See first chapter for info.

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So it was that the group of people – some may even call it a family – all gathered outside.

Percy joined Apollo on the basketball field, and a couple of other demigods followed – such as Annabeth, Frank, Jason, Hazel, Connor, Travis and Will. The gods that joined them were Artemis – she wanted to win from her brother, that much was obvious from her eagerness to play – Ares, Zeus and Hephaestus. Hermes wandered off, saying he needed to get back to his emails and work, and he disappeared in seconds, his caduceus clenched in his hands. His sons looked after him, disappointed that they wouldn't get to play a good basketball game with their dad, but they quickly lost themselves in the game.

Percy held the ball, dribbling it a bit, as if he was testing himself as to how good he was. He hadn't played it in a while – no demigod had time for sports when all you had to do was try to live another day – but it seemed like he still could be able to stand his own. He dribbled faster now, more confident, a smile tucking at his lips. He ignored all the others who were trying to catch his attention – to make teams – and scored a goal without any difficulties. He was smiling more broadly now, and turned around to the others. "This'll be fun," he said, and winked at his girlfriend, who had been staring at his sudden talent in basketball. "Who wants to be the team captain?"

Annabeth quickly put up her hand, as did Apollo.

"We're with thirteen people," Annabeth pointed out, "So I guess that one team gets three gods, and three demigods, and the other two gods, and five demigods."

"Sounds fine by me," Apollo said, wiggling his eyebrows. "So, I'll go first."

Annabeth didn't really argue – it was still hard defying the gods, even if they acted so normal around them now. "Okay. First we do the demigods."

"Sure. I'll take… my son." Apollo smiled wider when Will cheered. "Duh,"

"Percy." Annabeth said immediately. Percy joined her, smirking.

"Frank."

"Jason."

"Connor."

"Travis."

The two brothers stuck out there tong to each other: this game was definitely going to be interesting.

Apollo suddenly frowned. "Hey, wait a minute. This means that I get four demigods and only two god extra, and you get three gods, and Percy!"

Annabeth smiled cheekily. Her mother, who was watching with the other gods from the sidelines, laughed, too. "You wanted to go first."

"Curse Athena's wisdom!" Apollo said, huffed, and then gestured to Hazel. "Fine, come join us."

Hazel didn't look all too happy of being chosen last, but she joined him nevertheless, and stood next to her boyfriend. She made a promise to herself to make Apollo understand that choosing her wasn't going to be a mistake.

Annabeth looked at the gods. Now it would get tricky. Sure, she felt bad that Hazel was chosen last, but if a god felt abandoned… felt as Hazel did right now… the worst damage Hazel could do was make you feel guilty; a god wouldn't think twice about seriously hurting you. If Annabeth choose wisely, not strategic, she had to choose Zeus. He was the boss, the Lord of the Sky, and he considered himself the most important god. If she would choose strategically, she would choose Artemis. Nobody would want to win as badly as she would if she was fighting her brother. But then again… maybe Apollo wouldn't even choose his own sister, due to the rivalry… "Zeus," she decided after a while.

Jason smiled. This was only the second time he had met his dad, and now he was playing with him? A mundane game such as basketball? It didn't matter that this was his father's Greek form – it was his father still.

Apollo sighed. "Ares."

"Artemis."

"Hephaestus."

"Wait," Percy intervened. "Now Apollo's got," he counted heads, "four demigods, and three gods. And Annabeth's got three demigods and two gods."

Annabeth sighed. Right. Her math of three-three, and five-two hadn't worked, she had been too caught up with the choosing of the people to notice.

"I'll join them," Athena said suddenly, and stood beside her daughter, her grey eyes blazing with a sudden burst of energy. "Now it's even. Four demigods and three gods each."

Annabeth blinked a couple of times, as if she couldn't believe her own mother would join this childish game. "Really?"

Athena smiled at her, and it was almost as if she transformed. Percy suddenly saw something he had never truly seen before – Athena looked a lot like Annabeth, the Annabeth he knew now, when she wasn't scowling at him. "Really. Now, who wants to be the referee?"

Piper put up her hand. "It's like that job was made for me, believe me."

Nobody argued. Annabeth and Apollo flipped a coin – Annabeth won – and the game began.

The gods who were watching, such as Hades, Demeter, Dionysus, Aphrodite, Hestia and Hera, just watched in amusement as their family members were all behaving like idiots, screaming at each other, flipping on another off and laughing. They all cracked up when a laughing Percy ran by, his hands in the air, as Ares had ran after him dripping wet, screaming: "FOUL PLAY!"

Nico was sitting beside his father, silently watching in amusement, not finding the will to play with them. He later said that he was watching the little kids – Grover, Annie and P.J. didn't dare to play with the gods – but his boyfriend would see right through that excuse. The real reason why Nico wasn't playing? Well, let's just say that he was scared out of his mind that if he would bump into people like Frank was doing, or if he would dribble so long as Percy did now and then, he would disappear into the shadows. He would've passed through Jason's body when Frank's didn't. The ball would've slipped through his hands instead of staying there. So he just watched, leaned back in the marble and frankly uncomfortable chairs, and enjoyed himself.

The only two people not present with the activities were Poseidon and Sally. They had drifted off, talking about their lives until that moment. Sally was explaining why she had chosen Gabe to marry – Poseidon was turning angrier and angrier each time she mentioned Gabe as 'Gabriel' – and Poseidon was, yet again, apologizing for being absent.

