I am done. Here is the chapter you all have waited 8 months for.

I could make excuses all day: my life was a mess, the chapter is 20 pages long, I was rewriting chapter 3, but you guys don't want to hear them.

Anyway, because I know how much you guys want to get reading ASAP, I'm leaving the long author's note to the bottom.

I RECOMMEND READING THE PREVIOUS CHAPTER BEFORE PROCEEDING

"Even though our abilities are what make us who we are here at Goode, " Chiron continued, "for many people they are a sensitive, mysterious topic. Because abilities are not considered 'normal' under society's standards, most students are highly confused about their abilities and sometimes even embarrassed," he explained, "To exercise and unlock the specific keys to our abilities, we have to create a mutual trust as a class."

Oh God, I thought. Chiron was a pretty nice guy when you got to know him, but he definitely was not the guidance counselor type. Something about him told me that his idea of a "mutual trust" involved in someone just skidding around death.

"I suppose all of you are in some phase of friendship, " he explained, looking at his students, "But what level of trust you have acquired, I do not know. To become a unified, functioning team, trust is something that cannot be stressed to the maximum. If you do not trust one of your teammates, you cannot work together and exceed your goal. And I understand that trust is gained by actions, not mindset. To trust someone, they have to prove themselves worthy of your dependance. And that, class, is where we will start."

"Nothing that happens in this room leaves this room, " Chiron continued, eyes flooded seriousness as he met the gaze of each of his students "Nothing. This is the only one of my classes I feel it is necessary to do this with, and it is for a very good reason. You cannot share any information that goes along in here with any of the student body, faculty, and I recommend keeping talking amongst yourselves extremely minimal," he looked me in the eye, "All of your abilities are very unique and extremely powerful. I expect to test them well enough here."

The room was dead silent; no one dared to move. This... this sounded extreme. Chiron was rigid and tense as he explained, seriousness forming like a cloud over him and expanding through the room, filling every ounce of our brains. Something deep inside my thoughts told me this all was a complete secret, not only to our peers but to Goode's administrators. For some odd reason, Chiron was breaking the rules; he wasn't doing what he was assigned to do. Goode was supposed to teach us to control our abilities, not go free and discover their full potential. Something was causing Chiron to go against authority.

Something about Goode.

"We will be going outside to begin today," Chiron announced loudly, "because some of your abilities are quite, well, destructive, " he explained," I do not wish to damage anything in the classroom."

Without wasting a moment of time, Chiron motioned us all to the door and began a brisk walk out of the classroom, not waiting for any of his students. The small class hurriedly got to their feet and lightly jogged to catch up with Chiron. I helped Annabeth up and hurried to follow them, but she grabbed my arm and stopped me.

"I don't like this, Percy, " she whispered harshly, looking straight into my eyes.

Her body was extremely tense. Those big, gray eyes had a small scared tint to them, something she would only let me see. Her face was filled with a determined, flustered look that I knew all too well. I had memorized a long time ago exactly what that face was. That was the face she got when she was in a situation she couldn't control.

"Annabeth," I put my hands on her shoulders, "These are our friends. It's okay if they know your ability. They will understand."

"I don't care about telling my ability, Percy!" she exclaimed, "I care about why Chiron is doing this! Something is clearly wrong."

"I understand, Annabeth," I grabbed her arm and pulled her out the door with me, "but we have to go now. We'll go through today and see how it goes, okay?"

We jogged down the hall together and met up with our small class, molding ourselves back into the crowd. Grover sent me a confused look, but I waved him off. Annabeth was clearly worried, and on the inside, I was too. It was that feeling- that feeling I kept getting. Something was always off.

As we stepped outside, everyone instinctively glanced up at the sky and cringed, recalling the previous, scarring storm. Gray storm clouds swirled in the heavens, but no rain fell. It was as if the storm was taunting us, quite literally holding our fear over our heads.

Chiron lead us down an extremely familiar path, the same path that went down to the beach. The class silently walked down the rocks in single file while focusing on not stumbling. It was something about having more people with us that made the decent much more nerve-wracking. I couldn't decide if it was the fact that someone behind me would slip and knock me over or if someone in front of me would slip and I'd have to catch them.

The beach was very different since I last had saw it. The usual calm, dark blue water was a deep, depressing shade of gray, and large waves crashed on the shore, quite oddly for a river. The water swirled in the distance, giving off a dangerous, wild feel, such as the storm had done earlier that day. Everyone in the class eyed it, even Chiron, but said nothing of it. No one needed too; it was quite evident.

