FIC: A Winter's Tale (Percy/Annabeth)

[shiiki]

Title: A Winter's Tale
Author: shiiki
Rating: PG
Characters/Pairings: Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Will Solace/Nico di Angelo, Thalia Grace, OCs
Fandom: Percy Jackson
Word Count: 7,669

Summary: Christmas is a time of remembrance, of sharing, and of hope ... even for demigods. Percy and Annabeth celebrate Christmas with family, old friends, and the next generation of children. Set about 10-15 years after the end of Heroes of Olympus.

A/N: This was written for the PJO Secret Santa 2016. dorkabeth requested Percy/Annabeth, Will, Nico, and Thalia, with fluff, angst, holiday-specific, friendship and AU as genres she would enjoy. I tried to include it all, though I didn't quite manage to hit AU. And it kind of grew ... and grew ... and yeah. It got long. Happy Christmas, dorkabeth, and to everyone else in the PJO fandom! I hope you enjoy this (not-so-little) fic!

Link to fic on tumblr | ff.net



There was definitely something to be said about being in New York at the winter solstice. The crisp, cold air, the flurries of snow twirling down from the sky, the frost spreading pretty patterns across the shopfront windows ... even as she tugged the edges of her coat a little closer around her to keep out the cold, Annabeth smiled while she strolled down Fifth Avenue.

It had been a long while since she'd spent Christmas in the city. She and Percy had only recently moved their family back to the east coast. After fifteen years in New Rome, Annabeth had spent more of her life living outside the state than in it, but she still couldn't stop thinking of New York as home. It was, after all, the modern-day home of the Greek gods, in their palace on Mount Olympus at the top of the Empire State Building. Across the East River, on Long Island, was the camp where the immortal centaur, Annabeth's long-time mentor, trained aspiring demigod heroes. That was the place she'd spent the defining years of her life. Camp Half-Blood was where she'd come to understand and embrace her heritage as a daughter of Athena. It was the first place she'd learned the meaning of family. And of course, it was where she'd met Percy.

Many of her best memories had been here, too. Even though they had gone to college in New Rome and later started their married life together in the safe demigod city, Annabeth and Percy had been firm about visiting New York regularly. They'd come back to Long Island for their wedding, held on the camp beach facing the Sound. Their first child had even been born in Manhattan while they were visiting Percy's mom--months before he was due (Annabeth suspected Hera had had something to do with the inconvenient, premature timing). Despite all this, the decision to move their family to the east coast had still been a difficult one. Annabeth had come to love New Rome and her friends at Camp Jupiter. And the secret city in the heart of the Berkeley Hills had one strong point going for it: demigods and their families could live in safety from the monsters than hungered for their blood. That was a pretty big consideration when you were starting a family with two young children.

But Bobby and Lucy were older now, getting to the age where they could start attending camp and be trained. While they had nothing against the Roman legions of Camp Jupiter, Annabeth and Percy had always remained firmly Greek, and they wanted their kids to grow up with a connection to the Greek side of their heritage.

While they were considering all this, a prestigious offer had dropped into Annabeth's lap, too, which had definitely been a big factor in their final decision to move home to Manhattan. Alongside the regular mortal job she had taken up at an architecture firm in the city, Annabeth was also reprising her role as architectural consultant to Mount Olympus. It was a project she'd first been handed at the age of sixteen, when the gods had tasked her with the rebuilding of their city after the Titan War. Although that work had long been complete, the gods had felt that it would be beneficial to do a reappraisal of their palace and the temples around Mount Olympus-ensure that they were keeping up with the times while retaining their history and all that. And her mother, Athena, had recommended Annabeth for the job.

It was a big honour, especially when it involved an invitation to present her proposals at the annual winter solstice council of the gods. Annabeth was on her way home now from the Empire State Building, having delivered her presentation successfully. She could have taken the metro back to her apartment, but she liked walking down the bustling city streets, past the shopfronts decorated for Christmas and the enormous tree outside Rockefeller Center. Christmas wasn't exactly a Greek holiday-the winter solstice was more important-but Percy had grown up celebrating it and Annabeth liked the idea of having a special time with family nonetheless. Besides, it was better than the Roman festival of Saturnalia. Although the celebratory principles were similar, Annabeth could never quite appreciate a holiday named after the first Titan she'd fought, one who had corrupted and eventually taken over her oldest friend. Saturnalia always made her think of Luke, who had ultimately killed himself to destroy Kronos (or as the Romans called him, Saturn). It took the joy out of the celebration.

Christmas, though … there wasn't any baggage there. They'd created their own traditions: twelve lit candles on the mantle above the fireplace, one for each Olympian; Percy cooking up a storm in the kitchen for their Christmas feast; curling up around the central hearth in the living room once they were good and stuffed, telling stories to the children about the heroes whose memories they had sworn to preserve. And it was going to feel a lot more Christmassy here than in the Bay Area, with the snow falling outside their windows adding to the atmosphere. Already the children were excited by the prospect of 'a real white Christmas'. And this year, they would be able to spend it with Percy's mom and his stepfamily, which was an additional bonus.

