Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or The Heroes of Olympus.

A/N: Hey guys! Long time, no see! You all know the about the issues with my wrist. It's still a bit off and definitely pretty weak, so updates are still going to be limited. However, I do have two weeks of winter break coming up, so I hope I'll be able to get out at least one update during that time. Thank you all so much for your support; I was so worried that many of you would ditch this story. Please feel free to PM me with any questions you have or to review them. PMs will probably be answered more promptly, though. (But I prefer reviews.)

I was going to write up an update to The Sea's Battle first, but then I realized I hadn't written a chapter for Golden Droplets in even longer, so here we are.

I'm responding to all the reviews together because there are just so many (I won't be putting names down individually next to each response):

First, thank you all for your patience. Second, I want to clarify that this is an AU of The Last Olympian from the point after Beckendorf's death. Next, I love the idea of making Alabaster and Percy friends. If I haven't introduced Alabaster in the next few chapters, someone please remind me to. And, yeah, I definitely want some issues between Ethan and Percy for a while. I'm all for Tethys and Oceanus as parental figures, but I don't think it will happen. Percy is just too independent and has been betrayed by family too many times. More Titans will be involved, including Mnemosyne and Hyperion. I don't know how to handle Helios and Selene if I do use them, since they technically faded. Pan faded because nature had become too fragmented (I think). Plus, I think, only human worshippers count in keeping an immortal from fading, not mythological creatures (since they would fade too?). I will not be switching to Luke/fem!Percy for this story, but I am willing to write a one-shot, or, if I like the idea enough, a proper story with that pairing.

Now, on to what you've all been waiting for for half a year! (Wow, does that sound bad (the length of time, I mean). Sorry, again!) I hope you guys enjoy this!

Chapter 7

Percy POV

It had been three days since the meeting with Luke. Thanks to plenty of nectar and ambrosia and several long baths, Percy was now almost completely recovered, save for her still healing - and very painful - left shoulder.

Kronos and Iapetus had traded off keeping her company during the first couple of days. The rest of the Titan council had also dropped by to greet Percy. Luke had visited a couple of times so she could catch him up with the what had been happening in Camp Half-Blood. He was particularly interested in how Annabeth and Thalia were doing.

The demigod was, at the moment, escorting Percy to the training arena.

Percy was an excellent swordswoman - the best in the last 300 years - and Luke wanted her advice on improving several moves he had invented.

Percy was somewhat surprised to find the arena rather crowded, considering it wasn't officially training time.

"The demigods like to socialize here," explained Luke, seeing her confused expression. He grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd. "Come on. We're going to use the raised platform in the center of the arena. A lot of the demigods like watching me while I train because they pick up more advanced moves that way." He paused and looked at her. "You okay with that kind of attention?"

Percy shrugged. "Sure. I'm used to it from Camp."

Luke nodded approvingly and the climbed onto the platform using a ladder.

"Luke," growled Percy, when he turned and looked at her expectantly, "how am I supposed to get up there?" She gestured to her bound left arm.

The demigod looked a bit sheepish. "I'm not really sure. We could-"

Percy cut him off with a sigh. "Let me concentrate for a second. I want to try something."

She closed her eyes and focused on her surroundings, throwing out ropes of her power, and pulling in some of the water molecules. She shoved them under her feet and pressed them close together, solidifying them. She repeated the process over and over rapidly. Percy opened her eyes a minute later and found herself on a small, but tall platform of ice that was as high as the one she had wanted to get to, and quickly stepped forward before allowing the water in the ice to evaporate again.

Percy wiped away the sheen of sweat that had formed from the exhausting use of her water powers. "Well," she asked Luke, "what do you think?"

Luke was gaping at her. "That was- That was amazing!"

There was a round of applause from around the arena and Percy glanced about, surprised and embarrassed to find the crowd of demigods had seen her display of power.

Luke stepped forward. "As I told you all a couple of days ago, Persephone Jackson has joined us. If you would like to see what all the hype about her is, we are going to spar."

The demigods moved closer to the platform as Percy hissed, "You didn't tell me we'd be sparring!"

Luke shrugged unapologetically. "It was a spur of a moment decision."

Percy growled. "I'm still injured, Luke." She gingerly touched her left shoulder. "I won't be able to fight well."

"Nonsense!" Luke grinned, drawing his sword. "You'll do great!"

Percy rolled her eyes, but uncapped Riptide and fell into a stance that would allow her to better defend her left side.

"Ethan!" called Luke, "You're the judge."

The son of nemesis nodded. "Alright. You're fighting until one of you yields or draws first blood."

The contestants nodded in agreement, eyes narrowing at each other.

"And... Go!"

Luke immediately burst into action, swiping at her left side.

Percy dodged and then parried his next strike.

They were dancing now, bodies undulating to an unknown rhythm as they spun around each other, swords clashing.

