Hey, guys! It's been waaayyyy too long, sorry 'bout that! Also, I have an IMPORTANT WARNING: (Did the all caps get your attention? Yes? Good.) So, everyone knows school is starting up soon (it is for me, anyway) and my schedule is going to be jam-packed. I won't bore you with a list of everything I'll be doing, but I'm warning you that I probably won't be able to update nearly as often. I'll try to do my best, but it'll still be rough. An update once a week, maybe, at best. I know you guys will be reviewing, telling me to update, but believe me, I'll be doing my best. 'Kay? Good. Moving on to the shout outs! :)

8EternallyMortal8- Yup, Riptide emerges! You didn't think I'd forgotten about Percy's trusty sword, now did you?

Guest- Thank you :)

LighElf99- Well, hopefully I don't disappoint ;)

Disclaimer: I'm feeling pretty unoriginal today, so I'm just gonna get it out there: I own nothing. All rights to RR.

Annabeth's POV

Our little group- Percy, Rachel, Thalia, Grover, Nico, Reyna, Leo, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and I- clustered around Chiron, looking at him expectantly. It hadn't taken me long to explain our trip to Percy's apartment, and how we were attacked, and now it was time for answers. I was tired of not knowing what was going on, and from the looks on everyone else's faces, so where they.

Chiron sighed, seeming to realize that the time had come for him to spill.

"How much did Mrs. Jackson tell you?" He asked, scanning our faces hesitantly. The others looked to Percy, Rachel, and I, awaiting our answer.

"Only what we've told you," I said honestly. "She told us about the Unions, and that our parents were in the Union of the gods. Oh, and she mentioned the Union of the titans, too." Chiron nodded, his face expressionless.

"I see. Very well. What Percy's mom has said is all true, of course, but there's a bit more to the story," he admitted, leaning back in his wheelchair. "The Unions weren't created just for the fun of it. They have a purpose."

We waited, hanging on to every word as Chiron continued.

"Long ago, the titans decided that they had no reason to hide their powers. Who should decide what's normal? Why should people like them- and you- be considered weird? They wanted to change that, understandably, but they went to the extreme. The titans wanted to drive the humans into hiding, exterminate them entirely- you get the idea."

"But humans aren't all bad," Rachel protested.

"That's exactly what your parents realized," Chiron informed her. "They fought against the titans, and the war has been going on ever since."

"Wait, what?" Percy asked, looking confused. "A war over what, exactly? Human survival?"

"In a sense, yes," Chiron agreed.

"So… pretty much, we protect the humans, and the titans try to kill them?" Frank summed up, looking horrified.

"Not exactly," Chiron backtracked. "Only the Defenders protect the humans. A union isn't made up of just Defenders. There's also Searchers, Healers, and, if you're lucky, an Oracle."

"So that's what a Defender is," Percy said. "Like, a warrior. Or a solider." Chiron nodded in confirmation.

"Wait," I blurted out suddenly. "What exactly does this have to do with us? Our parents are involved in a top-secret war, sure. But why does this affect us?"

"Your parents need your help," Chiron admitted.

"Why?" I asked cautiously.

"The titans have recently gotten a lead on an… item… that could end this war once and for all- and not in our favor, either," Chiron explained.

"The Crescens Stone," Rachel interjected. Chiron paled at the mention of the stone, turning on the redhead immediately.

"How do you know about that?" He asked, almost accusingly.

"My dream," Rachel defended herself. "What does it do?"

"I can't tell you," Chiron said tightly. "But that's not important right now, anyway. The thing is, if the titans get this stone before your parents… I don't even want to think about it."

"But if they're out looking for this stone…" I trailed off, the puzzle pieces falling into place. "Who will keep the earth-bounds away from the humans?" Chiron's grim face confirmed my suspicions.

"That's where you come in," he told us. "You're parents need you to take over the battle in their absence."

A shocked silence followed his words, until I managed to choke out a strangled sounding, "No."

"What?"

"No," I repeated, stronger this time. "Chiron, those earth-bounds almost killed us. We can't fight them. We can barely protect ourselves, let alone everyone else!"

"Annabeth…" Percy began, and I turned on him, irritated.

"You think we should risk our skins over this, too? Percy, they almost killed us! We can't go out there again!" Percy fell silent, not meeting my gaze. I heard his unspoken message, though; If we can't do this, our parents can't find the stone. And if they can't find the stone, we're all doomed anyway.

"Annabeth," Chiron said gently. "Your family needs you. Your mother needs you." I didn't meet his gaze- my mom? Sure, I knew why she left, but it still hurt. I wasn't sure I wanted to help her.

Annabeth, scolded the sensible part of me. You're being ridiculous. This isn't about just you and your mom. It's about your friends, too, and the rest of humanity.

"Fine," I said. "But I'm not doing this for her." I didn't need to explain what I meant.


I stared out at the lake, sitting on the pier with my knees tucked up against my chest. Chiron had told us that Camp Half-Blood would serve as our base to complete our training as Defenders. Only when we'd completed our training could we pick a Union name and make it official.

A Union of our own, I thought, staring at the clear water. Is that really what we want? Is that what I want?

"Hey," said a voice, startling me from my thoughts. I looked over to see Percy sit down next to me.

"Chiron told me to give this to you," he said, handing me a necklace. I took it from him, turning it over in my hands to examine it.

It was a simple leather band, but from it hung a small delicate silver owl. Next to it was a clay bead with a pencil and a notebook etched into it.

"What's this?" I asked, turning to my boyfriend.

"It's from your mom," he told me, staring intently at the lake. "All of us got one, but you left before Chiron could give you yours." For the first time, I noticed the necklace Percy wore.

Like mine, it was a leather band with one clay bead. Instead of a silver owl, though, his had a deep blue trident symbol on it.

"The charm represents our parent, and the bead is for the MIST Academy," Percy explained.

"Oh," I said, slipping the necklace on. The weight of it around my neck was reassuring, for some reason. Maybe because it was a reminder that my mom knew I existed, or maybe it reminded me that she'd been forced to leave me, and it hadn't been her choice. Or maybe it wasn't the charm, but the bead- a reminder that we'd gone through rough times before, and could do it again.

"You're ok with all this, right?" Percy asked suddenly, turning to examine me.

"With what?" I asked, not looking at him.

"All this," Percy said. "The Union thing. Us helping. Everything." I hesitated before answering. A moment ago, the honest answer would have been no. But now…

I fiddled with my necklace idly, staring at the lake intently. The necklace almost seemed like a reminder from my mom, that she was out there.

In the end, I quoted my own thoughts, saying, "We've been through rough times before. We can do it again." Percy just nodded, looking satisfied with my answer.

"Are you ok with it?" I asked suddenly. Now it was Percy's turn to look away.

"Does it matter?" He mumbled. "We don't really have a choice, do we?"

"No," I admitted. "We don't." His answer made me look at him from different eyes- maybe Percy wasn't as happy with this as he'd appeared to be back in the Big House. I didn't push it, though.

"We'll find a way," Percy said softly, more to himself than to me.

"I'm sure we will," I said, slipping my hand into his.

We sat that way together in peace until the sun set, casting everything into glow of color. Not talking, just enjoying being together.

After all, who knew when we'd get another peaceful moment again?

And… there you have it! The secret is out! Well, except for the stone, but pretty much everything else is explained, I think. Now we can go back to some action chapters :) Reviewer's question: Out of curiosity, do you think you would have reacted the same way Annabeth did to the news? Just curious :) Also, if I have any Merlin fans reading this- I recently started my first Merlin Fanfic, so if you like Merlin, please check it out! Until next time!