Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter 12: The Secret

Camp Half Blood

Scott's POV

As we walked out of the big house, I told my team and that kid Nico, I would meet up with them at the mess hall in a few minutes. This was the first time that I had the chance to talk with Athena, I couldn't pass it up. I walked back into the big house. Athena, Theseus and Chiron were all sitting at the table talking about Atlas's plans. They all stopped as they saw me enter.

"Captain, is there a problem?" Theseus asked.

"No sir, but since I have you all here I have a secret that I've held for nearly twenty years that I need to get off my chest." I said anxiously. The three of them eyed me curiously.

"What kind of secret?" Athena asked. I knew that she was curious now and I would have to go through with it even if it ended with her being mad at me.

"It's about my son Chris." I said. Chiron raised an eyebrow at this statement.

"What about him?" Chiron asked.

"I need to tell you all about his mother." I said. I could see all three of them process this statement for a moment.

"Go on." Athena said.

"As I'm sure Chiron told you I was a camper here for a number of years. My mother dropped me off at camp when my father was killed on duty. You see my dad was also a navy seal. When he died I was all alone my mother found me and brought me to camp. Of course I wasn't the normal demigod as Thetis is not exactly a god, although among the Nereids she is treated as one. I stayed in the Hermes cabin as there was no cabin dedicated to my mother. Not that she had many children with mortals I was only the second after Achilles himself. I didn't have a lot of friends except for the demigods that would become members of Alpha team. Although I did have a girlfriend who I loved very much, her name was Sara Sharpe." I said. I saw Athena's eyes light up at the name.

"Sara was my daughter." Athena stated. Theseus and Chiron both looked at her puzzled and then I saw a look of realization on Chiron's face.

"Sara ran away from camp a few months after you did." Chiron said as he looked at me.

"Yes, the night before I ran away from camp Sara found me down by the ocean looking over a map that I got from a Hermes camper, a map to the underworld. She freaked out and pleaded with me not to go. I told her that I would be back, but that I had to prove to myself that I was as good as any other demigod that it shouldn't matter if my mom wasn't an Olympian or a minor god. She stayed with me on the beach that night and well you can imagine what happened. I loved her so much, I promised to return to camp after I left the underworld. I left the next morning after I carried the sleeping Sara back to her cabin. My four friends left with me. We all wanted to prove ourselves we entered the underworld and took a dip in the Styx. We all managed to survive." I said. I could feel the pain and the sorrow of that day it was almost like I was back in the underworld.

"How did you get out of the underworld?" Chiron asked. I smiled at his question.

"Hades himself couldn't keep four demigods with the curse of Achilles from leaving the underworld. We fought our way out easily." I said as I remembered the battle that we fought and the feeling of using our new found power.

"You were in love with Sara?" Athena asked. I looked at her and stared into her gray eyes, those eyes that reminded me so much of my dear Sara.

"Yes, I did return to camp, but by then Sara had left. No one knew where she went. I was terribly upset so I left to join the navy with my four friends. Several months later I received a letter from Sara's father. He told me that she returned to his house. She was pregnant with our child. I had no idea she was pregnant. Her father said that the child came early and that Sara died in child birth. The baby boy was fine and he wanted me to come see him. I went and visited him a few times, but the life of a navy seal is not one for a single parent. Sara's dad was happy to raise Chris and he did so with my blessing. When Chris was old enough he would visit with me in my base in Guam. That's where he learned that he loved the ocean. That's also where I realized that he had special abilities; like me he could breathe underwater, he was a very fast swimmer and he could talk to sea creatures he was very smart and loved to build machines. He didn't have a strong half blood smell so monsters left him alone and he wasn't dyslexic, but he did have ADHD. I trained him how to use his abilities, but I never wanted him to go to camp, I didn't want him to feel like an outsider like me. Maybe that was selfish of me, I don't know. I just wanted him to have the normal life that I never had." I said. My voice was full of emotion and I looked at Athena hoping that she would understand.

"I never knew where Sara went, years later I went to her father and he said that she passed away, he never mentioned that she had a child." Athena said. I could tell she was completely shocked by this revelation.

"As you know it is rare for demigods to have children, usually we die before we get old enough, in Sara's case that was true. I'm sorry I never told you, I never told Thetis either. I thought it would be better for Chris if he never knew his heritage. I'm very sorry I know that I was wrong now. Chris needed to know these things and I feel ashamed that I never told you or my mother that you both had a grandson. Can you ever forgive me?" I said sincerely. Athena looked at me, but her gaze wasn't filled with anger, but with sympathy.

