Author's Note: Sorry it took so long for me to get this up, guys! I was in DC for three days so I had no laptop. ):

But anyways: This chapter pretty much consists of some conversations between Percy and his mom and then Percy and Dylan, which both drop more major bombs about who Dylan is/was. We have two OCs from the contest (there will be three, I think, but there's one person who guessed the answer who didn't give me any info for an OC so I'll probably just make something up and hope he/she likes it), so don't worry you guys, they'll be coming into play relatively soon. Probably within the next two or three chapters.

Let me finish this author's note with a letter to my best friend:

Dear litfreak97,

I do not know why I am allowing you to have an OC. Not only did I tell you who Dylan was before you read this, but I am also writing you into this already. You as in you, the hobknocker with the Harry Potter glasses. This Fic was your birthday present, though, so I'll let it slide.

I love you(:

-yo bitch.


"So… Max, huh?" Mom inquired ever-so-subtly as she tried to start a conversation.

I took a sip of Mountain Dew (blue, of course) and glanced around our dimly-lit apartment. There were six bodies strewn about— Angel and Nudge in my mom's bed, Iggy and the Gasman in mine, Dylan out on the fire escape and Max on the couch with Total curled up on her stomach. They were all passed out, and it was nice seeing them all looking so peaceful. That is, except for… Dylan. It would take me a while to get used to his new name. But no matter what he went by or what I called him, things would never change between us. I could feel it.

"Percy?"

I looked back at my mom and snapped out of my thoughts. I registered her initial question and shrugged feebly. "Yeah, the flock is pretty cool."

"I didn't ask about them, Percy. I asked about Max."

My face heated up, and I shrugged again. She always knew how to make me uncomfortable. "I don't know. I just met her, Mom! Shouldn't you be warning me to take it slow— which, by the way, I pretty much am, being as I haven't taken anything anywhere— instead of practically telling me to go for it?"

"I know you just met, sweetie, and I know nothing's happened. Max is too smart for that." I raised an eyebrow, trying to decipher whether or not my mom had just insulted me. Apparently it didn't matter, though, because she went on talking. "It's just the way you look at her…"

How I looked at her? What was she talking about? Regardless of not knowing what she meant, I felt the blood rush up to my face as I quickly came up with an excuse. "I just think they're really cool, how they have wings and fly and all."

"What about Annabeth?"

My blood ran cold as I thought about my best friend. I thought about my confused feelings towards her, the look of betrayal that would undoubtedly cross her face if she knew Max was staying here, and most of all how she has kissed me back in the Labyrinth, which seemed like it had happened forever ago. All these thoughts ran through my head as I glanced up coolly and inquired, "What about her?"

Mom gave me a patronizing stare, and I couldn't help but shrink back a little. She scrutinized my face before lecturing me, "it isn't exactly gentlemanly to lead them both on, Percy."

"I'm not leading either of them on, Mom!" I exclaimed defensively. Why did she have to assume there was something going on between me and all of my girl friends? "I literally just met Max. Sure, she's really cool. But they've all been through a lot and I just wanted to do something nice for them. That's all. Besides, Max just lost her boyfriend-slash-best friend. I wouldn't want to put her through any more stress; she already has enough to deal with. And Annabeth… I've known her since we were twelve. She's my best friend, Mom. Nothing less, nothing more."

Mom blew a piece of hair out of her face and nodded, seemingly unsatisfied with my answer. It became clear that she wouldn't pursue it, however, when she changed the subject. "When are you going to tell them about you? Camp Half-Blood and all that?"

I hesitated before I sheepishly admitted, "I wasn't planning on it…"

She frowned at me, obviously displeased with that answer, as well. "It's only fair, being as they told you about all of their secrets and powers and abilities."

"Mom… they'll think I'm crazy."

"Didn't they take that risk with you? And you didn't think they were crazy when they told you that they could fly and read minds and feel colors," she challenged, pointing out the obvious flaw in my logic.

I shook my head indignantly. It so wasn't the same. "They had proof."

"So do you."

Once again, my head swiveled from left to right as I dismissed another one of Mom's rebuttals. "What if they can't see through the Mist? Then they'll think I'm insane, and I'll lose five people I care about." (No, that wasn't a counting error on my part. I cared about five of them. Not six.)

"Bring them to Camp Half-Blood," she advised.

"They wouldn't see it!" I exclaimed, frustrated that my logic made no impact on her. "None of them could even get in except…" My sentence trailed off as I shot a useless glare out the fire escape at Dylan.

"Maybe Dylan is the only one who can get in without permission. But you can still let them in, Percy."

