Suddenly I was home. Percy and I were sitting on the couch in our parents' apartment on the Upper East Side. That was the good news. The bad news was that the rest of the living room was occupied by Mrs. O'Leary.  And for some reason Nico ended up on my lap. He tried to scramble off my lap, but he couldn't really go anywhere. 

"Where are you off o young man?"

"Get the Hades off me!" 

"Nah uh uh! Give me a hug!" And just to piss him off more, I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight. He didn't fight me too hard. I was the only one I knew of who could touch him like this and not end up dead. I also knew my emo little grandpa was touched starved, so I hugged him or touched him in someway as often as I could. I gave him a quick squeeze. Then we all did our best to get up and crawl over the couch. I saw Percy calling out, clearly the commotion in the living room woke Dad and Sally. 

I saw there heads poke around Miss O'Leary's body. I saw my dad wave, and Percy called something back. I also saw Nico call something back, a sheepish grin on his face. 

"WOOF!" Mrs. O'Leary let out an excited bark that shook the whole apartment. I winced, the neighbors were going to hate us. Though I wondered what kind of thing they would hear instead through the mist. Miss O'Leary tried to turn in a circle to find my dad and Sally, knocking all the pictures off the walls. She's only met my dad and step mom once before (long story), but she loves them. And dad always wanted a dog, and he spoilt her. 

It took a few minutes, but we finally got things worked out. After destroying most of the furniture in the living room and probably making our neighbors really mad, we got my parents out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where we sat around the kitchen table. Mrs. O'Leary still took up the entire living room, but she'd settled her head in the kitchen doorway so she could see us, which made her happy. Sally tossed her a ten-pound family-size tube of ground beef, which disappeared down her gullet. 

"Sorry about Mrs. O'Leary," I said, "destroying the living room and all."

Paul laughed like he was delighted. "Are you kidding? This is awesome! I mean, when I saw the hoofprints on the Prius, I thought maybe. But this!"

He patted Mrs. O'Leary's snout. The living room shook—BOOM, BOOM, BOOM—which either meant a SWAT team was breaking down the door or Mrs. O'Leary was wagging her tail.

I couldn't help but smile.

"Hey, Papa Paul!" Nico signed when my dad pulled him into a tight fatherly hug and then had a small embarrassed grin when Sally gave him proper motherly hug and he broke his wall for a moment and hugged her back. He let go quickly and stepped back his cheeks and ears bright pink. 

"Your allowed to hug them Nico. They love you too, just like me. You're part of this oddly formed family." 

"It's weird." 

"Ya. It is. But who says family has to be by blood?  My dad isn't even true blood. They have accepted you."  

And to prove my point, my dad pulled out glasses of lemonade and Sally pulled out fresh baked blue cookies and indicated that we sit. "Nora! Percy! Nico! It's good to see you guys! Nora, last I heard you disappeared! And only a day ago Chiron let us know you were found." My dad had hardly let go of me, but he let me sit down, his eyes still glued to my face, but they flicked to the boys and gave them both genuine happy smiles. I sighed and ran a hand though my hair and quicky told them what happened. My dad's worry lines appeared. 

Percy took up the story and explained about our visit to Connecticut. He hesitated when it came to my weird experience with the green smoke. I explained quickly what happened, how I had an idea what happened and how it made me feel and taste. (I had told my dad and Sally about the hippy boho grandma in the attic of camp and how she had kissed me last year.) 

"So it's true." Paul stared at me like he'd never seen me before. He was wearing his white bathrobe, now covered in hellhound fur, and his salt-and-pepper hair was sticking up in every direction. "I...I didn't want to think it was true, it made your mother..." he closed his eyes for a second, his hands resting on the table. Sally reached over and gave his hand a squeeze. Like she was giving him the strength. 

"Nora, you're mother could also see through the mist, like this May and like Sally. She had visions and she had drawings all over her apartment... Just a moment." 

He got up and squeezed passed Miss O'Leary scratching her ear for a second. The kitchen was quiet. I felt guilty, we had come here for Percy to get a blessing from Sally, and now my dad was talking about my mom. He hardly ever mentioned her. 

"I'm...I'm sorry Percy. I didn't mean to hijack this..." 

"Don't be sorry you idiot! You're gonna find out about your mom!" He gave my arm a reassuring squeeze. 

My hands itched and I had a marker in my hands, I kept taking the lid on and off, until Nico huffed and threw his hand in front of me on the table. I gave him a grateful smile and started doodling on the back of his hand. Dad showed up again with a shoe box I had never seen. I frowned as he sat back down. He held the box for a moment like he was trying to make up his mind and then pushed it towards me. I looked at it for a moment and then looked up at my dad. 

