*Chapter 10 and, sadly, the final conclusion to Goodbye. :( (Tears running down face). It stinks, but this final chapter will go off with a happy bang, I promise. And, umm, it might be a lot longer than all of the others, but it's ok, since it's the last chapter. :) Okay, disclaimer, then . . . on with the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Rick's, It all belongs to him, etc.*

*Chapter 10*

(Percy's 1st person POV)

Poseidon knocked on the door. It took a few moments for mom to answer, but when she did I nearly gasped out loud. She looked terrible; her eyes were red and puffy and her hair looked like it had gone unbrushed for weeks.

"Poseidon?" she sniffled. She didn't appear to have seen me yet. Poseidon stepped foward automatically, and then she was crying into his shirt.

Unbelievable, I thought. Who would have thought my death would bring them closer together.

"Sally, don't cry. I have great news to tell you," he said.

"W-what is it?" she asked.

"Well, since Aphrodite was still going through with her war, Hades thought he should do something to stop it," he started.

Woah. He'd even told her about Aphrodite's war? Maybe they were closer than I'd thought. A little too close, maybe . . .

"Yeah?" she asked. "And what do you mean, she was still going through with the war?"

"Well, Hades fixed everything. The war is over. Now we can get back to dealing with Gaea."

"How did Hades fix it?" she asked.

Poseidon let go of her and took her shoulders. "You must promise me that you won't scream." He stepped aside.

"Why would I . . .?" mom asked, but stopped short when she saw me standing there. Her eyes widened.

"Hey, mom," I said softly.

She just stood there and stared at me, too overwhelmed to speak, probably.

Then she rushed foward and hugged me, squeezing me until I couldn't breathe.

"Oh, Percy, my baby . . ." she sobbed.

Even I had to admit I started to tear up a little then. I'd seriously missed her, too.

"It's okay, mom," I said, hugging her and patting her back. "Everything's fine."

"I know, it's just . . ." She wiped her eyes. "Does Annabeth and everyone at camp know, too?"

"Um, yeah. That's kind of where Hades brought me back to life," I said. "An Aphrodite girl gave her soul for mine so I could come back."

"Well, I think she was very brave for doing that," mom said. She wiped her eyes again and stood, smiling. "I'll make cookies. Blue, your favorite."

I smiled and followed her. I'd totally forgotten that Poseidon was behind me, and I turned.

"Dad? Are you coming in?"

Poseidon exhaled. "I don't know if I should . . ."

"Nonsense," mom said. "You can come in." She grabbed his hand and led him into the kitchen. I shut the door and followed them.

Gods, I hope I don't have any demigod sibilings anytime soon, I thought.

"Really, Sally, I must be getting back to Olympus. We have a war to plan," dad said.

"You know, everyone needs a break every once in a while. Even gods," mom muttered.

Poseidon thought for a moment, then sat down in a chair.

Sally smiled at him.

"I think I'm going to be sick," I muttered, sitting down.

Sally shot me a look and smiled amusingly. "Percy, stop it. We can still be civilized to each other, can't we?"

"If my dad is a god, no. It's too weird."

"Percy," Poseidon warned.

Sally laughed. "It's alright. I've missed that."

I did notice she looked more . . . alive since our reunion. Her cheeks have more color and weren't as hollow, and there was a light in her eyes again.

"Where's Paul?" I asked as mom set the cookies on the table, and I immediately grabbed for one.

"He's at Goode, doing some extra grading work for a teacher," mom said.

I stared at the cookie in my hands. My first solid food since I came back alive. When I'd eaten barbeque in Elysium, it had always slid easily down my throat, almost as if it wasn't there. The food that Chiron and Thalia had fed me while I was stranded in bed was liquid, so I had been able to eat it easily.

I took a little bite of the cookie and swallowed, but the cookie seemed to get lodged in my throat. Definitely more different than eating as a ghost.

I coughed and choked, and mom got me a glass of milk. I drank it quickly, and my throat cleared.

"What happened?" mom asked as I put the glass on the table.

"Not used to eating solid food," I gasped, still having a little trouble breathing.

"He hasn't eaten solid food yet, only liquid," Poseidon explained.

Sally sighed in relief and kissed my head before getting a glass of water for her and Poseidon before joining us at the table.

