Hi guys! So, this is the 'early' chapter that I promised you. It's not quite as early as I'd hoped it would be, but I've had a really busy day today, guys. Last night I slept at my aunt and uncle's with my two little sisters. Then this morning I went to the hospital with my aunt, uncle and nan and got to see my baby cousin! They told the midwife that I also want to be a midwife when I'm older so they grudgingly let me in to see a bit of the scan. It's a boy, I can confirm. And he was hyper as shit - doing spins and kicking and yawning. It was the most amazing thing I've ever seen.

After the hospital, we were stuck in traffic for an hour. We returned to my nans for a few minutes then went shopping. We spend about fifty quid (pounds, for you Americans) on baby clothes. We spend hours shopping then went to Pizza Hut. I'm still stuffed with pepperoni...

Anyway, that's just a run-down on my day. It was hectic and it doesn't help that I didn't get much sleep last night. I should really be asleep now, in fact. My eyes are drooping. I hope you enjoy this chapter - thank you to all you reviewers and followers and stuff! I'm getting emails constantly :P

Well...yup. Enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON!

Again, a few rounds into our game we had another interruption. A girl around my age with curly blonde hair and weird grey eyes comes out of the marquee, looking around nervously until her eyes land on Thalia (who has me pinned to the floor). The girl smiles, "Thalia!"

Thalia releases me and a second later she's hugging the girl. I sat up, looking at her in confusion. Okay, I swear to god I've seen this girl before, but where? Nico grins – he clearly recognises her.

"I've not seen you in ages, Annie!" Thalia exclaims once she and the blonde-haired girl had stopped hugging. What is it with girls and hugging?

"Only a week," the girl giggles. "My mom's been busy with work,"

Thalia just beams. She grab's the girl's hand and drags her over to me and Nico. "C'mon, you can play with us," she says.

"Hi, Annie!" Nico says brightly, waving to the girl.

"Hello, Nico," the girl smiles, ruffling my little cousin's hair. She looks up at me, confused.

"Oh, right, I should introduce you – Annabeth, this is my cousin Percy Jackson. Percy, this is my best friend, Annabeth Chase," Thalia says.

Hold on. Annabeth Chase. I've heard that name before. She goes my school! She's in my class, in fact, but we've never spoke – not even made eye-contact. Annabeth's the quietest kid there is, at least in school. Here, out of school, she seems quite chatty.

"You go my school," Annabeth states, staring at me. Her eyes are unnerving – more so than Zeus and Hades's, in fact. But strangely I don't get the urge to hide from them.

"I know," I say slowly, nodding.

"I didn't know you knew Thalia,"

"Neither did I. We only met today,"

Annabeth glances at Thalia who waves her hand dismissively. "I'll explain later, promise," she says. "C'mon, we're playing our favourite game,"

"Heroes vs monsters?" Annabeth asks excitedly.

Thalia nods. "Yup! Me and you can be the monsters first, 'coz Nico doesn't like being the monster, and we'll play boys versus girls. Then we'll swap,"

Nodding, we split off. Nico and I run away whilst the girls start counting. I'll admit – I'm confident that we'll win. Nico and I are the best at hiding and sometimes Thalia isn't very observant and she'll just walk past us. I assume that Annabeth will be the same.

I'm wrong. Very wrong.

Two minutes into the round, I'm racing away from Annabeth. She's hurling playful insults at me and I was hurling them back.

"LEAVE ME ALONE BEAST!" I scream, sprinting through the garden; leaping over hedges and rolling under statues.

"NEVER PETTY HUMAN!" she retorts. I've never really spoken to Annabeth in school but she seems pretty cool here. She's not like other girls, like Thalia. They're both tough and independent and don't care about getting their clothes and hair dirty. In fact, it's Annabeth who tries to tackle me into the fountain. Thankfully Thalia steps in before she can and that round ends pretty fast.

The sky soon starts getting dark. Being September, days are getting shorter. The adults keep poking their heads out of the marquee to check on us (one time it was Hades, another time it was Apollo, etc). By 6pm, Nico is exhausted and we've played nearly a hundred rounds of kill-the-monster, so we decide to take a break. We sit on a table cloth from inside the marquee, given to us by Aphrodite when she saw us sat on the damp grass. Thalia and Annabeth are telling me about how they met.

