FINDING A HOME | PJO

/ twelve /

Nancy stared out across the glistening lake, watching the full moon drift across the ripples.

Sometimes she wished nothing good would ever happen to her.

Because when it did, it was always torn from her grasp. Regardless, it was a good lesson––she never took things for granted.

But at this point, Nancy kind of wanted to avoid the small tastes of bliss the universe handed her and took back immediately.

She sighed, wrapping her arms around legs. She rested her head in the nook between her two knees, sucking in a shuddering breath.

Nancy hated her life.

Her mother was some crazy, obsessed, mischievous deity. That in itself was enough to upset her. But she also felt incredibly stupid.

She'd sat down there, at that bonfire, as if she could. As if she was welcome.

Now Nancy realized how foolish she'd been. Silly to grab onto the happiness she was feeling, the excitement of sitting next to Adrian in front of the flames.

Footsteps crunching against the scattered dead leaves shook her from her thoughts, and she turned, not quite sure what she was expecting.

But it wasn't Percy.

He was alone, too. The son of Poseidon didn't speak at first, spotting her and plopping down in the sandy dirt overlooking the lake.

Nancy tried to ignore him, but it became awkward. She huffed, stretching out her legs in front of her.

"What?" she asked.

Percy, much to her annoyance, stayed quiet for another few moments. He reached his hand out and pulled a stream of water towards it, twirling the ribbon of liquid around his fingers.

Nancy watched in fascination when he spoke.

"Have you ever had to hold up the sky?"

Nancy sent him an exasperated look. "What are you talking about?"

Percy shrugged, looking out over the lake. He was silent for a few moments before elaborating.

"When I was in eighth grade, I got a distress call from Grover about a couple of unclaimed demigods nearby. Annabeth, Thalia, and I took the quest. We found them, but long story short, some monsters kidnapped Annabeth."

"Oh, wow," Nancy muttered.

"Yeah. I--we--were ready to do anything it took to get her back. Basically, I snuck on the quest to save Annabeth, as well as Artemis, the goddess. The, um, same people who got Annabeth also managed to get Artemis."

Nancy struggled to keep up as Percy continued.

"Before we got to them, a lot of stuff happened, but the main thing is that we ran into Artemis's Hunters." Percy scratched his cheek. "They're a group of immortal women who swear off guys and a bunch of other stuff. Anyways, their leader, a girl named Zoë Nightshade, joined the quest to save Artemis. After a wild goose chase, we finally found Annabeth, Artemis, and here's another big name, Atlas."

"Who?"

"The Titan of endurance, strength, and a bunch of other irrelevant stuff. The important thing is that he's the guy cursed to hold the weight of the sky for eternity. The 'celestial heavens,' or whatever." Percy looked up at the sky, wrinkling his nose. "He was a nasty guy. Along with some others, he tricked Annabeth into holding the sky--that is, until Artemis came."

"What happened?" Nancy tried to determine where he was going with this, why he was taking the time to tell her a story from his past.

"I was really unsure of what to do," Percy admitted. "Annabeth was being held captive, Zoë had been poisoned--long story--and the goddess of the moon was holding Atlas's burden. Also, there was a rogue demigod that Thalia, another person on the quest, had bad blood with and kind of wanted to kill him at the time."

"Geez."

"Yeah. I don't really know what I was thinking, but I decided it was a good idea to have Artemis give the burden to me. Next thing I knew, I was holding up the sky."

Nancy watched him carefully, taking in his words. "Was it heavy?"

"Incredibly." Percy mimicked holding something large above his head. "I didn't even think my idea through before I took Artemis's place. But I'm not telling you this to brag about how I held the sky or faced Atlas. Remember Zoë? Well, it turns out she was the daughter of the very Titan trying to kill us."

Nancy raised her eyebrows. "Did she. . .betray you?"

"No, Nancy." Percy shook his head a little, a wistful smile on his face. "She saved us. She fought her father before Artemis could trick him into taking my place under the weight of the sky, and. . .she died doing it."

"Oh."

"Mhm." Percy looked out over the lake again. "The daughter of an evil Titan chose a side and stuck with it, no matter what her sisters did or her father said. She stayed loyal to Artemis and us, throughout the entire quest. And then she sacrificed herself."

"Wow." Nancy stared at her shoes, her mind connecting the pieces. "So you're trying to say that just because my mom is some evil, unfortunate deity, I don't have to be like her?"

Percy gave her a lopsided smile. "That's up to you. It's a choice you have to make."

Then he stood without another word, waved, and walked away. Nancy sat, watching him go as her brain caught up with the information she'd just received.

You know what, Mom? Thanks for claiming me, but I don't need you.

She'd just finished the thought when the sound of footsteps sounded from behind her once again.