The shore was also not the same. The water had swallowed a good part of the land and the sand resembled more of muddy dirt than the fine sand that it used to be. Trees, branches, and leaves littered the beach, just like the campus, but no one would clean it up here. Either we would have to move them or the wind would for us. Strong gusts howled down the beach, sending Annabeth's curls flying in her face, and almost caused a few of us to stumble. But Chiron lead us on strong, not a moment to be wasted.

I instinctively looked out into the water, searching for the island, even though I knew I would never find it with the naked eye. Flashes of the big, burly Legacies ran through the back of my mind. Thank God we had ran when we did the first time we had seen them, now that we knew they were bad. We had been in real danger and weren't even aware of it all. I distantly wondered if we should tell Mr. Sedel about the island. If the Legacies were really putting the school in danger, shouldn't we inform him of where they were? The Annabeth in the back of my head told me no; we didn't know enough. But I still felt a pang of guilt, knowing we knew something important and didn't share it.

"We'll stop here!" Chiron instructed, referring to a lone patch of beach far from where we came, "No one will find us here."

Chiron quickly sat down on the beach, purposely yet gracefully. The rest of the class followed as anticipation took over the atmosphere and sparked our focus. There was a moment of silence as everyone averted their attention to Chiron, even though he did nothing but look back at us as if it was completely obvious what we should do.

"To help each other," Chiron explained, "We have to tell and show each other our abilities."

The wind howled down the beach past us and his words were almost lost, but not quite. I felt ready, on edge. Almost even excited, as if this were all a big, creepy, dangerous game. I found myself looking around and a smirk creeping onto my face. I felt eager, alive even. Electricity sparked through my veins, sending my brain into a frenzy. This was going to be fun.

"First up, Thalia."

Thalia leaned in close to me and whispered in my ear, "Try not to fall over this time, Jackson."

Smiling, I punched her arm as she stood up. She not-so-discreetly flipped me off before walking to the front of our amoeba-like semicircle. Thalia turned and faced the class, hands on her hips, not a hint of shyness or fear on her expression.

"I can control lightning," she stated boldly.

I couldn't help but snort; there was so much arrogance in her voice. I glanced over to my left and met Annabeth's eyes. She was trying holding back a smile too, quite adorably may I add.

Most of the class didn't react to Thalia's confession; the majority of us already knew. But Chiron wanted to make sure we definitely knew everything.

"Will you demonstrate?" Chiron asked, even though it was not a question at all.

Thalia wasn't the only one who looked surprised.

"Chiron," she warned, "It isn't-"

"We'll be fine," he interrupted strongly, "I trust you to control it."

The look on her face proved that she didn't.

But Thalia knew better than to challenge Chiron, so she stepped back a few paces away from the class. Nico shot me a startled look, and all I could do was shrug; I was just as startled as he was. Chiron was really going to do this? Last time Thalia tried out her magical lightning powers, the six of us almost got blown to bits.

"Don't aim big or powerful, Thalia," Chiron instructed calmly from his seat, "Aim for control."

We watched with caution as Thalia took a deep breath and closed her eyes, focusing herself. I glanced over at my friends and instinctively readied myself to pop up at anytime and protect them, just in case. I couldn't tell what was going to happen, so I sent Annabeth a questioning look next to me. She saw it and shrugged helplessly; her ability wasn't helping us at all. I took a deep sigh myself, and averted my attention to Thalia again.

CRACK!

A blinding white light filled every inch of my sight, followed almost instantly by a beyond deafening boom. Adrenaline and electricity pumped through my veins, causing me to unintentionally jump in front of Annabeth, the person nearest to me. It was over instantly, but the electricity still hung in the air, sending everything on edge. The world around me sizzled and fried as black dots blurred my vision.

"Very good," I heard Chiron say, but it was almost distantly, like he was far away from where I was.

I looked down and remembered I had Annabeth under me. Her curls laid messily around her head and she looked up at me just as dazed as I felt, her normally stormy eyes looking more like a confused rain storm.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my voice refusing to go anywhere over a whisper.

It took a moment for her to process what I had asked before she nodded, sitting up slowly as I got off of her.

"Thank you for that demonstration," I could hear Chiron normally now, "We will definitely try to work on control."

Thalia nodded, quickly walking back over to the group and sitting back down.

"Are you guys okay?" she asked, voice filled with actual concern.

Everyone glanced quickly at each other, and for Thalia's sake, everyone nodded.

"We're fine, " I lied, putting a hand on her shoulder, "No one got hurt."

