I lot of this I copied from the book, just adding a couple sentences here and there so most of this belongs to Rick Riordan.

On the last day of camp, I was taking one last walk along the beach when a familiar voice said, "Good day for fishing."

My dad, Poseidon, was standing knee-deep in the surf, wearing his typical Bermuda shorts, beat-up cap, and a real subtle pink-and-green Tommy Bahama shirt. He had a deep-sea fishing rod in his hands, and when he cast it the line went way out—like halfway across Long Island Sound.

"Hey, Dad," I said. "What brings you here?"

He winked. "Never really got to talk in private on Olympus or at your house. I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me? You came to the rescue."

"Yes, and I got my palace destroyed in the process, but you know—palaces can be rebuilt. I've gotten so many thank-you cards from the other gods. Even Ares wrote one, though I think Hera forced him to. It's rather gratifying. So, thank you. I suppose even the gods can learn new tricks. Also, take care of your sister next year. She's going to need it. Especially now that Aphrodite has taken a liking to her." From the look he gave me I understood just what he meant. Was she in for it or what?

The Sound began to boil. At the end of my dad's line, a huge green sea serpent erupted from the water. It thrashed and fought, but Poseidon just sighed. Holding his fishing pole with one hand, he whipped out his knife and cut the line. The monster sank below the surface.

"Not eating size," he complained. "I have to release the little ones or the game wardens will be all over me."

"Little ones?"

He grinned. "You're doing well with those new cabins, by the way. I suppose this means I can claim all those other sons and daughters of mine and send you some more siblings next summer."

"Ha-ha."

Poseidon reeled in his empty line.

I shifted my feet. "Um, you were kidding, right? Seriously, Brooke was a big enough shock. I'm fine with just her for a while."

Poseidon gave me one of his inside-joke winks, and I still didn't know whether he was serious or not.

"I'll see you soon, Percy. And remember, know which fish are big enough to land, eh? Oh and speaking of the devil."

I turned to see Brooke crossing the sand towards us.

"I heard you were at camp," she said to our dad.

"I actually wanted to talk to you," he told her. I could take a hint so I left them to talk.

BrookePOV

"You have a tough year ahead of you," my dad told me, still fishing/

"Really?" I said sarcastically. "I never would have guessed. Percy keeps telling me horror stories about math class." I shuddered at the thought of my dyslexic brain trying to do math.

"I wasn't just talking about high school. You and your brother have some pretty powerful enemies. Zeus being one of them. I would avoid even jumping if I were you," he teased but I could tell he was serious. "Aphrodite and Artemis have both taking a liking to you. Aphrodite says there's no chance of you joining the Hunt, something about loving boys too much," here he paused and gave me a knowing glance making me redden, "but Artemis says she'll wait until your first heartbreak. Just watch out."

We talked for sometime more until I made my way back to camp. That evening was the bead ceremony. It was my 9th bead, the same number as Annabeth's. I hadn't technically become a camper until age 5 so that's why I didn't have 14 beads. It had been designed by the Hephaestus cabin and depicted the Empire State Building and the names of all of those who had died. The memory of that battle was still fresh in my mind. Images of blood, death, and destruction haunted my sleep. Andrew, Connor, and Travis could sense what I was thinking of and they all gave me reassuring smiles and hugs.

Chiron was giving a speech but I kind of tuned him out. That is until he called my brother, the Leader of Camp Half-Blood, up to speak. Then I kind of tuned back in.

"So, hey guys," he said. Go figure, the Leader of Camp Half-Blood would say that at the beginning of his very important speech.

"I know this summer has been pretty hard on all of us. We've all lost friends, brothers, and sisters. We've seen the harsher side of the world and suffered the pain that war brings us. But we have all learned from this experience. We know how to prevent the mistakes we made from happening all over again. And even though we have lost, we have also gained. We've made new friends and allies. From each other we have earned trust and respect from each other. And with the addition of so many campers a lot of us have got a couple new siblings, right Brooke?"

Here he turned and smiled at me. I smiled right back.

"We all have a tough year ahead of us as we rebuild what has been destroyed both literally and figuratively, but I know we can do it. After all, we are demi-gods, aren't we?"

Here we all cheered. I whispered to Annabeth who was sitting in front of me, "This is a pretty good speech, did you write it for him?" She just winked and told me to keep listening.

"And many of you are probably wondering, so yes I did actually right this speech myself, Annabeth did not do it for me."

Whoa, creepy! We all laughed at this but Connor and Travis kept laughing from the shocked expression on my face

"I can't wait to see you all next summer."

Then Chiron half trotted, half limped back up as Percy sat down next to Annabeth.

"Never forget this summer!" Chiron told us. "We have discovered bravery and friendship and courage this summer.

We have upheld the honor of the camp."

"And now," Chiron said, "early to bed! Remember, you must vacate your cabins by noon tomorrow unless you've made arrangements to stay the year with us. The cleaning harpies will eat any stragglers, and I'd hate to end the summer on a sour note!"