Yay! Chapter 3 is up! I can't believe hoe many faves and reviews I've got already. Right, here goes... Thank you to *takes a deep breath* freezingpizza14, Flamepaw, anime-lover10, ShadowFlame Gabe, RomanGreekDemi, Elia L Dodd, BeautyandtheBeast101575, PercabethEternalLove, AthenaGrayEyes98, 78meg9, llamasrock123, Giselle Pink, EvilTeddyBearsonmuse, Pinky456, MoonlightPath666, HuntressofArtemis101, DaughterOfKronosPandFFanatic, PercyzBookworm, becky199756, Newbiegod35, hotkittengirl, rainydayluver, Happy Snow, 20Aphrodite11, KeepCalmAndDefyGravity, and all you others who read but didn't fave or review! Whew! All in the first few days- I guess I must be doing something right.
And now to answer reviews:
Flamepaw- Looking back on it, I guess Thalia is pretty OOC, but it's needed for something in this chapter. Thanks for all your complements!
AthenaGrayEyes98- Yeah, I felt like that too. I was sat at home and every couple of minutes I was basically having a screaming fit and ranting on at my parents (who haven't read PJO, but I'm working on it) about the unfairness of life and how I would have to wait another year- ONE WHOLE YEAR- before the next one comes out.
Happy Snow- I was kinda basing Annabeth's reaction on the one she has at the beginning of Lost Hero but worse, seen as it's eight months later. And I decided to get Jason calling Thalia little sis because she kinda is- she's been a tree for however many years and a huntress for about three. Also, I thought her reaction would be funny.
ON WITH THE STORY!
becky1997
As Percy strolled round the corner the crowd parted, and he saw the ship. Written on the side in Greek were the words Argo II, and the figurehead was a bronze dragon that was somehow familiar. But Percy didn't have much time to dwell on it, because then he saw her.
She looked more fragile than she had in his dream, her face pale and close to tears, but she was so much more beautiful than he remembered.
'Annabeth?' he managed to whisper once his voice was working again.
'Percy!' she cried, running towards him. She leaped the last few metres into his arms and he staggered back slightly.
'Oh gods, Seaweed Brain,' she muttered under her breath so only he could hear. 'You have no idea how much I've missed you.'
'About as much as I've missed you, Wise Girl?' Percy suggested, tilting her head back for a kiss.
When he stopped for air, Annabeth looked up at him. 'You remember?' she asked sharply.
'You,' he said simply. 'No-one else.'
Annabeth buried her head in his chest. 'You've grown,' she murmured. It was true. In the time he'd been missing, Percy had gained a good five inches on her.
'Eight months does that to a guy,' Percy whispered back, kissing her again. Behind them, a Hispanic boy with curly black hair and grease-stained clothes- one of the Greeks- mimed gagging, but Percy didn't care. 'I missed you, Annabeth. I missed you so much.'
'I was so scared, Percy. I thought you would have a new girlfriend, like Jason and Piper.'
'Jason's the Roman guy, right? He's got a Greek girlfriend? Reyna's not going to be happy, but I don't care. I don't care about anything right now, except the fact that you're here.'
'Shall we move?' Annabeth suggested. 'People are staring. Let's go somewhere a bit more… private.'(A/N- No, not for that reason! Dirty minded readers!)
'Temple Hill? You could visit your mom's shrine. Well, Minerva's, but same difference.'
Annabeth entwined her fingers in his. 'Well, Seaweed Brain? What you waiting for?'
They had reached the bottom of the hill before Annabeth could say a word.
'The architecture!' she gasped. 'It's so- amazing! How long did they take to build it?'
Percy shrugged. 'One, two weeks? A couple of months at the most. When they play war games… well, Hazel, Frank and I pretty much single-handedly destroyed the fort. The next night, they had another one built, ready for the next game.'
He pointed out temples as they walked hand-in-hand. 'That one up on the top, that's the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Jupiter the best and the greatest.' Percy rolled his eyes. 'If I didn't know better, I would say someone has an inferiority complex.'
Annabeth looked at him reprovingly, although trying to hide her smirk. 'Percy, you shouldn't talk about the gods like that.'
'I wasn't,' Percy protested. 'I was talking about one god in particular. And his so-called auger. Not a patch on a real oracle, I tell you. I mean, come on. He kills Beanie Babies!'
Annabeth stopped dead. 'What?'
'I said, he kills Beanie Babies. Slits them open, pulls out the stuffing, says he's telling the future, then as soon as anything happens, he's all like, I predicted that! Aren't I so wonderful! I saw it in the stuffing!'
He said all this in a pretty good impression of Octavian and Annabeth laughed. 'Is he really like that?'
'Hell, yeah. I won't be taking you there today. Sorry, but I'm not having him insulting my girlfriend.'
'So, where's your dad's temple?'
Percy gestured expansively to the building before them. 'Welcome to Neptune's toolshed!'
'You're kidding.'
'No, honestly. The Romans have no love for my dad. Probably something to do with having a really rubbish navy. No cavalry either, which is another point against him. Anyway, that's the temple of Minerva, over there.'
Annabeth was looking at it with a strange expression on her face. 'Percy, can you… give me a bit of time alone? Just in my mom's temple. I'll call for you when I'm ready to leave.'
Percy was slightly hurt, but he didn't show it. 'Yeah that's fine. Just be quick about it, okay? The senate meeting will be starting soon, and I don't want to miss it.'
Annabeth walked off without a word and he saw her run a hand over one of the marble columns before entering. He went into Neptune's toolshed and leant against the altar.
'So that's it, is it?' he muttered darkly, staring at the three mouldy apples and a stale bagel. 'Hi, haven't seen you for eight months, missed you so much, can you leave me alone now.'
'Be patient, son,' a voice said. 'She has been waiting for so long, preparing herself for the worst, and now… she doesn't know what to think.'
Percy spun round. 'Dad!' he gasped. 'Or- are you Neptune?'
Poseidon/Neptune shrugged. 'We're one and the same, but yes, this is my Roman form.'
'It doesn't look any different to your Greek one.'
'Yes, well, the Romans have never really bothered with me. Neptune, Poseidon, I was still the god of the sea and I guess they thought there was no point in altering my appearance.'
Suddenly there was a scream from within Minerva's temple.
'Annabeth!' Percy yelled, trying to get to the door, but Neptune blocked him. 'Dad, let me past! It's Annabeth! She's hurt!'
'No, she isn't. Her mother has appeared to her, that is all. She will undoubtedly be a little… startled. Oh, and that reminds me- your senate meeting will be starting soon. You had better get down there.'
He vanished, and with that, Annabeth emerged from the temple, looking shaken.
'You all right?' Percy asked, offering her his arm.
'Yeah. I'm- I'm fine.' She touched her chest, just below her collarbone, and winced.
'What happened.'
'When mom arrived I kinda slipped,' Annabeth explained, not quite meeting his eyes, but Percy decided not to pursue it.
'Come on. It's time for you to meet the rest of the Romans.'
Next chapter being written round about... NOW! It's gonna be in Piper's POV, I think, but that might change.