When she got home, Annabeth was immediately engulfed by the welcoming smell of baking cookies. She had barely removed her coat when she was tackled around the waist by two enthusiastic missiles.

'Mommy!' Her six-year-old daughter Lucy launched herself into Annabeth's arms, demanding to be picked up. Meanwhile, eight-year-old Bobby gave her a big hug. Annabeth hugged them both back and lifted Lucy into the air.

'Were you good today?'

Lucy wrapped her arms around Annabeth's neck and nodded into her shoulder. Bobby took her hand and led her into the apartment, following the tantalising cookie smell.

'I got a flag!' Bobby said proudly. Annabeth remembered that Percy had meant to take the children into camp today. They must have had a game of capture the flag going on. Lucy was still a little young for it, but Bobby was just old enough to join the fun. 'And Daddy got zapped!'

'What?' Annabeth put Lucy down quickly. Her eyes darted to the coat rack, behind which her trusty drakon-bone sword was stashed. Everything seemed normal and familiar in their home, but when you were a demigod, you took alarming statements like Bobby's seriously.

The door to the kitchen opened and a familiar voice drifted out: '… get along fine without me for an evening. They might even have more fun, come to think of it.'

Annabeth relaxed when the wiry teenage girl with spiky black hair stepped out into the hallway. Bobby's statement started to make more sense as she deduced exactly who might have 'zapped' Percy.

'Thalia!' she cried. 'I didn't know you were visiting!'

If she had aged in normal years, their friend Thalia would have been in her early thirties, just a couple of years older than Annabeth and Percy. But the daughter of Zeus looked exactly as she had since the day she had become an immortal Hunter of Artemis: frozen eternally one day from her sixteenth birthday. She wore the same goth-style t-shirt and jeans, with a black jacket covered with buttons from her favourite heavy metal bands. (Annabeth imagined, a tad wryly, they'd be considered horribly old-fashioned by kids these days.) The only thing that had changed about her appearance was the silver circlet she wore in her short black hair, which marked her as Artemis's lieutenant, and the Hunter's bow and quiver she usually carried on her back-which was probably sitting at Annabeth's kitchen table at the moment.

'Good to see you, Annabeth,' Thalia said, embracing her warmly. 'And yes, the Hunters are at camp. We're resting up there while Artemis abides a week on Mount Olympus. But they'll get along without me for one evening, as I was just telling Percy. Tell you more in a bit; I was just about to use your toilet.'

Annabeth let her friend go and went on through the open door. Percy was in the kitchen, removing a piping hot tray of blue cookies from the oven. He set it on the counter, slapping away Bobby's hand when their son tried to sneak one.

'They're hot, Bobby,' Percy warned. 'Besides, they're for after dinner.' He looked up and smiled at Annabeth. Her heart warmed as it always did when she looked into her husband's sea-green eyes. No matter how long they'd been together, his smile, with that single lopsided dimple she loved, never failed to melt her. Annabeth leaned over the cookie tray and kissed him.

'Hey,' said Percy. 'How was Mount Olympus?'

'As flashy as always,' Annabeth said. 'But they accepted my proposal. We're going to overhaul the palace and some of the temples. Artemis was particularly pleased with my plan for her shrine. She wants to oversee the work next week-oh, that's why she's set the Hunters up at Camp Half-Blood for the week!'

'Hunters,' Lucy repeated solemnly. 'Like Aunt Thalia. I want to shoot like them!'

'That's right.' Thalia, returning from the toilet, entered just in time to hear this. She picked up her silver bow from the chair where she'd slung it and handed it to Lucy. Lucy ran her fingers over it reverently. 'You won't find and archers better than my Hunters!'

'Oh no you don't,' Percy said. 'You're not recruiting my daughter.'

Thalia grinned. 'Want to have another match over it?'

'Another match?' Annabeth asked.

'We had a pick-up game,' Percy explained. 'Hunters versus campers-the usual. Bobby got to play, didn't you, Bobby?'

Bobby nodded enthusiastically. 'I got the flag! I was invisible!'

Annabeth's eyes widened. 'Did you win the game, then?' It would be a first-the Hunters had previously held an unblemished win record.

'Er, not exactly. They made it across the creek at the same time. So Thalia and I thought we'd settle it one-on-one. You know, a little showdown, for old time's sake and all.'

'Daddy got zapped!' Bobby announced again. His eyes gleamed. They darted quickly to the steaming cookie tray and back to his father.

'I did not get zapped. I was … shocked, maybe. Just a little.'

Thalia snorted. 'You were flat on your back, Jackson.'

'Did you miss the part where I dunked you in the creek? Oh, yeah, maybe you did miss the finer points when you were gurgling away underwater.'

