Book 5: The bane of Mt. Olympus

By Frances C. Raybaud

Chapter 1

Annabeth:Dear Dad, I, daughter of Athena, am sick of Camp Half-Blood. I have been training here for ages!!!! My necklace must be full of beads right now. I will need a new one soon. Seaweed Brain is the only good thing that has ever happened to me since Luke. No one heard that. Did they? Luke, the traitor, Kronos' right-hand man, and now body. Evilness is the right word for him. For that little-Luke. (tear) Never mind. Like I said, Percy has been great. So what if he is only here for the summer? The summer is always the best time of the year. Thank God that he has no idea about my major crush on him. I used to think that he liked me, but my mother scared him off, probably. Athena does that to people. Somehow she liked Luke. The only guy I have ever liked (before Percy) and he betrays me to Kronos. Yet the guy who saves my LIFE, my mom doesn't approve of. Like I did not know, Mom. Who is my mom?? The goddess of wisdom. God. I bet I know where he went when he made that gigantic explosion. She is even more beautiful than Aphrodite, hope she never reads this. Now I hate Cephyr. Percy will never understand my crush on him. I feel relieved and a bit sad at the time about that. Oh if he only knew. Please respond, I really hope you understand.

Love, Annabeth, your daughter.

Annabeth handed the owl the envelope. "To my dad please, Kreech." The owl hooted in agreement. "Why don't you tell him you like him, Wise Child?" I blushed. "How did you know?" The owl pointed a talon at my binder, which was open to a page I had been gazing at while writing. A page full of pictures from our two adventures, with Percy and I in every one. "Oops." Kreech smiled. "Your mother is right to be cautious. But I believe he is a nice boy, from what you've said in your sleep." I ignore the last part and instead replied dreamily, "He is."

Percy: Dear Poseidon. Camp Half-Blood has been great. I am glad that I have all my friends here. Thalia, Nico, Grover, and Annabeth. Did you put Athena up to it? I hope you didn't. I bet Athena thinks she scared me off from Annabeth. Wrong. I will never stop liking her. Unless she goes LUKE on me, in which case I will forget her, which she has obviously not done about him. I wish she would realize that he betrayed us all!!!! I feel sorry for myself. I can't believe it. Annabeth was planning to become a Hunter. She doesn't like me. AT all. At least there was one girl that likes me, although I will never see Cephyr again so it doesn't matter. I am sort of in love with her. But way more so with Annabeth. Oh well. Maybe I can persuade you to let me go back there. Yeah right. I have to get back to the campfire. Thanks Dad. It's great knowing that I can write letters to you. Now to get this to the beach.

I rolled the slip of paper up and slid it into a bottle. Wise Girl. That's what I called her. If she was so wise, why didn't she figure it out? Or maybe she did know, and that is why she had been avoiding me. That would be awkward, to admit my feelings to her and have her say, "I knew that already." She had kissed me before the explosion, but now she avoided me like the plague. I wonder if it had to do with Cephyr. But why would SHE care? My nightmares consisted of two topics; Kronos and Annabeth saying she didn't love me. My dreams just had Annabeth, and a lot of seawater. I walked to the beach slowly, keeping her image fresh in my mind. And I could tell it was since when I dropped the bottle in the ocean, a picture of Annabeth materialized on the water's surface. She was gazing at a photo of us in her binder. If only that was real.

Annabeth: Percy and I arrived at the same time. Giggles arose everywhere and I could feel my face getting warm. I looked straight ahead as I sat next to Thalia. "Ooh la la." she whispered. I stuck my tongue out at her. Mr. D. coughed dryly. "I see that Annabeth and Peter Johnson have been otherwise OCCUPIED, but now we shall start the toasting of marshmallows or else they will get cold." Nobody commented on the odd remark, just shot fretful glances at the strawberry covered boy on the left, who was being smothered in vines for a remark on Mr. D's 'pudginess'. A lot of laughs arose from Ares' cabin. Clarisse shot a sneer in Percy's direction. Not that I was looking. Chiron cleared his throat loudly. "More monsters are coming into Half-Blood Hill ever since Thalia-" Everyone looked at her, and she stood up and bowed. "-was turned back into a human." Everyone applauded except Percy, Thalia, and I. We realized what he had just said. "So, that means there's going to be another quest?" I asked him. He nodded. Percy stayed down in stead of jumping up like he had all those times before. I could tell he was sick of the quests too. "I'll go." Thalia stood. Chiron grimaced. "Unfortunately, I have consulted the Oracle. And it talks of an owl and a fish. I believe that means someone from Athena's cabin and someone from Poseidon's." There were a few scattered giggles. Mr. D laughed. "We already know that it is going to be Peter Johnson and his girlfriend, so don't even try, pony." Chiron tried to control his temper. You could tell he was going to burst any minute. Meanwhile, Percy was trying to disappear. "As I was SAYING, it also involves some sort of tree." Thalia jumped back up. "Told ya." Chiron put his hand up. "No. It talked of a literal tree. Say hello to your quest mate, Oakley." A girl ran up. She looked about nine, but her eyes seemed just like she was a million years old. Which, she probably was. And she was beautiful. I quickly glanced at Percy to see if he had registered this, but he was busy looking at something behind me. I sighed in relief.

