The shock across my face was immediately replaced with embarrassment. I snatched the nearest random shirt from the floor and covered myself. Percy just stood there, still in pure shock.

Everyone's face was flustered and frozen in their reactions.

But Piper broke the silence. "Okay but what's new? We should've all expected this."

That remark definitely lifted my spirit and a small smile formed on my lips, along with Percy's. Soon everyone was just laughing whole-heartedly. I quickly threw on the shirt that was covering me (finding out it was Percy's Spiderman shirt) and ran over to hug all my friends.

Gods I missed them so much.

Sunday

Sunday went by with a breeze. We all spent our time catching up with each other and everyone's life.

Reyna had actually met someone- her name was Vanessa. Apparently they've grown really close and are planning on moving in together soon. (A/N: We all know Reyna's lesbian lmao)

Piper initially had a hard time adjusting to living as a Roman and constantly being called a Daughter of Venus rather than Aphrodite, but now she fits in perfectly along with Jason. Speaking of, everyone's cheerfully welcomed him back to camp and is currently a retired praetor.

Frank's doing amazing as praetor alongside Reyna, plus he and Hazel are definitely a lot closer. Everyone practically worships Hazel in Camp Jupiter now, since she can control Mist, lift gems, has tamed an untamable horse, and all sorts of other shit that's worth worshipping.

Percy, Leo, and I all informed the other five about the upcoming Demigod Trials. Soon after, we all agreed on our own teams: Girls vs. Guys.

Piper, Reyna, Hazel, and I were so gonna kick their butts.

Monday : Pegasus Relay

Yawning, I rose from my slumber and sat up in my bed. I looked over and noticed Percy already awake. I was awake before Percy? I guess falling asleep knowing the girls and I were gonna crush the boys gave me a source of relaxation so I could sleep peacefully.

"Hey, Sleepyhead," he greeted. He leaned over to kiss me but I dodged it. He gave me a confused look.

"Can't kiss the enemy," I said matter-of-factly.

"What?!"

"Yeah. It just wouldn't be right if we kissed."

"That's so unnecessary."

I scoffed. "That attitude is unnecessary."

He glared at me and I glared back.

"How about we're allowed to be a couple at night, after the games."

"What?! How will that change anything?"

"Uh, I'll get to kiss you."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine. But as soon as it hits morning-"

"Yes. I got it. Owl Head." Oh, two can play at that game.

"Kelp Face."

This week is gonna be so fun. Arguing with Percy is my specialty. (And winning.)

Percy and I spent the entire day apart, which felt so odd for me, since we're always hanging out around Camp. But today (and for the rest of this week), I hung out with Piper, Hazel, and Reyna. I missed them so much.

The Pegasus Relay started about an hour after dinner, so we had almost all day to prepare.

After all the campers sat down at their respective tables during dinner, Chiron stepped up to the front.

"Good evening!" he greeted. "As you all know, The Demigod Trials begin tonight!"

The entire pavilion cheered so loud, I could've sworn I felt the building shake. But, I obviously joined in on the cheering. I peered across the way and spotted my boyfriend giving me a mischievous look, so I mirrored it. He was so going down.

Everyone eventually quieted down, allowing Chiron to continue. "After dinner, you all must report to the Pegasus Stables. Don't be there any later than 7:15! Teams must be there altogether or you will not be allowed to compete."

I caught Piper looking back at me from the Aphrodite table, and we gave each other knowing looks. I searched for Reyna at the Hermes table (she had to stay there since there were no Bellona cabins) and gave her the same look I just gave Piper. Reyna was the best pegasus rider out of all of us, and Hazel a close second. Not to mention that Piper and I were still decent riders.

I looked around me and saw all my siblings trying to quickly finish their meals so they could get to the stables early, which was exactly my plan. Everyone wanted to get the best riding gear first, and first pick of Pegasi if you didn't have your own personal one. But I finished before all of them anyways.

I practically ran back to Percy's cabin and changed into more suitable riding attire, as well as fixing my messy ponytail. Leaving Cabin 3, I saw almost all my siblings flocking towards Cabin 6 to do exactly what I had just finished.

Off in the distance, I spotted Hazel leaving Cabin 13. Reyna and Piper were running together from the pavilion and towards their respective cabins.

