Consume all media critically.

~

It was set to be a real Chase family Thanksgiving. Fred was coming down for the long weekend, and Bobby and Mathew were joining too with their partners. 

“Are they good with kids?” Percy asked. 

“I don’t know. Neither has any,” Annabeth said, helping him plan the grocery list and keep track of what Sally was planning to bring. They’d volunteered their apartment to save on the hassle of getting the four girls out the door day-of, but it was now an added stress. 

Percy liked Annabeth’s brothers, although he didn’t know them very well. He’d met them in passing a few times, including at his wedding where they’d been invited to be groomsmen, and Percy had been Annabeth’s “plus one” to Bobby’s wedding last year. His wife was a beautiful Singaporean woman who’d introduced herself as Esther. Matthew was bringing his boyfriend too. Brian? Percy was pretty sure that was his name. He’d check later. Brian was new. Percy was pretty sure he’d never never met him before.

He was happy to see the three siblings make an effort to reconnect finally. Really, Annabeth didn’t have any personal issues with her brothers. Now that her dad and their mom were divorced, things seemed a little easier, too. She could invite them and her dad down for holidays without worrying about her step-mom joining. 

But it didn’t mean the Chase family dynamic was perfect. 

“I hope this …” Percy trailed off. Annabeth anticipated the rest with a sad smile. 

“Isn’t a total fucking shit show?” Annabeth guessed. 

“Yeah,” was all Percy could say. 

"You know you two don't need a chaperone, right?" She'd asked. Percy appreciated having a cool mom. She was cooler than him, really.

"Yeah, but it's about old times sake," Percy explained. "And he can smell monsters at a distance," he added, "and we need him to rent the car." Grover was thirty. They were not.

"Ah," his mom said, "that makes sense."

Grover's nose ended up being something of a liability. Or at least, a wrench in Annabeth's itinerary. But she was used to Percy and Grover, and, well, even herself, disrupting her own plans.

Annabeth had planned the whole trip of course. Every meal, every motel, every road side attraction she had penned down in her time table. And she'd found some really cool places along the way. There was one night they got to stay in an old train caboose. They were all pretty excited about it.

So it wasn't ideal when Grover yelled: "Stop!" At a volume Percy was tempted to call total pandemonium.

Thankfully that long stretch of county road on a late Sunday afternoon was empty. Percy was able to put on his blinker and pull over fast, while yelling "What? What? What?!" in harmony with his girlfriend.

"Animals in trouble," Grover said, before climbing out of the back.

"Well, let's go," Annabeth said, un-clicking her seat-belt and opening the door. Percy pouted. Their next motel was one of the few places they had the budget for two rooms, and he was hoping to get there sooner rather than later.

But he wasn't one to leave his two favorite people alone with the corn and whatever threat lurked in it. He took the keys out of the ignition and locked the door before following Grover and Annabeth.

Percy heard Annabeth's soft "aww," which mean baby animal close by before he heard the kitten squeaking for help.

And then he heard Grover's enraged: "Who would do this!?"

Percy looked at Annabeth, and saw the little gray kitten climbing her pant leg. She gently pulled it off of her, before cuddling it close.

The single kitten's cry for help was suddenly several kittens all looking to them. Percy counted seven -- no, eight -- no, nine. Nine. All little babies. All looking for help.

Annabeth and Grover looked back at him, and Percy didn't need an empathy link to know all nine were going in their car.

Not that he'd protest at all. He might be a bit burnt out on hero-ing, but kittens didn't count.

Before Percy could even really think, he was taking off his hoodie and gathering as many kittens as he could. Five, it turned out, would fit. Grover did the same. When they got back to the car, Annabeth was behind the wheel, and Percy and Grover were in the back with nine new babies.

"That's all of them, right?" Annabeth asked.

"They said three have already faded," Grover said, sadly. Annabeth looked about ready to cry, "but these are all the rest of them. They're from three litters."