I took another bite, smaller this time, and carefully swallowed. This time, it went down easier, and eventually I was able to eat normally again.

"You know, this almost seems normal," mom said. "Almost like a family, except the dad is an all-powerful god that can control the sea."

Poseidon smiled and reached for her hand, taking it and squeezing it. "You know the offer still stands."

"Offer? What offer?" I asked after inhaling five cookies.

Sally sighed. "Percy, when your father left, he'd wanted to take me, us, with him. He'd offered to build me my very own palace at the bottom of the sea, which I don't think Amphitrite would like very much."

Poseidon shrugged. "It wouldn't matter. I would do it anyways."

Sally smiled sadly. "And Paul?"

"We can use the Mist, to make him forget you."

Sally laughed softly. "No, I don't think so. You and Percy are so alike in that way, always trying to find an easy solution for everything to solve all the problems."

"Sally, please." Poseidon squeezed her hand.

Gods, this was de-ja vu. It was like with Maria Di angelo and Hades all over again. I half expected Zeus to . . .

Sally sighed. "You know that will not work, or be fair to Paul. I love Paul. And you know that you are not allowed to be with me. No matter how much you want to."

"We'll keep it secret," Poseidon insisted.

Sally laughed and smiled. "Nice try. I-I want to be with you, too. But we can't. You know it, I know it, and Zeus knows it."

Poseidon sighed. "Yes. I know it. But that doesn't mean I couldn't help but ask anyway."

They both got up and hugged. I looked down at the cookie in my hands. I can't say how many times I'd dreamed, even with mom married to Paul, of mom and Poseidon getting back together. But even I knew that could never happen.

"We should be going. Percy needs to get back to camp," Poseidon said once the hug ended.

"Alright," Sally sighed. She hugged Percy tightly. "Be safe. Please. Don't let me lose you again."

"I'll be alright, mom," I said.

"Thank you for bringing him here to me," she said to Poseidon. He must have totally forgotten I was here, because he stepped foward and hugged mom, crushing me in between them.

"Thank you for our son," he replied.

"Well, your son is getting crushed here!" I gasped. Let me tell you, getting sandwiched in between your parents is not fun.

"You'll call soon?"

"Of course. I'll make sure Percy stays safe."

"Well Percy would like to breathe!" I said.

"Oops. Sorry, honey." Mom backed up so that she wasn't smothering me anymore.

I sighed once I caught my breath. "Alright, I'll Iris-message you soon. Bye mom, love you."

"Bye, honey. Tell Annabeth I said hi!"

"I will!" I called as Dad and I left the appartment.

"I must leave you from here, Percy," Poseidon said as we were walking. "Blackjack is already waiting for you. I will watch over from Olympus, to make sure you get to camp safely."

I nodded. "Right. And, um . . . dad?"

"Yes, son?"

I'm sure I suprised him when I stepped foward and hugged him. "Thanks."

Poseidon hesitated a moment, then slowly hugged me back. "Your welcome. Now, get going. I'm sure Annabeth is waiting for you."

I shut my eyes, and after a flash of green light, my dad was gone.

I rode Blackjack back to camp. We landed on the beach, and I was suprised to see Annabeth sitting on the sand waiting for me. I hopped off, and Annabeth silently got up and ran to me. Once she reached me I wrapped my arms around her.

"How was it?" she asked.

I shrugged. "Fine. A little crying, mostly hugging, and a lot of smothering."

Annabeth laughed. "Well, I'm glad everything turned out alright and your back, Seaweed Brain."

"Me too. So, where is everyone?"

"Their in bed, Seaweed Brain. It's eleven o' clock at night."

I looked at her. "And you stayed up to wait for me?"

"Of course I did." She looked up at me and grinned. I tilted my face, and she reached up and kissed me.

"I smell demigods out of bed!" a voice suddenly screeched.

"Then that means a midnight snack for us!" screeched a second voice.

"Uh-oh. Harpies," Annabeth said.

"Maybe we should leave," I said quickly.

"Leave? Like, leave camp?" Annabeth asked.

I shrugged and hopped back on Blackjack. I held out my hand. "Why not? You coming, Wise Girl? Or would you rather be eaten by Harpies?"

Annabeth bit her lip and looked back towards the Big House.

