Author's note: (And the winner is … that guy who read that Author's note that one time!) Da da da da DA! Here it is! Chapter ten! Which makes this my first story to have double-digit chapters. Look, I know it doesn't matter, but have you ever heard the saying, 'Let the baby have it's bottle?' Oh, and by the way, chapter nine had a lot of spelling errors. But it's not technically my fault! I spell-checked it twice before uploading it, but it didn't change, and I had to pack for my trip, so I didn't have time to check if it was okay. I'm sorry, I tried. Anyway, I plan on making this the longest chapter, and stuff so …. Yeah …. Okay this is just awkward, I'll just back away slowly, and let you read now …

*Flash back* (Technically. Remember, I'm telling two different events, that are happening a month away from each other. They'll eventually catch up to each other, don't worry. It won't always be this confusing)

Six days. Just six measly days of training, and the side affects had already started. Nico had already tried to play ring-around-the-rosie 15 times, had this weird feeling that the sun was out to get him (So he put on a ton of sunscreen), and had a bad case of diarrhea.

Thalia had tried to jump out of a window twice (Not far off the ground), had the worst head ache EVER, and was always starving, even right after she ate.

And Percy … nothing happened to Percy. But that's what made him more paranoid. He woke up on the third day at 5 a.m. like usual and felt terrible. All that training was really taking it out of them, and sleeping only four hours didn't help. He forced himself out of bed again, and left the cabin. He met with Thalia and Nico at the training arena. Thalia was picking from a box of doughnuts, and Chiron was running late for the second morning in a row. "... So, he get's to sleep in and we don't? This sucks!" Nico was telling Thalia, when Percy walked up.

"Morning." Percy said as cheerfully as he could. They both had to do a double take when they saw him. They both burst out laughing. "What?"

"Dude? Did you forget to shave or something?" Nico laughed.

Percy's brow furrowed. "I don't shave. Why?"

Thalia and Nico looked at each other like they had the coolest secret ever. Thalia held up a finger, as if to say 'hold on.' She came back with a handheld mirror and handed it to Percy . Percy looked in the mirror to see he had thick stubble all across his face. Thalia and Nico laughed even harder. Percy rubbed his now rough face. "How did this happen?"

"I think it was one of those stupid side-affects. Don't worry, we're at least in the same boat." Thalia said, trying not to laugh to make him feel a little better. "Besides, it makes you look..." She looked at Nico and they both cracked up, "M-mature." Thalia managed. Percy groaned.

As if on cue, Chiron trotted up and said, "We've got a lot of work ahead of us today-" Then he saw Percy. "Trying a new look?"

Thalia and Nico went into hysterics. "I-I THINK I'M GONNA P-PEE MY PANTS!" Nico admitted through his hysterical laughter.

Percy just slapped his palm against his forehead. "Shut up..."

"Alright, today's lesson is; Persistence." Chiron circled on the chalk board.

"Like trying something over and over again until you're good at it?" Nico asked.

"Precisely. Now, taking you're scores from the obstacle coarse yesterday, which were er," How to put it?

"Don't sugar-code it Chiron, we know we sucked." Thalia said blatantly.

*Flash back* (A flash back in a flash back. Wow. Just wow)

The obstacle coarse. They knew it wasn't going to be easy, but they didn't know it'd be that hard. Thalia made it alright until the high rise stuff, then she froze up, stumbled on her own feet, fell off the platform, and into the shark infested waters. Percy told the sharks to lay off, and thankfully, they listened. But that meant she failed. Percy went next, but he went at the wrong time in the mud pit and got hit in the er, coconuts by the swinging logs. He failed too. Nico made it the farthest, but when it came to the 'coatrack' looking thing, he kept messing up and eventually just fell into the pool. Not completing the coarse either.

"Not exactly ... Well, it has shown us what you'll need to work on, so, it's alright that there were a few minor errors." Chiron said. "So, let's get started."

"Whoa! Since when does Camp have a holographic chamber thing?" Percy asked. He was starting to wonder how Chiron inexplicably obtained all this training equipment.

"Uh, the Hephatitus children made it with the help of some of the Athena children. That's not important. What is important is that you go in so we don't make any more holes in the arena." He looked at Percy pointedly.

"I said I was sorry." Percy muttered.

"So, you'll practice in here before trying again on the obstacle coarse. For safety reasons."

"That never stopped you before. What about that lava climbing wall?" Nico asked, remembering scorching his hands.

"You never know. Climbing a volcano could come up in a quest. It's necessary. Now, Nico, seeing as you made it farthest, you'll go first. Put on the helmet and it'll feel like you're somewhere else."

Nico entered the small chamber, only big enough to hold one person. He didn't see how a stupidchamber could make you feel like you were somewhere else, but he put on the helmet anyway. At first all he saw was a green grid with a black back round. Then the world transformed. It morphed into a dry, barren desert like place with no plants, animals, or signs of life as far as he could see. He looked around, and called out, "Chiron? What am I supposed to do here?"

Then the ground started to shake. A lot. He realized it was earthquake. He tried running, even though there was no where to go. The ground started cracking. At first just little ones, nearly unnoticeable, but then they opened farther. The ground shook harder, and Nico stumbled a little, but kept running. Then the ground cracked open in front of him. A giant crevasse filled with a thick mist. Nico stopped running and almost slide over the edge. Small chunks of the edge fell down into the pit, and since Nico couldn't hear them hit the bottom, he knew this was serious. He ran in other direction, the ground still shaking under his feet. More ground cracked open around him, big chunks separating, until it was a field of about a million pieces.

That's when he felt it. The terrible sensation of falling, tugged at the pit of his stomach. A the pieces started falling at they're own pace, and Nico realized why the mist was so thick below him. They were clouds.

