CryWolfSeven reviewed recently and asked why didn't Artemis communicate via the mind-message thingy. I'm just gonna give a short answer-Grover can sense emotions and to some extent, thoughts. A detailed explanation will be provided to Percy courtesy of his beloved Arty.

Hopefully, this answer is sufficient for now.

Thanks for the review!

I was currently sitting beside Grover on the school bus on the way to the museum. The past few weeks had been surprisingly uneventful. I've had no detentions in any of my classes, not that I care about them, but it was a nice change. Even Ms. Dodds grudgingly had to admit I was doing well in my classes. It was amusing to watch her grit out a compliment while digging her nails in her palms so hard, they drew blood.

As I was musing about the past days, I felt a wad of goop strike my hair. I sighed. It seems Nancy was still carrying her obsession of peanut-butter and ketchup derby.

I turned my head to find the same with Grover's hair. I narrowed my eyes. "Grover!" I chided. "I told you to tell me if Bobofit bothers you." Even if Nancy was better acquainted with me in this timeline, no one messes with my friends.

Grover flushed and mumbled something inaudible. I furrowed my eyebrows.

"What? I didn't catch that." I asked.

Grover sighed. "I thought you didn't care. Because Nancy is actually nice to you."

I stared at him incredulously and smacked his head. "OW!" He protested.

"Are you kidding me, Grover? Just because she doesn't bully me doesn't mean she can bully my friends. Seriously? Just because I changed a bit in the last few days as an effort to improve and lose grudges doesn't mean I would just watch my friends get hurt by someone else, much less my best friend." I ranted. Did Grover think I wouldn't defend him? Seriously?

Grover blinked. "Wait. I am still your best friend?"

I glared at him. "No, of course not." I said sarcastically, "Why else would I hang out with you all the time, eat lunch with you, sit next to you in all the classes and talk with you all the time?"

Grover looked at me in disbelief and then flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, Perce, I don't know why I said that. You're my best friend too. I guess I didn't want others to fight my battles for me. Not after..." He trailed off sadly. My eyes widened, realizing he was talking about Thalia. I seriously wanted to slap the self-deprecating guy and tell him Thalia's supposed death wasn't his fault but I couldn't. That would raise way more questions than I wanted to answer. But I empathized with him. He didn't want any of his friends to get hurt because of him again as did I.

I shook my head and said, "It's fine G-man. I bet you'll find who you're looking for someday."

Grover's eyes widened as I panicked at what I blurted out. Stupid, stupid, stupid. You aren't supposed to know about Pan yet. I mentally slapped myself as Grover took a shaky breath. "Bla-ha-ha, w-what did you s-say?" He squeaked out.

I put on a confused mask and asked, "What?"

"What did you say about finding someone?", He repeated shakily, his face pale. I gave him a fake funny look. "I said you'll find what you want one day. As in you'll find peace in your life. Hmm...now that I think about it, it does sound philosophical and rather ominous. That's why you freaked out, right?" Damn, that was an excuse worthy of Hermes.

Grover hastily nodded. "Y-yeah, of course. T-that's the reason. Hehe." He laughed nervously. Gods, Grover can't lie for his life.

I rolled my eyes and was about to ask him about some homework when I was rudely interrupted by a wet plosh at the back of my head. I took a deep breath and turned around to find Nancy with a 'deer-caught-in-headlights' look with a piece of sandwich in her hand. It honestly took a whole lot of willpower not to laugh for Grover's sake, because the look on her face was utterly hilarious.

"Nancy," I said in a warning tone. "What are you doing?" I spoke out slowly.

She gave out a sheepish smile and a nervous laugh. "Sorry, Percy. But I wasn't aiming for you!" She pointed out hastily. "I was aiming for the scrawny kid."

I shot her a withering glare that made her flinch. "Nance, we talked about this. You can't just go around bullying people whenever you want. It might make you feel better but think about how the other person might feel. You of all people should know that." She flinched at that.

I admit it, that was a low-blow. See, a few days ago we talked about why she bullied the other kids. In turned out, her father was a dead-beat dad whose work was more important than her. He would often ignore her and was pretty much never there for her for most of her childhood. That was the reason she was a bully. She would get into trouble purposefully so her dad would notice her. She kinda reminded me of Piper with her situation. At the end of our talk, Nancy was practically in tears and hyperventilating and I hugged her close till she calmed down.

