CHAPTER 1:

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN THE PJO OR THE HOO SERIES-ONLY RICK DOES!

Percy POV

It was finally over.

The war with Gaea. It was done. We were finally free.

But, Leo.

What happened to him?

Did he actually make it to Calypso? I hope so, I may not be her biggest fan at the moment, but Leo needs her.

I stumble around, looking for Annabeth. We lock eyes and run towards each other. I hug her and whisper soothing remarks in her ear when I noticed that tears were streaming down her face.

"Leo." She gasped.

"He's finding her. I can feel it." I say kissing her hair.

She nods, but doesn't stop crying.

After a moment, we pull apart and begin to survey the damage. Most everyone is okay, but I can't find Nico.

I know now that he liked me, which was a little difficult to take in, but I still have this urge to protect him, because he's like a little brother to me.

I finally see him in the infirmary helping Will Solace tend to the injured. They're laughing at something Will said, and I notice Nico blushing. What could that be about…?

Annabeth is pulling me towards Chiron.

He smiles at her weakly. "Hello Percy, Annabeth. I'm glad to see you two are alright."

She smiles back in response. "I have to take him to-" She's cut off.

"I know. Be back as soon as you can." He hugs her and then me.

We start walking towards the borders. "Wise Girl, where are we going?" She smiles.

"You'll see. Call Mrs. O'Leary will you?" Confused, I do as she asked.

She appears and licks us both, drenching us in saliva. Annabeth whispers something in her ear. We jump onto her back and then disappear.

I find myself outside of my apartment building once I get my senses back. I realized what was going on-I was finally going to see my mom.

Annabeth led me to the door and put her hands on my shoulders.

"Percy, listen to me. When we get up there, there is going to be something very surprising. Your mother asked me not to tell you because she wanted it to be a surprise. I would have told you, but I just had to listen to Sally, she's too sweet not too. So no matter what is awaiting you, promise that you won't be upset with me for not telling you?" She asks, hopefully.

I smile. "Wise Girl, I couldn't be mad at you if I tried." She grinned in response and we made our way to the elevator. Annabeth pushed my floor button and the doors slid closed.

I gulped. I hadn't ever told Annabeth this-but I was sort of claustrophobic… I braced myself against the wall and dropped to my knees.

"Seaweed Brain! What's wrong?" She grabbed my face in her hands worriedly.

"It's nothing Wise Girl-I'm just a little claustrophobic. I think it comes with being a son of Poseidon. I like to be free, you know? Go with the flow? But closed spaces don't really allow that." She looked extremely sheepish.

"I'm sorry Seaweed Brain, I should have realized that. We could have taken the stairs." I smile at her weakly.

"Nah, it's alright Wise Girl, we'll be up to my floor in no time." As if on cue, the elevator dinged and the doors opened up onto my floor.

I hurriedly rushed out of the elevator and, hand-in-hand with Annabeth, walked to my door.

I started patting pockets, looking for my key, but I couldn't find it.

Annabeth laughed as I struggled. "I guess after about a year, your key fell out of your pockets, huh?" I laughed also.

So I decided just to ring the doorbell.

After a second, the door opened. But instead of my mother or Paul, I was face to face with a girl, about 12 or 13 years old.

"Um… Who are you?" I asked, somewhat rudely, my hand instinctively going to Riptide.

"Angelina Wil-er… Blofis now." She said smiling slightly. "And you must be Percy?"

I nodded, really confused.

Annabeth took my hand. "This is the surprise Seaweed Brain." Then she turned to the girl-Angelina-and smiled. "I'm Annabeth Chase, can we come in?"

The girl nodded, and stepped aside. I walked in, and noticed that almost nothing had changed about my house. Yet there was something different.

It just seemed sadder. How that's possible I have absolutely no idea, but that's how it felt.

Just then, I heard a gasp from behind me. I turned around and saw my mother, tears streaming down her face and her hair all disheveled.

"Mom." I whispered, scooping her up in a hug.

"Oh, Percy! I was so worried that you-you were gone for good this time." She said, sobbing. "Oh baby, I missed you so much."

Then she noticed whom I was with. "Annabeth, dear! Thank you so much for finding my baby." She hugged Annabeth tightly as well.

"Not a problem Sally. Um… but maybe you want to explain the whole Angelina thing to Seaweed Brain?"

She froze. "Oh. Yes. Um… Paul! Paul, Percy's back!" She cried.

I heard a thud then a yelp. "What? He's back?" My stepfather rushed into the room and his eyes landed on me. "Percy! It's good to see you!" He hugged me tightly.

