Stupid Mortals

by sKaEtrgrL

Percy just wanted to talk to his Wise Girl at 2 in the morning, so why’d some wolf thing have to take him to some evil laboratory in the middle of a desert? Two-Shot (probably), Max and the Flock probably won’t show up in this so sorry. Percabeth

Ok, I really don't feel like giving a giant explanation on why I seem to disappear off the face of the earth after only posting one chapter. Here's the basics: the past 2.5 years have been rough. And I mean REALLY ROUGH. I was diagnosed with type one diabetes (it's genetic, and I'm surprisingly thin (can't get rid of this one stupid roll though...)), my grandma, uncle, and cousin have all died within 9 months or so from one another, and I moved. Like I said, the basics. It also doesn't help that I've had so many dr appts and funerals to go to that my grades are absolute crap now. So, yeah, you could say I'm struggling. A LOT. However, fanfiction is my way of leaving reality behind, as I'm sure it's that way for many of you. I feel as though I've run out of good stories to read, so I'm gonna try a new one. YES, I know I never finish my stories. And I'm sorry. I'm hoping this one will be different. Anyways, I'll get started on this, and I'm sorry if I suddenly disappear for months on end...

IMPORTANT: This will most likely be a One Shot or Two Shot, and Max and The Flock probably won't show up in this story... so yeah.

Chapter One: I Get Kidnapped By Wolf Men and a Psycho Lady (Is this even considered a chapter anymore?)

Percy's POV

Listen, we all know the basics: I didn't wanna be a halfblood. However, it's my life. I would never change it either. Despite all the crap that's happened to me, I've still got friends and family who love me and support me, so it's fine. They make life easier.

At least, that's how it was for a while.

You see, bad luck seems to find me like a magnet. I guess I'm just that attractive... anyways, I had another nightmare. And for those of you who don't know, then don't ask. They aren't worth it. I woke up when I fell off my bed, a sweaty, sticky mess somehow tangled within my blue blanket. That place... I had been there again.

Naturally, how I solve all of my problems, I went to Annabeth.

IMing her at 2 in the morning was probably messed up, but I needed her. Judging by the way she'd answered so quickly, she obviously felt the same.

Her long, golden hair was tangled and matted with sweat, as well as her face and light gray tank top. Her eyes were frantic, full of adrenaline and fear.

She obviously took a visit there too.

"Hey, Wise Girl."

Her head shot up, her hands looking ready to snap the marble counter in her bathroom. As soon as our eyes met, she let out a breath I don't think she realized she was holding.

A faint smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. "Seaweed Brain. You always call at the strangest times."

"Apparently, I'm not the only one who needed a call." Her face flushed red and I smirked. She went and sat on the edge of the bath tub, the IM adjusting for her. "So, how's SanFran?" I know, I know, stupid question, but it was the best way to distract both of us from our night terrors. She raised her eyebrows, resting her elbow on her knee and head in her hand.

"Oh, same old, same old. You know how it is. And New York?" Her gray eyes stared intently into my sea green, and I knew we were both relaxing at the sight of one another.

I brushed a hand through my hair. "Well, it's still as busy as ever. Although, high school is still a pain in the butt. I can't believe I gotta repeat a year just to go to New Rome! Mortals don't even know about it! How come you get to go to a fancy shmancy college while I'm stuck here?"

Annabeth only smirked at me, and when I pouted she laughed, her head craning back and her hands clutching her stomach. Gods, she's beautiful. "You Seaweed Brain, of course you gotta repeat your senior year. After all, you went missing for almost an entire school year. What do you plan to do about it? After all, you've only got a few more weeks before you can come join me."

I smiled at that. She was right, soon enough I'd be gone, and hopefully in New Rome. I walked back to my room, dragging the mist behind me to make sure I didn't lose the connection. I plopped onto my bed, grimacing at the puddle of sweat I just sat in. I flicked my wrist in disgust, watching the sweat fly across the room and out the cracked window. Annabeth simply laughed at my antics. "Well, I guess you're right. It just feels like it's been so long since I've seen you. I can't really imagine what it'd be like without seeing you for a few weeks. I can barely go one week without shadow traveling to see you on the weekends!" I threw my hands in the air, once again smiling at the girl I fell in love with.

She really is perfect. I could sit here and stare at her for years and never get bored.

I must've been staring for too long because Annabeth's smirk was gone, her eyes cold and steely like she was facing an opponent. My smile dropped, my eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "You okay? Did I do something wrong again?"

She shook her head, glaring harder. I realized that she wasn't staring at me... "No, you didn't do anything wrong..." She quickly whispered in a hushed voice, "someone's behind you... grab Riptide..." I gave a look of shock. Obviously I wasn't expecting someone to be in my room. I narrowed my eyes, but I barely turned around before I vaguely heard Annabeth shout "LOOK OUT!" and a mass of red and silver fur was in my face. I struggled, frantically looking towards the IM, only for the 'furry thing', as I'd dubbed it, to slash its claws through the message. I scrambled helplessly in its thick, meaty arms, desperately trying to escape. I wanted to cry out for help, but I couldn't.

Then, the lights in the hallway flickered on.

Mom or Paul heard me.

And they were coming this way.

Apparently I wasn't the only one concerned about the light, because the furry thing seemed to grow more panicked. I felt something painful plunge into my neck, and before I could understand what was happening there was only one thought I had:

Oh schist.

(I wanted to stop here, but I changed my mind.)

I woke up, eyes shooting open only to instantly close once more. Wherever I was, it was as bright as Apollo's sun chariot. I frowned. Apollo's chariot gave off a warm, golden light. This light was harsh, cold, and I felt like I was suffocating.

I opened my eyes, squinting at the room I was in. There was one thing I knew for certain; whoever designed this room needed some serious designer tips. Everything was white. And I mean everything. From the ceiling, to the floor, to the white cuffs on my wrist- wait, cuffs?! I barely had time to process that I was strapped on a metal table before the WHITE door was flung open, revealing a lavender haired woman. Why she had purple hair, don't ask me cuz I've got no clue. Her eyes were blue, almost transparent. They were icy and cold like the rest of the room. Her lavender hair was dry; it looked like she used a pound of dry shampoo on her poor split ends. Gross. Her white coat made it hard to tell her apart from the room, as well as her white pants, shoes, and even gloves.

All in all, she was ugly. She needed a stylist. Badly.

She smiled, showing very fake looking teeth (yeah, they were that white and straight). "Ah, subject Alpha. You're awake. Good." My eyes went a little wide at her tone. I probably looked like a fish outta water (hehe) and she seemed to notice my unease. "Oh, don't worry honey. We're gonna fix you right up in a jiffy! You'll be even better than before! Mr. Sanders, please bring in the snow leapoard DNA."

I frowned at what she had said. Better? I liked my body the way it was, thankyou very much. And snow leapoard? Yeah, they're cool I guess, but I don't really wanna meet any.

A fat man hobbled in, his fluffy tan hair on the sides of his head seemed super glued into place. He held a large tube, easily the size of my fist, filled with an icy blue liquid. It looked yummy. "O-Of c-c-course, m-miss Alta." He shook violently as he held the liquid out to Alta (like a sacrifice... it made sense that her name was so similar to Altar...), and I watched as she snatched the container away from the man, her eyes seeming to freeze him in place.

"Good. Now leave. I have business to attend to with Alpha." The man frantically nodded before racing out of the room.

My attention returned to the woman in front of me. I watched as she placed the liquid into the biggest needle I've ever seen. I couldn't help but realize that she planned on putting the pretty liquid INTO me. Obviously, I was wrong to assume I'd be drinking it. "Ummm... so, what's in the needle? Don't get me wrong, it's very pretty, but I don't really feel like getting shot to death today, so thanks... but, uh, no thanks."

Her fake smile turned into a metallic glare, as though she was freezing my very soul. "Oh, don't worry Alpha, you'll be glad I give this to you." Her face turned into a sinister smile. "After all, I'm making you better, aren't I?" With those last words, she plunged the needle into my chest, the liquid shooting into my system.

If I thought the Styx was bad, this was ten times worse.

I dug my hands into the table beneath me, screaming so loud I could barely hear myself think. My body wracked in pain, my head splitting open. It was too much. I felt as though I'd die. I stared at the ceiling, staring at what appeared to be the floating body of a girl with blonde hair and gray eyes, and I could barely mumble out the one word on my mind before I once again slipped into unconsciousness.

"Annabeth..."

Annabeth's POV

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs.

Percy was taken from me.

Again.

And I was powerless to do anything to help him.

History was repeating itself, and I couldn't help but feel like I was the cause. I wanted to cry out in pain, but I couldn't. I scrambled around my room, grabbing a small bag of clothes and my dagger before racing to the kitchen, grabbing a pint sized bag of ambrosia. I grabbed a sticky note to inform my parents that I might be gone for a while.

Percy was kidnapped again.

I'm going to save him.

Love you so much.

Love, Annabeth

I tried my best not to cry, but the tears were pouring down my face faster than I wanted them to. When I got outside, I ran to the park, throwing a drachma into the polluted fountain. "Oh Fleecy, do me a solid: show me Nico DiAngelo."

"Location?"

I wasn't sure, but last I checked he was hanging out in Camp Jupiter with Hazel for the week. "Camp Jupiter?" I sighed in relief when I saw the sleeping (and drooling) face of Nico, and the sight made me feel a little better. "Nico! Wake up! Percy's been kidnapped by a giant wolf-man!" Nico looked at the IM, rolled his eyes, and face planted back into his pillow.

I could contain my rage no longer. "NICO DIANGELO! GET OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW OR ILL PERSONALLY HUNT YOU DOWN AND STAB MY DAGGER UP YOUR-"

"OKAY, I'M UP! Geez, calm down." He scratched his head in the same way Percy would when he would wake up...

I already missed him so much.

"Percy was kidnapped again, and this time it was by a giant wolf-man monster thingy." I watched Nico's eyes go wide for a moment before returning to normal. "... you know something so spill. NOW."

"Listen, I can't say anything... I swore on the Styx, it's a promise with my dad. I'll get you to Jupiter but then you gotta wait for me, cuz I gotta go talk to my dad and confirm my theory. I'll come get you. One sec." The IM was slashed through, leaving me alone.

I waited.

And waited.

And-

A large intake of breathe was heard from the bushes, and I saw Nico come out, panting heavily. "What took you so long?! I was waiting for a good fifteen minutes!"

He threw his arms into the air, practically screaming 'come at me bro'. "Well, YOU didn't give me directions! I assumed you were at your house!"

I motioned at the park around me. "Yeah, because this totally looks like my frigging house!"

He rolled his eyes before grabbing my wrist. "Listen, if you wanna get to Jupiter so quickly then I'm gonna need to borrow some of your energy. And before you ask, it's something I've been working on." I merely nodded, waiting for whatever was to come. I barely had enough time to hear Nico shriek "Schist!" before I passed out.

Line thingy...

I knew I was dreaming when I saw the white room. It made me want to throw up, it was so bland. Whoever designed this room needs some serious help.

My attention was drawn to a conversation I heard between an ugly wicked fairy lady and-

"Percy!"

He obviously couldn't hear me, but at least I knew he was okay. He was, wasn't he? My eyes travelled across the table, taking notice of the cold metal table and cuffs strapped to his arms and legs.

"-so thanks...but, uh, no thanks."

I gave a slight smile. Of course he'd say something stupid in the face of danger.

However, the giant needle filled with an unidentifiable liquid and my Seaweed Brain staring horridly at the woman frightened me. Her words shook me to the core.

"Oh, don't worry Alpha, you'll be glad I give this to you." Her eyes lit up like the face of a psychopath. "After all, I'm making you better, aren't I?" Giving no room for argument, Psycho Lady plunged the strange large needle into my boyfriend's chest, and I watched in horror as his body thrashed, him screaming louder than I've ever heard in my entire life. His eyes met mine, and I gasped in horror and fascination. His eyes were no longer the sea green I loved, but an icy blue that matched the cold ones of Psycho Lady, with slits instead of round pupils. Before I was whisked away, I managed to hear one word filled with so much love and pain:

"Annabeth"

Another line thingy...

I sat up straight, gasping in horror. I thrashed wildly against hands that were trying to push me back into bed. "NO! PERCY'S IN TROUBLE! HE NEEDS ME! I HAVE TO HELP HIM!"

"Annabeth! Calm down! Listen, we can figure this out, but we need you to calm down. Just calm. Down." I felt my mind relaxing against my will, and I looked into the most complex eyes I've ever seen.

"Piper." She smiled at me, and I looked around. Jason, Frank, Hazel, Piper, Nico, Reyna, Leo, and Calypso were around me, their eyebrows knit with confusion and worry. I slowly sat up, nodding my head to signal I was alright. Taking a deep breath, I retold the dream (more like nightmare) I had of Percy, and I stared intently at Nico as his face turned paler and paler. "...and that's why we need to find him. Now. Nico, I know that you know what's going on, but you swore not to say anything. It's time for you to go to your father and discuss things with him. Obviously, we need to know what's happening, so we're going to IM Rachel. Hopefully, she can issue a quest for us and we can go retrieve Percy. In the meantime, while we talk with Rachel, you go deal with your father. NOW." I left no room for negotiation as I shoved the son of Hades into the nearest corner, watching as he fell into the shadows.

