Chapter Twenty-Three

UNEDITED

The best and most beautiful things inThis world cannot be seen or even heardBut must be felt with the heart

-Helen Keller

PERCY

"How did three litte old ladies manage hold her back?" I asked bemused. The car ride to my mother's had been completely silent until Parker bursted out laughing out of no where. The sudden noise caused me to swerve into the next lane and, in return, give the other driver a heart-attack.

Parker laughed harder when the driver flipped me off. My revenge consisted of giving him a swift, yet firm, punch to the shoulder. No, I did not feel sorry.

Minutes pasted by of us being petty before I asked what he laughed at. A small chuckle escaped from him when I brought the topic up, then he began the story of what had caused him and Annabeth to be separated.

"You'd be surprised at what people can accomplish when they believe strongly in their religion." Parker said. "After all, one of the many things that made my foster father so horrible to live with was that he confused the Bible with law."

"Which foster father was this?" Not long after Parker's birth, his chance at having a semi-normal life was taken away. According to Parker, Annabeth had left to find a nurse when she noticed Parker's face was slightly blue, only to be bombarded by three old ladies preaching how pre-martial handholding, kissing, and sex was wrong.

Her simple response was that she didn't give a flying fuck about their beliefs.

Parker thought for a moment. "Gods, I don't know. A good portion of the homes were strict Catholics, but I'd say Old Man Turner was the worst of the bunch."

(A/N: definitely not throwing shade at my vice president who can't keep her mouth closed... okay I am but it's not like you don't have someone you hate too.)

By the time Annabeth returned to the room with the nurse, the crib was empty of Parker and any proof he had been there.

"We can stop by his place and throw eggs at it?" I asked. I was disappointed when he shook his head. "Oh come on, I used to wrap toilet paper around my ex-stepfather's statue. Best revenge ever."

Another nurse walked in and explained that a woman claiming to be Annabeth's mother came in to see them. The nurse thought nothing of it until she walked back in. Parker and the woman had disappeared without a trance.

"Wouldn't do much, Turner went into cardiac arrest shortly after I came out as pan—" he paused. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Parker looking at me, expecting something. I met his gaze and motioned for him to continue. "Are you just gonna sit— you're okay with me being pansexual?"

The two of them were finally reunited too late. Parker only knew Annabeth his first two days of life; he had no recollection of her or what happened. They ran into each other purely by chance and not under the best circumstances.

I laughed. "Parker, we're the descendants of Greek gods. With Aphrodite in the mix, I'm surprised at the lack of LGBTQ+ members. The son of Apollo and son of Hades are dating. Said son of Hades had a crush on me for a while, but later found I wasn't his type. The daughter of Hades has a girlfriend. Apollo is bisexual. Hell, you even have another family member who is pansexual and dating someone gender-fluid." I parked the car and turned to him. "Point is, let your rainbows fly. I'll never stop supporting you."

(A/N: i had to change that sentence at least fifty times. It all just sounded wrong and kind of rude to me... idk. Just don't wanna offend anyone here. Except the homophobes. Yeah, no room for hate here.)

Despite being separated for so long, Parker found humor in the situation with the old ladies. Annabeth too. The two of them just wished that they had minded their own business and let them be a family.

"Wow," Parker said, unbuckling his seat belt. "Hey, is this family member on your side or Annabeth's?"

I froze, feeling like a deer in headlights. How do you respond to your fourteen year old son you had no prior knowledge about until a few days ago?

"Sorry I missed your entire life! I had no idea you even existed! But hey, I picked up some milk from the store! Might be expired!"

No, just no.

Parker looked at me like I was a maniac. "Can you not stare at me like that. Annabeth only had one boyfriend and you were in the picture. Unless she had some kind of fling with the weird-looking dude in the background, I'm pretty sure you're my dad-father thing."

(A/N: i'm an idiot. "Dad-father thing")

After a while of realizing he definitely got his brains from Annabeth, I finally spoke. "He's on Annabeth's side of the family; Magnus Chase."

"Cool," he said before hopping out of the car. "Let's go pay a visit to your family now."