Nico screamed in horror, not because he was falling, but because he was in Zeus's domain. He tried not to think of that, and it was pretty easy seeing as he was falling to his death!The wind was so furrious he thought he'd burn up before impact. He tried desperately to grasp on to one chunk of rock and just ride it out, but that soon crumbled away. It seemed he was at the bottom, and the farther you went up, the bigger the rocks were, until you were back on that platform. He started jumping from rock to rock, with amazing speed and agility, although most of them did crumble away. He even did a handstand to get from one to another. He used whatever he could to get higher. He swung from a bar-like one to get to a higher one. Taking greater and greater leaps until he reached the last ones. It was an impossible jump, and the rock was standing on just became two. A took a leap of faith.

Unfortunately, faith only got him so far. He missed by a few feet and fell to his death.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Nico screamed. They watched him struggle in the chamber, but since it was sound proof, they didn't hear anything.

"Chiron is he alright?" Percy asked.

"Oh the simulation is about to end, that's all." Chiron answered happily.

By this point the clouds had cleared away, and Nico could see land below him. It was like, extreme sky-diving. Except without the parachute and safety equipment. The rocks had almost all crumbled away by this point, and Nico was just free-falling. He spun around like a top. Wind wiped through his hair and he knew this was the end. About a minute to impact, then, he'd be with his Dad forever. He wasn't sure what he was more scared of. How it would feel to get splattered, or how it would feel to get struck by lightning from Zeus.

30 seconds. This is it."POPPA! ZEUS! SOMEBODY UP THERE! HELP!"

20 seconds. "I'M ******* DEAD! I HAVE ONE THING TO SAY TO MY ******!"Might as well get it off his chest. Live with no regrets, and you can die a happy guy, that's what he was thinking. He might not be telling the person, but hey, it's better to admit it now and stop denying it.

10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.
"I ... I H-... I HATE YOU!"

When he hit the ground, he winched. He was at first confused, because it didn't hurt. Everything was dark. Then the green grid came on. He remembered it was all a simulation. He shakily took off the helmet and got out of the chamber.

"What happened in there?" Percy asked.

"Well, now I know why Thalia's scared of heights." Nico said, still shaking a bit.

Thalia glared at him. "Hey, I'm not scared of heights exactly, I'm scared of falling from heights. And how did you know that anyway? I never told you." She glared pointedly at Percy, who was probably going to get shocked if he did.

"I didn't say anything!" Percy yelped.

"It's pretty obvious, the way you froze up like that on the high-rise. My Gods, I'd have to be Percy not to see it. That or Brain-dead." Nico criticized, a little shakily. Trying to hide how shaken up he was by that false near-death experience. And how shaken up he was from realizing he hated his own ******.

"Thalia? You think you could drop Nico off a cliff with an eagle or something?" Percy asked innocently.

"Er, well done Nico. Except for that last jump, but I commend you for trying in the first place. Now, Thalia, you're turn." Chiron said to Thalia, who was trying to summon an eagle to do her evil bidding, or get her a cheeseburger. She didn't know why but lately she was really hungry.

"Alright, what am I supposed to be seeing? Because whatever it is, I'm not seing it. All there is is a bunch of green lines." Thalia complained.

Chiron pushed a button and said into a speaker, "It sometimes takes a while to load. I know it may be hard, but be patient."

Thalia grumbled but waited as patiently as she could. It took a little longer than it had for Nico, but the grid slowly transformed into a strange platform, big enough only, for a single person. The platform was see through glass, and Thalia paled when she saw she was about a million feet up over New York. A rope was dangling a few feet away, and it led up to a place Thalia recognized as Olympus.

A strange computerized, female voice said, "Thalia Grace. In 15 seconds, the glass will drop. You have only the 15 seconds to get to the rope, or you will fall to your death. And the clock starts; Now."

Thalia freaked out. She looked for another way out, but there wasn't any. With 5 seconds left, she mustered up the courage and dove for the rope. With her feet and left arm dangling a million feet over the east river, she pulled her other arm up and clung to the rope with her tightest grip. The glass fell fast. Thalia screamed as loud as she could.

"Well done Miss Grace. Now all you have to do, is," The rope suddenly gave way, lowering about 200 feet. "Climb."

Thalia froze up. This was it. The end. All she could think was: OH MY FREAKING GODS I'M GONNA DIE! OH MY GODS! OH MY GODS! OH MY GODS! Her forehead beaded with sweat.

The panic she felt was unbelievable. She felt like her heart would explode.

Percy, Nico, and Chiron watched her mortified face and extremely tensed body. "Is she okay?" Percy asked again.

"Well, she's not falling, that's a good sign. Go back to your game. She'll be alright." Chiron answered. Nico and Percy had gotten bored, so they were playing a kind of tag around the arena, where when you were it, you had to get the other person with either shadows or a skirt of water. They held their fingers in a gun position and pretended they were shooting each other.

Percy looked to Thalia. She didn't look alright. He pressed the inner-com button:

Thalia heard a familiar voice, "It's okay Thalia, just keep going. Just relax, and keep going. I know you can do it. Whatever it is, you can do it."

That gave her that little extra push. (As corny as that may be, too bad, it's already written). Thalia shakily slid her clenched fist higher on the rope, giving her a little rope-burn, but still. She then, slowly and carefully, let go with the other hand and griped right above her other hand. Then, she pulled the rest of her body with her.

All of the sudden rain started pouring down. And I mean pouring. Raindrops the size of Tyson's tears. So, yeah, pretty big. Which made the rope pretty slippery.

Out of nowhere, Percy got hit in the back of the head by a glob of shadows. "Ha! You're it, Beard Boy!" Nico laughed victoriously.

"Fine, whatever. Come and help Thalia, I think she thinks she's up high. She's really pale." Percy said, slightly annoyed at Nico's childishness.

Nico shrugged. "Eh, why not?" He went over to the mic and said, "Thalia, you know that thing you're doing? Chickening out? Yeah, you should probably stop doing that. Oh, and wetting your pants won't help either so snap out of it."

