Growing Up Together

by Awesome one

second one to twist in time. Annabeth gets pregnant and this is about her and Percy growing with the child, taking care of it and such. Oh and of course what Athena does when she finds out!

17. the attic

Well as of now I still have no internet access so that means no posting for right now but I'm still clicking away at the keyboard. I'm also, oddly enough, camping and reading a lot. Has anyone in the house ever read a book called the Saint of Dragons? If not, read it. It's a wonderful little book. I love it. And if anyone is going to come to Oregon to camp anytime soon might I suggest Cow Creek or perhaps Watson Falls? Beautiful this time of year. Just bring mosquito spray. Heh, heh. Go Doors!

Disclaimer-Don't own, never will…..well I might own the day war becomes a word that is non-existent and everyone loves everybody but seeing as that will never happen guess I'm not gonna own huh?

"No. Freaking. Way. No! Dad no! Mom tell him that's crazy nuts out of mind not okay! Tell him!" Annabeth squirmed on the couch next to her husband who was staring definitely at his daughter Erin who was so strongly refusing him.

"Erin, I actually agree with your father 100% on this. Either we go, or you don't." Erin's jaw looked like it was going to hit the floor it was open so wide.

"Kiley are you hearing this!" At being addressed Kiley picked her head up realizing suddenly there was a conversation going on.

"Hmmm? Oh yeah, Erin there is nothing we can do. If mom and dad want to come they are going to."

"But its not safe! What if the Boss finds out we are betraying him, with good reason of course that stupid jerk, and he sends bad guys after us? What then? Mom and Dad could get killed! You want that on your shoulders Kiley?"

"Of course not Er-"

"Then-" Percy cleared his throat bringing the rooms attention to himself.

"Stop right there. Your acting like your our parents, trying to keep us safe. We are never safe kids. Your mother and I have done some seriously dangerous stuff over our years. We got stuck in an old love ride full of spiders-" Annabeth smacked Percy's arm.

"We don't use the S word in this house. I hate those things. You know that." Percy rolled his eyes at his wife.

"Anyway, we almost got killed there. Then a year later your mother was almost killed by a crazy Cyclops relative of mine trying to get the golden fleece to save camp. Oh and I got turned into a genuine pig on the way there! Another year later we go to get Nico and Bianca from their school and we are all almost killed and your mother gets throw off a cliff with the Dr. Thorn jerk. We both, your mother and I, held the sky. Year after that we battled the Labyrinth to save camp from an invasion which came anyway and we had a battle in the forest. We fought Kampê! You know who that is! Big angry spider lady with giant poison swords! Not very nice. And the year of my 16th birthday I had to get in the river Styx. Tell me that's not dangerous. That was not a fun experience! And we had a war. A full out war. Half-bloods won. 'Cause we're awesome like that. So don't go telling us whats safe and what's not." Annabeth looked at Percy closely through narrowed eyes.

"You just said all that stuff to make yourself look better didn't you?" He smiled and kissed her cheek.

"Duh. So what is your decision kids?" Kiley bit her lip while Erin folded her arms stubbornly.

"They say yes you can go, "Trenton said with a smile, " 'Cause I've always wanted to the fight along side the famed Annabeth and Percy."

"Well we are a bit rusty. We haven't fought since we had Kiley and Erin. We haven't even been to camp. Oh I miss camp, I wonder whats been going on….."

"Well you'll see soon 'cause that's where we are going. After we get Melanie of course, that's where we are taking her."

"Awesome. Lets go tell Thals and Nico." Everyone got up and headed down the flight of stairs that lead to the pool. The pool sat all by its self in concrete with blue tiles that had gold wave patterns on them. Though the pool itself was made of glass, two thick layers of it actually. The first layer had sea water in it with a bunch of fish that you could see swim around. The second layer was the flooring and walls of the pool. Floor to ceiling windows surrounded the pool and there was the occasional pool chair around the water. Nathan was still seated in a pool chairs with his feet in the water and Thalia was laying on the floor staring at the ceiling. Nico was pacing and Brennion was sitting on the ground watching his father with a smile. Kiley let herself sit down by Brennion, weary of touching him so she wouldn't tell her parents of two secrets in one day. He gave her a small smile. Erin sat on the ground beside Nate in his chair and laid her head on the arm rest of the chair, closing her eyes and letting out a prolonged breath. Annabeth laid next to her good friend Thalia and Percy waded into the pool, his eyes becoming suddenly brighter once the water touched his skin. The Bay's sat on the floor with mostly everyone else. Kiley decided to start things off.

"The Boss called. He wants us to kill Melanie right now." Thalia sat up, frowning.

"I thought you said you don't kill half-bloods anymore Brennion."

"We don't, but our ex-boss doesn't know that. He gives us the order, we nod, and bring the one we are supposed to kill to camp. That was the plan for tomorrow anyway, sounds ruined to me. Guess we have to leave then huh?" Kiley nodded.

"But my mom and dad want to come. Well not want, are saying they will come. Or we don't go." From behind Nico stopped pacing.

"Well me and Thals are coming too!" Nathan turned and gave his father a glare that only the di Angelo's could seem to do, it ran in the family. Passed down from generation to generation. Or at least, that's what Annabeth had said right after Nico had given her said glare.

