My brothers returned about an hour later and I opened the door for them. They were excited to see me, at least for someone who didn't know that I had only had like a ten percent chance of coming back alive. "Hey there you two. Do you remember us as well?" Percy asked. "Yes you visited us a few days after we moved in. Matthew wouldn't stop breaking my robots. What happened to the other girl?" "We don't really talk anymore since she moved away to L.A." That technically wasn't even a lie since that was where the underworld was. Before they could remind me of any more dead friends, my step mom called my brothers to have dinner. After we had finished, Matthew announced that he wanted to "show Percy something really cool". "I'd love to see that, but I'm tired and I think I'll go to bed now" "but it's only seven" "Yes, but in New York, it's already ten, so for me it feels like it's really late." I realized that now would be the time to discuss the sleeping arrangements. "As a huntress, I don't think I want to spend the night with a couple. I know what stuff you people get up to" "Then what will you do instead? Camp in the backyard?" "I have my tent with me, so I could totally do that." "Aren't you being a bit ridiculous? I never went somewhere else because I thought you and Luke were weird. At least I assume I didn't, but you know, amnesia." "What, thats something completely different. Luke and I weren't a committed couple, just two kids with veeery slight crushes. And I was twelve, so even if we had been together, we wouldn't have been old enough to do anything beyond kissing."
"Speaking of not doing anything, hey Percy, do you think you could handle two nights in the same bed as me without doing anything that Artemis wouldn't like?" "I don't think we could get to a level Artemis would approve of, but we can get close" "how about this: I'll be sleeping in my tent, but the tent is in your room." "As long as you don't drive any hooks into the floor to secure it, why not?" It was certainly the first time I had heard about a tent being erected inside, but I had gotten used to weird stuff almost ten years ago. "So we got our own plan, now your dad just has to agree to me sleeping in your bed. And your stepmom, she'll be the harder hurdle." As if on cue, my stepmom appeared in the doorframe, a small bundle in her hand. "I've found an air mattress for Percy. Thalia, I heard you're good with air, would you mind filling it up?" "Of course not" she said and summoned an air current that filled the mattress. "That's really nice of you two, but Percy won't need his own mattress. My bed is wide enough for two people." "Not happening" "But I get nightmares often and they're so much worse without Percy by my side." I gave her my best sad puppy eyes, which is not easy to do when you've been through as much as I have. The littles would have done a much better job, but I was probably years away from being able to logically decide what alter was best suited for a situation and make them front. "Sorry for being so harsh, I just don't want anyone to have to go through the things my mom and I did." "Which is…?" Percy asked. "Let's just say my own mom is only seventeen years older than I am." "Oh, I never knew that. But you do realize that there is a difference between Annabeth and me not sleeping in separate beds and us actually banging" "And if that helps, I am a huntress of Artemis, the goddess of maidenhood, so I'm essentially a divinely tasked chaperone. As long as I'm here, no one's gonna go beyond kissing." "And I'm asexual anyways" I concluded.
"Well, in that case, I'll allow you two to share a bed. But don't do anything." My stepmom left the room, and I followed to say good night to my dad and the twins. When I returned, Percy was already in his PJs and Thalia was in her tent. "She insisted I get changed while you're not there to see anything" he explained. "Well, I'm here now, not changed, and you have no reason to leave the room." I let that statement hang in the air. "I think he hasn't brushed his teeth yet, so he has a reason to let her alone" Thalia's muffled voice came from out of the tent. Looked like aceness had won again.
While Percy left to do that, I unpacked the last thing I'd need tonight: my teddy bear. No need to have anyone tease me about it. Of course, Percy and Thalia knew about it, just not the other Chase family members. When Percy came back we got into bed and proceeded to not do things that would make Artemis want to kill us. We just talked for a while and nothing else. Fine, we might have kissed a couple of times, but that was it. We were already asleep at like eight, but that was eleven in New York time.
I was woken up by noises coming from Thalia's tent. Whatever was happening in there, she was most definitely not enjoying it. I got up and climbed out of bed. Then I slowly opened the zipper. Now, any boy doing that would have been shocked (by lightning, not in a surprised kind of way) immediately, but as a girl, moreover one on the ace spectrum, I was fine. "Hey Thals, you okay?" She looked up and nodded, though I could see it wasn't entirety true. I knew the face of someone who was overwhelmed by their memories, and Thalia was definitely one of those people right now. I put my arm around her shoulders for comfort. "Just a nightmare. The day I died." I had never really thought about it, but dying probably hadn't been exactly comfortable for her. And by uncomfortable I mean very traumatic. Personally, I had never died (for demigods this isn't as obvious as it might seem. Apart from Thalia, Hazel, Jason and Leo had all been dead at some point. I hadn't seen Leo since his death, but Hazel and Jason (and Thalia) didn't look like they had been dead before, so it can be hard to tell) but I'd come close enough to know it's not good for your long term mental health, for example when Polyphemus had dropped me onto the ground, shattering my spine. Back then, only my hopefully future brother in law had been able to save me. Actually, it had been two brothers in law, Tyson and the golden ram.
