It's in my DNA

The hostess walked her down the ramp and into the arrivals bay to see if they could find her 'family'.

Delia didn't know who her dad was talking about when he said that and she looked around curiously. Her eyes settled on three kids a bit older than her holding a card saying 'Delia Ambrosia' in a messy scribble. There were two guys, one shorter than the other and a girl who the taller guy had his arm around, next to them were her bags and a pet cage holding Elysium.

She farwelled the nice lady and went over to meet her family.

As she walked towards them she took in their appearances. The taller guy was blonde and tan with a small scar on his lips, the girl was clearly his girlfriend and she was seriously pretty with dark hair and warm eyes, she obviously tried to tone down her beauty but it really didn't work. The weirdest one of them was the shorter guy who was fidgeting heaps with... a tool belt? He had cute curly hair and mischievous eyes.

He was the first to notice Delia and he nudged his friends as she approached.

"Miss Delilah?" He asked, holding out his hand, butler style.

Delia giggled, smiling for perhaps the first time since her mama went to Hades. "Actually it's Dee-lee-ah," She corrected.

"Well then Dee-lee-ah," He joked, rewarded with yet another giggle, "Let me introduce myself; I am Leo Valdez," kissing her hand mockingly.

The taller guy cleared his throat.

"Oh, and these are my much less interesting friends Jason and Piper." He added, earning himself two slaps in the head.

"Come on Delia," the girl, Piper, said kindly, taking her hand and leading her to a white van as the boys picked up Delia's bags.

Jason drove them through New York to Long Island as Delia marvelled at the sights.

"Never been in New York I take it?" Jason said, looking at her through the rear view mirror.

Delia shook her head "Not since I was a baby, mama and I left before I could walk."

Jason looked confused but obviously decided the matter could wait.

"So are you guys all my family?" She asked, confused.

"Well, kinda." Piper said from next to her.

"Kinda?" Delia asked.

"Probably yeah, depends who your dad is, you never knew you dad, right? He left when you were young?"

Delia nodded.

"Well that's 'cos he's a Greek god."

Delia's eyes widened as her suspicions were proved right, "I knew it!"

Piper nodded, "The Greek gods now live in America, moving to the heart of the West, it's weird that they would have a foreign kid but if you were born here then moved it probably makes more sense. Now that you're in America though, you're gonna have to learn to fight monsters, they're everywhere here! That's probably why your mum took you away to New Zealand. Anyway, we're taking you to a safe place so you can learn how to fight monsters. Everyone there's related on the godly side but we don't really count the godly side when it comes to dating and stuff, thankfully. Otherwise I'd be dating my uncle."

Delia nodded meekly, taking it all in.

"Do you know who your dad could be?" Piper asked.

"Ummm... well I think Apollo, he's one my mama worshipped back in Greece and he seemed like it when I talked to him."

"Wait a sec," Leo said, "You actually talked to your dad? Like before you knew about this?"

Delia nodded sadly, holding back tears at the memory. "He came and saw me just before my mama- when she- she..." Delia felt the hot tears drip down her face as she looked down at her shoes, ashamed to be crying in front of people she only just met.

Just when she thought she'd blown her chances of making friends with her new cousins she felt a hand on her knee and an arm around her shoulders. She looked up to see that Leo had leaned over from his his seat in the front of the car to put his hand on her knee and Piper had schooched over to put an arm around her shoulders. Jason was looking in the mirror, sympathetic and concerned. Elysium snuggled up against her, warming and calm.

"Hey, it's ok, you're gonna make your mum proud, just wait and see!" Piper assured Delia, making her feel a little better.

Jason pulled over to the side of the road where - wait was that a dragon? - curled around a tree. Piper and Leo helped Delia out of the car, her legs shaky and her head spinning from sleep deprivation and emotional exhaustion. Jason grabbed her bags and Piper held Elysium.

Leo encouraged her to put her arm around his shoulders to support herself and together they stumbled down the hill before Delia saw the rest of the camp and finally collapsed in a faint.

Notes