Okay so this is the first of a sequel so if you clicked on this randomly you might want to go read the first one—The Life Changing Choices—before you get totally confused with what's going on.

Percy's POV

It had been a year since that day at camp—when Alec went missing. Demi-gods had been disappearing left and right. They didn't leave any trace except for a pile of blood.

I sat in my apartment waiting for Annabeth to come home with the kids. They were growing incredibly fast—in one year they were the size of your average five-year-old. They were smart too.

Alec was making straight A's in history and Harley was a genius in math. Annabeth was teaching them everything she knew about architecture and she left me to teach them colors. Alec's favorite was purple; Harley's favorite was green.

I heard a car pull up and I set down the morning paper—it was starting to make me sick with its talk of the missing children. Annabeth came in and Harley trapped me in a tight hug—did I mention they were strong to?

"Hey! How are my ladies today?" I asked.

"We went to the store and I knew the total of everything in the cart before we got to the counter." Harley told me happily.

Alec had her arms crossed and looked angry—she reminded me so much of my renegade sister when she did that. I kneeled to her height. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"

"I saw these really cool high-top black and purple converse that were my size at the store and mom said 'No.'! She didn't even let me finish asking!" Alec shot Annabeth a pointed look.

Annabeth sighed. "We just got you shoes two weeks ago! You cannot keep getting new ones when you see some that you like better than the ones you have. I'll get them when the ones you have now need to be replaced. Percy, can you help me with the bags?"

"Daaaaad!" Alec wined.

I patted her head. "Your mother is right—as always. You don't need new shoes yet. Go be a good kid and play with your sister."

Alec glared at me and stormed off. I hoped she would take a knife to these shoes they way she had to her old ones when she had wanted the shoes she has now.

I went outside and Annabeth kissed me. "It's been a long day."

I picked up a couple bags out of the back of the Hummer. "I'm sorry. I would have come with you but I thought you wanted some time with the girls."

"I did. But then Harley wanted this and Alec wanted that . . . it was so irritating."

We took the groceries inside and started to put everything away. "Do you still want to go?"

"Of course! Your mom hasn't seen the kids in over a month." Annabeth threw away the plastic bags in the recycle bin. "Get the kids ready and I'll meet you outside."

I kissed her on the cheek and went to Harley's room. "Hey, honey, want to go see Nanna?" My mother had refused to be called grand-ma.

Harley smiled and threw down her Barbies that she had been terrorizing—she wouldn't play with them; she wanted them to be headless instead. "Nanna's house is so much fun!"

"Go out to the car while I get your sister." Harley gave me a sympathetic look and I nodded. "I know."

I walked down the hall and tapped on Alec's door. "What do you want?" A snapped reply came from behind the door

"We're going to Nanna's. Do you want to go or not?"

The door opened and Alec was standing there with her dark-blonde, almost light brown hair sticking out from under a Red Sox cap. "I want purple converse!"

"Yell at me again and I'll get you pepto-pink ones. Go to the car." I told her.

She glared at me but ran off to the car. I got there in time to see Annabeth help Harley into her seat but Alec just jumped in on her own—she was independent like that.

We showed up at my mom's house and the kids ran inside happily. She met us out front and hugged the kids. "Hey! Oh my gods, you're getting so big!"

"We went shopping with momma today!" Harley said happily.

"That's nice. We're you guys her little helpers today?" Mom asked nicely.

"Yes." Harley said innocently.

"Well, that's great because I have some blue, chocolate cookies inside just for little helpers like you."

The kids ran inside squealing with delight. Mom hugged Annabeth and I as we went inside. "You been treating my babies okay?"

"Of course," Annabeth said smiling. "Well, Alec was mad at me because I didn't get her the shoes she wanted from the store, but blue cookies will help her get over it."

"Didn't you just get her new shoes?" My mom laughed.

"Yes, we did. Annabeth told her we would get them when she needed new shoes and I thought she was going to go destroy the ones she has now."

"Like she did the last time?" Mom asked laughing more.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "So have you heard anything from camp?"

The mood turned serious as we all remembered what would be waiting for us when we got there. Mom smiled tightly. "Why don't we take this conversation to the living room." She glanced at the kitchen not two yards away and we nodded.

