In which there is fluff- and ancient Greek and modern Greek are not exactly the same language.
Replies: Okay so I typed them all up and then it messed up and I am annoyed so one big reply responding to them all, but I do love you guys and I will go back to normal, it's just because I'm frustrated right now.
I'm glad my story has made people smile- there is much more fluff to come. With the title that's because apparently doesn't allow the use of '.''s so it went funny there for a bit. I have done what I can. Annabeth doesn't know who Percy's godly parent is yet- since so many don't know Annabeth is wary of asking because it can cause a lot of heartache for kids she's known. Athena believes Annabeth is likely dead because she seemed to disappear- since the gods can't sense kids inside of Brooklyn House. And I doubt she'd feel the need to check and see what's up with one of her children visiting the Parthenon so that won't change it. Aphrodite didn't give me the impression she'd been watching over Piper as she grew up that much, and Poseidon has shut himself off and has no idea. So all together the only one who's godly parent believes she's alive is Piper and Aphrodite is leaving Tristan to raise her lol.
The journey to Mykonos went well, and soon enough the seven teens- or in Percy and Piper's cases, pre-teens arrived on the island around midday- and they quickly headed to their hotel to drop off their bags in their rooms.
Percy, Annabeth and Piper would be sharing a room- it had two double beds, but Percy already knew that she wouldn't mind sharing with Piper, they'd had enough sleepovers that sharing a bed didn't bother them.
Meanwhile there were two other rooms with two beds in each- technically Carter would be sharing with Walt and Zia and Sadie would be sharing.
Carter had complained about that when Sally had told them the rules, after all he was eighteen now. But Sally had given him her 'I am your mother' look which had stopped that in it's tracks.
Despite that Percy wouldn't be surprised to find that Zia and Walt might switch places once or twice during their holiday.
In any case Percy was very pleased with how things were going with Annabeth. The shadows that had been lingering over the other girl had lifted as she'd stared out of the plane window down towards their destination. And it was almost cute how she'd spent so long babbling about all the places she wanted to see.
Percy and Piper had already agreed they'd try and make sure Annabeth got to see most of them- if not all. They already had their plans to see the Acropolis, and of course the Island of Delos.
Once they finished putting their things away Percy was the first to talk. "So Annabeth. Do you feel up for wandering around a bit?" she asked, "We agreed we'd take it easy today before going to Delos tomorrow but there's some awesome stuff- and the beaches are amazing. Besides I want to see if Mrs Katsaros still makes her Loukoumades- I swear they are amazing." Percy declared.
"I have no clue what that is but I'm willing to try it." Piper declared, "Are they blue though-"
"No, sadly enough." Percy grinned, "But they're great anyway."
"I want to try everything I can." Annabeth declared, "I don't know if I'll ever get a chance like this again so I want to make the most of it." she informed them. Which Percy thought was a little silly- after all Percy and Piper travelled a lot. And there was no reason they couldn't bring Annabeth along if she'd like that.
Still, they were easing Annabeth into things so it'd be best for them to take their time with that.
"Let's get changed-" fifteen hours on a plane was not pleasant, "Get freshened up and then we can head out."
And so, less than an hour later the three girls were making their way out of the hotel- they'd checked in with Carter, Sadie, Zia and Walt and they had plans to visit the beach for a couple of hours- Percy, Piper and Annabeth had agreed to meet them there. Percy made sure to have their swimsuits in the bag she had slung over her shoulder.
And Percy led the way through the cobbled streets of Mykonos- and Annabeth was looking around with wide eyed at the pretty houses- with their brightly painted windows and doors, the steps leading up to other doors, plants and balconies decorating them.
"This is amazing." Annabeth's voice was soft, her eyes wide with awe. And Percy couldn't blame her. It was a beautiful place.
And Percy talked as they walked- she told Annabeth and Piper the stories that she'd once been told by several of the older residents- which seemed especially fitting now. And Annabeth's brows furrowed when Percy told her that they believed Kronos had been defeated on the island.
"Really?" her voice was curious, "I never knew that."
"Well, it's not like it's a definite thing. It's just what some people believe. Like they believe that the Giants were defeated here too- they say some of the rocks scattered around the island are the petrified bones of the Giants. Cool right?"
"Amazing." Annabeth admitted, "See this is why I want to travel." she declared, "Because there's so many things that I could learn- I love reading but this-" she looked around, "I've never been allowed to do anything like this."
"Well, I know I'm lucky." Percy said honestly, shoving her hands into the pockets of her summer dress- a pretty flowery blue and white dress. It wouldn't be practical for their trip to the Acropolis or to Delos, but just for wandering around Mykonos it would do nicely.
And when she reached the small bakery- a family owned thing, as Mrs Katsaros had told her when she'd first met her. It had been in the Katsaros family for like, two hundred years apparently. She specialised in pastries and sweet treats.
And Percy beamed as she spotted the familiar little building and she darted forward, a wide smile on her lips as she darted through the open doorway.
And sure enough the old woman looked just as she had the last time Percy had seen her- and Mrs Katsaros lifted her head when she heard someone dashing in- and her eyes narrowed before widening.
"Little Persephone?"
"You remember me!" A wide smile spread across Percy's lips as she almost skipped over to the little glass counter, where several treats were on display.
"And how could I forget, we don't meet many little ones like you."
"Not so little anymore." Percy declared brightly, "I'm glad to see you're still looking so young-"
"You flatter me." The lady, who had long gray hair pulled back out of her face and little laugh lines at the corners of her eyes seemed very pleased, "It's so rare we get children so excited to learn about our history. Especially ones who speak our language so well."
"My friends are here too. Annabeth, she's one of my friends loves the history. We're going to visit Delos and the Acropolis while we're here."
