☼

LUCIA NEVER GOT EXCITED ABOUT HER BIRTHDAY. A birthday may have been exciting for a lot of people. But for Lucia it was just a day to dwell on painful memories and losses. A day that reminded her of lonely nights and dreadful days.

When her dad was alive her birthdays were special: with chocolate cake, gold sprinkles and singalongs. But once he was killed, the most the day would be celebrated was through a small cake baked by Sally.

Agatha didn't bother to even look at her on those days. Which Lucia always believed was a gift in itself. Davis on the other hand would give her all his attention. Which was what ruined it all. Because Lucia always knew what was coming the next day.

To say the least. Lucia simply did not care for her birthday. Growing up, she would often call it the worst day of the year. After the anniversary of her dad's death.

Despite that, she woke up on the fateful day of her sixteenth birthday with the hope of things being different from the previous years. But that hope was quickly squashed like a bug when she realized that she was the only one who remembered.

Sally greeted her like normal that morning before leaving for work. Percy gave her a quick kiss before leaving for what he described as a day of catching up with Grover. It was a Saturday so Paul didn't work but he said he was going to spend all his time grading pending schoolwork. Annabeth, Will, and Aurora didn't even answer her calls. The latter seemed to be normal but Annabeth and Will would usually call back.

It's not that Lucia expected much; she just expected something. The more she lingered on it, the more self-deprecating her thoughts got. She wondered if it was because they didn't deem her worth celebrating. If it was because they all secretly were still angry and disgusted by her for all she did under Hecate's charmspeak. She wondered and wondered until she swore her mind would break again.

She remembered her last birthday, alone on the Princess Andromeda. No one knew it and she wanted to keep it that way. But when she looked out towards the endless sea, despite the pollution in her brain, she hoped somewhere out there, anywhere out there, this day mattered to someone.

But now it seemed that wasn't the case for anyone.

Her mind tried to wrap around possible explanations. She tried to calm her racing head. And eventually, she shut her brain up, told Paul she was going out, and found peace in the only place she thought she could.

"Hey, Papa." Lucia smiled, she crossed her legs before sitting in front of the marble grave marker. "I know you're in the underworld and this is pointless. But I really need you today so I'm just going to go with it."

The sun had been beaming since the morning. Hot and bright. Even despite everything, despite the fact she hadn't seen Apollo. Deep down she hoped that it was for her.

"I'm s-sixteen." Her voice cracked, "I made it this far can you believe that? I can't..."

Lucia set a hyacinth down on the soil. Her hand softly pressed against the marble. "I'm singing in the talent show, I hope I make you proud. I hope—"

She cleared her throat, "I hope I've made you proud, Despite everything. Because despite the fact I'm pissed at you... I miss you, I miss you every day. And I promise I'm going to be okay. Even if this day keeps sucking, I'll try to make sure it keeps coming. I'll keep chasing my happy endings, Papa. Nothing and no one will hold me back like before. Not even myself."

Lucia couldn't keep the tears at bay. She had never been much of a crier growing up. She always tried to keep her sadness locked away even from herself, But the past few years she had gotten simply too tired to force them out. And she was now realizing that it felt better to not resist her own emotions.

"But why didn't they remember?" She pouted, "They love me, don't they? That's real, right?...It has to be."

A huff fell from her lips. From frustration more than anything else. Having her mind messed with wasn't an easy thing to heal from. Even if she did know the truth now it was hard to completely remove her doubt.

"Luz!" A voice interrupted the flood of negative thoughts that invaded her mind. She turned to see Percy Iris messaging her. Grover was next to him smiling nervously. Lucia noticed his horns had already grown more prominent since the last time she saw him.

Grover waved stiffly. "Heyyyy Lulu."

"Hey, How's it going?" She smiled half-heartedly. "Hope you're having fun..."

"It's going g-great." Percy stuttered, Lucia felt a familiar itching sensation. "But we missed you. Grover wants to see you. Meet us back at the house when you're done?"

"Yeah, Of course." Lucia smiled politely. She disregarded the fact he was lying to her at the moment. But she made a mental note to bring it up when Grover wasn't around along with other things... "I was just visiting my dads grave...because you know...Today."

Grover's eyes widened. He looked at Percy in panic. Percy elbowed him without a single glance. Lucia raised an eyebrow.

"Do you know what day it is?"

"Uh—Saturday?" Percy rushed out his words. He looked around suspiciously. "We'll see you here then. Okay bye!"

"Hey!—" Lucia grumbled. But the faces of the duo already disappeared into mist. Lucia sighed, "Kelphead.."

☼

LUCIA DRAGGED HERSELF HOME. In all honesty, she took her sweet time. She had no energy to see anyone anymore. She knew she could hide her feelings and pretend everything was okay once she stepped into the house. But a part of her didn't want to. She wanted so badly to express the hurt she felt from being forgotten.

That's why she still stood after 5 minutes in front of the door. Chewing nervously on a big ball of gum after stuffing a whole pack she bought at the bodega into her mouth. She didn't want a fight, she didn't want conflict. All she wanted was for everything to be okay. But really, how could not a single person remember or know that it was her birthday?

After a few more moments of hyping herself up and calming down the blaze of mixed emotions inside her, she decided to take out her key. She stuffed it in the lock and turned the knob.