Percy: I could tell Annabeth was looking at me, probably to say something smart about how I should be paying attention, but I was busy staring at her. Not the most believable distraction, right? So I tried to make it seem as though I was looking at what was behind her, the creek. Which was so boring to watch, even though I was the son of the Sea God. I was going to explode any minute now. God, this was annoying. "Persius!" I looked up. "What?" Chiron rolled his eyes. "I said, I hope that you are okay with being quest mates with Grover, Annabeth, and Oakley." I did not know who Oakley was, but I did not care. I was going to be with Annabeth!!!

Annabeth: It was obvious that he liked Oakley, because of the huge grin on his face. I squared my jaw and ignored him, trying to forget that grin. I instead raised my hand. "Yes Annabeth." Chiron said. "So where are we supposed to go?" Chiron wouldn't meet my eyes. "We fear that Typhoeus is alive again." I stopped dead. "WHAT??!!!" Everyone around the campfire gasped except Percy. "What's Typho-bla?" he asked. Chiron grimaced. "A hundred headed dragon. It almost defeated Zeus and the gods, but when it captured Zeus, he struck it with a lightning bolt. It was supposed to be buried under It has many reported sightings along the West Coast." He nodded weakly and sat back down. "Also, Kronos is three quarters put together. SO we are hoping that you can capture Luke." Thunder boomed. "Oh, shut up!!!" Mr. D yelled up. Thunder boomed more. Chiron ignored it. "So consult the Oracle please." Percy walked away towards the Big House. I followed him, pursued by Grover and that dumb tree nymph.

Percy: The Oracle was angry. Maybe we disturbed it's spirit sleep. Anyways, it glared at us before the green mist swirled. "You shall go west to a place you have visited before. And meet a monster only mentioned in ancient folklore. One god shall be pleased and one shall be mad, yet the outcome is half good half bad. And when the entire quest is completed with success, a man will betray you, one wearing a dress." I couldn't help it. I laughed. A man in a dress? Seriously. Monster was obviously the Typho-bla, And the angry/happy god thing was nothing new. Probably another Ares-Poseidon thingy. Or maybe this time….Hera? Athena could be mad because of you-know-who and me-know-who. Which will never work out. Grover interrupted me by yelling from outside the door: "PERCY!!!!!!! HURRY UP!!!!" I stood up, nodded to the Oracle, and left.

"Well? What did it say?" Grover asked me expectantly. "I will go west to a place I have gone to before, meet some mythical monster dude, one god will be happy one angry, and I will succeed and be betrayed by a guy in a dress." Grover looked at me seriously. "I would not joke, Percy. Chiron, what do you make of this?" Chiron stroked his furry chin thoughtfully. "The place you have been to before is probably somewhere in Los Angeles. And I would steer clear of the coast unless you are completely sure you are able to defeat a hundred headed dragon it took Zeus a decade to defeat. The gods, well, I am sure that the glad one will not be one of the big three, and the mad one, might be Ares, the war god, because you have not made any enemies other than him, right?" They all looked at me. I forced myself to stop thinking about how much I resented Athena since Grover was there. Sometimes that empathy thing got REALLY annoying. "No. No one. Why do you ask?" I stammered. Chiron looked half amused and half concerned. "Moving on, the glad one could be any of the gods you have befriended, Hermes, Apollo,, even Artemis. Is there anyone else?" I thought back on the meeting I had had with Aphrodite. "No. Nothing at all." Grover looked at me strangely, and mouthed : "Annabeth?" I shook my head, hoping he could not see how red my face was at that moment. "No one." Grover cocked his head . "Very well. The succeeding speaks for itself, but a guy in a dress? Did they say man in a long coat?" I shook my head. "Guy. In. A. Dress." He folded his horse legs under him. "Does my father take on the shape of a cross dressing man?" he mumbled. Annabeth and Grover were whispering together. You see, Chiron's dad, well, he's the bad guy. He is Kronos. Not good for your rep. I thought long and hard and got an idea. "He is wearing a toga!!!!" Chiron rolled his eyes.

