Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, and follows. This is the second part of Interlude II, and the last time I'm writing a narrative in present tense. Thanks for bearing with my writing experiments. The Tatooine folklore is based on Fialleril's "Chosen" and other stories where it is covered in much more depth and more beautifully than I could manage, so you should definitely check those out if you haven't read them yet.

Interlude II – A Day in the Life of a Demigod in an Alternate Universe by Percy Jackson cont.

By 1710 both Annabeth and I are in her room. I sit in a cushy chair with a Naboo laptop that Annabeth programmed specially to sift through all the information and recordings we receive from our spy mission on Tatooine. Annabeth is at her workstation with the astro droid Blue and some fancy diagrams pulled up on Daedalus 2.0. Padmé's letting Annabeth borrow Blue to help with her extra "projects." Right now, she's trying to build something for Palpatine's holoprojector that can trace the Sith's next hologram, and Blue has been a huge help with the actual building stuff, something Annabeth always preferred to let Leo or the other children of Hephaestus do whenever she collaborated with them.

Initially, she tried to use Daedalus 2.0 to back trace the original blackmail hologram that Palpatine had left us. It didn't work out too well. Apparently, the Sith managed to put some kind of extra sneaky Trojan horse in the message, so that if anyone tried to download the hologram, it would steal the data and shutdown the computer. Annabeth's pretty sure that if it had been any other computer in this universe but Daedalus 2.0 then the laptop would be fried, and the Sith would have all of our information. Luckily, a combination of Daedalus' genius malware protection, a little magic, and of course ancient Greek technology was able to stop the cyber attack before it reached any of the files. I mean, the Greeks did invent the original Trojan Horse after all.

Even though she managed to stop it, Annabeth wasn't too happy because it meant that the Sith was feeling out our strengths and weaknesses and now knew that the senator had given the message to someone with pretty impressive technology. Even by defeating the Trojan Horse, the Sith knew that someone, though hopefully not specifically us, was trying to stop the blackmail. To make everything worse, the holoprojector with the hologram sort of blew-up (definitely not my fault this time), so Annabeth was left with nothing. Now, the hologram tracer is pretty much our only hope at stopping the blackmail.

We haven't been having much luck on our "Spy on Hutts" project either. I always thought it would be so cool and exciting to be a spy with all the car chases, sneaking around, and cool fight scenes. Although, now that I think about it, that doesn't sound too different from being a modern-day half-blood. Anyways, I found out that real spy work is super boring. Before Project Blackmail popped up, Annabeth and I spent most of our time poring over the ridiculous amount of information we had gathered between Annabeth hacking into Jabba's computer system and Leo's spying bugs.

We did get some useful information from the computer. We learned all about the Grand Hutt Council and everything Jabba had on the other members. I just can't believe that even the Hutt's have a freaking council. It's like there literally is a council for everything in this universe. We also started to get an idea of who Jabba's enemies were and his allies. Unfortunately, a month after the Battle of Naboo, someone else, probably one of Gardulla's stooges, tried to hack into Jabba's computer system and was not very sneaky. The spy was caught, tossed to the vampire spider, and the whole computer system was rebooted which also destroyed Annabeth's spy virus.

Leo's spy bugs had much better luck though we did lose a few of them because several members of Jabba's entourage like to eat bugs and apparently can't tell the difference. We have managed to spread the bugs out more and now have a bug in Jabba's sail barge, two in his palace, and one in his Mos Eisley house.

The laptop I'm using compiles all the files and translates the Huttese. After a month, Annabeth developed a fancy algorithm to help target potentially important conversations which helps a lot, but it still is way too much listening to boring or downright disturbing conversations. Annabeth pauses in her work over the hologram tracer and asks, "Found anything interesting?"

I shrug, "It seems like Jabba's trying to get the location of a planet from a pilot. Not really sure why. The pilot is trying to ask for more money, and Jabba's not happy which means he's probably going to get fed to the Rancor as soon as Jabba gets the information out of him." It's a really common pattern we've seen. Probably 50% of the people that enter Jabba's palace get fed to one of his beasties or have some other sort of death match or public execution.

"Hmm," Annabeth twirls a strand of hair between her fingers. She does that when she's thinking. "Which planet is it?"

I'm not sure, but a few seconds later we both hear the pilot smugly say, "The coordinates for Da Soocha are –"

But, Jabba stops him before he finishes, "No, you fool put it on the data chip."