Since that day, she had reduced bullying others drastically, but I still had to remind her of that sometimes.

"You know I hate when you do this Nancy. So please apologize to Grover." I finished. "But-", she stared protesting until I interrupted her.

"No. You will apologize to Grover." I said sternly. Her cheeks flushed as she refused to meet Grover's eyes. She mumbled a 'sorry' before hiding her face in the seat. I almost squealed at her shyness but luckily managed to control my Aphrodite side just in time. Gods, that would have been super embarrassing.

I gave her a grin which she returned with a shy smile. I nodded to myself and turned towards Grover, who was gaping at me in disbelief.

"Now, do you believe me G-man?" I said with a teasing smile. Grover let out a small laugh and shook his head fondly.

I looked at the various stele and artifacts in the museum, as I droned out Chiron's explanation about the chimera and how the Bellero-dude defeated it. 'Been there, done that' I thought to myself as I walked to a different towards a different stele. Oh, I definitely recognize this one. I smirked mischievously, I knew I was going to cause a lot of trouble with this one.

I brought my attention to Chiron's lecture as I made my way towards the front of the group. Someone stuck out their leg to trip me, but fortunately, I managed to catch myself before I could go down. Unfortunately, I stumbled into Grover who let out a squeak. Everyone burst out laughing at the poor boy, who just turned beat red and quivered his lips.

"Hey, cut it out!" I yelled to save my friend the humiliation.

"Mr. Jackson, do you have something to say?" Chiron asked with his eyebrows raised in annoyance. I groaned internally at his biased centaur ears but shook my head nevertheless. "No, sir."

"Then maybe you can tell the class, what this stele represents?" He said pointing to the artifact.

I grinned and started explaining. "Of course sir, this represents the Kronos, Lord of Time and Harvest. Kronos was the king Titan who ruled over the so-called 'Golden-Age'. There was a curse placed upon him by his father, Uranus, who he had killed. The curse stated he would be murdered the same way he did by his children and they would take over the throne someday. Due to this, he became increasingly paranoid. The day his children were born, he swallowed five of them, but was tricked into swallowing a rock instead of his youngest child, Zeus, who was taken in hiding by Titaness Rhea. When he grew up, he fed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine that caused him to disgorge his siblings, who he lead to war. And in the Titanomachy, the fight between Gods and Titans, the gods won and threw Kronos into Tartarus, the eternal pit." I finished with a deep breath.

Everyone stared at me with their jaws on the ground. Even Ms. Dodds was wide-eyed. I snickered at their surprised expressions as Chiron cleared his throat. "Full credit, Mr. Jackson. That is indeed very true. I cannot find any faults or extensions in your explanation about the Titan Lord."

I grinned at the praise.

"However, I must ask you this, how can this be applicable in real life?" He asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes. I held in a sigh of relief. At least Nancy didn't get embarrassed this time for this question.

I responded with my own lopsided grin. "I guess this teaches us that as perfect as we make out gods and higher beings to be, they still have flaws in their character. It makes us wary of our imperfections and teaches us to accept those flaws and our morality and not let them overcome our fundamental personality." I finished with a wry grin.

Again, everyone seemed dumbfounded by my answers while pride was evident in Chiron's eyes. "Also, who knows, those folks might still be around, eh?" I joked. Everyone snickered but stopped abruptly when thunder boomed loudly in the sky. I just rolled my eyes at Zeus' hissy fit.

"Ah yes, um...very good, Mr. Jackson." Chiron started with a nervous smile. "Now-"

Oh no no you aren't going to miss this.

"Excuse me, sir." I interrupted. "Yes?" He responded with an uneasy expression.

I grinned. "Can you tell us about that stele over there?" I asked innocently. The class followed my eyes and Grover did a double-take. Chiron choked on his spit as he spluttered, "W-why d-do you want to know about that?" He smiled uneasily.

"Oh just curious."

"It's better if we leave that alone. That stele is not even imp-"

"Those are the furies, right?"

Grover and Chiron froze as Ms. Dodds licked her lips in apprehension.

