~Bella P.O.V.~
"Tell me what happened, again!" Kate demanded, squealing like an excited schoolgirl, Tanya already telling the story at least twelve times.
"Well," Tanya started as I crept my way over to Edward.
"Hey." He whispered, smiling and planting a kiss on my head.
"Hey." I replied, wrapping my arms around his torso. "Can I ask you a something?" I mumbled against his chest.
"Anything." He muttered back.
"Come with me." I said, picking up his hand and pulling him outside and out in the woods.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Why did you want us to leave so suddenly?" I asked in reply as soon as we were out of earshot of the other vampires, not answering his question.
"Remember when Jackson's parents stormed off after he opened his last gift?" Edward sighed a few seconds later.
"Yeah." I nodded, unsure where this was going.
"When they came back down while Jackson and Tanya were upstairs, your aunt's head was screaming something. Something that I felt should be talked about with just the immediate family." He told me.
"And that was…" I muttered, tilting my head in confusion.
"Jackson was adop-"
A violent explosion ripped through the eerie silence, lighting up the night sky in a deathly shade of red. The rumbling of the earth knocked both of us off our feet and onto the grassy surface.
"What the hell was that?" I snapped, Edward scrambling to help me up.
"I have no idea…" He mumbled, staring into the direction of the blast.
"C'mon!" I said, grabbing his hand again and literally towing him behind me this time. About three minutes of running later, we saw it. The woods was blazing all around us…
And lying in the center of it was the birthday boy himself.
"Jackson!" I screamed, flashing over to him.
"I-Is it dead?" He whispered weakly, looking exhausted as I tucked him into my embrace, brushing his soot-covered hair out of his eyes.
"Is what dead?" I asked, just as I heard a loud roaring over the cracking surround us.
"Bella, we need to go!" Edward yelled just as a darkened figure slammed into him, hard, sending him flying into the air before crashing down hard.
"Edward!" I shrieked over another grueling roar coming out of the monster standing over my husband. All of the sudden, the weight in my arms was gone. I looked down; Jackson had disappeared.
"What the hell is that thing?" I heard Emmett's voice boom. Ignoring him, I looked around frantically for my cousin, just as I heard a disgusting, heart-breaking sound. I looked around, my eyes only stopping when they rested on the blade sticking out of the monster's chest, it unmoving on it's feet with vacant eyes. Then, the blade retreated and the creature toppled over, dead, with Jackson standing in his wake, the lighter he'd gotten earlier gleaming against the flames.
Jackson stared at the creature, wide-eyed, unmoving… He finally looked around as the fires licked his body, seeming un-phased. He took a deep breath and the blaze around him reseated as he exhaled, the area surrounding us once again peaceful.
Well, as peaceful as the wailing sirens closing in on us.
"We need to go." Edward said again, calmer again, touching my hand. Then everyone moved at once, me dragging Jackson with me as we ran through the woods.
All of us were thinking the exact same thing: what just happened back there?
"Okay, spill it! What the hell was that?" I yelled at Jackson after we stopped a few minutes later.
"How the hell did you all just move so fast?" He screamed right back, looking from face to face at the twelve vampires surrounding him, blushing and ripping his eyes away when his eyes landed on Tanya.
"Answer my question first." I snapped.
"Why should I?" He growled right back; his eyes were fiery as he glared into mine. Something snapped in them a second later, almost like a dam as he broke down in front of us. Sobs ripped through him so hard, they looked painful as Tanya wrapped him in her arms, holding him close.
"Jackson just found out he was adopted by his father." Edward whispered to me when I looked up at him.
"Wait, seriously? How did he do those things?" I asked.
"Maybe we can explain that." A boy said as three unknown figures walked out of the tree line.
"Who are you?" I asked, Edward standing protectively in front of me, Tanya doing the same thing to Jackson's tamed body, squeezing the lighter in his hand.
"My name's Percy Jackson. This is Annabeth," He motioned to the girl to his left. "And Grover." He motioned to the mocha-colored boy with crutches on his right. "That thing that attacked you was called a minotaur." He explained carefully.
"A minotaur? Like the monsters in Greek mythology?" Eleazar asked, curiously.
"Exactly." Percy nodded at him.
