Alright, Chapter 3! We're really moving along. This chappie is a little shorter than the others, it wraps up a couple of things back in the mortal world. I hope you enjoy it!

Once again, thanks a bunch to those of you who reviewed! I love you all! And I mean, even though this only has 11 reviews, it's got (as of posting this) a total of 41 followers! That's so great, considering this is only the third chapter. Yay!

And now: ONWARDS!

Disclaimer: Disclaimer: Twilight and Percy Jackson and the Olympians, including the characters and settings are the property of Stephanie Meyer and Rick Riordan respectively. I've just applied my imagination. (Also, Mario Kart and Nintendo aren't mine either. Just sayin'.)

I end a couple of dreams

I slept for the entire day, which is really, really odd. Gods and goddesses don't really need to sleep, but to keep to our full potential we do every so often. But even then, we generally only sleep for short periods of time. It was probably just the fact that I had only just got my powers back, though.

When I woke up, I was still lying on Apollo, but he seemed to be playing some sort of video game – what do the mortals call them? Nintendo DS? – with Hermes.

"Thought you were busy," I groaned, sitting up.

"Oh, hey Ella," said Hermes, not looking away from his game. "Nice nap?"

"Nice enough, but my question still stands."

"Things have cooled off a little now. We're past the post-war stage where everyone needs to be messaging people and now into the stage where everyone just wants to spend time with friends."

"So what are you doing here then?" I smirked at him.

"Hey!"

"Keep going, Elle," said Apollo, "You're doing a great job of distracting him! Ha, Hermes, you completely missed that turn!"

"No, seriously though," I said.

"Apparently Apollo was bored."

"What? I love you and all, Elle, but when you sleep you're kind of boring."

"Thanks." I might have laced a little bit of sarcasm into my tone.

"Hey! It's not like I was going to leave you here by yourself after your big showdown, so I just called Hermes in."

"No, really, thank you." I said it with a bit more meaning this time. "It means a lot to me."

It meant even more when he leaned over and kissed me on the forehead without pausing his game and therefore letting Hermes take the lead. No seriously – name me one mortal with the same level of maturity as Apollo who would do that when their girl isn't even crying. Yeah, that's what I thought.

"No problem. After all, if I went out there Zeus would make me go back to work."

I rolled my eyes. That was closer to the typical behaviour you would expect.

"Hey Hermes?"

"Yes, Ella?"

"What time is it in Washington at the moment?"

"Just give me one… sec… Ha! Beat that Apollo! Sorry Ella, it's, uh, about eleven pm."

"Alright," I sighed, leaning against the headboard and resting my head on Apollo's shoulder. "I'll go to Forks in the morning to talk to Charlie and tell him I'm resuming my usual duties. Then I'll head back down to Atlantis to help with the reconstruction."

"You can't leave already," whined Apollo. "You just got back!"

"If you really think you're going to be allowed another day off tomorrow I'd think again," I said.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, "Okay, fine. But we'll be back to our old schedule, right?"

"Of course. Like you said, I just got back. There's no way I'm going to leave you alone for more than eighteen hours at a time."

He shot me a smirk, then went back to his game. After a sec, though, he paused.

"Hey Elle, you wanna play?"

"Sure. What are you playing, anyway?"

"Mario Kart," said Hermes.

"Seriously?"

"Yup."

"And how old are you guys, again?"

"Hey!" exclaimed Apollo. "Mario is for all ages. Don't diss it."

So that was how we spent the rest of the night – racing each other on Rainbow Road andoccasionally ganging up on Peach with green shells. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun, but that was mainly thanks to Apollo's whacko commentary.

But, morning finally came and George and Martha convinced Hermes to get moving. Apollo had to go and drive the sun across the sky, which left me with the task of heading back to Forks.

Lovely.

I thought I was done with this place, but Athena had confronted me. I know she only did it to make me feel guilty and stuff, but she was right. As always. Charlie had been incredibly good to me. Even though he didn't really have a choice when it came to taking me in (Yeah, my father might have asked nicely, but how can you refuse a god?) he had done way more than was expected of him. He deserved a proper goodbye.