The door opened to reveal darkness. With the only glow of light coming from Lucia's nightlight in the living room.

"Perce? Grover?" Lucia called, but no one answered.

"Hello?" Lucia asked, "Paul are you home—"

"SURPRISE!!!" The room erupted into cheers.

Lucia's eyes widened. A gasp fell from her lips as the lights flickered on. The living room was filled with her loved ones. Many rocking birthday hats on their heads. The room was decorated with orange streamers and gold star-shaped balloons. A table was set up by the entrance to the kitchen with a cake and gifts. There was a banner reading happy birthday in big bold letters.

Annabeth came bounding towards her. In her hand, she held a princess crown from Party City with the number 16 glittering in the center. She placed it on the brunettes head and grinned.

"Happy birthday, Lucy!"

"Annie! I was supposed to be first—"

"You're too slow, Seaweed brain."

Lucia stood frozen. She looked around one more time in disbelief. Before she knew it, she burst into tears.

Annabeth jumped into action and pulled her into her side. A sob wracked through her. "You remembered. You remembered" She repeated.

"Of course we did." Sally smiled softly,

"We've been planning this for a good month." Will nodded, "But it's impossible to lie to you. we had to get creative."

"Percy did it lulu! I wanted to tell you!" Grover gnawed on her blanket. "Now you're crying! See!"

Lucia giggled, she let go of Annabeth and wiped away her tears shyly. "Don't worry Grover, they're happy tears. I've never had a surprise party."

"Told you!" Percy defended, he walked towards Lucia kissing her temple softly, "I know my girl." He looked at her with a crooked grin. "Happy birthday Sunlight."

Lucia smiled leaning in towards his side. "I'm so happy right now, thank you so much. Thank you all of you. So much."

There was a sudden flash of golden light. The room was consumed with an unnatural heat . A blonde boy appeared through that light in front of everyone. He waltzed toward the couch grinning from ear to ear. "Little star!"

"Dad!" Lucia gasped, "You're here!"

"Jackson." Apollo deadpanned.

Percy's hand dropped from Lucia's waist. He scratched the back of his neck. "Apollo,"

"Happy birthday, Little star." He grinned, and cleared his throat

"It is your birthday.
I am such an awesome dad
Here is your gift!"

Will opened his mouth, Lucia knew he was about to correct his haiku and just shook her head in defeat.

Suddenly, more lights flashed. In seconds all nine muses stood in the living room.

"I need to sit down," Paul muttered before resting down on the recliner by Sally. She patted his shoulder.

"Now you have the best music at your party, little star."

"Lucia!" The nine muses all surrounded her in greeting.

Her grandmother was last, she didn't seem as excited as the rest but still gave her a small nod of recognition. "Χρόνια πολλά child."

Lucia smiled wide. She looked at Sally sheepishly. "Uh—Sal?"

Sally laughed nervously, she looked around at the nine women."Well the more the merrier."

Lucia jumped and clapped her hands, "Be right back!" She ran away.

"Where are you going!" Percy questioned,

"I have to change!" She complained, "You didn't warn me! I'm not party ready!"

☼

The celebration was better than Lucia could have ever asked for. It was filled with great music, gifts, some forced dancing, and most importantly so much love. Truly, Lucia had never felt as cared for as she did in those four hours.

Apollo and The muses had to leave early but Lucia didn't mind as she was able to be close to Percy without her father glaring lasers at him. Before they made their grand exit, to Lucias surprise, Clio came up to her and gave her a gift.

Lucia examined the blank scroll handed to her in curiosity. She smiled up politely. "Thank you.."

"You have not even let me explain its use child." Clio huffed, looking at Lucia in disdain. "It has the power to reveal the histories of any and all living beings. Use it wisely. Remember, to know history is to prevent its recurrence. But sometimes enough truth can be painful, no matter how needed it may be."

The only thing that could have made that night better was if all her siblings were present. Unfortunately, too many half-bloods in one space would have been too risky. But Lucia was glad that Will came as their stand-in.

"Hey Will, how's Rory doing?" Lucia asked after opening up his present. It was a handmade misshapen mug that had "Cabin 7's #1 Flashlight" written in white paint.

Will frowned,

Lucia raised an eyebrow. "She hasn't answered any of my calls. Is she still mad at me..."

"No, it's not you." Will sighed, "Her mom has been sick. She left camp to go take care of her... She's not answering any of us."

Lucia felt a pang in her chest, "Is there anything we can do? Is there no way to—"

Will shook his head. "It's stage four.."

"Does Apollo know? Can't he..help?"

"We both know there's only so much he will or can do." Will played with his fingertips "But I think he left early for a reason..."

Lucia nodded in understanding. She decided to lift the dampened mood.

Today, she told herself, was a day to enjoy. A day that shall be cherished no matter what storm may arise.

"So I noticed you came with Nico.."

"Oh don't Start Lucia!"

A/N: Hi guys !! long time i know i've been so busy with college and finals but i've finally finished my spring semester so expect many more updates and things :). i've decided to take a lot of time to practice my writing and why not use a platform, besides it's fun to talk to you guys and get all your comments. But because of this i was wondering if i were to write an original story and post it here would u guys be interested in that? or also please list other media u like so i can think of ocs to make and create more stories!! Anyways thank you again for your continuous support and hope you enjoyed this chapter. <33333