"And you know this how?" I asked, seeing Jackson and Tanya getting on their feet, Tanya's protective instincts flaring as she kept him pulled close to her.
"Have any of you ever hear the stories where the Gods would come down from Olympus and…hook up…with mortals?" Percy asked.
"I've heard them." Tanya spoke up when no one else replied.
"Me too." Kate agreed.
"I have too." Carlisle admitted.
"Well," He took a deep breath. "They're not just stories… They're real." He said slowly.
"How big of idiots do you think we are?" Rosalie spat at him.
"It's true. The Gods and Goddesses are all real. Grover's a Satyr." He said, rushed, clearly terrified of the blond vampire.
"C'mon, man. Why'd you tell them that?" The other boy groaned.
"Satyr's are half human and half goat, right?" Carlisle asked.
"Exactly." Percy nodded.
"Prove it." Kate snapped. "Prove it's all real."
"Grover, drop your pants." The girl spoke up for the first time. Grover groaned, but didn't protest as he…dropped his pants…
"What the fuck is that?" Jackson screamed as Grover revealed his goat legs where his human legs should've been.
"I'm part goat. These are my goat legs." Grover said touchily, glaring at Jackson.
"Sorry, it's just…you have hooves…Where are your feet?" Jackson asked, wide-eyed.
"Relax, baby. You're in shock." Tanya whispered to him, running her hand up and down his back and kissing his cheek lightly.
"Aren't we all?" Edward said from beside me.
"So, yeah. It's all real." Percy started. "Olympus, the underworld, Gods, Goddesses, Demigods, everything."
"Demigods?" Emmett asked.
"Half God, half mortal. I'm a Demigod, and so is Annabeth." Percy explained.
"Daughter of Athena." Annabeth said with a proud smile, it fading when it started snowing heavily around us.
"Son of Poseidon." Percy told us.
"Um, yeah I still don't know how this pertains to me." Jackson peeped.
"Here comes the fun part." Grover laughed to the girl as he pulled his jeans back up who chuckled in reply. They were silenced by and icy glare from Percy.
"Well, Jackson," He sighed. "You're a Demigod."
"Yeah, right." Jackson snapped.
"It's true. Your blood is special. You're special." Percy said.
"What part about me is special: the dyslexia? How about the ADHD? Or what about being deaf in my right ear for shits sake?" Jackson screamed.
"Jackson-"
"No, Bella. Don't Jackson me." He cut me off. "You've got the wrong guy." He growled, turning back to Percy.
"How did you do what you did back there then?" Percy replied.
"I don't know: I'm a wizard and my Hogwarts acceptance letter got lost in the mail?" Jackson said.
"I'm serious." Percy snapped.
"Yeah, I am too. I'm a wizard." Jackson snapped right back, not even phased. "Okay," He sighed after a very stern look from Tanya. "I'll humor you. Since I'm guessing that Karen Mercer isn't a Goddess, a Greek one anyway, W-who's my dad?"
"I think you already know." Percy told him. Jackson's eyes narrowed for a minute before widening in complete shock.
"Oh, my God; I am the literal spawn of Satan!" Jackson screamed.
"Exactly."
~Jackson P.O.V.~
Hades.
Hades is my father.
The God of the Underworld is my dad.
The God of the Dead created me.
Okay, ew.
But still, Hades is my father.
"Jackson, say something." Bella sighed.
"Hades is my father!" I snapped.
"Okay, say something other than that. You've seriously said that like fifty times already." She scolded.
"This is dumb. I want to go home." I told her.
"You can't just run away from this." She replied.
"Want to bet?" I asked.
"Yeah, I do actually." She snapped.
"I've gone 18 years without knowing and nothing happened. Who says I can't just ignore it?" I growled.
"The Gods actually." Annabeth told us, just as we heard a loud crack of thunder ring through the skies. "Hear that? Yeah, it's your uncle Zeus and your daddy fighting over your existence."
"My existence?" I asked.
"After World War II, the Oracle predicted that child born of the big three, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades, was going to either destroy, or save, Olympus. So the brothers made a pact: to not have anymore offspring." She gestured to me.
"But Poseidon broke it." I gestured to Percy.
"And so did Zeus. Her name's Thalia." Percy added.
"So all three of them broke it. Why's Zeus so mad that I'm here?" I asked.
