Warning: Certain ancient Greek names matches words use of foul language but no foul language was intentionally used. Also if you haven't read them yet read 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Early Adventures' 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief' 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters' 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Olympians: The Titan's Curse' and 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Olympians: The Magical Labyrinth' as well as the one shots 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Stolen Chariot' The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Sword of Hades', and The Tales of the Son of Poseidon & the Bronze Dragon' before reading this story as stuff that happened in them will be mentioned. Lastly, any one who wants to do a Demigods and Olympian reads story using 'The Tales of the Son of Poseidon' is allowed as long as you inform me about it.
A Mother's Blessing Is the Answer
Ms. O'Leary and I melted out of a tree into a familiar scene in Connecticut, and it send a shiver down my back.
We were on a cliff in the woods of Connecticut. Down one side the cliff, a highway cut through a ravine. Down the other side was a place I never though I'd seen again.
It was someone's backyard, a huge property, a lot more wilderness like than I remember. I guess Ms. Castellan couldn't bring herself to cut the grass. The house was a two story white Colonial house. There was an old swing set stood under an apple tree—a little more rusty than I remembered. From the kitchen window I could see lights on, which means May Castellan was home.
"Here I am, again," I said as I got off Ms. O'Leary. "Stay girl! Get some rest."
Ms. O'Leary didn't argue as she circled around and flopped down so hard the ground shook and she fell asleep. Nico melted out of the shadows behind me.
"You okay?" Nico asked.
"Yeah," I responded. "I just… This is where Luke Thalia Annabeth and I were at nine years ago. Luke had hoped to go in, steal some medical supplies for us and get out because some monsters destroyed our hideout."
"I take it the plan didn't go well?" Nico asked.
I shook my head. "Hermes appeared before it even started."
"Well, if you're done remembering the good times, we need to get inside," Nico said.
…
The sidewalk hasn't changed much either. It was lied with those little stuff beanbag animals you see in gift shops. There were miniature lions, pigs, dragons, hydras, even a teeny Minotaur in a little Minotaur diaper, and all of them were just left out here.
The front porch was infested with wind chimes. Shiny bits of glass and metal clinked in the breeze. Brass ribbons twinkled like water.
The front door was painted turquoise. The name CASTELLAN was written in English, and below in Greek:
Διοικητής φρουρίου
Nico looked at me. "Ready?"
"As ready as I can be," I responded.
He barely tapped the door when swung open.
"Luke!" the Ms. Castella cried happily.
She has aged since I last saw her as her once blonde hair was white. Her pink house dressed was covered in scorched marks and smears of ash.
"Oh, my dear boy!" She hugged Nico.
Nico shot me a look of help but I just gave him a look that said, now you know why I didn't want to return.
Of course Ms. Castellan smiled at me and said, "Luke!"
She forgot Nico and gave me a hug. She still had the smell of burned cookies that I remembered.
I wanted to tell her that I wasn't Luke but we have met before nine years ago, but something about the look in her eyes told me it wouldn't matter.
"Come in!" she insisted. "I have your lunch ready!"
She ushered us inside.
The living room wasn't much different either. There were mirrors ad candles filled every available space. I couldn't look anywhere without seeing my own reflection. Above the mantle the mantle, a little bronze Hermes flew around the second hand of a ticking clock.
I had to remind myself that Ms. Castellan wasn't always like this in order not to question how she won Hermes' heart.
Then I noticed the framed picture on the mantle, and I froze with realization. It was exactly like Rachel's sketch—Luke around nine years old, with blond hair and a big smile and two missing teeth. That's why Rachel's sketched looked familiar, I saw it nine years ago when I was last here, before Annabeth Thalia and I were ushered into the kitchen so Luke and Hermes could have a father-and-son not-so-private chat. But how could Rachel have known about that picture?
"This way, my dear!" Ms. Castella steered me toward the back of the house. Déjà vu. "Oh, I told them you would come back. I knew it!"