Once we were safely out of hearing range, mom started talking. "Chiron told me that you guys were going to be made council members for the entire camp this year. He doesn't want you going on any quests unless a prophecy clearly states you need to go. The children are welcome at camp but with what's going on he doesn't recommend it—he said there was no point in telling you guys that because you would bring them anyways."

We laughed slightly and Annabeth nodded knowing that people would want to see the kids. Alec and Clarisse—of all people—had bonded during her small, ten-minute visit in wal-mart. Harley was better friends with Nox than anyone else—she claimed to "admire his independence and logical out-look on life and death". Annabeth didn't like that much.

"Well, they have been tracking the person who has been killing all the demi-gods. They have a pretty good idea on where they are hiding but it's vague and they're not a hundred percent."

"It's the tunnels, isn't it?" Annabeth asked and my mom nodded. "Did they say who was behind it?"

My mom glanced at me for a second. "They're not for sure, no."

"Well, who do they think it is?" I asked. "They have to have some idea by now."

She looked down for a moment but wouldn't reach my eyes when she looked back up. "It's not a hundred percent. They don't even know if they even have a clue really."

I was getting a pulling, sickness in my gut. "Who?"

"Alec."

Before we could react or say anything, Alec jumped over the couch and landed next to Annabeth. "I'm not killing anyone!"

Annabeth hugged her. "I know, sweetheart, you wouldn't hurt a fly."

Alec pulled back. "Yes I would. They're annoying with the buzzing and what-not." We laughed but Alec narrowed her eyes. "Why do people think I'm killing kids?"

We got quiet. "They don't think that, honey." Annabeth told her.

"Nanna just said that they think I'm behind the killings of demi-gods. Why are you lying, Mom?" Alec said knowingly.

"That was adult talk, Alec." I said in a hard voice. "You weren't supposed to hear it. Nanna was talking about a different Alec. You know your mother wouldn't lie to you."

Alec thought about that. "I guess, but since I already heard can I stay?"

"No." We all said at the same time.

Alec glared at us and jumped over the back of the couch. "I never get trusted with anything." She mumbled as she went back to the kitchen.

Nico's POV

I walked quietly through the camp grounds. The campers were arriving as usual but I wasn't as interested as I had been during previous years.

Mace was walking with me playing with a broken stop watch. He was a year-rounder. He told me that things just weren't the same at his house since his younger sister was killed in a car crash but he wasn't the kind with lots to say.

Mal, however, had gone home for the year. His mother was searching for him since he ran off and he decided to see if she had changed at all. We hadn't heard anything from him but we were waiting to find out how it had gone.

Just then the voice of a familiar boy rang through the clearing. "Mace! Nico! What's crack-a-lacking?"

How Mal and Thalia were related, I would never know. Mal was so laid back and Thalia was always wound tighter than Hades on a bad day. I couldn't not crack a smile around these guys.

"Not shit, you?" Mace said giving him what they called "A very manly, best-friend's hug". They claimed that you're not a real man unless you can hug your best guy-friend in public and not look gay.

"Mom was cool . . . I'm lying. It sucked and I'm never going back." He held up his hand for a high five. "Year-rounders, baby!"

We smiled and gave him high fives. When he stopped laughing Mal asked what camp was like during the year. "Well, it's really quiet. Hardly anybody stays all year." Mace told him.

"How have you been, Nic?" Mal asked.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't call me that."

"Fine, Nico, how have you been?"

I shrugged. "Investigating shit, but you can't tell Chiron about that."

Mal smiled and pretended to zip his lips. "Whatcha been investigating?"

"The demi-gods that have been disappearing." I told him.

"He found out who they thought was behind it and made it his mission to prove them wrong." Mace said helpfully.

"Who?" Mal asked then his eyes flared in realization. "The Blonde Legend? No way! A killer of demi-gods? That's a load of shit and I didn't even know her."

I smiled tightly at the nick-name Alec had been given. It had switched around to things like "Blue Hero" and "World Hero" and "Legend from the Sea" but "The Blonde Legend" had won in the end. I thought they were all stupid.

