6:00 pm, Friday, April 8th, 2011

Prom Night.

The biggest night for any junior or senior, the night you look forward to for years. You get to wear pretty clothes and have the time of your lives with your friends.

Percy Jackson was in his bathroom staring at his reflection. He leaned down and splashed some water on his face, deep in thought.

He never thought he would get here.

Before he had figured out he was a demigod, he had always been certain that he either wouldn't be in school by this point or have been banned from the event due to bad behaviour.

And then the after, and he was told, at twelve, that he wasn't likely to survive past sixteen. That was just the way of a demigod, that's how it had always been.

Percy sighed and tugged on the vest he had bought, partially thinking that this all was a fever dream, and one day he would wake up, dying on the floor of Olympus, having given his life along with Luke. Or maybe he would wake up in a hospital and his mom and Gabe would be there, and the past 5 years had all been a dream.

He shook his head, dispelling the thoughts. Tonight was not a night to think about that, tonight was a night to celebrate, and to him a night to remember that he had defied the heroes fate he had been cursed with.

At least for now.

He grit his teeth as the intrusive thought popped up, and splashed more water onto his face.

There came a rap at the door. "You ready, Perce? Your mom wants some photos before we go, and Sydney, Damien, Kate, and Cameron are here." Annabeth called.

He opened the door, tugging on his suit jacket. "How do I look?" He asked her.

She adjusted his collar, before stepping back and smiling. "Great. How do I look?" She asked, giving a twirl to show off her dress.

Speaking of which, the dress was one of the most gorgeous things he had ever seen. He was fairly certain it was the result of a favour Piper pulled from her mother, not that that was a bad thing.

It was silver, with a sort of cape trailing behind. The cape at the bottom, in a bright blue, had the delta on it, a homage to Annabeth's late brother, Daedalus.

"Gorgeous," he said, pulling her closer to her by the waist. She smiled at him, and they were just about to kiss when the door opened.

In the doorway stood Sydney, along with the rest of their friends. "Ha!" Said Sydney, "Told you they'd be kissing!"

"Why am I not surprised?" Said Jason, smirking when the couple blushed.

"Stable Incident?" Piper asked, laughing when Percy and Annabeth sent glares her way, "Oh calm down you two. Us teasing you is revenge for you two had us all thinking you had been kidnapped."

Percy shook his head, but smiled and pushed past the group. They all walked to the front hall where all the parents - Sydney's Dads had driven her and Cameron over while Damiens parents had brought him and Kate to the apartment - were waiting for photos.

Sally gave Percy and Annabeth a long look, before turning to the rest of the group, "We're they making out?" Their friends gave enthusiastic nods, and the adults laughed when Percy and Annabeth groaned.

The next minutes were spent with them all smiling and posing, laughing and already giddy from excitement. Finally, the group was dismissed and they got onto the train heading down to the school.

The girls had all snagged seats, and the boys stood in front of their dates.

After one change, they got off the train, and headed to their school, ready to have the times of their lives.

8:15 pm, Friday, April 8th, 2011

Sydney Lise was having the time of her life.

She had danced for multiple songs, sung along to everyone she knew, ate as much food as she could, and was now sat with her friends around a table.

Cameron was to her right, trying to convince Jason to join the football team next year. Next to Jason, Piper and Kate were deep in conversation. Next to them, was Cameron and Annabeth, who were making small talk. Percy was to Sydneys left.

Over the loudness of the cafeteria, Sydney faintly heard a phone ring. She turned to her left, where Percy was fishing his phone out of his pocket. He tapped accept and brought the phone to his ear.

She was close enough to hear his greeting, but not the other person. "Hey Will!" He said.

Piper glanced at him in surprise but turned back to her conversation. Sydney watched Percy.

At some point into the conversion, the other person must have said something very, very surprising, because Percys eyes widened by a lot. He took in a quick breath, which drew Annabeths attention.

The room had quietened down by this point, as another slow dance came on. So Sydney could very clear;y hear Annnabeth say, "Percy, whats going on?"

"A lot."

Annabeth gave a huff, "Put the phone on speaker."

Percy obliged, "Will," he cut in, "Gove me one sec, I'm putting you on speaker." Piper and Jason exchanged a look, and got up and moved closer to the phone. In fact, the entire group crowded in, curious.

"-Okay. Well, she was found in the junkyard, barely conscious, on the verge of death. We think she came through the doors, but Nico isn't in a state that he can confirm that right now."

"Whose she?" Annabeth asked. Percy mouthed a name, still listening to the boy on the other end of the line explain that Nico, whoever that was, had been crying for the past few hours. The boy on the other end of the line sounded exhausted, Sydney noticed.

At the name, Annabeth's eyes widened. Sydney barely caught her hiss, "She's alive?" Percy gave a nod, still listening.

Annabeth voiced a question, "When is she going to be brought into Camp?"

"Hey Annabeth," The boy said, before giving a sigh, "We're working on that. From what I've heard she's got multiple broken ribs, major burns, and is barely breathing. The retrieval process is going to be delicate, but we're lucky one of my siblings lived in the area."

"What's going on?" Jason asked, confused.

"Someone came through the doors," Percy said, before slipping into another language to talk to the boy.

The group leaned back at that point and all looked at Annabeth. Her brow was furrowed, and she seemed noticeably pale and shaken. Piper asked her a question in that foreign language, and Annabeth replied.

Her reply was seemingly alarming, as Jason and Piper exchanged a look of pure surprise.

Damien asked a question, slightly nervous and very confused, "Everything okay?"

Annabeth sighed, "I think so. Someone we thought was dead isn't and that's going to be a bit of an interesting thing to deal with." She sighed again, "Look, there's a lot that I can't explain," She glanced at her boyfriend, "I think the best way to describe this would be family issues, but that's almost an understatement."

Jason grumbled something about barely two months and peace, and Annabeth grumbled something in that foreign language. Jason and Piper raised their glasses to that, along with Annabeth, before all taking a quick sip.

Annabeth put her cup on the table, and muttered something Sydney barely caught, "I'm not even surprised anymore." A pained grin, "I love everything about being…" Sydney didn't catch the rest of her words as the volume rose and Cameron took her hand and lead her to the dancefloor, and she forgot to ask what Annabeth had said.

Can anyone guess who came back? I feel I made it fairly easy to deduce, I just was trying to not name drop.