AN: Chapter 3! Wow, this story is coming along. Anyone have any suggestions? I'd be glad to have some more ideas for the story. :D

Thanks for the reviews, everyone! So many! Much appreciated and loved.

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L. Lawliet-Rue Ryuzaki: Hopefully you'll see in this chapter. ;)

fish321: There may be romance, I'll probably let you guys choose who it is.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Percy. (How many times do I have to say that…)

Chapter 3: There's No Place Like Home

Percy's POV

Blackjack and I landed right in front of my mom's apartment. I don't know what the mortals saw, but they were looking at me with confused expressions on their faces. I ignored them, leaped off Blackjack, and knocked on the door. My mom opened it.

"Percy?"

"Hi Mom–" My words were muffled against her hair.

"What are you doing here?"

"Uh…"

"Where's Annabeth?" she asked. But then her eyes glistened with tears as she took in my sad eyes and hurt expression. "Did she…"

I soundlessly nodded.

"Tell me everything. Now."

"Mom…" I gestured at the mortals who were staring at us.

"Right. Come inside!"

"Mom, wait! I want you to meet someone. Mom, this is Blackjack," I said, rubbing his neck.

It's nice to meet your mom, boss.

"He says it's nice to meet you," I told her.

My mom was born with the ability to see through the Mist, so she could tell that Blackjack was a Pegasus. "Hey, Blackjack…"

"Can we… uh, both… come inside?"

"Sure, if you can fit him," she said.

Getting Blackjack through the door was a pain. It took almost five minutes, even with his head tucked down and his wings folded in as close as they could get. Finally we were all in the living room.

"Now, tell me everything," said my mom, crossing her arms.

I told her everything that had happened to me at camp, how Audrey had kissed me and how Annabeth had thought I had cheated on her. I told her how I couldn't take the heartbreak, how I left camp, and how Blackjack had carried me here. She listened with a sad expression. I could tell that she never thought Annabeth would ever suspect that I would cheat on her. I told her how Annabeth had actually loved James, my half-brother. I finally finished my rant, and we both sat in silence for a while on the couch.

"Percy… Annabeth, how could she? Will she notice you're gone?"

"James… We're in the same cabin. He will, but he practically hates me. I know he won't tell anyone I'm gone. He might not even notice…"

"Do you still have things in your cabin?"

"Yeah, I left the Minotaur horn… I wrote a letter. I left it behind the horn."

"I'm so proud of you, Percy." She smiled at me. "But even after you saved Olympus, that they would still do this to you… Does Poseidon know?"

I looked down. "Athena approves of Annabeth and James together… And Dad… Well, he agrees with Athena."

A look of hurt crossed my mom's face. "Well, you'll always be welcome here, Percy."

"Thanks, Mom." I smiled.

Annabeth's POV (at Camp Half-Blood)

I sat down with my siblings at dinner and tried to wrap my mind around the facts. I numbered them all in a list.

1. Percy broke with me, or I had broken up with him.

2. He had been cheating on me with Audrey.

3. I had, technically, been cheating on him with James.

4. I had only gone on one date with James.

5. Percy's relationship had gone so far along that he would kiss her in plain sight of everyone.

6. He was cheating on me more than I was cheating on him.

7. I hated Audrey.

8. I loved James.

It took me a while, but my mind understood all those facts by the time dinner was done.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice the empty Poseidon table until Malcolm pointed it out to me.

"Where's Percy? He's not at his table," he said.

"I don't care," I retorted. Audrey wasn't at the Aphrodite table either.

Malcolm had a confused look on his face. "Why not?"

He was a son of Athena, one of my half-brothers. He should have figured it out by now. "Did you see me crying in the cabin? He cheated on me, with an Aphrodite camper. Do you think I care about him now?"

His face cleared, and he looked almost disappointed, like he expected more of Percy. "Oh. Sorry for asking."

I faked a smile, even though I knew he could tell. "It's ok. He's probably somewhere else, making out with her. She's not at her table."

"Who was it?"

"Audrey."

"Audrey?" he said incredulously. "Her?"

I sighed. "Yeah. I got to go." I all but ran out of the dining pavilion.

I ran so fast that I didn't notice the girl running towards the dining pavilion. We both weren't looking and crashed into each other.

"Oh, gods! I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" I asked, holding a hand out to help the blond-haired girl up. The fact that she looked familiar crossed my mind before I saw who the person was. It was Audrey.

My hand dropped back to my side. "You," I growled. "What do you want?"

"I don't want anything. I'm so sorry for running into you," she said, almost whimpering. I was confused for a second, but then I noticed that she was teary-eyed.

I may not have liked her, but I wasn't heartless either, so I helped her up and asked her what was wrong.

"Percy," she said. My eyes narrowed at his name, but I didn't interrupt. "He," she sniffed and rubbed her nose, "He broke up with me. He said," another sniff, "I wasn't good enough for him. Then he left camp. I… I don't understand."

I immediately felt pity for her. What was wrong with Percy? He wasn't the sweet, caring, loving Seaweed Brain I knew. Why was he breaking people's hearts? Only Aphrodite's kids did that. I loved Percy, but after what happened… I don't anymore. And if he left camp, then I was glad for his absence. I still had my heartbreak to get over. James was helping me with that. I realized after he comforted me that I loved him.