Not exactly helpful, but okay. Thalia thought angrily. That got her more out of her trance.

"Nico, shut up." Percy said, trying to grab the mic.

Nico pulled away and said, "Come on, Princess. Heh, I'm funny 'cause it's true. You even wear a tiara, Princess Thalia."

That got her even more angry. She went faster up the rope, as if he was up there, so she could punch him in the nose.

"Nico it's not funny." Percy said chuckling, reaching around him, to get the mic.

"And that Gods-awful music you listen to? Green Day? They suck ***! Ha ha!"

Thalia raged up the rope.

"Nico-"

"Oh, and that tree of yours? I got one thing to say; Best bathroom my Hell-hound ever had!"

She got up the rope and the simulation ended. She chucked the helmet to the ground furiously. Lucky for Nico, the door was locked, so all Thalia could do was blow a fuse inside the small chamber. Let's just say, it's a good thing that chamber was sound-proof. She clawed at the glass and mouthed the words 'YOU'RE DEAD!'over and over again, then went back to swearing her brains out. Then, her pupils turned to slits. They could see electricity coursing around her. Glowing brighter and spreading farther with every scream, until all they could was a blinding light. Then the machine blew up, throwing Percy, Nico, and Chiron across the room.

Percy got up slowly and surveyed the room. Where the machine was supposed to be, was instead just the four corners of it sticking up slightly, and a confused looking Thalia, covered in ash. Her eyes had returned to normal. This meant, she had entered the second attack.

"Well, since we don't have the simulator any longer, Percy, you'll just have to make do with another exercise. I have a back-up plan in mind." Chiron said coyly.

"Archers, ready?" Chiron called to the children of Apollo, who were lined up in a certain way to make it harder.

"READY!" They all called back.

"Percy, ready?" Chiron called over to Percy, from the sidelines.

"NO!"

"Excellent! Wait for my signal!" Chiron said, pausing. "FIRE!"

Percy ran blindly in to a feild of arrows. Dodging fatal hits, his objective was to get to the climbing wall without being brutally killed. The archers were facing Fireworks Beach, and Percy had started at the edge of the North woods.

So many arrows rained down upon him, it was incredible he didn't get one to the head. He dodged them with accuracy and precision, it was scary. His speed, like a jet at full blast. He did crazy flips without even trying. but he tripped and got one in the arm. And I mean, really in there. He heard some kid yell, 'BULLS-EYE!'

He stumbled trying to pull it out, and got another two in the back. Not too deep, but enough to get him down. He didn't feel much pain, thanks to- well, you know. He looked up to see a cloud of arrows cascading down upon him, and he knew one of those was bound to hit a certain spot. Then, he saw the creek just a few feet in front of him. It was a long shot, but, it was his only shot. He willed the wter to rise from the creek, and form a protective bubble around him. He knew it probably wouldn't work, since solid objects can obviously go through water. So, he needed a solid shield. He willed it to solidify, hoping that would work. Then all of the sudden, he got a lot colder ... the water was freezing over. The arrows bounced off harmlessly, while Percy dislodged the current one s from the back.

This all happened in about three seconds.

The archers lowered their bows in shock. Percy stood up slowly, and willed the ice to return to water. It suddenly splashed down on him, but since he didn't want to, he didn't get wet. While the archers stood there with their jaws on the floor, Percy advanced confidently to the other side. He touched the climbing wall and said, "Done!"

They all cheered, while Thalia continued trying to strangle Nico for what he said.

"You all did wonderfully! You should be very proud. Now, unfortunately, the training coarse is a bit er, disassembled, and you can't test the skills you've acquired. But that doesn't mean you're off the hook. Ten laps of the camp for each of you." Chiron ordered.

They jaws droped, "What? Ten laps? Of the entire camp?" Nico asked.

"Yes, now get moving."

"That's crazy!" Percy complained.

"Alright, you leave me no choice. Hold these, and don't let go." He gave them each a large piece of meat, then did a wolf-whistle, "Mrs. O'leary! Lunch time!"

Their eyes widened and they started running. Mrs. O'leary came bounding after them.

Annabeth already missed seeing Percy. It had only been a few days, she knew, but still. They were never around and it was getting frustrating. She couldn't find them anywhere, but she didsee extra openings in the arena, so she knew they were around somewhere. She really couldn't think of any other way to just really torture her, taking away Seaweed Brain. Then again, a bath-tub full of spiders ... No. This was even worse than that. She couldn't believe it herself, but she was in love. She was head over heels in love with Peseus Jackson. And it was ruining her life, and at the same time making it absolutely perfect. On one hand, he didn't trust her and he was stressing her out right before she leaves for England, on the other hand he was so ... er, never mind. Adult conversation. Anyway, the week before they had come to camp, Annabeth and Percy weren't necessarily trying to, but they had been avoiding each other. They just wanted to sort things through, and since the tension was so high, they were both afraid they would just make things worse. But don't get me wrong, it didn't show on th outside. They did go to Grad together and celebrated it afterwards. It was more on the inside. Like, the one they had over the Iris Message about the movie:

*Flashback* (I'm sorry, I know I have way too many flashbacks and flashbacks within flashbacks)

"... Annabeth Chase, Mount Olympus." Percy said after throwing a drachma in the mist.

An image appeared of Annabeth yelling at some guy in a crane. "- No! It's supposed to be at a forty-five degree angle, not a fifty-five degree angle! Jeez! Idiots ..."

"Hey, uh, Annabeth? You okay?" Percy interrupted.

She turned and smiled, "Hey Percy. Yeah, I'm fine, it's just that somebody isn't competent enough to tell the difference within ten whole degrees!"

"Hey! This thing doesn't come with a protractor you know!" The guy complained.