Annabeth: I was conversing with Grover. "What is with you and Percy?" Grover complained. "I like him." I confessed. His eyes widened. "HE LIKES YOU TOO!!!!" He yelled. I quickly glanced over at Percy, who was saying something dumb to Chiron. "Shut up. He does not." Grover's face fell. "It is an expression!!!" I hissed. He brightened. "Oh. I knew that. Heh. Heh. Heh." I rolled my eyes for the twentieth time that day. Thalia tapped me on the shoulder. " Hello! I exist." I gasped at her in horror. "You heard-" She laughed. "every word. And what's more, guess who has a major crush on you." I groaned. "Tell Nico I am not interested." She laughed. "PERCY, you idiot! SO who was your crush??" I stared at her in shock. Slowly I gave her my binder. She opened it to a page with me and Percy laughing in a not-tense moment. She flipped to another. Percy and I flying on those bronze angels. She flipped to the end. A note to my dad. "Seaweed Brain is the best thing that has happened to me-" She shut it. "It is full of bull crap. Now tell me your crush." I stared at her in disbelief. "Why do you have Aphrodite's binder anyways?" I blinked. "WHAT??!!!" Thalia widened her eyes. "You didn't know? She has this exact binder with pictures of Percy and you." My jaw dropped. "She. Does. Not." Thalia ignored me. "And so anyways why do you have her binder? You found out didn't you? Oh my gods!!!!!" I shook her. "I! LIKE! PERCY!!!!!" Thalia stopped. "Oh." I straightened up. "So now you know." A smirk spread across her face. "So does he." I spun on my heel, ready to yell at Chiron, when I saw who it was. "Hello, Percy. Nice to finally meet you." I fainted.

Percy: "What. The. Underworld?????" Chiron gaped. Grover made that irritated bleating noise. I blushed a deep red. Meanwhile, Annabeth was crumpled on the floor. "Well." Chiron said finally. "That was productive."

Annabeth: When I woke up, Thalia was bending over me. "Nice job you did back there. Scared everyone. They thought you were serious." I was affronted. "I DID mean that!" I tried to reply indignantly but Thalia spooned a load of ambrosia into my mouth. I swallowed. "What was that for? I am not sick." I said. She laughed. "In the body, no. But your head is a different matter." I stuck my tongue out at her. "I do so like Percy." Thalia scoffed. "Which is why you call him SEAWEED BRAIN. Wait. I get it. It is a pet name. Awwwwwww…." I threw the thermos at her. She ducked and thunder boomed. "Dad, leave me alone. She is fine!!!" Thalia yelled at the sky. "So anyways, the quest is still on, right?" I asked. She nodded. "Oh I forgot. Pack your bags. You have….about thirty minutes." I sighed. I silently prayed to Athena that he would not be too hard on me.

Percy: "I don't get it. Why won't she talk to me????" I asked Grover quietly. He stared at me. "Because she publicly embarrassed herself in front of you." He rolled his eyes. "Besides, I am busy." I looked over at where he was gazing. "You like that oak girl thing?" I asked, stifling a laugh. "NO!!" Grover protested. "You do!" I was wondrous. "What about Artemis?" He sighed. "Her too." I looked over at Annabeth longingly. "Let's forget about love for the moment and concentrate on getting to Los Angeles."

When we got there a lot of people were staring at us and pointing. "What, did I blow up something again?" I whispered. "No." He looked worried. "That guy has goat feet!" Grover drew his legs under him as the chariot drew closer to the ground. "Must be one of those kids to see through the Mist." Annabeth woke up and, upon seeing me put on her cap. She disappeared immediately. "That girl has an Invisibility hat!!!" A girl screamed. I stood up. This was wrong. How could there be two kids in the same place- "THAT GIRL IS HALF TREE!!!!" A man pointed at Oakley. She melted into the wooden chariot's floor. "Something is wrong with the Mist." Annabeth told Grover, still invisible. "And she just turned into that chariot!" the man's wife screeched. A lot of men came up and started shooting us. We dove and swerved to avoid the bullets. I noticed the letters on their jackets. SAS. How did they know that we were going to be here? And where was Chiron? He was supposed to meet us. "Put him in jail, like the horse mutant!" Oh no.

