Thanks to Ana-DaughterofHades who helped me a lot with a prior version of this chapter, and to all reviewers. Guests and not Guests.
Enjoy
Percy had lost count of how many wacky surprises he'd had so far, but at least this time he wasn't the only one looking like a deer in headlights. The small crowd that had gathered around him exchanged shrugs and whispers, but none of them dared to say anything as they stared at little Sophia.
Groaning and with his head spinning, Percy raised his upper body from the ground. After what he'd witnessed since the moment he opened his eyes, he should've known better than to expect the surprises to end any time soon.
Ever since he set foot in that camp, Percy had been bombarded by one jaw-dropping revelation after the other. His mother's death was difficult to accept by itself, and dealing with it would've been hard enough even without all the insane stuff that came along for the ride. Taking into account the furry characters and the stacks of fresh lava that Percy had encountered so far, it almost felt as if time traveling kids were just the latest inconvenience in a camp used to handle craziness on a regular basis.
As it soon became clear, that wasn't precisely the truth. All other campers were more familiar with the camp's eccentricities than Percy, but they looked just as taken aback by Sophia's words as he did. Annabeth, who gave the impression of being as experienced as she was skilled, was the most shocked of them all. Up until then, the girl had shown a steely behavior, but Percy now found her standing speechless with her daunting, gray eyes opened wide.
The muttering became louder and people started pointing at Percy. It was like when you walk through a school corridor with your zipper down and can't figure out what's the deal with all the attention. It made him uncomfortable.
The girl named Lauren wasn't a huge fan of gossiping apparently. She rolled her eyes at the crowd, as if the whole situation was beneath her.
This is surely nothing. Sophia must have made a mistake, Percy told himself.
Annabeth wasn't so eager to dismiss it. She stared at Sophia and hesitated only briefly before fishing for more information. "Did you just call him dad?" she asked. Her voice had a certain urgency to it.
The sudden question made Sophia jump in her place. The girl looked terrified and was still covering her mouth with both hands. The vigorous shake of her head was an obvious lie if Percy had ever seen one.
At least the little girl had let go of his neck. The way she had clung to him had been as shocking to Percy as what she had said.
"Did you?" Annabeth insisted.
Too afraid to answer, Sophia turned to her brother looking for a way out. The boy, Rio, offered little in the way of help. He was frowning at her in disapproval, and didn't prove to be a much better liar than her sister.
"She didn't," he tried.
"She did! She called him Daddy!" someone in the crowd disagreed.
Rio shook his head frantically. "No, she didn't. She called him Maddy."
A few feet away, Val snorted. "Good try, kid. We all heard her. Loud and clear."
"Good try? What was good about it? Maddy's a girl's name," Percy brought up the obvious. He tried to stand up, but the sudden movement caused him to wince and grunt at the pain in his left arm, and he fell back down.
Oh, right. Clarisse just sliced me with a spear. Minor detail.
Nearby, Kiara gasped and hurried to Percy. Before he knew it, Kiara pulled a disinfecting spray out of her sock and then her dogtor yo-yo sprung to life, circling his arm with a neat bandage.
"There. This should hold up while we get you some nectar," Kiara told him, wrapping his bandage with a dogtor sticker. She was really into that pun.
Sophia looked at Percy worried, as if she wanted to say something or jump at him again. Thankfully she didn't do either, though she stayed close by. It was at that moment that Percy noticed the girl's eyes weren't gray, as Annabeth, but green. A notch lighter than his, he guessed.
A grunt took Percy's attention away from Sophia. To everyone's annoyance, Clarisse was still there, next to her two burly friends and looking questioningly at Annabeth.
"It's alright, Sophia. You can tell me. You're not in trouble," Annabeth reassured the girl, leaning forward with her best attempt at a smile. "What you said… Is it true?"
The words seemed to relax her supposed daughter, but it still took some time before the girl answered. Once she did though, a slow nod was all she gave Annabeth.
That didn't seem enough of a confirmation for Annabeth.
"Is that a yes?" Annabeth asked one more time, with the smallest of doubts in her voice.
Sophia nodded again.
It was official, this day had more surprises up its sleeve than the Power Rangers had upgrades. And that was saying something.
"Okay, what's the deal here? She called me Dad," Percy demanded to know, standing up. More cautiously this time.
