Chapter Twelve - Family Reunion

"He's awake," Annabeth said. "Your brother's awake."

I blinked, confused for a moment, then my eyes widened as I realized what she was saying. Percy was awake! I threw off my covers and scrambled off the bed, ready to run out and see him, only to be pulled back by my hand.

"What?" I said, managing only just barely to not snap at her as I pulled my hand free. She hadn't been harmed by my body heat before, but I didn't want to take unnecessary risks.

"You might want to put on some pants at the very least," Annabeth said. "Shoes are optional, of course."

"Oh," I said, looking down at my bare legs - I'd fallen asleep in a slightly oversized t-shirt, not bothering with pajamas. "Right."

I opened the trunk at the foot of my bed, pulling out a pair of jeans and getting dressed as quickly as I could. If I fell over onto the bed as I did so, it was only so I could have better leverage. Once dressed, I spared a quick thought to my hair, feeling it style neatly, before turning to see Annabeth staring at me.

"Um...?"

"What was that?" She asked, gesturing to my head.

"It's one of my other powers?" I said, unsure how else to respond.

"One of...? How many powers do you even have?" She asked, bewildered.

"Argue outside!" Somebody grumbled. Given the lack of pillows being thrown, I assumed that must have been the previous offender. Not wanting to give her a chance to find something else to throw, I quickly pulled on my shoes and half-dragged Annabeth out the door with me.

"No, but seriously, how many demigod powers do you actually have?" Annabeth asked again once we were outside.

"A few," I said. "I mean, obviously I can set myself on fire... Though I guess so can anyone once in their life." I grinned, but Annabeth looked non-plussed, so I continued; "I'm also able to control external fires to varying degrees of success. I can light and snuff out candles, and I'm working my way up. Um... Oh, right. You saw me do the thing with my hair. I can style it, color it, even lengthen or shorten it. I'm also making progress on doing it to other people, and in some regards it's easier because I can see what I'm doing, but in terms of energy output it can be draining. I've also got a secondary sense of sight that lets me see magical energy and people's auras.

"Of course, with that one I have to be careful not to look at a goddess or god. It might not kill me, but I've been warned that it's close enough to looking at their true form that my eyes could potentially melt out of their sockets. Oh, and I've recently been practicing Mystiokinesis. I want to eventually get good enough to make magic items."

Annabeth stared at me, her mouth hanging open in shock. Had I broken her?

"Um... Are you okay?" I asked.

Annabeth shook herself out of her stupor, "That's... That's ridiculous! Demigod powers are supposed to be super rare, and you've got four?"

"Well, technically I've got three and a half? My aura sight is basically just a specialized form of Mystiokinesis," I said. "Well, technically all demigod powers are, if you want to nit pick. But anyone who's got godly heritage can use Mystiokinesis to some degree. It certainly comes easier to some than others, but if you're willing to put in the effort..." I shrugged. "I got most of my information from... from aunt Elena."

"A mortal woman?" Annabeth sounded skeptical.

"A daughter of Athena," I corrected. "I never actually met her - she died a long time ago. But, she was married to the man I call my uncle. That makes her family. She studied demigod powers and had taken extensive notes on the subject. Chiron hung onto those notes and eventually compiled them into a big book. If you want, you can probably ask him to borrow it." I paused, then giggled. "I just remembered that my uncle Joe is a son of Aphrodite. That means he really is my uncle after all!"

We lapsed into silence for the rest of the walk toward the Big House. It wasn't awkward or anything, we just both kinda fell into our respective thoughts. I couldn't tell you what Annabeth was thinking, though from her heavily creased forehead, I could tell she was giving it considerable thought. As for myself, I was trying to think of what I was going to say to my brother. We'd been apart literally half our lives, and I only barely had memories of him from back then. Would he even remember me? Did mom talk about the daughter she'd lost? He'd grown up with her and I'd grown up mourning her. I shoved those thoughts away with every ounce of mental willpower I could muster. I didn't want to be jealous of him. He didn't deserve that.

We split up as we approached the Big House. Annabeth heading for the front door while I headed around back to the Infirmary side. Turning the corner, I saw that somebody had apparently wheeled his bed outside at some point. He was sitting up and drinking a glass of what looked like iced apple juice, but was more likely nectar. That could only be a good sign, I rationalized, that they had given him that. It meant that he'd recovered enough that non-magical healing could be sped up without complications.

"Was it good?" I head Grover ask.

"He just downed the entire glass in under five seconds," I said, walking over. "What do you think?"

Grover jumped and let out a sound of surprise that seemed to take my brother by surprise. He turned to look at me, his eyes going wide.

"Um, hey," I said, intelligently. It's not like I'd spent weeks thinking about what I was going to actually say to him when we finally came face-to-face or anything. Or maybe I had, and the thoughts just flew out of my empty brain. That was probably the most likely explanation. "Hey. I'm..."

"Penny?" His voice cracked around my name and came out a whisper. "Is that...? Are you real?"

"Huh?" I blinked.

"You are real!" The glass in his hands went flying, and Grover leapt to keep it from shattering on the deck. Percy at least had the good decency to look properly remorseful, "er... Sorry."

"Back up," I said. "Sorry, what do you mean? Of course I'm real. Why wouldn't I be real?"

"Oh, um..." he trailed off, looking embarrassed. "You really are her, right? My sister?"

