A/N: Lord Chalupa Here. I know there are going to be complaints about the excerpts from the book not being complete, but I will not be changing things so that there's no chance of this being struck by copywrite. I can follow along and so can you! Enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: All characters and text in bold belong to Rick Riordan. Cover art is not mine. (So, any artists out there that are interested, please send in your work and I may use it as the cover)

2005 Annabeth, Grover, and Clarisse (normal): Annabeth (sometimes seen as Annie), Grover, Clarisse

2010 Annabeth, Grover, and Clarisse (Underlined): Annabeth, Grover, Clarisse

Thoughts are still italicized: Are Frank and I an item in the future? I guess he is kind of cute, with his babyface and all. Hazel blushed at her thoughts and fanned her faced in embarrassment.


"Chapter two: Three Old Ladies Knit the Socks of Death."

Poseidon instantly paled and looked at his son like he was seeing a ghost. "Don't tell me…"

Percy sighed and said, "I'm still here, aren't I." Poseidon groaned and rubbed his temples in annoyance. "You're going to be the end of me, my boy."

"And why have I not heard about this?" Annabeth asked while glaring at her boyfriend. She wasn't certain about what the title meant. But if Poseidon's reaction was anything to go off of, then it could be nothing good.

Percy cringed at what was to come. He decided that he at least had to warn her that she wasn't going to like this part. "I didn't tell you because it was in the past and I didn't want to worry you. I'm pretty sure you're not going to like this part, but it's not what it seems."

"Percy Jackson, how much more have you conveniently forgotten to tell me about."

Percy gave Annabeth a nervous smile. "Only a little bit…"

Annabeth smiled at Percy and a cold chill ran down his spine. "Is that so?"

"Ok, maybe I have forgotten to tell you quite a few things," Percy confessed under pressure. "But I can't say anything now anyways as it will all come up in the books."

"Hmph! Fine, but don't think you're off the hook yet."

I was used to the…pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.

Percy glared at Chiron in annoyance. "That really sucked you know. I'm sure there could've been a better way of doing this."

Chiron gave Percy an apologetic smile. "You're right, I'm sure that there was a better way of handling this. I apologize on behalf of any discomfort I may have caused you in the future. I'm not sure exactly what's going on, but it seems that the future me is not exactly thinking straight."

"No! You're the best teacher I could ask for and one of the biggest reasons I'm still alive to this day!" Percy denied quickly, flustered that his teacher and father figure would bow his head to him in apology. "You do have a good reason for your decisions, so no need to apologize."

Chiron looked relieved. "I'm glad to hear that. I'm looking forward to getting to know you in the future, young Percy. I'm sure you've become a fine hero."

"The finest," Annabeth agreed, kissing her boyfriend on the cheek.

Every so often I…I was a psycho.

"Don't worry," Connor consoled Percy.

"Were all psychos," Travis finished.

Annabeth glared at the two. "You two are the only psychos here," she paused to think for a moment. "And maybe Leo too. He definitely has a few screws loose."

"Hey!" Leo cried. "I've got all my screws screwed on tight! Right Piper? Right Jason?"

Piper and Jason avoided Leo's question and turned their heads away, much to Leo's dismay.

"Betrayal! This McShizzle will remember this!"

It got so I almost believed them-Mrs. Dodds had never existed.

Almost.

"I assume Grover couldn't fool Percy," Hermes guessed.

But Grover couldn't fool me.

Hermes chuckled. "That's what I figured."

Grover blushed. "It's not my fault satyr's have a difficult time lying," he muttered out.

Reyna raised her hand like she was in a classroom.

"You don't have to raise your hand when you have a question, dear." Hestia told her kindly.

Reyna smiled at her kindness. "Thank you, milady. I was just wondering why a faun –"

"Satyr!" Grover bleated in irritation.

"-Satyr is going to school in the first place."

"At our camp, the satyrs have multiple jobs, and one of them is to find demigods and protect them until they get to camp," Chiron answered her.

Reyna eyes opened in realization and leaned forward in interest. "What other useful jobs do satyrs perform?"

"Most satyrs can perform some sort of nature magic; for example, aiding in the growth of plants or guiding through the wilderness."

Younger Grover looked down, feeling melancholic. "Not all satyrs can…"

"You will be able to one day! I'm sure of it!" Annabeth said encouragingly, giving one of her best friends a hug.