"Tell me, are your friends so well spoken as you."
"They try but they can't quite get the dialect right so don't be too rough on them if they get it wrong." Percy told her playfully. After all, demigods were better with ancient Greek, something Percy and Piper had learned when they'd come to Greece to hike up Mount Olympus.
The languages were similar, but the more modern Greek had different pronunciations, different dialects. It made it very hard for them to actually communicate.
"It is the trying that counts." The old woman reached across the counter to pat Percy's hand, "And shall I guess what you want Persephone?"
"You know what I want. I told my friends you do the best Loukoumades in all of Greece. You're not going to make me a liar are you?"
"Well I wouldn't want that. Now you wait there and I'll get you some nice fresh Loukomades."
As the woman bustled off Percy leaned on the counter, smiling when she spotted Piper and Annabeth arriving.
Piper was laughing, shaking her head, "You and your sweet treats Percy."
"I had to see Mrs Katsaros. She's amazing. And she remembers me. I must have made quite the impression."
"Of course you did." Annabeth gave a slight smile, "I don't think that it's possible for you not to make an impression." she shook her head.
"A good impression." Percy declared, "She loves me."
"I see your little friends have arrived." Mrs Katsaros was smiling warmly as she reappeared from the little kitchen area, and she was holding a pastry box which had maybe two dozen of the little golden Loukoumades in it, all of them drizzled with honey, and sprinkled with crushed walnut and cinnamon.
Just the sight of them made Percy's mouth water.
"Oooh, those look good." Piper breathed out, her eyes wide, "Really good."
"What are they?" Annabeth asked curiously.
"Kind of like doughnuts but they're so much better." Percy told her before turning to the old lady.
"They look great Mrs Katsaros. And yeah, these are my friends. Meet Annabeth and Piper." She gestured to the girls as she said that.
"Hello Mrs Katsaros." Piper's voice was hesitant- and she glanced at Percy, who gave a reassuring smile and a nod.
"It's nice to meet you." Annabeth's voice was a little bit more confident- though both Percy and Piper had warned her of
the difference between ancient and modern Greek.
Neither of them got the pronunciations perfect, but it was clear enough for the old woman to understand, and her face lit up, her dark eyes sparkling.
"So few children try to learn our language- especially not tourists. It's lovely to see such polite young girls. A rare treat."
Both Annabeth and Piper's faces scrunched up slightly as they listened and tried to keep up, and Piper glanced at Percy.
"Did she say that we were polite?"
"She said not many kids our age bother learning and she said it's nice to see such polite young girls." Percy offered.
"Thank you." Annabeth managed.
"You are sweet." Mrs Katsaros' English was stilted, she wasn't fluent but she was clearly trying. "So respectful. You come back tomorrow and you try some Diples and some Baklava too. Yes?"
"We should have time." Percy nodded, "And your treats are the best Mrs Katsaros. How much money do I owe you?"
"No- no silly." she waved a hand. "You no pay. My treat for polite girls." she pointed at Percy, "Your brother come see me too. Yes?"
"Of course." Percy smiled, "He's just gone down to the beach today. We're actually going to go meet him and my sister and their partners there. I'll make sure he knows you want to see him."
"Good good good." the old woman clapped her hands together happily before she bustled around the counter, and Percy set down the box of Loukoumades so that she could give the woman a hug. "You go, see brother. Share treats with him. I will see tomorrow."
"Of course." Percy smiled as the old lady kissed her cheeks before pulling back and carefully picking up the box with their treats in it.
And with that they said their goodbyes and exited the little bakery after Percy carefully closed the lid of the box.
It didn't take them long to reach the beach, and unsurprisingly the others were waiting for them.
Sadie spotted them first- she was sunbathing, a pair of sunglasses on, her multicolored hair pulled back into a loose bun.
Walt was also sunbathing, his eyes closed, an arm tucked behind his head.
Carter and Zia were both sat up on the large blanket that the four of them had spread out over the sand, they had a map out and a few different brochures. Percy had zero doubt that they were planning their trips for the week.
Once they reached the others Annabeth dropped onto the blanket, letting out a tired little noise as she flopped backwards.
Still, Percy couldn't help but notice that she'd done a lot better than she had been doing lately. It was probably helped by her mood, which was so much higher than it had been.
Coming to Greece seemed to have woken something inside of her, to have brought her out of that shell of grief that had been trapping her in.
In any case, Percy dropped onto the blanket next to her, opening the box- and Sadie sat up, shoving Carter to the side when he went to lean forward to grab one.
"Oh no brother ours. You can wait." she snatched up one of the Loukoumades and bit into it, letting out a happy little noise, "Oh I forgot how good these were."
"Hey!" and Carter lunged at Sadie at that, knocking her off the blanket into the sand.
"Traitor."
Percy laughed, plucking one of the honey coated little balls out of the box, popping it into her mouth, and gods but she really did love it. There was that amazing crispy crunch, and then the light airy softness of the baked dough inside, it was still warm and sweet, and the honey, walnut and cinnamon just perfected it.
"Oh my gods." Annabeth let out a pleased noise as she took one and took a bite, "They're amazing-"
"Let me try-" Piper grabbed one quickly, her eyes widening when she tasted it. "Percy your old lady friend Mrs Katsaros, is she a secret goddess because there is no way any mere mortal could make something like this."
"They are rather good." Zia spoke up, holding up her arm to shield her face from some sand as Carter and Sadie rolled in it, sending some of it flying through the air, "When you don't bite a mouthful of sand with them."
"Should we save some for those two?"
"Nah." Percy grinned, "Serves 'em right for both trying to steal the first bites."