On the north shore of Long Island, the valley marched up to the water, glittered about a mile in the distance. Between here and there, Percy simply couldn't process everything he was seeing. The landscape was dotted with buildings that looked like ancient Greek architecture-an open-air pavilion, an amphitheater, a circular arena-except that they all looked brand new, their white marble columns sparkling in the sun.
In a nearby sandpit, a dozen high school-age kids and satyrs played volleyball. Canoes glided across a small lake. Kids in bright orange T-shirts like Grover's were chasing each other around a cluster of cabins nestled in the woods. Some shot targets at an archery range. Others rode horses down a wooded trail, and some of their horses had wings that Percy remembered were called pegasi.
Percy lived by his guardian's motto, well it was not like Nick actually had a motto but Percy liked to think that. One of the things he learned from Nick was to always look around the area and to never judge a book by its cover, be suspicious of everything in simpler terms Percy thought. It was a tedious job to not trust even a small rock on the ground- but given that Percy's new life in this world was new in every way he will go by that rule.
It wasn't hard to hind irregularities in his daily life, and now he knew what and how that happened Percy was determined to observe everything.
This is why Percy was now glaring at a bush as Grover walked next to him Percy could vaguely hear that Grover was trying to explain the things they saw as they walked but he was busy staring at a plant that he knows doesn't move and wave at people. He continued glaring at things that shouldn't be alive- like that river lady that appeared out of nowhere to wink and wave at him.
He snapped out of his awkward staring when they reached their destination.
Down at the end of the porch, two men sat across from each other at a card table. A blond-haired girl was leaning on the porch rail next to them.
The man facing me was small, but porky. He had a red nose, big watery eyes, and curly hair so black it was almost purple. He looked like those paintings of cherubs. He looked like a cherub who'd turned middle-aged in a trailer park. He wore a tiger pattern Hawaiian shirt. Percy got a sudden vision of a certain man that made Percy clench his hands and teeth it didn't help that the cherub guy would've fit right in at one of that man's poker parties.
"That's Mr. D," Grover murmured to him. "He's the camp director. Be polite. The girl, that's Annabeth Chase. She's just a camper, but she's been here longer than just about anybody. And you already know Chiron... ." He pointed at the guy whose back was to Percy.
"Mr. Brunner!" Percy cried. The Latin teacher turned and smiled. His eyes had that mischievous glint they sometimes got in class when he pulled a pop quiz and made all the multiple choice answers B. All of Percy's friends liked their teacher too.
"Ah, good, Percy," he said. "Now we have four for pinochle."
He offered a chair to the right of Mr. D, who looked at the half-blood with bloodshot eyes and heaved a great sigh. "Oh, I suppose I must say it. Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don't expect me to be glad to see you."
"Thank you, sir," Uncle Phil always told him to be polite, because if you are wary of the person you are wary then they knew that you are wary (well duh but Percy could understand what it meant. Showing a person you are cautious of them didn't do well) He did try and scoot a little farther away from him without being obvious because, if there was one thing Percy had learned from living with that man, it was how to tell when an adult has been hitting the happy juice. Nick never drank in front of him which Percy was very grateful for. If Mr. D was a stranger to alcohol, Percy will let Mark keep his game system and his skateboard
"Annabeth?" Mr. Brunner called to the blond girl. She came forward and Mr. Brunner introduced them. "Annabeth, my dear, why don't you go check on Percy's bunk? We'll be putting him in-cabin eleven for now."
Annabeth said, "Sure, Chiron." Percy observed that she was probably around his age, maybe a couple of inches taller. With her deep tan and her curly blond hair. To Percy, her startling gray, like storm clouds were pretty, but intimidating, too, as if she were analyzing the best way to take him down in a fight. She looked like she wanted to say something but just sprinted off down the lawn, her blond hair flying behind her.
Now if only Percy could get out of this game without angering the god of wine- and is Grover eating the can of coke?
"..."
Percy wondered if you are still considered vegetarian if you eat metal...
Annabeth has been on camp for quite a while. Since she was seven years old she had stayed in Camp Half-Blood, introducing newcomers is not an abnormal chore she does- but usually, the new campers watched the introduction video and she knew this Percy Jackson did not see- however fighting a Minotaur on the first day? Chiron going to a school undercover which he almost never had done before? This new kid was certainly a strange boy which she even got her hopes up that he might be one of the Big Three.