"No dad, no way. I don't want to have to worry for you and the new girl Melanie at the same time." Nico looked hurt.

"What you don't think your pops can take care of himself? I was fighting and summoning the dead before my voice had even changed thank you very much!"

"He sounded like one of those talking chipmunks." Thalia said with a laugh. Nico glared at his wife making her smile all the more brighter.

"Irrelevant Thalia," Nico grumped, "The point is, we want to come and we are. That's that." Brennion couldn't help it, he laughed. Kiley was so startled by the sound of his laughter in the middle of a fight like this she fell in the pool, making him laugh even more.

"What's so funny!" She demanding, pushing her wet hair out of her face. He grinned, flexing his arm muscles which weren't like one would expect. They were lean, from a distance he would look very skinny as if he had no muscle at all but in truth Brennion was all muscle, he just wasn't beefy.

"I think they want to come just to see us in action," He turned to his mom and shoved her in the pool, "Don't get to jealous now mommy!" He broke off laughing harder than before. Thalia surfaced with a shocked gasp of the cold, unexpected venture into the pool. She looked around, as if she couldn't focus since the cold shock of the water, but she saw her laughing son and pointed her finger at him.

"You are so in trouble for that!" but Brennion paid no attention to his mothers threats and got up with a grin.

"Excuse me ladies," He said to the woman in the pool (Percy had gotten out as soon as Kiley had fell in) bowing cordially, "but I need to go get my swords. Come on Nate, you come with. Dad you got something to fight with?" Nico's face lit up in a wicked grin.

"Oh yeah, I've haven't used that baby in a long time. Your gonna love it. Come with me." The boys gave their father a look, concerned for his mental state, but obeyed and they left the pool room for upstairs.

"I'm good," Percy said pulling a pen out of his pocket, "I got what I need right here." Erin walked over to her father and took the pen out of his hand. She looked at it carefully, turning it in her hands.

"Anaklusmos right? From your story? But dad, this is a pen," She shook it in his face, "A pen. I could go buy one at the store down the street for like a dollar. This isn't going to do you any good. You can't fight evil with cheep ink. 'Rawr, I shall ink you!' No. Doesn't work like that. Sorry." Percy rolled his eyes and took his pen back from Erin, tactfully shaking his head like he knew more than he was letting on.

"Anaklusmos yes, Riptide in English. And stop talking to me like that-"

"Like what?"

"Like…like you know more about fighting than me! Trust me when I say I know plenty about fighting! To much probably. And anyways, this pen has kept me, your mother, Thalia, Nico, and the whole of western civilization alive! Don't be dissin' the pen. Watch." Erin watched her father click the pen and expected nothing to happen but the tip of the pen to come out so he could, like, write a letter or something. But that's not what happened. Instead the pen grew in his hands into a sword made of bronze. The sword was about as long as his arm and simple Greek standard, leather wrapped hilt, flat cross guard, and a long double edged blade. Kiley jumped out of the pool grinning like a madman and shaking her fist at the sword.

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" She yelled excitedly, laughing a little even. She slapped the flat edge of the blade and gave her father a smile, "Just like in your books! The pen that turned into a sword! So those were all true?" She turned to her mother who was watching over things with a funny look. "And mom, do you have a hat that makes you super fast!"

"Invisible, actually," Annabeth shot her husband the trademark glare, "Your father didn't tell the whole truth. He didn't want people knowing it was about us. Not that it mattered because Rick wrote books about us anyway."

"Not my fault," Percy said, putting the pen back in his pocket and shrugging, "Minor god of literature, Athena's son. He was good with words. And a stalker. And then they had to go and make that movie, luckily your mom talked to director and he changed things up a bit. Which, again, the movie wasn't my fault either. It was still Rick's for writing the books." Annabeth rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Whatever Seaweed Brain. I still blame you." Erin quirked her eyebrow at her mother.

"Seaweed Brain? What is that all about?" The couple smiled at one another, sharing one of those lovey dovey inside joke smiles which made both Erin and Kiley make gagging sounds.

"So anyway," Kiley prompted to get her parents to stop giving each other those looks, "You have a hat that turns you invisible? That's pretty much the coolest thing ever mom. Where is it? How did you get it?" Annabeth frowned, looking deep in thought.

"Last time I checked it was in storage in the attic. We put all our half-blood stuff up there hoping you kids wouldn't find it. As for how I got it, it was a gift from my mother-"

"Grandma Athena." Erin interrupted. Their mother nodded.

"She gave it to me while I was on the run when I was seven." Kiley and Erin gave each other confused looks.

"On the run?"

"I ran away from home when I was seven. But that is a long, long story we don't need to get into right now. I mean, we have to go save this Melanie character don't we? Come with me to the attic." The girls didn't argue when their mother got up, taking her husbands hand, and walking up the stairs to the second floor. Though as they followed they mouthed to each other, Mom ran away!