Annabeth held up her hands. 'Guys. We're not starting another showdown in the kitchen.'

'Sorry, Annabeth. Percy's just sore he lost in the end.'

Percy stuck his tongue out at her. 'You cheated. Electric arrows? That's a new level of nasty.'

'Gotta keep the monsters on their toes, you know. But seriously, you weren't too bad yourself,' Thalia admitted. 'You gave me a pretty good run for my money. And drenched me good-thanks for that, by the way. Going swimming in winter wasn't my idea of fun.'

'And so I'm making up for it now, inviting you over for dinner. Which is ready, if you all are.' He gestured to the side door leading to the dining room. 'I don't know about you, but all that battling worked up my appetite.'

The children, who had been suspiciously quiet throughout this exchange, got up obediently and headed quickly for the dining room. A little too quickly and obediently. Annabeth glanced over at the kitchen counter. Percy's tray of blue cookies was half-empty.

'The little scamps!' Percy exclaimed, noticing the theft at the same time. 'Geez, Annabeth, did you have something going on with Hermes that you aren't telling me about? Because those two have gotten really light-fingered.'

Annabeth giggled. 'Oh no, that's his Athena heritage through and through. Didn't you notice Bobby egging the pair of you on? Classic distraction strategy.'

Laughing, they gathered around the dining table with Thalia and the children, where Percy had laid out the meal he'd prepared: roast turkey, mashed potatoes, the obligatory vegetables that Annabeth insisted he include, and of course, a large pizza. Percy had never outgrown his favourite dish, and now that he took care of meals for the family, he served them up at least five times a week. At least he always remembered to add extra olives for Annabeth.

Some men would have chafed at being the chefs and caretakers of the family while their wives went out to work, but fortunately Percy had never been proud in that way. He was content to be the family man while she did her job as an architect, working part-time shifts as a volunteer firefighter in the precinct when Annabeth was able to take time off or work from home. In many ways, he was better suited to it than her: having been brought up by Sally Jackson, he'd always been more domesticated than Annabeth, whose childhood experience of 'life skills training' had involved fighting with knives rather than preparing food with them. They'd learned when they moved in together in college that Percy cooked way better than Annabeth, a fact that their friends had teased them about. Percy took it with good grace. To him, it was another skill he'd inherited, like his ability to raise hurricanes and control water. Only this one was from his mom.

It certainly didn't make him any less manly. Even in his blue apron with the picture of that Disney crab and the words UNDERWATER CHEF printed on the front, Annabeth thought he looked as hot as he did in his firefighter's uniform. Maybe you weren't supposed to still think of your husband that way after ten years of marriage, but Annabeth didn't care. She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

'Thanks for making dinner, Seaweed Brain.'

Percy squeezed her shoulder. While Annabeth dished out the food, he handed Bobby a match so their son could light the little table-top brazier at the centre of the table. Lucy was the first to make her offerings.

'Athena and Poseidon!' she said, heaping in a generous amount of carrots, potatoes, and the olive toppings of her slice of pizza. She looked at Thalia. 'And Artemis,' she added. Bobby followed suit.

'To the gods,' Annabeth said.

'To the gods,' echoed Percy and Thalia.

Annabeth smiled. Surrounded by her family-and she included Thalia in that-it was easy to be thankful to the gods for what she had.

After dinner, Annabeth sent the kids to take Thalia into the living room for stories. They brightened immediately at this request.

'I'm going to take Aunt Thalia,' Lucy said importantly.

'No I'm going to take Aunt Thalia!' Bobby argued.

'You can both take Aunt Thalia,' Annabeth said, before they could start squabbling in earnest.

'Aunt Thalia has two hands,' Thalia agreed, holding them out to the children. Bobby and Lucy grabbed a hand each and practically dragged Thalia into the hallway in excitement.

'I want to hear about the quest for the magic tiara,' Annabeth heard Lucy ask.

'That's a girly story,' Bobby protested. 'I want the one about the wolf giant.'

Percy put out the brazier while Annabeth stacked the empty dishes.

'Do you think it's going to be weird, calling Thalia "aunt" when they're older?' he mused. Annabeth could see what they meant. Thalia, in her never-aging form, already looked more like a cool older sister-kind of the way she'd been when Annabeth had first met her and Luke. What would it be like when the kids were actually physically older than Thalia?

They carried the dirty dishes through to the kitchen and began to load the dishwater.

'Thalia does remind me of how much time's passed,' Annabeth said. 'We're twice as old as she was when she chose immortality.' She still remembered the winter solstice when they had stood before the Olympian council, when Artemis had offered Thalia the post to lead the Hunt. Annabeth herself had considered the same path that year.

Thankfully, she hadn't. Immortality wasn't worth losing Percy. She wondered sometimes if Thalia had ever regretted her own decision. But then, their situations were different. The only person Annabeth could imagine Thalia having to leave behind was Luke, and he was long dead. Annabeth didn't even know for sure if Thalia had cared for Luke that way. She never spoke of him.