The next few days she settled into an almost normal routine with Percy. Each morning she taught Ancient Greek to Percy, and they talked about the gods and goddesses, she was surprised that he took it all fairly quickly for him. When she told him that demigods can read Ancient Greek better than English he did amuse his findings by saying Ancient Greek wasn't that hard for him to read in a surprised manner though she was surprised that he implied that he read a lot
Annabeth was sure that her (not approved) theory with personality and talents determining their godly parent could have some base facts but Percy was a stigma that her theory was totally not working with.
Chiron tried to teach Percy archery, but we found out pretty quick he wasn't any good with a bow and arrow, she winced instead for Chiron when he had to de-snag a stray arrow out of his tail.
Chiron was surprised, she was confused and the Apollo cabin scandalized when Percy asked if there were any guns he could use. It was like he had shot with a gun before with how natural he was at it (to Annabeth's relief he wasn't extremely good but good enough ) He was average at foot racing, and he definitely got pulverize at wrestling (she didn't see him on that particular lesson but Clarisse never went easy on anybody. ) He really excelled at canoeing, but that wasn't the kind of heroic skill she and others had expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.
She and the other senior campers and counselors were watching him, trying to decide who his godly parent was, but we weren't having an easy time of it.
He wasn't as obsessed with appearances as the Aphrodite kids, or as good at gardening as the Demeter kids. He didn't have Hephaestus's skill with metalwork or gods forbid- Dionysus's way with vine plants. Luke told Percy that he might be a child of Hermes, a kind of jack-of-all-trades, master of none. But she knew Luke he was just trying to make the new camper feel better. She really didn't know what to make of him either.
Percy asked her why demigods were not allowed phones or any technology
"The Kindly Ones can use it to smell demigods" To which Percy asked if it was something to do with the connection or signal she replied that she wasn't so sure about the details on how Monsters found demigods. What surprised her was his interest in the barrier around the camp. She didn't tell him about Thaila but she told him how and why it came to be.
"So monsters can't enter the camp in any other circumstance other than- what you said are practical jokes? Pranks?" She gave an affirmative nod.
"Can mortals enter the camp too?"
"If they have permission from the inside campers then yes, mortals can enter, but we rarely ever bring anyone in." Annabeth thought just now that maybe the new guy could even be her half-brother or just a decent guy-
"Okay. Last question. Are most Monsters colour blind? 'Cause isn't orange a bit of a standing out colour? Wouldn't it be better if it was a colour better for camouflage like black or even green or, or, blue- wait do you even have it in other colours? Oh, and do the camp shirts have a winter collection, like hoodies, jumpers, or jackets? The barrier does let it snow right? Since you said rain doesn't- wait then do you water the whole forest then if you don't let it rain on camp?" Percy said in the familiar ADHD blabber
-She retracted her last statement...
The demigods of Camp Half-Blood were gathered around the campfire, singing and laughing and the fire which was bright and big was showing their smiles. The song they sang was cheerful and everyone agreed to the lyrics that showed their life as demigods. When it was Percy's turn Annabeth noticed he was hesitating. Percy talked about what he learned when he came to Camp and what he thought of the monsters. The campers laughed as he told the tale of how he defeated the Minotaur by comparing him to ground beef. But not once did he mention anything about his mortal or godly parents.
Annabeth realized just then how detached Percy was from everyone. Sure he laughs, plays, gets annoyed by Clarisse and is friendly to everyone, but she noticed he wasn't quite open on his personal life. Annabeth thought of her own personal life and wondered if Percy was similar to his own. She didn't judge demigods for being private and that was okay. She hoped that Percy would soon come to think of Camp as his home.
A few days before the annual Capture the Flag game Annabeth already knew she was going to make a plan for Percy and see if who he is when she noticed Percy heading to the forest. She went over to scold him for missing his lessons.
"-Yeah I'm fine. Camp is great I really love it. Okay, I'll try and call again- No I don't think that I can take that risk-"
Was... was Percy making a phone call? Annabeth sneaked up behind him to get a closer look.
"Tell Uncle Phil that I'm fine for me will you Nick? Bye."
