(A/N) So...Let's pretend that wasn't awkward and move onto the story. OH WAIT! BEFORE I DO! I should probably mention that it will not just be Percy and Annabeth narrating. I just had to do it that way because something important is happening. Next chapter is going to be Hazel's POV I think.

I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians (PJO) or Heroes of Olympus (HoO). This is simply just a random fan girl making a random version so she doesn't have to be in as much pain waiting for the real version to come out (:

Chapter Three (Annabeth)

When Annabeth was assigned to First Cohort she was nervous. She was nervous on why that kid Alexandrus had picked her. And why someone would second that idea? She had an idea. Not just an idea. She knew the answer, of course. Alex (A/N: Alex is short for Alexandrus incase you didn't figure that out...)was looking to pick up a new girlfriend. And that new girlfriend, was Annabeth. Annabeth was worried Percy would get jealous and think there was something going on.

Annabeth could see where Percy would be coming from. Annabeth used to be jealous of Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who Percy was friends with. Rachel liked Percy, because Percy introduced her to the world of gods and tree spirits and whatnot. Annabeth got extremely jealous, even before Percy and Annabeth started dating. She would fight with Rachel all the time. As it turns out, Rachel became the Oracle of Delphi and can't date. Win for Annabeth! Now her and Rachel are actually pretty good friends.

But as soon as she saw the look in Alex's eyes, she felt mad. Percy knew something was going to happen, too. Annabeth could see it in his eyes when he gave her the tablet. Why they had to become accepted into cohorts? Annabeth had no idea. They were just staying for a little bit. They were planning on a get in get out situation, but it didn't work that way. The Romans invited them in, but Annabeth felt like they were making sure they could trust the Greeks with some of their campers or something.

She would only be with the Romans a day. She didn't know if she would even make it back alive to decide if she would ever visit New Rome. Stop thinking that! Annabeth scolded herself for letting her thoughts distract her again. Focus on the task at hand. Winning.

While they were making a strategy, Percy flew over on Blackjack.

Reyna must be over on the other side. When Annabeth first saw Percy and Reyna, she knew they weren't together. Percy remembered her, so nothing happened? Right? Or did something happen? Annabeth scolded herself for not trusting Percy. Nothing happened. She assured herself.

Annabeth was the best strategist. "I think they might be planning a way of attacking; combining both Greek and Roman technique."

"Please," It annoyed Annabeth that Octavian dared to question her, so she glared at him, "We shouldn't trust the Greeks. They don't know anything."

Most of the cohort nodded in agreement.

"I'm Greek," Annabeth said, obviously offended.

"Not you. You're a smart Greek. You should join the Romans! Battle the Greeks to the death! We, Romans, could conquer Greece once again. Just this time Greece is in North America, as is Rome, but you get my point, right?" Annabeth zoned out Alex. He was really starting to get on her nerves.

"We're not evil!" Annabeth basically screamed.

"Times up!" Percy called from the sky. So far, First and Second cohort had no plan. They went into their fort or whatever it was, and Annabeth decided to take charge. "Okay, you, you, and you," She said, pointing towards three different people, defend the door. Annabeth pointed to some more people. "Go outside and defend the cohort. And the rest of us, stand guard on the walls!"

"We're both strategists," Alexandrus said, coming up next to Annabeth. It was annoying to Annabeth that there were fifty different spots and he had to chose the one next to her.

"I already have a boyfriend," she argued, sure that is why he came over.

"Well, dump him. Come to us. I could take care of Percy for you. How nice would that be? Just you, me, together. Forget Percy. He's in the past. He didn't even remember you until two days ago. He had been dating Reyna, and probably still is. When I heard he had a girlfriend back at the Greek camp, I was shocked. Because he was with Reyna." Alex explained, with a hint of fake sadness in his voice.

A part of Annabeth knew he was lying. The other part of her. She wasn't so sure. She took into consideration. She felt like something was wrong with Percy. He had changed. The other part of her, dominated. Annabeth wanted to scream, that he was a liar, but knew that wouldn't be start. Instead she said, "Oh. Well, let's focus on the games," It also nagged at Annabeth when Alex had said 'us'. As if he was part of some elite group. He also said he could 'take care of Percy' and Annabeth had a feeling he didn't mean care for.

