Words cannot describe how much I love you all, but maybe a quick update can! Thank you all for the unwavering support. This chapter is intentionally short, it gives you at least Percy's side of the story and sets up for the next chapter. Enjoy!

Annabeth had been staring at the phone for a solid five minutes before she finally got the courage to dial the number. She listened to the voicemail again, making sure she heard it right. Yes, she had definitely heard it right, and that's what made this all the more nerve racking. She hit redial and put the receiver up to her ear, not sure if she really wanted anyone to pick up.

"Hello?" A female voice answered

"Hi, I received a call from this number earlier and was asked to call back as soon as possible. My name is Annabeth Chase—"

"We've been expecting your call, Miss Chase, and I can assure you the matter is of the upmost importance. Please hold while we transfer your call."

Percy POV

Percy felt the sweat dripping down the back of his neck. It was so hot it was starting to distract him. He felt the sharp swish of bronze just grazing the top of his head, reminding him that he could not let himself get distracted. He dropped to the ground to avoid the sword, realizing he gave the enemy an advantage just as the sword struck into the dirt right between his arm and his chest. He rolled away as fast as he could, looking for opportunities to get back on his feet, but it wasn't happening as the blade kept swinging in close proximity to his head. Percy noticed his enemy hesitated for half a second while pulling the sword out of the ground, giving him the chance he needed to regain his footing. Percy thurst Riptide, but his opponent dodged. He heard yelling off to the side, but he couldn't make out what was being said. The boy looked off only for a second, but in that second Percy tackled him to the ground and pinned him there. They landed with a thud and the boy's weapon flew out of his hand, Percy's blade at his throat.

"Phillip! You're going to have to do better than that. If you were fighting for real you would be dead right now!" Percy said standing up, offering Phillip a hand.

"I know, I'm off my game today," Phillip took Percy's hand, stood up, and dusted himself off. They both walked over to where Grover was sitting on the side of the arena. "Grover man, what were you shouting about?"

"I was just trying to distract you guys, and it worked, Percy won."

"Thanks," Phillip muttered.

They both drank their water hastily. Phillip and Percy were breathing heavy, Grover just swatted at a fly that had been bothering him. Percy felt awkward standing with the two, who had been kind enough not address the subject of Annabeth, even though it was the elephant in the room, especially for Grover.

At that thought, Grover seemed to read Percy's mind. "I'm sorry, but Percy, can we please talk about last night."

"Yeah what's the story with Annabeth anyway?" Phillip asked. "She's hot."

"She's 10 years older then you," Percy responded.

"So?" Phillip grinned.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?" Percy asked, annoyed.

"Oh Faith knows I love her," Phillip laughed. "But seriously, what's the story with you two?"

"Annabeth is just a friend, a friend that I went to camp with, and haven't seen in years."

"Don't let him lie to you! They dated for a summer, and they were always flirting with each other for years before that," Grover explained.

"What happened?" Phillip asked.

"She left me," Percy answered quietly, looking at his feet. "She went to California to stay with her dad for a few months. She was supposed to come back but she never did. End of story."

"Not end of story!" Grover snorted. "After she never came back to New York, he followed her to California!" Phillip started laughing hysterically, and Percy felt a sudden flash of anger, remembering Grover's Los Angeles comment from the previous night.

"I did not follow her to California, work just happened to take me there. Camp needed someone out there to monitor mount Tam and everything, so I went." Percy had taken a job with the camp shortly after graduating high school. Doing some basic monitoring, fighting off the occasional monsters, just keeping the two coasts connected.

"I'm really sorry bro, I can tell you really care about her," Phillip fished another water bottle out of the cooler. Why was it so hot out today? It's only spring, it shouldn't be almost 90 degrees.

"He hasn't gotten over her. I mean sure, he's dated other girls, and but he hasn't really gotten over her. That's why he went to go get her back." Grover finished with a smug look on his face, like he was thinking he won. Percy considered whipping his sword out and skewering him right there.

"It's understandable. Every guy has that one girl that he never really gets over." Phillip commented.

"I've gotten over Annabeth! She was an excellent, skilled fighter, and I thought since we might be dealing with the fate of the world here we could use a little of that." Percy defended himself. He added the next part softly, "plus I think she has a boyfriend."

"She doesn't look like any child of the war goddess I've ever seen," Phillip whispered under his breath. "She showed up here wearing a pink dress with sequins all over, and high heels, I've never seen a child of Athena like that."

"So she values her appearance. She's kind of famous, I can understand that." Percy's train of thought moved to the billboard near the Lincoln tunnel. He remembered the first time he saw her picture up there, staring at the city. He knew she wasn't in California anymore, but her being back in New York was something he hadn't anticipated.

"She seemed a little intimidated to be honest," Phillip rambled on.

"She was probably just a little nervous, or shocked." Grover defended her. "I would be too. Percy should have eased her into it, not thrown her right into the middle."

"Whatever, she's in it now," Percy took Riptide out of his pocket. He and Phillip walked back out to the middle of the arena. Phillip was skilled, one of the best Percy had seen in a while. He lacked discipline, and he was clumsy, but he knew how to fight. He would certainly be the leader of the seven when the time came.

"So is Annabeth here to stay now or what? Like I said, she's extremely hot." Phillip swung his sword and it flew out of this hand, a perfect example of his clumsiness.

"Phil! Girlfriend!" Percy exclaimed, pointing in the general direction of the cabins.

"I'm just joking dude chill," Phillip tried to spin his sword again, and yet again it got away from him. "I would never encroach on your girl like that."

"She's not my, oh whatever. Do it like this," Percy demonstrated, keeping the sword in control the whole time. Phillip tried like Percy and managed to catch on, he was a fast learner.

Grover just couldn't seem to let the subject of Annabeth go. "You don't think you're going to win her back, do you?" Concern was on his face. Percy was conflicted on this subject. His mind flashed back to the night before, and Annabeth saying "I don't even know you". That was true; they didn't know each other anymore. He couldn't say Annabeth wasn't a soft spot for him, or at least the Annabeth he knew. But there was also the fact that she had really hurt him when she left. She really wasn't the person he thought he knew at all, refusing to talk to him or give him any sort of reasoning for the break up. It was like she just got tired of him and broke off any sort of relationship. It had been one of the hardest things Percy had gone through, because he had loved her so much.

"Nah, I just honestly think she would make a good addition to the team." And that was the end of that conversation.

Annabeth POV

Ryan was gone, Annabeth was caught up on sleep, so she had nothing left to do but go to work. She really didn't want to, which was strange considering she was about to start a huge project that could potentially add a building to the New York skyline. If that wasn't something to be excited about she wasn't sure what was.

She knew she was going to have to buckle down, but her thoughts kept drifting back to Percy and camp. He said he would be in touch, but he hadn't called yet. Of course it had only been a day, but each minute seemed like an hour. She wasn't sure why she wanted to hear from him so badly, maybe subconsciously the idea of an adventure seemed exciting or something. Certainly it couldn't have anything to do with Percy, she didn't want to open herself up to get hurt again.

Once at work her receptionist said she didn't have any messages, but she went to check the other machine in her office. The machine flashed with one new message. Annabeth's heart fluttered, it had to be Percy.

Relief came when she hit play and the monotone voice of some unknown female filled the room. Oh, it must be work related.

"Hi this message is for Annabeth Chase," The woman said. "Please call the following number as soon as possible and ask for Rachel Dare, it's urgent. Thank you."

Annabeth's stomach dropped. Definitely not work related.

Please review if you liked it! I hope to have an update out by next Sunday, and I'm super excited about the next chapter!