Percy
A while after Nico and Marc had left for Camp, I checked with Tessa to see if she'd be alright if I went to one of the other towns nearby. It was a few miles, but that was fine. I wanted to check it out, we'd only visited the closest town so far.
It was eight or nine now, and I was just walking through the streets of the town, listening to the sounds of the town at night. It was a fairly big place, and I saw a park up ahead and smiled. It looked empty, and would be a nice place to take a break from walking.
I got to the park, but noticed a small figure walking down the sidewalk beside the park hurriedly. I took a closer look and saw it was a little girl, with a frightened look on her face. I walked over into her path as she closer in and stopped her carefully, kneeling down to be at eye level with the girl.
"You alright?" I asked, naturally concerned for the little kid. She couldn't have been older than eight, if that.
Her eyes widened at me and she tried to take a step back, in a panic. I rested my hands firmly on her shoulders, but rubbed them gently to comfort her. "It's okay, just here to help." I told her, smiling.
She glanced over her shoulder and I noticed a very tall, burly figure a little ways away from us. I got a good view of the stranger and my heart quickened a little nervously.
"Is that guy giving you trouble?" I whispered. She nodded slowly, biting her lip.
"Hey kid, do you see anything weird about that guy, like his face?"
"You wouldn't believe me." She murmured, in a fearful little voice.
I smirked, "One eye?" I queried, recognizing the signs of her heritage. Her eyes widened at me, "You see that?" she gasped, I nodded at her. "Don't worry kiddo, doesn't mean you're nuts, just means you're like me." I said, smiling. "You live near here? I'll walk you home."
She looked back over her shoulder and I chuckled, pulling out Riptide in pen form and twirling it in plain view of the Cyclops following her, its eye widened in recognition and I gave it my best death stare.
"Oh, he'll leave you alone now, he's scared of us." I whispered to her, grinning.
I held out my hand and she grabbed it for reassurance. "Lead the way kiddo, and uh, what's your name?"
She looked up at me, a small smile playing on her lips, "Millie" she said, walking off and pulling me along with her.
"Alright Millie, I'm Percy."
She looked back, "Why do all the weird things follow me?" she asked, I shrugged, "You ever hear anything about the Greek Gods?" Millie shook her head, "Well, they were a bunch of immortal people from Greece a long time ago, and they're still around today, and sometimes they have kids." I said, going for the simple version, considering Millie was still somewhere in her early elementary years.
"The weird things are monsters that try to hurt those kids, and since you can see them and they follow you, you're a kid of one of those Gods, just like me."
Her eyes got wide, "You mean my mommy is a God?"
I shrugged, "Have you ever met your mom?" She shook her head, "Daddy said she had to leave."
I smiled at her, "Well then yea, your mommy is a Goddess, I dunno which, but we'll find out eventually. Alright?"
She nodded enthusiastically, tugging me forward faster, "We're almost home!"
Millie pulled us along to the doorway of one of the houses in the street and pulled out a key, she stuck it in the lock and opened the door slowly, going in. I followed slowly, 'cause I had to talk to her dad.
"Daddy! I'm home!" A fairly young man walked into the entryway and I noticed a few similarities between him and his daughter, the light brown hair, though his was cut short, while Millie's was long and wavy. He had dark green eyes though, not the golden brown that his daughter had.
"Why were you out so late Millie?" he asked, his voice full of worry, he noticed me and raised an eyebrow, "Who are you?"
Millie giggled, "This is Percy! he walked me home."
Her dad looked at me strangely, expecting an explanation.
"I was uh, walking around, and saw some weird guy following your daughter, so I offered to walk her home because he was freaking her out." I said, looking at Millie as she nodded to her dad to say it was true.
"Well, erm, thank you Percy." He said hesitantly.
"Um, sir," I chipped in, "Would it be alright if I talked to you for a minute… about the man who was following her?"
He paused, before sighing, "Sure." Millie's father turned to her, "Why don't you go to your room while I talk to Percy?" he suggested, and she nodded and rushed up the stairs.
He turned back to me, waiting expectantly.
"There was something really strange about the guy following her, has she had any, weird things happen to her in the past?"
He sighed in resignation, "You're a demigod, aren't you?"
I was taken aback by his accusation, but he didn't seem angry, just more like he knew it was bound to happen. I nodded in response. "A Cyclops was stalking her, I scared it off and offered to walk her home, because I knew she was a Demigod and figured I'd talk to you in case you didn't know"
He smiled sadly, "I've known since she was born, her mother never told me who she really was though"
The man in front of me looked really conflicted for a long moment of silence, where neither of us knew what exactly to say.
"I can go, if yo – " He cut me off.
"Can you take care of her?" he blurted out, "Protect her?" His eyes were full of sadness and worry.
"Uhh, I could. I have a small camp a few miles from here with some other Demigods, we could keep her safe, eventually take her to a place that's protected for Demigods to live."
