Pairing: Percy/Annabeth
Category: Percy Jackson & The Olympians
Rating: PG-13 [For swearing]
Summary: Whereas a normal human being's best friend is a dog, a demigod's best friend is a hellhound. Figures. The story of Mrs. O'Leary making her comeback into Percy's world. (Remember. Rated for swearing!)

A Demigod's Best Friend

Part I

"Holy shit!" Perseus Jackson's mouth then proceeded to release another string of crude words that would have had Annabeth on his hide for weeks. The monster, the thing, the ... mix between a cow the size of a small truck and one very angry platypus (even the Gods must have had a sense of humor for putting those two animals together) had very nearly crushed him with its powerful hooves. And it would have smashed his head in if his battle reflexes hadn't told him to dive out of the way.

Percy got to his feet only to roll to the side again as the platy-cow charged at him on its two hind feet with its head ducked down. The monster crashed into the side of the alley's building, sticking its cow-horns between the bricks. Percy took this opportunity jump onto the creature and rodeo-ride the monster on its back, not really being successful in any way.

Deciding that he was seriously late for the Orientation, he wanted to end this monster episode but before he could plunge Riptide into the platy-cow's head, the creature jerked its head upwards so roughly that Percy lost his grip on its horns. He fell backwards, the impact of his body hitting the floor forcing him to release Riptide. Percy's head turned towards Riptide, about five feet away from him.

He tried to scramble onto his feet towards his only weapon but the beast jumped onto him and trapped him under its hoofed, large and brawny (and hairy) legs. Much to Percy's dismay, the savage simply grinned sickeningly, a trail of spittle rolling down the side of his chin before splattering down a few inches away from Percy's head. He shuddered silently. The platy-cow leaned forward, opened its jaws and to Percy's surprise (and to his misfortune), the insides of the beast's mouth revealed multiple layers of dried-blood-encrusted teeth, each of them half the size of Percy's thumb. Each tooth winked brightly even though the battle was taking place in an alley where not a lot of afternoon light shone through. And Percy could see that every single little tooth was about as sharp as the deadliest knife the Butcher owned in the grocery store downtown.

Percy's heart froze in panicked disgust as he realized that the monster had begun to straddle his stomach slowly and his ADHD kicked in. He aimed a kick straight at the monster's groin but instead of the expected whimper or cry of agony, the platy-cow just bent over him a little bit more in what was just a wince of pain. The monster didn't loosen his grip at all; in fact, it seemed to tighten its grip in anger, making Percy's situation worse.

What? What happened to his -? The more logical side of Percy took over. This thing was not a 'he.'

Platy-cow! Not a platy-bull... Percy thought as he searched frantically for Riptide. To add to his situation, he couldn't find the damned weapon anywhere, not next to him, in front of him, behind him, not even as a pen in his pockets! He looked up, grimacing as he noticed his beautiful sword in the hands of this she-beast.

Percy gulped, finally deciding that any attempts to wrestle the mangy monster off him would give better results than anything else. He grabbed the platypus' neck as quickly as he could and delivered a kick onto the cow's hip, doing whatever he can just to get the wretched thing off him. He had a girlfriend, for Gods' sakes!

Within a few seconds, he found himself pinned to the floor after a rather disturbing experience with the monster that included a lot of rolling around in the alley. The platypus head opened its jaws one more time, ready to chomp off a decent sized piece of Percy jerky. Inside, the invulnerable demigod thanked the Gods for the chance that maybe this thing's teeth would just shatter against impact with his skin but the fact that it was a female monster that was practically trying to rape him then eat him scared him the most. The one word that ran through his head while he tried to avoid breathing in the she-beast's revolting breath was a questioning, a very small, and a very desperate Help.

