PERCY'S P.O.V.
I was running. Away from what, I wasn't sure. I didn't even know where I was until I glanced toward the bow. A dark-haired, wooden maiden stood, chained the ship. Of course. Even a year after the second Titans' war, that very ship, the "sacred" housing of rebirth to the Titan Lord Kronos, came to haunt me. A bone-chilling, hollow laugh echoed around me. I was running in invisible quicksand. "Run, little warrior. Beckendorf is waiting!" Kronos's eerie voice spoke to me, just waiting for my reaction. I couldn't get to Beckendorf in time, or turn around and jump off the side. Kronos, the stupid oaf, made time itself bend. I saw the familiar muscular African-American boy up ahead and tried to force myself to break the spell. I could in real life. I mean, I have. But I couldn't. Even knowing what was gonna happen, wasn't going to make my body propel itself faster to change fate. And then in a deep voice, even though his is deep, wasn't his, Beckendorf yelled, "Percy! Stop it! Percy!"
I woke, and sat up so fast I hit my head on Tyson's. Tyson is my baby Cyclops brother. And by baby, I mean, mentally, he's around 8 or 9 years old. Maybe ten. But physically, he's 6'3, easy. He's got crazy scars on his back from the time he and a Sphinx had a, ah, "skirmish", and if you can see through the Mist, one big brown eye surrounded by long black lashes. And he's ready to go through anything for me, Rachel Elizabeth Dare (who is the new Oracle's host), Annabeth, Thalia, Dad, Grover, or even Mrs. O'Leary. She's my pet hellhound. So, basically, any of my friends, even if it's Grover, the 33 year old satyr. Of course, satyrs mature half as fast as humans, and Grover's a slow-goer as it is.
Tyson yelled, "Yay! Percy's alright!"
"Yeah, big guy. I am," I said, although the dreamed worried me. I had accepted Beckendorf's death, just as I had Silena Beauregard, Bianca di Angelo, Zoe Nightshade, and others. If there's one death that should be haunting me, it should be Michael Yew, head counselor for Apollo until the war, when I'd made major bridge break apart in various places, and Michael had been in the very spot where one piece had fallen. He dropped a hundred feet, and I had his bow, which hadn't fallen, and tacked it to my wall as a reminder. Among other reminders, I had a pink scarf from Silena's stuff, Beckendorf's lucky hammer, a wild centaur's T-shirt that said KRONOS SUX, and others.
A soft knock shattered our silence. Annabeth strolled in, and wrapped her arms around my neck, and planted a soft kiss on my lips. Just like that. Her lip gloss today (and yes, she actually wore lip gloss now) tasted like Pomegranate Apple, one of the flavors I enjoyed, because it actually tasted good, unlike some others. I couldn't help but slide my tongue slowly through her lips. I was so caught up in the moment, like I always am, I didn't realize that Tyson was still there until he coughed slightly and I broke away, Annabeth stuck in mid-kiss, whimpering. Tyson blushed and said, "I'll, uh, go see, um, Heidi…" Tyson bounded out. Heidi was his girlfriend. No, not girlfriend. Ugh, a girl that's a friend, okay? Geez. Turns out, surprising as it is, Heidi is a lady Cyclops. I know, right. Shocker. But together, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, and Poseidon, my dad, created about 2 dozen lady Cyclops', and one stays here. The others are clever traps to lure more Cyclops' to work at the forges. Aphrodite made them beautiful and irresistible. Well, as beautiful and irresistible as Cyclops' can be. Not meaning to be offensive, of course. But I could tell Tyson and Heidi were really into each other.
"So, sailor, we fighting any monsters today, or are you free?" Annabeth laced her fingers with mine and we walked out of the shallow sea-stone building. I looked around. Camp Half-Blood had changed so much. Instead of a giant U, there was a complete rectangle, with minor gods' cabins, as well as Hades and Hestia. A huge temple lay below the Arena, and many children were gathered there, praying and worshipping. I saw dryads climbing from their trees, and Grover and Juniper holding hands, walking down from the forest. "What'll we do first?" Annabeth asked me. "Um, you wanna fly?" And of course by fly, I mean fly a pegasus. Annabeth seemed extremely happy at that. She loved her pegasus, Porkpie. We walked over to the stables, where I saw Katie Gardner trying to sooth a horse. "Need help?" I asked. "Uh, yeah, I guess…" she blushed. The horse spoke in my mind, Nuh-uh, lord. I ain't gonna ride with her, who knows? If she gets mad I might just become a giant sunflower!