"Y-yes, but I don't see how-"

"Alecto, Megara, and Tisiphone, right?" I interrupted again with a smirk on my face. Chiron nodded hesitantly as Ms. Dodds looked proud. "They are the torturers of the underworld, right?" I asked rhetorically. "Personally, I love Megara and Tisiphone. I think they're awesome. But I think Alecto is absolute trash."

A deep silence ensued which was broken by Ms. Dodds' snarl. "Now, honey-"

"I mean what kind of name is Alecto? She sounds like a bitch. And why are there three furies? I think Megara and Tisiphone would've done just fine. Why did Hades have to bring Alecto into this? I pity Hades who has to see her ugly face every day."

"PERSEUS JACKSON" Ms. Dodds roared. "I want you behind when everyone leaves for lunch." She growled.

I just waved my hand dismissively. "Yeah, sure." Her glare faltered at my boldness but returned at full force just as quickly. Chiron looked positively horrified and Grover looked like he was having a full-blown panic attack.

I chuckled and pat Grover on his back. "It's gonna be fine, G-man. Don't worry too much." I assured him so he could calm down.

Grover didn't seem to calm down.

Instead, he bleated and said in a squeaky voice, "It was me, Ms. Dodds, I told him to say all those things. It's not his fault." The hag was about to say something when I shot her a glare.

I was actually touched, that Grover tried to help me, but no way in hell was I going to throw him under the bus. "It wasn't your fault Grove. I said everything of my own volition. But I don't know why Ms. Dodds got so defensive over Alecto? Are you sure you're not the same hag, Ms. Dodds?" I said looking at her.

She flinched at my statement but snarled. "That's it! Everyone except Perseus Jackson, out for lunch now!"

The students slowly dispersed, muttering to themselves and shooting glances of pity towards me. Grover and Chiron looked at me mournfully and grudgingly walked outside. I wasn't worried though, I knew Chiron was gonna come to give me riptide.

"Come on now honey." Ms. Dodds said and materialized a few feet away. I rolled my eyes but followed her. She led me to the same empty room as last time.

"Now, honey. You've been giving us problems" Alecto growled.

"Yep!" I chirped.

My chipper tone just seemed to aggravate her more and more. "This is your last chance, Perseus Jackson! Confess your actions and I might let you live, Sea-Spawn!"

"Look, Alecto," I said in a bored tone which seemed to surprise her. "I swear on the Styx, I haven't stolen anything, but by all means, please try and kill me. We'll see who dies first." I taunted. Her eyes glowed with hatred at my words and she began transforming.

She howled and changed into her true form, a demon grandma with wings and sharp talons. She lunged at me, hoping to rake me apart with her talons, but years of battle reflexes kept me alive. I ducked under her onslaught and threw a punch at her midsection. She staggered but composed herself before diving at me once more.

I glanced towards the door, where Chiron was supposed to barge in with my trusty sword.

And he did not disappoint. There he was, in his wheelchair, looking furious. He threw Anaklusmos towards me with a "What ho!"

I quickly caught the blade, relishing all the comfort it brought me, and swung the sword towards the diving Alecto. The sword passed through her with a hiss and she disintegrated into sulfurous powder.

I was alone. Again.

Only this time I was going to confront Chiron and Grover about the whole fiasco.

'That's a great plan Perce', A chipper voice spoke.

"Gah!" I shrieked at the sound and dropped my sword. It clattered on the ground as I heard someone giggling.

I groaned audibly. "Hello Nyx, Chaos"

'Hiya Perce!', Nyx chirped as Chaos responded with a simple 'hello'

'So...what were you guys up to all this time?', I inquired while walking towards the door.

'Oh you know, just creating another planet and preventing Nyx from eating all the Christmas candy', Chaos shrugged nonchalantly.

'Mooom!', Nyx cried indignantly.

I paused and blinked. 'Right...you know what? I don't even wanna know.'

'But it was really funny. Even Tartarus went trick-or-treating!', Chaos protested.

I blinked again. 'You know what? I DO want to know what happened.'

Before Chaos could start with the story, I quickly interrupted her, as I reached the crowd of students and came face to face with Nancy.

"I hope you didn't get into much trouble. Ms. Kerr doesn't seem very nice." She said as she wrinkled her nose.

I laughed and replied, "Nah, she was pretty cool. Just gave me detention for a week." She smiled and nodded.