I made way to the Stables and saw a bunch of Pegasi already lined, waiting to be saddled. I spotted the gray pegasus I rode during the Battle of Manhattan, Blackjack's companion, Porkpie. I grabbed the best riding gear (enough for me and my team) and put on what I needed. I saddled up Porkpie and stood by him as a bunch of other demigods were flooding in every now and then.

Piper chose a spotted caramel pegasus named Jasmine- I recommended her. Hazel took another gray one, but this one had more white all over him (Jonah), while Reyna had a chocolate pegasus (Rose). Chiron had directed the four of us to be lined up in lane 4. The track surrounded all of Camp Half-Blood- it was a bunch of rope being held in the air by the Pegasi that weren't being rode. Hazel was first, then Piper, then me, and finally Reyna.

I looked over to my left and saw the boys all lined up in lane 3. I noticed Percy was on Blackjack (of course) and was the last guy in the lineup- the anchor. In front of him was Jason on Tempest, then Frank, and then Leo.

Leo looked over at all of us. "Wait... Y'all still showed up?" he asked with a sharp edge of confidence.

I glared at him and he immediately backed down.

"Seeing as though we have highly skilled riders on our team, we figured we had a rather high chance of winning," Reyna stated, with a twinge of sarcasm.

Percy snorted. "Yeah, okay. I've been riding this pegasus ever since I was thirteen."

I gave him a face. "Just because you've been riding him for a while doesn't mean you're good."

He rolled his eyes. I noticed Frank being quiet during this dispute. Smart guy.

Hazel stepped in. "Y'all don't have to keep making up excuses for yourselves. Our team is better than your's and you know it."

All of us went "Oooh", including Leo for some reason.

Hazel winked at Frank.

"We also got Jason and Tempest too, so," Percy added. Jason was smirking.

Now it was Piper's turn to roll her eyes. "I'm surprised you even figured out how to get him here. You know-"

Piper's statements were cut off by the familiar booming voice of Chiron.

"Alright, Campers! Let's get this show on the road!"

A harpy came by and handed every first person in each team a baton to handoff. Every 3rd and 4th person were scooched over to the side so the first could easily handoff to the second after making a full lap. After the first handoff, I would be stepping back onto the track.

Chiron's voice came back. "You know the rules! No dropping the baton or you're disqualified. No swerving into other lanes or leaving the starting line without being handed the baton. Okay, everyone get ready. Set. GO!" He shot a starting gun in the air and the riders were off.

Hazel shot by everyone, giving us a huge lead. (Leo was way behind, thankfully.) It wasn't long until Hazel was rounding the corner and making way behind Piper. She tossed the baton beautifully and Piper easily caught it and off she went. I stepped up to the starting line on Porkpie.

We still had a lead, but other campers were catching up. In fact, I saw Emma gaining on our tail. When Piper was already halfway around the track, Frank was finally taking off. Emma was only a couple yards behind us, and I saw many other campers on our tail, including my brother Malcolm.

Soon enough, Piper came flying in behind me, tossing the baton. I caught it in my hand and immediately sped off of the ground and into the air. I felt Kylie from the Demeter cabin on my tail and I urged Porkpie to speed up.

When I left the starting line, Jason still hadn't been passed the baton, but now an eery electric feeling tingled along my back. I knew it had to be Tempest. I took every turn and swerve swiftly, remembering skills Silena Beauregard had taught me years ago.

I took a sharp look over in Kylie's lane to find that I finally shook her off my tail, but unfortunately I felt Tempest and Jason catching up. Thank gods no other campers were right behind me.

As I rounded the corner nearing Reyna, I saw Jason slowly passing me up and panic buzzed in my eyes. I quickly threw the baton, possibly inaccurate but Reyna caught it anyway. As Reyna took off, Jason threw his baton, but it didn't last in the air long as it starting falling before reaching Percy's hand. Although Percy clearly reached as best as he could, their baton took a tumble to the ground.

Both of their faces were white with fear and regret. "No!" Percy shouted. Jason put both hands in his hair out of frustration. Leo put his face in his hands while Frank just stared at the baton with horror.

Meanwhile Reyna was already halfway around Camp, with no one on her tail. We might've been in trouble with Percy going at the same time as her, but now we don't have to worry about that.