Grover looked unsure and looked to his older self to see if he had any luck. Grover caught his eye and gave him a bright smile with a big thumbs up. Grover instantly brightened and held his head a little higher.

Maybe we should also try make the Fauns useful, Reyna thought to herself. I'll start implementing a Faun training program as soon as I get back to New Rome.

The freak weather continued…in the Atlantic that year.

"Can you two please stop killing people whenever you throw your temper tantrums!?" Hades threw his hands up in exasperation.

"I thought you'd be thanking us. Wouldn't more death benefit your domain?" Zeus asked his brother. Poseidon didn't ask out loud, but by the look on his face, everyone could tell he also thought along those lines.

"You would be the one to think like that! My workload and all the money I have to spend to make room for all the dead people is already too much! More death is the last thing I need!" Hades raged.

Zeus looked at his brother unconvinced, but Poseidon was thinking that what Hades said made sense. If what Hades is saying is true, then he'd also be angry.

I started feeling cranky…slipping from Ds to Fs.

Athena sent a glare at Percy.

"Don't glare at my son. His feelings are in tune with the ocean. He can feel that the ocean is angry, which would cause him to feel 'cranky and irritable' like he said." Poseidon said in defense of his son.

Athena tried to find a flaw in his logic but couldn't find any, and Annabeth was glaring at her, so she decided to drop the subject.

I got into more fights with Nancy Bobofit and her friends.

"Good." Both Clarisse and Ares said, grinning at the idea of a good fight.

I was sent out…but it sounded good.

Annabeth started to giggle uncontrollably, and Piper smiled at her friend, happy that she was finally able to act so carefreely now that she had Percy.

"What does it even mean?" Percy asked. "I never looked into it."

"Old sot means an old drunk," Annabeth told him in amusement. "Next time you want to insult someone, maybe use a word you actually know the meaning of."

Percy consented but didn't seem too enthusiastic on following through with it.

The headmaster sent my …told myself. Just fine.

A majority of the demigods winced in understanding. Most of them had been through the same thing after all.

Leo couldn't help thinking how alike he and Percy actually were. He remembered all the foster homes and schools he had to jump between before he finally found a home at camp halfblood.

The more the demigods read this, the more they realized how little they actually knew about Percy. They were used to the confident Percy that had led them into battle and the Percy that had killed more monsters than even Hercules. Now seeing this side of Percy, they started to realize that he's not much different than themselves

I was homesick…his stupid poker parties.

Percy gave a dark look and he clenched his fists in anger at the reminder of Gabe. Annabeth looked at her boyfriend in concern and rubbed circles on his back to try and comfort him. All she knew of his previous step-father was everything she'd learn during their first quest together. She knew that Percy had a deep-seated hatred for the man and that he was a terrible person, but that's about it. Every time she would ask Percy about it, he would instantly close in on him self and say 'I'm sorry.' Then that would be the end of the conversation. Annabeth was happy to finally to be able learn more about Percy, but then she felt bad for feeling happy because now the whole room was going to learn about one of the worst -if not the worst- moments in Percy's life.

"I didn't know your stepdad plays poker," Nico said to Percy, not noticing his anger.

"Paul doesn't play poker. This is before Paul," Percy explained to him through clenched teeth.

And yet…smell of pine trees.

Artemis and Grover nodded approvingly while Thalia said, "Thank you for the compliment." Confusing pretty much everyone in the room that wasn't in the know about her previous 'residency'.

I'd miss Grover…a little strange.

Grover's smile that had been there when Percy had called him a good friend instantly disappeared when he was called strange.

Percy shifted uncomfortably. It's going to be a long story if all of his thoughts were going to be revealed. He was certain that there were going to be be many more unflattering remarks in the future.

"Really, Percy. I appreciate your flattery, but it's unnecessary." Grover said sarcastically.

"Can you really blame me? I'm sure everyone would agree that you're a bit strange."

"I agree with Percy," Thalia smirked. "You're a goat after all. Quite strange if I could say so myself."

Percy laughed and gave his cousin a high-five.

Grover glared at the two and mumbled something about asking the dryads at camp to help get revenge.

I worried how he'd survive next year without me.

Grover stopped grumbling and slowly shook his head at his best friend in exasperation. "Really, Percy. It makes it hard to stay mad at you when you say such nice things like that."

