Hey guys! In this chapter Percy is going to show some major (seaweed) brain function! He's learned a little lesson from his old man. I still want to remind you all to answer my latest question: should I write more and if I should, what? Review me!
But now I'm gonna let you read this little baby. Enjoy!

Annabeth's POV

I didn't have to wait for long. The whole ferry shook as two Olympians appeared next to the mast. Others on board jumped. They hadn't been waiting for a visit.

"Lord Poseidon! Lady Athena!" Grover bleated. The gods bowed slightly at him.

"Good afternoon, master Underwood," said Poseidon.

I glanced at Lucy, who stared at our guests with a surprised look. Mom looked back at her softly.

"Hello, Lucy. You've grown since I last saw you," she said. "Still making straight A:s at school?"

Lucy nodded proudly.

"Yes, ms.," she said. "But how did you know?"

Athena turned to Grover.

"How much have you told her?" she asked.

"Not much, lady Athena. We had to leave in a hurry and the island was so full of monsters, that if she'd known everything, we would've been eaten in a flash," answered Grover, fondling with his shirt collar.

"Okay. I assume Chiron will explain her everything," said Athena and turned back to Lucy.

"Lucy, the time will come for answers, but meanwhile, take this," she handed Lucy a silver chain with a silver owl charm on it. Lucy put it around her neck.

"Pretty. Thank you, ms.," she said.

"Now, why did I have to tow old Mr. Barnacles along?" mom looked at me.

"It's about Percy. He's been hurt," Thalia said.

Athena glanced at her.

"Oh, well. Poseidon?" she said.

"Yes, I must speak to him," said Poseidon.

"You've got a funny beard," Lucy told Poseidon. He looked shocked.

"What's so funny about my beard?" he asked. Lucy shrugged.

"Dunno," she said and turned to Grover, who scooped her up and took her to the other side of the ferry to play.

"I'm curious. What exactly happened to Percy?" mom asked.

"Well, he took a knife for me," I said truthfully.

"He did? Well, that's his fatal flaw in action again," she scowled.

"Mom! He saved my life!" I cried out.

"I know, but stupidity isn't rewardable," mom said.

"Bravery is!" I argued.

"The girl's got a point there," Poseidon interrupted us. Then he looked at Percy. "Yet, I can't understand why you did it, son."

"Some fish just are too big to release. I have learned it the hard way," Percy said and winced.

I had no idea what he was talking about, but Poseidon seemed to grasp the concept.

"He's losing too much blood, lord Poseidon. Help him, please!" Thalia pleaded.

Poseidon looked thoughtful for a second. Finally he said to Percy:

"I am proud of you, son. You have learned to know which fish are big enough to land." To Thalia he said: "Pour some sea water into the wound. It will stop the bleeding."

Thalia and Rachel followed the instructions.

My mother looked puzzled.

"This might sound weird coming from me, but I haven't got a clue of what's going on here," she said. I suppressed a chuckle.

"Yet I can't understand that boy's need to save everyone. It's not that I am not grateful for saving my daughter, but still..."

"I like that bleeding boy. Did he really save you? Grover said he did," asked Lucy. When had she come back? Well, you never know with those little kids. They come and go.

"Yup," Rachel told her.

Lucy looked from me, to Percy, then to my mother and said:

"He must really like you."

The atmosphere was tense. The conversation had taken a dangerous course. Athena was glancing at the people around, from face to another. Poseidon eyed her meaningfully.

"Alright! Alright," mom cried suddenly.

"Poseidon," she said.

"Yes?"

"So what you're saying is, that you approve of your boy's actions?" mom asked.

"Yes, I do. He has shown me, that he can both be my son and like your daughter. His last answer just proved it," Poseidon nodded.

I couldn't believe my ears. Of course, Poseidon had always been more laid-back than my mom, but I felt hope more powerful than ever rising in my chest.

"Well, then..." mom said and walked to Percy, who's wound already looked better. Go Poseidon, go!

"You have done a great favor for me, Percy and as it is accustomed, you may ask for something from me.

"Anything?" Percy asked. Athena nodded.

"Anything, that's in my area of expertise. For example, I could make your brain function better..."

Oh. My. Gods. This was better than I'd ever imagined. I just hoped Percy had similar things in mind as I did.

"Will you swear it upon the river Styx?" Percy asked.