Annabeth immediately perks up, "He wants it kept secret. Why is Da Soocha special?" She minimizes the diagrams on Daedalus 2.0 and pulls up a search bar. I pause the spy recording and search the laptop for any mention of Da Soocha as well. I get a couple of hits. It seems for whatever reason Jabba has been looking for it for a while. Those conversations must have slipped through Annabeth's algorithm.

"Da Soocha," Annabeth says slowly sounding the name out as she waits for results. "I'm pretty sure it translates to Waking Planet in Huttese." Shmi's been teaching us both Huttese when she can. "Hmm, lets see. There's literally no information in the Republic's space maps which must be part of the reason why Jabba wants to keep it secret. However, it does pop up in the research of a sociologist who studies Hutt culture. Apparently, the planet is in the Cyax system which the Hutts seem to treat as sacred. The system itself has not been officially explored by the Republic probably because it's too deep into Hutt territory, and the Hutts refuse to explore it. They have several legends about the planets and the primary star which was the brightest one in the night sky of their original home planet on Var. In the legend of Da Soocha, the bright rays of Cyax blessed the supposed ocean planet, and the ocean came alive. They believe the whole planet is covered in an intelligent, living ocean."

"Wait there's a whole planet out there that's just one big ocean?" I ask amazed. Naboo was cool enough but to be on a planet that was just water! Man, that's like a dream come true.

Annabeth rolls her eyes, "Really, Seaweed Brain, that's what you focus on? Of course, there's ocean planets. Mon Calamari, Glee Anselm, and Ando are just a few of the more well-known ones. But, maybe we can use this."

I frown not liking what she's hinting at. "I don't think that's a good idea. For starters, pretending to be some sort of god is always bad, and Jabba doesn't really strike me as the religious type."

"Well, clearly he believes enough to search for Da Soocha. If you were, say a physical form of Da Soocha, it might get him interested enough to at least let us speak to him. Maybe, we can even get him to listen to something we say or threaten him." I snort at that idea. Annabeth's determined to find a way to convince Jabba to free the slaves. I'm not too sure that will work since Jabba seems smarter than he looks though that's not very hard. "Besides, you won't really be impersonating a god. You will just be presenting yourself as a manifestation of an intelligent, living ocean, which technically you kind of are. Although, I'm not too sure about the intelligent part," she teases.

"Hey!" I complain and throw a pillow at her.

Annabeth dodges then glances at the nearby chrome, 2000. "We should go help Shmi with dinner."

By 2100, we all sit down for Shaak pot roast with this universe's version of carrots, onions, and garlic. The food is great, and the overall meal is far livelier with Shmi here. She tells us how Jar Jar stopped in the machine shop with the Gungan fisherman and accidentally activated a malfunctioning droid that kept trying to serve everyone tea. We all laugh, even Panaka. For the rest of the meal, we talk about upcoming royal events and even some harmless neighborhood gossip.

Once the dishes are all put away, Panaka goes to his study while Shmi, Annabeth, and I head to the parlor for our Huttese lesson. After living in dorm rooms and tiny apartments most of my life, it's pretty weird to live someplace that has studies and parlors. Huttese is a hard language to learn, like way worse than conjugating Latin verbs, but Shmi's a good and extremely patient teacher. Plus, I really like learning insults since they automatically sound way more badass in Huttese. I'm pretty sure Shmi only agreed to teach me a few because she knows that's the best way to motivate me.

Panaka joins us around 2300. We wrap up with our lesson and settle down for one of Shmi's stories from Tatooine. It started about a month ago. One night, I think Shmi just really missed Anakin, so she told us a story. After that it sort of became a nightly routine. Sometimes she tells us fables about a tricky Jakrab outsmarting the evil Anooba, a wolf-like creature. Other times she recounts stories about the friends she had known or legends about slaves winning their freedom or tricking their masters. Before, I never stopped to think about Anakin's strange fascination with stories. I mean as half-bloods stories were literally our life, so it didn't seem unusual then. Now, after listening to Shmi's stories for weeks, I think stories are just as important on Tatooine for the slaves just for a different reason. Stories give the slaves a way to escape at least in their minds. They give the slaves hope and a sense of identity. Something, not even the Hutts can take away.

"Since everyone's had a long day, I will tell you a short one," Shmi says. "It is said that Tatooine wasn't always like it is. It used to be beautiful and full of life much like Naboo, but only the sand and suns remember a time when flowers bloomed, and water flowed freely. There is a special connection between a planet and its people, so when the land flourishes so too do her people. For a time, the sons and daughters of Tatooine lived peaceful, happy lives. They were free.

