Hey! I know I haven't updated in a while-well, a long while-but I hope you like this new chapter! :D

And can you do me a favor?

Can you guys go to: demi-man's profile and review for one of his stories: "The Eagle is back in the nest." (When you review, type that)

Annabeth's POV

I stared at the horizon, enchanted by the beauty of the sunrise. The sun slowly moved its way from under the water, over the horizon and slowly dragged itself across the sky. The sky, in response, changed to many glorious colors, making everything seem extremely beautiful.

I had taken large amounts of appreciation to the sunrise because on Valacia, we did have such a beautiful sunrise. The sky was almost always the same pinkish, purplish color it always was. Clouds decorated the Valacian skies too, but not as white and as fluffy as the clouds on Earth. Everything seemed so beautiful, so…amazing. I couldn't imagine this planet ending and I didn't want it to. I was slowly falling in love with the planet and its strange customs.

What startled me was when a boat passed by and the man steering the boat stopped and stared at me, longer than what was comfortable. But then the man looked up a bit, over me and his eyes widen and he sped off. When I looked up, I didn't see anyone. There wasn't anyone on the second floor of the boat, just me and the moving water…I wonder what he had seen.

"Annabeth!" Percy's voice called me from somewhere. "Come down here!"

He didn't sound like if he was in any trouble, so I didn't worry too much. I sauntered down to the room I had slept him, carefully following the echoes of his voice.

There's one thing that I want to make clear. I am not human. I come from the very far away, very advanced planet of Valacia. Earth belongs to us. I'll explain it in similar terms. You know the United States, right? Some of you may live there, others have probably heard of it. Well, The United States owns land that is not connected or a part of the continent. Places like; Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, Hawaii, Alaska, etc. That's how Earth is to Valacia. A territory. The oracle of our world told us the horrible fate that would come to the world if it wasn't fixed. And that's why I was here, to fix the problem.

I decided I wasn't going to hide anything from Percy. He already knew I wasn't from this world, or I had at least hoped he had guessed it by now. It didn't mean I trusted him completely, it just meant that if he ever said anything to anyone else or threatened me in any way, I would send him to the Swamp Moons of Dranthax Five.

"Yes?" I asked as I cautiously walked into the room.

I still wasn't used to the constant motion the boat was in, since it was in the water, but Percy looked like he didn't even notice. He had some articles of clothing neatly folded in his arms. He was looking through a very small closet when I came in and he automatically turned his attention to me and grinned.

"Hey, I was just wondering if you wanted to change out of those, um, clothes. You can attract a bit of attention wearing that in this…planet." Percy told me as he looked at my clothes.

I stepped in front of a mirror and examined myself. I was wearing a green dress that floated around me defying human laws of gravity. Silver arm cuffs and rings on my hand that glowed like the moon on a clear night. My hair was let down, blonde curls tumbling passed my shoulders and almost to my waist. My stormy grey eyes meant my other grey eyes in the mirror and I turned to Percy.

"Is there something wrong with what I am wearing?" I asked him.

His hand went up to the back of his neck and his cheeks turned the color of red.

"Nothing is wrong, Annabeth. You look, um, very nice, but it's not something we wear on Earth. It would be easy to tell that you're not from here." He explained.

I walked closer to him and placed my hand on his cheek, running my thump through his cheek and felt it grow intensively hot.

"Do you feel alright? Are you ill?" I asked.

"Me? Oh, I'm alright! Dandy, actually. So, um, here are your clothes." He said handing me the articles of clothing, while talking rather quickly. He moved towards the door but turned around one last time. "We'll be docking in New York. I'll tell you when we're getting off." And with that, he left.

He shut the door behind him, leaving me a bit confused.

I knew this was going to happen. I am extremely intelligent, as my race is, but I am not accustom to the ways of Earth. I will seem a bit naïve, which I feared. I hate presenting myself as someone who lacks knowledge of subjects that are very common to people from other worlds. It gives them a reason to point their finger (or fingers, since many species of aliens have more than 5 fingers on their hands) at me and laugh.

Sighing, I placed the clothes on the bed and quickly changed into them. I felt the boat move forward and I knew we were going to a place called New York. I had learned about it before I came to the planet, since I always study for a test. It's a place where many people come. There are a lot of lights and well-known people. It's also very polluted and crowded, but I still couldn't wait to see.

I changed into a pair of pants that were sorter than my knees, a black and white shoe named 'converse', and a t-shirt that was of the color light blue. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and carefully folded the dress (which was a bit hard, considering the dress floated weightlessly in the hair and refused to be still). I made sure everything of mine was in safe keeping before responding to the sound of Percy calling me.