Rio threw a reproachful glare at Sophia. The girl lowered her head sadly, finally pulling her hands away from her mouth. "Sorry, I wasn't supposed to. It was an accident."
"We know. You shouldn't worry about it. It's not your fault," Annabeth comforted Sophia. Once the little girl smiled, Annabeth spun around to face Percy for the first time in a while and her expression changed. There was now a vivid flush on her cheeks and a nasty frown directed straight at him. "I thought that was already settled."
"But... I'm twelve!"
"So am I! Did you miss the whole 'they're from the future' part? You're not going to be twelve forever," Annabeth blurted out, exasperated.
"Sure, but I— I mean they—" Percy mumbled. He kept turning between Annabeth and the kids, and with every passing second Sophia's eyes made him more uneasy. An explanation for the whole mess came to him, but it couldn't be. He had just met Annabeth, and in that short time she had mostly complained about him not knowing things and talked out loud about how much she drooled. Even so, Percy found himself blushing when he turned to stare at Annabeth. He was looking for a different explanation. Any other explanation would do. There was none though, and Annabeth had raised an eyebrow and was tapping her foot impatiently against the ground now. "You said they were your kids!" he tried.
The smirks that came from the crowd made Percy wonder if by some chance he happened to have his zipper down after all. The laughs from Clarisse's group stung the hardest, and even Kiara facepalmed in embarrassment.
"Is he for real? How old is he? Does he still believe the stork delivers babies?" Val asked a confused Lauren. When the other girl shrugged, Val turned to Percy, "Hey, rodeo-boy, you do know that it takes two to make kids, don't you?"
When the laughs intensified, Percy turned a darker shade of red. "Of course!"
Did they really have to remind me of that haunting Sex Ed cartoon?
Annabeth obviously knew what Val meant as well. Even when her skin was more tanned than his, the color on her cheek rivaled Percy's. The girl wasn't a fan of the attention though, and was looking at Percy as if she was blaming the whole thing on him.
An ugly, bumpy laugh drowned down the noise of the crowd. "You must be kidding me. This is the guy? This wimp? Olympus' savior? Give me a break!" Clarisse bellowed.
Whatever nonsense she meant with Olympus, Percy couldn't understand it. He had managed to get into camp in one piece, but he was no savior. His mother was gone. He had failed her.
Sophia didn't have those doubts though, and she defended him fiercely. "He's not a wimp! He's very strong!" she shouted.
The reaction took a few by surprise, but not Clarisse. "Don't make me laugh. I beat him easily. Thinking that he's anyone's savior is just stupid!"
Sophia pouted and stood her ground, but Percy couldn't see how she would be a match to Clarisse. So, with his arm aching as hell, Percy took a step forward, ready for round four. "What are you going about? I saved everyone here from your smell by pushing you into that river," he told her. He was crazy like that.
There were laughs, but those weren't enough to stop Clarisse's snorting. She was fuming dangerously as she walked towards Percy. "So… Didn't you have enough already, punk?"
Clarisse flexed her knuckles.
"Wait!" Kiara yelled all of a sudden, running to stand in front of Percy in an attempt to stop things from going any further. "Are you out of your mind?! No more sword fighting for at least 24 hours. Doctor's orders."
After a look at Percy's bandaged arm, Clarisse chuckled mockingly, "I should've known you were done for, Prissy."
In all fairness, Percy was in no condition to resume the fight. However, Clarisse had such a way of fueling his anger, that he was considering letting her beat his ass to the ground once more.
Val didn't let it happen though.
"Why don't you take your ugly faces somewhere else?" she blurted at Clarisse and her friends. Lauren and the rest of her siblings took a step forward in support
"You got your fight, Clarisse. This is none of your business," Lauren let out, frowning.
Continuing the argument lost its fun for her, because Clarisse picked up her spear and turned around. However, she did so grumbling and scoffing at Annabeth. "A coward and a wimp. A match made in Olympus."
Percy couldn't help staring to Annabeth with a stupid blush. Annabeth gave him the briefest of glances from the corner of her eye before frowning away. The looks she threw at Clarisee were downright murderous, and didn't fade until the group of snarling girls took off.
Embarrassing as it was, Percy could tell why Clarisse had mentioned a match. However, he couldn't quite get why she'd called Annabeth a coward. Percy knew almost nothing about Annabeth, but with her intimidating looks and wall climbing hobbies, she struck him as the exact opposite of coward.
