Chapter five: The Council of Little Athens

The meeting of the Council of Little Athens, or the COLA for short (yeah, I grinned too) had been going on for maybe ten minutes now.
I'd met the currently present council members (there were twenty all in all) Jason, Percy, Piper and Hazel, although Hazel was one of the four Roman envoys, and heard a very short recap of their stories: Basically, all of them had an Olympian god for a parent and had fought in at least one major war in the past twenty years.
All four of them were extremely nice, especially Hazel who was the youngest. She smiled at me right at the beginning and said: "Confusing, huh?", to which I simply nodded.
Chiron had asked me to tell them my story and I had, and now we'd arrived at the Q&A part of the meeting, but sadly all the Qs directed at me hardly got any As.
"So" Percy said "you know both your parents. Have you lived with them?"
I'd answered this question before, but I nodded all the same. "Yeah. My mum works from home and my dad stays in Seattle five days of the week and comes home at the weekend."

"He only comes home at the weekend?" Jason said suspiciously, exchanging a look with Percy.
"Yes." I replied, slightly defensively. "His work's so far away, it would be impossible for him to come home every evening."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Piper taking notes on a slip of blue paper.
The latest one read:
+ F- 5 o. w. /Min?/
I didn't understand what it was supposed to mean, so I overlooked it for the time being. It was my turn to ask a question now.
"So do the gods decide everything then? Like the weather, the crops, what comes on TV and all that?"
"Well, they're not very agreeable over things like weather and crops, it all depends which god is favouring which part of the country and all that. I remember on my first quest when we visited the palace of Aeolus and he nearly killed us and-"
"Jase" Piper interrupted, patting his arm "You're getting of track"
"Oh, sorry" Jason smiled a little embarrassedly, but a wistful look lingered in his eyes.
"Anyway" Piper picked up the thread "Yeah, the gods decide nearly everything. Although I'm not so sure about the TV programme thing-"
"Actually, I think Zeus got a decree through dictating that Bear Grills – Born Survivor has to be on at least one channel at any given time of the day..." Percy mused, and Jason nodded in assent.
"Yes, that last episode was awesome, although do you think he really licked - "
"Jason" Piper said, and I gave her a thankful look. They'd told me all of them were ADHD, but I hadn't imagined it to be so bad.
"Normally they're better at focusing" Hazel whispered to me, as if she'd read my mind. "But today it's difficult – Never mind actually" She stopped her explanation mid sentence, and a pained look passed her face.
"Well" Chiron suddenly said, clapping his hands and making us all jump. "I can see that this meeting is not really getting us anywhere. Erin, if you have any further questions you can simply come to me or ask Ryan, if you see him."
I nodded, silently vowing never to ask Ryan a single thing if I could help it.
"As for you, heroes, does anyone have a theory on what, excuse me, who Erin might be?"
He looked at the four council members, two of which shook their head, but Piper and Hazel nodded hesitantly.
"Piper?" Chiron asked.
"Well" Piper started, glancing down at the notes she'd taken. "We know Erin isn't ADHD or dyslexic, although a demigod doesn't necessarily have to be either of those. Look at Frank. And we know she somehow managed to track Ryan and transport herself to his location, which is definitely a demigod thing to do."
Everyone nods in consent, including me although I really have no idea what a demigod thing to is or not.
Now Piper looked a little shifty. She hesitated, until Jason said "Go on, Pipes."
"Well... I'm really not sure about this and if it's wrong I'm really sorry..." she threw me an apologetic look. "..but Erin, are you sure that.."
"Sure what?" I asked her, not sure I wanted to hear her theory any longer.
"Sure that your parents...really are your parents? Or that your dad is your dad?"
The question hung in the air, and I saw comprehension dawning on the others faces. Percy looked shifty, and Jason thoughtful. They thought Piper's theory was true, I could tell.
"What?" I said, my voice a little hoarse. "Of..of course I'm sure my parents are my real parents! I'm not adopted or anything-"