"Yeah, but you can't argue with council investigators unless you have proof." I told him.

"You got any?" Mal asked.

I shook my head. "Nothing."

Mal and Mace were quiet. Then Mace shouted suddenly. "YES!"

"What?" Mal and I asked surprised.

Mace looked up from the watch sheepishly. "I beat my old record on this thing."

Annabeth's POV

Harley and Alec were sleeping in the back seat when we arrived at camp. They had been fighting for hours on how long it would take to get to the camp and then they FINALLY passed out.

Nico and two new kids met us as we got out of the car. "What's up, man?" Nico asked.

I was surprised he was actually talking now. "Ever ride in a car with twins?" Percy asked and Nico shook his head. "Don't."

We laughed and Percy popped the trunk. He pulled out a few bags and one of the boys offered to help.

"Thanks. Hey, I didn't get your name first time we met." Percy said.

"Oh, I'm Mace and this is my friend Mal." Percy shook their hands. "I'm a Hephaestus kid and Mal is a son of Zeus."

"Thalia's half-brother?" I asked and he nodded. "Gods' love her, but I would hate to be you."

"Oh, she didn't seem that bad when I met her." Mace said.

"That might be 'cause you were staring at her tits." Mal noted.

We laughed and they carried off the bags. I opened the door on Harley's side and got her out with only causing her to move around a little. "Do you mind getting out Alec, Nico?"

Nico hesitated but opened the door. He stared at the little girl in the seat for a few moments and I realized that this was the first time he had seen the kids. "Does she act like her?"

I smiled slightly. "She's a smart ass, independent, and obsessed with converse, what do you think?"

Nico smiled tightly but didn't answer. He lifted her from the car seat and she woke up.

Alec looked at Nico for a minute. "Do I know you?"

"I'm friends with your mother and father." Nico told her.

"Well, friend of my mother and father, I know how to walk." She glanced pointedly at the ground and Nico got the hint.

"Right away, then." He laughed as he set her down.

We started to walk off but Alec paused and turned back to Nico. "Hey, guy, do you have a shorter name?"

Nico laughed again. "It's Nico."

Alec thought about that. "Nico . . . I like it." She nodded and continued on.

Harley woke up three cabins down from Percy's and I set her down to walk. Everyone was smiling at the kids and Alec got mad when she didn't see Clarisse. "I thought you said she would be her."

"She will, Alec," I told her.

The moment the doors to the cabin opened, the kids were in love. "WOWZERS!" Harley said with a huge smile.

Alec analyzed the room and then nodded. "I've now decided that this will be AWESOME."

They ran around the room throwing things and laughing. We calmed them down long enough to get unpacked but then they decided that it was time to see who could jump across the beds fastest without falling.

Rachel came over and gasped when she saw the kids. "They are so big!"

"Thanks." I said smiling. I still hadn't figured out what I was supposed to say when people said that. "How have you been?"

"Well, collage is a bitch but I'm getting through it, you?"

"We're doing pretty good. Percy is working and taking his college classes. I'm watching the kids and doing the collage thing; it's hard but we get by."

"Well, who watches the kids when you guys aren't home?" Rachel said looking concerned.

"Oh, well, we have neighbors or Percy's mom look after them." I told her.

"That must suck not getting to spend a lot of time with them, especially when they're growing so fast."

"Well, yeah—"

"You ask a lot of questions." Harley noted politely from her coloring place from under the bed.

Rachel smiled at her. "I'm just curious, sweetheart."

"Oh." Harley smiled happily and went back to coloring a picture of two boys playing with cars. "Mom, I want a car."

I laughed. "I'll see what I can do."

Alec came out of the bathroom and was holding a picture frame. She looked around and then came up to me. "Where is Dad?"

"He went to go talk to Chiron. What do you have there?" I reached for the picture but she jerked it back.

"I can't tell you. When is Dad coming back? I need to ask him something." Alec looked determined and I knew it was pointless to try but I felt I had to.

"Why can't you just ask me what it is?"

Alec looked at me seriously. "Momma, I need to ask Daddy."

I froze. Alec never called me that. She would say "Mother" or "Mom" or "Ma" but never "Momma". It took me off-guard and I found myself saying. "Rachel, do you mind taking Alec to the Big House?"

