I sat at my table, hardly touching my food. I hadn't told anyone about my dream yet, and I didn't want to tell anyone. I hoped it was just that – a dream. Part of me knew that my not telling anyone was stupid. But who knows? Maybe Morpheus – The god of dreams – would have seen, and would warm The Olympians… Fat chance - there's a million proper dreamers around the world, and Half Bloods don't have proper dreams. It's normally a glance of something happening now, in the past, or the future. I'm not sure how much sight Morpheus would have over that… I'm not sure if he was even watching me – it was unlikely.
Grover plonked down onto the bench beside me. He wasn't one of the demigods, so I guess it was fine for him to sit wherever he liked.
'You look troubled, Percy…' He said in his newly grown-up voice. Grover had changed a lot over the last year, but he was still really the same satyr I had met back in the sixth grade. 'We still have the empathy link… I'm pretty sure I know roughly what's wrong.' I shook my head, looking down toward my meal. 'You expect me to believe you're just saving all your food for your dad?' He grinned. 'I don't really wanna talk about it.' I muttered. 'Okay then, how about the other thing you asked at the campfire yesterday?' He smiled at me, reaching into his T-Shirts pocket. As he did so, I remembered exactly what I had said. Brilliant… even Grover knew I was having problems with Annabeth.
Grover pulled a small, bronze figurine of an owl. The head occasionally turned, or the wing lifted over it, placing its head underneath. As I stared at it, it let out a faint HOOT!
'I got the Hephaestus kids to make it for you yesterday. Don't worry, I didn't tell them why you needed it.' He added sharply. He dropped it to the table in front of me. The little figure had amazing craftsmanship. The bronze had every little detail of the feathers on it. The way the owl moved was perfectly smooth and flowing. 'Don't worry about it malfunctioning and attacking people,' Grover grinned 'they said there was so little movement, it would be impossible.' Wow. So, even though Aphrodite had promised to make my love-life difficult, she still had answered my prayer. She'd not only send one of her demigod children to tell me what to do, but she'd sent someone with the PERFECT gift. I grinned at Grover 'It's perfect, dude. Thanks.' He nodded lightly, and then slid from the table, rejoining the head one.
After we had all made our offerings to the gods, and sang our camp fire songs, we began to file back to the cabins. I strolled at Annabeth's side, waiting for us to be more alone. Finally, when we were about half way to the cabins, nearly everyone else was ahead of us. I turned toward Annabeth, and put my hand on her shoulder. She stopped, and glanced at me. I slid the owl from my pocket, and held it out to her. She looked over it slowly, smiling slightly at it.
'Annabeth, I'm sorry for the lake. I don't really know how to make it up to you, but I think this present will be a good start.' Annabeth looked up at me, staring into my eyes. Finally, she giggled, and said 'You're so cute, seaweed brain.' With that, she gave me peck on the lips, and wandered off to her cabin. I stood there dumbly for a few seconds, before moving off back to my summer home.
Once I arrived at the heavy stone doors, I knew something was different. The cabin glowed its sea-green aura brighter than ever. The door was open a crack, which was strange, me being the only one who is allowed inside. When I stepped inside, I was nearly knocked off my feet. The smell was overpowering, the sea salt smell washing over me as soon as I stepped inside. The corals were perkier than ever, and the bunks had made themselves. I knew why instantly, because sat on my bed, a man in Bermuda shorts, and a Hawaiian shirt was fiddling with a fishing pole.
'Dad.' I grinned. He looked up at me, his face serious as ever. The only difference in him since the last time I saw him was the twinkle in his eyes. It didn't seem as bright. I mean, it shouldn't have surprised me, as last time I had seen him, we had just defeated a horde of monsters, and two titans, but something about him seemed more wary. 'Hello, Perseus.' He smiled shortly, patting the bed beside him. I sat beside him on my bunk, looking up at his face. 'Hey dad' I murmured. 'What brings you to camp?' 'You know, my son. I know of your dreams.' I grimaced, realising the reality of the situation. 'Earlier today, that tree was cut down, and thanks to a particularly treacherous Titan, Hyperion was released.' He looked down over his fishing pole slowly. 'But, we, the mortals, defeated Hyperion once before already. Surely with the gods, and us, we can defeat him and his weaker brother…' I murmured this, sure that it would not be so simple. 'I see it in your eyes. You have already guessed what they will do… In fact, it was mentioned in your first dream of the two…' I knew what my father was speaking of instantly. While the titans had been talking on the mountain, the titan's most skilled warrior had called out from where he held the sky… "One of you come and take my place!" he had screamed… I highly doubted that the stronger one was going to sacrifice himself to free his brother… Krois would be taken out of the equation, leaving the two best Titan Warriors to gather forces. Last year, we hadn't even killed Kronos. We had simply destroyed his host. The worst thing was, there was only one other mortal form in the universe that could bare him without someone taking a bath in the Styx. Me…