Hey guys! I hope you all enjoy this chapter, which includes explanations and typical Jackson family insanity, because you cannot tell me that Percy, Nico and Leo working together would not do the most dumbass stupid crap ever- but remember kids, safety first! And Rachel's just there like 'Whelp this is about as far from my family as it's possible to get. I love it.'
Percy kicked the door shut behind her before she kicked her shoes into the corner of her room and turned to Rachel, who was looking around curiously, "Right. So, do you wanna sit down?"
"Sure." Rachel let out a slow breath, moving to the bed and lowering herself onto it, eyes flicking around slowly, "So, you're gonna explain the whole situation right?"
"Yep." Percy flopped down into the beanbag in the corner of her room, brushing her hair out of her face, "So do you know any Greek Mythology?"
"Uh, the basics." Rachel said after a moment, "I'm pretty sure I saw a Cyclops once, they're in at lot of myths right?"
"Yeah." Percy nodded, "Okay, so see the thing is, most of those myths are true- the gods exist-"
"Seriously?" Rachel raised an eyebrow, "That sounds crazy-"
"Crazier than Cyclops', skeleton monsters and swords that don't cut you-"
"Good point." Rachel let out a laugh, nodding her head slightly "So Greek myths are true... and the things I see are from those myths. Honestly I can believe that- but that
doesn't explain you."
"Kinda does." Percy gave a wry smile, "Because the main thing the gods do in those myths is have sex-"
"Oh." Rachel blinked before her eyes widened, "Oooh. You're like-"
"A demigod or half-blood, either works."
"Like Hercules right-"
"No." Percy scowled, "Well, I mean, technically yes but he was a dick and I do not like being compared to him."
"Right, no Hercules I'll keep that in mind." Rachel looked like she wanted to laugh, "What did he do?"
"He hurt a friend of mine, broke her heart, stole all the credit for something she helped him with, and he was just a dick in general."
"This is so weird." Rachel shook her head, "Talking about literal legends like that as if they were real-"
"Because they are real."
"Yeah but still." Rachel shifted, "So, you're a demigod then. I guess the god is your dad right? Since I just met your mom."
"Yeah, Percy Jackson, daughter of Poseidon at your service."
"Right." Rachel nodded, "Because that doesn't sound totally insane."
"Eh, the best people are a little bit crazy-" Percy gave a goofy grin that earned a laugh from Rachel.
"Oh I get the feeling I'm gonna like you. So, why can't most people see this stuff? Cause it's all so clear to me-"
"That would be the Mist." Percy explained, "It's magic- and it hides our world from the mortal world so to speak- it makes things look different to normal people, like my sword, most people would probably see it as a bat or something. And one time some mortals I was in school with thought that I was being attacked by a poodle."
"Really? What were you being attacked by?"
"A hell hound." Percy shrugged, "I've dealt with them more than once, they're easy to handle if you know what you're doing."
"Why don't they attack us? Mortals I mean."
"Because they're not interested- no offence but all they really care about are demigods, we smell real tasty to them-"
"Sounds fun." Rachel snorted, "So they're not likely to attack me? And why can I see through this mist thing?"
"Some mortals are clear sighted." Percy grinned, "That just means you can see what's really there- usually better than even a lot of demigods actually- we just have a
stronger resistance to the mist than most mortals, you can see through it entirely. My mom is clear sighted too."
"I think I understand. So your family-"
"Yeah, my mom's the only mortal." Percy gave a small grin, "My older brother, his name is Luke he's on a road trip at the moment with a friend, is a son of Hermes. Nico's dad is Hades, and Leo's is Hephaeustus-"
"Right." Rachel nodded, "Are- are you all adopted or-"
"I'm my moms only bio kid." Percy shrugged, "She adopted Luke when she was pregnant with me, he was seven. Nico she adopted nearly two years ago now and she adopted Leo a few months ago- I also have a baby brother on my dads side who she adopted who's a cyclops."
Rachel stared at her, blinking rapidly before snorting, "Your family tree's gotta be interesting."
"To say the least- two of my brothers are my second cousins and one of my brothers is my cousin- not that the gods really have DNA. It's weird I know."
"Yeah, weird is probably the tamest word I'd use." Rachel tilted her head, fire like curls falling out of the bandanna she'd used to keep them out of her face- and she let out a huff to blow the curls out of her eyes. "So what about blondie? The scary girl with the knife-"
"Annabeth, she's a daughter of Athena." Percy's smile softened, "My girlfriend."
"Right." Rachel nodded slowly, "And- what's the story with stalker guy?"
"Complicated." Percy pulled a face. "His name is Alabaster Torrington. He's a son of Hecate." she ran her fingers through her hair. "We met a few years back. There's this camp for kids like us. Obviously 'cause of the monsters we attract trouble so we train to fight them there- some kids stay year round, some only in the holidays. He was a year rounder. He-" Percy's tongue darted out to dampen her dry lips, "I went there because my uncles were accusing me of something I didn't do- Alabaster was kind. He offered to go with me when I snuck out planning to clear my name. It turns out that he was the one who did it, he was manipulating me- my grandfather- Kronos he's bad news, he was locked up but he's rising again, Alabaster's his number one helper." Percy's voice was bitter as she looked down, "The truth came out violently- and ever since then he's insisted that he loves me... it's obsession. He doesn't-"
"Shit." Rachel looked stunned, "And he won't leave you alone?"
"Nope." Percy shook her head "As you witnessed today, he's pretty persistent. The guy's literally working on starting a war and he keeps trying to recruit me and insist we're meant to be."
