A/N: Just a crazy idea that popped into my head. I don't know where it came from, but love it or hate it, I decided to post it.

FULL SUMMARY: What if Rikki's parents weren't her real parents? What if two certain demigods parented her? And if her father is the son of the Sea God, maybe Rikki was destined to become a mermaid on Mako Island. R&R.

Rikki tried not to laugh as Emma jetted away from a pesky jellyfish and made a beeline straight for Rikki. Unfortunately, her plan didn't work out too well, seeing as Emma's face upon return to her friend was stunned and confused. Rikki burst into inaudible laughter and Emma pursed her lips, as if to say, "Yeah, very funny." Rikki shrugged apologetically, and with a flick of her tail, she was gliding easily toward the surface. She smiled as she broke the surface, sucking in the fresh air.

"What were you planning?" she heard Emma ask as she popped up beside her. "You weren't just going to leave me down there all alone, were you?" Rikki smirked.

"Oh, you're a smart girl," she replied. "I knew you'd be fine." Emma rolled her eyes playfully and did a backstroke.

"Are you ready to head to shore?" she wanted to know, after she had successfully shown off by doing a back-flip into the water and reappearing as if nothing had happened.

"I guess so," Rikki sighed. "I hate to leave, but my mum wanted me home early anyway, so..." Emma smiled.

"Any idea why?" she wondered aloud. Rikki shook her head.

"There's no telling," Rikki said. There was an awkward silence as Rikki thought about her parents. Emma and Cleo were lucky that their parents were at least somewhat normal. Hers were just...different, somehow. However, they weren't so different that they'd call her home early when they knew she was heading out to swim (even if they weren't aware of all of the details). Emma cleared her throat.

"Um, Rikki, are you-"

"Yeah," Rikki interrupted. "Yeah. Let's go."

()()()()()()()

Rikki opened her front door and peered in. With a sigh, she stumbled into the house and set her beach bag by the door. Her parents had to be around here somewhere.

"Mum? Dad?" she called warily. "Mum?" She frowned and made her way into the front room, where they usually were, but they were nowhere to be found. She decided to check the kitchen-her Mum, after all, had a tendency to do her best work there.

She checked half-heartedly, but to no avail. As a last resort, and after checking nearly everywhere in the house, she stopped outside her parents' bedroom door and listened.

"...but I just don't know how she'll take it." Her Mum's voice was low and calm, and she heard her Dad reply softly.

"I understand that," he whispered. "I'm worried too. But if we don't tell her, they'll tell her, and she'll never trust us." Rikki's brow furrowed. Were they crazy? It was bad enough that she was a mermaid-now her parents had gone insane as well? Without waiting to hear any more than what she had heard already (and certainly without thinking first), she clicked the doorknob and opened the door hastily. Mr. and Mrs. Chadwick looked up, surprised.

"Um, uh," Rikki stuttered stupidly. She shook her head, as if clearing disturbing thoughts from her mind. She decided not to mention to her parents that she had been eavesdropping. "You two wanted to see me?" Her Mum smiled gingerly.

"Yes, Rikki," she said. "Here, sit by me." Rikki obliged and picked at her fingernails nervously. Mrs. Chadwick shared a hurried glance with her husband before turning to her daughter. "Now, you know we love you, Rikki. And-and you know we do everything to protect you, don't you?" Rikki looked back and forth between her parents, worriedly.

"Mum, what's going on?" she demanded. "Dad?" Mrs. Chadwick shushed her daughter softly.

"Please, Rikki," her father pleaded, "just give us a chance to explain?" Rikki bit her lip.

"Go on, then," she pushed. "Explain." Mrs. Chadwick looked pained, and looked to Mr. Chadwick pleadingly. He cleared his throat.

"Rikki, we are your parents," he began, "and we love you. But...we're not your...biological parents." Rikki gasped.

"What?" she muttered. "But...you're...it's just...what?" Mrs. Chadwick shook her head.

"There's more than that," she murmured. "We are your adoptive parents, and your real parents...well, they're demigods." Rikki blinked.

"Demi...demi-what?" she asked, confused and hurt. Her Dad thought for a moment.

"You've learned about the Greek gods, right?" Rikki nodded slowly. "When a god has an affair with a mortal, and, well...young is produced, the child is called a demigod, or half-blood. And both of your biological parents are demigods." Rikki blinked again.

"I can't honestly believe that this is happening to me," she said. "I mean, all my life, you've told me nothing but a big, giant lie!"

"It was all to protect you, sweet!" her Mum cried. "You know that. Demigods lead dangerous lives. If you had known the truth sooner, something very bad could have happened." Rikki almost laughed. She felt herself literally going insane.

"Something bad could have happened," she repeated. "Oh, nice to know. Ah, and since we're spilling our deepest, most mythical secrets, maybe you should know that I'm a mermaid!" Her parents froze.

"You're joking," her Mum breathed. "That's impossible, Rikki. You're lying to us."

"No! No I'm not!" Rikki insisted. "I know you'd like to believe I am-and oh, I'd love to believe you were joking about the demigod situation-but I'm not! I have been a mermaid since the day I was rescued from Mako Island." Neither of her parents spoke this time. Rikki took a deep breath to cool herself down.

And then she ran to her own room, trying her hardest to dream this all away.

()()()()()()()

Percy Jackson huffed impatiently for about the thirtieth time. The airport was crowded and noisy, which didn't help Percy's uneasiness. He glanced over at his wife, Annabeth, who was typing away on the silver laptop that the inventor Daedalus had presented her with so many years ago. It was hard to believe that in twenty-four hours they would meet their daughter for the first time in forever.

