The Mark Of Athena - Messers Cohen's Edit

This is the Mark of Athena, as written by myself. It's a very different style, and does contain adult elements... profanity, sex, gore; more like sexual interaction, but not of a detailed nature, and the violence isn't overly gory, not really at all- still,probably not a good idea to read this out in school assembly.

This chapter starts right after the first chapter, as written and read by Riordan himself. If you haven't had a taste of what is to come in the actual book, just search 'rick riordan reads form the mark of athena' in youtube. Please review, and constructive criticism is always helpful. This contains a Percabeth reunion, and no, there isn't any sex in this chapter- there is swearing as well, but also no gore or violence- this one's really how i see it- I know a lot of people state she's more likely to deck Percy and then kiss him, and this is her usual character- but the point is, she isn't in a normal state of mind- she's been missing Percy for eight months. She's not going to be thinking about punching him!

Naturally, i don't actually own the series.

Review constructively plzkthnxbai :)

1.

Annabeth

The marble statue of the weakened Terminus, shown by its flickering status, displayed a grumpy expression.

"Beware Greeks bearing gifts, demigods. We don't use that expression for just anything, you know. It's become one of our mottos through experiences that have proven it to be true!" He exclaimed, his image vibrating.

"We know that this is difficult for you," Annabeth said, putting her hands out in a placating gesture. "But you're going to have to trust us. You've met Percy- he's earned your trust. All we're asking is that you give us the same chance you usually give newcomers...you do give them a chance, right?"

"If first impressions aren't good enough, we usually slaughter them. But put that to one side." Terminus said, Leo paling when he spoke.

The god considered for a moment, face pondering the alternative.

"Very well," he finally decided. "You may enter Camp Jupiter-"

"Camp Jupiter? Yeah, totally fucking rip off us, sure, Romans, you do that-"

"Leo!" hissed Piper. "Not-the-right-time!"

"...but this metal monstrosity remains in the air, above us, as do your weapons, Greeks, you understand? I will not have you threaten my city!" The statue on the deck of the Argo II exploded as he shouted, little bits of Terminus' skull raining down through the deck.

"Very well, Terminus. We agree to your terms." Said Annabeth.

She relaxed. It wasn't easy, bargaining with an OCD border god, and then add that to the chills she'd felt, the worry she'd borne, the stress she'd undergone without Percy in her life- it was difficult, leave it at that. Her heart leapt as she neared to seeing Percy again, the swept black hair, the green eyes, his face in all its beauty. And yet she contained herself, for she pondered the possiblities; Percy could have changed, become more Roman than Greek, distancing himself from her, he could have found new friends, or maybe even-she trembled at the thought- he'd found another girlfriend. He wouldn't. Though the strength of her passion and devotion had seen her, easily, through the months without him, her doubts were brought to bear as she neared him.

The armless, headless, half-destroyed marble bust of Terminus vanished from the deck.

Jason's voice distracted her from her worries. "They're coming from a senate meeting...they're speaking to Terminus, who's just appeared in front of them."

Annabeth leaned over the side, looking for the very scene he was describing. Sure enough, a gray statue, armless and legless had appeared in front of a flock of people, who were draining out of a huge building, intricately decorated, roof cracked, speaking to them. As he finished, a huge groan of protest came from the crowd, but was drowned at once, presumably by something Terminus said.

"Ah...thank god. They're all handing over their weapons to Terminus. He's collecting everything people have got. Everything." He smiled slightly.

"Well, that's a relief." Piper said, who had stood alongside Jason, a hand on his shoulder.

"yeah, no shit. Can we go down now? Actually, heck, why am I asking. The supreme commander does what he wants." laughed Leo, pleased with the realisation of his own power.

Percy

Percy watched from the front of the Romans, shoulder to shoulder with Reyna, as four figures descended from the side of the Celestial bronze-plated warship. He tried to remember how to breathe, but it was diffuclt, and rapidly became more so as the hair colour of one of those descending became clear. Blonde. Percy had eyes for none other than her as the reached the ground, one after the other, and the other.

The only face he had recognised became clearer as she approached. The one face who he had held clear since his appearance at the Wolf House, the one person who he knew he would never leave, who he could not.

He pulled away for a moment. Think as a praetor for a moment, Percy, he chided himself. One was a dark-skinned girl, her hair braided down one side with a raven feather, kaleidescopic eyes a distracting feature, slim, pretty...another was a curly-haired, impish-looking boy with a wild look in his eyes. Hazel's lost friend, Sammy Valdez reborn, or so she said. And then a boy, blond hair, blue eyes, purple toga, tall, handsome. Jason, he realised. And finally...her. His memories of her paled into insignifance at the sight of her, her stunning, slim face, her beautiful features, her long blonde hair, her storm-grey eyes, hunted a thousand miles. The eyes that were looking down. Not at Percy, but below him, somewhere to his right. What have I done? He thought. She's forgotten me. I'm just a piece of her past, i'm not- His thought ceased to move, frozen as she looked up and caught his eye.

