Chapter 8

Zoey

Well, that went better then I planned. Everyone took it better then I thought. Except Stark. By the time I had finished telling everyone what had happened, we had arrived and Stark had practically run off the jet. I burst out crying and all the females tried to comfort me while the males ran after him.

"I knew it!" I cried.

Aphrodite crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. "Seriously, what the fuck is going on? I totally thought that this would work. Obviously not. I thought Nyx had this all figure out."

My grip tightened on Aphrodite and Stevie Rae's arms. It was like all of a sudden my head started to pound and the world started to spin. I felt a little flutter in my stomach. Not like when it was my intuition. "Cleo," I whispered before darkness engulfed me.

Aphrodite

I felt Zoey's grip tighten on me before hearing her whisper Cleo. Shit. I called to Stevie Rae just as I caught Zoey. This girl has got a shitty life. Thanatos, Stevie Rae, and Annabeth helped me carry Zoey to a seat adjacent from us. "I will get Karla. She will help us take Zoey up to the rooms," Thanatos said before jogging off.

She came back minutes later with a girl who must be Karla. Karla called in a Warrior, but she looked as shocked as I felt when Sgiach's Scottish Guardian, Seoras, came in and picked her up. Being as I've been to the Island of Skye, I followed him outside. Standing a few feet to my right next to a helicopter was Sgiach herself.

"What are you doing off your island?" I asked, shocked, because she rarely, if ever, comes off her island let alone the castle.

"This was a special matter. The young High Priestess will be coming with us. You may come if you'd like," she said with authority.

I nodded. "Can I just go get Darius?"

Sgiach nodded. "You may. We'll be in the helicopter."

I ran off to find Darius. It wasn't that hard to find him either. He was actually on his way back to the jet. Without an explanation, I grabbed his hand and dragged him to the helicopter. "Where are you going?" I heard Stevie Rae call. "Why are you letting them take Z and Cleo?"

"We can trust them!" I called over my shoulder before climbing in with Darius behind me. I'm surprised he climbed in with no questions asked.

Annabeth

To say Stevie Rae looked pissed was an understatement. She stomped inside the huge castle like building in front of us. As the rest of us filed inside, the boys came running over to us. "Annabeth, where's Zoey? Stark wants to talk to her."

"Uhh, well, you see..." I stumbled over my words.

"Some person took her away in a helicopter!" Stevie Rae exclaimed angrily. "And Aphrodite and Darius climbed right in with them. No questions asked!"

"I don't think Stark is going to be happy about this." Percy looked fearful.

"Stark won't won't be happy about what?" Stark's voice came from behind us.

"Well, Stark, you see... Zoey was, uh, taken somewhere in a helicopter."

Stark squeezed his eyes shut. When they opened, realization shined in them. Then he turned and ran off. All of a sudden, Stevie Rae let out a string of curses. I never thought I'd see the day when that girl cursed. Must be on her period or something. "You okay, Stevie Rae?" I asked.

Something behind me caught her eye because suddenly she became all happy and smiley. I turned to see a guy about our age. Dark hair and dark eyes. He stared at Stevie Rae with a smile almost as big as hers. Guessing this was Rephaim, I took my friends' hands and walked off, chuckling.

Zoey

"Mommy, don't be mad at daddy," a little girl with dirty blonde hair and hazel eyes said, appearing in front of me.

"Cleo?"

Cleo smiled at me and reached her hand out to grab mine. I let her take it. She gave my hand a squeeze. "I'm here to tell you that you're in danger. We're in danger. You'll be needing daddy soon. Very soon. He needs to take you to Olympus for a day or two."

"You're really good with talking for such a young girl."

Cleo smiled. "I have an old heart."

I smiled back at her. "So everything will be okay?"

The girl grimaced. "Well, I cannot tell you that."

I frowned. Then something bad will happen. "What if I don't go to Olympus."

"That's your choice, mommy. It could help you, it may not." Cleo shrugged.

"Thanks for your help," I said playfully with a grin.

Cleo giggled, wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me. "I love you, mommy."

"I love you too, Cleo." I hugged her back.

"Oh, uh, and I'm sorry for making all these things happen," she apologized sheepishly.

I chuckled and squeezed her one last time. The last thing I saw was her smile before I became conscious again. My eyes fluttered open and I basked in my surroundings. Aphrodite sat by the bed, tear streaked and blotchy. Darius sat next to her, holding her hand tightly.

"Hey." My voice was raspy and hoarse.

Aphrodite's head snapped up. A grin broke out across her face and she ran over to me. She hugged me for a minute, but then pulled back and slapped me across the face. I grabbed my cheek and rubbed it. "What the hell! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" She yelled.

"Where am I?" I asked.

"Island of Skye," she answered with a teary smile.

"I would just like to point out that Cleo has been doing these things."

Darius chuckled from behind Aphrodite and came to stand next to her. "How are you feeling, Priestess?"

"Like shit," I answered.