He couldn't help but give a casual glance at the girl who was supposed to be the future mother of his children. Annabeth was pretty, and it wasn't the first time he'd noticed. However, he didn't know what to make of the whole thing. Was she expecting him to ask her out to the movies now?
Annabeth noticed him staring and scared him away with a glare. It appeared as she wanted to finish what Clarisse started.
So no movies then.
In the meantime, Lauren had shooed away a swarm of curious bystanders — including most of her siblings. Percy gladly returned the sword and shield he had borrowed, and soon only people he knew by name were left around. Kiara didn't look sure of staying, but the unfinished tour must've kept her from deserting him.
"So, I gather you didn't know about this boy," Lauren said, focusing on Annabeth.
The girl sighed and shook her head slowly. Now that the crowd had dispersed she didn't seem as embarrassed, but still looked confused and unsettled. "I knew about how he arrived of course, but nothing about… this," Annabeth told her, glimpsing at her kids. "This is the first time I see him. Conscious, I mean. I was the one who fed him back to health."
"How thoughtful of you," said Val, earning a nasty look from Annabeth.
A lot had happened in a few minutes, and even if Percy didn't know much about Annabeth or Lauren, he could tell that Val was something like the odd pea in the pod. She had menacing gray eyes as well — a common trait among their siblings, apparently — but she was more open and blunt than the rest.
Lauren decided to ignore her for a moment. "And you didn't ask Chiron who their father was?" she asked Annabeth,
"Not directly, but it was obvious he didn't want me to know. Not sure why," Annabeth explained, finally allowing herself to turn back in Percy's direction. Her deep gaze made Percy uncomfortable. It was like she was scanning him for weaknesses. Eventually though, she snorted and looked away, "I need to find him. To make sure."
Lauren nodded. "Come on, Val. We have Arts and Crafts next."
"What? We aren't going to tag along?"
"Annabeth can handle it."
"Sure, but, will she behave?" Val asked, mischievously.
"Hey!" Annabeth shouted. She was glaring at her older sister as harshly as she had done with Clarisse, and her face had the red shade of a tomato.
"Val…" Lauren warned her.
"Fine. We'll hear about it later, anyway."
Annabeth told her sisters that she would find them once she had sorted things up. Then, she strode away with Sophia and Rio.
It took Percy a shove from Kiara to react. "Don't just stand there. Go," the girl urged.
Percy nodded and hurried to catch up.
o0o0o
Chiron wasn't in the Big House when they arrived. Percy and Annabeth had to wait for him at the porch next to a couple of kids who claimed to be their future children. Not awkward at all.
The wait was as quiet as it was uncomfortable. Annabeth hadn't said anything to Percy on their way there, and made it seem as if she preferred counting the splinters in the porch's wooden railing over making eye contact with him.
Sophia and Rio exchanged a few nervous whispers between them, but nothing that managed to reach Percy's ears.
Maybe it's all a mistake. Maybe Sophia did call me Maddy for some reason.
For all of her fierceness, Annabeth wasn't taking the news much better. As soon as it was clear Chiron wasn't around, she began pacing around nervously, unsure whether they should wait for the centaur or go out and find him. Annabeth would occasionally come to a halt and gaze off into the horizon, lost in her own thoughts. Percy couldn't help but stare at her from time to time, wondering.
Why was Annabeth so unnerved? She had already known the kids were hers before Sophia said anything, and had appeared at least accepting of the idea. Was she mad because their father turned out to be Percy? A boy who knew next to nothing about sword fighting? Perhaps she had hoped for someone who didn't drool as much as he did.
"Is it okay if I call him dad now?" The quiet voice of Sophia took Percy out of his thoughts. The girl was asking Annabeth permission.
Annabeth shot Percy a pointed look and returned her attention to the other side of the porch. "If you want to."
The answer encouraged Sophia's bright mood, "Are you alright, Daddy?"
Percy wasn't the type of person who would upset a young girl by telling her he wasn't her dad. "I-I'm fine. Why do you ask?"
"Your arm," Rio pointed out.
Without really meaning to, Percy found himself staring at his future son with a stupid blank expression plastered on his face. Now that he looked at Rio in more detail, Percy could notice that the boy's face had some similarities to his, though the resemblance was nowhere near the one Sophia and Annabeth had. He followed Rio's eyes to his bandage.