"Lane 3 is disqualified!" Chiron announced from the sidelines.

All of the boys groaned.

I sat there smirking.

Percy turned to me. "We would've so beaten y'all."

"Sure. Like anyone can beat Reyna."

He rolled his eyes in reply.

Soon, Reyna came racing through the start/finish line in first place. Piper, Hazel, and I all hopped off our Pegasi cheering and ran over to Reyna for a group hug.

First challenge won.

As I arrived back to Cabin 3, I immediately flopped onto the bed face-down after pulling out my ponytail.

Percy soon after walked through the door and saw me sprawled across the bed.

"I hope you plan on sharing that bed."

I turned my face to the side to speak. "Sorry. Losers don't get nice, comfy places to sleep."

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me."

I laughed. "Yeah. Don't worry, I'll let you sleep here tonight."

Although I couldn't see Percy's face, I could just sense the eye-roll.

"Even though," I continued. "You didn't do anything tonight."

He scoffed. "Okay that handoff was completely Grace's fault. If he just threw it a little bit farther..."

"Whatever you say."

I glanced up and saw him heading towards his dresser, probably getting stuff to go take his nightly shower.

I finally got up from our bed, and headed over to desk to work some more on my Olympus project. Figured I should do at least some of it today.

"Are you coming to the showers?" I heard Percy ask.

"Yeah, but not right now. I wanna work some more on my project first."

"Alright," was all he said, and I heard the door shut behind him.

Typing on my laptop, I noticed something moving out of the corner of eye. I instantly stopped what I was doing to investigate, not finding anything. I went back to my work, but I saw it again. This time when I looked over, I saw a spider crawling next to my laptop.

I let out an involuntary sharp yelp and threw my hand over my mouth to stop anymore sounds from coming out. I stared at it horrifically, realizing I was gonna have to deal with this disgusting monster myself. Aracne instantly came flying from my memories but I did my best to shove them to the side and lock them up for as long as I could. I would not have another breakdown like the other day.

I couldn't let Aracne have that control over me anymore.

Suddenly, I heard the door busting open. "What?! What's wrong?" Percy asked in a panicky tone.

I breathed out; I hadn't realized I was holding my breath. "Nothing, nothing. It's just a spider." I tried my best convincing voice. Yeah, I was terrified of spiders. But once you encounter Aracne, a simple spider like this one didn't seem so horrific. (It still kinda was, though.)

"I got it, I got it," Percy said hurriedly as he picked up one of his flip flops from the floor.

He walked over and I pointed at the abomination. He began lifting the flip flop, right before I stopped him.

He gave me a puzzled look. I took the flip flop from his hand.

"Wha-"

"You killed the spider last time," I said, remembering when Percy slew Aracne after we fell into Tartarus. No. No more thinking of those awful things. "It's my turn," I continued.

He gave me a worried look, as if he was afraid of me either breaking down again, or going psychotically mad.

I aimed the flip flop over the spider and slapped it to its death. I handed the flip flop back to Percy, heaving out a sigh of relief.

He gave me a proud look before kissing my cheek and leaving the Cabin, knowing there was nothing left to worry about myself.

I felt overwhelmed with satisfaction. I didn't need Percy's words to understand he felt pure pride for me overcoming another part of my fear.

That night, I slept peacefully again.

Tuesday : Archery

I woke up with my arm laying lazily across Percy's bare stomach, with my cheek pressed on his chest. He lay flatly with one of his arms wrapped around my waist.

I wanted to sit there and take in this moment forever, but unfortunately, we actually had things to do today.

I reluctantly removed myself from the comfort of Percy's body and got dressed in my usual, casual attire. Today I decided for a messy bun rather than a messy ponytail (it's not like I had a choice if it was messy or not).

I looked over and saw that Percy was still sleeping (in a pretty awkward position now). If he didn't wake up in the next fifteen minutes, he'd likely be late for breakfast, which would put him in an awful mood for the rest of the day. So I decided to wake him up.

After shaking him for what felt to be a hundred times, he finally woke up.

"Wha-?" He asked groggily.

"Running a lil late," I explained.

"Noooo," he complained lazily, and leaned over to hug my legs as if telling me not to leave his bedside.

"Percy, c'mon."

He groaned again.

