Chiron almost Always had time to listen to the problems of his demigods. Yet, sometimes, he had to go to mount Olympus for important things (Or just Zeus' nonsense. Zeus was not only the king of the universe, but also the king of thinking of nothing important). Then, what do the demigods do?
Some demigods secretly called or iris-messaged their mortal parents, some others decided to talk to their demigod-peers. There was one fourteen-year-old girl who just talked to her pegasus (She claimed that she knew the flying horse was understanding her, or sometimes even talked back. People have stopped questioning it). There were a few brave demigods who decided to bother Dionysus with their problems, but he only seemed to listen and talk back under certain conditions. There was a small group of demigods who seemed to always talk to him instead of Chiron.
Yet, Annabeth did not want to do that. She didn't have a lot with horses, did not want to talk to Dionysus unless it was necessary, and her father was almost Always busy, even in the summer. Her siblings were all busy with something, and Percy was surfing with Piper. So, she didn't really know who to talk to. She was just aimlessly walking through camp, kicking a rock. Eventually, she kicked it so hard that it flew into the hearth that laid right in the middle of the circle of cabins. A girl who was standing by the hearth looked up.
Annabeth looked at her. It was Hestia. She raised her eyebrows, and decided that it was worth a shot. She walked over to the goddess. When she stood in front of her, she made a small bow. 'Lady Hestia, ehm...' Suddenly, it felt kind of stupid to ask a goddess for advice on her family. 'Um, nevermind.' Hestia gently grabbed her arm, and smiled so warmly that almost all of Annabeth's' worries melted away. 'Come, sit down, dear. Tell me what's bothering you,' Hestia said. Annabeth sat down, while Hestia made fresh baked chocolate chip cookies and chai appear.
'Well, you see, my dad remarried after his relationship with Athena. My dad has Always tried to be supportive of me, but... sometimes he is just extremely busy. That's why I didn't call him. And, well, my stepmother doesn't really like me. She kept me away from my two little brothers and also my dad. That's why I walked away from home when I was seven…'
'You walked away from home... at seven? How did you make it to camp?' Hestia sounded very concerned when she asked it. Annabeth took a small sip of tea, so that she didn't have to respond immediately. 'Well, you know the son of Hermes, Luke, and Thalia? They helped. And Chiron basically became my dad.' Hestia didn't press her for more details.
'Well, That's Chiron. He was has always been such a sweetheart.' Annabeth nodded, and took a bite out of her cookie. 'Yes. But, ehm, yesterday I got a call from my stepmother. I decided to pick up, because our relationship was slightly better in the last few months. Well, it didn't go so well. She immediately started talking about how I had stolen something from my dad to get attention.' Annabeth got a very dark expression. 'She doesn't know what she's talking about! I didn't even know he had a model of that plane! It is just so… So...'
Annabeth went silent. Hestia put a hand on her shoulder. 'Annabeth, do you know if anybody ever found it?' Annabeth got an even angrier expression. 'Yes,' she begrudgingly said. 'It was on my dad's desk the entire time. He knew that it was there, meaning that my stepmom was just imagining things.' She angrily broke of a bit of her chocolate biscuit.
Hestia sighed. 'You aren't really happy with you, are you?' Annabeth nodded. 'My father is happy with her, so I won't complain. She is just, so biased against me. Always, I have done something wrong.' Hestia nudged her shoulder. 'Does she ever keep you away from your father, or treat you differently from your little brothers?' Annabeth shrugged.
'She is nicer to her own kids, although she doesn't punish us unfairly. Yet, well... I think she does the first thing. When I was smaller, my dad taught me how to dance, and she Always told him there was no time for that. Now, he has taking up those lessons again sometimes. She doesn't say anything about it directly anymore, but she Always seems to think I have something else to do. She doesn't neglect to mention that.' Annabeth's eyes got a little wet. 'I told it to my dad once, but... I think he forgot. As I said, he is Always busy.'
Hestia held Annabeth's hand. 'That doesn't sound very nice. Do you still want to go home after camp?' Annabeth nodded. 'Yes. For my father. I know he loves me, even though he sometimes forgets things. But, well, he also forgets to eat sometimes.' Hestia nodded thoughtfully. 'Do you have contact with Chiron, outside of camp?' Annabeth shook her head. 'I think it might bother him. He has the entire camp to look after. If I needed to talk to him, I'd stay at camp.' Hestia took a small sip of chai.
'Annabeth, do you truly think that Chiron is to busy for you, someone he sees as one of his daughters?' Annabeth didn't say anything. After a few seconds, she shook her head. 'No. Of course not.' Hestia smiled at her, which made Annabeth feel warm and fuzzy. 'Than, girl, you should try calling him when the situation gets to dire. And, you probably know this, but get out of the house when it gets to hard to live in. Don't try to be stubborn and stick around. You have Percy as your fiance, right? You can go to his house if you don't want to go back to camp.'
Annabeth blushed. 'He's my boyfriend, not my fiance, Hestia.' Hestia's eyes lit up mischevoulousy. 'Oh. Well, if you say so, my dear. Now, I guess Chiron is back. Why don't you discuss what we just talked about with him?' Annabeth laughed. 'Fine, my lady.' Hestia smiled again. 'Hestia is fine, dearie.' Annabeth nodded, while Hestia pushed an extra cookie into her hand. 'Someday, things will be better, Annabeth. Maybe not with your parents, but you already know that that doesn't mean you can't get a good relationship with anybody else.' Annabeth nodded. 'Thanks for the food and the advice, Hestia,' She said. The goddess gave her one more smile that would have made it irrelevant for Persephone to come back every spring, so warm was it, before she disappeared.
While Annabeth walked over to the Big House to talk to Chiron, she looked at the cookie in her hand. She gasped. It was blue. She looked at the sky, and it was almost like she felt Aphrodite stare at her. 'Yes, Aphrodite, don't worry about your favorite ship,' she muttered. She rolled her eyes. Aphrodite's insistence that she and Percy be the cutest couple ever got on her nerves sometimes.