Aphrodite's mouth dropped. "She must really feel like shit! She just cussed!" My stomach fluttered in reply. I chuckled and placed a hand to my stomach and started to draw circles on it subconsciously. Aphrodite beamed at my movements. "It's already starting!"

"What's already starting?" Darius asked, totally confused.

"Motherly instinct or whatever that crap is." I chuckled at Aphrodite and snuggled deeper into the bed. Aphrodite's eyes widened. "Move the blanket and lift your shirt."

I raised my eyebrows but complied. "Wha-" My stomach grew more since the little chat I had with Cleo. "How is this possible?"

"Well, let's not forget that this is Nyx's miracle. Your pregnancy is going to go fast."

"I can see that. It's noticeable though."

Aphrodite looked at me like I had two heads. "Duh. Now, let's get you dressed. Darius, out." She grabbed Darius by the arm and dragged him outside the door. Then she came back in and started going through the closet on the right side of the bedroom. Aphrodite pulled out a floor length, red silk dress that was definitely tight around my waist.

"Are you trying to get people to notice?"

"Hell yes. Now get up and get in this dress." Aphrodite pulled me up from the bed and helped me strip down to my undies and bra. She helped me lower the dress over my head and made it look nice in the midriff area. "You look beautiful. And look! You can definitely see the bump."

I placed my hands on my stomach and smiled absentmindedly. Aphrodite was just about to say something else when someone burst through the doors. I squeaked and turned toward the Warrior. "You must come with me," he said.

Aphrodite grabbed my hand and we followed the Warrior towards the throne room. Sgiach was pacing and Seoras looked like he was trying to calm her down. When Sgiach saw me, a smile broke out on her face. "Hello, Zoey, it is nice to see you again. I'm glad you're finally awake."

I smiled back, truly happy for the first time in two days I guess. Well, besides being happy about Cleo. "It's nice to see you too, and I'm glad to be awake. Cleo just wanted to talk I guess."

"You two talk?" Sgiach raised an eyebrow.

I nodded. "Kind of. She is an extremely special little girl. Cleo caused me to pass out so she could talk to me."

Sgiach nodded while her eyes flickered down to my stomach. "I see she's grown."

I chuckled. "Yeah, that was quite a surprise. Aphrodite pointed it out when I woke up. So what exactly was so important, not to be rude."

She waved it off. "It is fine. The High Council would like to speak with you privately. I have had a talk with Thanatos and Kalona. They will protect you the best they could. From anything physical, anyway." Sgiach gave me a knowing look. I just responded with a dark chuckle. "Seoras is going to be bring you and your friends back to the main island."

"Sounds good. Can I come back here after?"

"Of course you may." Sgiach beamed at me. "Blessed be."

"Blessed be." I put my fist to my heart and bowed.

"No need, Zoey." She waved off my gesture.

Aphrodite and I waved good bye before following Seoras outside. Darius was already sitting in the helicopter waiting for us. The ride back to the main island didn't take long. It was dark outside so everyone should be awake. And pissed. Very pissed. I thanked Seoras when we landed. He told me he'd be back in two days to bring me back to the Island of Skye. Then he explained that Sgiach wanted me to stay there so Cleo was born on sacred land.

Just as Aphrodite, Darius, and I watched Seoras fly away, Thanatos came walking out from one of the doors behind us. "Zoey, you're okay."

I grinned. "Of course I'm okay. Cleo wanted to talk to me."

"And there's someone else who would like to speak to you," she said and walked back through the door in which she walked out of.

I shrugged and followed her. At the end of the long hallway stood Stark and Kalona. Stark's head whipped up and he started forward, but Kalona grabbed his arm. My heart thumped harder and harder with each step I took. Then I felt a flutter in my stomach and I calmed down quite a bit. I giggled, earning myself a weird look from Darius. Aphrodite didn't look my way but I knew she was smiling. When we finally reached Stark and Kalona, Stark opened his arms and I jumped into them. Stark spun me and when he finally set me on my feet, I noticed that the others had left the room to give us space. I didn't want to stop hugging Stark so I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head on his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry," Stark apologized. "I just couldn't find the right things to say. You rendered me speechless, Z."

I giggled and kissed his cheek. "That's okay."

"No, it's not. I made you cry." A tear escaped my eye and Stark, instead of wiping it away with his hand, tenderly kissed it away. "Please don't cry."

"Blame the hormones."

Stark chuckled. "Alright, I'll blame the hormones."

I pulled back causing hurt to flash across Stark's face, but it was replaced with love and joy when I took his hands and placed them on my stomach. "You're daughter's in there," I told him.

"My daughter," he whispered. It wasn't a question but I nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, Cleo likes to make me experience things," I said nonchalantly. "Like before when I passed out. She wanted to talk to me."

Stark laughed. "That's my girl."

"Hey," I whined and playfully smacked him. Before my hand could hit him, Stark grabbed it and pressed his lips to my palm. "I love you," he murmured, tickling my palm with his lingering breath.

"I love you too." I took my hand back and pulled his face to mine.

A/N: Awwwwwww! I really loved writing this chapter.