I bid her goodbye and walked towards Chiron. 'Wow, you're a really good liar, Perce', Nyx complimented. I shrugged, 'Thanks, it feels natural at this point.'

'But who was that girl, Percy?', Chaos asked suggestively.

I just rolled my eyes. 'A mortal named Nancy. She was my bully last time, but I cleared everything up and she became a friend this time'

Chaos seemed to nod as I approached Chiron.

"Ah, Mr. Jackson, please bring your own writing utensils from now on," he said, pointing towards riptide.

I rolled my eyes and put my sword back in my pocket, drawing a protest from Chiron.

"Okay, now cut the crap. Where is Ms. Dodds?" I asked knowing full well what he was going to say.

He looked at me in concern and started to speak the same bullshit excuse from the last time but I quickly interrupted him. "I mean it, Chiron"

His eyes widened. "So you know. How?"

I shrugged. "It honestly wasn't hard. You kept hinting that I was a demi-god all summer. Moreover, I could sense something was wrong with your wheelchair. I mean, I saw a cyclops when I was eight and when that memory resurfaced, I quickly caught on. However, I was still a bit skeptical until I saw Grover the satyr without his fake legs one time. That meant you were a monster or someone to help me. But with your helpful and sweet attitude, I assumed you weren't here to harm me. And seeing how passionate you were teaching about yourself, I assumed you were the famous trainer of heroes." I finished explaining with a wry smile.

'Dam Perce, that was a hell of an explanation', Nyx said in awe.

'Thanks, Nyx'

Chiron just gaped at me before letting out a booming laugh, "It seems we had underestimated you, Percy. And based on your explanation, I can only assume, your taunt towards centaurs and Alecto was a plan to curb your suspicions?" He asked with a mischievous smirk.

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry if I offended you in any way, but I had to see yours and Grover's reaction at my 'jab'. It only confirmed everything seeing how nervous you both were the rest of the day."

"And how did you know about Alecto?"

"I overheard you talking about 'Kindly Ones' with Grover," I admitted even though it was a lie. "I assumed that since you were here, only the leader of the furies could be sent for me, seeing you would do the best to protect me. I just had to make a few taunts and bam! She revealed herself."

"But weren't you afraid?" He inquired curiously.

"Nah, not really. I mean I was nervous, but I knew you would come to help me."

'Liar!', Chaos yelled. 'You've been through all of this'

Chiron just chuckled. "Your belief in me is gratifying."

'No it's not', Chaos yelled again as Nyx sighed. Huh... their roles were reversed.

I nodded. "So...what now?"

Chiron cocked his head, "Now you have to come to Camp."

"Camp?" I asked feigning ignorance.

"Yes," he nodded "Camp Half-Blood. The only safe place in the world for demi-gods like you"

'No, it's not!', Nyx protested. 'There is Camp Jupiter', She pointed out.

I just ignored her and asked in a fake hopeful tone, "Chiron, do you know who my dad is?"

'Of course, it's Poseidon', Chaos answered.

He sighed. "I have my suspicions, child, but I cannot be certain until he claims you."

I nodded, looking glum. "So...how to go to this...camp?"

Chiron just shook his head and said, "Not now, Percy. We have to inform your mother first, then we can go."

"My mom knows?" I asked.

He nodded and answered. "Yes, she knows. That's why we have to inform her first. Now, I suggest you take everything off your mind and relax. We will proceed after the trip."

I agreed and sheepishly asked. "Hey, can I keep this sword? As for safety in case of monster attacks. It feels pretty well balanced in my hand and I'll return it to you in camp." I mean, it was technically my sword but I didn't want to push my luck against my teacher.

He chuckled and said. "Keep the sword m'boy. If my suspicions are correct about your parentage, then this sword rightfully belongs to you."

"Really?" I asked, wide-eyed. I honestly didn't expect him to just give my sword to me.

'I did', Chaos piped up. 'Cause I'm the creator of the universe.'

'Mom, stop bragging', Nyx scolded.

I barely withheld a snicker at their interactions.

"Thanks, Chiron"

I walked over to Grover (That rhymed hehe) who was watching me with wide eyes. "So...you knew who we were?"

I grinned and answered in the positive.