Percy smiled mischievously at Grover. "Don't go thanking me yet. I'm sure I have many more unflattering thoughts still to come."

Grover sighed. "I'm sure you do, Perce. I can't wait…"

I'd miss Latin class…started to believe him.

"That's your intuition speaking," Poseidon told his son. "You should always listen to it. My children's intuition tends to be stronger than most."

Thalia, Nico, and Annabeth smiled at the accuracy of Poseidon's statement. They couldn't count the amount times that Percy's intuition had saved not only himself, but all three of them as well.

The evening before my…they were riding skateboards.

*Cue sighs of sympathy from the demigods with dyslexia*

"Wouldn't have described it like that, but it's quite apt in this case." Annabeth said. She might not like Percy because of how close her older self is acting with him, but she couldn't help but feel for him as a demigod who struggled with dyslexia.

Meanwhile, Athena wasn't sure what to think. She wanted to find something, anything, to nitpick at, but couldn't think of anything. Her previous views that all demigod children – besides her own of course – are stupid, was slowly starting to change. If my children didn't have my natural wisdom, then would they struggle just as much as other demigods? She questioned herself.

There was no way I was going to remember the difference between Chiron and Charon,

Annabeth and Grover snorted in laughter from the irony of it all.

"Have you remembered it now?" Annabeth whispered to Percy in amusement.

Grover laughed. "Knowing Percy, he'd need at least two more screw-ups before he would remember."

Annabeth snickered and kissed her goofball on the cheek. Percy glared at them but inside he was happy; happy to be with the two people that had been with him since the start, laughing and joking around together. Percy leaned his head onto Annabeth's shoulder and sighed in contentment.

or Polydictes and Polydeuces. And conjugating those Latin verbs? Forget it.

All the Greek demigods nodded their heads in agreement. Latin was sometimes harder for them to translate than English.

I paced the room, feeling like ants were crawling around inside my shirt.

"How do you know what that even feels like?" Jason asked in befuddlement.

Percy shuddered. "You don't want to know." Percy's dark tone while saying that made everyone in the room shiver.

I remembered Mr. Brunner's serious…teacher for help before.

"Hah! That explains the bad grades!" Athena exclaimed, happy that she finally had something to nitpick the son of Poseidon on.

Percy glared at her in mild annoyance. "It's not my fault most teachers have never tried to even give me the time of day. I would only go to Chiron for help because he was the only one that believed in me."

Most of the demigods once again nodded along in agreement. Their teachers would always think they were a hopeless case and just ignore them from day one. Seeing all their kid's reactions, the gods felt angry at the way mortals would treated their children. Their children were special and should be treated that way. Sadly, they didn't seem to realize that they didn't treat their children any better.

Maybe if I talked to…thinking I hadn't tried.

Chiron smiled at Percy fondly, happy that the boy would go out of his comfort zone just to impress him.

That's my seaweed brain, Annabeth thought to herself. Always giving his all for those he cares about. One of the many reasons she loved him.

I walked downstairs…Grover's said "…Worried about Percy, sir."

"Uh oh," Nico said. "Now that's going to get his attention."

I froze. I'm not…about you to an adult.

"I would too," the demigods agreed. Even the ever-stoic Reyna muttered in agreement.

I inched closer…boy to mature more."

Nico and Thalia snorted as one. "Sorry to burst your bubble Chiron, but you're going to be waiting a long time."

Just to prove their point, Percy stuck his tongue out at them.

"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline-"

"Summer solstice deadline?" Zeus tilted his head. "Why is there a deadline for the summer solstice?"

Athena put her hand to her chin. A certain idea that she had been mulling over since the beginning of the story played through her mind.

"It has to do with Zeus and Poseidon fighting, doesn't it?" Athena asked the demigods. She received several nods, confirming her conjecture. "And I'm guessing that whatever they're fighting over needs to be solved by the summer solstice?" The Greek demigods from 2010 looked at each other silently, not agreeing with her guess, but also not denying it.

"Will have to be…what that would mean."

Thalia smacked Grover on the back of the head. "That wasn't your fault! Get that in your head goat boy."

"Yeah!" Annabeth said from her spot beside Luke. "We've never blamed you, right Luke?"

Luke turned his head away guiltily but agreed with her anyways.