I wondered to myself the same question over and over. Could the Mist be completely gone?

Dionysus Doodads, Incorporated.

Chapter 2

I was freaked out. Annabeth had reappeared by now and was silently scribbling something on her hand. I uncapped Riptide, ready to attack if these were monsters. But nobody morphed. Nobody called me Persius. They were just cold, frightened mortals. And we were the source of their fright. Grover chewed tin can after tin can, and Oakley jumped every time someone said "Look at the sword! It was a pen! I swear!" or "The goat guy ate my Pepsi can!!!" The Mist had completely dematerialized, and the mortals did not like what they saw. Over and over, the crowds kept coming, and I kept hearing Luke's voice in my head. "The Golden Age is coming." The entire world spun, and then it was blackness.

"Percy? Are you awake? Hello! PERCY???" I woke up to see Grover hovering over me. "I am up." I pushed myself up. "Where are we?" Then I turned and saw Rachel. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, mortal, someone who had saved my life twice already, thrice if you counted the Labyrinth. "WHAT?!!" She smiled sadly. "My father is rich, remember?" I stared at the penthouse around us. "I see that." I briefly wondered why there were stuffed animal heads everywhere, then remembered how he was so wealthy. He hunted animals, and bulldozed down the wild. "Oh." She nodded slightly as if she could read my mind. "Yeah." We stared at each other for a few more minutes, then she straightened up. "SO, Grover is sleeping in the garden, and Annabeth's next door. That tree person is curled up with Grover." I blanched. All I could think of to say was: "That was fast." I giggled hysterically. "What was fast?" she asked curiously. "Nothing. It's just that Grover has been crushing on her big time." She laughed too. It reminded me of-never mind. Think of someone else. It was not my fault. Even Nico realized this. Bianca Had chosen to assist us. Kronos was a liar. I did not cause my friend's deaths, did I? "HELLO!!!" I blinked. Both Grover and Rachel stared at me in shock. "You started glowing. Green. Bright green. And shaking." Rachel said finally. I blushed. "There. Again." Now I was getting freaked out. "You did the same thing when we visited Mt. Olympus." Annabeth walked in calmly. "You mean, there's a-"

"AND when we met Ares." Grover piped in. "So that means there's a god nearby." I gulped. Please not Ares or Aphrodite or Zeus or Athena-oh what the heck!!! It was going to be one of them. Humph. "Good afternoon, all." A tall figure stepped in through the window. She was glimmering. The woman was wearing a dress covered in flowers.

Everyone gasped in shock except Rachel. She fainted dead on the floor. "Who is that?" I whispered. The goddess laughed. "I am Demeter. Goddess of the Earth." I gaped. "Aren't you one of the gods that voted me dead at the council meeting?" I demanded. Her lips curled into a frown. "If that is how you greet a goddess, then yes." Annabeth motioned for me to shut up, but I ignored her. "What do you want from me?" I exclaimed. "What makes you think I would need the help of a half-breed?" She snapped. "Touchy. Hermes needed me to help Luke-" "Which you FAILED!" she retorted. I continued on. "And Hades needed me to get back his invisibility helmet. Poseidon needed me to clear his name, and Ares needed his shield back without being embarrassed. What do you want?" She thought about it for a moment. "Well, now that you mentioned it, I do require a spot of assistance." I smirked. "Aha!" She put up her hand. "Silence. My- associates- have informed me that you seem to be rather good at finding things. So I would like you to find my diamond ring." Annabeth's jaw dropped. "You lost it? That was a gift from Athena and Po-" Demeter cut her off. "I am well aware who it was gifted to me from." she said coldly. "That has multiple powers! Whoever gets a hold of it could-" She interrupted Annabeth again. "Control of the entire Earth, yes. I know." She fidgeted under the gaze of all of us. "WHAT?" she asked, annoyed. We just stared. Finally Demeter pressed a small package of seeds into my hand. "Just drop one of these five seeds and ask for what you need. Then a tree with what you require will pop up. They are from the Gardens of Mount Olympus." Grover made a bleating sound. "You aren't supposed to give those to mortals." he huffed. She punched him squarely in the nose. He pawed at it frantically. I stepped forward, drawing Riptide from my pocket. Annabeth took out her knife. Oakley fluttered near Demeter, staring adoringly up at her. "Do not even try, dirt blood." she spat at me. "You are lucky I do not transform you into a tree." Annabeth opened her mouth angrily but stopped herself wisely. The goddess shimmered all over and disappeared. "Okay, now someone explain to me exactly WHY she punched Grover in the nose." I demanded. "She has a temper." Annabeth said. Grover was more explanatory. "She doesn't like satyrs because even though she created us, we like-Artemis-better." I glanced at Oakley, who was wrapped around the section of air that Demeter had occupied a few moments before. "Yeah, about that, tree nymphs like Demeter, water nymphs like Poseidon, and us satyrs like Artemis." he drifted off, gazing into the distance. Annabeth shook him. "YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND, HELLO!!!! GROVER!!!!" Grover snapped out of it. "Whoops. I lost you for a second, there." I told him. He trotted out, ignoring us.