I started picking at his fingers, trying to release his hold of me. "Percy, really, you're gonna be late."

"We're gonna be late," he corrected.

"Uh, no... Only you, babe. Now let go of me. I'm not gonna be late and miss my chance at getting chocolate chip pancakes. You know how I love those."

"Thought you weren't supposed to call me babe," he grumbled into my leg.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Get off of me."

He finally let go of me. I sighed in relief and starting turning to leave, but instead, he pulled me back pulled my face to his, kissing me passionately.

I pulled back. "Percy! Do you not remember what I said about-"

"I remember." He pulled me back to kiss me again.

I began leaning into the bed, slowly falling on top of him.

"Stop," I mumbled. But I actually really didn't want to stop.

He stopped. Damn it. I searched his eyes. His gloriously green eyes. The very set of eyes that made me melt under any circumstance, including this one

I couldn't help it. I pushed myself back onto his lips, falling completely on top so I was straddling him. Our kisses grew hotter and messier. His hand was tracing along my spine, sending tingles all over my body. I kept my hand holding his face while the other kept running all over his abdomen.

He peppered kisses in a trail from the corner of my lips and down to my neck where he began sucking. The damned spot drove me insane. I squeezed my eyes shut as he continued, and when he eventually started heading towards the crook of my neck, all the way to my chest. I ripped my shirt off for him.

His lips then moved down the tops of my breasts where my bra wasn't covering. I let a long moan escape my lips. Gods, I would never get used to this feeling.

We were making out at 8:00 in the morning. A non-stop pleasure. Our tongues followed in the steps of our mouths, sloppily kissing. Percy slowed down our kiss for one second just to tug at my bottom lip. I moaned longingly right before he connected our mouths once again.

It got even more heated (as if it could), and I decided that we had to stop at some point. Not only did we need to go get our breakfast, but he and I had never...you know... (though I'm sure everyone thought we did it on a daily). I knew that if we didn't stop soon, it'd lead to that, and that's not what I wanted right now, although I'd been wanting for a while. It just didn't feel like the right time.

I pulled back from our make out session and place my hand upon his chest, telling him to keep back.

I was still breathing really heavy, but managed a sentence. "We should really be getting to breakfast."

"Yeah," he breathed out, nodding his head in agreement.

This was not how I was expecting my morning to go.

Percy and I agreed to go back to our original agreement of no acting like a couple until night after Trials. I was afraid things between might be a little awkward because of how I stopped our predicament, but things were all the same. Thank gods.

So I sat with Piper, Hazel, and Reyna at the Aphrodite table. I unfortunately was too late to get my pancakes, so I settled for a yogurt parfait.

"How are you so late?" Piper asked me as I sat down.

"That idiot over there," I blatantly replied, pointing at Percy across the pavilion.

She laughed. "Should've known."

I rolled my eyes although I had a small smile peeking from my mouth.

"Wait," Hazel cut in. "I thought y'all were-" trying to keep things platonic for the week?

"Yeah. But..." I trailed off, not really knowing how to finish the sentence.

Everyone seemed to understand and stopped asking questions about it.

"Just a quick question- Are any of us actually good at archery?" Reyna asked.

"I'm okay..." Hazel replied.

"Same here," I said.

Piper snorted. "I suck."

Reyna's face displayed something between disappointment and confusion. "Well, I think we'll still do good. Maybe not the best, but..." she trailed off.

I started thinking about the boys team. "Well..." I began saying my thoughts out loud, "Frank's amazing- we all know that. But Percy absolutely sucks. Like worse than Piper."

"Thanks," Piper peeped in between my statements.

"Jason..." I continued. "Well I'm not sure. Piper?"

She looked at me and frowned. "I have no idea. I've never seen him use a bow and arrow."

Reyna cut in. "Actually, I have. He's fairly decent."

I sighed. "Okay... Well how about Leo?" Saying his name, I glanced over where I expected to see all four boys together, but Leo was missing from the group. My eyes scanned just a bit more and found him sitting with Emma. I got a little excited for both of my friends.

"Well," Hazel said, bringing me back to our conversation. "He's... alright. He definitely should never choose it in combat, but he's not the worst."

I nodded my head. "So it seems like we're pretty even."

At this point, I didn't care so much for beating other teams. I just wanted to crush the boys.

