Chapter 3- Photos

What's good? Hope you're doing well. Thank you Adamcoyne for the review, and feel free to give me ideas. Thank you again BigBoii225, I thought of this story in the hopes it would be original. I do like cliches though, you will see some of those eventually.

Tonight I get to see Mom and Paul, who are going to be old, which will be weird. At least they are still alive though. That makes me happier more than anything. As much as I like Thalia, I wish Annabeth was coming with me. She would always come with me. Mom thought of her as a daughter. Her death probably hit her hard as well.

"$10 bucks says she cries," I say to Thalia. We were currently walking over to the camp van to drive over there. Dinner was good, I'll probably get another one from Mom. She cooks when she's happy.

"There isn't a debate whether she'll cry Percy, she hasn't seen you for 26 years. I mean sh*t, you'll probably cry Perce." She chuckled.

"I don't know, I think I'm all cried out, but I'm sure there's some left in the tank for Mom." I chuckled this time.

"I love Sally. Do you love Sally?" Thalia rambled. I raised my eyebrow at her. "Of course you do, she's your Mom."

"Something got you on edge?" I asked her as I opened the driver's side door to the van, she followed me to that side though.

She thanked me as she went through the door I opened. I was planning on driving, but if she wants to… I see now. Probably better she drives. I shut the door for her and rounded the front of the van to the passenger seat. The vans are still the same, it's a miracle they still work.

"They really need to upgrade." She mumbled as she started the van. Then she answered my question. "I just-, Estelle isn't going to be there. I called your Mom this morning so that way you didn't give her a heart attack coming to the door randomly. Anyway, Estelle is out of the country on business. China, of course. China controls everything."

I didn't comment on the China comment. "I'm not upset. Maybe it's a good thing. She will be the weirdest person to see, considering she's my sister and I've never had a conversation with her, because she was a baby. It will give me time to prepare, and I can see her when I get back." That's my reasoning at least.

"Ok, good." Then she started driving on the dirt path out of camp. Thalia wasn't wearing her hunter attire, I guess since she is off duty. She still has her bow in the back seat and daggers in the glove box though. She is just wearing a black Fall Out Boy T-shirt and black ripped jeans. To go with all of her piercings, she is definitely not out of the punk goth chick phase, though she has toned it down. She doesn't look weird now, just stands out. I'm wearing a plain green t-shirt and some cargo shorts, courtesy of crazy Hannah.

We passed most of the car ride from the countryside into the city in silence. You would think we would have more to talk about. I am mostly just scared to ask questions about people or other things. I don't really want to know the answer. I will confront it eventually.

Soon enough, we got on a road that wasn't run down and was recently paved. We were getting closer to New York City. For the first time, I saw another car come down the same road. It looked like just another car, I don't know what I thought a newer car would look like. Getting closer to the city, the frequency of cars increased. Thalia got to where she had to merge onto a highway. There were lots of cars on it.

Once we merged, I saw an oddity. "Why are all of the cars going exactly the speed limit, and why is no one switching lanes?" I asked her.

"Ah, the miracle of self-driving cars. Elon Musk doesn't have to work anymore if he doesn't want to, he made bank with this invention. They work flawlessly, and I still don't understand how. I bet Hephaestus was impressed. The cars communicate with each other and have completely removed car accidents from the equation. It is really difficult to drive while every other car is self-driving though, they make sudden movements. Which is why I didn't want you driving."

"Makes sense. That's crazy though. The coolest thing I've seen so far." Kind of scary too though. What if the robot messes up and kills you?

Besides that, the city didn't look much different. Some new buildings and skyscrapers, lots of advertisements, and people everywhere. New York City, my home. I don't have a New York accent though.

That was at first glance though. The more I looked around, the more hurt me because of the change. Change is hard. Self-driving cars were still weird, the billboards advertised things I'd never heard of, the people wore different-looking clothes, and the buildings looked different too. It was all way too overwhelming. I stared down into my lap after that, hands to my head. Hopefully, I can adapt.

Thalia pulled into the parking garage on the edge of downtown Manhattan. We hopped out of the car and went out onto the street to go to my parent's apartment. People were… a lot more flamboyant now. As if by trying to stand out they're actually blending in. Lots of neon colors and contrasting outfits. Some girls I walked past might as well have just stripped bare with how little clothing they were wearing. Disgusting.

This isn't the same apartment building I grew up in, I guess it is to be expected. When Thalia took me to their door, I took a deep breath before knocking. Barely even a moment passed before a woman opened the door. She was most definitely my mother, just with grayer hair and more wrinkles. The man standing behind her had a bigger change. Paul had a much longer gray beard and a potbelly, along with wispy hairs on the top of his head that had replaced his full head of hair. It shocked me to see them like this. They were surely shocked to see me as well, despite the warning.

"Percy! Percy! Oh, gods!" Mom shouted before she grabbed me in. She didn't do it as hard at first, as if she was scared I wasn't real, then she grabbed me in real tight as if to protect me from being taken again. I hugged her back just as hard. She was crying wet tears into my t-shirt.

"I'm here Mom. I'm back. I'm back." I said as we hugged.

"I missed you." She said in between sobs.

"I know Mom. I know." I soothed her. A little over a minute passed before she let go. She stepped back and caressed my cheek. Then Paul came over. He grabbed my arm as if to feel me out and make sure I was actually there. Then he pulled me in as well.

