Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns the Percy Jackson series not me :( unfortunately!

Ch 1 - The Start of all my Problems

"Morning, guys!" said Thalia, running towards the group who was standing around Annabeth's locker.

"Morning," said Annabeth.

"Guess what!" said the first. "I decided I'm going to celebrate my birthday!"

"Finally!" cried Silena. "I've been trying to convince you to do that the whole year!"

"I know," continued Thalia. "I really wasn't going to do anything but my dad said that my family was already planning on going to Olympus so, whatever, I just figured I'd take a couple of friends and celebrate it there!"

"What's Olympus?" asked Clarisse.

"It's the name of the family beach house."

"Your house has a name?" asked Chris.

"Yeah, it didn't but we used to call it that when we were kids so it just kind of stuck. Now everyone calls it that or just 'The House'."

"I just can't believe I'm finally gonna meet your family!" said Annabeth.

"They're nothing much."

"Nothing much?" asked Beckendorf. "From the way you talk about them they seem like the craziest people ever!"

"They are," said Thalia. Everyone laughed as the bell rang and they went into the home room.

Thalia was so excited her friends would finally meet her family. They knew Jason, her little brother, and her dad but her family was so much more than that. She was especially excited because she was gonna see her cousins Percy and Nico again. It had been two years since the last time they saw each other and she knew for a fact that they'd grow a lot since then. Percy was turning seventeen this year, same as her, and Nico fifteen, she was anxious to know what kinds of trouble they'd gotten themselves into.

They were a complicated family. That you can be sure of.

Thalia was a punk. She wore "Death to Barbie" shirts and ripped up black jeans. She was a complicated child, didn't have a lot of patience and a very small tolerance to Bullsh*t. She got herself into trouble with her dad, her mom and her school. Just the teenager.

Nico was an EMO. He was strange in the oddest ways and hardly ever laughed. His older sister and mother had died when he was twelve and he suddenly had to grow up to his father's expectations which were really high. He did have another sister, Hazel, but she shared the same features and wasn't one to talk a lot.

Percy was a trouble maker. He had been kicked out of loads of schools for getting into all kinds of trouble. No one could control that boy, except, sometimes, his mother, who was the sweetest person in the world. He was the only one who frequently visited The House because his father loved to be next to the sea, same as Percy.

The rest of the family was just as complicated and huge. Thalia had two cousins, Connor and Travis, who were quite the robbers and pranksters; then other three, Will, Lee and Michael, who were music freaks and skater dudes; another two, Castor and Pollux, who were a little on the crazy side; and, lastly her cousin Jake, who was one with the engine, the guy could fix anything if it didn't have a beating heart. And many others, but these were the ones Thalia cared about the most.

That was pretty much Thalia's family. Oh! And they all had problems like ADHD or dyslexia.

Great. This would be the best family reunion.

Thalia's birthday was in December, winter. Which meant it would be cold and she had no idea why her whole family would be going to her beach house in winter just for her birthday but whatever, she was just happy she'd see them. They hadn't had a family reunion in a long time. Thalia loved family reunions because they were usually pretty crazy and they were the family she had, as her mom had died years before and she didn't really have any contact with that part of her life. Her dad's family though, she loved those crazy psychos! This was gonna be epic.

Friday came and Thalia's friends came to her house all packed and ready to go.

There was Clarisse, the tall brunet who could take anyone down, her boyfriend, Chris, total opposite cute guy, Annabeth, Thalia's super smart best friend, Annabeth's half brother Malcolm, Silena, the most beautiful girl of all time, Silena's younger sister Piper and Silena's boyfriend Beckendorf (well, Charles Beckendorf actually but no one called him Charles, only Silena who called him Charlie). Jason had gone before with his friend Leo, who was the most hyper kid ever.

There would certainly be a lot of people in this trip.

"When are we leaving?" asked Piper.

"Now!" called Thalia's father coming out of the house and placing the last bag in the trunk of the minivan they'd rented to take everyone.

Three hours later all the young ones where sleeping but Thalia and Annabeth who were discussing Thalia's family for the millionth time.

"I'm just so excited to see Percy and Nico again!" Thalia exclaimed.

"You're really close aren't you? You always talk about them and the thing you guys do."

"Yeah we are pretty close. Our fathers are brothers so we are the only real first cousins, I mean everyone considers everyone cousins, our family is really united, at least the young part, but my other cousins are actually a bit distant in the family tree and Jason and Hazel they are different. Hazel is kind of quiet and Jason, well, you know him, he's too formal. Percy and Nico are not. They are just like me!" she thought a bit about that. "Actually, no. they are completely different much too more rebellious!"

The blonde laughed at that. "As if you weren't rebellious, Thalia!"

"Not like them!" Thalia cried, but then repeated in a lower voice when she noticed the others sleeping. "Not like them. They are completely crazy! I told you Percy has been kicked out of, like, ten schools and Nico! Can't even start with that kid, he's kind of out of time you know? And he's kind of deadly too."

"Deadly?"

"Yeah! He's like crazy about death, we thought it was just about his sister but I think it's more than that. Whenever we watch movies we always go to horror ones. Then we joke around and make fun of them 'cause none of us get really scared with those movies."

"And are they really the way you describe them? Physically, I mean."