She sat us down at the Kitchen table. Inside there were hundreds more Tupperware boxes with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches inside, some of which were so old and moldy they might as well be mold.
On top of the oven was a stack of cookie sheets. Each oe had a dozen burned cookies on it. In the sink was a mountain of empty plastic Kool-Aid pitchers. The beanbag Medusa Annabeth and I played with nine years ago to buy time was still where we left it.
Ms. Castella started humming as she got out peanut butter and Jelly and started making a new sandwich. I could already smell the scent burnt cookies. I wish I brought my chocolate with me. It would do Nico and me a great deal after this meeting.
Above the sink, taped all around the windows, were dozens of little pictures cut from magazines and newspaper ads—pictures of Hermes from the FTD Flowers logo and Quickie Cleaners, pictures f the caduceus from Medicals.
Nico coughed. "Um, Ms. Castellan?"
"Mm?"
"We need to ask you about your son."
"Oh, yes! They told me who would never come back. But I knew better." She patted my cheek affectionately, giving me peanut butter racing stripes.
"When did you last see him?" Nico asked.
I want to tell Nico "nine years ago, duh" but I figured he wouldn't have me tired out my hellhound to shadow travel here to ask questions for answers I already knew.
Her eyes lost focus.
"He was so young when he left," she said wistfully. "Third grade. That's too young to run away! He said he'd be back for lunch. And I waited. He likes peanut butte sandwiches and cookies and Kool-Aid."
"Ms. Castellan," I said.
"Mom," she corrected.
"Um, yeah… what my friend meant earlier was—have you seen Luke after his last visit nine years ago?" I asked.
"Well, of course!"
Nico sat forward expectantly. "When? When did visit you last?"
"Well, it was… Oh goodness…" a shadow passed over her face. "The last time, he looked different. He had that terrible scar, and that grey streak—just as you do now," May turned to me.
I wanted to shrink down in my seat. I have forgotten that Luke Annabeth and I had held up the sky for a moment of time, and for a reminder, we had that streak in my hair.
Thank gods Ms. Castellan change topics instead of asking about it. "Oh and his voice was full of pain…"
"His eyes," I said, "Were they gold?"
"Gold?" She blinked. "No. How silly. Luke has blue eyes, like his father Hermes. Beautiful blue eyes!"
So Luke really had been here, and this had happened before last summer—before Kronos took possession of his body.
"Ms. Castellan?" Nico put his hand on the old woman's arm. "This is very important. Did he ask you for anything?"
She frowned as if trying to remember. "My—my blessing. Isn't that sweet?" She looked at us uncertainly. "He was going to a river, and he said he needed my blessing. I gave it to him. Of course I did."
Nico looked at me triumphantly. That must have been the answer we been looking for, which means I had a good idea where we're going next. "Thank you, ma'am," Nico said. "That's all the information we—"
Ms. Castellan gasped. She doubled over, and her cookie tray clattered to the floor. Nico jumped to his feet as I froze.
"Ms. Castellan?" Nico said.
"AHHHH." She straightened and looked at me. Her eyes was glowing almost exactly how the attic was in my dream vision, almost like the spirit of Delphi.
"My child," she rasped in a much deeper voice. "Must protect him! Hermes, help! Not my child! Not his fate—no!"
She grabbed Nico by the shoulders and began to shake him as if to make him understand. "Not his fate!"
Nico made a strangled scream and pushed her away. He gripped the lit of his sword. "Percy, we need to get out—"
Suddenly Ms. Castellan collapsed and I was frozen in fear. Was this why Luke ran away years ago. Was this the real results for what she trying to take possession of the Oracle.
"Goodness," Ms. Castellan said. "I dropped my cookies."
"Percy!" Nico yelled snapping me out of it, "We have to go. We'll tell Luke… uh, we'll tell him you said hello."
"But you can't leave!" Ms. Castellan got shakily to her feet. I backed away toward the door.
"Hermes will be here soon," she promised. "He'll want to see his boy!"
"We'll be back," Nico said as we headed out of the house.