At first glance, no one would suspect that Percy and Annabeth parented a teenage girl. This was because soon after Annabeth had given birth to Rikki, Percy and Annabeth were made immortal so that they could always be camp counselors at their beloved Camp Half Blood. Due to this, they were frozen in their twenty-two year old forms for eternity. In reality, Percy and Annabeth were around thirty-eight or so years old.

"What are we doing here?" Percy demanded. Annabeth glanced at her husband.

"What do you mean, what are we doing here?" Annabeth asked. "You know that already. We're waiting awhile for this crowd to clear so the Mist will be easier to manipulate-that way you can summon Blackjack, no problem."

"No, I mean here at the airport," he replied, "when we should be meeting our daughter?"

"I promised the Chadwicks a little more time to explain this to her so that when we arrived, it wouldn't be so overwhelming," she shrugged it away. "Can't you just be patient, Seaweed Brain? The girl's got a lot to think about."

"Yeah," he muttered, "and so do I." Annabeth couldn't help but smile. She closed the laptop and leaned over to peck Percy on the cheek.

"Come on, relax a little," she suggested. "We'll only be here for a little while longer. Then we'll hop on Blackjack, fly to the hotel, and relax. Before you know it, we'll be standing at Rikki's front door." The mention of her name made Percy shudder.

"Yeah, I hope everything goes that smoothly."

()()()()()()()

Rikki opened her eyes with difficulty. They were dry and sore from all the crying she had done during the night. She lifted her head off of her tearstained pillow and realized glumly that she had a throbbing headache. Suddenly, a thought popped into her mind. Tears...they were water, weren't they?

Worriedly, she lifted up her bedclothes to find none other than her tail, shimmering and scaly. She groaned. As if things could get any worse.

She rolled out of bed and succeeded in only causing a muted thud-a noise which was moderately common in her household and wouldn't cause much of a disturbance, anyway. Whatever happened, she couldn't let her parents-

Oh, yes. She'd told them about her being a mermaid, hadn't she? She'd almost forgotten, actually. With a whimper, she flopped to the bathroom and dried herself with a towel. When she rose, she caught a glimpse of her weary form in the mirror, and winced.

Her curly blonde hair was knotted and messy. Her blue-grey eyes were bloodshot,

her face blotchy. She wore a miserable expression, and her shoulders were slouched. Every inch of her body was aching. A short couple of raps on the bathroom door startled her out of her trance.

"Rikki?" her Mum's voice, cracking and raspy, said. "Are you in there?" Rikki stared ashamedly at her appearance before answering.

"Yes, Mum," she replied. "I'm here." There was a pause.

"Would you come and have breakfast with me?" Mrs. Chadwick inquired. Rikki rubbed her face.

"Does breakfast involve talking?" Rikki answered her mother with another question.

"No," Mrs. Chadwick promised. "Not on your part, anyway." Her voice sounded hopeful. After a moment of thinking, Rikki opened the door. She met her mother's blank stare.

"I'll be down in a bit," she promised. "Let me change." With a rapid nod, her Mum headed to the kitchen, muttering worriedly to herself.

Rikki changed out of her pajamas and into a baggy t-shirt and shorts, typical of her. She even half-fixed her hair. She combed it out, but didn't bother to fix the frizz as she braided it evenly. When she appeared in the kitchen, she found her adoptive parents drinking coffee together. Her Dad looked up as she entered and cleared his throat.

"Well, good morning, Rikki," he greeted, as if nothing had happened the night before. Rikki wasn't very fond of this approach.

"Morning," she nearly snapped as she sat down at the breakfast table. Her Mum let out a troubled sigh.

"Well, Rikki, won't you have some coffee with us?" she requested. Rikki looked down at the table.

"Alright," she mumbled, nearly incoherently. Mrs. Chadwick nodded and left an awkward tension hanging between father and daughter. Mr. Chadwick sipped his coffee quietly as Rikki braided and re-braided her fluffy hair. Her Dad finally broke the silence.

"I can see why you're angry," he noted. "All your life, you've felt this very strong connection to us, and now it's as if we're strangers. Is that it, Rikki?" Rikki didn't answer. Her father shifted. "Your real parents loved you, Rikki. And we love you, too. Had we not, we wouldn't have agreed to protect you. It was by your biological parents' request, you know." Rikki furrowed her brow.

"I know that." Everything was quiet for awhile after that.

Mrs. Chadwick returned to the table with a steaming mug of coffee for Rikki and a warm washcloth. Rikki almost smiled-it was just like she had done when Rikki tried coffee for the first time at eleven. Spills were nobody's friend, after all.

"They're coming today," Mrs. Chadwick said to no one in general. Rikki clenched her fist around the handle on the mug.

"Who?" she asked, though the question didn't need an answer. Everyone at the table seemed to sense this. Rikki's Mum cleared her throat.

"They really do want to meet you, Rikki," she said, with obvious forced cheerfulness. "They're planning on taking you to the beach."

"I don't need them to take me to the beach," Rikki growled. "I go to the beach every day. It's unnecessary."

"The least you can do is to be nice to these people, Rikki," Mr. Chadwick interrupted. "They wanted the best for you since the day you were born." Locking eyes with her father, Rikki began to feel extremely guilty. She took a few sips of her coffee before speaking again.

"I'll go," she stated, barely above a whisper. Mrs. Chadwick smiled, and her husband winked.

"'At a girl," he praised. "Now go wash up before they get here. You wouldn't want them to see you like this." Rikki swallowed the last of the steaming hot coffee, and decided to use her last bit of courage before she broke down again.

"They're going to see me like this, and they're going to like it."

A/N: So yes, very spontaneous and...out-there. Oh, and I'm from the U.S.A...I've never used the word "mum" so many times in my life! (:

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