The Flow of Time~ PJO RTB/WTM

1:3

After seeing and hearing Stela's in-person interaction with The Fates the throne room was left silent.

The demigods all looked between themselves with concerned expressions. Not only because of the interaction they were shown, but because Stela was sitting extremely still. Those that sat closer could also see that her jaw was clenched impossibly tight.

When no one made the move to speak or leave their seat the book reopened, and the screen turned on.

Chapter 3: GROVER UNEXPECTEDLY LOSES HIS PANTS

Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal.

I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was dead man, muttering "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"

Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown.

"East One-hundred-and-fourth and First," I told the driver.

Stela felt Connor and Travis lean forward and rest their elbows on her beanbag. She knew they both wore smirks as they said, "Now this is completely unrelated but," "do you happen to still live there, Stela?"

The demigoddess raised an eyebrow as she turned her head left and right to look both boys in the eye. Crossing her arms over her chest she looked forward at the screen and said, "No. There was an... incident that led us to moving somewhere else." Connor and Travis both pouted and slumped forward before moving back to their seats.

What Stela chose not to add to her statement though was that she split her time living with her mother and someone else.

A word about my mother, before you meet her.

Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck. Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five, and she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be a novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money for a college with a good creative-writing program. Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.

The only good break she ever got was meeting my dad.

Hermes and Athena had both narrowed their eyes at this.

With the other clues that they've been given it was easy enough for the goddess of wisdom to deduce who Stela's godly parent was. As she made this realization, she had to hold back a sneer and an extremely dramatic eye roll.

Hermes figured it out not long after and nearly whipped his head to the left to stare at the man he now knew to be Stela's father. Somewhere in the back of his mind an inkling of fear sprouted, but he didn't know why.

I don't have any memories of him, just this sort of warm glow, maybe the barest hint of a smile. My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures.

See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important, and their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.

Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea.

Stela cut her eyes between all the gods and held back her smirk when she saw a lot of them make the connection to who her father is. She was an extremely special case.