'Good one, Percy!' I thought. She wouldn't be able to decline the request now.

"Well, if you insist. I swear upon the river Styx, that I will give you anything that's in my area of expertise. I suggest you decide quickly. I haven't got the whole day, you know," said mom.

"With all due respect, lady Athena, I think you already know what I want," Percy said, still smiling.

Mom looked at me, her face horrorstruck. I could hear her brain function and I was sure, that inside her head there was a little voice was chanting a mantra: Don't let them, let them, don't let them, let them.

"I promised myself, that I would never agree with Poseidon," Athena said, her face straight.

I crossed my fingers behind my back and prayed to Aphrodite and Eros and anyone else, who could help with this matter.

"And besides that most certainly isn't in my area of expertise. Foolishness doesn't belong to me."

"But thoughts do," said Percy. "And as I have heard, your children have sprung from your thoughts. I really think they belong in your area of expertise."

Thalia shuffled closer to me and took my hand in hers. I squeezed it tightly.

Athena stared at Percy, surprised.

"For the first time of my life I can't say anything back," she said.

"So?" I asked.

"Well, since I swore upon the river Styx, I can't do anything about it," mom said.

I couldn't believe it! This was perfect!

"Oh, gods! Thank you, lady Athena!" Percy cried out. "And you, father."

"Yes, thank you. Both of you. I can't thank you enough!" I felt I could jump and dance from joy.

"Thalia, did you hear that?" I turned to my best friend.

"Yeah. Gods, I'm so happy for you!" she squealed and hugged me.

"Oh, this is precious!" Grover sighed. He was all fuzzy, now that there was so much emotion going on.

I was so happy I even hugged Rachel. She was surprised as I jumped at her and squeezed her tight.

Then I looked at Percy. He was still lying there, but he looked 100% better. The color had returned to his cheeks, his eyes were bright and a lovely sea green color. Styx had forgiven him. He looked back at me and smiled widely. Then he turned to look at our parents.

"Why won't you two just let go of the grudges?" Percy asked them.

Poseidon and Athena looked at each other.

"We agreed once, but that's it. I won't be friends with Barnacle Beard, no way." Athena shook her head.

"Besides, what's fun with being all friends and everything? Fighting, that's my thing," said Poseidon.

"Yeah, so don't expect this to turn into a habit," Athena finished.

"Oh, look! We've made it!" Rachel pointed forward.

Yes, I could see the beach of Camp Half-Blood ahead. We were back home.

"Well, I guess this was it, then," Poseidon said. Then he turned at me.

"Apparently I have been wrong about you, Annabeth. You seem to have made some permanent changes in my son and it kinda suites him. Take care of my boy, will you? I hear he's often in trouble," he said and offered his hand at me. I shook it firmly.

"I will, lord Poseidon," I said.

My mother stepped toward Percy.

"I might've underestimated you, Percy. I can see there's no way to tear you two apart. But mark my words, if you ever hurt her-"

"I won't. I swear," said Percy.

"So are you, like, giving us your blessing?" I asked our parents.

They looked at each other again.

"I guess we are," said my mom.

"We hereby give you two our blessing. May the other gods bless you, too," said Poseidon.

"And may your years together be full of... well, love," Athena continued. "I'm going to need lots of therapy after this. There's a lot to get accustomed to," she huffed.

With those words, the two gods vanished with a blinding flash. We covered our eyes.

"So now he is your boyfriend? Can't you just make a decision and stick with it, huh?" asked Lucy.

I looked at Percy. He was already looking at me, his eyes warm and soft, smiling widely.

"I guess we can't," I laughed.

As the ferry touched the sand, Rachel jumped off the ferry and held the rope long enough for Thalia and I to carry Percy to the shore. Grover lifted Lucy on his shoulders. I smiled at them. I guess Grover had been a great nanny for her.

I was happy to be home at camp at last, but I was afraid of my siblings' reaction. They had been angry with me when we had left camp and I just hoped, that they had had enough time to cool off.

As we walked from the beach towards the Mess Hall, we ran into some guys from the Hephaestus cabin. They were about to go put up the fireworks for tomorrow.

'Gods, is it time for fireworks already?' I asked myself. The summer had gone so fast.

"So, I see Percy is at his usual state, huh?" a guy named Henry grinned.

