Hey, buddies! Long time, no update, eh?

Schools gunna be back on Monday, uggh, so lets end this vacation on a happy note with TWO more chapters for both PJO fanfics! Whooo! :D

Before I start in, I have to get this out of the way. You guys know the books Maximum Ride correct? Well, I just finished the books Max, Fang, and Angel yesterday, and I won't go into spoilers, but I will say this. (Yes, I'm about to talk to a fictional character. Deal with it.) Fang! How on earth could you do that! Grr! It was perfect. P.E.R.F.E.C.T! But noo, you just had to go ruin it. And Dylan, go over to Maya. You are both clones. Instant connection.

Okay, sorry about that, but usually when I write, I write what I am feeling at that moment, so my mood goes into the fanfic. Ex: If I'm in a bad mood, Annabeth and Bianca are in a bad mood, equaling depressing update. So finishing my ranting, lets have this chapter on a happier note.

Well, after that little explosion of emotion, I've decided to do a Maximum Ride fanfic called Perfect For Each Other so check it out!

And guess, what? I had a taste of ambrosia! Haha, well it was called ambrosia, and it was delicious! Yogurt, marshmallows, grapes, mandarin oranges, and pineapple all mixed up and topped with toast coconut shavings. Yum!

I'm writing this in the car, so no replies to reviews, sorry!

Read, Review, and Favorite!

Donut Shops Are Evil

We splash-landed in the water, the sounds of monsters running over to the edge getting closer.

"Thermos!" screamed Percy.

Yep, dire situation of death, and Percy wanted some soup from a thermos. I didn't think it was the time for a food break.

"What?" I screeched. I was gripping the boat's handles for dear life as we bobbed along in the water.

Tyson opened a duffel bag and took the thermos out, handing it to Percy as arrows and javelins whooshed past us.

"Hang on!" he screamed, gripping the boats side with one hand, about to twist the cap.

"I am hanging on!" I yelled back.

"Tighter!"

Tyson grabbed Percy and I by the collar of our shirts, and Percy opened the thermos about fifteen degrees. We flew sideways, then began hopping over waves like skipping stones as Percy redirected the wind.

The sounds of angry monsters faded quickly behind us, and I glanced back to see it disappearing along the horizon.

I suggested we send an Iris Message to Chiron, to tell him the news about Luke, what with the sea-spray creating a pretty good mist.

Percy handed the thermos to Tyson while I dug out a gold drachma from one of the duffel bags.

"Oh, goddess, accept my offering. Chiron, centaur, old Camp Activities Director of Camp Half-Blood," I told the mist and threw the drachma in.

It disappeared, an image forming among the rainbows, showing flashing lights, rock music, and Chiron's face. If I knew anything, I knew that Chiron wouldn't be near a rock concert unless his life depended on it.

Percy and I told him about Luke, and how we escaped. Between the blaring music and the sound of the boat skimming along the water, I don't know how much Chiron actually heard, but there was no other option.

"Percy, you have to watch out for-" "Ieeyieiyie!" Chiron's voice was muted as someone in the background started yelling like a Native American.

"What?" yelled Percy.

"Curse my relatives!" shouted Chiron, and he ducked as a plate flew by. "Annabeth, you shouldn't have let Percy leave camp! But if you do get the Fleece-"

"Whoooo! Yeah, baby!"

I really did not want to know why the centaur said that.

"-Miami. I'll try to keep watch-" shouted Chiron.

Then our call was disconnected, probably by a centaur trying to do the worm. Trust me, I've seen it done, and it's not pretty.

An hour later, we spotted land, and I jumped up in surprise. "That's Virginia Beach! Oh my gods, how did the Princess Andromeda travel so far overnight? That's like-"

"Five hundred and thirty nautical miles," finished Percy.

Okay, if I knew anything, it was that Percy was not one for judging distances. Ex, game of capture the flag last summer, he said I was about fifty yards from the nearest enemy. I believed him, probably not smart on my part, but two seconds later, Clarisse tackled me. Unless she was wearing super shoes or something, there was no way she could have gone fifty yards in a few seconds. I stayed the lookout from then on.

