"Why only Percy?" Athena questioned. "My daughter too had come back from that place."

"You'll see" Piper answered again. Athena was getting very tired of this response already.

He had been through so much and he was only a year older than Piper. To think she had thought her life had been hard. Retrieving Zeus' lightning bolt . . . traveling through the Sea of Monsters . . . baring the weight of the sky . . . travelling through the labyrinth . . . battling (and beating) Kronos when he was only sixteen . . . being torn away from his family, his girlfriend, his life and being kept asleep for months on end . . . .

Piper was sixteen and she couldn't imagine fighting the King of the Titans now and probably ever.

Everyone was spluttering once again and looking at Percy with wide eyes. "Dude, you defeated ole' Gramps single-handedly?"

"Um, yeah?" Percy said, framing it more like a question. "Why is everyone staring at me? Can you please stop staring at me. Stop looking at me like that." Percy exclaimed. He dove his face into Annabeth's hair. Annabeth was looking at him amused.

Artemis was shocked. She had expected Percy to boast about how he killed Kronos and take the glory all for himself. It seemed that she was wrong.

Whenever she had come across the son of Poseidon in such a state, she would not hesitate to give him a much-needed hug. He would wrap his muscular, scarred arms around her and she would rest her head on his chest, feeling his heart beating steadily (he was much too tall for her to even think about placing her head on his shoulder). They hadn't known each other all that long, but he was already like a brother to her. Words weren't necessary in times like these, and Piper knew that her mere presence would say everything she could want to get across. She was here for them, they all were.

"Thanks for that guys, we couldn't have done it without you." Annabeth said.

"Yeah. We couldn't have." Percy agreed.

"It's okay man, I mean what are bros for?" Jason and Percy fist-bumped.

"Bro."

"Bro."

"Bro."

"Bro."

"If you guys are done with your bromance, can we continue?" Piper piped up.

Yet, as Piper shot Percy a glance, she noticed that despite the worrying situation they were in, he still managed to be a radiate defiance and act as a source of hope.

"Ironic isn't it? It's like it was a sign that you were going to be Hestia's Champion." Annabeth commented.

"Why?" asked Zeus. He was mainly paying attention to the reading and not saying anything.

"During the Second Titan War, Morpheus along with Hecate had isolated New York from the rest of the world. Prometheus arrived with Pandora's box under a flag of truce. He said that it only contained Elpis-the spirit of hope. He said that if we were ready to surrender, we should release Hope. That way they would know that we had surrendered.

 I was tempted to give up Hope, but decided that there was a better protector than me for Hope. So, I went to the 600th floor of the Empire State Building-you know, Mount Olympus- where only Lady Hestia was there. All the other gods with the exception of Hades, Demeter and Poseidon had went to defeat Typhon. Hades was in the Underworld waiting it out. Demeter was there too. Dad had his own battle against Oceanus.

 I gave Elpis to Lady Hestia because Hope survives best at the hearth. If Hope was at the hearth, I wouldn't be tempted to give up Hope and I would keep fighting. I wouldn't give up." Percy explained.

Everyone was looking at him bewildered. Thalia was muttering along the lines of "Kelp....Head....Smart.....World Ending." "I can be smart too Thalia" Percy said. "Oh yeah, give me an example." Nico challenged.

Percy faked thinking. "Lets see. Who do you think came with the plan for the seige of New York? Or who gave everyone positions during that time? Or who came up with the plan to get rid of great-grandmother? Or who told everyone that we are in the past? Who did? Me. I did. Do you think its easy playing dumb? You should try it. It not as easy as I make it look. Everyone just expects me to be dumb. And I play the part because it makes my enemies underestimate me. I try hard to reply with dumb comments when the situation is tough. I try hard to lighten the mood by replying with off-handedly comments. Only Annabeth knows how smart I am. You should have thought more before challenging me Thalia and Nico." Percy yelled the last part.

Thalia and Nico were feeling terrible. There were tears leaking down their faces. Looking back on it, how didn't they realize that Percy was the one who came up with everything. Now they had insulted their cousin and he probably wouldn't talk to them for a long while.

Everyone else was silent watching their banter. Now they knew why Percy acted like he was dumb. His dumb and goofy personality was just a facade. Now they knew why in a second flat, Percy's personality could go from goofy to serious-the kind he used in battles. They had thought that it was a little weird, but nobody had commented on it. Now they knew.

Athena was impressed by his smartness and intelligence. There weren't many people who could perfect this facade and those who had, had had Athena's blessing. Percy had managed to do it without Athena's blessing and it certainly was impressive.

The rest of the gods were stuck on the great-grandmother part. They had a sinking suspicion about who it could be, but everyone was silently praying for it to be false.

"Lady Athena, please continue."

She was standing to his left, with Jason to her left, who had Leo to his left. To Percy's right, he had (of course) Annabeth, with Hazel to her right, with Frank to her right, making Percy in the middle of the semi-circle they formed. Wind spirits were surrounding them, their icy glares almost daring them to move, hands gripping the demigods' wrists behind them, preventing any movement.

A beautifully hazy voice filled the space, words dripping with guile. "Hello, demigods," A woman, who was obviously a minor goddess judging by her aura and demeanour, greeted. "Please don't try to fight against us. I have taken your weapons, and you won't be getting them back anytime soon."

"Ugh, its going to show how we escaped, right?" Percy asked. "Yeah, I think so Perce, sorry." Piper didn't look very sorry when she said this.

Piper studied the woman, trying to work out who she was when Annabeth piped up.

"Annabeth piped up. Amazhang pun don't you think?" "Perce, what did I ever do to you?" "O shush you, I didn't mean it as a pun."

"You're Selene," Annabeth said. "Goddess of the moonlight."

How Annabeth knew that, Piper had no idea. It seemed as if that girl knew everything. However, Selene looked impressed and perhaps even flattered, and it was only as the goddess turned to face them did Piper notice the admittedly pretty, silver shade of her eyes. The colour of the moon.

"Annabeth does know everything. You just have to deal with it." Leo said.

"Correct, daughter of Athena." she praised. "Most people refer to me as a goddess of the moon. That is incorrect. I am the moonlight." To prove her point, she faded into a shimmering mist that resembled the light yellow colour of the moon. She regained her physical form as she spoke once again. "Of course, this angers me. Gaea has promised me full recognition, and I will finally become the proper goddess of the Moon, when she finally gets rid of that pesky maiden goddess. I mean, who would want to swear off boys for good? That's ridiculous, they're all so handsome . . . gods, how I would enjoy torturing that Artemis myself. How she became an Olympian over me, I can't ever be sure. Probably just because of her father who-"

Artemis was growling now.

Percy growled, the inhumane sound surprising everyone, causing all heads to turn to him. Piper vaguely recalled being told how Artemis was one of the only Olympians who was actually kind to him. She figured he had the right to be angry.