Disclaimer: I don't own anything from PJO...

Final chapter...

"The Fleece works its magic too well," Travis read.

"Did it now," Thalia whispered angrily.

That afternoon was one of the happiest I'd ever spent at camp, which maybe goes to show, you never know when your world is about to be rocked to pieces.

Grover announced that he'd be able to spend the rest of the summer with us before resuming his quest for Pan.

"You'd think you'd be depressed after your fiancé called off the wedding," Connor offered.

"I called off the wedding!" Grover argued.

"Are you two seriously arguing over this?" Rachel asked.

His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders were so impressed that he hadn't gotten himself killed and had cleared the way for future searchers, that they granted him a two-month furlough and a new set of reed pipes. The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills hadn't improved much.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Grover grumbled.

He played "YMCA," and the strawberry plants started going crazy, wrapping around our feet like they were trying to strangle us. I guess I couldn't blame them.

Grover told me he could dissolve the empathy link between us, now that we were face to face, but I told him I'd just as soon keep it if that was okay with him. He put down his reed pipes and stared at me. "But, if I get in trouble again, you'll be in danger, Percy! You could die!"

"If you get in trouble again, I want to know about it. And I'll come help you again, G-man. I wouldn't have it any other way."

Grover smiled proudly, knowing he had the best best friend I guy could have.

In the end he agreed not to break the link. He went back to playing "YMCA" for the strawberry plants. I didn't need an empathy link with the plants to know how they felt about it.

"Okay I get it, I suck," Grover sighed.

"You don't suck, you just aren't very good," Chris offered.

"Yeah, you're more, horribly terrible," Connor added.

"Great friends," Grover said over the laughter.

Later on during archery class, Chiron pulled me aside and told me he'd fixed my problems with Meriwether Prep. The school no longer blamed me for destroying their gymnasium. The police were no longer looking for me.

"How did you manage that?" I asked.

Chiron's eyes twinkled. "I merely suggested that the mortals had seen something different on that day—a furnace explosion that was not your fault."

"You just said that and they bought it?"

"I manipulated the Mist. Some day, when you're ready, I'll show how it's done."

"One up you on that," Thalia smirked.

"You mean I can go back to Meriwether next year?"

Chiron raised his eyebrows. "Oh, no, they've still expelled you. Your headmaster, Mr. Bonsai, said you had—how did he put it?—un-groovy karma that disrupted the school's educational aura. But you're not in any legal trouble, which was a relief to your mother. Oh, and speaking of your mother ..."

Sally perked up.

He unclipped his cell phone from his quiver and handed it to me. "It's high time you called her."

The worst part was the beginning—the "Percy-Jackson-what-were-you-thinking-do-you-have- any-idea-how-worried-I-was-sneaking-off-to-camp-wi thout-permission-going-on-dangerous-quests-and-sca ring-me-half-to-death" part.

But finally she paused to catch her breath. "Oh, I'm just glad you're safe!"

Sally smiled as many laughed quietly.

"I love those kinds of mothers," Hera smiled at Sally.

That's the great thing about my mom. She's no good at staying angry. She tries, but it just isn't in her nature.

Sally blushed. "He knows me too well."

"I'm sorry, Mom," I told her. "I won't scare you again."

"Don't promise me that, Percy. You know very well it will only get worse." She tried to sound casual about it, but I could tell she was pretty shaken up.

Sally's shoulders dropped but she was just glad her little boy was safe for now. She'd tackle the next issue when it came, for now, she'd relax, a little.

I wanted to say something to make her feel better, but I knew she was right. Being a half-blood, I would always be doing things that scared her. And as I got older, the dangers would just get greater.

"I could come home for a while," I offered.

"No, no. Stay at camp. Train. Do what you need to do. But you will come home for the next school year?"

"Yeah, of course. Uh, if there's any school that will take me."

"Oh, we'll find something, dear," my mother sighed. "Some place where they don't know us yet."

"Is that possible?" Grover laughed.

As for Tyson, the campers treated him like a hero. I would've been happy to have him as my cabin mate forever, but that evening, as we were sitting on a sand dune overlooking the Long Island Sound, he made an announcement that completely took me by surprise.

