Brett was still shaken by his strange encounter with Sally at Annabeth's apartment, but he was too intrigued by the photo album he had taken to linger on it for too long. He sat down at his desk and opened the book to the first picture, skipping the first couple pages of comments and doodles. The first picture showed two young children, which were clearly Annabeth and Percy. Percy was barely conscious, and Annabeth was leaning over him, feeding him some sort of pudding. The caption claimed, Percy and Annabeth's first meeting (age 12).

Brett knew that Annabeth had told him that she had known Percy since she was young, but it was a different thing to see it. They both looked so small in the photograph, and while the curly blonde hair confirmed that it was definitely Annabeth in the picture, it was hard for Brett to reconcile this image of her with the Annabeth that he knew. No wonder she was so attached to Percy- she had literally grown up with him.

The next photo was an image of young Percy. He was dressed in some sort of Greek battle armor that was way too big for him, and a helmet with a blue horse hair plume that was slipping down over his eyes. He carried a sword that was also obviously too big, but at the same time it looked authentic- and sharp. Percy's first capture the flag! the caption read. What kind of summer camp had their kids play capture the flag in full battle armor and with real swords?

The third image showed Percy and Annabeth, both still twelve, and another kid with a rasta cap sitting on a mop of curly brown hair. They stood at the top of a hill next to a large pine tree, looking out over the valley below. The caption read, Percy, Annabeth, and Grover leaving for their first quest to find Zeus's master bolt and prevent World War III. Brett stared at the photo for a long time. Even though they were just kids in the photo, Brett could see the familiar seriousness to the set of their shoulders. He had always thought that Annabeth carried a heavy burden, and from the looks of it, she had been carrying it for a long time. Brett didn't understand what they were talking about- quests and world wars, but clearly whatever it was had taken its toll on Annabeth.

Brett continued flipping through the different pages, all covered in photos with captions explaining each one. There were multiple mentions of different quests and adventures, and a constant allusion to greek mythology throughout. Brett saw pictures of Percy and Annabeth sailing on a boat through what the caption called, The Sea of Monsters, he saw Percy and Annabeth wandering through a dark underground maze, one picture showed the two of them in the back of a truck surrounded by zoo animals. There were plenty of pictures of them in seemingly dangerous situations, at one point he even saw a picture of what he swore was two armies fighting at the Empire State building. If the captions were to be believed, Percy and Annabeth set off on dangerous quests to save the world every summer, and fought monsters, and gods, and titans in order to do so. The pictures also showed an array of different people, but Percy and Annabeth were always the focus.

There were other photos too. Pictures of happier moments- Percy and Annabeth laughing and leaning against each other in front of a campfire, Percy and Annabeth dancing at a school dance, too engrossed in each other to notice anything else around them, Percy and Annabeth holding hands and watching a fireworks display, Percy and Annabeth sparing in what looked like an ancient Greek arena, laughing and smiling at each other.

There was a picture of Percy and Annabeth crouching down on some sort of metal walkway. The glow made it seem like they were in a forge- or maybe a volcano. Annabeth was kissing Percy, who was just sitting there in shock. The caption read, Percabeth's first kiss! (And just when were those little shits going to tell us that they kissed a whole year before they started dating?)

There was a picture of their first official kiss as a couple, a picture of their 'reunion' whatever that meant, a picture of the two of them spread out on a picnic blanket in a strawberry field, Percy staring dreamily at Annabeth as she gestures with her hands, obviously in the middle of a passionate rant. Almost all of the pictures were candid, and more than once they left Brett wondering just how the cameraman had even gotten the photos.

It was almost too much. Annabeth and Percy's whole history was laid out in front of him. It was hard to deny that they had known each other for a long time, and they had grown up together. They had been friends long before they started dating, and it was impossible to ignore how happy Annabeth looked in these photos, even the ones where she was serious and worried.

But no matter how happy Annabeth might have looked in those photographs, the scrapbook did nothing but solidify into Brett's mind the fact that he had to get Annabeth away from these people. All of this talk of monsters and quests and war was too much for Brett. He didn't understand half of it. He didn't know if it was some sort of weird role-playing game, but he knew that Annabeth was in real danger. There was more than one photograph of people fighting with real weapons- swords and daggers and spears all sharp enough to kill. This summer camp had been sending children to travel across the United States and fight 'monsters' all by themselves every summer. Annabeth was barely eighteen and according to this album she has already fought in three 'wars.' Annabeth's so-called 'friends' were putting her in serious danger, and Brett had to save her from it.