"Percy!" she shouted
"Ah!" Percy yelped surprised almost dropping his cellular device "Annabeth! What are you? I mean uh-" Annabeth crossed her arms and just stared. He eventually stopped frailing and sighed "How much of it did you hear?"
"Enough. Didn't I tell you that phones attract monsters?"
"Yeah, but I thought that-"
"It'll be all right if you made a call inside of the Camp, did you?"
"Well yes-"
"Did you not think that there is a reason we don't have those technologies in Camp?"
"Yes but-"
"No buts!" Annabeth sighed, stopped yelling, and said in a quieter tone "Percy-"
"-I'm sorry Annabeth... I needed to tell my guardian that I was alright... I-I won't do it again if-" Percy apologized
"No, It... it's fine"
"What really?"
"Not a lot of Campers want to call outside (other than pizza pranks), much less own their own phones... I..." Annabeth decided to be truthful "I honestly didn't think that you of all people would want to call outside..." Percy made a confused noise "I thought that you... didn't like your parents- uh or guardian you said? And the ones that usually want to try and call need to be at the edge of the border to make the call."
"Why did you think I didn't like my uh parents?" Percy asked
"Back when we sang in front of the fire the other day I notice that you didn't talk about your parents. While I do get the privacy thing, most of the time demigods don't have a super good relation to our parents- both sides- so I guess assumed that you were one of those cases"
Percy made an 'ah' sound as if understanding "Uh well you are partially right... I.. um-"
Annabeth smiled sadly "You don't have to tell me. It's not like we can't have our privacy right?"
Percy smiled back. "I thought I got over it... but I guess not completely yet" She heard him mumble under his breath.
"Now why are you not in your lessons?"
"Uh, that may or not have to do with the fact that Clarisse and her gang are having a mini-war with some of the kids from the Apollo cabin but also the Aphrodite cabin is arguing with the Hephaestus Cabin on pretty armor and soot- I do also don't get why we should wear those frilly helmets when we are not in Ancient Greek- But the two are fighting each other pretty viciously and I think I even saw some Hephaestus kid being tied up by clothes, covered in makeup, bleeding everywhere and one kid was wearing a very uh revealing clothes, poor dude. Over all of that, I just escaped lessons pretty easily. By walking away."
"..."
"Did I mention that they set fire to the dummies? Oh and the frilly helmets"
"..."
"Uh, Annabeth?"
"μὰ τὴν Ἀθηνᾶν! Θα στείλω αυτούς τους ηλίθιους στα κοράκια! Percy go get Chiron!" And she ran off with a loud groan.
Percy just stood there still holding his phone as he watched Annabeth gather up some of the Satyrs and Nymphs "By Athena. She will send those idiots to the crows?..." he translated "I guess that's a swear word... I wonder If Uncle Phill will let me say that one, he didn't like it when Nick taught me how to swear..."
Annabeth stared wide-eyed at the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident. It is the symbol of Poseidon god of the sea, storms, earthquakes droughts, floods, and horses. One of the Big Three. And it was a bad very bad very very bad sign. Two Big three kids in this decade? Not good.
Annabeth noticed Percy was clenching his fists. She saw how Percy handled Clarisse and her siblings. She planed it, Percy went along with it. She saw him in action as he defeated Clarisse with practiced ease, he did need more real-life experience but he was good.
But as the glowing faded and Chiron announced Percy officially, she could notice Percy mouthing a word: father.
All of camp was talking about Percy, of course, they would he was the rare few who knew their godly parent, is Big Three, and not to mention that he defeated the minotaur. Things considered it was huge gossip material for kids who haven't had anything to talk about in months
She still taught Percy but she was busy making plans that she accidentally ignored Percy too. "Quest ... Poseidon? ... Dirty rotten ... Got to make a plan ..."
Then came the blasted quest.
You shall go west, and face the god who has turned
You shall find what was stolen, and see it safely returned
You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend
And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end
She had been waiting for a quest for so long. Athena is no fan of Poseidon, but if he is going to save the world, she is the best person to keep them from messing up.
Packing her stuff was easy she had been ready and she needed this quest, Chiron gave them Ambrosia and Nectar, Luke gave Percy a magical item. She advised him to rather not take the flying shoes.