"Well, maybe I would understand if it was a tenth of a degree, but ten degrees? I have standards, and you're not meeting them Michael!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hey buddy, this your girlfriend?" He said to Percy. Percy nodded, and the guy sympathized, "I feel sorry, kid, I really do."

"Shut up!" Both Annabeth and Percy yelled.

Percy was a little nervous to talk to Annabeth, because he hadn't in a little while. He didn't want to say anything stupid. "So, uh, anyway, you wanna go to a movie later? O-of coarse I mean, when you're done up there, that is, of coarse."

"Seaweed Brain, you don't have to be so nervous, it's just a movie." Annabeth laughed. She was sort of relieved that he was talking to her again.

"Well, it's that Green Lanturen movie. So, um, see you then." Percy said nervously. "Oh, and I love you."

"I love you too, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth replied, running her hand through the mist. "Now ... Why is that collum painted egg-shell white?"

She was later a little dissapointed to see that they weren't going alone. (Even though she was extremely happy to see Thalia again). But the thing that really put it over the top, was that they didn't even sit together. Thalia and Nico sat between them.

She missed the days before she got that letter of acceptance. She missed Percy. And she was starting to think if she missed him this much now, what would it be like in England?

Ten laps. Ten stupid laps around camp, and they were about ready to just give up and lt Mrs. O'Leary eat them and the meat. Hey, it's a big camp. "Gods ... my chest ... i-is going ... to explode..." Percy gasped.

"... Mine too ..."Nico agreed.

"... Stupid mutt ..." Thalia grumbled.

Chiron trotted up. "Well, let's finish our lesson."

They all went back to the chalkboard, which was now half of what it used to be. "Alright, do you know why I made you do all that?" Chiron asked.

"Well, you made me jump off a cliff because I'm awesome, you made Thalia pee her pants because it's hilarious, you made Percy run into a feild of arrows because you secretly hate him, and you made us run laps to get rid of us." Nico explained.

"No, Nico." Chiron laughed. "You figure it out while I get something for the next lesson."

"I didn't wet my pants, you little Snot-rag." Thalia growled, once Chiron had gone to the Big House.

"Hey! It's not my fault your a little baby who can't even handle a going up a little high." Nico taunted.

Thalia gave him the death glare. "If you wanna a black eye keep talking ***-wipe."

"You're a quivering little baby. You're scared of your own father's domain! You're pathetic." Nico dared.

Thalia's eyes narrowed. "Say that again. Just one time, I wanna hear you say it. I dare you."

"Nico, think before you say anything. Remember, this is Thalia. She'll rip you apart." Percy warned.

"Come on, you little ****! I wanna hear you say it! And if you do, I'll rip your eyes out, shove 'em down your throat, and wait 'till they come out your butt so you can watch me kickin' it!"

"O-oh, like I haven't heard that one before."

"Then say it." Thalia challenged.

There was an uncomfortable silence in the air.

"Say it, Gods **** it!"

Nico glared at her and clearly said, "You. Are. Pathetic."

"That's it!" Thalia stood up, and dove for him with electricity coursing around her hands. They started punching, kicking, and swearing at each other with every cuss imaginable. Thalia put Nico in a head-lock, but Nico elbowed her in the gut.

Percy stood up and tried to separate them. "Guys, calm down!" He pushed Thalia away from Nico, and vise versa, but they managed to still get a few good punches in. Thalia kept shocking Nico, and dead things dead grabbing for Thalia's legs. "Stop it!"

Chiron clip-clopped in, to see them beating each other up. "Stop this this instant!"

"Just make the little cockroach apologize, and I won't have to give him two black eyes." Thalia threatened.

"You know something Thalia? You act tough, but under your little show, is a weak little baby, who runs when she has a problem. You're a run-away for Gods' sakes! That's what run-away means! You look up pathetic in the dictionary they probably have your picture front and center!" Nico acquiesced.

"ENOUGH!" Chiron's yell echoed through-out the entire camp. "You will apologise to each other. Your punishments will be decided later."

"What? That's so unfair! It was Thalia's fault!" Nico grumbled.

"No, it was all Nico's fault. And I'm not apologising to that little rat, when I did nothing wrong." Thalia said, crossing her arms.

"Well, maybe our next lesson will change your mind."

The three of them looked at him like he was crazy. "A lesson? Now?"

"Yes. Lesson 5 is; Inner Peace." Chiron wrote quickly on the board. He turned on a boom-box, and some relaxing music played.

"Is this gonna be some hippie thing?" Thalia asked grouchily. (I don't think that's a word, but ah well)

"Er, no. I need you all to close your eyes. Now, going into your subconscious, is very simple. Imagine a recurring pattern. Place all your attention on the colours, and the motions. Now, focus some of your attention on your breathing. Let your breathing become rhythmic. Get in a comfortable position. Let the muscles in your stomach relax. The muscles in your chest relax. The muscles in your arms, and shoulders relax. The muscles in your neck. And the muscles in your face. This is all about letting go, and allowing yourself to relax. Let your breathing become more rhythmic. Now, continuing to watch your pattern, you may notice the sensation of going down. This is your mind allowing your body to enter the farthest regions of your subconscious. As you go down deeper, you'll begin to feel the sensation of relaxation. And it's starting to become slower, and each breath is more enjoyable. And as you venture deeper into your mind, the part of your mind that records every moment, your breathing becomes even more rhythmic, and more enjoyable. You may now, feel the need to breath deeply and comfortably, and just let your mind open up. Dip into your unconcience, and remember times that were so enjoyable, happy times in your life when you were younger. When everything felt perfect. The sun was shining just right, and you felt so calm and relaxed. This feeling of protection and warmth. And you soon realize, that if you open up, to the truth, you can feel this way whenever you please. This warm happy feeling. You now realize, that the trance you're seeing is just a rythem, of the cells coursing through your body, and those of your element, be it water, sky, or death. And as you realize this, your becoming one with your true self, you remember things long forgotten. Joys from long ago coming back all at once, creating a joy so great, you realize all your problems will be solved. Everything will work out, and you'll be the master of your life. You can open your eyes now." Chiron instructed.

