Author: okay I cheated a bit at the end but oh well. I wanted this chapter to be longer, but I could never write it and it was pissing me off and I wanted to move on so bad so here you go. Kind of an eh chapter with a very eh ending, I really just wanted to give you guys some little peeks before I move into more of my plans for this story. Anyway, hope you enjoy! R&R please and thank!
"I'll have you swim my freestyle fifty meter time. So basically to the end of the pool, and back," Emma said. "My best time for it was about twenty-four seconds. Actually, it was twenty-four point eleven seconds."
Percy, Annabeth, and Emma walked alongside an open, outdoor pool. Instead of using Emma's smaller pool in her backyard, she suggested to use the local pool she used to train at within walking distance of the house. Although Percy disliked getting up early, he anticipated finally getting to race against Emma, even if it is her time.
When Emma told him her time, Percy knew it would be a piece of cake. In fact, he was expecting less time, but brushed off the thought, remembering that Emma was only human and can only go so fast.
"Sounds like a plan," Percy replied smoothly. The trio stopped in front of an unused swimming lane. Percy pulled his shirt over his head and tossed it on a nearby lounge chair. He had his swim trunks on and goggles (that he didn't even need but brought upon Annabeth's request) around his neck.
In actuality, Emma's very best time was under twenty seconds, but it wasn't easy for her to hit below twenty on a regular basis when she swam competitively.
"Remember to beat it at a decent time. Go at a decent speed so she doesn't get suspicious," Annabeth reminded quietly in his ear. Percy grinned and nodded. "And don't forget to get wet this time, Seaweed Brain."
"I will, I will, Wise Girl," Percy gave her a quick kiss on the lips before moving to the edge of the pool.
"Good luck," Annabeth called before retreating to where Emma stood. She noted that Emma stood a great distance away from the edge of the pool. A stopwatch adorned Emma's neck, which she adjusted in her palm.
"Ready?" Emma asked.
"I was born ready," Percy joked before pulling the goggles over his eyes. Annabeth rolled her eyes. Emma smiled as Percy situated himself over the edge.
"Set! Go!"
Percy sprung forward and dove into the water as Emma clicked the stopwatch to start. Shortly after, Percy resurfaced and started rapidly slicing his way through the water.
Emma had to admit, he was pretty fast. It didn't make any sense to her. She's been training since she was six months old. Percy could have been training to swim competitively for the past four years, but could he really have become so...good at it? Perhaps he was just a natural, Emma mused.
Once his fingers brushed the rough concrete of the pool wall, Percy flipped himself underwater and kicked off the wall. He remembered Annabeth's words and ignored the urge to just surge through the water swiftly. He also remembered that he had to "come up for air" or at least appear to every so often, but not as often as he should. Percy hoped it wasn't noticeable that he could breathe underwater.
As soon as Percy's palm made contact with the wall he leapt from, Emma stopped the watch. She blinked at the time it read: 22.45. That almost beats her average. She didn't even expect Percy to beat twenty-four seconds, in all honesty.
"What's my time?" Percy asked, standing up in the water and pulling his goggles down. Annabeth peeked over Emma's shoulder and the blondes exchanged smiles.
"Twenty-two point forty-five," Emma announced. "Congrats. You beat my time."
Percy grinned and fist pumped the air. He then climbed out of the pool and approached the girls. Noticing the water drip from his body, Emma took a step back. Percy didn't notice her aversion and stuck a hand out to Emma.
"It was a good race, even if you didn't actually do it," Percy said. Emma glanced at his hand and took another step back.
"No need to shake on it," Emma said, nervously lacing and twisting her fingers tightly behind her back, but she offered a smile.
"How 'bout a hug?"
"That's not necessary," Emma reassured, retaining her sheepish smile. Percy chuckled.
"I get it. Not a hugger," Percy ran a hand through his dark hair, collecting water between his fingers. "But I know who is."
Without warning, Percy whipped around and threw his arms around Annabeth. Annabeth let out a surprised squeal as Percy pulled her close and hugged his drenched body against hers. Emma had seconds to freeze the flying drops from Percy's moving body and they fell at her feet without notice from the couple.
"Percy! Get off! I'm going to get soaked!" Annabeth cried, but she wasn't quite resisting him either. Percy laughed into her shoulder. Annabeth huffed but chuckled to herself. The corners of Emma's mouth turned upwards in a small smile at the sight, but she turned away to glance skyward. She frowned at the sight of forming dark clouds.
"We should head back," Emma suggested. Annabeth pushed Percy away and he obliged with reluctance. "Everyone will be waiting."
"Ugh. Do I have to go shopping with you guys?" Percy groaned.