"Dream came from Daddy last night," he said. "He wants me to visit."

"Ah, playing favorites," Apollo laughed. "Nice one."

"I am not, I'm sure I have a reason," Poseidon said. "Besides, Percy has school and Sally."

I wondered if he was kidding, but Tyson really didn't know how to kid. "Poseidon sent you a dream message?"

Tyson nodded. "Wants me to go underwater for the rest of the summer. Learn to work at Cyclopes' forges. He called it an inter—an intern—"

"An internship?"

"Yes." I let that sink in. I'll admit, I felt a little jealous.

Poseidon sighed.

Poseidon had never invited me underwater. But then I thought, Tyson was going? Just like that?

"When would you leave?" I asked.

"Now."

"Now. Like ... now now?"

"Now."

"Is there another meaning?" Connor asked.

"No, but you just proved me right," Thalia laughed.

I stared out at the waves in the Long Island Sound. The water was glistening red in the sunset.

"I'm happy for you, big guy," I managed. "Seriously."

"Hard to leave my new brother," he said with a tremble in his voice. "But I want to make things. Weapons for the camp. You will need them."

Unfortunately, I knew he was right. The Fleece hadn't solved all the camp's problems. Luke was still out there, gathering an army aboard the Princess Andromeda. Kronos was still re-forming in his golden coffin. Eventually, we would have to fight them.

"You'll make the best weapons ever," I told Tyson. I held up my watch proudly. "I bet they'll tell good time, too."

Tyson sniffled. "Brothers help each other."

"Did you three miss that memo?" Hera eyed the big three.

"I'm the one rotting in the Underworld," Hades grumbled. "Ask these two."

"I'm not king," Poseidon added. "Ask Zeus."

Zeus rolled his eyes avoiding the question.

"You're my brother," I said. "No doubt about it."

He patted me on the back so hard he almost knocked me down the sand dune. Then he wiped a tear from his cheek and stood to go. "Use the shield well."

"I will, big guy."

"Save your life some day."

The way he said it, so matter-of-fact, I wondered if that Cyclops eye of his could see into the future.

"Saved his life," Annabeth said, referring to Tyson.

He headed down to the beach and whistled. Rainbow, the hippocampus, burst out of the waves. I watched the two of them ride off together into the realm of Poseidon.

Once they were gone, I looked down at my new wristwatch. I pressed the button and the shield spiraled out to full size. Hammered into the bronze were pictures in Ancient Greek style, scenes from our adventures this summer. There was Annabeth slaying a Laistrygonian dodgeball player, me fighting the bronze bulls on Half-Blood Hill, Tyson riding Rainbow toward the Princess Andromeda, the CSS Birmingham blasting its cannons at Charybdis.

"That's amazing," Hephaestus smiled. He turned to Tyson. "You'll do great in the forges."

I ran my hand across a picture of Tyson, battling the Hydra as he held aloft a box of Monster Donuts.

I couldn't help feeling sad. I knew Tyson would have an awesome time under the ocean. But I'd miss everything about him—his fascination with horses, the way he could fix chariots or crumple metal with his bare hands, or tie bad guys into knots. I'd even miss him snoring like an earthquake in the next bunk all night.

"I wouldn't," Connor muttered.

"You don't even sleep in the same cabin," Rachel pointed out.

"Exactly," Connor said.

"Hey, Percy."

I turned.

Annabeth and Grover were standing at the top of the sand dune. I guess maybe I had some sand in my eyes, because I was blinking a lot.

"Tyson ..." I told them. "He had to ..."

"We know," Annabeth said softly. "Chiron told us."

"Cyclopes forges." Grover shuddered. "I hear the cafeteria food there is terrible! Like, no enchiladas at all."

Annabeth held out her hand. "Come on, Seaweed Brain. Time for dinner."

We walked back toward the dining pavilion together, just the three of us, like old times.

"Old times? It was a year ago," Nico laughed.

A storm raged that night, but it parted around Camp Half-Blood as storms usually did. Lightning flashed against the horizon, waves pounded the shore, but not a drop fell in our valley. We were protected again, thanks to the Fleece, sealed inside our magical borders.

