Hey guys! As always I hope you enjoy this chapter, I've got to say that I've been enjoying writing my latest chapters, there's lots of drama-and I enjoy writing interactions between the big three kids-both Thalia and Bianca are involved at this point and the relationship between Thalia and Percy is interesting at this stage, and the whole Percy-Nico-Bianca situation is definitely a fun one to write, Nico has understandable issues with Bianca, as does Percy, and Bianca did have her reasons for leaving so it's getting the balance so to speak.
On a different topic for a second because it made me laugh-I got a review on the first fic that made me laugh cause it literally just said 'I hate Fem Percy' and I sat there like... but dude it said in the summary it's fem Percy are you really the type of sad sack who feels the need to purposely go onto a fic just to complain? So yeah that amused me.

The school day had not been a good one. Percy was pretty sure that she'd end up getting kicked out after what had happened.

In her defense she really didn't care anymore, she'd walked Nico to school with Tyson, hugging him tightly before sending him in to his classes-and Nico would fuss and complain, but she knew that deep down he actually liked being fussed over-he had a lot of issues with abandonment since Bianca had disappeared-and there'd been no sign of her, though when she'd Iris messaged Hades with Nico the God had-after a moment of shock that she cared enough to reach out, informed them both that she hadn't shown up in the Underworld which meant she was still alive.

It had almost been funny watching Hades talking to Nico, she'd slipped out of the room to give them some privacy when Nico had started pestering him about Mythomagic cards-the Goddess Persephone had been in the background laughing at the slightly panicked look in Hades eyes.

A week after that a Stygian Iron sword had showed up for Nico to learn to use and Percy had needed to give him lessons after that, or she'd run the risk of the boy stabbing himself.

In any case she'd gotten her baby brother-because that was what he was now, to school safely before she and Tyson had headed to school themselves-and Gods but Percy hated some of the kids at school, the popular snobs who loved picking on people.

They were the same people who Percy had hated from the year before-with Grover gone Amy and Mitchell, who apparently had started dating at some point last summer and were now even worse than they had been, had decided that they'd pick on Tyson-admittedly they only had the nerve to do so after they'd realized he wouldn't hurt a fly-Mitchell was too much of a coward to hurt someone who could hurt him back, so of course it always came down to Percy to defend her other baby brother-she honestly have suspected she'd end up collecting a small army if her mom got her way-Sally Jackson was the worlds most loving woman and Percy was pretty sure that anyone who showed up on her door needing a home would end up being adopted by the woman within a few weeks-hell she'd officially adopted both Tyson and Nico as soon as she was able to-a fact that Percy and Luke had both laughed over.

In any case, Percy was now the oldest which meant she was the one who had to do the protecting, so when during lunch Mitchell had 'tripped' and poured his hot soup all over Tyson's head Percy had understandably lost her temper, and it had turned into a huge brawl with her in the center and Tyson crying and trying to stop her, though he couldn't see properly to do much because the soup had gotten into his eye.

Thankfully they hadn't actually been sent home, but they'd spent the rest of the day in the nurses office with Percy helping Tyson rinse the soup from his eye and calming him down.

So obviously she was understandably pissed off at the entire universe by the time the school day ended and she picked up Nico from school.

Her brothers could both clearly tell that she was in a fowl mood-and she had to admit that it was kind of sweet how Tyson had given her a bear hug to try and cheer her up and clung to her hand like a kid, and how Nico babbled on and on about what her attack power would be in Mythomagic and how cool she was to try and boost her spirits.

She really did love them both to bits she had to admit.

They were headed home, Nico walking backwards in front of them so he could chatter at them both when it happened-Percy wasn't sure why her eyes had been drawn to the alley on the other side of the road, but she felt her entire body freeze up when she did look over.

There was someone stood there, she couldn't see clearly who it was from this distance but she could sense their eyes on her, whoever it was.

She tensed up, slipping her hand into her pocket quickly, fingers curling around Riptide, "Ty. I need to do something can you get Nico home for me?"

"What's up?" Nico frowned, a worried look on his face as he tried to follow Percy's gaze only for her to step in the way so he couldn't see.

"Nico. Nico I need you to listen to me. You need to stay with Tyson and get home."

"Percy is something wrong?" Nico's voice was panicked, "You always walk us home. Come on-"

"Nico." she laid her hands on his shoulders, "It's gonna be okay." she glanced back towards the alley-and the figure was still leaning against the wall still watching. "I just need to do something-"

"Percy-" Nico's voice was desperate- "Please-"

"Tyson." Percy turned her gaze to Tyson, who looked just as confused and upset as Nico, "You get him home safely for me okay?"

"Okay Big sister." Tyson nodded, reaching out and grabbing Nico's hand, "I'll protect Nico."

"Thank you." Percy kissed his cheek before turning to Nico, who was looking up at her with wide watery eyes.

"Promise me you'll come back."

"Of course I will Neeks." Percy pressed her lips to the top of his head, ruffling his hair, "I just need to deal with some stuff okay?"

"Okay." Nico nodded, "I'll stay with Tyson."

Percy swallowed hard, watching the two of them walk away before she turned to look back towards the alley-and the figure was still there.
She took a deep breath as she pulled Riptide from her pocket, gripping the pen tightly as she moved to the road, glancing both ways before jogging across it quickly, slowing once she was across, moving towards the alley with a nervous reluctance filling her.

Something about this didn't feel right.

"Hello?"

Then the figure stepped out of the alley and Percy felt as if she'd been struck.

