A/N: If you recognize it, it's not mine. Simple as that.

Chapter 11

Perci POV

Weeks passed since Bella's return from Italy and subsequent grounding and house arrest. Surprisingly, she had taken her punishment gracefully, though Charlie and I knew she hated not being allowed out of the house for anything other than school or work, especially since I spent a lot of time at the reservation. Paul had asked me to spend some more time with the pack while they were on high alert after I told them about the demigod dream I had of a bunch of vampires. We had a feeling that the dream I had may have something to do with all the disappearances and murders happening in Seattle, though we didn't have enough evidence to be sure, since nobody wanted to go near Seattle alone to get the information if it was true.

I had offered to go myself, being immortal, but Paul had shut down the offer immediately after I suggested it, saying that even if I was immortal, he didn't want me to test how long it would take me to reform by going up there nearly unprepared. I had argued, but in the end, it had been Charlie requesting me that night to stay away until the violence died down. I would have been suspicious of the timing, had he not told me to pass the warning along to the members of the tribe that I hung out with.

At the moment though, I had no worries about potential vampire problems, or even stress about my upcoming finals hell, and graduation from high school. I was sitting, relaxed, on the beach in Paul's arms at a pack bonfire that reminded me of being back at camp. The mood was light, s'mores were being made, and a few songs had even been badly sung as we all enjoyed ourselves, even Leah, who was usually grumpy around everyone but Seth and I. We were all having such a good time, that the sound of footsteps on the sand a few feet away actually managed to go unnoticed until a voice spoke up from just beyond the bonfire circle.

"Delivery for one Perci Jackson." The semi-familiar male voice spoke up, making all heads whip around to face him. Grinning, I extracted myself from Paul's arms and walked over to hug the god in the track suit.

"Hermes, good to see you again." I said, enjoying the small squeeze I got in return. I was still angry with Zeus for my immortality, but I didn't hold it against the rest of the council. Hermes and Apollo were two of my favorite immortal cousins anyway, so it was genuinely great to see him.

"Great to see you too, Perce. Mind if I sit, I've actually got a few minutes before I need to go again." He said, drawing a giggle from me as I gestured to the empty spot on a log where I was sitting before Paul pulled me into his lap.

"Go ahead, let me introduce you to everyone. Guys, this is my cousin Hermes, god of messengers, travelers, and thieves. Hermes, this is Sam, Jared, Jacob, Embry, Quil, Leah, Seth, Emily, and Kim." I said, pointing out the other members of the pack, smiling slightly as I pointed to Quil, who had joined the pack just two weeks ago and was loving it.

"Nice to meet you guys, but who is this, cousin?" Hermes asked, giving me his troublemaker smirk as he pointed to Paul, who suddenly seemed nervous. In response, I sat back down in his lap, my eyes never leaving Hermes as I snuggled back into the warmth of my wolf.

"This is Paul Lahote, my boyfriend and soulmate. Paul, this is Hermes, my third favorite immortal cousin." I introduced, smiling at the look of offense on said immortal's face.

"And who's in front of me?" He demanded a look of playful hurt on his face, which I just grinned cheekily at.

"Thalia's first, and number 2 is Artemis. If it makes you feel better, Apollo is number 4." I said, laughing as he nodded in acceptance before gaining a smug look at being told he was my favorite ahead of Apollo.

"It does, thanks." He said, making the rest of the pack laugh at his antics.

"Don't forget to give her the package!" Another familiar male voice hissed, making Hermes sigh.

"I was going to say that!" A female voice snapped at the male voice, earning a snort from me as Hermes pulled out his cellphone and turned it into his caduceus.

"George, Martha, quit arguing and say hello to Perci." He said, easily ignoring the wide-eyed looks he got from the rest of the pack.

"Hello, Perci." The snakes said in unison, turning to look at me, before George opened his mouth to spit out a perfectly dry package into Hermes' waiting hand, the god immediately turning his symbol back into a cell phone and holding out the package to me.

"Here you go Perci, best give it to you now before I get called away again. They're responses to your graduation announcements from everyone but Ares and Dionysus. If I'm not mistaken, they're all confirmations that they'll be there. I've even got permission to take time off to attend, though I can already tell you that Ares and Dionysus won't be going, though I doubt you mind that." He said, giving me a wink that left me smirking.

"Why are so many gods willing to go to a high school graduation?" Quil asked, seeming awed by the fact. Hermes simply snorted in response, happily accepting the can of coke I offered to him from the cooler. Cracking it open and taking a quick sip, he looked over at Quil in amusement.

"Because Perci is the hero and savior of Olympus. She's saved our asses and our thrones twice, and has only asked for better conditions for demigods and Hades and Hestia in return. She's everyone's favorite demigod, though very few will admit it, and is the greatest demigod in history, which nobody will deny. When my father made her immortal, no one disputed it because everyone wanted to keep her around. He's willing to make her a god if she asks, and she doesn't have to impress him for it. The only reason Ares and Dionysus aren't coming is because Ares is her rival, and D's still grounded to the camp." He said, making Seth do an impressive spit take.

"Ares is your rival? How did that happen?!" He half-shouted, making Hermes and I laugh.

"I beat him in a sword fight at age 12 with little training. I've openly mocked, made fun of, and criticized the gods since I found out I was a demigod, Ares is just the only one to declare rivalry with me." I said, shrugging as Hermes snorted again.

"You're as powerful as Triton and not even a god. Nobody's stupid enough to declare rivalry with you but him, especially not with everything you've done for the minor gods." He said, before groaning at George's voice telling him they had to go again.

"Tell them about some of the things you've done, cousin, seriously. It was nice to meet you all." He said, before running off and disappearing soon after. As soon as he faded from sight, every pair of eyes turned toward me, a silent demand to know what my cousin had been talking about in them. I sighed, before checking the time, standing when I saw how late it was.