"Hades killed Zeus' daughter, or almost did. Zeus threatened Hades, confronting him about why he shouldn't do the same to his child. Hades is mad and now the Gods are waging war. Poseidon is trying to mediate but it's obviously not working." Annabeth explained.
"Oh, okay. So the Gods are going to war over me. Great. That's a real self-esteem booster." I grumbled sarcastically.
"This is serious." Bella scolded me.
"Yeah, so am I. I feel like a new man." I grunted and slid down the base of a tree.
"We're getting no where with him. We should just get back to camp and help prepare for the war." Annabeth complained, turning back to her group.
"She's right. And it's freezing out here." Percy agreed, just as it started snowing harder around us. Lightning could be seen through the clouds, lighting up the darkness of the woods every five seconds.
"Guys, are we forgetting that I have an obligation to keep all of you safe? That includes Jackson." Grover cut in.
"I can hear you, you know." I snapped, interrupting their "private" conversation. "I don't need your protection. I can handle myself."
"Oh, really? You killed one Minotaur, and you think your hot shit?" Annabeth barked.
"Well yeah, I am hot shit. I don't get cold, as a matter of fact." I shrugged.
"That's it!" Annabeth screamed and threw her backpack on the ground.
"Now you've done it…" Percy muttered, as Annabeth stomped over to me and ripped something gleaming out of her jacket. Noticing it was sharp and pointy, I pulled out my lighter, striking it before the brilliant, bronze sword grew to its full length.
"Annabeth, don't kill him." Grover pleaded as I got to my feet, pretending like I knew how to hold a sword.
"Enough! Both of you!" Tanya snapped, appearing between the fuming girl and I, managing to disarm both of us and knock us away from each other in less than a second.
"How…how did you do that?" Annabeth asked, breathless as Percy and Grover scrambled to get her on her feet, while I stayed on the ground, staring up at the women I loved.
"You two don't need to be fighting, no matter how hot-headed one of us is being right now." She hissed, glaring at me. Our eyes were locked for a minute before I ripped my gaze away, embarrassed.
And then, silence; the awkward kind.
I sat silently against a tree, curled tightly in a ball with my head resting against my knees with half hooded eyes, my sword still open and stuck in the ground next to me.
"Jackson?" I looked up tiredly, seeing Tanya looking down at me. I sighed and uncurled, spreading my legs slightly, her settling in between them, slinging her legs over my left one and resting herself against my chest. I rested my head against her shoulder.
"I'm sorry." I mumbled, unsure of how to face her after what happened.
"For what, sweetheart?" She replied, wrapping her arms around me, rocking me gently.
"Being an ass." I sighed again, still not looking up at her.
"You don't need to apologize. I just really don't appreciate seeing my mate act that way." She whispered, sitting forward and planting a kiss against my hair. I finally looked up.
"Mate?" I asked.
"My kind fall in love differently than humans. With us it's forever, like finding your perfect other half." She explained, looking into my eyes with such love that is made my entire body heat up in one, solid blush.
"Wait, your kind?" I asked, confused.
"Jackson," She sighed. "I'm not human." Her smile faded.
"Hey," I said, cupping her face in my palms. "Neither am I. Not all the way anyway." I told her, with a reassuring smile, trying to mimic my feelings for her into my actions.
"But it's different with me. I'm not human at all." She said, her body shaking. I wrapped my arms around her, holding her close against me to steady her.
"What are you? An alien? Because you're the best looking alien I've ever seen." I snickered, this time I was rocking her.
"No, I'm not an alien." She chuckled, breathlessly. I could tell she was nervous. But then again, if I was admitting I wasn't human or something: I'd be nervous too. Usually, if I found out someone wasn't human, I'd freak out. But after tonight, nothing freaked me out. "I'm a-"
"Holy shit!"
~Bella P.O.V.~
"-I love you too, baby. Good night." I smiled into the receiver of my phone.
"Night, mommy." Renesmee replied groggily, already half asleep. I hung up after that, still smiling. "Esme's tucking her in right now." I told Edward as I slipped my cell phone into my pocket.
"Hopefully she's having a better night than we are." He replied, wrapping his arms around me and resting his head against mine.
"Hey, how would you react if you found out you were a Demi-god?" I replied, defending my cousin.
"Honestly, probably worse than he did." Edward chuckled against my hair.
