They were sitting at Silena's Eatery. She had booked a private table at the back of the room. Her father and stepmother sat in front of them. Annabeth was quiet for a moment and they let her gather her thoughts sensing that this was important.

She ordered a plate of Portokalia me Meli and KelpBrosia Milkshake.

Annabeth took a deep breath because she couldn't put this off anymore. Looking into the eyes of her parents, she said, "I'm having a baby."

Frederick Chase grimaced as even though he wasn't her father, he still kind of was. He really didn't want to think about his eldest (and technically only) daughter being pregnant. Jimin Chase smiled at her, excitement brewing in her. "We know congratulations."

It was obvious of course. She was almost due soon. She was actually set to go to the sea in three moon cycles as this was the most delicate part for births of sea beings. The longer the birth meant the stronger the kid, but the stronger meant there may be some complications. She danced the middle line right now and Capheira was not taking any chances.

"Gods," Annabeth groaned. "I thought this would have been easier." She sat up straighter and pushed her shoulders back. She didn't survive holding the sky and the labyrinth and Kronos just for a talk to weigh her down.

"Take your time, sweetheart," her stepmother soothed. Annabeth smiled at her before taking a deep breath.

"When I was seven, I ran away from home." This was common knowledge. History tends to repeat itself in the fact that Annie had done the same. Jimin grasped her hand. "It was young I know, but it was reality. It happens. I'm a demigod."

She chewed on her lip, thinking of how to properly word this next part. She was no longer a child despite what she looked like. "I-I felt very angry and bitter about anything regarding my mortal side… your side for years. Dad… you never wanted me. You asked Mother to take me back."

Jimin gasped, eyes wide in horror. Annabeth guessed she never heard that part. "You dropped me off to my aunts and uncles before the falling out you had. And then, it was like you realized that you couldn't get rid of me. I was there to stay. You doted on me. You included me in all your work. Even with my dyslexia, you taught me how to speak as if I had three PhDs by the time I was five."

She smiled a little sadly because while it was still obvious that her father wasn't all there for her. He was still there somewhat. "And then you met Jimin." She looked at her stepmother a little guilty. "I didn't like her. It was before I understood the weight of Athena's vow of maidenhood and chastity. I always wanted you and Mom to get back together and I didn't make it easy for Jimin to deal with that."

Tears pricked at her eyes. "You two fell in love and got married in a whirlwind. Then you had the twins. And suddenly, I felt like the ugly duckling. Unwanted and unloved. I-I felt neglected. When Arachne's children came for me in the middle of night, I felt abandoned."

Jimin started to cry softly, but Annabeth needed to say this. "I took the hint. I wasn't a part of the picture perfect family and then I left. That messed me up more than I could admit. Thalia and Luke tried, but they were kids too. Athena is not maternal despite being our mother. And Chiron was teaching heroes. He was not a parent despite how much he cared for me."

Her smile was a little watery, "And then Percy came to camp. He came and even when he didn't know me… when the only thing I was doing was insulting him or using him to get out of camp… he still tried to help me. He came up with his own reasons as to why there was this disconnect between us." Her smile turned genuine at the thought of her fiancé. "His words got to me and I gave it another try. It didn't work out of course. The monsters came and we argued and I left again."

She sighed. "Miscommunication was what Ariadne called it. She hated me at one point. I'm pretty sure if it weren't for Percy then she probably would have fed me to an orca. But she said that it was miscommunication."

Annabeth wiped her eyes. "I figured she was just being rude and mean, but no. She literally meant that. I guess since she had a close relationship with the gods and saw more than she should then she knew what she was talking about." She looked back at them… at the parents that she could have had… at the parents that Annie did have. "My fatal flaw is hubris. Its excessive pride. And I still struggle with it now. To sit there and talk to you all like this would have never crossed my mind. Ariadne didn't blame me for that either. I guess with everything going on between her and Sally then she knew better than anyone but… I was a kid and you were supposed to protect me. And instead, I just felt hurt. I felt neglected."

When she stopped talking, Jimin all but jumped out of her seat. "I am so sorry, Annabeth," the woman said as she pulled her into a hug. "I never wanted you to feel like that. I– there's no excuse. I could say that I felt overwhelmed coming into a family of geniuses. I felt overwhelmed coming into a family that had been blessed by an actual goddess. Overwhelmed that the gods still existed. I could say that after the twins that I had the worst case of postpartum. I could say I felt threatened by your words of your parents getting back together."