I turned, facing the others. "Now, let's see if we can contact the oracle."

Line skip

Rachel immediately dropped her smile when she saw our solemn faces. "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"

I didn't bother looking to the others, instead opting to explain the situation myself. By the time I was finished, I asked her "How do I save Perseus Jackson?"

Rachel cocked her head to the side before her back when straight, her eyes glowing a fierce green.

Wisdom, Fire, Lightning, War,

Jems, Titan, Love, and Gore,

Travel across the land of sand,

To reach the one once known as man.

His once sea god heritage,

Placed on an experiments' stage,

Shall rot in the lab

For eternity if not grabbed.

Rachel promptly faceplanted through the IM after that. We weren't really sure if she hit the floor or landed on her bed but we hoped it was the latter.

I gave a grim smile. "Well, it looks like we've got ourselves a prophesy."

Percy's POV

I woke up still strapped to the table. Great. It's not like I wanna be here, strapped to a metal table, but I was content laying there silently. I hurt. Everything was sore, and I was exhausted. I tried twitching my fingers, only to wince in pain. My whole body twitched in irritation.

Something brushed against my leg.

I could feel my ears perk up, and I bit my lip thinking as to-

"Schist!" Dam, I don't remember my teeth being so long! I frowned, gently rubbing my tongue along my suddenly deathly sharp teeth.

Before I could examine myself further, I heard footsteps approaching from the hall. How I heard, I didn't know. Whoever was walking took a good few minutes to reach the door before I heard a hiss as the door slid open.

I glared. "You."

Alta simply smiled at me. "Ah, glad to see you awake, Alpha. If I'm being honest, I wasn't really expecting you to live through that. I'm surprised you did so well." She gave a smile big enough to make the Joker proud.

I refrained myself from shivering at her stare. Instead, I glared. "What did you do to me?" Whatever had brushed my leg was flicking about in agitation, and I could feel my ears pushing against my head. I had a feeling that I already knew what she'd done, but I wanted her to deny my theory.

"Oh sweetie, haven't you figured it out by now?" She smiled, clasping her hands together in what was supposed to be a dreamy position. "We changed your DNA!"

"Wait, WHAT?!?!" Before I could continue my freak out, the door once again slid open, two wolf men coming inside. They grabbed my arms, lifting me off the table and dragging me through the white halls.

Ugh, I'm seriously starting to hate white.

I would've fought back if I had the energy, but obviously I didn't. I was unceremoniously tossed into a new room, which contained a dresser, a pole with some shirts hung up on one wall, a toilet, bucket of water (most likely for bathing) and a pile of hay with a thin white sheet over it. I also noticed a mirror spread across a majority of a wall. It was undoubtedly a viewing window for those scientists to observe me. I frowned, but my thoughts drained from my head as quickly as they came. I raced to the 'mirror', my hands running through my hair and touching my face.

I think I'm going to cry.

Atop my head were black ears, the tips fading to white with black spots still randomly placed throughout. My once black hair now had frosted tips, making my gray streak difficult to see. I was curious about my normal ears, only to feel nothing there. It's like the ears were just barely above where my normal ears had been, replacing my bland, skin covered ears with furry and fluffy ones. The edges of my face faded from skin to white to black fur, covering the sides of my face in a soft fuzzy fur. Feeling across my arms and legs for safety, there thankfully wasn't anything there. However, when I reached my fingers, sharp nails sprung out of my hands. I had retractable claws on my hands and feet. Great. My teeth were just as sharp as my nails, and I could feel something swish behind me. A white tail with black spots and a black tip swung limply behind me.

The worst part of it all though, were my eyes.

They were still a brilliant sea green, but there were flakes of what looked like ice that reminded me all too much of Alta. This was her way to remind me that I was her creation.

I was her monster.

I sunk to the floor, wrapping my arms around my legs, my tail wrapping around me to comfort me as well. I wept openly without a care in the world. I went to grab at the necklace I knew should be hanging there, only to clench a cold, metallic collar.

They had taken my necklace.

They had TAKEN MY NECKLACE!

I felt a primal rage of anger and hate flood over me, and I began to claw and kick at the window. "I KNOW YOU'RE THERE! YOU STUPID MORTALS! I HOPE YOU ROT IN TARTARUS!" My eyes went wide. I might hate these people, but nobody deserves to go there. This is the first time I've said that place's name since I came out.

I sunk to the ground, clutching my head, slumping on what I assumed was their version of a bed. "I hate you people. I hate you all. I... I just wanna go home! Please! I'm sorry for whatever I did! Please just let me go home!" I was full on crying again. I crawled my way to the water bucket, dunking my face into the water. I took a deep breath in...

...only to choke on the water. I jerked my head up as fast as I could, coughing out the water I just inhaled.

I tried to feel for the familiar tug in my gut, but I felt a sizzling against my neck and the tug in my gut disperse.

They blocked my powers.

Those dam mortals were seriously starting to make me angry.

I thought about what Annabeth would do in this moment. I sighed and got to my feet, walking over to the dresser. They'd already taken all of my old clothes, replacing them with a disgusting white shirt and light gray sweats. The sweats reminded me of Annabeth, so that was nice. Sadly, the sweats had no pockets, which meant Riptide was out of the question as a means to escape. The outfit I was wearing was ripped up, probably from the 'operation', so I opened the drawers, finding exact copies of the sweats. There were some socks as well, which was nice, and a white hoodie (without a pocket), as well as lots of white underpants. Like I said before, there was a pole with multiple white shirts, but that was it.

I sighed. Obviously I wasn't going to be escaping for at least the night. I walked over to the bucket, gently splashing water on my face and my body before changing. Thankfully they had the decency to leave a towel on the top of the dresser which I used to help dry my hair, ears, and tail. Man, it's gonna take a while to get used to that.

I crawled over to the hay, slumping into it's surprisingly soft embrace. I guess after living on a metal table for a while anything was soft.

I sighed in content, glad to be done for the day.

Line break

Or I wasn't.

Of course I had to dream.

But, I'd never been so happy to dream in my entire life. I was leaning against Thalia's tree, staring down at Camp Half Blood. I smiled. Even though it was only a dream, it was home.

I heard a gasp next to me, only to see Annabeth. "...Percy?"

I smiled, tears streaming down my face as I hugged her tight. I cried harder when she hugged me back.

"Hey, Wise Girl."

She looked at me with those beautiful eyes, worry written across her face. I stayed still, allowing her to examine me.

My eyes went wide. I touched my head, feeling for the ears that thankfully weren't there. I sighed in relief. I guess my subconscious didn't like my new appendages, or maybe the mutations done to me didn't appear in my dreams.

I was glad either way.

Annabeth, of course, noticed my strange movements and frightened look. "Percy, what is it? What did they do to you?" Her look told me she wasn't going to take no for an answer.

But I wasn't ready.

I know it sounds silly, but I was scared she was going to reject me, and I'd be left alone. By myself. Forever.

I plastered a smile on my face. "Oh, it's nothing. I was just kidnapped again, although it was by some wolf dudes, and brought to a psychotic witch lady who wants to experiment on me. That's all." Ok, so it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't entirely the truth either. I obviously left out the part of her actually succeeding in mutating me.

Annabeth obviously didn't believe me, but she didn't question me further. I decided that I didn't want to talk anymore, instead grabbing her shoulder and pulling her in, forcing her head under my chin. "I missed you Wise Girl. I don't wanna go back."

She hugged me tighter. "Don't worry, Perce, we'll get you out of wherever you are. I... stay safe, alright?"

I smiled at her, holding back the tears that threatened to fall. "I will, Annabeth."

The dream faded, and I woke up being dragged out the door down the white halls once more.

There was one thing I knew for sure:

I was gonna escape,even though I was now one of the very monsters I tried to kill on a daily basis.

Wanted to stop... but imma keep going...

TIME SKIP (a big one too)

Three months. It'd been three months since I'd been in this gods forsaken place. Everyday was the same: wake up, do some tests (mainly physical ones), and fight some mutants then head to bed. Now, before you get angry at me, it's not like I want to fight mutant children. At first, there was only me. But then, there were children being dragged in. It made me sad, because most of the children I saw only once, and never again. I could only guess as to what had happened.

I chose to think of the task at hand as I rose in the elevator from the ground into the (you guessed) white cylindrical room. It was easily 70 feet tall, and a good 40 feet wide. I stood in a stance, my claws extended, ears back, fangs bared, and tail swishing violently. I was ready to fight.

However, all plans to fight whatever popped up went down the drain when I saw a blonde girl with gray blue eyes no older than six pop up on the other side. Even though her eyes were different, I immediately thought of Annabeth.

Yeah, it'd been a while, but I still had hope that she'd get me out. That's what mattered. Using my enhanced vision, I focused on the little girl again. Her blonde hair was frizzy, although it was shoved in a roughly done braid at the nape of her neck, draped over a shoulder going halfway down her torso. There were some lighter sandy colors towards her ends, and she had what looked to be cheetah ears placed atop her head. Her blue gray eyes were slitted and filled with fright, her tail swishing behind her frantically.

She was obviously much newer to this whole ordeal than I was.

I decided that fighting her wasn't an option; even if the white coats tried to force me, I'd refuse. Yeah, I'd had to fight mutants before, but they all attacked first, and I never killed any of them. This girl was different though, she seemed lost and confused, like her world had been turned upside down.

Just like mine had been. I walked calmly about halfway to the middle, making sure I didn't look her in the eyes. It was my way of submitting, to show I meant no harm. I plopped on the floor, sitting criss cross, my hands on my knees and a smile on my face. "Hello! I'm Percy! What's your name?" I gave a gentle wave, and looked at her. I hoped my eyes looked friendly.

The girl shuffled her feet, showing obvious discomfort. "Uh, well... they call me Gamma..."

I shook my head rapidly at her. "No, no, I don't care what they call you. That's just like some stupid number or title, and I always hated titles. So, what're you really called?" I cocked my head to the side, waiting for a reply.

"W-well... my name's Emily, but my mom always called me Emi." She slowly shuffled forward, only five or six feet in front of me.

I smiled encouragingly at her. "That's a beautiful name, Emily. Is it alright if I call you Emi? Do you mind?" She shook her head, slowly sitting down in front of me. My smile widened.

"...so, how long have you been here?" I blinked a few times. Definitely wasn't expecting that one off the bat.

"Uh, three months, give or take. I lived in New York before I got taken away from my mom and step dad. I was just barely getting to know my newborn little sister too!" I pouted, and Emi laughed.

"You're funny Percy! I was from California, and I lived with my mommy. I have a step daddy too! His name is Gilbert, and he and mommy had my little brother Tommy!" I smiled at her. It sounded like she had a good life, at least, before she was taken here.

"... so, how old are you? I'm 18! At least, I think I am." I put my chin to my thumb, trying to add up the months. It'd been March when I came, soo... it must've been June or early July. "Yeah, pretty sure I'm still 18."

"I turned 7 on May 13th!" Her smile dropped soon after. "Although I was taken away from mommy and daddy and Tommy a while after." Her eyes started to water, so I gently grabbed her and pulled her in for a hug. She wept even harder.

"Shhh, it's alright Emi. You're okay. I'm here for you, alright? How about this, if you ever need someone to come to, or if you ever need help, you can count on me. I'll be your big brother!" I jabbed my thumb at my chest, smiling widely, my tail flicking around behind me.

Emi's smile widened. "You'll... be my big brother?" When I nodded, she shoved her face into my white hoodie, digging her nails into the cloth. I hugged her tight; after all, I didn't care that much about my sweatshirt and I hadn't made physical contact like this in a while. I'd only seen Annabeth the one time, and I really missed her. It was strange how I hadn't had any nightmares since, but I was fine with that. There was already enough going on in my life.

"Hey, brother? Do you think the white coats will let me stay with you? I... I don't wanna leave you... please don't leave me..." I had become acquainted with some of the terms here: white coats equaled mean, evil scientists, and Erasers meant ugly bloody and grungy wolf men. Seeing poor Emi in this state with her tail wrapped around her and her ears flat against her head, I nodded.

"I'll talk to the white coats and see what they can do for you, okay?"

"You mean us, right?"

I smiled at her. "Yeah, for us." I noticed the elevator doors opening, meaning it was time to go. "For now, I need you to stay strong for me. Can you do that?"

Emi smiled and nodded, hugging me one last time before racing to her open door. She waved, her tail waving excitedly behind her. "Bye big brother! I'll see you later!" I waved at her as she entered the tube, waving until the doors shut for what I prayed wasn't the last time.

Sighing, I went down my own tube. waiting at the bottom of the tube were Erasers and white coats, Alta being the center of attention as always. "Ah, I see you bonded with Gamma today, Alpha! And I have a negotiation, a deal, to make with you reguarding your sleeping quarters." She smiled evilly at me, and I knew there was something unpleasant planned for me. "Gamma can move in with you, on ONE condition: you do another experiment. Not like you have a choice in the matter, but if you do agree, then that means that your little friend feels a little more comfortable instead of living in a dog cage."

