Okay. Okay. I know it. Y'all hate me. And I can't blame you. I am so sorry! I know I've kept you all waiting (and if you don't want to read this again, I wouldn't blame you) since…well, March 27? And today is May 13. It's been over a month.

On the brighter side…well, actually, I can't think of one. All I can say is…here's the chapter?

Oh, and: "Please, don't kill me."

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

"Annabeth!"

"What? Thalia, you have two seconds before I hang up."

"Annabeth! I'm coming to pick you up in about five minutes, and you're not ready yet?"

"Why are you coming over to pick me up, again?"

"Uh, because today we're going to see the Backbiter 'HQ'? And see the CEO? And his cousin, who I may add is incredibly cute. He has blond hair and these blue eyes and he's always dressed in polo shirts and he has a cute smile and…"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. Thalia did not get obsessed with boys, so Annabeth knew that this guy had to be something special. Really, Thalia never got obsessed with boys. This was more than a little unusual. It was a phenomenon.

"Oh, and he's always really nice, and he's pretty young, too. I think a year older than me?"

Quietly, Annabeth put her cell phone down, but she could still hear Thalia talking. She rolled her eyes again and thought about meeting Bianca and Nico yesterday. It was nice. They were funny, and Nico was like a little brother. Just…well, a perverted little brother.

"He went to a college in Michigan. University of Michigan. You know, where Barrack Obama gave the commencement speech?"

It was nice seeing Percy again, too. The two had been best friends. He had moved away in elementary school, and they had lost touch, but not forgotten about each other. It was good to know that he hadn't become a creepy criminal type.

"Did I describe his smile? Oh, it's amazing. It flashes quickly. You know what it reminds me of? Beads of mercury, flashing out of sight quickly. It's so…endearing…"

That's it.

"Thalia! Shut up!"

"What?"

"I have never seen this guy! I do not want to know what he smiles like! And how many times have you seen him?"

"Oh, once," Thalia answered airily.

"Thalie!" Annabeth yelled, using her nickname.

"Okay, okay, fine. I get your point."

"Good. Okay…so what's his name?"

"Luke Castellan."

"Oh…wait, isn't he the CEO?"

"Annabeth, sweetie, no offense, but you're kind of dumb."

"What! How am I dumb?"

"Okay, look. Luke isn't the CEO. His cousin is. Well, I don't know exactly how they're related, but whatever. I think Luke wanted to be something else, a lawyer. But his family wanted him to go into the family business—"

"Him, too?" Annabeth said to herself, adding another name on her list: Annabeth Chase, Percy Jackson, and Luke Castellan.

"What's that? Whatever. So I was saying: I met him the day I went for the orientation or whatever. He's so…"

"Thalia Grace!"

"Okay, okay!" Thalia laughed. "God, I love pissing you off. Anyway, I met his cousin, too."

"What's his cousin like?"

"Oh…well, he's something of a character. He has black hair, pale skin, and these strange gold eyes. It's so creepy. And then he's really charismatic, but I don't like him, ironically."

"Yeah? Why not?"

"Oh…I don't know. He seems evil. Like Adolf Hitler or Ivan the Terrible or Vlad the Impaler or Attila the Hun or something."

Annabeth blinked. Sometimes, in all of Thalia's fuss and feathers, it was hard to forget how much she knew about history—and evil rulers, apparently.

"But that's not all," Thalia continued via phone. "It's not just that he seems evil like them. It's like…like he's their creator or something. Like…well, not like he's their father, but more like he's their grandfather. But he's not old. He's about our age."

"What's his name?"

"Saturn."

Saturn. "That's it? He doesn't have any last name?"

"No."

"Wow. He sounds like…well, someone to reckon with."

"Um, yeah. That's one way to put it."

"So, you said you'll drive by to pick me up? In that grandiose red convertible of yours?"

"That's one way to put it," Thalia mocked. "Yes. In fact, I'm setting out in ten minutes, seeing as you haven't even gotten out of bed yet."

"'Kay then," Annabeth said. "I'll be ready, breakfast eaten, in half an hour, so we can leave."

"See ya."

"'Bye."

"All right, I'm ready," Annabeth said, swinging out the apartment buildings main door. "'Bye, Beckendorf," she called to the man sitting behind her.

"Goodbye, Mizz Chaze."

"Hey, Thalia!"

"Get in, we're late," Thalia urged. Annabeth complied and quickly they were off, tires squealing.

"Wow." Annabeth raised her sunglasses and looked at the skyscraper. "This is it?"

"Yup," Thalia grinned. "This is it."

"This place is huh-uge," Annabeth stressed. "I feel very…insignificant."

"If you feel insignificant now, wait till you get inside," Thalia promised. Annabeth was off in a reverie, and didn't hear.

