Clumping up the stairs preceded my friends, bursting out on deck in a weird mixture of armor and pajamas. We had all folded our wings in, so all they could see were a bunch of kids on the deck. I could hear what each of the demigods were thinking:
Percy: What? Kids? Wait, why does the tall girl look familiar?
Me: Yep, kids. And - Max looks familiar to you? Hmm...
Annabeth: How'd they get up here?
Me: Oh, Annabeth. If only you knew...
Jason Grace: Who are they?
Me: My friends, stupid.
Piper: They're all staring at me.
Me: Well, no freaking duh, Pipes. You're gorgeous.
Hazel: Why are they here?
Me: Um, let's see...
Frank: What's going on?
Me: Four words: I'm back, my friend.
Leo: OMG THAT GIRL'S HOT!
Me: Back off, Leo.
My brother Jason: Where's my sister?
Me: Uh, right here.
Chris: Who are they?
Me: My friends. Wait, no 'Where's Gabi?' You're my boyfriend!
Taylor: Why's that girl eyeing my boyfriend?
Me: Wait, Nudge? NUDGE!
Caelyn: Ooh they look like fun people!
Me: I'll say...
Sara: I don't see Gabi…
Me: Thank you, but I'm right here.
Kayla: Ooh hotties…
Me: Girl, get a life.
It seemed that they hadn't noticed me. Within seconds, the flock was surrounded. "Whoah," Max said, raising her hands. "We're not gonna hurt you."
"Maaaxx?" Nudge whispered, drawing everyone's attention. She pointed at my brother. "He looks like Gabi…"
"Gabi?" Jason (A/N: It's too confusing to keep calling them brother jason and jason grace. I'm just gonna call brother jason Jason and jason grace JG, okay? Okay.) said, stiffening. Percy was frowning in Max's direction.
"Yeah." I slid off Festus's neck, landing beside the rest of the flock. "Jason's my twin."
"Gabi!" Jason flung himself forward and hugged me. I stiffened, remembering the wings. Fortunately, he didn't seem to notice them. He pulled back, beaming at me. "Where have you been, sis?"
I turned toward Iggy. "Ig, wanna answer that?"
"In sweet Death Valley, of course," he promptly replied.
"But how did you get up here?" Annabeth asked, stepping forward.
"Flew," Gazzy said.
Leo looked confused. "Flew? Like, plane flew?"
I rolled my eyes. "No way, Repair Boy."
"Okay, do not call me-"
"Then how?" JG cut across Leo's rant.
"Like this," I said, unfolding my wings.
Everyone except the flock gasped. I have to say, my wings are pretty. They're raven black, the same color as Percy's hair (Fang's too) and about fifteen feet across. The right wing has a streak of silver that mirrors the one in my hair from when I was thirteen and held up the sky for a day and a half. "Guys, it's cool," I muttered in response to Max's glare. One by one, the rest of the flock whipped out their wings too.
"You - have - wings?" Jason said, looking totally awestruck. "Sweet!"
"My dad's gonna kill you, Gab," Sara and JG said in unison. Then Sara spoke alone. "You know he hates you."
"Your dad hates all children of Poseidon," I retorted. "He's Zeus, the freaking god of the sky!"
Sara rolled her brilliant blue eyes. "Okay, you've got a point there."
"Anyway," I said, folding my wings back in, "what happened while I was gone?"