"In the flesh," I said, having to clear a lump that was growing in my throat. "But enough about me, are you okay?" I turned to Grover, "is he okay? Can he get up? Can he move?"

Grover looked at me wide-eyed and bleated like a goat, "The healers said he'd be good to get up after drinking the nectar. Chiron and Mr. D will want to see him, though. Well... Chiron will. Maybe not Mr. D."

"Chiron?" Percy asked. "Is that like... the horse guy in those old stories?"

I shook my head, "Chiron is a centaur, Percy. And those old stories are mostly true, if embellished, historical accounts of people like us. Though, you'd know him better as Mr. Brunner if I'm not mistaken."

"Mr. Brunner?" I could hear the doubt in his voice. "My Latin teacher from Yancy Academy? Pretty sure he wasn't hiding a horse body on that wheelchair. He even had legs. Regular person legs."

"I'd offer a bet against that," I said, "but uncle Joe frowns on me taking money from chumps. I'll just say that there's a lot that magic can do, and leave it at that for now."

"Magic and myths," Percy said, frowning. "Maybe I really am just drea- Ouch! Why'd you pinch me?"

"To prove that you're not dreaming," I said. "Come on, if you wont believe me, maybe it'll be better coming straight from the horse's mouth."

"Penny!" Grover said, sounding scandalized.

"Seriously, come on," I helped Percy to his feet, noting that he didn't seem bothered by my body heat. I'd figured he wouldn't, all things considered, but I still had no idea why Annabeth seemed immune. Grover certainly kept a respectable distance after accidentally brushing my arm. He'd pulled away like he'd touched a hot stove top.

Down at the end of the porch on the other side of the Big House, Chiron and Mr. D sat across from each other at a card table. Annabeth was leaning on the porch rail next to them, and turned when she noticed us approaching.

"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured, pointing him out for Percy. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron..."

"Mr. Brunner!" Percy shouted.

"Oh goody," Mr. D said, voice dripping with heavy sarcasm. "He survived."

"You sound disappointed," Percy said with a frown, clearly forgetting Grover's warning to be polite.

"Well, I suppose it's good news for you," the god of wine said. "But it means more paperwork for me. Don't expect me to be thrilled to see yet another camper I could care less about running around this dump."

"Couldn't care less," I heard Annabeth mumble as I went to stand next to her.

"Does that mean you do care?" I asked.

"Do not presume to understand what goes on in my mind, little hero," Mr. D said, turning to face me. The smell of grapes wafted by on the wind.

"Not a hero," I said with a smirk. "Just a kid with a big mouth."

"Hmm, I wonder."

"Sir?" I asked.

"As entertaining as our little tete a tete is, I do have important matters elsewhere," the god stood up, turning to Grover. "Come along, Mr. Undergrowth."

"You really shouldn't antagonize him like that," Annabeth said, smacking me on the shoulder once the god and goat were out of sight.

"Hey, ouch!" I said, rubbing my shoulder for effect. "I wasn't antagonizing him. I was just... Mouthing off? Okay, fine. But, he didn't seem to mind."

"You're impossible!" She said, turning to notice Percy looking at us. She eyed him critically for a moment, taking in his untidy hair and wrinkled clothes that had been slept in before her eyes landed on the black horn in his hand. I hadn't noticed it before, but I guess if he'd killed a monster that made the trophy his to keep. Instead of commenting on his appearance, or even the monster trophy, she said; "You drool when you sleep."

The look of absolute confusion that crossed over his face gave me trouble not bursting out laughing. As it is, I ended up snorting really loudly. Annabeth sent me a smirk as if to claim some victory before sprinting off away from the Big House, her blonde hair trailing behind her. I watched her go, oblivious to anything else until a hand on my shoulder nearly made me jump out of my skin.

"Huh what?" I looked around wildly before realizing Percy was staring at me wide-eyed. "Um... Percy?"

"You're on fire!" He shouted.

"Huh?" I looked at my hands and turned my arms around. Not seeing any flames, I started patting my chest and legs.

"You're head, Miss Jackson," Chiron spoke up.

"Oh," I grinned, slightly embarrassed. I took a breath and let it out slowly, feeling the flames extinguish. "Sorry 'bout that. Um... Are you okay, Percy?"

"Am I okay?" He sputtered. "You just caught on fire! He's a horse! What is going on?"

I looked and noticed that Chiron had apparently left his wheelchair while I had been distracted. How much time had passed with me staring off at nothing?

"He's a centaur," I corrected. "And I told you that. You just didn't believe me."

"Yes well," Chiron said. "Perhaps it might be best to give your brother a tour of the camp."

"Right," I nodded. "We should probably check in with Ch- Beckendorf too. See about getting him settled in to the cabin and stuff."

"Ah, about that..."

"What?" I asked.

"Unless he is actually claimed, it would be best to perhaps not tempt the Fates in such a manner," Chiron said.

"What do you mean?" Percy and I both asked.

"I simply mean that it may be best to wait on cabin placement until he is properly claimed," Chiron said, and I frowned. "The gods prefer to do things in their own time, and seldom appreciate being rushed in either direction. Even if he isn't claimed tonight, he will still have a place in Cabin Eleven where I have no doubt he will be made quite welcome."

"I guess..." I said, trailing off as I remembered I knew someone in Eleven. Andromeda was in Eleven with her brother. Maybe our brothers could be friends? "Yeah, okay. Come on, Percy!"