The woman pulled away from the hug to place her hands on her cheeks, "I could say all that and none of that would excuse my actions in the slightest. You're right. You were a child. Annie is a child. Any issues that I had were on me."

Her father walked around the table until he was crouched at her side. "Annabeth… I am so sorry. The gods could strike me down right now and that pain wouldn't even equal to knowing how much I hurt you and how much I was hurting Annie before you came back to save her. Because that's what you did. You saved yourself." He brushed her hair out of her face, "I can truly say that it was not malicious neglect. It was unintentional and honestly, that's worse." He reached down to grab her hand in his, "You are by far the biggest blessing that I have ever had in my life. Nothing can compare. Not even meeting your mother."

His smile was a little sad, and Annabeth let her own tears fall seeing so much of herself in that smile. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart. I'm sorry that the man that raised you couldn't be the one that's telling you this. I'm sorry for ever making you feel unwanted or unloved because you are. Even outside of me and your siblings and Jimin… well you always wanted to be an architect and you found and built a family that would stand for millennia. I'm glad to have the chance to avoid all the pain that you went through." He smiled at her once more; genuine love pouring from his expression, "I'll be sure to have this same conversation with Annie. And I'll reach out to the rest of our family to make amends. You're my hero, Annabeth. And I am so proud of you."

This conversation didn't go anything like she planned on, but as she cried in the arms of her parents… she couldn't help but to be a little thankful.

It was another council meeting. Ariadne was a little bored. Despite knowing how to lead a kingdom and arguably being good at leading their kingdom, she still did not like being a queen. Yes, their production had increased in revenue. Yes, the kingdom was growing almost as large as the roman empire. Yes she had a stadium built around the Labyrinth entrance to host games and bring in tourists as they watched competitors fight off whatever came through.

Despite all of that, she was bored. Not even training was bringing her excitement. Logically, she knew that wishing for problems was a bad thing, but Ariadne had never felt this level of, hmm peace?

It was unnerving.

Castellan had a plethora of weapons being crafted and stored for the upcoming war. The might of their warriors would have been enough to repel the Roman forces during Ancient times.

If she was being honest, her part in the Trojan War would have never happened if they had these warriors.

(That also reminded her that they needed to start searching for the Palladium. Helen had confessed to telling its location to the enemy and they had stolen it away. Stealing away a symbol of such prestige and power probably would have been enough if the Fated were not there.)

She eyed the children; a little amused to see them staring in boredom at the mornings' couriers. It wasn't long before they could break for lunch. Maybe 5 more choes?

Ariadne glanced back down at the reports in front of her. Ever since Percy started helping with training, a lot of people started taking Clarisse and Annabeth's lessons more seriously. But she could still see that they were becoming stagnant in their training. There was slowly becoming nothing else for them to advance to.

They couldn't allow that. The enemy was not going to go easy on them. They weren't going to say 'oh this is all the training you have. Nevermind, I'll come back when you get some more skills'.

She tapped her fingers on her throne. Nico and Percy sat at her sides, nodding alongside seriously to the day's complaints. (It was only Ms Murrell coming to complain about animals in her tomato garden, but Katie had found that she used those genetically engineered seeds that you could find at the local walmart to plant them. Katie's little demon bunnies were eating the harsh chemicals that resided inside of the seeds.)

It ended the same as always. With Katie offering to give her regular seeds in exchange for the engineered one and Ms Murrell stating that she'd take her up on that when her pack ran out.

It never ran out since she was always ordering more through Hermes Express: Mortal Addition.

As the doors closed behind her, Ariadne snatched the crown from atop of her head and slouched into her throne. Her hair fell around her like a curtain. The others laughed at her actions. She waved her hand when the kids asked to step out to grab something to eat. The lyre on her chest heated up and she hid a smile behind her hair as Apollon appeared behind her throne.

She moved to the side casually letting him slip into the seat and saying nothing as he picked her up to sit on her lap. "A long day, bien-aimé?" Ever since that day where their auras joined as one and when they opened their bond to Hermes, words were just a formality. He knew it had been a long day, but he still enjoyed verbal answers.

"As always," she murmured before turning back to the others. "We have run into a setback, I'm afraid. With all our preparations and general paranoia, our training has been stunted for a while. They have grown stagnant as we have taught them all that we know."

A flicker of guilt ridden by a secret flash through Apollon and Hermes also. It was gone before she could chase it. She pushed it to the back of her mind. She had faith that they would tell her if it was important enough.

