Disclaimer: am not Rick. do not own his stuff. what i do own is this extremely cool plot.
Everyone who came on the trip is a suspect. Everyone but Jason, me, and Luke. Funny how the one person we suspected is now the only one we can totally trust.
The gods' treatment wasn't helping either.
I would look back, and remember, that in those uncertain days, Leo Valdez and Piper McLean were the ones who cheered me up enough to make me even smile. Annabeth was a curious little thing, always asking me if I knew something, if I had any idea why the gods were so angry.
They were not.
They were scared. And they did not want to admit it.
(And I did know why. But everyone suspected our foul mood was mainly because our fathers were fighting. It was often thought that if the demigod was powerful enough, their godly parent's feeling, though vague, would rub off on them.)
Still, not everything was grim and grey.
Piper was learning to control her charmspeak better, mostly being able to not do it accidentally; on the other hand, Leo had begun trusting himself with the fire powers again. Sure, he didn't try anything much, but at least he was able to make flames without flinching. That was progress, as far as I was concerned. They were twelve, and even if they would have to save the world eventually, it would be better if the two of them got the chance to live a little carefree.
6th February, 2005, was an important day for me, and I wouldn't dare to forget it. It wasn't because Jason or I had a huge Eureka moment, or because there was an attack, or because there was a new demigod in camp. No.
But what happened was this: Leo and Piper were having what seemed to be the time of their lives inside the water, playing with Dionysus' twins.
"Don't go too far!" I called at them, mostly out of instinct.
"Yes, Mom!" they replied without batting an eyelash, and went back to playing.
I froze.
"Luke," I squeaked, "What just happened?"
"I think you just adopted two children."
Unwittingly, I looked towards the sky. "Lady Aphrodite, Lord Hephaestus… please don't kill me?"
Which, I knew, they wouldn't, because one, I took care of their kids and said kids loved me, and two, my dad would blow off his lid if anyone hurt me. Poseidon was apparently like that.
But screw me, I was in shock. It's not everyday two children whom you've cared for, whom you would do anything for, yes, even defy the gods, call you their mother. Yes, I was essentially their mom after I took them into my little ragtag group, but they'd never called me that.
It hit different. A good kind of different.
"Leo and Piper called me 'dad'."
"Oh yeah. They've been calling me 'mom' for a while now."
"Please don't tell me this means what I think they think this means."
"I should hope not. We're teenagers," I gestured to the two of us, "And definitely not married."
"Luke told me Piper thought, in all her child-of-Aphrodite sense, that we both would be good for each other."
"That cabin is infecting my baby girl's brain."
Jason nodded seriously. He seemed smart for all of two minutes before he opened his mouth and immediately removed any thought I had ever had of him being sensible.
"But she has a point."
"Excuse me, what the schist?"
"I'm just saying," he tried to defend himself. "Remember how kids make that pact thing?"
"What about it?" I asked, skeptical.
"If, by the time at least the Giant War ends, we're both alive, and haven't found any true love or whatever, we should get married."
"Jason Alexander Grace, are you proposing to me?" I checked his forehead for signs of fever. "Me? Seriously? Don't you know how extremely disconnected from sanity I am?"
"That's exactly why I'm asking you. Name one person willing to deal with your brand of crazy, and no, it can't be Luke because he's basically your brother."
He had a point. Jason was literally the only person on earth who knew everything going on in my life, and who wouldn't put me in a mental asylum.
"It's a deal," I said in response. "If, by the end of the Giant War, we live and we aren't with someone else, I'll marry you."
We shook hands.
A/N: so that happened. as you might have noticed, there's a percy/jason pairing in the characters, so yes, they'll be getting together. leo and piper are now percy's children. i am actually going to add another child into the equation (three guesses to what that will be). and big question. who's the prophecy child? answer: you'll have to wait and find out. who stole the bolt: i do indeed wonder. for now, buh-bye! see ya soon!
- Arty