"Poor things," Annabeth said. "We need to take them somewhere, and fast."

They dropped Grover off on the side of the road and drove about a mile up while he checked Google maps and called some other satyrs for help. The last thing they needed was Percy's proximity to a cellphone bringing a chimera down on their nine new babies.

"Good news," Grover said when they picked them back up, "there's a satyr nearby who fosters kittens. He can take them and get them to a vet."

The little gray one had fallen asleep in Percy's lap. It was the same beautiful dusty color as Annabeth's eyes. It had been the first one to call out for help, the brave one who was near the road, who climbed up Annabeth.

"All of them?" Percy asked, scratching the kitten behind its ears.

"Well," Grover said, "he has room for all nine. Unless ..."

Percy met Annabeth's eyes in the rear view mirror.

The gray kitten started purring in Percy's hand. Now he was pretty sure he was going to cry.

"Your friend will make sure they get good homes, right?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, of course," Grover promised. "Of course, you two would be a good home."

"You can't say shit like that," Annabeth said.

"And please, not when she's driving. She's only got her learners permit," Percy reminded Grover, wiping the tears from his own eyes.

"Wait, so letting you drive right now is super illegal?" Grover asked.

"Oh yeah, for sure," Annabeth said. "So don't make me cry."

"As protector of this cross country quest, I am going to need Percy to take over," Grover said. Annabeth put on her turn signal and pulled over.

There wasn't much farther to go to get to the satyr who would take the kittens. But Percy took over driving anyway. The little gray kitten screamed when he tried to move, though.

"She doesn't want you to leave," Grover said.

Percy pulled his arms into his hoodie so that he could turn it around, getting the hood in front. He plopped the kitten in his hood, and she stopped squealing.

"It's a girl?" Annabeth asked.

"That one is," Grover confirmed, petting the kitten between her ears. Percy looked at Annabeth, and he had a feeling they were on the same page. He looked at Grover, and Grover got the memo too. "She's decided you're her dad," he told Percy. Well, that did it.

"Well, good," Annabeth said, "because she's sticking with us."

"Does she have a name for Annabeth?" Percy asked. Nope had named him Alley Boy, so maybe this time she's be the one who --

"Mom, just mom," Grover said.

Annabeth cried for real that time. Percy wiped her tears, kissed her gently, hardly even annoyed that she didn't get a crappy nickname, before saying, "I better get us to this satyr fast, before we end up with nine kittens to take care of."

~

Neil Sapling actually had a very robust kitten room set up, and he seemed completely prepared to accommodate eight new babies into his life. He also made sure the one who had adopted Percy and Annabeth got fed, had food for the road, a litter box, a collar, a carrier, and good bed to sleep in. Although, she did prefer Percy's hood.

"She's a bit dirty," Neil told them, rubbing her down with some no-rinse shampoo quickly, so they could get back on the road. "She's actually a diluted tortie it looks like," he said, pointing to some spots of brown and white on her. "That's a rare coloring! Be careful though, she'll have an attitude."

"She's perfect," Annabeth said.

"Birds of a feather," Percy teased. Annabeth didn't even protest. She just nodded and picked up the little baby.

"Are you okay sticking with us?" Annabeth asked her.

"She said yes," Neil promised. "As long as I promise to find good homes for the rest of them. Which I will. I swear to Pan, your brothers and sisters are taken care of." Their kitten squeaked again. "Alright, she says she's ready to go then."

Percy plopped her in her little carrier, and they said good bye to the rest of the gang.

When they got back in the car, Annabeth took the front seat again, and let the kitten out to sit on her lap.

"Oh my god," she said, looking at the little thing, "we have a cat!"

"Never thought the two most dog people I've ever met in my life would have a cat," Grover said from the back.

"Well, with a lady so perfect, how could we not?" Percy asked, scratching under the baby's chin.

"Is that her name?" Annabeth asked. "Lady?"

"No," Grover said, "she's not a fan."