"Then, the outlanders came. Some of the new-comers where kind and generous. They shared incredible knowledge and technology and taught the sons and daughters of Tatooine how to reach the stars, but other outlanders were cruel and greedy. They brought slavery with them and stripped the land of its resources, its beauty, and its freedom. Some brothers and sisters rebelled and ran far into the wilderness, fighting the outlanders and those who serve them at every opportunity. Another group became scavengers, thriving off the machines the outlanders abandoned.

"But, the land and its people are connected. Ever since the first chains of slavery were forged on Tatooine, not a drop of water has fallen from the sky. The beautiful plants withered and died, and the oceans dried up as the outlander masters tried their best to snuff out the great spirit of the children of Tatooine." This is starting to sound like a very depressing story, and I'm used to Greek tragedies. "But the wisest of the children know that they must keep their hope alive in the secret chambers of their hearts, for the land and its people are connected. If all the sons and daughters of Tatooine, old and young, native and adopted keep the hope alive then a day will come when the ground will shake, and the masters will fear. The skies will weep, and the water will flow, and the children of Tatooine will know they are free once more."

At 2330 I'm outside Annabeth's door saying goodnight though my mind's still thinking about Shmi's story. "Do you think it's true?" Annabeth asks. "I mean I know a lot of deserts back home were oceans once, but still Tatooine?"

"It had oceans a long time ago," I say with certainty.

"How do you know?" she asks raising her eyebrows.

I shrug, "It was just something I could sense when we were there. It was like the land had an echo or a memory of an ocean."

"Only the sands and suns remember," Annabeth mutters to herself, deep in thought. "If that part's true, then maybe the slaves, the people, believe the rest of the story. Maybe, we could make it come true! It could help rally them. Let them know that now is the time to fight for their freedom." She bites her lip and then looks me in the eye, "Do you think you could do something like that?"

"I don't know," I admit. It's what I've been wondering since the end of the story. "Maybe, I can make the ground shake some, but the water. . ." I think back to the hot sands and the heat from the two suns and wince, "That's going to be really difficult."

Annabeth sighs, "It was just a thought. I knew the rain would be too hard since that's more Zeus' thing, but even just a pond or a saltwater spring suddenly appearing might be enough."

I shake my head, "Anything I make is going to evaporate almost immediately, as soon as the suns come up which is the only way people would really see it and believe. I just don't think I can make the sheer volume we would need on my own. That kind of effort, best case scenario, would drain me for days." I grimace as I remember how weak I was right after Mount St. Helens. If it wasn't for Calypso's incredible healing skills, I would have died. Then, I remember something else, "But, maybe I won't have to do it all on my own."

"What do you mean? It would be much less miraculous if we stole water from Jabba, and I don't think we can smuggle that much water in without someone noticing."

I grin as I realize this might actually work. "No, I'll use fossils, like I did back on the Triple G Ranch. It's hard to explain, but I guess fossils of sea-creatures still have, I don't know the spirit of the sea in them, and I can tap into that. It's way easier than generating my own water which is what happened in Mount St. Helens and almost killed me. With enough fossils, I think I can make some pretty impressive salt water even on Tatooine. It won't last forever, but it should get people's attention."

"That could actually work, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth smiles and kisses me. "I'm sure we could hire a group to dig up fossils on Tatooine. We might have to pay some kind of fee to Jabba for protection and what not, but he shouldn't be too suspicious of scientists looking for the remains of dead sea creatures. As long as the money's good, he should leave them alone. Plus, it will give us another source of what's going on over there besides the bugs in Jabba's residences."

I don't like the idea of giving Jabba money, but it would be pretty cool to dig up the very thing that would cause a slave revolt right under his triple chins. "We can figure out the details later," Annabeth says with a yawn, "but this might be what the slaves need to believe that they can be free. It would also help convince Jabba that you really are Da Soocha." She adds as an afterthought.

"I'll just leave all that planning to you, Wise Girl." I tap a finger on her cute nose. "Just leave the truly impressive part, you know actually making water on a desert planet, to me," I tease and then kiss her good night.

