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

A/N: Yay! Update! A year later... Oops. Sorry? I'll try to be better next time?

Lord Nitro: The thing with Helios and Selene is that Artemis and Apollo have control of their domains, right now. I could see having them reborn at some point, but Zeus' twins would have to die or fade first, so they would have domains to take over. We'll see...

Charlee56: As far as Dragon Speaking Naturally goes, I've tried various other speaking options, and my creativity just doesn't flow. I can't say what I want aloud; I need the filter that my hands provide to be able to get my thoughts down. Plus, my spoken grammar is horrendous. I like your idea about vignettes. Do you think I should do those as separate side-stories, somehow? Or should I put them into this one as interludes?

iheartmalekith: My wrist I about as good as it's going to get now. Thanks for your concern! As far as outlines go, I have a very basic one. And I definitely have my ending - in fact, my story is named for it! But thank you for the suggestion! I'm asking for ideas because while I have an end goal in mind, I believe in stories having several ups and downs besides the main conflict. I'm short on those smaller conflicts.

pandalover9914: Pernos sounds interesting. pecrytdef came up with Peronos. What do you think?

ReallyInfinity: I'm glad you have ideas! I sent you a PM around Christmastime. You haven't replied yet. Did I PM the wrong person, or have you just not been online lately? (I don't mean this in a critical way; I just really want to hear your ideas and I want to make sure that I did get in contact with you!)

pecrytdef: Ooh! Peronos sounds interesting. I'll take it into account. pandalover9914 came up with an idea as well: Pernos. What do you think?

Rikunahyoun: I'm so glad that you like all my stories! I have to ask, which one is your favorite?

krigby: When you say you want to see more of this AU, do you mean you want me to continue this story, or that you also want me to write other stories in this AU?

Helmetgirl896: I'm so glad I'm able to get my writing to relate to you emotionally. It really encourages me to write more. Thanks!

The Ghostwriter's Sister: Thanks for the music suggestion!

Ali: I understand that you're annoyed, but I did have a wrist injury. In addition, I have school—where I'm taking very difficult courses. I hope you don't drop my story over the long update time. Also, thank you for letting me know that I'm ending my chapters on cliff-hangers; that has been my aim since it keeps readers interested.

CharitinaX: I meant that Kronos is OOC compared to how I've been portraying him.

Chapter 8

Percy POV

The next morning, Percy forced herself to forgo wearing her usual long-sleeved t-shirt. If she was going to scrounge up the will to live until the end of the war without the support of the Titans as she'd hoped for, she would have to accept herself. And that meant baring her scars for the world to see.

So she slipped on a tight, black t-shirt and dark blue jeans that were easy to slip in and out of despite her injured arm.

After a moment of thought she threw on a sweatshirt that she would remove once Kronos had left after his daily breakfast visit. She knew she wasn't ready to make herself that vulnerable in front of someone that could kill her with barely a thought. She didn't know what she'd been thinking when she had revealed her abuse to him in the first place.


Percy entered the arena, eyes searching for her friend.

"Hey, Luke!" exclaimed the girl, walking over to him.

"Percy!" greeted the demigod, pulling her into a quick hug.

"Ethan." Percy nodded to the son of Nemesis Luke had been talking to. She turned to third male in the trio of friends. "You're Alabaster, right? Son of Hecate?"

The boy's green eyes widened. "Yeah. How did you know?"

"Your sister, Lou Ellen, goes on an on about you whenever she gets the chance. With the number of times she's described you in order to make me promise not to kill you, it was pretty easy to recognize you." Percy smiled.

Alabaster's face softened. "How is she?" he asked hesitantly.

Percy bit her lip. "I don't actually know. Last I heard she was fine, but the gods only know what the Campers have been doing to anyone who defended me. And I'm pretty sure she was one of the few that did. I'm sorry."

The brown-haired boy sighed. "It's fine. You can't do anything for her."

"Why were you banished anyways?" asked Luke. "You never did tell me."

The other two boys looked at her eagerly.

Leaning into Luke's side for support—her legs were still sore from her injuries—Percy blushed.

They looked at her oddly.

"Perce, what's with the blush?" asked Luke.