The games went wrong. Octavian was in the front line, and started attacking Leo and Piper, because they were Greek. Annabeth was afraid Leo would catch on fire. He does that sometimes, when he's mad or very excited. Literally, he heats up.

Fire users are very dangerous, but Leo seemed to hide the fact he was a fire user. It had killed his mom after all. When Leo told Percy, Annabeth was surprised. He almost never reviled his secret, except the time he showed us Bunker Nine. That's when most of camp discovered he was a fire user. Gossip spreads as fast as the last fire user's flames when it burned many cities and towns. The last fire user, almost burnt down everything. Annabeth didn't feel like this would happen with Leo. She had this feeling, she couldn't describe, but Annabeth knew Leo wasn't like the last fire user. Not that she had known him, just from what she had heard.

Octavian was taking war games a little too far. I was glad Percy was up in the sky. Octavian would've aimed for Percy first if he was playing. Then, she felt a little concerned for Octavian, because he knew he was no match for Percy. Almost. He almost felt bad for Octavian. Nah. Who was she kidding? She wouldn't have felt bad at all. Percy was a good sword fighter. Everyone at camp said he was the best sword fighter, since, well, Luke.

Everyone used to compare Percy to Luke. Luke was a hero, until of course, he tried to overthrow the gods and everything. Even thought it was mostly Kronos, Luke still was the one who hosted his body. Luke was evil before Kronos, as Percy told Annabeth once. She was stubborn and refused to believe it at first, but deep down she knew Percy had been right.

Last year, when Luke had taken the knife, Annabeth's knife, the cursed blade, he asked me if Annabeth loved him, right after he stabbed himself in his mortal point, so Kronos would be no more. (He had to bath in the River Styx to be able to hold Kronos.) Part of Annabeth had wanted to say, "Yes! Yes I do love you!" But then she looked at Percy.

She realized, Luke wasn't the one for her. Percy was. So she said no. Luke was more of brother love near the end. Annabeth had felt guilty afterwards, because she would always talk about saving Luke, when Percy was about to get killed various times before the war. She realized this now, too late. Good thing Percy forgave her for all the times she muttered about Luke not dying, or Luke still being in his body. She was right, as a child of Athena should be, but she realized how obnoxious she must've sounded.

Annabeth shook her head. She had been lost in thoughts. This happened a lot to Annabeth. Ever since she got the mark. She remembered the dream that was not so much of a dream. She got lost in thoughts and this is what happened:

Annabeth recalled this memory in full color. She remembered words spoken and everything. She had been asleep. She woke up in the middle of the night, wanting to cry out for Percy. But Percy wasn't there. Percy had been missing for twelve days, three hours, and about twenty three minutes. Annabeth longed for her Seaweed Brain.

"Where are you, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked out loud. Of course, she got no answer. She didn't expect one. All of her cabin mates were sound asleep. It must have been about three o'clock in the morning.

A few minutes later, time froze around Annabeth. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry, Annabeth. It is only I, Athena. You're mother."

"MOM? What are you doing here?" Annabeth had asked, stunned that her mother had come to visit. You see, the gods are kind of on strike. Ever since Percy denied their offer to become immortal, they took that the wrong way and closed Olympus. Except for claiming, the gods were silent. But, that's a story for another time. It was all Zeus's doing, but being Lord of the Sky, he was the leader. Of course, he had also saved them after they were eaten, but that's another story for another time.

"I come baring news," Athena had said.

"What news? Good or bad?" Annabeth asked, still half asleep.

"Bad, unfortunately."

"What?" Annabeth asked, now wide awake with shock. "And how are you here? Doesn't Zeus want everyone on lock down. No communication?"

"He made this exception. My father's pride has been wounded. But that is not why I am here. I come bearing The Mark."

"The Mark?" Annabeth mumbled, confused.

"The Mark of Athena. I can't tell you much about it. I can only tell you that you will be destined to die in the end, if you can not reverse the curse. It will lead you on your way, soon. Very soon. " Athena handed her daughter, a small, owl. It appeared to be made out of Celestial Bronze.

"What? Why are you doing this to me, Mother?" Annabeth was on the verge of tears, but she didn't completely understand yet. Partly because she was about to fall back asleep, and partly because her mother had not explained it all.

"I have too. You will find the answer soon. After all, all roads lead there."

"How do I reverse the curse?" Annabeth asked, unaware that the answer Rome was right in front of her. All roads lead to Rome.

