Percy let out a loud, exhausted yawn as he made his way downstairs, dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt. Annabeth followed sleepily behind him, wearing sweat shorts and a tank top. Both of them were sporting bedheads.

"Hey, you two are finally up." Lisa greeted when the teenagers stumbled into the kitchen. Lisa stood behind the counter stirring a white yogurt while Sally sat fully dressed across from her. She smiled at the sight of Percy and Annabeth, whose eyes were struggling to adjust to the sunlight that filled the kitchen through open windows.

"Are you feeling better?" Sally asked.

"Yeah. We're just still a little tired." Annabeth answered. Percy yawned again.

"We're going to head out shopping. Feel free to help yourself, if you're hungry. I just made some of my famous homemade yogurt." Lisa offered.

"Thanks, Aunt Lisa."

"Well, we best be off, shall we?" Lisa and Sally both grabbed their purses and waved goodbye to the two teenagers. Once they left, Percy walked over to the bowl of yogurt and started to dish up two bowls.

"Do you just want to hang out here today?" Percy asked Annabeth as he handed her a bowl and spoon. Annabeth shrugged in response.

"Emma told me about this one place. The JuiceNet Cafe. It's where she works, she said." Annabeth suggested, taking a bite of her yogurt.

"We could go head up and see her then."

"Do you know where it's at?"

"Well, no…" Percy admitted, taking a spoonful of yogurt. Annabeth giggled. "I'm sorry my mom dragged you on this trip."

"Why are you apologizing? It's nice to have a vacation after all the saving the world we did."

"Yeah, but it's boring. I wish everyone else could have come along. If only Leo could just fly the Argo II here with everyone on it."

"Well that is technically, an option." Annabeth agreed. "But your mom seems so happy to see her family again. And it's really not that boring. Emma seems nice and has nice friends."

"Emma is so boring. And bossy too! Like, everything has to be so perfectly neat and in order for her. It was so annoying." Percy grumbled.

"It seemed like you two had fun together when you were kids."

"That had to be, like, six years ago when I last saw her."

"Is that because you started going to camp instead?"

"Yeah, I guess so. And Smelly Gabe was never into travelling, so it wasn't a regular thing to see Emma and Aunt Lisa."

Annabeth paused, letting the silence settle as she and Percy ate the homemade yogurt. Annabeth could already tell that Emma was a reliable and trustworthy person. She didn't get a chance to get to know Cleo much, but she did seem like a really sweet girl, albeit a little naive. And as for Rikki, well, Annabeth didn't know what to make of Rikki. She disappeared so suddenly.

"So, do you think Rikki left to go to the bathroom this morning?" Annabeth asked aloud.

"Who?"

"Emma's friend. The blonde one."

Percy shrugged. "Probably really had to go."

"But did you even see her leave?"

"No. We were hugging. Remember?"

"But I don't understand why she would leave so suddenly."

"I honestly don't see such a big deal about it, Annabeth. I mean, it's not like they're monsters in disguise."

"Speaking of monsters," Annabeth said. "Don't you think we would have attracted some by now?"

"Well, they probably are all scared off because they know we kicked Gaea's butt and everything." Percy suggested. Annabeth frowned, unconvinced of Percy's reasoning, but didn't argue.

"I think you're overthinking this whole situation." Percy continued. "We're on vacation. Nothing's out to get us."

"I guess I'm just not used to being on vacation…" Annabeth admitted. "There's always something to ruin it."

"Not this time. I'll make sure of it." Percy assured with a cheeky grin and wink.

"Emma is always here." Elliot announced to Percy and Annabeth as he lead the two teenagers to the JuiceNet Cafe later that afternoon.

They pushed through the beads that hung in the door frame. Rikki and Cleo sat at the counter, Cleo drinking a juice and Rikki was watching a bunch of boys play pool. Emma was cleaning behind the counter.

"Emma!" Percy waved and flashed a cocky grin. Annabeth rolled her eyes but smiled in Emma's direction. Emma looked up from what she was cleaning and masked her scowl with a forced smile.

"Great. He's here." Emma groaned.

"Look on the bright side, Emma," Cleo spoke up. "We still have Mako. He can't follow us there."

"Well don't give him any ideas. He's stupid enough to go exploring."

"You work here?" Percy asked Emma once he got to the counter with Annabeth and Elliot.

"Practically lives here." Elliot teased.

"Elliot." Emma grumbled. Elliot flashed a smile before running off to go talk to his friends.

Noticing Emma's irritated look, Percy chuckled.

"Brothers."

However, only Percy was really laughing. Emma furrowed her brows.

"What are you talking about? You're an only child." Emma asked. Annabeth internally groaned at Percy's stupidity. Percy's eyes immediately widened, realizing that Emma didn't know about his cyclops brother.

"I have brothers." Annabeth quickly chimed in. "And Percy's practically family so he can understand sometimes how they can be."

"And Elliot is like a little brother to me too, so I really understand you." Percy added. It sounded so unrealistic, Emma wasn't convinced. But she didn't argue. She had forgotten how stupid Percy can be.

"My shift is over. How about I make us all couple of juices and we go sit over there?" Emma suggested. "Do you mind showing them, Cleo?"