So, that was how I found myself back in the rainy town of Forks, a place that, after this, was likely to receive complete neglect from the Goddess of the Waves.

But, I supposed that even though I was technically there, I didn't have to come into contact with the rest of the town.

Oh, how very wrong I was.

It started off with me not realising it was a Monday – aka, the day that everyone is expected to go to school. And, as I was technically still enrolled at Forks High School, that was where I was expected to be too.

I made the mistake of entering town looking like Bella Swan. You see, even though Charlie knew who I was, I figured he'd be most comfortable with me in a form he recognised. Unfortunately, the rest of the town recognised me too.

It being a Monday, Charlie was in work. I knew I wouldn't be able to teleport around Forks just in case I got noticed – even though the mist was strong there it wouldn't be wise to risk anything. So, when I got to Charlie's and found it empty, I decided to take a leisurely stroll to the station.

The first person to see me was Mrs Newton. She was coming out of the supermarket just as I walked past.

"Bella!" she exclaimed. "Wow, this a surprise! Where have you been for the last few weeks?"

Now, if someone else – say, Angela Weber – had asked me this, I would know they were asking because they truly cared about me and wanted to know if I had been alright. But with Mrs Newton, I knew she just wanted the dish on me. She was a really nice woman and all, but… she had a tendency to be a gossip, especially when placed in a room with Mrs Stanley.

Who, unfortunately, happened to be standing five feet away.

"I've been visiting family in New York, that's all." Wow, Ella, great response. I congratulate you!

Okay, I think being back in Forks is making me go mad. Is that even possible?

"Really?" asked Mrs Stanley. "I didn't know you had family in New York!"

Oops. Forgot about that.

"Uh, yeah, cousins."

"Why aren't you in school today, Bella?" asked Mrs Newton.

"Well, I just got back and-"

"But if you're well enough to be wandering around town don't you think you should be in getting the best education you can? Finals are close after all."

"Yes, Mrs Stanley, but-"

"I heard the Cullens left town for some reason the other day and only came back yesterday morning. Do you know why?" asked Mrs Newton.

"How am I supposed to-"

"Some people say they saw you running through the town like mad two days ago. Why was that?" asked Mrs Stanley.

"That's just a-"

"Are you still dating Edward?" Newton.

"Well I-"

"Have you broken up?" Stanley.

"You see-"

"Are you staying in Forks?" Newton.

"Did something happen to your mother? Is she ill?" Stanley.

"Has there been a family scandal?" Newton.

"Did someone die – or get injured?" Stanley.

"Were you injured?"

"Were you arrested?"

"Did you run away from here to get away from Charlie like your mother did?"

"Did you run away to get married?"

"Did you get pregnant?"

"Enough!" I yelled. "Please, I have to be somewhere! It was nice talking to you ladies, but we'll have to continue this later."

With that, I stalked off down the pavement, finding it rather difficult not to hear their next words.

"She's pregnant."

"Definitely. She's hormonal, you can tell."

"Oh, wait until we tell Beth Crowley about this!"

The next person to see me was Pastor Weber. To say he was surprised would be an understatement.

"Bella! You're back? Hang on… why aren't you in school?"

"Sorry, Mr Weber, I have to get going."

"Angela is going to be very glad you're back, you know!"

"Thanks, but I don't think I'm staying."

"Why ever not?"

"Sorry, can't talk now, I have to go!"

Then, just before I got to the station, Deputy Mark intercepted me.

"Bella?"

"That's me."

"Finally come home, hey?"

"Charlie knew where I was."

"Yeah, I know. New York, right? He was dead worried, though – easy to tell, even though he tried to hide it. Not hard to see why, though, that funny business in New York last week was all over the news, not to mention that freaky storm..."

"Really?" I deadpanned. Ah, Charlie. I wasn't in New York, he knew that. Oh well.

"Yeah, he'll be glad to know you're back."

"Great."

"Sooo… I'll see you round, then?"

"Maybe."

"Okay, kiddo. Charlie's inside his office right now."

"Sure."

Yeah, I might have been a little irritated due to the previous encounters.

Thankful that I had finally made it, I paused inside the station for a second and sighed in relief. Then I walked through the station and straight into Charlie's office.