"I'm sorry I never told you anything. She made me promise to raise you like any mortal child. She knew. She knew about everything. She knew about everything." 

I sat in shock. It took me a moment to think over everything. "Wait...you told me mom didn't know who my father was." 

"Well... partly. At first she didn't know, your father...Apollo, explained to her why she could see. He promised to come back to explain more, but he never came back. And then she found out she was pregnant...and her dreams got worse, plagued her almost every night. We searched for him, she prayed... something was preventing him. Something happened, we both believed he wouldn't just abandon you both. But then...your mother had a dream, and she knew her time was limited. She made me promise to keep you from this world for as long as possible. To raise you as best I could. I'm sorry. When things started to happen to you and you couldn't explain it, or your de je vues, and everything else, I knew your mothers gift was given to you, and I couldn't keep you from your fathers world for much longer. I'm sorry I always had to send you away." 

My heart was pounding so fast it was hurting. My hands shook as I held the shoe box, I didn't know what was inside, but it felt like it was heating up under my fingers. I was scared to open it. It clearly contained answers, but I was scared. This was a lot of information to process. 

"I'm sorry Nora." Dad signed again. His face was full of pain, and regret. But I wasn't mad, which surprised me. Everyone else was quite. With shaking hands I slowly lifted the lid of the box. There wasn't a lot. some paper, a few hand drawn pictures and old photos. I picked up one drawing sketched with pencil. It was of a girl, it was so realistic, even though it was black and white. 

"Its you!" 

"Yeah..." 

It was of me from the battle of the Labyrinth last year. It was of me releasing the phoenix power, in full battle gear sitting on top of Glitter. All the fire releasing from with in me, monsters denigrating, campers standing in awe. I looked terrifying. 

"Whoa." Percy had leaned over to see, and his jaw dropped and his eyes went wide. 

I placed the paper down and reached for the next one. It was another picture, this one was clearly Percy and I. We stood shoulder to shoulder hands raised, water and fire mixing together, creating a wild storm. We stood amongst the trees, something huge was wrapped inside our fire and water storm. 

"That's...that's us!" He stammered, his hands were shaking as bad as mine. I just nodded. I tried to swallow, my mouth had gone dry. I placed the drawing on the table, and picked up a photo. It was of a beautiful young woman, long red wavy hair, her pale soft skin decorated with freckles, her bright brown eyes full of life. Her hands rested on her big swollen belly, she had a simple white dress on and gold jewelry and she sat on a blanket, a guitar sat beside her, a big field of sunflowers stood behind her. The sun made her glow. I felt my eyes prickle. Dad tapped my hand and I looked up. His eyes were also full of tears. 

"That was the last picture I took of your mother. She had you the next day. She kissed your forehead, named you and whispered she loved you. And then she was gone." 

The glowing tears finally slid down my face. 

"What was her name..?" I asked, gauzing at the picture again. I understood how she caught Apollo's attention. 

"Evangeline." He paused and then "Evangeline Grace Dare." 

Something tickled the back of my head. 

"Wait...Dare?" Percy got there before me. My eyes snapped open. And my head whipped up. 

"Did mom have a sister? Or brother or something?" He asked eagerly. 

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I asked him. 

He nodded. I felt a weird twist in my stomach. My heart rate picked up again. I looked back to my dad who was frowning, looking back and forth at us. Percy and I glanced at each other and then back at my dad. 

"She had a brother. She didn't speak of him much. He uh...didn't have a lot of communication with her once she moved out at 18. She was a free spirit and he was more...ridged." 

There is a picture of your mom and them in there..." Dad signed and then reached for the box, he dug to the bottom and pulled out two pictures. One was old and ratty around the edges. He held them out. One was older, two kids around 15 or 16, a boy and girl. My jaw dropped. So did Percy's It was like looking in the mirror. The girl looked younger, but she looked like me. But the boy... he looked so familiar! 

"No way!" Percy signed, his eyes looked like they were going to fall out of his head. 

"You know who they are, don't you." Paul signed. He didn't looked shocked. Percy and I both nodded. 

"You knew!" I sighed. "When did you know?" 

"When I saw her at Orientation." 

"Can someone explain!" Nico interrupted. He had been quiet, just observing the scene, but he had leaned over and was frowning at the picture. He cocked his head, and pulled his eyebrows together. 

"You remember last year in the labyrinth? Rachel?" Percy said, while signing for me. Nico nodded. 

"The mortal girl who could see through the mist." 

