Okay, okay, okay.
I'm really sorry I haven't been able to update. But I'm not going to bore you with the details of my life.
Review Responses
Modef, Pridewing demigod, and Theon Azul- the answers to your questions are in the chapter.
timjaf- Finish the story? I'm updating as fast as I can. Which is unfortunately rather slowly.
AncientTide- Believe me, there will be a big blow up reaction later.
Primeval of the darkness- Are you serious? The primordial or personification? Does it really matter? She is very powerful in either way. CampHalfBloodWikia says that she is mother earth and the protogenoi (meaning primordials) while my other sources say that she is the primordial of the earth and mother earth. The definition of Protogenoi says that the primordials made up the very fabric of universe. They are both the personification of and the primordials of.
Here is the age order of the characters and their birthdays
Bianca and Nico August 13th
Thalia (now immortal) December 22nd
The Last Children March 21st
Jillian November November 1st
Disclaimer: All rights to respective owners.
Previously,
Jackson's last view of the throne room is Persephone smiling while Hestia follows her brother and his children through the palace.
Time to go home.
Percy smiled wide as they reappeared in the beautiful plaza just outside their father's mansion, a light dusting of snow covering the ground. Imogene turned to Thanatos, snowflakes already sprinkling her black hair.
"I almost forgot it was the Solstice celebration!" She smiled wide, the happiest Percy had seen her in the last week.
Thanatos grinned as he glanced around the plaza. "Everyone was waiting to celebrate until you came back, but I thought you'd like to see the plaza first."
Every year, the people decorated the Void for the Solstice celebration, kind of like a Christmas for the Greeks gods. Shopkeepers put lights up in the windows and made special winter displays. Others draped garlands of evergreens around railings, including the ones on the bridges crisscrossing the plaza, and hung wreaths. The last children made it a tradition to walk around town on the night before the solstice to look at all the decorations. Most families got pine trees to adorn with many ornaments. Children received toys, commonly sleds and ice skates to use on the hills and ponds around the Void. And the largest tree of all would go in the center of the plaza, specially picked by Thesis and the last children.
This year certainly did not disappoint. The nearby coffee shop had twinkling lights in the large shop windows. Poinsettias ended the garlands draped across the railings while green wreaths were pinned on doors. Children carrying ice skates were walking to a nearby pond. A horse draw wagon moved easily through the snow. Every year, his step dad, Pontus, primordial of storms, and Thesis, primordial of nature, made sure that a clean layer of light snow was always on the ground for the whole month of December. Though it was rare that they had to interfere.
The tree in the middle of the plaza this year was giant. Percy and Imogene ran towards it, feeling like little children again. Every citizen of the Void was invited to the official decoration of the tree and many came, bringing ornaments to help. As a child, he remembered staring up at the ninety foot tall tree with the stars twinkling behind it. Now the tree ornaments are covered in snow. One catches his eye and he brushes the snow off.
Thirteen small circles wrap around a center circle. In each of the hoops sits a picture of thirteen children, seven boys, six girls, at the solstice celebration throughout the years. The words in the center become clear. We've celebrated twelve solstices together. Don't let it be our last. Come back Percy and Imogene. The last small circle is blank, no picture there. Tapping Imogene's shoulder, he shows her the ornament. Her hazel green eyes that once again have their silver swirls fill with tears of gratitude. Without even saying anything, the two raced across the final bridge and up onto the porch of the mansion, Thanatos not far behind. Imogene flung open the door and rushed inside, not even caring about the snow they tracked in.
Instantly they were swarmed by their family. The sisters hugged Imogene while the guys gave Percy a man hug. Willow hugged her sister hard. "Wow, Geney, you stink," She commented.
The older daughter of Gaia laughed. "Figured that out by yourself, did you now?" The sisters laughed, so happy to be together after four long months. Percy's mom hurried in, wrapping her son in a tight embrace.
"I missed you so much," Thalassa murmured to him, running her hands through his messy black hair.
"I missed you too, mom," He rubbed his mom's back soothingly.
After a bit, she stepped back and held him at arm's length. "You've grown, haven't you?" She smiled at him, now having to tilt her head upward to look him in the eyes.
Percy laughed. "But you will always be my mom," He hugged her again as his step dad joined them.
Nearby Imogene was getting a similar treatment from her parents. Gaia was crying as she watched her husband hug his daughter. Her siblings soon got impatient and group hugged their sister. The children of Nyx and Ananke stood back a little, until their parents were done, so they could squash their siblings in a giant group hug.
Holly's purple eyes got big with excitement. "Come on! We waited until you were home to celebrate the solstice!" She grabbed Imogene's arm.
"Whoa, wait a second, Holly," Chaos said, stepping forward. Percy and Imogene rushed to hug him. Chaos wrapped his arms around them, having missed them a lot during the months they were gone. "While I too am excited to celebrate, I think these two would like a little time to relax or change."