"Exactly." I giggled.
"I love you, Bella." He whispered.
"I love you too." I smiled against his chest.
"Holy shit!" Emmett screamed again just as something whizzed passed us, knocking us backward.
"What is that?" I yelled, scrambling to my feet.
"It's called a Colchis Bull!" Percy called back.
"What can it d-"
"Tanya!" Kate shrieked as the thing blew the one thing that could kill us at Tanya and Jackson: fire. My eyes widened, fearing the worst. My jaw dropped when I saw Jackson, completely unharmed, holding Tanya protectively behind him, one hand held his sword while the other held Tanya's waist. The bull roared in frustration before charging at them. Jackson spun around, lifting Tanya in front of him as he whirled around the tree.
"Seen it before?" Jackson asked, appearing behind me, still carrying Tanya, as the bull stabbed its metal horn through the trunk of the thick trunk, temporarily stuck.
"Where the hell did you come from?" Annabeth screamed at him.
"I'll explain later. In the meantime, let's kill this thing." Jackson replied, locking her eyes as he set Tanya on her feet next to Kate, whom were both just staring at him wide-eyed. Annabeth nodded with a small smile. "Lead the way, Annabeth." He smiled sweetly at her, pecking Tanya's cheek before the four charged the bull, them leading it further into the woods, away from us when it freed itself from the woody prison. The twelve of us just stared after them, unsure of what we just saw.
"H-How did he…" Tanya's voice trailed off. "H-He just pulled me behind the tree and the next thing I knew we were over here…" She breathed, her hand touching her cheek that Jackson kissed.
"H-He didn't get burned…" I murmured.
"He saved my life…" Tanya whispered. "H-He-"
"Is truly remarkable." A paralyzing, familiar voice sang out over the hushed noises of the fight somewhere near us.
"Aro." Edward muttered, his face falling.
"Hello, Edward." He smiled sweetly at my husband. I picked up Edward's hand and squeezed it tightly. "Ah, Bella. I didn't know you had such an…interesting family." He looked at me. My eyes widened: No. No. No. No. No. NO.
Aro…took an interest to my family…
I've doomed them all by choosing this life.
"And Tanya, my dear," He turned to the blond vampire standing protectively in front of her sister. "You have an excellent taste in mates." He laughed manically. Alec, Jane, Felix, and Demetri now flanking him, the flashing in the sky lighting up their faces.
"What do you five want?" I barked, putting up my shield.
"We heard Ms. Denali found her mate, so we wanted to personally congratulate her." Aro lied pleasantly.
"Thank you." Tanya spat, mockingly.
"Leave my cousin alone." I growled. "And the rest of my family while you're at it."
"We will see about that." Aro replied, stepping back cautiously. "Come, dear ones." He snapped, his composer faltering a bit as the five took off into the darkness.
"We have to get back to the house. Esme and Renesmee are there alone." Carlisle said quickly, anxious.
"What about Jackson and the others?" I asked, just a bright flash of lightning light up the area around us, all of us covering our eyes. A high-pitched scream followed, snapping all of our heads back up.
"Jasper, Alice, Rose, Emmett, head back to the house." Carlisle ordered.
"Carmen, Eleazar, go with them." Tanya added, looking at them. The six nodded and disappeared into the trees, leaving the five of us to go investigate the scream. We found them in about thirty seconds, stopping dead in our tracks when we saw them.
Only three were standing…and one of them wasn't Jackson.
"What the hell happened?" I hissed, as Tanya rushed to his body, cradling it against her. He was lifeless, eyes open, and not breathing.
"W-We killed the bull but then…" Percy's voice faded, but I understood. Surrounding Jackson's body was scorched earth, the snow and grass burned away. Jackson's hair stuck straight up on his head:
That bright light was lightning; and it hit my cousin.
"Carlisle?" Edward asked as inspected Jackson. Kate and Garrett managed to pry Tanya's tearless, sobbing body away from him and were holding her back, whispering to her. Carlisle looked up with a remorseful stare. I knew exactly what that meant:
Jackson Matthew Mercer, my little cousin, was dead…
Hey my beautiful readers you! Thanks for reading! Please tell me what you thought in a review. I don't feel like enough people care about this story... So yeah... Thanks again for reading!