"Then who's going to carry our bags?" Annabeth teased. Percy rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. And who's going to pay for all the stuff?" Emma added.
"You're the one with the paycheck here."
The group walked back with Emma in the lead and Percy and Annabeth following her behind. Behind Emma's back, Percy magically pulled the beads of water off his body into a condensed ball, which was tossed into the pool. Annabeth stopped him from entirely drying himself to avoid suspicion, and then stuffed a towel in his face.
When they arrived at the house, Cleo and Rikki were sitting comfortably waiting for Emma. The two girls were actually chatting with Lisa. Neil had to go to work for the day, Elliot was at a friend's house, and Sally and Paul went out previously for their own personal day trip.
"Oh! There you are!" Lisa greeted.
"We went up to the pool for a bit before we headed out," Emma informed. Lisa raised her eyebrows.
"You went swimming?"
"Percy did. He raced my time."
Lisa frowned, but masked her disappointment. She was secretly hoping that Emma would start swimming again, even though she quit over a year ago.
"And how'd he do?" Lisa asked more cheerfully.
"Totally beat it!" Percy boasted. "I am the swimming champ in this family now."
Emma smiled. He looked very pleased with himself, which did make Emma feel happy for, but she was also secretly happy that he didn't beat her real time. Even if he did, he'd never beat her in a swimming race now that she's a mermaid.
"Um, mum? Is it supposed to rain today?" Emma suddenly asked. Cleo and Rikki exchanged nervous glances. Emma glanced at them, but kept her expression calm and cool.
"Not sure. Haven't checked," Lisa replied, standing up. "I'll go do that right now."
"I'll go get myself cleaned up. Get this chlorine out of my hair." Percy flashed Annabeth a cheeky grin before quickly pecking her cheek. Annabeth smiled as he turned to head up the stairs. She knew he was just going to use his powers to remove the rest of the water and the chlorine.
Annabeth hesitantly walked to the living room in a trail behind Emma. Lisa toyed with her phone from the kitchen.
"It looks like it might rain," Annabeth chimed. Emma, Cleo, and Rikki all visibly paled, Annabeth noticed. Neither of the girls said a word, and Annabeth had a feeling they weren't thrilled to go out in the rain. Perhaps they were just the type of people who preferred the sunny days they were given recently and disliked gloomy, stormy days.
"I suppose you're right, Annabeth," Lisa agreed. "It does look dark out and it says here there's a seventy-five percent chance it will rain."
Suddenly, the dark house was momentarily lit up by a flash of lightning from outside. Shortly following was a roll of thunder. Rain began to hit against the windows.
"Bummer! Looks like we can't go shopping now," Rikki said.
"I was really looking forward to it too," Cleo added.
"Well, it is an indoor mall," Lisa reminded. "A little water can't hurt us, right? When Percy comes down, I'll pull my car out."
Emma, Cleo, and Rikki exchanged looks again. They were in silent agreement and stood up from their seats.
"I'll just go get my purse then," Emma announced and she went upstairs, with Cleo and Rikki in tow. They went to Emma's bedroom, where she immediately closed the door once Cleo and Rikki entered.
"What are we going to do?" Cleo complained.
"We can't fake sick again! After it went so well the last time," Rikki reminded.
"My mum parked her car in the garage this time so it wouldn't be a problem leaving the house," Emma explained. "But when we get to the mall, that's a different story. We'd have to walk from the car to the building."
"Except we'd never make it into the building," Cleo muttered.
"I can try to talk my mum out of it," Emma suggested.
"Wait! I got an idea!" Rikki suddenly exclaimed. Emma and Cleo looked at her expectantly. "You guys head downstairs. I'll be right down."
"What are you going to do?" Cleo asked. Rikki had a sparkle in her eyes and she was smirking with satisfaction.
"You'll see. Trust me on this one," Rikki said. Emma felt uneasy, considering Rikki's last idea almost got them sent to a hospital. But she knew that Rikki had learned her lesson from that-as they all did-so she hoped Rikki knew what she was doing.
"Okay. Just don't do anything that's dangerous," Emma warned.
"Don't worry. I got this." Rikki flashed Emma a grin. Emma and Cleo turned away and left to return to Lisa and Annabeth.