I gasped at her, my glare burning holes into her ugly soul. "Why do I have some fancy room when she's suffering? What makes me so special?"

Alta merely smirked, "Ah, Alpha, you see you were the first one! That's why you're so special."

"I don't understand. The first what?"

"Demigod, of course! You've been so successful, we just had to try experimenting on more! Gamma is, what, the third one we've tried? Yes, we had tried pig DNA on a daughter of Aphrodite named Beta, 5 years old, but she died." Alta had a look on her face as though saying 'it's a shame she died because she wasn't strong enough for our experiments and torture'. I wanted to slap Alta in the face.

The white coat smiled, her lavender hair fluffing up even more. "Anyways, do we have a deal?" I didn't want to agree, but I had no choice, and at least I'd have a new sister out of this. I simply nodded at the icy eyed woman. "Splendid! We'll begin now!"

I blinked in shock. I wasn't expecting it to be so soon, but they obviously planned this out. I was raced down a hall, catching a glimpse of a cheetah tail round a corner towards my room. I smiled despite my horrid circumstances. At least Emi was safe.

We entered a room. I was asked to lay on the metal table, and watched as they strapped my arms and legs down, as well as grabbing my tail and wrapping it up like a rope, tying it with a plastic slip knot to my right hand cuff. They placed a helmet on my head, making my ears twitch in agitation. I wonder if this is how Grover felt wearing his Rasta cap...

A leather strap was placed in my mouth and I already knew what it was for. Alta smiled, clapping. "Oh, I'm so excited! Your first three months are done sweety! It's time for phase two! And if you survive this, phase three will begin in another Three months! Isn't that exciting?"

I barely refrained from rolling my eyes. "Oh, that sounds so wonderful. I can't wait to be experimented on even more and turned into a bigger freak."

Obviously, I said the wrong thing. Alta's eyes hardened, and she pulled out a needle with a milky white liquid the same size as the Snow Leapoard DNA. "This is going to hollow out your bones. It'll make you super light, and make your bones much stronger!" Alta gave me a Psycho smile before once again plunging the needle into my chest.

You know how I said the Snow leapoard DNA was bad?

Yeah, this was even worse.

I wanted to pass out from the pain, but I couldn't. They would hit me whenever I'd start passing out. I almost bit through the leather in my mouth at how painful this was. It felt as though I was being eaten alive from the inside out, slowly and excruciatingly.

I looked at the ceiling, hoping she was there. I need my Wise Girl. I miss her. And sure enough, staring down at me...

... was Grover. Don't get me wrong, I was ecstatic to see him, but I was hoping it'd be Annabeth. Focusing on the fact that my best friend was here, I desperately tried to scream at him. The leather made it difficult, but I managed to work through the pain. "GET... HELP... GRO... VER... THEY... KID... NAP... DEMI... GODS..." I could say no more before the darkness took me into a blissfully blank slumber.

Line Break

Grover POV

The empathy link had been acting up the past few months. Of course I knew that Percy was alive, but he was hurting. A lot. I knew that much. He felt lonely, and I wanted so desperately to be there for him.

So when I went to sleep with Juniper in my arms, I wasn't expecting to have a dream about Percy strapped to a table screaming at me. There was some sort of rope strapped against his right wrist that twitched in agitation. His eyes seemed different somehow, but I chose to focus on the important things, like the fact he was being tortured and was talking to me.

"You want me to get help?" I frowned as he continued his broken speech. "They're... taking half bloods? Who? Percy? Who?! Hey!" I doubt he heard anything I said, because as soon as he was done talking, his eyes closed and he slipped into unconsciousness.

I was whisked away from my best friend as he faded away. I sat upright, jumping to my hooves and sprinting down to the big house. I vaguely heard Juniper yelling at me, but I didn't have time.

I had to warn Annabeth.

Line thingy... again...

Annabeth POV

When Grover came racing into the Big House, I was expecting him to be coming for some soda cans or ping pong balls. As soon as he made eye contact with me, I knew something was up.

"Percy..." he panted. I shot upright. I'd been looking for months, but I still didn't know where to go. There were too many deserts to look at and Nico still hadn't returned. When the prophecy was given, he was obviously one of the eight selected to go, along with the seven (excluding Percy) and Calypso. So where was he?

"Percy..." Grover brought me back from my thoughts. "...he's... alive..."

I sighed in relief. I'm glad there was some sort of good news. My heart stopped when Grover continued.

"He... he saw me... he was... he was being tortured..." I could barely hold back the tears. Three months, and he's been suffering. "...he says... that whoever took him... they're grabbing half bloods. What for, I don't know."

I was angry. Very angry. But more importantly, I was worried. With a determined look, I nodded to Grover before racing to the Aphrodite cabin, snatching Piper and running to Rachel's cave. I explained everything that happened on the way and by the time we reached our destination, I think Piper realized what I had planned.

Rachel frowned at our determined looks before sighing. "Alright, ask."

Piper stepped forward. "Where is Nico DiAngelo?"

Rachel's eyes glowed green, before glaring at the demigoddesses. "Stupid children, you already have a prophecy. You don't need another." We desperately yelled at the oracle to wait, and she continued. "You idiots. It's really not that difficult to figure out where you need to go." When she received no answer, she sighed, shaking her head. "The underworld, OBVIOUSLY!" And Rachel's eyes closed, Piper barely catching the red headed mortal.

I smacked my head at my own stupidity. "Looks like we've got a destination."

Line~~~ some squigglies...

Nico POV

I was royally screwed. Dad refuses to let me leave. I honestly don't know how long I've been stuck in this gods forsaken castle, but I know for a fact that I want out. However, dad and Persephone both agreed that I had to wait for my friends to come themselves.

So I was stuck.

Waiting in the underworld.

I was doomed.

IK it was short... but back to Percy!

Percy's POV

I woke up in my room, something-someone-snuggled into my chest. My whole body was on fire, but at least I had a new friend here with me.

I remembered what Alta said. Emi was a demigod. I tried to think of who her godly parent was. Obviously her mother was mortal so Athena was out of the question. Apollo was a good option, although Emi seemed to be more of a Hermes child. Then again, I'm supposed to be dense. Best leave this to Annabeth when I see her again.

In my head I knew that I wasn't going to be hearing from anyone in a while, but my heart told me to keep hoping. And so I did.

I waited. Hours turned to days, and days turned into weeks, which turned into months. By now, another month and a half or so had gone by, and I had fully recovered from the second 'operation'. Poor Emi wouldn't stop fretting over me. She was like a mother hen. However, our bonds grew to new heights, and I felt like I'd lived with her all my life. We were more than friends, we were brother and sister now.

In the beginning, she would tease me about how she was faster than me (she has cheetah DNA and I was still recovering). But now I was probably a little heavier than her, maybe 85 pounds or so. I was quick, and had no problem keeping up with the cheetah girl. We loved eachother, and we depended on eachother in this little Hades hole. Of course I taught her all about Greeks and Romans, but left out the part of them being real. I told her the story of Perry Johnson, and his friends Annabelle Chaster and George Underdood, and continued the long story up until Perry and his friends defeated Gaea. Of course, Tartarus wasn't really a concern. I made sure to leave that part out, simply saying that Perry and Annabelle and Nicki got sent to a bad place before coming out and helping again.

A while back Emi had asked about my scars. I simply told her that bad things happened, and that it was important to make good friends and to be there for eachother. Naturally, she and I agreed that we'd always be there for one another, and I might've cried a little when she fell asleep. Cmon! You would too if a sweet little girl decided to make you her big bro!

Anyways, we'd grown to depend on eachother. So when I woke up and she wasn't in the room, I had a mini panic attack. A few minutes after I'd woken up, Alta came in, deciding it was time for another 'deal'. "I know I said three months, but you've just done so well that we couldn't wait any longer! We're gonna go do another test. Come along, and we'll put Gamma back."

Man, did she know how to twist my stomach into knots of hatred. I followed behind, silently obeying. I immediately headed for the table, only to be told to lay on my stomach. I was curious, but obliged. Once again, my limbs were strapped to the table (including my poor scrunched up tail) and my head was strapped down as well. Must be pretty serious to strap my head down but alright. I listened to Alta ramble on about aviators or something, but I honestly didn't really care. I know Annabeth would be angry that I didn't listen, but hey! I honestly just didn't really care anymore.

I regret those thoughts ever crossing my mind. I really should've cared.

The next thing I know a searing pain as bad as the snow leapoard and bone hollowing combined was sent throughout my back, leaving tremors that I wished would stop. I could feel the building shaking, the collar around my neck zapping me. I was doing this, and the collar was on the fritz. Maybe when this 'operation' was over, I could create an earthquake and Emi and I could leave.

The pain brought me out of my thoughts. I didn't make it long before pain took over once again, and I woke up continuously seeing differently every time. The first time was in the room I had been worked on. Next, I was being dragged down the hall. I could vaguely feel the collar removed from my neck, and saw the first splash of colors in what seemed like forever in the form of a beaded necklace placed aroudn my neck. I promptly passed out after that.

I woke up in a tank, wires connected to me. I felt better than I had in months, so I was pretty content. I inhaled, allowing the water to greet me, healing my wounds and the pain in my body. I gently brushed my fingers along the beads of my necklace, glad they had rewarded me for living.

I could think no longer before my back pinched and began ripping apart. The water turned red, and my vision blurred. I wasn't out of the clear yet. Something big and black was casting a shadow behind me. I didn't bother looking. Instead, I settled on drawing myself inwards, breathing in the bloodied water, waiting for the pain to subside.

It finally went away after what felt like a lifetime. I was glad. I could relax. I didn't get long before metal cuffs (like the one on my neck) were placed on my wrists. I didn't care enough to protest. I could feel pressure on my back, but I decided it'd be best to just focus on getting to Emi for now.

I mindlessly followed the erasers back to my room, immediately flopping onto the hay bed. I vaguely heard Emi speaking, but I was too tired to listen. She seemed to get the idea, and curled under my arm, both of us falling into a blissful slumber.

Annabeth's POV

(One week before the operation (and Percy's Birthday)

Those chosen for the prophecy, including myself, managed to get to the underworld. I don't know how long we'd been there, but I know we'd been in here for a while, and it bothered me. Percy was suffering, and we needed to help him.

I made my way to the large obsidian doors, shoving them open. Hades sat before me, in all his creepy glory, with Nico asleep in a miniature throne next to him and Persephone sitting on the opposite side, looking very bored.

Hades gave a creepy grin. "It's about time. I've been waiting for you to come get Nico for months! After all, I need to explain to you all what you're getting yourselves into." We were confused, but remained silent. Hades motioned for a skeleton to open a door, and what came in shook me to my core.

It was a little girl, a blue transparent spirit walking towards us. She saw me, and immediately ran up and hugged me.

I recognized this girl. She lived in San Francisco with me, and was only a block or so away. Her father was always working, so I was payed to babysit her. Although, she was hard to recognize. She looked fat and meaty, her eyes no longer a soft Hazel green, but a beady black. She had ugly pig ears dangling from her head, and her nose looked like it'd been shortened to resemble a swine. A small, pink tail was hanging springy behind her. I looked at Hades for an answer, somehow holding the shoulders of the ghost girl.

"Her name is Malinda. She was a daughter of Aphrodite, the first demigod soul I've received in this... form. I've received thousands of mortal souls that've been mutated, but never a demigod one. She claims that the people who took her called her Beta, and that there was one before her. She had fought Alpha (the original) once, and said he had black and white hair, a tail, ears, claws, fangs, and icy blue green eyes. She said he looked like he didn't want to hurt her, and after the fight the 'white coats', or scientists deemed her unworthy and starved her to death. This is what I needed to show you." I stood shocked, squeezing the little girl tighter.

"...you don't think-"

"That's exactly what I think." Hades looked me in the eyes, and I feared we both had the same thought. His next words only frightened me more. "I believe that Alpha... is the one and only Perseus Jackson. Malinda says that she knows the base was somewhere in Cali, Arizona, New Mexico, or Texas, but that's all she knows. I hope this helps your search." With that we were whisked away.

Line break

We emerged from the underworld, Nico following behind us. I was enraged that Percy was hurt, and possibly experimented on. We didn't have the time though. We had to begin our search.

I heard Nico cough, his feet shuffling guiltily against the dirt beneath his shoes. "...so, what month is it? The underworld tends to run at a different time than the rest of the world."

My eyes went wide at his statement. That meant we probably lost a good amount of time getting the son of Hades. I IMed Chiron as soon as we found a local fountain, and he claimed that it was August 11th.

In seven days Percy would be 19. And he would be celebrating it in a lab being tortured.

I knew what we had to do. "Let's begin with California."

Line skip (day of Percy's operation and his Birthday)

We had searched through California, Arizona, Texas, and New Mexico. NOTHING. Not a single clue. We decided we'd try again, this time being even more thorough than the last time. We were heading back to California, ready to start from square one.