Annabeth: I was so pissed off at that dumb goddess. No wonder Athena couldn't stand her. She was so annoying and blameless and everything! Gods, I hated her. And no, not because she called Percy dirt blood, although that made me very angry also. It was because she acted like she was so much better than us. I mean, seriously. What a creep! And Percy was obviously taken aback by her. He stared dumbly at me as he tried to register what she had said. "What in the world?" he asked. I smiled. Same Percy.

Percy: I stared at Annabeth. "What in the world?" I asked. She smiled at me. She probably thought I was crazy. How did she stay so on top of things? She was like a super woman. Weird. Plus, wait a second, Grover DID have a girlfriend. Oh my gods, he was cheating on Juniper! Crap! I turned to Rachel. "Did you know that Grover has a girlfriend?" I whispered. "Of course," she whispered back. "They've been all over each other for the past few days." I was momentarily shocked. I had been asleep for a few days?! "No." I replied. "She is back in camp Half Blood."

Annabeth: I could tell that Percy had realized what I just had, because he made a cutting-throat motion and pointed to Grover, who was sitting on Oakley's lap. "Grover!" I hissed. "I repeat, you HAVE A GIRLFRIEND!!!!" He stood up. "Oh yeah." He looked crestfallen. Oakley drifted up. "What is wrong?" she asked sleepily. "I miss my tree." I glared at her. "What's wrong is we KNOW what you're doing!" I yelled. She twisted a lock of glittering hair around her finger. "But it was really HARD to make Zeus jealous. So I decided to take up with a satyr so he would realize I am not a toy!" I think my jaw dropped then. Either way, I stood up and was about to tell her in an icy voice that she was a stupid slut when Grover broke in. "You were using me?" he asked in a hurt voice. Then he sounded that very same voice of utter pain and she was torn into pieces. "Well." I said finally. "I am sick of love. SO let's fulfill that prophecy." That was a complete lie, but I was not about to say that when Percy opened his dam mouth. "Agreed." he said in unison with Grover. They slapped palms. "No offense, Annabeth, but girls make me too crazy."

Percy: I wasn't a giant George Washington I-cannot-tell-a-lie weirdo, but so far, I hadn't lied to my friends once. Till now. And I immediately regretted it when I saw her face. She was fighting to hold back tears. I remembered her clearly saying, "I! LIKE! PERCY!" Or was it a dream? My whole life felt like an ongoing nightmare. Maybe I should just give in…No Boss! You do not give in! I will take you to the Death place where you are supposed to go! With your mate and goat-boy and mortal friend. "BLACKJACK?" I asked in my head, amazed. For only one animal on this earth called me Boss and Annabeth my mate and that was a genuine son of Pegasus himself. "Where are you?" I thought. He replied soon. "Outside your window, Boss." I ran to the window. "Guys," I called to the rest of them. "We have a ride."

* * *

I was feeling elated. Blackjack was carrying me happily on his back as we flew to DOA Recording Studios. Annabeth looked angry for some reason. It might be because there was a small capsule strapped to her waist labeled 'Oakley'. Yeah, that was probably it. "Hey! Look! We're in Los Angeles!!!" Grover called happily from behind me. I turned to stare. Why was he so happy? "Yeah. I guess." I said, confused. Blackjack headed down to the middle of the city. "No! Wait, Blackjack, no!!!!!" But it was too late. He and his two friends landed with a thump. People stopped and stared. "Is that a horse with wings?" Annabeth got off. "Watch and learn." she whispered to us. "Please stand back. We are filming a movie here. The props are amazingly realistic, are they not?" The crowd murmured assent. "Wait while we enter the Recording Studio to fetch our camera equipment. And do not tug the wings off the horses, they are easily spooked." She beckoned to us and we headed in;. She's good Boss. Blackjack told me as I left. "I know, buddy. I know."

