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Good chapter (this and last) and you need to answer both of these reviews btw. Also if I review twice do we get the chapter twice as fast? can that be how it works? –Omega Alpha Hydra

Thanks man! Glad someone out there is enjoying this as much as I am writing it. And yes, I answered both your reviews. As for if you review twice…. It's going to be faster if I get more reviews, but I count it per person, so you can't cheat. ;)

Can we have Pertemis for Time Locked? New guy here, just that most Pertemis I read is pretty good. Otherwise, I'd vote Percabeth. Updates? please faster! –Pikachupercyharryfirestar

Umm. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Pertemis, but this story wasn't really built in a way that Pertemis would work… I mean, if you guys want me to, I'll try to make it Pertemis, but I can't guarantee good plot and character development if I do. Will do my friend. The updates right here. :)

-Part One: Pressed-

Chapter 3: Annabeth

You guys want to hear a quick story? Well here it goes: One day, there were two friends who came up with this great/complex idea for a fanfic. (This was right after they both read House of Hades.) The problem was, neither of them were any good at writing. So they didn't bother writing it. Then, three years later, one of the two good friends finally grew the courage to try their challenging idea. That was me. So after I happen to casually bring up the fact I was actually writing down our idea… My friend wanted in. So say hai to the peoples, Maverick!

MaverickMCCXXI – Hello, I have currently stolen all creative control of this fanfiction! :)

VCRx – I resent that comment… But the readers don't won't to hear about this. They want a PJO story. So here we go…

Last Time with Annabeth…

I quietly walked up the steps and was about to knock, when I heard hushed voices speak. I knew instantly who they were.

"Percy, you've got to tell her soon, you can't keep delaying it!" Piper demanded in a hushed tone. Piper? Why was Piper in Percy's cabin?

"Piper! We just need to keep it on the low down for a little longer," Percy responded. Then, I realized I almost hadn't seen both Piper and Percy for almost the entire day.

What was going on?

"I don't like this, Perce. You can't wait any longer from telling Annabeth what you've and I've been doing. I'm already surprised she hasn't found out–" There was a pause. "You need to listen to me, you have to tell her as soon as possible. Trust me, my mom's the love goddess, I know these things. You have to act before she gets suspicious and discovers-" My mind spun around with hundreds of scenarios of what could possibly be happening. None of them looked good.

"I know this is Annabeth we're hiding this from, but I'm sure she doesn't know," Percy interrupted again, becoming louder. "I've already chosen the perfect time to announce it to the entire camp our–"

I backed away from the door, not wanting to hear the rest of this conversation. This wasn't happening. This. Was. Not. Happening.

I stammered back, almost miss-stepping, and tripping down the stairs. I had almost exposed myself.

But luckily, Malcolm's heavy plate of brisket was enough of a counterweight to cancel out my momentum. Barely.

I couldn't think. For the first time since the Temple to Phobos and Deimos, I was too overwhelmed with frustrating emotions that blocked my more logical sides of my mind.

I hated emotions. They were always the uncontrollable variable. The one thing I could never fully rely on to be my side.

Come on, Annabeth, I thought to myself. Keep. It. Together.

But I couldn't.

Barely containing my tears and crushed thoughts, I rushed to my cabin, in fear and shame of what I had just heard.

Only two hours later…..

RRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAA!

The camp's conch horn blared, signaling the beginning of Capture the Flag. I stuttered off my bunk, wiping of the salty tears on my cheeks. Malcolm patted my shoulder in sympathy.

When I had confessed to Malcolm what I had heard, Malcolm had tried to convince me, that I must have heard wrong.

"Percy would never do this, Annabeth" he would repeatedly argue against her, as he gobbled down his dinner. He hadn't eaten since breakfast.

He tried to push me to think rationally about the situation. I struggle to think, as my head was mixed with distraught emotions. I couldn't even go to Piper for help because…

I held back another wave of tears. Wave of tears…. Why did I have to choose that choice of words? I composed myself, preparing myself for the outside.

I slowly creaked open the cabin door.

With wet eyes, I stared at the beautiful scenes that I should've been accommodated to years ago but couldn't help but admire and gawk at every evening.

The sun was beginning to set, and Apollo must've been feeling really generous today, as the sky was reddening to a beautiful marigold orange.

