Percy's silence was partially drowned out by a sudden down pour of rain. The pitter patter of the droplets falling on the tent was a soothing sound, it didn't really align with the confused expression on her face.

     "Thank you," she said to Jason, as if she didn't know what else to say, "that's... very mature of you."

      Jason nodded, looking down at Lafayette under his finer tips. His birds had returned with a rabbit in his talons. Instead of eating it Fay was tilting his head up looking up at his boy curiously, as if they were having a silent conversation. Jason petted him, and was content. He was a completely different person now that Percy was here.

     "Do you mind if I ask... why?" Percy sat down on the edge of her cot.

     Jason shrugged, "I've spent a lot of time hiding, and running, and being scared and hateful. I don't want to do that anymore."

     Percy bit her lip. I wondered if I should leave, this felt... private. I was an intruder cloaked in bits of out of context knowledge. There was no where else to go. Peri chirped, annoyed at he saw me wringing my hands and pushed his way underneath my palms. I smiled at him, and scratched his cheek.

     "That's very mature of you, indeed," Percy agreed.

     Jason gave her the satisfaction of a glance. There was no malice between them for once.

     "Hey, Percy? Can I ask you something?" I started, barely getting my words out due to nervousness.

     "You may," she dipped her head.

     "What exactly do you have against Daímonas?"

     Percy's nose crinkled ever so slightly. "Well... When you're coronated, and given the responsibility of the crown, you're given responsibility for all life in Zoo. This means all the human life, the plants life, the animal life, and the spiritual life. It's my job to protect it. When a Daímonas is young, their powers are unstable, and uncontrollable. I'm sure both of you can affirm."

     I nodded starkly.

     "For a fire-hand Daímonas, that means destruction, that means danger," she continued. "It wasn't... my idea, originally. It was my grandmother's, she lived in a time where there no rules and regulations for any Daímonas. It was a very confusing and chaotic time, so she started building on the island, and kept the Daímonas quarantined in the south until it was finished. She intended for it to be rather nice place to live, a paradise of their own. They were to be educated, on how to understand their powers and how to reenter our society safely but before—"

     Percy choked up, she ushered a hand against her mouth, and in the dim, orange light caused by a flickering oil lamp above our heads, I could see the shine of tears in her eyes. She took a deep shaky breath.

     "She was murdered before the project was finished, b-by one of the Daímonas she was trying to protect."

     A cold feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. "That's awful, it sounds like you were close."

     Percy nodded, and laughed bitterly, "she loved to spoil me on holidays, because I'm an only child, and she was the Queen, she'd let me sit on her lap during important meetings and would never tell me I messed up by drawing on the map."

     Perc stopped gazing off into the distance and glanced down at her lap, "I've learned in these last few weeks that not all Daímonas are like that though. I've been trying my best to check myself and I really am sorry for blowing up when I do but all of this... it's just brought up so many sour memories. Memories I'd rather forget. I really would prefer moving past that and trying to negotiate, I hope we can in the near future."

     Jason nodded, "I don't blame anyone for taking it to heart, but I think actions speak louder than words here, if you want to win these kids over."

     "I absolutely agree, though to be fair, it hasn't been just the fire-hands causing trouble. There's plenty of rogue green-hands, Apophis for example."

     I bit my lip and clenched my fist. Peri chirped again, and I appreciated the effort.

     "Yeah, hey do you guy's mind if I make a small fire? It's getting chilly in here." Jason asked, changing the subject.

     Out tent was built with and opening over the top (and another mini roof over that so we could have a fire. There was a small pit in the middle and an even smaller pile of chopped wood tucked away in the corner. We gave our consent and Jason made quick work of it, leaning the logs against each other and snapping his fingers. He held a small orange flame in his hand like a baby, and pressed it into the raw wood. It let out satisfied hisses at it caught onto the wood and Jason smiled to himself as he ran his fingers through the flame. Lafayette's orange eye glistened in the light.

     "If a kid doesn't tell anyone about their powers when they first find them do you still find out?" I asked Percy.

     "Well no, but—"

     "It's fairly obvious when a young fire-hand is in the area." Jason finished for her, looking up at me. "Have you told your mom?"

     I shook my head, my stomach twisting like a drowned snake, "I haven't seen her a lot since this all happened."

     "Mom?" Percy glanced up at me, curiously.

     "Yeah... Lily Ainwir. She's technically my adopted mom but she's still totally my mom, you know."

     "Hm, I may have met her," Percy gazed into the fire, something in her had changed when I said my mom's name. Maybe it was the look on her face, maybe it was her posture, I don't know.

    "M-met her?" I frowned, my mom was just the pack's apothecary, she was definitely not someone who regularly meets the Queen of Zoo, but then again neither was I.

Percy folded her hand, "yes, I'm friends with Neve Vlasta, your chieftain. I met her at the Capitol during on the more widespread meeting a long time ago. Your mom is very nice."

     "Th-thanks," I stammered. "I think so too... I'm really lucky she was the one who found me."

     Percy had this strange look on her face, something between curiosity and inattention. "I know this is rather personal but... do you happen to remember anything about your biological parents?"

     I felt the prickle of uncomfortableness run down my spine and my ribs hugged my lungs like a corset of unease. "Um, not really."

     "Not at all?" The fire flickered in eyes, it was the only thing I could see.

      "No... I don't really..." I struggled to find the words, "I don't really want to. They gave me up, they don't care about me, I don't care about them."

     "I think they really loved you Craig, they might have just been too busy to properly take care of a kid, you know," she looked down at her hands, at the chipped nail polish flickering in the fire light.

      I didn't like that. I didn't want to think about how they might have loved and had been forced to give me up, my stomach twisted and I could feel myself curling up. I didn't want to talk about this anymore. I didn't want the unanswerable question of who my real parents were hanging over my head like that, unsure of why they gave me up, or whether or not they loved me. I had put so much work into not thinking about it.

     "That's stupid." Jason had glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, "if you're too busy, don't have kids."

      "Well, accidents happen. In my job for example, I wouldn't have the time to properly look after a baby, which is why I had nannies growing up, but I didn't like that very much, so I didn't want to put my kid through that."

      Jason shrugged, "I don't know, still seems dumb, there's got to be a way you should be able to balance both. Do you... do you even want kids?"

      Percy smiled bitterly, "very much but uh, I found out later I can't conceive, so I guess I'll just have to enjoy the presence of you two crazy teens, right?"

      She got a small laugh out of Jason, and ruffled his hair gently. I was glad to see they were bonding, maybe things could be less of a Scobi Bus wreck now. I rolled over, away from the light, away from the fire. I didn't want to talk about parents anymore. Lily was my mom, that's all that mattered, and that's all that I needed too.

      Peri brushed against my cheek, and I drifted off to sleep.