It's KeeponReadin' here with another AMAZING story! Are you excited? I know I am!
1.) Disclaimer: I don't own PJatO. All products/movies/other belong to their respective owners and creators, not me!
2.) For those who have already read this chapter: read it again I edited some things that will change the events in chapter 2.
3.) Now that my ridiculously long disclaimer is done... READ!
Family Game Night:
Chapter 1:
"HERA!" Zeus clanged his lightning bolt against the floor of the throne room in rage. The beautiful, white, freshly-polished stone floor shattered underneath its power and was replaced by a small crater. Zeus knew at that moment that somewhere in Camp Half-Blood Annabeth Chase had just cringed. But Zeus didn't care much for the feelings of demigods (even if they were the daughter of his favorite child), especially not at the present when he had much more important matters to deal with. Such pressing matters as: his boredom! Can you believe it? The King of the Gods bored? Completely preposterous if you asked him! That's why he'd devised a plan that would solve his boredom and even get a little bonding time with his demigod children. And some would dare think I'm heartless!
About that time a white light flooded the room and out of the light strode his beautiful (and often times moody) wife, Hera. "Whatever is the matter now, Zeus?" Unfortunately for him, Hera was feeling exceptionally moody on this fine Monday morning, "This had better be good or so help me-,"
"Please, have you no faith? I, Zeus King of the Gods, have had the single greatest idea since, as the mortals say "sliced bread"."
"Alright let's hear it then Mr. High And Mighty."
"Of course, Mrs. Grumpy Pants. In honor of our recent defeat of Gaea and her monstrous army we are going to host the first ever Camp Half-Blood Annual Family Game Festival!" At that moment Zeus stood and held both of his hands over his head while sunlight shone in from a skylight in the dome shaped roof of the Grand Throne Room of Olympus. He was sure that somewhere someone had just gone blind from the shear magnificence of his idea. He beamed (in Hera's opinion) like an idiot and waited for her response, "So? What do you think?"
Hera sighed heavily, she knew all-too-well that she could not talk her stubborn, hot-headed husband out of this one, "I'll go rally up the Olympians…."
"Aw, I knew you'd love it! Do me a favor and round up Athena, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Hermes, Hades, Aphrodite, Demeter, Ares, Apollo, and Artemis. Tell them that they can each bring one of their children. Artemis can bring a Huntress of her choice. You and I will be the judges."
Hera rolled her eyes in a way that only the goddess of marriage could, "Is that all? Maybe we should just invite the rest of Manhattan while we're at it?"
He gave her a warning glance, "Don't tempt me, dear." And with that the goddess disappeared in a wave of light that would've blinded all eyes but those of gods, and a faint but very distinct smell of cow manure lingered in the air.
"… And that Percy is the Pythagorean Theorem," Annabeth said as she completed her extremely elaborate yet dyslexia friendly math lesson that explained the Pythagorean Theorem to even the dumbest of demigods. She had taught the subject expertly despite the random fit of shuddering she had half way through the lesson. She could've sworn that she had heard the sound of priceless marble crumbling.
"Oh gods Annabeth, no more math; I swear I'll be a good boy from now on! I'll-I'll read The Hunger Games… or at least the summary… actually could you just paraphrase it really quick? No, wait, better idea! I'll take you to the movie!" Percy cried out in agony as he covered his ears and shook his head violently. Dumping Annabeth's copy of Mockingjay in the Lake was one of the worst ideas he had ever had. She had just finished Catching Fire the day before and had been completely ignoring Percy while she was reading those books so he felt that he needed to take "necessary" action against the evil girlfriend stealing menace.
She gave him a devious smirk that could rival Athena's as she closed the math book and turned off the Smart Board projector in Cabin Six. She (as always) had gotten exactly what she'd wanted. "Next Tuesday sound good? While we're out we can stop at a book store and you can buy me a new copy of Mockingjay," she walked over to a bunk and pulled a pencil out from under the pillow and marked the date on a calendar that hung on the wall next to the Smart Board. The calendar had a different famous architectural structure for each month; this month's was the Parthenon. Percy knew this without even looking at the calendar because whenever he would bring up anything even remotely related to Architecture she would go on and on about the Parthenon. Last month she talked for almost a whole hour about the Statue of Liberty. After listening to all her lectures on it he had decided to take her to it as a surprise. It was a win-win situation for Percy because: 1. It made Annabeth super happy and Annabeth super happy = Percy super duper happy (he doesn't need any more math than that). 2. He got non-Camp food (the food there is really good but sometimes you just need a regular fat filled cheeseburger).
He sighed, "It's a date beautiful, on one condition."
"I'm listening," she lifted her eyebrow quizzically.
"You can't just read your book all the time. I get all lonely and stuff," Percy prayed to every god he knew that his puppy-dog eyes would work on her.
She rolled her eyes, "Oh alright, jeez Seaweed Brain when did you get all emotional?"