"Well... You see, the gods and Campers were convinced that I let Beckendorf die on purpose because I was, well, in love with you." Percy hurried to get the words out.

Luke recoiled, leaving Percy to flail for a moment. Alabaster grabbed her arm and helped her regain her balance.

"Luke?" Percy asked softly.

"What the Hades, Percy?! Since when are you in love with me? Do you know how disgusting that is? You are—were—like a sister to me." Shaking his head with a glare, Luke backed away from her.

"Luke, wait!" Percy shouted after him, wishing she could run after him, but knowing that it wouldn't do her injuries any good—especially after the spar she'd had the day before.

The man ignored her, stalking out the door.

Percy blinked back tears. She should have known. Luke didn't truly care for her. Or else he'd have let her explain herself. It wasn't that she was actually in love with him. She just thought of him like a brother. She had just been telling him what the gods and Campers thought.

And was she truly so despicable—so unlovable—that even the idea of being loved by her made Luke angry? She must be if everyone had turned their backs on her.

"Percy?" called a soft voice, breaking her out of her thoughts.

She turned to Ethan and Alabaster, both of whom were looking at her with pity.

"Are you alright?" asked Ethan.

"Yeah," lied Percy, putting her masked back on and rolling her eyes. "The idiot didn't even let me finish explaining. Just because the Campers and gods are convinced I'm in love with him, doesn't mean I actually am!"

"Well..." said Ethan. "The two of you are pretty close and you were leaning on him just now."

Percy groaned. "He's like my brother. And I was leaning on him because my legs hurt. I did get beat up by a some dracaenae and Hellhounds just a few days ago, you know!"

Ethan and Alabaster exchanged glances, and then the latter grinned. "Alright, then! Ethan and I were going to spar. Since you're way better than us—neither of us has even come close to beating Luke before—would you mind watching and giving me some tips?"

Percy gave him a forced smile. "Absolutely. Can you spar near the wall, or something, though? I really need to sit down."

The two nodded.

"'Course!" exclaimed Alabaster. "Do you mind if I help you over there? You look like you're about to fall over where you stand."

Percy laughed at his brutal honesty. "Go ahead, Alabaster."

She leaned against the teen as he wrapped a supporting arm around her waist and guided her towards a clear spot on the wall. Percy lowered herself down gingerly, wincing as her abdomen twinged at the movement. "Alright. I'm settled." She grinned and waved magnanimously. "Entertain me."

Alabaster let out a laugh and Ethan cracked a smile, but the two did get into sparring position.

"Begin!"

The two boys immediately darted at each other, forgoing the traditional circling. The swords met in a clash.

Ethan disengaged, side-stepping, and then swiped his sword at Alabaster's side. The magical half-blood immediately parried and then retaliated.


Ten minutes later, Percy was explaining the holes she had seen in Alabaster's stance—he let his left guard down too often and his feet were spread too wide for optimal balance—before moving on to show Ethan how to compensate for having only one eye without being on the defense too often.

"Thanks!" said Alabaster cheerfully.

Ethan grunted his agreement.

"You're welcome." Percy made to leave; she didn't really have a reason to stick around.

"Wait!" exclaimed Alabaster.

Percy turned back around. "Yes?" She was being curt, she knew, but the pain from Luke's 'rejection' of her still haunted her.

Alabaster exchanged a quick, nervous glance with Ethan. "How do you feel about joining us for pizza and a movie? A couple of the other demigods will be joining us too so you can get to know more people, if you like."

Percy tilted her head in consideration. It wasn't like she had anything better to do. And as long as she down a small vial of nectar beforehand, the pain from her injuries would be numbed enough that she could deal with it without getting cranky as she was wont to do when in pain...

"Yeah. Why not?"

A/N: So? How was it? Please leave a review and let me know. The reviews are what really get me through writing the next chapter...

Again, let me know if you have any plot ideas—preferably through PM so we can discuss them. But if you're a guest, reviews are great too!

I think I like Kronercy and Pernos, but I really like 'y's so I'll go with Kronercy.

I'm trying to work out an updating schedule where I get something out at least once a month, whether for this or for The Sea's Battle. I'll try to alternate updates too, so the next update will be for The Sea's Battle...