"We met in a park," Thalia says. "I'd run away from Hera because she was getting on my nerves. Annie was there on her own. We met on the swing-set and been best friends since,"

"Then my mom got a job at Thalia's dad's company," says Annabeth. "She's, like, the second-in-command. That's why my mom and I were invited here,"

The conversation continues for a little bit before it diverts to me.

"What did you mean, you only met Thalia today?" Annabeth asks.

"I met my dad about two months ago," I say. "He and my mom were together in high school, but she never told him he was pregnant. My mom died a year ago and social workers found a letter addressed to my dad, and since then I've been seeing him and staying at his house most of the time,"

"Weird. You already act like you've known each other for years,"

I glance down at Nico, who's snoozing against my shoulder. I shift slightly so he's more comfortable and smile, nodding in agreement.

"You two go to school together, right?" Thalia asks.

"Yeah. We've never talked, though," says Annabeth. "You're friends with Grover Underwood, right?"

"Yeah. And Grover's cool," I say defensively, before she can insult him or something like everyone else does.

Annabeth nods. "I know. I used to be friends with him, but then he got that disease in his legs and...well, anyone who hangs out with him now is deemed uncool,"

"I hang out with him," I frown, trying not to get angry.

"Yeah, but...no one will bully you. You'd punch anyone who'd try, like you punched Luke. Plus, you're not a weirdo like me," Annabeth says timidly.

Thalia shakes her head. "You are not a weirdo, Annabeth," she tells her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're just really, really smart. Everyone's really jealous of you, that's all,"

"What are you talking about?" I ask.

"I was moved up a grade last year because I'm smarter than other kids," Annabeth explains. "Everyone thinks I'm weird because of it. That's why no one talks to me and I sit on my own most of the time. Plus I'm ADHD and Dyslexic,"

That fact shocks me, but I don't ask and continue to frown. "Yeah, well, when we go back to school on Monday, you're gonna stay with me and Grover at break and lunch. No one will say anything while I'm around,"

Annabeth smiles. "Really?"

"Really. You're cool, Annabeth. Unlike other girls,"

"Hey!" Thalia scoffs, shoving me.

I laugh, telling her that she's cool too. Thalia looks pleased for a second and then looks back at Nico, who grunts in his sleep. Standing, she heads into the marquee. A minute later she comes back out with Hades, Poseidon and Zeus trailing after her. Annabeth helps me get Nico into a proper sitting position so it's easy for Hades to pick him up and tuck him under his chin, holding his son like a baby.

"He rests easy with you," he says in confusion. "That's rather rare. Nico rarely sleeps without me nearby,"

"He's awesome," I say, grinning. "A brilliant hero,"

Nico smiles slightly in his sleep. I guess that being moved woke him up, though he isn't showing it.

"Have you guys been having fun?" Poseidon asks, glancing at Annabeth.

"Loads," I nod. "Annabeth goes my school. We're in the same class and on Monday she's going to sit with me and Grover at break,"

"Is she, now?" a voice says behind the three brothers. I look around Poseidon to see a woman with long black hair and sparkling grey eyes exactly the same as Annabeth's walking towards us.

"Hey, mom," Annabeth says, standing at the woman's side.

"Hi, Athena!" Thalia grins brightly.

The woman, Athena, smiles kindly at my cousin. Her gaze then turns to my dad and I and it becomes stony. "I didn't know you had a child, Poseidon," she says with obvious distaste. I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from commenting on her tone.

"Honestly, neither did I, Athena," Poseidon says, hand on my shoulder. "His mother never told me. I only found out about Percy a few weeks ago,"

Athena's lips are pursed, staring at me, as though she doesn't approve. "Percy's my friend, mom," Annabeth says, tugging on her sleeve. "He's nice,"

"Unlike his father," Athena mutters.

"Excuse me?" I quirk an eyebrow.

Poseidon squeezes my shoulder. "Don't," he warns. Athena's glaring at me now. "C'mon, we should go inside. Hephaestus and Aphrodite should be cutting the cake, soon,"

And with that, he steers me inside, Zeus and Thalia behind us, Hades and Nico behind him and Athena and Annabeth bringing up the rear. Indeed, everyone is seated. Poseidon and I sit at a table with his brothers and my two cousins and we watch and clap politely as they go through the whole cutting-the-cake and best-man speech and stuff. I'm not really listening. Thalia challenges me to a game of thumb-war under the table and we're at it for the whole ten minutes. When I finally win the food is being served and I catch Annabeth's eye across the marquee, sat at another table. She mouths, "Sorry," as she nods towards her mom.

