I had some very good guesses last night, about the four figures. I've just got to add three or four more 'cos I forgot to mention them, silly me.

Charlie sniffled, wiping his eyes on his sleeve again. They had reached the high, golden gates of Elysium and those four figures.

They looked familiar; all of them, and it took Charlie a while to figure out why.

The first one looked like Luke, but younger and without a scar. His sea green eyes were warm and reflected his brotherly smile. He was tall and athletic, built similarly to Tobias. He had to be about Tobias's age as well, a couple of years older than Elsie.

The second one was an older version of him- the same elfish features, but he had Louisa's straight raven hair and Leo's warm brown eyes. He drummed his fingers restlessly on his elbows. He was younger than Elsie, but older than Alokia, as was the third one, who was a miniature version of the second one.

The last one was a year or two younger than Alokia, his sea green eyes mixed with shards of brown and cheekiness. His hair was the same colour as Louisa's but a curly wild mess like Leo's.

"Hi, Charlie." The first one smiled warmly at him, stepping forward and putting a brotherly arm about his shoulders. Charlie imagined this is how the Jackson kids felt whenever Tobias was about- that pleasant feeling of knowing someone was always there for you.

"Who-?" Charlie started, his voice cracking with emotion.

"I'm Bradley." The blonde grinned, pulling a packet of tissues from his pocket and pressing them kindly into Charlie's hand. "These are our brothers- Stephen, Christopher and Alfie-Joe. He's a nightmare that one, don't leave anything shiny or valuable lying around." Alfie-Joe gave a cocky, lopsided smirk; waggling his fingers sarcastically.

"I… I don't have… brothers?"

"Oh…" Bradley's smile faltered slightly. "No, that's understandable." His smile returned. "It's not an easy subject to talk about. Let's give you the tour first."

The gates opened. Charlie turned back to look at Hades, but the god had vanished.

His four brothers made some sort of wall around him, two in front and two behind him, and they walked smartly into Elysium.

"They're back!" Somebody shouted when they had reached about seven metres from the gates. Charlie peered around… Stephen, was it? There were people running around, some in normal every day clothes, some in purple Camp Jupiter T-shirts, some in orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirts and others in the silvery uniform of the Hunters. There wasn't a mass crowd, maybe a hundred to two hundred living in Elysium.

"OK, that's our house." Christopher pointed. Charlie looked and saw a two-storey, double-fronted log cabin with clean windows and various trees around it. A miniature moat twisted around it and there was a drawbridge that was already down. "Normally, we don't leave the drawbridge down- too many inventions and whatnot. But Nana insisted and-"

"Nana?" Charlie puzzled.

"Yeah. Nana Esperanza. She's so cool! She makes stuff all the time!" Alfie-Joe stared at him curiously. "You do know about Nana Esperanza, right?"

"Um… Dad's mom?"

"Yeah." Bradley ruffled Charlie's hair.

"What happened? Dad never said."

"She died in a fire when Dad was eight." Stephen explained softly. Christopher elaborated as they crossed the drawbridge.

"Dad wouldn't do that!" Charlie protested.

"He didn't. But it took him several years to figure out that it wasn't his fault." Alfie-Joe looked around the house. It was warm and homely, reminding Charlie painfully of home. He felt tears well in his eyes again and bowed his head.

"NANA ESPERANZA!" Alfie-Joe bellowed at the top of his lungs.

"What?! I'm working!" A woman stormed down the hall. She had dark wavy hair fashioned up into a ponytail. Her eyes were a warm brown, like Leo's. She wore blue overalls and a white, long-sleeved T-shirt, both of which were oil stained. Her irritated expression eased when she saw Charlie and she gasped excitedly. "You look just like mjio!" She exclaimed happily, rushing forward. Charlie's brothers moved aside and Esperanza crushed him in a hug.

She held him at arm's length, her machine-oil-splattered fingers brushing his hair and padding his jawline. She saw the tears in his eyes and her expression softened in pity. "Nieto…" She soothed, hugging him again. Charlie closed his eyes, tears leaking down his cheeks. She smelled of machine oil and workshops; a familiar, homely smell. "Boys, shoo. Go and get the others." There was a chorus of 'Yes ma'am's and Charlie's brothers left.

He had always wanted a brother, older or younger it didn't matter. He loved his sisters to pieces, but a brother would have been awesome.

Esperanza held him as he tried to regain control of his emotions. "It won't be easy, nieto, but I will help you, as will the boys. You are not alone." She assured motherly, running a hand through his hair to comfort him as his own mama had.

The boys returned at some point. Charlie had calmed down by then, but Esperanza kept a hold of him. Charlie felt that if she was to let go, he would just fall to the floor and never get back up.

"Charlie, these are Michael, Beckendorf, Silena and Sammy." Bradley smiled.

"Charlie, huh?" The big, muscular guy smiled. "I'm Charles Beckendorf." He held his hand out. "Son of Hephaestus." Charlie tentatively shook his uncle's hand.

"Oh, he's so cute!" Silena beamed, moving forward and squeezing Charlie's cheeks with pure fascination. "Hey, what's the matter? I don't bite, I promise." She held his face in her hands and kissed his forehead sisterly. "Silena Beckendorf." She smiled. "Daughter of Aphrodite."

"Michael Yew." This guy was tiny- about the same height as Charlie, an inch or so taller. "Son of Apollo."

"Charlie… Michael… I was named after you."

"Were you?"

"I think so…" Charlie mumbled. "I- I don't know…"

"Who are your parents?" Beckendorf asked kindly.

"Leo and Louisa Valdez."

"Sammy Valdez at your service." Sammy was Leo. That was it. There was no other, simpler way of describing him. The only difference was that Sammy wore old-style clothes. Like, nineteen-forties style clothes. Charlie shook hands with him, confused. Leo had told him that Sammy Valdez had been ancient when he had died, not sixteen years old. "Oh, we can choose how we look here, as long as we've looked like it before. Watch!" Sammy spread his arms and a look of concentration passed over his elfish features. He suddenly wore a dunce cap and a… dress? "See!" He beamed. "This was Hazel's."

"You know Hazel?" Charlie asked feebly.

"She was such a sweetheart." Sammy returned to what he had been wearing before with a grin, although the dunce cap stayed at a crooked angle. "Your parents. Are they like these guys?" He waggled his fingers at Beckendorf and Silena.

"Demigods?" Sammy nodded eagerly. "Yeah… Dad's a son of Hephaestus and… and Mom's a… daughter of Poseidon." Charlie could feel himself choking up. Esperanza's hand tightened reassuringly on his shoulder.

"Daughter of Poseidon? Does she know Percy Jackson?"

"They're twins." Silena and Beckendorf stared at him, amazed. "It was after the first Titan war that they found out about each other."

"Twins…" Silena mused. "Who's older?"

"Percy is, but I don't know by how much." Alfie-Joe stepped forward then.

"Do you have fire or water powers?" He demanded, grabbing Charlie by the shoulders.

"F-Fire."

"Aw, what? None of us got fire. Bradley's a pickpocket and there isn't a lock he can't pick. Stephen is brilliant with pegasi and horses and stuff. Uh… what do you do again?"

"Earthquakes." Christopher replied, his eyes flicking to Michael nervously. Michael remained oblivious, studying Charlie curiously.

"And I control water, to some extent." Alfie-Joe finished happily.

"Why are you a pickpocket? And why do you look like Luke?" Bradley's smile faded completely and he looked pained. "You said you'd tell me after the tour. Just tell me now."

So they did, watering it down a bit for him.

Now it made sense- We ain't meant ta have a son, are we?

How's this?