"Chiron won't mind," I said. "It can only be for a few hours. We can escape for a while, have some time for ourselves."

Annabeth took a deep breath. "Let's go," she said. She took my hand and climbed on behind me.

"Let's go, Blackjack,"I said, and Annabeth held on to me tightly as Blackjack took off into the air.

Where we goin, Boss? Blackjack whinned.

"I don't know, Blackjack. Anywhere, I guess."

Blackjack flew high in the sky, giving us a good view of New York at night. Below us, the city lights shined as we flew by. From way up here we could see the stars, and the constellation of Zoe the huntress was just visible behind the clouds.

Blackjack swooped down and landed. We got off, and I saw where we were. I grinned.

"Where are we?" Annabeth asked in awe, looking around.

"Montauk," I said.

Annabeth looked at me. "You mean the place you'd always come with your mom?"

I smiled. "Yeah. This is it."

I looked around, a ton of memories coming back to me.

"And do you know why this place is so special to my mom?" I murmured.

Annabeth's gray eyes met my green ones. "Why?"

"This is where my mom and Poseidon first met," I said quietly.

Annabeth inhaled softly. "Really?"

I nodded and looked away. "Yeah. This is also where he had to leave her. I'd still always loved coming here, though."

Annabeth wrapped her arms around my waist and layed her head on my chest. "I can see why. It's so peaceful out here."

"Yeah, it is."

We stayed silent for a while, and it stretched on until Annabeth finally yawned.

"Come on, Wise Girl," I said. "Let's get back to camp."

"What's your rush?" she murmured. "You said we needed to get out for a while. Well, were out. So let's stay here."

"This coming from the girl that was nervous to leave camp in the first place," I muttered. Annabeth looked like she wouldn't be able to walk on her own, so I picked her up - bridal style - and carried her to the cabin. I put her in bed and lit a fire to warm up, sitting on the old stuffy couch. Eventually my eyes started to get heavy, and I fell asleep.

Luckily I didn't have any dreams, and I woke up to see sunlight pouring in through the windows. Annabeth saw that I was awake and sat down beside me.

"Hey," I murmured sleepily, sitting up. "What time is it?"

"Seven thirty. We need to go, everyone will be waking up soon."

"Alright." I yawned and stretched. "Let's go."

Annabeth took my hand and we walked outside to see Blackjack waiting for us already.

Hey, Boss. I went back to camp and stayed the night there. I hope ya don't mind, it's seriously cold here, Blackjack said.

I patted his back as we climbed on. "Nah, your fine, Blackjack."

Blackjack spread his wings and took off into the air. In just a few minutes we landed on the beach at camp. We hopped off, and Blackjack whinned, See you later, Boss. Glad to have ya back! He flew back to the stables. Annabeth and I walked back to the Big House, where Chiron was waiting for us with his arms crossed.

"Busted," I muttered.

"Just play it cool," Annabeth whispered to me.

We walked to a waiting Chiron.

"Chiron, I know we broke camp rules, but-" Annabeth started, but Chiron held up a hand, cutting her off.

"Now, just this one time, and for this one time only, I will make an exception and let you off."

Annabeth and I relaxed. "Thanks, Chiron."

Chiron smiled. "Well, don't even think about sneaking off again. Now, off to breakfast with you."

We were about to go into the Big Hall when suddenly Connor Stoll came running up the hill.

"Connor, what's wrong?" Chiron asked.

"The - Romans - are - here," Connor huffed, out of breath.

"What?" Annabeth asked. "But they aren't supposed to come until they know Gaea has started the invasion."

"Well their here," Connor said.

"Oh no. Oh, no, this is not good," Chiron said. "Campers! Prepare for battle!" he yelled.

"What-what? What's going on?" I asked, getting more and more confused at the overwhelmed campers suddenly rushing for their weapons and armor.

Annabeth's eyes were red. "Percy, the invasion has started," she said. "It's time for battle. The second prophecy is starting. If we lose . . . then all of us, including the gods, will die. And Gaea will rule the world."

*Ugh, I hated to end it, but, - sad tears - Goodbye is finished. :( This is the end. Well, umm, I hope you enjoyed it. Please comment, I'm trying to see if I can get up to 70 comments. TTFN.*