"Come on, Barry. She won't. Heck, I never turned you into a big wad of kelp, did I?"
No, but—
"Then let her ride!"
Fine, lord. As you wish…
Katie shot me a grateful look and I nodded in return.
We walked over to our pegasi's stalls, and I got Blackjack ready while Annabeth saddled Porkpie up. We flew over the open sky and did flips and twirls and nosedives, all the while we laughed loudly. It was good to hear such a pure sound. Suddenly an arrow shot passed my ear. Chiron, the head camp activities director, waved us down. We swooped down, and let our horses walk back to the stables, for an extra sugar cube each. Chiron smiled, something I haven't seen in a while. "Percy, Grover and Juniper have something to say to you two, in your cabin," and with that, he trotted away. "Um, okay?!" Annabeth said, genuinely confused. I laughed. "This should be good," and we walked to my cabin. I opened the door quickly, to see Grover and Juniper hugging tightly on a spare bunk. "Uh, hey guys. We're here!" Annabeth called. They let go of each other quickly. "Percy, Annabeth. We have something important to tell you. Juniper and I, well, um, we're pregnant…" Grover said shyly. I asked "We're pregnant?" Grover said, "Well, Juniper is. I'm just the father."
Annabeth fainted.
"Annabeth!" I yelled, pulling out a canteen of water. I poured it over her face and she woke up spluttering. I helped her to my bed and lay her down. "Weirdest dream… Grover and Juniper… here… baby…" And then she saw them sitting on another bunk. I thought she was gonna faint again, right then and there, but she just said, "Oh, gods…" and closed her eyes. "So do you have any names picked out?" I asked. "No, not really. We don't know if she's going to live in a tree with Juniper, or more of a satyr like me," Grover told me. "Has there ever been any girl satyrs? And do you even know if it's a girl?" I felt awkward, pummeling him with so many questions. "Well, only two other people besides me, Juniper, Annabeth, and you, know. And that's Chiron and Maggie Somers, a girl from the Apollo Cabin. She did some tests, which I didn't even know she could do, and told us it was a girl," I noticed Juniper hadn't said a word the whole time. "Um, well, good luck with that…" I said as the dinner bell clanged. I rushed out, supporting Annabeth heavily on my shoulder. Even though we were dating, we weren't allowed to sit together. Rules. I got up to scrape a large portion of my food to the gods in the large fire. "Poseidon, thank you for everything. And to all you other gods and goddesses, yes, even you Hades and Hestia. Thanks," I murmured. And I walked back to my table, nervously pushing my food around. When we were finally allowed to be dismissed, I hurried back to my cabin. I didn't know why I was acting so strange. Annabeth followed me in, shutting the door firmly. Tyson was still hanging out wit Heidi, and he wouldn't return until around 10:15 or so. Annabeth pushed me onto the bed. "So, Seaweed Brain, what should we do tonight?" she asked as she kissed me. I flipped us over, now me on top. "I don't know, just play it by ear," I purred as I kissed down her collarbone. She panted as I pulled off her shirt, and then worked my way down her stomach. I started pulling down her yoga-style shorts. I was waiting to see those crazy good legs, when suddenly, somebody pounded on the door. Annabeth pulled on her shirt and shorts, and fixed her hair. "Give me your hat," I whispered. She gave me a questioning look, but asked nothing and held it out. I took the invisibility New York Yankee's cap and shoved it in a drawer. She caught on quickly, and threw open my trunk, scattering its contents. "Where did you put my knife, Seaweed Brain?!" She yelled. "I told you, I don't have it!" I screamed back. The person at the door knocked louder. I pulled open the door so quickly I nearly whacked myself in the face. Annabeth was on her hands and knees, looking under my bed, through the sheets, everything she could find. Chiron stood at the door, his eyebrows furrowed together. At his side were two girls, One looked about 12 or 13, and the other was about 19. They both had jet black hair, and the older one had aqua blue eyes, the other had sea-green eyes. Tan skin, good bodies. The younger stood, breathing through her mouth, so I could tell she had braces.
Then Chiron looked at me. "Percy, welcome Andi and Cassie. They are your sisters."