"Oh, right, my arm. It's good. I could've handled another round with Clarisse," Percy boosted his fighting condition, aware that Annabeth was listening. "I may not need that nectar after all. Kiara's bandage was top-notch."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Not like you could drink any more of that. You've had plenty of it recently," she said sharply.
"Right, the gods' magic medicine. Drink too much and you're ashes. Wonder if you gave that thing to me before or after you made sure I was really a… you know, half-blood," Percy snapped.
Annabeth didn't answer, and went back to ignoring him.
Before Percy could come up with a good retort, Sophia puffed annoyingly. "She was mean."
"Who? Your mother?"
There was a huff coming from the other side of the porch, but Percy didn't turn to acknowledge it. Two could play that game.
"No! Don't be silly, Daddy. I meant the big girl. Clarisse," Sophia said the last word in a mocking tone. If that was her Clarisse impression, this girl needed some coaching on mimicking annoying people.
"She's not that bad," Rio said.
Both Percy and Annabeth looked at him in disbelief.
"Not that bad?! My pre-algebra teacher was nicer! And she was a blood-thirsty, winged bat-... thing!"
"I mean in the future," Rio corrected himself, while Sophia agreed reluctantly.
"Are you sure of that? Sure you didn't mistake her for someone else? Anyone else?"
Ron didn't look doubtful though, "It's the truth. She's kind enough."
"In the future she is. That's where we come from," Sophia explained, "She still doesn't like Dad though."
Big surprise.
"She doesn't like anyone," Annabeth blurted out from her spot at the corner of the railing, deciding at last to stop pretending that she wasn't listening. She must've realized she sounded like she was defending Percy however, because she returned her gaze to the other side.
"So, Clarisse, is she really... You know... Is her father the actual god of war?"
The kids nodded.
"Ares," Sophia said.
Even with all he'd heard from Kiara and all he'd witnessed, it was still difficult to come to terms with that. But in the end that the camp was packed with demigods was easier to believe than having kids. At Yancy, Percy had a hard time looking after the classroom's hamsters. He was in no way capable of looking after two children. He was still a kid himself.
"Look, Jackson. That's who we are. You've seen camp, and talked to Chiron. You know about Mr. D even. We're half-bloods, deal with it."
Kiara's words still rang in his ears. She had claimed his father was an Olympian god.
"My mother knew. About my dad."
He didn't know why he had said that, but it felt right to do so. It was because of her that Percy had made it to camp in one piece. She had been the real savior.
Annabeth's frown lessened at his expression. "I'm sorry about what happened. It's likely that your father told her something about all of this. She made the right choice in bringing you here."
Percy nodded half-heartedly.
Nearby, Rio and Sophia appeared confused. A weird thought came to Percy then. If those two kids were really who they claimed to be, his mother would have loved to meet them. Somehow, that made Percy even sadder than he was.
Sophia did look a lot like Annabeth, despite her hair being black and less wavy. Rio's hair was of a similar shade as Annabeth's, and he had her eyes as well. Aside from that, one had to pay a lot of attention to the boy's face in order to notice any sort of resemblance to his supposed parents.
"So, you're half-bloods too?"
Both kids nodded.
"They're the children of two half-bloods. They must share a lot of common traits with us," Annabeth said, and when she noticed Percy's embarrassment, she hurried to correct herself, "I meant with us as in half-bloods. Not as in you and me."
"Oh. Right."
Annabeth cleared her throat, turning back to the kids. "Their case is worthy of analysis, what with having blood from different gods running through their veins. At least I imagine they have dyslexia. Probably ADHD too," she said, looking as if trying to decipher a mystery. "There must be more to them though."
"What's dyslexia?" Sophia asked.
"It's that thing that happens when the letters float off the page," Rio answered quickly, trying not to interrupt his mother's train of thought.
Percy still remembered Kiara telling him about that and ADHD being battle reflects. Did Annabeth really have those as well? She didn't look like someone who would have as much trouble in school as he did.
"It would be easy to figure them out if I just knew who your father was," Annabeth concluded with a frustrated sigh.
"He's awesome!" Rio had no qualms about interrupting this time.
"Who?"
"Grandad. Dad's father."
The words were simple, yet they shocked Percy more than seeing Grover's hooves or even learning that he was a father at the age of twelve. He was left open mouthed. Certain that he must have heard wrong. That they couldn't be talking so casually about the father he never knew.
What kind of joke is this?
