Shattered memories

Chapter 3 Visit at the museum gone wrong

When I woke up again my face was pressed against the window. A field passed by as I peeled my face aware with a groan. Despite what happened earlier I felt weirdly energized and weirdly exhausted.

"Finally your awake." Came Grover's relieved voice. He sat down by my side looking much cleaner than before.

"Where are we?" I managed to ask.

"On our way to Nashville. Who we're looking for is at the Parthenon."

"So Poseidon and Athena huh. I thought these two hated each other's guts or something?"

"For a while it was the case for your parents too. Couldn't go a day without arguing . Took them nearly five years to realize they just liked each other and didn't know what to do about that."

"Why do so many people want me dead?"

Percy leaned closed his eyes lost, but his hearing laser focused on the reading.

"So they're assholes."

Grover nervously glanced at the sky. "You have to be careful with what you say James."

He explained to me how the gods operated , how their names held great power. How the veil called the mist separated the perception of reality from mortals to supernatural . Or was it the natural now?

As he explained to me how some people could utilize the mist. I stared at the billboard on the side of the road.

The Chase industry billboard.

It must have been an old one since it still sported Annabeth Chase at its front. I didn't care about the message at the front about building a brighter future. All I could do was memorize as many features as I could in the small moment I got to look at her.

She was a tall woman. Her golden blonde hair was tied in a bun . She was dressed like a typical buisness woman, but it's her bright eyes and confident smile that stole all my attention.

That was my mom. One of the most successful architect and scientist in the history of the world.

And here I was, some nobody shmuck who couldn't even make it through school because he had issues. I turned around as we passed the billboard. Desperate to see her longer, but the moment was passed. I pressed my head against the window and sighed.

"She adored you." Grover assured putting a hand on my shoulder. I removed it and sat back straight.

"What do I know."

"Kid, you were born on a battlefield. And I saw your dad fight fiercely before, but he made demons look like sheeps when it came to defending you ."

"A battlefield?" I repeated trying to ignore the part about my father. I didn't need to hear that.

"Yeah, monsters kept track of your mother's pregnancy and thought it was a good idea to attack while she was in labor... it wasn't. You ever seen one man massacre a whole army? Well I did twice. With the same guy."

"Sounds like a badass ."

"I mean your mother jumped in about five minutes after you were born. I have faced demons titans and unspeakable monsters, but I never felt more terrified of the sight of an hormonal Annabeth Chase."

I blinked at the mental image of an angry buisness woman post labor tearing monsters apart with a newborn me in her free arm. Why was my brain so cursed?

"Grover, why do people want my head?" I repeated.

"Kid I hate to tell you this, but." He trailed off looking for the right words. "You are the son of not one, but two of the most influencial figures of Olympus of the last millennia. So it's bound that some people see you as."