Rachel pulled a face, "That sucks. Suddenly I feel really lucky to be a mortal- even if I can see stuff. At least I don't have to deal with stalkers and monsters attacking every day-"
"Yeah there's definitely easier ways to live." Percy shrugged, "But hey- it's my life, there's not much I can do about it. So. Do you feel like I've given you a decent explanation."
"Yeah, yeah I understand better now-"
"Good, because my brain is about ready to turn to mush- I hate having to explain everything, it's all so complicated-"
"PERCY!" And Percy sighed to herself, rolling her eyes, an amused smile playing across her lips as she pulled herself up off the beanbag and moved to the door, opening it
quickly.
"What is it Flameo?!"
"Nico's doing some popcorn, do you want us to make extra for you and the pretty red head?"
"Did he just-"
"Yeah, he like to flirt." Percy snickered, "You'll get used to it- you should have seen him when he tried to flirt with a friend of mine- I'm pretty sure she would have strangled him if I hadn't hit him over the head." Zoe had been incredibly unimpressed, especially since Travis had suggested Leo use the line 'I bet I can melt that icy heart of yours'.
Honestly it was probably lucky that he'd been with Beckendorf when Artemis had come to pick up her hunters because Percy was pretty sure that the son of Hephaestus would have been turned into a jackal.
"Right." Rachel's lips twitched, "I'll keep that in mind."
"So, what should I tell them-"
"I-" Rachel hesitated, looking down at her lap, picking at her torn paint stained jeans, "I- I mean it's not like my parents will even notice that I'm gone so I guess- if that's cool with you-"
"Totally." Percy didn't like that. How could Rachel's parents not even notice that she was gone? Sally did, though she was more lenient than most parents because she knew that Percy did tend to get into a fair amount of trouble that could delay her so she rarely got in trouble if she went missing for a day or two- still Sally always made an effort to contact her and she always checked in with camp when it happened. "We're just gonna eat a bunch of junk food and watch some crappy movies I think, nothing special but-
"It sounds perfect." Rachel's voice was soft. And Percy faltered.
"You- are things- are things okay at home for you?"
"Yeah." Rachel gave a small shrug, "They're not bad or anything just- my family don't really do family things."
"Well then." Percy gave a determined grin, "You're in for a treat." she poked her head out of the door, "TELL NICO TO MAKE EXTRA!"
"ON IT!"
"Children!" Sally's voice came from her room, "Can you stop the screaming?" and Rachel pressed a hand to her mouth to try and stifle her laughter as Percy rolled her voice and Nico called up.
"SORRY MOM!"
"You guys are-"
"Chaotic?" Percy grabbed Rachel's hand, "Come on downstairs, you can help us pick out the film."
"Okay." Rachel laughed and let Percy drag her out of the bedroom and downstairs into the kitchen- and both girls froze in the doorway.
"What-" Rachel blinked, "Uh- what exactly are you doing."
"Experimenting." Leo shot them a toothy grin. Both he and Nico were wearing goggles and Nico was gingerly holding out a pan of popcorn over Leo's outstretched hands- which were engulfed with fire.
"It was his idea." Nico nodded to Leo quickly. "Blame him-"
"Hey you thought it would be cool too-"
"You two!" Percy threw her hands up into the air, "You're ridiculous do you have any clue how dangerous this is?"
Leo winced, "Uh- so-"
"You should have called me down if you were gonna experiment like this?" Percy darted to the sink and turned on the tap quickly, filling the sink. "Remember safety first, when playing with fire make sure you have a daughter of Poseidon around to put it out if it goes wrong." and both Nico and Leo relaxed at that, grins spreading across their lips.
"I should have known you wouldn't be so boring." Nico snickered.
"Are you guys serious?" Rachel was gaping, wide eyed, "That-"
"Welcome to the Jackson home." Nico shot Rachel a grin, "A land of pure chaos and disaster- the only ones with any common sense are mom, Luke and Annabeth, and currently mom's distracted by her impending date- the first in forever. Luke's off running around with Thalia- the daughter of Zeus, and Annabeth's with her mortal family at the moment-"
"Tragic isn't it." Percy gave a relaxed grin, "The people who have the common sense to tell us not to do dumb crap like this are gone, which means-"
"Chaos rules!" Leo declared brightly.
"This is so weird." Rachel was beaming, "And so cool- you're literally on fire-"
"Just call me hotstuff-"
"I'd rather not-"
"Awe." Leo pouted, "Fine, what about-"
"I call him Flameo." Percy grinned, "Feel free to call him anything you want, including 'flaming dumbass'."
"Rude!" Leo shot Percy a dirty look, "Being mean about me to your pretty new friend-"
"Please stop flirting with my friend." Percy flicked some water at Leo's face and he spluttered with offence.
"PERCY!" Leo's shriek was drowned out by Nico's cackling laughter- and Rachel joined in.
"Oh my god." the girls grin was wide and brilliant, "You're amazing, you guys are just-"
"The best." Nico winked at Rachel, "We know, don't worry, we know-"
"As much as I hate being the mature one." Percy piped up, grinning, "We need to focus if we want to work on this experiment."
"Right." Leo perked up, "Popcorn experiment take one-
"Rachel." Percy grinned, "Get behind me incase of explosion-
"Oh god." Rachel darted behind Percy, "This is actually happening." and Nico was holding the popcorn directly over the fire.
"Of course it is. It's a scientific experiment, nothing wrong with that." Percy winked at Rachel, "Now let's focus."
And when ten minutes later the popcorn burst into flames, setting off the fire alarm as Percy used her powers to douse the flames, the four teens ended up on the receiving
end of a Sally Jackson 'I'm not angry just disappointed lecture, none of them even had it in them to feel any regret- especially since after Sally left for her date they did it a second time and pulled it off- and all of them agreed as they curled up on the couches to watch Harry Potter, that it was the best popcorn they'd ever tasted.