[Third Person's PoV]
Seeing Lucian stand and follow after Annabeth, Thalia and Percy exchanged a look. With a shrug, they decided to follow as well, curiosity getting the better of them.
Percy vaulted over the porch fence while Thalia pushed herself up from the steps. The two of them caught up to Lucian, who was brushing himself off as he walked behind Annabeth, who was practically skipping with every step.
Lucian leaned back and, in a low voice so Annabeth wouldn't hear, said, "My dad wants to invite Annabeth to celebrate her birthday in the Underworld. You two up for it?"
"Sure," Thalia replied with a shrug.
Percy crossed his arms. "Hell no."
Lucian raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued.
Seeing their looks, Percy raised two fingers. "Two reasons. One: I've had enough Underworld adventures for one sumr. That place terrifies . If I never have to go back, I'll consider it a blessing."
"Pussy," Thalia and Lucian said at the sa ti.
They looked at each other and smirked, then fist-bumped.
"I seriously hate you guys sotis," Percy said flatly.
Lucian and Thalia puffed out their chests proudly, causing Percy to roll his eyes.
"And two," Percy continued, "it sounds like a very intimate family mont. I'd just be standing there awkwardly. I don't do well with awkward situations. I'd rather save myself the hassle."
When he looked at them for their reaction, both Lucian and Thalia just stared at him like he was an idiot.
"What?" Percy asked, annoyed. "I hate that look."
Lucian rolled his eyes. "Percy, what do you an, 'intimate family mont'? We are imdiate family. We're direct cousins. Our dads are brothers. My dad is your uncle. What's there to feel awkward about?"
Percy looked down, trying to hide the growing smile on his face. Lucian might not have realized it, but those words ant more to Percy than he let on.
Then Percy froze. Slowly, he turned to look at both Thalia and Lucian.
Both of them raised an eyebrow, confused by the sudden change.
"What?" Lucian asked.
"What's with the face?" Thalia added.
"You two are cousins too," Percy whispered like he was sharing a forbidden secret. "Direct cousins… and you're dating. Isn't that, like… incest or sothing?"
Lucian and Thalia froze, exchanged a long side-eye, then shrugged.
"We're Greek," they said in unison.
"What—" Percy stamred as they resud walking. He jogged to catch up. "What kind of answer is that?! What does being Greek have to do with anything?"
Lucian clapped a hand on Percy's shoulder and gave him a confident thumbs-up. "Everything."
Thalia crossed her arms and nodded in agreent.
Percy looked utterly baffled. "You know, you guys love calling an idiot, but I swear, you're no better."
Before either of them could respond, Annabeth's voice rang out from the front entrance of Lucian's obsidian cabin.
"Can you guys hurry up!? We're burning daylight here!"
They decided to drop the matter for now and followed her inside. Annabeth was already racing down toward the basent.
Lucian casually trotted down after her, hands in his pockets. As he descended, his shadow expanded behind him, and from it erged identical doppelgängers of himself. Without a word, they headed to the kitchen, already following the ntal order to prepare a five-star al for the birthday girl.
In the basent, Percy flopped into a leather chair and imdiately began spinning in it.
"So what are you guys doing, exactly?" he asked mid-spin.
"Creating Nox a sister~" Annabeth replied cheerfully.
From her shadow, Nox erged, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.
"Cool, cool, cool," Percy said, still spinning as he watched them with mild curiosity.
Annabeth grabbed another chair from the side of the room—it was the sa wooden one they'd used to create Nox. She placed it in the center of the room where the magic circle still lay.
Lucian didn't feel like standing, so he crafted a chair from his shadow. Thalia, unbothered, settled onto his lap, casually draping her arms over his shoulders.
Percy still gave them a weird look, unable to shake his earlier realization.
They all watched as Annabeth happily humd, pulling out doll-like body parts from her magical pouch, assembling the body of her next homunculus with focused precision.
The doll's surface was stitched with glowing runes, each line etched with bright light that pulsed faintly. Lucian scanned the runic script and recognized a familiar pattern—similar to the ones used to create Nox. He noted a few key differences too, slight tweaks in design and intent.
Annabeth tapped the chest compartnt twice, and it popped open. She pulled out a warm, glowing core and carefully placed it inside the empty cavity before sealing it shut. The runes blazed like flashlights, now fully awakened with a surreal, ethereal glow.
Percy stopped spinning in his chair, now fully intrigued by the process.
Annabeth stepped back, extended her arm, and closed her eyes. She began to chant rapidly in Ancient Greek, the words flowing too fast and too obscure for Percy to follow.
'What is she saying?' Percy thought to himself, squinting. 'I can only catch every fifth word…'
But he quickly forgot the language barrier as the scene unfolded.
The magic circle lit up. The chanical puppet rose from the chair, floating in mid-air.
Unlike Nox's birth—shrouded in suffocating darkness—this ritual burst into a blinding radiance, flooding the basent with golden light. It was almost too intense to bear.
Annabeth shut her eyes tightly. Lucian and Percy turned away, hissing. Thalia simply buried her face in Lucian's neck.
Nox growled lowly, glaring at the light with an instinctual disgust. Sothing deep within him scread that he was staring at a natural rival.
The golden light began to shape itself—strands of light forming flowing golden hair, then a slender, elegant body. The figure within grew, taking on a distinctly feminine form. Armor of light wrapped around her chest, a silk-like cloth draped around her waist, and a crown-like mask ford around her eyes. Wings of radiant energy extended behind her like the rays of dawn.
Lucian cracked his eyes open just in ti to see blood trickling from Annabeth's nose again—but she wore a wild grin, unfazed by her condition.
Her body trembled. Lucian glanced at Nox, subtly gesturing. Nox understood imdiately, diving through the sparse shadows and catching Annabeth just as her legs buckled.
The glow of the circle faded. The newly born light-homunculus floated gently to the ground, landing with grace before bowing to Annabeth.
Nox eyed her with scorn and muttered, "Show-off."
The radiant woman simply smiled in silence, her calm deanor infuriating him further.
Annabeth chuckled breathlessly, blood staining her lips. "Your na shall be Lucy—"
"Not in a million years," Lucian interrupted flatly.
Annabeth burst into giggles. "Relax, I'm joking. I already had a na in mind. Since Nox's na is Latin, I wanted to stick to the the. And since she's our daughter, I thought her na should begin with L-U-C. So, her na shall be Lucerna—which ans 'light.' Just like Lucian's na."
She turned toward the radiant being with a proud smile. "From now on, your na shall be Lucerna."
"I thank thee, my creator, for granting a na," she said in a soft, lodious voice that matched her divine presence.
"Congrats, dude," Percy teased, grinning as he glanced at Lucian. "You're a dad again."
Lucian raised his middle finger without a word. Percy cracked up instantly.
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