I sighed, taking a moment to reminiscent the view. I took a first step forward.

"That's one more than I expected you would take," Malcolm joked.

The glare I gave him would've scare the living daylights out of anyone, even Percy. Malcolm casually shrugged it off and went back to his book.

I looked back, down at the sloping the country-sides that surrounded the camp lake. Streams of campers, having recently finished their meals and attended the early campfire, were wandering towards the northern woods. I paused a moment to appreciate the scenery. Rich splashes of green and brown gave the trees their lively color. The lake sparkled in the dwindling sunlight. The strawberry fields were littered with still ripe strawberries, even though it was their off-season.

It had been ten years since I had first seen this view. But no matter how many times, I was allowed to enjoy the view, it never seemed to bore me. Camp Half-Blood was a beautiful sight. I sighed tensely.

I jogged down the paths, in hopes of catching up to my cabin. The Athena cabin, in no doubts in my mind, would be able to lead themselves, but for obvious reasons, I needed to be there for the opening ceremony of the game. I was team captain.

The campers although excited for the match, were in no rush as their wandered in the general direction of the woods. Quickly she caught up to near the front of the line.

I passed many of the assorted campers, all seemingly joking and obviously happy with themselves. Seemed like everyone was in a great mood for a match of Capture the Flag.

Some faces I recognized, many I didn't even remember, before setting off on the quest to Greece.

We had been away so long….

I was nearing the fore parts of the stream of campers, before I was confronted by the one person I didn't want to see.

"Hey Annabeth!" a familiar feminine voice squeal exhaustedly.

I paused to consider my choices.

I kept walking.

"Annabeth! Wait!" Piper called, sprinting to catch up. I cursed silently as I found my feet stop in their tracks.

"Annabeth," she huffed. "Didn't you hear me?"

I shook my head. "Sorry, I was in a bit of a rush, I need to be there for the opening."

I turned myself around, about to run off again in avoidance of this conversation.

"'Kay" Piper replied smoothly.

Then her tone became serious, "I just wanted to tell you I had this amazing plan that I came up with." Piper paused to find the right words. "You're such a great strategist, but I wanted to ask if you could give my plan a go. And I know it's going to work, you see if we sent the first and fifth squad towards the eastern hills…"

Although I was never able to recognize it happening when I did it, I quickly noticed Piper's rambling.

"Piper, first of all that's my job. You just can't steal it, why don't you stand to the side and look pretty…"

Piper looked like she was about to argue back, "…You know I'm the one that's supposed to ramble. You know it." I pointed at her.

"I know it." I found myself pointing at myself. "Percy knows it…"

Piper laughed.

I sighed, finally cooling off the tension that I had been holding in. The more rational sections of my brain began to function. Piper was my best friend. She would never do anything to hurt me; it must've been my imagination or I must have misheard.

Yes. That was it.

"Sure, McLean, we'll do it your way," I finally answered smiling.

Piper tried to suppress a grin of pure glee.

"You won't regret it!" Piper squealed pulling me in for one her of signature hugs. Piper was known for her hugs.

RRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAA!

"Oh schist! I better find Chiron," I said quickly before Piper reluctantly let go of me. I scampered off, towards one the most eventful game of Capture the Flag, I would ever play.

LINEBREAK?!

I was glad to find that the game had not started without me.

Piper and I were the last ones to run into the scene, as we both ran into our spots. Piper, under a dove banner, me next to Chiron

Chiron looked at me, as if he wanted to tell me something, but obviously didn't.

"Heroes!" Chiron announced. He sat in his magic wheelchair above a podium. Percy and I flanked him on either side.

"Today, is the annual end of Summer game of Capture the Flag!"

A loud cheer came from the crowd.

"Athena and Poseidon have stepped up to lead the opposing teams! You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magic items are allowed. The banners of each team must be prominently displayed, and have no more than three guards. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged. No killing or maiming is allowed."

There was a grunt of displeasure from the Ares cabin.

"I heard that Sherman! As always, I will serve as referee and battlefield medic! Now, prepare for the teams to be chosen!"

He waved his hands, and the tables were magically loaded with equipment. Helmets, bronze swords, spears, bows, guns, and shields coated in metal.

