Annabeth

The moment we stepped out of the train, nymphs, satyrs, and minor gods mobbed us, all just dying to hear about what the tributes have to say about participating.

"Annabeth, do you think the Games are fair?"

"Percy, what is it like being a tribute?"

"Do you like to think about murdering people, Annabeth?"

"Percy, do you enjoy sushi?"

That last one almost got Percy, he whirled around and said, "Well, you see, it's a very complicated—" That's when Haymitch shoved Percy from behind, and kept him moving towards the Empire State building.

When we finally managed to get inside, a body-god slammed the door behind us, to ensure no other mythical creatures had come in.

Haymitch, Effie, Percy, and I all sighed a breath of relief.

Effie took a glance at her clipboard, "Okay, so today they're going to give you a make-over, which should take about four hours and-"

"Wait a second," I interrupted, "You never said anything about make-overs."

Effie looked up at me, "Well, you can't go into the Opening Ceremonies looking like that."

"Don't worry it's nothing major. They'll simply trim your fingernails and scrub the grime and dirt off of you. Stuff like that." Haymitch grumbled.

"Dirt and grime?" I asked.

Effie nodded, "Jut follow me."

And with that, we passed the man, who usually guarded the elevator, and made our way up to Olympus.

"One...two...THREE!"

R-i-i-i-i-p-p-p

SON OF A-

I gritted my teeth, as the daughter of Aphrodite, Octavia, ripped the hair out of my poor leg. Octavia winced, "Sorry. You're just so, like, hairy! One more, okay?"

I sighed, "Okay."

I've been in here for four hours straight and I still haven't met my stylist. Apparently, he doesn't want to see me until I am 'beautified'. They've been ripping, scrubbing, filing, pulling, and brushing everything on me all day long. And by 'they', I mean Octavia, the leader, along with Flavious, and Venia. Her Make-over Sidekicks.

R-i-i-i-i-i-i-p-p-p

HOLY MOTHER OF ZEUS!

"Okay," She said brushing her hands off, "We're all done."

"Really?" I asked, not believing my own ears.

"Yup. Done." She sashayed over to the tall silver door, and picked up a creamy white cordless phone. It seemed as if it was made of marble or some other type of fancy rock.

"Hello? Yes...Tell Cinna we're ready...no...Fantastic...Okay...She didn't...really...?" I didn't pay much attention after that, she just kept gossiping about someone named Giselle.

Venia looked me over while Octavia was busy, "Oh, you looked totally gorgeous!"

Flavious nodded in agreement, "She looks better than she did four and a half hours ago."

"Well, listen I've gotta go. Workin'. Yeah...'Kay, Chelse, I'll talk to you later. Bye!" And with that she hung up, and turned to me, twirling her rich, blonde hair around her perfectly manicured finger. She looked and sounded like a total valley girl.

"Okay, well, Cinna is gonna come up and, like, look you over. Don't move. 'Kay?" With that she flounced off, followed by Venia and Flavious, slamming the door behind them.

I was alone.

Moments later, the door swung open and a young man steps into the room. I guess this must be Cinna.

"Hello, Annabeth, I'm your stylist, Cinna." He was strangely quiet, and not as loud as my 'prep team'. I immediately knew this guy wasn't going to turn me into a life-sized Barbie doll, which was a relief because the last thing I wanted to do was go out there looking like a total idiot.

Cinna looked at me for a second, then mused, "They didn't touch your hair."

My hand instinctively shot up to my curly blond hair. It was up in it's usual ponytail, but I felt something unusual on the left side of my head.

A braid.

I reached up to the right side of my head.

Another braid!

I had two braids on either side of my head, instead of one. They must've taken my ponytail out, done the braids, and put my hair back into a ponytail. So I guess they did touch my hair, but you probably couldn't tell because they must usually stick it up into some weird hair-do that looks unnatural.

I kept running my hand over it.

"Don't mess it up!" Cinna exclaimed, prying my hand away from my head, "I like it. It looks nice."

I looked at him skeptically.

"Really, it suits you," Cinna sighed, "My partner, Portia, is the assigned stylist for Percy. We were thinking about doing something that represents your camp. Something unforgettable. Like, what makes you stand out from the others?"

I thought for a second, "Uh, celestial bronze?"

"Hmm," He mused, "Not what I was thinking, but that's good. What else?"