And suddenly, as if Iris had been reading his mind, a blur of black suddenly rammed right into the platy-cow, throwing the monster off of the demigod. Percy, who'd been keeping his eyes screwed shut, suddenly snapped them wide open in confusion. He heard a growl similar to that of a canine's and his head turned to his left, where a new struggle had begun. Actually, it wasn't much of a struggle anymore because the new character in the episode quickly took a swipe at the platy-cow's jaw, shattering it with one powerful strike. Then, seeing as the new beast didn't consider the fight over, the new fighter looked at the platy-cow's stomach before its head snapped forwards, grabbing a large mouthful of cow meat, instantly killing the she-beast. Percy watched as the platy-cow dissipated into a merciless cloud of vaporized reddish-brown dust.

In no time, he realized that maybe now he might have to fight off the new opponent. Percy cursed in his mind but let out a sigh of relief when he felt Riptide materialize in his pocket as a pen again. He got up slowly and uncapped his sword, facing what could be the death of him. Funny. He always thought Annabeth would be the death of him and here he was. Standing in an alleyway, fighting monster after monster, ignoring the fact that invulnerability would not help him as much as he wished it would this time. He would collapse, dead with fatigue, before he knew it.

In the shadows, Percy's new opponent was still facing away from him, still feasting on platypus and cow meat. It shook its head, trying to get rid of the blood that soaked its muzzle at the moment. Percy gulped as the walls of the alley were splattered with little beads of blood. Platy-cow blood. Not his.

Gotta remember that. He thought.

He tightened his grip on Riptide but regretted it almost instantly. Somehow, this beast was able to sense even that tiniest movement because it immediately froze, still facing towards the alley's wall, and away from Percy. Percy took a breath, readying himself for the next episode of this chapter of his life. Hopefully not the final chapter, but a rather difficult one, he was beginning to find.

In a span of two seconds, the beast suddenly turned around to face him, took one great leap and before he knew it, Percy was pinned to the floor (again), Riptide was flying through the air (again), landing five feet away from him (again) and he was being ...

... slobbered ... to death? What in Tartarus? Was this a new technique being taught in the Underworld? Pretend you're Demigod's-best-friend and later relish the taste of your owner's innards in your mouth?

Percy slapped away the gigantic tongue of this insane beast and gasped for breath, his face scrunching up at the smell of dog breath covering his body now.

Dog?

And like a good, well-mannered, well-behaved pet, Mrs. O'Leary sat up on her hind legs, panting in ecstasy with her tail whipping around dangerously, obviously smiling at Percy Jackson.

Percy stood up.

"Mrs... Mrs. O'Leary?" Mrs. O'Leary tilted her head, waiting for something smart to come out of Percy's lips.

"H-how did you get here? No, that's stupid. You're a hellhound. You guys are everywhere." Percy picked up Riptide as he ranted, replaced the cap on the weapon and put the Riptide Pen Version 2.0 in his pocket. Afterwards, he dusted himself off a little bit to look the least bit presentable, but winced inwardly when he realized he smelled like sweat, blood, dirt, alleys, his blood, dog breath and cow meat. And more blood. This situation called for a shower, but he didn't have that kind of time on his hands. He was very late.

Very late.

How in the world would he get to camp at this point? He'd need some sort of instant transportation. If only Iris was feeling merciful right now, or if Zeus ... no, anything Zeus would accommodate Percy Jackson would only result to his death, therefore ending up in a war between Percy's father and Thalia's father. That would only be messy. If only he were Harry Potter (screw the geeky glasses. He needed to get to camp now) he could portkey or use those skeletal horse-like thingies or another type of animal ...

Animal.

Mrs. O'Leary tilted her head to the other side, as if reading his mind. Percy narrowed his eyes and smiled.

"Say... I'm actually heading to camp right now. And I know you haven't seen Annabeth in a while..." Mrs. O'Leary righted her head so it wasn't tilted anymore. Percy chuckled.

"I know you just saved my life, girl," Percy flicked off a piece of platy-cow off of Mrs. O'Leary's ebony fur and brushed off some of the dust that was left behind, "but I need you to do me one more favor." Mrs. O'Leary whined and stepped back a few inches. He could see a disgusted wince on Mrs. O'Leary's face and could definitely tell that she wasn't fond of that idea.

"I know. I'm sorry! But it's a quick one. Just go to Camp Half Blood with me. No, take me there. I don't want you to leave me behind or anything." Mrs. O'Leary whined again, lay down and rested her head on her paws, still not liking the idea so much.

