Annie Chain and the Olympians: The Anomaly of the Sky

Chapter 3: My Dead Brother Comes To Visit

The cluster of people parted and allowed two figures to step to the front. One was a beautiful woman, with curly blonde hair, tan skin, and gray eyes. The other was a tall man, with unruly black hair, sea green eyes, and well-tanned skin. They were holding hands and smiling at the sea of people in the crowd. Everyone was able to recognize them. Percy and Annabeth Jackson stood before the crowd.

"Has it already been a year?" My brother asked with a mischievous grin. "And here I thought Zeus would have been thrilled to be rid of me, but he lets me visit every year."

Zeus huffed from his place in front of the Olympians. "You make me regret this every year, nephew."

"I try." Percy quipped before Annabeth smacked his shoulder.

Rachel, Calypso, and Tyson got to the front of the crowd, hurrying to reunite with their friends.

I chose to scan the cluster of people. They were slowly dispersing, moving around to talk to other people or the gods. I didn't recognize some, but could others from pictures that Percy had. I recognized Clarisse La Rue and Chris Rodrigeuz going to talk to Ares and Hermes, their respective fathers. I saw Silena Beauregard and Charles Beckendorf walking over to talk to Aphrodite and Hephaestus, their respective parents.

I located Chiron before he could go talk to any of the heroes.

"Does this happen every year?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yes, it's been a gift from the gods to the demigods each year. The deceased get to see the world they died protecting prosper, and the living get to meet the heroes they look up to. Rather clever of the gods, in my opinion."

I nod and allow him to go talk to his beloved former students. I focused on Percy and Annabeth, my brother, and my sister-in-law. Athena had joined her daughter and was embracing Annabeth tightly. Annabeth was grinning, holding her mother close. Beside them, Percy was being embraced by his own relatives. Tyson was quick to hug him, followed closely by Kym and Poseidon. Amphitrite, Rhodes, and Triton smiled and greeted him.

A woman with black hair that was salted with grays and bright bluish-green eyes ran up to Percy as well, throwing her arms around him when his divine half-siblings pulled away. I assumed she was Estelle.

I glanced away, getting distracted by other lost demigods greeting younger half-siblings.

"Hi."

I jumped. Standing before me was a boy with light blonde hair and gray eyes. A son of Athena.

"Oh, uh, hi." I mumbled. "I'm Annie."

"The daughter of Poseidon. I know. I'm Peter, son of Athena. I've been at camp for a few years. I came over to talk to you. If Annabeth and Percy could be so close, I figured we could be too." The boy-Peter-said.

I blinked. Of course, another comparison to Percy.

"I try to talk to all new campers, but most find me a bit annoying, because of the whole smarty-pants, hubris-as-my-fatal-flaw, child of Athena thing, so I don't mind if you don't want to talk to me." Peter looked used to rejection and I felt bad immediately.

"No, it's okay. I'm used to being ignored too. You know, the Romans don't really like Neptune, so they didn't really like me much either." I said, trying to make him feel better.

He smiled. "So you want to be friends?"

"Sure."

Having a friend couldn't be that bad, even if my friend choice was the same as Percy's had been.

"Annie." Chiron trotted up to me. "Percy wants to meet you."

My mouth went dry. Of course, he did. Did I want to meet him? I didn't know. On one hand, he was a hero, my hero, and I desperately wanted to know him. On the other hand, I didn't want to be compared to Percy, next to Percy. And yet, I found myself walking after Chiron, waving to Peter, and heading Percy's way.