"I'd bet my life on it, that this dude," Percy pointed to the picture, the older of the siblings, "Is Rachel Elizabeth Dare's dad. And this is Nora's mom." 

"NO FUCKEN WAY!"  Nico screamed in my head. 

I looked to my dad for confirmation. He held out another picture. It was a a group picture. There was an old man in a wheelchair with a group of people around him, he wore a cheesy birthday hat, a balloon tied to his hair and a big cake in front of him. 

"Your grandfathers 88th birthday. Your mother and me, and this," he pointed to the man, "this here is her brother and his wife."

"Mom and her are pregnant!" I pointed out looking closer at the picture. I looked up and saw dad nod.

"Your mother and sister in law were excited to be expecting girls the same year. Your older buy a few months. After this picture...we didn't hear from them again. Wouldn't answer your mother's phone calls or letters..."

"But you knew Rachel was family!" I repeated. Dad nodded. Sally, I noticed was fidgiting. "You knew too." Sally sighed and nodded.

"I think my brain exploded." I signed before I rubbed my forehead.

"It's a lot for sure." Percy agreed.

"I'm sorry for not telling you sooner."

"It's..." I paused and then continued. "You had your reasons. Thank you for telling me now. Am I allowed to tell Rachel?"

Dad shrugged, "I don't see why not. From what you've told me about her, she has the same gift as your mother. It must be hereditary, passed maternally through the genetics."

I nodded, would make sense. I was actually kind of excited now. Rachele kinda was weird and a little obsessed with Percy, but knowing she's my actual blood family was kind of cool. Also I could rub it in Annabeth's face. Rachele isn't just some mortal. She has the gift!

The kitchen was quiet for a bit everyone mulling over this new development. I finally broke the silence.

"Okay. Enough about me....we actually came here for a reason. Percy? You're up!"

Heads turned to Percy. He told our parents about Typhon, and the gods, and the battle that was sure to come. Then he told them Nico's plan.

His mom laced her fingers around her lemonade glass. She was wearing her old blue flannel bathrobe, and her hair was tied back. Recently she'd started writing a novel, like she'd wanted to do for years, and I could tell she'd been working on it late into the night, because the circles under her eyes were darker than usual.

Sally took a deep breath, like she was thinking how to tell me no.

"Percy, it's dangerous," she said. "Even for you."

"Mom, I know. I could die. Nico explained that. But if we don't try—"

"We'll all die," Nico said. He hadn't touched his lemonade. "Ms. Jackson, we don't stand a chance against an invasion. And there will be an invasion. Also. Nora did it last month."

Sally looked at me with wide eyes. And then to Paul. He slowly nodded his head.

"Apparently we're keeping all sorts of secrets." I said. And then I frowned. "No more! No more secrets. If this family is going to function, no more secrets!" I paused. "yes, I dipped in the Styx. I had asked dad for his blessing. And it worked. It's unpleasant, but it worked. I had a strong tether to reality. I had the people I loved most help keep me grounded. Yes it's dangerous but we're all dead if we don't."

"An invasion of New York?" Paul said. "Is that even possible? How could we not see the . . . the monsters?"

"I see them, Dear." Sally said quietly. "I see them everywhere. So far they have left us alone. But if the kids are right...they won't leave us alone for much longer."

"I don't know," Percy admitted. "I don't see how Kronos could just march into Manhattan, but the Mist is strong. Typhon is trampling across the country right now, and mortals think he's a storm system."

"Mama Jackson," Nico said, "Percy needs your blessing. The process has to start that way. I wasn't sure until we met Luke's mom, but now I'm positive. This has only been done successfully three times before. And all times, the parent had to give their blessing. Papa Paul had to give Nora his blessing. My...step mother, Persephone made sure she had the blessing and after our chat with Luckes mom... They had to be willing to let their child take the risk."

"You want me to bless this?" She shook her head. "It's crazy. Percy, please-"

"Mom, I can't do it without you."

"And if you survive this . . . this process?"

"Then I go to war," I said. "Me and Nora against Kronos. And only one of us will survive."

He didn't tell her the whole prophecy—about the soul reaping and the end of my days. She didn't need to know that, I guess. So much for no more secrets. I could only hope we'd stop Kronos and save the rest of the world before Percy died. But I wouldn't let that happen. I'd fight Zeus to keep Percy safe.

"You're my son," she said miserably. "I can't just..."

I could tell Percy would have to push her harder if he wanted her to agree. Percy looked hesitant. I didn't want to push her either. Dad, I was surprised how readily he agreed. Maybe it was a mother son thing. I don't know.

