When morning came, I was out of bed in a flash. I left a note on my bed for my friends telling them that I was going to see my mom and left camp without anyone noticing. This time, before I was out the door, I made sure that my hood was on properly.

I could've easily teleported there but I decided to walk there today because I missed Earth that much. Well, I didn't miss Gaea but actual Earth, if that makes sense.

I walked down Half Blood Hill, walked down the street and caught a taxi to my moms apartment, hoping that she hadn't moved.

When the taxi stopped, I got out, payed the guy and walked to the apartment. I took the elevator up to the correct floor. It took a while to remember but I managed.

Then the next second I was knocking on the door.

I heard footsteps and the door flew open. I expected to see either my mom or my step dad, but what greeted me was the blonde hair and grey eyes I'd missed so much.

We spoke at the same time.

"Omega?"

"Annabeth?"

Mine was more of a whisper but she heard me and narrowed her eyes at me. "How do you know my name?" She demanded. Still the same.

"May I come in?" I asked, in a slightly deeper voice, deciding it was safer to ignore her question.

"No." Annabeth answered bluntly. "This is not your house and you have no right to barge in."

"I need to see Sally and Paul." I said.

"They're out shopping right now." Annabeth answered.

Her eyebrows scrunched up together, like they always do when she was thinking about something really hard.

After minutes of her scrutinising me and of me feeling like I was twelve again, I sighed.

"Look, are you going to let me in or do I have to come back later?" I asked. It was really hard to act nonchalant around her. All I wanted to do was to comfort her and tell her that I'm here but I couldn't. Being a hero sucked. It always came with a hard price.

"Fine. Come in." She finally agreed and moved aside so that I could slip inside.

She closed the door behind me and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Would you like some tea, kind sir?" She asked me mockingly in British accent.

I smirked. "Nah, that's okay."

"I wasn't going to make you any either way." Annabeth muttered, making my smirk grow bigger.

Then suddenly, I heard a small cry coming from what used to be my old bedroom.

Annabeth quickly headed up the stairs, and opened the door to my room with me close behind her.

Inside, it was just as I remembered. The walls were still blue. There were still those Little Mermaid posters and the Nemo Posters hanging on the walls.

The things on my bedside cabinet weren't there now and the bed looked like some one slept in it recently but the blanket was the same blue.

On the carpet in the middle of the room sat Arial and she was pouting as she sucked her thumb. Her black hair was tied back into two little piggy tails and her grey eyes were starting to well up with tears. When she saw Annabeth, she said "Owie."

That one word brought back so many memories I nearly collapsed. Annabeth looked like she remembered too but she didn't show any weakness when she bent down next to the little girl and started to treat to her small paper cut.

When Annabeth finished putting on a small band-aid, Arial saw me hovering behind and literally ran in my arms. I rose up to my full height after taking her in my arms.

"Omeeeega!"

"Hey, Little Mermaid."

"Hello." She giggled and waved maniacally. "Do you want to see me be a mermaid?"

"Okay." I said with a smile.

She concentrated and stared at the glass of water on the bedside cabin. When she raised her small hand, the water rose and made the perfect water sculpture of Annabeth and I in our little under water bubble. Me, as in Percy Jackson. Not Omega.

Then the water fell back into the glass and Arial's eyes dropped as she leaned her head down on my chest and fell asleep.

Annabeth gave a cry of surprise and rushed to me, taking Arial away from me.

"She's only sleeping." I told her to ease her worry even though it was extremely cute to see her worry when the slightest thing happens to Arial.

Annabeth heaved a sigh of relief and set Arial down gently on the bed and tucked the blanket up to her chin. Then Annabeth sat down next to her on the bed.

"How did she do that with the water?" I asked curiously. "It took- it would take a son of Poseidon years to master that."

"I don't know. Arial was left outside of camp when she was a baby and I kind of took her in." Annabeth said, staring at her lovingly as she stroked her hair. "She just loved this room so whenever we come down here, she'd stay here. No one claimed her yet. She's probably a daughter of Poseidon though."

Then Annabeth looked at the glass of water that Arial had morphed. She looked so sad and...broken. And the worst of it was, I couldn't even do anything to comfort her.

A tear slowly made its way down her cheek.