"I'll tell you another time, promise. I've got to get going myself, it's nearly nine, and I have school tomorrow." I told them, bending to give Paul a quick kiss before walking back to my car with a wave to the others, ignoring the groans that trailed after me. When I got back to the house, Charlie and Bella were both sitting on the couch in the living room, and looked up when I entered.

"Hey Perci, did you have a good time at the bonfire?" Charlie asked, making Bella scowl slightly. Paul had made sure Bella knew that the pack wasn't too happy with her taking back the vampires so easily the few times he'd come over during her grounding to hang out. Jacob was pretty much the only one who wanted her around more, while the others were more than happy to have her off the rez if she was going to accept the Cullens back so easily. As far as Paul was concerned, she was only allowed near the pack if she was with a member of it.

"Yeah, it was fun. I discovered that when I sent out my graduation announcements that since I addressed them at Sam and Emily's, I accidentally put their address for the return one, and a bundle of responses came for me today." I said, lifting up the bundle of letters, making him snort in amusement at my 'mistake'. In reality, I had just sent them through Hermes Express, and they came back the same way. I trusted my cousin with my mail more than I did with most mailmen.

"Why did you send them out so early anyway? Graduation isn't for another month and a half." Bella asked, making me roll my eyes.

"Because most of the people I want to come live in New York and have lives, they needed a decent amount of warning so they could make plans. As it is, I'm pretty sure most of them are coming for the ceremony and leaving same day if they've decided to come. The only ones I know are staying for a few days are my mom and step-dad, and even that's to make sure they have time to spend with me, and to meet my Paul. You should've heard my mom laugh when I told her that my step-dad and boyfriend share a name so I would be addressing the one she married as 'older Paul'." I said, chuckling slightly at the memory of that conversation. Step-dad Paul had taken to calling mine his 'mini-me', and he hadn't even met mine.

I said my good nights after that, explaining to Charlie that Emily had made sure I ate at the bonfire, before heading down to my room for bed. Once I was in my pajamas, I checked the responses, just in case Hermes was unaware of someone having to decline coming. Annabeth, Nico, and Thalia had all accepted, much to my delight, as had the rest of the seven, though Leo was bringing Calypso, and Nico was bringing Will Solace, not that I minded. The curse she was under on Ogygia made it to where she fell in love with every male that landed there, but she became friends with females. Reyna was unable to come, as she had something else happening that day, and Chiron was unable to make it because he had his duties at camp, but other than them, the rest were coming. Though, Athena I was pretty sure only agreed to see if I was lying or not, she wasn't exactly impressed with my school record.

I grinned as I read my father's response though. Not only were he and Triton coming, Amphitrite staying behind because someone had to run Atlantis, -my step-mother had come to like me, same as Triton-, but he was bringing Tyson with him. My cyclops half-brother would be under heavy Mist, but he would be coming to my graduation, and was apparently forging me a new set of hunting knives as a graduation gift. Finished going through the responses, and getting over the shock that Zeus and Hera were both coming as well, I went to bed, offering a prayer to Morpheus for no demigod dreams.

The next morning, I immediately said a prayer of thanks to the god of dreams, as I didn't dream of anything but the sea, before getting ready for the dreaded school. Luckily, the day seemed to fly by, as most of the teachers were giving a review of everything in preparation for finals, and soon enough, it was time for lunch. When I dropped my books off at my locker, I found a nice surprise, in the form of a lunch box with a sticky note on it. 'That is not food, it's slop. Enjoy some real food, Perci. Love, Aunt Hestia'. Smiling, I pocketed the note, wondering how she found out about the crappy food quality at school.

Trusting her completely, I shut my locker and took the lunchbox with me as I headed to the cafeteria. I gazed longingly at the table the swim team sat before sitting down at Bella's usual table, a request from Charlie to keep an eye on Edward that had no one too thrilled. Jessica Stanley offered me what I assumed was a glare when she spotted the lunch box, though to me it looked like something was in her eye, while Angela Weber, the only one of Bella's 'friends' I liked, smiled welcomingly at me. I returned the smile before opening the lunch box, and grinned when I saw the portion container inside. It contained amazing smelling meat loaf, which Hestia somehow made blue, steamed carrots, and blue mashed potatoes. A bag of blue chocolate chip cookies were tucked in as well as a thermos.

"Why is your food blue?" The annoyance that was Mike Newton asked, giving my meal an odd look.

"She always makes food blue, I've never understood why." Bella's voice chimed in as she sat down at the table, her Cullen entourage of Edward, Alice, and a honey blonde vampire who I had been told was Jasper with her.

"If you'd mentally existed when I first arrived Bella, you'd know exactly why. But for Angela's sake, as she's the only one at this table I actually enjoy spending time with, I will inform you all that I like blue food because my first step-dad said that there was no such thing. After that, my mom made an effort to eat blue just to prove him wrong. After Gabe's disappearance, the tradition continued, and I don't plan on stopping." I said primly before taking a bite of my blue meatloaf, and nearly moaning at the taste. Aunt Hestia made such good food, it was unreal.

"I've decided to throw a graduation party, everyone's invited." Alice said, breaking the sudden tension at the table that I honestly didn't care that I created. The effect was instantaneous, as everyone at the table started chattering excitedly about a party at the elusive Cullen's house. I instantly resolved to invite Paul since Charlie would likely ask me to go, despite Bella being conditionally ungrounded now, before noticing Alice's blank face, indicating she was having a vision. Bella telling the pack about the abilities of the Cullens really came in handy with moments like these, I just hoped the vision didn't mean trouble. Though, since the Fates hated me, I was sure there would be trouble anyway. Joy.