"Oh merlin! They're so cute!"

"Aww!"

"They are seriously so adorable!"

Annabeth groggily opened her eyes to a bright light flashing in her face.

"What the?" she mumbled as she swatted the people in front of her. "What are you guys doing here?" Annabeth asked as she sat up but found she couldn't, as Percy's arm was still draped around her. Ginny smiled devilishly at a confused Annabeth and after a couple of agonizing moments, she showed a photo of Percy and Annabeth sleeping. Annabeth immediately blushed, as the position they were in was quite promising.

"Wise Girl? What's going on?" Percy finally woke, "And what are you guys doing here?" Everyone looked at Ginny, almost as if they were expecting her to tell the reason.

Ginny just looked offended, "I, just….Okay, YOU WERE JUST TOO CUTE AND I JUST WANTED TO SHOW EVERYBODY HOW PERFECT YOU GUYS ARE!" she squealed.

"How perfect who is?" a cold voice asked from the door, "I thought I told you mortals to not min-" the same voice stopped as soon as she reached Percy's bed.

Annabeth finally looked up in shock and almost fainted at the sight, "Mum?" she whispered. Athena, her eyes green with fury ripped off the bed covers and suddenly dragged Annabeth away from the crowd, and into the girls dormitory which was empty except for Katniss sitting alone by herself in the corner. "What do you think you were doing?" Athena screeched at a cowering Annabeth. "I-I-It wasn't what you think…" she tried to make amends. "I don't care why you were ther-!"

Katniss decided to speak for the first time in a very small voice, "It was because she was having nightmares, Peeta told me." she explained to a confused Annabeth.

At this Athena's face softened, "About what happened in the war?" she murmured. Annabeth regrettably nodded. Athena thought about it for a moment then decided that she should probably leave them alone.

"Fine, you can date the sea spawn but don't come crying to me when he breaks your heart." Athena finalized, regaining her cold look before she stormed out the door, slamming it for good measure. Annabeth winced as she looked at the door before turning around and smiling a little at Katniss who was looking anywhere but her.

"Thanks." She whispered and Katniss just nodded.

After the whole morning fiasco, everyone ended up getting ready and they all ate breakfast quickly so they wont anger Athena anymore.

Ginny was rushing many 'sorry's at Annabeth who had already forgiven her.

As they all sat down again in the Throne Room, Annabeth, Clarisse, Rachel, Hermione and Ginny all sat together on the floor mat, cushions spread everywhere.

Annabeth looked up to see Katniss sitting with Peeta and not talking at all where Peeta looked longingly where all the other boys were discussing food, in particular, bread.

"Hey, Katniss, come sit with us!" she decided to yell out. Katniss' face was one of a startled deer in headlights as she looked unsurely at Annabeth. Finally, after some encouraging from Peeta, she slowly made her way to the group who all nodded and smiled as she sat down. Athena was still kind of angry from the morning as she picked up the book with disgust, staring daggers at the name.

"Who's reading?" she lightly asked.

Everyone looked at each other.

"I'll read!" Rachel shrugged as she grabbed the book from Athena and flipped open to the next chapter and read aloud the title, "Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants."

Everyone except for the Gods and demigods looked at Grover questionably, as they still hadn't found out that Grover was a satyr.

"Confession time: I ditched Grover as soon as we got to the bus terminal."

"Kelp Head!" Thalia chastised at a sheepish Percy who was scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Thalia then proceeded to mutter a "boys are stupid." under her breath at which Artemis nodded in agreement.

"I know, I know. It was rude. But Grover was freaking me out, looking at me like I was a dead man, muttering, "Why does this always happen?" and "Why does it always have to be sixth grade?"

Thalia gave Grover a look, "Grover, don't be still hanged up on it! It was my choice okay? You don't have to beat yourself up because of it."

"What happened?" Clary asked with curiosity.

Percy quickly told her that it would probably come up later in the book so Thalia and Grover wont become even sadder.

"Whenever he got upset, Grover's bladder acted up, so I wasn't surprised when, as soon as we got off the bus, he made me promise to wait for him, then made a beeline for the restroom. Instead of waiting, I got my suitcase, slipped outside, and caught the first taxi uptown."