"Are you okay?" I asked, instinctively moving to her side and kneeling in front of her so that my head was a little lower than hers. I took her hand in mine and it fitted perfectly, just the way I remembered it to be. The smallest touch made sparks shoot up my arms and I'm pretty sure Annabeth realised it too because she jerked her hand from mine.

"Yeah. Just- thinking about someone." Annabeth whispered.

The front door opened and someone walked in. Just hearing her voice again made me want to jolt back down the stairs and rush into her arms like I used to.

"We're home! Annabeth, honey!" My mother called out. Annabeth stood up and walked out the door with me trying not to jump down the steps two at a time.

When my mom and Paul saw me they gasped, probably thinking of the reasons Annabeth would want to bring a stranger dressed in a hooded cloak into a house that had a five year old in it.

"He's from camp." Annabeth explained. "He wanted to see you guys."

"Uh yeah..." I stammered. "M- Sally, Paul, I need to talk to you. Privately."

Annabeth scowled and went back upstairs to my room. I knew she hated not knowing things but she still gave us some privacy.

My mom led me to the kitchen and she and Paul dropped their groceries onto the counter then they face me expectantly.

"Okay, so I need to tell you something really important." I started, my voice down to a very low whisper so that Annabeth wouldn't be able to hear it when she presses her ear to the other side of the wall, which I know she'll try for a fact. "But you need to keep it a secret. You can't tell anyone. Not even Annabeth. And also, try to be a little quiet when I tell you okay? Don't scream."

"What is-" My mother's voice faltered as I pulled down my hood.

"Percy." She whispered.

"Hey mom." She rushed towards me and wrapped me in a hug making me feel like a small kid again. She was laughing at first then suddenly she was crying onto my shoulder.

Then finally, she moved aside, not willing to part from me. "I feel as if the sky had been lifted off my shoulders." She smiled broadly and wiped away her tears, but I wasn't sure if they were happy tears or sad tears.

Then I faced Paul and gave him my signature smirk. He engulfed me in a hug, crying at the same time as if he didn't give a dam about staying strong like a man should.

"Oh gods, Percy. Where- where were you?" He asked me, examining me at an arms distance.

"It's a long story. Maybe should sit down." I said as I pulled my hood back up to be on the safe side and launched into the story. The first part of which my mom already knew but Paul was clueless about.

When I finished, they were in tears again. "So you can't tell Annabeth who you are?" My mom sobbed. "Who's this Chaos guy? I need to see him. What does he think he will get away with breaking my OTP? How dare he break my son's ship?"

"Mom, I don't have a ship. The Argo II was Leo's." I said going back to my clueless ways.

Paul and my mom laughed. "She means Percabeth."

"Percabeth?" I asked, now even more confused.

"Never mind." My mom said with a smile. "I got it from Piper."

"You are staying the night here, young man." Mom commanded and got up from her chair.

"Annabeth, sweaty, you can come down now." She called up the stairs. When Annabeth came down, she looked even more confused which was proof for my theory that she had been eavesdropping on us. She'd obviously heard parts of the conversation but not the whole thing.

How did I know all this? I know my Wise Girl like the back of my palm and I never forget her. Never did. Never will.

"Sally, have you been crying? Paul?" That was first thing she asked when she came down. Then she looked at me murderously. "Did you make them cry, because I swear, if you did.."

It was nice to knew that she takes care of my parents like her own but it was also scary to know that she probably really does mean to kill me or break my legs at the very least.

Luckily, mom came to my rescue. "That's alright, Annabeth. I'm sure the boy values his life. But thank you for caring dear."

Annabeth glared down at me and sat down across from me in the table. I couldn't help but smirk at her ways.

This also meant that she still didn't know that I was Percy, because I'm pretty sure that if she did, she wouldn't be keeping it a secret.

"What did you hear?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" She asked me with a puzzled expression that could've fooled anyone but not someone who had known her since she was twelve.

"I know that you were listening." I said, smiling. It probably looked really creepy since the only thing she could see was my smile because my face was covered by the hood.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, in a very convincing way.

"I know you were listening to me talk to Sally and Paul, Annabeth."

"You have no proof."

"The proof is written all over your face." I argued back, the smile never leaving my face. I really missed our little arguments.

"How do you know?"

"Because I know you."

Annabeth's scowl disappeared and she stared at me with her mouth slightly open, a whisk of hair flying across her face making her look even more beautiful than she already was.

Then the next minute, she was scowling at me again. "You don't know me at all."