As promised, here is another chapter. There is one more after this and then the story is finished.

I already have an idea for a new story, and if you would like I will put the summary for the new story in the Author's Note for the last chapter. If you want me to do that, I need at least two reviews saying so.

I didn't mention this last chapter, but the feedback I got from the last two chapters has been phenomenal. Thank you very much for everyone who has reviewed, favorited, story alerted, etc.

Read, review, enjoy.

Disclaimer: I am who you say I am.

I woke up in the infirmary in the Big House. There was a white bandage wrapped around my head. I pressed my hand to the bandage, trying to feel if I was injured in any way.

It felt like I had a bruise, but nothing else. I took the bandage off and looked around. Except for me, the room was empty.

I stood up. For a second, I felt woozy and the room wobbled, but then it corrected itself. I walked out on the porch. Chiron was standing there with his back turned to me, watching over the camp. It must have been early because no one was out yet.

"Percy, how do you feel?" Chiron asked, without turning around. I walked up so that I stood next to him.

"Fine," I admitted. "I don't feel any different than normal. Well, except for a bruise on my head."

"Ah yes," Chiron said. "You did hit the floor fairly hard when you fell. I wasn't there of course, but Annabeth gave me a total recap of your quest."

I guess it was a good thing the pain that Zeus had caused me had gotten me to black out before I hit the floor.

I shrugged. "Well other than that, I don't feel any different."

Chiron turned to look at me. He had a look on his face that I rarely saw: confusion. "Forget how you feel physically. Mentally, how do you feel? Stronger? More powerful? "

I shook my head. "No, I just feel like… me."

Chiron nodded his head. "You are not a god. I feared Zeus had made you immortal against your will, but you do not radiate power like a god. Nor do you have the internal energy that makes a god immortal, otherwise you would feel it in your body."

I sighed. "That's a relief."

He looked at me. "Is it? Don't you think it would be incredible to be a god?"

"I meant what I said. I wish to live a normal life and stay with my friends."

Chiron nodded again, like he was satisfied. "Hubris is a deadly sin, Percy. I am glad to see that have none of it. Fair warning, however. While making sure you do take too much pride in yourself, you must also take care not to underestimate yourself. It is a fine line to walk, but heroes must know where they stand."

As usual, I barely understood what Chiron was talking about. So I used one of my classic tactics. I changed the topic.

"Where is Annabeth?" I asked.

He smiled. "Sleeping, I would imagine. She was by your side every day that you were out though. You should be grateful you have a friend like her."

I grinned back. "Trust me, I am." Then his words struck me. 'Wait, every day that I was out? How long have I been unconscious for?"

"Five days," Chiron responded.

"Five days? Why was I out so long?" I asked.

"Percy, Zeus did not just do that to you in order to make you suffer. Make no mistake, energy and power take a long time to seep into the body of a mortal."

"Energy and power? But I though Zeus didn't turn me into a god?"

"He didn't. But that doesn't mean he did nothing to you. You are changed, Percy. I wonder how long it will take us to find out how." Chiron answered.

Just after he said that, a conch horn blew. It was time for breakfast.

"You said you're feeling fine," Chiron said. "So go to breakfast. See your friends again. But be warned, everyone has heard of what happened on Olympus. There will be rumors circulating. Many of these campers might believe that you are indeed a god."

"But I'm not! I'm just regular Percy."

"You and I know that, but they don't. Have fun at breakfast."

With that, he turned his back on me and walked inside the Big House.

I looked at the line of campers filing into the pavilion. I smiled.

It was good to be home.

I walked into the pavilion just after everyone had finished going in. When I walked by people, there were hushed whispers and stares.

Except for Annabeth. She ran up to me looking excited. I thought she was going to give me a hug, but instead she did something else. She punched me in the arm.

"Ouch," I said, rubbing my arm. "What was that for?"

"Five days, Seaweed Brain? I thought you were in a coma or something!" She hugged me. I guess I was half right about her running up to hug me.

"Sorry," I said. "Next time I'll ask Zeus to make me wake up sooner."

She suddenly looked serious. "About Zeus… what happened? Do you feel okay?"

"We need to talk," I said. "Breakfast on the beach?"

We walked down to the ocean together with our food. We sat down and I began to tell Annabeth what Chiron had told me. I began with the basics.

"I am not a god. I don't know what other people have been saying, but Chiron is positive that I'm still mortal."

Annabeth looked relieved, and I couldn't blame her.

"But Zeus did change something. We don't know what, exactly, but the reason that I was out so long is that the energy and power Zeus hit me with was- how did Chiron phrase it?- seeping into me."

"So you're different. You're more powerful now."

"Yes," I admitted. "But we don't know in what way. For now, I'm just the same old Percy."

She smiled. "Good. I liked him."

Then suddenly she stood up. "Oh my gods, Percy!"

"What?" I asked.

She didn't respond. She pulled out her knife instead, which wasn't very reassuring. "Give me your hand," she said. Also not very reassuring.

Still, this was Annabeth. I trusted her. I gave her my hand. She took it in her left hand and held it up to her face. Then, she took her knife and pricked my middle finger. A single drop of blood rolled out of the wound.

I was shocked. The curse of Achilles should have prevented the knife from cutting me.

"Zeus must have taken away the curse of Achilles," Annabeth said. "I thought he was trying to make you more powerful, though."

My mind was still spinning. "He was," I managed. "This can't be all that he's done. How did you know?"

"The bruise that you got on your head. Usually, your skin is like iron when someone or something tries to hurt you. Of course, I could have been wrong, so I had to check."

I felt like I was burning up. No one can truly understand the feeling of being nearly invincible and then having it taken away from you. I wasn't angry or sad, but it was still a shock.

Annabeth gasped and stared down at my hands. "Percy…"

I looked down at my hands. I was literally burning up. My hands were on fire, but it wasn't hurting. It felt warm and like my hands had pins and needles, but it didn't hurt.

"I'm fine," I told Annabeth. "It doesn't hurt."

She looked almost nervous. "At least we know some of what Zeus did to you. I wonder what else he did."

I stared down at my still burning hands. "Yeah," I said. "I wonder."

I closed my hand into a fist, extinguishing the flame. "I have a feeling we will find out soon enough."