A/N: The first part of the story consists mainly of Thalia and Annabeth bickering about whose temple should be larger - Artemis' or Apollo's. But I promise Apollo and Artemis are both in it! I don't own PJO (I don't get disclaimers; it's FanFiction. Of COURSE you don't own anything!).

~ temples ~

Annabeth sighed as she looked over her blueprints for Olympus again. With five temples down and seven to go, she had a lot of work to do. She'd already completed the temples of Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Athena, and Ares, which meant that all she had left to complete were the temples for Apollo, Hestia, Hermes, Artemis, Dionysus, Hera, and Hephaestus. She rubbed her eyes tiredly before starting on plans for the seven remaining projects. She leaned forward and studied her blueprints more closely.

"Thalia, not to sound rude, but why are you here?" Annabeth inquired. She hoped her outburst hadn't attracted too much attention; her boarding school didn't allow visitors this late at night, and if they came here to find Thalia, there would be consequences that Annabeth didn't feel like facing. Plus, Annabeth's roommate had decided to sneak out, and she wouldn't be too happy if she knew that Annabeth had blown her cover.

Thalia cleared a spot on Annabeth's cluttered desk, moving aside a few stacks of paper and two broken pencils, and perched there.

"Is there a problem with my being here?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"Yes, actually," Annabeth insisted. "I'm not supposed to have visitors. I'd rather not be expelled for breaking such a stupid rule." She pursed her lips. Thalia gaped incredulously.

"You could be expelled for this shit?" she asked. "Isn't that a little harsh?" Annabeth threw her hands in the air exasperatedly.

"Isn't this New York?"

Thalia laughed and grabbed at Annabeth's plans. Annabeth opened her mouth to protest, but Thalia held up a finger to silence her. She squinted as she looked through all the plans.

"You haven't started on the temple for Artemis yet," she noted grudgingly. Annabeth sighed and yanked the blueprints out of Thalia's hands.

"I know," she said. "I was about to before you broke into my dorm room." Thalia winked.

"Anyway, you need to make Artemis' bigger than Apollo's," she told Annabeth. Annabeth looked up at her, confused.

"What?" she asked.

"I said, Artemis' temple needs to be bigger than Apollo's," she repeated. Annabeth furrowed her brows and shook her head.

"I can't make one god's temple bigger or better than another's," she explained. "Especially when it comes to Apollo and Artemis. They bicker like no others."

"But Artemis deserves a bigger temple," Thalia urged. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"I can't pick favorites, Thalia," she said. "It would only cause problems - and I don't want to be at fault for a war between siblings." Thalia grinned.

"You wouldn't be causing it; simply continuing it," she explained. She nudged Annabeth with her elbow playfully. "C'mon, you don't have to make it really noticeable. Maybe like, half an inch taller, or something?" Annabeth maintained her determined expression. When she turned to face her friend, Thalia was looking at her with big, round blue eyes and her lips were set into a stubborn pout; she was trying to portray innocence. Yet, for whatever reason, Annabeth found it hard to see innocence there when Thalia's eyes were ringed with black like a raccoon's. She stifled a laugh and made a mental note to never, ever say that aloud. "No," she muttered. Thalia frowned.

"You're no fun," she growled.

"So I've been told," Annabeth replied carelessly. "Pass me my pencil sharpener." Thalia tossed her the tool, sticking her tongue out childishly. Annabeth caught it tactfully.

"Well, I'd better be going," Thalia sighed. She pointed at Annabeth, as if warning her of something. "Remember what I said."

As Thalia dropped out the window (which any normal person would be bothered by), Annabeth set to work on the temple for Artemis. Surprisingly, she did think of Thalia's conversation with herself, and made a quick decision before she could change her mind.

The day came that Olympus was being unveiled - in the sense that no one but Annabeth Chase and the gods themselves had seen it - and Annabeth was smiling triumphantly up at Apollo's temple, with Percy stifling laughter on her left and Thalia gaping at the temple on her right.

"What is this?" Thalia demanded, waving an angry finger at the temple. "Is this some kind of joke?" Annabeth cocked her head to the right.

"Nah, I don't think so," she replied with a grin. "I mean, considering that it took forever and a decade."

