WARNING: Morbid ideas. Rated T.
NOTICE: I feel this story needs a title change. Please PM me or leave an idea in a review.
Please read and review! Enjoy! :)
Paul woke early and got up to start a pot of coffee. He was shocked to find seven teenagers passed out in his living room. He recognized a girl in a sleeping bag as Thalia Grace. He recognized the boy in his recliner as Nico di Angelo. The rest had unfamiliar faces. "Sally!"
His wife stumbled in with a bad case of bed head. She was tying her robe in place. "What is it?" she mumbled tiredly. She saw the demigods before he answered. "Oh gods." She muttered.
She saw Thalia begin to stir. "Paul, could you go start a pot of coffee?" Paul nodded and walked off. Sally kneeled down and shook Thalia awake.
She woke with a start and hit her forehead against Sally's. "Ow." They complained. "Sorry about that." Thalia said when she remembered where she was. "It's okay."
Thalia sat up and rubbed her head. "What are you guys doing here?" Sally asked. "We're on our way back to camp. The ships been having some problems," Thalia seemed to be choosing her words extra carefully. "and I don't think Percy and Annabeth-" She was cut off by one of the boys falling off a couch.
She sighed. "I'm going to wake everyone up." Sally nodded. "Bring them to the dining room."
About fifteen minutes and a lot of yelling later, Sally had seven groggy demigods around her table.
"Lion," a Native American girl mumbled. "Vos cheveux en feu." "What did she say?" A blonde boy asked. "I think she said Leo's hair is on fire." A girl with dark skin translated. Sally and Paul looked up to see that Latino boy, who resembled an elf, indeed had is hair set on fire. The boy, Leo, nonchalantly patted it out.
"Can I get you kids anything to drink?" Sally asked. "Coffee all around." Nico muttered. Sally and Paul got up. "I'll help you." Thalia offered as she watched her cousin not make a move to get up. A pot or two later, everyone was awake. The introductions began.
"I'm Jason." The boy had fallen off the couch said. "Thalia's brother." Sally shook hands with him.
"Salut, je suis Piper McLean." The Native American girl muttered, still half asleep. "Pipes," Jason said. "You're speaking in French again." "Hein? Oh, désolé." She said before falling asleep, cheek against the table.
"That's Piper." Leo said. "Beauty Queen needs her beauty sleep. I'm Leo." The way Leo looked and acted, reminded Sally and Paul of the Stolls. They immeadietly checked for their wallets and keys on the counter behind them.
"Hazel." The girl with coffee colored skin and cinnamon colored hair said.
"Frank." The last guy said. He was Chinese with a babyish face that didn't match his burly body and military haircut.
"So, Thalia, you were saying something about Percy and Annabeth?" Thalia sighed. "I don't think their in the best, uh, the best condition to return to camp." "For what reason?" "Theirs a multitude. Generally, their physical and mental conditions."
"Where are they?" "Percy's room." Sally made a move to get up, but Thalia blocked her. "Why can't I go see my son?" Sally questioned. "You can, but I'm just warning you, the sight isn't be pretty. It's really unsettling."
"Unsettling?" "Their injuries. Their scars. Their expressions. Their scars." Thalia trailed off. "It can't be that bad." Sally said not wanting to believe Thalia. The other demigods murmured something in disagreement. "Wanna bet?" Thalia challenged. Sally pushed pass Thalia towards Percy's room. Thalia followed. When the door opened, it revealed two bodies huddled together in the bed.
They had their legs intertwined together. Annabeth's other foot was at a sickening angle. Percy had huge gashes in his free leg. Her back was against Percy's stomach. He had her in a tight embrace. Her arms overlapped his. There were hundreds of cuts in their forearms, but they were in somekind of uniform. They seemed to try to spell something, but it wasn't English. Blood heavily stained their clothing.
Everything so far combined, was nothing compared to the horror that were their faces. They both had strained looks on their faces. Sweat was forming all over their foreheads. Tears rolled down their cheeks. The creepy part was they seemed to be smiling.
Their smiles were wide, near ear to ear, like the Cheshire Cat's. But they were toothless and thin. Even in the low light, their smile lines should've been visible if they truly were grinning. "Oh gods. Wh-what is that? Wh-what happened?" Sally stuttered.
"It's called a Glasgow grin." Thalia said darkly. "It's the scars left from being cut from the corners of your mouths to your ears." she sighed, then took a deep breath. "I think Kronos got ahold of them when they were in Tartarus. We saved them just in time. If we didn't treat them when we did, they'd probably be dead from exsanguination or infection."
Sally just stood there staring and gaping. Her son and his girlfriend both looked like The Joker. Thalia grabbed her arm and led the way to the dining room. The other demigods were gone, probably finishing the ship. "What's wrong?" Paul asked when he saw his wife. She didn't respond. He turned to Thalia. "What did she see?"
Thalia tried to equivocate the scars. "The usual. Broken ankles, broken bones, blood, cuts, sweat." But Paul knew better. "And what else?" She tried to beat around the bush again. "And pained expressions." "And?" Paul pushed. She looked away and took a deep breath. "And Glasgow grins."
If Paul had been holding his coffee, he would have dropped it. If he had been drinking it, he would've done a spit take. He choked on his words instead. "Gl-Glasgow grins?" Thalia nodded. "They're the scars that-"
"I know what they are." he said cutting her off. "But how?" "We're not positive, but I think Kronos captured them at one point."
"Why don't you want them to go back to camp?" Sally asked. "Because Camp Half Blood is the middle of a war with Camp Jupiter. They're mentally unstable. They have to sleep together, otherwise they scream their voices hoarse from nightmares. Camp rules won't allow that."
Sally sighed. "I agree that they should stay, but I think they should go back to camp first."
"Sally, they shouldn't g-" Paul was cut off. "They have to go. We can't exactly take them to a real doctor, and the gods are still silent. The Apollo campers are the next best thing. That's the only way for their physical issues to be resolved. Plus, I understand he's looked up to at both camps. He could probably help stop the fighting."
"Sally," Thalia said, "Are you sure about this? Because I think they'd be in better care here with you. We can always send an Apollo camper or two to your apartment." She decrescendoed to a whisper. "Besides, they're sensitive about the scars. We've gotten use to them, but nobody else knows. Nobody else even knows about Tartarus. Everyone would stare, and then Percy and Annabeth will react badly."
"I still think they should go. You could put them up on Blackjack. No one will be able to see the scars if they're up high. People will have to find out eventually unless you want them to be the hermits living with their mother."
"Sally what I don't want is people making fun of them. People are cruel. They won't understand."
"They're all demigods. They'll understand about scars." Sally countered.
"Girls, how about we let them decide when they wake up." Paul said. "Fine." The girls chorused.
"I'm going to help with the ship." Thalia said. "We're on the roof. Remember, when they wake up, ignore the scars. If you want something to fuss over, Percy's tattoo would be a safe option." With that, Thalia left through the door.
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Also, this story is altering from my original view, which was Percy simply reuniting with Sally. I think this story could use a title change. If you have any ideas, please leave it in a review, or PM me. :)