So, this is my first try. I still don't know if it's any good so please read on and share your thoughts.

DISCLAIMER: I am not Rick Riordan, and I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. If I did, I would've claimed Annabeth all to myself. :)

Chapter 1: Sssugar cubes!

Winter was about to come in and it was getting cold.

It has been months since the world almost faced its end.

With the war with the titans over, everything seemed peaceful. It felt... different. We were living normal lives. No more going on quests, hunting monsters, saving the world, being on the verge of death and you know, normal demigod stuff. Somewhere inside me longed for those things (except for being on the verge of death, of course).

Boy, I wish I didn't wish for that.

It was a normal Friday night. Annabeth and I were hanging out. Well, since we were officially going out, technically, it was a date.

"Mortals", she said with a little pity like they were hopeless, "If they really want gruesome, they'd better wait when they die, and see the FIelds of Punishment."

I laughed. We just watched that new movie "The Final Destination". Everytime the spooky music played and someone was about to die, the people shrieked and screamed. I guess it was kinda okay. I've seen way, way horrible stuff than those. Thinking of that made me remember heroes dying in gruesome ways and it made me twitch. Then I thought of the war, and the friends I lost. It made me feel sad. But it was hard to feel bad on a great night. I was here with the love of my life. Whoa! Did I just say love? No, no, no. I mean...

"So," I tried to say calmly. I was trembling. For some reason, I was tensed.

"So," She smiled. She looked absolutely beautiful. It was very bright with all the lights turned on along the street, but it really looked like she was glowing. It made me feel a little fuzzy in the head. My brain started to seize and it felt like time was moving slowly, like Kronos was finally being nice and he froze time as I stared at Annabeth trying to memorize her face.

"Percy?" she asked as she waved her hand in front of me.

"Huh?" I blinked.

She laughed. "Come on, Seaweed Brain."

She put her hand around my waist and embraced me as we walked. I didn't know what to do, but I put my hand around her shoulder because it was the typical boyfriend-girlfriend thing to do. Was it?

We walked along 59th street. New York has already recovered from the disaster that the animal stampede caused. Well, at least that's what they thought. The mist covered the monsters appearances, and they probably saw animals going wild and running amok. As for Typhon, they stuck with him being a series of freak storms. The statues, AKA automatons, were scattered all around Manhattan. Some were put back on their pedestals. Others were hacked to pieces. I looked at the people bustling around. Everything was back to normal, like nothing out of the ordinary happened. They didn't even realize the doom they nearly experienced.

Annabeth bumped me, as it dawned on me that she realized I was zoning out. I looked at her, and smiled.

"What now?" she asked.

"You tell me, Wise Girl," I said sarcastically.

She smiled. "Well, my curfew is at 10, so, we still have some time. We can head straight to Central Park."

"Sure, I don't mind," I leaned close to her ear, and whispered, "as long as I'm with you."

She blushed. It's always fun to tease her. Except, of course, when she got her revenge.

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and grabbed my arm tightly. The moment felt perfect. We were walking together like nothing else in the world mattered. We would laugh, joke around and argue about stupid stuff. My heart was pumping hard, like something was struggling to come out. It felt like it was about to explode.

"Annabeth," I started, "I was thinking."

"Yeah?"

"Well, you know, we've been through a lot. And we've been dating for quite some time now."

"Mm-hm?" she asked keeping her eyes in front of us.

"What I'm trying to say is... I... I..." my throat felt dry and my heart was racing. I was finally going to tell her how I truly felt, that I love her, when I heard something familiar.

Clop, clop, clop. It was getting louder. Hooves! I thought. But it wasn't the sound of normal horses clopping. The first thing that I thought of was Grover, but my empathy link with him wasn't tingling so he wasn't near by. And last I heard he's in Indiana. The sound got a little louder. I looked at Annabeth. She was staring intently at me, still waiting for what I was going to say. Then her face shifted. She finally heard it too.

We looked around and saw two figures running toward us across the street. They weren't wearing any shoes, but people didn't stare because they were greasy and looked like homeless children. It was pretty normal. Except that one of them had hooves!

As they came nearer I noticed who it was. Gleeson Hedge, one of Grover's satyr protectors. He was dragging along a boy about 10 years old. He had red hair and green eyes. I'm pretty sure I've seen his face before but I couldn't remember who and where. They crossed the street and went straight to us.

