Some years in the future...

Gwen's POV

"Welcome the newly married couple, Dakota and Gwen!" Hank announced as my husband and I walked into our wedding reception. We held the reception in the Senate House in honor of the place where we had our first kiss.

"Congrats!" Annabeth smiled at us, holding her new baby. "I'm sure you guys will live happily ever after!"

Percy came up behind his wife and child. He tickled his baby and turned to Dakota and I. "Enjoy tonight. It will be the best night of your life!" Annabeth smiled at him, and they left to sit at their table.

As we made our way to the wedding party's table, I glanced around the room. I have to say that I planned a pretty awesome reception, if I do say so myself. A bar in the corner was serving shots of Mountain Dew and Kool-Aid. Will Solace was DJing, and half of the floor had been cleared for dancing. A huge buffet was pressed against the back wall, with every food you could imagine.

Everyone who was a participant in my science fair experiment I did so long ago was part of the wedding party. Dakota and I sat at our respective places around the wedding party table.

"Ella is happy for you. Ella wishes Tyson would do this for her," Ella greeted us. Tyson blushed from beside her.

"We wish you both the best," Reyna said, fiddling with her new engagement ring.

"Just think. A year from now, we could all be at your wedding!" Dakota grinned at her.

"Yeah..." Reyna blushed, acting very un-Reyna like. Ever since the experiment, she had acted nicer and more lenient. I have a feeling I know what (or who) made her like that. All of us were changed by the experiment, not just Reyna. Take Octavian for example. He hasn't even touched a stuffed animal since!

"EVERYBODY DANCE!" Apollo yelled from the dance floor, a shot of MD in his hand.

"I would if I had arms!" Terminus muttered grumpily. We had to bribe him to allow us to have caffeine at this wedding reception because he had banned the substance from New Rome.

"C'mon," Dakota grinned at me. "Let's dance wife!"

I smiled, "Okay, but promise me you won't start rapping!"

"I'm not sure I can promise that..." Dakota pulled me onto the dance floor. I noticed Thalia and Nico dancing next to us.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked, semi-alarmed that a Hunter was dancing with a guy.

"Artemis lost a bet with Apollo," Thalia grumbled. "Now all the Hunters have to dance with a guy, and I got stuck with this loser."

"Hey, I am not a loser! I'm awesome! I would retort and say you are a loser, but your not, so I'll keep my mouth shut!" Nico took a swig of his MD can.

"Good luck with him," Dakota smirked. If you're wondering why Dakota is so calm, I banned him from drinking anything until after we had our first dance. Which means he will be hitting the bar right after this dance.

A slow song started playing, and Dakota pulled me closer to him. After dancing for a few verses, I glanced back at Thalia and Nico. Thalia reluctantly placed her head on Nico's shoulder, and he petted her hair. She grimaced. I laughed and Dakota twirled me around. I snuck another peek at Thalia and Nico. Nico copied Dakota and twirled Thalia around. Midway through the twirl, Nico leaned in and kissed Thalia on the cheek.

"OH MY GODS! Oh my gods! I just kissed Thalia Grace! I KISSED THALIA GRACE! THANK YOU APOLLO AND THAT STUPID BET! YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES! I would marry Apollo as thanks, but that would be awkward! So I will marry one of his daughters if I didn't like a certain daughter of Zeus! I won't say her name because she might kill me! I kissed her! I'm sure none of you know who she is because I totally didn't just scream her name! There are just so many daughters of Zeus, so I'm sure you won't find out who I JUST KISSED! OMG! I KISSED A DAUGHTER OF ZEUS WHO NONE OF YOU KNOW! I used ninety-seven exclamation points! Now ninety-eight! Nine! One hundred and one!"

Everyone just stared at Nico. Everything was silent except for Nico. The silence lasted for a few moments until a cracking sound rang through the Senate House. A huge lightning bolt erupted from the ceiling and hit Nico. He fell to the floor, smoking. Thalia calmly walked out of the Senate House.

"That hurt..." A charred Nico moaned from the floor. "Could someone get me some ambrosia?" Everyone just ignored him and continued dancing.

"Should we help him?" I asked Dakota. He shook his head.

"Nah, he'll be okay. It's our wedding; I want to enjoy it," He grinned and led me to the bar. We each got a shot of Mountain Dew.

"I gave you extra since it's your wedding," Don whispered to us. He was working the bar.

"Thanks Don!" I smiled at him.

"No prob. I just hope you don't mind that the bartender has had a little too..."

"Just try not to eat through all the cups," Dakota laughed. Don nodded and went back to pouring drinks.

A new Apollo kid replaced Will at the DJ booth. His name was Max, and he was a cute little kid. Legend has it that Rachel discovered him when she presented the first caffeine experiment. The kid's a pro at haikus. (So many people commented on him, I couldn't resist putting him in!)

Dakota and I danced for a few more songs before making our way around and greeting everyone. Octavian was cowering in the corner as kids teased him with stuffed animals.

"Octavian! Mr. Cuddly won't hurt you!" The girl giggled and held the bear up to Octavian.

"N-no! G-get that a-away from me!" Octavian shrieked. Dakota and I laughed and walked by. We found Hylla parked out at the buffet table.

"THANK YOU!" Hylla shouted at us as Dakota popped a watermelon cube into his mouth.

"For what?" I asked.

"You reunited me with the chocolate fountain!"

"We put that there just for you!" I grinned and checked her hand. Sure enough, she was drinking MD. "Enjoy it!"

"Don't worry! I will! Chocolate fountain and I will be very happy together!"

"I'm sure you will, but not as happy as my new wife and I," Dakota grinned at me cheekily as he wrapped an arm around my waist. We sashayed back to our table and spent the rest of the evening enjoying everyone's company.

Looking back on the caffeine experiment, I have to say I am so glad I did it. Without it, I wouldn't be where I am now. Even if I wanted that day to end so bad, it had to be the best day of my life. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Even if I did have to endure seeing Octavian in his underpants again. Maybe we will pass the experiment onto our children...

"Wait. What children?!" Dakota stared at me alarmed. Oops. Must have said that last sentence aloud.

"You'll see in a few years," I patted his back reassuringly. He gulped and took another sip of his drink. Those poor children...

Finished on epilogue one! The next chapter will be the participants' and will be set right after the experiments! Hope you enjoyed, and please review!