Rikki focused her gaze on the window and at the rain pelting against it. She raised her hand and opened her palm. This time, she felt electricity coursing through her body, travelling and directed through the veins connected to her open palm. She summoned and pulled that electricity as she began to curl her fingers down and slowly close her hand into a fist. The storm outside was calling to her and it suddenly sounded ten times louder in her ears. But remaining calm and focused, Rikki imagined the exterior of Emma's house, on one particular spot on the roof. Instead now, Rikki felt her electricity calling to the storm. Although her body remained unchanging, she could feel herself pulling the storm and pulling it towards that one spot on the roof. Her fist closed, and there was suddenly a booming roar of thunder, powerful enough that the whole house shook. And then it was silent. There wasn't a sound of the electricity or the air conditioning humming. Rikki glanced at Emma's electric clock on her nightstand, but the screen was black and blank. Satisfied, Rikki smiled at her work and went downstairs.
Percy was ahead of Rikki, practically jumping down the stairs to the others in a frantic manner.
"Is everyone alright?" Percy demanded.
"We're fine," Annabeth reassured. "Just startled."
"I think we may have gotten struck by lightning and knocked the power out. I'm going out to check to see if there's any damage," Lisa informed as she slipped on a raincoat and pulled the hood over her head. Just as Lisa stepped out into the rain, Rikki had entered the main level.
"Man, what was that? Nearly scared me off the toilet!" Rikki said casually. Cleo stared at Rikki wide-eyed and Emma narrowed her eyes.
"I guess we were struck by lightning," Percy murmured. He glanced at Annabeth with a concerned expression.
"I'm sure it was nothing," Annabeth assured, but she kept her gaze steady with Percy's. The two were silently wondering if there was a reason to the bizarre lightning, but secretly prayed to the gods that it was simply an accident. Usually with them, it's not.
Annabeth rose to her feet and walked over the window. She looked outside while Percy watched her. Emma, Cleo, and Rikki were having a silent conversation between each other. Emma was trying to scold Rikki with her eyes for overdoing it. Annabeth looked around. She spotted Lisa walking around examining the house, but aside from that, there wasn't anything monstrous lurking about.
Percy cleared his throat and Annabeth shook her head at him. Just then, Lisa reentered the house.
"There's no fire and I can't see on top of our roof. But as you can see, our power's knocked out for the time being," Lisa informed, sliding out of her coat and hanging it on the rack.
"So does that mean we can't go shopping?" Rikki asked with an innocent twirl of her curls around her finger.
"I didn't realize the weather would be this bad. It's not a good idea. Sorry, girls. And even if we wanted to, the power is out. I can't get the garage open to pull the car out."
"That's a shame," Cleo said with a forced sigh. The girls tried to suppress their relieved grins. Rikki's plan had worked, even if it was an extreme one. Rikki gave Emma a proud look and a smirk and the corners of Emma's mouth twitched.
"I'm going to give Neil a call. Nobody open the fridge," Lisa warned, walking away.
"Well, I, uh, gotta...go...use the bathroom…" Percy muttered. He turned around and headed back upstairs.
"Thanks for sharing," Emma said disinterestedly.
"Wonder if he's constipated," Rikki joked quietly. All four girls snorted and laughed.
"Gross, Rikki," Emma chided with a giggle.
"I think he just ate something bad. Or ate too much," Annabeth suggested. Rikki shrugged.
Upstairs, Percy closed the bathroom door and locked it. He held out a hand to the sink and began to connect to the water sitting in the pipes. Magically and slowly, Percy pulled the water out of the pipes and lifted it into the air. While suspended, he waved his hand and the water transformed from a thick liquid tendril to a mist that surrounded him. He pulled a drachma from his pocket and tossed it into the mist.
"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering," Percy recited. "I need to talk to Jason Grace."
The mist fizzled in midair and shifted around. With a rainbow shimmer, the mist transformed into the image of New Rome. Leo Valdez was tinkering something at a desk, shrouded in darkness with the only source of light coming from a lamp. He looked up at the message appearing before them.
"Hey! Percy! My man. Whazzup?"
"Nothing much, dude. Have you seen Jason?"
"I am so hurt you'd rather talk to Jason than to me," Leo mocked an expression of hurt. Percy snorted. "He's sleeping. Why are you calling at five in the morning? Is there trouble?"
"No. Why are you up at five in the morning?"
"Touche. Can't sleep. Got too much on my mind and I usually feel better when I take something apart and put it back together," Leo explained with a sheepish grin. "Now why are you up?"
"It's like ten AM here."
"And here is where?"
"Australia?"
"Dude, you're in Australia!?" Leo cried, his eyes bulging. "You never told us you were in Australia! I thought you were over at Camp Half-Blood! How come you went to Australia and how come you didn't bring me?! I love my kangaroos!"
"Family vacation. I got family here. It was my mom's idea," Percy replied.
"You got family there? What, like a mermaid for a cousin or something?" Leo teased with a smug grin. Percy rolled his eyes.
