"Percy! Sky! Wake up!" I shoot up from my - luckily - dreamless sleep when there's a series of screaming and pounding from outside.

"Percy." I grumble and he throws a pillow blindly. "Now you don't have a pillow, Barnacle Brain." I wipe the sleep from my eyes and walk to open the door.

Leo, Jason, and Piper are standing outside smiling widely. In each of their hands is a wrapped gift. It had been a week since I woke from my coma. Today, June twenty-fourth, is my birthday and I'm finally fifteen. I usher the trio into the cabin to find Percy gone from his bed.

"Where's Perc-" Leo starts.

"I have no idea. Sit down. I'm gonna get dressed." I walk off and grab a camp shirt, shorts, and tennis shoes. Two minutes later, I walk out to find all of my friends, my brother, Frank, Hazel, and Reyna around my bed. Nico isn't there and I'm surprised at how much my heart hurts at that fact.

"Before you get all watery eyed, Nico is planning his own surprise for you. He asked me to program the directions to there into Aqua. She'll be leading you there after our little gift session." Leo quickly assures me and then leads me to sit down.

Annabeth hands me a gift wrapped in blue. I take it gently in my hands and slowly unwrap it. In a small box is a silver coin. I pick it up and twist it between my fingers. As it spins, it transforms into a quill.

"It will never run out of ink. You can write whatever you'd like without even touching the paper. Percy told me about your love to write and Athena took a liking to you. Pulled a few strings and added a statue to the Olympus plans but nothing big." Annabeth shrugs like it was nothing but I leaned in and hugged her.

"Thank you," I whisper in her ear.

The rest of them hand me their wrapped gifts. Piper got me a ring that could make me look like any one I wanted - within reason. Jason got me a lightning pendent that came with a charm bracelet - everyone would give me a pendent that would remind me of them. Reyna gave me a silver ring - something that Nico and her agreed to give me - that matched Nico's and her own except it had an eight pointed star.

"Nico told me about Night. It's to remember her. I had found it in the metals shed back in New Rome." I gave Reyna a small smile.

Hazel and Frank each gave me a pendent for the bracelet. Frank's has two arrows crossing over a sword. Hazel's is a torch with a diamond as the flames. It represents her Mist magic from Hecate. I thanked them and then Leo tapped my shoulder.

"A flame pendent and a new pair of headphones that are made from Celestial bronze. They'll turn into daggers if you put your thumb on this square right here." Leo leans over and shows me a square that is right above the plug.

"Are you sure you aren't magic, too?" I ask and he just shrugs as if to say, Hey, what you don't know won't hurt ya.

"Now for Aqua to-"

"Watch it, Flame-O. I still have a gift for my baby sister." Percy playfully glares at the son of Hephaestus.

Percy then proceeds to hand me two boxes. One holds a pendent of a heart made from water. The other holds a sand dollar. I take it out and it turns into a fountain. Inside are drachmas.

"It's like mine but I thought you might want one of your own so you wouldn't have to ask me all the time. You should contact your mom." Percy smiles and then ushers the rest out. Piper yells something about meeting them in the Zeus cabin tonight and then I'm alone.

I take a deep breath and take a drachma from the fountain. I toss the coin in my hand and then get ready to flip it into the water.

"Diana Rey Coast, San Diego, California." The coin disappears and then my mom appears in the mist.

"Mom." She turns to me.

"Skylar," she sighs. "I've been waiting for you to IM. What took so long?"

"I-I went on a quest. Saved the world with a son of Hades named Nico. When I got back, Nico and I started dating. I have a half brother. I've been a bit busy." Tears streamed down both our faces.

"You got a boyfriend?" I laugh and nod my head. "No funny business. But, Sky, are you going to come back for the school year or are you going to be a year rounder?" I stay silent.

On one hand if I go back, it'll be extremely dangerous because of the monsters. On the other hand, if I stay I'll never see my friends or family again. My mom might move out here but that still leaves my friends. I couldn't leave them but I can't put the in danger.

"I don't know. I wish it wasn't so far. I don't want to leave you and my friends."

"I could move out there."

"What about my friends?" I let out a sob.

"Hey, it's okay. You don't need to make the decision until summer ends. I have to go but call me soon, okay? Happy birthday, Sweetheart. I love you so much." I nod and then the image disappears.

I wipe the tears from my eyes and then whistle. Aqua's bright eyes light up and she barks. She leads me out of the cabin and into the woods. After a few minutes, a clearing opens up and lying there perfectly set up is a picnic breakfast. I step into the light and Aqua runs off. I squeak as arms wrap around my waist from behind and pull me into a solid body.

"There you are, birthday girl." Nico's dark and low voice whispers and I turn my head up to have a pair of soft lips land on mine.

"Thank you." I smile at him and he leads me to the black and sea green blanket with my favorite breakfast foods, french toast and sugared berries.

"I don't take credit for all this. Piper helped me think of it, Percy and Annabeth told me your favorite foods, Jason thought of the blanket with our two colors, and Leo thought of this." Nico pulled out two speakers made from Celestial bronze. "Monster proof electronics... At least, the speakers and your new iPod."

"What new..."

"Oops?" Nico smirks and I hit him playfully.

"Let's eat. Oh, and you are going to eat with me."

"I know."

Nico and I sit down on the blanket and I bite into the fluffiest and most delicious French toast I've ever had. I visibly melt at the taste and all I hear is Nico's suppressed laughter.

"I had Hazel make the food. I suck at cooking. I swear I thought of the area and time and your present." I laugh and take another bite of my breakfast.

Nico bites into a bowl of every fruit I could think of except pomegranate. We continue to eat our food with a conversation about anything and everything we could think of. Neither of us could stop talking about random topics - I do talk more but that's a given.

After I had finished my food and downed a glass of milk, Nico reached into the shadows and pulled out two boxes. One was wrapped in a shiny blue and the other was in black. Our morning is very color coded. Nico handed me the blue one and inside was the previously mentioned iPod. I smile and turn it over to see the letter 'N' and a star.

In the second box there was a black bag with a drawstring. I pulled it out and in delecate cursive the word Sharpies was written. I let out a laugh and looked at Nico who was smiling sheepishly. As my hand trailed the bag I felt a single hard object inside. I opened the bag to find a fine point Sharpie.

"I thought it would make smaller details easier to draw. Maybe make me another portrait of me - like your last one." I looked at Nico incredulously.

"You knew?" Nico simply nodded and pulled a folded sheet out of the shadows.

"They had to get you out of the clothes you were wearing when you arrived at the infirmary. Will was about to put them in the wash pile when the picture fell from your pocket. He - he gave it to me and explained where he got it." The paper was unfolded and the image I drew of Nico appeared. He handed it to me but I simply pushed it his way.

"Keep it. I'll make you one of me and then you can keep us together. Forever." Nico looked at me like he didn't know what the concept 'forever' was.

"I'll be your home. You'll be mine." Nico said and smiled at me finally registering what I had said.

"Forever?" Nico nodded.

"Forever."

"Sky! You have to come see this. They say they know you." Travis and Connor spoke at once. Nico and I looked at each other and then shot up to run after the two sons of Hermes.