The three of them opened their eyes wide, trying to focus on their surroundings. "How do you feel?" Chiron prompted.

"I don't know, I ... I've never been here before. This place it's so ... cluttered. That's the word. All my memories are crowding here. But it's like ... cozy, I guess. Warm. And for the first time in a while, I feel ... good. Not complete, but good. I was gonna say complete, but there's something missing..." Nico said.

"Yeah, it's good, but some thing's missing. A hole or something, I don't know, just something." Percy added.

"I don't know what you're talking about, that was a load of garbage. I'm tired and hungry, this is stupid, and I still want to strangle Nico. It doesn't work." Thalia grumbled.

"Well, at least two of you got the right idea. Relaxing and letting your feelings go, instead of bottling them up is best. And you need to be in tune with your inner-self to truely access your power. Well, have you figured out why I made you do those things earlier?" Chiron quizzed.

"Because you were testing us on how we did on the obstacle coarse before. Like how Thalia had to face her fear, 'cause she froze up on the high rise. You made me go on that stupid desert place 'cause I couldn't jump from the rungs on the coat-rack thing. And you made Percy go through the field of arrows so he could learn to dodge. And you keep making us learn the lessons ourselves so you don't have to keep explaining everything. Right?" Nico explained.

"Yes, yes, well done. Now, I believe we're too late for lunch, but how about you go have some dinner? And I know that was you three who got rid of the tables. If it happens again I'll make you run more laps!"

Their eyes widened, and they ran over to the newly furnished Mess hall.

"Gods, I'm so tired and starving. I can't believe Chiron is making us do this. And what was with that trance stuff? You guys actually believe that crud?" Thalia asked, putting a ton of food on her plate.

"I don't know, maybe. I was pretty relaxed. But I guess that could just be because I wasn't being chased by some monster. Anyway, how long can these side affects last? If I do see Annabeth, I don't wanna have this stupid stubble on my face. She'd never let me live it down." Percy said laughing.

"You do know that I'll never let you live it down either, right?" Thalia asked.

"Uh ... shut up!" Was all Percy could think to say.

Thalia laughed a little, "You always did have a way with words Kelp-head."

"I'm not so sure about that. Whenever I talk to Annabeth these days, I somehow make things worse. Half the time I don't even know why she's upset. I'm really no good at this kind of thing." Percy said sadly.

"What? Talking to your girlfriend?" Nico asked.

"Relationships." Percy stated.

"Yeah, I think that's a demigod thing. I mean, look at us. Thalia's a hunter of Artemis, my girlfriend broke up with me, and well, it doesn't look to hopeful for you. I'm seeing a trend here. Aphrodite must think it's funny to mess with us, or something." Nico observed.

"Yeah, well, she wouldn't be the first God to mess with us." Thalia muttered.

After dinner, Chiron told them to go practice their archery, which of coarse, Percy groaned at. Thalia on the other hand was pretty happy. "Why? Don't you have some crazy lesson you've been meaning to teach us? Like, something that doesn't involve me embarrassing myself?" Percy complained.

"Nope. Besides, we don't want you getting rusty with normal camp activities." Chiron answered happily.

Percy sighed, but left with the others. When got to the shooting range (Or where ever they normally do it, I'm not sure), they saw that the Hermes cabin was practising their archery. "Oh, great. Here comes a bucket load of fart arrows." Nico grumbled.

"Why couldn't it be Athena cabin?" Percy muttered under his breath.

They walked up to see Travis Stoll with one of those arrow-through-the-head head bands on. You know, it's like a Halloween costume that looks like you got shot with an arrow. He was faking a yell of pure agony, but it wasn't too convincing. "Ahhhhhhhh! Conner, what have you done! Arrrrrrhhrhrhhhhhh, ohhhhhhhhh!"

Conner gasped. "No! I didn't mean to! It just slipped, come on Travis, you're a fighter! Now fight!"

Thalia slapped her palm against her forehead. "Idiots. I'm surrounded by IDIOTS!" Nico and Percy, who were standing right next to her, turned to glare at her.

"Conner, *Cough* I don't think I'm gonna make it! Tell Thalia ... Tell her she's ruining the joke."

"I can hear you-"

"I see the light! Everything's flashing before my eyes!" Travis joked.

"That's so cliched." Nico criticized. "You don't really see your lif-"

"T-tell Nico he's ruining the joke, too. *Cough* *Cough* And Conner ... Old buddy, tell Percy his breath smells like rotten fish."

"Hey! It does not!" Percy protested.

Travis made some gagging noises and made his body go 'limp.' "NOOOOOO! HE WAS MY ONLY BROTHER!" Conner yelled to the sky. The rest of the boys in Hermes cabin turned to him. "Uh, I mean, HE WAS MY ONLY IDENTICAL BROTHER! WHY?"

"Because three of you would be the most terrible thing since Apollo in bell-bottom pants, now, could you get out of my way?" Thalia growled.

Travis didn't move, so Thalia stomped on his face with her combat boot, and casually strolled the rest of the way to the range. "Hey! You could've broke my nose!" Travis yelled, breaking character.

"Oops. Conner, tell Travis he's ruining he joke." Thalia called back, in a bored tone.

Percy and Nico just stepped around him.

"You ruined it!" Conner said stubbornly.

"We'll get you for that Thalia. Oh, just you wait. Don't sleep with both eyes closed tonight!" Travis said devilishly.

"Uh, I think it's sleep with one eye open, Dweeble-dee and dweeble-dumb." Nico said, shooting the arrow crooked.

