Sunshine (Connor Stoll)

Chapter Six

T/W Mentions of physical and emotional abuse. Continues from the beginning to the break in the text.

When we reached Amtrak, the money from the return of the poodle was only enough to get us tickets to Denver, not all the way to LA. We decided to take it anyway; after all, what else could we do?

We hadn't been attacked at all since we entered the train station, but I could tell Percy was still anxious. He finds an article in the newspaper promising a reward to the person who returns Percy to his stepfather, and spends the rest of the train ride alternating between pacing and trying to sleep.

As for me, I was just replaying my conversation with Connor in my head. He had felt it when I almost died. That shouldn't have been possible, but he did it anyway. I was trying to piece together in my head what it could mean, but all I was doing was hitting dead ends.

I tune in to Percy and Annabeth's conversation just as Annabeth tells Percy not to trade the master bolt for his mother when we find it.

"What would you do if it was your father?" He challenges.

"That's easy," she responds fiercely. "I would leave him to rot."

"You're not serious?"

Annabeth's grey eyes are steel. "My dad's resented me since the day I was born, Percy. He never wanted a baby. When he got me, he asked Athena to take me back and raise me on Olympus because he was too busy with his work. She wasn't happy about that. She told him heroes had to be raised by their mortal parent."

"But... how could he..."

"I appeared on my father's doorstep, in a golden cradle, carried down from Olympus by Zephyr the West Wind. You'd think my dad would remember that as a miracle, right? Like, maybe he'd take some digital photos or something." She clears her throat. "But he always talked about my arrival as if it were the most inconvenient thing that had ever happened to him. When I was five he got married and totally forgot about Athena. He got a 'regular' mortal wife, and had two 'regular' mortal kids, and tried to pretend I didn't exist."

"Maybe he married her to protect you. Like my mom did with me."

"He doesn't care about me," she shakes her head. "His wife—my stepmom—treated me like a freak. She wouldn't let me play with her children. My dad went along with her. Whenever something dangerous happened—you know, something with monsters—they would both look at me resentfully, like, 'How dare you put our family at risk.' Finally, I took the hint. I wasn't wanted. I ran away."

"How old were you?"

"Same age as when I arrived at camp. Seven."

"All by yourself?"

"I had some friends." I can see her losing herself in the sad memories. Percy has more questions, I can tell, but it also doesn't seem like Annabeth can handle them right now.

So instead, I put on a brave face and decide it's time. I've only ever told Connor about my mom, but Percy trusted me with the truth about his stepfather, and Annabeth opened up about her dad. I can have courage too.

"Sometimes mortal parents don't do their job very well," I whisper, thinking more is going to come out.

It doesn't.

"Clio?" Annabeth says, a worried look on her face.

"Are you talking about your mom?" Percy asks.

I nod. "When I was three, my mother lost all contact with Apollo. When I was first born he would check in occasionally, make sure I was healthy and my mom was taken care of. Then he stopped by the day after my third birthday with a satchel of gifts. He asked my mom to put them in a safe spot so that I could have them when I was ready, when I was older and monsters started to come around. She did. Then we never head from him again.