I took a moment to collect myself before following Parker into the apartment complex. The location hadn't changed from fifteen years ago, but the building itself had. The lobby, which previously looked like a drunk man's cave, supported a family-orientated design with a play section for children and lounging area. Friendly staff members greeted Parker and me the second we stepped through the door. Polished elevators brought us up to the Jackson-Blofis residence without a creak.

"Might wanna prepare yourself." Parker said as we left the elevator.

I frowned. "For what?"

"Estelle, Sally, and Paul." He replied. "They're a family, and sometimes it's hard to see that when you haven't been apart of one for a while."

"Stop being so mature, it's weird. Can't even tell you how immature I was at fourteen. Walking in on my own funeral." His head snapped in my direction, eyes wide open. I chuckled. So he hadn't heard that story. "C'mon, let's go. The more seconds that pass, the more detailed my mom's murder plan gets."

"No, Sally's too nice for murder. Maybe deny you blue cookies—"

"I chose murder."

Parker stopped for a moment to consider it before agreeing with me. The love of blue cookies was hereditary, no way could he disagree.

No blue cookies for so long... how did I live with myself? Leaving your home is understandable in most cases, but blue cookies? Come on!

A sudden knocking on the door pulled me from my thoughts. Back here after fifteen years. The nostalgia made me question why I left in the first place, but the years of resentment reminded me.

Unless she had a some kind of fling with the weird-looking dude in the background...

Was this weird looking guy the same one from the bonfire?

Annabeth only had one boyfriend.

That was me, obviously. But then why did I see her kiss someone else? She made sense she would get attention, but why cheer for someone kissing someone unless they were dating?

"—alk to you later. Love you too, bye." Someone said, opening the door to my old apartment. She looked like my mom, the stranger that opened the door, but she was too young to be her. This stranger was just a teenager, barely in high school, but she looked like my mom with Paul's eyes.

"Hey Parker—"she smiled at him and  turned, just then noticing me standing beside him. "And stranger person I don't know."

"Hi Estelle!" Parker smiled and did the eyebrow raise thing from Home Alone. "Was that I love you for Wyatt?"

Estelle?! Wyatt? I love you?

Estelle.

My sister that had been born shortly after Zeus signed my death warrant. Now around sixteen and telling non-family members she loved them?

She blushed. "Yeah, we made it official, but mom and dad don't know yet. Mom doesn't really care if I date, but dad thinks I'm too young."

He and I both. Thirty is too young for anyone.

"You've been quiet over there," Estelle said to me, taking a good look. "You look kinda familiar now that I think about it."

She looked at Parker for help then looked at me again. Her eyes widened seeing the similarities between us. "Oh shit, you're—"

"Percy fucking Jackson. I'm telling on you." I say before marching inside despite her protests. I heard Parker muffling his laughter.

"Good luck." He said.

"Shut up or I'll tell him and Annabeth about Robbie." Estelle snapped in response.

Parker gasped. "You wouldn't."

I assumed she smirked at this, but my mind was too focused on finding mom or Paul.

"Estelle has a secret boyfriend!" I yelled reaching the living room. Both Paul and my mother were there, gapping like a blowfishes. Sleeping on Paul's lap was Axel.

They were both silent for a moment before my mom spoke. "Percy?"

Estelle and Parker ran in the room.

"Don't get mad at me, at least I didn't have a kid or go AWOL for years." Estelle defended, but neither one of their attention was on her.

"Percy?" My mom said again, softer this time. "Is it really you?"

The boyfriend thing was completely forgotten, my complete attention on them despite having the attention span of a goldfish. "Yeah, it's me."

Mom got up off the floor and walked over to me, almost afraid. Standing in front of me, she put her hands on my cheeks as if feeling was the only way she could be certain I wasn't something she was dreaming.

"If you're some kind of god playing a trick on me, it's not funny. It wasn't funny when it happened to Annabeth, and it won't be funny now." Mom said, unshed tears in her eyes.

I grabbed both of her hands. "Can you make me some blue cookies, mom?"

With that, the dam of tears broke and she pulled me in for a hug. More arms joined until only one pair was missing.

I had reasons to go back to Chaos in the beginning, but the walls were slowly coming down. I needed to go back, and I needed to be here. Perhaps if I were Athena's child, the solution would be clear.

***

A/N: I am hungry. This was supposed to be the last chapter, but I realized I still had one more cliffhanger left.

Word Count: 1760 words