The sequel to "After the End"! We were pretty fast, weren't we? We'll shut up and give you the chapter now :D

Chapter 1: Coming Home

Almost twenty years have passed since the birth of one child divided the Gods. Nine of the twelve Olympians sided with the parents of that child. Three were on the other accompanied by other minor Gods. Zeus backed off and let the two demigods spend their time with their son in peace, even though he was anything BUT in favor of the child's life. Percy and Annabeth Jackson along with their friends spent those 20 years at camp teaching the younger, helping them and advising them on anything they might want.

Eight months after the great fight between the two sides, Clarisse Rodriguez and Jenny Stoll gave birth to their first child each. Owen Jason Rodriguez was born on November 10th followed by Abigail Grace Stoll on November 20th. Owen, having Clarisse and Chris as his parents, was pretty tall, had black hair and brown eyes like his father. That's what Abigail or Abby as we call her, loves about him most. His eyes. Abby on the other hand is blond like her mom, but had her father's black eyes. Those two have been together ever since they can remember themselves, which is long. A little over nineteen years to be exact.

The next two additions to this little family came a year and a half later with the births of Benjamin "Ben" James Rodriguez first and Alexandra "Alex" Sophia Jackson a few months later. Ben was a lot like his brother and father with the only difference being in his hair color, which was brown instead of black. His eyes were deep green like Clarisse's, his mother. As for Alex? My little sister is the exact opposite of me. While I look just like dad, but have mom's hair color, Alex is just like mom with dad's black hair. I am and always have been very protective of her, but ever since she and Ben became fifteen and started dating, my role as her protector was downsized a lot. Ben took it upon himself to be the one who looks after her, so dad and I had to back off a little.

The last two people to enter our lives were Michael Robert Di Angelo and Amanda Brooke Stoll, who were welcomed in this world four years after my birth with an age difference of two months and Mike coming first. Mike was just like Nico with Thalia's blue eyes. He liked to be by himself, although he hung out with the rest of the group because of his girlfriend and the youngest member of our family. Amanda has taken after her father, having his brown hair and general pose, but her eyes are exactly like Jenny's, mom's and Alex's. At the age of sixteen Mike and Amanda were already in love with each other (or so they said), much like Owen with Abby and Ben with Alex. I was the only one of the group that was single and that's the reason, I had decided to go to college for a couple of years. Just to see what it's like and what I would be missing out if I didn't go.

From the moment I could hold a sword in my hands I have been training. It's what I've done my whole life. Mastering the control of my powers infested by my father, exercising my mind so that it's as sharp as my mother's is, worked out so that I'm in my best physical condition and generally training. I have managed to become better than even my parents, which is one great accomplishment if one considers that they have been up against an immense number of monsters, titan and gods, but are still here. Despite being good at everything, I wanted more. So, when I became eighteen, I convinced my parents to let me go to college for a couple of years. I still wanted to spend my life at camp like they were, but I wanted to check things out before proceeding to stay at one place forever. You can blame my mother for having such an inquiring mind and passing it to me. Alex also had it, but she also had a reason to stay at camp. One I didn't.

So I spent the next almost two years at the University of Florida majoring in Architecture, something my mom and grandmother have been very proud about. The others were too, but the official architect of Olympus and the Goddess of wisdom were over the moon. A couple of months later, though, I started to get bored. I was better than my professors in every way, so there was nothing more to learn. I tried to balance my lack of interest by having an "adventurous" life out of the school, but even then I got bored after some time. So after three semesters of learning what I already knew from my mother, I dropped out and returned home. Or at least I was on my way home. After a three-hour train-ride, I was standing right outside the train station in New York. Nobody knew I was coming back. Or so I thought. I took my bag and headed to the familiar face of my uncle smiling.

"What are you doing here, Ares?" I asked giving him a tight hug.

"Well, who would pick you up if there is no one that knows you were coming back?" He asked returning the hug.

"Except the gods of course." I filled in. "How is my grandmother? How pissed is she with my decision?"

"Athena? She's not pissed. She is proud that her grandson found that he already knew everything they tried to teach him." He said patting my back.

