I've realized that my line breaks don't show up. I'm sorry if it gets confusing.

Chapter Ten

Thalia

Saturday, August 7th

It was Saturday morning. The meeting yesterday eventually ended up going until eight. Hades wasn't kidding when he said they were really going into overtime. Thalia tiredly glanced at the clock on her bedside table. It was barely ten o'clock. Thalia felt a bit sick but she ignored it. She yawned as she walked across the hall into the bathroom. Nobody was in there yet. She took this as an opportunity to be the first one to shower. When she got out, Hazel was sitting on the counter with her back against the mirror. A toothbrush was in her mouth and her eyes were closed. Thalia tightened her towel.

"Hazel?" she poked her cousin in the side.

Hazel opened her eyes slowly, "Oh, hi Thalia." Her nose sounded stuffy.

"Hi?"

Hazel hopped off the counter. "I got the flu."

"Oh. That sucks."

Hazel nodded and went back to brushing her teeth. Thalia quickly did the same before leaving the bathroom. She went and knocked on Bianca's door, "Hazel's sick—" she stopped short. "You're sick too?"

Bianca was wrapped in blankets. Beside her clock was a pile of used tissues and she kept on sneezing. "Yeah," Bianca sniffled. "I feel gross."

Thalia frowned and left for her own room. She quickly put on a pair of pajama pants and a white t-shirt. She went into the living room to find Percy lying on the couch watching TV in a robe and pajamas.

"Mind if I join you?" Thalia asked.

"You don't want to," Percy turned and sneezed. "I think I'm sick."

"You think?"

"No, I know."

Thalia sighed and went into the boys' cubicle. She barely knocked before entering her brother's room. "Everyone is sick!" she exclaimed.

"Me too," Jason sighed as he rubbed his eyes.

Thalia rolled her eyes and went to Nico's room, "Nico, please don't tell me your sick too."

"Sorry, Thalia," Nico replied. He blew his nose. "Is everyone sick?" Thalia nodded and turned away to sneeze. "I think you're sick too."

Thalia sighed and left. She sat beside Percy in the living room.

"Thalia, I'll get you sick," Percy muttered as he sat up.

"You're too late, someone else already did," Thalia sneezed a few times, making her point.

Percy sniffed and turned back to the TV.

Thalia and Percy were still sitting in the living room when the TV started blinking.

Incoming message

Thalia turned to Percy. Neither one of them felt like getting up at the moment.

Thalia took a deep breath before yelling, "Everybody to the living room."

A few seconds later everyone shuffled out of their rooms. They glanced at the TV before sitting down. Thalia realized none of them had eaten yet. Guess nobody was hungry.

"Hello everyone," Chiron greeted. "Why are you not dressed?" Thalia opened her mouth to speak but Chiron waved her off, "No matter. Anyways, at your request your fathers are here to take you for brunch. Have fun." The TV clicked off.

"When was this planned?" Nico asked.

Jason blew his nose with a tissue, "While you were sleeping during the meeting."

A few seconds later there was a knock at the door. No one went to the door. Another knock came, this one sounded extremely impatient. Thalia sighed and got up. When she opened the door she found the three brothers wearing casual clothes. That was extremely out of character.

Thalia's eyelids were half open, "Come in."

The three brothers walked in and Thalia closed the door behind them. She took her spot back on the couch. Their fathers stood in front of the TV looking them over. Thalia looked around her. Hazel was curled up on the loveseat barely keeping her eyes open, Percy was having a sneezing fit, Jason continuously blew his nose and tossed the tissues in a small garbage can beside the couch, Bianca was holding her head in her hands and Nico couldn't seem to stop yawning.

Poseidon cocked his head, "Is something…wrong?"

"We're sick," Jason croaked.

"All of you?" Hades asked.

They simultaneously nodded.

Zeus shrugged, "Oh well, brunch is cancelled."

"No," Thalia glared at him. "We're sick, not disabled. We can still eat food."

"Could you at least shower first?" Poseidon requested. "It'll probably freshen you up a bit."

The children nodded in agreement and went off to their separate rooms. Thalia just went and sat around in her room and changed.

When she walked out she heard the brothers talking, "—I can't believe the water didn't heal Percy," Poseidon was saying, "they must really be sick."

"Should we cancel…?" Zeus' words died out as Thalia passed by the couch and into the kitchen. Percy sat there drinking water. Thalia poured herself a glass of orange juice and sat beside him.

"Hi," he muttered.

"Hey," Thalia replied. "What do you think got us sick?"

Percy shrugged, "Some virus, probably."

"So," Thalia dropped her voice, "Your dad—"

She stopped as Jason walked in. She waved him over and he sat beside her, "So like I was saying, your dad was talking and he was like, 'I can't believe the water didn't heal Percy, they must really be sick.'"

Bianca walked in next. She sat beside Percy, "They're talking about us."

Thalia nodded, "What did they say?"

Bianca whispered, "They were like, 'Oh, they need shots because I don't think they got them' and stuff. I think after brunch they were saying they'd take us to the doctor but then my dad was like, 'We only have one hour' and now they're gonna send someone to the house or something."

Hazel bounced into the room followed by Nico. They both sat down at the table. Hazel looked at them questioningly, "What's going on?"

"We might be getting flu shots today," Percy whispered.

Nico nodded, "They were talking and saying something about a doctor. I never got my flu shot, you?"

They all shook their heads. Thalia took a sip of her orange juice before speaking, "And the thing is, they expected Percy to be fine because once he's in water, poof, he's okay. But that didn't happen."

"Question is," Percy whispered, "How did we all get sick?"

"So, where is this diner exactly?" Hazel questioned. They had just exited House and now was walking along the sidewalk.

"Just a block up," Poseidon answered. After some more walking they finally stopped in front of a diner.

The sign on the top read Ποσειδώνας. It was in Greek.

Zeus rolled his eyes, "It literally says Poseidon. Since when do you have a restaurant named after you?"

Poseidon shrugged.

"I thought we were going somewhere casual," Jason frowned as they entered. Thalia looked around. There were fancy tables and people laughing and having a good time.

"Don't worry," Poseidon said. "In the mornings, this place is casual."

"Are you sure, Poseidon?" Hades looked uncomfortable. "This looks pretty fancy."

"I'll ask for a private area," Poseidon reassured.

A man in a suit comes towards the booth, "Hello—Oh, Poseidon! Table for six, I suppose?" Poseidon spoke to him for a few minutes as the others stood around.

They follow the man to a private area and he passes out menus. "I'll be with you in a moment."

"So, you can speak Greek?" Thalia asked her father as she broke a piece of bread. The man in the suit had brought a basket of garlic bread while the chef prepared the real food.

Zeus nodded, "We all can. We're Greek, remember?"

"Oh," Thalia frowned.

"Any other things we should know?" Percy asked as he reached for a piece of garlic bread.

Poseidon thought about it, "When we get to my home in California, you'll meet my son Triton."

"Why isn't he a part of Olympus?" Nico asked.

"He is but he wanted to go to university, so," Poseidon shrugged.

"How old is he?" Percy asked.

"Nineteen."

"Who's his mom?"

"Amphitrite, my ex-wife."

"What about you?" Bianca turned to her own father. "Any wives?"

"Just one, Persephone," Hades answered. "No kids. We just got married a few years ago."

Just then the waiter came back out holding plates of French toast, eggs, bacon, sausage—basically anything you'd want for breakfast.

He smiled as he placed the plates in front of them, "Enjoy."