Incarnate
- #12

Mom wrung her hands and twisted the heavy but simple golden band on her finger. For a second, he could see a bit of Reyna in her - or, perhaps, a bit of his mother in Reyna - as she played with her hands and drummed her fingers on the tabletop, switching between the motions. It was a habit he'd picked up from her, his hands unable to stay still.

"Here you go," the waitress said, appearing out of nowhere and setting down two coffees, scaring the crap out of Percy.

"Thanks," he told her when his mom said nothing.

"No problem. And your orders will be right out, sir." He grinned at the plastic cup filled with a latte and whipped cream. Yum. Across from him, his mother stopped playing with her fingers and smiled, relaxing a little at the smell of fresh, hot coffee - she preferred the regular kind with a little milk.

"So," he started, trying to bring conversation up. "Why are we meeting here?" He gestured to the small coffee and breakfast shop and outside, the bustling New Yorkers even though it was sometime in the morning.

"I wanted to talk to you about something," she began nervously, blowing a wave of steam with her drink. "and I wanted to see you again, Percy." The words struck a chord in him; he frowned, thinking of the war.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "for leaving, I mean. I thought..." he trailed off, thinking.

"No, don't apologize," she said, shaking her head. "It's not your fault, darling." Her mind was drifting, though; she had her thinking face on, the kind that Percy had inherited when he thought of things.

"Mom," he said quietly, reaching across the table to grip her hands. They were warm and nice, and he held them tightly. "What's wrong?" A flash of alarm flitted across her face. She shook her head again, strands of hair moving back and forth on her shoulders.

Their waitress - Julie - interrupted again. "Um, the waffle sandwich and a plate of pancakes with maple syrup?" He nodded at her, and she put them down, leaving. Oh, gods, it smelled good.

"Nothing's wrong, honey," she said quietly. "I just thought... I just thought you deserved to know." Percy's heart hammered wildly in his chest. What could of happened that would make his mom this nervous? She hadn't been this nervous since.. since they'd told Paul about the demigod world.

"Know what?" he pressed. She looked him in the eye, calm and a bit worried but happy.

"You.. you have a new baby sister," she admitted quietly. The thoughts of eating suddenly flew out the window. He jerked back, startled at the sudden thought. A new baby... sister? Another... another person in the family? A sister.

He sucked in a breath, aware of Sally watching him, trying to discern his reaction. He swallowed and tried to speak.

"Wow," he said. "Uh, that's- that's great, Mom." She slumped in relief, grabbing a fork.

"You're not mad?" she asked. He shook his head, mystified, suddenly hungry again for the waffle sandwich - which was extremely good: two small waffles with eggs and bacon and cheese in between them.

"No, of course not," he reassured. "Just surprised. When can I.. when can I see her? Wait, no, what'd you name her?" Mom suddenly looked guilty and a little sheepish.

"Well," she began. "I thought to name her Persephone, but Paul was adamant on the name Sarah for some reason, so her full name is now Persephone Sarah Jackson-Blofis." He raised an eyebrow, grinning and taking a bite of his breakfast. Imagine.. a month ago, he didn't even know if he was going to see his mom ever again. And now, they were sitting in a cafe eating breakfast and talking about a new sibling. His mind spun.

"Persephone Sarah Jackson-Blofis," he repeated. "Really, Mom? Persephone? Are you determined to nickname all your kids Percy?" Her mouth puckered into an 'o' shape.

"I hadn't thought of that," she said slowly. "but I thought it was a nice name. And Paul's looking after her now; we thought it was best to tell you first." The thoughts kept coming, but he managed to find the excitement hidden in all of them.

He'd walked through hell and fought a bunch of hateful non-humans, and then came back home to find out that his mom - who he hadn't seen in over a year - now had a kid. Thinking of all the demigods who hadn't made it back, he was extremely lucky. And grateful.

He bounced up and down in his seat, taking bites of his sandwich while he did and finishing in no time. "Let's go let's go let's go," he almost yelled. "I have a sister, Mom. A sister!"

She just threw her head back and laughed, eyes sparkling. "Come on, Percy Number One," she said when she'd finished her breakfast. "Let's go home."

Home was probably the most emotional thing he could think of. Standing outside of the Jackson-Blofis residence while his mom searched for her keys in her bag and staring at the blue welcome mat and the blue door, he almost started crying. Home. He was home.

Two minutes later, they were then officially home.

"Mom," he whispered, reaching out a hand and supporting himself with the back of the sofa. "Mom." She came and wrapped her arms around him and hugged him, standing there for a little bit before he said he was okay.

They crept through the house towards the master bedroom, and as they walked through the hall, he trailed his fingers on the wall and stared at the framed pictures of him and his friends. Annabeth was there in a lot of them. So was Grover. There were a lot of camp photos, too, of the Stolls and Clarisse pulverizing Chris in a water gun fight and Katie and just everyone.

"Here," Sally said, pushing their door open. Paul was actually fast asleep, snoring away on a chair next to a small, baby blue-painted crib. He stumbled towards it, taking every detail in. The air left his lungs in a whoosh.

Paul looked older, his peppered hair maybe more grey-streaked than brown. But what caught his attention was the young girl in the crib, still wide awake unlike her father, dark eyes bright and clear and happy.

She didn't make much noise, just a soft gurgling. He smiled, approaching and leaning over so he could see her. She gurgled more at the sight of him, and when he moved his hand closer, she grabbed his finger.

The thought crossed his mind so fast he barely had time to process it: Bianca.

He picked her up easily, the instinct coming from all the younger campers, and just holding her up so he could see her better. Persephone was a cute baby, with dark, brown eyes and chubby cheeks. Her hair was nothing but fuzz, though he noted it was dark brown like his mom's. He sucked in a breath.

Bianca. The thought lingered on his mind. Could it really be..?

He looked at her again, pressing his lips to her head and smiling. He could see it. He could almost feel it, in a weird sort of way, like he could see her in this little girl, a flash of silver spirit. The grin spread across his face, and he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.

Oh, yes. He'd protect the sister.

Headcanon #12 - Percy comes back after the war and finds out that he has a little sister, who is Bianca reborn.

Oh, gods. Does anyone else ever look back and think: What the hell have I just written? Yeah. Half the story was about coffee and Sally. The other half was about depressing thoughts.

So I hope you liked the last sentence - and if you don't get what I mean by 'He'd protect the sister.' please say so. I'll be happy to explain.

Whoo! BoO cover is out - though I'm not very pleased. To my guest, I hope this was to your liking, and if you don't mind dropping a review telling me how you liked your submission being used, then by all means.

Send in your submissions! I'm still taking them! (sorry for the wait, too, Camp NaNoWriMo)

achieving elysium