"There's food..." Mrs. O'Leary lifted her head.

"And a lot of people to bother." Mrs. O'Leary stood up.

"And did I mentioned all the freefood and drink that Camp Half Blood has to offer?" Mrs. O'Leary's tail suddenly came back to life and uplifted one of the boxes stacked up in the alley. Percy ducked to avoid one that charged towards his head.

"I'll take that as a 'yes,' then?" The now quite ecstatic hellhound jumped up and down on her spot in the alley, making Percy laugh. He reached up to pet what part of her head he could reach but had to tiptoe to get any sort of contact with the hellhound's fur.

"Okay, before I hop on, you kinda have to stop moving." Mrs. O'Leary continued to vibrate but held still long enough for Percy to hoist his leg onto one of Mrs. O'Leary's limbs. He slipped on a patch of blood that soaked an area of the leg Percy was climbing and before he fell onto the alley floor again, he grabbed onto a handful of Mrs. O'Leary's fur, praying to Hades (that's a first) that she wouldn't psyche out at the action.

Oh, good. She didn't freak out. She did worse.

She started running.

The wrong way.

With the wind crashing into his face, Percy could feel Mrs. O'Leary's molecules begin to take on the procedure of Shadow Traveling but he definitely didn't want to do that in the position he was currently in. He screamed for her to stop.

"Mrs. - stop!" And since Mrs. O'Leary was such a good girl, she took a stomach lurching break that launched Percy over her head and onto the floor again, thankfully it was in a playground he was thrown on, the sand softening his land a little bit. But much of the oxygen in his body was slammed out through the impact and Percy twisted to his side to catch his breath.

Mrs. O'Leary bounded happily right next to him and began licking his face as an apology. Percy could still smell the platy-cow in her breath.

"Ugh, I'm okay, girl, I'm okay. Ew..." he shuddered, gently pushing her snout away from him before getting up. Mrs. O'Leary panted, waiting for him to get back on his feet. She turned around so her side was facing him. Percy looked around, suddenly remembering that no one was supposed to know who he was. There was a little girl on the swing whose mouth dropped into an 'O' at the site of Mrs. O'Leary. Either what she was seeing through the Mist was remarkably large or she could see through the mist. Or she was a demigod and was still too small to be claimed, and could see Mrs. O'Leary. The last two options sounded particularly worse than the first. But Percy didn't have time to take this little girl to the side and start interrogating her about her parents. No. That would be creepy.

"Okay, I'm ready," Percy groaned. He put a hand on Mrs. O'Leary's fur again and just as he was starting to get back on his ride, it shot off into the distance, going the wrong way.

Again.

But this time, Percy fell flat on his face in the sand, left behind, eating Mrs. O'Leary's dust. Literally.

After getting up again and taking a glance at the little girl, Percy dusted off as much sand as he could, took a deep breath and quickly went through all of his options to get to camp.

After two seconds, he decided to get to the closest supply of water there was. He scanned the playground and quickly spotted a fountain slightly smaller than a car in the middle of the park. Knowing that time was definitely not on his side, he ran to the fountain, but before proceeding, he remembered that the little girl could still be watching him. He turned around and realized he was correct. Without moving his head, his eyes flicked to the sides to check if anyone else was watching the crazy man douse himself in pool water. No one else in the park seemed to him so he faked glancing to the side as if he saw something there. Surely, the little girl looked towards the direction that he was looking at and Percy quickly molded with the water, a trick his father taught him. If he could blend with the water, become one with it (Percy remembered laughing a little at that part. He felt very kung fu, very Dragon-Ball Z) he could get anywhere. All he needed to do was wish that he were anywhere where there was water. Right now, he tried to imagine himself as close to Camp Half Blood's beach as possible. He clearly remembered a time when he and Annabeth were lounging on a row boat in the estuary next to the camp, about a hundred meters away from the beach and imagined that he was there. In a few seconds, he could feel his body literally begin to evaporate as he became "one" with the water.