Annabeth and Thalia glared at Luke, angry at him for being such a hypocrite.

Annabeth noticed the glares from her future self and Thalia, causing a small seed of doubt to sprout in her. Why would my older self and Thalia be mad at Luke? She looked at Luke to see if she could glean anything off of him, but his expression had already returned to it's previous nonchalance.

"You haven't failed, Grover." Mr. Brunner said kindly.

Grover smiled thankfully at the centaur, who just gave him an encouraging smile in return.

"I should have seen…floor with a thud.

Hermes, Connor, and Travis grimaced. "Never. We repeat. Never, give away your position."

"Can you blame him though?" Hazel asked nervously. "He just heard that they're trying to keep him alive from 'who knows what'."

Hermes, Connor, and Tavis looked at each other then shrugged. "True."

Poseidon had paled considerably with the mention of keeping Percy alive and turned to Chiron. "What did you mean about 'keeping Percy alive until next fall?"

"I'm not sure…" Chiron said with obvious concern laced in his voice. "This happens in the future and I haven't been teaching Percy for that long yet."

Poseidon sighed, hating being in the dark about what sort of danger his son was in.

"He's safe, Lord Poseidon."

Poseidon looked at Annabeth, once again surprised that a daughter of Athena would try to reassure him. Maybe she isn't so bad and would be a good influence on Percy. He decided to observe her for a little longer before accepting her friendship with his son.

Mr. Brunner went silent…backed down the hall.

"Good!" The Stoll brothers chorused. "Cleaning up the evidence is always vital when committing a crime."

Katie smacked them both on the head. "He's not committing a crime, you idiots."

A shadow slid across…like an archer's bow.

"Why'd you have your bow out?" Annabeth asked her mentor.

"I assume I was on edge and thought it might be a monster."

I opened the nearest door and slipped in.

"Good!" The Stolls exclaimed again. "Finding a good hiding spot is the next vital step to getting away with a crime." (A/N: This is not a tutorial for committing a crime.)

Everyone rolled their eyes at the Stoll's antics and decided to just let them be them.

A few seconds later…since the winter solstice.

"So, there's a deadline on the summer solstice and something happened on the winter solstice, which was just yesterday." Athena analyzed out loud. "Zeus and Poseidon are not fighting right now, which means whatever was supposed to happen, hasn't happened because we have all been here reading the books."

"Very good deduction, Lady Athena," said one of the enforcers. "As expected of the Goddess of Wisdom."

Athena smiled smugly and motioned for Annabeth to keep reading.

"Mine neither," Grover said…back up to the dorm.

"And crime accomplished!" The Stolls said. "We'll give you a seven out of ten for your efficiency."

Percy gave a mock bow.

"O sit down, seaweed brain." Annabeth told him with a smile of amusement on her face. "You're impressing no one with your theatrics."

Percy smiled sheepishly and stuck his tongue out at her.

Grover was lying on…ready for this test?"

Thalia looked at Grover impressed. "Wow, goat boy. That was actually pretty good acting. Probably would've even fooled me if we hadn't read about this beforehand."

"Ye…Yeah! I did do good!" Younger Grover exclaimed, too impressed with himself to complain about her nickname for him.

I didn't answer…getting ready for bed.

"He won't need to read your expression," Dionysus spoke up from behind his magazine. "Satyr's can read emotions."

All the gods and Greek demigods turned to the god of wine in amazement.

"You're actually listening?" Annabeth asked the god.

"Yep." Grover said, popping the 'p'.

"Of course not, Bethany." Dionysus grumbled out in denial.

I didn't understand what…some kind of danger.

"Even with that, I bet you had no sense of urgency," Annabeth teased Percy.

Thalia nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Kelp head wouldn't feel urgent until the danger actually hit him right in the face."

"The only time he ever has a sense of urgency is if it has to do with Annabeth or if there's blue food," Grover joked.

"Please stop with the comments," Poseidon pleaded with a pale face. "You're going to give me a heart attack, and gods don't even get those."

The next afternoon, as I was leaving the three-hour Latin exam,

Percy's face turned a sickly shade of green. "Oh gods. I'm feeling nauseous."

He was obviously not the only one.

Even Clovis was groaning in his sleep, "Please no more. I can't sleep during a test."

"Really, Chiron?" Malcolm deadpanned. "Even Athena kids would struggle through a test that long."

