Chapter Text
The Battle of New York was over. The demigods were sweaty, tired, and ready to grieve their fallen friends. Unfortunately, fate (or The Fates) had other plans.
Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Thalia, Will, Nico, Clarisse, and Katie Gardiner were in the ruins of the Olympian throne room. Without warning, they were transported to an unfamiliar bedroom. In the blink of an eye, Silena Beauregard and Charles Beckendorf appeared.
“What's happening?” Beckendorf asked.
“Where are we?” Silena wondered. “Why are we here?”
“An excellent question,” Aphrodite said.
She, Poseidon, Hermes, Demeter, Zeus, Artemis, Athena, Apollo, and Hades were standing behind the kids.
Silena smiled slightly.
“Hi, Mom.”
Sally Jackson and Paul Blofis appeared next.
“Mom!”
“Percy!”
Sally hugged her son.
“Oh my goodness, you look wonderful. Where's Annabeth, is she alright?”
Annabeth smiled and waved, blushing slightly.
“Hi, Ms Jackson.”
“Thalia, your leg! Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I'm okay. Long time no see.”
Thalia hugged Sally.
Next, and finally, Frederick Chase appeared in a flash of light. He looked first at his daughter and then his former lover. The mortal man blushed scarlet.
“Oh. Wow. Okay. Um. Hello. Again.”
“Hello, Frederick,” Athena said.
“What exactly is going on?”
“Stupid magic goddess causing trouble once again,” Thalia said under her breath.
Artemis gave Thalia a disapproving look.
“Sorry, milady.”
Dr Chase turned his attention to the younger goddess.
“I remember you. From San Francisco, two years ago. You had a silver chariot…”
“Yes. I am Artemis, goddess of the moon.”
Paul's mouth fell open.
“But you're just a kid,” he blurted out.
Percy buried his face in his hands, Thalia winced, and Artemis gave Paul a steely look.
“Please don't disintegrate my husband, Lady Artemis,” Sally said. “He can't see through the Mist. He wasn't trying to be disrespectful.”
“I'm sorry. Was that disrespectful? I only meant…” Paul trailed off as Artemis raised her eyebrows. “I'll stop talking now.”
“Excellent choice,” she said coolly.
“You'll have to forgive my sister,” Apollo spoke up. “She doesn't like men as a general rule. It's nothing personal.”
“Sister,” Paul repeated slowly. “So that would make you…Apollo, the sun god?”
Apollo grinned.
“Yep! Hey, you know your stuff!”
Paul smiled, relieved that at least one of the gods didn't appear to want to disintegrate him.
“I still remember a little of what I learned in college.”
Before Paul and Apollo could continue bonding, a teenage girl came into the room. She was holding a sword and herding a familiar young man.
“Luke,” Thalia whispered, tensing up.
“Thalia, hi.”
“Hi?” Thalia repeated angrily. “Is that really all you have to say to me?”
Annabeth put her hand on Thalia's shoulder. Beckendorf stepped forward and punched Luke in the face.
The girl gasped.
“Hey, don't!”
“That's for my girlfriend,” Beckendorf snapped at Luke.
“Wait a minute.” The girl pointed the sword at Beckendorf. “Are you Charlie Beckendorf? Silena Beauregard's boyfriend?”
“Yeah.”
She blinked a couple times and stared.
“What in the…is this real? Am I dreaming?”
“Are you a demigod?” Annabeth asked. “I've never seen you around camp.”
The girl laughed.
“I wish. Nah, as far as I know I'm mortal. I'm just a big fan.”
“What does that mean?” Percy asked.
“I've been following your adventures since I was, like, seven. They were books first, then a musical, and now there's a TV show.”
“A TV show? About me?”
“Don't sound so surprised. You're kind of a big deal. Big Three kid, forbidden child -”
Sally winced at the term.
“- hero of the prophecy…you're quite a big name.” The girl suddenly became very animated. “Do you have any idea what these books have done? Thanks to your drama, an entire generation of kids can not only spout off random Greek mythology facts and recite myths, but they can also feel awesome about themselves when they realize their favorite heroes have disabilities just like them!” The kid was practically bouncing with excitement. “Thirty years ago kids like me were the outcasts and the weirdos. Now, thanks to Percy and his friends, we're the cool nerds.”
“That's…actually pretty cool,” Percy admitted. He gave the kid a high-five. “What's your name?”
"Paige."
“How old are you, Paige?”
“Fourteen. I'm sorry for talking your ear off, I'm just very passionate about all of this. I've been obsessed with Camp Half-Blood for as long as I can remember. Not, like, in a weird way, though. In a good way.”
Percy laughed and Thalia said, “You're way too nervous. We don't bite.”
“What are you guys doing in my room?”
The blunt question surprised a laugh out of Annabeth. She decided that she liked this girl.
“That's an excellent question,” Poseidon said.
“You must be Percy's dad. Lord Poseidon. Sir.”
Poseidon nodded.
“I found him -” Paige gestured to Luke with her sword. “- in my kitchen.”
“We just finished a war when we were summoned here,” Thalia said.
“By who?”
“Not me,” Zeus answered when everyone looked at him.
“Hecate,” Paige suggested. “Though I don't know what her motives would be. And why me? I'm no one special.”
“You sound like Percy,” Annabeth said. “I have a feeling there's a lot more to you than you're letting on.”
Paige shrugged and grinned good-naturedly.
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“Now you sound like my brother,” Artemis remarked.
“Fair enough. I'm certainly dramatic enough to be like him.”
“Hey!” Apollo exclaimed, feigning outrage.
“Sorry, sir. Please don't smite me.”
“You're not wrong,” Artemis told Paige.
“Arty!”
Artemis glared at Apollo.
“How many times, Apollo? Don't call me that!”
“Don't fight,” Zeus said tiredly.
“Sorry, Father,” the twins muttered.
Nico suggested to Paige, “Why don't you show us that musical you're such a huge fan of?”
Her eyes widened.
“Oh, man. Seriously? I mean - no, I shouldn't. Especially not with parents around. Mortals, I mean. I don't want to freak anyone out.”
To Paige's surprise, it was Sally who said, “We can handle it.”
Frederick and Paul nodded in agreement.
Paige didn't need any more encouragement. She grabbed a CD and CD player, then turned to Luke.
“Sit down and behave,” she ordered. “Stay away from Thalia and Annabeth. And Percy and Silena and Beckendorf and -”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Luke muttered, sitting down on the floor next to Paul.
Paige glared at him.
“Don't get fresh with me, mister. Because I will stab you.”
Luke eyed Paige's sword.
“That's plastic.”
Paige rolled over to him and snapped, “You think that would stop me, Castellan? You're on thin ice!”
“Okay, no yelling,” Sally said.
Paige backed away from Luke, still glaring at him.
“Sorry, Mrs Jackson. Just trying to make a point.”
“Point taken,” Luke said. “Please don't stab me.”
Paige started the music and sat down next to Annabeth and Thalia.
“Oh, by the way, these songs are my anthems so I will be singing along and you all can deal with it. First up: Prologue/The Day I Got Expelled.”
Percy groaned and put his head in his hands. Annabeth and Thalia grinned at each other.
"Oh yeah. This is gonna be fun."