"You might me though, Erin." Chiron told me, patting me on the back. "I know this sounds incredibly unlikely, but nearly all the evidence is that you are a demigod. You see, the camp is protected by strong boundaries and only demigods or other mythological creatures like satyrs and nymphs can enter. So You must have some of that blood inside of you."
I was lost for words. First I was told that the Greek gods rules our earth and now I was an adopted child? I shook my head.
"Couldn't it be" I started, searching for some other explanation "That my great great great grandmother or father was a god, or a nymph or something? That I inherited the gene?"
In my mind this seemed far more likely than the other option, but Chiron didn't look convinced.
"That's what I thought as well" Hazel spoke up, putting a hand on my arm. She looked at the other with a steady gaze. "Erin might be a legacy. We've tons of those at Camp Jupiter."
"But legacies are never that strong are they?" Percy spoke up, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck, making his already tousled black hair even messier.
"They can be." Hazel replied "Look at Octavian."
Everyone narrowed their eyes at the sound of this name, and I silently noted not to befriend any guy called like that. He must be horrible.
"And even if they were powerful, the way Erin obviously is-" Jason now added "they would be attacked by monsters just as much as the rest of us are!"
"I'm not powerful" I whispered so silently nobody heard me.
"Yes, but then Piper's theory wouldn't work either, cause Erin doesn't get attacked, do you?" Hazel asked me, and I shook my head. Nothing ever attacked me except the clothes in my wardrobe when they came tumbling down on my head every now and then.
"Maybe - " Piper began again, but I'd had enough.
"Listen" I raised my voice, trying to hide the slight quaver in it. "I really appreciate all of you trying to answer my question, but I can't see us finding a fitting answer any time soon. Maybe we should just stop now, sleep on it and then regroup in the morning?"
The suggestion sounded far more grown-up and sensible than what was really motivating me: I was pretty darn tired.
"That's a good suggestion." Percy said, heaving himself out of the armchair he'd been sitting in.
"Do you want to call your mother again?" Chiron asked, which surprised me as he'd told me that using a phone wasn't the norm here. Perhaps he felt bad for me.
"No" I said, shaking my head. I couldn't stand to call Mum before I didn't have any proper answers to her or my questions. I knew it was egoistic, but telling her where I was would only result in her trying to find me, or making my father / the police come get me and that would be far more trouble than was worth. So no, no calling The Mother.
She might not even be your mother, an unwelcome voice said in my mind. I swatted the thought away, but when I thought of home and how it would feel right now to be sitting on the couch with my parents, watching Come dine with me, it felt as if a heavy weight was settling on my chest.
Unbidden tears came to my eyes and I blinked furiously to wipe them away.
Thankfully, nobody had been looking.
"So, would you like a tour?" Percy asked me, a friendly smile on his face. "Or would you like to sleep for a bit?"
Right on cue, I had to yawn.
"I think bed would probably be more advisable." Chiron laughed good-naturedly.
"Where is she going to sleep?" Piper asked "At the Iapetus Home?"
"No" Chiron said, shaking his head. "Not tonight. The others would be too interested, and I don't think that would do Erin much good right now."
"Hey, you can sleep at my place!" Percy suddenly exclaimed "Annabeth's at Camp J at the moment, working on the convention plans with Reyna and Frank, so the house is quite empty. I'm sure she wouldn't mind you sleeping in the guest room."
Relief filled me, I'd already dreaded having to sleep in a ten bed room with children I didn't know who all had over powerful gods as their mums and dads.
"That'd be great" I admitted, and Percy grinned again. He had an easy sort of air about him, one which instantly made him likeable.
"Good idea, Percy." Chiron nodded. "Alright heroes, I will see all of you and Erin tomorrow at, let us say, three o'clock?"
"Perce and I have a course at three" Jason pointed out. "How about half past four?"
"Good."
And with that, the COLA broke up, each of them waving goodbye to Chiron, Percy and me.
***

