Half-Blooded, Half-Chosen

After hours of sitting and pacing and sitting and waiting and more sitting, Percy couldn't handle it any longer. He finally banged on the door to the room where Annabeth was currently being held, and footsteps quickly came to the front. The bolt holding the door shut slid out, and Maryse's face became visible. "You can come on in now."

"It's about time!" Percy pushed past her and Maryse looked at me expectantly.

"Okay, okay, I'm coming." My hesitation wasn't lost on her, and her eyes narrowed. She grabbed my arm as I passed her in the door frame, and she whispered in my ear, "You and I need to talk. Alone." I nodded slightly, and she patted me gently on the back. I pushed past her gently, and she shut the door behind me.

Percy was kneeling and his torso was bent over the bed. The girl with blonde hair that I saw fall through the portal looked much better than she had. Her skin was healing quickly, and she had a natural smile that lit up the room. Her grey eyes crinkled at the corners when Percy whispered something to her, and they both laughed quietly.

I cleared my throat. "So, you're the one who broke our portal."

Percy looked behind him and shook his head. "Come on, Adler." The girl pushed herself up into a sitting position and poked Percy before smiling at me. "Guilty as charged."

I walked over closer and sat next to Percy on the floor, and one of my knives inexplicably stabbed through the sheath and into my leg. I yanked it off and threw it on the floor next to me. Annabeth was too busy to notice, staring at the vaulted ceilings with the white intricate spiraling designs dancing their way through the post and beam structures, falling down onto the walls and flowing into the dark reds of the walls.

"This place is nothing like anything I have seen before." She grabbed Percy's hand. "Look at the gothic inspired decor on the ceilings!"

"Well, the Nephilim stuck to their roots of the battle between angels and demons, and it certainly translated into the architecture of the Institutes. Of course, not every building is the same - many reflect the battles fought there, and they're all unique in their own way." I said, glancing up. Light streamed through the windows, painting a much different environment from the dank office we were in.

"Angels?" Annabeth looked down from the ceilings with a confused look. "Where are we?" She finally got a good look at me and the many swirling runes burned and blackened into my skin. "What are you?"

Percy tightened his grip on her hand. "It's a long story."

Annabeth's eyes steeled. "I have time."

I stood up, pulling the legs down on my tight black jeans and brushing them off. "Well, first of all, my name is Adler, and I am a who, not a what, love, thank you very much."

Percy grinned. "She's my half sister."

Annabeth looked like she was going to potentially keel over and pass back out again. "Okay. Maybe I'm not ready for this."

Maryse, who had been quietly observing from the doorway, butted into the conversation. "I know it's going to be a bit of a shock for you to learn about all this, but you have to know now that you're here."

Percy held up his hand and silenced her for a moment, turning his attention back towards Annabeth. "Do you remember the conversation we had about how there could be multiple realms, and if something from another dimension made into the one we were in, it caused a rift?"

Annabeth nodded. "Like the gods having to fight with their Roman counterparts."

"Yes. Well, that wasn't the only universe that existed. There are so many more, and this one just happens to be one of them, and Addie here exists in this one. She's related to me by blood, but there's more angelic blood in her, and that forces her to stay here. She's like a walking rift, but it's minimal and doesn't cause much damage."

"There are angels." Annabeth's voice took on a monotone.

I nodded. "In this dimension, there are angels and demons, and downworlders, which I guess qualifies werewolves, vampires, and other odd things like that."

"This is incredible!" Annabeth swung her legs over the side of the bed. "How can there be so many?"

Percy shook his head. "Chiron knows more about it than we do, but right now, there's a danger of a collapse. That's what he's been talking to me about while you were away working with the gods."

Annabeth's forehead creased. "Speaking of...I can't remember what happened. I know I was working on some blueprints, and I was discussing them with some builders on Olympus, but that's about it."

"Well, somehow you went through our portal and broke a huge barrier between our world and yours." I said. "No big deal."

Maryse came up behind me. "You're certain you can't remember anything? For someone who's of your blood, coming through a portal takes more than just jumping through. Someone had to have been involved with a malicious intent."

I crossed my arms over the strap holding one of my knives in place across my back. "Wouldn't it have to be someone with knowledge of both sides? That would require someone from this dimension somehow finding their way onto Mount Olympus, and that can't be an easy feat to accomplish discreetly, without ripping holes into the dimension as they went."

"It would have taken more than just a few moments as well." Maryse copied my stance, rubbing her cheekbone with one hand. "It would have been quite the process, which makes me worry about you, my dear."

Annabeth's eyes turned stormy. "What did they do to me?"

"What they did certainly ripped a huge hole in our dimension, like Adler said, but it wouldn't have been big enough to cause serious damage. I'm wondering what they tried to push in with you." Maryse said.

I bit my lip. "Would that be possible, considering our wards on the building?"

"Hacking through a portal? Yes. It's been done before. It takes someone who knows quite a bit about the shadowhunter world, however, and that concerns me. I would like to think that the Clave or anyone else with high authority wouldn't be involved." Maryse said. "That would be good." I said. "So, in this part of the Institute, will she be safe from anyone else, and if there is something bad, will it protect the other parts?"

"That's the idea." Maryse said. "Now, can you do me a favor and call Magnus and ask him to come over?"

I grinned. "No problem."

Notes