Thanks for the reviews people! Here is the next chapter, as promised. It is a lot longer than the others, because a reviewer commented that they might be too short.

Thanks again! Don't forget to R&R!

Chapter 3: It's (Almost) About Time

I was having the dream I had a hundred times before. The gaping pit of Tartarus stood before me. Usually Kronos would be somewhere in that pit, laughing evilly. This time was different. This time he was…. giggling evilly. Just then, he seemed to sense my dream-presence, and immediately switched to his deep, evil-sounding laughs. Before he could make any snide comments, I was abruptly awakened.

A scream pierced the night. Before I could get out of my bed and see what was happening, a slim figure burst through my door shrieking in horror, her blond hair trailing behind her. It was my friend Annabeth.

She had only freaked out like this once before, and that was at Hephaestus' Waterland ride. I guess there was something else she mortally feared, besides spiders.

Before I could move, she had jumped into my bed and was cowering under the covers. Why mine? I tried to ask her, but she blushed and pretended to be too panicked to answer.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She seemed beside herself with fear. "Sp-spiders."

I should have known.

I opened the door to find myself swarmed with mechanical arachnids-the same ones that had attacked us before. I could hear other members of the Athena cabin fleeing. Luckily I was by the ocean.

You're probably heard the rhyme-song "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" It was just like this, except it was an army of spiders, which were made of metal. They also bit. Hard. It was fortunate that I was Poseidon's son, and I had power over water. In the end all the spiders all got washed out, thanks to me.

There was now an army of now-defunct mechanical spiders before me. Some of the Athena cabin people came outside to see what had happened. When they saw I had wiped them out, they clapped me on the back, and shuddered at the sight of the spiders.

I went back to my cabin to check on Annabeth. There she was, still cowering on my bed. I was slightly confused at this point in time. "I washed out the spiders." I tried to break the tension. "Oh thank you!" she sounded a lot more grateful to me than she had been in a long time. She hugged me.

I was forcibly reminded of my conversation with Aphrodite. I shuddered. What if she was right? I must have had some sort of disgusted look on my face, because she withdrew and blushed. She looked slightly hurt.

I immediately reverted to my normal facial expression. It seemed to help. She brightened and said, "Well, I'll see you in the morning, Percy!"

She hadn't called me "Percy" in a long time.

"Later, Seaweed Brain." That was the Annabeth I knew. She left the room, and unknown to me, was blushing bright crimson.

I woke up to someone yelling at me. It was Travis Stoll. "Dude, you missed breakfast!"

Oh great. I missed breakfast. Again.

I decided to take out my anger on Clarisse, who was passing by. I sprayed her with toilet water again. Sigh…that brings back good memories.

Sword fighting was my first class. Clarisse was still soaking wet and smelling of sewage when she fought me, and I wasted her. I had found a way around her new and improved electric spear. If I could just get a stream of water to connect the tip of her spear with her body…yes!

"Aargh!" Clarisse's angry voice resounded throughout the room. "You cheated!"

I just gave her my best "sucker…" smile and walked away.

Oh goody. Capture the flag was tonight. The teams were Athena, Poseidon, and Hephaestus against all the other teams. Tonight, we persuaded some of the satyrs to join in. Theoretically, Artemis was on the side of the enemy, so all the satyrs were against us. Apparently they thought they were honoring Artemis that way. The only one that came with us was Grover.

I was border patrol at the creek, as usual. No one dared pass me. I was in my element. Some Demeter guys and satyrs attacked me. The Demeter guys used vines to attack me, while the satyrs made grass grow around my feet with their reed pipes (Their music was better than Grover's, and their magic too!) to incapacitate me. I tried to repel them with water, but they just grew stronger. Figures. Water makes plants grow. Luckily I didn't need to escape. Beckendorf came running back from Zeus' Fist (or the pile of deer droppings) and deposited the other flag at our base.

As soon as the game was declared over, I strode away. I was dwelling on the dream. It was disturbing to see Kronos giggling. That image would haunt me to the end of my life…or maybe not.

At dinner Chiron cleared his throat to make an important announcement. " I am glad to report that the threat of monsters has diminished significantly. Also, the harpies have been fighting, so Mr. D and I fired them. There was an explosion of cheering at his words. No more curfews!

I ate my dinner quickly, and retreated to my home turf, the sea. I needed some time to think. At least I didn't have to worry about the harpies.

I feel like a procrastinator. (a word Annabeth taught me). I just NEED to do something about the threat of Kronos, before he destroys Western civilization, Eastern civilization, and everything in between. I was still brooding when I heard footsteps behind me. I turned. It was Annabeth.

She sat next to me. "You're thinking about Kronos, aren't you?"

How did she know that? "Yes, I am."

She smiled. "You're wondering how I knew that. I know you a lot better than you think.

Her choice of words struck me as ominous. " I had a really weird dream with Kronos in it. He was giggling. Not laughing like he usually does. He was giggling. That was disturbing."

She shuddered. " Well if it makes you feel any better…" She put her head on my shoulder. I made no move to pull her off. She meant well. And to tell you the truth, I liked it. I put my arm around her and we watched the sunset.

I felt myself falling. A torrent of memories flooded my mind.

…She came with me on the Thrill Ride of Love to retrieve Ares' shield, muttering something about how boys always messed things up…

…When we were on Charon's ferryboat, she had gripped my hand tightly. I understood how she felt; she wanted reassurance that someone else was alive on this boat…

…She undid the necklace she wore around her neck; the one she prized so very much. She handed it to me and said "Take this then, for luck" I took it and we both blushed…

…She had offered to sacrifice herself to save my mom, how I had refused…

…"You idiot," she had commented when I regained consciousness from the pit scorpion bite. I smiled, knowing this was her way of showing affection…

…She had been watching me, the morning before she slayed the Laistrygonian, she had blushed when I questioned her…

…I had comforted her after our encounter with the Sirens, while she sobbed into my shoulder. I held her until she was comforted, she had muttered something I could not hear due to the wax in my ears…

…I had questioned her later about what she had said. She went red." I said thank you." I knew she was lying, I could see it in her stone-gray eyes…

…She had kissed me on the cheek after we won the chariot race, as she was impressed that I swallowed my pride and yelled for everyone to hear that Tyson was my brother…

...She had always been there for me...

The flood of memories ended. Annabeth was shaking me. " You went out. I've been trying to wake you for the last ten minutes." Why had I passed out?

A lone figure on the sea waved to me and disappeared. I felt sick.

Aphrodite had sent the visions. Now I knew she was right all along…

I stared deep into those granite-gray eyes. I knew what she had said, after we escaped the Sirens. I bent forward.

Just then, a snide voice cut in, saying, " I hope I'm not interrupting."

I turned, expecting to see Mr. D. It wasn't Mr. D.

It was Luke.

How'd I do? Sorry about the cliffy, I just couldn't help it. I don't know if I'm all that great at writing romance, but I tried. Percabeth, obviously. I might update in a day or two after I get a couple of reviews.