"Scott, I'm not mad at you, I think I understand your feelings. I may not approve of them, but I can understand. The last Titan war was fought due in no small part to these types of feelings. I'm just glad that you fought on our side even if you were made to feel like an outsider. Percy has changed a lot of that the gods now recognize all of their children and we have even built cabins for the minor gods. I'm sure my daughter Annabeth would design a beautiful cabin for the children of Thetis." Athena said. I was shocked, she wasn't mad at me.

"Thank you, Lady Athena I've always wanted to tell you and my mother about Chris. He is such a special young man. I believe that you will love your grand child when you meet him." I said. Athena smiled at me and then looked at Theseus. He was smiling as well.

"Scott, I think you have a mission and now it's even more urgent because I want to meet my grandson." Athena said as she smiled at me.

"Thank you, but I have one last revelation. I was surprised to hear that Percy was my son's roommate I usually do a better job of background research on people that will be around my son. I know it sounds like an invasion of privacy, but in my line of work you can never be too careful. You see Chris and Percy were not the only two people on the ship related to the gods. Chris's girlfriend Terra is a granddaughter of Demeter. Now she isn't a demigod because her father is mortal, but when you see her you can tell by her dark green eyes that she is related to Demeter. She also takes after her grandmother because of her love for living creatures. In Terra's case she loves all sea life whether its corral or a dolphin. She is a special young lady and my boy loves her dearly. I'm doing this job to save her as well. I just wanted to make that clear." I said. Athena and Theseus looked at me with astonished looks on their faces.

"Well, leave it to my brother to befriend the only two people in his school that are related to the gods." Theseus said with a smile.

"Yes, Annabeth has spoken a great deal about Terra, they are really good friends as well. I guess they have more in common than they thought. Good luck Scott, bring them all back safe." Athena said.

I stood up and smiled at the three of them and walked out of the big house. It felt like the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. I walked to the mess hall and found my team sitting at the Hades table with their gear strewn across the table.

"Gear check." I said as I joined them all at the table.

"Five M4s, five M5s, twenty flash grenades, twenty concussion grenades and twenty standard issue grenades, five pistols, and two sniper rifles. We have sufficient ammunition for a ten man team sir." Gareth said as he counted off the weapons laid before us.

"Good job, Lieutenant. Everyone get your weapons and pack up we will be leaving in approximately three hours." I said. I walked out of the mess hall, but I felt that someone was behind me. I turned and stared into the dark eyes of Nico.

"Alright kid, what do you need?" I asked suspiciously.

"I mean no disrespect sir, but can I have a weapon? I don't believe my sword will do much in a fire fight." Nico asked. I looked at him and sized him up. He was a fairly athletic looking kid and I could see the look of determination on his face. Maybe this kid will do o.k. after all.

"Alright, you can use my pistol." I took off my holster and handed him the gun. "Do you know how to shoot?" I asked.

"Yes, sir a little I've used a pellet gun before." Nico said. I laughed out loud and slapped the kid on the shoulder. He gave me a dirty look.

"Well, I need to show you how to use this." I said as I pointed to the gun he was holding. For the next two hours I taught the kid how to shoot a gun. By the time we finished it was almost time to go. Nico and I met my team up by the pine tree at the top of the hill. Before we could leave I saw Chiron galloping up the hill toward us carrying some kind of device.

"Chiron is something the matter?" I asked curiously.

"No, I wanted you to have this. Hephaestus cabin built it for you. It is a tracking device it appears that your son activated a homing beacon on the ship's submersible. You can use this to find the ship." Chiron said as he handed me a small electronic device with a display that showed a flashing light on it.

"I thought the kid here was going to shadow travel us over there?" I asked.

"I can't do that unless I've been there or I can see the place in real time." Nico said.

"How are we going to find the ship?" I asked. Chiron smiled and pointed toward the other side of the house.

"Lord Poseidon has sent transportation for you." Chiron said. The five of us walked back through camp and then passed the big house. We looked down over the beach and the beautiful green-blue ocean below. We walked down to the beach and entered the boat house. We changed into our wet suits it was a good thing that we brought an extra one for Nico. After we were dressed we walked to the ocean and waited for our ride. As if on queue six Hippocampi surfaced from the ocean depths. The six of us swam to them and mounted the Hippocampi. I used my abilities to speak with these sea creatures to direct them out into the Atlantic. We left the shore of Camp Half Blood and headed for the North Atlantic, I just hoped we weren't too late.

AN: So both of Chris's parents were demigods and Terra is the granddaughter of Demeter, interesting. Next chapter we will check in on Annabeth and her team as well as events aboard the TS Empire State.