Rebecca's POV

   We walked to the Big House in silence. Nobody spoke all the way there. After about 5 minutes, I stepped forward.

   "What is going on?" I asked. It seemed the only question that summed everything up. The oracle's eye glowed green, but when she spoke it wasn't the breathy voice she usually had. It was the voice of a man.

   "I am not from the world that you stand on," the oracle said, "but the world that you from. I go by many names. The most common one is Rick Riordan." 

   "Dad..." I whispered.

   "Hello, Rebecca," he continued, "I suppose that I owe you some answers. After you... had gone... I was devastated. I wanted to bring you back. All of you. That's when I had an idea. I couldn't bring you back to life, but I could recreate you in world of your own. You all could go on the adventure you've always wanted. I placed you in the world of my stories, made you older so you could cope with this life better, and gave you Thalia as a guide and Alli as a protector. For the first time in a while, I was happy. But something went wrong. The story took on a life of its own. Alli almost killed you. It created a plot for itself. Does this make sense?"

   "Uhhh..." I said. I don't know what I expected, but it wasn't this. 

   "Just one question," Lydia responded (she only had one?!), "Why did the clock owner want us dead?"

   Dad was quiet for a moment. "When Rebecca and I went to buy her clock, the owner recognized me. He wouldn't give me his name, but he told me that he had a pen that could  bring my stories to life. He said he would give it to me if I did something for him. I told him he was crazy, and refused. The next day... it happened. Everyone thought the fire was an accident, but I knew what had really happened. He was giving me a warning. If I kept refusing, more people would die. I accepted his offer, and paid the price." 

   For a brief moment, a cloudy image appeared in front of us. It was of Dad and the clock man giving a pen to my father. When my father took it, a shadow overtook him. Dad disappeared.

   "I lost my physical form," he explained, "I was cursed to forever watch my creations from above, never dying, always alone. I barely had enough energy left to give this message to you."

   "Oh Dad..." I said. I walk forward and carefully hugged the skeleton that my father was inside. "I wish there was a way I could help."

   "I think there is," he said, "I don't have a use for the pen anymore. I have no desire to write. But you do. You can create your own story. Then, every time I see a new one created, I will see you. I could live with an eternity of that." A black ballpoint pen and blank book appeared before me. I hesitated for second, and then took them. 

   Dad looked over to Thalia, Alli, Lydia, and Katie. "Take care of each other. All of you. And Rebecca." I looked up at him, tears in my eyes, "I love you. Never forget."

   "Never," I replied. The oracle's eye stopped glowing, Dad leaving with it. I looked up at everyone . "Shall we start writing."

   We sat down right there in the attic and opened the book. Thalia and Alli looked at each other and kissed. When they came up for air, they stared at us and started blushing.

   "Oh right," Thalia said, "We never told you. Alli and I decided to try... being together."

   "You own me 5 drachma," Katie told Lydia. Lydia grunted and gave her the money. We all started laughing. I looked down at the book at started writing:

   Once upon a time...