While Percy and Athena dealt with the issue of giving real clothes to Khel, as Percy didn't trust Apollo with the task, Annabeth sat with everyone else around a greek fire, prepared by Apollo. She felt uncomfortable, as Selene was staring at her, intently. Annabeth tried not to notice, but the child's green eyes made it feel like Percy was staring at her. Artemis was occupied with making s'mores for Selene and herself, and she didn't seem to notice. While she was trying to avoid eye contact with Selene, Annabeth noticed that Percy, Khel and her mother weren't the only ones absent from the campfire. The Phoenix, Allianna, was nowhere to be seen. Before Annabeth could voice her concerns on this, the door to the RV opened.
"I'm sorry I took so long," Allianna said, leaving the RV, a pack of twenty four hot dogs in her left hand, "Khel is squirming, a lot."
Allianna sat down with the others and handed the hot dogs to Paul, who pulled out a pocket knife to cut it open. She then looked at Annabeth.
"So, are you in?" Allianna asked.
"Well I wouldn't be Percy's girlfriend if I said no," Annabeth responded.
"And you're a loyal one, I can sense it," Allianna chirped, pulling a marshmallow out of the marshmallow bag, "but Khel just might be more loyal. She won't let anyone touch her without Percy's permission."
As the group ate, Annabeth shared stories of quests she and Percy went on together. Annabeth managed to get through two stories before Athena came out of the RV. Her clothes were ripped in various places and she had a couple burns on her face. Her hair was even singed a bit. Behind her was Percy and Khel, her arms were wrapped around his right arm. Khel wore purple battle armor. It had no back and seemed to be held up by some kind of adhesive. Her combat skirt reached halfway down her thigh, and Annabeth could only guess that it had a hole in the back for her tail. Her wrist guards seemed to be made of celestial bronze, the same material that makes up Percy's sword, and her gloves were fingerless, to allow use of her claws.
Percy took a minute to sit down next to Annabeth, as Khel was very restricting. The fact that the girls were glaring at each other didn't help. Selene giggled at Percy's struggle. She then broke into an all out laugh at the sight of the awkward angle Percy was forced to sit in. At this point, everyone began laughing at Percy's predicament, except Artemis, who refused to look and merely put an unroasted marshmallow in her mouth. Annabeth and Khel continued to glare at each other.
"Maybe asking Athena to bring Annabeth wasn't the best idea," Percy mumbled, seeing the hostility between the two.
The night fared no better for Percy than the evening did, as he was stuck between two girls who wouldn't let the other have him. Normally, a situation like this would be a guy's dream come true, but the girls that Percy was with had tight grips, and Khel's claws didn't help the situation one bit. Percy wasn't the only one who was forced to share a bed thoug. Artemis slept with Selene, as she was used to it now, and Apollo was forced to share his bed with his other sister, Athena. Allianna was the only one who got a bed to herself, for now.
Everyone else was fast asleep, but Percy was wide awake, the weight of each girl on each arm keeping him from getting comfortable.
"If this is what I have to deal with when making a harem," Percy whispered to himself, "then I'm in for a hell of a lot of punishment."
Percy looked at Khel on his left arm. She was sleeping soundly, letting out a soft squeak as she nuzzled closer to Percy. Looking at her peaceful expression, Percy couldn't believe that she was the same creature that threw him through the ceiling of a mall. He then looked at Annabeth on his right arm. She was the one girl that Percy felt close to after discovering that he was a demigod. Sometimes he couldn't believe that she was his girlfriend, and yet here he was, laying in bed with Annabeth cuddling him. Percy's moment of thinking was interrupted by a voice.
"Daddy?" Selene asked from Artemis' bed below.
"Yeah?" Percy whispered back.
"Mommy doesn't seem happy," Selene said quietly, "could you sleep down here with us, I think it will make mommy happy."
"Oh," Percy remembered Apollo's warning to him on the first day of the trip, but then dismissed it, "I can try."
Percy tried to get out of the two grips that held him, but every move he made seemed to tighten them. Percy tried to think of something, anything that could get him out of this situation. He remained there for a few minutes before getting an idea, but it was a bit crazy. Percy turned to Annabeth and, as quietly as possible, kissed her. He sustained the contact until Annabeth loosened her grip on him, then he pulled his arm free and repeated the process with Khel. It took a little longer with Khel as she pulled him closer at first. Now came the hard part, Percy had to climb over Khel without waking her up. Percy moved slowly, each shift of the mattress making him more nervous. Luckily, it didn't take as long as he thought it would.
Percy took a breath on the floor, eyeing his next challenge, getting into the bottom bunk without waking Artemis up. It looked easy enough, as Artemis was laying at the back of the cubby, but Percy knew that the task would be anything but. Percy took a deep breath and began his slow, steady struggle. Selene saw Percy struggling and helped by moving each time Percy's weight shifted the mattress. When Percy was finally on the bed, he let out an internal sigh of relief before receiving a shock. Percy jumped a bit when Artemis grabbed him. She looked agitated, but it didn't seem to be directed at him.
"My turn," she whispered.
"What do y-"
Artemis shut Percy up by pressing her lips against his. Percy gasped, or did the closest thing to it considering his position, and Selene groaned in discomfort, trying to push Artemis to give her some room. Artemis released Percy after a few moments, going back to her area on the bed. Percy was left to wonder if he had just unintentionally given Aphrodite the upper hand. He eventually got to sleep, though feeling uneasy.