Percy shut up the dishwater and set it to run. 'You,' he promised, 'are as beautiful as you were then.'

Annabeth's heart fluttered. 'Flatterer.'

'Would I dare lie to you?' Percy swept the remaining cookies on his baking tray onto a plate so that they could bring them out to the living room. 'Can you get some hot chocolate? It's in the cupboard.'

Annabeth reached for it. 'So, blue cookies,' she said as she mixed it up. 'What's the occasion?' While Percy generally didn't need any excuse for baked goods, he tended to save the blue foods to mark special occasions.

'Well,' said Percy, setting down the plate next to the five mugs of hot chocolate Annabeth was preparing. His arms came around her waist and she smiled and snuggled into his embrace. 'To start with, we could be celebrating my wife delivering a kick-ass proposal at the gods' winter solstice council.' He leaned down and kissed her collarbone.

'You didn't even know how that was going to go when you baked them!'

'It's you. I never bet against you. I learned that ages ago.'

'Uh-huh.'

'Or,' he continued, dropping another kiss on the nape of her neck, 'Thalia's visit could be a special occasion, too.'

'Are we counting reasons, then?' Annabeth turned in his arms so that she could kiss him properly.

Percy nodded. 'Bobby's first capture the flag.' He punctuated this with another kiss, a nice long one on the lips this time. 'And-'

A loud, urgent banging on the front door interrupted them. Annabeth looked at Percy. In one blink, his eyes had gone from playful to narrowed and wary. Her expression was probably similar. They were trained as demigods to be prepared for things to change in an instant, and they'd known when they moved away from New Rome that they would have to be more careful and alert to potential attacks. Although it seemed unlikely that a rampaging monster would have the courtesy to knock first, you never knew. Some of the ones they'd met had a surprising level of etiquette.

As he strode towards the front door, Percy's hand went to his pocket, where Annabeth knew he always kept his trusty pen Riptide. She went by the living room. Thalia had the children around the central hearth and they were still chatting easily, but Thalia's hand was ready on her silver bow. She and Annabeth exchanged a nod and the unspoken agreement passed between them: Thalia would make sure Bobby and Lucy were okay.

Annabeth picked up her drakon-bone sword from behind the coat rack and went to back Percy up.

A blast of cold December air swirled in when Percy opened the door, followed by two demigods. Annabeth recognised Nico di Angelo and Will Solace, dressed way too lightly for the weather in jeans and thin sweaters that were dusted with snow. Despite this, there was a sheen of sweat over both their foreheads. They were panting hard, as though they'd just sprinted five blocks at top speed. Will carried a young boy in his arms, who was maybe ten or so, with tousled sandy hair.

'What in Hades, Nico?' Percy said.

Nico gasped out something about an errand, evil snakes, and a Chimera in the Bronx. Annabeth couldn't really grasp the flow of his story, but it was obvious that they'd been in battle recently. She ushered the two men quickly into the living room while Percy checked outside the door in case they'd brought whatever monsters they'd encountered along with them.

'Coast is clear,' Percy said when he joined them a moment later. 'No Chimeras in the building. Or Chihuahuas for that matter.'

'Chihuahuas?' Thalia asked.

'Never mind,' said Percy, catching Annabeth's eye. She smiled faintly. Only the two of them would get the connection.

She helped Will to lay the unconscious kid on the couch. A couple of trading cards fell out of the boy's pocket as they did so. Their backs were dark blue with curved yellow sun-and-moon patterns and a large black 'M' in the centre. One card landed upturned on the floor, revealing a picture of a three-headed dog beneath the number '300'. They looked vaguely familiar, but Annabeth didn't stop to wonder about them, what with their owner laid out on her couch, as pale as a ghost and breathing shallowly.

'Pulse is still thready,' murmured Will as he felt the boy's wrist. 'Stung by a Chimera. I managed to stem the poison, but he'll need nectar or ambrosia, if you have any.'

'We ran into him in Harlem,' Nico explained as Annabeth got their supplies from the medicine cabinet. 'Definitely a demigod. He actually faced off the beast and stabbed it with a bronze knife, but got himself nailed by the tail in the process.'

'He can't be more than what, ten?' Thalia said, looking impressed. She nodded toward the knife that Nico set down next to the young demigod. It had a long celestial bronze blade, curved at the tip like a scythe. Annabeth felt a small thrill of déja-vu. She'd once had a dagger like that.

'Is that his knife? Wonder where he found it. Resourceful little kid.'

'Anyway, apologies for bursting in on you like this,' Will said. 'You guys were nearer than camp.'

'It's fine,' said Percy.

Under Will's ministrations, the colour started to return to the boy's cheeks. Bobby and Lucy watched, wide-eyed, as Will worked. Annabeth was confident that the kid would recover. She'd had first-hand experience with Will's abilities at taking care of poisoned wounds.