"It's alright," I mouth back, smiling, unable to stop myself. Annabeth blushes and looks away pointedly.

We don't get a chance to play again for a few hours. The food comes and we dig in – Hades manages to stir Nico with the pudding and he doesn't fall back to sleep, alerted by the sugar. By 8pm, however, everyone's talking and bustling around again. Thalia, Nico and I slip off to an empty corner of the marquee to play again (as we were no longer allowed outside).

Annabeth isn't allowed to join us as we play duck-duck-goose (Nico insists). It's kind of lame, considering there's only three of us playing, but it keeps little Nico entertained. His nap has restored most of his energy so Thalia and I purposely chose him as the 'goose' every time so that he would burn it off again. Just to save Hades the job of calming him down.

Even I feel myself getting tired eventually. But I don't want to leave. Poseidon said that we'd probably be gone after the food however for the first time in years he seems to be getting along with his family. I can see him chatting with his brothers from across the marquee with a trace of a smile on his face.

Everything is fine, until a man I don't recognise emerges from the crowd and steps into the corner Thalia marked off with chalk. He's tall and rather old, with jet black hair and a pointed beard. His golden brown eyes glint horribly, reminding me of some sinister characters from those horror films my mom used to love watching.

"Hello, children," he says. His voice sends a jolt of ice down my spine.

Thalia freezes for a second before stepping in front of Nico and I. I stare at her in confusion. "G-G-Granddad!" she gasps.

I frown. Granddad? The man chuckles. "Hello again, my dear, Thalia. It's been a while. How is your father?"

Zeus. That must mean this guy is his dad. Poseidon's dad. What did he say about him? His name's Kronos, and apparently he's pure evil.

"What are you doing here?" Thalia demands fiercely. I look around, but no one's noticed us. Nico's cowering behind me.

"Am I not allowed to attend my grandson's wedding?" Kronos asks innocently. His eyes land on Nico behind me. "Oh, Nico, what's the matter?"

Nico's arms wrap around my waist. "Bad man," he mutters to me. "Percy, I want my dad..."

I shush him comfortingly, like I would with the little ones at the children's home. I don't know what else to do however. Kronos, seeing that he isn't going to get a direct answer from the terrified six-year-old, turns to me. "And you must be Percy," he says. "The spawn of that piece of trash my son thought he loved,"

"My mother wasn't trash," I hiss, anger instantly flaring. "And my dad did love her, thank you very much,"

Kronos smirks, tapping his chin. "Oh, that's right – she committed suicide, didn't she? I wonder why,"

I clench my fists. "Well, it's none of your business," I say, not even bothering to ask about how he knew about her. Never mind how he knows my name.

Kronos raises an eyebrow. "Snappy, aren't you?" he asks. "Like your father. And uncles, for that matter..."

"I think you should leave," Thalia says. It was clear she was trying not to let her voice quiver. "My dad doesn't want you here,"

"Oh, yes," Kronos sighs. "Well, I forgot. Oh well. I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Didn't you hear her?" I ask. My eyes scan the marquee again, but still no one has seen Kronos. Part of my brain starts calculating the best escape route in case things turn sour, and luckily I see the perfect beeline towards Poseidon. I just hope I don't have to use it and Kronos will take the hint. I continue, "Don't make us have to get everyone else involved. I'm pretty sure that there are a lot of people here who aren't exactly fond of you, Kronos,"

"I came here for a reason, Percy," Kronos says. His voice is horribly gentle. "I heard about you. I wanted to meet you for myself,"

"And you have. So leave,"

"No...not yet,"

There's a glint in his eyes. I can almost see in his mind all the different things he's thinking up – what ways will be best to cause me pain. What technique would be best to separate me from my father. It makes me shudder.

Kronos pushes past Thalia, who's too scared to say anything, and kneels in front of me. My senses tell me to move back and use my escape route, but I can't. I'm frozen. Plus, Kronos has now blocked the way I was going to go. I plaster an emotionless mask on my face, quirking an eyebrow as Kronos' strange golden eyes bore into mine, as though trying to suss out my darkest secrets. I wonder why none of his children have the same eyes. It's weird – every member of the Olympia family seem to have different coloured irises.

