Percy walked with his father down to the beach, where Poseidon sighed, turned around, and stared at Percy.

He held out his arms, and Percy hugged him back.

"I know that seeing Annabeth getting hurt like that was hard for you. Percy Jackson, my son, I'm so proud of you. But you have to understand that you can't protect Annabeth everytime. She can defend herself very well, Percy. And a tip: always let Annabeth know you love her, Percy. If she ever doubts that, you can bet you're going to be in bed crying into your pillow within 2 days. I know Athena and her type, and I'm guessing that Annabeth is the same."

Percy looked up at his father.

"Dad…. are you giving me your blessing and permission to date Annabeth?"

"Percy…..I have no control over you. You are my main pride, my favorite son. But you know that our relationship is not the normal, typical father-son relationship. I could not say yes, nor no. Do what is right Percy. I know you will.

Poseidon hugged him once more, and disappeared.

Percy sighed, laid down in the sand, and stared at Long Island Sound. He had some thinking to do.

******************************Annabeth's POV************************************

Thalia tackled me as soon as Percy left.

"OH MY GODS ANNABETH! I'M SO GLAD YOUR OK!"

I smiled and hugged her back.

Out of the blue, Thalia started sobbing on my shirt.

"What the heck, Thalia?"

'I-I-It's just th-that I remember when Lu-luke and I-I found you-an-and y-you were so little an-and n-now you ha-ave a boyfriend-an-and-yoour so grow-n-n up, an-and Luke-c-can't-see-you-he'd-d be so p-proud!

"Oh, Thalia…..I'm still the same little blonde girl you rescued, I'm just taller and have longer hair, Percy is nothing compared to you, and Luke died to save us, so I could be like this, Thalia. He died a hero. I miss him as well, but he did what was right. It's OK, Thalia."

Thalia pulled back

"ANNABETH! IDEA!"

"Yes"?

"Let's go on a quest to steal Luke's soul from the Underworld! Apollo is also the god of life, right? We could have him shoot life into Luke through a shot or something…..It's perfect!

"I don't know, Thalia"

Annabeth sighed, and said

"Let's go ask Chiron."