"Good to have you back Perce." He said. He didn't cry though. We pulled away not too long after.

"Come sit down Percy! I want to talk to you. I haven't spoken to you in so long." Mom said, grabbing my hand and leading me into the living room. It looked like a normal living room to me. But I bet a teenager today would think it looked old-fashioned then. Probably a "hermit" trait they have. The TV looked like one from my time, and the couches and chairs were the same exact ones from my childhood. Mom sat me down onto one of the two couches which were lined up across from each other, then she sat down next to me. Extremely close. Paul sat down on the couch across, and Thalia sat next to him.

"Where were you?" Mom asked. She probably knows nothing then if she asked that.

"Nowhere, I guess. Felt like no time passed between 26 years ago and now. Really strange."

"A god, then." She grumbled.

"That's what Clarisse thought and I think I agree with her. I know of no other deities besides a god that would do this to me."

I then brought her and Paul up to speed with my situation. How I literally know nothing about how I was gone and why I woke up and no one I've spoken to has either. Quite surprisingly I don't have much to say about it, I want to hear about them.

"What have you guys, and Estelle been doing? How are you? How were you? Catch me up on your life. You see now that you have nothing to catch up on about me. Though you will whenever I manage to scrounge up a new life from this nightmare."

"Word." Thalia piped.

"It was hard after you left. It's always been hard. Never been the same. I always knew there was the possibility because of your nature you could die, but I could never prepare for it. I cried and cried. Paul here was my rock then. I then dove into Estelle and tried to give her a good life. Which we did. She is successful and happy. Though she always wanted to hear about you. You two are so similar. She works high up in a business and is always traveling whether for work or for fun with whatever boyfriend she currently has and her two best friends. You two were always blessed with having good friends."

"That's the best news I could have heard Mom."

"Me and Sally mostly stay here now. The world is so strange nowadays. We entertain each other." Paul said, which he and mom both chuckled after.

"I'll go get my laptop to show you some photos, Percy." Mom then got up and went to her room. Thalia went over to the kitchen and pulled out some chips. She has evidently been here a few times. When Mom got back she sat the laptop down on her lap and pulled up the photos.

Thalia walked over and sat next to me while Paul stood behind the couch. Mom showed us old photos of me and Estelle together. She was so cute as a baby. Then there was a gap in the photos for about a year. Then it picked up to when she was a toddler. There were tons of photos of her in that timeframe. They all made the occasional comment, but I was silent. I watched the timeline of photos scroll by. The time I had missed. The time that was stolen from me. F*ck the fates. And F*CK whatever God did this to me. I have some kind words for them I'll tell you. When she was around 5 they all took a trip to Athens, and when she was around 7 they all took a trip to Spain. Estelle has Paul's salt-and-pepper hair which she got from Paul, but green eyes like me. She was a very pretty little girl. Time passed on through the photos. I saw her softball team, her honor roll in middle school, birthday parties, first days of school, first car, more traveling photos, first job, graduation, boyfriends, everything. The most recent photo was of Estelle and Paul at a Yankees game. She was standing in front of the net behind the catcher, and she was hugging Paul. She looked like a refined young lady, refined like Paul. But also approachable like Mom. I now wish she was here. Estelle. Estelle Blofis. My sister. My little sister is older than me. That's weird.

I was unable to speak for the whole 3-hour photo session. They tried talking to me but gave up. No tears came. I just looked. Looked at the photos and tried to connect with my sister. She's 26 now. A god stole her from me. I should have been able to be the big brother for her. But who am I now to her? A mythical older brother who "died" when she was a baby.

"When can I uh… see her?" I finally spoke.

Mom looked at me shocked that I spoke. "We could call her right now. It's daytime in China."

"No. I want to see her for the first time in person." I said.

"But it's like she's really here-" She started.

"No. I want to see her for the first time in person." I repeated. "So I can hug her, and touch her Mom. And connect with her. You can't do that over technology."

"Ok. I can understand that."

It was around 2 in the morning at this point. I was dead tired. Thalia had her head on my shoulder with her eyes closed, and Paul had brought a chair to sit on behind the couch. He was nodding off.

"Can we stay here Mom?" I asked her.

"Of course sweetie. You can sleep on the other couch and Thalia can sleep on this one. We don't have a spare bedroom." She said. Paul said goodnight and walked off to bed. Mom got us some blankets. I peeled Thalia off my shoulder and gently eased her down onto a pillow on the couch. She stayed asleep and even started snoring.

I kissed Mom on the cheek and grabbed the blankets from her. "Goodnight Mom. I love you and enjoyed seeing you. And catching up on lost time, though I wish I never had to."

"Goodnight Percy. Love you too." Then she as well walked off to bed. For being in her 60's she walks well. I knew some 60-year-olds who needed a walker from their lifestyle choices. Mom was always good about her health.

I threw a blanket over Thalia before easing myself onto my own bed. I wish I could take off these cargo shorts, they are not comfortable to sleep in. Whatever. I fell asleep quickly to the thought of me and Annabeth both attending my sister's graduation…

Another reunion! Percy went from worried about meeting his sister to wishing she was there. I also tried to show how the world has changed, somewhat successfully. It is hard to think of how the world would change in the future. Hope you liked the chapter. Some "Lightning Thief" nostalgic chapters are coming soon. Please review, I like to read those. You could also get mentioned in my intro to chapters by reviewing. Critique my writing if you have time, but I also like short and sweet ones. 'Till next time boys.