She noticed Percy making a call to his guardian, she didn't tell him off. Percy looked better after talking to his guardian and he was smiling.
Traffic slowed us down in Queens. By the time we got into Manhattan, it was sunset and starting to rain. Argus dropped us at the Greyhound Station on the Upper East Side Argus unloaded our bags, made sure we got our bus tickets, then drove away, the eye on the back of his hand opening to watch us as he pulled out of the parking lot.
We got restless waiting for the bus and decided to play some Hacky Sack with one of Grover's apples. She and Percy bounce the apple off our knees and elbows and he was impressed that I could bounce it off of my shoulders. The game ended when Percy tossed the apple toward Grover and it got too close to his mouth. In one mega goat bite, our Hacky Sack disappeared-core, stem, and all. Grover blushed. He tried to apologize, but she and Percy were too busy laughing to answer.
But now that their bus was blown off, their bags gone the happy atmosphere was gone and all Annabeth could feel was dread.
"Why were all three Furies after you?" She shrieked, "They usually don't pay attention to a single half-blood like that!"
Percy makes a face and shrugged "I think it has to do with me comparing them to a mortal or something?"
Grover bleated. "What?" Annabeth demanded
"My guardian's name is Fury" he answered simply as if that was all he needed to say.
Annabeth groaned. It was all he needed to say. If Percy's performance on the bus said something she could guess how their meeting must have happened.
"What do we do now? Our bus exploded, our bags are gone, and all we have is forest!" Grover worried.
Percy thought for a moment. "Is it alright if we had like help? From like mortals?"
"No, they won't let three kids travel alone and they don't understand."
"What if they will let us?"
Annabeth paused she could guess what he was thinking before she could answer Grover spoke: "I think it's a plan, we have to leave here immediately and from what Percy mentioned earlier I think we should go with calling 911 for the mortals, take a ride and leave."
Percy wanted to say that it was not really the plan but decided to just take out his phone.
"Hey, Nick? I think that we'll take that offer you mentioned earlier, and some clean-up help. We exploded a bus, and no I didn't call the authorities yet. Okay thanks bye"
Grover was a nervous mess. He agreed to the plan but didn't really think. "Oh no right a phone oh dear Pan I forgot about that... should we just run? What if more Kindly Ones show up!"
Annabeth tried to calm him down.
A few moments later black cars came into their sight.
The mortals looked startled by them as people in suits came out of the cars.
The people assured the mortals and tended to them. One of the men came up to the two demigods and satyr. Annabeth and Grover tensed while Percy beam happily.
"Percy I don't think you should-" Grover tried to stop Percy
"Uncle!"
"Uncle?" Annabeth and Grover both said
The man opened his arms with a smile on his face "Glad to see that you are alright Percy,"
Percy ran towards his uncle and with a small oof from the man they hugged.
The scene tugged something in Annabeth's heart.
The two talked then Percy noticed that his friends were still tense behind him
"Phil! These are my friends from camp!"
With Agent Phil's friendly smile they relaxed and introduced themselves
Eventually, all four of them were in a car driving west
"-don't worry Percy I won't follow you on your mission."
"Thanks, Phil! Now that you say it, it does sound like a mission"
"Of course Percy, now all that is left is to write out your report to the Director. "
Percy beamed so much it was like he would glow "Really! I get to be like a real agent and write mission reports!"
Phil chuckled "Never thought mission reports will make anyone happy"
Annabeth had a lot of questions. Who were these Agents, what do they do, and what will they do. She stopped questioning Agent Phil in her head and decided to believe Percy's uncle who made Percy smile much brighter than he had ever since the river incident.
As promised Percy's uncle said he won't stop them from their quest. Grover insisted that they start their quest again after a meal and Phil was nice enough to take them to the nearest restaurant. Phil was surprisingly quiet as Ares not not threatened them, but he did have a glint in his eye for his insults at Percy. He was also kind enough to take them to the water park for their (forced) second quest and to give them towels... (Percy was dry) Annabeth shivered. She hated spiders.
Percy wished that quests were like missions. All you had to do was the mission then you are done. Quests might be similar but prophecies were never direct you never know what it is or when it ended until it had happened.