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"I-I'm not sure," he stuttered, looking confused.

I thought for a second. Percy was the son of the sea god, right? Emphasis on sea, so I guess he knew wherever the heck we were whenever he was in contact with the ocean. Well, no need to ask for directions anymore.

"Percy, what's our position?" I asked.

"Thirty-six degrees, forty-four minutes north, seventy-six degrees, two minutes west," he answered immediately. "Whoa, how did I know that?"

I smiled. "Because of your dad. When you're at sea, you have perfect bearings. That is so cool."

Couldn't my mom give me special powers? Goddess of wisdom, yeah, she probably decided putting power n my hands was a bad idea, but her sacred animal was also the owl. I should totally get to fly.

A coast guard boat drove by, the driver looking at us strangely. Not good. I imagined what our conversation would be like.

'Kids, could please explain why you are driving an emergency boat at over one hundred miles an hour?'

'Oh, you see, sir, we were just looking for the Sea of Monsters, where we will be going on a dangerous journey to a man eating Cyclops and will probably die in the process.'

'Well, good luck, then, be on your way!'

I suspected they would more likely put us in an institution for crazy kids.

"Other boat is coming," warned Tyson.

I looked back to see the coast guard turning around, lights flashing. Dang it, why couldn't mortals just leave us alone?

"We can't let them catch us, they'll ask too many questions," said Percy.

I remembered a hiding spot Luke, Thalia and I had made. "Keep going into Chesapeake Bay," I advised. "I know a place we can hide."

Percy looked at me and shrugged, letting more air out of the thermos, and we rocketed toward the bay, leaving the Coast Guard boat far behind.

I directed Percy to the mouth of a river leading into the bay. I spotted it. "There, past the sandbar."

We beached the boat, and I had flashbacks of Luke, Thalia and I laughing as we made our shelter, eating around a fire, Luke and Thalia practicing fighting.

Luke, back then, he was so carefree, so full of life and spirit, always ready to help out with something. I missed the old Luke. I didn't recognize him anymore. But I knew, somewhere, deep inside, the old Luke was hiding, surrounded by the hate of his father, and the hate of Olympus.

I stepped up to the shelter lifting back the vines that hid the entrance. Everything was still in here, the lamp, the extra weapons, the sleeping bags.

Percy looked around in awe. "A half-blood hideout. You made this place?"

"Thalia and I," I replied. "…and Luke."

Percy's eyes darkened. Was he jealous? No, that wasn't right… was it? Was it his worry for me that I saw, or something more. Right now, I didn't even care. I was too caught up in flashbacks.

"So… you don't think Luke will look for us here?"

I shook my head. "We made a dozen safe houses like this. I doubt Luke remembers where they are. Or cares."

I dropped on the blankets layered on the floor, digging through my duffel bag, trying to give the whole, 'Don't talk to me or I'll bite your head off,' body language.

"Um Tyson?" asked Percy. "Would you mind scouting around outside? Like, look for a wilderness convenience store or something?"

"Convenience store?" asked Tyson.

"Yeah, for snacks. Powdered donuts or something. Just don't go too far."

"Powdered donuts. I will look for powdered donuts in the wilderness. Here donuts!" said Tyson as he walked out.

Percy plopped down in front of me. Great. Talk about feelings time. Didn't he have anything better to do?

"Hey, I'm sorry, you know, about seeing Luke," he said.

Well, sorry doesn't cut it, Seaweed Brain. "It's not your fault," I replied, taking out my knife and cleaning it with a rag.

"He let us go too easily," said Percy, trying to keep a conversation going.

I nodded, but didn't look up. "I was thinking the same thing. What we overheard him say about a gamble, and 'they'll take the bait,'… I think he was talking about us."

"The Fleece is the bait? Or Grover?" he asked.

Sheesh, I may have been the daughter of Athena, but I wasn't all knowing.