"Th-th-thank the gods!" Gleeson said trying to catch his breath.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"We're being chased... monsters... dracaenaes..." he said still breathing heavily.

I looked around and noticed a group of women headed toward us. They haven't noticed us yet, but the smell of three demigods is too strong. We won't be able to hide from them.

"C'mon!" Annabeth said as she dragged us around the corner. We kept running until I saw a dark alley and led them in.

It was a dead end.

"Stay here." I told them,

Annabeth pulled me away from the two and whispered, " What are we going to do?"

"You stay here and guard them," I said with determination. I pointed to the opening of the alley, "I'll stay there and wait. When they come in, we'll surround them."

She stared at me with those piercing stormy-gray eyes of hers. I suddenly thought of the moments when we locked eyes. Like that time when... Oh great! I thought. We were about to be attacked and I was still thinking of other things.

She sighed. "Fine," she said in distress as she got her Invisibility Cap out of her pocket and handed it to me. Then I thought of how amazing it was when our magical items were so convenient to carry. We can just take them out or appear suddenly when we needed them. Wait! I thought and I tried to smack myself in the forehead in my mind.

I took her cap and looked at her. She knew what I was thinking. I was waiting for a Good Luck kiss. She smiled wryly. I waited a little more. She leaned in closer, then she shouted in my ear, "Go!" and she pushed me. Great. I wish I'd die right there so she'd regret that. But I was invulnerable and she was the only one who knew my weak spot.

I put on the cap and suddenly realized, if she wasn't going to give me a kiss, I could get one. So I walked back to her, clasped her face and kissed her. When I looked at her she was staring at me with shock. That's when I remembered that I was already invisible and I've surprised her. Point for me!

I went to the entrance of the alley and leaned on the wall, waiting. A few moments later I noticed a group of women coming around the corner. At first they looked like a gang of women holding sticks and clubs, but when they got closer I finally saw what they really were. Dracaenaes, with spears and swords. They were probably among the monsters that survived the war and laid low here in New York, hunting for innocent half-bloods. But not in my city. Not on my watch.

I waited as they passed me and entered the alley. It was dark and it was hard to see anything, but they sensed the two half-bloods and satyr on the end.

"Ssso, you found another one," said one of the them. It was really weird when they hissed while talking.

"Don't come any closer if you don't want to die," Annabeth said calmly and courageously. Dam! I'm so lucky to have her.

"But you sssee girl, we don't die. You ssshould've left thessse two alone and ran when you had the chance. Now, we feassst on you, too!"

"It'sss our lucky day," said another one.

I couldn't wait anymore so I took the cap off and shouted, "No, it'sss not!"

They all turned toward me in shock. "What are you doing here, Perssseusss!"

"You sssee..." I tried to mimic them but it sounded weird so I stopped, "You tried to mess with my girlfriend. And I can't let you get away with that now, can I?"

Even if it was very dark I'm sure Annabeth blushed. Another point!

"You're not-" but before the dracaenae finished I drew out Riptide and started slashing and stabbing. Being invulnerable and stuff, I didn't need to block their attacks. I just hacked and hacked freely. I haven't fought in a battle for some time now and I was battle hungry. It actually felt... wonderful. And it made me feel a little uncomfortable with the thought of that. I was like a maniac. Was I becoming evil?

There was about a dozen of them, and now there was only one left.

"We're going to come back for you, Perssseusss! We will have our REVENGE!"

She hissed one last time and prepared to lunge at me, but Annabeth stabbed her in the back.

"You're having all the fun," she said as the dracaenae disintegrated in front of her.

I walked straight to her and smoothed her hair. "They made me angry 'cause they threatened my girlfriend. I just made sure they'd regret it."

She shrugged but with a little giggle. She leaned in forward to kiss me. I put my hands around her waist and pulled her closer. She put her hands around my neck as I kissed her deeper. I wasn't ready to let go when I heard a cough. She pushed me back a little catching her breath as I did the same. She smiled and nodded to the direction of the others. I forgot about who we were trying to protect. I turned and walked towards Gleeson with the kid half-hiding behind him.

I bent my knees a little so I was at the kid's level. "So, what's your name?"