"Let's get back on the road," Percy said, "and see if we come up with something good."

"Does she have a name?" Annabeth asked Grover.

"She said no, but she'll let you know when she approves."

"Annabeth Junior," Annabeth suggested.

"I might want to name our human daughter that, try again," Percy said. Annabeth turned bright red and smiled, while Grover made a barfing noise in the back.

"What was the name of the cat who lived in your bodega?" Annabeth asked.

"Not sure," Percy confessed. "Everyone just kind of called her 'here kitty kitty,' or 'good girl.'"

"Well, 'good girl' won't work," Annabeth mumbled.

"Too much! I know too much about you both!" Grover said, obviously full of regrets.

Percy just laughed.

After a minute of uncomfortable quiet, Annabeth said, "What about 'Bodega'? Maybe 'Boo' for short?"

"Huh?" Percy said.

"Her name," Annabeth said. The kitten was fast asleep in her lap, purring as she rubbed her belly. "If we called her Bodega, you'd always have a Bodega cat, even our in California."

"I really like that," Percy said with a smile and a warm feeling in his chest. "Of course, it seems like it's up to her," Percy said, nodding towards the kitten.

"What do you think?" Annabeth whispered to her. "Do you like that name? Should we call you Boo?"

The kitten purred louder.

"She likes it," Grover confirmed.

Murder suspects

Athena- Believes that Zeus is running the company inefficiently and if he just listened to her everything would be fixed. Once tried to take over the Olympian Holdings. Her alibi is completely air tight like she knew this would happen…

Hades- Zeus once tried to harm his lover. Rival business owners.

Posideon- Extreme brotherly rivalry and also rival business owner.

Apollo- Recently disowned son who has taken his disowning suspiciously well… has the medical know how to pull off some interesting stuff. Second most likely to be framed.

Hera- We all know her motive. And you know what she deserves to kill him at this point

Luke- trying to destroy Olympian Holdings for its shady business practices and has his own complicated ties to the Olympian family.

Ares- Recently written out of the will for doing something stupid. Has a gun at all times. Most likely to be framed.

Hermes- Zeus’s aid for a ridiculous amount of time with no career advancement. Has info on the other suspects that he is very willing to share. Has recently been in hot water with Zeus over the actions of his son Luke.

Thalia and Jason Grace- Zeus’s bastard children who are set to inherit a lot of his money.

I have no idea who the detective would be since there isn’t an unbiased demigod with the intelligence to deal with this mess. Tempted to have the detectives be Percy and Annabeth. Will Solace would also make a great medical consultant.

Percy: are you aware that i am twelve years old

Chiron and Mr D: this is your dad's will

this is entirely me being very curious about how well people can guess what others will do and self sort. so to that end:

PLEASE DO NOT TELL PEOPLE PERCENTAGES OR GIVE ANY HINTS IN THE NOTES

if zoë nightshade has 10 fans, i'm still one of them.

if zoë nightshade has 1 fan, I'm that fan.

I drew the silly :3

The Medusa parallels are SO HEART WRENCHING, and the scene where echidna says “that’s what a good mother does; not that you would know” make me freeze, but I noticed something else that test my heart in two and I can’t get it out of my head…

So in the scene with Medusas head and the box where Grover snaps at Percy and Annabeth saying how they’re were acting was bad he says that THE HAT IS THE ONLY THING ANNABETH HAS EVER HAD TO CONNECT HER TO HER MOTHER! This may not seem like a big thing but hear me out… in HOO HER HAT STOPS WORKING

That means by the time she’s 17 she has lost all ‘connection’ with her mother through the symbolism of the hat

Athena took away her gift and her ‘love.’

Because the gaze of Medusa turned all who looked at her to stone, Perseus guided himself by her reflection in a shield given him by Athena and beheaded Medusa as she slept. He then returned to Seriphus and rescued his mother by turning Polydectes and his supporters to stone at the sight of Medusa’s head.