"Hey Charlie."

"Bella?" The look on his face was hilarious.

"Who else?"

"Well, with you people I never quite know for sure." I rolled my eyes, knowing that with Hermes around that was definitely true.

"Well, it's me. I just came because I didn't exactly leave on the best terms before."

"Yeah, that's true," chuckled Charlie. "How did all that turn out, by the way?"

I told him, and by the time I was done, his face was even more priceless than before.

"Well." He looked kind of stunned, but managed to compose himself after shaking his head. "At least everyone is fine."

"Well, not everyone," I said, thinking of all the mermen and others we lost, as well as what Percy had said about the demigods, including Silena and – oh Hades, I completely forgot about Michael Yew! I was so wrapped up in my own problems I didn't even stop to think about Apollo – how selfish was that? I'll have to make it up to him when I get back.

"Are you alright?" I glanced up to see Charlie looking worried.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking…"

"Well then, lets talk about something slightly less macabre. I think you should go to the school."

"I'm sorry, what?" I was completely taken off guard by his question.

"Well, I know you're planning on going back to Olympus or Atlantis or whatever now – no, don't look at me like that, if you were going to stay you wouldn't be here – but you can't just disappear off the face of the earth, and although I don't know much about this stuff I figure it would be pretty messy to change a year and a half worth of memories for nearly everyone in the town. As such, I need a cover story as to why you are leaving and the school needs to hear it. I'm terrible at coming up with these things so I figure you can do it."

I stared at him in disbelieve. Unfortunately, what he said made sense. After all, if I went I could use the mist to help people believe me.

"Fine," I said, "But you better watch it the next time you go fishing, old man. You might find yourself stuck in some unstable chop and getting a lot wetter than you're used to."

"Oh sure," said Charlie, smiling. He got used to my threats months ago. "It'll make fishing all that more exciting."

"Oh, speaking of," I said with a grin, "I've been meaning to ask you. Will you do me the honour of going fishing with me this afternoon?"

"But you've always hated fishing!"

Very true – despite what most people think, my family isn't really all that into seafood. The mermen and Cyclopes like it well enough, but they don't have the ability to actually talk to the creatures… it's kind of hard to eat something you probably talked to the day before. Yeah, I tend to stick to ambrosia whenever I'm hungry. When I visited Charlie over the summers when I was younger, before I began spending the summers at Camp, I only went fishing with Charlie because it meant I could be on the ocean. But I hated the fact that I could hear the fish pleading with me to let them go as Charlie pulled them up on his line. Charlie realised this, and the moment I was old enough he let me stay behind on the beach with Billy Black's daughters.

But I was sure I could survive one more time.

"Charlie," I said, "As much as I hate to admit it, Athena is right. You have been very good to me, and I wish to repay that."

"But I can't ask you to-"

"You're not. I'm offering." I smiled up at him, and he smiled back.

"Sure," he said. "I'll meet you in La Push when I get of my shift?"

"Of course," I said. "In the mean time, I'll go to the school… and perhaps I'll visit Renee."

"That's a good idea," said Charlie. "I'll see you later then."

I grinned, and stood.

"See you later."

Then I teleported out of his office and reappeared on a beach in Jacksonville, Florida. Luckily, the beach was completely deserted save for a couple of seagulls. It was about ten on a Monday morning, which meant it was already too hot to be running and yet it wasn't really the time to be on the beach, as most people were either at work or school, or inside.

I headed straight for Renee and Phil's house which I remembered from my visit here with Edward just before I left for Atlantis, hoping Renee was home because I'd have no idea of how to find her otherwise. Thankfully, she was.

The smile that graced her face when she came to the door was huge. Apparently Charlie had called after my frantic visit the other day, but all he told her was that I was fine. Phil was out playing ball, and Renee apparently didn't work on Mondays because, in her words, 'the weekend is just too short. You can only live your life once, honey, no point in spending the whole time at work.' I refrained from mentioning that I had already lived a couple of millennia.

I spent the next few hours with Renee, but it wasn't enough. She really had been great to me, and I was kind of sad my time with her was over. I would be much happier back home than here with her, of course, but that wouldn't stop me from missing her.