"What do you think we should do," Clarisse asked. She had noticed the same thing herself and she was becoming quite frustrated with the lack of progress. The girls shared looks and seemingly held a conversation with only their eyes.

"What are they saying," Rachel questioned. Chris, his brothers, and Percy frowned as he looked between the two.

"I'm only getting like every third word," Chris stated. "Something about a chicken?"

Travis shook his head, "No. Clarisse just said something would be beaten into a pulp. I think?"

Percy snorted, "Ari just said she would beat something with her hands tied behind her back in the middle of the desert with no weapons."

"Actually," Connor stated. "They both just called us idiots."

Ariadne and Clarisse smirked at the boy. Travis and Chris turned to their brother, "They weren't even using the–they weren't speaking our language."

Connor shrugged, "They both have a specific expression when they think people are being idiots. Clarisse used to wear it all the time around her sisters."

Ariadne laughed to herself before waving away everything else. "We were thinking," she said as she turned a little to look Apollon in the eye. "If the training can include the gods."

There was dead silence around them.

Apollon raised a brow. She smiled. "Training is becoming stagnant. We've taught them everything that we know. And we learned Chiron."

"You also learned from the gods," Thalia pointed out. Ariadne nodded, "I did. And I taught them all that I know which isn't much in comparison to what the gods know."

Apollon secreted away a smile, "We have lived longer than you all. We've seen the rise and fall of empires. You want us to teach a fighting style that the other side would not expect."

Clarisse nodded, "Seeing as the gods are still bound by Ancient Laws, we were thinking of doing it in a roundabout way. You can't interfere with your kids' lives, but there is no law stopping you from interacting with Hermes."

"But he talks to the ones here," Will pointed out. Annabeth shook her head, "Those are technically no longer his kids. His descendants, yes. And even then, not all demigods have divine gifts."

Ariadne tapped her fingers on the armrest, "We also have a decent amount of kids here that don't have powers. None that can become artificial suns, grow plants, construct 3-D buildings out of toothpicks et cetera. Send them out to the mortal world and they blend in with anybody else that's neurodivergent." She scowled at that last word. She wasn't really fond of it as it suggested something was 'wrong' with them, but she also accepted it seeing as Judy Singer who coined the term was neurodivergent herself.

(No one mentioned that when she and Annabeth really got into talking about neurodiversity that they started to sound like Magneto.)

"So we what," Percy asked. "Get the gods to train them up in their favored fighting styles?"

Ariadne shrugged, "Mother tends to favor Tai Chi and Aphrodite prefers Chi Blocking whenever they fight hand to hand combat."

Apollon's arm tightened around her waist, "That's not to mention a few fighting styles that have long gone out of practice."

Rachel furrowed her brow, "Like what?"

Ariadne looked away, "Hemokinesis. Blood controlling powers. Another form of hydrokinesis." They all winced thinking of the last time she used such an attack.

"You mean how you choked Akhilles on his blood?"

The Fated shot up in their seats. Ariadne stared at Jackjack in shock and horror. The other kids, not Luey or Grace, stood behind looking on in confusion. When did they get back? One thing she had never wanted the kids to know was how ruthless and cruel she could be with her powers.

"Who told you that," she demanded. The other kids excluding Grace and Luey were looking at them in confusion. Leo and Drew were looking at her in confusion. "Jackjack… Percy, who told you that?"

The boy's face was pulled in a mulish frown, "No one told me anything. I saw it. I saw all of it. Finding out your demigods to fighting… to fighting Luey and Grandfather throwing you back in time and—"

The twins jumped out of their seats. "Percy," he muttered watching the boy turn angry eyes to them. He scowled and the twins almost flinched back from it. He looked hurt.

The youngest child of the sea shook his head as he left the room. The twins didn't even glance at anyone else as they rushed after him.

"Jackjack, wait," was heard around the palace. Ariadne and Percy chased after the youngest of them. "Percy, please," Ariadne cried. But the young boy would hear none of it.

They followed after him as he ran out of the castle and into the streets. They followed after him as he ran past Ariadne's glass coffin. They followed as he passed every shop in the marketplace. As he crossed the bridge.

Please let him in, they thought as he ran through the trees of the grove.

"Percy," Ariadne whispered as the boy curled into himself. "Just listen to us."

"No," he snapped. Green eyes were burning with anger and hurt as he looked at them. "You lied to me."