Percy didn't like to think about his biological parents (or Gabe). While Percy loved his mother and still does for a while it was hard to think of her. Seeing his mother abused and murdered in front of his eyes made it hard to remember the good days. All he saw was his mom's once loving brown eyes fill with life- dead staring at him, never to smile, never to laugh, never to hug him, to reassure him, just gone. He remembers her face covered in blood, the sound of a gunshot with dark laughter, and his screams for help. His nightmares were filled with Gabe, death, pain, and his cries.
Nick helped him a lot, Percy loved his guardian, he helped Percy get away from the clutches of Gabe, helped him with his nightmares, and make peace with his mother's death.
Percy knew that he had a biological father. He was too young to remember exactly what his mom said about him but he knew that he looked similar to his biological father. Percy also didn't have time to think of him. He was busy being happy with his family, studying, playing with his friends, and training. He loved his life why should he think of his possibly dead biological father?
But then he found that his bio dad wasn't dead, he wasn't even human! (That really didn't make sense to him, his DNA showed as human and if half of his DNA was godly that doesn't mean that half his DNA is invisible or something, but he isn't an expert so he didn't pry into it. Leave that to the Athena Cabin)
His bio dad is Poseidon, god of the seas. And that made Percy think of stuff that he didn't want to think. Does his bio dad like him? (Why did he leave him with Gabe), does he want him? (Why didn't he save him when he begged for help, begged for his life, begged for him to come), would he be able to talk to him? (why did you leave my mother, why did you meet her when you have a wife, why did you let my mother dieAbusedTorturedDeaddeathDeaddie)...
Was Poseidon his dad?
Percy clenched his fist... was he allowed to have a dad?
What about Nick? Who was he to him? Was he just his guardian? Did he want him to be just his guardian?..
Does Nick want Percy as his son?
Percy, Annabeth, and Grover managed to find Ares' lost stuff, he did trick them into going into the underworld when Phil left and they got into trouble after that... but in the end, they finished the quest didn't they? Ares pretended to be their friend, they did fail to save Grover in the underworld but only because he managed to get our himself. So their mission is finished, right?
Now, this is where Percy realized that quests and missions are different. No signal indicated he was done or a specific job he could finish and make a report then he was home scot-free. He is a demigod- a halfblood. A doomed life if you will... He realized this as he lay on the ground. As Luke betrayed him, Chiron, the Camp, and all demigods. He was Kronos' servant and the true lightning thief.
Percy glanced at his palm, he had a huge red welt, oozing and smoking with yellow guck. His ears pounded, and his vision went foggy. The poison is too strong for the water, he tried already. Percy's vision was getting dark. He could barely move. Sixty seconds, Luke had told him.
Nobody would ever know what had happened. Will someone find his body? Who would tell Nick that he died? Nick...
'I wish I told Nick I love him more.' He thought
'I wish I can call him-' Percy was crying hot tears. Why did he not even consider that Nick had already been his dad? Poseidon didn't want him, he said it himself, he shouldn't have been born. Percy thought of all of the times Nick slipped up calling Percy his son, Percy thought of his birthdays where Nick and Phill said happy birthday and that they were happy he was with them. Didn't he promise to never leave them? He made that wish on his birthday he didn't tell anyone so should come true.
'I will make it come true' Percy thought clenching his teeth. 'I will tell Nick that I love him' Percy was on his knees ' I- I will live- for my family- for camp, I will tell them the truth' his arms shook as they held his weight, his palm burning ' I will- I, I, I want Nick to be my dad.'
His legs felt like lead and his forehead was burning. He stumbled toward the camp, and the nymphs stirred from their trees. "Help," Percy croaked. "Please ..." Two of them took Percy's arms, pulling him along. He remembered making it to the clearing, a counselor shouting for help, a centaur blowing a conch horn. Then everything went black.
'I love you dad'
Author note
I want Percy to grow as a person. In the last chapters, he easily calls Nick dad and I wanted to show how Percy eventually calls him dad and why he is who he is. That's why I wrote this scene, and I hope I expressed this well enough. I tried to just write a little bit but then I wanted to write a bit more- and thus almost 5000 words. I do like it and don't worry you will see more details about Percy's life in other chappys
I will keep going back and forth between Percy's past and present in my chappys. I see the Avengers timeline as the present and the others earlier in the timeline but not like flashback or something. I know some of you guys must have been confused in the early chappys so I hope you don't think I am time skipping everything.