"Yeah, I guess. Percy's into swimming and stuff so he's pretty strong and Nico likes to run and stuff so I guess he's not that bad either. Both of them also fight, and stuff, like fencing and Karate or whatever. I haven't seen them in a long time though, we chat on the internet and send pictures to each other but it's not the same thing. Last time I saw them Percy and I were fifteen and Nico was thirteen, now Nico is fifteen and Percy is seventeen! I'm pretty sure they've changed in the past two years!"

"I can't believe I haven't met them yet!" said Annabeth, who was really curious to meet the people Thalia talked about so much. "We've known each other for years and I've only met your brother and father!"

"I know! That's crazy! I would have asked you to come last year but there was the whole thing with Percy being kidnapped and then Percy's mom got sick and they couldn't come so Nico's dad said there was no point if the whole family wasn't there and the year before there was this horrid rain storm so the trip was canceled. This year the same thing happened so we couldn't go in the summer. I was surprised when everyone agreed to come now!"

"They wanted to see you Thalia," said her dad from behind the wheel; the girls almost banged their heads on the ceiling when they realized the man was listening. "Everyone is curious to know how you guys are doing. Your uncle didn't really want to come but old Barnacle Beard managed to convince him of it."

"Who's Barnacle Beard?" whispered Annabeth.

"Percy's dad. They call him that because he loves the sea. It's kind of weird that they keep to their names. You know what I told you that my grandfather was a bit on the crazy side and named his sons after the Olympian gods?" Thalia answered in the same tone.

"Yeah."

"Well Uncle Hades is pretty creepy, Uncle Poseidon is a very seaside guy and dad, well he's dad. That's basically why we called The House Olympus; we pretended we were back in Greece and that our parents really were the Olympian gods. It gets even weirder when you notice that we kids also kind of follow that thought, we are just like our parents. We used to joke that Nico, Hazel and Bianca symbolized the various aspects of their dad: death, precious gems and the sane part of Hades, the one that actually thinks and isn't obsessed with death. Percy is Percy; I don't even need to explain. Jason is very, how can I put it, prince? And me, well I'm definitely not a princess but I was always the one in the lead so, whatever. Our nicknames also go with that idea. Percy is Kelp Head, Nico is Death Boy."

"What's yours then?"

"Pinecone Face," the girl said reluctantly.

Annabeth held her urge to laugh; she didn't want her friend's feelings. "Why?" she asked.

"It's a complicated story," said Thalia. "when we were little there was this time where Percy, Nico and I decided to have a race to see who reached the gates of The House first so we ran all the way from the beginning of the road to the start of the field. I was in front so I turned back to laugh at them and accidentally ran straight into this pine tree that stands just to the left of the gate. I was unconscious for three days and when I woke up in the hospital I found that they had taken a bunch of pictures of me and suddenly I became Thalia "Pinecone Face" Grace."

"Was the tree that small that you didn't notice it?"

"No. It's quite huge. Actually, it's that one over there!" Thalia answered pointing out the window at the golden gates up ahead and the enormous Pine tree on the left.

"We're here!" called Thalia's dad waking everyone up.

"Wow!" said Silena as Thalia's dad pressed a button on the remote and the gates opened automatically to reveal a small road with fields on both sides, leading up to a gigantic mansion in the end. The beach couldn't be seen from where they were but the smell and noise where unmistakable. Before this, they had only seen the road and forest on both sides, now they found themselves looking at a wonderful view of the country side and the magnificent "house" where they'd be staying for the next two weeks. "It's amazing!"

Thalia's dad drove the car right up to the garage, at the left side of the house and the kids, sorry, young adults, got their bags and directed themselves to the front of the house. Some shouting could be heard and a few other cars could be seen but no one could be noticed in their field of vision. Only green and The House.

"This is it!" said Thalia, pushing the door open and ushering everyone inside. The hall was enormous. There were stairs right to the left, leading up to the other floors and a corridor leading into the mansion with rooms on every side. There was a huge mirror and a beautiful ornamental table at the right with a funny looking vase on top.

"That wasn't there before," noticed Thalia.

"Sally bought it," said her dad coming in. "No one had the courage to tell her it's horrible. So, children, this is The House. Thalia will show you around and point out the rooms available I have to go get my things sorted and look for my dear brothers." He said the last part as if he didn't really mean it and left up the stairs. The "children" could see him walk onto the first floor as the stairs were open and there was only a rail linking the stairs to the corridor wall. Looking up you could see every floor of The House.

"It's huge," was the only thing Malcolm thought to say.

"Yeah," sighed Thalia. "Good to be back. Now we only have to find the rest of the family."

Once she said it there was a banging sound coming from deep in the corridor ahead and two boys came crashing out of a room. The first everyone recognized as Thalia's brother, Jason, a blonde haired tall boy who had nothing to do with his black haired punk of a sister. The first one, running ahead was an EMO looking kid with tangled, messy black hair, wearing black jeans, a grey shirt with a pirate flag design, black combat boots and a black leather jacket. The boy passed straight by them, screamed "hey there" and ran up the stairs onto the first floor. He stopped and leaned on the railing looking down at the people in the hall, a skull ring on his finger.

"Nico!" screamed Jason as he reached the group and look up at the laughing face of his cousin. "Give it back!"

A.N.: Thanks to my sweet Erberus-Chan for being my beta reader! I'll try updating this story every month but I take some time to consider the story ready to publish so... anyway ready or not I'll be publishing it every month! As my sweetie friend would say: I'll be getting my lazy bum off the couch and get to writing!