I remembered poor Ms. Castellan in her kitchen, waiting for her son to come home. And I realized how lucky I was. I had a parent that had always been there for me, always tried to make things normal for me, even with the gods and monsters and stuff. Percy was the same, Sally had tried to make his life as normal and "mortal' as possible. Always supporting him. And now Percy had Paul and I had Sally. We had parents that put up with us going off on adventures, disappearing for stretches at a time. But now Percy was asking her blessing to do something that would probably get him killed.

Percy looked at Paul. Almost in a silent plea. He had agreed to me doing it.  They shared some kind of understanding, between the two of them.

"Sally." My dad said, he put his hand over Percy's mother's hands. He wasn't signing anymore, but he talked slowly so I could read his lips. "I can't claim to know what you and Percy have gone through, each family has their own journey. But I understand, probably better than most. And it sounds to me... it sounds like Percy is doing something noble. I wish I had that much courage."

I reached out and also took Sally's hand. "Mom." I signed. I saw the tears form in her eyes. I had never called anyone mom and ment it. "We can't do this without you. It's scary, and we need you. We need our momma."

I got a lump in my throat. I didn't realize how much I actually ment it. Sally had become my mom. I never knew my biological mom, clearly, and all this information tonight was interesting, but it was detached for me. I didn't have an emotional attachment to her. I did however have the emotional attachment to Sally. Percy also looked like he was ready to cry too. Percy didn't get a lot of compliments growing up, and any type of verbal affirmation made him self conscious.

My mom stared at her lemonade. She looked like she was trying not to cry. I thought about what Hestia had said, about how hard it was to yield, and I figured maybe my mom was finding that out.

"Percy," she said, "I give you my blessing."

I glanced at Nico.

He looked more anxious than ever, but he nodded. "It's time."

"Percy, Nora... Nico," my mom said. Glancing at each of us. "One last thing. If you . . . if you survive this fight with Kronos, send us a sign." She rummaged through her purse and handed us her cell phone.

"Mom," I said, "you know demigods and phones-"

"I know," she said. "But just in case. If you're not able to call . . . maybe a sign that I could see from anywhere in Manhattan. To let me know you're okay."

"Like Theseus," Paul suggested. "He was supposed to raise white sails when he came home to Athens."

"Except he forgot," Nico signed. "And his father jumped off the palace roof in despair. But other than that, it was a great idea."

"What about a flag or a flare?" Sally said. "From Olympus- the Empire State Building."

I picked up a chocolate chip cookie that was blue and raised an eyebrow.

"Something blue," Percy said with a nod.

"Works for me." Paul nodded.

"Deal." I signed with a nod, and took a bit of the gooey cookie.

They had a running joke for years about blue food. It was Percy's favorite color, and his mom went out of her way to humor him. Every year his birthday cake, his Easter basket, his Christmas candy canes always had to be blue. Even to this day, hence the blue cookies.

"Yes," my mom agreed. "We will watch for a blue signal. And I'll try to avoid jumping off palace roofs."

"Yes, please do refrain from tall buildings." Paul added, with a small smile. He squeezed Sally's hand. He fingered the diamond ring on her hand. He looked at us for a moment and then turned to look at Nico as well.

"I'm proud of you three. And your young man, Raphael, though he should be here, I understand why he is not and I'll have a world about that with him later, but I digress. You three. Percy Nora... Nico, my unofficial son. You three are doing something incredibly brave and selfless. Remember who you are in all of this, remember each other and why you are doing this. I have a feeling you will need to rely on each other and trust each other more then anything sooner rather than later."

At this point I was crying. Percy looked close to it and Nick was looking at his lap, his ears bright pink. I knew my dad was accepting, and just went along with Nico and my platonic sibling like relationship, but I didn't realize how much he actually thought of Nico as family until now.

"Keep each other safe. Have each other's back. And maybe in a week or two we will have a family Barbeque for Percy's 16th birthday."

We all nodded.

"It's time. We need to go." Percy signed. We nodded and got up. Paul and Sally gave all three of us one last hug. I tried not to feel like I was saying good-bye.  Then we walked to the kitchen doorway. I looked at Mrs. O'Leary.

"Sorry, girl," I signed.

"Shadow travel time again." Percy sighed beside me.

She whimpered and crossed her paws over her snout.

"Where now?" Percy asked Nico. "Los Angeles?"

"No need," he said. "There's a closer entrance to the Underworld."

"What?"

"Central Park." I grinned at him.

🔆

Super long chapter again!

But whaaaaat?!? Who saw that coming?!? Who saw Rachel and Nora as cousins?!? Cuz...as the author, I sure didn't! 🤣