Disclaimer: I don't own the PJO characters

Chapter Two

The first thing that happened was smoke.

Annabeth watched, captivated, as the lamp in her hand began to steam. Nebulous smoke whistled out of the spout like a train whistle and quickly filled the room. She watched in awe as the smoke curled into itself to make a figure. A blinding light erupted from the figure and Annabeth threw her arm over her eyes to shield herself.

She opened her eyes.

God, her genie was breathtaking. Her genie was a tall guy with dishevelled dark hair and the most piercing sea-green eyes Annabeth has ever seen. He was lean but the muscles up his arms and chest were apparent through the skin-tight shirt he wore. Her genie was tanned with a complexion somewhere between olive and caramel.

Annabeth couldn't form any words. She was having an out-of-body experience.

"In case you're wondering," her genie said in a deep voice. "All genies are damn sexy. It's in our genes. Ha. I really don't know if I can say the same thing for you humans, though."

Annabeth snapped back into her body. "You can't be serious."

"Oh, I am," her genie said. He grinned and dimples appeared at the edges of his mouth. "If you're confused about which part of you to change first, I recommend your hair. Has anyone told you that it looks like a cauliflower? Mm, yeah. A very wild cauliflower."

Annabeth gawked at him. Of course it was just her luck that she ended up with the biggest asshole for her genie who happened to be the most attractive living creature hundred mile radius to her. Her hand unconsciously went up to touch the bun on top of her head and a surge of anger came over her.

More like breathtakingly insufferable.

"My name is Perseus," her genie went on. "But you can call me Percy. I've been told that Perseus sounds a lot sexier than Percy. So if you're feeling a little down whenever, feel free to call me Perseus but don't expect me to be purring in return. On the other hand, you have my permission to purr all you want."

Annabeth scowled. "You're supposed to be introducing yourself graciously and then we're supposed to become the best of friends."

Percy shrugged. He was floating in mid air, sitting criss-crossed. On a tangent, Annabeth wondered if she could wish for magic but she was also positive that somewhere in the rulebook it said she couldn't.

"Well," Percy mused. "If you want a stereotypical genie, I could totally do it for you." Percy snapped his fingers and suddenly he was wearing something completely different. Instead of his black shirt, he wore a humongous blue hat along with poof-pants of the same color. His shirt was no longer a shirt but a sleeveless blue top with no middle that left a whole stretch of his chest bare.

"That is not what I meant."

Percy tutted and steeled himself as if he were standing at a movie set. "What may your name be? I am your absolutely amazing-can't-get-me-out-of-your-head genie Percy Jackson. I can grant you wishes but you only have nine so choose wisely!" He stood up and took a bow in the air. Then he leaned in and whispered as if there was a third person in the room, "I recommend starting with your hair!"

Annabeth glowered. "Get back in your stupid lamp."

"What?"

"I said get back in your lamp. I refuse to talk to you and I refuse to look at your ugly face."

"I think your initial expression when I came out of the lamp completely contradicts what you said about my face."

"Now."

Percy blew a strand of dark hair that fell over his eyes. "I'm your genie. I grant you wishes. That doesn't mean I have to listen to everything you say."

Maybe this is what Aphrodite meant when she warned Annabeth against any wrong move. Everything had gone wrong. She slumped onto the couch, holding her head in her hands. Her entire life had been building up to this moment and what came out of that lamp is a complete disaster.

"Hey, hey," Percy said, hurriedly. "Don't cry!"

"I'm not crying! I'm cursing my luck."

"But you have me! I'm a great genie."

"Back in your lamp. I don't want to talk to you right now."

Percy snickered. "I'm your genie, sweetheart. You'll be rubbing my lamp all over the second someone from school starts bullying you about your hair." He spread his arms out. "Maybe I should sing a song to introduce myself. I've heard I'm a great singer. I've also heard humans love singing genies."

Annabeth stalked forward and grabbed the lamp. A grey smoke drifted in a line, connecting Percy to the lamp. She shook it, half wondering how idiotic she looked and half grumbling why Percy wasn't affected. Annabeth drove it forward in the air and some of the smoke disappeared inside the lamp.

Percy only cocked an eyebrow. "You done wringing out my home, sweetheart? I don't want to go back and see my couch on top of my bed. I have a dog in there. You better not hurt Blackjack."

