In Another Life

Colorado Springs

I opened the door to the middle house. I walked inside. The old owners had taken their furniture, leaving the room bare. Rue ran in, sniffing the house and the walls. I had gotten it inspected and it was clean. I walked around, going upstairs and checking the various bedrooms.

I smiled, seeing it all unfold behind my eyes. The walls I would tear down, the rooms I would build and the differences I would make. It was all there. I could see it all.

It was beautiful.

Nico and Will didn't see that of course. They saw three different condos connected by a wall. There was a large garage in the alley out back and a big back yard. They didn't see it yet. I haven't told them what my plans were. They just knew I put a downpayment on a place in the middle of the country.

"So?" Will asked from the top of the stairs.

I nodded. "This'll work. This'll definitely work."

Nico put down a box. The Cocoa Puffs started sniffing the rooms, exploring the new place. "So what's the plan?" the son of Hades asked.

I pulled a set of blue prints from my backpack. "Right here." I sat down and unrolled it on the floor. The boys looked over my shoulders. "There's gonna be a lot of changes."

"This...We're gonna need some help with this," Nico said.

I smiled. "I already called in some cavalrey."

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Percy whistled when he saw the plans. "This is..."

"You can't read it can you?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Not a word."

Annabeth sighed. "Essentially, she's gonna be knocking out most of the walls in the second floor... making more bedrooms. There'll be more rooms than a mansion."

"What do you guys think?" I questioned.

My siblings all exchanged a look. Ashley smiled. Malcolm nodded. Justin and Insley both crossed their arms. Charlie and Austin squared their shoulders. Ophelia put her hands on her hips. Patrick smirked. "We're in," Annabeth stated.

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When I opened the door to find Jordan, I could smell the confusion and protectiveness that came from my siblings.

"Come in," I told my big brother. I introduced him to everyone.

"So what are you thinking?" he asked.

I led him over to the blueprints. He observed the paper and smiled. I felt him freeze though when he read the name I had put in the corner of the page.

"What do you think?" I asked.

He squeezed my shoulder. "He would love it."

I squeezed his wrist. "I know. I honestly hope he would. I did it in his honour. It's gonna be a safe space for everyone. Humans, demigods and...others."

Jordan smiled and gave me a hug. He kissed my head. "I'm proud of you, Lizzie."

I hugged him back. "Thanks." I pulled away. "Now, how comfortable are you with a sledgehammer?"

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There was a battle over the speaker. Percy wanted old rock, Justin and Insley were both arguing over stations, Nico wanted Green Day and Will just wanted something to dance to. In the end I took the speaker away. It was way too loud with all the demo work to even hear the music when we all had earplugs in.