"And half of our date last weekend," Percy muttered. Annabeth flashed him an apologetic glance and looked back to Thalia smugly. She watched as Thalia's expression changed from angry, to shocked, to confused, and then, finally, triumphant.

"Well, this isn't my problem," she insisted. "Just wait until Artemis notes the size difference between the two temples, and then see who's laughing." Annabeth's eyes, which had previously been narrowed, widened until her face was a mask of horror. She hadn't thought of that. Thalia noticed her expression and chuckled. "Well, great," Percy said sarcastically. "I have to save her life again. Thanks, Thals. How am I supposed to convince Artemis to spare Annabeth? 'Lady Artemis, I know this is kind of, um, disappointing, but please don't incinerate my girlfriend!'" He rolled his eyes.

"Well, you'd better think fast," Thalia replied. "Here she comes." Lady Artemis approached with a smile.

"Hello, Thalia," she greeted her lieutenant. She leaned over Thalia's shoulder. "Perseus, Annabeth." Thalia smiled menacingly at Annabeth and then turned to Artemis.

"Milady, did you see your temple?" she asked. Annabeth paled.

"Yes, of course," Artemis replied. She smiled at Annabeth. "It's very nice." Annabeth was frozen. Percy squeezed her hand encouragingly, and she swallowed.

"Um...thank you," she said shakily. "It is I that should be thanking you," Artemis responded. Thalia pursed her lips.

"Well, have you seen your brother's?" she insisted, pointing at Apollo's temple. Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, I have," she replied slowly. "How could I not have? The thing is huge - it's almost as big as his head. Thalia, you're acting rather strange. Is anything wrong?" Thalia was fuming. She glanced at Annabeth, irritated, and then back to Artemis pleadingly.

"But it's bigger than yours!" she reminded her. Artemis nodded.

"Quite obviously," she said, and her tone questioned Thalia's sanity.

"But...doesn't that anger you?" Thalia insisted. A look of realization came over Artemis' features.

"Thalia, do you honestly think that I am as arrogant as Apollo simply because he's my brother?" she laughed. Thalia opened her mouth to speak again, but thought better of it when she noticed Apollo approaching, his usual cocky grin applied to his face.

"Hello, sister dear!" he greeted. "And Thalia, her loyal lieutenant. Oh! And Percy and Annabeth...and you're all crowded around my temple." He paused for a moment before breaking out into a wide smile. "I knew this day would come! Go on, continue your worship. I'll wait!" The three half-bloods coughed as Artemis rolled her eyes.

"We weren't worshipping your pigheadedness," she insisted. "I came over to tell Thalia that we'll be leaving in a few."

"Ah, I see," Apollo replied. "Right after you're finished worshiping moi." Artemis rolled her eyes.

"In your psychotic dreams," she spat. She turned to Thalia. "Well, I suppose we'll be taking our leave now." Thalia blinked.

"But...your temple - I mean, Apollo's...and Annabeth said...the..." She sighed. Artemis nodded and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"It'll be alright," she assured her lieutenant, and she thanked Annabeth once more for the temple before saying goodbye to the three of them and retreating with Thalia to retrieve the other hunters.

"So, Annabeth," Apollo started, gazing at his temple.

"Yes, Lord Apollo?"

"You know that statue of my in the center of my temple?"

"Of course, Lord Apollo."

Apollo pursed his lips. "It doesn't do me justice," he complained. "I look so...rigid." Annabeth blinked.

"But, Lord Apollo, it's a stone statue," she replied. Apollo looked bored.

"Yes, and?"

"...stone is pretty rigid."

"But Apollo's not," he countered. "Fix it. Make it embrace my hotness." He winked and made to teleport. The two half-bloods diverted their eyes as he did so. When they looked up, Apollo was gone, and Annabeth was gritting her teeth.

"You okay there?" Percy asked. Annabeth nodded.

"I've just got to find some way to 'embrace the hotness' of Apollo's statue," she muttered, mocking his arrogant tone. "How do you add hotness to a statue?" After a moment, her eyes gleamed like they did when she had an idea. "Hey Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you be interested in helping me to burn Apollo's statue, per chance?"