They both knew the other's fighting style - their strengths and weaknesses - as well as they knew their own.

Their movements flowed so smoothly they seemed rehearsed.

And then, with a quick twisting of swords, the fight ended. Both demigods had a sword at each other's throat.

Ethan broke the silence that had fallen. "It's a tie!"

Immediately, the arena broke into a round of applause and compliments.

Luke smiled out at them and called for silence. "As you can see, even injured, Percy is a brilliant fighter. Once she is fully recovered, she will be nigh unstoppable." Satisfied that the demigods had accepted the demigoddess, Luke continued, "You may go back to what you were doing. Percy and I will just be working on some new moves I'm developing, now." He turned back to Percy. "That was fun."

She grinned as she slowly lowered herself to the ground. "Totally."

Luke looked at her in concern. "I didn't drive you too hard, did I?"

Percy clicked her tongue. "No. I'll be fine in a few minutes."

Luke smiled. "Great! I'll show you my moves till then!"


Percy was in her room when she heard the door to Kronos' room slam. She raised her hand to knock on the doors connecting their rooms, but hesitated at the last moment.

Why was she so eager to try to help the Titan if something was wrong? Would he even welcome her concern?

She bit her lip and then knocked anyways. "Kronos?" she called. "Are you alright?"

The door was opened a moment later, and the Titan Lord stepped through into her room. "Percy," he greeted. "Yes, I'm fine."

His face was a bit pale and his hair was ruffled. His eyes were a bit bloodshot and he practically radiated exhaustion and annoyance.

"You don't look fine to me," challenged Percy, gently leading him over to her bed and making him sit down next to her. "What happened?"

Kronos ran a hand through his hair, sighing. "The monsters are upset. They want more fights, more spilled blood. It's getting harder and harder to control them. The dracaena queen, Sess, has given us an ultimatum: Either we instigate battles more frequently or she will withdraw her support. They don't seem to understand that our strategy requires a few attacks to judge the Olympians prowess followed up by huge attack on Olympus."

"Oh." Percy sighed, understanding his predicament. She put a gentle hand on his shoulder. "I- Have you ever thought that it might be better if you don't keep the monsters in your army?"

Kronos stood up angrily. "What in the world are you on about, Percy? How in Tartarus are we supposed to win this war without their help? Don't be idiotic!" He was looming over her now, hands fisted in his rage.

Percy was suddenly hit with a memory Gabe in the same position just before he had beat her up so badly that she'd barely been able to walk for several days.

She should have known. She couldn't trust the Titans no matter if they were family. Family had proven over and over again that they didn't care about her - all except her mother, maybe. She knew Kronos was probably only restraining himself from hurting her because of how useful she could be.

If she wanted to survive this place, she would need to be agreeable.

Be submissive.

Be how she was with Gabe.

But, at the same time, she couldn't act like there was anything wrong. She had to pretend she was happy and that she hadn't caught on to Kronos' game.

"Right," she said, blinking back tears of betrayal and hopelessness. "You're right. I don't know what I was thinking. You definitely need the monsters."

Kronos pulled back a bit. "I'm glad you dropped that silly idea."

Percy forced a smile. "I should probably get some sleep. I was out training with Luke earlier and it really sapped my energy. I'll see you in the morning?"

"Of course," agreed the Titan, reverting to his usual personality. "I'll have breakfast with you. Good night." He went back to his room and shut the door connecting their chambers.

Percy took a shuddering breath and reminded herself that once the Olympians were gone she could kill herself. She just needed to hold on for a bit longer and then she wouldn't be subjected to this anymore.

A sudden thought occurred to her. Could she even trust Luke?

Yes, she decided, she could. At least until he betrayed her or hurt her too. He had never lied to her except when she was twelve and he had to back then; it was a matter of survival.

She could understand that.

A/N: Yay! Trouble in paradise! I almost didn't write the second half of this, but then inspiration struck, and, well... Anyways, Kronos probably seemed a little OOC. He's really not. Everyone is more irritable and prone to anger and overreactions when they're tired and frustrated, which Kronos is in this bit. This line of drama will continue for a bit and Luke will get involved and I'll get to put in super cute Luke-Percy sibling bonding scenes. And I'll introduce Alabaster soon, too! (Squeals) I'm so excited.

As you can all tell, I'm hyper right now. I just found out that I totally aced my college math finals (we're talking 104% here, people), and I'm super happy and full of other positive emotions, so, yeah.

Wow, how the Hades did I write something so depressing when I'm so hyped up?

Anyways, I managed to get roughly 1411 words of actual story written (not including the A/Ns). So that's nice.

And I need loads of advice on how to continue from here.

And do we call this pairing Kronercy or something else, because I haven't seen it around much?

Also, are there any really good fanfics out there right now that I should absolutely read? (I prefer reading already complete ones.)

Please, please review!