I just thought I’d tell you the story is almost over… wow.  And where are the reviews?!  Honestly, what are you people doing?  All right, I’m one to talk but I have reasonable excuses ranging from no internet to freaking hard final exams to massive wildfires kicking me out of my house for a bit BUT I’m back.  So.  Let’s get this going shall we?

Chapter Quote:

“Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It’s not something you learn in school. But if you haven’t learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven’t learned anything.”

~Muhammad Ali

_______________________________________

Chapter 19: Well This Isn't Good

Derek

“Sorry!” Silena exclaimed for what had to be the tenth time, looking horrified as Derek sucked in his breath while she was cleaning and fixing up his wounds.

Hating the fact she was feeling bad on his behalf, he joked, “Silena, you really need to stop saying ‘sorry,’ I’m fine.”  He started to laugh but instead grimaced with pain radiating from his ribs. When he saw Silena about to say ‘sorry’ again, he went, “Don’t even think about it.”

She gave him a sheepish smile but said nothing.  Silena finished bandaging his torso where most of the damage Hannah had caused him was.  Silena handed Derek his shirt and went up to wash her hands before getting some food.

“Thank you, Silena, really.  My ribs feel better already,” he claimed softly and sincerely, putting his shirt back on.  Feeling something on his legs, he looked down to find the two husky puppies looking up at him with their bright blue eyes, silently begging for him to pick them up.  He conceded easily, picking them up in one scoop.  They wriggled excitedly in his arms, attempting to lick his face.  He heard Silena laugh as she came over to sit next to him, two glasses of water and two snack bars in her hands.

“They like you,” she observed amusedly, handing him his water and snack.

“I might take one of them home at the end of the summer.  I can only own one though.  I don’t want to separate them either and- crap, I forgot, I’m moving,” Derek rambled.

“Why?” Silena queried, drinking from her water glass.

“Multiple reasons.  My dad got a new job somewhere in upstate New York.  Tiny town but pretty, and most of the kids there are geniuses.  And then I, uh, might’ve destroyed the band room at my old school…”

She laughed. “How did you manage that?!”

“In my defense, I was being attacked by a vamp chick with a donkey leg!  I forget what their names are.  Empooty or Emflouta or something like that.  Bryn would know; I’ll have to ask her later.”

“How is she?”

“Fast asleep on the couch.  She should wake up in a little bit.  How’s Luke?”

“Exhausted but watching mom and dad.  I’ll have to remember to thank Bryn later.  She kind of saved all our lives.  Meanwhile I was imprisoned and doing jack squat.  I’m not cut out for fighting.  I need to stick to books,” she grumbled, looking down and munching angrily on her snack bar.

Derek snorted at the statement. “Silena, I’m one of the top fighters in the camp and you’ve already beaten me at least twice.  You’re the reason Luke knew where to go in the first place.  Whether you know it or not, you helped us get to your parents.  And all demigods are cut out for fighting, some better than others.  Trust me, you’re going to get a lot more confidence as the war goes on.”

“I hope so… well I guess I’m going to go check on Luke.  He’s probably about to fall asleep.  I’ll talk to you later okay?” Silena started to head to the door but Derek called out her name to stop her.  He didn’t want her to leave.  Her sparkling eyes, at the moment, a light grey in the dim light, looked at him curiously.

“I-I, uh, wanted to thank you for helping me up onto the plateau thingy where you and Luke were earlier.  I probably wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you,” he admitted shyly.  Derek didn’t know what it was about Silena that made his tongue tie up and made him not be able to create a coherent sentence half the time.

“You would’ve done the same for me,” she replied sweetly. “I’ll come check on you in a bit, okay?”