"This is my mom's side of my family, not my dad's. So there's no mermaids or anything. Just regular human beings. Which is such a great breather after everything that's happened," Percy admitted. "Now where's Jason?"
"Can't a dude enjoy a conversation?"
"Sorry, man. I don't think I'm in trouble, but I really need to talk to him now. Can you go wake him up?"
Leo let out an exaggerated groan.
"I guess," He said dramatically. He flashed Percy a smile before walking out of the picture. Percy stared down at his fingernails while he waited for the boys to return. He occasionally waved a hand to keep the mist uplifted and continue the message.
After a moment, Jason had come into the picture and he flopped down in Leo's desk chair. He was dressed in his wrinkled pajamas, his blonde hair was a mess, and he was struggling to keep his blue eyelids from drooping.
"What is it, Percy?" Jason groaned sleepily. He yawned.
"Good morning," Percy grinned at him, but Jason only gave him an irritated look. "So, this is a weird question. Is your dad mad at me?"
"Not that I'm aware of. Unless you did something stupid. Why? Did you see him?" Jason asked, slowly growing more curious.
"No, I didn't see him. But I guess you could say he made himself known," Percy answered. Jason arched an eyebrow. "I'm staying at my aunt's and the house just got struck by lightning."
"You know, the other day I was surfing but I got hit by this wave, so I think your dad is mad at me," Jason said. Percy frowned at him. "It's probably nothing. It was probably just an accident. Or maybe my dad was mad at you at something you did. Did you fly to your aunt's house?"
"No, we went by ship."
"Did you do anything to make him mad?"
"Everything I do makes him mad," Percy reminded with annoyance in his tone. Jason shrugged and leaned back.
"Don't know what to tell you."
"Can you tell me how to get the power back on?"
"Just because I'm the son of Jupiter, doesn't mean I'm an electrician. You're better off asking Leo." Jason sighed. "Where even does your aunt live? It's like five now."
"Australia. It's ten here."
"You have an aunt in Australia?"
"And an uncle that's the king of Olympus."
Jason chuckled.
"Alright, I get it. I'm going back to bed. Hope my dad's not actually mad at you. If he is, sorry buddy. Don't know what else to tell you."
Percy nodded. "Thanks anyway."
"And you better bring me back a souvenir."
The Iris Message faded and disappeared. The mist in the room evaporated and Percy chuckled at Jason's remark. He had already planned on spoiling Annabeth and completely forgot about the others. Percy looked out the window, silently prayed that Zeus wasn't out to get him, and then left.
"Neil said he'd call someone to come to our house and work on the electricity," Lisa announced when Percy came back down to the living room. He also spotted Sally and Paul entering through the front door, completely drenched.
"We didn't expect it to rain today," Paul said. Percy smiled, trying to suppress a laugh at the sight of his parents. They were smiling themselves, laughing at the situation instead of grumbling. Lisa rushed to get the couple some towels and urged them to change of their clothes.
"How'd it go up there?" Annabeth asked Percy. Her tone was teasing, but her eyes were questioning.
"Fine, I guess…" Percy shrugged. He grinned at where Annabeth sat in her chair before he lowered himself onto her lap. "I think I'll take a seat right here."
"Percy!" Annabeth groaned. She shifted herself and tried to push against him, but he leaned back. Annabeth huffed. In this position, she was trapped under his weight. It wasn't terribly uncomfortable, since she always had enjoyed having Percy close to her and feeling his warmth, but still purposely awkward for her.
"Move! You weigh a ton," Annabeth playfully punched his back. He laughed and twisted his neck to look behind himself at her. He was grinning widely and Annabeth smiled, but rolled her eyes.
"Alright, I'll move." Percy surrendered as he lifted himself onto the wide arm of the chair. Annabeth muttered a thank you as she exhaled deeply.
"Percy, Mum's talking about getting the pictures out," Emma warned quietly. Percy's eyes widened.
"I can't wait," Rikki said with a smirk.
Percy swallowed thickly. "Pictures? Does that mean what I think it means?"
"What does it mean?" Annabeth asked. Percy avoided Annabeth's gaze, his expression embarrassed. "Baby pictures?"
"Of Em too!" Percy pointed out. Emma scowled.
"They were embarrassing for the both of us. They shouldn't be dug up. You guys can't see them," Emma explained.
"Lucky for you, we're stuck here," Cleo reminded. Emma sighed.
"Maybe we can find them before Aunt Lisa does," Percy suggested. "And we can hide them from her."
"Hm. Yeah, that might be a good idea," Emma agreed, a smile slowly forming on her lips. "She can't get upset if she can't find them, right? She'll just think they're lost."
"Exactly! Do you know where they're kept?"