ó ó ó ó

The attic was a place neither Erin nor Kiley had even been. It was also a place that was clearly never cleaned and used for the soul purpose of throwing junk in. A fine layer of dust coated everything and there was a whole lot of something for that dust to cover. Boxes, stacked upon each other high enough to reach the ceiling, were all over, some labeled in English some in Greek. There were glass jars sitting on a shelf by a window so caked in dust it couldn't be seen through any longer. In the jars, though, were different colored scales. One jar had golden scales in it, another had grey blue two-toned scales, pearl colored ones, slime green, sickly yellow, there were some that were even slightly glowing like a purple ember. All of them labeled in Greek, written on a piece of tape that was on the jars lid. Each had a different name. Though you couldn't read them because dust covered the titles. Kiley ran her thumb over one of the jars that held crimson scales in it, feeling the dust coat her skin like a sealant protection on wood. Her mother came up behind her, looking over her shoulder to see what Kiley was doing.

"What does it say?" She asked offering her mother the jar. Annabeth gave her daughter a knowing look, something she did a lot, a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. She reached over Kiley's shoulder and plucked the jar out of her daughters grasp.

"It says 'Firespitter'. That was the dragon's name. I killed this one. When your father and I were 17, in our junior year, the gods had given us a quest to collect the scales of 15 different dragons. In return the god Hephaestus would make us armor from the scales we collected. We accepted as you can see," Annabeth set the jar down and moved down the line, Kiley following her mother. Though the 15th jar was empty.

"Mom, this one, it has no scales in it." Kiley picked it up and ran her thumb over the tape on the lid. Written in permanent marker was one word that made Kiley's heart spin out of control in fear for her parents. The name on the tape was Draco.

"Actually, Kiley honey, there is. They just are kinnda invisible until the moon comes out. You know, because Draco is a star and all. He's a night dragon. And a tricky ol' bugger…" As Kiley held the jar something begin to shimmer in the jar like water until a small cluster of scales materialized in the jar. They were every color and no color at the same time. They played with your eyes, it was like looking for something that wasn't there but was actually there, just hiding. A mirror image of a ghost which can't appear in a mirror. Kiley had a newfound respect for her parents.

"You fought Draco? Isn't he like…undefeatable? If I remember right, not even Hercules could fight him." Annabeth made a growling kind of scoffing sound and set the jar back in its place.

"Bah, Hercules, what does he know. All he did was go around beating stuff up and making himself look good. No, we never fought Draco Kiley, we played a game with him. A game of riddles. Dragon's do adore their riddles, the older, wiser ones like Draco did anyway. If we guessed his first five riddles correctly we could have as many of his scales as we wished, if we guessed them wrong we were to be his evening course before he went back to the stars for his nightly duty." Annabeth looked at the jars lining the shelf wistfully. The room seemed to be filled with her parents past and the nostalgic air about everything was making her mother sad for the old days. It made Kiley sad as well because she knew she was the reason her parents weren't out here kicking butt right now, as she stood there. Shyly Kiley took light hold of her mothers hand and held the same arm of the hand she held with her other hand, looking into her mothers grey eyes with her own.

"And did you guess them correctly mom?" Annabeth smiled smally.

"But of course, if I hadn't would I be standing here? Me or your father? I'm a child of Athena, riddles are my thing." She winked at Kiley and pulled her hand out of her daughters weakly protective grip, walking over to her husband and laid a hand on his back as he was bent over looking through a box roughly the same size as he was. He turned, a bit of dust smudged on his cheek, and smiled at Annabeth making her smile back and laugh at his dust smudge. With sudden realization that Kiley should have already known, she realized her parents loved each other. Like, truly honestly loved one another. And how could they not? She glanced back at the jars. They had been through a lot together. And they had always been there for each other. There was so much of her parents past Kiley didn't know about but she knew, for a fact, that her parents were a team that was unbeatable and wonderful. That, at least, made her smile.

While her parents went through the tall box together, laughing at the contents, Kiley roamed around the attic. She poked at boxes here and there, finding the contents of zero interest. Well, mostly anyway, some of the stuff was pretty funny. For instance, there was a glass case in a white cardboard box filled with packing peanuts. Inside the case was a pink scarf that looked to be made of the finest silk. There was a little bronze plate under the scarf that said "APRHODITES SCARF. WARNING: DO NOT TAKE FROM GLASS, LOVE MAGIC WILL ENSUE. FOUND BY ANNABETH CHASE AND PERCY JACKSOON, THRILL RIDE OF LOVE" Kiley grinned at the glass, the pretty fabric inside, and set it back in the box. She figured it was better left here, questions unasked and unanswered. She kicked around, dust puffing up with each step, until her foot made contact with a chest. A wooden one with bronze trim and hinges. There was a bronze plack inlaid on the trunks lid that had the words "Camp Half-Blood" inscribed deep into the precious metal. Kiley's ADD was fighting her like a beast trapped inside her body, clawing at her ribs and throat to get out. It was also a monster of dark thoughts, whispering in her mind to open the chest. Her fingers begin to tremble slightly and her muscles twitched under her skin, palms itching as she craved to open the box and see what was hidden inside. Finally she caved in to her compulsive nature and fell to her knees in front of the chest. Checking to see if anyone was watching, which no one was, she unclasped the hinged and threw open the lid.

It fell open with ease and hung open on silver chains, revealing its treasures inside proudly. To anyone else, all the stuff that was inside would mean absolutely nothing, but to Kiley, she knew that all the things inside had a story of some sorts. The first thing that caught her eye was a horn of some kind of animal, it looked like a bull horn. From a very big bull, she guessed, because it was about the size of a large rolling pin. It was all black but faded to white at the bottom and it had a strap tied on it, like it had been hanging up on a wall at one time. She considered, because of that fact, it was probably important and laid it down gently, moving her attention back to innards of the chest.

