Celestial Flames (Percy Jackson Universe)

The Families

I'll skip the bus rides and the travelling details and just give you the summary of what happened with the families.

Adrien Harmon had been born and raised in Vermont. He grew up skiing and tried to go pro. He got injured training for the Olympic team and wasn't able to compete. He met Harmonia in a ski lodge and spent weeks with her and a couple cups of hot chocolate. He had no resentment toward her anymore, focusing on raising his daughter. He raised Kelsea in Killington, Virginia, not too far from where he worked at the slopes of Killington Peak where he taught Kelsea to ski. She was good but he never pushed her to compete like some parents might.

Since it was the middle of the day, I went to the ski lodge instead of the house. The place was nice, even in the summer. It was a three story high resort, that turned at one point and with a few balconies from the top floor. I took a breath and walked inside. It was even more beautiful on the inside. It had wooden beams that went across the ceiling and wooden posts that held up portions of the roof. There was a giant fireplace with stonework that was currently cold. 

"Excuse me." I turned and saw a woman with a brown bob behind a wooden desk. Her name tag either said TAEK or KATE. "Can I help you?" 

"I hope so," I said. "I'm looking for Adrien Harmon." 

The woman eyed me, suspicious. I probably stunk, being on a bus for eight hours. My hair was in a low ponytail but I could already tell I needed a shower to get these knots out. 

She turned to her computer and typed something in. She picked up her phone and dialled a number. "Yes it's the front desk," she said. "I've got someone here who's looking for you. A young woman." She nodded and hung up. "He's on his way," she told me. 

"Thank you," I told her. 

She nodded and started typing on her keyboard. I got the feeling that the conversation was over. I walked over to the fireplace and ran my fingers over the stonework. 

I turned when I heard footsteps on the stairs. A man came down and I had a sense of deja vu. He had Kelsea's hazel eyes, but his hair was lighter. More of a tan brown instead of chocolate with streaks of grey. He had a thin frame and a clean shave. I could see crows feet at the corners of his eyes. He wore an Olympics Atlanta 1996 t-shirt and grey capris with hiking boots. His hair was tilted like he had just woken up. He looked around. I could see the confusion and slight disappointment in his eyes as he found me. 

"Hello," he greeted. 

"Hello," I said. I was never prepared to meet new people. "Um, sir, you may not know me but my name is Elizabeth Parrish." 

"Oh." His eyes lit up in recognition. "You're Elizabeth. Kelsea told me all about you. You're from... St Louis, right?" 

I nodded. "Yes sir." 

"Call me Adrien, please," he said. "Not that I'm not grateful to finally meet you, but what brings you up to Vermont?" 

I looked over at the woman behind the desk. She was turned towards her computer but it was obvious she was listening. 

"Is there somewhere private we can go?" I asked. 

He seemed to understand the weight of the situation and nodded. He led me upstairs, down hardwood floors and closed rooms. 

"This building is a hotel," he told me. "It isn't as popular as it is in the winter, but we still have a variety of activies... and I just realised that I sound like a commercial." 

I chuckled a little. "It's alright," I told him. 

He led me to a door at the end of the hall and opened it. It looked more like a home office than anything else. It was an office with a wooden desk facing the picture window, an open binder in the middle with the screen saver running. The window had a view of the mountain and a pool in the courtyard.