Chiron had the shame to look sheepish and gave Percy an IOU to hand to future Chiron once he returned to his own time.

my eyes swimming with…it's for the best."

Percy along with several demigods winced.

"Don't take it personally," Annabeth reminded Percy when she saw the sadness in his eyes. "Chiron is not the best with words, especially when it comes to encouragement."

To prove her point, Chiron looked confused and asked, "What did I say wrong?"

Annabeth explained to him that what he said would make it sound like he didn't believe in Percy.

Chiron gained a look of understanding. "I'm sorry, child. I meant that there was better place meant for you, not that I didn't believe in you."

Percy smiled at the centaur in acknowledgment, but deep down the feeling of sadness he felt back then was once again settling in his chest. Annabeth also noticed this and became even more worried that her previous conjecture was true. She remembered the letter from the Fates and where they said that there would be a price. And now she was pretty certain what the price was. But I hope I'm wrong. And if I'm right, all I can do is be there for him. She thought to herself.

His tone was kind…motions with her lips.

"I want to strangle her," Thalia grumbled darkly.

I mumbled…a matter of time.

The demigods blanched at Chiron's horrendous way of wording things.

My eyes stung…to get kicked out.

Chiron winced and mouthed an apology to Percy.

"Right," I said…nothing to be-"

"Hades, Chiron!" Thalia yelled, ignoring the indignant 'Hey!' from the Lord of the Dead. "When we get the chance, we all need to teach Chiron how to word things better!"

The other demigods, and even some of the gods, nodded their heads in determination, ready to teach the teacher on the way of words.

"This calls for a Haiku." Apollo said.

Everyone in the room, that had heard one of his poems, groaned.

"The teacher needs help."

"So, the students take a stand."

"Give a helping hand."

"Please shut up, Apollo." Artemis groaned.

"And that was one of his better ones…" Hermes mumbled in disbelief.

"Thanks," I blurted…rich juvenile delinquents.

"Like Piper!" Leo shouted, leading to Piper punching him in the gut.

"You're rich?" Connor asked.

"And a delinquent?" Finished Travis.

Piper sighed. "It's a long story. My family is well off and I was never given attention, so I acted out. End of story."

Their daddies were…a family of nobodies.

"Nobodies?" Zeus frowned. "Were not nobodies."

"No were not. Except for Poseidon," Athena smirked.

Poseidon just rolled his eyes at Athena's childishness and continued to focus on Annabeth's reading.

They asked me what…to school in the fall.

*Cue sighs of sympathy and understanding*

The sad life of a demigod, they all thought.

"Oh," one of the…if I'd never existed.

Hestia frowned. "That's unkind of them."

Percy shrugged. "I'm was used to it. I never had many friends."

Poseidon looks at his son sadly. All he could ever wish for is his son's happiness, but the life of the demigod is seldom happy and more often than not, a very lonely life.

Noticing Percy's sad look, Annabeth and all of his other demigod friends wrapped him in a group hug. "You've got us now, Percy." Annabeth reminded him and then when everybody had separated and she made sure no one was looking, she gave him a nip on the ear and whispered to him in a sultry tone, "And you'll have all of me for eternity. Whether you want me or not." Percy gulped and his ears turned pink -from part embarrassment and part excitement- at her words.

The only person I…heading into the city.

"'Coincidence'," Chris said with air quotes. "More like personal stalker."

Percy smirked at Grover. "Yeah. A stalker on hooves." Grover groaned and put his head in his hands, hiding the look of embarrassed dread spreading across his face.

During the whole bus… "Looking for Kindly Ones?"

Grover jumped out of his chair, like he was the one caught in the act.

"Dude!" Grover bleated in irritation. "You probably gave me a heart attack!"

"Oh, he did alright," Grover said grouchily, glaring at Percy.

The whole room burst into laughter at Grover's expense.

"Can you blame him?" Nico asked. "You probably looked super shady with all your fidgeting."

Both Grovers blushed at the truth being thrusted right in front of them and he once again covered his face in embarrassment.

Grover nearly jumped out of his seat.

Both Grovers turned an even darker shade of pink as everyone else laughed at how similar they and the book Grover reacted.

"Wha-What do you…night before the exam.

"Oof. That's two points off of your crime score," Connor and Travis said. "One of the golden rules is to never confess."