"Of course not!" Rachel smiled. "Alec, want to come with me?"

Alec rolled her eyes—she hated being talked to like a little kid. "Yes, I would like that very much."

Rachel's POV

I walked with Alec. She was quiet and I couldn't get much out of her. "Do you have any special powers like your Mommy and Daddy?"

Alec shrugged. "Maybe."

"Have you ever done anything with water?" I tried.

"Maybe." Alec said simply.

I was so busy talking—or trying to talk—to Alec that I didn't notice Nico run out of the woods. He slammed into me with massive force that I fell and almost landed on Alec.

Nico jumped up and held out his hand for me. I laughed and took it. "I didn't even see you."

"Yeah, sorry, where you going?" Nico asked.

I remembered that I was with Alec and jumped slightly. "I'm taking Alec to go find Percy in the Big House."

"I can take her if you want."

"No, its okay, I got her." I said smiling.

"No you don't." Alec said. "I can look after myself and I don't need you to take me there. I can see just fine." Alec started to storm off but she turned around to add, "And I don't like being talked about like I'm not there."

She continued up the path and I gave Nico a small smile and then ran after her. "Alec, I'm sorry that you felt I was talking about you like that."

"Even when you apologize you blame the other person." Alec mumbled.

"What?" I asked surprised.

Alec stopped and sighed. "You said, 'I'm sorry you felt' which means that you're saying that it wasn't your fault but mine for feeling the way I felt."

She started walking again. Why didn't Annabeth tell me this kid was so smart? "Fine, I am so sorry for talking about you like you weren't there."

"It doesn't mean anything now that I had to tell you." Alec shrugged. "Doesn't matter, we're here now so you can go away."

I paused in shock as Alec slipped through the door. I turned around and saw Nico standing on the walkway a few feet behind me. "I don't think she likes you."

Percy's POV

Chiron was catching me up on the investigation. "I've been trying to explain that it couldn't be your sister, Percy, but they claim that all the evidence points to her. They started disappearing right after they found out she was missing. They found her prints. They found DNA. Percy, it's hopeless."

"But Alec wouldn't kill a demi-god! I knew her better than you! I saw her refuse to kill Ashley because she wasn't fully evil but there was just something evil inside her! She couldn't kill a demi-god!" I realized I was yelling and took a moment to calm myself. "Chiron, I know their wrong."

Chiron put a hand on my shoulder. "Percy, my boy, I know how badly you want to believe she is innocent. I saw greatness in her as well, but the child of the verse was always meant to turn evil."

"I want to see the verse." I said quietly.

Chiron shook his head. "I cannot show you that, Percy, and you know that."

I was about to yell some extra colorful words—not at Chiron just at the general situation—when a small body jumped up from behind the couch. "Dad, we need to talk."

I jumped slightly but then I smiled at her. "Can it wait? Chiron and I are a little busy."

"No, Daddy, please it's important." Alec said.

I froze. Alec never called me "Daddy". She would call me "father" or "Dad" but this was a first for anything else. "What do you need to talk about?"

Alec glanced at Chiron nervously and then took a breath and shoved a picture frame in my hands. "Why was this hidden under the sink? Are you cheating on Mom?"

I looked down at the picture and realized what it was. I was standing in front of the cabin and Alec was next to me. She had her arm around my shoulder and was planting a kiss on my cheek.

I laughed when I looked at it and then I showed Chiron. He smiled at me. "Alec, this is a picture of Al—my sister. She . . . died."

Alec's eyes widened. "No! My aunt? Dead? That's not fair! Did I ever meet her?"

I shook my head. "No. You were born three months after she died."

"What was her name?" Alec traced the figures in the picture with her finger.

I swallowed. "Her name was Alec."

"Is that she the one they think is killing everybody?" Alec asked sadly.

"Yes, but they're wrong."

Then Alec asked me something that no one else had. It hurt my gut to realize that I didn't have an answer. "How do you know?"

Yeah, so I know this first chapter sucked but I'm hoping to pick it up by the second or third chapter so please just bare with me. Sorry for the shitty beginning again and if you have any ideas R&R or send a P.M.