"Been through a lot, haven't you?" Kronos asks.

I don't know why, but something about that know-it-all tone ticks me off. "Oh, please just sod off," I can't help but sigh. I meant to say it under my breath, I swear. It comes out louder than I expect.

Regardless, it isn't the right thing to say. Kronos stands, face twisted with fury. I hear Nico's gasp of horror as he hugs me tighter. Thalia scurries to my side and stands behind Nico, creating a barrier around him. Somehow we make a silent agreement – protect little Nico, even if he isn't the one Kronos is talking to.

I expect Kronos to raise his hand and strike me or something, but before he can someone jumps in the way. Zeus. He stares his father down, a few inches taller than him, and hisses what I assume is a threat. Hades appears behind us and pushes Thalia out of the way so that he can sweep his son out of danger. I feel a familiar set of arms wrap around me from behind and pull me away too. My dad grabs Thalia and we huddle together behind him.

"You are not welcome here!" Zeus growls. "Get out! Now! Before I make you,"

"Oh, son of mine..."

"Now," Hades, Poseidon and Zeus all say forcefully.

Kronos bares his strangely pointed teeth at them, however he can obviously see that he's outnumbered. He pushes his way through the crowd that has gathered, leaving the marquee. Zeus tells some of his security guards to make sure he leaves before hugging Thalia.

"Did he say anything to you?" Poseidon asks, sounding frantic, kneeling in front of me.

"Uh, he said he wanted to meet me," I say, blinking away my shock. What just happened? Was the party just gate-crashed by our evil grandfather? Okay, not strange at all..."And made comments about my mom,"

"And what did you say?"

"I...may have told him to sod off,"

Poseidon doesn't seem to know whether or not to be angry at me. Eventually, he settles for a neutral smile that says 'I'm glad you're okay' but also 'next time this happens, I'll whoop your ass' and hugs me. Obviously, the sight of his father talking to me has scared him. I wonder why. All I know about him so far is that he's evil and separated my mom and dad. What about those two facts can scare someone?

"We should leave," Hades says. Nico's trembling in his arms. Clearly, his previous run-in with Kronos hadn't gone well. "It's getting late,"

"Agreed," Poseidon says, arm curling around me. "I'll call you tomorrow, brothers. We must discuss more about this,"

They murmur in agreement. Thalia gives me a quick hug, bump Nico's fist (though he looks half-asleep and teary-eyed) and shoot a smile across the marquee at Annabeth. She looks confused, and worried, but she smiles back anyway. I follow Poseidon out of the marquee and to the car.

Half an hour later, we're home. I don't comment when Poseidon lies on my bed besides me that night. Like last night when I had a nightmare, he tangles a hand in my hair and I quite happily curl up against his chest. Just in case. I mean, you never know when the nightmares might attack.

...Yup. Chapter 10, ladies and gentlemen! Introducing the main villain of this plot: Kronos!

You guys thought Hugh would be the main villain, didn't you? Well, I have plans for Hugh. He'll only appear a few more times in this story, but that'll be it until the sequel. Speaking of which, I'm only one chapter into it :P I need to start working on it, but I'm trying to find the will to do it. You know when you finish a chapter but then can't find the kick-start for the next chapter? Yeah, that's how I feel.

So, what are your thoughts on Annabeth? This story isn't Percabeth - well, not completely. There are hints of it, as you can see. I mean, Percy's only nine and Annabeth is eight. They're crushing on each other slightly, but that will be it...until the sequel. Sorry, Percabeth fans, but this story is focused on Percy and Poseidon's father/son relationship right now.

Next update comes Thursday, or maybe Wednesday. It's 00:46 right now, so technically it's Tuesday...meh. Whatever. I'll decide. Please drop a review if you have any ideas or feedback for this chapter. Any way to help improve my writing is welcome, as long as you're polite. I hate impolite, snotty reviewers - not that there are any on this story. You guys are so darn nice. I always have a smile on my face when reading the reviews, and I never smile unless I'm around my friends.

Damn, why do I keep rambling like this? I physically can't write short paragraphs. In Year 6, I wrote a eleven pages of writing for our short story project. To this day I still can't write short texts. I mean, just look at this! Ugh. I've just had to delete half of it.

Well, hope you guys have brilliant days and that you enjoyed this chapter! Bye!