He imagined an approximation of the area where last summer, he and Annabeth spent the afternoon on that rowboat and within a few seconds, felt his body begin to take its natural form again. Opening his eyes, he could see that he was in water that was as clean as the camp could keep it. Because of how filthy and stinky he felt from the fight with the platy-cow, he allowed himself to get wet this time. Normally, Percy wouldn't use his powers to get to camp. That was usually his last resort. He would actually just take a taxi or a bus or even drive to Camp by himself but he was late. And there was one angry Annabeth waiting for him.

Oh, crap.

Annabeth was waiting for him.


Percy shook off the droplets of water clinging to his hair as if he was a dog, now hoping against hope that all the members of the female breed of the camp would just stop looking at him. No, it wasn't entirely his fault that his ride completely ditched him and bounded off the wrong direction. No, it wasn't his fault that he was forced to swim to camp to get to the Open House on time. But it was most definitely his fault for taking off his shirt once he stepped onto the beach of the camp.

"Hey, Percy," the common Aphrodite girl from the common Aphrodite group mewed at him as he walked past them. He didn't even know her name, but Percy nodded to her and smiled.

"Hey." He repeated this reaction to every other female who nodded or (ugh) winked at him. Thank the gods that Clarisse was the only one who simply frowned at him but nodded nonetheless. She was being increasingly nice nowadays. Percy walked over to her to ask about Annabeth.

"Hi!" he greeted Clarisse cheerily, who responded with a full-frontal glare.

"Just because I acknowledged you, doesn't mean we're best friends now, Jackson." Percy chuckled.

"You think I don't know that, La Rue?" he challenged her playfully, earning an extra heavy glare, "I'm just looking for Annabeth. Chill out. Have you seen her?" he frowned when Clarisse suddenly laughed shortly.

"Miss Perfection? I don't think you should be anywhere near her right now," she smirked, turning back to what she was currently working on. There were papers spread out over the table she was sitting at. Maps and plans that looked similar to different plays on a basketball board. Percy connected the maps and plans to what could only be strategies for the next Capture The Flag match.

"Why?" Percy asked, still frowning. Clarisse stopped smirking and stared at Percy with an Are-you-serious? look on her face.

"Hello? You completely bailed on her during the Open House? Which was, like, half an hour ago, so she'll probably be pretty pissed off right now." Clarisse explained. The alliteration in that sentence bounced around in Percy's head as he tried to comprehend the simple meaning of that sentence. The knowing tone of her voice was irritating but Percy shook it off.

"Never mind that. There's a pretty damn good reason I'm late, so just tell me where she is. I'll talk to her." Percy summoned himself to dry and after his jeans had completely dried off, he slipped his t-shirt back on. Clarisse rolled her eyes.

"She's at Thalia's tree with Libby."

"Libby? What's she doing here? Isn't she, like, taking up a weird mother-daughter-training-session thing with her mom up on Olympus?"

"Don't ask me! Iris was busy, but she loves Annabeth so she asked her to babysit Libby again. Just," Clarisse sighed, already tired from talking to Percy for so long, "'git, man, I'm working." Percy sniffed and harrumphed playfully just to get on Clarisse's nerves a little more, but smiled and shook his head when she sneered at him, and turned around to walk to Thalia's tree.

He finally climbed up the hill after nervously avoiding all the drool-infested young female campers who purposely placed themselves in the perfect positions just to watch him walk.

He found Annabeth and Libby exactly where he thought they'd be … or at least, where Clarisse said they'd be. Annabeth sat behind Libby at the lowest branch of Thalia's tree while Libby sat in front of her, between Annabeth's legs that formed a thin 'V'. Percy licked his lips and swallowed with some difficulty. An angry Annabeth was never a kind Annabeth. He walked up to the tree, noting that Annabeth refused to turn his way even if Libby was reaching for the branches, twisting her body in all sorts of ways that forced Annabeth to look at multiple directions.

"Hi," Percy said hesitantly. Libby immediately turned to look at him and give him a bright, toothy smile, but Annabeth executed the perfect face of a stranger who just met a stranger.