Annabeth was startled, "Wait!, You've met him?!"
"Yeah, we've seen him two or three times. Last time was on Sophie's birthday," Rio answered, while his sister nodded enthusiastically.
"A birthday? But he's a god!" Annabeth yelped.
How could this be real? If Percy's father was alive — god or not — he never had made the effort of getting in touch with him. Why would he take time out of his super busy god-schedule to visit his granddaughter on her birthday? He never did that on any of Percy's birthdays. And he had eleven chances for that.
"If that's true, then who is he?" he asked, impatiently.
Sophia rushed to cover her mouth.
"We can't tell," Rio confessed, uneasily.
"Why not?"
"We promised."
"To who?"
"To whom," a voice behind Percy corrected him.
When Percy turned around he noticed a centaur standing a few feet away from the porch. How they didn't hear him gallop to the house was well beyond Percy.
"Chiron! I was waiting for you!" Annabeth cried, darting to the centaur. "Can you explain this?"
"What exactly are we talking about?" Chiron asked, though understanding was quickly dawning on him noticing his audience.
Sophia lowered her sight, but it was Rio who stepped forward. "Sophie let it slip, about dad. It was an accident. She didn't really mean to."
"Do not worry about it. I knew it was a difficult secret for you to keep. I would be lying if I said I wasn't hoping for a longer time before it came out, but still, it's not like I wasn't prepared for this."
Sophia relaxed.
Not wasting any more time, Percy voiced the most pressing question. "Mr— Chiron… I just… How do I…? Well, are they truly my...? You know."
"Yes. Rio and Sophia are your future children. If that was what you were asking."
"And Annabeth…?"
"... Is their mother. Your future wife at some point in the future, it would seem. Although, I don't think that last part should be something to worry about for the time being."
At once, Annabeth gasped. Her face was crimson red.
Her reaction was something Percy could understand. Even when he had heard the kids talking about it, Chiron's announcement made it sound official, undeniable. His life was now a big puzzle, and he could not figure out how he went from attending Yancy just a couple of days ago to where he was now.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Annabeth complained. Her brow was furrowed.
"For the sake of Percy's sanity, of course. He hasn't assimilated his new reality yet, and adding this on top of it didn't sound like the most sensible choice," Chiron explained.
He was right. If there were a couple of his future kids walking around, Percy would want to know about it. However, it was true that the whole deal might've been easier to absorb after letting everything else sink. This day was the very definition of craziness.
"Why didn't you tell me then?" Annabeth asked.
"I felt like I needed to tell you both at the same time. However, now that you are both in the know about your future, it makes it easier to discuss certain matters."
Annabeth and Percy turned to look at each other. Though they averted their gaze as soon as they noticed the other one looking.
"What matters?" Percy hurried to ask, willing to dive into any talk that didn't involve Annabeth's and his shared future.
"Present problems and future knowledge."
Annabeth uncrossed her arms in surprise. "Even the thing that was stolen?"
"I believe it's an important part of this story," Chiron answered, throwing a glimpse at the kids.
"But…" Annabeth paused briefly, before throwing nont-so-secretive glimpses towards Percy and lowering her voice. "Do you think that he is ready for this? You already said that it's a lot for him to handle."
"Hey! I'm right here!" Percy complained.
"Sorry. I just thought that you have too many things on your mind," Annabeth said.
"So do you. We're in the same situation, remember?" he threw back, pointing at them and then at the kids.
Annabeth blushed. Still, that didn't deter her, "It's not the same! You can barely hold a sword, you'll of little help in—"
"You don't know that!"
"Of course I do!"
"Enough," Chiron stopped the arguing before it escalated any further, "Both of you must hear what needs to be said. I've heard a few things about what is to come and we'll need all the help we can get. Even if Percy is not quite up to speed yet."
Annabeth crossed her arms and looked the other way, "He won't understand half of it."
"That's why you're going to explain to him everything there is to know."
"Me?! But—"
"I assume he has a pending tour. And the children will feel more comfortable by having both of you around. Their stay here has been very confusing so far."
Annabeth frowned, ready to argue. Nevertheless, a pleading look at the kids convinced her otherwise.
"Fine! But he better pay attention," Annabeth accepted begrudgingly.
A broad smile came to Chiron, "Perfect. Then you can continue with the tour. We'll hopefully have an important meeting tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?"
