CHAPTER 2:

Mortal Enemies... Again. (Thanks, Dad).

Hey, everyone. So, as you know from Pickle's introduction on the last chapter, this is a joint story between Pickle and I! Pickle wrote the last chapter (please review/follow/favourite us if you like it!) and this chapter is my first one in this story. So, in the last chapter, we left Annabeth and Percy gasping in horror at a mysterious 'thing'. BIG cliffhanger. Anyway, I hope you enjoy my chapter. :) Review if you like it! :)

Percy's whirlpool faltered. Annabeth gasped in horror. What was it?

A giant wave roared above their heads, rearing back in what Percy could only assume was anger or fear. Probably both, since they were the ones who had disturbed his cove.

The water fell away, revealing a huge ugly thing. It's legs and - flippers - were scaly and dark grey. They seemed to be shifting shades of blue, black and grey. Its torso was bright red, blood red and scaly. Percy thought that those were its worst parts until he saw its head.

The entire face was a mix of blue, grey, black and red, and in Percy's opinion, those colours should never be mixed. Percy cringed and looked away hurriedly as his eyes met its eyes for one millisecond - they were bright white, and filled with rage.

Percy wondered why it seemed so familiar, until he remembered: it looked like a mix of the Loch Ness Monster and his old Maths teacher, Mrs Dodds.

"Son of Poseidon!" the thing roared. "Give yourself up! I sense your blood pounding near this vessel that has disturbed my slumber!"

Percy rolled his eyes. Why did every monster they meet have the same, corny, threatening message? And why was it never Annabeth that they were mad at? How had he managed to piss off all these monsters without never once meeting them? (Not that he'd ever want to put her in danger). Seriously, he needed to send his dad a thank you note for giving him all these new mortal enemies.

Annabeth stared at him with a 'don't-you-dare' look in her grey eyes. "Percy," she whispered, flinching as the monster struck the water again. "Don't... Don't you dare give yourself up, Seaweed Brain! I won't let you."

Percy gave her a look and yelled, in his most confident manner, "I'm right here, hideous creature from the deep!" Percy glanced at Annabeth and saw her white face turned to the sky with her eyes closed, as if in prayer. Percy sighed, cringing again as the horrible thing turned to face him. Oh boy, he thought, biting his lip in anticipation of the bellows that it was sure to unleash.

It did something quite different.

"Perseus Jackson," the monster sneered. Then, almost wistfully, it said to itself, "Bethune... I miss you. Here is my chance to join you at last.."

"What?" Percy asked loudly, unsure if he was losing his hearing or not. Bethune? Who was that?

"Never you mind," snapped the monster, fury back on its face. "This is my chance to join my beloved at last. I have waited milennia for this chance." Its face turned weary.

"What?" Percy asked, confused. "What are you talking about? I've never even met you!"

The monster sighed, its breath flowing out of its mouth and nearly blowing Percy backwards. "I suppose, before I kill you," it said, jerking his head toward Percy, "I'd better tell you my story." It flopped down in the ocean, sending a cascade of water flowing across the beach. Its expression turned wistful and melancholy. "It all started when I met her." "Who?" Percy asked, even more puzzled.

"Bethune, you idiot!" the monster snarled. It returned to its melancholic state, continuing on with the story. "She was beautiful. The most beautiful demigod I'd ever laid eyes on. She was funny too. Witty. Smart, gorgeous, witty... And she loved me. She loved me like my own family had never done when I ran away from home." The monster's tone was sad.

Percy found himself glancing at Annabeth. Her beautiful grey eyes were filled with tears and she was biting her lip. He knew this story would strike a chord with her: Annabeth had run away from her family when she was seven and had believed she wasn't wanted. That had all changed though; now she was in regular contact with them, and was even considering taking an architecture course near her dad's work in the fall.

Percy tore his gaze away from her and back to the monster.

"I loved her for as long as I knew her," it continued. "I called her Bethy; she called me Pat." "Wait..." Percy tried to process this in his head. "You were once a demigod?"

The monster glared at him and Percy had to repress the urge to cringe away. The monster sighed and answered, "Yes. I am a son of Hephaestus; I was a demigod named Patrick.

I loved Bethune more than anything. We were going to get married one day - I just knew it. I would have done anything for her, been anything for her. Everything was perfect until the day I brought her to this cove. It's sacred to Poseidon, you see. I did something to offend him - to this day, I'm still not sure what I did - and he turned me into this!" He gestured to himself angrily. "Bethy sobbed when she saw me, and Poseidon used the water from her tears to change her into a water nymph and moved her far, far away from me." His voice broke. "I vowed to get my revenge on Poseidon. But until now, I haven't had the chance. I've just been stuck, in this form and without my Bethune."

"Wait. I don't understand something -" Annabeth began, curiously. The monster whipped its - no, his, Percy corrected himself - head around to stare at her. He supposed that he hadn't noticed her until then.

"Bethy?" he whispered, shocked. "Is that you?"

Dun, dun, dun... Cliffhanger! So, Pickle, it's up to you! What does Patrick mean when he calls Annabeth "Bethy"? What's his story? How did he end up as a sea monster? Until the fourth chapter, FanFiction-ers!

Olive :) :D :P