"Yeah," Imogene lifted the collar of her shirt to her nose. "Fighting titans and holding the sky works up one mighty sweat. I haven't showered in forever," She made a disgusted face as she sniffed the shirt. Percy nodded in agreement.
"We'll come!"
"I'll get your bag!"
"How fast can you make hot cocoa?"
"Faster than you!"
"Come on! Look at this!"
The thirteen children ran upstairs, Percy and Imogene caught in the crowd. Ethan and Hayden had gotten Percy's bags while Willow and Mia got their sister's Chaos had to laugh as he saw their excitement. Smiling, he turned to the other primordials.
"It is good to have them home again," He said.
Gaia nodded, her eyes shining with tears of joy. "My baby is home."
"Father," Thesis said, her face grave.
"Yes, Thesis?" Chaos turned, the atmosphere now gloomy.
"I did further research on the children after the fight with Atlas," Thesis paused. "The results were... interesting."
Dread filled Chaos swiftly. "Come to my office with me," He walked, slightly bent with worry and tiredness, down the hall, his graceful daughter following him.
Upstairs, the halls that had been lacking happiness for months now rang with joy and laughter. The girls all rushed into Imogene's room, talking animately and begging for details on the things that regular girls liked to talk about. Willow gently pushed her sister onto her bed before sitting down beside her. Mia and Amy began unpacking her duffel bag, determining which clothes were normal, needed washed, and beyond saving, while Keira and Holly hurried to make some hot cocoa for them all to drink.
"So," Amy said, once Keira and Holly returned with mugs of hot cocoa for everyone. "Did you meet any cute guys?"
Imogene laughed, tipping back her head. "Way to be blunt Amy."
"That still didn't answer my question," The daughter of Ananke protested.
"There were a few cute guys at Westover, but they were all mostly mortals," Imogene began.
"And how could you look cute wearing this?" Mia held up Westover Hall's uniform, a white collared shirt, navy blue jacket, and plaid skirt.
"Why did you get six pairs of the uniform- Oh my gosh, we should all try them on!" Amy exclaimed.
"What?" Imogene looked at her half sister in bewilderment. "Are you nuts?"
"Amy is so right!" Keira added. "We could have like a crazy fashion show!"
"Oh come, Imogene, please?" Willow asked, giving the older girl her best puppy dog eyes.
"Fine, just let me get showered first," The other girls cheered as Imogene walked into her bathroom with her fuzzy green bathrobe.
The warm water running over her head and grimy body felt so good that she almost didn't want to get out of the shower, but when the girls started pounding on the door, calling at her to hurry up, did she finally turn off the water.
As she dried herself off and tugged on her bathrobe, Imogene glanced at her reflection in the mirror. What she saw surprised her. Though all of the last children were physically fit and thin, her face now seemed thinner. Her ribs seemed more prominent than before, holding the sky for a week burns a ton of calories. When she looked at her arms, they seemed shakier and paler than before, but new muscles were developing. Shaking her head, she belted the robe and left the bathroom.
While she was in the shower, the five girls had visited their rooms and brought back a crazy assortment of objects. The six uniforms Imogene had acquired at Westover Hall were all on her bed, but in the center was a giant brown paper bag. Each girl grabbed an uniform and summoned their element to cover them as they changed. Soon, all six sisters were in the outfit. If they had their eyes closed, you could have sworn that they were identical sextuplets.
"Okay, so everyone is going to randomly draw an item from the bag and put it on," Amy instructed. "Coolio?"
They nodded before there was a scramble to grab an item out of the bag. Imogene's hand closed in on a bundle of fabric and she drew it out. Holly's pair of neon pink tights were in her hand. Smiling to herself, she pulled them on under the skirt before looking around.
Mia wore Holly's pair of ridiculously tall high heels that they had bought as a joke while Amy wore Keira's leather jacket over her blouse. Willow had on a pair of Tartarus' sunglasses (he gave one to each of his nieces) and a brightly colored scarf that she wore as a berka and Keira sported a rainbow clown wig. Holly adjusted the heavy fur cape on her back.
Simultaneously the girls all broke out laughing.
"We need ... someone to take a picture," Willow said, hiccuping from laughing so hard.
Mia stumbled toward the door in her high heels, bringing another round of giggles from the girls. A few steps from Percy's room where all the guys were, Mia tripped, her outstretched hand hitting his door. Hayden opened the door, his eyebrows rising higher as he took in Mia sprawled in the hallway with a group of his sisters in uniforms with the oddest accents.
"I don't even want to know," He said. This brought the girls to giggles again.
"Just...take ...a... picture," Keira said in between fits of laughter. Hayden obliged, summoning his ipad (Chaos had given all the children devices) and opened to the camera.
