Truth Or Dare (Percico)

On The Polar Express

Jason ๏̯͡๏

"Well I guess you're not insane." My sister tells me that as she walked into the cabin.

"And you change your mind because?" I ask.

"So I go to meet Tyson and them in Percy's cabin." She told me. "Percy was there. But he didn't know Tyson or Annabeth or anyone else was in the cabin. So his door was partially open. And Nico was in there."

"And?"

"I knew Percy liked the guy, that was obvious." My older sister admits. "If I hadn't seen it myself, Id call people insane for saying Nico liked him back. And had the guts to tell him."

"He told him?" I asked.

"Yes he did."

A few months went by and December. It was the 15th and Percy's going out to buy presents. A lot of people were. Not together. But they were.

"Who has a birthday coming up?" I asked. It must be a Greek.

"Christmas."

"Who's Christmas?" Reyna asks.

"Reyna." Nico nice explains as Percy is dumbfounded that we don't know anything about this Christmas. "Its a holidays. Mostly celebrated by Christians for the Lords birth. We celebrate it a lot like thanksgiving. But you get presents at Christmas for each other. You put up a pine tree and decorate with bulbs and tinsel and you get garland and mistletoe and you put all the presents for everyone underneath the tree and on December 25th everyone comes over and you have a huge meal and you maybe play some games and then everyone opens presents."

"There's a day dedicated to this?" Octovain confirms.

"Two." Nico said and Percy put up a 2. They've been out to camp for a few months now. "A lot of people do celebrate on the 24th. Christmas Eve."

"Oh, shit." Leo said. "That's only ten days and I have like nobody done."

"You knew?" I asked.

"You didn't?" He asked. "Me and my celebrated every year. Every family and everywhere I went. Its the one time of year aside their birthday you spoil the crap out of everyone."

I look at my sister.

"Your present has been hidden for like 3 weeks." She told me. "I think I only need like three more and I'm set."

People left and I was just curious.

I never met my mom. I never knew her. I don't remember any tiny thing of her. I don't even know her name.

Thalia would've.

"Thalia, question." I said as I had been sitting on the couch. She was baking I think cookies.

"Hm?" She asks me, closing the oven door.

"Mom..." I said. "I know you don't really talk about her. But what happened? Is she alive or...?"

She sat down. Closing her eyes for s minute.

"No." Thalia softly told me, breaking the news. "She's not. When they said Percy's mom got in that accident there was 3 cars involved. One had Sally, one had that asshole that survived barely touched, and Mom was in the other one. She got the worst out of it. Killed instantly. I wasn't around... I was here. A tree. I wasn't back for another year after that. When camp got the Golden Fleece. Annabeth filled me in on everything. Whatever she wasn't willing to tell, Grover and Clarisse did tell. I don't talk about her because I usually don't have reason and when I do its people asking how I got here and what Mom thought of me being at Camp. And I can't answer that. I never knew what she thought about me at Camp. Or me being gone. And that's my fault. 10 years ago I was so pissed at Mom and I was not dealing with anything and one night Mom came home with somebody. I didn't recognize the guy. I had never heard of him or seen him. And Mom said they were engaged. They had been dating for 6 years. They were married in 3 days. He had four kids of his own that would move in and everybody would be happy and joyful and all this just bullshit. When I heard that I waited until they were asleep and I had a bag packed, and I left. I never looked back once. 3 days later, the day of the wedding, I met Luke. He's dead now. He was a few years older, son of Hermes. Also on the run. We allied and the next day we found Annabeth in Pennsylvania. She had ran from California because of her step mom, who was pregnant. We considered each other family. We got to camp thanks to Grover finding us and the Cyclopes got me and when I woke up Luke had left camp for who knows why and Annabeth was going home to her dad for a few days, and my mom was dead. Grover and Clarisse were the only people I knew after everyone went home. But I never did."

A few days later I found out Mom's name and found her husband. Derick. And I called him up.

"Hello." He answered, sounding pretty happy.

"Hi." I said over the phone. "Is this Derick?"

"It is." He confirmed. "How can I help you, kid?"

"I'm Beryl's son." I explained. "Jason. I wasn't around at all. I lived with my dad in Rome. I just found out about the crash a few days ago. Did you ever know a Thalia? Beryl's daughter. I believe she lives with our Mom."

"I..." He trailed. "I knew Thalia. For a single day. That was ten years ago. She's dead. She has to be. She was home when I went to bed and she wasn't when I woke up. Some of her stuff was gone, mainly clothes. She took food with. But only so much lasts at a time. We had her funeral about a month later. She would be 22 now. She was 12 at the time. Why do you ask about her?"

"She's... Not dead." I explained. "I'm in New York right now. She's here, too. She's been here for the past 10 years I think. At least 9. I've only been here nearly a year. But I was wondering, and its totally fine if you can't or don't want you, if you and if you have any kids want to come and meet us here for Christmas on the 25th."

Somebody said something in the back and then he answered.

"I think I can manage that." He told me. "Thanks."

He hung up and I ordered a ton of crap online for people and finally passed out.