Annabeth: Charon was there, brushing dust off his brand new Italian suit. "Thanks a lot, guys." he said to us as we walked by, dropping a couple drachma on the counter. "The big guy gave me double what I used to get. You spoke to him, didn't cha?" Percy nodded. We entered the elevator. "All the way down." The doors closed, and an awkward silence followed. When we went through the magic turnstile, it beeped so we gave the guard all of it. Cerberus bounded up, all his tongues hanging out and his gigantic tail wagging. "good boy, Cerby, good boy." He trotted after us.

"What do you want?" Hades asked finally. We all gave him blank looks. "You don't look dead." he told us. "Nice to know." Percy replied. "Don't be sassy." I raised my hand. "Demeter told us to look for her ring. The one that contains the entire Earth's power." Hades chuckled. "SO you naturally assumed I would have it. Western Civilization is falling apart, if Demeter's losing things." Rachel couldn't understand his Ancient Greek. "What's he saying?" she whispered. "Old people jokes." I replied. Hades raised his hand in a 'STOP' way. "If you find Nico, I will give you the use of my skeleton warriors. Can find anything, anywhere." Percy opened his mouth. "Why didn't you look for Zeus' lightning bolt?" he demanded. "He never asked." I was thinking practically. "How are we supposed to find Nico? Why can't you?" I asked curiously. "He is repelling their powers, so he must be more powerful than I thought." I sighed. "Hey, Hades?" Grover asked suddenly. "Yes, satyr?" Hades turned his full attention on Grover. "Your dog just peed on the carpet." Cerberus wagged his tail as we all held our noses.

"Well, that was productive. Wouldn't be surprised if he decides to kill us." Percy commented. "I doubt that." I replied. "That would start another war between the Big Three." Percy stared at me. "Why do you have to be so serious?" I shut up. Maybe that was why he didn't like me. I was too serious. Oh my gods, I was being serious. "Ha. Funny." I managed to get out. Grover was giggling at us. "What is it?" I snapped, turning around. "You guys both like-each other-and think the other-doesn't!" he wheezed, collapsing in a fit of laughter. "Awkward." I said. He cracked up, and soon we were all clutching our sides fitfully. I smiled. This was better. "PERCY! STOP GETTING ME WET!!" I yelled happily. He grinned and another tidal wave crashed onto me. Little did we know that soon we were going to get in very bad company.

"SO, like I was saying, the hospital feels strange…GUYS!!!" We were gazing at each other when Grover bleated. "Sorry." I stammered, looking up at the biggest and most hideous building I had ever seen. "Who DESIGNED that?" I asked in horror. "Um, apparently your dad." Percy lifted my hand and pointed at the wall. Engraved on a plaque were not only my dad's name but- "Oh crap, catch me please." I said weakly. Last thing I remember is that he did. And then calm water. Still as crystal.

"You took quite a nasty fall, young lady. If this man hadn't been here to save you, you could've entered a coma." The doctor blabbed on and on. Gods, he wouldn't shut up. "And here is Sir Charles Ingle." A bearded man in a hospital gown shuffled forward. "Bonjour, mademoiselle. It is bien that you are pas mal." The man was alternating between French and Spanish to try and confuse me. "I am glad to know you feel it is good that I am not sick, monsieur." I told him. He looked taken aback. "I understand that your boyfriend is waiting outside." He bowed and left. My boyfriend? I looked through the glass door and saw Percy frantically waving. The nurse opened it and he shot through. "There's something strange about that man. Something bad." he said really fast. "Like the way he speaks two foreign languages?" I asked sarcastically. "No," he was impatient. "He-feels-weird." I looked at him. "We have gotten out of tons of scraps before this one and we will survive this too." I told him confidently. "You're right. I shouldn't worry." he kissed me on the cheek and left, closing the door behind him. I sat down. Was this man one of Kronos' cronies? Then I realized something: Percy had kissed me! I lay down on the hospital bed. Life was going way too fast. But then again, we are demi-gods.