"I'm sorry, do we know you?" she asked innocently. Percy stopped in his tracks, standing right in front of the lowest branch that the two girls were perched on.

"Um... I'm your boyfriend? Percy?" Percy answered hesitantly, completely forgetting that Clarisse had told him that Annabeth would be pissed. Libby giggled from next to Annabeth while the nineteen-year-old frowned in faux confusion.

"My boyfriend, you say?" she asked, holding onto Libby's shoulders. Libby stopped moving so much but continued to giggle from between Annabeth's legs.

"Um... yeah. Your boyfriend. Percy... Jackson?" Percy continued to pry for some kind of remembrance through Annabeth. Annabeth, in turn, gave up the act just a little bit.

"You hear that, Libby? This man says he's my boyfriend. What do you think?" she asked the little girl. Libby grinned and shook her head, signaling, 'No, that's definitely not your boyfriend.'

"Sir, if I may, I'd think my boyfriend would be much more well-mannered than you, no offense." Percy blinked in offense. Annabeth didn't appear to notice and kept talking.

"And I'm almost positive he wouldn't be one to obviously flaunt his physical appearances after oh, so subtly entering the camp in a meek and humble fashion." Percy blinked, this time in confusion.

Is she mocking me? he thought.

"I-" Percy started to protest but Annabeth kept right on ranting.

"And he absolutely, most definitely, would not be late for the First Year Open House that he promised me he would come early to."

She's definitely mocking me. Percy thought as he winced.

"Yeah... about that..." he mumbled, kicking away a suddenly very interesting stone next to his feet.

"What about it, Percy?" Annabeth neglected to act like she had no idea who this handsome stranger was.

"Did you really have to go and humiliate me in front of the entire group of first years plus all the counselors and Chiron?"

"Look, they won't even put this on your record or something-"

"Oh, what makes you say that?"

"Because you don't even have a record!" Percy threw his hands up in the air, neither one of the 19-year-olds noticing that Libby was having a silent giggling fit.

"You've graduated Camp, Annabeth!"

"Percy, it's not that! Chiron, my mom, everyone here, whoever they are, even Clarisse, for gods' sakes! Everyone expects me to be 'The Role Model'." Annabeth animatedly used her fingers to make quotation marks in the air. Percy rolled his eyes.

"You're a daughter of Athena. Athena's favorite daughter, if I might add. Everyone in the world, including you, knows that you're the smartest demigod of the generation, of the century even-"

"Oh, don't give me all that bull." Annabeth snapped, lifting Libby onto her lap quickly and turning her body to let her feet hang off the side of the branch, threatening silently to kick Percy in the stomach, swinging them slightly towards Percy's middle area close enough for him to notice, but not enough for him to react. He didn't step back, however, used to her threats, and simply glanced down to her feet. With his head still down, he looked up at her through his bangs and smirked.

"What was that?" he asked, an amused tone taking over his voice. Annabeth felt a blush begin to creep up her neck and heat up her cheeks at the vision of such a dorky Percy behind those bangs she wanted oh, so, badly to brush off. She ignored him, (with difficulty) took a deep breath (with some difficulty) and gulped down a mouthful of air (with more difficulty). Annabeth opened her mouth to release a string of curses at her boyfriend before hearing a small cough next to her. Forgetting that Libby had been sitting on the tree next to her the entire time, Annabeth blinked in surprise before sighing at the little girl who smiled helplessly at her. Annabeth rolled her eyes at Percy and said, "C'mon Libby, let's leave this ..." she hesitated, "abomination here, before your mom comes to pick you up." She prepared to dismount before Libby pulled a puppy face.

"Oh, but Beth, she won't be coming to pick me up for another few hours! And the work is so hard up there! I have to be her apprentice-thingy that everyone keeps talking about and I don't even know what that word means! And Butch is busy with the horses! Can't we stay for just a little while?" She pulled a little pout that only little girls could pull off.