The next thing she pulled out was a base ball cap. A New York Yankees cap to be precise. It looked pretty beat up, the bill was bent and there were a lot of stains in the fabric. Green stains and other gross colors. She had no desire to find out what those had been before they were stains. On the inside of the cap though, on the tag inside it, was written in neat cursive "property of Annabeth Chase" Kiley had a pretty good guess this was her mothers invisibility hat. She set it atop the bull horn. She would give it to her mother when she was done.

The rest of the things inside was just an odd assortment of things. A couple necklaces, one with more clay beads on the leather strap than the other that also had a ring on it. There was a wrist watch with a crack in the screen. A knife made of the same bronze her fathers sword had been made of. A sword with a blade black as night and six silver stars running up the middle of the blade where the blood groove would have been had it not been a bent sword as it was. A bottle of some intense sun block. A memory chip to a camera. A box of sharpened pencils and balled up blue prints. A leather vest with a few burn marks and slashes on it. A dog whistle the size of her fist. A couple orange shirts, like the ones incased in glass hanging in living room, only these were completely covered in signings from a bunch of people, not including Thalia Grace and Nico di Angelo, she didn't know. Though almost all the signatures were sloppy like the people who signed it couldn't read their own writing. The last thing in the chest was a box of pictures.

Kiley plucked a random picture out of the box and looked at it closely. It was old. Like before Kiley was born old. It was a group picture that her parents were in. They were all standing on top a hill in front of a very tall, very well kept pine tree. Annabeth was in Percy's arms, both of them smiling as the wind tugged at their hair. Thalia and Nico were laughing in the picture and leaning against the tree with a jaunty attitude. There was a couple standing beside Kiley's parents. A girl with stringy brown hair and a seriously toned body, like a base ball player, leaning on an even bigger guy that looked Mexican and sun bathed to the max with the whitest teeth she had ever seen. In the middle of the picture was a girl sitting cross legged on the ground with her head tilted sideways and a smile lighting up her face. The wind pulled her fire orange hair across her face, showing only her emerald green eyes. On the left of her was a short teen with blond hair and a crooked smile, his arms wrapped around the waist of a beautiful mahogany haired girl who had the dashing looks of a goddess. The last people she saw standing there was a man who was a goat from the waist from, standing beside a girl (maybe a woman, they both looked kinnda of older than they appeared) with elfish features and a warm smile. Mostly, all Kiley gathered from the picture, was that these were her parents friends from this camp. And that her parents looked very young. Very, very young. Her fathers hair in this picture was long and messy and her mother was wearing a pair of bright white short shorts, something she would never wear now. Her fathers hair was cut short and neatly combed now, nothing like the picture Percy. But aside from that, they looked mostly the same. They were the sort of the people the as they aged they only looked more beautiful to the eye.

Though, she noticed as she studied the picture longer, Nico and Thalia looked very different when they were young. Nico was dressed in all black, his hair disheveled and long. It nearly touched his shoulders, and oddly enough, he had side straps lining his jaw. Thalia, who was folded up underneath him as they both leaned up against the tree, wasn't far off. She wore tight, ripped jeans that were a grey and blue plaid and a black t-shirt with a logo on it she didn't recognize. Her hair was spiked with what looked like some kind of glitter gel, making her hair shimmer playfully in the sunlight. And her makeup was very thick, heavy on the eyeliner and heavy on the black. As opposed to the Thalia and Nico who were downstairs from the attic. Nico's ink black hair was long still, yes, but it was swept back from his face and didn't nearly reach his shoulders but a few inches past his ears instead and it was always brushed. He wore just regular jeans and a t-shirt but had a fondness for a particular aviators jacket he always wore. He had no side straps, in fact, he had no facile hair at all. He kept himself clean shaven. The only thing she recognized from the picture and now was a silver skull ring with ruby eyes. As for Thalia, she dressed nothing like her former self. Well, for the most part. She still wore rather tight, and oddly assorted, jeans but never with combat boots and she wore nice shirts that made her look more like a mother than a mother trying to look like a teenager. And she always wore her makeup thin and light, if she wore it at all. Her hair now was long and straight, reaching the middle of her back, but she usually kept it tied up. She looked like a mom, and the girl in the picture looked like a rebel teenager. It made Kiley smile so she folded it up and tucked it in her back pocket.

"Oh I see you found our old trunk from camp." The voice startled Kiley. She looked up to see her parents and sister looking down at her, Annabeth and Percy with amusement, and Erin with confusion.

"Ah, yeah I guess," Suddenly Kiley remembered something and fumbled for the cap, finally getting it in her grip, and offered it to her mother, "I found it in the box, is this the hat we came up here to find?" Annabeth smiled at the hat and took it from Kiley, greeting it like it was an old friend she had missed.

"Yes it is. Gods, I haven't seen this thing in ages. I wonder if it still works." Annabeth traced the NY on the hat with her smile still bighting up the dark, dusty attic. Percy wound his arms around his wife's waist and rested his chin on her shoulder, watching her with a smile to match hers.

