CHAPTER 24:
STILL THALIA POV
Frank.
He was looking at the floor shyly.
Percy tears the paper off the box to see that there are two boxes tied off neatly with a bow, one addressed to himself and the other addressed to Annabeth.
"On the count of three, both of you open them at once." Frank says, and the two of them nod. The two of them yank of the ribbon when he says three.
Annabeth lifts up a delicate anklet that had 'Seaweed Brain' written in fancy cursive with a tiny emerald dotting the 'i'. Percy lifted a thick rope necklace with shark teeth decorating the sides and 'Wise Girl' written with the 'i's dotted with diamonds.
"Frank, their beautiful." Annabeth said, pulling him into a hug.
"Thanks, man." Percy said, fist bumping Frank.
"It's no problem." Frank said, blushing.
I hand the couple another present, this one from Leo and Calypso.
They open it to see a gift card to… a store owned by Leo and Calypso?
"What is this?" Percy asked, confused.
"Well the two of us are thinking of opening a store soon, and you two get a $100 gift card for when it first opens." Leo explained.
"That's really cool, guys!" Jason said, and everyone else nodded in agreement.
"Can you guys open mine next?" Katie asked, holding her present out/
"Sure." Annabeth said, smiling at the daughter of Demeter.
When the open it, they find another coupon, this one saying that Katie's half-sister Persephone would be glad to do all the floral arrangements at their wedding, which Annabeth beamed about.
Clarisse and Chris wordlessly pass me up their present after Katie gets thanked for hers.
Annabeth and Percy open the present to find a thick, leather-bound photo album. They opened it up to see pictures of their memories at camp, starting from Percy's first year there, and yes, one of the pictures was indeed Clarisse being drenched with toilet water.
They properly thanked her for such a meaningful gift, and then I passed them Annabeth's California friends' gift, which was a giant rolled up photo. Annabeth carefully unrolled it to see a Photoshopped picture that was instead of the Hollywood sign, it said 'Happily Engaged.'
"Aww… That's so sweet you guys!" Annabeth said, hugging them all.
Rebecca, Mia, Di, Alex, Max, Sam and Juliet (who was holding hands with Connor, by the way) passed up a huge box. "It's just for Annabeth, but Perce… you already have one, and Annabeth's been stealing it, so we thought we should get her one."
Puzzled, Annabeth opened the box to see a dark blue varsity jacket, with Jackson written on the back, and instead of a silhouette of a person swimming as the logo, it was a silhouette of a person reading, which made Annabeth smile.
"Thanks guys, you're right. She has been stealing mine." Percy said, nudging Annabeth in the ribs, teasingly.
She rolled her eyes and turned to him. "As your girlfriend, I think I have the right to steal your clothes." Annabeth said, making Percy raise his hands in surrender.
Jason hands his present (an envelope) to me next, and I pass it to Annabeth.
Percy childishly tears it out of her hands and rips it open.
Inside was a ticket. Percy read it out loud. "Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase (soon to be Jackson) this ticket will forever grant you two and your family safe passage in the sky no matter what the consequences. Sincerely, Zeus, Lord of the Skies."
Percy's eyes widened. "Whoa! Thanks man!" He said, fist bumping Jason, and Annabeth hugged Jason thankfully.
"Me next!" Grover said, tossing her present to Percy.
Inside…. Was an apple?
"Huh?" Percy asked.
Grover smiled. "Do you guys remember playing hacky sack on our first quest?"
Annabeth nodded. "Yeah, why?"
"Well… Percy always threw it to you, and I always threw it to him and well yeah… But anyways… In ancient Greek times, throwing an apple at a lady was considered a marriage proposal. So in reality, the two of you have been engaged for a very, very long time."
The blushes on Percy and Annabeth's faces were very prominent by the end of Grover's speech.
Everyone is just about dying of laughter.
"No way!" I manage to gasp out through my laughter.
"Yeah." He said, shaking his head in surprise. "I was shocked when I found out."
After everyone calmed down, Piper tossed her gift to Annabeth. "Now open mine!"
The two open Piper's as well, to see two wristbands. "I got them especially made by mom, Hephaestus and Hermes. They allow you two to be able to contact each other at all times, anywhere as long as you have them. And according to mom, they're cute too!" She said in her fake Aphrodite voice, making us all burst into laughter again.
"Thanks Pipes." Annabeth said, slipping her band on.
"Thanks, Piper." Percy said, doing the same with his band.
Coach Hedge, Mellie and Marissa (AN: BTW I KNOW THAT CHUCK IS ACTUALLY COACH HEDGE'S SON, BUT I STARTED THIS BEFORE BOO CAME OUT AND I WANTED TO KEEP THE CONTINUITY CORRECT SO I'M LEAVING IT MARISSA) hand their present to Percy next.
He opens it eagerly to see a baseball bat.
His eyebrows furrow, confusedly.
"Why'd you get us a baseball bat, Coach?"
"Read the engraving, Cupcake." He responded in his gruff voice.
Percy flips the bat around until he finds the engraving, which said 'To two of my favorite Cupcakes, I'm so happy for you-and I can't wait for the mini cupcakes!'
"Aww… That's so sweet Coach!" Annabeth said, lightly running her finger over the engraving.
"Nah, it was no big deal." Coach said, waving it off, but the two thanked him again nonetheless.
Nico and Bianca hand up their gift next, and my breath quickens when I realize that mine will be opened afterwards.
The two open the present to find a little figurine.
The little figurine that Bianca had gotten for Nico.
Percy's eyes were glistening with tears, and so were Nico's.
"Why are you giving this to us?" He asked in a raspy voice.
"She's with me again. And I want you to give it to her." He said in a soft voice.
"Who?" Annabeth whispered back.
"Bianca. When you have your daughter Bianca. I want you to give this to her."
Annabeth's cheeks were tinged with pink but she nodded firmly.
"Are you sure?" Percy insisted.
"Yeah. It gave me hope-so I decided I would pass it on. And you guys are so important to me. So…" His voice trailed off.
"Thank you, Nico." Percy whispered.
Nico shrugged, as if it were nothing, but a tear made it's way down his cheek, as I assume he was remembering finding out that Bianca was dead.
After a moment, everyone turns their heads to me.
"Thals, you're the last one up." Jason said, nudging me.
With a thick swallow, I hand Annabeth my gift.