"Wait, we should get it outside," Holly suggested. Hayden sighed as he went after his sisters, his other brothers following with curiosity.
Getting down the stairs was a nightmare. At one point, Mia got so fed up with tripping, she sat down on the steps and slid. This time the laughter rang throughout the house as all of the last children laughed.
It was still snowing lightly outside, but the snow dusted ground in front of Chaos' mansion made a perfect backdrop for the pictures. The girls posed in several awkward styles including a pyramid with Holly on the top, piggy back rides, snow angels, and one odd one where Amy was hugging Keira around the neck. Eventually the excited yells and shouts drew the primordials out of the mansion and the whole family posed for the yearly picture including an action filled, full on snow ball fight.
When Willow almost toppled into a half frozen fountain, the family returned inside to celebrate the rest of the solstice. They gathered around the large decorated tree to begin the sometimes silly gift exchange. Percy and Imogene gave all of their siblings snow globes of the empire state building that turned into Mount Olympus when shaken. The last children all received a pair of sunglasses from Tartarus that allowed them to see the thermal temperatures of objects. "So you can see who's hot and who's not," Tartarus joked as he handed them out. Percy gave his mom a sea pearl that he had found on one of Westover's sea hikes while he gave Pontus a joking present of a green burger king paper crown that said: KING OF THE FISH. Pontus laughed as he took it from his stepson before placing it on his head. The last children gave their father a picture frame with their handprints around the edges. Each year the children had put their hands in a different colored paint so that Chaos could always see their hand size, not matter how old they got.
After the gift exchange, they played games, silly and traditional late into the evening. Though Chaos hated to break the festive mood, the news couldn't wait till morning. After the primordials had gone with coffee into the dining room, Chaos motioned for the children to follow him to his office. Exchanging puzzled glances, the children dutifully went after their father to his office. Chaos held the door open for all of them before shutting it firmly behind them. The room, which had adapted to Chaos' needs as always, had a long bench in front of his desk. The last children sat on the bench as Chaos sat down in his swivel chair, resting his elbows on the desk, fingertips together. They looked at him expectantly.
Chaos sighed internally. This was always so hard to do. His children could see through him so covering the truth would never help. And they hated all the crap that was sometimes associated with a simple message.
"In her previous months of research, Thesis has uncovered more about your nature," He paused, scanning the faces of each of his children. They all bore the same expression of curiosity, anxiety, and a slight confusement on why Chaos was taking so long. "She found that you are aging as a regular human would until..."
"Until when?" Keira asked.
"When you reach sixteen, you will take on your full immortal form. Until you reach sixteen, you will age and die as a normal child your are was," Chaos finished.
For a moment, there was a brief stunned silence. Then, Alabaster, his smart little boy, put the pieces together. "So if the great prophecy goes as planned, we will be fighting the final battle for Olympus against the titans before we are sixteen, meaning we can die.
Taking a breath, Chaos then nods. The others have comprehension dawning across their faces. "Unless both children of Hades die..." Ollie begins.
"Bianca and Nico won't die," Percy says firmly. "Even if they were both killed, the titans wouldn't be like, hey, let's hold off our attack for another year just so that the prophecy child could be off age. Unless it benefitted them."
"If I know anything about my grandson, it is that Kronos will do anything in his power to get the upper hand. He will use all tricks to gain power and much more. But this is a discussion for another day. On a brighter note, you have all of January together."
The children turn and smile happily at each other, already planning what they will do together. "But, after that I cannot promise that you will all be together for some time," Chaos adds. Their faces fall, but soon the small grins return as they remember that they have the whole month together.
"Is that all?" Max asks.
Chaos nods. "I believe so," His children stand and head towards the door. Just as Percy reaches the door, Chaos calls him back.
"Percy, could you stay for a few minutes? Imogene, you too," The two turn back and sit down on the bench, which seems empty without all of their siblings on it.
"I want to congratulate you on the excellent job you did on earth. You successfully gained the trust of Hades and his children, kept the big three kids alive, and battled Atlas. Do you have any questions for me about your quest?"
"Yes," Percy replied. "Why isn't Zoe a part of the hunt any longer?"
His father sighed, leaning back in his chair. "It is rather complicated actually. The fates had ordained that Zoe's path would be changed by her family. Her father would have killed her or her sisters would have returned the immortality originally bestowed on her. Either way, by the end of the night, Zoe was not allowed to be a part of the hunt."
"But how did her sister returning her immortality remove her from the hunt?" Imogene asked curiously.
"You see, no one can ever hold immortality given to them by separate people at different times. When Atlas stripped Zoe of her immortality after Hercules left the garden with his prize of a golden apple, she was able to obtain the partial immortality from being a hunter of Artemis. But the second blessing of immortality almost always overrules the first. As her sisters healed her, Artemis' blessings and immortality left Zoe. Artemis can only give her blessing to a maiden once, the ancient laws forbid her from doing it a second. In the rules that Artemis herself wrote for the hunt, no girl is allowed to hunt with her once her blessing is gone. Though girls are allowed to be with the hunt who are considering joining. Therefore, Zoe had to camp to camp," Seeing Percy's look, Chaos continued. "Nor is Zoe fully immortal. Her wound was fatal so the blessing of immortality did not make her a full immortal."
