Revenge

Chapter 14

Beck growled in frustration as she tried to perfect the line of Ancient Greek written on the paper in front of her, scrawling it over and over.

"It doesn't have to be perfect, you know." Someone near her said. "Like English, your writing will be slightly unique from others. Handwriting differences are normal."

Beck looked up at the blonde girl standing in front of her desk. She was sitting in a room of the Big House, one used for teaching Ancient Greek and other things.

"I want it to look good." She explained. "It has to look good."

"Why?" The blonde girl rounded the desk and pulled a second one over, sitting down next to her.

"I'm going to burn it with my meal. I want the gods to see it."

"Again, why?" The blonde turned her letter, reading through what it said so far.

"I want to know who my father is so I can ask him a few questions." Beck said. Like why he left my mother and I to fend for ourselves.

She didn't say it out loud though.

"It's a good idea, but it might not work." The girl said.

"What do you mean it might not work?"

"Some of the stuff goes to the gods' shrines on Olympus, but some goes other places as well." The girl shrugged. "There's no guarantee that letter will reach Olympus. You'd be better off using Hermes Overnight Express."

"What's that?"

"It's a delivery service run by Hermes where you can send things anywhere for a few drachmas."

Beck deflated a little. "I don't have drachmas."

The girl smiled at her. "Don't worry. I can pay for it for you."

"You'd do that? That's so nice! I don't even know your name..." Beck said awkwardly.

"I'm Annabeth. And you must be Beck, since I haven't seen you before and Grover was talking about his brother bringing in a new girl."

"Yeah."

Annabeth offered her hand for a formal handshake. Beck took it, then turned back to her letter. She scratched out two more lines, then read the letter aloud.

"To the gods,

I haven't been claimed yet. I'm sixteen and people here have been telling me it's not normal. Something about Percy having made you swear to claim kids by their thirteenth birthday. I want to know who my father is, because I have questions for him. If there is a way for you to find out, please tell me so I can reunite with my dad and talk with him for the first time in my life.

-Unclaimed, Beck Gibbson"

"They may ignore it at first." Annabeth warned her. "The gods are forgetful sometimes. They might have forgotten your mother's name or what she looked like. You'll have to be patient."

"As long as the end result is me meeting my father, I can be patient." Beck said. "But I hope it's before summer ends because I want to go back to school next year."

"Missing your friends?" The blonde girl asked.

"A lot." Beck admitted. "They have no idea where I am, they probably think I just up and disappeared on them. And I can't connect with them in any way, which makes it hurt a little bit more."

"I'm sorry about that. Have you talked to many of the kids here?" Annabeth asked. Beck noticed she was taking on a motherly tone, but for once she didn't really mind it.

"A few of them. Aaron is nice. I don't like the Stoll brothers. I've mostly been looking at the cabins around me and wondering which one of them is mine. I don't feel like I belong in the Hermes cabin."

"That's understandable. Percy felt the same way, as do most unclaimed kids, unless they're Hermes' kids, of course." Annabeth told her.

"Of course." Beck echoed. She folded up her letter in thirds, then slid it into the envelope she had for it. "How do I send this?"

Annabeth took the pen from her and scribbled an 'address' in Ancient Greek across the front of the envelope. It read simply, 'Throne Room of the gods.'

A small bag materialized on the table next to the envelope. "And now we pay for it." Annabeth explained, pulling two large gold coins from her pocket and slipping them into the leather pouch.

The letter and the money shimmered out of existence.

"The gods won't get it until tomorrow. Hermes works all day, then sorts through the stuff that was sent in over the night and takes those where they need to go the next day."

Beck nodded, understanding.

"It's almost time for dinner, why don't we walk together." Annabeth stood, pushing her desk back to where it had been.

"Okay." Beck stood up as well. Annabeth was a few years older than her, and she felt sort of like she had found a sister in the blonde girl.

"Who is your godly parent?" She asked as they left the Big House.

"Athena." Annabeth answered with a smile.

Beck's brain pushed the question out of her mouth before she even registered that she had thought of it. "Do you think that I could somehow be a daughter of Athena?" She realized it was a dumb question as soon as it left her lips, but she went with it anyway. "Even if my mortal parent is my mother?"

Annabeth stopped and peered at her for a few moments. "No. Your eyes are blue. All children of Athena have grey eyes."

"Oh." It had been a stupid question, but Beck had wanted to try anyway. She wanted to meet her godly parent.

"Sorry, Beck."

"It's fine," The conch horn sounded. "Let's go eat."