A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EXCEEDINGLYPECULIARCHICK! This one goes out to you—yes, you are so awesome that you get my first PJO multichap. Don't you feel special? Well, you should. Buckets of thanks to wombat-of-awesomeness, who helped me edit the first three chapters. You truly are an awesome wombat.

"Taa-daa! Happy birthday, Percy!" Annabeth beamed, eyes alight as she presented him with her present. The campers leaned in, eager to see what his girlfriend got him on his special day.

Percy, actually, was quite exhausted after the Olympic-sized meal (and Percy knew what he was talking about there) and all the pictures. In his opinion, everyone was making his eighteenth birthday too big a deal. Still, he smiled as enthusiastically as possible, and accepted the large box from Annabeth.

It was getting rather late, yet the buoyant, colorful flames of the campfire were showing no signs of dying down. It was only Percy who wanted to sleep so badly.

"Go on, open it!" she urged, obviously excited at what was in the package. So far, he'd gotten a compact sleeping bag from Tyson that was incredibly comfortable and folded up to the size of a single square of ambrosia at the slightest command; a sword-cleaning kit from his mentor, Chiron; blue candy from his mom, even though she was far away from working at that old candy store again; silly putty from Travis and Connor Stoll; a banana peel from Clarisse, who had been having trouble keeping a straight face; and assorted other things from the rest of the campers.

Thus far, he was having an excellent day—for one, he was exempt from cabin cleaning in the morning, and Lou Ellen from the Hecate cabin and the Stoll brothers offered to do his chores for him this afternoon, which had turned out to be a grave mistake. The satyrs were still occasionally bursting into bouts of Leo-style "THE HILLLLLS ARE ALIIIIIIVE, WITH THE SOOOUND OF MUUUUSIC…"

And on top of it all, he got to spend the entire day with Annabeth, which brought him back to the present (pun intended) and the box in his lap.

He paused for a moment to look at it, for he just now noticed small holes on the top and sides. Almost… breathing holes. The box emitted a sudden shuffling noise, making Percy jump with surprise. Annabeth laughed. "Go on, silly!"

Reluctantly, he undid the gaudy bow on top and peeled off the SpongeBob Squarepants wrapping paper to reveal a plain beige box, still with breathing holes. The shuffling became even more insistent.

He huffed with apprehension, and Annabeth took this as a breath of excitement. "What're you waiting for?" she encouraged.

Here goes nothing, he thought, and lifted a tiny corner of the box. Immediately something gray and furry jumped out and latched onto his face.

"ARGH! GET IT OFF ME! GET IT OFF!" he screamed, and about five campers lunged forward to pull the thing off his face. When the creature calmed down, Percy leaned in for a closer look.

Oh, Annabeth… he thought. You gave me a hamster.