She was moving before she even realized what she was doing, uncapping Riptide and shoving him into the alley, pinning him to the wall, the point of
her blade digging into his throat as familiar green eyes glinted with amusement.

"Not how I thought our reunion would go, but I'll take it." Alabaster smirked, "You might want to think twice about killing me Perce."

"Oh? Oh really now." she pressed the point of her sword harder against his neck, "Cause I very much want to kill you. What the fuck do you think you're doing are you stalking me?"

"Hardly. I've been a bit busy lately-"

"Yeah, yeah I heard."

"That's good." Alabaster smirked, "Makes things easier."

"In what possible world would that make things easier?" Percy's eyes narrowed, "What games are you playing because believe me when I say I don't want to play along-"

"But you will-"

"Why the fuck would I play your games?"

"If you want to save dear sweet Thalia's tree you will."

"What?" Percy frowned, brows furrowing, "What in the name of Hades are you talking about? Why would you poison it then tell me how to fix what you did-"

"Well Perce." and Percy hated how confident he looked even as she saw a bead of blood welling up at the tip of her blade. "See, there's something I want but it's a bit tricky to get to-"

"And what does that have to do with me?"

"It's in the Sea of Monsters-" he held up his hands, "Now now Perce," she was snarling at him "See, I could try and get it myself, but it's a dangerous place and I can't be sure I'd pull it off, but given who your father is-" Alabaster gave her a meaningful nod, "It would make sense for you to be able to pull it off a lot easier than me."

"Uh huh, see I don't trust you."

"You don't have much choice if you want to save Camp." then his hand was moving and he was grabbing Riptide's blade-and she resisted the urge to curse when she noticed the black fingerless gloves-they had some strange symbols stitched into them, and her gaze flicked from the hand clutching her sword to his face as a smirk spread across his lips, and then he was yanking down, and the sudden movement made her grip loosen, and suddenly she was being grabbed and spun, her back hitting the wall hard, and Alabaster was leaning in close.

He was still taller than her, that fact was infuriating as Percy glared up at him. "If you don't move your hand from my shoulder I will gut you."

"I'm not here to hurt you." Alabaster's voice was insanely calm, it made her want to murder him. "We both know that you could use your powers to toss me aside right now," he pointed out, "You've done it before after all Perce." the hand not pinning her shoulder to the wall pressed against the wall on the other side, beside her head. "But you know I wouldn't have come to see you if I didn't have a good reason, see the thing I want is the Golden Fleece. And it also just so happens to be the one thing that can cure Thalia's tree."

"Why should I believe a word you say?"

"Ask Chiron-though maybe don't say the information came from me-"

"And what do you want it for." but her mind was racing.

Grover had mentioned some sort of Sea, could it be connected?

"That's for me to know and you to find out. See we both need it-"

"See my problem with this is understanding why the hell you'd be telling me this, because if you are telling me the truth then you know I won't just give it to you when we're done with it."

"Oh I know. I don't even plan on letting you heal Thalia's tree." Alabaster remarked easily, "I plan on capturing you before you can return to Camp... but it's the only chance you have, if you can get the Fleece and avoid me you save Camp."

"I'm not some pawn for you to use in your games Alabaster." Percy snapped the words.

"Hm, maybe not, but you'll do it. There's too much at stake for you not to." he leaned in closer, his face inches from hers. "You're too much of a hero not to want to save Camp if you possibly can."

"You're a real asshole, you know that?" Percy shot back sharply, trying not to let her voice tremble. She hated the fact that any part of her was afraid of him-but she was, "Now get away from me before I make you-"

"Make me-"

"She doesn't have to." the voice was familiar and angry and Percy's eyes widened as an invisible hand grabbed Alabaster by the hair and yanked him backwards, sending him crashing into the opposite wall of the alley as Annabeth pulled her cap off and came into view.

"Chase." Alabaster looked annoyed, "You can't help but interfere can you?"

"What can I say, I like pissing off any asshole's who touch my best friend." she snapped the word, and Percy pulled away from the wall quickly, snatching up Riptide as Alabaster pushed himself off the wall Annabeth had tossed him into.

"I was just giving her some helpful advice. I'll be going now." Alabaster's eyes met Percy's. "I'll be seeing you soon Perce. Enjoy your quest." then he was turning and sprinting away as Annabeth whirled around to look at Percy, throwing her arms around the other girl, and Percy hugged her back tightly, closing her eyes and letting out a slow shaky breath.

"What was that all about?" Annabeth demanded as she pulled back, "Percy are you okay? I ran into Tyson and Nico, I was coming to meet you guys on your way home from school, they said that you were freaked out over something and you sent them on ahead."

"I saw someone watching me." Percy grimaced, "Didn't realize it was him until he actually showed his face Wise Girl. I just wanted to check who it was, didn't expect him to show up like that."

"Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

"No, no he didn't hurt me I'm fine. Pissed off but fine." she turned around and kicked the wall, "I feel like an idiot. I had my sword at his throat and I thought I had him then he just reached up and grabbed it-I think he did something to his gloves to make them strong or something."

"He is a son of Hecate magic is his thing." Annabeth shook her head, "What did he even want? What quest was he talking about?"

Percy hesitated, "I.." she swallowed hard, "There's a lot I need to tell you." Gods, she was going to have to tell Annabeth about the fact that her best friends tree had been poisoned.

The blonde must have seen something in Percy's expression because she frowned slightly, taking a small step back, "Percy what is it? What's wrong."

"I.." Percy swallowed hard, "Annabeth. The Camp's in danger."