"Why don't you try it and see?" She started to say something but he plucked the hat out of her hand and plopped it on her head. She vanished from sight. Kiley made a startled yelp and fell back into the now empty chest. Her legs stuck up in the air and the lid fell down on the back of her head. She heard her mothers laugh but didn't see the person it was originated from. It made Kiley uneasy.

"Ouch. Stupid box." Kiley complained. She tried to wiggle out of the box but her butt was stuck in the stupid thing, and the lid banged on her head every time she moved. Erin lifted the lid and pulled her sister out of the chest with a few yanks on Kiley's lengthy arms. Kiley popped out and the lid fell shut. Though Kiley came out with force and fell into her sister. The both of them went tumbling across the dusty floor, their parents laughing at them, until they hit something. Something that wasn't stable and had stuff inside it because it fell over on the girls. It was a box of blue prints. Kiley and Erin pushed the sheets of paper off them but more fell back on them, it was like being in a sand trap of papers. They were being buried alive!

"Percy go dig your daughters out before they go rolling around again and knock more boxes over." They heard Annabeth say with great amusement. There was another short laugh and Kiley felt papers being pulled off her until she saw her fathers face and he helped her into a sitting position.

"What the crap! What are all these things!" She picked one up and unrolled it. There was a sketch in white charcoal with a bunch of little distance equations scribbled on the side. The main thing though was it was a blue print for a statue of a woman in a very elegant evening gown, her hair was braided with flowers and had a few gold rings around the long hair that hung over the woman's shoulder. It was a Greek hair style for royally. Kiley knew that much. But what was it doing up here?

"Okay mom seriously what is this?" Annabeth frowned in confusion and walked over to her daughter, looking at the paper for a while before making a sound that meant she understood now.

"This is a blue print for Aphrodite's statue. This statue originally was supposed to go in her temple, it ended up in her palace. She liked it so much she wanted to see it every day she woke up. She-"

"Wait wait, what are you saying here? You designed things for the gods?" Her mother beamed with pride.

"I was, and am, the official architect of Olympus." Kiley's mouth fell open in shock.

"Shut up! So that's where you go to work everyday! Olympus!" Annabeth nodded.

"Holy crap," Erin said her eyes wide, "Our mom is the gods architect. Dude, that is so awesome." Annabeth laughed and shook her head at her daughters. The four of them finished up in the attic, Annabeth grabbing the knife, the sword, the camera chip, the necklace with the most beads and ring on it, and the hat from the box. Her father just grabbed the vest, the other necklace, and put the horn back in the chest after explaining to his daughters that it was the minotaur horn he had used to kill said monster with when he was 12. His first year of camp.

Meanwhile Nate, Brennion, and Izzy were all sitting on their parents bed in their parents room as Nico and Thalia dug through their closet. Izzy sat in her brother's lap, Nate, while she tugged on the frays of the shirt Brennion was wearing. He had changed into a shirt that he had ripped the sleeves off, a shirt he usually either fought or trained in. It was bugging Izzy though, that's why she was pulling on the frays hanging from the ripped sleeves. Nico was digging around the bottom of the closet looking for a long box that supposedly held his sword from his childhood. And Thalia was helping her husband because neither of them could find it. Finally, though, Nico yelled "YES!" and pulled out a long, black box. He brought it over to the bed and set it in front of his children who all leaned in to see what their father was so excited about.

The box was simple and not important, just a wood box covered in black felt. It was the contents of the box that was important. Nico threw back the lid and pulled a three foot long sword of the purest black any of them had ever seen from it. It radiated cold, the kids and even Thalia felt it lick their chicks with the cold of death. A cold you probably felt before you died or if you slept in a freezer. The blade was heart shaped with a black leather wrapped hilt, the cross guard simple as Percy's had been just died black with a skull set in the middle. The sword seemed to fit Nico's hand better than anything, it looked devastatingly wonderful in his grip.

"Stygian iron," He said running his free hand along the flat of the blade, "A sword made for a child of Hades, a child of the underworld. Oh yes, this bad boy has seen a few fights here and there. Love this sword." He grinned as he gripped the hilt with a white knuckled grip and glanced at his wife. Thalia smiled back, shaking her head at his childish behavior. Izzy, the poor little thing, was regarded quietly as everyone started talking about fighting and swords and what not. She crawled from Nate's lap across the bed and reached out. She had a desire to touch the blade her father loved so much. She was a curious little thing. Her fingertips brushed the blade sending a ripple of cold, raw power through her arms. She blinked a few times, fingers still on the blade, and glanced at the floor. It seemed to be speaking. Whispering more like. Saying silly things, contemptuous things, flirtatious and asinine things.

"Izzy no!" Thalia screamed finally noticing her daughter who was so very quiet and hard to notice. She pulled Izzy's touch away from the blade and scooped her up in her protective arms. The voices she heard were gone. Izzy looked from her mother who had a fear written on her face for her daughter to her father, who looked a little scared himself.

"Daddy why does the floor talk?" She asked innocently. Nico choked and fell back a step. Both Nate and Brennion, being dimwitted as they were, looked at the floor and tried to hear it speak. Of course they heard nothing.

"You…you heard the floor talk Izzy?" The small girl nodded and went to touch the blade again but Thalia snatched her hand back.

"Only when I touch that." Nico flipped the blade in his grip a few times before looking back at his small child.