She nodded again, but I saw she knew we were lying. She would learn to control it anyway, that's why we were doing this. It was to help us, even if Goode didn't want to.

"Next up, the Stolls."

I inwardly cringed as the brothers shot to their feet, smiling devious grins at each other before rushing to the front. It was as if the energy from the lightning somehow transferred into them, making their brains go haywire like a sugar rush. I could almost hear the class groan, not knowing at all what to expect from the two, as they playfully knocked each other out of the way to the front, before straightening themselves up and facing the class.

And I swear on my grave I heard a, 'Really?' from Chiron.

And as if this had all been practiced a million times before, Connor cleared his throat.

"I," he motioned to himself, "have the ability of speed."

"And I," Travis motioned to himself," have the ability to communicate through the mind."

"But, " Connor picked up almost instantly, "as a side effect, we can swap abilities."

And with that, they gave an extremely dramatic bow.

I had to admit, even though it was very theatrical, their abilities were downright cool. And from glancing at my peers, they thought so too. Grover was blushing with embarrassment, poor guy, and Nico was nodding, clearly impressed. Not only did the brothers have speed and mind communication, but they could switch. It was kind of like me, I guessed; it was like having two abilities.

"A positive side effect," Chiron stated, nodding, "Very interesting. Would you like to demonstrate?"

The boys shared a devious look and a grin before turning back to Chiron.

"Of course, " Connor stated, "Travis, " he bowed to his brother, "would you like to go first?"

"My pleasure," Travis replied slowly, returning the bow and turning to the class.

There was a moment of silence as everyone anticipated what Travis was going to do. He looked at all of us and smiled, but nothing at all happened. But then again, his ability was in the mind. Chiron waited patiently, always keeping his cool, but a few of my classmates were jittery. A long, chilling wind howled down the beach, sending shivers up my spine and goosebumps up my arms.

A loud gasp came from Juniper at the front of our circle. Everyone turned to see what was wrong with her, but all she did was look up at Travis in amazement. Will's head shot up a moment after, astonishment dominating his features. And so it went, down the line. Shock, bewilderment, confusion. Travis would look at them and they would instantly react, as if they were in awe.

Annabeth unexpectedly scoffed next to me and glared at Travis, as if she was completely offended.

I THINK ANNABETH'S SEXY.

I heard it as if he had spoken it out loud right in front of me, but his lips never moved once. I really was truly astonished by his ability, but his remark made me look up and raise my eyebrows.

He shrugged and gave me a not-so-innocent smile, before turning back to his brother.

"Your turn," he quickly backed away as far as he really could and gave Connor some room, which I was sure he needed for his ability.

I wasn't exactly sure if our dumbfounded classmates could process anything at the moment, but Connor quickly lead on.

"Anybody have a watch?" he asked, looking from classmate to classmate.

"I do," Grover answered, raising his hand. Sure enough, a watch sat right on his wrist, unused.

Connor grinned and looked back at his brother.

"How far?"

"To the school," Travis answered, not a moment off beat.

Connor smirked and glanced back at Grover, nodding.

"Time me."

And in less than a second, he was gone.

I looked around, thinking I must have blinked. Annabeth quickly looked over at me, eyes wide. I met her gaze and nodded, and the moment I turned back, Connor was there.

"2.3 seconds," Grover read on his watch, voice filled with amazement as he looked up at Connor in bewilderment.

Connor turned and high-fived Travis, the smile on his face from ear to ear.

I had to admit, that was impressive. I'd never seen abilities like either of theirs, and now that I got to thinking about it, I had never seen anyone's abilities ever before. Goode, a school for children with exceptional abilities, and I had never seen another's ability before... on school property of course. The island was a whole different situation. But it made me wonder, why? Why was there no place to exercise, or at least control our abilities? Did they think by not letting us use them that would teach us control?

I looked over at Thalia. She had a destructive ability; shouldn't they teach her to manage her own ability? And Annabeth, Annabeth's ability was out of control! What if she had worked on it; what if she had help? Would that help even the tiniest bit? I got help on my ability, why didn't the others get the same thing? Why was Goode hiding our abilities?

"Could you demonstrate the switch?" Chiron asked the Stolls, hand stroking his jaw.

"Gladly," the brothers answered in unison, backing again away from the group.

A hush fell over the crowd as we all waited, watching Travis and Connor intensely. The tricksters took one quick glance at each other, and a small, silent message was transferred between them.

Without any warning, Travis was gone; Connor stood in front of us alone, a determined smirk dominating his features.

