The Jackson family sat silently at the dinner table. The sound of scraping the silverware against the plates was all the noise that was between them.

"So," their mom started. "How was training today?"

"Fine," all the kids replied at the same time. She gave an exasperated mental sigh and looked at her husband across the table. He hadn't even looked up from the blue casserole.

"Percy," she hissed. His eyes quickly flitted up to hers. She motioned with her gaze to the kids. He returned the look with a blank stare. In the end, Annabeth sighed.

"I hear that there are tryouts for the Athen's Algebra team coming up." She gave Ellie a kind smile. Ellie avoided her mother's gaze as she dished herself up some peas.

"Yeah. Sure..."

"Maybe you would want to try out?" She was quiet for a long time.

"Maybe..."

The conversation was slowly dropped after that. The grasping at straws wasn't working too well for the family. They sat in silence for most of the meal until Brian stood up.

"I'm going to my room to study." He scooped up his partially full plate.

"You sure you don't want to finish eating?" Their father asked. Brian shook his head mutely and walked into the kitchen. Not long after that they heard him walking up the stairs.

Ellie sighed. "Mom... I saw something weird today." Both of her parents' interests peaked.

"Meaning what?" Her mom asked.

"Well..." Ellie laid her fork against her plate and hid her hands in her lap. "This old guy, I didn't catch his name, was at our house when I was looking for Brian. He had crooked teeth, mad scientist hair, and just appeared... Scary."

Ellie's parents exchanged concerned looks.

"Did he say anything to you?" Her father asked.

She nodded. "He asked if this was where the Jackson family lived, and I nodded. He then asked where Brian was, but I didn't know so I couldn't tell him. He seemed disappointed, but hobbled away." She glanced around the table and set down her fork. "It could have been anyone really."

Her mother was staring at the table so intently, she could have been solving a calculus equation. Her father, on the other hand, was fingering with his wedding ring.

"Thank you for telling us, Ellie," her dad finally replied. "We'll make sure this is all figured out."

"Mommy, what was the meeting about that you went to?" Lucy asked, sitting back in her chair and waiting for an answer.

Their mom raised an eyebrow. "How did you learn about that, sweet pea?"

"My friends parents went as well. It must have been a big meeting to involve all the adults."

Her mother chuckled. "I never doubted that you were a smart girl, but that took some detective work." When she didn't continue, the kids stared her down. She smirked at their faces. "Let's just say Mommy and Daddy needed to talk to Chiron. Nothing's wrong, sweetie."

Ellie could totally tell that was a lie. The way her mother forced her eyes to crinkle and how her smile looked so forced. Lucy glanced at her, and both girls concluded that she was lying. They would have to do some detective work.

"Well, I have to go to my office and work for a couple hours." She stood and looked directly at Lucy and Ellie. "You two need to finish up your homework. No activities until it's done."

"Aw, Annabeth," their father protested. "Let the kids have a bit of fun tonight. They've done their homework all week. Since it's Friday, can't you give them a little bit of a let off? Besides," he winked at the girls, "I could take them out on a chariot ride."

Both girls perked up. They both turned back to their mother, putting on their puppy eyes.

"Please mom?" They both pleaded.

Their mom gave their dad the stern gaze of disapproval before sighing. "Alright, but get the dishes done first."

As she left the room, their dad motioned for the door.

"Come on, let's go. There's something I want to talk to both of you about."

"But what about the dishes?" Lucy questioned, looked around at the dinner plates and uneaten food.

Their dad smiled, a spark of mischievous energy igniting the rebellion in both girls. "I'll talk to Mommy about it later. For now, let's head off. To the lake we go!" 

-----

Okay, you guys all deserve a little bit of an apology. I was struggling so much with this chapter -- which is why it's so short -- but I think I've finally have come up with a plot. (To be completely honest, I was just flying by the seat of my pants on this one. I had no idea what I was going to do with the old dude, but I think I've finally come up with something). 

Besides, it's been, what? A year since I updated this? It's about time you guys get what you wanted, haha. 

Just so you all know, I've been working on a huge project recently called the "Soul Mate Trilogy". If any of you have actually noticed, the second book (Kindred Spirit) is going to get its first chapter update in about 2 weeks from now. This trilogy has really taken up a lot of my time (not to mention school, play practice, golf, and whatever else I have to work around) and some of my fanfictions had to be pushed aside. 

I will, though, be more consious on updates for this book, since a lot of you like it. I'll try and update it, at least, once a month. Maybe more, maybe less. Who knows, right? 

Well, have a great spring break everyone! Enjoy the break as much as you can (I know I will).