I just realized that I completely forgotten to do a disclaimer. I don't own PJO, in case anyone was wondering.

Also, I know that the story hasn't really had much action yet. That's why I'm trying to update quickly; just give me some time.

Other than that, enjoy.

No? How could Clarisse say no? She was a daughter of the freaking god of war! She was supposed to love quests and killing and hunting and the lovely things that normal people don't really enjoy doing. Besides, the prophecy mentioned a daughter of strength. Why would she refuse to go when we needed her most?

"Clarisse, please explain yourself." Chiron said. He seemed to be trying to restrain himself from getting mad. I'm sure heroes have pissed him off a ton in the past because seemed pretty good at it.

Clarisse just shook her head again. "Ares has no love for Poseidon. And I have no love for Percy." Well, I'll give her that one. She continued. "I've worked with Percy before only out of necessity, and often times it was against my will. So, no. I refuse to accompany you on the quest."

I honestly think that every at the ping pong table was stunned, but Chiron recovered first of course. "Very well then," he said. "we must consider our next option. The prophecy might mean a daughter of strength in something other than physical strength."

Katie from Demeter cabin was the first to catch on. "You mean... Mental strength? As in, Annabeth?" Once again, I was grateful. I knew that Annabeth was going to say yes. Besides, she did kind of fit into the prophecy.

I smiled at her and really talked to her for the first time that day. "Annabeth, want to come with me to rescue to my dad?"

She looked up and responded easily. "No."

"What!" I protested. I guess the look on my face was pretty hilarious, because she burst out laughing.

"Kidding," she laughed. "Of course I'll go with you." That is what I get for having an evil genius for a girlfriend. This time Chiron didn't even pretend not to laugh. "Well that takes care of two of the five," he said. "Percy and Annabeth will go. Who else will go, Percy?"

I looked at all of the campers. I needed more time to think. "Give me until the end of the day, Chiron. I'll have everyone picked out by then." I promised. He sighed. "Very well, my boy. But you must leave tomorrow morning if we are to have a chance to save the world: again. On that cheery note, I believe it is about time for lunch." Right at that moment, the conch shell blew and everyone filed out of the room to go eat.

I was walking out when someone grabbed my wrist. I spun around to see Annabeth. "I haven't seen you at all this summer," she complained. "Let's eat lunch together!"

I smiled. "Wise Girl, as much as I would love to eat lunch with you, we're not allowed to sit at each other's table." She pouted as I continued. "So, why don't we have lunch at the beach instead? I need some time to think and I think there best anyways."

Annabeth poked me in the stomach. "You? Thinking? Don't scare me like that. Leave the planning to me." I grinned slyly at her. "Oh really, leave the planning to you? Well, I think our last chess game would prove differently!"

Annabeth laughed and proved me wrong, our normal routine. "Percy, our total chess match score is like 99 to 1."

"But I didn't know how to play for the first few games!"

"Okay," she relented. "96 to 1."

"Point taken."

"Good," she said. "Now let's go down to the beach and get some of the seaweed out of your head."

We walked down to the beach with some food we found. We spread it out and sat down in the sand. After we finished our sandwiches, I looked at Annabeth.
"So, Wise Girl, who should come with us on the quest?" I asked.

"Ideally, I would have liked for Clarisse to come, but that's not happening. So I have another idea."

"Of course you do," I said.

"I think we should take Travis and Connor Stoll." She rushed on before I would object. "Think about it Percy. Your dad is locked up. Who better to steal him away from Oceanus than the sons of the god of thieves?"

The more I thought about it, the more sense it made. "You know, you're a lot like your mom in some ways." I said.

"Oh really? How so?" She asked as she leaned in close to hear my reply.

"You're smart, and you're pretty damn hard to argue with."

She leaned it so that our lips were almost touching. "You know it," she whispered. We both moved about half an inch towards each other and kissed.

I missed Annabeth during the school year when I barely saw her. But moments like this made it worth it.

Except when they get broken up by a giant wave.

A huge wave landed on us and broke us apart. Luckily, I was holding onto Annabeth and my "son of the sea god" powers had momentarily extended to her, so we were both dry. But the shock of it was still annoying, and it got even weirder when we looked towards the beach where the wave had come from.

Lying there, face down in the sand, were two familiar figures.

Reviews would be great on this chapter especially. Even very short ones. Thank you, I hope you enjoyed it.