I was angry. It was Percy's birthday, and he was alone.

When we had finished our search that night, I crawled into Percy's cabin on the Argo II (DONT ask me how Leo managed to fix it), crying myself to sleep.

I was beginning to lose hope.

But I refused to give up on my Seaweed Brain.

Percy POV

I woke up with a pounding headache, my back sore beyond belief. I could see Emi changing her clothes (she was facing away from me, thank goodness), watching her gently thread her tail through the hole in the sweats. I smiled at her face as she stuck her tongue out and scrunched her brows in concentration. A small laugh escaped my lips and her head shot up, blue gray eyes meeting my icy blue green ones. She raced over to me, and we embraced eachother. The gods knew we both needed it.

I bit my lip to refrain from screaming in pain as she clutched my back. I don't know what she did, but I could feel my back ripping itself open, something large emerging. I could hear Emi gasp in shock, and whatever was above me slumped over me like a blanket. It was warm, and I sighed in content. I was tired and couldn't care less what they'd done to me.

Emi, however, seemed concerned and ecstatic. "Percy! Percy! Percy! Big brother!" I looked at her, watching her bounce up and down. "You can fly! You can take us all over the place now! We can go have adventures now! Percy and Emi: Partners In Crime! Meet Cheetah Girl and Snow Leapoard, as well as his new additional wings!" My eyes shot open. I wanted to cry when I saw my new appendages. They were large, reaching the end of the wall that was a good 15-20 feet away. They were a dark black, with white tips. There were black and white specks in the wings as well, probably representing my snow leapoard DNA. I painfully brought one wing up, watching it slump back down in pain. I really didn't feel like dealing with this right now.

I curled into a ball, grabbing Emi and holding her close. I'm sure she wasn't tired, but I needed her comfort right now. I wrapped my new wings around us, keeping us warm and cozy for a while.

It was nice while it lasted.

The door was flung open, and Alta as well as three erasers came through the door. "Ah, I'm so glad the water sped up your growth time! Now we can get you flying! It'll be great!" I tried not to growl at the vile woman before me.

I could feel my ears lay flag against my head, my tail slashing the air violently. "I'm not going anywhere with you. And if you know I'm a son of Poseidon, then you should know that I don't do flying. My uncle would never allow it."

"Oh honey. Your uncle Zeus doesn't have a choice now that you're a creature of the sky! Now, unless you want Gamma here to be hurt, you're going to come with us." I could see Emi's eyes widen in fear as one of the erasers reached a big, matted and clawed hand towards her face.

"NO! I'll... I'll come." I hung my head low, my tail falling limply. Emi's face seemed horrified, tears threatening to spill. I gave her a smile. "Don't worry. I'll be back soon enough." She nodded, quickly huddling herself in a corner.

I followed the lavender haired white coat down the halls, listening to her ramble on and on about how my 'operation' was a success, and that it was a wonderful birthday gift from her to me.

I was angry. My 19th birthday was spent in a lab getting wings grown from my back. Perfect.

I was placed in the cylindrical room I'd first met Emi in. I could hear Alta over an intercom, giving me instructions. "Let's try moving your wings first. Left wing?" It was sore, but I spread my wing out, watching in slight fascination as it reached about a quarter of the way across the 40 feet wide room. "Right?" I lowered my left, repeating the process with my right wing. My wings must've been about 20 feet, covering almost half of the room. I must admit that I was pretty shocked. I wasn't expecting my new appendages to be so large. "Give a flap." I hesitantly lifted both wings, watching them slowly flap up and down. I could practically hear Alta's smile through the intercom. "Wonderful! Now, let's see if you can retract them." I nodded my head, thinking of scrunching the wings up as small as possible. I could feel them sticking to my back, as though they were merging with my back. I could hear Alta squeal. "Ah, I'm so glad the tattoo worked well!"

Tattoo? I cocked my head to the side, watching as the separate wall tiles flipped to make the entire room covered in mirrors. I could see a large tattoo running from the nape of my neck down to my hips. It was a black outline of angel wings fading into a pearly white at the tips, with a silver outline surrounding the entire tattoo. It was beautiful, but I didn't want it. I didn't want any of this, but then again, I didn't wanna be a half blood and look where that got me. I was stuck with what I had, so I intended on making the most of it.

"Good. Now, call upon your wings." I nodded my head, thinking of my wings being set free, allowing them to extend all the way back. I could feel my black and white wings reach backwards together, and I smiled. Even though Zeus would be angry, it felt surprisingly natural to have wings, almost as though I'd been missing them my whole life.

"Fly."

Never mind. I could feel my smile slip from my face, my wings dripping downwards. I didn't have the chance to wallow in my own misery before the lowest point of the walls slid open, only about a foot's worth of a gap. Water began pouring into the room, my feet drenching wet. If my feet were wet, then my powers were blocked, which meant that I would drown if that water didn't stop or if I didn't fly.

I didn't have a choice. The water was streaming in faster than I thought possible, and was almost up to my knees. I had thankfully kept my wings up high, so they were still dry. I had to make my move now.

I used all the strength I had, praying to my dad and Zeus to help me. I thanked the gods when my feet left the water. I flapped my wings harder, gritting my teeth at the pain. I flew higher and higher, trying to stay centered so my wings wouldn't collide with the walls and make me crash. I somehow steadied myself, realizing I had a schist-eating grin.

I was flying with my very own wings.

I could hear myself laughing as I glided around the small room. I let the tip of my wing brush against the edge of the wall, sending tingles down my spine. I kept steady in front of the camera in the corner of the room, waving at Alta who was no doubt watching from a safe distance. "I did it! I'm flying!"

I must've said something wrong because the water sped up, and soon enough I barely had ten feet left. My wings began to get wet, and I was sinking. I desperately flapped my wings, hoping to reach the surface for air. I could feel the air leaving my system. I had to make it.

I could feel something solid form underneath me, propelling me towards the surface. I took a breath of air in, only just now truly realizing how desperate I was for oxygen. I could hear Alta gasp over the intercom. "Well done, Alpha. You're done for today."

I looked down, and noticed there was ice underneath me. I didn't know I could do that.

Apparently it was a side effect of the experimentations, so basically I was gonna develop who knows how many more random powers.

As long as it's nothing weird like tape elbows or something then I can live with some new powers. (I applaud you if you got the reference XD)

I was escorted back to my room, Emi immediately racing to my side and slamming into my chest. "I missed you Percy! I'm glad you're okay!" I smiled at her.

"Guess what?" I led her to the water basin, and gently poked the surface, watching as a thin sheet of ice spread across the top of the water. Emi's eyes widened in fascination. "Pretty cool, huh?"

Emi was jumping up and down. "That's super cool! I bet I'll get my super powers soon too! You've only been here a little longer than I have!"

I gave Emi a large smile, nodding my head. "Yup! I'm sure you'll get some super awesome super power! What kind of power would you wanna have?"

Emi put a hand on her hip and the other strokes her chin, her blue gray slitted eyes squinting into nothingness. "Hmmm... I'd wanna be able to teleport! Maybe even time travel! Or maybe I'd wanna breathe underwater, or have fire powers!" I watched her gasp, her hands slapping her face and her mouth in a large 'O'. "What if I could eat fire?! That's be even cooler!" I couldn't help but laugh at Emi's childish behavior. She jumped over to me, placing her hands on the edge of the tub of water. "Can you make the water warm for me? I really wanna take a bath." She looked at me expectantly.

"Hmm... I've never really tried it before. I'll give it a shot for ya!" Her eyes gleamed with excitement, her demigod ADHD obviously showing as she bounced all over the place, her tail and ears twitching like crazy. I focused on the water, feeling for something different than the usual tug in my gut. You see, when I used my demigod powers, there was always a tug in my gut (usually pain followed from the metal cuffs blocking my powers), but when I had used my ice powers, it was more like I thought of what I wanted to happen, so it did. It's sorta like the green lantern: the harder I concentrated, the more complex the creation. I focused on the heat I felt when I blew up Saint Helens, concentrating on the hottest places I could think of. I watched as the ice melted, and I could see bubbles start to form at the bottom. I put my hand down that had been hovering over the water, a large grin plastered on my face. I placed my hand in the water; it seemed hot enough to me. "There! Try that out."

Emi nodded her head, and started stripping. By now, we didn't really care all that much if we saw one another naked, but I still turned my head and laid down on the hay bed, my tail wrapping around my waist like a belt. My tattoo was itchy, but it was alright. I didn't mind as much as I though I would. I smiled in bliss; it was nice to relax for what felt like the first time in forever. It seemed my newfound power helped regulate my temperature, so I didn't feel too hot or cold which was nice. I smiled as I fell into a deep slumber.

Annabeth's POV

When I fell asleep, I was expecting nightmares, or just the five seconds of blackness I get from a good night's rest. I was surprised when I was greeted by the sight of Percy concentrating on a tub of water, a blonde little girl with cheetah like features, her tail and ears flicking wildly about. When there were little bubbles at the bottom of the water, Percy stopped doing whatever he was doing, placing his hand in the water. His face lit up with a smile that I missed so much. "There! Try that out." The little girl nodded, smiling and began to strip the bland gray and white clothes off her body. I was glad when Percy turned away, laying down on what appeared to be a pile of hay with a white sheet draped over it. Something black and white was wrapped around his waist, but I was more focused on his hair. It was black, the ends now stained white. Whatever they'd done to him had changed him, and I was concerned for him. He was probably mentally beating himself up for everything that's happened to him, and I could tell by the way he looked at the cheetah girl that he blamed himself for her being here too.

I couldn't inspect the room or it's occupants anymore before I was whisked away, the evil lavender haired, icy blue eyed woman standing in front of a monitor. My eyes went wide when I noticed her staring at a map with red dots scattered across the country. There was one dot in particular that both women stared at:

The dot with a circle around it in Arizona.

I knew that we found where Percy was. I couldn't help the smirk that spread across my face as the scene faded, and a deep, masculine voice whispered to me, "Save my son..."

Skip thingy

I woke up with a gasp. My smile was so wide I felt like the Joker would shrink back in surprise.

It was time to get to work.

I had gathered the rest of the team, as we all sat around the kitchen table.

"-and it ended with who could only be Poseidon telling us to save Percy." I could smell salt in the air, conforming my hypothesis. I looked around the table, looks of determination meeting my own. Of course, it was Jason who asked what I was waiting for.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Well, we know for a fact that Percy's being held in Arizona. It looked like the lab was located somewhere along the border of California, around Parker City. We'll start there, and see where that takes us."

"And when we find the lab?" Leo asked, though I could tell by his face he already knew the plan.

I smiled at him, my eyes twinkling with excitement. "We blow the place up, of course."

Percy POV

I woke up being poked in the face. Repeatedly. I turned away, hoping that whoever was bothering me would just go away. Instead, the poking continued. Only it was the back of my head. I could feel my ears, eyebrows and tail twitch in agitation. It had barely been another minute when I blew up. "Hey! Don't frigging poke me! I'm tired, and-" I stopped when I saw Emi smiling sheepishly at me, rubbing the back of her head (a habit she'd gotten from me). I sighed, a smile reaching my face. "Oh, never mind. I could never stay mad at you anyways." Emi smiled and skipped over to me, jumping into the air and plopping onto my lap. Before we knew it, we were on the floor laughing at eachother.

Our fun didn't last as long as I would've liked.

The door hissed open, and Emi and I immediately shot to our feet, in defensive positions respectively. Two erasers came in, Alta walking in afterwards like any villain in a movie would. She smiled widely, her perfect teeth shining dangerously in the white room. "Ah, Alpha and Gamma. You're up. Good. We're going to try something different today. Come." We followed behind, Alta in the front, Emi and I in the middle, and the two erasers trailing after us. We were led to the cylindrical room (again), and stepped out of our elevator. We waited for a while, but nothing happened. We sat down close to our elevator, waiting for instructions.

When we heard the hiss of another elevator coming to a stop, we shot to our feet, ears back, fangs and claws bared, and tail whipping behind us violently. The elevator doors didn't open though. Instead, a second elevator popped up next to the first, until there were elevators equally spread out throughout the entire room. We raced to the center, back to back. Whatever was coming was going to be bad.

All of the doors opened at once. Each elevator held two erasers, and there were a good 20-30 elevators. If my math was correct, we were practically facing a miniature army of giant, mutated wolf men.

Great.

"Good luck! If you two fail, then no food and water for the week, and you'll stay in dog cages in separate rooms on top of that. Now, kill all these erasers and you can go back to your room. We'll even bring in some meat instead of the blended chicken, protein powder and oatmeal we usually serve!" Alright, I've decided that Alta definitely deserved to go to the Fields of Punishment at the very least for all of her horrendous crimes.

Especially the blended food one. We'd been eating that crap for months! I gagged at the thought of that wretched food.