"Wow, that's unexpected. Where is your bike?" I asked not being able to find it anywhere.

"Oh I'm not coming with you. I just managed to sneak your car out of the garage without your parents knowing." he said and I really didn't want to know what he did to manage that. I took a glance bend him and found my baby. My beautiful blue-silver Porsche 911 GT3, a gift from my grandfather when I turned 16.

"Well then, mind if I go?" I asked getting closer to my car.

"No, not at all. See you at dinner, champ!" He said and disappeared. I just shook my head smiling and got in the car having stuffed my luggage in the trunk. The moment I got in the car's cabin, I ran my hands over the steering wheel, the seats and everything. I had really missed my car. I hadn't been inside its cabin for 23 and a half months. Just two weeks and it would be two years. I checked to see if my sword and shield were in place and once I made sure of that I drove off.

What my sword and shield are? Both were crafted by one my uncles, Hephaestus. The sword, a special order of my grandparents, was crafted by Hephaestus himself. A sword of adamantane, a crystal clear silver material, capable of slicing anything into pieces. The handle was a blue with a trident carved on one side and an owl on the other. Its name? Achilles after the great hero. Its maker chose it, because the design was exactly like the hero's sword. The shield? Again it was made by Hephaestus, but this time it was a gift from Ares. The Ancile as he named it. A gift from the god of war to me. A blue and silver shield of adamantane like the sword that covered most of my body during combat. Hephaestus also made sure that I could carry them both without difficulty. So like my dad's sword, Riptide, which turned into a pen, Achilles turned into a ring, placed on my right hand, and Ancile into an armband which was around my left arm at all times.

Driving through the streets of New York once again brought back great memories of my life here, even though I've been away only for two years. Since no one was rushing me, I drove in a slow pace admiring the scenery I had missed so much. But half an hour into the drive and just a few minutes from home, I saw a wrecked car on the side of the road, so I stopped the car, got out and tried to find any survivors. No one was around, but I could hear the sound of a battle to the east in the woods, so I ran there twisting my ring so Achilles was ready in my hand.

I ran a few yards in the woods and there I found them. A teenage girl, who no doubt was a demigod, was fighting the Sphinx. But why would the sphinx be here? Before I could further argue with myself, the girl fell down and the monster was ready to tear her apart. Instinctively, I covered the few yards between me and the monster and pushed it away from her. The sphinx was as startled as the girl was, but quickly composed itself and attacked me screeching. I dodged it and managed to strike its hint leg infuriating it even more.

"Oh come on... it's a just a scratch." I taunted chuckling. It had been two years since I came up against a monster. Being a second-generation demigod, my scent wasn't as obvious which enabled me to pass by monsters without them realizing it and I used it in my benefit of course.

The sphinx turned around in the air, shot me a death glare and charged. I smiled and waited for it. Once it was close enough, I tried to avoid its nails, a little unsuccessfully might I add, and managed to mount it. I examined the wound on my upper left arm before scrunching my face.

"Now look what you did. You destroyed Alex's favourite shirt, which was also a gift." I said shaking my head before slicing its neck with Achilles. It dismembered into ashes like all monsters and I found myself "flying" towards a tree. The impact was strong and noisy. I fell down with a loud thud. Thankfully, there were no broken bones or anything, so I got up, turned my sword in a ring also wearing it and ran back to the girl.

"Why did you have to get in the way?" She asked when she saw me coming.

"Excuse me? I just saved your life." I said surprised.

"I was doing fine by myself." She answered getting the dirt off of her pants.

"So you call being on the ground with the nails of a sphinx ready to cut your throat, doing fine. I wonder what's it like when you are having a death experience." I said offering to help her up, but she pushed my hand away.

"I don't need your help. I can get up myself." She said trying to get up, but stumbled so I caught her. She straightened herself up and turned towards her car.

"Does the phrase 'thank you' exist in your vocabulary?" I asked catching up to her.

"Yes, but I only say it when the person deserves it and you were just in my way." She said and picked up the pace. This girl was getting on my nerves. Back in Florida I had no trouble getting women to do what I want, so what the hell was wrong with this chick? I decided to try a different approach.

