Sup guys! Phew, been a long, long time since i updated huh?

I don't even know if you guys are still gonna read this, but since it's the exam period(a.k.a when you should not study hardcore), i decided to update HAHA

Well, hope you guys have been doing well the past few months. I'm having prelims now, and the major exam is coming in four weeks. So yea, i may not update until after that. Or maybe i'll update earlier. Depending on my prelim results

I'm quite rusty, so i apologize for the sub par writing in this chapter. But nevertheless, hope you will enjoy this chapter!

R&R! :)

Annabeth's POV

"You guys are doing something, aren't you?" Rachel's voice dripped with venom as she said without even a simple greeting.

"…What?" I asked as I turned, trying to lace confusion into my voice and make a bewildered face.

It didn't work.

"The past few weeks. Don't think I haven't noticed. You guys have been pulling aside one member of the gang one at a time. After whatever private conversation you have with them, they always become distant towards Micheal after it."

A hint of surprise must have flickered across my face. That was the only reason to explain why Rachel suddenly decided to get angry and flare at me- she had come to me for confirmation. I had stupidly given it to her.

I winced as her shrill voice rang through my ears painfully. Luckily, the hallway was mostly empty due to it being quite late. The few people who were still lurking in the hallway quickly scampered away, reluctant to even risk the chance to be pulled into the conflict.

Before the cuss words and raw accusations started flying out of her mouth, I put a firm hand over her mouth and dragged her into the nearest classroom. My action must have really shocked her, as she did not even put up a hint of resistance.

"Okay," I said in an exhausted and slightly annoyed voice. I still had to attend work in around half an hour, and school had ended late that day. Patience and temperament control was not exactly on the top priority list right then.

"Before you jump to conclusions and call all of us thankless, heartless backstabbing mongrels that holds not even an inch of respect and loyalty, I want you to make sure you know everything before you make those baseless accusations."

"Baseless accusations?!" She exclaimed, recovering from her previous state.

"You call this baseless? Huh? The proof is right in front of our eyes. First Beckendorf, then Silena, then the Stoll brothers…one by one, they all suddenly became cold and distant to Micheal!"

I thanked the gods that I had the wisdom to pull her into a classroom. If we were still in the hallway, everyone left in the school would have heard her booming voice.

I sighed and rubbed my temples, immediately switching from praising the gods to cursing them for making me be the one to settle this problem. Where was Thalia and Nico and Grover?

…Oh yea, Thalia and Nico went to watch that cheesy movie which would probably cause them to get turned on so much they would start kissing the tongue out of each other.

And Grover's probably eating enchilades somewhere.

Rachel's heavy breathing was about the only thing that could be heard in the eerily silent classroom. It wasn't a pleasant sound.

"Things are a lot more complicated than it seems, Rachel," I told her slowly, warily, preparing myself for the outburst that was sure to come.

"More complicated than it seems? If it is, then care to fucking EXPLAIN?!" I gritted my teeth and covered my ears as she screamed in rage.

"Okay, okay. Just stop screaming in my ear you jackass," I muttered under my breath.

Usually by now, if it were any other person, I would have whipped out my dagger- which I always kept in a hidden compartment in my jacket – and 'convince' them to get the hell our of my way.

This was different, unfortunately. Rachel was just an unlucky girl who got caught up in the mess between Percy and Micheal.

If she had her memories, she would not defend Micheal, much less even have lingering feelings for him.

I finally made a decision of how to proceed and I prayed sincerely to every single God or gods in existence for the outcome to be anything but disastrous.

"Rachel, you know that you have lost a certain portion of memories, right?" I questioned her in a calming, soothing voice. I needed her to be more rational for me to explain things to her.

It seemed to do the trick. Her tense shoulders drooped a little, her clenched jaws slackened and her glaring eyes lost its ferocity. The question itself had managed to somehow make her forget her anger by piquing her interest.

"Yea," Her voice held significantly less hostility as compared to before. It seemed as though my question had struck a chord in her.

It occurred to me that for someone who was raging like a mad raccoon just a few seconds ago, she had cooled down extraordinarily quickly,

I narrowed my eyes and studied her carefully. Her body language had changed drastically, from a challenging tone to a resigned tone. Her eyes that had held so much resentment and apprehension- if they were ever there in the first place – had completely disappeared, as though it was never there.

"You were acting?" I sputtered in disbelief as I saw the sheepish smile on her face.