In less than a second the entire situation was straight out of THE INCREDIBLES movie, except I could only feel Travis sprinting in fast, tight circles around us; there was no trace of him circling us other than strong gusts of winds coming so fast and so frequently I could hardly keep upright.

It was distracting and dizzying; my senses strained in overdrive to process where Travis was at all times, but there was no way they could ever keep up, even on high alert. I could feel my classmates restraining themselves from caving into their instincts and curling up into a little ball from claustrophobia. Juniper was covering her head with her hands and even Annabeth had a slightly pained look on her face.

But Connor, Connor was not fazed by the commotion even the tiniest bit, his face showing this was more appealing to him than anything. I could tell the moment he started going down the line and speaking to people mentally, just as his brother had done, but this time there were no astonished gasps or bewildered eyes. If anything, what he was saying was being half-heartedly processed as their real attention focused on the blind fear of being run over by Travis.

YOU KNOW, ANNABETH IS PRETTY DARN SEXY

Even through the hectic, nerve-wracking situation, I still managed to roll my eyes. Brothers will be brothers.

"STOP!" Chiron's voice boomed in my ears, making them ring with numbness.

In a split second, everything in the world was still.

Travis somehow stood directly beside Connor again, smiling at Chiron with a fake, innocent look. It felt as if the sky had been lifted off of my shoulders now that the world had stopped spinning. My reflexes instinctively regained my surroundings, happy to have the ability to process information again. A small breeze left over from Travis still lingered around the group, tousling the silence around the air like a pinball machine.

"Thank you, for that... demonstration," Chiron spoke through his teeth, small annoyance slipping into his voice, "And next time I advise you to make it a little less distracting."

Connor punched Travis as they walked to their seats, "You completely stole the attention!"

Travis laughed evilly, "That's what I'm here for!"

I watched Chiron slowly shake his head and rub his temple as if the boys had given him a headache, which I'm sure they had.

I glanced over at Annabeth and saw a unimpressed scowl on her face.

"Are you okay?" I asked, watching her face.

She looked over and met my gaze, giving me a small smile and rolling her eyes.

"Idiots."

I laughed.

"True that."

"Can Grover please come up next?" Chiron asked, clearly picking him for his calm, soothing ability.

Grover looked like he was going to throw up with embarrassment as he slowly went to stand up and present his ability. Juniper tried to be helpful and give him a small thumbs up, but all he did was shake his head and blush some more.

He reluctantly stood in front of the class, just as Thalia, Connor, and Travis had done. I almost felt bad for the guy; I'd never seen him this embarrassed before. Sure, his ability wasn't the coolest, but it wasn't that bad... was it?

With a light blush on his face, Grover reached into his back pocket. He tenderly pulled out a small, wooden instrument I had never seen before, and held it up for the class to see. It was only about the size of my hand with different pipe-looking cylinders I imagined changed pitch.

Grover took a deep sigh and spoke quietly, "When I play the reeds, plants grow."

I heard Annabeth take in a deep breath next to me as I brought my hand up, closing my eyes and lightly massaging my temple. Gosh, he was so awkward.

"Show us?" Chiron asked, clearly unsure if he was actually going to do it or not.

Grover stood there, and I bet you can't guess it, awkwardly, and looked down at the reeds in his hand as if this was the worst thing that could ever happen to him. Even though I didn't want to, I felt bad for him. He thought his ability was so lame compared to everyone else's.

He reluctantly brought the reeds up to his mouth, keeping it there silently for a split second before playing a single chord. I saw a single blade of grass pop up, about an inch taller than the rest. My eyes widened; it actually worked.

He played another chord, and it sprouted up again, and then another and another and another until he was playing a full-fledged song, and the once small blade of grass growing as if it was on major-league steroids. It grew and grew about a half an inch a second until it was up to my hips, then my waist, then my shoulders.

Grover finally stopped when it was over my height, clearly towering over everything on the beach. Grover stealthily slipped the reeds into his back pocket again, quickly walking over and sitting down as if he stayed up for another moment he would explode.

"Wow," I heard someone whisper as we all looked at the single blade of grass that now looked like the archangel of all grasses and wondered how the heck it stayed upright at that height.

"Very interesting," Chiron stated, nodding to himself, "Very interesting indeed."

Grover blushed and looked down at his lap, and Nico put a hand on his shoulder.

"Next up, Will."

Will effortlessly stood in one, quick motion and followed the example of every other classmate, walking nervously to the front of the group.

I personally didn't know Will very well, I never talked to him a lot, but I could see he was the kind of guy that everyone liked. He was smart and agreeable, and his smile seemed to send every girl falling to her knees.