"Honestly Seaweed Brain, you could have gotten in trouble!" Annabeth glared at Percy who was looking very sorry as he gazed at her with big eyes until she smiled. Athena, who was watching the whole exchange, narrowed her eyes and sniffed.

"East One-hundred-and-fourth and first," I told the driver.

A word about my mother, before you meet her."

"So very kind." Annabeth smiled.

"Not to mention strong, I mean it would take an amazing person to put up with," Grover gagged, "Smelly Gabe." He whispered as he recalled the horrible manner in which he regarded Percy.

"Her blue cake is really nice!" Nico added.

"Beautiful lady." Poseidon muttered to which Aphrodite cooed at.

"Her name is Sally Jackson and she's the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck."

"Just like you Percy." Annabeth smiled at him.

"Harry as well, man, I can just imagine your faces when you find out about his near-death experiences." Ginny laughed grimly.

While everyone was debating about who had the worst luck, Katniss spoke up, "Well at least you weren't put into a arena with 23 other kids and made to kill each other until one remained, twice in fact." Silence filled the room.

"Her own parents died in a plane crash when she was five,"

Poseidon looked at Zeus in distain who softly shrugged.

"And she was raised by an uncle who didn't care much about her. She wanted to be novelist, so she spent high school working to save enough money with a good creative-writing program."

Athena cocked her head to the side, thinking.

"Then her uncle got cancer, and she had to quit school her senior year to take care of him. After he died, she was left with no money, no family, and no diploma.

Athena frowned and felt disgruntled.

"The only good break she got was meeting my dad."

Everyone looked at Poseidon who was awkwardly looking at anything but everyone's gazes, but there was a small hint of a smile coming from his lips.

"I don't have any memories of him, just this warm glow, maybe the barest trace of his smile. My mom doesn't like to talk about him because it makes her sad. She has no pictures. See, they weren't married. She told me he was rich and important,"

Hades snorted loudly as he looked at Poseidon with his chin sticking out.

"And their relationship was a secret. Then one day, he set sail across the Atlantic on some important journey, and he never came back.

Lost at sea, my mom told me. Not dead. Lost at sea."

"Well, I guess that is sort of the truth," Rachel shrugged.

"She worked odd jobs, took night classes to get her high school diploma, and raised me on her own. She never complained or got mad. Not even once. But I knew I wasn't an easy kid."

All the demigods and Grover laughed at the statement.

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed, mocking an offended look.

"We all know that so true Kelp Head." Thalia snickered.

"Finally, she married Gabe Ugliano,"

Percy and Grover both shuddered at the thought of the horrendous pig that man was.

'At least he doesn't technically live anymore,' Percy mused, with a smirk.

"Who was nice the first thirty seconds we knew him, then showed his true colors as a world-class jerk. When I was young, I nicknamed him Smelly Gabe. I'm sorry, but it's the truth. The guy reeked like moldy garlic pizza wrapped in gym shorts."

"Why did your mother marry someone who is clearly horrible?" Peeta asked.

"Because sometimes the people who you hate might be the people to protect you the most." Harry replied, thinking of Petunia.

'Between the two of us, we made my mom's life pretty hard."

Annabeth shook her head and muttered, "I could imagine."

"The way Smelly Gave treated her, the way he and I got along… well, when I came home is a good example."

Grover thanked Pan that Gabe got turned into stone.

"I walked into out little apartment, hoping my mom would be home from work. Instead, Smelly Gabe was in the living room, playing poker with his buddies. The television blared ESPN. Chips and beer cans were strewn all over the carpet."

Thalia sighed loudly and leaned further into the couch.

"Hardly looking up, he said around his cigar, "So, you're home."

"Where's my mom?"

"Working," he said. "You got any cash?"

"That is horrible! Is that seriously the way he treated you?" Ginny asked, horror on her face. Percy just grimly nodded.

"That was it. No 'Welcome Back'. Good to see you. How has your life been the last six months?

Gabe had put on weight. He looked like a tuskless walrus in thrift-store clothes. He had about three hairs on his head, all combed over his bald scalp, as if that made him handsome or something."

Aphrodite gagged at the description.