"I had to. I asked so many of the others why they were treating Micheal so badly, but they simply shook their head. I didn't even know whether it had anything to do with my lost memories. I was getting really frustrated with the lack of information," She explained her eyes looking at everything else other than my eyes in the stuffy classroom.

"Your acting was close to perfect," I muttered, racking my brains on how to regain some pride on the fact that I had fallen for an act.

"Don't feel too bad. I was in drama before," Rachel tried to comfort me.

"Forget about it," I replied, giving a small smile.

"Yea, so since you and I both know its about my memories now, can you please tell me something about it?" Rachel pleaded.

I grunted at the question. She just had to go straight to the point.

...I was probably more irritated by the fact that i had been fooled into giving information away and giving her the chance to get more.

"I can't tell you much, Rachel. I've already given too much information as it is," I sighed, massaging my temples as an even worse migraines settled upon me.

"Please, Annabeth. I need to know," She pushed on.

I didn't reply. In my defense, I was still trying to gather my wits about me.

"Micheal has been getting angrier and angrier each day. He notices, Annabeth. He notices the looks almost everyone in the gang is giving him nowadays. Whenever I ask him, he always immediately shut me off and refuse to explain anything at all." She spoke up.

After a few seconds of deliberation, I came to the very awesome conclusion that I could throw away my respon- I mean it wasn't my place to tell her and that Percy was the one who should explain, as he was one of the two who knew the most about what had happened.

"Rachel. The truth is that we've been trying to get everyone to stop trusting Micheal due to a certain reason. We wanted to get everyone on our side first before moving on to you, as we assumed that with everyone convinced, it would be easier to convince you as well."

"However, since you oh so stubbornly refuse to give up and probably won't stop pestering me until I give you a sufficiently good answer, I'll tell you somebody you can go to." She perked up at the mention of someone who would explain to her.

"Percy," I stated without a hint of hesitation or doubt.

It shouldn't- no, it couldn't be anyone else who explains it to her.

At the mention of his name, her entire demeanor changed. Suddenly, her stubborn and curious demeanor shifted to one of indecisiveness.

"Percy?" She asked in a small voice. It was as though the very idea of speaking to him brought about horror, fear and dread into her.

"What's wrong with talking to him? You don't sound as determined as you did before," I smirked slightly.

It was mean, but I couldn't let go of the chance to get back at her for tricking me. If looks could kill, I would have been slain at least a thousand times over under her glare.

"It's just…I feel bad towards him, alright?" She let out a frustrated breath.

"Why?" I asked, confused by her strange reply.

"I notice him, alright. For some unimaginable reason, my eyes can always spot him in a crowd. I don't even try. It's like they just subconsciously shift to him. I always see how downcast he is, and I can catch the sad, disappointed glint in his eyes whenever I manage to make eye contact with him. I know it's because of me as well," Her voice was soft, tinged with guilt and sadness.

I blinked. That was not what I had expected from her. The confusion melted away as I started to comprehend and understand- to a certain degree- why she was reluctant to go and meet Percy.

"I can't say that you're not causing him sadness," I started carefully, making sure that the words I use tell the truth as well as lighten up her mood instead of dampening it further.

"But what I can say that it's not your fault that you're causing him sadness. It's due to…someone else that caused you to lose your memories. You have no reason to feel guilty, as none of this is your fault at all," I told her in a firm but comforting tone.

Of all people, she was the most important one. She was the center of this whole conflict. She was the reason why Micheal and Percy was waging war against each other.

How this 'war' ends very much depends on her. It would not do for her to be in such turmoil. We need her to be clear that it was not her fault, so that at the end of all this, she would- without hesitation- choose Percy over Micheal.

She stayed silent for a long while, sitting as still as a rock. I could see the millions of thoughts flying through her head as she reflected upon my words.

I waited patiently, ignoring the urge to check my watch. There was no use in doing that action anyway- I already knew that I was late.

"Thank you, Annabeth," She finally spoke, her voice filled with gratefulness.

I had a feeling she wasn't thanking me only for comforting her.

"One last question," She suddenly started.

My eyebrow quirked and I gave her a questioning look, prompting her to continue as I leaned back on the comfortable chair I was sitting on, causing only two legs of the chair to be in contact with the ground.

"You like Percy, don't you?" Her question was so unexpected; I literally fell off the chair.

By the time I got up, face as red as a tomato- with anger or embarrassment, I do not know- and shot my best murderous glare with extremely intense killing intent at where she supposedly was, all I was met with was an empty chair, with the annoying echoes of Rachel's teasing, giggling voice floating through the air.