"But Libby, neither of us have eaten yet and lunch will be gone, soon. Is it alright if we eat first? We'll go to the beach afterwards, okay? And you can show me what Mommy's taught you so far," Annabeth compromised. From the corner of her eye, she could see Percy tilt his head, anticipating the reaction of the little girl. Annabeth couldn't help but feeling her heart reach out for Libby as well. She knew. Oh, hell. She knew what it was like to be pushed but to want the acceptance of her own mother. And she knew the stress that could come with working so hard to reach that acceptance.

Libby's pout lightened at the mention of the beach and she bravely put a crooked smile, "Okay." Annabeth smiled lightly at the girl. Percy's eyes softened at the look on Annabeth's face. Ten years from now, he wanted to see that same look when she would have to prod their little boy to eat dinner with them before playing with those building blocks she'd bought for him and -

- and what the hell? Their little boy? Percy blinked and shook his head a little in surprise.

"Okay, let's go." Annabeth continued her dismount but before she could push off, Libby cried, "Wait, wait, Beth. I wanna show you this little trick mommy taught me first!" And Annabeth, being a sucker for little girls (Libby, in particular), stayed on the branch. Libby, in turn, bit her bottom lip and closed her eyes. She rubbed her hands together, producing friction, before raising them both to the sky. With her right hand, she made an arc in the sky. Her hand, unlike any normal six-year-old's, trailed behind a glittering miniature rainbow that hung in the sky. Both Percy's and Annabeth's eyes rose up and Annabeth's mouth dropped open.

Percy was the first to compliment her after a few seconds of silence, "Libby, that's awesome!" Percy cracked a grin at the little girl, who blushed in return. Libby turned to Annabeth, who was still gazing at the wondrous creation.

"What do you think, Annabeth?" she asked shyly. Annabeth turned to the younger blonde.

"I think it's gorgeous, honey." Libby finally cracked her own wide smile at Annabeth and looked up at the two older kids with a suddenly determined expression plastered on her face.

"Then will you guys kiss and make up now that something glittery and pretty brought you back together? You both agree that it's pretty, right?" Libby said, with an adorable serious look on her face, a serious look that Percy just couldn't take seriously. He laughed shortly while Annabeth's smile froze and she blinked.

"I don't think that'd be a good idea, Libby... She might bite me." Percy joked quietly. Libby's gaze snapped to Annabeth, whose eyes narrowed at Percy challengingly.

"Try me," Annabeth snapped.

"Libby, would you close your eyes, sweetie?" Libby giggled and shut her eyes, covering them with her hands, while Percy stepped forward to reach for Annabeth's waist. Annabeth pushed off from the branch finally but landed in Percy's arms, immediately wrapping her legs around his waist. Good thing he was dry now. Almost as soon as the two encountered skin-on-skin impact, their lips were drawn together under the span of a millisecond. Annabeth couldn't resist the silent moan that her lips released and felt Percy grin against her lips. None of the two noticed Libby widening two of her fingers to peek out between them and none of the two noticed Libby lowering her hands before creating a bigger, brighter and somehow more sparkly rainbow above the two.

When after a few minutes, the two hadn't stopped yet, and the rainbow had already faded into the sunlight, Libby cleared her throat, blushing. She was only six! And they can't have forgotten about her already! When they still didn't stop, Libby gaped at them before looking around, seeing if anyone else noticed how they still hadn't taken a breath of air yet.

Libby rolled her eyes adorably and instead of waiting for hours just for the two to stop, cried out something horrible to catch Annabeth and Percy's attention.

"Hi Chiron! We'll be right there!" she cried out in a random direction. This pulled Percy away from Annabeth and completely put him on guard. After an ... unpleasant encounter with Chiron that included blankets, too much noise and Annabeth in his cabin past curfew, the two were very careful not to even stand next to each other when the centaur was around. After Percy and Annabeth noticed that there was no centaur in the vicinity, they both glared at Libby playfully.

"That's not very nice, Libby," Percy teased. Libby stuck her tongue out at him, "I'm only six. And you guys needed air." Annabeth laughed. She looked at Percy and nodded her head at Libby. Percy rolled his eyes.