"Well, when I- … do you feel that?" Suddenly Percy's pupils dilated and he spurted out in a mechanical sounding voice, "Dalmatians are born without spots, bats always turn left when exiting a cave, the pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing, men's shirts have the buttons on the right while women's shirts have them on the left, chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying, roosters cannot grow if they cannot extend their necks, owls are the only birds to drop their upper eyelids to blink-,"
Annabeth practically tackled Percy and clamped a hand over his mouth while she shielded her eyes from intense silver light that made the cabin light up like a Christmas tree. Athena emerged from the light laughing hysterically with an unhappy Poseidon on her heels. The god of the sea folded his arms and shot Athena a look of disgust. Suddenly he took on an amused smirk, "That's how you want to play it, eh?" He extended his left hand and snapped.
Annabeth felt a strange tingling beginning at her feet. She looked down to see green scales crawling up her legs. Her shoes burst and instead of looking at toes she was looking at one big fin. Her eyes widened and she fell back causing herself to lose her grip on Percy's mouth, "-Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die-,"
"POSEIDON, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY DAUGHTER?"
"ATHENA, MAKE MY BOY DUMB AGAIN OR YOU DAUGHTER'S THE NEW LITTLE MERMAID!"
Annabeth's legs merged into one huge fin and she gasped for air. Percy twitched on the ground while sputtering out random facts; he was making a sort of odd snow angel like thing in the blueprints on the wooden cabin floor. All the while Poseidon and Athena yelled at each other at the top of their lungs. Poseidon cursed like a sailor and Athena made books fly off the shelves in anger. A loud slam was heard as Malcolm emerged from Annabeth's office, "Hey, Annabeth, I found that book you were looking- oh gods! What the Hades-,"
"NOT NOW!" Athena and Poseidon both whipped around and yelled at Malcolm in unison.
"-When hippos are upset their sweat turns red-,"
"A-air…"
"-It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million dollars to make a movie about it-,"
"H-help me… please… can't… b-breathe…"
Poseidon and Athena fixed each other with evil glares that made Medusa the least of your worries as far as eyes were concerned. Both of them snapped their fingers at the same time without losing their godly Staring Contest. Percy blinked a couple of times and stared blankly up at the ceiling, "Uh… where's the pancakes, mom?"
Annabeth sucked in air and lay on her side panting while her legs changed back to normal. Malcolm stared wide-eyed at them all, "Talk about dysfunctional family…"
Annabeth shook her head at him and said breathlessly, "You have no idea…"
Percy tilted his head back a little to see the upside down forms of his father and Athena. He smiled and pointed at them, "Ha, you guys look funny when you're on the roof. You must be magic. Hey, magic lady, how'd you get up there?"
"Athena, what's wrong with him?" Poseidon snarled through gritted teeth.
"You said make him dumb."
"I meant his normal dumb, not brainless!"
"If you insist, Barnacle Breath," Athena smirked superiorly and snapped her fingers.
Percy sat bolt upright and blinked a couple of times, "Hey, Annabeth I just had the craziest dream- wait Dad and Athena are here… it wasn't a dream was it?"
"Nope," Annabeth shook her head and sat upright, leaning her back against the bottom of the nearest bunk.
"Shi-," Percy began but Annabeth cut him off sending him a dangerous glance, "-itake mushrooms are delicious!"
Annabeth sighed and shook her head at Percy sending him a quick glance that said that-was-the-best-cover-up-you-could-think-of? He shrugged and they turned their attention back to their parents who were still locked in their godly Staring Contest. Annabeth, being the braver of the two at the time, cleared her throat, "Um… Lord Poseidon, Mother, what did you come to speak to us about?"
Not even turning to look at Annabeth Athena stated in her usual matter-of-fact voice, "Zeus has requested that all the Olympians choose one demigod child to participate with them in some sort of "game festival"."
Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows. "So you want me and Percy to be your "participants" in these games?"
"Yes, I suppose so. Seeing as your brother over there is in a state of shock and Perseus is Poseidon's only demigod child it would seem that you two are the most logical choices. That and Aphrodite would have our heads if we didn't pick the both of you. It's not that I'm afraid of Aphrodite, I'm afraid of her non-stop jabbering. The goddess will not shut up about you two."
Percy and Annabeth turned a shade of crimson the second they were mentioned along with Aphrodite. That woman had visited them several times regarding "Percabeth" (a concept Percy still didn't understand despite Aphrodite's lectures). Let's just say Percy and Annabeth did not enjoy the monthly meetings of the "Percabeth Fan Club". Inspired and made up of Aphrodite and maybe a daughter or two of hers… heck, it was probably the whole cabin minus Piper.
This time Percy decided to break the awkward silence, "So when is this game festival thing?"
"Next week, Little Brother said we've got a week to prepare or something like that. He also said that he and Hera would be providing the list of games once they worked it out. I guess they must be some sort of Olympic type games that we'd have to prepare for physically. Well not us because we're gods," Poseidon mimicked Athena's matter-of-fact tone and she looked impressed.