I returned my attention to the fight. I could feel the tension as we all waited for the battle to begin. It seems some of the Erasers decided it was time to start. A good dozen or so raced out of the elevators, the rest choosing to wait and watch for a while instead. I could understand that, but these erasers were gonna be slaughtered. After all, Emi and I were part cat (to put it simply), and we loved a good hunt. I didn't really wanna kill these dudes, but if it meant keeping us safe and (semi) healthy, it was worth it. We stayed back to back, our tails entwined around one another's as we clawed our way through the enemies. Soon enough, there were red, matted blobs of fur and guts on the floor. I could see Emi nonchalantly licking her hands down, her predator instincts taking over. I did my best to ignore the seven year old who was acting like grooming herself and licking away someone else's blood was the most average and boring thing to do. I glared at the other erasers, daring them to come closer.

I definitely wasn't prepared for the buildings to shake and to see a wall get blown up. I shook my head, grabbing Emi's wrist. Whatever was happening, I intended on taking full advantage of it.

Annabeth's POV

It didn't take us long to find the large, white building that was on the edge of Lake Havasu, it's hideously bland walls shining brightly against the mountain it was imbedded into. Only the Gods know how we managed to miss this thing. Leo was seen running around the deck, smiling as he raced to finish a few more bombs. He already had a giant pile of at least 15 hand grenades made from old soda cans and who knows what else. I smiled as we approached the building. It was time to get Percy out.

Now, I'm sure you're thinking: Seriously Annabeth? Of all the plans you've made, going straight at the enemy in a giant flying boat with a flaming, bomb-wielding Mexican elf was the best you could come up with? The answer: yes. Yes it was. Sometimes, the simplest way is the best way.

I smiled as Piper, Hazel, Leo, Nico, Calypso, and I all grabbed a handful of bombs, split three and three on each side of the boat. We hovered above the building, smiling and screaming our own war cries. Bombs were thrown, and things were blown up. Frank was in eagle form, quite literally five bombing the place, tossing the bombs away from himself last minute while Jason flew around trying to destroy areas we might've missed. I'm sure we looked like a bunch of maniacs; eight teenagers throwing explosive soda cans at a laboratory on the edge of Arizona and California.

When we ran out of bombs, Frank and Jason came to take us down, Leo and Calypso staying behind to man the Argo II. Jason and Piper went South while Nico and I went North. We figured it'd be best to stay in partners as we searched the phsycotic laboratory.

It was just our luck when we ran headfirst into multiple wolf men, just like the one I'd seen the night Percy was taken. Nico and I got into positions, ready to harm the strange creatures. What bothered me was when the wolf men had the audacity to laugh at us, like our weapons were a joke. I shook my head; that didn't matter right now. What mattered right now was getting Percy back. Nico and I raced towards the wolf men, kicking and slashing as much as we could. Nico was having no trouble on his end, but my dagger passed right through the creatures. My eyes widened.

Whatever these things were, they were mortal.

I slipped my dagger into my pocket, thinking that the best solution was to fight with my fists. I kicked one's head, watching it thunk to the floor. I punched the next one, only for it to twist me around and dig it's claws into my back. I gasped in pain, and quickly jumped up, letting the wolf man run headfirst into the wall. I continued fighting until Nico and I had finished the strange creatures off, and we continued on our way.

I definitely wasn't expecting to bump headfirst into a little girl wearing a fedora hat. She looked up at me, her blue gray eyes staring into my stormy gray. She gave a small shriek before turning back around the corner, screaming "Big Brother! There are people here! We need to go a different way!" I had a feeling that I had to see who this person was, because I couldn't help but feel like I knew who this 'big brother' was. I rounded the corner, Nico hot on my tail, and came face to face with startling sea green eyes that I recognized immediately.

"Percy!"

Percy POV

As soon as the explosion went off, we raced past the Erasers and through the large hole in the wall. Emi was right next to me, our tails swishing about in excitement.

We were finally going to escape.

However, when I saw the Argo II floating above us, I raced into another hole in the wall, hearing Emi's confused voice. "Um...Percy? Why are we going back inside?"

"Well, I know the people on that giant ship outside. They're the good guys, but I don't want them to know about our mutations quite yet. I'm not sure how they'll react so I'd like to get some clothes and maybe we can try destroying their main system and erase all of their files. If we're lucky we might even find new clothes. I also seriously doubt that this is their only facility so we might wanna track down the other ones and destroy them too."

Emi was now running in front of me, her arms spread wide as she swerved down the hallway like an airplane. "Really? I want new clothes! And why not show our cool ears and tails? I bet they'd be jealous!" I smiled at her antics as we came to a stop in front of a black door with a large label on the front: "Control Center". Emi and I slashed our claws through the mechanical controller that opened the door, watching as the door hissed open. We entered, seeing a large, dark room full of giant beeping boxes. I had no clue what these things were, but Emi and I started hacking away, and in a minute or two everything was sparking and turned to rubble. We high fived eachother, smiling as we went to the main monitor at the end of the room. I pushed a random button (I didn't know which button was which!) and the Fates must've been on my side today as the monitor came to life, showing a large map with red dots placed all over it. I counted five in total: one in Arizona, another in Kentucky, Florida, Idaho, and Michigan.

I smiled; we had everything we needed. Emi and I raced out of the control room, only to come face to face with two male white coats. One was shockingly short, only a little taller than Emi, who was a good 5'5 feet tall (surprisingly tall for a seven year old but then again I'd grown from my mutations to probably 6'5 or so). The short one was wearing a black fedora, a white coat (obviously) with a yellow hoodie underneath. He had some khaki shorts on and red converse. He must've been pretty young or new here because nobody wore that kind of stuff around here. Maybe they worked in a different department...?

The second man wasn't too far off from the first. He wore a forest green beanie, a blue hoodie, and some jeans with some gray converse. He was shockingly around my height (what a coincidence! Thank the Fates!), and Emi and I seemed to have the same idea. We punched both the men in the face, knocking them out with one blow. We smiled as we dragged them into the control room, taking their clothes from them (we left the underwear because that's just gross!).

I smiled at my new look. I thought it suited me rather well. I wrapped my tail around my waist, Emi following my example. The clothes she wore were a little big for her, but they'd work for now. She placed the fedora on her head, smiling at what she probably thought was the coolest outfit ever. She placed her hand on her hips, pointing out into the distance. "Cheetah Girl and Flying Snow Leapoard are finally going to escape!" I laughed at her as she raced ahead of me, no doubt ready to leave. So when she rounded a corner and came racing back towards me, I was concerned there were white coats or erasers coming towards us. It wouldn't surprise me with how there'd seemed to be a shortage while we were destroying stuff and stealing clothes.

I reached into my pocket (finally!) and pulled out Riptide, glad to have my sword back in my arms. Emi grabbed onto me, trying to pull me the way we came. "Big Brother! There are people here! We need to go a different way!" She jerked onto me harder, but before I could say anything, a blur of blonde and orange rounded the corner. I stopped in my tracks, just staring at the person I'd been missing for months.

"Percy!" It wasn't a question; she knew it was me. Annabeth ran towards me, hugging me so tightly that my tail was getting squished. I didn't care though. I hugged her back as she cried into my shoulder. "I... I missed you so much!" She let go, only to punch me in the arm. "And don't ever get kidnapped AGAIN, understand? Your mom and I as well as everyone at camp have been worried sick!"

My eyes went wide. "Oh my gods, my mom! How's she doing? And my new sister Estelle, and Paul?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes as we began walking back the way her and Nico came from, Emi unsure but following behind. "She's a mess like last time, but she knows we've been looking for you for months. I'm sure she still has faith like the rest of us do. Now, let's get out of here."

I smiled, grabbing Emi's hand and making sure she stayed with me. We were almost to another hole in the wall when the person I expected the least blocked our exit with a good 20 erasers behind her.

Alta.

"Ah, my sweeties! You and your friends have caused lots of trouble for us here at the School. We're going to have to punish you, maybe your friends dying in front of you or being experimented on should do the trick!" She smiled wickedly at me, and I knew we were in trouble.

That is, until an explosion sent the Erasers and Alta flying outside. I turned around, and sure enough Jason and Piper were there, Jason's sword sparking with electricity. He smiled at me, shrugging as if what he just did didn't matter that much. "I'm not one to really care that much for bad guy-lady- speeches, so let's just go home already." I nodded my head, smiling as he swung his arm around my shoulder. "And when did you get so tall?!"

I laughed at my cousin, and looked at Emi to see how she was taking things. She was clutching my hand in a death grip, her head down. I had forgotten how shy she was when I'd first met her. I picked her up, smiling as Jason took us into the air. Emi's eyes bugged out of her head, and she began to squirm around. "Hey, Emi, it's okay. He's a friend. He's just helping us get to the Argo II. You see that big ship in the sky? That's our ticket out of here, away from the 'School', as Alta called it. You wanna come with us, right? We can always take you home to your mommy and daddy and Tommy too if you want us to." She nodded her head, to what I wasn't sure. "Are you wanting to go back to California?" Her eyebrows scrunched up in concentration, and I wasn't sure how she was feeling. I was honestly a little scared she would want to leave me.

She shook her head, her blue gray eyes staring into my icy sea green ones. "No. I wanna stay with you." I could hear Jason laugh at us as he gently placed us on the Argo II. Leo, Calypso, Frank, and Hazel all smiled widely at us, Nico appearing out of the shadows with Annabeth and Piper (since when did he get so good at shadow traveling multiple people?!).

We watched as the School slowly disappeared behind us as we made our way east, heading towards New York. As soon as the large cloud of smoke in the sky disappeared, everyone was coming towards Emi and I, bombarding us with questions.

"What happened?"

"Are you okay?"

"Who's the kid?"

"What was it like?"

"What's with the new outfit?"

"Yeah, and your hair too!"

"Why are your eyes like that?"

"When did you get so tall?"

"Did-"

"SHUT UP AND LEAVE BROTHER AND I ALONE!" Emi was flinging her hands around, pushing people away. Her tail was starting to slip out, so I grabbed her waist, tucking her tail in as I made her sit in my lap. Everyone was quiet as I gently massaged Emi's back, trying to calm her down. I grabbed her horribly braided hair (I hadn't rebraided it for a while), taking the braid out and running my fingers through her hair. I began to braid it, ignoring the stares I got from everyone.

"It's alright, Emi. They're just making sure we're alright. Here, turn sideways and I'll braid your hair over your shoulder, just how you like it." She nodded, although I could tell she was still tense. I looked at the others. "Alright, there's a lot that has happened, so one question at a time. There are some that Emi and I might not want to answer, because we just aren't ready for them, so raise your hand or figure out a system to ask one at a time."

Leo raised his hand first. I nodded at him to ask. "So like, what's with the new outfit? And your hair, and your eyes, and your height, cuz I'm pretty sure you were like 5'11 the last time we saw you."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I needed pockets so Riptide would return to me. So Emi and I stole some clothes from the white coats- er, scientists, and that's why we're wearing these. It's all that was available. As to my hair, eyes, and height... well, let's just say these people played around with my DNA. I'm not ready to tell you as to what they did. Next?"

I could tell everyone was unsatisfied with my answer, but Annabeth asked next. "Who's the little girl? And how are you feeling? Both physically and mentally?"

"Well, this is Emily, but I call her Emi. When we first met, we were supposed to fight one another, but neither of us wanted to. So we both sat down and talked. She and I needed someone, so we sorta became like siblings over the months that we knew one another." I scratched the back of me head, not sure how to answer Annabeth's next questions. "Physically, I'm fine-" that was sort of a lie, "and mentally, I've had Emi and all of you guys to keep pushing me forwards." My eyes met Annabeth's, and we stared at eachother. Her face showed shock and confusion. She must've noticed my slitted pupils and the icy flakes dispersed in my iris.

"Wha-"

"So, you're sure you're totally fine bro? Cuz you missed your birthday and everything, and we were all worried about you being kidnapped again."

I looked at Jason, trying to keep the guilty feeling in my gut down from lying to everyone (mainly Annabeth). "Yeah, I'm fine. My birthday-" I gave a slight wince, "wasn't the greatest, but Emi was there to help me out."

Nico spoke up next. "Grover said he saw you getting tortured."

I winced. "Uh, Yeah, that was my birthday present from the white coats, but it's fine now."

Annabeth raced over to me, scaring Emi who jumped out of the way. "Hey! Get away from Percy!"

I motioned for Emi to calm down. "Don't worry Emi, Annabeth is my girlfriend. She's just concerned about me."

Emi pouted while Annabeth tried to pull my shirt up. "Hey, what're you-"

"I'm checking for injuries. I wanna see what they did to you."

I backed away and out of reach. "Annabeth, I'm just not rea-"

"Not ready? Not READY?! Percy, we've been looking for you for months, and you're just NOT READY?!?! What's so horrible that-"

"Annabeth! It was bad, alright? It was-"

"I doubt it was too horrible, especially since we've been to that place."

"ANNABETH!" She froze in place, staring at me. I think a tear or two was falling down my face. "It... it was pretty bad. If I'm being honest, Tartarus is something that's happened, and it's done. The School is still fresh on my mind, so I need some time to recover, alright?" I know that I hurt her, and I hated myself for that, but I needed some space. I grabbed Emi's hand, walking towards my cabin. "C'mon, Emi, let's go clean up and get some proper clothes on."