Something in my chest tightens as she gasps out, "Seaweed Brain," around my lips but I still turn away and head to my own room. Sure, I could have snuck into her room, but we've decided to respect Panaka's boundaries for now, unless there are nightmare emergencies. Maybe it's foolish thinking since both of us are extremely aware that we could die the next day for whatever reason, but neither of us want to rush any part of our relationship. It's just too special. Besides, when we do do It, it's not going to be hiding in one of our bedrooms. After all, I've got something of a reputation to live up to after our first kiss in a volcano, then the best underwater kiss of all time, and an anniversary date in Paris. With that on my mind, I finish getting ready for bed and lie down with a big goofy grin. Overall, it'd been a pretty good day.

Of course, a typical demigod day isn't complete without a demigod dream. This time, I'm in some kind of warehouse with boxes and crates everywhere. A few yards away, a dark hooded shape stands over someone lying in a heap on the floor. I've got a bad feeling about this. There's only one hooded shape in my dreams these days. He extends a pale hand, and the figure on the floor rises like someone is holding her by her neck until her feet dangle above the ground. I gasp as I recognize the bounty hunter that almost killed Annabeth. Her once white clothes are torn and stained with dirt and blood. All the fingers on one hand are bent wrong and so are her legs. I've seen enough injuries to know those are extremely painful fractures. She gasps for breath as if an invisible force is choking her. "I'll ask again," the hooded figure says in a familiar, creepy, nasally voice, removing any doubt I might have on who he is. "How did you fail to kill even a single little girl? You just had to kill one of them." He flings his arm to the side, and the bounty hunter's body follows the movement like a rag-doll as she's thrown into crates.

She lies motionless on the floor before slowly pulling herself up though she's shaking from pain, exhaustion, and fear. "I . . . I don't know, my lord. I know I had a direct hit on the blond. She stopped me from getting a shot at the queen, but I know I hit her. She should be dead."

"Well, she is quite alive, I assure you," Darth Sidious spits out before extending his hand.

"No, please," the bounty hunter begs. Blue-white lightning shoots out from the Sith Lord's fingers. The bounty hunter screams and writhes on the floor while the Sith chuckles. He lowers his hand, and the lightning stops.

The bounty hunter curls in on herself as Sidious walks towards her smoking body. "How is the Chase girl alive? Perhaps, your direct hits are not as lethal as you believe they are?"

She groans, but then in an act of defiance pushes herself up and snarls, "I hit her in a neck with a dart coated in Sennari. No one survives Sennari."

The Sith tilts his head to the side, "I believe you."

The bounty hunter slumps back down in relief. "However," Sidious continues. "That does not change the fact that she is still alive, and you completely failed." This time the lightning comes out of both his hands. The bounty hunter thrashes and screams while her body smokes. It goes on and on. The only sounds are her screams and the Sith's cruel laughter. She's in excruciating pain, but I can't seem to make myself look away.

Finally, it stops. The bounty hunter rattles out a painful breath and whispers, "Please."

The lightning returns. This time it's brighter, more intense. The bounty hunter's body twitches uncontrollably, but eventually the screams stop. When the Sith lowers his hands again, silence fills the warehouse, and the body on the floor is motionless. I don't need to check her pulse to know that the bounty hunter is dead.

"I was wondering when you would visit me again, young Jackson," Sidious says as he turns around to face me. Somehow, I'm much closer to him than I thought I was though once again all I can see is his chin. "I am most pleased that you had the opportunity to witness the punishment of this bounty hunter. Did you enjoy watching her suffer? After all, she was the one who tried to kill your . . . friend."

"No," I tell him. That's what the good guys are supposed to say isn't it? But, I don't sound convincing even to myself because a small part of me, that same dark part that liked choking Akhlys did enjoy it. That bounty hunter had hurt Annabeth, and part of me is glad that she suffered. And, that scares the Hades out of me.

"Do not lie to me, boy," Sidious scolds. "And do not lie to yourself. Your hunger for revenge and your satisfaction when she screamed bled through those rather impressive shields of yours. It is why you did not look away."

I don't like that he's in my head, so I push back. "You are the real reason Annabeth almost died," I accuse. "The bounty hunter was just a tool."

"I won't insult your intelligence by denying it," the Sith states coolly. "The bounty was for the queen. Chase was bonus if she could manage. The queen was in the way of my goal, and your friend is too clever for her own good. I assure you, it was nothing personal."

"Nothing personal!" I snarl. "You masterminded an invasion of my adopted home, caused the death of a friend, and hired an assassin to kill two more of my friends just in case the droid army and your crazy attack dog failed at killing us. You've made this very personal."