My mom cleared her throat. "Paul-we have to um… Explain the Angelina thing to Percy." Paul nodded, sort of worriedly.

"So Percy, when you were gone, I realized how much I had missed you. Not just you in general-I missed you when you were innocent, not having to face these… problems. That's when Paul suggested that we extend our family. We realized that having a baby wouldn't be a good idea-not yet anyway, so we decided to adopt. We asked Annabeth if she thought it was a good idea, and she said that you would probably be fine with it, and so we set out looking for someone to make part of our family. After a really long time, we had almost given up, but we made one last stop to one more orphanage-where we met Angelina. She seemed like the perfect fit to our family, and she was just the sweetest thing, so we adopted her. So, she's your new sister." My mom explained.

I looked at this girl. She was blushing and looking at her feet. I open my mouth to say something, but she cuts me off.

"I understand if you don't really want me, it makes sense if I was just some replacement while you were gone. But I do hope that even if you do send me back, we can be friends? But you don't have to-I'm probably too much of a problem any-" I hug her tightly before she can say anything else.

"No. You're part of the family now. And you're most certainly not just some replacement. Besides, I've always wanted a little sister. Thalia's almost a sister to me, but boy does she make things hard for me." Annabeth snorts in response to that.

"Thalia? Who's that?" Angelina asks.

"She's my cousin on my dad's side." I answer. Then, because I couldn't resist, "I have a lot more family on that side, believe me." Annabeth just cracks up and my mom and Paul smile as well.

She looks sort of confused, but smiles anyways. "I'm really glad that you don't want to send me away-all I've ever wanted was a family." I hug her tightly again.

"Now you have one."

My mom rushes me to the bathroom and tells me to get cleaned up for dinner. I smile-I had missed her so much.

I take a quick shower and change my clothes, then make my way to the dinner table, where Annabeth is in deep discussion about some book with Paul, and Angelina is sitting alone, because my mom is still cooking.

She looks a little uncomfortable, and I feel really bad for her. I need to be a good big brother. That could be difficult, considering my only brother who hasn't tried to kill me or isn't a horse is Tyson, and I rarely see him now.

I sit next to her and begin to make discussion.

"So tell me about yourself." I say, not wanting to pry, but hoping that she opens up.

"Um… okay. I'm 13, but I'll be 14 in a few months. My favorite color is purple. I love to read, sing, dance and I love art. My parents died in a car accident when I was 2, so I don't really remember them. But Sally and Paul are the greatest. And. Well. I've always wanted a big brother." She says shyly, looking at me through her lashes.

I smile widely. "Well. I've always wanted a little sister." She smiles hugely in response.

"How about you tell me about yourself now." She suggests and I nod.

"Well. I'm 16, but I'll be 17 in a few weeks. My favorite color is blue. But I also like gray a lot. Besides my mom, Annabeth is the most important person in the world to me-I love her so much. And unfortunately, I've had a lot of people who I love die as well." I say looking down, thinking of all of the people who died that I should have saved. Bianca, Zoë, Lee, Castor, Michael, Silena, Beckendorf, Luke, Damasen, Bob, Leo. Those people shouldn't have died. I hadn't even realized that a tear had dripped down my cheek until Angelina's gentle touch wiped it away.

"Don't think about it. That's what I've learned. Just realize that those people are in a better place now." She said, smiling softly. I nod in agreement-all of them are probably partying in Elysium right now.

"Now I have a question for you. Where did you and Annabeth meet and how soon is she going to be my sister in-law?" She said, smiling cheekily.

I blush. I hadn't actually told anyone besides Tyson, my dad and Lady Athena, but I was planning on giving Annabeth a promise ring soon. It was Tyson-made and was so beautiful.

Angelina is waiting, so I tell her the story on how we met, minus all the stuff about us being demigods, because I'm not sure if she's ready for that yet. Then, I lean in really close to her. "Don't tell anyone, but I'm planning on giving her a promise ring soon." I whisper.

Her eyes widened. "Really? Oh that sounds so wonderful! I just hope I'll still be around for your wedding…" She trails off longingly.

"What do you mean? If she'll have me, of course you'll be there."

"Of course she'll have you, but what if you guys decide to give me back before then?" I have this urge to protect her, to make sure that nothing in the world will ever hurt her.

"Of course you'll stay with us, Angel." She smiles shyly.

"Angel?" I blush.

"Sorry-that's just something I do. I give people nicknames. I was going to nickname you Angie, but I figured everyone else can call you that-but you're my angel." She throws her arms around me and hugs me tightly.

"Thanks." She hesitates. "Big brother."