Chapter Twenty-One

Theo

"Hey mom!" Theo called out as he closed the door behind him.

"Kitchen!" She called back. The smell of baking drifted over to him, and he eagerly shrugged off his backpack as he made his way to the small kitchen they had. His mother had her back turned to him, and whatever was in the oven was going to be awesome. "Paul said that the new teacher got into a fight with one of the other teachers. Apparently, the English teacher, the football coach? Yeah, he made some really rude comments about someone, and the new History teacher stepped in. Supposedly it was a big deal."

Theo stopped in his tracks, and before he could think about what he was doing, said,

"Percy got in a fight with a teacher?"

"Percy?" His mother hummed, before stiffening, "As in Perseus? Poseidon's first son?"

"You know about him?" Theo blinked in surprise.

"Your father told me about him when we were… together," she said carefully, "how do you know him? I thought he had been exiled to… down under."

"It's Tartarus, mom, not Australia," he chuckled, "he's been back for a while, but no one knew until Christmas. I met him during that whole debacle, and he's shown up a few times here and there since. But yeah, he's the new History teacher at Goode. Really cool guy, I think you'd like him."

"You've known you have a half-brother for nearly nine months, and you didn't bother to tell me?" His mom laughed, "only you, Theo, would forget something like that. Does he live in the city?"

"I think so, yeah," he nodded, "he said something about having an apartment in Manhattan, why?"

"Because I want to meet him, silly," Sally said, "invite him for dinner. Ask him what his favourite food is, so that if I need to go shopping, I can."

"What? Oh, uh, okay, I guess I'll go IM him?" Theo said, not quite sure what was happening, "I'll be right back?"

His mom didn't reply, just laughing as he ran off. Theo shrugged to himself and pulled a Drachma from his desk, and flicking it into the little fountain he had on the fire-escape, another gift from his Dad.

"Oh Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show me Perseus Apollyon, somewhere in New York?" Theo tried. The air shimmered for a second before a soft, melodic laugh filled the air, quickly replaced by a real-time image of Percy in an office. He was wringed with books of all kinds, but Theo couldn't make out the titles. "Percy!"

His brother looked up, a pleased grin spreading across his face.

"Theo! How are you buddy?" He asked, "interesting first day of school?'

"I'm not the only one, apparently," he gave Percy a pointed look, "you got into a fight with a teacher?"

Percy's face darkened at once.

"The man was a pig and said things he had no right to be saying," he explained quietly, "and I didn't start the fight—he put his hands on me twice before I reacted. It's not going to cause any problems, I promise. I would've hated getting fired from my new job on the first day."

"Why are you teaching at Goode?" He asked carefully, "There's something there? A monster? Another demigod?"

"Nah, I went to keep an eye on you," Percy shrugged, "and with me there, no monster is going to get within a six-mile radius of the school. Not even the dumb ones would risk my wrath. This lets you have a moderately normal year of high-school. I can't do much about asshole mortals, sadly, but at least they won't be trying to kill you. But I doubt you called me to ask about that. What's up?"

"Oh, uh, my mom wants to meet you?" Theo said slowly, "apparently dad told her about you when they were… whatever they were. She wants to invite you over for dinner, so uh, what do you like to eat?"

Percy blinked in surprise, and Theo wondered if his brother was about to decline the offer.

"That's… really nice of her, actually," his brother said, rubbing his chin, "I'll make a counter offer—let me bring dinner over, as a thank you. I'm sure it won't match whatever your mother could make, but I can be a pretty mean cook when I need to be. If she still wants to cook, at least let me bring something."

"I'll ask her, I guess. Do you have like, a phone or something we can call?"

"Gimme a minute and I'll have Hermes drop something off at your house," Percy said, "should make contacting me much simpler than Iris-message," the image shimmered a little, something Percy seemed to notice, "you know I love you Iris, but I mean, come on, cell phones? Besides, I much prefer talking to you than using you to communicate."

'If you say so,' the same melodic voice from before huffed.

"Alright, I'll talk to you soon, Theo. There'll be a package at your place soon, with a little gift from me." Percy told him, "and give your mother my thanks for the invitation. I really do appreciate it."

Percy waved his hand through the image, and it cut off, leaving Theo in his room. He gathered his thoughts before turning towards his closed door. Before he even reached it, there was a loud pop and a small box appeared on his bed, a simple from Percy scrawled on it. Inside the box was a phone and another note.

I know you've probably heard the whole technology and demigod=bad thing, but honestly, it's just laziness on the part of everyone. Celestial Bronze lined phone, it'll stop monsters from seeing the large flare of energy that they normally do. My numbers already in it, and you can add anyone you want. It's yours, brother. Enjoy.

Once more, Theo was surprised by just how kind Percy could be. It was a nice phone too. He pocketed it as he went to find his mom, who was busy pulling out a batch of blue cookies. She looked over her shoulder when he walked in.

"Well?"

"He'd love to come," he told her, "but he did offer to cook instead, or at the very least bring a dish of his own."

His mom paused for a moment before shrugging to herself.

"I could use a night off," she said, "tell him I'd be happy for him to make dinner, if that's what he wants to do."

