A/N: Oh. My. Gods! I never expected this many reviews! Thank you guys sooo much! :D

Ice is still sick, so I'm gonna just post this chapter. Yeeah, it's a little pointless, but hopefully fun – the prophecy and stuff will be in the next chappie. :P Hope you enjoy!

PS: I just realized that doesn't read Greek. So the "" was SUPPOSED to be Greek for Bird. Sorry 'bout that! :)

The race was a breeze, as I expected. I shot through the water so fast that I had finished my fifth lap while most people were halfway through their second. First place, no doubt.

When the race was over, I ran back towards the changing rooms, willing myself dry as I went. I slipped back into my clothes, and grabbed a few things from my locker. One was a small bottle of nectar, and the other a banner I made to cheer Annabeth on. Smiling to myself, I made my way to the track just in time to hear a coach yell, "GO!" The competitors shot off, and I spotted Annabeth's blonde hair amongst them.

I slid next to one of my classmates, Colt, on the bleachers.

"Oh, hey Percy," he greeted me.

"Hiya Colt. Which race is this one?"

"600 yards," he replied. I nodded.

Annabeth signed up for the 100, 200, 300, 400, 600, 800, and 1500 yard races – basically all of them.

I held up my banner as high as I could, and cheered. A bunch of my friends joined me, so half the stand was yelling, "Annabeth!"

She walked up and sat down next to me after the race, panting.

"Next race in 5 minutes," she managed.

I frowned. "Wise Girl, don't you think you're outdoing yourself?"

She shook her head. "It takes more than that to do me in, Seaweed Brain. You know that."

I couldn't help but smile. "Yeah, I know. At least have some ne- uh, energy drink," I corrected myself hastily.

She gladly accepted the bottle I was holding out and took a sip. Immediately her breathing slowed and she sat up straight, like all the fatigue had been drained from her.

"Thanks," she said, putting the bottle down.

"No problem. How many have you won so far? Besides this one, I mean."

"All of them," She announced, unable to keep the hint of pride out of her voice.

"Nice!" I grinned, but before I could say anything else, the coach was blowing his whistle, calling the competitors for the next race.

"Good luck!" I called after her as she jogged towards the track.

"Thanks!" She yelled back. "And I like the banner!" She made her way to the starting line.

I'd hoped she would. On the banner was a picture of a grey owl holding a winner's trophy. Nobody else would get it, but Annabeth would, and that's all that mattered.

About 45 minutes later, the races were finally over - good thing too, because, as much as I wanted to cheer on Annabeth, my ADHD was getting the better of me, and I was becoming restless.

Annabeth was gasping for air, clutching a stitch in her side as she straggled up the stairs to the bleachers, but she didn't have to go far. I descended quickly and put my arm around her waist, beaming. "Awesome job," I told her. She had won every race but one.

She was still heaving, but her eyes sparkled at my praise.

I captured her lips with mine, and felt her arm loop around my neck.

I heard a few wolf-whistles from the other guys in the stand, but ignored them.

Annabeth surprised me by pulling away after just a few seconds. Her expression was somewhere between a smile and a scowl, and she looked a little blue.

"Not the best idea, Seaweed Brain," she gasped. "I'm still trying to catch my breath.

I laughed and encircled my other arm around her waist, locking my hands to form a ring.

"Oi!" The coach barked over the megaphone. "Spare your girlfriend for a little longer, eh? We need her for javelin."

We both blushed, and I snapped my arms to my sides like a soldier. "Yes, sir!" I called back.

The coach grunted and turned away, but I could swear he was smiling.

I passed Annabeth the bottle of nectar again, and she took another sip before running to the field.

I saw the coach study his list and frown. He spoke through the megaphone again. "Any one of you want to join? We're missing somebody."

"I'll do it," I volunteered.

"Alright, Jackson. Away from Miss Chase, thank you very much."

I felt my face redden, and a couple people snickered.

Javelin was pretty OK, just like in camp (except we didn't have razor-sharp celestial bronze spears that could shred you like paper, but still) so I did fairly well. Then, halfway through the session, it started to rain.

"Great," I heard one of the girls mutter. "This is going to so ruin my hair."

I tried not to laugh as I thought of the Aphrodite girls back at camp. Instead I glanced over to meet Annabeth's gaze, but she wasn't looking at me. She was looking into the distance, her eyes wide in disbelief.

I frowned. Something was up. I checked the field, but couldn't see anything. That's when Annabeth spoke up.

"Er, Coach, I think we should head inside-"

"Nonsense. There's nothing wrong with a little rain."

"But-"

"Oh, come on, Chase, I thought this kind of thing didn't bother you. I always thought you were the kind of girl who could rough it."

Annabeth really looked agitated now. She looked at me desperately.

" " She said it as quietly as she could, but since the Coach had put about ten kids in between us, that was pretty loud.

Something was definitely wrong. Speaking Greek in public was already taking a big risk.

"What?" The coach really was irritated now. "Can we keep going now?"

"Yeah, sorry," Annabeth muttered.

What was this all about? Birds. Birds? What about birds?

I scanned the sky.

There! Birds! I frowned. So what? I thought Annabeth was afraid of spiders, not birds.

I looked again. They looked like ordinary birds, aside from the fact that they were travelling in a huge flock. But birds did that sometimes, right? Right? They swerved to the side as one, the sunlight glinting off their bronze beaks.

Hold up. Bronze?

" " I shouted, startling the girl who was throwing her javelin.

"Jackson!" The coach yelled. "You too? Come on!"

Hades. I must have said it in Greek too.

"But coach-"

"WHAT?"

"Birds!"