Lucy tugged on Annabeth's sleeve.

'Is he a hero, like in the stories?' she whispered.

Annabeth put an arm around her. 'Yes, I think he is,' she said. There was something about the kid that looked very familiar, now that he wasn't ghostly pale. That bone structure, and the way his sandy hair fell into his eyes …

Bobby gathered up the cards that had fallen out of the boy's pocket and placed them on the table. Now that she had time to look at them more carefully, Annabeth realised they were Mythomagic trading cards, from that old game she thought had gone out of fashion years ago.

She glanced at Nico. He'd noticed the cards, too, but his face was an inscrutable mask. Annabeth wondered if he was having flashbacks to himself at that age, a geeky demigod kid running around on his own, scared and lonely. Most of them had some experience with that. It tended to be part of the deal of being a demigod.

But like all the other demigods she'd known, Nico had eventually figured out where he belonged. He and Will had been together for a long time now, and Annabeth thought they were happy. Well, as happy as the dark, brooding son of Hades ever was, anyway. Although Annabeth had never been especially close to Nico-she'd never really understood him and his moods very well, and the fact that he'd used to have a crush on her husband made things a bit awkward-she still regarded him as one of her good friends, and she was glad to see him settled and secure in his life.

Her heart went out to the young demigod on the couch, for whom that point in life was probably still a long way off. Still, they'd found him, and they could take him to camp to start learning who he was and what it meant for him.

Will poured some nectar onto the boy's side, rinsing out the site of the Chimera's sting. The boy came to with a gasp. His hands curled around the edge of Annabeth and Percy's couch, nails digging into the fabric.

'Owww!'

His eyes flew open. They were a startlingly familiar shade of blue.

Annabeth gasped as she finally placed the boy's features. They matched in her head with a face in her memory-one she hadn't seen in years except in old, grainy photographs. Yes, the kid was much younger than the boy she'd known, but the resemblance was uncanny.

Thalia's eyes met hers and she knew her friend had noticed it, too.

Percy and Nico looked between them, mystified.

'What?' Percy asked.

'That's … that's …' Thalia shook her head as though trying to clear it.

Luke, Annabeth mouthed to Percy. His eyes widened and darted back to the demigod, who was now shuddering as Will washed out his wound. Annabeth's mind raced. It had been almost twenty years ago now, but the memory was as clear as day: in the moments before Luke had died, he had mentioned the possibility of rebirth. Annabeth had never known how that worked, exactly. Could it be possible that this boy …

'Shhh, it's okay,' Will said as he slathered the young demigod's wound with a thick silver paste and wrapped a bandage over it. 'That's the worst of it, I promise.'

'Who-where-' The demigod pushed himself into a sitting position and looked around the room with a wild, terrified look in his eyes. 'The Chimera-it was …'

'It's dead,' Nico said. 'Or as dead as monsters ever get, anyway, down in Tartarus.'

The demigod looked at him suspiciously. 'You know about monsters.'

'Yes,' Nico said calmly.

'We all do,' Annabeth said. 'We fight them, too.' She felt a lump form in her throat as she said the words.

'Everyone thinks I'm crazy,' the demigod said, a little defensively, as though they too had accused him of insanity. 'They say it's just my game.' He glared at them like he expected them to grow two heads or throw off their disguises suddenly and attack him. Sadly, it was all too likely that he'd had previous encounters with adults that had gone that way.

It probably didn't help that there were plenty of weapons in the room as well: Annabeth's drakon-bone sword was propped up against the door; Nico's Stygian iron blade hung at his belt; Thalia's silver bow and arrows were next to the couch. At least Percy's sword Riptide was safely stowed in pen form. The poor kid was probably terrified enough, waking up after fighting a Chimera to find himself in a room full of armed adults. Annabeth didn't know how to convince him that he was safe.

She had reckoned without her kids, though. It was Lucy who saved the situation. She came forward and held out the Mythomagic cards to the demigod.

'What's your name?' she said, asking the question that the adults probably should have led with.

The demigod stared at the cards for a moment, then he reached out and accepted them. 'Arthur,' he said. 'What's your name?'

'Lucy. Did you really fight a monster? Like the heroes in the stories?'

Arthur nodded, looking a bit mollified by Lucy's admiring expression. He glanced at the adults again. The suspicion in his eyes faded to a slight wariness.

'My mommy and daddy fought monsters for a long time. And Aunt Thalia and Uncle Nico and Uncle Will.'

'I don't have a mom or dad,' Arthur said.

'Where do you live, then?'

Arthur looked away. 'I was in an orphanage. I-there was a monster there. Nobody believed me. I ran away.' He looked defiantly at Nico.

'That was a smart thing to do,' Thalia said. 'You got away.'

'So … you're not going to send me back?'