"Wait a second, I'll get something" I left the tent, grabbed my teddy bear and went back in. "Hey, remember this guy?" "Totally, I think Luke stole it for you. Then a monster attacked us and the store was burned to ash, so you named him Asher." "Really? I don't even remember that. But I don't remember much at all of my traumatic experiences. Before you get jealous, that doesn't mean that I don't get flashbacks. I still have them, I just usually don't know why. That's why I was just surprised that you out of all people would be the one suffering from…" she let out a small laugh. "I get it. I was always the big sister, above everything scary." "That's pretty much how I perceived you back then." "But you have to remember that I am now actually the youngest. Not just biologically, even mentally. In terms of the time that I experienced consciously, I'm only 15½." While we talked, Thalia took the teddy from my hands and held it. Most mortals would have found the sight of a sixteen year old (technically 15 years and 364 days, but you can't tell that by looking so it still qualifies as the sight of a sixteen year old) girl holding a teddy funny or even ridiculous, but for demigods it's different. Here's my explanation for it:
Most people can't deal with any sort of hardship at really young ages, but as they grow up, how much they can handle without needing external emotional help, for example in the form of a teddy bear, increases, maxing out at maybe around twenty years. This stress tolerance usually exceeds the amount of stress that one experiences at a relatively young age. But in my case, this never happened. However, this is not because I have an unusually low stress tolerance, but rather I, and most other demigods, are subjected to unusually high levels of stress and trauma. It's comparable to external support structures on buildings. Most buildings don't need them, but the leaning tower of Pisa does for example. This is not because it is built from weak material, but because the ground it is built upon is like Piper; it makes staying straight really difficult. Percy had once said the following 'A person's mental stability is like a medieval fortress, usually sturdy and everlasting, but mine lieth in ruins. Not for it was weak, but for it hath been struck by a nuke.' Those weren't his actual words, I changed them up a bit to make it sound more like a really old quote. The meaning however remains the same: Having and needing a teddy bear did not make me or Thalia weak. That was science hour with Annabeth, and now I should probably get back to Thalia.
She seemed to be calming down quickly. Her previously hectic breathing slowed to a more normal pace. "Thank you, Annabeth. You're officially the big sister now." She handed me an imaginary medal and I pretended to put it around my neck. "I think I'll never stop being the younger sister who needs to be comforted after nightmares. Especially when Annie or another little come out" "Definitely. I liked meeting her yesterday. I mean, I missed six years of you growing up, so it was nice to get at least a few minutes back." "I think I should go back to sleep now. Are you okay?" "Yeah, it was just another nightmare." She gave me a tight hug before letting me go back into my bed. Once there I realized that I had left my teddy with Thalia but decided that she could keep it for tonight. After all, who needs a stuffed animal when you have a very real boyfriend? I slipped under the blanket, right next to him, and was asleep within minutes.
I was woken up by the sound of a zipper being opened, followed by "you two are lying suspiciously close to each other" I turned around. "Who are you, the intercourse police?" "That's one way of saying it." "Well in that case, it's a good thing we didn't do anything beyond kissing." At least I didn't remember doing anything, but my memories weren't always dependable. On the other hand, I was definitely fully dressed, so it was very unlikely. I took a look at the clock. 5 AM. "We should probably try to sleep a bit more to cancel out the jetlag." "I'll try. Have a good remaining night." She vanished in her tent and came back seconds later with my teddy. "Here, you left him in the tent. He actually helped a bit. By the way, you said you forgot his original name, did you ever give him a new one?" "I'm pretty sure he was named Tyler at some point" Then Thalia went back to sleep herself.
The next time I woke up, it was 8. Percy woke up as soon as a started moving. "Morning seaweed brain. Did you sleep well?" "Mostly. Had a short nightmare of how I got this." He showed me a small, circular burn mark next to his elbow" "How did you get that?" I asked. "Gabe couldn't find his ash tray in between the beer cans, so he used me. This is one of the newest injuries, just before mom turned him to stone." He laughed at the end of that sentence. I knew how good it felt to finally punish someone who has caused you immense suffering. We talked for little while longer before Bobby came in and told us that breakfast was ready. We all gathered at the table, which was now slightly overcrowded since it contained 75% more people than were planned for. Or maybe just 40%, depending on whether my family had had me in mind when buying it. "By the way, how is it going with your research on that battle you have built up?" Percy asked. Just for your information, asking my dad about either history or planes was about as smart as asking me about architecture. And if you asked him about a historical event involving planes…
"Very well. Remember what Zoë said about the German line being in the wrong place? That actually changed a lot of things, especially the involvement of Sopwith Camels, and let to the realization that…" This was followed by a long monologue that would have made my mom proud and ended with. "All in all, it caused many things to make more sense. I have already proposed my theory to other officials in the field and am now waiting for their response. But I could definitely be onto something big there. I'm kind of lucky for the chain of events that led to Zoë visiting us" "Must I remind you that said chain of events began with me being kidnapped?" "Oh, sorry, well, we weren't lucky for that, but some of the other events"
After breakfast I remember what Matthew had told Percy yesterday. "Hey, what was that cool thing that you wanted to show Percy?" Instead of answering, he ran away and returned with a laptop. On it was a game named Minecraft. I had played it with them a few times since Percy had gone missing. The idea was really simple, just colored cubes and there wasn't even an ending, but I felt like it had immense potential. "Annabeth told us you liked the ocean and Poseidon from Hercules, so we built you this" He opened a world and Percy's jaw dropped. On the screen was a huge underwater palace, topped with a fifteen block tall stone trident poking through the water's surface. Percy was so amazed by it that he apparently forgot that Matthew had just called his dad a Disney character. After I had explained the controls to him, Percy went on to explore the palace. "Wow, how long did you spend on this?" "We started in mid June, just after Annabeth's last visit. She told us a lot about you, so we had the idea to build something based on that. Do you like it?" "Are you kidding? This is awesome. I bet Annabeth is proud of you" "As an aspiring architect, I am qualified to say that this is amazing. It might not be structurally sound, but the fact that it is both under water and in Minecraft make that unimportant. Good job boys. Poseidon would be proud, if he actually existed." My stepmom still insisted that we kept up the lie that I was mortal and that the gods weren't real, which kind of sucked, but there wasn't much I could do.