Audrey didn't have someone to comfort her, so I figured that I would help her. I smiled at her, and she seemed to brighten a bit. "Audrey," I said, "I'm sorry about Percy. It's probably best if he really left. Since he's broken up with both of us, why don't we put our hatred for each other behind us and be friends?"

She smiled at me gratefully through her tears, and I led her to the Aphrodite table in the dining pavilion. It was my first friendship with an Aphrodite camper after Silena. And I felt like I genuinely liked Audrey.

Mystery Person's POV

"Everything is going according to plan, my lord. The boy has left that pathetic camp."

"Good," I said. With the boy gone, Olympus would fall against my attacks. "The Olympians…"

"They know, but do not suspect a thing, my lord. The boy's father thinks it is 'good riddance' that the boy is gone."

"And where has the boy fled?"

"His mother's apartment, my lord."

"That is only to be expected. However, he cannot be so close to Olympus. If we attack, his fatal flaw will prevent him from turning his back upon his friends. If he is anywhere near the Empire State Building when we attack, he will defend it. Dispatch a monster to kill him."

"But, my lord, he is too powerful."

I curled my lip in disgust. "You will follow my orders without question! You will go to kill the boy. Take the Minotaur. He will not expect the beast to have reformed so soon. You will kill him, or die trying."

"Y-yes, my lord."

The Empousa backed out of the room. She was an average commander, but not the best. The army would be better off without her. She would never be strong enough to kill the boy, but the boy would leave, in fear of endangering his mother. It was… what was the quote? Ah, yes. I was "killing two birds with one stone."

I walked into command room, up to the stage. The monsters were all looking at me in anticipation, hoping that my news was what they wanted. It was.

"We attack tomorrow!" I shouted, unsheathing my sword and raising it over my head.

The monsters cheered.

But then the dirt behind me formed a giant hand, yanked the sword out of my hand, and dropped it on the ground. "No."

I turned and groaned. Dirt slid across the ground to form a figure made entirely out of dirt standing behind me. "Mother."

"Yes, son?"

"We attack tomorrow," I said. "We must catch them by surprise!" There were a few cheers in the crowd, but they were silenced as the earth swarmed up their legs, imprisoning them.

"No," she said again. "You will not attack tomorrow. We are not yet strong enough. We must trade the element of surprise for the chance to raise more of my children. We must try to turn more minor gods and demigods. Without them, the gods are nothing. We have already lost one war because of that boy. You will make sure that boy is gone before we begin preparations."

"The boy has run away from camp. My son took care of it."

"Then that is out of the way. But there is still much more to do." She stuck a hand in the ground and pulled it out. She walked towards me, holding out her hand. A bracelet with a charm dangling from it shaped like the planet earth lay in her palm. "One spy is not enough. Even with your son as well, we must have more demigods with us. What happened last time is proof of that."

My mother brought up good points, but I was still restless. "But last time it was Kronos! He underestimated the gods! I will do no such thing," I protested. "I will not lose the war!"

"Nonetheless, my son, you must wait. Now is not the time." With that, the figure melted back into the earth.

I groaned. She was right, as always.

Percy's POV

I lay down on the couch in the living room with a pillow under my head and fell asleep immediately. Unfortunately, it wasn't a dreamless sleep.

Percy's Dream

I saw Nico. He was standing over my bunk in cabin three.

"Percy… Percy, where are you? Where did you go? Percy, come back," he kept muttering.

My blankets were a tangled mess on the bed. The Minotaur horn was still on the wall. Nico hadn't found my letter yet. He was still muttering.

"Percy… Come back. You probably don't want to… Everyone at camp has forgotten you. Annabeth. She doesn't know… And there's James. He's odd. He doesn't feel like the sea… He feels… older, somehow, older than the sea… I can't explain it… It's probably just me… Man, I'm talking to myself here." He stood up and cocked his head to the side, as if thinking. "Someone's watching… Percy?" He turned and looked straight at me. It looked like he could see me, but then he turned away.

"I could've sworn…"

Nico stared gloomily at my bunk. "The least I can do for him is move his stuff so that stupid brother of his doesn't take it…"

He started pulling out the things I had left. When he finished, he walked away, but then turned back. The Minotaur horn was still on the wall. He took it and pulled it off. My letter fell to the ground. He picked it up and started to read.

The dream shifted and changed.

Now, I was on Olympus, in the middle of the throne room. The gods were having a council and didn't seem to notice me. But then again, this was a dream.

"Brother, why have you called us here?" asked Dad.

"Gaia is rising," stated Zeus flatly. The god of theater didn't have any dramatics anymore. He knew he was screwed with the mother of the titans gaining power.

"We need my son, the one who ran away from camp," said Dad. The way he said it made me want to punch him in the face.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Barnacle Beard is right. We need Perseus," said the goddess of wisdom, looking worried. They needed me?

"The camp had barely noticed that Peter Johnson was gone. Only Chiron and I had, and the son of Hades, Nick Angel, when I left for the council," Dionysus drawled with a bored expression.