"Yeah," Percy grinned back.

"You manage, girls?" he asked me and Thalia. We nodded.

"Sure. He's got a big head, but I think we'll be okay," said Thalia.

"Shut up, Pinecone Face!" Percy shouted playfully.

Thalia rolled her eyes.

The Hephaestus boys laughed and we continued our journey to the Mess Hall. There was no one there. I guess everyone was at their activities or something. As we passed the cabins, something unexpected happened:

The first thing I heard was a yell:

"Annabeth! Hey guys, she's home!"

Then ten blonde campers charged from cabin six and ran to us. I put Percy's legs down carefully and ran to meet my siblings.

"Gods, we missed you!" Malcolm said as he gave me a tight bear hug.

"Yeah, things haven't been the same when you were gone," said Jenny. "I'm so sorry about our attitudes!"

"It's okay, Jenny," I said.

Apologies kept coming from all of my brothers and sisters. Then someone actually noticed the others, who were standing where I'd left them, Thalia still holding Percy's upper body. They all smiled widely.

My siblings ran to them and apologized to Percy and said hello to Thalia, Grover and Rachel. No one paid attention to Lucy, who was still on Grover's shoulders, playing with his tricolored Rasta cap.

"Sorry about the last, man," Malcolm said to Percy.

"No hard feelings," Percy answered and shook Malcolm's hand.

"So, what are you going to do now?" Jenny asked me. "I mean, our mom and Poseidon took away your powers and everything."

"Well, actually..." Rachel started, but I silenced her with one of my bad looks.

"You'll see," I said and winked at Percy.

"Who are they, Grover?" Lucy asked.

My siblings went quiet.

"Why, who's this?" one of my sisters, Heather, asked.

"I'm Lucy Adams. What are your names?" Lucy asked. She wasn't one to shy away from strangers.

Everyone told their names to her. She nodded.

"So now we know each other," Grover smiled.

Athena's cabin joined us on our journey to the Big House. From far we could see, that on the porch, Chiron and Mr. D. were sitting and chatting (well, Chiron wasn't actually sitting, but anyway). Mr. D. was sipping Diet Coke from a can, just like he always was.

"Chiron!" Grover shouted.

Chiron's head bounced up. When he spotted us, he trotted to meet us.

"Children! I'm glad to see you alive. I was getting worried, when I didn't get any message from you. Oh and I see Grover had succeeded. Hello, Lucy!" Chiron said.

Lucy's mouth opened in surprise.

"How do you know my name?" she asked Chiron. Then she turned to Grover and whispered:

"There's something funny with that man. Why is he a horse?"

We all laughed.

"Grover, why don't you go and watch the orientation film with her?" Chiron asked and motioned towards the Big House.

"Sure. Come, Lucy," said Grover and they ran inside.

"So, I see camping did you guys good," Chiron laughed.

Percy, Thalia, Rachel and I glanced at each other and laughed, too.

"Totally," Thalia grinned.

"My, my, Percy what has happened to you?" Chiron asked and pointed at the wound on his side. It looked better, but it would need a bandage.

"You know him. He never gets away from anywhere without some bruises," said Rachel.

"Yes, I guess you're right," said Chiron. "Can you walk?" he asked Percy.

"I haven't tried yet. My carrying service has been so good I haven't even dared to ask if I could try," Percy grinned.

"Well now you may try," Thalia said and we put him down. He took a step, then another and another.

"He can walk," Thalia said with mocking bitterness. "We carried him all the way from the beach and he could walk all along!"

"I owe you one," said Percy.

"You owe us big time, Seaweed Brain!" Thalia said and nudged him slightly.

"I also see you've sorted things out with your cabin," Chiron smiled at me.

"Yeah. Siblings tend to fight occasionally," I smiled back.

"Won't you all come and sit on the porch? I assume we'll be hearing an exiting story from these four," Chiron said and we all followed him to the porch.

"Afternoon, Mr. D.," we all greeted our camp supervisor in harmony.

"Yada, yada," he muttered and lulled inside.

"Always the sunshine," Jenny noted.

"Yes, Dionysus was under the impression you four had been eaten by monsters and he would never have to see you again," Chiron said and suppressed a smile.