Hermes wiped an imaginary tear, proud that his sons remembered their teachings.

Grover's eye twitched… the summer solstice deadline?"

"Didn't hear much, you say..." Thalia drawled sarcastically.

He winced…really bad liar."

Both Grovers by this point were completely slumped in their chairs with steam coming from their ears. I will die from embarrassment by the end of this…no, it won't even take that long. I'm sure I'll be dead by the end of the next chapter. Ugh, I'm going to find a hole to burrow myself in…and bring all of my tin cans for comfort.

His ears turned pink…on my dyslexic eyes,

All the demigods (except Frank), glared at Dionysus.

Hestia sighed. "Why would you make it in fancy scrip? That'll just make it tougher on the children to read."

"That's the point," The wine god said bluntly.

but I finally made…Summer address."

Percy laughed. "You know, I first thought you were another rich kid when you told me you had a summer address. I was ready to throw down with you at any moment."

"Sorry, Perce." Grover laughed as well. "Just couldn't tell you the whole truth with names being dangerous and all."

"Which is something, to this day, Percy hasn't stopped doing. This fool throws around names left and right." Thalia pointed angrily at Percy. Percy had the shame to feel embarrassed and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Not only that," Thalia started. "He's also converted Annabeth. Now both of them go around throwing names without a care in the world." Annabeth stiffened in her chair at being called out and buried her face into Percy's shirt. "This is your fault," she muttered. Percy laughed and twirled her blonde curls in his fingers. "You learn from the best, Wise Girl." Annabeth half laughed and half scoffed at him. "Yeah, learned from the best on how to best get myself killed. I'm honored to have a teacher such as you."

My heart sank…would I need you?"

"Don't be rude," Annabeth chided Percy.

"I'm sure I didn't mean to sound so harsh."

It came out harsher than I meant it to.

"I told you so," Percy boasted. "Still, I'm sorry it came out that way G-man."

Grover blushed right down…next year without me.

"That's so sweet," Aphrodite commented with a giddy smile on her face. "You two have such a lovely friendship."

Percy's friends all smiled. They could all say with pride, that Percy is the most kind hearted and loyal friend one could ask for.

And here he was…you protecting me from?"

All eyes turned to Hades.

"I don't know why I sent a Fury after him," Hades said defensively.

There was a huge…litter from passing cars.

Grover bowed his head in sadness, thinking of all the litter and pollution that filled the modern world. He could only hope that he'd get his searchers license soon so he could go searching for Pan. Grover shook his head sadly at his younger self, knowing exactly what he was thinking about.

On the other side…socks I'd ever seen.

"Monsters?" Nico asked Annabeth.

Annabeth frowned in thought, but this was one of things that Percy and Grover had never told her about. "I'm in the dark just as much as you are," she told Nico, annoyed that she didn't know.

The gods also frowned, recognizing the three old ladies for who they really were. Poseidon started to worry again, wondering what the Fates could possibly want with his son.

I mean these socks…of bleached cotton dresses.

All the gods started to become tense, which didn't go unnoticed by the demigods. Seeing the tension and Poseidon's pale face, something seemed to click into Annabeth's head, making her instantly turn pale.

"No, no, no." Annabeth muttered. "I must be mistaken."

The weirdest thing was, they seemed to be looking right at me.

Annabeth let out a small whimper and started looking all over Percy's body, making sure he was still there.

POP!

A loud pop was heard, startling everyone in the room. The origin of the 'POP' was Poseidon. He had gripped the armrest on his throne too hard, literally putting a crack in his chair, causing water to start pouring out.

By this point, everyone knew something bad was happening, even if they were not sure what it was.

I looked over at…socks would fit me?"

Annabeth smiled a little but was still too scared to laugh. Leave it to her seaweed brain to say something so silly in such a situation.

"Not funny, Percy…Grover catch his breath.

The rest of the throne room followed his example and the tense atmosphere grew even tenser.

"We're getting on the…but I stayed back.

"He should listen to Grover." Thalia said in worry, with her arm wrapped comfortingly around Annabeth.

Apollo sighed and shook his head. "When the Fates want something to be seen, there is no avoiding it."

Across the road…four lanes of traffic.

Annabeth let out a strangled sob and clutched on to Percy tighter, afraid that he'd disappear again at any moment. Why hadn't Percy told me something so important? Does he not trust me? Or did he just not want to scare me?