"That's very interesting. Sounds like you can hear the dead like me honey."

"The dead?" Izzy's eyes grew wide as she glanced back at the floor. She was a smart little girl so she understood what her father was telling her. She hadn't heard the floor talking but the souls under the floor. Deeper, lower, trapped in Hades realm. Nico walked closer to his wife and his daughter and laid a hand atop his the girls head. She looked up at her father and they locked eyes. Nico, at that moment, understood why his daughter was so quiet. It was because she was like him, an outcast. A people that people hated. Someone who didn't understand the living very well but were always in the dead's non beating hearts and unthinking thoughts. He smiled at her and pulled her into the crook of his arm, she was small enough to do this. Izzy laid her head on her fathers shoulder, his long hair tickling her ear, and laid her tiny porcelain like hand over her fathers heart.

"I can hear daddy too. He goes bom, bom. And he talks louder and he is nice to Izzy. Every one in my class doesn't like to talk to Izzy nice." Nico looked up from his daughter to his wife, his face twisted with worry. Thalia had her hands over her mouth, tears shimmering in her eyes, while she looked at her daughter Isabelle. Little Izzy hardly spoke and she was the kind of person that when she did you listened because it was going to be something important. But that had taken everyone by surprise, it shouldn't have, but is was so endearing. So sincere. And the way she curled up in the crook of her fathers arm as he held his sword with his other hand at his side, her frail little hand over his heart and her eyes closed so she could hear his heart beat.

"Do…do people talk mean to you Izzy?" The girl nodded, not opening her eyes, "What do they say honey?" Izzy's nose scrunched up like it did when she was thinking hard.

"They say I'm not human. I'm a demon. Izzy is a demon because only demons can hear dead people. They say I'm to pretty to be human, Izzy is like a demon doll. They rip my dresses and trip me, they put worms in my hair and laugh at me. But Izzy doesn't care because she doesn't need to make enemy's with the bad kids. It isn't their fault they are to dense to see that by hurting Izzy they hurt themselves." The girl made a soft sigh and turned to her mother, looking at her with big purple gems of eyes and held out her arms. Thalia was crying now, most definitely. She hadn't known people were so cruel to her daughter. And her daughter was the better person every time. She knew her daughter wasn't one to lash out, especially when she was angry. She was most quiet then. She would simply get up and walk away, perhaps refuse to talk to them for weeks sometimes months. Thalia took Isabelle from Nico and hugged her tight against her chest, keeping her hand on the back of her head buried in the girls silk hair and touching her nose to the top of Izzy's head while she cried for her daughter.

"Don't be sad mommy," Izzy whispered, "Izzy doesn't mind. She likes that they are mean to her." Thalia gasped and pulled back so she could see her daughters face. Izzy tilted her head to the side, her hair falling across her cheeks and nose. She had a light splash of freckles across the bridge of her nose like her mother, making her cuteness factor go up by 10.

"How can you say that Izzy? They are so mean to you! Why do you like it!" Izzy traced her mothers lips, trying to make the purse in them go away. For a girl so small and so young she really did understand things bigger than her, better than even an adult at times. And she had a firm belief to touch everything if she was in doubt because whenever she touched something, she seemed to understand it better.

"Because they are mad mommy and if they be mean to Izzy, they wont be mad no more." Thalia closed her eyes. Her daughter was one of the kindest people she had ever met. And the girl was only 6 years old. (A/N I accidentally put that Izzy was 2 a few chaps back, forget that. I meant 6)

"Mommy? Is mommy mad at Izzy?" Thalia's eyes flew back open.

"No no, no honey. Of course not. I was just thinking. How bout we go have some ice cream?" There was a noise from the bed. Nico, who had just been standing there watching things proceed with Izzy and Thalia, looked over at it as Thalia did. Brennion was looking at them steadily and Nate was looking down, his fist gripping the bed spread tight enough to made his whole hands white.

"Sorry guys," Brennion said, glancing at his brother with a worried look, "but we have to go get Melanie first…..unless you changed your mind about coming?"

"I know I have." Nathan said in a steely voice, not looking up.

"What! You have to! You owe it to Hecate, if you don't-" Nate glared at Brennion, shutting him right up.

"No. I'm going go beat up the kids who were mean to my little sister!" Brennion opened his mouth to speak but Izzy beat him to it.

"No!" She screamed and jumped from Thalia's arms. She landed on the bed and with a surprising swiftness ran across it and tackled her angry brother. Of course it didn't knock him over, being tackled by Izzy was like having a stuffed animal thrown at your head by a baby. She hit him in the forehead with the palm of her hand and pointed a stern finger at him.

"You be nice! Nice Nathan! Not big meanie head! Bad Brother, bad!" Then she hugged him around the neck with a frown. Like the hug was his discipline and it was what he deserved for being a bad Nathan.

"She does have a point son," Nico said with as smile, putting his free arm around Thalia's shoulders, "You can't go beat up a bunch of 6 or 7 year olds. Now the three of you go down stairs while your mother and I get ready to go."

Nathan picked Izzy up and threw her around his shoulders by keeping his hand flat on the bottom of her foot. She grabbed onto him around his neck and giggled loudly. She loved this game. He grinned, though he was still a little angry, and ran down stairs making race car noises. Brennion got up and stood in the doorway.