Derek nodded, realizing he had missed yet another chance to ask her out.  Of course, he still needed to try and get Luke’s approval.  To be honest, he understood Luke’s protectiveness of Silena.  Derek was the same way with Bryn, even though she was very capable of handling herself on her own, much like Silena.  There was something about the two girls that made Derek want to kill anyone who tried to hurt them, and he felt positive Luke believed the same way about not just his sister, but about Bryn too.  Luke obviously had a crush on Bryn but by the looks of it, he knew that there was no possible way for the two of them to date.  How he figured out, Derek didn’t know, but he was glad Luke knew.  If Zeus ever found out his daughter was dating a son, well grandson in this case, of Poseidon, he’d had a nasty fit with Luke probably ending up dead.  Poseidon would be okay with it.  Of the Big Three, Derek found Poseidon somewhat the most relaxed of the brothers.  Even Hades was a little stricter with the relationships of his children.  The way Poseidon saw it, as long as his children were in love with the person of their choice, he supported it.  Now, if their choice was a psycho killer for an enemy of the gods, obviously Poseidon would have issues.

“Derek?” A quiet voice asked from the doorway.  Looking up, he saw a very pale, very tired looking Bryn staring at him.

“Bryn!  You’re up!”

“Yeah, I, uh, woke up.  The ocean is rough tonight,” she replied sheepishly.  Derek didn’t feel anything.  But Bryn was a hell of a lot more sensitive to the movements of the boat mainly because she really shouldn’t be on it.

“Come on, sit down,” he offered, patting the bed next to him.  She walked over to him and sat down.  One of the dogs crawled into her lap and fell asleep.

“How are you feeling?  Your ribs doing better?” Bryn queried, sitting Indian-style.

“A little.  Better than earlier for sure.  Silena bandaged them up well.  You?”

Bryn smirked. “Tired but well.  When are you going to ask her out?”

“When I get on Luke’s good side, which in case you haven’t figured out, is probably never going to happen,” Derek retorted.

“I wouldn’t be so sure.  Speaking of Luke, where is he?”

“Master suite watching over his parents.  Why?” he inquired suspiciously.

“I need to talk to him. I’ll see you soon.” She gave him a kiss on the forehead and left, taking on of the sleeping puppies with her.

_______________________________________

Bryn 

Bryn wasn’t sure how she managed to get to the master suite without being sick from the rocking of the boat but she didn’t complain.  At least Amphitrite or Triton hadn’t tried to sink the ship yet.

When Bryn walked in, Luke was sitting on a couch pulled up next to the bed where Mr. and Mrs. Jackson lay, holding hands.  Luke was wearing a Notre Dame t-shirt, a rather worn out one, and sweat pants.  His head lolled to the side telling Bryn he’d fallen asleep.  She couldn’t blame him.  They were all exhausted.

She walked over and sat on the couch next to him.  Someone had to keep an eye on the Jacksons in case something went wrong.  Bryn didn’t think anything was going to happen, but she’d rather be safe than sorry.

The puppy, whom she decided to name Neville, curled up in a ball between Luke and Bryn.  His tail hit Luke’s leg, instantly waking the Jackson boy up.

“What the- Bryn!  You’re up!” he exclaimed groggily, rubbing his eyes. “What are you doing up?  I thought you were going to be out until morning.”

“Ocean is getting rough.  I couldn’t sleep,” she admitted, stroking Neville’s soft fur.  She swallowed down her seasickness which was slowly getting worse and worse.  Luke placed his hand on her wrist and the seasickness evaporated within moments.  She looked up at him gratefully.

“Are your parents doing okay?” Bryn asked.  He shrugged and answered, “I think so.  They haven’t done anything that should warn me something is wrong.  And Bryn?  Thank you for earlier.  We’d be disintegrated nothingness right now if you hadn’t flown us out of there.  Really, thank you.”

Bryn grinned. “I can’t believe I can fly.”

“It was kind of epic, I have to agree with you there,” Luke said, giving her a smile.

At that moment, Annabeth murmured something unintelligible, making the two teenagers glance over at the parents.  Mrs. Jackson’s blonde hair, even though it was matted with dirt and grime, still shone in the moonlight, much like her son’s.  However, Luke had his father’s eyes without a doubt.  And supposedly his personality too.

“You look just like them,” Bryn commented softly.