I stepped up and grabbed one, and I felt as the magic began to work on the helmet. I took it off, and spied that the earlier white plume had darkened into a bloodied red. I raised my helmet, to reveal that Athena had received red. An exciting cheer erupted throughout the crowd.

I looked over to Percy who was doing the same. He raised a blue helmet, signifying he would lead the blue team.

The cheers only grew, in excitement and anticipation.

Percy spoke, glancing at me. "On my side, we will have Hades, Apollo, Hephaestus, Nike, and Nemesis!"

A mixture of happy cheers and mad boos sprang out. The counselors of the chosen cabins, Nico di Angelo, Will Solace, Nyssa Barrera, Holly Victor, and Damien White stepped forward.

I had to admit, Percy had chosen an excellent team. Too bad that wouldn't change a thing.

"On the Red Team, we will have Demeter, Ares, Aphrodite, Hermes, Dionysus, Iris, Hebe, Tyche and Hecate!" I announced.

More shouting.

Chiron had to hammer his hooves on the marble to silence the campers.

"Zeus and Hypnos have chosen not to participate in the event," Chiron concluded. "Now, arm yourselves!" A rush of demigods surged forwards, grasping for the best equipment. The tables magically reloaded themselves as quickly as possible, but even with magic, three hundred kids for four tables of equipment was a lot.

When everything finally settled down, I rallied my team to the red banner, which proudly shown with a silver Owl emblem. The symbol of Athena.

We screamed and hollered at the Blue team, as they marched towards the southern woods. The other team booed and mocked at us back. It was friendly, yet fierce with competition.

After a few back and forths, between the two groups, I finally realized one of the teams needed to withdraw, before this would ever end. Seeing it as an opportunity, I quickly grabbed attention, and marched, double time towards the northern encampments. With about a hundred forty rowdy campers in tow.

"Hey! Annabeth!" Piper said, catching up to me.

I raised my eyebrow.

"So what's this illusive plan you were speaking of?" I asked.

Although war tactics weren't exactly what children of Aphrodite, I didn't doubt Piper. She wouldn't ask me unless she had something to show me.

Through the slit of her helmet, a sliver of a glee appeared on Piper's face.

Piper peered around, as if in fear of being overheard. Although I doubted that anyone could hear us over the yelling of our team, I didn't say anything.

Piper leaned in.

"Before Jason left for his trip this evening, I overheard him and Percy discussing the plan. Apparently, Percy still wanted Jason's feedback if the plan would work or not. Even if Jason's not playing."

I nodded.

"Percy's going to lead a diversion on the north side, along the coast. He wanted to use the sea, as an advantage."

I nodded in understanding. He would be able to disable any movement on the far northern side.

"I heard him say that he's going to send Hephaestus, Nike and Apollo in as a distraction on the south side. With both of those fronts, he wanted to distract you, and force us into a defense stance."

I smiled. Jason must've had a lot of impact on the plan. Although Percy was often much smarter than anyone gave him credit for, he would never be able to plan anything this brilliant.

Besides, the plan sounded exactly like the Roman Pincer Maneuver. It pushes the opponent forces into a pinned-down, two-front confrontation. Any Ex-Roman Praetor would know the infamous ancient Rome strategy.

Instantly, my mind went a million miles, formulating a plan. Took me another moment to remember that Piper had said she already had one.

"So what's the plan, McLean?"

Piper grinned.

"We follow exactly how Percy hopes us to. Follow through, and tell our team to pretend to be caught by surprise and defend. Meanwhile, we send a small unit through the middle–"

"By Zeus' Fist?"

Piper's grin twitched.

"Exactly. Except for Nico and the Nemesis cabin, everyone should be on the offensive. After that, we improvise."

I grimly nodded.

The counterstrategy was exactly what I would've thought of.

I turned back to Piper, just as we arrived to the Red Team's point.

"Who do you suppose should be in the small scout unit?" I challenged.

Piper smirked.

"Us."

LINEBREAKAGAIN?

After that, Piper and I rallied everyone around the point and explained to our forces the strategy. They weren't happy that they had to hold defense, especially the Ares Cabin, but no one challenged the plan.

Ares knew too well, not to challenge Percy when he was near water.

After one or two inspirational speeches, supplied by McLean, and a conch horn announcement that said we were ready, we were off!