He chuckles that creepy, evil sounding laugh. "My what passion and anger you have, young Jackson. No wonder the Jedi fear you, especially since it seems you can access the Force on top of whatever other abilities you may possess. I was rather surprised to feel your clumsy efforts today since you usually seem so isolated during these little chats. Even my failed apprentice noticed your unusual separation, and he wasn't particularly observant."

"What do you mean, my efforts today?"

"I am certain every adept Force-user in the galaxy felt that wave you sent through the Force. Not particularly subtle." I wince, so that's what I did during meditation. "Your companion seems to be a bit more successful in her attempts. It is a pity the Jedi will not teach you more. No, they jealously guard their secrets and leave you two to stumble around in the dark. I am curious to what extent you can use the Force. I doubt either of you will ever be as proficient as a Jedi Master much less a true Sith Lord. You seem to have a very different relationship with the Force for some reason, but perhaps you can pick up a few tricks or learn to enhance the strange abilities you already have, under proper instruction, of course."

I snort, "And I suppose you could provide that instruction? How convenient."

"I am afraid I am your only choice, boy. The Jedi certainly will not do it. They fear your power and know they cannot control you. A day may come where they even try to destroy you. Perhaps the Council hopes we will end up fighting each other, so they will be rid of at least one of their challenges. Why play into their hands?"

I've been expecting this, for him to try and convince me that the Jedi are my enemy, but this is a pretty weak attempt. "Sorry, to burst your bubble about the Jedi's secret scheme Mr. Sith, but the Council clearly told us to avoid any direct confrontation with you. I think they want the pleasure of dealing with you themselves."

"And the Council is aware of how well you obey orders?" Sidious questions. Well he has me there. I do tend to do the exact opposite of what I'm told. But, it didn't feel like a manipulation. Even though I didn't like Master Window, he seemed genuine about his warning and so did Yoda.

"It does not have to be like this," Sidious continues. "I regret that my actions have put us at odds, but you are not my enemy Jackson. I only wish to destroy the Jedi. Under their guidance, greed and corruption have flourished while the people suffer. I am sure you have witnessed this yourself. The Jedi must fall for the good of the galaxy."

I don't want to admit it, but some of the Sith's points are similar to my own issues with the Jedi. But, I also know not all the Jedi are bad, and the Order could change. "Like the gods changed?" a small voice asks in the back of my head. "The gods were doing better when I left," I argue back. "Yes, but for how long? Even dad said they would try, but it wouldn't last." Yes, but what's the alternative? This guy? "I don't think taking over a planet with a droid army and trying to manipulate a chancellor election is ending suffering or corruption in the galaxy. If anything, your actions seem way worse than anything I've seen the Jedi do so far."

"Naboo was a necessary sacrifice. Sometimes things must be destroyed before they can be rebuilt. However, you shouldn't judge me too harshly, young Jackson. After all, you are not so different from me."

Now, its my turn to laugh, "That's a good one. I'm nothing like you."

"Is that true?" Sidious challenges. "We already established that you wanted the bounty hunter to suffer. I'm curious what you would have done if you had found her first." I remember when I killed Arachne in Tartarus, and I wished I hadn't killed her so quickly. I wanted that monster to suffer for torturing Annabeth. What would I have done to the bounty hunter? What would I do to this Sith who's the real cause of all of this?

"The only difference is that you fear your own power," he continues. "As Sith we take powerful names that reflect our true nature, but you already have such a name do you not. You hide behind that weak name Percy, but that's not your real name is it?"

"What are you talking about?" He couldn't possibly know.

He cocks his head to the side as if listening to something. "You cannot hide from your true nature forever. You will learn to accept it, Jackson. Or should I say Perseus, the Destroyer."

"How. . . how do you know that name?"

He chuckles again, "You will find that the Dark Side of the Force knows many things Perseus, and it tells me that one way or another you will help me destroy the current regime and build a new galaxy."

I wake up in a cold sweat still hearing the Sith's laughter. How could he know my name? He can't read my mind, can he? According to Qui-Gon and every Force-user I've met, my personal Force prevents that. Yoda was the only one that could kind of get around it. I glance at the chrono 2557. I should ask Obi-Wan, maybe he knows. I close my eyes wondering how hard it will be to go back to sleep. Annabeth was right when she said the Sith Lord would be Kronos good. I was expecting him to twist things and make me doubt the Jedi, so I would want to join him. I wasn't expecting him to make me doubt myself. Man, this day sucked.

As of now, I plan for the next Interlude to be super short, so hopefully it comes up in a week or so.