I opened my eyes and found myself back in my bedroom. I would have been able to convince myself that the last week had been a dream except for the intense pain in my side from Trevor’s sword. I groaned and carefully sat up. My room was a little dark but getting brighter by the second. The smells of breakfast gently floated in and my stomach growled. I winced as I rose to my feet and padded barefoot to the kitchen. Mom was there setting out plates while Mrs. Jackson cooked at the stove.
“What’s going on here?” Ugh, was that hoarse croak really coming from me?
Mom turned quickly and her blue eyes filled with tears. “Oh, Naida. I was so worried about you. How do you feel?”
“Confused,” I said honestly. “And really sore. What happened? And where is everyone?”
Mom nodded toward the glass sliding door. “No one wanted to wake you so they’re all outside. As for what happened last night, I’m not really sure. It was chaos. Your friends got us out of the house but when they tried coming back for you it was sealed shut. When the doors finally opened up again Annabeth found you knocked out in your room bleeding like crazy. She gave you some of that god food stuff and then helped me get you into some PJs and into bed.”
I nodded once. So what I remembered in my room was real. The Fates had cut someone's Thread of Life and it hadn't been mine. Trevor was gone and things were back to the way they were supposed to be… mostly. For now, I didn’t have stupid quests and monsters and Titans to worry about. Right now, I was just starving and grateful to Percy’s mom for cooking some real food.
“Breakfast is ready,” Mrs. Jackson said after a minute. “I’ll go get the kids.”
She stepped out onto the porch and a second later everyone filed in. Grover stopped in his tracks and stared at me, Tyson’s big brown eye lit up, Annabeth pushed away from Percy’s side and threw her arms around me. I winced a little at the pain in my ribs but was otherwise glad for the gesture.
“Naida, you’re awake. Thank the gods you’re okay.”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I muttered as I stepped back from her. I tried to shoot her a smile but it felt forced and I was more focused on looking for Nico. He was still in the doorway and I saw his pitch black eyes scanning over me. I was instantly grateful for the flannel PJ pants and old T-shirt my mom had gotten me into instead of my ratty quest clothes.
My mom and Mrs. Jackson set out the plates and served up some breakfast. I was glad that our rarely-used table was big enough to hold all eight of us. I sat and instantly started digging into the delicious food.
Nico sat next to me and every so often he reached under the table and squeezed my hand. I blushed and tried to keep the manic grin from my face but I could tell that Annabeth at least knew what was going on. Gods, I really liked this kid and I hoped it wasn’t totally obvious in my expression. I just had to get through breakfast with everyone and then maybe Nico and I could figure out what was going on between us.
There was a tapping at the sliding door. Mom looked up from her plate and her eyes narrowed at the visitor but she got up and opened the door anyway. The man that stepped in smiled at her but she didn’t lessen her glare. He didn’t seemed fazed by her, though. He looked cool and relaxed in his blue Hawaiian shirt, some board shorts, and flip flops. My mom grabbed a surfboard from the wall and made like she would hit him.
“What are you doing here? I warned you that I would blame you if anything happened to my daughter. I’m mad at you, you stupid mother f-“
“Mom!” I warned. The dark haired man’s green eyes were simply amused. “If you’re going to beat the crap out of him, at least use your own board. I don’t want you breaking mine.”
“Good to see you too, Amara,” Poseidon finally said. I highly doubted that he was scared of her.
Percy let out a little laugh and I saw him glance between his mom, my mom, and our dad. “Anyone else think that this is going to get awkward?” I really wanted to punch him but I was too tired to use up the energy it would take. "Hi, Dad."
“Not helping, Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth scolded her boyfriend. I thought the nickname was pretty well deserved.
“Hey, Percy. Tyson. Oh, Annabeth, your mother wanted me to tell you that she’s still upset that you two are still together but she’s getting over it. I don’t see what the big deal is but I’m not used to having daughters.” Annabeth blushed.
“What are you doing here?” I asked because I could see that my mom was ready to chew him out again. She was pissed at him and wasn’t going to appreciate him wasting her time.
He turned his attention to me and frowned a bit. “I came to see how you are. Gods don’t usual check on their kids but like I said, I’m not used to having daughters; my kids have all been boys before you. I thought that Percy was the one I had to worry about but you’re sure giving him a run for his money.”
Now I blushed. I was used to Mom babying me, of course, but even she knew that I liked to take care of myself. It was weird having this father figure that actually cared about my health. “I’m okay.”
He smiled gently. “I’m glad to hear it.” He turned back to my mom again. “Now, Amara, can we please have a civil conversation? Monsters are going to be coming after Naida more and more. Are you going to run again or finally take my advice?”
She stuck her tongue out like a little kid. “Not that it's any of your business, but it’s already handled. Naida’s going to Camp for the summer and I’ve already got an apartment lined up in New York for us during the school year. Happy?”
I started. “You do?”
Mom smiled. “Yep, kiddo. We’re done running. It’s time to settle down and have real lives.”
I smiled at her and was in complete agreement.

Notes

and this, my friends, is the last chapter.... well, except for the epilogue :)
thank you my awesome readers, especially tmcar1 andEvil espresso drinks