The Demigod Business

Chapter 6

Percy

"Get up, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.

A moment later, a pillow landed on Percy's head none too gently. He smacked it away. "Okay, I'm up, I'm up."

Percy extracted himself from the covers and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He winced when he saw Annabeth was already dressed and ready for the day.

"We leave in twenty minutes," she said, throwing a change of clothes at him.

Percy grunted. "Okay, jeez, I'm going."

Though he enjoyed making things difficult for Annabeth on occasion, he knew this was serious. He admired her determination to protect others. Heck, if Poseidon had shown up and told Percy that he had siblings who needed his help, he'd have done the same thing as her.

To show Annabeth how serious he was, Percy managed to get himself ready to leave in only ten minutes. They quickly checked out of the motel, hopped in the car, and got back on the road.

It took longer than they anticipated to reach Hayward, mainly due to rough traffic and a surprising amount of car accidents. It was early afternoon by the time they entered Hayward, and once Annabeth found Miles Carver's address, they immediately went to his house.

Annabeth knocked on the door. A middle-aged woman answered, holding a toddler on her hip.

"Can I help you?" the woman asked.

"Are you Mrs. Carver?" Annabeth asked. When the woman nodded, she said, "Is your husband home? And your stepson, Miles? We need to speak with them."

The woman frowned. "Who are you? What do you want with Harold and Miles?"

"It's a long story," Percy said, "and it's kind of hard to explain."

"It's about Miles' mother. Please, we really need to speak to them," Annabeth said.

Mrs. Carver's eyes widened. She glanced behind her, where Percy could just see another child peeking at them. Mrs. Carver sighed and opened the door wider, gesturing for them to come in.

"Miles is still at school, but Harold is here," she said as she led them into the living room. "I'll go get him."

"Thank you," Percy and Annabeth said as they sat on the couch.

Mrs. Carver left them alone, and to occupy his ADHD, Percy kept lacing and unlacing his hand with Annabeth's. She was used to this habit by now and didn't say anything about it. They sat in silence. The child Percy had seen earlier watched them from the doorway, trying and failing to hide her curiosity. When Percy waved at her, she squealed and ran away.

After a minute, Mrs. Carver returned with her husband. Harold was a lanky, balding man with glasses, who looked like he'd rather be in a quiet library than talk to anyone ever.

"My wife says you're here to talk about Miles' mother?" Harold said as he sat down across from Percy and Annabeth. Mrs. Carver sat beside him, still holding her toddler. "Who are you?"

Percy let Annabeth take the lead. "I'm Annabeth and this is Percy." She glanced at Mrs. Carver. "This conversation might be better in private."

Harold took his wife's hand. "My wife is more Miles' mother than that woman ever has been. Whatever you're here to talk about, she stays."

Annabeth looked at Percy, who shrugged. Your mother. Your decision.

Annabeth sighed. "Fine. I don't know what Miles' mother told you when you knew her, but she's not who you thought she was. She's not mortal."