"I'm gonna get you for this later, Libby. You almost gave me a heart attack." But nonetheless, Percy turned around so that Libby could climb aboard his back and the three could walk down Half-Blood Hill for some lunch, with Percy telling the story of the platy-cow he'd encountered.


"And of course if ever any of you need help or if you have a question, come to anyone. Camp Half Blood is a place for all demigods to feel safe, loved, and at home. Everyone here is a part of your family." Annabeth smirked at the audience for a while in the coliseum.

"That's not true, Chiron paid her to say that." Percy piped up. Everyone laughed as he continued, waving at Chiron behind everyone.

"What Annabeth meant to say is that, okay, yes, we know. Life starts to suck a little bit more when you realize what it's like to be a demigod. It will get harder." Percy looked at the faces of such innocence, such youth, and continued, "You will have to be on your guard for, basically, 80% of the rest of your life." The coliseum became silent as Annabeth and Percy could see every single on of the first years starting to ponder this reality.

"But that's where Camp Half Blood comes in. We, the counselors and every other demigod who's been to camp for at least one year understand what it feels like to be trapped under the pressure of being a demigod. So we are here to train you and get you ready for the rest of your life," Annabeth continued.

"Because it'll sure as Tartarus be worse than Hades himself." Percy said determinedly. Chiron cleared his throat from behind the audience. Annabeth shot Percy a look. Do not say that about the god who can kill us in the blink of an eye, her eyes said. Percy flinched in understanding.

"Anyway, you're all definitely going to have a lot of fun here, we're all very excited to see what a new generation of demigods can do to keep this world safe. Camp Half Blood is a home, it is now your new haven, and we know you're bound to love it within a week or less," Annabeth said invitingly.

"Let's get the tour started. First off. The mess hall!" Percy raised a finger in the air energetically and the majority of the audience laughed and whooped along with him. They seemed to like that idea.

Within a few minutes of Percy's sarcastic and humorous commentary about "what you see to the right" and "over here at your left," the group of about forty new demigods and a few of the counselors plus Chiron finally arrived at the mess hall.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Percy narrated in a voice that sounded strangely similar to the preview guy's voice, "the mess hall." He removed the wall of water that purposely blurred the audience's view, sending everything back to the estuary. Percy didn't really expect anyone to gasp or gaze at the scene in awe, because it obviously wasn't much. There were the tables there, a few benches here, some patio furniture a few graduated Hephaestus and Demeter cabin members donated recently, and a few camp members scattered around the place. Of course, the bonfire used to thank the gods for the food wasn't lit at the moment and the scene that Percy so dramatically revealed really wasn't all that spectacular. He grinned anyway.

"Um... okay?" A kid who looked like he belonged in Hermes' cabin spoke up. Annabeth sighed dramatically, purposely adding to Percy's show.

"Moving on. Here is where we'll all have breakfast, lunch and dinner. That is why it is called a mess hall. Even though it's more of a picnic area. That is what mess halls are for," Annabeth narrated sarcastically. Various intelligent and quiet looking first years smiled and some had the heart to laugh out loud.

Annabeth proceeded to step in front of Percy and dictate the different times that meals were served on certain days. Just as she was explaining the process of thanking the Gods for their food, everyone felt the earth rumble. Really rumble. The kind of rumble you only hear in the Jurassic Park movie series. Annabeth turned sharply at Percy, who occasionally caused a small earthquake due to the powers he inherited from his father. He caught her look and threw his hands up, proving his innocence. And honestly, Annabeth didn't really know why she even tried to believe that Percy would cause this. He was more of a joker now, but he wasn't a show-off. And the rumbling wasn't much of an earthquake; it wasn't constant. It was more like the gigantic Tyrannosaurus Rex from one of the Jurassic Park movies had come back to life and had passed the camp's borders.

With a flash of black fur, though, not green scales, numerous wooden tables that lay around the mess hall were suddenly destroyed, splinters flew in the air and the first years freaked out completely, running to and fro, screaming at the top of their lungs. Percy had to push an oblivious brunette out of the way and dive to the floor with her to make sure she wouldn't get impaled by a large piece of wood that flew towards her neck. Annabeth grabbed Libby, who'd been following her the entire time, dodged the debris of the sudden attack, and got her safely to the closest cabin. A few of the other counselors followed suit to Annabeth and Percy, ushering the brand new demigods towards the cabins or at least away from the big, black, furry ... dog.