…
Back at the cliff, Ms. O'Leary had found a friend.
A cozy camp fire crackle in a ring of stones. A girl about eight years old was sitting cross-legged next to Mrs. O'Leary, scratching the hellhound's ears.
The girl had mousy brown hair and a simple brown dress. She wore a scarf over her head so she looked like a pioneer kid—like the ghost of Little House on the Prairie or something. She poked the fire with a stick, and it seemed to glow more richly red than a normal fire.
"Hello," she said.
I wanted to reach for my sword but Nico bowed to the little girl, "Hello again, Lady."
I decided it was safest to bow.
"No need to fear me Percy Jackson. I mean no harm to you," she said. "Would you like some dinner."
The girl waved her hand and a picnic appeared at the edge of the fire. There were plates of roast beef, baked potatoes, buttered carrots, fresh bread, and a whole bunch of other foods I hadn't had I long time. It made me forget about the moldy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and burnt cookies as my stomach started to rumbled. It was the kind of home-cooked meal people are supposed to have but never did. The girl made a five-foot-long dog biscuit appeared for Mrs. O'Leary, who happily.
Girl sitting next to a fire, instant homemade food—Now that I got a good look, her eyes seemed to be on fire like Ares but warm and friendly. That's when it click in my mind.
"Lady Hestia," I responded. "Goddess of the Hearth home and family and the twelfth Olympian before Dionysus."
The girl smiled. "It's nice to meet another demigod that still remembers me."
Nico and I decided to join in on the home made meal, but of course I made scrapings to all the Olympians fighting.
Now I know what you're thinking, shouldn't Hestia be watching over Olympus?
Well, truth was, Olympians can divide their powers across the globe so they can be in multiple places at once. It's one of the ways how they handle their domains world wide. Even minor gods and goddesses can do it. Only time they combine all their powers into one is if they plan to reveal their true form.
"Thanks, Lady Hestia," I thanked her.
She nodded. "I take it your visit with May Castellan didn't end well?"
I shuddered. "I didn't mea to freeze up like that," I responded, "It's just—the way her eyes was glowing—and the way she was talking—"
"It made you relive your childhood fear," Hestia said sighed, "I knew it was a mistake to let you see that vision. A seven year old shouldn't be scared like that."
"What exactly happened?" Nico asked. "What kind of scars are you talking about?"
"Something I should have told Luke long before this whole mess started." I told Nico about the dream vision I had at seven. When I was done, even Nico seemed shock.
"Percy, you shouldn't let your decision weigh down on your shoulders," Hestia said. "You have done great things since that day. Which leads me to my question, is it necessary for you to seek the powers Luke gained."
Nico was about to speak up but I interrupted him. "I know the risk of it. I read about it in Hal's book. But I want to protect my friends and my family. This maybe my fatal flaw showing, but if I'm meant to die saving Olympus, at least I want to die knowing I was able to save as many as I can."
The goddess smiled. "You truly are a good hero, Percy Jackson. Not too proud and full of loyalty. I like that. I believe that you want to save your friends and family, just remember that if you plan to continue what you're planning. As for now, I will help you reach your next destination.
"Thanks, Lady Hestia," I said before a thought came to my mind, "Lady Hestia, you wouldn't happen to know what happened to Lady Demeter, would you?"
For some reason Hestia and Nico both didn't look like they wanted to answer. "You'll find out soon, Percy Jackson," Hestia said. "I will see you again, Percy, on Olympus."
The goddess waved her hand and everything faded.
Suddenly I was home. Nico and I were sitting on the couch in my mom's apartment on the Upper East Side. That was the good news. The bad news was that that the rest of the living room was occupied by Mrs. O'Leary.
I heard a muffle yell from the bedroom. Paul's voice said, "Who put this wall of fur in the door way?"
"Honey, I think it's Mrs. O'Leary," My mom said before calling out, "Percy? Are you here? Are you alright?"
"I'm here!" I shouted back.