Annabeth's POV

I felt horrible. I didn't realize it was that bad. He even said that place's name, as though everything that happened just didn't. I know he didn't think that, but it hurt. I felt a little more alone than I had thought I would.

Everyone on the ship either stared at where Percy had disappeared to or stared at me. I didn't want the attention. I stormed off downstairs, going to my cabin room. I sat in bed, weeping to myself. I wasn't expecting Nico to shadow travel to my room and sit next to me. "He's been hurt, Annabeth. You know that's why he said those things, right? For Will and I, I love being with him, but there are moments that I just need to be by myself, ya know? He still loves you, and he hasn't forgotten anything that's happened, he just needs some time to readjust. You know that's why he pushed you away, right? Because he just needs some time to get back in the swing of things."

I nodded my head, and before I knew it I was shoving my face into Nico's skull shirt, him hesitantly wrapping his arms around me. "I know, Nico, I know. It's just- I feel like he doesn't want me anymore. I... I don't know what to do."

Nico laughed, and I looked at him. "You? The great Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena, doesn't know what to do? Please, isn't it obvious?" He smiled at me, and his next words made me fill a thousand times better. "Love him. Be there for him. I promise you, if he's going to open up to anyone, it's you. Don't force him, and just be patient. He'll come around eventually. Promise."

I smiled, wiping away my tears. I gave him a proper hug, "Thanks Nico. I really needed that." When I pulled away I gave him a hard glare. "But don't you tell anyone about what just happened. Got it?" He nodded his head frantically, and we both laughed.

I know Percy will come around. I just know it.

Percy POV

Emi sat in the warm bucket of water as I washed her hair and ears. I washed her back, frowning at the metal collar around her neck. I looked at the cuffs around my wrists. I'd gotten so used to them that I'd forgotten about it. "Emi, do you think you could finish up here? I'm gonna go see if I can get these cuffs removed, so when you're dressed we can get yours off too, okay?" She nodded her head, rinsing her hair out.

I walked into the deck, seeing Leo and Calypso the only ones up here. Everyone else must've gone to do their own things after me and Annabeth's little spat. "Uh, Hey Leo? Can you help me out with something? You see, Emi and I had these collars placed on us to prevent us from using our demigod powers, so-"

Leo bounced over to me so fast that it frightened me. "Woah, seriously?! That's crazy! Here, I'll take them off, see what I can do with them!" Okay, so not exactly the answer I was looking for, but whatever. I held my hands up, watching as Leo examines the cuffs. "Oh, alright! So there's a tiny hole at the bottom. I'm sure I've got the right size somewhere- Ah! Here we go!" He pulled out a tiny metal stick.

A stick.

Whatever. If it worked, I didn't care. He inserted the stick into the hole, a small hiss escaping as one cuff dropped to the floor. Calypso had been silently observing, only to let out a small gasp when she saw the scars on my wrist from being zapped. Leo frowned, removing the second one. I rubbed my wrists, glad to be free of those electrocuting nightmares. "Thanks Leo. Let me go get Emi so you can remove hers too." Leo simply nodded, glaring at the cuffs on the deck. I understood why he hated them so much. So did I.

I went downstairs, only to find my room empty. Emi wasn't there. I ran around, yelling for her. I saw a few peopl like Jason and Frank pop their heads out, and they joined me on my miniature quest to find the lost cheetah girl. Jason flung Piper's door open, only to stop what he was about to say. There, in the middle of the room, was Emi.

Piper and Hazel were sitting on the bed, smiling at the little girl. "Oh, she's so cute! We did good!" They high fives eachother, Emi laughing at them.

I gave Emi a look that said 'please tell me you didn't change in front of them'. She motioned her eyes towards the bathroom that was next to her. I sighed in relief.

Emi was dressed in blue Converse, some jeans, and a camp half blood t-shirt. She had a blue zip-up sweatshirt that was unzipped, and a cute purple Alaskan snow hat covering her head, the little Pom poms at the end of the strings dangling near her shoulders. Her braid remained in the same place, draped over her shoulder. All in all, she was pretty cute. The girls had done good.

Emi obviously liked her new outfit, bouncing up and down in excitement. "Look, Percy! Piper and Hazel worked together to find me some clothes! They even found me a hat!" I smiled at her as she ran over to me, jumping up into my arms. She snuggled her head under my chin, and I smiled.

"Thanks you guys. For everything." I looked at Piper and Hazel, then to Jason and Frank. "Thanks for helping me look for her." They nodded as I walked down the hall towards the deck. When I saw Leo talking with Calypso and Annabeth, I knew it was about the cuffs. "Hey, I brought Emi." Everyone stopped talking. They could tell that I had walked in on their conversation. I was a little angry, but what mattered more at the moment was Emi. I motioned for her to remove her jacket, and Leo examined the collar. "Alright, it'll take just a second and then it should be off."

When the collar fell to the ground, I gently grabbed Emi's neck, examining the damage. I was furious. There was a red scar that wrapped around her neck. She must've seen my frustration because she smiled at me. "It's okay, Big Brother! We have matching scars!" I blinked. I had forgotten that there'd been a collar on my neck before the ones on my wrists. I subconsciously rubbed my neck, internally grimacing. Annabeth watched silently concern written on her face. I smiled at everyone on deck.

"That's right! It's alright if I've got a scar like you! That makes it extra cool if it matches yours!" I lifted Emi into the air, placing her on my shoulders. She gasped at how high up we were, smiling as she flung her arms out. I walked around the deck, making plane noises as Emi laughed the entire time. I walked over to Annabeth, and we smiled at eachother. "Listen, Wise Girl, I-"

"Save it, Seaweed Brain." Her feet shuffled against the ground, and my eyes went wide. She was going to- "I'm sorry. I-I was insensitive, and I don't know what you've gone through. But, I've missed you, and I want you to know that I'm here for you. Whatever you went through, I'd like to go through too. Whatever burdens you carry, I'll carry them as well. Because that's how you and I work: we're a team, and I love you so much that I just can't stand the idea of you being taken away from me." I smiled at my girlfriend, giving her no room to say anything else as our lips crashed against one another.

"Eeewwww... you're gross!" I laughed at Emi as she crawled down my back, and I engulfed Annabeth into a hug.

"I missed you so much, Wise Girl. And before you say anything, I messed up too. It was rude of me to be so harsh and upfront with you. I shouldn't have-"

"At least you were honest with me. That's what matters." She gave me a look telling me that she knew I hadn't been being honest during the questioning. I nodded my head, understanding that we'd need to talk tonight.

"It's alright if Emi's there, right? She'll be able to explain things with me." Annabeth nodded her head at me. I smiled as we touched foreheads, basking in each others presence. "I love you, Annabeth Chase. More than anything in the world."

"Me too, Seaweed Brain. Me too." We kissed once more, and broke apart, walking hand in hand down the stairs after Emi who disappeared down the stairs again. "Bye Leo, Calypso! Meeting in ten minutes!" I tried not to smirk at Annabeth, she was always so bossy, and I love that about her.

We walked to the kitchen, seeing Emi pop up behind the fridge door with her face stuffed. Her eyes were wide like a deer caught in headlights. Annabeth and I laughed, and Emi's eyes went wider. The food in her arms and mouth dropped to the floor as she pointed an accusing finger at me. "You-you lied!" I gave her a confused look, my head cocking to the side. "You're Perry, and she's Annabelle! From the stories you told me!" She gasped, her hands slapping her face. "That means the Greek and Roman Gods are real! Oh wow! That's so cool! Does that mean I'm like you too? Does it, does it?!"

I smiled at Emi, squatting to her level. "Yes, it does! Your dad is a God, but I don't know which one yet. I'm sure he'll claim you when we get to camp." I looked at Annabeth. "I know you said there's gonna be a meeting, but is it okay if I go wash up really quick? I haven't taken a proper shower in months."

Annabeth pretended to smell me, scrunching her face up in disgust. "Yeah, you definitely need a shower. I'll make sure Emi gets some food."

I kissed her on the lips, smiling at her. "Thanks, Wise Girl."

"No problem, Seaweed Brain."

I raced to my room, stripping and letting my tail stretch out behind me. I rotated my shoulders, relieving some of the pressure in my back. My room wasn't big enough for my wings to spread out all the way, so I'd have to keep them in tattoo form for a while. Great. They're gonna be all cramped. Maybe I'll take them out tonight when I go to bed, I'm sure Emi will be happy to use them as a blanket.

"Huh. So I was right." I snapped my head around, eyes wide as Nico exited a shadow from the corner of my room.

"Nico, please, you can't-"

"I won't. I just wanted to confirm my theories. If I need to I can swear on the Styx. It was just my own curiosity is all. So, what's with the angel wings tattoo?" He sat on my bed as I stared at him with wide eyes.

"I don't know if I'm ready for that one yet. Listen, please, as long as you swear on the Styx not to tell anyone until I'm ready, then maybe I'll tell you about the tattoo. But right now, I'm not ready."

Nico nodded. "Alright, I swear on the river Styx not to tell anyone about Percy Jackson's mutations until he's ready to talk about them himself." Thunder rumbled in the distance, and I smiled in relief.

"Thanks dude. Now... can you get out? Cuz I need to shower, and uhh..."

Nico rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Get rid of the hay kid. I see how it is."

"No, I didn't mean it like that! I just-"

Nico smirked at me before shadow traveling away.

I hopped in the shower, sighing in relief as the water flooded over me. I might've taken a good half hour in the shower, but it was relaxing, and I was dirty.

I walked over to my closet, grabbing a pair of boxers, tan shorts, and black converse for my lower half. I surveyed my shirts, settling on a thin, blue hoodie to wear under my camp half blood shirt. I don't think I had any hats available, so I grabbed the forest green beanie, encasing it in a ball of water. I spun the water faster and faster, pulling the now clean hat out of the ball of dirty water. I placed the hat on my head, my ears twitching in slight agitation before they settled down.

I smiled, only to realize that I might need to start grinning so people wouldn't notice my abnormally large and sharp teeth. I checked to make sure my tail was wrapped around my waist before walking to the kitchen.

Everyone sat around the table eating, Emi's plate filled with two hamburgers, a large amount of French fries, and what looked like a Shirley temple to drink. I sat down next to her, laughing at how she'd put her leg up to save me a seat. I looked at my plate, imagining an In N Out cheeseburger, spread and tomato only, cheese fries, and a Neopolitan shake. I couldn't help the predatory smile that spread across my face. I'm pretty sure a few of my friends might've noticed my teeth by now.

I sighed in content after taking a bite, and soon enough I'd inhaled my food. I went back for seconds, and noticed everyone besides Emi staring at me as I was about to start on thirds. "Wha'? Wha' I foo'?" My mouth was full, and everyone still stared at me. I finished the food in my mouth, taking a sip of my shake.

Emi spoke up for me. "Big Brother has to eat A LOT of food, because he's super special! The white coats- hmfmfhf..." I covered her mouth with my hand. I smiled at everyone, ignoring Emi and Annabeth's glares.

"Uh, Yeah, let's not talk about that right now, okay Emi?" She must've realized her mistake as she quickly looked down at her food, stuffing her face to ignore everyone's looks. I smiled at everyone (ok, I need to work on grinning instead), "so, what's the meeting about?" I already had a pretty good idea but I was hoping I was wrong.

Annabeth tried to talk only for Leo to interrupt. "Dude! Your teeth are long! Did they turn you into a vampire or something? And what's with the beanie? I mean, it looks good on you but I don't understand why you're wearing it, especially inside."

I sighed, my ears and tail twitching under the hat and shirt in agitation. "Look, I'm not a vampire, and my body makes sure that I'm never hot or cold anymore, so deal with it. I can wear whatever I want whenever I want, no matter what day of the year!" I crossed my arms, pouting a little bit.

I'm sure I got lots of strange looks, but I refused to open my eyes until Annabeth began talking. "Alright, let's all just calm down. Percy, I'm sure a lot had happened to you and Emi, but we're here to discuss what's going to be happening for the next day or so. Leo, when will we arrive in New York?"

Leo scratched his chin, thinking. "Hmm, is day in another 18 hours or so. Why?"

(Is that probably isn't accurate but we'll pretend it is)

Annabeth nodded. "Good. Let's all get some rest. Hopefully we'll only be a few hours away from New York when we all wake up. It's already 9:30, so let's head to bed. I take it Emi will be staying with you, Percy?" I nodded my head. "Alright then. Everyone, get some sleep."

Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Leo, and Calypso all left until it was just Nico, Annabeth, Emi and I.

"Nico, you can go now." Annabeth looked at Nico, her eyes practically screaming that if Nico didn't leave, there might be one less person with us when we arrived at our destination. Nico sighed, disappearing into the shadows.

Annabeth sighed. "You can take the hats off, ya know." I looked at her with a raised eyebrow, wanting an explanation as to why we should. "Grover said he saw some sort of rope tied up next to your hands, and when I saw Emi with ears and a tail in the dream, and you had something wrapped around your waist, I figured you were in a similar situation to her. Now, take those goofy hats off already."