Eventually, the clock rolled around to two fifteen Washington time and I knew I'd have to leave if I wanted to head to the school before it closed.

"I'll miss you Renee," I said, hugging her.

"Oh, sweetie, I'll miss you too. You know, you might be an all powerful goddess who is thousands of years older than me and all, but I've always thought of you as my daughter."

"Hey, I might have been all grown up intellectually even when I was just a baby to you, but I still had to go through puberty. Boy, was that not fun." I made a face, then smiled at her. "You were great, and I'm very thankful for that. If you ever need help, just pray into the waves and I'll be there."

"Thank you, Bella," whispered Renee. Then she grinned. "I am a little put out, though."

"Why?"

"I've had to listen to you talk about that husband of yours for a very long time – which was a really weird thing to hear an eight year old discuss when all I'd done is ask why she'd pushed David Hatchet over in the sandpit, by the way – and you're not even going to introduce me?"

"Maybe you'll get to see him sometime," I said, smirking. "In fact, just look up into the sky and he's there."

"Oh, very funny."

"Anyway, I have to go. I hope I'll see you again."

"Be safe," she said. Then she covered her eyes and I was gone.

I teleported myself into the forest close to the school car park so that I wouldn't be seen and then I walked to the office.

"Hello Ms Cope," I said. The little ginger lady's head snapped up.

"Oh!" she squeaked. She looked surprised, a bit disappointed and very – wait, was that anger? I raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Bella Swan! You're back!"

"Actually, no, I'm not." Now she looked confused. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I need to… um, how do you say this? Quit the school?"

"You're transferring?" Now she looked excited. What the Hades?

"That's it," I said, smiling.

"But why would you do that?" she asked. "Finals are only a few days away."

"I have my reasons," I said. "But I'm not going to this school anymore."

"Well, okay," said Ms Cope. "I'll put it in the records. Do you have a letter or something from your father?"

"No, I shouldn't need one anyway, I'm eighteen. Besides, it isn't like I'm running away, Charlie knows exactly where I'm going and what I'll be doing."

Okay, not exactly true. But who cares?

"Well, I'm sorry Bella, but I'm going to need to see-"

I lost my patience and instead cut her off by manipulating the mist around her. She stopped speaking and looked dazed for a second, but then shook her head and smiled up at me.

"Okay, thank you Bella, that'll be fine. I'll enter it all into the school records for you. You're free to go."

"Thank you very much, Ms Cope."

By the time I got out of the office, school was over was students were streaming outside towards the parking lot. I tried to keep my head down, but it didn't seem to work.

"Bella! Hey, Bella!"

I groaned. Anyone but him…

"Hey Mike, how's it going?"

"It could be better. How've you been?" Dude, this kid needs lessons in subtlety.

"Fine," I said.

"Is it true you broke up with Cullen?"

I felt like whacking my head on a brick wall. But, I decided to answer him truthfully.

"Yup."

"Why'd you do that?"

I grinned at him. While I'm here, I might as well have some fun.

"I fell for another guy."

"Really?" his eyes were wide.

"Yeah," I said, "That's why I came back."

"Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Who?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," I taunted. Then I felt someone watching me, so I looked up and saw five Cullens staring at me from next to a silver Volvo. The three males were looking at me sadly. One female in anger. The other… she was smiling. That surprised me. I looked away though. If they wanted to talk, they'd have to come to me. I had bigger things to be doing.

"Bella!"

Kill me now.

How the hell Eric Yorkie and Tyler Crowley saw me through the sea of people I'll have no idea.

"Hey guys. I was just leaving."

"Wait a sec, Bella!" called Mike. Then he turned to the others. "Get this – she says she's broken up with Cullen and she's back in Forks because she's fallen for another guy!"

"Seriously?" asked Eric. Tyler, on the other hand, pushed towards me. My attempts at backing away were clearly futile.

"Who is it, Bella?"

I sighed, deciding to get them off my back once and for all.

"Well, he's really hot." The guys began grinning at each other.

"How hot?" asked Eric.

"Hotter than any other guy I've ever seen."