"So I take it you two are still coming with?" He asked, his hand on the door handle. Nico wrapped his arms around his wife's waist from behind and kissed her cheek before going over to the closet. Thalia smiled at her husband and walked over to her son, placing a hand on his head.

"Yes we are. Wait down stairs for us." She glanced back at Nico with a sly smile. Brennion watched, and him being slow, finally caught on.

"EWWWWWWWWW! YOU NASTYS!" He slammed the door and ran down stairs as fast as he possibly could. Actually, he slid down the railing and stumbled through the living room he was running so fast and tripped over the table. Thalia walked back over to the closet and laid a hand on her husbands back, returning the kiss he had given her earlier.

"Whats with him?" He asked once she pulled her lips away. She slid her hand up his cheek into his thick hair and left it buried there.

"I'm not sure, he is your son." Thalia laughed at her self. Nico rolled his eyes and told her to help him find a pair of jeans that fit him in that hellish closet of theirs that gobbled up everything they put in it.

Downstairs Brennion was sitting on the kitchen floor where he had tripped over the table, he hadn't bothered to get up, fidgeting and shaking his head with a disgusted look on his face. Kiley walked into the kitchen to get some juice (she has an addition to juice one would find, she'll even gets up in the middle of the night to drink it-particularly grape juice) but as she was walking to the fridge she didn't see her boyfriend on the floor and tripped over him. She let out a yelp as she fell, and her not being the most coordinated person, fell right on her face.

"Oh gods, Kiles, I'm so sorry!" She sat up rubbing her nose. It hurt. She had fallen right on her nose. He looked like he was about to cry knowing he was the reason she got hurt and was trying to touch her nose but she smacked his hands away.

"Owwy. Your so mean. Trip poor ol' innocent me! I just wanted some frikkin juice and see what happens! Gosh," She shook her head and looked at him which made her giggle, "Look at your face…no wait you can't. No mirror. Heh, heh, either way its cute." She poked him in the nose which made her giggle more because his eye twitched when she did. He got annoyed at her continuously poking him in the nose and grabbed both her wrist which, it seems, didn't work for him either because she started to wiggle her hands free. So, him being a quick one, pushed her hands against his chest so she had no leniency to move them.

"Did you just say your innocent?" He finally caught on while she was struggling to get her wrist free. She really wanted that juice, despite how cute his face looked, her throat was dry and she really, really wanted some grape juice. She wanted at least one glass before they had to leave!

"As a rose Mr. di Angelo." He raised an eye brow at her in confusion which made her stop struggling, "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" He let go of her wrist and shook his head, standing up, and started walking away. Kiley grabbed his ankle and pulled back so he fell on his face. She loved revenge. Such a wonderful thing. He sat up rubbing his nose.

"Why you walk away like that?"

" 'Cause you lie."

"I didn't lie!" To this he grinned and leaned close enough for her to smell him. Then he ducked his head low against her so his cheek was brushing hers, she could feel his warm breath on her neck just as his lips pressed the skin his breath had just warmed. Delightful shivers ran up and down her body like an electric current of the sweetest shock she could feel. Mind and body separated, her body telling her fingers to tangle around his thick hair, her mind buzzing with the after effect of Brennion's shock. Though as soon as she felt it he took it away from her by pulling his lips off her neck. She didn't want to but she made her fingers let go and hushed her mind, trying to wake it from the coma Brennion had put it in. Her spine was tingling though when he wrapped his much larger hand around her small delicate one and pulled her to her feet and trapped her against the counter with his body. The electricity was back and she was practically frying with it scorching inside her. Was this love she wondered? He bent once again, even standing he had to bend because he was at least 5 inches taller, as if to kiss her. His lips touched hers tantalizing her painfully, his hair brushing her forehead and setting it on fire there, but he pulled away from her and shoved his hands in his pockets staring at the floor.

"You lie. Your not innocent. Remember?" And he left her leaning against the counter breathless, blushing, and longing for more of him. She got her juice but couldn't enjoy it with her hands shaking so much and thoughts of a certain black haired, bright blue eyed, all muscle heartthrob that made her heart race every time he smiled at her. She growled, annoyed that he could do that to her so easily, and threw the glass in the sink from the table. It was plastic so it didn't break from the impact of being thrown so far and it filled her with an odd sense of pride to be able to throw it and make it in the sink from where she was sitting. That and she found it amusing to watch the purple liquid explode out of the glass and practically baptize the poor sink in purple. She giggled, proud of herself, and watched the purple drain down the stainless steel sink into the drain.

