Thanks for the reviews! I love you all and I love getting feedback for my story. Please continue to do so(: Also, I want to point out things that things might be technically wrong with my story, because you know… I'm not Jesus. And everybody makes mistakes. And I'm not exactly an expert on Greek Mythology. I'm just basing my knowledge off of HoO and some creative stuff running around in my head.

Annabeth didn't know how long they'd been wandering in Tartarus, but she figured it hadn't been that long. From the frigid air of New York City and the smell of cooking food, it had to be Thanksgiving and as she and Percy stood outside of his mother's apartment in the freezing cold, Annabeth couldn't help but wonder why no one was opening the door. It was Thanksgiving for God's sakes! Wasn't this the season of hospitality?

Annabeth rang the doorbell again and Percy handed her his jacket as he went to look for the spare key.

"Any reason they wouldn't be answering?" she asked, looking down at his butt sticking out of the bushes.

"My mom has this tradition of not answering the door during the holidays." He emerged triumphant with a key in his hand, "I guess it's not as fun when you're the one at the door."

Percy stuck the key in the lock and turned it as quietly as he could, not wanting to freak out whoever was inside. Annabeth sighed as the feeling of a heater hit them. Her fingers felt numb as she shrugged off Percy's jacket and stuck it on the hook next to the door. The smell of cooking food made her stomach growl. She hadn't eaten anything but a slice of bread since she'd fallen into that gaping hole to the underworld.

But suddenly Annabeth heard a voice that made her quite a bit less hungry. It was a voice she'd heard a million times before. Yelling at her to go to bed. Telling her she was way too young to move out. Annabeth practically growled at the thought. Percy put a hand on her on her shoulder and gave a look of warning. Obviously he recognized the voice too, and wasn't about to let Annabeth ruin everything with an angry outburst.

"I don't want to go in anymore." Annabeth said, crossing her arms.

"That's a bit immature, don't you think, Anny?"

"Nope. If you knew them then you would understand."

"C'mon," he said, smiling at her, "You want to see my mom, don't you?"

"You think she'll let me borrow some clothes? I feel ridiculous."

Percy laughed, "Well, you look totally hot, if that's any consolation."

"It totally is."

She hugged him and inched her way down the hallway.

The dining table had been extended to an unnatural level and it seemed like everyone was there (well, everyone who was anyone). Why Mrs. Jackson had invited them, Annabeth didn't know, but it did seem like a kind gesture. Maybe it was some kind Percy and Annabeth life celebration dinner. That would be an awesome thing to walk in on. Percy had his turn doing that. Annabeth figured she should get a shot.

At the head of the table were Annabeth's parents. Her stepmother was dressed like an old woman, in some sort of Paisley fabric and high-waisted pants. Her father didn't look much better. His glasses seemed to reflect his intelligence, but still managed to make him look like a dork.

Annabeth was so hungry. And all the food looked so good. But she hadn't decided just how to go about revealing herself before Percy knocked at the doorframe and pulled her into the spotlight. It took Mrs. Jackson about five seconds to throw her arms around them. Annabeth buried her face in her neck and sobbed. She didn't remember when Mrs. Jackson had gotten so short. She just remembered one day looking down instead of up.

Annabeth looked over Mrs. Jackson's shoulder to her parents who were staring at her with the blankest look on their faces. Like they were just now seeing what they'd been missing out on all this time. But in the next ten seconds their faces were blocked from view because Thalia was there, and Grover, and Piper, and Leo and Jason… and there was Nico, and Paul… and yet it seemed like the weight of the world was on Annabeth's shoulders, because she knew her parents hadn't gotten up from their seats at the head of the table.

As the crowd broke apart and Annabeth wiped her eyes, Percy walked over to her brothers who were sitting on either side of her parents and sat down next to them, roughing up their hair.

"Percy!" they yelled, practically bouncing out of their seats. They were rabbits on steroids.

"Hey bros," Percy said, sitting down and eating off of Thalia's plate, "How've you been?"

"Great!" said Matthew, his brown eyes sparkling, "Mommy and Daddy got us the Death Star lego set when we went to Disney! Can you believe it?"

"No way!" Percy smiled, "You have to show me!"

Matthew catapulted himself from his seat but Percy put a hand out to stop him, "After dinner, bud."

"Oh… yeah, right." Matthew nodded and went back to his coleslaw.

Annabeth sat down next to Percy and rubbed her eyes. "Gods… what a day."

Percy winked at her, "Eat food, Ms. Chase. You could be a Halloween decoration."