He turned and faced the class, giving us all a small, natural smile.

He was about my height with flowy, golden hair that naturally reflected the sunlight, making it super blonde. His face was sharp but kind - effortless almost. He reminded me of one of those pop stars that the girls at my previous schools would oogle over, the ones that played their guitar and sang into the microphone about their achy hearts.

Will glanced back at Chiron, almost politely, insinuating the question if he should start. Chiron gave him the uniform brisk nod and swiftly motioned for him to begin.

Will turned back to the class.

"I can control energy," he stated simply.

He nervously flipped his perfect, golden hair and turned, earning an amused snort from Thalia as the class trained their eyes on him intensely. Will walked past Chiron, approaching the drastic edge of the woods where the littered beach ended. A small, sickly tree stood on the border, waiting silently for the next measly storm to send it toppling over to its grave.

Will suddenly stopped at the tree and carefully studied it up and down for a split second before speaking.

"I can take it-" he stated, bringing his down on the bark.

My eyes widened; the instant his fingertips touched the rough, disintegrating surface, the area around his touch turned a sickening shade of gray. It branched out like a silent web of death, slowly wrapping itself around the tree and swallowing it whole. It was sickening to watch; Will was literally sucking the life out of the defenseless tree.

The bark eerily began to peel as if it was controlled by a higher source, and the wood revealed on the inside was uncharacteristically white like a ghost, all color and life completely missing. The tree wasn't just dead; it was gone. A chilling skeleton stood in it's place as Will backed away, our little group in a disturbed awe.

"And, " Will sighed and examined at his hands, almost longingly, "I can give it."

He reached out, determined set in his features, and brought his hand to the tree again. As if it was backwards, the same web stretched from his fingers, but instead of a web of death, it was a web of life. Healthy, sturdy bark molded over the once carcass and the small branches almost tripled in size, growing a whole set of green leaves. The tree grew taller and taller and fuller and fuller until it was full size, and much, much more alive than it had been when Will had found it.

Will pulled his arm back, admiring his work with a critical look.

Someone in the class clapped, and we all joined in together. This, this was resourceful. Take energy, give energy. Kill, live. Will's ability could be used, but also could be dangerous. When I saw Will in my mind, I saw him as the friendly, likable guy he always was, but now something in the back of my brain warned me to fear him, respect him. if he turned, he could hurt us drastically.

"Very nice," Chiron stated, nodding, clearly pleased, "Very... different ability. Next, Nico."

Nico's face was solemn as he stood, his expression unreadable.

Like Grover, Nico had told me his ability when I had first arrived at Goode. Shadow travel had always seemed cool when he mentioned it, but I could never picture or fully understand the concept of how it would work in my mind, before the island. When we had used it in a hurry to evade the Legacies, I remembered it being a thrilling, quite literally gut-wrenching experience. My head was spinning for days afterwards.

His ability had been quite useful in action though. It was actually extremely useful; God only knows what would have happened to us on the island if Nico hadn't had been abilities you had to be creative to find the overall use for, and Nico's ability wasn't one of them.

"Shadow travel," Nico stated simply, the answer to the on-going question answered.

It had startled me when I had seen Nico's ability before, but I was ready for it this time around. Nico slowly backed up, watching our group coyly, and stepped into the dark shadows of the woods behind him, his body unnervingly molding into the blackness.

Where his outline should have been, there was nothing. He was gone.

Will abruptly jumped, his eyes widening like saucers. We all turned our heads in his direction as Nico casually stepped out of the large shadow of Will's tree, a tree on the OTHER far end of the group. I couldn't help a small smile creep onto my face as Nico strolled back to his seat on the beach with his hands in his pockets as if nothing had happened at all.

In all less than 10 seconds. Talk about the fastest ability ever.

I had to admit, Nico's ability resembled Will's ability, in the sense of it was more on the dark, edgy side. Watching it from a bystander's view, seeing it in action, brought everything to a whole new level. Hearing about traveling by the world's darkness? Creepy. Watching traveling by the world's darkness? Mind-blowingly eerie and quite startling.

"Juniper," Chiron stated.

Juniper gave a small smile and stood, her long, brunette curls falling over her shoulder and cascading down her back. She was pretty in an innocent, girl-next-door kind of way with small, elfish features. She made her way to the front of the group and gracefully turned back around, smiling back at all of her friends. Annabeth gave her a thumbs up from next to me and Juniper gave a small laugh, a blush creeping up her face.

"I can tell what's happening in other places through nature," she explained, gesturing to the thick trees behind her.

