A Demigod Love Story(Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

Ch IV: Penny

Penny was frustrated. She knew that kid from somewhere, but she just couldn't place the face. He said his name was Percy. He just seemed so...familiar. Then, there was that boy with the curly hair- he was pretty cute. Penny hoped she would get to know him better.

Stop it, Penny, she told herself. You can't date anyone. You'll break their hearts. Not with your health.

She stopped in her tracks and coughed. These weren't clearing-out-your-throat coughs. These were full-on tuberculosis-like coughs. The girl, Piper, turned and asked Penny if she was okay. Penny shrugged it off, saying that it was nothing.

It wasn't nothing. According to her doctors, it was really serious. She had been dealing with it her whole life, but it just worsened every day.

They walked on until Penny saw a little girl stoking a fire. Penny unzipped her backpack and brought out a little sweater she had for emergencies.

"Where are you going?" Piper asked.

Penny didn't answer. Instead, she walked up to the girl slowly so she wouldn't scare her.

"Are you cold?" Penny asked, offering her the sweater.

The girl smiled back at her. She had dark brown eyes-like coffee, and reminded Penny of warmth and happiness.

"No, but thank you very much," the girl replied. "I'm Hestia, goddess of the hearth. This is my job."

Penny gasped, then awkwardly bowed.

"Hello, M'Lady. I am sorry to bother you. I'm sorry i mistook you for a mortal."

Hestia laughed. "Oh! No need! You are new and on the tour, I see."

She nodded to Piper. "Hello, Daughter of Aphrodite."

Piper bowed. "Nice to see you, Lady Hestia."

The goddess averted her attention back to Penny.

"Thank you for visiting my heart. People hardly do. I hope you get chosen soon, Penelope. Chiron is waiting for you as we speak, so you must be on your way. You are welcome to stop by anytime."

Penny curtsied, thanked the goddess, and followed Piper.

"So who's Chiron?" Penny asked.

"Our activities director. He's a centaur. Our camp director, Mr. D, might be here too. He's a god, so I wouldn't upset him if I were you," Piper answered.

"A god who's name begins with D? Like Dionysus, the wine dude?"

"Yeah, but he hates when people call him that. You're taking his demigod stuff pretty well."

"I always knew I was special. Ever since well...nevermind."

That was close, Penny thought. I almost told her about my parents' last day.

She couldn't-no wouldn't think about it. Instead, Penny fished out a picture of a woman from her pocket. She had studied it over and over for as long as she could remember.

"Who's that?" Piper asked.

"My birthmom," Penny answered, putting the picture away.

"Do you know her?"

"No, just her name."

"What's her name?"

Penny went to answer, but was interrupted by a man with scraggly brown hair wheeling out on the porch in his wheelchair. He had a blanket on his lap and wore a teal hawaiian-printed shirt.

"Hello, Piper," he greeted.

"Hey Chiron!" She replied. "This is Penny. She's new and undetermined."

"Thank you, Piper. I think I will give Miss Penny the rest of the tour if you don't mind. Come back in, say, twenty minutes?"

"Sure." She squeezed Penny's hand. "I hope you get claimed soon."

She ran off, leaving Penny alone with Chiron.

"So, has Piper told you that I am a centaur?" he asked.

"Yessir, she did," i answered.

"Do you mind?"

At first, Penny had no clue what he was talking about. Then, where his lower half should have been, stood half of a white stallion and half of the man she was just conversing with.

"Whoa," was all she could manage.

"Let me finish the tour. Walk with me," he asked.

*****

Penny followed. By the time Chiron had finished the tour, Penny was completely winded from walking so much. Chiron asked if she was alright, which in turn she said she was fine.

Together, they walked back to what Chiron and the Jason kid had called the Big House. Piper was waiting for them.

"I will ask you more questions about yourself after dinner and our game of Capture the Flag," he stated. "Right now, though, I only have one question."

"Sure, go ahead," Penny agreed.

"What is that lady's name on that picture you were holding when you approached the Big House with Piper earlier?"

Penny bit her lip. "Sal. That is what's written on the back, Sal J."

"How'd it go?" Piper asked as she approached them.

"Very well!" Chiron replied. "I think Penny will be claimed later."

"That's wonderful news! Do you want to see more things? We have an awesome beach and Annabeth needs to pick out a weapon for you, and-"

"That's great," Penny interrupted, "but right now, I really need to catch my breath. I feel light-headed."

Quickly, Penny sat down. She had another bad coughing fit, but after a few sips of water, felt as good as new.

"Sorry," she apologized, "so I hear there is a beach?"

A/N: I know most likely that you are not reading this. To be honest, I usually don't even read the author's notes. I just wanted to say sorry for not being very predictable when it comes to updating. I am really busy, so I will try to update whenever I'm free. I have actually already finished this story, it's just pretty long-especially when I have to type this from my Ipad because my computer is an out-of-date dinosaur and won't load wattpad.com correctly. I really enjoyed writing this, and I hope that you will enjoy reading it and have enjoyed reading this. I am also working on a Tratie fanfic, so stay tuned after this story is done! Thanks for all the reads. To be honest, I was psyched when I got 4 reads on this. Happy Greek Week!