"Can I at least have your name?" I asked with a slightest flirtatious tone.

"Why? Don't you have one?" She asked back in the most common of ways. But of course it was my fault for expressing the question that way. "No if you'll excuse me, I don't want to miss dinner."

"I can drive you back to camp. I'm headed there after all." I suggested and she stopped dead on her tracks. She seemed to be thinking about it and then turned to me.

"What time is it?" She asked.

"7:30. You will never make it at camp within thirty minutes by walking." I said after checking my watch.

"Well, then I might take you up on that offer." She said huffing.

"Follow me then." I said and lead us back to my car. "Are those your things?" I asked pointing to the bags next to the wrecked car.

"Yup. Is this your car?" She asked examining every detail.

"Yeah. A gift from my grandfather." I confirmed going to her car to pick her bags up. Once everything was in my trunk, we got in and I started driving.

"Thank you by the way." She said after a while.

"Wow!" I exclaimed.

"What?" She asked curious.

"The phrase does in fact exist in your vocabulary!" I said chuckling and she smacked my head like mom or Alex often did.

"Ouch! That was one strong smack." I said.

"That's for being a jackass." She said and I rubbed the back of my scalp. We had arrive at camp and the moment we got in, she demanded that I let her out and I had no choice but to do what she said. "Thanks for the ride, jackass." She said before turning to leave, but I grabbed her hand.

"The name is Liam or LJ not jackass. And you are welcome mystery girl." I said smiling.

"Well, LJ you are a jackass and you should go get that arm checked." She said gesturing to the cut on my left arm.

"Thanks for the concern." I said and let go of her hand. She rolled her eyes before disappearing. "What the fuck?" I wondered and I heard her giggle, but couldn't see her. I sat there shocked for a few minutes, before finally composing myself and driving back to my family's home. It was already eight pm, which is why I found no one on my way back. I parked the car in the garage, took my bag upstairs and finally fully checked on my arm. It wasn't that bad, but when mom sees it, she will flip. I quickly took off my bloody shirt and put a bandage around the wound to somewhat stop the bleeding, before wearing another. I also took my contacts off and wore my glasses (yes, I have a little problem with my eyes), before running to the pavilion.

To say it was full was an understatement. After so many years and claims, we had to expand the "magical" borders in order to create more space for training, accommodations, leisure activities and everything. The pavilion had, of course, also undergone my mother's plans of expansion, so we could all fit in here. The Gods were the first to notice my coming and I could see the worried looks on my grandparents' faces, so with a move of my hands I reassured them that I was fine. My parents and Chiron though, were nowhere to be found.

Next to notice me were Owen, Ben and Mike who were sitting on the opposite side of Abby, my sister and Amanda. Since we were the only second generation demigods living at camp we had our own table, in which anyone we consider a friend could sit with us. I was right behind the girls' backs, which meant they couldn't see me, so I decided to come up behind them and scare them. I went behind my sister and wrapped my arms around her making her jump from her seat and smack my head like the mystery girl had done earlier.

"Ouch! What's with girls and smacking?" I asked rubbing my scalp again.

"LJ?" Alex asked in disbelief.

"Have I changed that much that you can't recognize your own brother?" I asked smiling. The girls squealed, got up and hugged me with all their strength, which cause a sharp pain in my arm. They seemed to notice my discomfort and pulled away.

"First of all, what happened to your arm?" Abby asked lifting my sleeve up so she could see the damage.

"Nothing important." I answered and brought it down. I knew the girls would freak, when they saw the wound, which would alert mom, which would bring me a nice, embarrassing and loud scold in front of everyone a little sooner than I hoped for. I went to the other side of the table and greeted my friends and brothers. "Wow! Where did you get all that muscle, Mike?" I asked hugging him.

"Working out like you did." He said flexing his new-found muscles.

"Man, you've all grown up so much..." I trailed off sitting down in my sister's seat as she sat in my lap.

"You have remained the same, though." Owen said nudging me.

"Guys, were are our parents?" I asked curious as to why no one was here.

"Chiron wanted to talk to them for some reason." Amanda said.