"It was to protect you," Percy told his younger self. Ariadne looked on in sadness. It was not technically a lie. An omission of the truth. Jackjack didn't see it that way of course. "I didn't need protection. Years! You just changed my life for years. I don't even know who I really am anymore."

The twins shook their heads frantically as they crouched in front of him. "You are Percy Jackson. Son of Poseidon and Sally Jackson."

Jackjack balled his fist as he scowled, "But I'm more than that. I'm also the twin to Ariadne Jackson. I'm best friends with Grover. Oh my gosh… I killed… I basically killed Ethan."

"NO!" Percy yelled. "Grandfather killed Ethan."

"And what about Beckendorf… if I would have just waited…"

Ariadne's heart clenched thinking of her spiritual friend and the young boy at camp whose fate that she would do her best to avoid. She placed her hands onto the younger's shoulder, "It is not your fault at all, Percy. That timeline no longer exists. We can make sure it never happens. Please. Don't put all this on your shoulders."

"I–" He hesitated before looking at them. "Who else knows?" The twins paused before deciding to be completely honest with him. "The parents. May, Beryl, Sally, David, Frederick, etc etc. Thalia and Luke." The youngest furrowed his brow, "Are you going to tell any of the others?" The twins shared a look before Percy turned back to him, "We were planning on telling you and Annabeth eventually we just didn't know when."

Ariadne leaned back, "Personally, I would've gone after Grandfather had been defeated." Percy nodded because that was reasonable. He looked at his younger self, "It's not good to know too much of your future."

Jackjack was quiet for a moment, "Am I going to grow up to be like you?" His siblings shook their heads, "No. You'll be better." Ariadne pressed a kiss to his forehead, "No one can tamper with fate, little clam."

He pursed his lips, "You all are." Percy smiled wryly, "We have permission from Destiny herself. And even then, we cannot do too much that will displease her."

"And the Moirai?"

The twins' eyes twitch, "We work around each other at a respectable distance, but we no longer let them control us."

Jackjack looked down at his hands, "I don't want the fate of the world to be on my shoulders. I don't want to feel like you felt."

"And you won't," Percy declared. Ariadne pulled him into a hug, "Give it to me. Give it to Percy. Okay. We can handle this. We're older."

"How do you do it," he deflected. There was no way he was adding more stress to his sister. He knew she was still in recovery. Healing was not linear. "How can you face each day even knowing what's going to happen?"

Percy looked at Ariadne wondering what her take was on this. He tried to focus on the present. He knew that some places were still inaccessible to them. It didn't always work but he tried his best. His sister thought her words over carefully. "I think it's easier to deal with because I know what's going to happen. I know we're going to win. Some things are different but not much has changed. History repeats itself. It's the way of life." Her features softened into a soft smile, "And even if the pressure can be too much and the worry can be overwhelming… my feelings do not change as I surround myself with people that keep me grounded."

"Like Lord Apollon and Lord Hermes."

She nodded her head, "Being with them has never been hard work. My blood pressure lowers when they are with me. I feel at peace. There will be hard times, always; not necessarily because of us but because we're navigating this new life together. But everything has always been so simple with them. I just love them so much, and with that, we can figure the rest out. There are no words for how incredible they are. This world is not an easy one especially for a demigod, but everything fades away when I'm with them."

She then turned towards him fully, placing her hands on each side of his face, "And when I'm with you, and my twin, and our brothers and sisters. When I'm with the other Fated or the other children. When I'm with our family. Do not despair, little one. We will prevail together."

Percy placed a hand on his shoulder, "We'll keep you informed from now on, okay. Just promise us that you won't tell the others. We have to do that ourselves."

Jackjack hesitated before nodding, "Okay. I promise." Percy eyed him and wondered if it were to be too much to make him swear on the Styx.

Notes:

The thing with Annabeth and her mortal family is we don't know. We only have her side to go off. Maybe on her dad and stepmom's side... it was a completely different thing. But we don't know. We can't put it off to simple neglect because again, we only have her side and considering the fact that she wanted her parents to be together despite the fact that her mother is a maiden goddess that swore off love and was very bitter to her mortal family and their "normal"ness meant her words shouldn't hold that much weight.

BUT they also hold a lot of weight because again we don't know. Annabeth could be right 100% and not blinded by the idea that she could have been wrong in her opinion.

This gives an argument for both sides. Their negligence wasn't an attack on her but it still doesn't change the fact that it was neglect. They had a duty to her that they didn't uphold and I am NOT denying that.

At this point of time, it's been almost six to seven months since the SoM so we're heading into TTC