Let's see. What makes Camp Half-Blood, an ancient Greek camp, stand out? I know that no other camp has celestial bronze, but that's basically it! Wait...Greek...GREEK FIRE!

"Greek fire?" I asked.

Cinna broke into a grin, "Yes! That's what I was looking for. Greek fire."

I was still confused on one thing, "So your going to dress me up like a flame?"

Cinna laughed a little, "Not exactly. But, Annabeth," He leaned in a little bit closer to me, looking me straight in the eye, "Are you afraid of fire?"

I fumbled a little in my costume. I was dressed in a full body suit of armor, made entirely out of celestial bronze, with my hair in the same ponytail, but brushed out and redone. I think they added some more curl to it, as well.

Actually, the armor looked a lot like Alice's armor in that Alice in Wonderland movie with Johnny Depp, only it was a goldish-bronze color instead of silver. Weird.

A dark green cape hung behind me that, in a few minutes, would be absorbed in green, Greek flames. Percy was standing next to me on the chariot, shaking with nerves and wearing the exact same thing as me- minus the skirt. Poor guy.

I tried lifting his spirits a little, "You rip mine off and I'll rip yours?"

Percy stared at me, looking so confused and terrified, I almost wanted to laugh, "Huh?"

"Oh," I said with a small laugh, "Capes. You rip mine off and I'll rip yours?"

Percy sighed in relief, "Oh," Then he cracked a smile, "Sure. Deal."

He stuck out his hand for me to shake. I stared at it for a minute, like it was some sort of new technology that I'd never seen before, then awkwardly shook it.

Great. Way to go, Annabeth. Now he thinks you don't know how to shake someone's hand.

The opening music begins to play. Giant marble doors slide open, and I see a huge, red carpet leading up to where Zeus and Hera were standing. I take in the scene of thirty thousand mythical creatures cheering and screaming at the top of their lungs. Ugh.

Avalon and Tyro, from Camp 1, ride in first, grinning with pleasure. Their horses are snow-white, almost silver looking. They're dressed in the same color as their horses. White. They each look like someone had bejeweled their entire body, glimmering with gems.

Camp 2, Hope and Callaway, speed in next. Their horses were...purple? They each wore black camouflage. In fact, everything they were wearing was black. Except for, well, the horses.

That's when I realized each camp had their own color. Our horses were painted orange. Up until now, I had no idea why.

Before I knew it, Camp 11 rolled out onto the red carpet. Their color was brown. I saw the little girl standing next to this huge boy, who looked more like a brick wall than anything else.

That's when Cinna entered the room holding a lantern of Greek fire, looking excited, "Okay, so who's first?"

Silence.

Cinna's excitement washed clean off of his face, "Oh come on, guys!"

Percy raised his hand, "Are you sure it won't barbecue us into little crisps of nothing?"

Cinna nodded, "Absolutely."

I tried to put on a brave face, "I will."

Cinna smiled, like a madman about to bring a zombie to life, "I had a feeling you would."

Before I can even process it, he's lit up my green cape. I brace myself for the heat to swallow me up, but it never comes. Instead I feel nothing except relief.

I look to my left and Percy's lit up as well. He looks mortified and stiff, afraid that if he moves he'll be melted into a Percy Puddle. Eyes wide, he slowly turns to look at me as if to say, Oh my gods, I'm freaking on fire.

I sent him a look saying, At least we're not naked.

Cinna, however, is whooping and celebrating in front of us, "It works! Yes!"

I cleared my throat, "Um...Cinna?"

Cinna stopped celebrating, "Right. Now heads high, wide smiles. They'll love you."

With that, he jumped off of the chariot and began to strode away, but then whirled back around, and yelled something, but it was drowned out by the music. He repeats it, but by that time we were already moving towards the doors.

"What do you think that was?" Percy asked me. When I look at him his eyes seem even greener than usual, they almost seem like they're glowing.

"I don't know, but..." I trail off, trying to figure out what he wants us to do.

I turned to look at Cinna one last time. He kept gesturing towards his hand.

What does he want?

That's when we entered the marble building.

"Camp Half-Blood, otherwise known as Camp 12!"

The crowd simultaneously turned their attention away from Camp 11 and began to gawk at us.

My first instinct was to immediately look down and not make eye contact with the audience, but then I heard Cinna's voice in my head, Heads high, wide smiles. They'll love you.