I let out an exasperated sigh and let my head fall into my hands. "You won't just let this go, will you?"

"Of course not, sweetie!" She laughed at how I looked up at her pleadingly and gripped her sides to keep them from splitting. When she regained her motherly composure she informed me, "Honey, I'm just saying. I doubt that being a demigod is going to scare away a group of mutants."

"Mom…"

She shook her head and sighed, matching my exasperated tone perfectly. "I get it, I get it. Alright. I'll shut up now."

"Thank you," I said happily, causing another grin to lift her features. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Dylan stirring out on the fire escape. I excused myself from the now over conversation with my mother and started my way over to him. I walked over and climbed through the window outside, then leaned against the railing and stared at him. He opened his eyes and jumped when he saw me standing there, obviously a leftover reflex from all the times we've fought. When he began to calm down, I scrutinized his face and demanded, "Do you remember?"

He shrugged warily, and from his expression and change in position I could tell that this exact question had been haunting him ever since he saw me. "I knew you. I… I don't think I liked you much… Did I?"

"I thought you did, at first. But then you kept trying to kill me, so, uh… I guess not."

He paused before saying, "Sorry. I think."

I nodded as recognition of his apology before pressing him, "Do you remember anything else?"

He nodded affirmatively. "Something about a guy named Kronos… I don't think I liked him, either."

"Yeah. You killed him— for now, at least. Remember anybody else?"

His face grew serious as his head bobbed again, signaling yet another yes. He drew a deep breath and said gravely, "My best friend. Annabeth. I loved her."

"To Hades you did," I grumbled under my breath. After that was out of my system, I looked up into the eyes of my one-time friend and rival; enemy and ally. I saw in his eyes everything he used to be and everything he was becoming, and I was unsure of which caused me more unease. "So should I call you Dylan, or…"

"Dylan," he said curtly. He analyzed my face just like I had done to him for a moment before stating blatantly, "You're wondering how I did it. Came back."

I bit my lip and admitted defeat with a silent nod. There seemed to be a lot of them going around today. "You promised you would try for rebirth, but this came so quickly…"

"They cloned me from some guy they said was named Dylan. Told me he died in a car crash or something. Obviously that isn't true, but I was only like a month old, so I believed it. But anyways, they cloned me from him. His… his body. I don't know how or why I've kept his memory, but some of it is beginning to come back to me. The scientist, Dr. Hans, told me the bullshit story about the guy I was cloned from and sent me to the flock— but not before he grafted wings onto my back. Trust me; it was even more painful than it sounds. I was apparently made to be Max's perfect match or whatever."

I felt my fists clench of their own volition at that remark, but I forced myself to ignore the lead weight that had settled in my stomach. He noticed and said, "I can tell you don't like that, Percy, but it's true. But… with every memory that comes back to me, I feel myself becoming even more… I don't know. Detached from her, I guess you can call it. All I want right now is for Annabeth to spar with me." He let out a humorless laugh and asked, "Is that odd? I don't want her to kiss me or hug me or even talk to me. I just want her to spar with me."

"She's always been at her best while fighting," I murmured softly, thinking about Annabeth's gray eyes and how her hair always blew in her face. She was fierce. And she was beautiful; no doubt about it.

Dylan continued staring down at the floor, obviously agreeing with my thoughts completely. He gazed up after a moment, and his clear blue eyes were clearly tortured. "Can I ask a favor?"

I looked at his earnest face, and I was very much tempted to deny his request. However, the nicer side of me prevailed and said, "Sure. Anything."

He paused to clear his throat before he opened his mouth to speak. He seemed nervous as he managed to get out a wary, "Can you… can you bring me to the camp? Please? I need to see…" His sentence trailed off, and I can't help but wonder what he was going to finish that with.

I hesitated before speaking as well, but for an entirely different reason. I was conflicted by his request. "Listen… you're kind of a controversial topic with all of the gods and demigods. There's come people at Camp Half-Blood who would be very upset to find you being reincarnated or cloned or whatever the hell you said made you still alive."

Dylan frowned but seemingly accepted my response. I was about to apologize when a defiantly blatant voice demanded, "What's Camp Half-Blood?"


A/N: Alright, so, I won't write a letter this time. But I will ask you very very very kindly to please review? Because I love reviews. They make me mucho happy. :D I'm actually insanely thrilled with the response to this story so far (we don't have a lot of reviews, but there's a hell of a lot of viewers). So I thank you for that, and I guess because of it I'll forgive those of you who don't review. Maybe.

And to Jamie, happy birthday. Even though we keep changing the date on you.

To all of my readers, keep reading and let me know what you think! (Pretty please with a cherry on top?)