A question almost tumbled out but Annabeth stopped herself just in time."Tell me about your dog."

"Ooh, now you're interested in me!"

"Your dog."

"He's a cute, fluffy black thing. In fact, Blackjack is so fluffy that sometimes when he's running towards you, you see a giant ball rolling. So please, refrain from hurting my baby."

Annabeth put down the lamp hesitantly. "I didn't know genies could keep pets inside their lamps."

Percy opened his mouth to reply but shut it a second later. The smirk fell from his face and he furrowed his eyebrows. "I… don't remember how he came around. I just know he's mine and he lives with me inside that lamp that you're so keen on destroying."

"You don't remember."

"Nope."

Annabeth sighed, exasperated. She ran a hand through messy curls and stuck her tongue out at Percy whose smirk was back. "Aphrodite will be here soon. It's almost been half an hour. Please go back into your lamp because if you don't want to listen to me, just remember that it's one of rules that you can't be seen by anyone else."

"I've always wondered, why is that a rule?"

"I don't know. It's my first time dealing with genies and as a side note, you've just ruined my entire perception on genies."

Percy said, "You humans had already ruined my perception on your kind before I met you. You think I asked to be stuck in a lamp until I die?"

"I can't deal with you for the rest of my life."

"Nine wishes then I'm gone! Now, let's see. Your hair. Your eyes, jeez you're scary with those grey eyes. You've also got a lot of wrinkles on your face. It almost reminds me a prune. Mm, maybe that's a better description of you than a cauliflower."

Percy spun a finger in the air in a circle and a mirror appeared in front of Annabeth. Her jaw dropped at her reflection: wrinkles framed every inch of her face and she resembled more her dead great-grandmother than herself. Annabeth screamed, tripping over one of the table legs and falling backwards.

"Crap, I wasn't expecting a scream."

Annabeth landed on something soft and fluffy that definitely wasn't there a few seconds prior. The mirror disappeared from above her head and so did the thing underneath her. She stood up with a sore elbow, glaring at Percy.

"Oops," Percy snorted.

Someone knocked on the door and Aphrodite's muffled voice came through. Annabeth couldn't make out what Aphrodite was saying but she gave Percy a glare and pointed at the lamp. "Get in. I think she's coming."

Percy pouted. His figure turned back into smoke and the lamp sucked him up until there wasn't a hint of Percy left in the room. Annabeth stared at the aquamarine lamp left on the table and she walked across the small room to gingerly pick it up. It vibrated under her fingertips and almost pulled out of her grasp.

"Percy," Annabeth hissed. "Stop moving."

The lamp stilled. No vibrations, no tipping over.

Aphrodite knocked on the door again. "Annabeth?"

"You can come in. My genie has gone back inside the lamp."

Aphrodite's smiling face appeared. She pushed the door open wider and beckoned Annabeth to exit. "Don't forget the velvet box."

Annabeth made her way to the glass table. She ignored the frustration from Percy's stunts and neatly packed his lamp back into the black sponges. The latch on the velvet box closed with a click and she scooped it up in arms. Would Percy feel it if she tossed the entire box out the window and waved it goodbye?

"How was meeting your genie for the first time?" Aphrodite asked her. She led Annabeth down the same confusing hallways. "Exciting? Are you planning to go home and spend all night bonding with them?"

Annabeth forced a smile. "My genie was great. Meeting them was everything I dreamed it would be."

Aphrodite squealed and Annabeth felt like her ears were melting off. "That's amazing! I love it whenever another teenager comes out with a smile on their face. It's the exact reason I'm in this job after all."

They entered the foyer. Annabeth saw yet another new seventeen-year-old jittering in excitement by the registration table. She wanted to go up to them and throw Percy's lamp in their face and tell them to keep him. Instead, she tightened her grip on the velvet box and waved Aphrodite goodbye.

Helen was waiting for her on one of the many couches. She sprang up when she saw Annabeth. "How was it? What's their name? Did you become good friends with them?"

Annabeth shook her head. With Aphrodite out of earshot, she could confess. "It was this guy named Percy. I hate him, Helen. He's arrogant. All he did for that half an hour was insult how I looked. He's exactly what Dad described his genie was like."