As I was finishing my breakfast, Chiron approached our table.

"Hello, ladies," he greeted kindly. "I need you all to visit me in my office after breakfast."

I glanced at the girls around me, asking a silent question of Why? They all just shrugged.

"Okay," I replied skeptically.

He smiled and walked away. I followed his direction with my eyes and saw him approach the boys.

Must be something with the Argo II Crew. (Plus Reyna).

When does this end?

All 8 of us stood in Chiron's office, waiting to be addressed with what he wanted to tell all of us.

"So," He began, "don't worry; There's not another prophecy you'll have to venture through."

Every one of us heaved out a large sigh of relief.

"But," he continued, "I want to inform you about something- You 8 are the most reliable demigods we have to take care of anything," He said the last part with pride.

"There's something fishy going on in Olympus," Chiron stated. "Mr. D was brought back to Olympus this morning because of the matters."

I looked around the others, seeing that they had the same confused look

"So... what's going on?" I asked quizzically.

He pursed his lips. "I'm afraid I am not fully informed of this situation. But..." He trailed off as he began digging through. his desk drawers.

I turned around and gave Percy a worried look. I could see he was reciprocating it.

The last thing we needed was another quest. Or just... anything that involved saving the day.

"Aha," Chiron said as he finally found a notepad shoved to the back in one of his many drawers. He placed it on top of his desk, studying it slightly.

"These are my notes of what I've gathered," he explained. "Lord D was in the middle of an Iris message before being called to Olympus. I'm aware this was wrong of me, but I couldn't stop myself from trying to capture the worrisome facts I was initially overhearing." He scanned over his notes again, holding the notepad in his hands.

"Apparently, there's some sort of threat going around of... Kronos." He said Kronos in a deadly tone.

I closed my eyes, deeply. Why Kronos? Percy and I defeated him. My eyebrows scrunched together in denial as I grabbed Percy's hand from behind me. Kronos was the cause of many of our friends' deaths- Including Luke Castellan... Charles Beckendorf... Silena Beauregard... And countless others.

The 6 other demigods in the room definitely held pressed looks, but not as grim as mine and Percy's and I guess Chiron noticed.

"I know," Chiron said grimly, looking at Percy and me. The other demigods seemed confused, but no one wanted to go into detail.

"And," Chiron continued. "There have been vague sightings of the Kronos Curse." (A/N: the Kronos Curse isn't a real thing, I made it up lmao but anyways)

I felt the blood from my face drain.

"The what?" Leo asked.

"Yeah... I've never heard of that," Jason put in.

"It's ancient," I spoke up. "An ancient curse that sets the world on a time loop. The earth has supposedly experienced it many times, long ago, but there's not many records of it. There's nothing said on how to stop it. But the only people actually aware of the loop are those who saw the curse, and were hit with it afterwards. For example, a scythe, Kronos' symbol, could be engraved on something, and should start glowing. You could be hit with the curse or not, but no one's really sure," I explained.

Everyone looked around with even more worry.

"Precisely," said Chiron. "This could be a very serious matter, or nothing at all. But I though all of you had the right to know of this; I would also inform Nico but he's unfortunately not here. Again, I am not sure of what's happening in Olympus, but we should all be cautious. You are not to spread word of this- we don't need a camp-wide panic."

We all nodded shallowly.

"You all may leave."

We shuffled out his office in one big group. My hand was still laced with Percy's; I hadn't noticed how hard I was squeezing it until now.

"So... We're just supposed to make sure we don't run into any glowing scythes?" Percy asked.

"I guess."

Hazel looked nervous, and then she spoke. "So, there's no way to prevent this? Why is it spreading?"

"Yeah, and how do you know if you go hit with the curse? Is it a tingly feeling?" Leo asked.

I was used to being hammered with questions, but now that I didn't have all the answers, I felt useless and confused.

"I don't know," I replied, to all of them. "Just... be on the lookout I suppose. Remember, we may have nothing to worry about it."

Everyone nodded and dispersed, leaving me with my hand still glued to Percy's. He turned and faced me.

"Are you good?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just... unexpected news."

"I know. Kronos Curse? Why haven't I ever heard of this?"

"Everyone thought it was gone for good, therefore leaving it unnecessary, I guess."