“I wish they would’ve told me earlier who I was… Um, they’re going to be okay… right?” Luke looked at her with innocent, unguarded eyes.

She nodded. “I can speed up the healing process if you wish.”

“No, they’ll be fine once they wake up.  You’re exhausted.  Get some sleep Bryn.”

“Luke, you look like Death itself.  I’m fine.  I’ll wake you up if something happens.” He looked at her dubiously but didn’t argue.  He leaned his head back on the couch but turned it to face her.

“Hey Bryn?”

“Hmm?”

“I like you when you’re tired,” Luke said, a mischievous smile on his face.

“Oh?  Why’s that?”

“You’re not near as scary,” he laughed.

“Don’t get used to it.  Come morning, I’ll be back to my usual, temperamental, fearsome self,” Bryn promised.  With one last smirk, Luke turned his head so that his faced looked towards the ceiling.  Within a few minutes, his breathing slowed, alerting Bryn he’d fallen asleep.

“Thank you for taking care of our children,” a husky voice whispered.  Bryn jumped and looked at the bed.  Mr. Jackson was slowing moving himself up into sitting position.  She had known that Luke and Percy had similar eyes but the resemblance was too startling, even for her.  Regaining her wits back, she helped Mr. Jackson sit up fully.

“Of course, sir.”

“How are they doing?”

“Well.  Curious, but well.”

“Curious about what?” Percy’s eyebrows scrunched up in confusion before he looked down at Annabeth who had stirred in her sleep.  He smiled sweetly at her and gingerly pushed a blonde strand of hair out of her face.  Bryn, who wasn’t much of a romantic, found the sight one of the cutest things ever.

“Why you never told them who they were,” Bryn explained quietly.  She knew she should wake up Luke but something told her not to.  Something told her to listen to Percy.

Percy blanched (which seemed practically impossible since he was already pale enough from the ordeal) at her words. “Does he hate me for it?”

Bryn shook her head adamantly. “No, sir.  A little angry, yes, but does he hate you? No, not at all.  He’s been quite worried about you two.  Same with Silena.  She’s a little more laid back about the whole matter of not knowing who she was which, if I’m correct, means she takes more after you in that matter whereas Luke takes more after his mum.”

“Luke is like me in so many ways but when it comes to having things hidden from him, he is just like his mom.  We’ll need to talk to them in the morning, explain everything from the start.  Listen, I don’t know if this means anything to you, but we did it to protect them.  They’re some of the most powerful demigods in existence.  Annabeth and I… we were scared.  We didn’t want to lose our children,” Percy said, sounding helpless.

Bryn gave him a soft smile. “I understand more than you realize.”

“Thank you,” he said.  Then, looking a little more upbeat, asked, “What’s your name?  I think you know mine seeing as how you’re with my son.  Who are you parents too?  Your divine ones?  I don’t mean your human or demigod ones.  I might know them but still, I don’t want you to think I’m being creepy.”

“You sounded just like Luke right then.  My name is Bryn Winchester: daughter of Zeus, granddaughter of Aphrodite, great-granddaughter of Hecate, great-great-granddaughter of Apollo.  Long title, I know.”

“It’s incredible you and my son haven’t killed each other yet,” Percy joked.

“Believe me, we’ve wanted to.  We’ve somehow managed to evade it.” Right as she said that, Luke slumped over onto her shoulder.  She froze at the contact.  Percy, seeing her discomfort, started towards his son to move him off her but she stopped Mr. Jackson. “No, it’s okay.  He needs to sleep; Mr. Jackson, you should probably get some sleep too.”

“What about you?”

“I can’t fall asleep.  I’ll see you in the morning.”

Percy didn’t argue and slumped back down into the bed, falling asleep within seconds.  Bryn proceeded to rest her head on top of Luke’s.  Presently, she fell asleep too.