I climbed up to the second floor of the boat and gasped inwardly. The city was amazing. There were giant buildings that reached up towards the sky. Some brown, some silver and other's of many colors, all with many windows and people inside them. Thousands or more, definitely more, cars went from side to side of the streets. I noticed that there were more yellow cars then the other color cars…I would have to ask Percy why that is. And if there were a lot of cars, multiply that by ten and you'll get the amount of people. Many of them were walking around with bags on their hands, jogging, riding bikes, getting into yellow cars, or making flashes with a small rectangular looking device.

Percy laughed at the look of my face, which caused me to glare at him.

"How many people reside here?" I asked him, moving closer to the railing, enjoying the salty smell of the sea.

"I can't give you a definite number, since many people come in and out of the city every day. But, there's a lot. I'd say about a billion, but I know I'm wrong. I've been told I tend to exaggerate things." Percy said as he steered the boat somewhere, with no effort at all. It seemed to come natural to him.

I smiled a bit, knowing there weren't a billion people in the city, even though it can seem like it.

"Are we going to go in?" I asked, trying to contain my excitement. "Everything looks so fascinating!"

I felt Percy's beautiful sea green eyes on me, but I was too busy standing on my tipy-toes looking towards the city to turn around to meet his gaze.

"Yeah, we'll go. There are a lot of places I want to show you."

I was more than excited, needless to say. The planets I have been to were either too advanced or too…pre-historic. There were planets that lived underwater in domes, or planets were the houses and everything was located in the skies. Then there were planets were the people there lived in caves or in huts made of out leaves and vines. Valacia was one of those 'high-tech' planets, with insanely tall mountains with temples, teleporters almost everywhere, holographic floors and pathways, flying ships, etc.

Earth had this indescribable beauty that seemed so interesting to me. I wanted to see it all.

I turned to Percy, the ocean breeze blowing my hair to the side, and took notice of his appearance. A dark blue shirt, short jeans that reached his knees and a shoe called: Nike. His hair was a little bit longer in the front, so his bangs covered a bit of his eyes. He was tall, strong enough so that his muscles were visible under his shirt, and…carefree. He gave me a sideways grin and gestured for me to walk over to him.

"You see that car over there?" He pointed to a long black vehicle waiting at a parking lot.

I nodded.

"That's the car we're going to take. First, I'll leave the boat here, then I'll take you someplace fun…like…Times Square." He finished.

"Is that a square filled with clocks?" He asked.

He looked at me with a weird expression and chuckled. Again, I felt embarrassed. Times Square. The square of time. Seemed pretty easy, right? Or was I that wrong?

"It's a bit more than that," he said. "But you'll see."

I was really wrong…as much as I hate to admit it.

Times Square was not a square of time, or filled with clocks or anything. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen with my eyes. There were so many people walking up and down the lighted streets. Every store had giant screens with advertisements, lights that welcomed you in, even a big ride inside a toy store! The buildings were so high, that went I looked up to see them, I got a bit dizzy. There were people dressed up as cartoon characters running around the place, taking pictures with eager humans.

I had a mini heart attack when Percy said if I wanted to take a picture with Spider-Man. Who would ever want to do that? Spiders are the most disgusting and terrifying creatures in the galaxy! No exaggeration. In one planet I visited, named Spidracorelai (Spidra-core-lai), it had spiders that were three feet tall and three feet wide. You'll never forget a spider after that.

"Annabeth, calm down, the buildings aren't going anywhere." Percy said as he tried to keep up with me, weaving through crowds, holding his hand out to grab me but never succeeding.

"But I want to see that one." I said as I pointed to a tall building with a pointy top.

"The Empire State Building? Not now, Annabeth, maybe later. We're here to get you clothes." He said as he guided me back into the side walk. "I don't really know where to go but…there's a Forever 21 over there. Girls like that right?"

"I do not know. Do they?"

"They do," He chuckled. "Buy everything that you think is nice. Don't think about the money, I've got that covered."

He led me into a store with three floors filled with different types of clothing. A human women, maybe around the age of 23, came and asked us if we needed help. Percy kindly told her if she could help us find clothes for me and she batted her eyes at him and quickly agreed. I agreed and disagreed on the clothing she picked out for me, but after a few hours we walked out of the store and I was exhausted.

We walked a couple of 'blocks', as Percy called them, until we reached the long black car Percy said was called: Limo.

I sat down in the comfortable leather seats and sank into them, putting all the bangs at my feet and sighing as Percy closed the door and sat across from me.

"That was unpleasant. Did we have to take that long?" I asked.

I was getting tired of asking questions, but I couldn't help it.

Percy again looked at me with a weird expression and laughed. I glared at him and wondered if I was really that funny. I seemed to be making him laugh quite often and I didn't like it.

"Are you mocking me?" I asked.

All laughter stopped and he looked at me alarmed, maybe even a bit scared.

