𝑅𝑒𝑓𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑢𝑛 HP× PJO WTM/RTB

PJO(TLT) P.3- ℍ𝕖 ℕ𝕖𝕖𝕕 𝔸 𝕄𝕠𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟? 𝕀𝕟𝕤𝕦𝕝𝕥 ℍ𝕚𝕞!

It took annabeth few seconds to answer.
She ran her palm along the rail, giving alecs a fleeting look.

"The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don't always , Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Percy. They ignore us." Yeah. Too busy to claim your own kids. Alecs scoffed.

She thought about all unclaimed kids in the Hermes cabin, teenagers who looked sullen and depressed, waiting for parents that never came.

The wixens had sad looks on their faces while few gods looked down.

"So I'm stuck here," Percy asked.

"That's it? For the rest of my life?"

"It depends," Alecs told him as annabeth continued,

"Some campers only stay the summer. If you're a child of Aphrodite or Demeter, you're probably not a real powerful force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mortal world the rest of the year."

Annabeth winced, with a gulp she turned to the goddesses of harvest and love, who were both glaring at her.

"I'm sorry Lady Demeter and Lady Aphrodite. I was young and didn't knew any better."

Demeter and Aphrodite didn't say anything, merely accepted the apology with nod.

" But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mortal world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble-about ten or eleven years old, but after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that."

"So monsters can't get in here?"
Annabeth and Alecs both shook their heads.

"Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the woods or specially summoned by somebody on the inside."

"Why would anybody want to summon a monster?" Percy asked baffled.

"Practice fights. Practical jokes." Annabeth shot alecs a pointed look. Alecs only rolled her eyes saying,

" It was one time, anni!"

"Practical jokes?" Annabeth nodded ignoring alecs's comment.

"The point is, the borders are sealed to keep mortals and monsters out. From the outside, mortals look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a strawberry farm."

"So, you guys are year-rounders?"

Annabeth nodded. From under the collar of their T-shirts both she and alecs pulled a leather necklace with five clay beads of different colors. They were just like Luke's, except Annabeth's also had a big gold ring strung on it, a college ring from her dad.

"We've been here since we were seven," she said.

"Every August, on the last day of summer session, you get a bead for surviving another year. Anni and I've been here longer than most of the counselors, and they're all in college." Alecs explained farther.

"Why did you come so young?" Annabeth twisted the ring on her necklace.

"None of your business." She snapped. But then alecs said,

" I was a year rounder too, till last year. Now I have a boarding school that I go for the year."

"Oh." Percy said and they stood there for a minute in uncomfortable silence.