We sat down and told people our story. Or at least the beginning, because we had some arguments about how things had gone and before we'd gotten started Chiron looked at his watch and said:

"Oh, look at the time! We must hurry to dinner. Tonight, there will be a special bonfire party for our little spark Lucy. Has she been determined yet?"

Rachel nodded.

"Who's is she?" Malcolm asked.

"Oh, didn't you see, Malcolm?" Thalia asked.

"No, tell me," he said.

"She's an official member of cabin six," I said.

"Awesome! She could be in our left invader troops when she gets better with a sword," Heather cried out and our cabin was in the middle of strategy.

"Move along, children!" Chiron said and we all started to walk back towards the Mess Hall.

Grover and Lucy were already there. They were waiting for us just outside the pavilion.

"Wow, was that lady really my mother?" Lucy asked. "I thought she was just a substitute teacher. She was in my school for a week last November," she babbled.

Chiron nodded.

"Yes, Lucy. She was Athena, the goddess of wisdom. See these blonde kids here? They're her children too," he explained.

"Oh," Lucy said. Her mouth hung open. Then she smiled.

"Is that girl my sister too? She's awful nice!" she pointed at me.

"Yup, I am," I smiled.

"Cool!" Lucy cheered.

We joined the rest of the campers in the pavilion. Lucy came to sit with us at Athena's table. Thalia got a special permission from Chiron to sit with Percy at Poseidon's.

In the middle of homecoming celebration, I had almost forgotten about one thing. Percy and I. We were free now. Our parents had given us their blessing. We could be together and no one would have anything to say about that. I just wished I could get Percy only for me for a while.

After the meal my siblings ignored my protests and dragged me in our cabin, where I told them about our adventure, except the parts including mine and Percy's struggles. I had a plan. A plan that would earn me the leadership in our cabin again. Lucy came along with us and I was glad about the fact, that she kept her mouth shut about what had happened on board the magical ferry.

In the evening all the cabins gathered up at the amphitheater, where the Apollo cabin had arranged a huge party for me, Percy, Rachel, Thalia, Grover and most especially Lucy.

We sang, we ate and we drank. Everything was back on their tracks. The other campers welcomed us back with open arms and it seemed as all grudges had been hidden away. Nico, who hadn't known anything about our trip came running at us and after telling us off, he went on babbling about how he would've wanted to go with us, how he'd been bored at camp while we were gone and how he was happy to have us back. Even Clarisse came to welcome us back, telling how she missed kicking Percy's ass and arguing with me. She absolutely loved Lucy. It was funny to see how such a tough girl went all nuts for a little princess like Lucy.

Although I loved the party and the warm atmosphere of it, I was tired from the trip and I got drowsy pretty early. I said goodnight to everyone else and walked away from the amphitheater. It was nice to get some time alone, just listen to the quiet sounds of the night, that blended with the noise of the bonfire party.

In the commons area, between all the cabins (much more than twelve now, that all the gods had been given own cabins at camp), by the bronze brazier stood a nine-year-old girl, who poked up the fire.

"Good evening, Lady Hestia," I said politely.

"Evening, Annabeth," Hestia smiled. "I see you have returned to your hearth."

"Yeah, I just got back today," I said.

"I have to tell you how very glad I am, that you remembered me when in difficult situation," Hestia said and poked the coals in the brazier.

"Well, I just remembered something you said after pulverizing the Hydra... About what's important," I said, gazing to the coals. "It made me feel hope."

"I know, child," said Hestia. She smiled. "I rarely give my blessing to anyone. No one notices me that much, but you, Annabeth, you and Percy have shown true respect toward me and I never leave that unrewarded."

"Thank you, lady Hestia. For everything," I said. She nodded slightly.

"Goodnight now," she said.

"Goodnight."

Inside my cabin I went straight to bed. I was dead tired. But I was happy. I had never been happier. It was days like these, that kept me going. Camp Half-Blood had never felt more like home. My whole family was here. We had occasional fights, yes, but still, they were family. All my friends were here and particularly Percy. Percy, who had been ready to die for me. Silly Seaweed Brain. Gods, I loved that boy.

I closed my eyes and fell asleep happily.

This ain't the end yet! Keep your tabs up for the next chapter! I really hope you liked this one. Please review!

Athena's cabin wishes you a happy Easter! (what?)

Until next time,

Peace, Love, PJO!

Luv,

AC