Juniper turned and glided over to Will's newly-restored tree, all of us watching her closely. She twisted around and gently laid her hand on the tree, carefully inspecting the bark with bright green eyes.

"Travis?" she asked, eyes still trained on the tree.

Slightly smiling, we all glanced over at Travis. He awkwardly sat there and glanced back at us, seemingly slightly uncomfortable. A half-smile formed on his face as if he thought it was a joke, then frowned when he realized Juniper had turned and was staring at him.

"Yes?"

Juniper smiled, "There is an oak outside of your cabin, yes?"

"Yes, " Travis answered.

"And it's branches go right by your window?"

Travis looked around, extremely confused, "Yes."

I watched as Juniper turned back to the tree and closed her eyes, her small, elfish features becoming more dominant. She silently focused on her ability, her body in completely focused and still. The waves behind us licked the shore as we all stayed silent and waited for her to speak again.

"Your room is a mess!" Juniper exclaimed, eyes still closed as she frowned.
Grover snorted andI lightly chuckled at her comment.

"Your clothes are everywhere on the floor," she exclaimed, "you didn't put away the box of Froot Loops you had for breakfast, I'm pretty sure there's mold growing on the back wall-"

She abruptly stopped and opened her eyes, twisting around to stare Travis down.

"And your Trig homework is lying undone on your desk."

I couldn't hold it any longer; I burst out laughing. The rest of the class joined in, Thalia literally rolling on the ground with laughter. I swear I even saw Chiron crack a smile at that one. Travis sat still at his spot, shaking his head as he brought his hands up to his face, taking the embarrassment like a man.

"Nice one, Juniper," Grover high-fived her as she sat back down next to him.

Juniper leaned forward and glanced over at Travis, meeting his eye.

"I feel horrible for your maid."

We all laughed again, a light mood filling the air. Annabeth's gray eyes twinkled as she looked over me, her face light and relaxed as she laughed along with everyone. I smiled back at her, taking in all of her beautiful features.

Chiron shook his head at us, not able to keep a smile from his face.

"Next up, Annabeth."

I sucked in a sharp breath and glanced over at Annabeth, panic replacing the previous laughter. Annabeth's smile faded and her face was emotionless, the light, happy mood gone as she glanced up at face was soft around the edges, not tense, as if she had already knew it was coming. She didn't look scared, just slightly uncomfortable as she glanced back and forth.

I set my hand on her knee, even though I didn't think she needed it, silently telling her it was going to be okay. She looked over at my face and met my eyes, giving me a small smile and touching my hand with hers before standing up.

All eyes were on her as she turned around to face us, laughter turned to many other emotions; those of us who knew her ability respected her for it, and those who didn't know were figuring out the school's "big mystery" for themselves. I distantly recalled the first time I heard Annabeth's ability, which was also the first time I ever kissed her. She had seemed so sad, so angry it had pained me to watch.

But now she stood up there, face only slightly distant as she explained to the class her ability.

"My ability is overactive consciousness."

Confusion spread through the crowd. Will's face looked completely lost and I even heard Connor mutter a, "What?". Annabeth glanced over at me, bright gray eyes searching for what seemed like reassurance. I nodded softly at her, urging her to go on.

"It's a mental ability, " she stated, turning back to the class with a sigh, "My mind kind of has a mind of it's own. It's extremely intellectual and smart and it can figure things out all by itself, without me thinking about it or even wanting it to. It's kind of like having a voice in your head that you can't control."

She quickly ran her hand through her long curls, scanning the crowd for where they stood in understanding the concept.

"It can do math problems, figure out the ending to a book, even map out my surroundings, "she paused, "And then sometimes, it seems to just, KNOW things. Like, it can show me what's going to happen 3 or so seconds before it happens, or tell me people's plans, just stuff that you couldn't figure out, you would just have to live. But it's my conscious that's doing all this; that's why it's overactive. But since my conscious is overactive, it goes into my unconscious too."

She swallowed and the beach was utterly quiet, all eyes on her.

"As a side-effect to my ability, " she spoke softly, "I can feel pain in my sleep."

Her cold screams seemed to echo through my head, my mind recalling the few times I had witnessed the side-effect for myself. I felt my body tense up, a wave of protectiveness and seriousness flood through me. I didn't know what it was or where it came from, but I hated the side-effect; anger boiled in my veins at just the thought of it.

She swallowed, "It makes nightmares extremely excruciating."

Annabeth looked down at her feet, unable to meet the eyes of the crowd.