Helen enveloped Annabeth in a hug. Annabeth wasn't crying now but she was sure they'd come later that night. People talked about their genies like they were the last friend they'd ever have in the world. Others said their world revolved around their genie. Happy, sad, lonely, it didn't matter. Their genie was the only friend who would be with them through thick and thin. Annabeth wasn't one who made friends easily; she was praying her genie would be the one free pass ticket to someone who she'd click with instantly.

"Let's go home," Helen said. "You never know, maybe your genie will grow on you. You didn't make any wishes, did you?"

"No."

Annabeth closed her eyes and returned to Helen's warm embrace. Her body burned. Couldn't life be more unfair to her?

aoaoaoaoaoaoaoaoao

Annabeth entered her biology classroom to a long line of down faces. To her relief, everyone else felt the test was completely unfair. Her worry was how she was going to face Athena knowing that she wasn't getting an A+ in biology this term.

The past day had been a mess.

After Annabeth had gotten Percy and his lamp, she left him in her room before celebrating her Coming with her family downstairs. To her luck, Percy didn't tip over his lamp or get her attention using magic so most of her evening was peaceful. She had, however, gotten a rude wake up call in the morning. Apparently Percy could project his voice through the lamp to talk to her without coming out of the lamp at all. Her irritation with his constant commentary while she went on with her morning routine was enough for Annabeth to leave his lamp on her window sill at home.

She even checked her face for wrinkles before she left. And thankfully whatever Percy showed her in that mirror the day before was only an illusion. She knew it wasn't real, of course, but she couldn't help the paranoia building in her stomach.

At least now she was at school with her friends whom she trusted. Percy was a problem for later.

"We're getting our tests back," Piper muttered as Annabeth slipped into her seat. "These are the only times I'm be thankful that my parents don't give a shit about what I do all day."

"Now?"

Piper jutted her chin out towards the teacher who was already going around giving out papers. "Now. Frank Zhang got his test back right before you came in. He got a flipping sixty percent."

"Sixty? But… he's Frank! He gets like ninety-eight on every test."

"Exactly! If Frank is getting sixty, what the hell am I going to get?"

Annabeth bit her lip, watching the teacher making rounds around the classroom. She was sick of coming second to Frank Zhang for every test but now she was positive her rank had fallen down by several places.

As expected, the teacher slammed the test on Annabeth's desk. "Not your best, Ms. Chase."

Next to her, Piper swore out loud with her own test in hand. "I got a twenty? I deserved at least an eighty."

Annabeth turned over her test. A giant forty stared back at her and she groaned out loud, letting her head drop onto the desk. Athena was probably going to be dropping in some day during the week to ask Annabeth the superficial questions of her Coming celebrations. If Athena found out that Annabeth had gotten a forty on her test, it was all over.

"Ms. Chase," her teacher said in passing. "You're needed in the office to show around a potential new student. You're excused from class."

It took a moment for the words to settle into Annabeth. She was on the ambassadors team at their school which meant she was constantly showing around new students or those considering applying. Piper gave her a desperate look when the teacher leaned over Annabeth's desk to remind Piper about her sudden drop in average grade.

Annabeth walked the deserted halls to the main office. She had stuffed her test into her bag but the giant forty still sat imprinted in her mind. Maybe she was going to make her first wish today to change her biology score. What a waste of a wish. Percy was about to have a field day today. She approached the secretary at the main office and introduced herself.

"The possible new student," the secretary said. She looked off to the side and motioned for two people sitting nearby to come closer. "Annabeth, this is Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

Rachel was the same height as Annabeth with fiery red hair pulled up in a tight ponytail. Freckles dotted her flushed cheeks and she wore a pair of jeans splattered with paint. Annabeth greeted Rachel with a handshake before an older woman stood up beside Rachel.

"I'm Rachel's mother," Mrs. Dare said. "If you don't mind, I'd like to join her for the tour around the school."

"I'm happy to show you both around," Annabeth said. She left her bag where the secretary gestured her to before opening the door of the main office and leading both Rachel and Mrs. Dare out and into the hallway. "Goode High School has been around for almost seventy years now. We've been refurnishing buildings and adding new facilities every year to make Goode an educational leader among private institutions."

Annabeth sounded like a robot. She was repeating every word on the pamphlet she got given when she joined the ambassadors team.

"Your hair," Rachel said suddenly. "Why is it white?"

Annabeth paused, glancing down at her blonde curls. She left her hair down today and admittedly it was because Percy was going on and on this morning about what a cauliflower she looked like with her hair tied up in a bun. "My hair?"