"Wow, Fish Face, I didn't know you were capable of using logic."
"'Wow, Fish Face, I didn't know you were capable of using logic,'" Poseidon raised his voice to make it sound feminine. Athena rolled her eyes and Poseidon rolled his sea green ones while fighting to keep the same stern expression she had.
Annabeth nodded her head in understanding, "So that's where Percy gets it from!"
"You mean Perseus acts like Coral for Brains? How do you put up with him?"
"Hey, give me some credit, I'm not that annoying!"
"Son, what's that supposed to mean?" Poseidon fixed Percy with a stern glare.
"Uh… nothing Dad you're the greatest!"
Poseidon nodded his head in satisfaction, "That's what I thought. C'mon niece let's head back to the big O, your Dear Old Daddy is waiting for us." Lightning flashed and thunder boomed overhead. Poseidon cupped his hands over his mouth, leaned his head out of the nearest window and yelled up at the sky, "KEEP YOUR CHITON ON, WE'RE COMING!"
Athena put her hands on her hips and gave Poseidon the don't-you-be-messing-with-my-daddy glare, "You know Father has blood-pressure problems, he's been really stressed out lately."
"You know why? The Old Man-," more lightning and thunder, "-needs to learn how to have fun!"
"I thought he was your younger brother-," Percy started.
Poseidon waved a hand distractedly at him, "Not now, Percy."
"Poseidon, this has taken way too long. We need to leave now before Father gets any angrier." She gestured towards the thunder clouds looming overhead.
"Fine," Poseidon huffed and walked over to Percy. "Boy, you're getting way too big! Stop growing," he smiled proudly at Percy and engulfed him in what was probably literally a bone-crushing hug.
"D-Dad… can't… b-breathe…"
"Sorry son! Keep forgetting you don't have the curse of Achilles anymore!"
"I-It's fine Dad," Percy stuttered a little bit as he sucked in the air he had been momentarily deprived of.
Athena approached Annabeth and gave her a much gentler motherly-hug, "Daughter, it seems I'm often too busy to notice how intelligent and big your getting! When I say big I of course meant height; I mean look at you! You're almost my height… well, not in my godly form of course." Annabeth smiled at the extremely rare sight of her mother gushing over her like normal moms do. Athena whispered in her ear so that only she could hear it, "I'm proud of you, Annabeth. Very proud."
Annabeth beamed from ear-to-ear as Poseidon approached her. He clapped a hand on her shoulder, "You know, Annabeth, you might not be so bad for my son after all."
"Uh… thanks?"
"No problem! I mean you certainly must have good taste if you're reading The Hunger Games Series! Don't breathe a word of this to your mom, but… I read all three."
Annabeth's eyebrows rose, "Really?"
"Yes, reading is my guilty pleasure... well, reading and tuna salad."
She rolled her eyes at him, "I don't think Percy's ever read a book in his life."
Poseidon cracked a smile, "Why don't we try and fix that, eh?"
"I've been told that great minds think alike."
"Ha! Don't let your mom hear that we've teamed up!Next thing you know she'll have Percy doing who knows what to us!"
Oddly enough, Annabeth and Poseidon had actually hit it off. Percy and Athena on the other hand… not so much. "… If you harm one hair on her golden little head you'll wake up in Tartarus tomorrow morning!"
"Athena, ma'am, I promise that I won't hurt Annabeth! Mr. Chase already gave me this talk, ma'am. If I ever do anything to Annabeth whether it is on purpose or an accident you can make me spontaneously combust or make my brain flip inside out or something," Percy spoke in a calm, level, and dead-serious tone.
Her cold gray eyes scanned him for a minute. They looked like they were dissecting him and that Athena could see into his very soul. "One slip up Perseus, and you're a goner. You understand me?"
"Yes ma'am!" Percy, being the big goober he was, even saluted her. She rolled her eyes good-naturedly and left in a silvery explosion with Poseidon right behind her.
Annabeth looked around at the ransacked cabin, her shell-shocked brother, and shaking boyfriend; she nodded a little and said, "That definitely went better than the last time."
"Yeah, she turned me into a book about identifying owl droppings last time."
Then Annabeth looked over at Malcolm, "You think he's going to be okay?"
"Probably not," he wagered the odds a little before he'd responded.
"You think we should take him to Chiron?"
"Nah," Percy considered it for a little bit before dismissing it.
"Sounds good to me," and with that Annabeth laced her fingers with Percy's as they flung the door to Cabin Six open and marched out leaving a messy cabin and a permanently scarred Malcolm behind.
What did you think? Don't worry, this chapter was just setting up for the games that will ensue in the next chapter! Please review! I enjoy any and all feedback whether it be negative or positive! Constructive criticism is always very helpful and is necessary for me to grow and expand as a writer! A humongormouslygiant THANK YOU goes out to everyone who reads, reviews, and all that other good stuff!
