's face it, it could happen." Percy teased, winking at his daughter, who smiled back in spite of herself.
Annabeth looked at him. It was her turn to have second thoughts now, and she blinked back tears. "They're demigods. They're not going to not create trouble." She knelt in the dirt so she was level with her daughter, and cupped her face in her hands, stroking back a stray curl.
"In fact, I hope you create as much trouble as you possibly can, Kaia Jackson. Just like your father." She kissed her slowly on the forehead, closing her eyes and choking back a sob. "Enjoy yourself. Don't get frustrated if you can't do anything- just do your best, and try to put up with the dislexia and ADHD. And if there are any spiders, remember what I gave you this morning. And please, please remember that I'm here. And I want to know about everything, every scraped knee or papercut, so that I can put it right. Understand?"
Kaia reached out and wiped away one of Annabeth's tears. "Yes. Don't worry, mummy."
Annabeth smiled through her tears. "I love you, baby girl. Now go, while I'm still strong enough to let you."
She let go and straightened up, turning away as her daughter took Grover's hand. The satyr, their greatest friend, led both Kaia and Aithan away to the door. Annabeth grabbed Percy's and Hazel's hands, and watched with her heart pounding away so hard she thought it was going to explode, her throat painfully constricted.
Percy watched as his best friend led his daughter away, to a new beginning. It was everything he had been dreading since her birth- the moment he would have to accept that he couldn't always be around to protect her. The moment he would have to her, and give her freely, to the big wide world.
At the door, she paused, and said something hurriedly to Grover, before spinning around and sprinting across the playground and crashing into Percy, squeezing him in a vice like hug.
"I love you, daddy." She mumbled.
"Love you too, baby girl." Percy sighed, running a hand through her long hair. "I hope you have a lovely first day. I'll be waiting to hear everything about it tonight."
"Bye, daddy."
"Bye, Kaia."
Running back across the playground, she grabbed Grover's hand and went into the classroom. But just as she passed the threshold, she turned and gave them the biggest smile in the world. She wasn't nervous anymore. She was the granddaughter of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom, and of Poseidon, God of the Sea. Of Sally Jackson and Frederick Chase.
Daughter of Percy and Annabeth, two of the strongest Demigods Olympus had ever had.
And as she turned into the classroom, ready to face her very first quest, she held up a hand and waved at her parents. Not a 5 year old girl, nervous about going to school, but a young demigod excited about her very first great adventure. Percy's heart shattered into a million pieces.
It wasn't the first time they'd have to let her go, and they knew it, but by the gods it was the hardest...
"Annabeth?" He asked, turning his head towards her. The tears were streaming down her face, thick and fast, but as she looked at him, her face split into a wide green.
"Yeah?"
"We did alright, didn't we?"
"Better than alright, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth whispered, looking at Ethan and Sofia playing on the climbing frame across the playground. She leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed. "Better than alright."