"Annabeth Chase." Upon hearing her name, she rose, walked across the stage, and officially received her B.A. in architecture. The past four years had been a blur of studying, having fun, and talking to all the demigods in and around Camp Jupiter. And, of course–
"Perseus Jackson." Annabeth watched her boyfriend as he, too, became a graduate of the College of New Rome. Of all things, he'd majored in marine biology. Well, she supposed that being the son of Poseidon meant that you should at least have a college-level education in the creatures that inhabited his realm.
The rest of the ceremony slid by and soon Annabeth found herself with Percy, walking hand-in-hand back to their little apartment in the city.
"Well, congratulations, Wise Girl, for graduating at the top of the class. But I guess it's not hard to breeze through architecture courses when you were the one single-handedly responsible for redesigning Mount Olympus," Percy said as he rolled his eyes. "The other students never had a chance."
"Hey, it's different when working with mortal materials. You can't magically expand building interiors, or forgo support braces for magical suspension, or any of the luxuries I had on Mount Olympus. I had to work just as hard as any other student," Annabeth retorted.
"I get it, I get it," Percy laughed as they walked up the pathway to their building. "And I guess my brain of seaweed was at least enough to get me through college."
"Plus, you can't forget about all my help. Without me, who knows how long it would have taken you to graduate!" Annabeth said with mock horror while on the way up to their floor.
"Oh, of course," Percy said, pulling her in for a kiss. "My own personal tutor." Unlocking the door, the two stepped inside their small apartment.
Usually, their calico kitten, Small Bob (named in honor of the sometimes-skeletal creature that had helped them in Tartarus) raced to the door for a greeting when they walked in. This time was no exception, but Annabeth noticed a paper in his mouth too. It unfolded into a note smelling of…was that grape juice? It read:
Dear Annie Bell and Pedro,
Enough time spent learning! You're done with college. It's time for a PARTY!
Before she could say 'Mr. D,' Annabeth felt the room dissolve around her.
Annabeth appeared in a courtyard, and heard Percy behind her.
"So what exactly did that note say?" he asked. "Because we're suddenly on Mount Olympus. I didn't accidentally offend a goddess back there or something, did I?"
"No," Annabeth said. "I think we're here for a grad party."
Suddenly, she and Percy were swarmed by a group of teenagers yelling their congratulations. Among them she saw her crewmates from the Argo II, Thalia, even Reyna and Nico.
"It's about time you showed up," Leo smirked.
"Yeah," added Jason. "We've only been waiting for an hour now."
Piper grinned. "But there are definitely worse places to wait than the palace of the gods."
Annabeth was about to thank them all for the warm welcome, but then Zeus' voice echoed out from across the courtyard.
"Annabeth Chase. And Perseus Jackson. Normally, it isn't the gods' policy to celebrate something small like mortal accomplishments. However, for some reason I cannot comprehend, there are thoseon the council who think that we can spare a few hours for you demigods. Because my schedule has been surprisingly light as of late, I could think of no explanation strong enough to placate them."
"And these were only some of Olympus' greatest heroes," Athena interjected.
"And we are very proud of our children," Poseidon added with a smile.
Poseidon and Athena agreeing…that must have been the defense Zeus couldn't retaliate against.
"Enough yammering! Let's get this party going!" yelled Dionysus, and with a clap of his hands, the courtyard was transformed into the most luxe party any of them had been to. Say what you would about the gods…they definitely knew how to party.