He studied me a little and said, "Alex," his voice trembling.

"Hi, Alex," Annabeth said as she stood next to me, "How old are you?"

He stared at Annabeth for a moment before answering, "Ten."

He glanced to my right and his eyes widened. I noticed what he was looking at.

"This is Riptide," I said as I handed him the sword.

He held it and looked at it with delight. The glow of the Celestial Bronze reflected in his green eyes. "Cool," I saw him mouth.

He looked back at me and gave back the sword. As I put the cap on Riptide, he asked, " Were those really monsters?"

I nodded.

Annabeth put her hand on his shoulder, "Don't worry. They're gone now."

Gleeson cut in. "But we still need to get him to camp."

"I'll take care of that." I said.

I whistled, and within a few minutes two dark shapes appeared in the night sky. They galloped as they landed to a stop.

Yo, boss.

"Hey, Blackjack. How are you doing?"

Same old, same old. So, do you have any sugar cubes?

I sighed. Yup. He's still the same old Blackjack. "Sorry. I didn't bring any. I'll give you some when I see you at camp, 'kay?"

What? He cocked is head. You're not coming?

"Nope. I called you to bring these two to camp," I pointed at Alex and Gleeson.

Then I noticed Alex staring at them. His eyes widened. "Wow. Are they really-"

"Yup," I said before he could finish. His eyes widened even more (if it was still possible).

"They'll take you to camp," Annabeth said, "You'll be safe there, and they'll train you."

His face changed. "You won't be coming?" Alex asked as he looked at me and Annabeth.

I didn't really know what to say. I was about to tell him that we had school and stuff, and trying to live normal lives. But Annabeth said, "Don't worry. You'll have plenty of friends there. And we'll see each other during summer."

I understood what she was trying to do. Annabeth ran away when she was young. She knew how it felt to live alone until she came across a couple of other demigods. She learned how to fend off monsters with Thalia and Luke when she was 7. They tried to survive on their own before Grover found them and brought them to camp, but then when they were already on the hill, they got surrounded and Thalia took her last stand there. Zeus took pity on her as she died and turned her into a tree. And then we went on that quest to... Oh you get the point.

"And we will be visiting from time to time," I added, "They'll teach you how to fight of monsters there, but when I visit I'll teach you advanced techniques." He made a face which seemed to me like a wicked grin.

"I'll be staying there, too. And we'll have more time to play with cards," Gleeson said. Alex smiled at the thought of that.

Uh-oh. I thought. Cards? 10 years old? He's just like Nico!

"Uhm. Mythomagic?" I asked.

They both stared at me with confusion. "Huh?" They asked simultaneously.

"You were talking about cards. There's this boy I know who also once played with cards when he was young. They were called Mythomagic."

They looked at each other and laughed. "We have never heard of that!" Alex said trying to hold his laugh.

"It's probably lame!" Gleeson added in as they continued to laugh.

I stared at the ground beneath them waiting for it to open and swallow these two.

They finally stopped laughing as they brought out packs of cards. I looked at the packs and I noticed them. You've got to be kidding me!

"We're talking about Pokemon Trading Card Game!" Alex said gleefully as he raised pieces of cards.

Talk about lame. I was about to tell them that when Annabeth coughed. It was getting late and it was almost time for her curfew. We were running out of time. And I was still going to walk her back to her dorm.

"Okay, c'mon guys," I said. "It's getting late, and you still need to get to camp."

Alex put on a smile and with delight, he said, "Okay!"

I led him to Blackjack and tried to introduce him. "This here is-"

"Blackjack." Alex cut in.

I glanced at Annabeth but she just shrugged.

"Uhm. How did you know?" I asked.

"He just told me. Oh, and he's asking for sugar cubes."

I looked at Annabeth as her jaw dropped. An understanding passed between us. There was no way for a demigod or mortal can understand a pegasus unless he had that ability or...

Or he was a child of Poseidon.

AN: So I present you the first chapter of my first fanfic! Please review and comment. It would mean the world to me.

The plot has been set, and I pretty much have thought out the whole story and how it ends. But it will still need some polishing.

Oh, and ideas are very welcome! This being my first try, I would love to get ideas to add, things to correct and change, and of course, if you love it and want me to continue.

Now, press that green button and review! :)