Emi and I looked at eachother before sighing. Emi let out a content sigh as her ears perked up, her tail swishing behind her. "Oh, that's so much better! You're really smart, Annabeth!"

Annabeth stared at me expectantly. I reluctantly removed the hat, my ears pinned against my head and blending in with my hair. Annabeth looked a little confused at first before walking around the table, looking closely at my head. I could feel my ears press even harder against my head. She let out a small gasp, "Can I touch them?" I nodded, and I could feel her soft hands gently caressing my ears. They twitched up in pleasure. I even unconsciously leaned towards her hand as she scratched behind my ear. I purred a little and-

"Oh my gods, Percy! Did you really just purr at me?" Annabeth chuckled, and my ears went against my head sheepishly. She was taking all of this surprisingly well.

"Hey, it's not like I wanted to be part Snow Leapoard! Stupid purring cats..." I could feel my tail twitch against my chest in agitation, and Annabeth must've noticed because she gently lifted my shirt, slowly untangling my tail from my torso. My tail stretched out, wrapping itself around Annabeth's hand. She laughed a little before Emi came over, bouncing up and down.

"Do you wanna see my tail too? I'm part cheetah, so I'm super fast!"

Annabeth smirked, gently sitting down in the chair next to me to look at Emi's tail and ears. She also looked at Emi's eyes and teeth, and jumped a little when Emi extended her claws.

I laughed at Emi and Annabeth. I'm glad they were bonding. I had tuned out the conversation, simply staring at Annabeth's face. Her smooth skin, her soft gray eyes I loved so much, the luxurious blonde curls any girl would want, her soft, pink lips...

"-and they gave him wings! These big, black and white wings! They match his hair and ears and tail, and-" I gave a very unmanly screech when I tuned back into the conversation. I reached over, grabbing Emi's mouth and covering it.

"Nope! I, um... I Uh..."

Welp. Looks like Emi got a little carried away. I looked at Annabeth, her eyebrows raised in disbelief. I knew I'd lost this battle. She walked over, and I reluctantly allowed her to remove my orange shirt and blue hoodie, hearing her gasp in shock.

"You... you got another tattoo?!"

Ha! Maybe I could get away with this! "Uh, Yeah, they put it there! It's really annoying and gets pretty itchy sometimes, but besides that it's alright. Emi here obviously doesn't know what she's saying. Do you Emi?" I gave her a look and she shrunk down in my arms.

"Uh, Yeah! I was talking about brother's tattoo! Isn't it pretty?" Emi bounced out of my arms, choosing to stand next to Annabeth. I could feel Annabeth trying to touch my tattoo, and my wings desperately asking to break free. I jumped out of me seat, shoving my hoodie and shirt on before my wings had the chance to break free.

"Uh, it's still really sensitive, they only did it a few days ago, so can you not touch it?" Annabeth looked at me, and I could tell she knew there was more to the story. "Listen, Smi and I are gonna head to bed. It's pretty late compared to what we're used to. Anyways, love you Wise Girl!" I pecked her on the cheek, grabbing Emi's arm and dragging her away from the kitchen.

When we got to my room, I locked the door and I turned and glared at the seven year old, my arms crossed. "I wasn't ready to tell her about that yet! I'm scared she'll think I'm a freak! Emi, please, let's just wait about that part." Emi looked down, nodding her head. I grabbed her, taking her to the bed. I removed my shirt and hoodie, allowing my wings to stretch out as much as they could in the 9' by 13' room. I laid down, allowing Emi to come lay against me. My wing draped over her. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you like that. Goodnight, lil sis. Get some sleep."

I received no response, and hugged the cheetah girl tighter as we fell into a blissful slumber.

Annabeth's POV

I might've believed Percy when he said that his tattoo was just sensitive, but when I saw a real feather pop into existence from the tattoo only to disappear a second later, I realized that Emi must've been telling the truth. Percy has wings. He must've been horrified to tell me about them, probably fearing that I'd think of him as a freak.

I lay in bed for a good hour or two, waiting for Percy to fall asleep. Hopefully he was.

I'm sure he locked his door, so I raced towards the fountain we kept on the ship for IMing. "Fleecy, do my a solid: call Percy Jackson, aboard the Argo II." The mist showed a dark room, a big blob of black and white laying in bed. I looked closer, realizing that the blob was a WING. I was right. I stared at them, slowly working my way up to Percy's face. He was drooling, which made my smirk. His ears would twitch every here and there, his tail wrapped snugly around his arm. I could see Emi's form under the large wing that was so big it couldn't be fully seen on the IM.

Poor Percy. Him and Emi didn't deserve any of this. I looked back at the IM, finding blue gray orbs staring at me. Emi was awake. And she saw me. I put my finger to my mouth, and Emi reluctantly nodded her head. She would keep quiet. Thank the gods. I slashed through the image, quietly walking by Percy's room only to hear the door creak open. I whipped around, seeing Emi standing there in baggy gray sweats, her camp half blood shirt, and some purple socks, rubbing her eyes tiredly. Her ears and tail drooping in exhaustion. She looked at me knowingly. "Why were you watching Percy and I?"

I gently grabbed her arm, making sure I closed Percy's door. I led her to my room and had her sit next to me on my bed. We talked for a while about Percy, and somehow brought up California. She said she lived in Sacramento with her mom, step dad, and brother. She missed them, but she said Percy was her new family. I told her about my own life; about running away, thinking my family hated me. We talked for a good hour or two, and eventually ended up laying down in bed next to one another. I ran my fingers through her hair as we lay under the blankets.

"...you really care about Percy, don't you?" I smiled at Emi, even though she was facing away from me.

"Yeah, I do. I care about him a lot."

Emi and I fell asleep, and I felt as though I'd bonded with Percy's new family.

Time skip

When I woke up, Emi was laying against me, drooling right in front of my face. Her arms and legs were draped all over my body, her tail wrapped gently around my leg. I tried to get up without waking her; it was barely 6:30 in the morning after all, but she woke up as soon as I started moving.

"...Anna?" She looked at me with confused eyes, and I smiled at her apologetically.

"Sorry for waking you up. If you want you can stay here or go back to your room with Percy. He might freak out if you're gone."

Emi smiled at me, nodding her head. I poked my head into the hallway, making sure nobody would see Emi walk down the hall with her ears and tail out. "All clear!"

Emi poked her head out before scampering down the hallway, closing the door with a gentle 'click'. I smiled when she quickly waved goodbye, closing the door again.

I made my bed, got dressed, and walked up to the deck. Leo and Calypso were awake, watching the sun rise. "Good morning."

They turned to me, Calypso smiling brightly. "Good morning, Annabeth. I take it you slept well?"

I nodded, walking over and standing next to the Titan.

"How's Percy? You guys have been pretty tense since he got back. Everything alright?"

I sighed, leaning against the railing. "Yeah, it's been a little rough, but we're making progress. He talked to me last night about some of the stuff that happened to him, so that's progress. How are you and Leo doing? I still can't believe you're dating that knucklehead."

Calypso laughed, smiling brightly at me. "Yeah, well the same could be said about you and Percy."

We smiled at eachother, laughing. It wasn't often the two of us were together talking with one another. Yeah, Leo was there, but he was half asleep staring at the same place, so I wasn't counting him. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I got along with Calypso. After all, there had been a time when we hated one another. Thankfully, things had been cleared up, which was nice. We got along quite well, although we were usually with everyone else, so having alone time like this was sorta nice.

We leaned against the railing, watching the sun rise in a peaceful silence. I don't know how long we'd been standing there, but we eventually decided to head down for breakfast, dragging Leo behind us. The ship could man itself for a while.

When we walked into the kitchen, we noticed that everyone was awake except for Percy and Emi. I smiled at Calypso. "I'll go wake them up." She nodded as I walked down the hall, stopping in front of Percy's room. It was already around 9:00, so I felt that it was time for the two goofballs to wake up. I gently rapped my knuckles against the door, waiting for a response. "Hey, Seaweed Brain, Emi, it's time to get up. You need to eat breakfast." There was shuffling behind the door, and I saw Emi's eye through the crack in the door. She looked around before opening the door, pulling me in so fast I accidentally let out a small shriek. The light was on, and the cabin was surprisingly clean. I saw Percy sitting on his bed, folding laundry that he must've cleaned. I was shocked. Since when did Percy clean? He always just left piles of clothes in his room. He even told me that one pile was stuff that didn't smell, one that smelt a little, and one that should be burnt for smelling so rancid. I watched him get off the freshly made bed, walking to his newly organized closet and put the clothes away. I noticed a small section that had a few smaller articles of clothing, which must've been for Emi. Piper and Hazel must've worked hard on them for the girl. Percy's tail was hanging loosely behind him, a hole in the back of his gray sweats for his tail. He had a long blue hoodie on that could easily reach his upper thighs. He always liked loose, baggy clothes. His hair was as messy and untamable as ever, his eyes droopy. He didn't even notice that I was there as Emi bounced over to him, smiling at her big brother.

"Hi, Emi. I think we're cleaned up here. Let's hide your tail and ears and we'll head to breakfast. What do ya wanna eat today?"

I watched as he helped her change out of her pjs into a dark purple hoodie that had the Nyan Cat printed on it. She wore dark blue shorts that went down to her knees, and of course her bright blue converse. She was more like Percy than I cared to admit. I watched Percy carefully brush and braid the girl's hair, placing her purple Eskimo hat on. The Pom poms at the end get me every time, bouncing all over the place. I watched as Emi lifted her hoodie up, her camp half blood shirt underneath as well. I watched in mild fascination as Emi curled her tail around her torso, lowering her hoodie and shirt and Percy nodding in approval.

The Son of Poseidon finally noticed me when Emi bounced over to me, hugging me. "Oh, uh, hey Wise Girl. How'd you get in?"

I rolled my eyes, smiling as I walked over and kissed my boyfriend on the cheek. "Emi let me in about 5 minutes ago." I laughed at his sheepish face, him gently scratching his head and ears flattening down in embarrassment.

"Oh, uh, my bad." I watched as he gently lifted his shirt, his tail wrapping around his waist and him making sure his hoodie was down all the way. You wouldn't even be able to tell there was a hole in his butt for his tail. He tugged his beanie on, scrunching his face up in annoyance. I laughed at him, pulling him to his bed and having him sit down.

"Here, let me help." I took the hat off, running my fingers through his hair to make it look a little less messy. I couldn't help but to pet his ears a little, and watched as his face seemed to melt into pure bliss. I laughed and he blinked a few times, giving a sheepish grin. I gently placed the forest green beanie on his head, making sure to cover his ears. Now that I knew they were there, it was pretty obvious when his ears or tail would twitch. At first he looked a little aggravated, but a moment or two later he calmed down, his ears no longer twitching. He turned to me, a fanged smile spread across his face.

"Thanks, Wise Girl. My ears tend to get really annoyed when I put a hat on." I smiled at him, giving him a kiss.

"Glad to help you. Now hurry up, we'll be in New York in another 5-6 hours. It's time to eat." Emi screeched in delight, flinging the door open. She scrambled down the hallway to the kitchen, and we could hear a few startled yelps from her surprised entrance. "She acts like she hasn't had food in forever." I looked at Percy. "Please tell me they fed you in there."

He nodded, a grimace coming on his face. "Yeah, but it was this mixture of chicken guts, oatmeal and protein powder. It was horrible. You get used to it eventually, but I find regular food a million times better. I can only imagine how good my mom's food will be when I get back." His eyes turned wistful. He missed Sally, that much was obvious.

I held his hand as we walked into the kitchen. "Hey, maybe you could IM her after breakfast. That sound good? Maybe Leo will let us stop by your place so we can say hello." His eyes lit up, and he nodded excitedly.

"Yeah, that'd be really nice."

"Yeah, it shouldn't be a problem dude! Now hurry up, Emi's eating like a garbage disposal and it's freaking me out a little bit." We turned to Leo, laughing at his horrified face as he stared at the seven year old eating a mixture of sausage, hash browns, French toast and maple syrup in one bite. "She knows not to mix her food, right? Right? Because if not, that's disgusting."

Percy laughed. "Yeah, well when you're stuck eating a smoothie made of chicken guts, oatmeal and protein powder for months on end, you don't really care if your food touches or mixes up a little bit." Leo's face turned from horrified to a look as if he'd just seen someone murdered.

"Bro, that's disgusting. How're you even alive right now?"

Percy shrugged his shoulders, sitting down between Emi and I. His plate filled up with bacon, fried eggs, and hash browns, a large cup of blueberry smoothie next to him. He ate a lot, at least three helpings (like last night), and I decided to focus on something else.

I thought back to the IM last night, thinking about Percy's wings. It still shocked me they were that big, but with his new height it made sense. He must be pretty heavy.

I was shocked when I heard Jason comment on the very thing I was thinking of. "Hey bro, when I was lifting you up to the Argo II the other day, you were probably as heavy as Emi over there, and she's like 80, maybe 90 pounds. Why're you so light? Last I checked, you were a good 180 pounds."