While we walked in the direction of the town, Percy pointed a few things out to me.
"Those are the cabins" he said, and I saw again the odd assortment of buildings, all different size and colour, with a big centre green and a fire pit in their midst.
"Over there are the stables. That's where we train the pegasi."
I looked to where he was pointing and my eyes widened. Pegasi it turned out weren't average animals. Overhead, sailing through the slowly darkening sky, flapping their huge wings, where flying horses. That's right, this place had freaking flying horses. I mean, come on!
Soon we reached the border of the town, where a friendly looking woman in Greek armour smiled at us.
"Hello, Percy" she said, the wrinkles around her eyes crinkling
"Hi, Trudi." Percy replied, and handed her a golden card which he'd taken out of the pocket of his Jeans.
The woman named Trudi barely gave it a glance, before handing it back to him with a grin.
"I think I know who you are" she winked, and they chuckled a little.
Then Trudi turned her gaze on me, with the same kind smile. "And who are you?" she asked.
"Er" I said, unsure of what to say.
"Damn, I forgot to get Erin her visitor card. Trudi, you don't think we could enter anyway, do you? It's been a bad day for her."
"New demigod?" Trudi asked, raising her eyebrows.
"We don't know yet." Percy replied darkly, and Trudi smile faltered.
"Don't worry about it." she said in a whisper, and opened a pouch tied to her belt. "I always keep a few extra ones in here"
She produced a bright orange card which had VISITOR stamped across it in big black letters.
"Thanks, Trudi" Percy told her, relief in his voice.
"I hope I can trust you, Percy." Trudi said, and I couldn't really tell if she was kidding or not. I saw her through me a quick glance before the smile was back on her face.
"Get along then, I'll see you tomorrow."
And with that, we walked over the border and into Little Athens.
In my opinion, there was nothing little about it.
All around us were beautiful houses in hews of soft white, cream, nude colours. They were a blend of modern and Ancient Greek and Roman features, or at least that's what I thought, but I'm no pro at architecture.

Percy led me along a few stone paved streets until he finally stopped in front of a house which was a little bigger and a little grander than the ones around it.
I stared open mouthed, which made Percy laugh beside me. He unlocked the door and let me walk in first.
The inside was no less beautiful than the outside, but a more comfortable than grand. Still, everything fit perfectly together, from the colour of the pillows on the couch to the wood of the door frames. It was perfect as far as homes go.
"Wow." I told Percy. "This is wonderful."
"Hah" Percy laughed "Tell that to my wife. She's constantly changing things, going on about how the tiles and the ceiling don't match or something like that."
"Annabeth?" I asked, remembering what he had said about Annabeth not being at home.
"Yep." he nodded, and his eyes smiled at the mention of the name.
"She must have a knack for design." I stated, still looking around at the perfectly coordinated colour and décor scheme.
"Yeah, you could say that." Percy chuckled. "She's the architect of Olympus. Designed the whole town."
"The whole town?!" I exclaimed, gaping. I couldn't imagine anyone, let alone one person, designing such a thing. I'd thought the gods had done it.
"Uhuh, she's ambitious like that." Percy said, rolling his eyes mockingly. "That's her" he said, pointing at a picture on the wall. It showed a young couple, maybe twenty-three years old, standing on the porch of the Big House. The man, Percy, had his arm around a pretty woman, who was presumably Annabeth. She had long curly blonde hair, tanned skin and bright grey eyes. There was a huge grin on both of their faces, and Annabeth was showing off a sparkling ring on her left hand.
"Engagement photo?" I asked, receiving a nod.
While I followed Percy up the stairs to the next floor, I couldn't help thinking about Annabeth Jackson. She looked so confident, and obviously she'd made something of herself. According to what I'd learned at the COLA, Annabeth was not only the architect of Olympus, but had also fought in two wars and was a council member as well.
She sounded...well, she sounded exactly like the person I wanted to be.
"This is the guest room. Sorry, it's a bit small." Percy said, opening a door at the end of the first floor hallway.
I stepped inside. It was cute little room, with a double bed taking up most of the space, a small cupboard and a little door which probably led to the bathroom. The colour scheme in here was brown and crème and it felt like home.
"Thanks" I told Percy who said "I'll bring you some of Annabeth's old clothes."
He left and returned a few minutes later with a small pile of clothes.
"Thanks" I told him, taking the offered pile.
"No problem." he replied, and walked over to the door. Before he left, I burst out:
"Percy? Why are you all being so nice to me?"
Percy turned around with a surprised expression on his face. "What makes you say that?"
"It's just...I'm just some mortal from a tiny little town who's gotten herself into trouble. And you're all so...important." I don't know what made me say it, but somehow I had to get it off my chest. Why was everybody so kind to some girl they didn't know?
Percy remained silent for a moment and then replied, with a sad sort of smile on his face:
"Maybe it's because all of us know what it's like to feel alone."
And with that, he closed the door.

Long chapie for you lovelies! I only own my OCs.
I'm sorry for any mistakes, but I don't have time to proof read at the mo, so I'll have to update it in a bit when I've got more time :)
Reviews are welcome!
xx