Everyone was silent, letting that sink into their systems. Those who were discovering Annabeth's ability gained a certain respect for her, understanding why she kept it a secret. And those of us who knew were reminded again. Thalia shook her head and looked down at her feet and Grover gained a sudden interest in a blade of grass beside his hand. A lump formed in my throat, anger welling inside of me. It wasn't fair Annabeth had to go through all of that. What did she ever do to deserve that?

"Could you demonstrate your ability?" Chiron asked, voice thick with seriousness.

Annabeth looked up and met his eyes, shaking her head.

"I wouldn't know how to demonstrate it," she explained, her eyes dangerously serious.

She turned back to us, searching our faces for any ideas. I hadn't realized this was going to be so hard for her. I wished I could help in any way: make her feel better, tell her it was okay, even do it for her.

"Can you tune into it?" I asked, the sound of my own voice startling me.

Annabeth's head swiveled and she met my eyes, a stray blonde curl falling into her face. Her irises swirled as she trained on me, studying my face and my sudden request.

Raising an eyebrow, she shrugged.

"I can try," she stated, turning back to Chiron for consent.

He gave a brisk nod and motioned her forward, "Go ahead."

Annabeth turned back to us, tucking her hair behind her ear and uneasily shifting her weight on her feet, trying to concentrate. She let out a surprisingly long breath and looked up, glancing back and forth unsettlingly.

"I usually don't do this, " she explained, giving a small, nervous laugh, "It tends to sometimes invade people's privacy; I can't always control it..."

I frowned; What would happen if she didn't control it? With abilities such as Thalia's control was a serious issue, but with mental abilities there was no physical harm done. Invading people's privacy through their minds, sure, but...

Could she see inside people's minds?

She mentioned know people's plans and knowing what they were going to do. It made sense with her ability, seeming to just know things. Knowing people's thoughts, their dreams, their deepest secrets.

"Oh God, " I thought, my eyes widening ever so slightly, "Clean thoughts, Percy. Clean thoughts."

I watched Annabeth intensely as her eyes slightly glossed over, her mind clearly more than a million miles away up in that brain of hers. The beach was silent as we waited, but my peers were getting a little antsy.

I turned when I saw Thalia look around in my peripheral vision and met her gaze. She frowned and gave me a questioning look, Should she be doing this?

I shrugged, I'm not sure.

Thalia shot me a slightly concerned look before turning back around and training her eyes on Annabeth.

A flash of something, I wasn't sure what, glinted in her eyes. Annabeth's curls flew around as she whipped her head to the side, gray eyes eyes widening as she met Chiron's gaze.

"Your thoughts," she stated, voice dripping with relief and amazement, "I know your thoughts!"

I mentally face palmed myself. Of course it would be the thoughts.

Annabeth turned back to us, eyes glittering and a halfway relieved smile on her lips.

"I can go, one at a time, if that's okay, " she gave a small laugh, "If you don't want me in your head, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Laughter filled the beach. Her gaze met mine, her eyes sparkling as a smile spread across her face. I grinned back at her and winked, even though my stomach stayed slightly jittery. Just a little longer, Percy. Just a little longer.

Doing just as both Travis and Connor had done with their mental abilities, Annabeth stepped up to the first person, in this case Will. We all craned our necks to watch her look down on his more than slightly uncomfortable face and listen to what she had to say.

A smirk fell across her face as she maintained eye contact with Will.

"A girl in biology class."

She turned to Juniper, eyes swirling as she studied her face.

"Connor's disgusting room."

Grover came next.

"Enchiladas."

Then Thalia.

"Marina and the Diamonds."

Next came Connor.

"Gross."

Then of course Travis.

"No comment."

I met Annabeth's eyes as she looked over at me, forcing the most flattering thoughts I had of her in my head. She smiled back at me, eyes twinkling, and smirked as if she knew something I didn't. Could she see farther into my mind than I could control?

We were going to have a conversation about this later.

Annabeth glanced over her shoulder at Chiron, giving him a small nod to say that she was finished. She returned to her seat next to me, not meeting my eyes as a mischievous smile creeped onto her face.

"Finally, Percy."

I let out a small breath and hauled myself to my feet, silently readying myself forwhat i was about to do. It wasn't as hard for me as it had been for Annabeth, but I had gotten a lot of bad publicity in the school for having 2 abilities. I didn't believe anyone on the beach would judge me, but it all still felt the same anyway.