"Unfortunately, she keeps them in her room," Emma answered grimly. "The albums are in a drawer in her dresser. I can go get them if you can distract her."
"I'm on it," Percy reassured. "You can hide them in my duffle bag, if you want. She'd never think to look there."
"Good call. Thanks. Let's hurry before our parents beat us to them."
Percy and Emma rose from their seats and walked swiftly upstairs together as Rikki, Cleo, and Annabeth giggled at the sight of the cousins.
"Kind of a bummer. I was really looking forward to seeing pictures of them," the brunette admitted.
"Me too. I haven't seen many baby pictures of Percy," Annabeth agreed.
"Don't worry, you guys," Rikki said calmly. "We'll get to see the pictures. All in good time."
"What are you planning?" Cleo asked.
"Nothing." The devilish glint in her blue eyes betrayed Rikki, but with such a look on her face, she didn't seem to care. A silence settled among the girls; Rikki kept wearing a smug expression on her face and Cleo stared at the floor while biting on her nails. The rain continued to pelt the windows endlessly, lightning brightening the darkened living space, followed by low and long rolls of thunder.
"So how 'bout the weather?" Annabeth asked. "Does it rain like this normally?"
"Not normally," Cleo answered. "It's usually really bright and sunny. But sometimes it rains, and when it does rain, it gets crazy like it is right now."
"That doesn't stop you, does it? You know, the power doesn't normally get knocked out and you're still able to go to school and stuff, right?"
"Yeah, and it sucks too," Rikki said disinterestedly, picking at the fabric of the chair she sat in. Cleo chewed her bottom lip. Annabeth frowned.
Why did something feel off to her? The feeling was absurd. Logically, there's nothing wrong. Emma and her family are nothing but kind human beings who are related to Percy via his normal mother's side of the family. Cleo and Rikki were Emma's friends and also their age, and they seemed like regular teenagers too. And Australia was a wonderful place, perfect for a vacation, aside from today's weather. Save for restless nights, Annabeth was relaxing and enjoying herself greatly on this family vacation. It was almost perfect. Annabeth guessed the uneasy feelings were leftovers that she continued to carry with herself after Tartarus and the war. She's never had such a vacation before. She just has to remind herself that there's nothing to be nervous of, nothing to fear, nothing to be prepared for or fight for. Percy would tell her she's overthinking everything.
"I just don't know where I put the darn things," Lisa muttered as she stepped downstairs. She stopped at the bottom with her hands on her hips, brows furrowed, and lips pursed as she stood deep in thought. Sally and Paul were trailing behind, dry with damp hair and in fresh clothes.
"They should be around here somewhere, Lisa. It's not like you to misplace things," Sally added.
"How could I have lost whole entire albums?"
Cleo, Rikki, and Annabeth exchanged sneaky smiles and stifled giggles amongst themselves.
"Mum!" Emma called from the top of the stairs.
"Did you find the albums?"
"No! But we can do something instead! Percy and I found the board games!"
"You all are so going down at Monopoly!" Percy chimed from above.
"Ugh. Board games are so boring with the Gilbert's," Rikki complained under her breath. "They're all about fairness and rules and honesty and talking about their feelings. This is it. This is going to be the death of me. I can see it now."
"C'mon, Rikki. It's not that bad," Cleo urged with a hopeful smile. Rikki rolled her eyes.
"It might be interesting this time," Annabeth protested. "Percy can get so competitive sometimes. It might be fun to watch."
Annabeth's prediction was right. Throughout the day as the storm continued on, the eight played several different types of board games and card games sprawled across the living room floor. They played in pairs or in teams at times, and some other times some chose to sit out. But like any family game day, true colors emerged and heated arguments broke out between everyone, from Rikki versus Percy to Lisa versus Sally. When Elliot was dropped off, he walked into a mess of a dark house full where his family debated angrily over the real rules of UNO.
Author: okay so. I would like to clarify in this chapter. Yes, Percy could beat Emma's actual best swimming time with his powers and all that. But he can only do that if he actually knew what her best time was and was actually trying to beat it. Percy was hardly trying in this chapter because one, he knows he doesn't need to try to be able to beat her. And plus, he needs to act normal, just like Emma has to do too. And also, I may seem like I'm making Emma seem like a bad guy, but I also just don't want to undermine her swimming capabilities prior to when she became a mermaid. It's easy to forget that she was a champion swimmer and she's been training since she was a baby, and we all know how stubborn she can be, so of course she's going to be one helluva challenge to beat for anyone, save for sons of Poseidon. Does that all make sense? Hope you all understand where I'm coming from this. Anyway, thanks for reading!