I stood a little taller and gave the audience a small wave. They were literally trampling over each other just to wave back. I decided to have some fun and waved with both hands. The crowd was eating it up. That's when I began to smile.

I even managed to sneak a glance at the giant screen, which was filming your every move. I gotta admit it, we looked good.

Suddenly, something grabbed my hand.

First instinct: Yank hand away from attacker.

And that's what I did. It took me a second to realize 'The Attacker' was Percy.

Oops...

Oh my gods, Annabeth, who else could it have been? The Muffin Man?

The crowd let out little gasps and sounds of alarm. Great. I just lost half of my sponsors. Standing there, feeling like the stupidest human being on the entire planet, I felt something grab my hand again.

This time, I automatically knew it was Percy. I hid my face from any eye contact.

"Annabeth." He whispered. Hesitantly, I raised my head, meeting his eyes. He slowly raised both of our hands into the air. The crowd roared with approval, and enthusiasm. I swear if the color of the Greek fire wasn't reflecting off of my face, the entire world would've seen how red my face was.

After that I began waving to the audience again, not making any eye contact with Percy whatsoever. That little incident was too much for me to handle.

The creatures were going absolutely wild, all trying to get us to notice them, or wave at them. Eventually they began to chant our names, "Annabeth! Over here! Annabeth!"

Now I know how those actors and actresses feel. Wow, I officially feel sorry for those guys.

It's when we stop in front of a long balcony, where Zeus and, ugh, Hera stood, I realize that I've been squeezing the life out of Percy's hand. I loosen my grasp and whisper, "Sorry."

He grips my hand tighter and whispers back, "No. Don't let go of me. I swear I'll fall out and die."

I give a small chuckle.

Percy pauses for a second, "Actually, that's not a bad idea."

This time, I actually laugh at him, and grip his hand tighter, "Don't, Percy."

It's after that conversation when I come back to my senses. Percy just made me laugh. Percy Jackson just made Annabeth Chase laugh. Out loud. Somebody call the mental institution! Annabeth Chase has gone mad! Our chariot skidded to a halt next to all of the other tributes.

Zeus began to speak. Explaining that we'd be living in Olympus during the time of the games, how we'd train in order to help us survive, get our scores for training- That sort of thing.

The only thing, ugh, Hera, did was stand there and look, what she calls, pretty. By the time Zeus finished he took a deep breath, then said in a loud voice, "I now dismiss you! Good luck, tributes, and may the gods be ever in your favor!"

The entire crowd of tributes said simultaneously, "Thank you, Lord -"

Each Camp used a different name for him.

What the...?

Suddenly, it clicked. You saw whichever god was the king or leader of all the others in your camp.

Percy and I saw Zeus and Hera, so I'm assuming Hope and Callaway saw Jupiter and Juno, since they're from the Roman camp.

After that, we whizzed by the audience, in order of Camp numbers, one more time, then we disappeared into Olympus, our new home - more like prison - until the Games start.

It's only then, when I realize I'm still holding - More like suffocating - Percy's hand. I force my stiff and aching fingers open and let go of him.

Cinna and Portia came to help us off of the chariots. They seemed so proud of us. They both chattered away about how amazing we were out there, and how the fans ate it up. I was glad neither of them mentioned the Hand Holding Mishap.

Percy turned to me, giving me and awkward smile, "So, uh, thanks for not letting me fall out there. I probably lost a lot of sponsors tonight."

I sighed, "I seriously doubt that, Percy, you did amazing. I was the one who messed up by wrenching my hand away from yours. People probably hate me now."

Percy frowned at me, looking very serious, "Annabeth, no one could hate you."

I took a sudden interest in the floor, while Percy realized what he just said.

"Oh! Well, I mean, not like that, it's just, you know, you're pretty likable and- not that I like you- don't think that because it's not true at all, well, I like you in a friend kind of way not that way because that would be weird and," Finally he let out a sigh, his face bright red, "Never mind."

I gave a small laugh, "Percy?"

"Yeah?" He mumbled, not looking at me.

"You can be so entertaining. You know that?" With that little comment, I made my way out of the room.

I FOUND INTERNET! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! SUCCESS! But anyway, here's another chapter for you guys. All of your reviews are so sweet! Thanks! I hope I get another round of reviews!

GTG! I only have two more minutes on this thing. Well...Bye!

Rain~*