"Including Cullen?"

"Yep."

"No way."

"Yes way. He's got the most gorgeous blonde hair and bright blue eyes that just look adorable!"

Tyler and Eric groaned in disappointment, but Mike's eyes had lit up.

"You're really in love with this guy?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said, repressing a smirk and putting on my famous girl-in-love smile that had worked so well during my time here in Forks. "I'm even moving away from here so I can be with him more often."

He frowned in confusion.

"But why would you move away if…" wait for it… wait for it… "Oh."

Right on cue.

"Yeah, I only came back to say hi to Charlie and tell the school I'm leaving," I said, "But I'm glad I got to see you guys, too. Anyway, I have to go now. Bye!"

I walked away from the shell-shocked boys, a smile on my face, but was stopped again by a cold hand on my shoulder.

"That was mean, you know." Rosalie.

"Was it?" I asked, not even turning to look at her. "Was it mean that I just took away one of their distractions? Was it mean that I took away the notion that they had any possible chance with me, something they may have otherwise wondered about for years? I don't think so. I rather think I did them a favour."

Then I continued walking. No one stopped me this time.

I went to Charlie's house after that, just to reminisce. There was nothing there I wanted, though – it was all human stuff. When I was done there, I went to the infamous cliff in La Push and jumped off it again, this time checking that no one was around. I swam about for a bit until I sensed it was time to meet Charlie, and then headed for the pier. He was quite surprised when I climbed out of the water next to his boat with my clothes and hair perfectly dry. I would have preferred to keep them wet, but I figured that if Charlie had company it would be even weirder for me to show up like I'd just had a swim. I mean, come on. This is Washington, not California.

I was right, too. A few minutes after I came out and greeted Charlie, Billy and Jacob Black showed up.

"Charlie," I hissed.

"What?"

"You didn't say we had company!"

"I couldn't stop him! He heard me say I was going fishing with you and suddenly he wanted to come, and so did Jacob."

"Of course he did."

Great. Another teenage boy who was in love with Bella Swan. And Billy's in a wheelchair – I don't have anything against that, it's just that my plan of capsizing the boat was ruined. I may have wanted my revenge on Charlie, but I'm not that mean.

To say fishing was a little awkward would be like saying Adolf Hitler was a little misbehaved. It was the evening, so the fish were out, but according to Billy it wasn't as good as fishing during the morning. As he said that he gave me a pointed look. Well, I'm sorry, but it's not like I had much choice.

I winced every time a fish was pulled out of the water – although, admittedly, that wasn't very often. I managed to hide it, though. I did, however, enjoy being on the water and had great fun splashing people when they weren't expecting it, and the best thing was Charlie couldn't do anything about it with Billy and Jacob in the boat. Of course, I also splashed myself so as not to arouse suspicion, as I know the Blacks would suspect the waves were not coincidences quicker than normal people, but I don't mind being wet.

The conversation between Jake and I, however, was the thing I most wished didn't happen.

"So…" he started.

"So what?"

"You're leaving."

"Yep."

"Why?"

I stayed quiet.

"Look, I'm just worried about you, okay? Does it have something to do with the bloodsuckers?"

"Nope."

"Okay, now I'm really worried – you didn't even get mad at me for insulting them." He frowned. "Did he hurt you again?"

"No, quite the opposite."

"What?"

"I broke up with him."

"Why?"

I shrugged. His face split into a wide grin.

"Oh, I don't even care. You've finally come to your senses!"

"Hmm, I suppose you could say that."

"So, I suppose you are leaving because of them."

"They have nothing to do with it."

"Oh, so it's just him then."

"Again, no."

"But-"

"Jake, can you just leave it?"

"No Bella, I can't! My best friend is leaving and I have absolutely no idea why!"

I glanced at Charlie, who Billy had shuffled down the other end of the boat in a poor and very not subtle attempt to give us some privacy. He just looked at me as if to say; no idea. All yours. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Jake.

"Look, I'm moving for reasons I would much rather keep to myself, but if it makes you feel any better, the Cullens are not coming with me."