_______________________________________

When she woke up, Luke was gone.  A note was in his place.  It said:

Hey Bryn, my parents needed to talk to me and Silena.  I didn’t want to wake you since you actually seemed to be sleeping.  The puppy followed me in case you were wondering.  Talk to you later. ~Luke 

Bryn smiled at the note before folding it up and putting it in her pocket.  She shuffled out of the master suite and to her room where she took a refreshing shower.  Afterwards, she shuffled through the drawers of her cabin, searching for clothes to wear.  Poseidon had given them extra clothes which was surprisingly thoughtful of him.  Bryn pulled out a white and pink bikini that had a very Mayan or Aztec-looking embroidery at the top of the bikini top.  She put it on.  Hey, there was nothing to do.  Why not get a tan?  Shoving her ITouch and a towel in her bag, she put on a cover up and went to the top deck where she stretched out on a chair.  Bryn put in the ear buds to her ITouch in and allowed for the world to melt away.

It had to be around five when she woke up.  The sun had moved quite a bit.  She sat up to put on her cover up.  She decided she needed to find Derek and see what was going on. As Bryn stood, she happened to see a person turning around a corner.  She grabbed her stuff and ran after them.  When Bryn found the person, he was staring out over the horizon, his eyes matching the ocean, telling her he was irked.

“I’m going to assume it didn’t go well,” Bryn remarked softly.

Luke turned to look at her and gave a weak smile. “I might’ve lost my temper a bit.”

“Stormed out of there?” She walked up next to him, watching the sun start to set.

“Yeah…  I just don’t understand how they could keep something that’s such a big part of who I am from me,” Luke confessed, scratching the back of his head.

“Protection.”

“What?” He turned to look at her but she kept her gaze steady on the horizon.

“I talked to your dad briefly last night.  They wanted to protect you.”

“But maybe if I had known how to fight, maybe I could’ve stopped the monsters from breaking into my house and kidnapping my parents,” he ranted.

“Luke, your parents are probably two of the best fighters in the world.  If they couldn’t stop the monsters, you couldn’t.  I get where they’re coming from.  Sometimes I wish my mother would’ve kept my identity from me.  Maybe then I’d actually know her… but life as a demigod isn’t easy.  I’m sure you understand that by now.  Don’t be angry at your parents, Luke.  You never know how long you’ll have to spend with them.” Bryn fell silent.

“I guess I should go apologize,” Luke said, sounding embarrassed.

“It would be the intelligent action to take.”

“Yeah… thanks, Bryn.”

“For what?” She looked at him curiously.

“For enduring this with me.  I know I haven’t been easy,” he said.

“I haven’t been easy either.  Now go see your parents.  I’ll meet you up in the buffet area.  I’m starved.”

“That’s the first time you’ve said you’re hungry on this entire trip,” Luke pointed out with a laugh.

“I’ll be home tomorrow hopefully,” Bryn explained cheerfully. “I’ll see you later.”

She patted his shoulder and went down to her room.  Bryn changed out of the bikini into white shorts and a blue tee.  Right as she was packing all her belongings back into her backpack (since she was rather OCD about being tidy), a massive wave rocked the boat, throwing her into the wall behind her.  Bryn stood up with a groan as another wave slammed into the cruise ship.

By this time, Bryn was starting to panic.  She knew neither Luke nor Silena nor Percy would be purposely heaving waves at the boat.  She started throwing in the rest of her belongings in her backpack as the horrible realization dawned on her.

Amphitrite and Triton had found them

And they were trying to sink the boat.

Bryn knew she had to get off the boat.  She shouldered her backpack and ran to her door.  She pulled the handle but nothing happened.  She tried again.

And again…

And again…

No matter what Bryn did, the door to the corridor would not budge, whether she pushed or pulled.  Looking out the window of the sliding glass door, she saw another wave coming towards her room.

“Luke!” She shouted, praying he could hear her.  Bryn repeated yelling his name but she knew there was no hope.  She turned around, trying to determine how much time she had left before the boat was underwater.  Her guestimate was about five minutes, but that wasn’t the worst part.

The glass of the sliding door was cracking.

_______________________________________

Uh oh.  What’s going to happen to Bryn?  Will she live?  Will she go down with the ship?  Guess you got to review if you want to find out :P REVIEW PEOPLE!