"Not at all. C'mon, we can sit over here." Cleo motioned for Percy and Annabeth to follow. She took Rikki by the hand and dragged her over to a booth. As they walked, Percy pressed a kiss against Annabeth's temple.

"Thanks for saving me back there." He murmured with a sheepish chuckle. Annabeth rolled her eyes but smiled.

"Seaweed Brain."

Percy and Annabeth slid into one side of the booth, Cleo and Rikki across from them, all waiting for Emma.

"So...You're Emma's friends?" Percy questioned. Cleo and Rikki nodded.

"She's our best friend." Cleo replied. A silence settled awkwardly between the teenagers. Cleo fidgeted a little before speaking again.

"Do you like it here in the Gold Coast?"

"It's really beautiful." Annabeth answered. "It's nice to be in such warm weather."

"And I'm really looking forward to swimming in the ocean. The beaches look awesome." Percy added. Rikki and Cleo didn't respond, avoiding Percy and Annabeth's gazes.

"So you two are dating." Rikki suddenly said. "How'd that happen?"

"I met Annabeth at a summer camp when we were twelve."

"You two started dating when you were twelve?" Cleo asked, raising her eyebrows. Annabeth and Percy both snorted.

"No way. He always got on my nerves." Annabeth replied.

"Hey!"

"We didn't start until we were sixteen." Annabeth continued, ignoring Percy.

Just then, Emma walked over to the group with casual clothes on and carrying a tray of drinks. She placed the tray on the table and slid beside Rikki and Cleo.

"I got you guys drinks I thought you'd like." Emma announced, passing cups around.

"Thank you." Annabeth smiled as she accepted the juice.

"Thanks, Em." Percy took a sip. Emma narrowed her eyes.

"Don't call me that."

"Only Ash is allowed to." Rikki teased. Percy nearly choked on his drink.

"Who's Ash?"

"Emma's boyfriend." Rikki answered. Emma rolled her eyes.

"He's not my boyfriend...well, not entirely. I mean, we've gone out but it's no big deal."

"I want to meet him and make sure he's good enough for you." Percy announced. Emma groaned.

"You're not my brother, Percy."

"That's right, I'm not! But Elliot's too young. Someone's gotta look out for you, so I might as well be an older brother." Percy explained with a grin.

"We're the same age, Percy."

"Emma, you always kill the fun." Percy complained. Emma narrowed her eyes at him as she struggled to keep her irritation under control.

"Speaking of fun," Annabeth injected to keep Emma and Percy from bickering. "Are there any attractions around here?"

"There's the Marine Park." Cleo suggested. "I work there so I can let you guys in with a discount and everything. There's lots to do, like dolphin shows and roller coasters."

"And like Percy mentioned, there's plenty of beaches to hang out." Rikki added.

"That reminds me!" Percy said. "I want a rematch, Emma."

"I don't race anymore."

Percy nearly choked on his drink.

"You're joking."

"I'm not."

"C'mon, Em!" Percy whined. "We used to race all the time!"

"And that wasn't enough for you?"

"I've gotten better! I was so sure that this time I'll be able to win for once!"

"Percy, I don't swim competitively anymore." Emma stated firmly.

"But you used to do it all the time. You loved to swim." Percy protested.

"Well," Emma tried to find a better excuse. "I don't anymore."

"Not even one race? With me?"

"I don't swim at all Percy."

"This is so unlike you, Emma."

"It's been five years. People change. We both grew up. I'm never swimming again, so can we please just drop it now?"

"Did you even know that Emma had a cousin?" Lewis asked Charlotte as they walked barefoot on the beach carrying fishing supplies.

"No. I don't know her as well as you do, Lewis." Charlotte said, looking disinterested in the subject.

"Do you think he'd be attractive?" Lewis asked. "I mean, attractive to girls like Cleo."

"Why don't you just ask Cleo?" Charlotte muttered in an icy tone. Lewis scanned the area, deep in thought, before he spotted Zane a little ways away from the pair.

"Hey, there's Zane! I'll go ask him. I'll catch you later, Charlotte!" Lewis jogged towards the other boy. Charlotte let out an annoyed huff before turning around and walking in the other direction.

"Hey, Zane! Zane!" Zane stopped and turned around.

"What's up, Lewis?"

"Did you know that Emma has a cousin?" Lewis asked.

"People tend to have relatives, Lewis." Zane said sarcastically.

"Apparently Emma's is attractive. At least, Cleo seems to think so."

"What? Are you getting jealous?"

"What? No! No! I'm with Charlotte. I'm just trying to look out for Cleo's wellbeing. We've never even heard about the guy before. He could be dangerous." Lewis said. Zane snorted.

"Sounds like you're jealous, mate."

"It's not just Cleo, Zane. Rikki seems attracted to him too." Zane's boyish grin faltered, stopping in the sand to face Lewis.

"Rikki?"

"Yes! She seemed more interested than Cleo, to be honest. But either way, I don't like it. They're not letting me meet the guy." Lewis explained.

"But we should." Zane said. "We should go meet this guy. He can't be all that great, especially if he's related to Emma."

"What if we took him to the Marine Park?" Lewis suggested. "Like you invite Rikki to go on a date and Emma can come with her cousin and Cleo. So we can see what this guy is really like."

"Sounds like a plan. After all, we have to make sure who this guy really is."