"But Bells-"

"You want to know the reason I broke up with Edward?" I asked. He nodded, looking kind of excited. That was shattered by my next words, though, as I decided to use the same excuse I had with Mike and the others. It was kind of true enough and, as I'd said to Rosalie, it stopped them from continuing to moon over me. I felt kind of cruel, though – he was only a kid, after all. "I'm in love with another guy. He's over in New York at the moment – that's where I was the past month. When I came back, I broke up with Edward and decided I was going to move over there to be with this other guy. I doubt I'll come back."

He stared at me sadly. I sighed.

"You've been a great friend, Jake. I'll miss you." Even though I'll be forever annoyed that you didn't let me fake my own suicide, even if in doing so you allowed me to save the life of that depressing vampire.

With that, I moved over to where Billy and Charlie were, adjusting the water below the boat so the uneven balance of weight didn't tip us over.

"How's the fishing going?"

"Not so great," said Billy, looking from Jacob's sad form and then back to me. He narrowed his eyes.

"You want a try, Bella?" asked Charlie warily.

"Nah, I'm fine," I said. "I'm just enjoying the sea air." They kept fishing, while I discovered that there was a hippocampus swimming around below the boat who had learnt to steal the bait of fishing hooks without harming himself, so I started up a conversation.

Okay, I'll admit to something. I may have gotten bored after an hour and a half and started up a little swell for something to do, but I swear I never meant to drench Billy and give him mild hypothermia. Anyway, after that we headed back in. It was getting pretty dark anyway.

"You want to stay for a pizza at our place?" asked Billy.

"You do that, Charlie," I said. "I have to get going, though."

Charlie looked at me intensely.

"So," he said. "This is it."

"Yes, this is it."

"You're not even taking her to the airport or anything, Charlie?" asked Billy, surprised.

"No," I said, "It'd be best if I went on my own."

"Come on, Dad," said Jake, taking Billy's arm. "Charlie, we'll meet you at home."

"Jake," I said. He turned and looked at me sadly. "Thanks."

He nodded, and then he was gone. I was sorry that our friendship ended like this, but when you look at how long I had lived it was like I only knew him for a couple of seconds. I was sure he'd find happiness eventually. I turned to Charlie.

"I'll miss you, kid," he said.

"You know I hate it when you call me that," I said, laughing.

"Yeah, but it's my last chance."

I sighed, and looked him in the eye.

"You know that if you ever need me, just-"

"Talk to the water, yeah I know," said Charlie. "How many people have you said this to?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously, though," I said.

"Okay, okay," said Charlie. "Don't worry about me."

"I've taken up eighteen years of your life," I said, "It feels wrong to just-"

"You're not telling me you actually think that's a long time?"

"It isn't to me, but it is to you."

"True enough." We stood in silence for a few minutes. We'd never really been any good at sharing emotion with each other.

"Well then," I said, glancing behind me at the ocean. "I suppose I'd best be off."

"Yeah, I suppose," said Charlie. Then he pulled me in for a hug. "I really will miss you."

"You'll just miss my cooking," I accused.

"Well, yes, there is that," he said, laughing. "I hope you have a good time under the water and that boy of yours treats you right."

"Don't worry," I said with a laugh. Only Charlie would refer to a god as 'that boy'. "My father beat you to the death threats millennia ago."

"Yes, well… bye then, kid." This time, I didn't comment on the stupid nickname.

"Bye Charlie."

This time, instead of transporting I backed into the ocean so I could think before I got to Atlantis. He watched as I left, making me feel guilty again. Was that a tear on his cheek? I felt sorry for Charlie – he and Renee had taken me in and spent a large portion of their lives on me, even though they knew I wasn't theirs. Now, Charlie was left alone. Sure, he had Billy, but was that enough? I smiled slightly as a thought ran through my head. Perhaps I could have a little chat with Aphrodite the next time I was on Olympus…

Then I sank down under the waves and Charlie disappeared from view.

There you have it! Tell me what you thought, I always love feedback.

And hopefully I'll be seeing you all again for the next chapter! (Which, by the way, will include why all the gods call Bella 'Ella'. I had a question about that and I was planning on explaining it later on in the story, but since you asked it will be in the next chapter. So stay tuned!)