I apologize to all the people who read this story. I will try to do better and I have no words to say... I know as a reader myself how bad my mistakes are 4 u guys... i am sooo sorry... I didn't know so many people tried to tell me it was wrong... i will pay attention to the reviews more and I thank u all for the reviews... I know that explaining myself will not fix my mistakes so yeah... i will try to do better...
(Starting from the first to the last review from March 31 to July 28th)
ThatOneIdiot16: Thank You!
EMC358: I always wanted to read something like this and it was stuck in my head so I was like. Why not? So I wrote it hehe. Glad that you like it!
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FavFan: Ill try my best XD
Baneofgaia: I do agree that SHIELD training might make him naive but I will make sure that he doesn'!
Guest: good ship! But I'm afraid not :(
CS: Thx!
brookeyy14: I will!
Ciomara Castro: i am taking a massive leap here but I hope someday my story can be translated so you can read it!
BookLover58: Thank u!
Fredgie: Thank you for the advice! I will try and keep that in mind when I write!
previously-pandora1232: ack! :(
Matthew Bugajski: sigh I hate it when this happens :(
FavFan: thank u for telling me
raibinzamuar: *sad sigh* sorry!
394730: sorry!
Noname1225: broken, yeah... it does look like that. Sorry!
amy: oop
megafangirl : my bad :(
whut : yes exactly... whut...
bookworm4321: I didn't realized how many people asked me but I didn't know until it was too late. I am soooooo sorry
BookLover58: I really should get used to uploading better :(
Guest: that example lol. my mistake oh no L
Guest : I understood that reference~!
gukison56: I am soooo sory
Guest: yikes is right...
Badasspotato21: I believe that is was words that are weird
ExistentiallyQuestioningAll: thank you for the advice! I am currently a student so I am learninn~~ i am sorry for the confusion and I fixed the chapter :( sorry for that...
Matthew Bugajski: dude you have no idea how dam sorry I am for this
charmanderpika: wish you could lol
charmanderpika: lol its ok
Mystic321: I didn't think that it was wrong this whole time I am ashamed of my self...
Ad Ddinbych: I am sorry that this happened
Ad Ddinbych: ooopp... :((((((
Aurum Faea: I am sooooo sorry
bkhillary1985: I would too if I couldn't;t read it :(((((
poyochan : it is... a very big error...
Silver-Wolf Lord of Order: I ammm sooooo sorryyyyyyyyyyyyy ahhhhhhh I ammmm an idot!
Kyle: I will I will!
Guest : indeed
wittybookreader: I made a mess i know I am sooo sorrrrrryyyyy
Guest : i really need to download the app... I am sooo sorry!
: ! ! !
: : (
HellRaiderS: I am soo sorry that you couldn't read the chapter! :(((((((((
snickers30008: I think Tartarus zapped it :((((
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LV: I copy and paste mine too and I am sooo sorry this happed thank you for the advice!
HellRaiderS: thank u :((((((
chimera629: (thank the gods that I fixed it i was worried my fix it was not really a fix it...) yup... *sad nodd*
: TTT0TTTT
ChaseTheSoul: whoopie u can read it TTTTTTT
ChaseTheSoul: sorry...
FavFan: (I am sorry for not answering sooner) I wanted to make Grover grow as a satyr too I know that in the books that grover is a bit clumsy so I tried to do that and he will be the future lord of the wild later on in the book...
:(T0T0TTT0TT) Blue pizza heheh
Zeta710: oh now what is it this time!...
:(: AHHHHH can somebody make a time machine so I can hit my past self with a fish!?
HellRaiderS: TT0TTT thank u...
Monster King: I am glad that I did not make too much mistakes on this one...
mandi102: I am going back and forth between time lines and I am new to that so I am sorry for the confusion my poor writing skills has caused...
Zero :... did I... did I do something wrong?
Monster King: I will!
HellRaiderS: Iiwll try!
wittybookreader: TTTT0TTTTT I will thank u !
Sophia : I am sooo sorry I do not know what that means?
Monster King: Tahn ku
HellRaiderS: thanku for putting up with me TTTToTTTTT
Note
Once again.. I am sorry for all the confusion...