"Yeah, and you'll only have one eye if you keep bugging us." Percy threatened, because they were getting seriously annoying.

Conner raised an eyebrow. "Really Jackson? You got the guts? Let's just see how you go up against us in an archery contest. How 'bout it? We win, we get to make you do whatever we want. And if you win ... well, that's pretty much impossible. Deal?"

Percy moaned. He looked back to Thalia and Nico, who were motioning for him to take the deal. "Aw, can't Thalia do it? This is more her thing anyway."

"Nope. The bet's with you, and only you." Travis said, taking off his head band and fake blood.

"Then only one of you can go against me. And, it has to be the best prankster." Percy coaxed.

"Easy. That's me." Both of the Stolls said. They looked at each other and laughed. "Okay, you're pretty good, I'll give you that. But everybody knows I'm the best." Conner bragged.

"No way! I'm so better than you! Remember who put itching powder in all the Aphrodite cabin's makeup? It proved even some of their guys wear it!" Travis fought.

"Yeah, but who came up with that scheme to put a load of daddy long legs in Athena cabin? Oh that's right, I did!" Conner boasted. Percy remembered that. Annabeth slept in his cabin most of the summer. It was a good summer. (So, it stank like cow manuor and was infested with spiders)

"I'm the best!" Travis fought back.

"No I am!"

"Excuse me, but I can solve this. You're both mediocre, I'm the best." One of their sisters said.

"What? No way!" Both the Stolls said.

"Nuh uh, I'm the best prankster, obviously." One of their other brothers boasted.

"Oh yeah? I think you're forgetting about the real best prankster here. Me!" One of the youngest ones said with a slight lisp.

"Way to go Percy. Maybe you spending all that time with Annabeth is doing you some good." Nico said to Percy, so the Hermes children wouldn't hear.

Percy chuckled. "Yeah, but all I did was copy them. Remember the golden coconut? I guess Travis and Conner are the best, but don't tell them that, I wanna see how far this goes."

It was starting to get dark, and they had been at the archery range for hours, waiting for Chiron. The Hermes cabin had officially declared an all-out prank war on each other, but left for their dinner, so the three of them couldn't watch the fun.

Nico lifelessly shot an arrow crooked. He sighed, "When is Chiron coming? This is stupid."

"It's not so bad. At least I can hit the bulls-eye almost every time." Thalia bragged.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Percy questioned.

"It doesn't. But you gotta admit, this," She started, hitting the arrow directly on the bulls-eye. "Is pretty impressive."

"Whatever." Percy said, rolling his eyes.

"You only say that 'cause you're jealous of my mad skills." Thalia laughed.

"Sure Thalia, I am jelous of your ability to hit a target with a stick."

Thalia gave him a kind of look that said, You really wanna go there? And Percy just gulped and shook his head no.

Chiron galloped up to them, and quizzed, "How long have you been here?"

"A couple hours, it's been so boring!" Nico complained. "What took you so long?"

"I thought you'd come find me. Ah well, no sense in dawdling away the precious time we have left. Come, you must practise the lessons you've learned today. But don't think I've forgotten about your punishments. I shall enforce them when we have more available time."

"Breathe. Calm yourself, and relax your mussels. Come on Thalia, you have to be able to let go and relax." Chiron instructed.

"I can relax, this is just stupid." Thalia grumbled. "Why do Percy and Nico get to practise on the obsticle coarse, and I have to do this?"

"Because they already understand this, and you don't. It's not a punishment, I'm just teaching you the way I think you should be taught. You're each different in your own ways-"

"And you need to teach to the lowest understanding, yeah, I've had the pity talk before. Look, I'm plenty relaxed." Thalia protested.

"Well, would you rather go up on the high-rise?" Chiron tested.

Thalia paled, closed her eyes again and said quickly, "I'm relaxing my mussels, and breathing slowly, what next?"

Chiron smiled. "Now, concentrate on something you truly love."

*Bonus scene* (This is a scene that takes place when Thalia's trying to relax, but you don't necessarily have to read it, because it doesn't necessarily have much to do with the story. If you want to skip reading this part, just scroll down until the next horizontal line. This is mostly just here to get to 10,000, plus my friend wanted me to, so here)

In Bridgeport Hospital, Connecticut, an old man struggled to breathe. His son was there, holding his hand. The man had one last confession on his death-bed. This man, was Walter Chardon. "Cyrus ... It's time I t-told you the truth."

"Dad, it's okay, save your breath." Cyrus soothed.

"No. I have to tell you. It's about your brother." Walter wheezed.

This caught Cyrus by surprise. "What's to tell? He died when I was five, then you told me had to take his place-"

"N-no ... Cyrus, he ran away."

There was a silence while he took that fact in. "You mean ... he's still alive? He's still out there? But then ... why did he run away?"

Walter looked pained. "I told him ... horrible things ... he ran because I told him ... he wasn't welcome, in our family. That he was hated, and ... and I blamed him for ..."

"For mom's death. Wait, you told him he wasn't welcome, but then turned around and told me to take his place? How could you do that?" Cyrus asked, disbelievingly.

Walter's heart rate went up. "S-son, I-I-I never meant to ..."

Flat-line.

"Dad, no ..."

Percy looked out to the sea. He was so tempted to sneak into Athena cabin, and wake up Annabeth, but that wouldn't fair to her. It was 1:00 A.M. He couldn't sleep because he kept thinking about her. How was he gonna get on good terms with her by the end of the summer? Especially when he couldn't see her. He then came up with an idea. He took out a piece of paper and started writing in anceint Greek:

Dear Annabeth,

I miss you so much. I wish I could see you just once, but Chiron says we're on a tight schedule. Every thing's going well. We only had one more attack so far, and that was Thalia. Chiron keeps saying everything'll be fine, but since you're not here, it's hard to believe that. I can't believe I have to send you a letter when you're only a few feet away. This sucks. Anyway, this disease just keeps getting worse. Chiron told us about these side affect things that make us act weird. There's a ton. So, if you do get to see me, you'll be a little surprised. Then you'll probably laugh at me, but still. I miss your laugh. I miss you. Look, I'm sorry about everything I said, and stuff, so, can we make up or whatever? I'm not sure how to say it, but that's the best I can do. Titan lord, defeated. Talking to pretty girls, still a problem. Oh, I uh, also wanna tell you, not to worry too much. And that, I'm fine. So, I guess I have nothing left to say, except, I love you. Please remember that.

