ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴡɪɴᴅ ꜰʀᴇᴇᴢᴇꜱ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ, ᴀɴ ᴇxᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇ ꜱʜᴀʟʟ ʙʀɪɴɢ ᴀ ᴄᴏɴꜰʟɪᴄᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ᴅᴇꜱᴛʀᴏʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛɪᴍᴇʟɪɴᴇ ᴜɴʟᴇꜱꜱ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴄᴏᴍᴇꜱ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʀᴇᴅ ᴡᴇʟʟꜱᴘʀɪɴɢ ᴀɴᴅ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ ᴅᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴀɴᴅ ʟɪꜰᴇ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀʟᴋꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ꜰɪɴᴇ ʟɪɴᴇ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴏꜱᴇɴ ꜰɪᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴇɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪꜱᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴛᴍᴏꜱᴘʜᴇʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪʀᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴜᴅ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ʀᴇᴠɪᴠᴇ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀᴡᴀᴋᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ ꜱᴏᴜʟ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴇʟɪᴏꜱᴘʜᴇʀᴇ ᴡᴀᴛᴇʀ, ᴍᴇᴛᴀʟꜱ, ɪᴄᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ꜰɪʀᴇ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ᴊᴏɪɴ ᴛᴏɢᴇᴛʜᴇʀ ɴᴇᴀʀ ᴛʜᴇ ɢʀᴀᴠᴇ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴇɴᴇᴍɪᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴏᴇꜱ ᴄᴏɴꜱᴘɪʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ꜱᴜᴄᴄᴇᴇᴅ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜱᴀᴠᴇ ᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴄᴛɪᴠɪꜱᴛ’ꜱ ꜱᴘᴇᴄɪᴀʟ ᴅᴀʏ, ᴍᴜꜱᴛ ᴛʜᴇ Qᴜᴇꜱᴛ ʙᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʟᴇᴛᴇᴅ ᴏʀ ᴇʟꜱᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ᴡɪʟʟ ꜰᴀʟʟ, ɪꜰ ᴛʜᴇʏ ᴅᴏɴ’ᴛ ʀᴇᴍᴀɪɴ ᴜɴᴅᴇꜰᴇᴀᴛᴇᴅ ↤↤↤↤↤ ᑌᑎᛕᑎᗝᗯᑎ ↦↦↦↦↦ She wiped the floors of the school halls, mouthing along the words to the song blaring in her ears. The building was empty, save for a few teachers who had stayed late grading papers. In other words, she had the hall all to herself, able to use music as a retreat from her troubled life. "'Cause baby, you're a firework, Come on, show 'em what you're worth Make 'em go, "Oh, oh, oh" As you shoot across the sky," she sang quietly to herself. The moment she finished singing, she heard a whisper in her ears. "Axel," it said. Her eyes widened and she froze, the mop falling from her hand. "I can give you Axel," the voice hissed. "A-Axel's..." she trailed off. "No, he's not. He's waiting for you," the voice persisted. "Come to the-" The voice fell silent as a teacher walked out of one of the classrooms. He nodded at her, and walked on. Even when the teacher had exited the school, the voice did not return. But she began to walk, the instructions of the voice echoing in her mind.
↤↤↤↤↤ Ǥᖇᗝᐯᗴ ↦↦↦↦↦ Grove yawned as she pulled her blonde hair back into a ponytail. She put on a swipe of mascara, the only makeup her parents would let her wear. She strode over to the window and opened the curtains, taking in the majestic view of New Rome, the only home she'd ever known. She caught sight of the praetorium, no doubt where her best friend Sam was getting ready for the big day. Grove grinned knowingly. Yeah, right. Sam was probably inadvertently practicing his ability to summon precious metals from the ground, he was so nervous. Just the night before, he had confessed to nearly impaling his father with a citrine stalagmite. Luckily, Uncle Frank was able to transform into an eagle at just the right time. Grove was so excited. In a couple of hours, she and Sam would be on their way to Brooklyn. Of course, being the child of a demigod meant that Grove would have to bring her twin knives, but she felt confident that between Dad and Uncle Frank, they'd make it there just fine. Grove took one last look in the mirror, then headed downstairs. In the kitchen, her father was making his famous blueberry pancakes, emphasis on the "blue." He actually used food dye to dye the batter a cobalt blue. "There's my girl!" he exclaimed. "Excited for camp?" "Yeah," Grove replied, giving her dad a hug. "Good morning, Mom," she said. "Good morning, hon," her mother replied, not taking her eyes off the blueprints spread across the kitchen table. "Hey, Wisegirl, you too busy to help with breakfast?" her father grinned. "Actually, Seaweed Brain, I just have to make a couple of adjustments and I'll be done. We have to make sure the school doesn't collapse during English class." "I feel like it'd be an improvement," Dad grinned. "Of course you would, Percy," Mom replied, rollng her eyes. "Of course you would." At that moment, Grove's little brother, PJ, came trotting down the stairs, book in hand. "Morning, mini-me," Dad said to him. PJ said nothing in response, just walked over to the table and sat down, eyes and attention fixed solely on the book. "Where's your sister?" Dad asked Grove. "Probably still getting dressed. You know how excited she is about her first day at Camp Jupiter. And with the combination of being slightly OCD and completely ADHD, it makes her a little...meticulous. Everything has to be perfect," Grove said." "Yeah," her father agreed, glancing over at the blonde woman leaning over the endless amount of blueprints on the wooden table. He flipped the pancakes onto the waiting plates and started to cut the twins' up into bite-sized pieces. "Can you do the eggs for your mother, who SEEMS TO BE PREOCCUPIED EVEN THOUGH IT'S YOUR SPECIAL DAY?" Dad said, raising his voice for his wife's sake. "I'm not preoccu..." Annabeth's voice trailed off as she began to mutter unintelligible gibberish. Percy rolled his sea-green eyes, smiling. "PJ, can you get your sister?" "Yeah," PJ replied, going back up the stairs. A moment later, Beth came running down the stairs, her brother trailing behind. "EDMUND DID WHAT?" he shouted indignantly. "I KNOW, right?" Grove grinned, thinking back to when she was reading The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe too. "Hon, we're about to eat and I'd kinda prefer if we didn't have blueprints as our new tablecloth," Percy said. "Almost done," Annabeth replied, gathering up the papers and setting them on the floor. Grove slid into her usual chair across from her mother. Her father brought the plates over and set them on the table. "Thank you, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, kissing her husband on the cheek. Percy grinned and sat down. "Hestia, please bless this family and this meal," he said. Grove turned and looked at the fireplace behind her. A girl about 9 years of age smiled and waved at her from inside. Grove smiled back, then turned to look at her dad. Percy's eyes were fixed on the hearth as well as he prayed, but when he was done, he blinked and met Grove's gaze, a secret shared between them. "So, did you pack your knives?" he asked. "Of course," Grove replied, smiling. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, cut me some slack. It's my first fanfiction, and I don't think ANYONE could replicate the banter between said Seaweed Brain and Wisegirl. But seriously, thanks for at least giving it a chance. Even if you hated the chapter through and through, thanks for reading. I appreciate it. - Alpha out