All the other kids stared at me like I'd gone crazy. But these were no ordinary birds. I knew firsthand what they could do. These were Stymphalian Birds, the very same type that attacked camp three summers ago.

Without thinking, I ran forward to where the Coach was standing and grabbed his megaphone.

"Jackson! What in the name of-"

I didn't let him finish. I held my hand in front of my chest and snapped my fingers, felling the strange gust of wind stream out of my hand onto the coach, and every student lined up on the field. I saw the hint of a smile on Annabeth's lips, but when I looked again she was staring intently at the sky.

"The birds above us right now," I began, speaking slowly and deliberately, "Are vicious, flesh-eating and violent. They will peck you to death if you don't turn and run as fast as you can."

For a few seconds everyone had a dazed look on their face. Then their eyes widened and they screamed, nearly running over each other in their stampede to get away. Nobody noticed or cared that we were the only two remaining.

"Now what?" I asked Annabeth, who was looking worried.

"Got any music?" She asked.

"I left my iPod in my locker."

"Didn't think so."

She whipped out her knife from the thin scabbard on her thigh and stood ready in battle position. The rain was really coming down now, and it plastered her blonde hair to her forehead, soaked through her shirt, and dripped from her arms (I, of course, was still dry.)

"Annabeth?"

She glanced over.

"Um, you know, seeing as there's a huge flock of birds who want to kill us heading this way, and I'm all invincible and –"

"I'm not going anywhere, Percy. If you think you can just-"

"Wise Girl, seriously. We don't have the Apollo Cabin this time, and-"

"No."

"Okay, here's a deal. You let me tackle the birds, and you get that ogre thing across the field."

"What?" She whipped around. Sure enough, about a hundred yards from where we were, an ugly creature was smiling cruelly, swinging its club.

"Di immortals. An Earthborn. Something's wrong…"

Without a second glance she leapt forward, sprinting full speed ahead. I knew perfectly well that Annabeth could take care of herself in a fight, but it didn't stop me from getting worried – especially with the 'Something's wrong' bit. So, just before the birds arrived, I made a quick prayer to Athena.

Please. Protect her.

And then I uncapped Riptide and charged headfirst into the mass of birds swooping down.

It was horrible. I couldn't see at all, and couldn't hear anything aside from the deafening squawking. All I could do was blindly slash with Riptide, trying to ignore the uncomfortable pricks everywhere on my body. I jabbed and spun and cut as fast as I could, relying on the frenzied flapping to tell me where the birds were, and hoping that at least Annabeth's fight was going better than mine.

That's when I heard it, the sound making my blood freeze in my veins.

"Percy!" Annabeth's voice, strained and panicked.

Zeus dammit! I couldn't even see.

Please, Father, help me do this… I prayed, and felt a familiar tug in my gut.

Abruptly the pecking stopped, and there was a burst of strangled, cut-off squawks. I blinked. Hundreds of feathers were falling in front of me.

Without wasting time, I ran forward, looking back for a split second. The rain had come together to form a giant watery fist, which had seized the birds. As I turned back, the hand collapsed, and there was a loud 'thump' as the birds hit the ground.

I sprinted towards Annabeth. Somehow, the ogres had multiplied, so she was fighting five at once. There was a puddle of muck on the floor, so I guessed she had already killed one. But there was no way even Annabeth could take all these things on her own.

I was still too far away to help. It was only twenty yards more, but I knew she didn't even have that long. She was drenched, not only from the rain. Mud splattered her clothes and there was a bright blood stain on her shirt from a gash on her shoulder.

Abruptly I was angry. Furious. Those stupid blocks of mud would not beat us, after everything. I sprang forward as far as I could, and threw Riptide as hard as possible.

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. My legs kept pumping, but I was completely focused on my blade, spinning through the air.

Please don't hit Annabeth. Please.

I saw Riptide turn its final circle, then plummet down, cleaving two of the Mud Ogres in half – but I didn't have much time to admire my handiwork.

By this time, I was already on the scene. Weaponless. So I did the only thing I could.

I launched myself onto one of the two remaining ogre's back, clamping my hands on its eyes. It bellowed in fury and tried to buck me off like a bull, but I just tightened my hold.

"Percy!"

I felt Annabeth pressing something into my hand – her dagger. Without pausing to think (when do I ever?) I closed my fist around it and stabbed it straight through the monster's eye.

It crumbled into monster dust, and I fell to the floor still holding Annabeth's knife. I hastily got up, just in time to see Annabeth swing Riptide in an arc, lopping of the last ogre's head.

There was a brief moment of silence. Thanks, Dad.

"Nice," I said finally, flipping the knife in my hand. "Wanna swap?"

"Very funny, Seaweed Brain," she muttered, but it was sounded strained.

She capped Riptide and threw it to me, and I tossed her the knife, which she caught deftly in one hand.

"We've got to get to camp," Annabeth said helpfully. She looked about ready to pass out.

I picked her up and began walking to the bleacher. "Not until you get some nectar into you."

She tensed, and I guessed she was about to attempt chopping my arm off or something, but then just slumped back.

"Fine," she groaned, like she didn't really want to, but I could tell she was exhausted.

"See," I muttered under my breath, "This is why it's a bad idea to sign up for all the races at one time. What are you supposed to do if a monster shows up?"

"Oh, shut u-" was the mumbled reply, cut off by a yawn.

I smirked and began climbing the stairs to the stands.

A/N: Okay, I didn't want to make Annabeth sound all girly and weak, but honestly, how would you feel if you had to run more than like a mile and then battle 5 monsters at once? Pretty tired, right? So hopefully not too OOC.

Anyway, thanks for reading! Any constructive criticism is great :)