Annabeth

Di immortales, she said in her head. Look at him. The eyes, the hair, the face, the figure, the posture, it was him! She rejoiced inwardly, but her internal struggle wasn't done just yet. Don't look, she said to herself. You don't know how he's feeling yet. Look away! She screamed inwardly. She neared, and she could not help herself but stare in wonder at the architecture. Such a fascinating development, that this roman engineering was still present. She made a mental note to study it at some point, and then her eyes snapped back to Percy's feet.

She looked up, and as the swirling clouds of the storm met the green foam of the sea, all was she had hoped for. They were still together; he wanted her just as much as she still did him! It was too much- she began to smile, to grin, her hapiness cracking her mouth- and so did he. That tentative smile made it all the more worth it. As the solemn procession of Annabeth, Leo, Piper, and Jason reached a distance of ten feet from the Roman crowd, Percy and another purple-cloaked camper beside him a few feet in front of them, the first words between Greek and Roman, officially, was spoken:

"How y'all doin'? I'm Leo Valdez-" There was a squeal, and a girl with chocolatey curls fell to the ground, out cold.

"Well, if this is how all you Romans are, how the hell did you manage to last this long? Anyway, i'm-" he cleared his throat-" the supreme commander of the Argo II, that magnificent flying craft up there."

The Romans were open-mouthed, stunned. Then the girl, glossy-haired, who stood next to Percy, purple-cloaked, spoke: "Greeks-"

"Yes, Greeks!" a thin voice cried, angrily. A straw-like kid pushed through to the front of the crowd. "Greeks, who we have shunned as our enemies for centuries, for good reason! Praetor, listen to reason! Take these infidels elsewhere- don't let them-" he leaned closer to the other praetor-" whisper their lies in your ear." He hissed venomously.

"Octavian... stand down. I have made my decision. You have had your chance to speak when the senate met."

"I think you forget, Octavian," said Percy, clearly, "That i'm Greek, too."

Octavian, whoever he was, seemed to realised his error. "I...apologise-"

"Return to the temple." snapped the other praetor.

Octavian scurried away, with... wait. A teddy bear in his hands? Little creepy, Annabeth decided.

Piper stepped forward, and spoke. She spoke of peace, and regret for past deceptions, past wars, a new beginning, friendship, the strength of unity and bonds forged anew. The suggestion of her words was so strong, so compulsory, Annabeth felt the touch of a warm feeling towards everybody, every person in the crowd. They were all going to be her new best friends- wow. Stop there.

The other praetor blinked uncertainly, and then Percy spoke up: "Yes, i think it'd be an excellent idea if we returned to your quarters, Reyna."

Annabeth looked at him, and saw he hadn't been fazed by the charmspeak. But his gaze lingered a moment longer on Piper, newfound respect in his eyes.

For a moment, her mind turned towards jealousy. His eyes should be on me, she thought. But then she pushed that aside, realising how petty that sounded.

As the group turned in the opposite direction, joined by Reyna, Percy, and two others who Annabeth did not recognize- the dark-skinned girl who had fainted, and a bulky, chinese, cherub-faced boy carrying her in his arms.

"Who the heck are you?" said Leo to the chinese kid.

"They're with me. Don't worry. You can trust them." Percy said to no-one in particular.

While Percy was in her view, she was oblivious to the places she was going, oblivious to direction, ignorant of the chills that didn't happen- it was as if he banished her fears just by...being there.

Finally, they arrived at a large, impressively structed house, reminding Annabeth, distracted though she was, of a villa. The house stood next to another identical building, and for a moment Jason took a hesitant step towards it, like reaching towards a long-lost friend. But then he restrained himself and headed inside the first building, the one with the lights on inside, after Reyna. Percy... Annabeth's heart skipped a beat. He was waiting, standing to the side of the door, eyes flickering towards her, smiling slowly. And as Piper went in lastly, smiling at Piper over her shoulder as she went in and shut the door behind her, Percy rushed to her.

For a moment, they embraced each other. Then Annabeth faced him, and pressed her lips to his. It started gently, and then their lips were crushed against one another in a moment of passion. Slowly, they stopped. She raked her fingers through his black hair, looked into his sea-green eyes, and he brushed her hair back, watched her.

"Annabeth." He said, his voice breaking. "You were the...the only thing i could-remember-"He voice stopped, unable to continue for a moment. "You miss me?" he asked quietly, crookedly smiling.

"More than anything else...Percy, i never stopped looking, I never gave up hope, and now you're here! Here! Oh, thank the gods, Percy, you're here."

"Annabeth," he murmmured into her ear, like an incantation. Their fondling, rekindling of memories and intensity turned to another kiss, that lasted half a minute. "I love you," she whispered into his ear.

"I love you too," he whispered back, and she thought her heart would melt. Now she had Percy again.