A/N: Hi! I'm still alive! And I haven't given up on this fic! Yay! To be fair, it's only been, what, 3 months? That's not too horrible is it?

Short disclaimer: I have absolutely no experience with blindness, I don't know any blind people, and if you're looking for accurate representation of that disability, this is really not the place. That said, I really try to do my research (hence the note about dyslexia in blind people in this chapter), so if you see something that you know is completely wrong, please let me know so I can fix it! Thanks.

Anyway, I'm really sorry it took this long for me to update. Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 15:

After the impromptu party, life settled down a little more for the Jackson family.

Jade decided to change her name to Jade Penelope Jackson, which prompted Katie to start calling her JJ. Jade just bore the nickname with a roll of her eyes.

Mom worried about finances for a while, until the Benson's old lawyer contacted her. Apparently, a fund had been set up to provide Jade with anything she needed, including schooling, extracurriculars and a small stipend for daily expenses. In the past, Mr. James - the lawyer - had used his executive powers to settle any and all bills Jade's foster families forwarded him. But now that Sally had been proven to be her birth mother, those executive powers were transferred to her. That is to say, mom now had control over a modest bank account in Jade's name, but Jade would gain full control over that account, as well as another trust fund when she turned 18. Basically, they wouldn't need to worry about money so much anymore.

And thus, they moved to a 3 bedroom apartment midway between Jade's new school and Percy's high school.

Yes, Jade had been enrolled in a school for the blind in Manhattan. She'd really dreaded September. She had plenty of experience being the new kid at school, but what was a school for the blind even like? Did they have class on how to read braille - something she was already proficient at, thanks to Chiron - and walk-with-a-cane class? Was everyone completely blind?

So, on the first of September, she stood in front of the school with mom, trying desperately to hide how much she was trembling. How was it that she had no trouble breaking into a storage facility and fighting monsters, but going to school was scary?

"It'll be okay, sweetheart," mom whispered, her hand firmly on Jade's shoulder.

"Yeah, just remember, you could kick everyone's asses if you needed to," Percy said, his tone implying his smile.

"Is that what you think about when you go to a new school?" she asked, knowing full well that Percy had as much trouble at school as she'd always had. Still, she appreciated the support. He had opted to join them, since his school didn't start until a little while later. Technically, there was an introductory meeting he was supposed to attend, but mom didn't argue too much when Percy said he would be fine without it. Jade sure as hell wasn't going to argue.

"Uhm. Yeah, sure. Just don't worry too much, at least you don't have to worry about dyslexia anymore," he joked.

"Yeah, until someone asks me to spell something or read something aloud. Do you know how weird it is to read misspelled words with your hands? Not to mention that I 'read' slower than normal people do…" Jade said, trailing off uncertainly. There wasn't a whole lot known about dyslexia in blind people, simply because there weren't that many people who possessed both traits, but Jade and her mom had looked up everything they could find. Yes, reading was a little easier when doing it with your hands, but it was still a slow process, because Jade's brain just couldn't connect the sounds to the meaning very quickly. And reading aloud was just a nightmare. It was mostly frustrating, because she knew the words, but making them come out was a lot harder.

"You'll be alright, Jade," mom said, moving her hand to rest on Jade's opposite shoulder, like a one-armed hug. "I talked to the principal, and they do have some experience with dyslexia and ADHD. They'll do their best to help you."

Before Jade could respond, they were interrupted. "Hello there, are you Mrs. Jackson?" a woman asked. Jade peeked with her Sight, but could only make out that the person was standing a little to their left. There were a bunch of people milling about at the gate, though.

"I am, you're Ms. Jones?" mom replied, pulling back her arm to extend a hand.

"Yes, we spoke on the phone. I take it you're Jade, then?" the woman asked.

"This is the principal, sweetheart, Ms. Jones," mom explained.

Subtly, Percy grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze, before letting go again. "It's nice to meet you," Jade said meekly. She was having so many flashbacks to meeting new foster parents, and it was not pleasant.

"Very nice to meet you as well," the woman said pleasantly. "If you'll follow me, Mrs. Jackson, Jade, we'll get you all settled in."

/*/

It… wasn't a total disaster. Turned out that most, though not all, of the teachers had some kind of visual impairment, too. There was only one teacher who was completely blind, though. And Jade had been put in Mr. Foster's English class, because he was partially blind and had dyslexia, too.

Jade had been scared when her mom and Percy'd had to leave, but she'd put on a brave face and stood her ground. Whenever she felt unsure, she'd just remember Thalia standing just behind her with Aegis, and she'd feel a little better.

Most of the day had consisted of getting to know how the school worked, and telling the teacher a little about herself. She wasn't the only new student, thankfully, but she was the only one who had recently been blinded. The majority of the other students had either been born blind or had some kind of degenerate disease. There was 1 other girl in Jade's class who'd been blinded by an accident, though. He name was Jessica, or Jess for short, and she'd been nice to Jade from the start. She was in Jade 1st period English class, and 3 more besides. They had assigned seating - the easiest way to make sure blind kids don't bump into each other all year trying to figure out which seat is free - and Jess had been right next to Jade.

"You're one of the new kids, right? I'm Jess," the girl had said boldly, knocking lightly on Jade's table. Jade automatically looked down.

"Uhm… I'm Jade…"

"Right, I heard you were a newby, too," Jess said. "The knock thing is sort of a school tradition, I guess. We knock on the table instead of shaking hands. Makes it less likely to slap each other in the face."

Jade wasn't entirely sure Jess was joking, but she smiled nonetheless. "Makes sense."

"So, I only heard you were a newby, but how did it happen? Becoming blind, I mean? Mine was an accident 5 years ago."

Man, this girl is blunt. "Uh, same. But it happened earlier this summer."