"Mrs. O'Leary, you better stop this instant or I will tell Nico to get Daedalus' spirit out here!" Percy screamed at the dog, who was doing nothing but rampaging the entire mess hall. But after hearing her previous master's name come out of Percy's furious lips - a master she missed and loved so much, and a master she could now only visit every so often on the weekends - she stopped moving entirely. Percy froze as well, not really expecting her to obey so calmly. But there she sat, very still, her head was tilted sweetly again in that curious way that only she could pull off.

"Um... good girl." Percy stepped up hesitantly, worried that she might start bounding around again. From the corner of his eyes, he could see that there was no one else left in the vicinity except him and Mrs. O'Leary. He walked up to her and began to calm her down, patting the hellhound down. Although Percy could practically feel the rapid speed of her breathing, he also noticed that it was slowing down at the same time.

"You know what, you've caused a lotta trouble for me today," Mrs. O'Leary sniffed, insulted, "but!" Percy continued, "You did kinda save my life back in the alleyway from that ... platy-cow thing..." Mrs. O'Leary barked, glad that she proved useful today in her new master's agenda.

"So I'm not gonna go as hard on you as Annabeth will." And as if on cue, Annabeth marched into the mess hall (what was left of it, really) and stared at the big, black dog helplessly.

"What am I going to do with you, girl?" She sighed exasperatedly but walked up slowly and came round to Percy's side of the dog. She raised an eyebrow at the large canine but proceeded to rub her down to calm her, too. Percy stood back, a little baffled that these two were more than acquainted.

"So ... you guys are good friends, too?"

"Just a little. She comes to camp every so often and strangely enough, I'm always around when she visits. It's like she knows my monthly itinerary." Percy opened his mouth to comment on that when a large shadow covered the two.

"Annabeth. Percy."


Damn, I just scrolled through the whole thing. I didn't realize how long it is for one chapter. Just a heads up, this story'll be a two-shot. I don't have the confidence and power to drag on for an epic or a multiple chaptered story. (By multiple, I mean around 10 or 20. No. That's not me.)

But there you have it! Yup, yup, yups. Part I is up and at 'em! I told y'all I had something ready. I'm already editing Part II, and I didn't realize what a pain editing was! But it's all good because I never realized how exciting it was at the same time. =)

Little things:

- I told you it was rated for swearing. I practically started the story with a vulgarity. ^^ But that's just me.
- Since this is my first big story, I'd love it if people will point out the little grammar mistakes or spelling mistakes and I'll check to see if they really count or matter. Then of course, I'll change them. I've gone over this a couple of times already, but I'd appreciate any heads up. So, please, feel free to comment on grammar. It helps!
- Yes, there is a large part that is actually an edited version of my already-published-story Libby. Go check that out. Find the differences, y'know like that game? ^^
- Fourthly, sorry if Percy's a little OOC. I just figured, oh, since he got invulnerable, maybe he'll get just a tad cocky and funny, too. Which'll make him the annoying guy we all love. ^^ He seems to be that kind of guy. To me. Maybe not to you. But that doesn't matter. =) No, I'm kidding, it does. ^^
- Part II will be coming up this week. Now, that's a real promise.
- If you want to keep updated with how the story's going, follow me on Twitter, the link is on my profile.

And of course, review, I really appreciate hearing from readers from all over the world, you all have such interesting comments! And if you'd like a reply, review with your account, because I always, always reply to reviews. (Unless of course, I don't see your review.)

Hopefully you guys liked this. It's been bouncing around in my brain for quite some time now and my muse actually cooperated with me to get it working.

Muse: Damn right, I did.

Zoinks! This note's long. I should end it now, right? ^^ But there you have it! Part I of A Demigod's Best Friend. Stay tuned for Part II, folks. ^^

~Blue