"He gave me a phone," Theo blurted, "one that won't make the monsters go crazy when I use it."

"That's very kind of him," Sally said, "make sure you thank him when he arrives."

Theo just nodded. He had a phone call to make.

XxXxX

It was close to seven when Percy arrived, arms loaded up with plates of food. How he had made it to their apartment without falling was beyond Theo, but he let his brother in. Once the door was closed behind him, Percy's arms dropped but the food stayed upright, and that was when Theo noticed the small plates of water stopping the food from falling.

"Oh thank god you were quick about that," Percy laughed, "I hate holding things. Tell me where to put these?"

"Uh, follow me," Theo said, a quick glance showing the food following him, and Percy following the food.

"Oh, okay, that's floating food," Sally said as she made the table. She turned to greet Percy and stopped in her tracks, her mouth hanging open like a fishes.

"Oh, right, scars, so sorry about that," Percy apologises automatically as the plates lowered themselves onto the table. There was no sign of the water that had been holding them, but neither did the table seem wet.

"No, no!" Mom exclaimed, "it's not that, it's just… you look so much like Poseidon. Theo has bits of me in him but you… you're a clone."

"Mom!" Theo cried out, but Percy just laughed.

"It's not the first time I've been told that," he assured her, "though really, it's more like Dad grew up to look like me. I came out fully grown, and he was still a baby when pops swallowed him."

The casual nature in which Percy referred to Kronos disturbed Theo a little, but he didn't let it show. Out of everyone, Percy had the least to fear from the King of the Titans, and honestly, that confidence was contagious.

"You do look quite young," Sally noted, "how do you get around that?"

"Growing a beard helps," Percy told her, "as does growing my hair out. But for the most part, I can just tell people I was gifted with good genetics and then throw out a reasonable age. I don't think I've been older than thirty-two in a few centuries, though."

"It's so odd hearing immortals speak about the passage of time," Mom said, "Poseidon told me it goes rather quickly for him at times. Is it the same for you?"

"Dad doesn't spend much time with mortals," Percy said, "and I always have. Time is like a crawl for me, honestly, but I love every moment of it. I must say, Miss Jackson, that you've raised a brilliant son. He's truly one of the best I've met."

Theo felt his face become red, and to his surprise, a light blush stained his mother's face as well.

"Well, uhm, thank you," she managed to get out. Percy just gave her a broad smile.

"My father doesn't very often have children; did you know that?" He asked her. Mom nodded in response, "which means that you must be truly extraordinary to not only have captured his attention, but hold it for all this time, as well."

Theo didn't hear the mumbled response that his mom gave, but Percy did, and he laughed.

"It's no issue," he said, "I made quite a few dishes, I hope you don't mind. Some of it's Greek, but I also made some other things. Mostly meat, I'll confess, but there's salad too."

"Theo loves his meat," Mom chuckled, "it must be a son of Poseidon thing."

"Probably," Percy nodded, "and Miss Jackson, I just wanted to thank you for inviting me over. It really means a lot to me that you'd let me intrude on your life."

"Sally," she corrected him, "and it's not an intrusion. You're family."

"Family," Percy echoed softly, "it's such a gift, but not many understand until it's far too late. Thank you for letting me into yours."

Mom placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile. Theo wasn't entirely sure what he had just witnessed, but he rather suspected it was a big deal.

"Right then," Percy said, clearing his throat, "I think this food needs to be eaten."

"Did you cook all of this?" Sally asked as they took their seats.

"Most of them," Percy nodded, "my butler made the salad. He's way better at it than I am, but the meat and bread was all me. I made it a habit to cook for myself when I can, so I've had time to learn."

"I'm sure it's wonderful," Mom said, giving Percy another broad smile before sitting down.

It was one of the best meals Theo had ever eaten. Everything was cooked to perfection. He had never really thought of Greek food, always being content with a cheeseburger and fries, but the meal Percy had cooked was making him rethink that decision. Even his mom was staring at her plate like it was the best thing she had ever seen. Percy, on the other hand, had a smug look on his face, thoroughly enjoying their reactions.

"This is amazing!" His mom said, and Percy returned her smile.

"I've had a few centuries to perfect it," he admitted, "and mortals keep making leaps and bounds in technology that makes the culinary skill easier than before. I considered opening a restaurant for a while, but in the end decided to just keep a low profile. Maybe one day, though."

"You have to teach me how to make this," she continued, "I'll even pay, this is… this is something else."

"I'll teach you," Percy laughed, "like you said—we're family. It's only fair."

Dinner continued for another twenty minutes before Percy's gaze slowly drifted upwards, as if he was looking through the floor into to apartment above. He let a slow, deep sigh, before rising from his seat.

"There's an immortal on the roof," he told them, "I need to go find out what they want. Keep eating, this shouldn't take longer than a few minutes."

"Are you sure?" Mom asked. Percy nodded and flashed her a grin.

"It won't be anything important, I'm sure of it."

MMXVIII

Just a little domestic fluff chapter, but Percy and Sally have no officially met! This is also the last chapter of 2018, so that's cool! I hope y'all enjoy! I'm working on Filii Deorum, but it won't come out for some time, not until late January or even February, so we'll see.

Cheers, CombatTombat