"It will come to you, Daughter," Athena assured. "You can not get rid of the curse easily. It will take a lot of work, as I said before. I know you're ready. And if you do not believe you are ready, you need to start believing, or you will not reverse the curse."

"Do you do this to all your children?"

"No," Athena answered, blankly. "Goodbye, Child."

Athena left the room and time had continued. She screamed and woke up her whole cabin had unfrozen. Her scream woke a good majority of them up, though.

Annabeth realized at the senate meeting that all roads lead to Rome. She cursed herself for being so unwise. She knew she had to go on the quest to Rome. The real Rome. She didn't know how to explain it to the others. She was afraid they were going to pick someone else. It's not like she could just waltz up to Octavian and Reyna and be like: "I need to go on this quest or else I die. You see, my mother told me that I would have to go on the quest after she froze time and gave me a weird owl pendant or something." She would look like a complete idiot!

Annabeth focused her attention back to the game. Octavian was like a murderer out there. He could fight. Annabeth was momentarily impressed. Of course, that moment passed quickly. He was still not as good as Percy. Annabeth looked up and saw Percy flying around. Gods, she had missed Percy so much. It was good to have him back. But even with him only yards away in the air felt like a million miles.

Annabeth realized there was someone who broke in. She cursed. How could she have been so distracted she missed the break in. She went down to attack, and realized it was Leo. She was shocked to see Leo. The only thing Leo is good at is building and setting himself on fire.

"Valdez wins!" He shouted, and got excited. He stole the banner. Annabeth had to battle him for it. Leo was actually pretty good. He had a sword, that I don't know where he got it from and was fighting with one hand. Usually, he fought with a hammer he summoned from his magic tool belt he found in Bunker Nine. Leo and Annabeth had a good fight going until Annabeth disarmed Leo.

"Nice try, Leo!" Annabeth exclaimed taking back the flag. Octavian had come in to fight. Leo had gotten up, and Octavian had attacked from behind. Leo turned quickly and grazed Octavian's shoulder. Octavian went full out power. Luckily, Leo was backed up by Hazel. Butt after a while, Hazel had to leave and help Frank, who had screamed.

Leo was disarmed by Alex, who had suddenly come to his fellow idiot's-er-cohort member's aid. I put the flag back where it belonged, and heard Reyna scream, "The game is won! File in for honors!"

Octavian and Alex shouted "WE WON!" and did the least likely thing Annabeth expected. Alex tripped and Annabeth caught him. He leaned up and Annabeth slapped him hard on the face. Leo looked like he was trying to not to crack up laughing at the red hand mark imprinted on his face.

I pushed Alex off of me, and he stumbled to the floor.

"What was that for?" Alex asked, rubbing his face.

"That's what you get for making me betray my boyfriend!" Annabeth was tempted to kick him in the face, but he felt like Percy might get hurt if Annabeth was violent.

"Whatever. You are so going to join us."

"What are you going to tell Percy?" Leo asked.

"I don't know. But it's not like anything happened," Annabeth said, but she looked plenty worried.

"That slap looked pretty painful. Probably more painful then any other injury in the world," Leo commented.

Annabeth laughed. It was more of a nervous laugh. Because she knew the most painful injury was not what was on the outside, but was on the inside, what you felt towards others. She knew that if someone could take away your loved ones, you could never heal from that wound. And she felt like she was going to have to deal with a whole lot of pain going on the quest to Rome.

(A/N) Chapter three, done. I wasn't too placed with this chapter. I do my best thinking late at night and early in the morning. Call me crazy, but it is 5:21 in the morning and I'm not even tired. But I have a serious case of writers block. I keep accidentally switching to first person narration and while I'm editing, I have to go back and fix it, because all the other stories I am writing are in first person, and this one is in third person. So if you see any I s or me s or something like that, please let me know. I haven't found one, but sometimes I miss them while reading because I am so used to first person. Anyways. Good morning! Oh look! It's bright out and birds are chirping. Now it is 5:23. Dun. Dun. Dun! haha. Well, I am going to edit chapter four now. I have a couple of the chapters prewritten. I think I have up to seven done. But I have to edit and everything, so you know, it's going to take more than a minute. Until next time. By the way, I will have a lot more action coming up while sailing / flying to Rome and everything. So don't worry! Okay! Peace (: