I gotta tell you all ! I own all these characters mentioned in my book ! Yes, I really do ! No, I am not kidding, I own them. You can ask them if you want to. I own all of them. Did I mention that I own them ? Yes ? Why are you staring at me like that ? I am telling the truth!

Oops.

Sorry I forgot to mention a tiny-little detail. I doown the characters, but only in my dreams. Outside my dreams, in the real world, they are owned by this person called Rick Riordan.

~~~~~~~_

Break II:

Piper

I stared at the miniature version of Annabeth as she raced forward and hugged Thalia tightly.

"How are you alive?" she squealed. What?

"Um..." Thalia glanced nervously around her. "Long story. I'll tell you later, okay?"

Annabeth nodded. Then, she seemed to notice her surroundings, and quickly bowed to the gods.

Our-Annabeth smiled and stepped forward. Other-Annabeth stared up at her older self in shock.

Our-Annabeth quickly explained what was going on. At the end, Other-Annabeth sat up excitedly.

"Do we ever become an architect?" she asked. "Do we go on a date with Luke? Do-"

"It'll all be explained later," Older-Annabeth interrupted. "But, in answer to what you just asked: yes, and no. You'll get a different boyfriend that you like much better than Luke."

Other-Annabeth blinked in surprise. "Better than Luke? Who?"

"Well, the him from your time and universe is right here." Older-Annabeth gestured to Percy. "This is Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

Percy gave Older-Annabeth a funny look. "I have to say this is one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had. And, judging by my life, that's pretty big. Well, I suddenly show up at the palace of a bunch of gods who tell me that one of them is my dad. Then, the girl who happens to be my girlfriend from six or seven years from now calls me 'Son of Poseidon,' and introduces me to a ten-year old version of her. You've got to admit, that's kind of weird."

Older-Annabeth thought for a second. "Get used to it. Your life is going to keep getting weirder."

"Wait, hold up!" Other-Annabeth wrinkled her nose at Percy like he was a moldy slice of pizza. "I'm going to date a son of Poseidon? But his dad is my mom's enemy!"

Older-Annabeth sighed. "Percy once told me, and I quote, 'I judge a person by their actions, not by something that happened thousands of years before I was born.' You ought to listen to that, instead of your pride." Other-Annabeth flushed.

"Um... Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"Yes?" answered both, though one answered rudely.

Percy glanced between them, frustrated at the name dilemma.

"Here," Apollo spoke up. "How about we call the ten-year old Annabeth, 'Annie,' for now."

"But-" Annie protested, then shut her mouth. She obviously knew better than to argue with a god.

"Okay." Percy raised an eyebrow. "Well, I'm still asking Annabeththen."

Annabeth turned to face him, "Yeah?"

"Um... no offense to... uh, Annie,but... were you always this annoying?"

Annie glared at him, but Annabeth just laughed. "I mellowed with age."

"Partially," Nico and Thalia coughed into their fists. Both Annabeths turned to glare at them.

"Um..." Leo raised a hand. "Quick question. Why do Athena and Poseidon hate each other so much?"

Annie snorted, "How many reasons do you want? My mother caught Poseidon-" She was cut off by the movie screen glowing and swirling into an image.

(I know this scene never happened, but you can imagine it, okay ?! Okay!)

Six figures lay asleep in a clearing around a campfire, with one figure sitting on the hard earth, hugging their knees to their chest. In the firelight, a passerby would just barely be able to pick out raven-black hair and sea green eyes fixed on the stars.

Annabeth sucked in her breath. "Percy." Annie glanced over at the Percy here, but said nothing.

One figure stirred and sat up, rubbing sleep out of their eyes.

"Piper," Leo confirmed. I ignored the eyes on me.

Piper turned to watch Percy for several minutes. Finally, he said without turning around, "You should be sleeping."

She shrugged, "Can't."

He let out a breathy, half-hearted laugh. "Me neither."

She stared down at the figure lying next to Percy. "She was worried sick about you, you know."

With a jolt, we recognized Annabeth.

Percy tore his gaze from the sky to look down at his sleeping girlfriend. Gently, he reached out and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "I'm not surprised."

Piper raised an eyebrow, "Full of yourself much?"

Percy chuckled. "Okay. That didn't come out right. I didn't mean it that way."

" Then whatdid you mean?"

Percy smiled softly down at the sleeping figure. "She hates it when things are temporary. She hates it when her friends leave her, even if it's because they have to. Why do you think she wants to be an Architect?"

Athena turned to Annabeth. "Is that true?"

Annabeth sighed and nodded, as did Annie.

Piper didn't answer for a while. "To build a monument that'll last a thousand years. Something permanent."

Percy nodded.

Piper was silent for several more minutes. Percy waited patiently for her to speak, calmly stroking Annabeth's curly blonde curtain of messy hair.

When Piper finally spoke, she asked, "Why do your parents hate each other?"

Percy paused for a moment, then he sighed. "There are a lot of suspicions, actually. One is that when Athena and Poseidon competed to be the patron of Athens, and Athena won, Poseidon was irritable, and he has been ever since. But I don't believe that. My dad isn't exactly the 'holding grudges' type. That's Hades' job."

Athena blinked in surprise. Poseidon shifted uncomfortably.

Hades just huffed at the insulting joke.

Piper laughed quietly in an attempt to not wake anyone up. "Good point."

" Another reason," Percy continued with a small smile," is when Athena caught Poseidon and his girlfriend, Medusa in their temple, which is really disrespectful. But Athena is the wisdom goddess for a reason. I'm sure she realized when it's a tactical disadvantage to hate for such a pointless reason. She has to know when it's time to forgive and forget."

Now, it was Athena's turn to blush.

Piper looked thoughtful for a second. "You just diffused the two biggest reasons for the longest rivalry in history."

Percy shrugged.

" So," Piper asked, "what'syour suspicion?"

Percy pursed his lips. "I guess it's something like this:

1. Poseidon represents his domain, the sea, which means he is more like a 'go with the flow' person who does actions according to emotions, and emotions cannot be organised, they are unpredictable. Athena on the other end, is more about organized, planned actions, unlike Poseidon.

2. Poseidon is also the God of Earthquakes and Sea storms, which are means of destruction, whereas Athena is more about architecture and crafts, which is about building and creating stuff.

They are simply like two opposing forces. Do you get it?"

There was nothing but silence around the screen. It was that easy? Why didn't they see it before.

"I guess," Athena said slowly, "that we've figured that the other reasons were the obvious ones for so long, that we never considered that there might be a better reason. We all had chosen sides, so we all just assumed that the reason that was against the side we were against was the real reason..."

"That sounds about right," Annabeth agreed.

Piper nodded with a smile. "I get it."

Percy returned the smile." What Athena fails to recognize is that the sea also has a calm side. A calm side that helps you kick back and relax, enjoy the view and the soft breeze. The helpful waves and sea winds that help sailors travel around the world. The part of the sea that is loyal and compassionate."

"Maybe that's true..."Athena muttered eyeing Poseidon suspiciously. Several gods and demigods who heard her gasped and she looked away towards the screen.

"I guess I can see that calm side of the sea in you," Piper said, and Percy flushed.

" So, Percy..." Piper glanced between him and Annabeth's sleeping form. "If your parents are two opposing forces, then why do you like Annabeth so much?"

Percy chuckled, and stared down at Annabeth in a way that any girl would want to be looked at. "Because-as much of an annoying know-it-all as she used to be-she's not completely Athena's smart-aleck daughter. She refuses to take the easy way out, even if it means getting in serious trouble, and she's saved my butt hundreds of times. She's one of the few people I know who can actually put up with my stupid remarks, and she actually laughs at some of them. But... most of all: she's intelligent, definitely beautiful, and she's a good person to watch your back." He bent down and touched his lips lightly to Annabeth's hair. When he spoke again, his voice was slightly muffled, and his breath moved Annabeth's blonde curls slightly.

" I'd trust her with my life."

The image faded, Aphrodite's squealing still echoing around the room. Both Annabeths were blushing profusely, as was Percy.

"So..." Annabeth shifted uncomfortably, desperate to change the subject. "Um... Can we continue the book now?"

Percy and Annie nodded frantically.

Just then Percy's stomach made a growling sound, and he looked up and said" Umm... Can we have some food first?".

Zeus pinched the bridge of his nose and asked the demigods to follow him. They went to the dinning hall of Olympus and settled down to eat.

-_-_-_-_-_Time skip brought to you by a kidnapped Kronos_-_-_-_-_-_

After eating, and a lot of shuffling around, the group settled down around the Hearth.

Sally picked up the book and read, " I Play Pinochle with a Horse"

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Question of the chapter: Which Riordanverse character do you hate the most?