Still, my dreams were restless. I heard Kronos taunting me from the depths of Tartarus: Polyphemus sits blindly in his cave, young hero, believing he has won a great victory. Are you any less deluded? The titan's cold laughter filled the darkness.

"Laugh all you want," Nico whispered. "You lost!"

Then my dream changed. I was following Tyson to the bottom of the sea, into the court of Poseidon. It was a radiant hall filled with blue light, the floor cobbled with pearls. And there, on a throne of coral, sat my father, dressed like a simple fisherman in khaki shorts and a sun-bleached T-shirt. I looked up into his tan weathered face, his deep green eyes, and he spoke two words: Brace yourself.

"Alright we get it," Apollo whined.

I woke with a start.

There was a banging on the door. Grover flew inside without waiting for permission. "Percy!" he stammered. "Annabeth ... on the hill ... she ..."

"She what?" Athena asked worried.

The look in his eyes told me something was terribly wrong. Annabeth had been on guard duty that night, protecting the Fleece. If something had happened—

I ripped off the covers, my blood like ice water in my veins. I threw on some clothes while Grover tried to make a complete sentence, but he was too stunned, too out of breath. "She's lying there ... just lying there …"

"Are you okay?" Athena asked her daughter, but no one answered.

"Nice chat guys," Hermes laughed quietly at the quiet demigods.

"We don't want to ruin it," Thalia said.

I ran outside and raced across the central yard, Grover right behind me. Dawn was just breaking, but the whole camp seemed to be stirring. Word was spreading. Something huge had happened. A few campers were already making their way toward the hill, satyrs and nymphs and heroes in a weird mix of armor and pajamas.

I heard the clop of horse hooves, and Chiron galloped up behind us, looking grim.

"Is it true?" he asked Grover.

Grover could only nod, his expression dazed.

"Is what true?" Leo asked. "That Annabeth's hurt?"

Poseidon eyed his niece and realized what had happened.

I tried to ask what was going on, but Chiron grabbed me by the arm and effortlessly lifted me onto his back. Together we thundered up Half-Blood Hill, where a small crowd had started to gather.

I expected to see the Fleece missing from the pine tree, but it was still there, glittering in the first light of dawn. The storm had broken and the sky was bloodred.

"Curse the titan lord," Chiron said. "He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy."

"I'm confused?" Piper said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"The Fleece," he said. "The Fleece did its work too well."

Athena's mind raced before a light went off. "Oh…"

We galloped forward, everyone moving out of our way. There at the base of the tree, a girl was lying unconscious. Another girl in Greek armor was kneeling next to her.

Blood roared in my ears. I couldn't think straight. Annabeth had been attacked? But why was the Fleece still there?

The tree itself looked perfectly fine, whole and healthy, suffused with the essence of the Golden Fleece.

"It healed the tree," Chiron said, his voice ragged. "And poison was not the only thing it purged."

"Squirrels?" Apollo offered.

"Why would it be squirrels?" Artemis sighed. "Honestly, that has to be the stupidest thing you've said this century."

"I'll take that as a compliment," Apollo smirked.

Then I realized Annabeth wasn't the one lying on the ground. She was the one in armor, kneeling next to the unconscious girl. When Annabeth saw us, she ran to Chiron. "It... she ... just suddenly there …"

Zeus eyed his daughter before his breath caught. "Thalia?"

Her eyes were streaming with tears, but I still didn't understand. I was too freaked out to make sense of it all. I leaped off Chiron's back and ran toward the unconscious girl. Chiron said: "Percy, wait!"

I knelt by her side. She had short black hair and freckles across her nose. She was built like a long-distance runner, lithe and strong, and she wore clothes that were somewhere between punk and Goth—a black T-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with buttons from a bunch of bands I'd never heard of.

"Because your taste in music sucks," Thalia whispered.

She wasn't a camper. I didn't recognize her from any of the cabins. And yet I had the strangest feeling I'd seen her before...

"It's true," Grover said, panting from his run up the hill. "I can't believe ..."

Nobody else came close to the girl.

"Thanks guys," Thalia grumbled.