That made her bored quickly though. The juice ran down the sink quickly as if it had never been there and left Kiley slightly angry at it for not being more considerate and taking longer to wash down. So she played with her wrist blades. For this mission she had decided not to wear any armor, just a pair of regular jeans and a t-shirt, and not bring any weapons except for her wrist blades. These were her favorite weapon in her little weapon tool belt. Gauntlets that reached from the top of her wrist to the middle of her forearm. They were actually rather small to be considered gauntlets but they weren't really made to keep her safe, they were the blades and the blades sheath at the same time, so it didn't matter. They were made entirely of leather, no straps, they just slid on over the wrist. The most important part of the whole thing was the piece of metal in the shape of an arrow on top, the tip of the arrow pointing at her middle finger. The arrow was raised just a few inched because it was from the tip of the arrow that the blade sprang. Just a flick of the wrist triggered it. Which is what she was doing for amusement, flicking her wrist over and over to make the blade pop out and go back in its arrow sheath. The blade wasn't long, maybe 9 or 10 inches, only long enough to fit in the arrow and go deep enough to hit heart or the spinal cord. Gruesome, true, but logical. The blades its self though was literally a piece of art. It was double edged with a deep blood groove but had forest green etching of symbols, tribal patterns, and Greek writing (which she hadn't wrote on purpose but kind of just happened when she made them) covering the whole blade. That's why they were her favorite. That and they were inconspicuous if you wore them under a sweat shirt. The only problem with that was it cut holes in the cuff of all your sweat shirts.

She had her head on the table, cheek pressed against the cool treated wood, watching the blade on her left wrist come out of its sheath as everyone walked into the kitchen ready to go. She didn't pick her head up just moved her eyes on them, she was to lazy to pick her head up. Nico was in a pair of old black jeans (which reminded her of the Nico in the picture that was still tucked in her back pocket) wearing his aviator jacket over a t-shirt. A black sword hung at his waist.

His wife beside him was dressed in a pair of lose fit cargo pants and a band t. Probably an old shirt she had tucked away in the closet of doom. Kiley didn't see her holding any weapon but suspected she had something up her sleeve, maybe in a literal sense.

Annabeth was dressed normal but, and this made Kiley uncomfortable enough to pick her head up, was wearing an Orange Camp Half-blood shirt. She realized, not that it had to do with her mother, that her father was wearing the same shirt. And so was Nico but his was a black version of it with red lettering, like it was made specially for him. Her mother had a knife strapped to her arm but held the black blade with star tattoo's in her hand. In light it shone wickedly, having a rainbow light reflection. It was weird.

Her father had the vest on from the attic over his Camp t-shirt. He was grinning like he was excited to be doing something other than sitting at a computer and writing all day. He had been itching to get out and have the taste of adventure again. Though he was quite interested in Kiley's wrist blades, seeing as one of them was still out.

Bella wore a pair of black and white riding boots that went a few inches past her knees with a red and black mini shirt that had a dusty grey wash out towards the bottom. The top part to her outfit was a grey tank top that had red splatter around a bullet hole to make it look like she had been shot. She even had on a black tie and an old 1960's mafia style fedora that did nothing to hold her black locks in place. Instead they curtained her small frame all the way to her waist like a silk blanket of night. She looked like she was going on a date or to the mall not on a mission to rescue someone. The only thing that hinted she was doing something dangerous was the golden whip that curled around her waist like a belt and the steel eyes that showed no possibility of breaking focus.

Her brother stood behind her shirtless. His lean cut muscles shifted under his very tan skin as he rolled his shoulders. The disturbing thing about him not wearing a shirt was the scars. Scars that ran across his rib cage and down the middle of his chest in threes like a cat had used him as a scratching post. A very big cat. He didn't seem to notice Kiley staring at them wide eyed though. Or if he did she wouldn't be able to tell because he wore a pair of dark Ray Bans that his silver hair fell over. His pants hung low and probably would have fallen off his hips if he wasn't wearing jeans and had his guns strapped around his thighs. He glanced down at Izzy who was looking up at him blankly like she could read his mind or was trying to anyway. Her steady gaze was making him nervous.

Brennion was in his muscle shirt which had originally been a tight black t-shirt. That was why he had ripped the sleeves off, because the shirt was to tight. As was his tradition on each mission he wore that shirt, a pair of black ripped up jeans and a nice pair of chucks. He was wearing wrist blades too. They had been thinking the same thing. That made her smile.

Nate was dressed slightly different from his twin. A pair of tan painters pants, true to their name, covered in different colors of paint. He wore a skin tight Speedo underarmor long sleeve that you mostly saw boxers wear in training or joggers wear when running. He had two dancing blades wrapped around his wrist. Which is a hard thing to explain. That was what he had named them after Erin had made them. Is was like a metal Frisbee with the insides cut out only there was a chain attached to the circle. It was like a whip with the hollowed out Frisbee attached to the end. He had them wrapped around his wrist. Two of them, one for each hand. Now for the reason for their name, one had to dance to use them. The chains reached at least 6 feet out so it took a lot to whip them around. You had to dance with them.

And last but not least was Erin. Erin was in a pair plaid short shorts she kept on with a studded belt. Just a good ol pair of high tops and a vested shirt. Someone, and Kiley suspected Airabella, had straightened Erin's ruthless curls and given her a small crown braid as if to emphasize the straightness. Airabella didn't seem to understand they were going on a mission, not to a important event. Erin had two short in hand. She was twirling them in boredom. Spinning them in the palm of the hand by pushing upward on the cross guard. (A/N I can do that in real life with my own sword, whose jealous?)

"So I think we're ready. Awesome! Lets go!" Kiley said grinning. She would never understand why, but she was excited.

OKAY! THIS IS REAAAAAAAAAALLY LONG! LONGEST CHAP I HAVE EVER WROTE! 9391 words! YEAH! Anyways, sorry for explaining what they were all wearing in such long detail I got carried away. My bad. Sorry bout that everyone!