"He managed the Electronics Mega-Mart in Queens, but he stayed home most of the time. I don't know why he hadn't been fired long before. He just kept on collecting paychecks, spending the money in cigars that made me nauseous, and on beer, of course. Always beer. Whenever I was home, he expected me to provide his gambling funds. He called that our 'guy secret'. Meaning, if I told my mom, he would punch my lights out."

The whole throne room was in silence with only the sound of the book falling on the marbled floor after Rachel dropped it in shock. Percy looked really uncomfortable as everyone around him had fuming, irate looks, almost as they would break things soon.

"Why? Why didn't you tell me?" Poseidon asked, his voice hoarse. "Well, I had no idea that you were my father so I had no way of telling you this." Percy's comment made Poseidon look like he was in more pain than before, muttering that he was stupid.

Rachel shakily bent over to grab the book before stuttering, flipping to the page before, looking around in fear as everyone's steely gazed were focused on the book. Swallowing and breathing deeply, she continued to read the book so the worst part was over,

"I don't have any cash," I told him.

He raised a greasy eyebrow.

Gabe could sniff out money like a bloodhound, which was surprising, since his own smell should've covered up everything else."

In Athena's mind, the wheels were turning. "So that's why she stayed with him!" she suddenly exclaimed, drawing in weird looks from the people surrounding her.

"You took a taxi from the bus station," he said. Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof; he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"

Hermione looked sadly at Percy, appalled at the way Gabe treated him.

Eddie, the super of the apartment building, looked at me with a twinge of sympathy. "Come on, Gabe," he said. "The kid just got here."

Hermione then relaxed slightly, "At least he's not as bad as Gabe."

"Am I right?" Gabe repeated.

Eddie scowled into his bowl of pretzels. The other two guys passed gas in harmony."

Hermione sighed, "I retract that statement."

"Fine," I said. I dug a wad of dollars out of my pocket and threw the money on the table. "I hope you lose."

"Your report card came, brain boy!"

Annabeth didn't have the heart to tease him, as the incident that they had just heard about was still fresh in everyone's mind.

"I slammed the door to my room, which really wasn't my room. During school months, it was Gabe's 'study'. He didn't study anything in there except old car magazines, but he loved shoving my stuff in the closet, leaving his muddy boot on my windowsill, and doing his best to make the place smell like his nasty cologne and cigars and stale beer.

"And you wonder why I don't like mortals." Hera sniffed and adjusted in her throne.

"I dropped my suitcase on the bed. Home sweet home. Gabe's smell was almost worse than the nightmares about Mrs. Dodds, or the sound of that old fruit lady's shears snipping the yarn.

But as soon as I thought that, my legs felt weak. I remembered Grover's look of panic – how he'd made me promise I wouldn't go home without him. A sudden chill rolled through me. I felt like someone- something- was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons."

Everyone suddenly looked alarmed.

"Then I heard my mom's voice. "Percy?"

She opened the bedroom door, and my fears melted."

Percy grinned and looked down as all the boys around him chuckled and ruffled his hair.

"My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room. Her eyes sparkle and change color in the light. Her smile is as warm as a quilt. She's got a few gray streaks mixed with her long brown hair, but I never think of her as old. When she looks at me, it's like she's seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad."

Poseidon also smiled at the description of Sally as mindlessly nodded, agreeing with what Rachel was reading. The memory of Sally's smile managed to sooth him and calm down about the whole Gabe thing.

"I've never heard her raise her voice or say an unkind word to anyone, not even me or Gabe."

'Just when I had thought I'd forgotten him!' Poseidon fumed as he clenched his jaw.

"Oh, Percy." She hugged me tight. "I can't believe it. You've grown since Christmas!"

"Her red-white-and-blue Sweet on America uniform smelled like the best things in the world."

Hermione reminisced her sixth year of Hogwarts when Professor Slughorn had showed them Amortenia.

(A/N: Well... I'm sorry guys but I kinda kept this chapter away from you for a veryyyyy long time. In fact I wrote this, about the same time as I wrote the last proper chapter, I just forgot it existed.

I'll upload Part 2 soon, hang in there. :)

I've just began the spring holidays so I probably will have a bit more time to write.

Thank you everyone!

TeamCato4ever)