I'M BACK FROM OHIO! This is one of those stories that you have to read slowly and let the words marinate in your head. You could read this chapter in less than 10 minutes. But try to let the words soak in or you won't understand the last part of this. It's like when you skim a part of a book and get this.
'"Where are we going?" Clover whispered.
"Go up."Geth said.
...skimming...
"Look away!"
"Let me burn!"
"I'm trying!"'
You may be confused thinking 'What? Geth isn't on fire! When did he catch on fire?' Because you don't know that it was candles talking. BTW, that came from Leven Thumps.
Annabeth POV:
I sat there, completely frozen at what was going on around me. Today could be one of the best days of camp or one of my worst. Did the Percy not liking Rachel weigh out the feuding prophesy? No. No matter how much I like Percy, It's just... hormones? If anything.
I mentally slapped myself. I do not need to be focusing on all this! I need to be prepared!
But the truth is, nobody actually knows when or what the next challenge is. Not even me. But maybe...
Riku.
Everything in my life at that point kept revolving around to him. But at this point in time all I needed to do was find him. That shouldn't be too hard considering I knew his ca—
Waaaauuuuummmmp!
Also considering that humans have to eat and now it was breakfast.
As I walked up the last few stairs to the cafeteria, I scanned everywhere around me for Riku, only to find that he wasn't at the Hermes table. I would have heard if he got claimed. He's probably just standing around so I went to ask Percy.
"Hey Perce, Have you seen Riku?" I asked him, turning him around.
"Well, 'Perce' is an odd nickname for someone who's name is Riku don't you think?" Inquired the alleged Percy jokingly. "But I think you found Riku yourself!"
I laughed. Those two looked so much alike, I don't think I'll ever stop messing them up.
"Either way, I got your message last night about the prophesy. What did the Oracle say to you?" I was really hoping that nothing bad would come of this. For some reason a smile, quick and vague, flicked across Riku's face.
"You know what? I've forgotten. But I do have it written down somewhere in my cabin. How 'bout you meet me at the beach a little before dinner tonight? Then I'll have it for you for sure." His voice sounded so sure, but I knew he was just trying to get a date out of it. Strangely, I was happy about that.
"What is with guys and beaches?" I said sarcastically. "Sure. It's a date!" He smiled at my quick finding of his true intentions. His smile was striking and sure—but not overconfident. A perfe- And here I am again, going insane.
Percy POV:
There he goes again! I screamed to myself in my head. I mean, I know Annabeth is great-looking and smart but why pick her over all the other girls in camp?
I don't usually beat myself up over things like this. But right now, I just want to give that Riku a piece of my mind.
"I'm afraid that I have an announcement to make." Chiron said over the intercom. "I would like allparticipants in the new prophesy to see me at the Big House immediately. Sorry to interrupt your breakfast." And with that the intercom shut off and everyone was talking as if nothing had ever happened. Everyone except Annabeth and me.
I scarfed down the rest of my breakfast quickly and Annabeth eyed me up as if saying 'Was that really necessary?' All I could do was smile her a huge yes. And with that we were off to the Big House. The only person we needed to be here was Grover so that we could have back the terrible trio.
"You think it's another challenge?" Inquired Annabeth.
"You want me to win another so soon? Just relax. The challenges will come like normal. Like the first one. We would have done that anyways." I explained. Annabeth wasn't so soothed.
"That makes it even worse! We might have already had the second challenge and we wouldn't know! Someone could get a 'great demise' on what we don't even know we're doing!" Freaked Annabeth.
I got in front of Annabeth, took both of her hands in mine and despite the noticeable blush creeping up my cheeks looked her in the eyes. "It's going to be okay Wise Girl."
Annabeth rolled her eyes, "Whatever you say, Seaweed Brain."
I put my arm over her shoulders like best friends do for a picture and she did the same to me. We walked like that all the way to the Big House and I noticed the faintest blush painted on her face. Along with a smile.
When we came around to Chiron on the porch, he didn't usher us inside like normal. Instead he asked a simple question.
"Did my message not get to everybody? I thought everyone would be in the cafeteria at this hour..." Chiron said puzzled.
"What do you mean? Everyone heard your message and went on eating like normal-" Annabeth was interrupted by a mumble from Chiron.
"You asked to see the participants in the prophesy and we came. So what's wrong?" Percy interjected.
"No, Percy, Annabeth, you're not understanding. When I asked to see the participants in the prophesy I wanted all of them." Chiron explained.
I was just freaked out. Who? Suddenly Annabeth understood.
"Percy, me..." She paused. Not in thought, but in understanding. "And Riku."
DUN, DUN, DUUUUUUUN!
Well, that was short. You know what? I'm going to add the next chapter in too! Just for you!
Percy POV:
Is this even happening? That was my main thought as Annabeth and I were walking back to the Mess Hall to retrieve the 'third of the prophesy.' If you can spit out words in your mind that would be exactly what I would have done. I could already tell that breakfast was over due to the campers scurrying about to their cabins and I wished to do the same. But I knew that if I left Annabeth to find Riku I would next find them on the beach, hugging or something.
Wow... I need some time on my own. And a life. That would help.
"Hey Annabeth, I'm gonna go to the beach. Riku's probably in his cabin." I stated the facts and then turned on my heel and headed down to the beach.
