Piper POV

Okay, let's just say that my inner Aphrodite mugged my normal self and took total control. I kept shooting smug looks at Nico. Hadn't I already told him to get a girl? I mean, really, he was starting to look like that 'forever alone' guy. No, wait, scratch that. He was starting to act like that 'forever alone' guy. On the outside, he looked- as my half- sister Michelle had said- hot and totally available. Or, in Drew's opinion- delicious. Urgh, I mentally gagged. EW! Nico was like a brother to me, and in no way attractive.

I mean, Jason was already my boyfriend. But fine, if you want me to go into details…Nico was cute. Okay, hot. He had silky black hair that fell into his dark brown eyes, which had long lashes that really shouldn't have been wasted on a boy. He was really, really buff, with olive skin that glowed in the light of the braziers. (But Jason was still hotter)

Nico was even taller than Jason and nearly as tall as Percy, and no one had thought that that would ever happen. Okay, I ought to explain. Nico wasn't always this good- looking. At the party the gods had thrown to celebrate the end of the second giant war, Aphrodite and Artemis had had a massive argument, about how 'love is worthless!' and 'you insensitive cow! Love is what runs the world!' And finally my mom had lost it completely and had fired a bolt of pink magic at Artemis. But the goddess of the hunt had amazing reflexes and dove out of the way (Duh. Should have seen that one coming, mom). Nico wasn't so lucky. The pink energy hit him right in the chest and sent him flying into a small statue of- oh, the irony- his father.

Once we had dug him out of the rubble we had noticed something- he was a lot cuter. A lot. The entire Aphrodite cabin, including the goddess herself- was drooling. Of course, it was only the girls. Not the boys. Poor Nico didn't know what hit him. A few weeks later he had a run- in with the Greek goddess of youth. He mistook her for someone else and she was so deeply insulted she turned him into a ten- year old. He came to my mom bowing and scraping. Scratch that, groveling.

Finally she relented and put him back to normal (my mom is just that cool!). Well, tried is a better word. There was a side effect- he looked like he was seventeen, almost eighteen-ish. Nico hid in his cabin for weeks, but it still took several months for the demi-girls to give up on chasing him. Once he had rejoined the world of the living (a bad pun, I know) he had been really picky, but still a massive player.

Nico had never really liked a girl. But now…he was staring at the girl in his arms like she was candy. I couldn't stop a snicker from rising in my chest. But then i frowned...He better not screw up her love life. Percy didn't notice, but Jason cast a questioning glance at me. I nodded towards Nico and Jason grinned, making kissy faces. I giggled, and Percy stared at me, bewildered.

Then his gaze fell upon lover- boy and he chuckled. But as we reached the doors to the throne room –Nico was waiting for us- the smiles where wiped off our faces. Laughing in front of the council of the gods- a big no-no. Nico barely acknowledged us as we stepped through the doors beside him, but that was only to be expected, considering he only had eyes for Maximum (Strange name…). She moaned and whimpered in his arms curling herself into a tinier ball.

Nico smiled, and I smirked. Then silence. We walked up to Zeus's throne and knelt, waiting.

"Rise, heroes." We rose. "The gods thank you for what you did." While he was talking, my mom was eying Nico and the girl, a smug smirk playing on her lips. Mwahahahaha. I could feel the 'Awwww, such a perfect couple' vibes coming off her. Nico was sooooo gonna get a (Another) lecture about being loving, caring, and not ripping out the girl's heart and stomping on it. I snapped back to reality just as Zeus said. "We thank you greatly, for without you…we…er…would not be here."

The last part sounded like it was forced. Then the lord of the skies cleared his throat, his stormy eyes flitting over us. Then he did a double take and stared in disbelief at the girl in Nico's arms. "Hera, look!" the god breathed, sliding out of this throne and striding across the room to take Maximum from Nico. Hera turned pale. I guess none of the gods had been paying attention to Nico, as he had practically melted into the shadows. But now he was fully visible, staring at Zeus in confusion. Zeus didn't see our bewildered stares; he simply smiled down into Maximum's face. In a single, graceful move, Hera was by her husband's side; stroking Maximums hair out of her face.

"Um, care to explain dad?" Apollo said, eyebrows raised. He had even taken his ray-bans off. Oooh, he meant business. Zeus turned to face the other gods.

"This…this is our daughter," He whispered joyfully. Hera was smiling, but she was- oh gods, the queen of Olympus had tears dripping down her cheeks. And if that wasn't enough, even Zeus was looking teary. But that was nothing compared to the faces of the other gods, and ours. Personally, it was like being hit by a bus. Full of hell hounds.

"So, this girl is…a goddess?" Nico said weakly. Ha. Betcha he won't think twice about screwing around with her now. At least, I hope not.

"Yes." Hera murmured, smiling. "Maximum Ride, goddess and patron of mutants and mutations."

Athena furrowed her brow. "What? Father, mutations?"

The lord of the sky looked at her, the smile still lingering on her face. "Yes, mutations. A group of humans who believe that they are better than the rest of their race have been injecting children and other humans with the DNA of animals and plants.(Here he gritted his teeth slightly)They have suffered greatly, and many have died, but Maximum was part of a…Wait, WHAT?"

Jason, Nico, Percy and I took a careful step back. One moment Zeus looked really, really happy…the next he looked like he wanted to fry someone with a thunderbolt.

"Um, dad?" Hermes said nervously.

Ares was watching his father with a grin. "Lovely! He's so pissed!"

"How the Hades is that a good thing?" Percy snapped, while Hades raised a single, black eyebrow.

"I can hear you, you know."

Percy just rolled his eyes like, 'whatever'.

Jason stifled a laugh, but then turned to his fa-well, the Greek aspect of his father. "Dad, why are you so ticked?" he said bluntly.

"Because," -Zeus inhaled noisily through his nose- "Maximum was experimented on as a young child, but then she was freed from her prison by a man who claimed to be her biological father."

The god snorted, as though to say 'as if!'.

"She was then brought to a house in Colorado with five other children. After a while the man who freed them disappeared, and Maximum took care of the others. Then they were thrust into a series of challenging and difficult adventures, and Maximum risked her life for them more than once. But still, after all they had been through, as soon as they thought Max could be a spy, they kicked her out of their flock. That's what they called themselves for they all had the same ability- flight. They had all been genetically engineered to fly."

Well, that explained the wings.

Hera looked like she was going to set something on fire, and destroy half of the palace. "My poor darling! My baby!" And just then, Maximum woke up. Naturally.