His expression was grim, and I could tell he was just as unhappy about this as me.

"Alright, well, I'll see you later, Wise Girl." he smiled his warm smile before letting go of my hand and walking away, most likely towards the sword arena.

I turned on my heel to spend the rest of my morning at the beach. Relaxation sounded really nice.

Finally it was night. We had all finished our dinner and were gathered at the archery range. I was still excited for competition as always, but my mood had been dampened by the earlier news of today. I wasn't feeling my A-game.

Reyna, Hazel, and Piper all seemed pretty unbothered though, like the news passed right through them. I understood that Kronos didn't have the same impact to them as it did me, but I expected them to be a least a little shaken up. Maybe I was just being paranoid?

This time around, Chiron chose our line up: Alphabetical order, leaving me first up. Next was Hazel, Piper, and then Reyna.

"Okay, campers!" Chiron addressed. "Let's see your archery skills!" He spread his arms in an exciting manner, asking for some noise. So, naturally, all of Camp Half-Blood shook with the happy screams of demigods.

"Demigods, please step up."

I grabbed my bow and arrow and stepped up to our lane of targets. The targets were scattered across the field, giving me a range of different heights and distances.

Looking down to my right a couple lanes down, I noticed Frank. Great. The guy would be done by the time I get one arrow in the air.

Unfortunately, being placed so far from the boys, there was no side-banter for us to take part in. Right next to us was a bunch of Nike kids- the most annoying ones to argue with. And the other side? Emma with all her best friends- not exactly the prime arguing team.

"Ready," Chiron announced, breaking my train of thought. "Go!"

I scrambled for the arrow in my quiver and nocked it. I aimed as precisely as I could and released. It hit the first target, but in one of the middle rings.

"Woo!" My team hollered.

4 more targets.

I aimed for my target. Hit that one in the same place. I was on a decent roll until I shot my fourth arrow, and it completely skimmed the target, not setting any points. I groaned in annoyance.

"It's okay, Annabeth! You got this!" Piper encouraged.

I had enough arrows to take the shot again. I did, landing it, but on one of the outer rings. My last shot was my closest to the bullseye, but still not on it. Setting down my bow and quiver, I noticed I wasn't the last camper to finish (Thank gods.)

The next set of campers came up to the front of their lane, which included Hazel for us and Jason for the boys.

That round was much more energetic, due to Connor and Travis Stoll. The girls and I cheered for Hazel as she took her turn. She and Jason ended up with what seemed to be a pretty equal score, though I wasn't positive.

Next up was Piper and Leo. And unfortunately another Stoll brother. I was trying to eye other team's scores but didn't come up with much except that the team full of Apollo kids (and one Aphrodite) had an insanely high score. Of course.

Piper was doing... decent. Though Leo wasn't much better. She had to retake multiple shots, but she always eventually got the target. Piper was on her fourth target (so was Leo).

"You got this!" I encouraged. Reyna and Hazel whooped and clapped their hands.

I glanced around, and saw that Piper and Leo were actually the only ones left. Leo was now on his fifth target.

Piper very carefully pulled her arrow back. I could tell she was very concentrated. I noticed her heave out a deep breath, readying herself for releasing her shot.

A sudden cry of alarm escaped from the daughter of Aphrodite. It was a piercing, sharp yelp. Her arrow went flying, but it was a pointless shot bc her bow had been jerked to the side. That very bow was now on the grow as Piper pointed towards the woods that were just a little bit back behind this archery range.

"Piper?!" I rushed my place to her and grabbed onto her shoulders.

"S-sorry," she stammered. "Did no one see that?" Her eyes were bewildered.

"What? See what?"

Soon Jason was by my side. "Piper, what was it?"

Everyone was staring.

Chiron came over as well. "How about we get you, dear, to the Big House. And um, you too Ms. Chase." He spoke as if he were unsure of himself.

Chiron regarded everyone else saying, "You may all carry on. The satyrs are keeping score."

The white-stallion centaur left with Piper. I looked around and caught Percy's eye, giving him a worried glance.

Could this have anything to do with the Kronos Curse?

I shoved the thought from my mind as I headed towards the Big House.

(A/N: More Percabeth is promised soon! This story has an actual plot to it, so I'm just trying to build to that :) )