"No. No, Annabeth, I'm not. It's just…you're so…innocent. So different. Other girls would have spent even more than a couple of hours looking for clothes. You bought some of the cheapest, simplest things in the entire store!" He told me. "You just surprise me. I never meant to hurt your feelings or anything. I'm sorry."

I sighed and nodded.

"It is alright, you are forgiven. And I can't help it, you know? Everything is all so new. And those skirts and dresses were way too short."

"See? Girls in this city think those skirts and dresses should be shorter."

"I'm not just any girl." I told him as I narrowed my eyes a bit.

"I know that."

Then there was an awkward pause of silence. We just sat there, Percy tapping his hand on his foot as he looked around and me, trying to do the same thing. I wish I could see what he was thinking about. But I took this time to figure out what I was thinking. To shorten it down, I'll put it in bullet point note style.

I had never trusted anyone in my life like I have Percy.

I have only known him for less than a day, (Okay, I slept in his boat but I meant him at night, so that means it wasn't a full day) and I feel like I have known him all of my life. Like I could tell him anything and trust that he would never tell another leaving soul. I do not even trust my step-siblings like that. And it kinda scares me.

Everything in the planet fascinates me.

I was sure there was nothing in this planet that would seem boring to me. From forms of literature to architecture everything was surpassing my expectations of who Earth was going to be. Everything seemed so perfect, so carefully planned out, so delicate, so precious. It would be a waste to see this all blown to ashes. I was also intrigued by the fact that Percy didn't act all weird and scared around me. I am not from here and he acts like if I was his best friend that he has known for years.

I hadn't forgotten about my mission.

Never. No matter how many museums I see, how many buildings, art, people, cars, etc. Nothing could side track me from my goal of saving this planet. The only reason I accepted Percy's help was because I needed a reason to want to save this floating piece of rock. I needed something to inspire me to now give up and go back to Valacia, something other than my grandfather Zeus's strict voice. And I knew Percy would give me that.

But before I could think more, he interrupted me.

"Let's play 20 questions." He said.

It wasn't more of a question. He sounded more like a little kid asking to play a game.

"What is that?"

"It's a game where I ask you a question, and then you respond. Then you do the same to me. And it goes on until we've asked 20 questions. You know, to get to know each other better." He seemed kind of nervous as he talked. No nervous wasn't the word. He seemed shy.

I thought about it for a second, but then I nodded. Why not? It seemed pretty harmless.

"Cool! I'll go first…okay, what's your favorite color?" he asked.

"Grey."

He smiled and raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"I believe you can only ask one question per turn. And it is my turn." I told him as I smirked and leaned back into the chair.

He held up his hands in defense and chuckled softly.

"You're getting good at this, Annabeth. Go ahead."

I thought about the question for a second.

"When was the day of your birth?" I asked him.

"August 18th. What about you?"

"Vicxa 13th." I answered.

He looked confused but he didn't ask anything. I couldn't help but chuckled as his confused face. He seemed…cute.

"What is your favorite animal?" I asked.

"A Pegasus." He answered.

I immediately perked up. "Do you own a Pegasus?"

He crossed his arms and smirked.

"It's my turn to ask a question," He said smugly.

I kicked his leg, then placed the leg I kicked him with over the other leg.

"Ow! Annabeth!" He cried out. "Note to self: Just answer all questions Annabeth asks." He said in a sarcastic voice.

I looked at him and grinned. He grinned back.

It seemed that Percy might actually be a friend to me. He has only done kind things to me since I came here, unlike other people that I know. I wondered how far I could trust him and how I was going to repay him for everything he has done to me. All his kind acts.

But I knew one way to repay him, it was pretty simple really…I would repay him by not letting him fall in love with me. He would be kept safe from some of the most horrible things in the galaxy and I owe him that much. I made a silent promise that I would never let him fall in love with me.

For his own safety, he will never be more than a friend to me. Never, this I promise.

Suddenly the limo stopped and Percy looked out the tainted windows and smiled.

"Welcome to Hotel Le'Jackson."

How was that? Pretty long, huh? I hope it made up for all that time I didn't update.

I made Annabeth a bit naïve because she comes from a planet with a whole different culture, different way of life, a different society. So I wanted to make her look innocent, yet incredibly intelligent in other subjects. I will be showing this more as the story progresses.

Also the way she talks is mostly proper or as proper as I can make it. She sometimes talks normal but it goes back and forth. This is from her lack of contact with humans. She knows English but she doesn't know how to speak it all that well. She'll learn soon enough.

VOTE on which song you like best (its also for the story).

Moves Like Jagger by Maroon Five

Rock Me by One Direction

Just The Way You Are by Bruno Mars

Thanks for reading!

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