"Maybe he's telling them about your return." Ben said. That's when I saw the mystery girl come in the pavilion. She took a trail of food, approached the fire and threw some in looking up at the night sky. Alex saw who I was looking at, grabbed my chin and turned my head up so she could see me.

"Why are you looking at her, LJ?" She asked seriously.

"That girl is the reason for that." I said pointing to my arm. "Who is she?"

"She's our friend." Amanda simply answered.

"Any more info on her?" I pressed.

"Why? Are you interested big brother?" Alex asked me.

"Interested, no. Curious, yes." I answered although I don't know if what I said was true.

"Her name is Melanie Claire Carter and he is a daughter of Nyx." Owen answered as she approached the table.

"Ohhh, so you are a jackass and blind..." She said when she saw me. I just rolled my eyes and straightened my glasses.

"Mel, care to explain what is that on my brother's arm?" Alex asked.

"Wait... He is your brother?" Melanie asked in disbelief. But the next moment...

"LIAM KAI JACKSON, WHAT IN HADES NAME IS THAT ON YOUR ARM?" mom yelled and everyone cowered back in fear.

"Can't save you from that bro." Alex said before getting off of my lap quickly. I turned around and saw my mother standing there glaring at me with her hands on her hips.

"Hi...?" I wanted to say but it came out as a question.

"Don't 'Hi' me. What is that on your arm?" She asked getting closer.

"It's just a scratch mom." I said. Everyone on the pavilion was then laughing at me.

"Just a scratch? Get the bandage off then." She challenged. I looked at dad to see if he would save me from this, but even HE was afraid of Annabeth Jackson.

"Mrs Jackson, I believe I'm at fault for your son's injury." Melanie said standing up. Whoa, she was brave.

"Please call us by our first names and how is it your fault, Melanie?" My dad asked.

"When I was on my way here, I was attacked by the sphinx and if it wasn't for LJ, I probably wouldn't be here right now. He killed it saving me in the process." She said and I couldn't believe my ears. Just a few minutes ago she was denying it and now this?

"Again, how is it your fault?" My mom asked. "If he didn't play with the monster before killing it, no matter it was, he wouldn't get hurt. Isn't that right kids?" She asked and everyone cheered. Damn! Why do everyone have to know that I'm good? Melanie then stepped back and went to her cabin's table with her siblings.

"Will it help if I say that I won't do it again?" I asked.

"You know you will do it again. You are stubborn just like your parents." my grandmother said coming close.

"Then, will it help if I say that I'll try not to do it again?" I asked flashing them a smile I knew my mom couldn't resist. The same with my dad's.

"Get over here, idiot." She finally said opening her arms. I got up and went to hug her. "I've missed you, baby." She said in my ear.

"Me too, mom." I said in her hair. The rest of the people who knew me came to greet me, before we all sat down to continue with our meal. Quite an eventful way to come home.

So now you've all (whoever did) read the first chapter of the sequel, we would like to give the appropriate credit to the people who deserve it:

First of all for the sequel's name, we would like to thank Meghan or NCISziva26. Also Abby's name was also an inspiration of her obsession with NCIS obviously.

Now some of the character names. We named the younger son of Clarisse and Chris, Ben because of one great real-life author, adviser, listener to the crap we say and friend. So Ben or citizen of the world that's for you. :D

Next, we named Percabeth's daughter after a crazy girl, who has supported us non-stop and we love. So Alex or hogwartsismydrug that's for you. :D

Last, Amanda's name was changed the last minute. Originally it would be Haley Brooke Stoll, but then a certain girl returned from vacation and reviewed three chapters at once reminding us how much she supports us, so we couldn't NOT change the name. So Amanda or Stinkyacorn we hope you like it. :D

Now for who would be Melanie's godly parent you have filmyfurry to thank for. We had absolutely no clue on that one until we saw our friend's suggestions.

The ones that were mentioned neither in the names or the other stuff, don't worry... It's only because we were unable to make the right connections to the story. We still love you! So Akai, Kayla, Sara and so many others we still love you!

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!

Catherine & Tony P.