I hope you enjoy the very last filler chapter! I promise right after this the story is going to start picking up pace.

A light, cold breeze blew across the slope sending a shiver down Percy's spine. He pulled the collar of his thick, blue coat closer and hunkered further into it. Despite the sun peaking out over the mountaintop, it was unbelievably chilly. He and his three friends were sat around a table on the stone patio outside a building called the "Base Lodge." They had made it up the mountain and he and Jason had each rented skiing equipment to use.

Annabeth had declined in favor of discussing with Grover how to go about indoctrinating the new demigod, and currently was warming her hands around a paper cup of steaming hot cocoa. He and Jason were supposed to "take a few runs" with her, which Percy was worried was going to be a nearly impossible feat. Neither of them had been on a ski slope before, and the risk of total failure was high. It was a risk they had to take, however, for the sake of saving the kid's life from dangerous creatures that lurked in the shadows.

"Any idea when she's going to show up?" Jason asked, rubbing his hands up and down his arms in an attempt to create more warmth. His breath hung in the air as he spoke.

"Uh, should be soon," Grover answered, sticking a hand into his own coat's pocket and fishing out his phone. "I'll send her a quick message to see where she's at,"

Percy watched Grover's fingers click over his digital keyboard, a level of boredom beginning to settle in. The group had been waiting almost ten minutes already and it was starting to get on his nerves.

"Ok, she's almost here. She said that she got caught up at work but is only a minute or so away now," Grover announced, shoving his phone away.

"Work?" Annabeth asked, "She has a job?"
"Yeah, up here. There's a little, local ski and snowboard rental shop up here that she works part time at," he answered, "She should be coming down that slope there, soon," he pointed to the one directly ahead of them.

From where they sat, three different ski runs filtered into one main hub of action. Chair One, the chairlift to the top, sat to their right. Chair Two, a lift that took them to some more intermediate runs, was opposite and in front was Chair Six, a lift that ran up a small, beginner style slope.

"This chair lift heads up towards the 'Village,' the place with all sorts of stores and restaurants and stuff," Grover explained.

"Wow, Grover. You're really getting to know this place," Annabeth stated with a tone that indicated she was slightly impressed.

"Yeah, well, our little demigod friend drags me up here every weekend. She doesn't make me actually ski or anything, on account of my legs, but she says it's good to have company anyway," he replied, "And speak of the devil,"

Percy followed Grover's gaze up the slope, where he could see a figure carving 'S' shapes into the mountain with their turns. He assumed this must be who they were looking for. It wasn't long before the rider was at the bottom, unstrapping their snowboard from their feet, and walking over to where the group sat. Grover gave a big wave as they walked clearer and Percy got a better look at the snowboarder.

They couldn't have been much taller than Annabeth, and any facial features were obscured by a black helmet and pair of goggles settled over their head, and a grey neck gaiter pulled up over their mouth.

"Hey, Grover!" the person called, using one gloved hand to push the goggles up and away from their eyes, which were a soft blue and crinkled in the corners from a smile that must've been forming. They then yanked down the gaiter so as to speak clearly, revealing a freckle covered nose that spread out across their cheeks. Percy noticed he was write in assuming that the person had been smiling when he saw the excited grin forming on their face.

"Hi, Maira," Grover answered, "Guys, this is Maira Driscoll," he announced. Maira took her snowboard and propped it up against a nearby rack, then reached over and shook each of their hands as they listed off their own names.

"Annabeth Chase,"
"Jason Grace,"

"Percy Jackson,"

"Cool to meet you all," she declared, "Grover doesn't tell me a whole lot about where he moved from so it's sweet to meet some of his friends,"

Annabeth smiled, amused, at the almost surfer-esque way she spoke.

"It's nice to meet you, too," she said, "Grover's told us about you," Maira cracked another smile.

"All good, I hope," she joked. Grover chuckled.

"What good?" he asked. Maira pretended to ignore him.

"So, who's riding with me today?" she asked, "Not Grover, I know that,"

"Jason and Percy, actually," Annabeth answered, giving her boyfriend a little nudge. Maira nodded, already heading towards her board. Percy begrudgingly grabbed his helmet off the table, and Jason did the same.

"Awesome. How about you guys buckle in and we'll head right over there," she pointed to chair one, "We'll catch up with you two later. Just send us a text," Grover gave a small wave and Annabeth gave a mock motivational "Good luck," as the two headed towards where they'd left their equipment.

To say the journey to the line was ungraceful was an understatement. While Maira propelled herself forward with ease, one foot strapped into the board and one pushing, Jason and Percy struggled to get their own momentum started. They shuffled their skis, shoved with the poles, and even tried so far as to crawl their way to the line.

Maira gave them both a little "Good job," and "Hey, if it was easy everyone would do it," when they filed into place next to her.

"So," Percy started, "Maira…" he trailed off, his mind going blank in trying to think of a good question.

"Yeah?" she responded, not paying him full attention as the line shuffled forward.

"Do you have…. Any…. pets?" he finally came up with. Stupid brain. That's not a hepful question, just a weird one.

"Uh, no. I can't say that I do," she answered, "My… Jim is allergic to animal hair so I can't really have a dog or anything,"

"Jim?" Jason asked, intrigued by the strange hesitation.

"He's my, I guess you could say my Step-Dad," she answered, obviously not wanting to delve deeper into the subject with her clipped tone. The line moved forward again.

"Oh," was all Percy could add, then "My ex step father was pretty lame if that helps at all," Maira didn't answer. Jason and Percy shared a look, both at a loss.

"Hey, look, we're almost at the front already," she interjected, pushing forward again. Jason and Percy followed, and soon the third of them were seated on a chair, the safety bar was lowered in front of them, and they were being carried away up the mountain.

"So, Step Dads. Am I right?" Percy tried to joke.

"Do you have a step mom, too? On the other side of things?" Jason asked, wincing at the sound of his own words. The two were fully aware they were pushing things, but after Grover had described his difficulty getting any straight answers out of her about anything they'd decided to head right into the heart of everything.

"Uh, no," she answered, her cheery demeanor from earlier completely gone, "No, I don't even actually know my biological Dad, so that's… fun,"

And that was when the chairlift grinded to a halt.