"It's not up for discussion. I'm expecting Mr. D to be here by then, and we need any information he can provide before knowing how to proceed."
"Have you at least heard something about Luke?"
Luke? So there was a Luke guy after all? Percy wondered if he was the camper that was missing, and most importantly, if he had something to do with everything that was going on.
Chiron had an impassive expression and turned his sweet time to answer, "Tomorrow."
Annabeth's shoulders sunk in defeat. She was about to guide them out of there when a sudden thought made her stop. "Ehm, Chiron? Where should I put him?"
"What do you mean?" Chiron asked, following her eyes to Percy.
"His cabin, you know who his father is, don't you? He shouldn't stay in eleven much longer."
Percy's eyes widened with mounting interest.
Unfortunately, the centaur's expression told Percy at once that he wasn't going to get what he wanted, "I don't think it would be wise to move him just yet."
"What do you mean? If the kids told you, then he should be in his real cabin."
"It's not that simple Annabeth. I can't tell who his father is yet."
That didn't make one ounce of sense to Percy.
"That's not fair. All of my life I've thought he was dead, but you know? You have to tell me!"
Chiron sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose heavily before addressing Percy again. "You don't understand. I know you have the right to know, but I cannot reveal it to you yet. None of us should," he said the last part with his old eyes set on Rio and Sophia.
The kids looked down heavily.
"Why not?" Percy spat, was frowning.
"There are rules, Percy. Even if I know who he is, I can't reveal it out of my own volition. He needs to give you a sign. He needs to acknowledge you as his son."
"But he has been claimed," Annabeth argued.
"Not at this time. He was claimed in your children's time. Percy's father from this time still needs to claim him for us to fully recognize him."
"That's stupid!" Percy yelled in frustration, and a thunder crashed into the skies. Rio and Sophia jumped in their places.
Even with Percy's current mood. He did stop to look at the skies in confusion.
"You shouldn't talk like that about the gods or their actions," Annabeth explained. Both kids were nodding.
"Great, another rule", Percy blurted out with a snort. He tried to calm down. "I just don't get it. Why doesn't he say something? He was supposed to care about my mother... to love her,"
It was hard to miss Annabeth rolling her eyes, but Chiron's expression appeared sympathetic. "Percy, your father not claiming you doesn't mean that he doesn't care about you... Or your mother. It's not easy for them. They need to keep up with many ancient rules that they cannot break."
"It's not easy for them?" Percy asked, sarcastically.
Chiron decided to ignore his comment, "I'm sure your father will claim you soon enough. Even more so with the current state of things. If it helps though, you should know that in your children's time he claimed you just after a few days of arriving here."
The words didn't provide much in the way of reassurance. Percy had just lost his mother, and Chiron was telling him that his father didn't want to claim him just yet. As if he hadn't waited long enough to reveal himself already.
Percy looked away grudgingly.
"You need to remain hopeful, my boy. There's still a lot to come. Now, I believe you have a pending tour to attend. Tomorrow everything will be clearer."
At least there was truth to that. It was hard to make things any less clear.
o0o0o
As they left the Big House, neither Percy or Annabeth looked eager to break the silence. That day had so many revelations to grapple with, that a tour through camp felt almost like a distraction at this point.
Eventually Annabeth took a deep breath as if to gather some courage and turned to Percy. After all, they hadn't agreed on a direction yet.
"I don't know where Kiara left things. Did she mention what was left for you to see?"
Percy scratched the back of his head, looking around camp. Campers and satyrs moved agitatedly in the distance, some of them even pointed at them as they passed. Gossip surely ran quickly around this place.
"Err, when you found us at the river we were rounding back to the lake. I guess that after that there were only the stables and lunch left."
"Can we go to see the lake next?" Sophia hurried.
"No! Let's go see the Pegasi," Rio proposed instead, moving to stand in front of Annabeth.
"The lake first!" Sophia argued back at Rio, frowning.
An argument exploded, and Annabeth moved a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache coming.
"Hey, hold on! Which one is closer?" Percy tried.
"The pegasi!"
"The lake!"
Percy was left startled, moving his head around. He could see the path to the Lake from where they were, but wasn't sure which building held the stables.
"Let's go to the lake," Annabeth decided, causing Sophia to jump in her place, "Lunch time is coming, and the stables are too far away. We can do those after."
"Awww, man!" whined Rio, kicking a rock from the ground.
