The Start Of A Family

The blanket started out small. Just 3 squares of fabric. Annabeth pointed out that if it was 3 squares it couldn't really be a blanket, it was the wrong shape. Percy always said that he didn't care, that it was theirs and it was special so it didn't matter. A blue square, a grey one and a green. Percy, Annabeth and Grover. The beginning of a family.

The next summer a couple more were added, a second blue one and a patched red one. And so Sally and Tyson joined the family. That same summer Annabeth added two more; black and a bright blue joined the collection. Thalia and Luke. Her first family.

The summer after that Thalia added another one, this time her own. A new one. It was still blue, but this time she stitched on a yellow bolt of lightning and a bow, then gave it to Annabeth to pass on. Clarisse joined the mix at some point, a red square, it was charred and ripped and the edges but it was added nonetheless.

Through the years at camp more and more were added until it became a map of everyone who had lived and died. A soft red from Juniper, pink one from Silena, light brown from Beckendorf. Two purple ones from Castor and Pollux and when Castor died Pollux stitched his brother's name in silver thread onto his square. Yellow for Lee and a sort of cream colour for Micheal.

Chiron added a brown square that had additional stitches around the edge, Mr D begrudgingly added a purple one that shimmered in the light. Will added a pastel yellow one soon after the war. Then, once Malcolm sat down to add his, he stitched the names of everyone who died into their squares.

When Thalia returned to camp she added a silver one for Zoe, Annabeth added a new one for Luke, this one a dark blue. Rachel added a bright red one to the mix at some point and no one really knows when but the Aphrodite cabin got a hold of it, and the next time Percy pulled it out of storage there were 4 new squares in varying shades of pink scattered around the edges.

Travis and Conner added a teal, and bright pink square respectively. Saying that they were the most obnoxious colours they could find. Chris added a plain brown one, the fabric of that square was oddly soft Percy had noticed. A green one stitched with daisies was added by Katie soon after Chris added his.

And then Percy went missing and no one touched the blanket for a very long time. It was only when Jason, Piper and Leo got back from their quest, Grover returned from searching and they all knew where Percy was, did Annabeth pull it out of its box under Percy's bed and take it to the campfire. Grover and Annabeth sat at the edge of the campfire with some of the younger campers telling the stories behind each square.

When Percy found it in his cabin on the Argo there was a new square, a light grey one, so light it was almost white. Whose is it? He'd asked Annabeth, she glanced at the blanket. Paul's, he's part of the family too. She answered.

It was only after the pair got back from tartarus did they add more squares: a gold, reddish brown, sky blue, orange and a dark pink. Hazel, Frank, Jason, Leo and Piper. They were part of the family now too. Whether they liked it or not.

It was around the same time that Percy sat down and stitched everyone's names into their squares. Not just the people who had died. Annabeth added another two patches, both silver, for Bob and Damasen. Bobs with a small gold cat stitched in the corner.

After the war with Gaea, the camps sat together and more squares were added. Purple, black, olive green. Reyna, Nico and Bianca. Various oranges, Nyssa, Harley and Jake. The blanket was getting bigger now, It could comfortably fit Grover, Annabeth and Percy under it now.

Camp Jupiter got hold of it at some point and Dakota added another purple one near his half-brother's set. Gwen added a pale yellow. Lavina predictably added a bright pink one.

Lester- Apollo ended up at camp at some point, while he was there a few more squares were added. An earthy green, shiny gold, bright orange and a dark grey. Austin, Apollo, Kayla and Meg. Meg was oddly hesitant about adding a square and everyone noticed how her eyes lingered on the bright yellow fabric, but no one said anything.

When Leo got back, they added a cinnamon coloured one for Calypso, and when the pair returned after seeing Jo, Emmie and Georgina they added a square for the family, a dark red patch that felt like velvet. That was when the Ares cabin added a few in varying shades of red and black.

When Jason died Thalia came back to camp and stitched a small pink heart in the corner of his square. Leo stitched a red one inside of that heart with surprising skill.

After the fight with Nero, Meg returned to camp and added a bright yellow square over her old one. No longer hesitant to add a patch to the family. The rest of her cabin added patches in a whole array of colour. Slotting them into the missing spaces. A purple and black square were added by Cecil and Lou Ellen at Will's insistence.

The blanket made its way through the camp, picking up squares from people they missed. Evening out the edges and fixing any big gaps in the fabric. It made its way back to the Athena cabin where they stitched up the edge and put it back in a box under Percy's bed. That's where the blanket sat. For years and years. Until Percy upon returning to camp, long after starting a life with Annabeth, found it there.

He sat on the edge of the bed running his hands over the fabric, his fingers seeking out missing stitches and particularly worn patches absently. Having long memorised the little imperfections. Annabeth found him there, with it in his hands staring at it.

The next time they saw Grover, the group sat under it, together, telling stories about their first adventures and reliving a time they never thought they would wish so desperately to go back to. When they were young and didn't realise the pain and heartbreak that sat before them.

The blanket was big and worn with singed bits where it got too close to the campfire, there were holes where campers hadn't lined up the squares properly. Sloppy stitches and crooked lines. The right side was uneven and a few of the squares had snarky messages stitched into them by older campers who were leaving, but it was made by them and they would never see some of the people who added to the blanket again.

It was a map of everyone who had lived and died, but it was also a map of the people who had joined the family, who had found a place to be loved, to love, even when the rest of the world didn't seem to want them.

So yes, the blanket wasn't as small as it was in the beginning but that's only because their family had grown with them. And it was very much like the blanket, big, miss matched and messy. So yes, it was different, but amongst all the newer squares and marshmallow stains, sat the first three squares, A blue square, a grey one and a green. Percy, Annabeth and Grover. The beginning of a family.

And the beginning of a family it was indeed.