"We don't need the punk," said Ares. "He ran from camp like a coward. Clarisse could take Gaia."

"Ares, Perseus fought and defeated you," said Athena. Was she actually defending me? "We actually do need him. We must order a quest."

The gods needed me? My first thought was to go back to camp. But then I remembered Annabeth and Audrey. And James. I didn't owe them help. They didn't deserve it. I didn't consider them my friends anymore.

"We have not yet told the demigods about their Roman siblings, have we?" said Zeus. "Now may be the time."

Athena thought and nodded. "Yes, Father. We should. We must order two quests. One to find Perseus, and one to seek the Romans' help."

"Hermes," commanded Zeus, "Go down to Camp Half-Blood tomorrow and tell Chiron we need a quest."

End Percy's Dream

I woke with my mom sitting next to my head, stroking my hair with a plate of blue chocolate-chip cookies in her hand. She moved her hand when she saw I was up, and tilted the plate towards me. "Want one?"

I nodded and took one. I hadn't had one of those in such a long time, but the taste still sent my tongue tingling. Those blue cookies were better than nectar.

I thought about my dream. Nico had read my letter. And he probably wasn't going to listen to my advice: Don't look for me. I still considered him a friend, so I decided that I'd find him somehow.

My thoughts changed. The Olympians needed me? No. They didn't. Instead of ordering the quest to find me, they had ordered one to find the Romans.

The rest of my dream must've been what had happened at camp while I was gone. Annabeth had still seemed sad, but loved James. That was obvious when he kissed her. At first, I felt envy. Annabeth should have been mine. I should have been the one to comfort her and kiss her and make her feel better. But then I felt a bitter acceptance. If Annabeth thought that I had cheated on her, she was going to regret it when she saw the truth. I would probably forgive her, but our relationship would never be so close again. My eyes watered, but I forced the tears down. Annabeth hadn't believed me. She had betrayed me. She had cheated on me. I had to get over her.

I don't know how long I sat there with the cookie in my hand, staring blankly at the wall, thinking about the dream. But when the Minotaur crashed through the wall of my mom's apartment, I reacted solely on instinct. I dropped the cookie, jumped up, and uncapped Riptide.

Watch out boss!

"Thanks, Blackjack," I said.

The Minotaur had stumbled over the small coffee table in front of the couch, and had one of its horns impaled in the carpet. He was trying vainly to pull out his horn when I walked towards him. But before I could stab him with Riptide, Mrs. O'Leary jumped through the hole in the wall and clawed him to dust. He disintegrated, leaving only a large hole in the wall, a smashed coffee table, and a large gash in the carpet.

I was about to cap Riptide again, but a beautiful blond-haired girl leaped through the hole and the wall and tackled me. The catch: she had fangs. She bared them at me and lunged towards my neck. She must have been trying to surprise me, because without that element, I would've easily beaten her. I got a hand between us and shoved her away. Standing up, I raised Riptide and slashed at her. She just closed her eyes and dissolved.

Mrs. O'Leary snarled at the pile of golden dust on the ripped carpet, and then came over and sat next to me, thumping her tail on the ground. I reached up to pet her. Even though she was guarding the camp, she could come and go as she pleased, but preferred to stay wherever I was. I was glad that she had found me. It wouldn't be the same without her.

I've got to admit, I was confused. A Minotaur crashes through the wall, followed by an Empousa, and I kill them easily. What was the point of this? I was sure it was Gaia, but why would she send them to attack me?

"Percy?" a voice called. Paul stepped out of the bedroom and saw me. He must have returned when I was sleeping on the couch. And he had just been awakened by the large crash the Minotaur had made when it had charged through the wall.

"Paul?" I said. "Where's Mom?"

"Percy, I'm here." My mom stepped out of the bedroom next to Paul. "What happened?"

"Minotaur," I said. "It came and bashed the wall, then an Empousa jumped through the hole. I killed both of them."

"Ok. So, Percy, what do you want for breakfast?" my mom said, perfectly calm.

"Mom… I have to leave."

"So I'll make some of your favorite blue waffles and… What? You have to leave? Why? You just came…"

"Mom," I said, sadly, "the monsters came for me. If I stay, more will only come. It's my scent. I'm the son of Poseidon. I defeated Kronos, so I'm pretty much number one on all the monsters' kill list. Staying will only put you in danger. I can't do that… You're the only people I have left, after Annabeth…"

My mom didn't want to accept that as a good reason, but Paul convinced her. "Sally… I love Percy. He's a great stepson, and even if I love having him around, he's right. The monsters will keep coming. And I don't want you to die. I love you, Sally."

My mom looked sad. "But, Percy-"

"Mom, I have to," I said quickly.

She sighed. "Alright, but at least have some blue waffles before you go?"

I smiled. "Always."

AN: So, Percy's not at camp. Annabeth is hopelessly confused and doesn't know it. Someone wants to attack the gods, who want Percy back. And Mrs. O'Leary and Blackjack are with Percy! How did you like it? And, who wants Percabeth? If you don't tell who should be with Percy. Any other suggestions are welcome!