I walked up in front of the group just as I had seen everyone else do before me, watching where I stepped on the beach so I wouldn't trip. Even with lightning-fast reflexes, tripping was still highly possible. Turning my body around, I looked down at my peers from my height; they all looked up at me, watching intensely, waiting for me to begin. Annabeth gave me a smile as I met her eyes, just the same as I had given her.

I took in an uneasy breath and spoke.

"My two abilities are quick reflexes and controlling water."

I probably didn't even have to say them; everyone on the beach already knew. Heck, everyone in the school already knew. The thought of how I would demonstrate both abilities flashed in the back of my head, but Chiron interrupted my thoughts.

"Percy already has a head-start on the rest of you," Chiron stated, "He and I have already worked on his abilities a few times before this."

I studied him closely as Chiron reached into his back pocket gingerly and pulled something out. He met the class's gazes with intense kept the object halfway hidden behind his opposite leg so we could not see it, his face intense with seriousness.

He personally met my confused gaze, and something flashed behind his eyes.

"And I can help Percy demonstrate them," he finished, the corner of his lips raising.

Annabeth gasped behind me, fear taking over her senses as she watched Chiron horrified.

In an instant Chiron's hand moved with lightning precision as he threw the object into the air, coming straight beside me, where Annabeth sat completely paralyzed. I watched the object as if it moved in slow motion, and grabbed it midair as it tried to pass by me.

The beach was silent; no one dared to do as much as breathe. I looked down at the object in my hand that Chiron had thrown; the blade of the knife glittered in the light, somehow seeming both deadly and beautiful. I turned slowly, following the path the knife would have taken if I had not caught it.

Right into Annabeth's heart.

She stared at the knife in my hand, her face a mixture or disbelief and horror. Her breaths were short and quick, fear etched into her face. She had seen it, with her ability, but that had made it almost worse.

Anger boiled in my veins as I looked back down at the blade. What was Chiron even thinking? There was no way he could have been thinking. Everyone on the beach was silent, either trying to take in what had just happened or waiting for my response. I willed my anger to boil up inside of me, but to keep deadly calm on the outside. If I had not caught the knife, Annabeth would be dead. Just like that, her life was laid into my hands.

A muscle popped in my neck as I clenched my jaw, holding my raw anger inside. All I could do was stare at the blade, taking in how much Chiron could have taken away from me in that instant. I felt the anger traveling up my throat, my exploding point coming faster and faster.

I heard a huge RUSH behind me and felt the entire class jump and spin around, locating the source of the sound. Gasps of astonishment and bewilderment filled the beach, but I kept my eyes trained on the blade in my hands. I knew my emotions were effecting the water in the river; I could feel every ounce of it moving into a giant, angry tidal wave a ways out from the beach.

Something clicked in the back of my head: Chiron had gotten me to demonstrate both abilities by one action. That action angered me in more ways than one, but it did work.

But, if it hadn't had worked...

I mentally let go of the tidal wave, taking my eyes off the knife as the wave hit the water with a triumphant CRASH. I tilted my head up and met Chiron's eyes. Behind his normal emotional wall, there was a sense of knowing and understanding in his eyes as he stared back.

"Percy's abilities are very emotional-based, "Chiron spoke, eyes boring into mine, " as I believe many of yours can be too."

I turned my head so I could see Annabeth behind me in my peripheral vision. Her face was cloaked as she looked up at me, eyes fixing on the side of my face. She was perfectly ok, but still a little shaken.

"I believe this period is over, "Chiron announced, standing up, "I expect to see you all here tomorrow."

VOILA! EVERYONE'S ABILITIES!

OH MY GOODNESS MY BABIES I HAVE MISSED YOU ALL SO MUCH. You guys can't even comprehend how much i missed all of you! Your reviews, your PMs, I just CAN'T EVEN.

Hey, guess what, MY BIRTHDAY was 3 days ago! YAYYYYYYY XD XD XD

And also, Goode High School for Exceptional Children was nominated for Lightning-at-221b's fanfiction awards while I was gone! If you guys could go take a minute vote real quick for me and all of your other favorite authors, I'm sure we would ALL appreciate it! It's fun and exciting and on Tumblr now so I hope you guys check it out!

HOUSE OF HADES. SO MANY EMOTIONS.

Also, my Tumblr fro my stories is feeling awful lonely right now :( If you guys want, I'm answering questions RIGHT NOW (and forever) if you ever want to go on and ask something! Or just say something to me haha. The copy and paste link is on my profile! I love you all!

That awkward moment when I want to write something sexual but I'm way too lazy

Keeping this authors note short and sweet ;D

Anyway, QUESTION OF THE CHAPTER...

What was your favorite ability?