Annabeth felt someone grip her shoulders and she looked up to see Percy looking into her eyes. His eyes were unwavering and filled with love. "I'm here, I'm here." He comforted. "Remember what I told you at the beginning of the chapter? That all would be not as it seemed?" Annabeth nodded in remembrance. "Well, this is what I meant. I'm not sure if I can tell you much because of spoilers, but I'll tell you what I can. I may have seen the string cut, but that string wasn't mine, the Fates just wanted me to see it."

The tears that had been spilling down Annabeth's face finally started to slow down, but she still kept a death grip on Percy's shirt, refusing to let go. "I believe you," she told him after getting her sobs under control. "But never, NEVER, hide something like this from me again."

Percy wrapped her in a big hug. "I'm sorry. I never should have kept this from you. I promise to never keep something from you again in the future." Annabeth thanked him and curled into a small ball, soaking up the warmth from his embrace.

*OOF*

One of the enforcers doubled over in pain when the one beside him gave him a sucker punch in the gut. "There's more where that came from. That one was for making younger me cry," the enforcer told him.

"I'm sorry. It won't happen again," he apologized but she just turned away in a huff. "Ugh," he groaned. "Little me was so right. This is really going to suck."

Her two friends balled…Sasquatch or Godzilla.

Quite a few people laughed despite the tension.

"I love the way you think, my man." Leo grinned and gave Percy an air fist bump.

At the rear of… his teeth were chattering.

From Percy's embrace, Annabeth suddenly felt his body temperature rise. She looked up to see his face flushed and his eyes glazed over. She reached up and felt his forehead. "Ah!" She gasped. His forehead was scorching hot. He has a fever, just like in the book, she thought and her eyes filled with worry. This is not good, I hoped I was wrong but this almost certainly proves my theory correct…he's going to relive everything he's ever been through! How could the Fates be so cruel! Hasn't he been through enough!?

"Grover?"…"What are you not telling me?"

"Everything."

He dabbed his forehead…worse than Mrs. Dodds.

Zeus looked at the son of Poseidon with a slight look of paranoia in his. "You're right Athena, the boy is very observant. It only took him one meeting with the Fates to notice how powerful they truly are."

Athena scowled. She wished she hadn't complimented the sea spawn earlier. Now her father was even complimenting him.

He said…something almost-older.

"Almost too observant," Luke muttered under his breath. Hopefully Percy wouldn't be a hinderance to his plans.

He said…get past sixth grade."

Percy slowly scooted away from Grover. "You're scaring me and this happened five years ago."

"Grover," I said…superstition or something.

"If only half the things we see were just a superstition…" Will muttered dreamily.

No answer…is going to die?"

Annabeth shook her head in amazement. "How'd I ever think you were stupid, seaweed brain? Sometimes, you're too observant for your own good."

"He's never observant with the most obvious things though," Thalia practically sang, making Annabeth blush.

"What do you mean by that?" Percy asked, utterly confused.

"See what I mean?" Thalia sighed in exasperation at her cousin's obliviousness.

Annabeth glared at her boyfriend with upturned eyes and smacked him on the arm.

"Hey! What was that for?" Percy complained while rubbing at his now sore arm.

"Nothing…" Annabeth pouted unhappily at him, making Percy freak out and wonder what he did wrong.

"Boys," Rachel sighed in annoyance.

He looked at me…best on my coffin.

"That's the end of the chapter," Annabeth set the book down.

The room was completely quiet, still tense from what they had just read.

"So, what kind of flowers did you use?" Unsurprisingly, it was Leo that was the first to break the tension.

Grover thought for a minute. "It's gotta be dandelions."

"Can you not talk about what flowers you're going to put on my coffin like," Percy whined "I'm right here ya know."

The whole room broke into grins at the trio's little comedy skit and the dark atmosphere dissipated.

"Who's reading next?" Annabeth asked the room.

"I will," Amphitrite said, taking the book.

She opened the page to the next chapter.

"Chapter 3..." She let out a snort of laughter and whipped out a pair of reading glasses, unsure if she read correctly.

"Chapter 3, Grover Unexpectedly Loses His Pants."


Question: Which god is your favorite? (Greek or Roman)


Edited on March 12th, 2022