They all shook their heads. Annabeth was tempted to say, You're part of our family now-it was what Luke had said to her the night she'd run away from home and met him and Thalia-but she held back. She had a feeling an overly-welcoming gesture would just make Arthur more suspicious.

'Okay,' Arthur said at last.

Bobby popped up next to Lucy, startling Annabeth. She hadn't even noticed him leave the room. He'd come back with the plate of cookies they'd left on the kitchen counter.

'Hi, I'm Bobby,' he said. 'Do you want a cookie?'

Arthur's stomach answered for him, giving a loud rumble. Percy and Will laughed, breaking the tension. Arthur nodded sheepishly, but his eyes narrowed again when he saw the plate.

'Why are they blue?'

Everyone looked at Percy.

'What?' Percy said. 'It's a tradition.' He rolled his eyes at their expectant looks.

They settled into a more comfortable position around the central hearth as Percy told the story of the blue cookies: how his mom used to make them just to show that nothing was impossible. 'My first stepfather told her there was no such thing as blue food, so she had to prove he was wrong. And she made them for me every time she wanted to remind me that I could be anything I wanted to be. So now I keep it going. Every time we beat the odds or celebrate something special, we get blue cookies.'

'And they're blue for the sea!' Lucy chimed in. 'Because Daddy's the son of the sea god!'

Arthur blinked. 'What?'

The adults in the room all looked at each other. They'd been having such a candid conversation about monsters, Annabeth had forgotten that it didn't necessarily mean Arthur knew about the gods as well.

'What do you know about Greek and Roman gods?' Will said carefully.

Arthur's brow furrowed. He flipped through the Mythomagic cards in his hand and laid one on the table, character-face up. Under the gothic 'M' and the number '1,000' was a picture of a regal, dark-haired woman with a silvery cloak. An owl perched on her shoulder and she held a spear in one hand. The other clutched a scroll. Annabeth didn't need the inscription at the bottom of the card to recognise which goddess Arthur had dealt.

Maybe it was random selection. Arthur had only picked from the cards that had fallen out of his pocket, after all, and Annabeth had no reason to believe he'd picked anything other than the first god or goddess that he spotted. But she also knew that there were few coincidences when it came to the gods.

How incredibly poetic it would be if the boy she had lost, whom she had loved like a brother, had ended up reborn as her actual brother. Well, half-brother.

Arthur laid down another card-this one a Cyclops. 'I've only seen the monsters,' he said, 'but if they're real, I guess the god cards could be, too.'

'They are,' Annabeth confirmed. She touched the edge of the Athena card. 'And they have children with mortals.'

'Like Hercules.'

Annabeth nodded, deciding not to correct him on the Greek form of the name. The two camps weren't separate any more. Arthur could be a Roman demigod for all she knew. Although if he was one of Athena's, he was definitely Greek.

Understanding flashed in Arthur's eyes. 'You said son of the sea god,' he said to Lucy. 'That's … Poseidon?'

'Guilty,' Percy said.

'And … all of you?'

'Daughter of Athena,' Annabeth said.

'Zeus,' Thalia said.

'Apollo,' Will offered.

'Hades,' Nico muttered. Arthur's eyes widened at that, but he didn't comment on it. Lucy got his attention again.

'Mommy and Daddy got to fight lots of monsters,' she said enthusiastically. 'They tell us loads of stories. Do you want to hear one?'

'I, um-sure.'

Percy laughed and ruffled both Lucy and Arthur's hair. Arthur didn't duck away, which Annabeth thought was a good sign. 'Stories we have in spades. Which one shall we tell, then?'

'Tell my story!' Bobby said. 'The Titan and the giant.'

'No, I want mine. About the cursed blade!'

Annabeth glanced at Arthur's knife, which Nico had laid on the table. She exchanged a look with Percy. Maybe Arthur was Luke's reincarnation, maybe not. Either way, he wouldn't have any memory of the story Lucy was begging for. Still, he looked so much alike that relating the tale now was going to be quite painful for all of them.

Percy drew Lucy into his lap. 'Maybe another time, honey. I think we'll do Bobby's favourite, about the good Titan and the good giant.'

'Yeah!' Bobby pumped the air with his fist. He plonked himself on the couch next to Arthur. 'This is a good one.'

Lucy stuck her lip out, but she settled herself in to listen all the same.

Percy cleared his throat. 'Okay then. Our story begins when two demigods had a great fall … all the way from earth into a dark pit called Tartarus …'

Annabeth sat on the hearthrug and leaned back against Percy's legs as she listened to him spin the story. Their hands found each other's and she entwined her fingers with his. Although they had told this tale so many times that the sting of the experience had long dulled, she still liked to be holding on to him when they related it.

The first time-the first dozen times, actually-they had tried to tell their friends what had happened in Tartarus, they had needed to rely on each other to get through it. Like the trek through Tartarus itself, reliving the aftermath wasn't something either of them could handle alone. She noticed Will and Nico holding hands, too, as they sat side by side before the hearth. Nico had survived Tartarus as well, and no doubt he had plenty of horrible stories of his own.