"WOOF!" Mrs. O'Leary tried to turn in circle to find my mom, knocking all the pictures off the wall. She's only met my mom and step dad once before (long story), but she loves them, especially my mom.
It took a few minutes, but we finally got things worked out. After destroying most of the furniture in the living room and probably making our neighbors really mad, we got my mom and stepdad out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where we sat around the kitchen table. Mrs. O'Leary still took up the entire living room, but she'd settled her head in the kitchen doorway so she could see us, which made her happy. My mom tossed her a ten-pound family size tube of ground beef, which disappeared down her gullet.
Thank gods we told Paul the truth last year, otherwise this would be hard to explained this along with our trip to Connecticut.
"Sorry about Mrs. O'Leary destroying the living room," I said, "And about Blackjack landing on the Prius."
Nico frowned. "When did that happened?"
I waved it off giving him a "I'll tell you later" look.
"That's okay," Paul said, "I figured something was up when Rachel brought the car back with hoofprints on it."
"Anyways," I said. "We need to tell you guys something.
I told Paul and my mom about Typhon and the gods, and the battle that was sure to come. Then I told them Nico's plan.
My mom laced her fingers around her lemonade glass. She was weaing her old blue flannel bathrobe, and her hair was tied back. Recently she'd started writing a novel, like she wanted for years, and I could tell she'd been working on it into the night, because the circles under her eyes were darker than usual.
Behind her at the kitchen window, silvery moon laced glowed in the flower box. I'd brought the magical plat back from Calypso's island last summer, and it bloomed like crazy under my mother's care. The scent always calmed me down, but it also reminded me of the promise I made.
My mom took a deep breath, like she was thinking how to tell me no.
"Percy, it's dangerous," she said. "Even for you."
"Mom, I know. I could die. Nico explained that, and the side effects aren't much better," I responded, "But I want to do this. Not for me, but for everyone I cared about. This could be the only way to save Luke."
"Ms. Jackson," Nico said, "Percy needs your blessing. The process has to start that way. I wasn't sure until we met Luke's mom, but now I'm positive. This has only been done successfully twice before. Both times, the mother had to give her blessing. She had to be willing to let her s take the risk."
"You want me to bless this?" She shook her head. "It's crazy. Percy, please—"
"Mom, I can't do it without you."
"And if you survive this… this process?"
"The I go to war with the rest of the camp," I responded, "Or at least most of it."
"Most of it?" My mom said.
"Not to mention by now Chiron most likely have had contacted Thalia and Bianca about getting the Hunters help," I responded. "Either way, I would be ready when the time comes to fight Kronos and free Luke."
I didn't tell her the whole prophecy—about the soul reaping ad the end of my days. She didn't need to know that I was destined to die on my sixteenth birthday.
"You're my son," she said miserably. "I can't just…"
I locked eyes with Paul, and some kind of understanding passed between us.
"Sally." He put his hand over my mom's hands. "I can't claim to know what you and Percy have been going through before I met you. But it sounds to me… it sounds like Percy is doing something noble. I wish I had that much courage.
My mom stared at her lemonade. She looked like she was trying not to cry.
"Percy," she said, "I give you my blessing."
I didn't feel any different. No magic glow lit the kitchen or anything.
I glanced at Nico.
He looked more anxious than ever, but he nodded. "It's time."
"Percy," my mom said. "One last thing. If you… if you survive this fight with Kronos, send me a sign." She rummage through her purse and handed me her cellphone.
"Mom," I said, "you know demigods and phones—"
"I know," she said, "But keep it just incase. And if you're not able to call maybe a sign that I could see from anywhere in Manhattan. To let me know."
"If I survive this, I'll see if Zeus is grateful enough to send a blue flash across the sky," I said.
"Sounds good," my mm agreed.
She gave me one last hug. I tried not to feel like I was saying good-bye. I shook hands with Paul. Then Nico and I walked to the kitchen doorway ad looked at Mrs. O'Leary.
"Time to shadow travel girl," I said, "So Nico, should we go to Los Angeles?"
"No need," he said, "There's a closer entrance to the Underworld."