"I don't know, Percy. Maybe he wants the Fleece for himself. Maybe he's hoping we'll do the hard work, and then he can steal it from us. I just can't believe he would poison the tree," I said, tracing the patterns of the blanket below me.

"What did he mean, that Thalia would have been on his side?" asked Percy.

I felt like slugging Percy in the face. I was in a bad mood, and now was not the time to talk about what side Thalia would have been on.

"He's wrong."

"You don't sound so sure," Percy said.

I glared at him, making my eyes as cold as possible. He glanced nervously at the knife I had in my hand. Well, I wouldn't stab him, for Zeus's sake… maybe. But that's not the point. I stuck the knife in the dirt, hoping to calm him, even by a little.

"Percy, you know who you remind me of most? Thalia. You guys are so much alike it's scary. I mean, either you would have been best friends or you would've strangled each other."

It was true. That was one of the reasons I knew I could trust Percy with my life. They were so alike, it would be hard not to be friends. Then a disturbing thought came to me. They could have become more then friends, being so similar. For some reason, that sent a chill down my back. But why? I must have been having post dramatic stress or something, so I shook it off.

"Let's go with 'best friends'," said Percy and I smiled. Exactly what Thalia would have said.

"Thalia got angry with her dad sometimes. So do you. Would you turn against Olympus because of that?" I asked.

"No," was his immediate answer.

I nodded, satisfied. "Okay, then. Neither would she."

Percy looked at me thoughtfully, and I wondered idly what he was thinking about.

"So what did Luke mean about Cyclopes?" he asked finally. "He said you of all people-"

I stiffened. The sinister eyes of the Cyclops flashed in my mind. "I know what he said. He… he was talking about the real reason Thalia died."

Percy was silent, waiting for me to go on. He knew it was hard for me to talk about this subject.

I took a deep breath. "You can never trust a Cyclops, Percy. Six years ago, on the night Grover was leading us to Half-Blood Hill-"

The hut creaked and I spun, ripping my knife from the ground. Tyson walked in carrying, I kid you not, a box of donuts.

"Powdered donuts!" he cried gleefully.

Okay, did a random donut place just appear in the middle of nowhere? Well, considering the fact that we're demigods, and weird stuff happens all the time, (including the time I found a clown head in my special drawer, which has a lock on it. The head wasn't real, of course, but it still scared the crap out of me.) Anyways, a lot of weird things happen.

"Where did you get that? We're in the middle of the wilderness. There's nothing around for-" I said.

"Fifty feet. Monster Donut shop. Just over the hill!" he finished.

Oh, crap. Why here, why now? "This is bad," I muttered as I stared at the donut shop from behind a very uncomfortable shrub. The shop had suddenly appeared, with bright windows, and a cashier behind the desk. The words MONSTER DONUT stood in black and white, with a Shrek imposter taking a huge bite out of it.

"This shouldn't be here," I whispered. "It's wrong."

"What?" said Percy incredulously. I guessed the thought of donuts in the middle of nowhere was a blessing to him. "It's a donut shop!"

"Shhh!" I hissed at him.

"Why are we whispering? Tyson went in and bought a dozen. Nothing happened to him," Percy said.

"He's a monster," I explained.

"Aw, c'mon, Annabeth. Monster Donut doesn't mean monsters! It's a chain. We've got them in New York," Percy said, exasperated with me.

"A chain. And don't you think it's strange that one appeared immediately after you told Tyson to get donuts? Right here, in the middle of the woods," I answered.

Percy looked at me weirdly. I guess the thought of evil donut shops did sound pretty ridiculous.

"It could be a nest," I explained.

Tyson whimpered beside me. I must have sounded pretty scared or something.

"A nest for what?" asked Percy.

"Haven't you ever wondered how franchise stores pop up so fast? One day there's nothing and then the next day, boom, there's a new burger place or a coffee shop or whatever? First a single store, then two, then four. Exact replicas spreading across the country?" I asked.

"Um, no. Never thought about it."

Idiot Seaweed Brain.