When I got to the beach, I didn't even bother looking out into the waves like I normally do; I instead just collapsed on the sand and closed my eyes. If I was, however, looking out into the waves I would see a man wearing a Hawaiian shirt rising out of the water. And of course he was not getting wet. But considering the fact that I wasn't looking out into the waves I got another way of realizing he was there.
"Percy!" A strong voice bellowed. I jumped a good foot into the air, regardless the fact that my feet weren't even touching the ground.
"Hey, uh...Dad. Haven't seen you in a while." I said. Though I didn't mean it as an insult he looked down.
"I know, Son. But how often do you think that other kids get to see their parents while at camp? Gods can't just stroll in you know." He said, face turning to a smile.
"Then how did you get in?" I questioned. I thought that the gods were always welcome, especially with Dionysus here.
"I simply swam in." He beamed brightly. "Either way, I just had to come see you with the prophesy and what not. I already told Chiron and Dionysus so I thought you had the right to know." He hesitated so I nodded my head signaling for him to go on. "Things are about to get serious, Percy. Dionysus being the stickler he is isn't willing for you to ruin his camp so you're leaving."
I looked at him as if he was crazy. To me, at this moment not registering that he could kill me in .07 seconds, he was. "By the way, I'm really proud of you, Son. You've done great with the first two challenges. But I have to be going now. I'll see you again later. And this time I won't wait so long!"
I was shocked senseless too far to even respond as my father sank back down into the depths. I lay down again, pretending that this never happened. Too many thoughts would run through my head if I didn't. When was the second quest? Why was I never told about it? I glanced back out to sea as if that would solve all my problems. I was so wrapped up in thought that I didn't realize that there was a beautiful girl that just joined me.
"Hey Seaweed Brain, I have a confession to make." She said while looking down. "I hate to break it to you this way but no matter how hard you stare at the water, you're not going to find your brain. It's lost for good." She laughed a bit nervously. "Are you alright Seaweed Brain?"
I looked at her. "When was the second challenge?" I questioned. When in doubt, ask the Wise Girl.
"Oh! Well I, um, was meaning to, uh, tell you about that. And...Uh...well... Riku, he heard the last part of the prophesy and it tests physical, mental and emotional strength." She was sputtering out words.
"And?" I questioned.
"That was part of the emotional."
My cheeks were burning hot. Now I knew Aphrodite was in this. Luckily, someone prevented an awkward silence. "Hey Annabeth, I just saw Chiron and he wants you guys to get two other people each for the quest. So there'll end up being 6 people in two groups—one for your side and one for Percy's." Riku said. Then as an afterthought, "Oh hi Percy."
"Yeah, hey." I uttered. "Wait, what about you?"
"He decided that it was best if I didn't go. Too much competition or something. We should probably hurry. Get who you want to come."
When he left I blurted out "I call Grover!"
Annabeth looked at me skeptically. "Jellyfish." She accused.
"Well who are you taking?"
"Probably Malcolm and Nate. They're the smartest in our cabin. Who're you taking?"
"Grover definitely and I guess Juniper. You know how they get without each other." I said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah. I'll help you find them." She offered.
It took a few minutes but we found Grover and Juniper smoochy-faced in the forest. "Break it up you two!" I yelled. They broke apart instantly.
"Would you like something Percy?" Grover said through gritted teeth.
"Yeah, you're going on a quest with us, G-man. And we need to hurry."
"What? You're going again Grover?" Juniper butted in.
"Don't worry, Juniper, you're coming too." Annabeth said.
"C'mon Grover, let's go get packed!" Juniper said excitedly. Grover and Juniper disappeared through the thick underbrush.
"Well that wasn't disturbing at all." I stated. "Meet you at the bottom of the hill?"
"Kay, I'll tell Malcolm and Nate not to kill you!" She said while running off.
Annabeth POV:
Ten minutes later we were all ready and working our way up Half-blood Hill. We were only about 3/4 of the way up when Riku came up to me and pulled me aside from Percy, Chiron and the others as we fell behind. "Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" he inquired.
"Sure." Was all I said. I really had no clue what was coming. Riku and I still don't know much about each other yet.
"So I guess since we're leaving camp we won't get our date will we?" He asked meekly.
I hated to think of it like that but I just nodded in partial understanding.
"Well I'm sorry about that." He said. Then something completely unexpected and odd happened. He kissed me. Just a quick kiss on the LIPS but it felt like it lasted for so much longer because of the shock.
Then he turned around and headed toward the others and I followed suit still in a phase of shock. I looked up finally to see where I was going. What I saw then was almost equally shocking. I looked straight into Percy's eyes. They looked full of hurt and confusion as he looked me in the eye. But he turned around and climbed into the van.
I turned back to Chiron and Riku waving sadly then clambered into the van behind him.
*sniff* *tear* *sniff* Wow. Things got really emotional this chapter.
Anyhoo, can anyone hazard a guess why in the last chapter Riku's screen name was 'Lucky-Boy42'? It should be easy if you remember some first thoughts on him. Whoever guesses first...gets to read the next chappie early and decide what goes in the next, next chapter! So guess away! BTW, sorry for not updating for so long. Being separated thousands of miles away from your computer doesn't really help the fact that you have a FanFiction...
But I will make it up to you guys!
R, R&R: Rock, Roll and Review!
P.S. Puff the Magic Dragon hasn't eaten in five days and would gladly eat non-reviewers! (Or I could just feed him this cookie, but that's no fun!)
Important! There is a link to a picture of Riku on my profile! All the way at the bottom!