Perhaps it seemed strange that they hadn't just buried the experience and moved on. It would probably have been easier to just forget about it all. But down in that pit, they had made a promise and they meant to keep it.

The darkest bits of the story-the hopelessness and despair and the way Tartarus had brought out the malevolence in their own souls-they glossed over, both for the children's sake and their own, but Percy kept the bare bones of it: how they'd drunk from the River of Fire to heal themselves, fought off a giant spider (Arthur's violent shiver at this part made Annabeth more certain that he was a child of Athena, too), run into a pack of vampire demons and been rescued by-

'Bob!' Bobby said gleefully. 'Bob the Titan!'

'Shh,' Annabeth told him. 'Arthur hasn't heard the story yet.'

'Bob the Titan appeared,' Percy agreed. 'Bob lived in the Underworld and he was a janitor for the god Hades. But he had a very good friend-we'll call him "Nick".' Percy winked at Nico, who blushed. It was his first time hearing them tell the story for the children. 'Nick visited Bob and helped him with his chores, and he told Bob about the two demigods who were also his friends. So when Bob heard the boy demigod call his name, he knew that his friend was in trouble. He jumped into Tartarus to help. "SWEEP!" he said, and with his magical broom, he swept all the vampires away.'

Annabeth smiled, though her eyes felt misty as they always did when they reached this part of the story. This was why they had struggled on with telling it, at the beginning when it had been incredibly painful, and after, turning it almost into a fairy tale for their children. Percy continued on about how Bob had led the two demigods to the shrine of Hermes where they could rest, and then sideways through Tartarus to find them a mist that would hide them from monsters. Along the way, they adopted a cat and fought a bunch of hags. (Percy left out the fact that they were the arai, the embodiment of curses. Details like that, they could stand to forget.)

'The hags told Bob that the demigods were not his friends, and Bob remembered that a long time ago, he was a bad Titan. While he pondered this, the two demigods had to fight the hags on their own. But Bob had made a promise to Nick that he would help his friends. And Bob did not like breaking promises. He came back and helped the demigods fight their way through the ugly hags. But the boy was injured. And so, Bob the Titan took the demigods to a friend who could heal him: Damasen, the good giant.'

This story was for both of them: Bob and Damasen, who had given their lives so Percy and Annabeth could escape and end the war against Gaia. They were the only ones who remembered how brave the Titan and giant had been; they were the only ones who could share the story. The way Bob had led them all the way up to the Doors of Death and fought Tartarus himself so that Percy and Annabeth could unchain the doors. How Damasen had healed Percy and then showed up to challenge Tartarus. How Bob had held the button so that they could escape.

'Even though he was injured and bleeding, Bob stood bravely by the doors. "Go," he said. "I can still press a button. And I have a good cat to guard me." The demigods didn't want to leave Bob and Damasen, but they needed to return to earth. There were more monsters to fight up there.

'The girl demigod cried and kissed Bob on the cheek. "Monsters are eternal," she said. And she promised to tell all their children about the best Titan and the best giant, so that one day, Bob the Titan and Damasen the giant would regenerate like all monsters do, as long as nobody forgets them.'

'"That is good," Bob said to the girl.'

Annabeth mouthed the next part of the story along with Percy: 'Until then, my friends, tell the sun and the stars hello for me.' She would never forget Bob's exact parting words to her. It was seared into her memory as part of the promise they had made to keep the memory of him and Damasen alive always.

'Then the Titan and the giant fought the bad monsters to the death. The demigods escaped and they promised that as long as they lived, they would keep telling the story of the bravest and best Titan and giant that ever were. And the two heroes, Bob and Damasen, would live on in memory forever. The end.'

Lucy sniffled. Percy squeezed her shoulders and kissed her forehead.

'Wow,' said Arthur. 'That is a good story.'

'Told you,' Bobby said.

'But I don't understand … that stuff you said about monsters being eternal. You mean they don't really die? Like they're immortal?'

'Monsters are like the gods,' Thalia explained. 'As long as people believe in them, they continue to exist.' She stared at her own hands. Annabeth wondered if she was considering her own immortality. Did it depend on the same principle? She'd never thought about that.

'Why do we want to remember them, then? I mean, the good Titan and the good giant in the story were great, but if there are so many bad ones … wouldn't it be better to just forget about all of it? That way none of them come back at all.' A wistful note crept into Arthur's voice. 'Then you wouldn't need to worry about fighting them at all.'

Annabeth felt a slight chill at his words. Although it made sense that a world without monsters might be appealing to a young demigod who had been besieged with attacks, Arthur was getting dangerously close to the logic that had once led her friend Luke astray. It was a tempting idea, that you could solve all the problems in the world by tackling just one thing. As if good and evil could be so easily separated.