"It's you?" Reyna asked.

"Ta da!" Thalia smiled.

"So that's how you got back," Jason nodded his head. "But why is that bad?"

I put my hand on her forehead. Her skin was cold, but my fingertips tingled as if they were burning.

"She needs nectar and ambrosia," I said. She was clearly a half-blood, whether she was a camper or not. I could sense that just from one touch. I didn't understand why everyone was acting so scared.

I took her by the shoulders and lifted her into sitting position, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Come on!" I yelled to the others. "What's wrong with you people? Let's get her to the Big House."

"He has no clue what just happened," Athena said quietly.

"No, but I'm glad he's trying to help," Thalia smiled gratefully. She turned to Percy and stretched out her arms. "Thanks Seaweed Brain."

Percy smiled brightly at his cousin and grabbed hold of her as she squeezed him tight into a hug.

"That's the only one you're getting, besides the first one," She whispered into Percy's ear.

"Okay," Percy whispered.

No one moved, not even Chiron. They were all too stunned.

Then the girl took a shaky breath. She coughed and opened her eyes.

Her irises were startlingly blue—electric blue.

The girl stared at me in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed. "Who—"

"I'm Percy," I said. "You're safe now."

"Prince charming," Connor smirked as Thalia gagged and Annabeth glared.

"Strangest dream …"

"It's okay."

"Dying."

"No," I assured her. "You're okay. What's your name?"

That's when I knew. Even before she said it.

The girl's blue eyes stared into mine, and I understood what the Golden Fleece quest had been about. The poisoning of the tree. Everything. Kronos had done it to bring another chess piece into play—another chance to control the prophecy.

"He thinks he's going to turn you against us?" Jason realized. "That's….that's crazy."

"I know," Thalia smiled.

Even Chiron, Annabeth, and Grover, who should've been celebrating this moment, were too shocked, thinking about what it might mean for the future.

And I was holding someone who was destined to be my best friend, or possibly my worst enemy.

"Best friend," Thalia whispered to Percy. "And probably the only guy who's cool."

"Heard that," Grover whispered.

"You're a goat," Annabeth whispered to the two with a smile. "And what about your brother."

"Fine, and my brother," Thalia rolled her eyes.

"I am Thalia," the girl said. "Daughter of Zeus."

"End of the book," Travis said shutting the book.

Zeus smiled brightly at his daughter, glad she was okay.

Poseidon leaned towards Zeus, "Welcome to my world."

Zeus nodded slowly; knowing he was going to be extra paranoid knowing his daughter was now in the books.

"Take a small break and we'll wait for the next book," Zeus announced.

well that was the final chapter in the book and in the update as well. I read a few comments about some wanting a break chapter, I would have added one in between, but it didn't seem right because there were only three chapters left, but I will close this story out with one, so hopefully you'll enjoy it.

sorry again for the extremely long wait, but thank you for the countless number of reviews and great comments!

Review question and answers:

PrinceAthem: Hopefully that small hug as something you enjoyed, if not, I'll try and add some more, so let me know. Thanks for the review!

ihatemakingupusernames: I had a great time, thanks for asking! Thanks for the review!

Syrlai: Yeah, I plan on doing all of them, even the demigod files, so look out for them eventually. Thanks for the review!

ME: Yeah, I plan on doing them both, and yeah, I read about the demigod diaries, should be good, I'll probably do that one tow when it comes out eventually. Thanks for the review!

Goddess of talk: Thank god I'm not dead lol, I think it's great too lol. And yeah I mean today, my time zone lol. My vacation was great, thanks for asking. And I'm male, which is a little funny seeing Luvthesea17 comments in the reviews about me typing like a female. There's goes my guy hood lol. No but seriously, I'm a guy, and I'm just kidding with Luvtheses17, they're great lol. So mystery solved. Thanks for reviewing!

Luvthesea17: Thanks for sticking up lol. And man oh man, I type like a girl lol, I'm just playing. But yeah, I'm a guy. Shocker? I hope not cause that would suck for me, not that being a girl is bad, but ask anybody, if they were mistake for a different gender, it would be weird, but funny too. Thanks for the review!

baksna