Piper and I quickly ran through the thick woods at top speed. It was only in mere minutes when we began to hear the shouting and fighting around us. We slowed down, in favor of stealth, rather than speed.

Sounds of storms sounded from either side of us. To our left, a wiz of flaming arrows battered into lines of Ares and Aphrodite kids.

I heard as one Aphrodite girl scream when she found her hair was on fire.

"AHHHH! My perfect hair!" the voice, I recognized as Drew screamed in a pitch so high, that any soprano would be jealous.

Towards our right, literal storms brew. Lightning and Thunder crackled, which I found strange since Percy didn't have power over that.

Finally, we sneaked the final crest before Zeus' fist. We we're still in our territory, but the place was a giant clearing in the trees. Any blue forces scouting would easily spy us.

We laid behind a tree near the crest.

When I looked over to Piper, she had taken her helmet off, and had the largest grin I had ever seen on her face.

Which was saying a lot.

"Why are you smiling?" I asked.

Piper squealed.

"Oh, you're going to kill me Chase."

I raised an eyebrow.

"But Percy wanted something romantic planned for you two tonight. So he asked me to help out a bit. Plan this little get away at the Fist –"

BOOOM!

I felt, as the sound barrier broke around me, trees swayed away, and water rained. But it didn't come from the sky. It came from behind the hill.

Zeus' Fist.

Piper immediately stood up. Her entire expression was now troubled.

"What was that?!" Piper yelled. She pulled me.

"What is it?" I asked, but I already knew. Something was wrong.

"This wasn't part of the plan. Something's wrong," Piper said, echoing my exact thoughts.

She pulled me up, and together we ran to the ridge.

Then we made it to the top.

I spied the scene. Zeus' fist was gone. A huge crater, 20 yards in diameter, had formed where the collection of boulders had previously stood. The grounds and rim was smoking, showers of dirt started to fall, evident to the recent explosion.

Water was flowing back down, along all sides of the smoldering hole.

Then I noticed a banner, had been spanned across the tops of the trees. It had been ripped to shreds. But I made out that last few characters.

Ma-

Piper screamed. Then I saw what she was staring at.

Silently, we skidded down the wall of the crater, smoking muck sticking to our jeans.

We stumbled near the epicenter, where obvious signs of a recent explosion had taken place.

But what laid amongst the dirt was what caught my attention.

Partially buried, the unmistakable grip of Riptide spiked out from the ground. The blade was bloodied with a dark crimson, steaming hot blood still dripping. Tears of orange fabric littered the ground, among the dust and smoke that filled the air.

But peeked out of the dirt next to the blade, was what caught my eye. A small charred blue box.

A jewelry box. A box for a ring…

I dragged my feet during the last few steps, in anticipation of an ambush.

The forest was silent. Too silent and at peace, as if the forest was holding its breathe at what would come of next.

Trembling with expectation, I rummaged the box from the steaming mud.

My hands couldn't stay steady as I held it up to view, and brush some of the debris away.

Happy Anniversary Annabeth! It read.

With dedication, I opened it.

I yelped at what was inside.

Inside, was a ring. It was made of the brightest glimmer of Imperial Gold. On the top, what the most beautiful silver pearl I had ever seen.

A folded note was attached to it.

My fingers trembled as I opened it, revealing Percy's horrid handwriting that was written in Riptide's faded ink.

To the Love of My life, I will have never made it this far without you. -PJ

"Wha–"

Before I know what was happening, the earth began to hum. As if the earth itself had turned into a living machine.

With a shake, the ground began to tilt, and stumble, with Piper and me with it. Through the shaken dirt, a glowing blue triangle revealed itself from through the dust.

A delta.

It grew around us, like an incoming mirage.

There was a snap, and the delta rang with a shriek.

Then, the earth gave way from under us.

MaverickMCCXXI – Remember to leave a comment and I'll pander you! To us, a review is more than a hundred follows. ;)

VCRx – Is it just me, or does pander sounds like such a weird word? … Anyway, hope you enjoyed this longer chapter. It was an effort, but I did it. Took my heart and soul, as well as one long root beer powered night, lol.

Best Wishes, from a Junior Scribe of Camp Half-Blood,

~VCRx

(This chapter has not been betaed.)

[Last Edited: 4.18.2017]