He nodded, it looked like just thinking of sending Millie with me was painful, but he kept going, "I don't want to lose her, but I'm not going to keep her with me if it puts her in danger." I nodded in understanding. I remembered how hard it had been for my mom, how long she'd held on to me.
"Don't worry sir, I know it's tough. If you want, I can wait here while you go explain things to her, if you're sure about this."
He smiled in thanks and headed up the stairs. This would be an interesting addition to the camp…
It'll probably be hard for her to adjust and get used to it at first, so I knew I'd have to keep a close eye on her to make sure she was safe.
About ten minutes later he came back down, Millie following him. She had a backpack with her and looked teary eyed, but better than you'd expect of a little kid being sent away with a random guy by their dad.
He gave me a small forced smile, handing me some swiss money. "Figure you and your friends could use it. I packed some food and medicine in her backpack too, just in case." I smiled back at him thankfully, "Thank you, it means a lot."
He nodded, looking over at his daughter for a moment, "If you or anyone else with you is ever around here and needs somewhere to stay, my door is open." He said, putting out his hand to shake, "My name is Theo Fullam, by the way. Her full name is Melissa, she just prefers Millie for some reason." He smiled when he talked about his little daughter.
I put my hand on his shoulder instinctively, "We'll take care of her, and hopefully we'll be able to bring her to visit once and a while. Don't worry." It was the best assurance I could really offer him.
Theo backed up from him slowly, nodding to Millie. She came up to me and I knelt down, smiling.
"You're going to take care of me?" she asked, with wide eyes. I nodded, putting out my hand. "Here, I'll carry the bag for you."
She took off the small pack and handed it over, and I slung it over my shoulder, then stood up, holding my open hand out for her to take. "Come on Millie, we have a little ways to go, and its late." She nodded wordlessly, then turned hesitantly before running back to hug her dad. I smiled sadly at the display, but said nothing.
She let go reluctantly and came back over to me, taking my hand.
I opened the front door and walked out, heading towards the edge of the town to reach the forests.
Millie's dad watched us go until we were out of sight.
Once we reached the forest though, I heard a loud yawn and looked down, seeing Millie putting a hand over her mouth. I smiled softly and stopped. She didn't notice and kept going until my hand tugged her back, and she looked up at me quizzically.
"Tired?" I asked, and she nodded, mumbling a quiet 'yes'.
I reached down and picked her up to carry her, and she didn't try and refuse it, instead just resting her small head on my shoulder and closing her eyes.
I continued walking through the forest, rubbing the little girl's back comfortingly almost as an instinct.
She had definitely fallen asleep right away, so the rest of the walk back to camp was quiet. It was past midnight now, but so far, no monsters, and we were only a few minutes away from where the camp was set up. I could even see the faint glow from the fire.
Nico spotted me, and he was outside at the fire with Tessa. They both got up as I closed in on the camp, small smiles on their faces when they noticed the little kid in my arms. I smiled at the both of them when I was close, "Meet Millie Fullam, our newest addition." I said, adjusting the girl a little bit.
Tessa looked like she was already smitten with the six year old sleeping on my shoulder, "Can't wait to meet her officially." She said, grinning.
Nico, on the other hand, was smirking like he knew something I didn't. I ignored the look on his face, "I'm gonna go put her in bed, are Marc and Jake asleep?" I asked.
Tessa laughed, "We sent them to bed hours ago, but they're probably awake, talking about video games and training. They're kids, after all."
I grinned, "Well, sometimes it's okay to be a kid." I carried a pointed glance at Nico, who smiled a little, remembering that conversation.
I turned from them and took Millie into the bunk room, I nodded to Marc and Jake, who, as predicted, were lying on one of the bunks talking animatedly about whatever came to mind. ADHD did that to you.
When they saw I had someone sleeping in my arms, they hushed to whispers, which I was thankful of, I gently placed Millie on one of the bunks and put the covers over her, then turned to the boys. "Try to keep it down?" I pleaded, they both nodded at me and went back to their conversation.
I turned and left the room, pausing between the entrances to the bunk room and my room, looking over to the exit of the tent. Wondering if I should go talk to Nico and Tessa before going to bed or not.
Admittedly, I was more than a little off guard when someone slammed into me from the direction of my room, wrapping their arms around me in a tight embrace. I tensed up reflexively for a moment, but my eyes registered the blonde curls the person had and I relaxed, wrapping my own arms around her and lifting her off the ground in the hug.
"Annabeth" I managed.
"I missed you, Seaweed Brain." She whispered into my ear.
My smile broadened as I leaned into the embrace further. Even with everything that was going on with Gods being out to get me and having to be in hiding, Annabeth being here made it perfectly okay. I honestly didn't care if Zeus was looking for me so he could blast me. I had everything I needed.
"You're probably tired," she guessed as we pulled back slightly, I let out a yawn at that moment to confirm her thought and smiled sheepishly. Annabeth just took my hand and pulled me into my room, smiling softly at me.