"Percy, some of the chains multiply so fast because all their locations are magically linked to the life force of a monster. Some children of Hermes figured out how to do it back in the 1950's. They breed-"

I stiffened. There was a Hydra in front of me. Of all the freaking luck.

"What?" asked Percy loudly. "They breed what?" He seemed very interested in this. Oh, boys. But now was not the time.

"No. Sudden. Moves," I hissed. "Very slowly, turn around."

Percy and Tyson turned slowly to look at the hippo-sized snake with seven heads. Under each neck had a t-shirt that said "I'm a Monster Donut kid!"

Percy slowly lifted his ballpoint pen, and I tried sending mental signals to him. Not yet.

The Hydra was only a few feet away now, and most of the heads sniffed around while two of the heads had a friendly game of tug-of-war with one of our duffel bags.

Tyson took frightened step back, snapping a twig. All the heads looked straight at us. Well, cover blown. Plan B in action.

"Scatter!" I yelled, and dove to the right.

I looked up as Percy tackled Tyson out of the way just as one of the heads snapped at them, hitting a tree, which toppled over onto two of the heads.

The Hydra hissed, slithering back.

"Move!" Percy yelled to Tyson, and took out Anaklusmos. That caught the Hydra's attention. One head snapped at him, and he instinctively swung his sword, cutting the head clean off.

"No!" I cried.

The Hydra's neck stump thing, whatever its called, grew two more heads. Great, another Monster Donut shop.

"Percy!" I reprimanded. "You just opened another Monster Donut shop somewhere!"

Percy rolled out of the way of a spray of acid and looked at me half-annoyed, half-mad. "I'm about to die and you're worried about that? How do we kill it?"

"Fire!" I answered. "We have to have fire!"

Percy glanced around. No fire. He backed up towards the river, and I stepped in with my trusty knife, blocking one of the Hydra heads from biting my hand off. I stumbled, falling to the ground, and the Hydra head lunged.

"No hitting my friends!" yelled Tyson and he jumped in front of me, hitting the Hydra over their heads with massive flying fists. I got up, hoping Tyson could finish it off, but even a Cyclops couldn't defeat the Hydra.

We walked backwards, forced toward the water. It wasn't long before it found a way through our defenses, and then we would be hellhound chow.

Then I heard the strangest thing. It was a chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga sound. What the Hades? Was Thomas the Tank Engine coming to rescue our butts? I think I can, I think I can!

"What's that noise?" I called.

"Steam engine," answered Tyson.

"What?" Percy said as he ducked, scarcely missing some acid.

"There! Prepare the thirty-two-pounder!" I never thought I would be happier to hear that voice again.

"They're too close, m'lady!" said a male voice, one I didn't recognize.

"Damn the heroes!" yelled Clarisse. "Full steam ahead!"

"Aye, m'lady."

"Fire at will, captain!" shouted Clarisse.

Great, she was going to hit us!

"Hit the dirt!" I yelled, and we dropped to the ground just as a giant boom filled the swampy place. The Hydra exploded, like it had swallowed a bomb, and I got covered with monster guts.

"Gross!" I yelled, jumping up.

"Steamship!" called Tyson, and we looked around to see an old-fashioned ship chugging toward us, a flag with a boar's head snapping in the wind.

There was Clarisse, in full battle armor, standing proudly at the bow of the ship. "Losers," she smirked at us. "But I suppose I have to rescue you. Come aboard."

Interesting day today. Luke's betrayal, a wild escape, major spilling of my feelings, monster donuts, a Hydra, and Clarisse. Just another average demigod day.

Sorry, guys I couldn't think of any flashbacks when Annabeth was sitting in the half-blood hideout. Literally spent a half and hour trying to think of one. Serious brain cramp. :D

I am updating the next chapter tomorrow, just because I like to keep you in suspense, haha!

Lastly, both Bianca chapters will be in tommorow because I am having some serious brain crampage, and a new book is taunting me ruthlessly. So, sorry about that!

Review!