It's September 10th today. The twins are turning one. It's also been a year since Annabeth died.

The whole squad(minus Thalia and Reyna) gathered at our apartment for a 'birthday party' of sorts. Everyone brought all of their kids(why they wouldn't I don't know).

I had Ethan resting on my hip and Bianca clinging to my leg. Leo looked around the apartment and then back at me. "So are we going to actually do something or..."

I startled. I realized that we'd all just been kind of sitting around for the last ten minutes. "Oh...I uh, I didn't really plan anything. I don't really know..."

Hazel saved me from my embarrassment. "Well it's their first birthday for crying out loud. Tell me you have a cake," she walked over to the fridge and was instantly disappointed.

"You do not have a cake," she said. "We can bake one!" Piper suggested, a little too enthusiastically. I'll admit, I wasn't as in the moment as I should've been. Today was my twin's first birthday. But the dark part of my thoughts whispered, "It's also the day she died."

Piper and Jason began going through the cupboards, searching for ingredients to make a cake.

"Nothing," Piper said. "Not even cake mix," Jason added, looking disappointed.

"Or frosting!" Leo complained, hiding something behind his back. His mouth was covered in white frosting. "Leo!" Calypso slapped him. "You're setting a bad example!"

Leo just rolled his eyes and shook his head at Milo, who was watching and giggling.

"Um..." Will brainstormed, "maybe there's candy or snacks?"

Hey checked the cupboards and cabinets again and again came up empty handed. "Maybe we should just go to the store?" Piper sighed in defeat.

"Yeah! Then we can get all the sweets and toys we want!" You'd think a child said this. It was Leo.

"We did forget presents at home," Nico shrugged. "We should all just go then," Hazel said.

Everyone kind of just looked at the kids then, dreading the trials of the New York City streets and stores hauling a bunch of kids.

"I can stay here with them," I volunteered. Frank just stared at me. "Um what?" Jason questioned. "Yeah. I'll stay here and watch them while you guys go to the store. I'll give you some money for cake. Then we don't have to worry about them in public and stuff."

"Percy, all of them? You're gonna watch ten kids, all under the age of eight, by yourself?"

My hand went to my pocket, and judging by how Jason's eyes followed my hand, he knew I was reaching for my sword.

"I trust him," Jason spoke. After that, the others started to agree. Nico was the only one who wasn't totally sold on the idea. "What if something happens?"He asked, holding Bee's small hand in his own.

"I swear on the River Styx, your children will get back to you safely. I won't let anything happen to them."

I knew that even without the oath, they all believed me. So they filed out, one by one, Piper taking Malia with her, leaving the rest of the kids with me.

As soon as that door shut, all hell broke loose. Milo(7) jumped on the couch and started screaming like a banshee. Sammy(4) crawled onto the couch as well and tried to shove Milo off said couch. He succeeded simply because Milo was off balance. Sammy did not however, anticipate Maria(4) to get behind him and shove him.

I cracked a smile. Emily(2) hobbled off in the direction of the bathroom, distractedly looking at the pictures on the wall. Luke(7) had decided to wrestle with Milo after he had been pushed off the couch.

Rosalie(3) ran around in circles, chasing Riley(3) with her hand on fire. Considering neither our house nor Riley were fireproof, I decided I should probably put an end to that.

I went to the sink to turn on the water, but nothing came out but a rumbling sound. I frowned. Something wasn't right.

I turned away from the sink, the twins still attached to me, about to yell a warning, when the windows exploded.

"Get to the door!" I screamed. The kids scrambled to follow my orders. Someone was crying, but I couldn't tell who.

There was glass everywhere, and the figures that jumped through the windows got to their feet. There were three of them, the one in the center's hair was on fire.

"Kellie," I sneered. "Hi, Percy, I see you've got the kiddos with you. It would be a shame if something were to...happen to them."

"Try anything, and you'll be sorry," I said holding an arm in front of the kids, pushing them behind me. Keeping my one eye on Kellie and her empousi friends, I did a quick head count behind me. Nine. One short.

Panic swelled in my throat as I searched what I could see of the apartment from where I stood. Emily was missing. Where had she wandered off to?

"Get to the roof," I told Luke and when he didn't go, I shoved Ethan into his arms, handing Bianca to Milo. "Luke. Go now."

He nodded, his eyes wide in horror. I realized why this scene was so familiar to him. One of the last times he'd seen his mother, was when monsters invaded our home. At least now he understood the need to get away.

I made sure they were all out of the apartment and shut the door, facing Kellie. She didn't know Emily was still here. Somewhere.

I tried to summon some water from the sink again, the bathroom, wherever, but it still wasn't working. "Ah, so you've noticed. We sabotaged the water supply coming to this building. We've come prepared Perseus," Kellie snarled, sending her hair into a crackling blaze, the flames climbing higher than before.

The fire alarms blared in the distance. Smoke wafted in through the vents and I was really starting to feel the heat. The dam monsters set the whole building on fire. No matter what my previous plans were, there'd be no escape from inside the building.

I heard a whimper from the hall and a scared looking Emily waddled toward me. My eyes widened as the empousi on the left of Kellie lunged. I jumped to intercept her, plowing her over and into the wall, leaving a dent. I scooped up Emily and swung my sword at the one on the right.

Kellie just laughed as more of them came in through the windows. Emily clung tightly to my neck and I remembered the other kids I sent to the roof. I needed to protect them at all costs.

I took one last look at our apartment and bolted. The door handle was hot to the touch, but I flung the door open anyway. I was met by a wall of flames. I looked for an opening and lunged, running through the hallway towards the stairs that led to the roof. We were on the sixth, and final floor, so the roof was easy access.

I opened the door and all nine kids were huddled and cowering in the stairwell. "What are you still going here!"

"We couldn't get the door open," Luke was crying, holding Ethan close to him, the latter with his eyes wide.

I got past them, set Emily down, and tried the door. Locked. I shoved it hard, and then again, and it burst open. I ushered them ahead of me and closed the door. I ran to the edge of the roof and saw how far of a drop it was. There was a fire escape about five feet below me and I could see tiny specks in the distance, my friends, running back to the building.

I did some quick calculations in my head and decided the best way to go about this was to get on the fire escape and wait for Jason and Frank to fly up and get the kids.

"Okay, hand me the twins. I need everyone to stand right here and wait for my instructions, okay?" They all nodded. I took note of the door leading back into the building. It was starting to bubble and warp from the pressure and the heat. When it burst, I did not want to be there.

With the twins in my arms, I jumped from the roof to the fire escape. It rattled and shook and for a second, I thought it wouldn't hold, but then it evened out and I sat the twins down.

"Okay, Riley? Emily? I need you to jump. I'll catch you, I promise." Riley, though plenty terrified, was used to the sensation of flying, so he jumped first. He let out a little squeal of terror before I caught him, setting him down and holding my arms out for Emily, who came soon after.

It went on like that until I had everyone safely(sorta) on the fire escape. I made sure they were staying put before testing out the rest of the fire escape for a safe place of transport. Apparently not the whole thing was sturdy.

Because just then, the door to the building exploded, sending the door soaring right over our heads and to the ground far below.

The explosion shook the fire escape and Ariana screamed. The section I was standing on gave way, and I was weightless.