There wasn't much to the canoe lake besides being a simple body of water where campers canoed. Even Annabeth didn't have much to say about it. Still, seeing the peaceful waters brought calm to Percy and cleared his thoughts.
They stayed around a little while longer than intended. Mostly because little Sophia wanted to take off her shoes and jump around the shore. The rest of them walked over the pier, where Percy spotted a couple of teenage girls, casually gossiping inside the water.
"Who are those?"
The girls must've heard him, since they turned and giggled. They waved at Percy, and one of them even winked.
Annabeth let out an exasperated huff, "Naiads! Such flirts!"
Without a notice, Annabeth pulled Percy and Rio out of the pier. She was frowning and muttering some nonsense to herself.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Percy asked, once they were far enough from the pier.
"We have a tour to continue! Or what? You wanted to stay back and chat with them?" Annabeth asked, nudging towards the pier.
"Err, no. But I can walk by myself. No need to hold my hand."
Annabeth snorted and pushed his hand away. "Whatever."
The whole exchange wasn't missed by Rio, but the boy didn't say anything. The gray of his eyes made it hard to shake the seriousness away from his look, though he didn't project the same intimidation energy as Annabeth.
It was then Percy realized he still didn't know who Annabeth's father was.
"So, you're a half-blood. But you're not Ares' daughter, are you?"
"What? NO!" Annabeth said in a hurried and high-pitched voice. "Of course not!"
"No way!" Rio agreed, effusively.
He had thought as such. Annabeth looked as fierce as Clarisse, but in an entirely different way. Val, Lauren and the rest of their siblings seemed like a different group from Clarisse's big, burly friends as well.
"Then who's your father?" Percy asked, puzzled.
Annabeth tensed for some reason, "My dad is a professor at West Point. I haven't seen him in a long time. He teaches American history."
"He has some awesome planes!" Rio added, earning weird looks from Annabeth.
"He's human," Percy said.
Sophia, who had just returned from the lake's shore looking delighted, wanted to join the conversation. "Who?"
"Grandpa Chase."
"Oh, yeah. Grandpa Chase is human. But he's funny. He lives in San Francisco. We visit him sometimes."
"We do?" Annabeth asked.
"On holidays," Rio said.
Annabeth seemed interested in that fact, but for Percy it was confusing. A teacher at West Point? That was the farthest from Ares that he could imagine. Didn't Annabeth say her father was a god too?
"But you said that you were a half-blood. Isn't your father supposed to be a god?"
At once, a frown came to Annabeth. Before she could say anything though, Rio answered, "Mom's dad is human, but Grandma is a goddess."
"Oh, right, that makes sense. Who is she?"
"Athena!" Sophia yelled.
"Goddess of wisdom and battle," Rio added in a serious tone.
"That… checks out," Percy said, looking at the kids nervously and wondering just how much wisdom or battleness was in them.
Athena explained Lauren and Val too, who were Annabeth's sisters. It did not, however, explain why Clarisse had called Annabeth a coward. It truly felt like the opposite of Athena.
"Have you met her?" Annabeth asked the kids, curiously.
"Yes, we have seen her twice. I think Sophia only remembers the last one," Rio answered, scratching his chin. Sophia nodded in joy.
"Sophia's birthday?" Annabeth ventured a guess, though she didn't look convinced.
"No, it was a different time. But Grandma and Grandpa Blofis were there!"
"Blofis? Who are they?" Percy asked.
It was a bit confusing. If he had heard correctly, Annabeth's last name was Chase, not Blofis. Where did the kids get more grandparents from? Were they friends? Or Annabeth's relatives perhaps?
"Your mom and Grandpa Paul," Rio said.
In a moment, the world seemed to slow down. His mother? That couldn't be possible. His mother was dead. He had been reminded of that at each turn ever since Grover greeted him a few hours earlier.
"That can't be true. There must be a mistake."
Is it really impossible though? More than living in a world with Greek gods?
"She was there. She planned my party," Sophia insisted.
Annabeth looked worried, "Jackson… I wouldn't get my hopes up if I were you. It's probably a misunderstanding," she warned.
But Sophia didn't budge. "It was not! Grandma was there! She gave me a gift, and decorated the house, and… and she made blue cake!"
Percy's eyes widened, and his face went completely pale. The whole world came to a stop at last. Suddenly, there was hope for him.
"She's alive," he said.