"Jeez, that's recent," Jess said, clearly surprised. "They still call mine recent, sometimes, but you're like a baby."

"Wow, thanks," Jade replied, annoyed.

She knocked on Jade's table again. "I didn't mean anything by it." Jess then proceeded to declare them friends and spent most of the rest of the day at Jade's side. It was nice, sort of. At least she didn't have to figure everything out by herself.

After school let out, Jade stood on the curb, waiting for her mom. She'd 'cheated' a few too many times already, and a headache was forming, so her Sight was off. Still, as she stood listening to the traffic and other kids, something tugged at her mind. She figured a little peek wouldn't hurt too much, so she used her Sight for a moment.

And then immediately closed it again.

Across the street, a blinding light had shone, as bright as Mr. D usually was. What in Hades was a God doing at her school?

Cautiously, Jade crossed the street to the alley where she'd seen the light. "Hello?" she called out, belatedly realizing that exceptionally strong monsters could also exude a strong light like that. She held her cane like a bat and wished desperately for a bronze weapon.

"Hello," someone answered.

Jade automatically turned in his direction. His voice was soft, and a little gravelly, like he wasn't used to using it, and he smelled like a garage had decided to have a bonfire in the middle of the workfloor. Grease and ash and heat. "Who are you?" she asked, though she had a pretty good idea.

"Your father asked me for a favor. He doesn't often speak to me, and never offers favors. To anyone," the God replied.

"You're Hephaestus," she said, answering her own question. "What are you doing here, what favor?"

A large, but surprisingly gentle hand grabbed her own, took away her cane and replaced it with… a different cane. At least, that's what it felt like. Gingerly, she placed both hands on the object. It felt for all the world like her other cane, except that instead of plastic, this felt like it was made of metal. It was slightly warm in her hands, despite the chill in the air. Unfolding it, it still seemed like an ordinary cane. "Uhm… thanks?" she said, thoroughly confused.

"It will not break. But it will help," Hephaestus said resolutely. "Unfortunately, I don't have the magic to make it reappear in your pocket like your brother's pen."

"Well, that's not too bad. Girl's pockets are always too small anyway," she quipped, more out of habit than from any desire to be funny. Living with Percy had definitely left its mark on her.

"Goodbye daughter of Poseidon," the God said, and before Jade could protest, there was a change in the air, and she knew he was gone.

Well that was the weirdest conversation she'd had in a while. And she'd had a philosophical conversation with the neighbor's goldfish a few days ago. Apparently all one needed to know in life was that food was good and cats were bad. The little guy had proceeded to tell her that a few dozen times.

Jade sighed. Whatever. Weird Gods or no, if mom arrived and didn't immediately found her waiting on the curb, she'd freak. She made to retrace her steps back to the school entrance, but immediately tripped on something.

Or, rather, something had tripped her. Something cold and wet had wrapped around her ankle. Desperately, Jade opened her Sight to see a creature crouched near her feet. "Penelope Jackson," it hissed.

"What?" Jade whispered incredulously, more to herself than to the creature.

"I smell the cripple God's magic," the creature went on, sounding angry.

Jade slowly started to crawl backwards. If she could get to the street, perhaps it would back off. But before she'd made it more than a single foot, it lunged. Rolling away, Jade just barely avoided its attack. She quickly got to her feet, and once again wished desperately for a weapon.

"Die!" it snapped, and sprung at her again.

Instinctively, Jade lifted her new cane and stabbed it at the creature. If it was truly made of metal, it might serve as a club. Provided it was made of celestial bronze, that it.

She was shocked when the cane transformed under her hands, becoming more sleek and pointed. She could see this, because it was magical, and thus visible to her Sight. It skewered the monster, which vanished as slain monsters were wont to do.

"Jade!"

Still shocked, Jade was slow to look up. Her head was pounding, both from overuse of her Sight and… whatever the hell had just happened.

Percy sprinted into the alley and skidded to a stop in front of her. Jade belatedly realized that she should probably shut off her Sight before she fainted. "Are you okay? What happened? What is that?" he asked in rapid succession.

"Uhm… a cane?" she said, as she felt it shift under her fingers once again.

"It looked more like a javelin to me," he said, gently pulling it from her fingers, probably to inspect it. "Where did you get it?"

"Hephaestus gave it to me," she replied. "He said… dad asked him for a favor. And then that… thing attacked. What was that?"

"I only got a glimpse, but I've no clue. It looked like dog/seal/person. I'll ask Annabeth about it. You sure you're okay?" he asked, putting a worried hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, just… a little surprised," she said. "Hey, give me the cane, would you?"

He handed it over. It was light in her hands, and still had that slightly warm feeling to it. "It's made of celestial bronze, isn't it?" she asked redundantly. After all, nothing else could kill a monster. It still felt like a cane, but when she concentrated on needing a weapon… the cane shifted in her hand again. She ran her fingers over the full length. It was about as tall as she was, and had a wickedly sharp point on each end. Percy had called it a javelin, and it definitely felt like something she could throw, but she had a feeling it could also be used in close quarters combat.

"Wow," Percy muttered. "Guess we'll have to ask Chiron for some lessons training with that, huh?" For a moment, she was worried that he'd be jealous, but then she mentally slapped herself. Why would Percy be jealous? He had an awesome sword; a weapon he was much more fond of than any kind of spear.

"Guess dad felt like I needed something to defend myself with," she replied, unable to stop running her fingers over the sleek metal.

"Yeah… I just worry about what that might mean…"

A/N: Whoo, Jade finally gets a weapon! I debated ages on whether I should do that or not, and then ages more on which weapon to go with. I hope you're all satisfied (if anyone still reads this at any rate) with the end result.

I can't promise a speedy update, since I'm still working on... 6? Ish? WIPs, so it might take a while. Sorry in advance!