She nodded and wolfed down half of Thalia's mashed potatoes. They were probably going to get murdered when Thalia got back to her seat (If Thalia cared about anything, it was her food… and she was always hungry.), but, hey… it was worth it.

"Hey mom," Percy yelled across the room, "Can Annabeth borrow some clothes, please?"

Mrs. Jackson looked up from setting up more chairs, "Sure, sweetheart," she smiled, "But don't throw away that dress! I'll get it dry cleaned or something, but don't you dare…"

"I promise, Mrs. Jackson," Annabeth smiled, "I went down that road once and I promise it won't happen again."

Thalia pushed Percy off her chair and explained, "The last time some Goddess thought they would do good and help Annabeth with her fashion sense (which is nonexistent), she threw the dress away because it had a single stain."

"And I will never live it down." Annabeth grinned, scooping up one more spoonful of Thalia's potatoes before heading off to Mrs. Jackson's room.

Percy picked himself up off the floor and sat down next to Thalia.

"See what I mean," said Mrs. Chase, putting down her napkin and turning to Percy's mother, "She hasn't spoken a word to us since we got here."

"Maybe she's just in a state of shock, Mary." Mrs. Jackson said, finally sitting down after extending the table, "I've seen it happen before."

"If that's true she's been in a state of shock her entire life." Mr. Chase rubbed his eyes, in a way Percy had seen Annabeth do a thousand times.

"Percy," his mother said, turning to him, "Did something happen down there that we should know? Did Annabeth… was she ever…"

"No," Percy said instantly, pushing his hair out of his eyes, "I didn't leave her alone for a second. I promise. Nothing like that happened. Nothing like that has ever happened."

"Well that's good," said Mrs. Chase, "but that still leaves us in the same place we started in."

"Do you want me to go talk to her?" Percy asked, even though he already knew the answer, "See if something's up?"

"Please," said Mr. Chase with a nod and a sip of his sweet tea.

"But no funny business, Percy," Mrs. Jackson said with a smirk, "I got a disciplinary call about you two a few weeks ago from Coach, and I honestly don't want a repeat."

Percy rolled his eyes, "I have my witnesses. That was blown way out of proportion."

Laughter followed him into his Mom's room.

When Percy walked in Annabeth was picking through his mother's closet piece by piece, her hair falling in her eyes so much that she had to keep pulling it back. She had a pair of jeans flung over her shoulder and a pair of his old red high tops that Mrs. Jackson had hidden because he'd worn them so much.

"Hey." He whispered… so quietly that Annabeth jumped.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes at him, "Hey. Scouting out my problems for my parents, eh?"

"How could you tell?" he asked, collapsing on the floor of the closet.

"I'm Professor X."

"Your action movie references never cease to surprise me…but seriously, what's going on? I could feel the tension in the air."

"Was it as thick as syrup?"

"Almost as thick, yes. But… seriously, Annabeth."

"Sorry," she found another piece of clothing and threw it on the floor next to him, "It's just… I know your mom's not going to like me as much anymore if my parents tell her all these horror stories of me as a child, and how much of a witch I was. Or how much of a witch they think I was. It makes me really mad that they're here. Everytime they come… oh, they just ruin everything."

Percy looked at her with raised eyebrows.

"And yeah, I know that sounded immature but I really can't help it. My parents never gave me the chance to have a childhood. They just tossed me out on the street and…whenever I'm around them that irritating child in me comes back again. The one that never got a chance to live."

Annabeth looked down at him and set her mouth in a grim line. She looked heartbroken but comical and Percy got to his feet and handed her the clothes she'd so violently piled up.

"Go change, take five breaths and feel better," Percy said, and she nodded and took them.

"In a few months this is all going to be over," Annabeth said sadly, "And you and I both know we probably won't survive this time."

"We'll luck out… we always have before."

"Percy, we can't be lucky forever."

"Is this what's really bothering you? You think we're going to be dead within the year?"

"No… it's just…"

"Maybe you've forgotten Annabeth, but I know what that feels like. To know that I'm going to die. Did you forget all the years leading up to when I turned sixteen?"

"I don't need your help, Percy. It's just nerves. I'll get through this on my own."

"Everyone needs help sometimes. You need to start excepting that you can't do everything on your own."

"I can," Annabeth yelled, and then quieted and sat down on the edge of the bed, "I have to. I don't want everyone else to get involved in something that just may be all my fault."

Percy sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped his arms around her, rocking her back and forth.

"We'll be fine," he whispered in her ear, "We'll be fine."

"That's just great," Annabeth grumbled, "The last time you said that we ended up in Tartarus."

Haha(: Love you all sooo much!

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Sofia