From, Per- uh, Seaweed Brain.

That would have to do for now. He put it in an envelope, sealed it, and wrote her name on it. He took a step out the door, checked around for the harpies, then made a mad dash for cabin six. Thankfully, he got there without being spotted. He was tempted to knock on the door, but he stopped himself just before his fist hit the wood. He heaved a sigh, and placed the letter carefully on the poarch. He stepped down, and trudged a few steps, before looking back over his shoulder, one last time. This was his last chance ... No. He turned sadly and walked with his hands in his pocket back to the lonely cabin 3.

On the way there, he noticed Thalia on the porch of Zeus cabin. She was propped up against the wall, her eyes closed, a frustrated look plastered on her face, and muttering under her breath. "... Come on, come on, come on ... I can do this, I can do this ... Grrrr, I can't do this. It's just too stupid! No, okay, focus ... focus ... Gods, this is stupid."

"I never thought you were the kind of person who talks to themselves." Percy told her, leaning against the post of the porch.

Thalia opened her eyes and blushed a little. "Yeah, well, I never thought you were the kind of person who invades people's privacy. What are you doing up anyway?"

"Can't sleep. Lot on my mind."

"For a change." Thalia spat. Percy threw her a the look that said, Shut up, Thalia, or I'll throw you into the lake. You'd be surprised how often he had to use that look.

"So, why are you up then?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm hosting a magical party for elfish-looking-dwarfs, I came out here to get more punch for the party, when I was rudely interrupted." Thalia grumbled.

"So, you're trying to master the relaxation technique, and you don't want people to know, so you're doing it at night. Either that or the dwarf thing. But there's a substantial lack of dwarfs, so it must not be a very good party." Percy rationalized.

Thalia stood up. "Look, just don't tell anybody, okay? It's stupid, and I don't want anybody thinking I like this hippie crud."

"You really can't do it?" Percy questioned curiously.

"No, alright. I just can't remember a time when I was truly happy, except ... w-well, that doesn't matter. I just can't do it, okay?" She sighed. "Why are you out here?"

"I uh, was gonna go wake up Annabeth, but realized how stupid that would be, and just left." He left out the part about the love note.

Thalia looked at him strangely for a moment. "You really love her, don't you?"

"Of coarse."

Thalia laughed a little. "I knew it! I knew it ever since I first saw you two together."

"Oh come on, Thalia."

"No, I'm serious! Why do you think I made you guys dance at Westover hall?" Thalia quizzed, a smug look on her face.

"Well, to make us spread out so the ... monster ..." He saw the knowing look on her face. "No way."

Thalia laughed again. "It was so obvious! I can't believe it took you five years! Man, you are slow!"

"I am not!" Percy defended.

Thalia put up her hands in fake defeat, trying to hold in her laughter. "Okay, okay. Don't have to have a spaz attack. It's just, you two are cute together."

"You sound like the Aphrodite children." Percy muttered.

"I'm serious. I might be a hunter, but I can still see you two gawking at each other."

"You mean, you used to be. You got kicked out." Percy accused.

Thalia stared at him. "How ... What'd you mean?"

"Thalia, I know you got kicked out of the hunt."

"Pssh, no I didn't. Don't be even more stupid than you already are, if that's even possible." Thalia denyed.

"You don't have to lie to me, you know. Annabeth says we're alike, so I guess that means I should understand."

"You would never understand ... How'd you figure it out anyway?" Thalia asked.

"Well, little things. You don't like talking about the hunters, you don't have that hunter glow around you, you're not wearing your lieutenant tiara, and you chose to stay in Zeus cabin, instead of Artimis's cabin. Plus when the doctor cut your leg open, the blade didn't break. I'm pretty sure you weren't in battle, when you went under for surgery. Look, you may think I'm a complete idiot, but I'm not blind. I'm pretty sure Nico figured it out too."

"Darn it. Should've at least stayed in her cabin. That must've been a big tip-off." Thalia muttered.

"Listen, it's okay that you're not a hunter-"

"No it's not! This is why you wouldn't understand. Those girls were my family, Percy! I'm all alone now. Again! When I was with the hunters ... it felt like I belonged there. It felt like there were people who ... cared about me. A-and I had responsibility. I knew that my decisions would make an effect on some one else, and that felt sorta right." Tears had formed in his eyes.

"That's 'cause you're a leader, like your Dad." Percy offered.

"Whatever. I had a home with them, Percy. I wanna go home." Percy hugged her comfortingly. "I just wanna go back home." Thalia whispered.

"It's okay, it's all gonna be okay." Percy soothed. It kind of felt weird hugging Thalia like that because Thalia was always so hostile. But now, she was so open and fragile, it kind of scared him.

Thalia didn't necessarily want to open up to Percy. It was just, the guilt was killing her, and she needed to tell somebody. He was just there when she finally fell apart. Timing.

Suddenly, the harpies screeched somewhere close. "We better get back into our cabins." Percy observed.

He was about to leave when Thalia grabbed his shoulder. "Please ... I really need a friend right now."

He looked to the Poseidon cabin for a moment, then said, "Alright, but you better not snore."

"You've got to promise me, anything I say or said, doesn't leave your lips after tonight, or I'll rip them off. Swear on Styx." Thalia reasoned, pinning him in place with a cold stare.