"This stupid law," he muttered, walking down the gardens. "You have no idea how much I hate it. And I'm not the only one, I know it. The look on Zeus's face when Thalia was turned into a tree… Or Hades's, for that matter, when he saw his children sitting there…"

Sally sighed. She was walking just one step behind him, making sure that when he would take out his anger – and she knew him well enough to know he would – she was at a safe distance. "You have already apologized, Lord Poseidon,"

"It's just Poseidon, Sally," he said, turning to look over his shoulder.

She was blushing.

He faltered in his walk. "Still?" He asked, and didn't need to explain what he meant. He had found it so endearing that whatever he did, whatever Sally went through, she still found it difficult to call him Poseidon, as if he would disappear if she addressed him wrong, as if he would do something so rashly, as if he didn't care for her as much as he did. She still believed him to be much better, not hers, far too great for her to reach. To cross that barrier, maybe for once and for all, he took her hand in his, and smiled. It was the smile that had always seemed to calm her in the past – and maybe do some other things, that maybe had resulted into having a son, but Poseidon did not want to think about those distractions right now – and it seemed to work its magic.

She crossed the space between them, squeezed his hand, and walked comfortably beside him now. "Poseidon," she said after a while, a smile in her voice. "This feels like a dream."

"I know," Poseidon said solemnly, breathing in deeply. He was leading her back to the basketball field – not to play, oh no, but he had a surprise waiting for her. "I missed you." He suddenly said. "And not your talk or your beauty, though you are beautiful," Sally was blushing more obvious now, "but just… you're presence. Your unique, and above all kind, soul. And I have to confess something." He was tucking her forward now, his pace quickening. "I didn't just bring you here with us to help Percy – though that certainly was an important perk – but, I needed to see you too. Reading about your death, or not-death, I'm not sure, it made me think about our past. What I could change. What I want to change. I hate the law that forbids me to see you after you had our son, I hate it with all my power, and I know I can't change your mind about living with me at the bottom of the sea, I know you believe that because I'm a god I don't care, and I know I have a wife but believe me, Sally Jackson," his voice was sounding more confident and eager and kind and loving at the second, and Sally was founding herself to be glued to his voice, wanting to hear more, and at the same time so embarrassed she wanted to run away, "believe me when I say that I have loved you, and love you still."

He stopped walking.

They had arrived at his favorite place in Olympus: the swimming pool. The salt swimming pool. It was around the corner from the basketball field, just within hearing-range to hear their son cheering and playing happily with everyone. But Sally didn't even notice that – she didn't even notice the beautiful blossom on the clear-blue water, the light-pink daisies floating on the waves, nor the white marble steps glistering in the sun. All she could see were the sea-green eyes that she'd learned to love so much gazing down in her, his eyes speaking still. His speech still rang in her ears, his love confession almost making her cry. "Poseidon," she said, her voice cracking. She didn't trust her voice to say more, afraid she might burst into little stars if she even tried to explain what she was feeling right now.

He smiled, as if he knew what she was thinking, and took her other hand as well. His hands were warm and oh so soft. "Sally, do you want to swim with me?"

"Poseidon," she said again, her voice not much louder than a whisper, and leaned forward.

Poseidon leaned forward at the same time – and their lips joined in seconds. Maybe sparks flew. Maybe the oceans below were suddenly going crazy, turning into tornados and tsunamis, maybe Amphitrite was screaming on the top of her lungs to Poseidon that he should take his hands of this 'mortal woman', but he didn't listen. He ignored the tucking in his gut, he ignored the world around him, and he only felt those soft, warm and above all perfect lips on his, her tiny caring hands on his back, and her feet darting toward the water, as if she was asking permission.

He granted her that. Still kissing her – he never wanted to let go – he stepped in the water, going down the waves, pulling her with him. She didn't even falter. They had had so many underwater kisses for her to remember the exact amount, and she knew that when she was with him, breathing underwater wouldn't be a problem. Sure enough, when they finally broke apart, Sally saw that Poseidon had created her a perfect bubble. She smiled at him so broadly her face almost broke apart. Her eyes were tearing up – she loved him so much, and she could never tell him. "Poseidon," she said again, her voice ringing through the water.

He shook his head, his eyes turning sad again. He knew this moment was just that – a moment. Not a promise for a future. It was impossible, he had gotten caught up in the moment. He knew Sally would never agree to breaking the most ancient law there was, she would make sure Poseidon knew he couldn't stay with her, as much as she couldn't stay with him. "I'm sorry, Sally," he began, but she quickly cut him off.

"No, none of that." Her voice was clear now, as if she made a decision. It was confident and final: and Poseidon quickly shut up. "This thing we're doing, reading the books… it might take a while we're only halfway through one book, and we still got nine to go. I have no need to go back to Gabri- I mean, Gabe, just yet, now that Percy's here too. You're not going back to your palace. We have time."

Poseidon's eyes widened. Was she thinking what he thought she was thinking? "Sally,"

She put up her hand. His hair was flying through the water now, making him look even more beautiful and godly. Maybe that weighed in her decision, maybe that didn't help to make her think rationally about this. In any way, she knew she wasn't making the best decision, and she almost certainly knew she was going to regret this the moment she had to go back to earth. "For now," she said, "temporarily."

"Sally…" his voice was so kind. "Do not take this lightly. You know how I am in this sort of thing."

She laughed, and Poseidon's eyes looked like she just rocked his world. "I know. This is a stupid decision. But to be frank…" she grinned cheekily, "I guess I still love you enough to be stupid once in a while."

Poseidon didn't wait any longer. He sped forward through the water, and almost crashed into her with so much force to topple them both over.