Percy winced a little, and I could tell by the slight movement in his beanie that his ears were pinned against his head. He moved the food on his plate around with his fork, not looking up. "When Grover saw me, he came during one of the experiments. They inserted something into me that hollowed out my bones, making them lighter and stronger. That's why I'm so much lighter now. Trust me, it wasn't a pleasant operation." He ignored our looks of shock and pity. I did my best to show neither of those because he hated those looks. I glared at everyone, and they seemed to get the idea.

Emi has a look on her face like she was guilty of something. "Percy did it to protect me." I gave her a confused look, and Percy pushed away from his food.

"I'm gonna go call my mom." He walked away, and Emi sat there quietly, her feet dangling off the seat depressingly.

"Percy said they were gonna separate us and put me back in a dog cage, so he agreed to whatever Alta told him to do." There were a few tears in her eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.

"Alta?" Piper asked the question we all had on our minds. "What's Alta?"

"Alta's a person, a mean, mean person. She was a white coat- they're the scientists- and she had lavender hair and these really cold blue eyes. She was mean, and crazy too." My eyes went wide. She was the stupid woman who I remembered hurting Percy. She did all of this to him. Emi continued. "There were names for most of the things at the School-the place we were stuck at. There were the white coats, who did the experiments on us, and there were the Erasers. They were the giant wolf men who did the white coats' dirty work." I could tell Leo wanted to laugh at the name, but frank elbowed him in the gut hard, knocking the air out of the son of Hephaestus' lungs. "Annabeth, can you take me to Percy? I don't wanna talk anymore." I nodded and led her down the hall to where Percy was IMing Sally.

When we went in, Percy was in the middle of explaining the experiments to his mom, Nico standing in the corner nodding his head. I blinked in confusion. Nico knew? Then again, it made sense since his dad had made him swear not to say anything about the mutant children. He must've already assumed and snuck up on Percy to confirm his theories.

"Can I see?" Sally had a look on her face that said she wasn't taking no for an answer. Percy nodded, taking his hat off and allowing his tail to unfurl behind him. Sally just stared. She didn't give him a pitying look, or scorn him. She had him turn in a full circle, her eyes calculating. "Well, I wanna see everything when you get home. No more secrets, alright? Feel free to invite your friends inside, and I can't wait to meet Emi. Let her know that if she sees you as a brother, I have no problem being like an extra mother. I'll obviously never be able to replace her own mother, I wouldn't ask that of her. Just tell her that she'll always have a home here with us. I'm going to make some cookies. Her favorite color is blue and purple, yes?" Percy nodded in confirmation, and Sally continued. "Alright, then I'll make you and her some blue and purple cookies. Tell everyone else that they're welcome to stay for a while as well, but once they head back up, we're having a chat, understand?" Percy nodded again, his ears going back from being lectured. "Good. I love you sweetie, and just know that no matter what happens to you, you'll always be my baby boy."

"I love you too, mom. And thanks." The IM was cut, and Emi raced towards Percy, giving him a huge hug.

"Thanks, Brother. Now I have a new mommy, one who won't freak out at what I am."

Percy and I frowned. "Just because you're different doesn't mean your family won't love you. Maybe you should write them a letter and we'll see what they do, Yeah?" Emi nodded, and she raced out of the room. Percy and I followed after her, and made our way to the deck after a minute or two. Emi was already there, multiple pens and blank paper everywhere.

"Wanna play a game?"

Percy POV

We played Tic Tac Toe, Dots and Boxes, Pictionary, Hang Man, and even Battle Ships for the remainder of the trip. Everyone had pitched in, playing games as well. I could hear Leo hell out "Manhattan Ho! We be here, argh!" Emi raced to the edge, running around for a few minutes. We anchored the Argo II on the edge of the city, and walked towards my apartment. Gods, I was nervous and excited to see my mom and Paul and Estelle.

I barely knocked before the door was flung open. My mom stood there, her hair pulled back with a chip clip, a few strands falling into her face. Her apron was covered in flour and blue and purple dye, her soft eyes staring into mine. I was engulfed in a hug, and hugged my mom back. After giving me a thrice-over to make sure I was alright, my mom looked at Emi. She smiled brightly as the seven year old shuffled her feet. "Ah, you must be Emi. It's nice to finally meet you. Percy talks about you a lot."

Emi hugged my mom, who obviously wasn't expecting such a warm welcome. "Thankyoy for saying I could be your daughter. It means a lot to have a mommy so cool! It's alright if I call you mommy, right?" My mom nodded, a few unshed tears threatening to spill.

"Of course sweetie. Head on inside with Percy, he'll show you around." Emi bounced up and down, dragging me into the house. She sniffed the air, making her way towards the kitchen. I laughed when Paul turned towards us with a cookie in his mouth, like he'd quite literally been caugh with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Uhh..." he looked at me, quickly shoving the cookie in his mouth. "Don't tell your mom." We laughed as he hugged me, then Emi. He pulled out three cups, and I poured some milk. We all took a glass, as well as a cookie, and ate in silence. I could hear Emi moan over her purple cookie and I laughed.

"That good, right?"

"Uh huh. Mommy makes the best cookies ever!" Paul practically choked on his milk and I laughed at him.

"Don't worry, I'll explain everything once everyone settles down and most of my friends head back to the Argo II." He nodded his head, although his eyes were still wide. I grabbed a plate full of cookies and a few plastic cups, Paul grabbing the gallon of milk. We walked to the living room, placing the cookies and milk on the coffee table. Paul sat next to my mom on one couch while Jason and Piper sat on a single seater, Hazel, Calypso, Nico and Annabeth sitting on another couch and Frank, Leo and I sitting on the floor, Emi sitting in my lap. Mom looked at us expectantly, and I could tell by the way she was looking at me that she was observing the areas that were the most noticeably changed (including her staring at my beanie and my torso where my ears and tail were). She looked me in the eyes, and I couldn't help but to look down in shame. I could feel my ears pin themselves against my head. I didn't ask to be a half blood, or turned into some mutant bird cat kid, but I still blamed myself. If I had been more aware that night, then maybe-

"Hey." Annabeth's Hand was on my shoulder, a straight look on her face. "I know what you're thinking. It's not your fault. I hope you know that."

I smiled at her, nodding my head. I looked at my mom and Paul, and answered any questions they had. Obviously my mom knew not to bring up the experimentations, and I could tell that my friends knew I'd talked to her beforehand to save everyone the embarrassment. I asked my mom a few questions of my own, like how she had been, what she'd been up to, and how Estelle was doing. Mom replied that it'd been hard, but she pulled through with Annabeth, Paul, and even the baby's love and support. Estelle was doing good, doing everything like a normal baby would. She was sleeping right now, which mom said was always a struggle. After a an hour or so, there were a few minutes of awkward silence, everyone having discussed the basics without going into details. I think my friends realized that I needed some alone time with my mom.

Jason stood up, Piper following. "Whelp, I think I'm gonna head back to the Argo II. I'm tired and ready to get to camp. You finish up here, Perce. We'll be waiting." Everyone followed soon after that, thanking my mom before exiting the apartment. Soon enough it was just Emi, Annabeth, Nico, my mom, Paul, and I in the living room. After a moment or two, my mom crossed her arms, glaring at me.

"Alright, shirt and hat. Off. Now." I sighed. There was no room for negotiation. I looked at Emi who nodded her head at me, and we gently unwrapped our tails from our waists, letting them free from their confines. Our hats came off next, and I could see Emi twitching her ears, relieved to let them out. I held my hat in my hands, head downwards, waiting for what my mom had to say. She circled around me before hugging me tight. "Oh, Percy. My baby." She walked over to Emi, engulfing her in a hug as well. "You too, sweetie. You two don't deserve this. Those stupid mortals! They don't understand anything! Why I outta-"

Paul laughed, placing his hand on Mom's shoulder. "I think they look pretty cool like that. Whatever happened is done, it's apart of their lives now, as well as ours. I'm sure the Fates have something planned for the stupid mortals who did all of this."

I sighed in relief, Annabeth and Nico staring at me from their spots on the couch. My mom must've been able to tell there was more, because she walked up to me, yanking my shirt off faster than I thought possible. She turned my back towards her, and she gasped in shock. I pulled away, facing her before she could touch the 'tattoo'. "It's fine, mom. Don't worry about it." I could see Annabeth looking at me expectantly, and in that instant, the look on her face told me everything.

She knew about my wings. She wanted to see them, and she wasn't taking no for an answer. I sighed, backing away from everyone. I looked at Annabeth, and she nodded her head at me. "Stand back, because there's more, Mom." Before I unfurled my wings, I stared Annabeth in the eyes. "How'd you figure out?"

"Well, Emi gave most of it away even though you tried to cover it up, and I decided I'd try to IM you, and I saw them while you were sleeping..." she looked down, a blush spreading across her face. I have a light hearted chuckle. At least she was honest about it.

"Stalking me now, eh? Alright then. Maybe I should stalk you back." Her face grew a darker crimson before she waved her hands wildly in the air, telling me to just 'get on with it already'. I took a deep breath in, letting my wings come out and extend as wide as they could in the room. I could extend them each about 1/3 of their length, which wasn't too horrible. I heard gasps from all around the room. Even Nico was shocked. He was shaking on the couch, a pale finger pointed at me.

"You... You poor thing! Zeus is gonna shoot you outta the sky!"

I laughed, although it was a little tense because I still didn't know how everyone felt. "No, I'm stuck like this, and that makes me part of the sky as well. As long as I don't take advantage of it too much, I think Zeus will understand. I've been praying to him as well as my dad everyday, so I think he'll be chill about it." There was a small boom of thunder, whether that was a threat or his version of a nod of agreement I didn't know. I watched everyone in the room slowly walk towards me, although Emi was sitting on the couch eating cookies and milk. I rolled my eyes as everyone got close, barely a foot away from my wings. "You can touch them, just don't yank please. They're still pretty new, so they're sensitive." I could feel my mom and Annabeth gently stroking their hands through my wings while Paul and Nico only stared in fascination. After a moment or two they joined in, caressing my black and white feathers.

"Percy... they're beautiful." I smiled at my mom, holding the tears back. They accepted me, thank the gods.

Annabeth laughed. "Yeah, you're like a real life angel now, although you've got some kitty features too."

"Hey!" I cried out in indignation, and everyone laughed. I gave my wings a gentle shake before folding them back up, feeling them meld back in with my skin.

"Amazing... I wonder how they manage to do that..." Of course Paul was looking at it scientifically, and I couldn't help but question it as well. I shrugged my shoulders, looking at my step dad.

"It's best not to question it. I don't know either, dude." We laughed again, and fell into a comfortable silence.

Nico was the first to leave. "Whelp, I think I'm ready to go. Meet you aboard the ship." We watched him disappear into the shadows.

A small cry could be heard. "Oh, Estelle must be awake. Would you like to come see her?" We followed mom back to where the baby was staying, and I smiled at the baby in front of me. Mom brought her over, and I cradled her in my arms. Estelle stopped crying, staring into my strange cat-like eyes. She smiled, laughing at me. "Looks like she likes her big brother."

I brought my face closer to her, and she looked at my ears. "Wanna feel?" I lifted her a little higher, allowing her to feel my ears. She laughed, and- "OW! Hey! That's so not cool!" My poor ear throbbed, my tail twitching in agitation. Everyone laughed at me, and Emi sat down in a chair next to the crib, making grabby hands at the baby. I looked at my mom and she nodded her head. I walked over to Emi, gently placing Estelle in her arms. "Be careful, alright? This is your baby sister. Her name's Estelle." Emi's eyes lit up, and she brought her finger up, allowing the teething baby to suck on it. My mom walked up behind me, and I turned towards her, giving her a big hug. "I really missed you. Thanks for not freaking out about all of this. You're the coolest mom in the world."

She hugged me tighter. "Honey, of course I'll love you, no matter what. And if your friends are truly good friends, they'll feel the same. And I'm positive they will. You talk when you're ready. Nobody will force you to. I love you so much, and I'm just glad that you're home."

"Well, we gotta leave to camp. I'll IM you tonight, all right? Love you mom. See ya later Paul!" I gave him a quick hug, and gently caressed Estelle with the back of my hand before telling Emi to say goodbye. She kissed Estelle's forehead, handing her to my mom, before hugging my mom and Paul.

"Bye! I'll see you later! Love you!"

Annabeth said her goodbyes as well, and we walked back to the living room, putting our hats back on and wrapping our tails around our torsos. We smiled as we left, and I closed the door with a gentle click.

We boarded the Argo II, eyes filled with determination, and made our way to Camp Half Blood.

So this is going to be a Two Shot. This has taken me a good three days or so to write, and even though I'm sure there are some mistakes, I'm fatherly proud of what I've accomplished. Next up will be Percy heading back to camp, some secrets being spilled, and some buildings being blown up (of course)! Anyways, please RR, and let me know how I did! It's been a while since I've written a Fanfic, so yeah! Anyways, love you all!

Love,

sKaEtrgrL