Percy: I didn't believe it. I had just kissed Annabeth! Sure, just on the cheek, but still. Was she angry? Happy? Indifferent? Why did I care? FOCUS PERCY!!!!! That man had 'smelled like the Underworld', according to Grover. And nobody does, unless they're dead, or Kronos. So, maybe that was a ghost. Longing for rest. We shouldn't trust him just yet. But, then again, he knew at least a couple foreign languages. "Hey, Grover." I walked over to the guy, where he was scrunched into his fake feet uncomfortably. He brightened up when he saw me. "You and Annabeth are now a couple!!!!!!" He exclaimed. "What the-" I began. "Empathy link, Percy!!! I was sitting here, all down and stuff, and then I hear-well not hear, but you know- you go YES!!!! And get all fuzzy, then you get elated, then sober. So you and Annabeth are a couple!!!!" I sat down. "I guess." He clapped me on the back. "Nice. You'll have to stop calling her Wise Girl." I stopped, and he laughed. "Just kidding. Did you know she has a binder with pictures of you two? Aphrodite has a copy!!!!" I got up. "Forget it. I'd rather go talk with Annabeth." he yelled after me: "First sign!!!!"

"Hey Wise Girl. What's up?" I asked her, sitting on the side of her bed. She curled up under the covers. "Seriously." She sat up. "That man me feel just as apprehensive as you do." She clapped her hand over her mouth. "Sure make a guy feel special." I joked. She laughed, and then there was silence. Then I leaned in closer like in all my dreams, only I didn't wake up this time. This time it was for real, with her mouth covering mine, and although I didn't know it then, a mark of an intertwined trident and olive tree above our heads, glistening. I relaxed, letting go of my tension, being so- "Ahem." The French-Italian-Sir-Knight-Guy-With-An-Underworld-Stench stood in the doorway. "The nurse says to give Beth sleep." I looked at Annabeth, who leaned up against my shoulder, her left arm in a cast and her right hugging me tightly. "Wait a sec, okay?" He nodded briefly and left. I slowly got out from under Annabeth. "He says you need rest." I told her. As soon as I lay her down, she fell fast asleep.

"Where were you?" asked Rachel when I got back, slightly red. "Um, visiting Annabeth." "Ah." She and Grover exchanged knowing looks. "Oh, leave the poor boy alone." Aphrodite materialized. Rachel looked at her haughtily. "Are you Hera?" Aphrodite was deeply offended. "I'll have you KNOW, I am Aphrodite, goddess of love." she informed her. "Oh, is that all? I thought you were someone important." Aphrodite icily handed me a binder. "Percy, don't worry. Lots of climaxes. There's not a happily-ever-after for you and Bird Girl yet." She disappeared. "Talk about touchy." Rachel looked at me indignantly. "We've met." I backed away. As I did, my binder dropped, opening to a page where I was fighting alongside Annabeth in various poses. The wind flipped it to another page where we were both laughing, picture enlarged. "You weren't lying." Grover smiled. "Course not. Now, let's hear what Annabeth has to say about that binder."

Annabeth: My life sucks. Aphrodite had to go and give Seaweed brain my binder. He has been pouring over it. Why am I mad? Grover. "At least I don't cheat on my spouse with Zeus' mate!!!!" I retorted to his latest crack. "Where did you get all these?" Percy asked me. "Um, Hermes." I said, blushing more. "I paid him one thousand drachma to take pictures of us along all of our past five journeys." He was astonished. "From the beginning?" Grover chuckled. "She thought you were dangerous." he replied. "So you…took photos of me?" Grover rolled in laughter. "And she is supposed to be wise." I socked him. "Aiieh!!!" He continued to laugh. I just glared until he stopped. Then I retreated to my room.

When I got back, they were discussing the undead dragon. "So Typhoeus, he's just as powerful as the gods?" Percy asked. I nodded. We started discussing tactics. Engrossed in conversation, I didn't notice that Grover had left until I stopped for breath, allowing Percy to talk. "So, yeah." I grinned, my face turning red.

Percy: I saw Annabeth's face turn bright red, and I turned to Grover-only he was gone. I walked closer to Annabeth. "So…" My mind went blank. I leaned closer, closer, closer…

Annabeth: His mouth was on mine, and I was intensely aware of everywhere we touched. We sat down on the couch, and I fell on him, my arms around his hair, sighing.