"Look at that glass! And wow…" she whistled. "That is some shape. Feminine, but strong. It's the wide base…or maybe it's the building materials? I mean, metal is so…punk or whatever, and glass is so ballerina. Especially tinted glass…"

Thalia rolled her eyes. She began tugging Annabeth out of the car. "Come on!"

"The way that glass is cut, doesn't it remind you of the Sydney Opera House? And that asymmetric layout! It's like looking at the Coliseum."

"Do I look like I care?"

Annabeth didn't listen. "Whatever."

"We're going to be late!"

"Okay, okay, jeez. Lead the way."

"Finally!"

The inside of the building was very nice, modern and sophisticated. An upbeat pop song was playing, one that Annabeth recognized. "I've heard this song on the radio before."

There was a gorgeous African-American girl sitting behind the reception desk. "Hi, Kelli," Thalia nodded in a businesslike manner.

"Thalia." Kelli spoke as if the words had a sour taste.

"Can you ring up Luke for me? Tell him Thalia and Annabeth are here?"

"Oh, you must be Annabeth." Kelli appraised Annabeth, and then shrugged. She picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello, Luke." A pause. "There're two girls here, Thalia and Annabeth." A longer pause. "All right. I'll get their ID and send them up." She put the phone down.

"ID, please," she held her hand out. Thalia slapped down her drivers license on the table, ignoring the waiting palm.

Kelli looked at Annabeth expectantly. Annabeth took her drivers license out of her bag and handed it to Kelli. She took a cursory glance and then gave the two back. "Floor 33. Elevators are to your right."

Thalia and Annabeth walked off, Thalia moving faster and Annabeth trying to keep up.

"Okay, that was weird. You don't like her," Annabeth said. They were in the elevator. There was no way that Kelli could hear.

"Not at all. I don't trust her. She's like…a vampire or something. And plus, she hits on anyone with a pulse and a p—"

"I get it," Annabeth cut her off. "And she hit on this Luke, too?"

"Obviously." Thalia loosened the navy blue scarf around her neck.

"Isn't that sweet; you get jealous over a guy who you don't know yet."

"It felt like I knew him, though. Like a past life," Thalia insisted. "Believe me."

Déjà-vu struck Annabeth. She remembered feeling something like that sometime recently…when was it?

"Oh, look. It's our floor." Sure enough, the elevator dinged and the doors slid open to floor 33. "Ready to meet the boss?"

Annabeth laughed.

The whole floor was one office. Actually, the whole floor was one office, except for a small area surrounding the elevator doors. There was a French door right in front of them, and Thalia knocked.

Faintly (because of the thick glass, Annabeth thought) came a reply: "Come in."

Annabeth pushed the doors open and entered, only a step ahead of Thalia.

The view was gorgeous: huge windows faced her as soon as she entered. The Manhattan landscape was there to greet her. A large desk—immaculately clean, yet looking as if it was worked upon much of the time—was placed in front of a black leather chair with a man's jacket slung on the back. The chair was facing the windows, so that anyone sitting in it would see the skyline.

Annabeth thought that the chair was unoccupied, until it turned, and facing them was a young blond man with merry blue eyes.

"Hey! Thalia Grace!"

"Luke," Thalia crooned. Annabeth hid a smirk. I wish I had a camera.

"And this must be Annabeth…"

"Chase," Annabeth finished. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Castellan."

"Please call me Luke. I would say that Mr. Castellan is my dad, but I never knew him very well, so I won't."

"I see…Luke?"

"Thanks," Luke grinned. "So, Thalia, what brings you two here today?" Annabeth smiled again. Obviously this guy liked Thalia.

"I invited them," came a smooth voice from behind them. Annabeth and Thalia both turned at once.

Another guy stepped inside the room. Annabeth felt her eyes widening.

This guy had ink black hair and eerie but captivating golden eyes. He had a classic Greek nose—that is to say, straight. His lips were red in a way that reminded Annabeth of Snow White, but in a total guy way. He smiled…but it wasn't a completely friendly smile.

"Hello, Annabeth." His eyes bored into Annabeth's. "Thalia," he nodded at her. "I am Saturn."

"Please, have a seat," he gestured to the seats in front of the table. "Sit," he urged again.

Annabeth Chase felt a chill run down her spine.

She put it off as the air-conditioning in the room.

Unfortunately, it was a sign from her subconscious…for better or for worse?

End Chapter.

A/N Yup, yup. You hate me. I'm sorry about that, and for not updating sooner. And now that I have, it's rather short and crappy and…crappy. I'm sorry about that, too. Forgive me? :D But Saturn—and Luke Castellan—are important characters in this story. Normally I hate the Roman names, but for once, they came in handy…

Anyway, thanks for bearing with me…even though I took so long. And if you're a new reader (I doubt that any of you are, but just in case, y'know?) then welcome!

Review, please! :D

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