Chapter: 12 What a nice surprise, NOT.

Annabeth's POV

I woke up with a start, yawning away long nights sleep. My legs stretched and retracted along the soft satin sheets. What, I didn't have satin sheets, I had rough cotton ones. And this definitely wasn't my apartment. I pinched myself, I wasn't dreaming. The nightmare of the last few days was over at least, but where was I now??

I got up and tried to make out my surroundings. My feet hit a floor made of a beautiful soft red coral and the large windows beside the bed were shaped like intricate shells, and lined with pearls. I looked out one of the windows but I didn't see the morning lights of New York. No, it was Deep Ocean, and those weren't angry taxi drivers, they were fish.

" Why didn't I think of this before? I'm Poseidon's palace under the Sea. " I muttered to myself, annoyed that I hadn't thought of it before. Turning around, I saw a figure standing before me. She looked totally beat-up, her blonde hair was messy and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. Her gray eyes were reddish and it looked like she'd been crying a lot lately. Then the familiar phrase came up again.

"Oh crap, that's me." I moved closer to the mirror and examined myself. Yes, my hair was messed up, and my clothes were wrinkled. I kind of looked like the hobo who lived down the street from my apartment. But, I had good reason to look this way, even though I had just woken up in a palace under the Sea. The beauty of it should have dazzled me. But still the only thing going through my head was: Where's Alice, is she all right??? Where's Percy Is he ok to??? Then I notice something that was different.

Around my neck there was a long chain of gold, and on the end lay a blood red heart shaped pendent. It was about the size of a quarter, but surprisingly not that heavy. I swung it back and forth in my hand still wondering where it had come from.

I slowly tried to take it off but as I did, it began to glow. As I got farther from my neck it glowed brighter, when it was almost off, it yanked itself back to its original place. I freaked out and continued trying to take it off.

After a while I realized it was like taking off a police ankle bracelet, it doesn't come off. "Great! This is the amulet of Aphrodite. She gives it to people as a reminder that she saved the one you they love. And I guess I deserve this…but you know how Aphrodite is about favors. This means Percy & Alice are alive."

Now I looked back at it. Last night, when Oceanus tried to kill Percy, so he could take over the Atlantic Ocean, I jumped in front of him. Percy might not be died, if I was wearing this.

I stood their staring at the amulet for a few seconds in the glittering under-sea light. I reluctantly laid it back down into its place and proceeded to find some clothes that didn't make me look like a truck had hit me.

"Not like I don't feel it." I thought sarcastically to myself. I opened the door to the closet and to my surprise I found, my own clothes. No grant it, they were from a long time ago but they were mine.

There in the closet lay a blue spring dress. I hadn't seen it in years, but there it was. Below it on the floor was a pair of purple sandals. I took them out of the closet, feeling the soft dress fabric. Then it hit me. I'd last worn this dress when Percy took me to the beach one last time the memory was crisp in my mind. I loved that night, it had been perfect, and the kind of thing you dream about later. I'd fallen asleep sitting on the beach, Percy wanted to watch the sun go up and stay up until it went down. But sadly even I couldn't stay up that late, so I fell asleep.

Percy had carried me down to his motorcycle, and I don't know how got me back to his mom's. I spent the morning asleep on Percy's couch. I had borrowed some of Sally's old clothes because mine were all sandy and wet, (that was Percy fault, wanting to go for a midnight swim.) and left mine at their apartment. I don't know how, but Sally had kept them and given them to Percy. (I know it wasn't Percy who kept them 'cause he loses everything.)

As I slipped on the dress, I couldn't but smile. As soon as I was ready my motherly instincts kicked in, I've got to find Alice. I walked through the door next to the closet and proceeded to find my daughter.

I gasped.

Because as I did, I saw another familiar friend.

Percy's POV

I had been waiting in front of her room all night. I was getting impatient, until I saw the door creak open, and Annabeth came out. Her expression was pure surprise, just what I had expected. Two things probably surprised her:

One I was alive, and two, I wasn't a God anymore. Yes… that was it; I didn't have a big blue aura about me and looked a little less muscular than I had. Ok, I looked way different. Ok… how about going from a super powerful, semi –thirty year-old Greek God of the Sea, to an 19 year-old demi-god that she remembered from her teenage years again. I thought she would faint, but she just laughed. Wow, I hadn't heard her laugh in awhile…I couldn't help but smile. I stupidly asked her a question she of coarse new the answer to.

"What are you looking at Annabeth?" She smirked and her gray eyes slitted under the power of her giggling smile.

"Well if you haven't noticed your 19 again."

"You got a problem with that??"

"No, I kind of like it…"

"Well I hope you like younger guys 'cause I might just be like this for awhile. Unless I can get Zeus to reverse it."

"So, you're really not a God anymore? "

"Yep. When you jumped in front of me, it didn't destroy me it just made me they way I used to be. That's almost worse then getting destroyed don't you think?"

"I don't know…." Annabeth looked puzzled, but I guess she hadn't been in my position. She quickly changed the subject to more recent news.

"Where Alice?? Is she alright??"

"Yeah, she's down the in the gardens with my mom and Poseidon." I walked her down to the gardens, it was a short walk but I couldn't help but look at her. She noticed as my eyes opened wide with glee.

"You found the dress!" She looked at me and flashed a quick smile.

"I can't believe your mom kept it all these years."

"Actually I did…."

"You did??" I had kept it in the empty last drawer in my room for thirteen years. I don't why though.

We walked through the dark blue linen cloth drapes that hung over the threshold off to the garden, I saw my mom sitting on a coral bench and there standing next to her was my dad. When he saw us he smiled, the fake-coughed and pretended he wasn't looking at us walking together.

"Well I think your mom's here Alice." I saw Alice turn from were she was standing and run over to us. She practically strangled Annabeth in a hug and looked back at me with a weird look on her young face. I just couldn't help but laugh at her.

"Who's this??" It took her a second to realize it but she finally did.

"DAD??" Just to make her go crazy I answered her in my big God-like dad voice.

"Yes, sweet-heart?" Sure enough her face exploded with disbelief.

"Dad?? Is that you???"

"Yes, sweet-heart." She started to laugh, and then she moved over and hugged me. It was the first time my daughter had hugged me. It was a nice father-daughter moment.

"Well Son, I see she finally noticed that you're different now. Actually you're the age you were when and Annabeth won the second Trojan War."

I laughed. "Well Dad I feel the same too, isn't that weird??" He laughed.

My mom stood up and walked over to me, I noticed she was limping.

"Well at least he's my little boy again." I just smiled; she'd pay for that comment later.

"But how are we going to deal with this, Annabeth was given the Amulet of Aphrodite. That's huge favor from Aphrodite, which means a big price what are we going to do?"

"Hopefully Zeus can bring your age back up, I guess." My father added.

"And just forget this ever happened, seriously Grand-Dad?"

I looked at Alice, and smiled. After all the quests I had been on that had been the one question I always asked myself at the end.

"Well you know Alice none can take away your memories, their something you'll always have.

Annabeth looked back at me, as her gray eyes held back tears.

"And I'll always have the people who I made the memories with. "

"Now you will."

And I knelt down on one knee.