'Nothing is all bad or all good,' Percy said firmly. 'And everyone-even monsters-deserve a chance.'

A surge of appreciation for her husband filled Annabeth's heart. It was one of the things she had come to love most about him-his ability to see the best in people (and monsters).

'Lots of people do horrible things, too,' Will said. 'You wouldn't want to wipe out the whole human race because of it.'

'The gods already tried that once,' Nico muttered.

Will elbowed him. 'Not helping, Nico.'

'Good and evil come hand in hand, Arthur,' Annabeth said. She thought of all the awful situations they had been in, the various wars they had fought. In many ways, those had brought out the best in people, too: demigods and monsters alike. If you shut away all the bad memories, you lost the good as well.

Maybe that was another reason why they kept telling the old stories.

'It's the choices you make rather than who-or what-you're born as that's important,' she continued. 'And it's important for us to remember the ones who made the right choices. Even if that means remembering the bad stuff, too.' She thought of the heroes she'd known who had made those difficult but defining choices. Bob and Damasen of course, but also Percy's Cyclops half-brother Tyson, who had been unwaveringly loyal to them through the years. And most of all, Luke, who had walked a misguided path for years but chosen to do the heroic thing in the end. She forced herself to hold Arthur's doubtful eyes, even though they were so like Luke's that it was painful. Finally, the boy nodded.

'I guess …'

Percy clapped him on the shoulder. 'It's okay if it doesn't all make sense now. Annabeth can be really deep sometimes. I don't understand her most of the time.'

'Percy!'

'But take it from me-she's incredibly smart.' Percy winked. 'Though if you turn out to be an Athena kid like her, you're probably way too clever for me, too!'

Everyone laughed, even Arthur. He traced the Athena Mythomagic card with a new hunger in his eyes.

'How will I know if-well, you said I'm a … I'm half-'

'A half-blood,' said Will with an encouraging nod. 'Or demigod. And you'll find out at camp. Your godly parent should claim you-'

'Before you turn thirteen,' Percy said. 'That's their promise. They've kept it pretty well so far. So you're what, ten? Eleven?'

'Ten.'

'It usually happens earlier than thirteen if we get kids to camp before then,' Will noted.

'What's camp?'

'Camp Half-Blood,' Percy said. 'They teach you everything you need to know to survive as a demigod. You'll get proper training to fight monsters there.'

'It's the best,' Bobby promised. 'I'll get to go next summer, and I get to pick if I want to be in the Poseidon or Athena cabin, so if you're one of them, we could be in the same place.'

'It's a summer camp?' Arthur's face fell a little.

'You can live there year-round as well,' Will said. 'Lots of us did-many still do. We can bring you there tonight, actually, if you want. You'll be in good hands. The kids there are just like you.'

Arthur looked like he couldn't quite believe his good fortune. 'A place for kids … like me.'

To Annabeth's surprise, it was Nico who stood and held his hand out to Arthur. 'What do you say, then, Arthur? Are you coming?'

Arthur took Nico's hand and nodded decisively.

Annabeth and Bobby saw their friends to the door while Percy carried Lucy, who had fallen asleep in his lap after the end of the story, to bed. Thalia left with Will, Nico, and Arthur, saying that she had better re-join her Hunters.

'What are Hunters?' Arthur asked.

'You'll see,' Thalia said with a little smile. Annabeth caught her eye and saw a look of determination there. She knew her friend was resolving to take care of this boy, to guide him well in memory of Luke.

Their voices faded as they disappeared into the night, heading for Long Island.

Later, after both Lucy and Bobby were asleep, Annabeth found Percy standing out on the fire escape, looking up at the stars. She pulled a shawl around herself and stepped out as well.

'You think that was Luke, don't you?' Percy said when she joined him.

'I don't know for sure, but … yes. I think so.'

High above their heads, the constellation of the Huntress, always the brightest during the winter solstice, winked down at them: yet another fallen hero whom Annabeth owed her life to. It was all of these sacrifices that live on as tales of bravery now, lessons that they used to inspire and guide others.

'I hope we get a second chance to help him,' she said, thinking of the two lost and frightened boys: Luke, whose life had ended tragically; Arthur, who still had a chance to avoid that fate.

Percy put an arm around her and kissed her forehead. 'We will. We made a promise to him, too, after all.' He didn't specify which 'him' he meant, but he didn't need to.

The cycle of rebirth had come around. The world would keep on revolving, and one day, Bob and Damasen would return as well. She and Percy probably wouldn't see it, but they were keeping their pact to their friends to make sure their legacy continued. There would be others, their children and grandchildren and other young demigods who would grow up on the story of the good Titan and the good giant. Perhaps Thalia, the immortal Hunter of Artemis, would remain to see them return at last.

Until then …

With their arms wrapped around each other, Annabeth and Percy looked up at the stars. And together, they repeated the promise that they had made to a great friend:

'Bob says hello.'