"You don't trust e to keep my mouth shut?" Her look didn't change, so Percy just agreed, "Fine. I, Perseus Jackson, do hereby solemnly swear upon the river of Styx in the depths of the Underworld, that I will not become a blabber-mouth and tell to any body, under any circumstances, any of the secrets you, Thalia Grace, reveal to me tonight. There. Happy?"

"Happy-er. But don't use that name." Thalia said, reaching into a chip bag.

"What? Gra- uh, I mean, your last name? Why?" Thalia shot him the kind of look that said, Don't ask. So he let it go. "So why is it so important that you're not a hunter anyway?"

"It's just, well, imagine the people you care about get suddenly taken away, and you can't do anything to stop it. I feel so helpless, and weak. I hate it. " Thalia explained.

"Yeah, you never did like looking weak." Percy observed.

"It's more I never liked feeling weak. You know? When I was a kid, I was so feeble and powerless. I just stood back and watched my mother become a drunken wreck, and it scared me that I couldn't do anything. I was so young, I couldn't have done anything, could I?" She was asking herself, more than Percy.

"No, it's your mom's fault. She was the one who chose to turn to drinking, not you. She was the one who chose to miss out by not spending time with you, not you. It was her fault she was a bad mom, you can't blame yourself for that. And she shouldn't either." Percy tried. "Well, that's what I think. I wasn't there, so you tell me."

Thalia sighed. "You're right. But, I can't help but feel that I was supposed to do something. I mean, I was a kid, but maybe I was supposed to tell somebody. Maybe that would've saved her ..." Thalia blinked hard and tears slipped out.

"Stop saying stuff like that, it's not true. You were in the tree, there's nothing you could've done-"

"No, I mean if I'd told some one before I ran away that she was drinking, maybe they could've stopped her! That's what she meant when I saw her in the underworld, 'Doomed to walk the earth, and it's your fault!' I could've stopped this." (Quote taken from page 121 of the Demigod Files)

"She blamed you because she was too unstable and thoughtless to take any responsibility! You didn't do anything wrong!" Percy reasured, because he hated seeing her like this.

"You just said it, I didn't do anything. What do you think would've happened if I did?"

"I don't know, but you gotta stop blaming yourself, and let it go. Let her go." Thalia avoided his gaze. "This isn't like you, Thalia, and it kind of scares me, to be honest."

"It scares you? I'm absolutely terrified! I know I'm not acting like myself, but that's because I can't right now. I'm so lost right now, Percy. I guess I've always been, but getting kicked out was the last straw. I-I don't what the Hades I'm supposed to do! ... When I joined the hunters, it felt like everything would work itself out, and everything was perfect the way it was. Now ... I just don't know. " Thalia said sadly.

There was a silence while they both thought about it. Then, "Can I ask you something? Why did you want to become a hunter in the first place? It seemed like such a spur of the moment decision to me, and I never got why you wanted to do it. Why did you?" Percy asked.

"Well, it's not like I hadn't thought about it. I'd been considering it what it meant for a long time. When I did it, I was one-hundred-percent sure that that was what I wanted. And I did it because, I guess, I just knew it was right. It felt right."

"But what about ... well, you know." Percy hinted.

Thalia's brow furrowed. "What?"

"Well, the whole swearing off guys deal. That didn't make you re-think it at all?"

"Nope." Thalia answered simply. "I guess after Luke, I didn't want to take any more chances."

"Probably. But I heard somewhere that statistically, a little girl's view of men comes from their father, and with yours not being there and stuff, it didn't help. Luke was probably just the last straw." Percy rationalized.

Thalia stared at him funny. "Where'd you hear that?"

Percy shrugged. "Probably from Annabeth. She's a walking Wikipedia."

Thalia laughed, which was a good sound after all the crying. "Yeah, she's always got something smart to say, and if not it's a trap."

They both laughed.

"I miss her so much." Percy admitted.

"I can tell. I bet she misses you too."

"I'm not so sure. I told you we were fighting right? Well, I think she's gonna leave me. If not now, when she goes off to England. And I don't know why. I was just trying to protect her."

"What happened exactly?" Thalia questioned. Percy told her all about Annabeth getting excepted, Prom night (As much as he could with such little memory), them fighting, then fighting again, and how they got distant. "Wow. That's pretty bad."

"You're not helping." Percy grumbled.

"Sorry. Listen, I think you two'll find a way to make everything right again. You always do. Things'll work out for you two, you just need to lay off and let nature take it's coarse."

"Yeah, maybe ..." Percy mumbled.

They talked the whole night. The problem was, they talked the whole night! They didn't get any sleep, and sleep was becoming a precious thing. They took turns trying to solve each other's problems, but not much was solved since they were so like-minded. But solved or not, they were both happy for the time together, without it being a lesson or quest or something. In other words, they loved it.

Here you go! Over 10,000 words in one chapter! I worked pretty hard for this, just because I wanted to see if I could do it. Now, I have some things to explain. Let's start with the 'bonus scence.' Why did I do it? Because just telling you the first part of Jerry's history would be a stupid. I probably shouldn't of shown you any of his history because now my friend wants me to write another bonus scene near the very end of the story. I know it sucks and doesn't have much to do with the story, but still. Okay, next thing I have to explain is the night where Percy and Thalia talk. IT'S NOT A COUPLE THING! I'm just showing you the family part of the story. This is what I originally planned, them bonding over their problems. That's all I wanted it to be, and that's all it is. I want a family bonding story, instead of it always being romantic. Which I'm not saying I'm against, but I always found that Thalia and Nico don't get much family in the story, so I just wanted them to, well, you know, havea family with Percy and the rest of the gang. There is a few good stories on here that do that already, but compared to the number of NicoxThalia or PercyxThalia, I feel it's not enough.

P.S. You see the trailer for the movie Vampires Suck? It's hilarious! Go check it out!