Rachel took a step closer and giggled, pulling on a curl on Annabeth's shoulder. "You have white hair! I have black hair, see? We're opposites!"

Mrs. Dare pulled her daughter back. "I'm sorry, Annabeth. My daughter suffers from a mental condition that causes hallucinations. It's why I accompanied her on this tour. She gets scared when she's left alone."

"You have nice hair," Rachel said. "But it's so white."

"You have nice hair, too, Rachel. It's great to meet you."

Rachel's green eyes flickered. "Really?"

"Of course!"

The red-haired girl started singing then. Mrs. Dare tried shushing Rachel but she went on with her doozy voice, "I followed the stars to a place I don't know. I landed the moon on the sun. I can't tell why but I can't tell us apart. If only you'd just tell me how."

Annabeth gave Rachel a weak smile. "You have an amazing voice."

"I want to be a painter when I grow up! Last night I had a dream of this really scary place with rows and rows of jails and barely any light. There were genies in those prisons and ooh they looked so scared! I'm going to draw them all with twisted faces and screeching voices and I'll do it when I go back home. Handcuffs. Lots of iron. Scary. Blood everywhere."

Mrs. Dare hushed Rachel. "Annabeth. Tell us more about some of the facilities at the school. Rachel does love art so perhaps we can take a detour to the art department?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm happy to bring you there," Annabeth said. She glanced at Rachel who was tapping her nose with a pointer finger and staring out into the distance. "The art department is just this way."

Luckily, the art department was the closest one to the main office. Annabeth poked her head into an empty studio and allowed Rachel and Mrs. Dare inside so they could take a look. Rachel set something down on a nearby table, she had been cradling it and keeping Annabeth from seeing it the whole time, and went around oohing at the paintings on the walls.

Annabeth saw what Rachel left on the table: her genie lamp. Rachel's lamp was gold and it had a fire-like pattern near its base. It looked like a water glass but the hole through which genie came out of was a tiny thing at the top.

"I like the art department, Mom."

Mrs. Dare smiled, relieved. "You do? Can you imagine yourself painting here?"

"I can. I love this place."

Annabeth nodded. "You can do a lot in the art department. We have a group that our head art teacher runs that's for gifted artists. I'm sure you apply for that, you have a shot at getting in. They do exhibitions every year in the city that ends up earning a lot of money that the school donates to charity."

Rachel went wandering out the door. Mrs. Dare, who was admiring some art work, grabbed her purse from next to Rachel's genie lamp and ran after her daughter. Annabeth picked up Rachel's lamp and followed them out.

"Rachel," Annabeth called. "You forgot your genie lamp inside."

Rachel froze. She turned around and her eyes went wide seeing the lamp in Annabeth's hands. Then all of a sudden, Rachel screamed. Annabeth gasped, almost dropping the lamp in her hands, as Rachel's shrill cry rang out through the hallway.

"My lamp!" Rachel yelled. "How dare you touch it?"

"You left it! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"You can't touch my lamp!"

"Rachel, it was a mistake," Mrs. Dare begged. She grabbed Rachel's midriff when Rachel tried to launch herself forward to body slam Annabeth to the ground. "Rachel, please, she meant no harm."

Annabeth thrust her arms out for Rachel to take the lamp from her. She saw tears glistening on Rachel's cheeks. Rachel was insane. Annabeth watched as the red-head cooing at the lamp. Was her genie listening inside or was her genie dead and all of Rachel's nine wishes gone? "I'm sorry," Annabeth tried. "I was only trying to help." Hair stood up all over her arms and the back of her neck and a cold draft slithered through the spaces around her body.

Rachel spun around to face Annabeth again. Her genie lamp lay supported in the crook of her neck. Her eyes twinkled as if her outburst a few seconds ago never happened. "It's okay, friend! I love you!"

Annabeth gaped as Rachel continued on walking down the hall singing.

"I followed the stars to a place I don't know. I landed the moon on the sun. I can't tell why but I can't tell us apart. If only you'd just tell me how."

Thanks so much for the reviews/favs/follows that I got on the last chapter! As for this chapter, Ik rachel is super OOC in this but remember her because her character and condition becomes super significant later on! I was going to update this tomorrow but then I had written out the whole chapter so I was like "whoop, why not update today"

should I keep going with the story?

Review, Fav, follow!