Satisfied, Percy nodded in understanding. "Thank you father."
"Will we ever get to return to camp?" Imogene asked.
Chaos paused before beginning. "Yes, you will return next spring or summer. There is much to be done at Camp Half Blood before Kronos attacks. Also, you will fight mainly with the Greeks in the final battle for Olympus. I assume that is all. Good job and good night."
The siblings bid farewell before returning to their rooms for the night.
For the next month, the last children make every second count. All of them spent more time with their parents and siblings, not knowing who would be deployed on missions first. The sisters often had sleepovers together, staying up and giggling late into the night. The brothers hung out and once went to the ice cream parlor, Polar Bear Ice, in the Void, ordering the Jumbo Freezer, consisting of twenty one massive scoops of ice cream and at least ten toppings. They managed to break the record of their yearly attempt, eating it all in a time two minutes and thirteen seconds.
Once the last children decided to go sledding. The children of Gaia created a perfect sledding hill in the mansions, including little jumps and dips to make it more fun. Percy made sure an extra special layer of snow fell, one that was icy even to be fast but also with big fluffy drifts of snow and a light dusting of snow falling on them. Ethan, Paul, Mia, and Kiera brought the hot chocolate and lots of marshmallows for the bonfire afterwards. The children of Ananke found a variety of sleds from old toboggans, saucers sleds, tubes, and snowboards in the attic of Chaos' mansion. Why a bunch of primordials had sleds, they had no idea. Tartarus gave them a special grease to put on the bottoms so the sleds went extra fast. Terra, Susan, the daughter of Ourea, Timmy, the son of Eros and Thesis, and Dan and Kyley, the children of Hemera and Aether spent the morning gathering enough wood for a blazing bonfire and arranged logs in a circle around the fire pit.
When everything was finally ready, they all donned snow gear and headed out for a snowy afternoon. The sledding started out simple with just enjoying the fast hill they had created. Then challenges were issued and the races were on. Bets were being made left and right on who would win. Percy bet Willow fifteen voidians that she couldn't beat him down the hill. A starting line and finish with draw in the snow and the two placed their tubes on the start. Backing up twenty feet, they each waited anxiously for the start. Terra yelled go and they were off. Willow and Percy sprinted to their tubes, hitting them with a flying start. Percy, using his water powers to made his snow harder into ice so it would be quicker, starter to pull ahead. Willow, not wanting to lose to her older brother, created a large jump ahead of her. Flying off the ramp, she gave herself a push off wind so that she landed over the finish line. Standing up, Willow raised her fist in victory... only to be slammed by Percy crossing the finishing line. Though it was voted that it was a draw (Willow went farther, faster, but Percy actually crossed the finish line), they began to go down in crazy assortment of chains and formations, often ending up with them buried in the snow drifts.
Hours after the sun had set, they crowded around the bonfire Kyley had just lit, roasting marshmallows and eating gooey s'mores. They told ghost stories with Terra's red lift flashlight that often flickered, the storyteller usually using their powers to make the story creepier. Once, Mia silently willed the shadows over each person and yelled, "Boo!" The shadows flipped everyone over onto their backs. But the funniest thing was Hayden, screaming like a little girl. That brought on a good round of laughter.
Most things were still the same with the last children. Percy was still the loyal, joking one of the bunch. Willow still wore her knee brace (Chaos still hadn't figured that out) and Amy was still the compassionate one. Terra still was obsessed with dark chocolate and Paul and Ollie still loved to run. Ethan still couldn't hit the bull's eye on targets while Holly and Keira still had their rivalry.
But there were times Percy when looked off into the distance, standing stiller than a statue, just thinking, much unlike the loud, happy kid they had all come to expect. Imogene had the slightly broken look in her eyes, that Percy was afraid she would never lose. She had seen too much when she was captured by the titans, though Chaos thanked his father Helix everyday that she was still innocent. That truly would have broken her. And Chaos always looked so tired, worried, and apologetic when he looked at his children.
Then January ended, February just around the corner with promise of new missions. It would be a long time before all of them met up again. With a sad feeling in his heart, Percy knew the last children would never be the same if they ever met again.
Okay, hoped you liked the chapter.
I need help. I had all these missions planned out, but then I realized that they may be too boring with all the OC's. So would you rather me write...
all the little missions
focus on the Greeks and Romans and show the missions through flashbacks and conversations
leave out the little missions completely
Thanks for your help and remember to review!
~Snow Wolfe6631~