II

Percy

So far today had been great. I made my first ever A on a test. Ever since Annabeth and I have been dating my grades have steadily risen. Every day after school I usually went to Olympus to hang out with her, and do my homework. Annabeth's been spending every spare minute up there overseeing the construction and hanging out with me of course. It was basically finished by now, but there were still a bunch of statues that had to be made courtesy of Aphrodite, Apollo, and Zeus. Olympus was absolutely amazing, if you can imagine anything better than the original, than that's what it looked like.

One of my favorite two spots on Olympus was Poseidon's temple. Annabeth's birthday present to me last year was showing me the place. She knew how disappointed I was with the tool shed of a temple at the Roman camp, so she designed the best temple for Poseidon I could have ever imagined. I felt right at home in it. The walls were polished abalone, and charmed to have that glittery sunlight-on-water look. When you walked in a salty sea breeze blew in your face, and you could hear waves crashing on a beach. The temple had sandstone floors that were as warm to the touch as beach sand. There were beautiful, intricate, potted coral formations along the walls. The ceiling was studded with Pearls, and had detailed frescoes of mythical sea creatures. Poseidon's statue stood in the northern wall, and he was in merman form. He had a warm smile on his face and his eyes twinkled.

We did our homework in the Athena temple. The Athena temple's four walls were completely covered in books, and the ceiling was dome-shaped with stained glass. The pictures in the glass were of owl feathers. There was a circular hole in the center of the dome. With the words "knowledge is power. Wisdom is eternal" engraved in ancient Greek, along the circumference of the sky light. I didn't really like going in there. I felt like the statue of Athena in the center of the temple was staring at me sternly the whole time. Needless to say I didn't dare touch or look at Annabeth while we were in there.

My other favorite spot was the memorial park that Annabeth established to remember the veterans of Olympian wars. The Titan War memorial monument was a simple block of marble about six feet high with the names of all those who died in the war demigods, satyrs etc. The demigods on the opposing side were also given a place. When you touched one of the names the block would magically turn into a life size statue of that person. At the base of the statue it said their name, the dates of birth/death, their godly parent (if any) and their stations/accomplishments in battle. On the other side of the block, the surviving veterans had a place as well. It always saddened me to look at the block, but it felt good to know that their service will never be forgotten.

The newest memorial was of the War against the Giants. It was a fountain with life size statues of the seven in the center. Engraved in bronze along the sides of the fountain were all the veterans of the war on both the Greek and Roman sides (the roman's names were engraved in gold). When you touched someone's name their picture and information shimmered in the mist.

When I greeted Annabeth, I had my test behind my back.

"Is there something you want to show me Seaweed Brain?" She asked suspiciously while glancing behind my back.

"Oh it's nothing really just an A on a test." I said smugly handing it to her.

"No way! Percy you made a 90!" she said excitedly before throwing her arms around me and giving me a kiss.

"Will she do this every time I get an A? Maybe I should make studying a habit" I thought randomly.

"I knew you could do it. There had to be some brain cells among all that seaweed in your head." She teased stroking my cheek, her eyes shimmering with affection. Annabeth always did that when I surprised her, or did something that made her happy (which I do a lot). I smiled, and put my arm around her shoulders as she went off to show me the stuff she was working on.

It was around 6 when I started my journey home. I had my license, but I still like to take the subway or a cab because NYC traffic is terrible. I guess the fates thought my day was going to well, so naturally Echidna and Chimera had to corner me in an alley. I was able to kill her and the beast without getting poisoned, but it wasn't easy. They knocked me into the wall, and the ground a couple of times, so I was left with a pounding head ache and sore all over. I was ready to just plop into bed and pass out when I got home. I opened my door and turned on the light...

"Sup Percy?" said the obnoxious voice of Jace Lightwood from my window. Normally I would have had Riptide out in an defensive stance faster than you can say "Hades underpants", but I was so tired all I did was stare dumb struck. Fortunately that lasted about two seconds, and the adrenaline kicked in.

"Jace what do you think you're doing here? How did you find me? Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" I growled dangerously with riptide out.

"Chill out dude, don't get antsy. I just came to talk. As for how I found you, I have my ways." Jace said smugly, like he wasn't apprehensive about my tone and sword what-so-ever.

"If you're asking me to help you and the Nephilim out with something you can forget it." I spat. Yeah I know I'm being mean but I don't want more on my plate, especially when it's another world that doesn't involve me. Besides I barely know Jace, but I can already tell he's one of those stuck up Jerks like those rich kids at every private school I've ever been to.

"Please, Nephilim don't need the demigods help. We can fight our own demons." He said waving his hand. I got a feeling he was talking about when he helped me with the laistrygonians in the subway, that only fueled my growing temper.

"I didn't ask or need your help with those giants. If that's what you're implying." I spat angrily. Jace just rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to be enemies with you. I came here because I hoped that you would listen." Jace's voice got gradually softer until it was gone all together.

"Fine I'll listen, but no promises on me talking back, or staying awake for that matter." I said defeated. Whatever he wanted to say, it wasn't going to be easy for him. Because for a moment there I saw his haughty facade crumble, revealing a vulnerable side. I put riptide away, and plopped into bed trying to shake off the feeling of how comfortable it was and how I just wanted to sleep.

"What happened to you anyway? Err what monster did you fight this time?" Jace asked concerned.

"Jace sounding concerned? This is new."I thought before answering.

"Literally the mother of all monsters decided to pick a fight with me... again. Except this time I killed her and her mangy mutt." I growled picking at my torn shirt. Jace just nodded, and sighed before answering.

"I'm going to tell you some personal stuff that I can't keep bottled up inside anymore. I'm telling you this because I can't trust any of my friends to keep it a secret, and since you don't know any of my friends you can't blab it. I don't want them to know that I have a sensitive side. I think you and I have similar experiences so you would probably understand." I just nodded. So he came here just to unload. Sure I could do that, but I needed to talk to him about breaking and entering without permission. He still sat on the window seat; the moonlight turned his blonde hair a silvery color, as he began his story. It was mostly about this girl Clarissa (Clary) that he couldn't stop thinking about. I've never heard a guy spend so much time describing their girlfriends before. There was one point when he was describing her eyes.

"She has green eyes not the godly, sea green like yours are but a softer, forest green." he said. I just nodded, I wasn't used to people talking about my looks. The shadow hunter went on to say a lot of other stuff about her, but I fell asleep after ten minutes. I know it was rude. I honestly tried to stay awake, but I was tired to begin with. Besides I knew for a fact that I'd be seeing Jace a lot more in the future whether I liked it or not.

Jace POV

I had just finished talking about what captivates me about Clary (which was just about everything) when I noticed that Percy was no longer listening. I wasn't to mad at him. It was obvious he was exhausted the moment he walked through the door. His clothes were torn. His hair was even wilder than usual, and the usual spark in his eyes seemed dulled.

"Will he always come home like this? What if some day he meets a monster he can't kill?" I thought. That's how demigods, and shadowhunter's are similar, we usually get killed from adversaries that prove to powerful. I looked over at him. There's still so much I don't know about Percy. When he told me about the Greek mythology world, he didn't say anything about himself other than who his father was. I'll have to get him to talk one of these days.

I looked around the room in wonder. It amazed me to think Percy was part of two worlds. Whenever he was fed up with the crap he gets from the mythological world, Percy could just escape to the mundane/mortal world. I climbed back through the window, and stood on the fire escape. Nephillim aren't that lucky. I never had an escape…until now.