He chewed on his lip nervously "Look Perce, I know, I-we weren't-"

"Oh stop it, Grover, I know you were trying to protect me. You're still my best friend. Don't worry." I waved his away concern.

His face lit up immediately, "Really?"

I grinned and nodded. "Really"

'Aww...what a beautiful moment', Nyx cooed.

'Nyx you're becoming more and more like Aphrodite', I warned and Chaos burst out laughing. Nyx pouted.

Soon we settled into a comfortable silence. I wondered how Artemis was doing right now? It seemed weird of her to not reach me especially since the museum fiasco was over.

Nyx answered my question. 'It's because she is on an important hunt right now and she cannot afford to lose focus right now. She will talk with you when you reach camp. I promise. Besides, she didn't want any distractions. Clever of her, especially since you were the one she was to talk with.' She said with a sly smirk.

My cheeks burned as I tried to process the information given to me.

Suddenly a thought struck me. How would the timeline change if my mom wasn't kidnapped? Moreover, the council meeting will be months from now. Beef-cake would not be on the way to camp and I would peacefully get to camp. I began to panic at the thoughts of something worse happening to mom.

Chaos sensed my agitation and started speaking calmly. 'Percy, I have already spoken with my grand-daughters. They have sequenced the events in such a way, that the minotaur will be sent today instead of when he was sent last time, your mother will be sent to Hades and you will get claimed at CTF. The only difference is that you will have to wait a few weeks for your quest.' She soothed. 'Moreover, the fates have agreed to tweak the prophecies in our favor, so you can save your friends', Nyx explained.

I breathed out a sigh of relief and thanked both of them profusely.

The timeline was more or less the same as last time. The tires of the bus I was on board with Grover to go to my mom's house blew up again.

And of course, Grover went batshit crazy when he saw the Fates.

However, unlike last time, I waved at them and winked, which led to a scolding from Nyx, who made me apologize to them. The smug bastards snipped the cord while smirking at me. I just rolled my eyes, but Grover completely lost his marbles just like last time.

I doubled over in laughter when I saw Grover's pale face, who looked at me like I was crazy. Eventually, I managed to calm him down and drag him to my home.

I cried into my mom's shoulder when I saw her again, which led Nyx to another Aphrodite episode. I wasn't even ashamed to admit I was extremely happy to see her again, seeing I hadn't met her for a long time.

Of course, Grover had to fuck it up by mentioning Alecto and mom went into a full-overprotective-mama mode.

I just glared at Grover who at least had the decency to look sheepish while my mom fussed over me.

We decided to leave for the camp in the evening after I packed my stuff. Of course, the walrus, otherwise known as Gabe, went on to rant about how I would probably mess up his car, which caused me to use my wolf-stare on him and he fell on his butt.

After several attempts at convincing me to sacrifice Gabe to her, Nyx finally understood he would get what he deserved at the end of the quest.

Eventually, the time came when we had to leave, and the conditions were just like the time before. The same lightning bolt hit our car and the same Fruit-of-the-loom clad beef boy attacked us.

Yes, I knew my mom would be returned to me, but it still hurt to see her disappear like that. I attacked the beef-boy in a frenzy just like last time, only I had my sword. As a result, the fight was very short and nothing was left of the Minotaur except his horn and his underwear.

Eww...I don't remember that being left behind last time.

This time, I had to drag a moaning Grover across the property line via shadow-traveling (Making sure nobody saw us), and unlike last time, I wasn't nearly tired enough to pass out.

So, as a favor, Chaos made me fall flat on my face under a concerned-looking Chiron and my to-be best friend. Of course, that didn't mean I would lose my sarcastic touch. So, when Annabeth commented on me being the 'one' and Chiron reprimanding her that I was still conscious, I let out one last snarky remark.

"Of course I am conscious, people don't faint with their eyes open."

The last I saw was a flushing Annabeth and an amused Chiron before I drifted off into the realm of Morpheus.

Phew...this was a long one. The chapters from now on will be focused on some important parts only. The others, I'll just skim through with some humor as I did with the later parts of this chapter.

Sorry about the delay for the update. I literally have no excuse.

Hopefully, I'll be able to update a bit more frequently, like twice in a week? Yeah, that works.

So...yeah, hope you enjoyed this one and goodbye for now!