Disclaimer:I DO NOT own PJO or HOO. They belong to Rick Riordan, who recently revealed the cover of Blood of Olympus. Yay!

Chapter Seven

Annabeth

Percy didn't say anything for a minute. He just stared and stared at me. I stared back. I decided that if he didn't say anything soon I would walk away. I was expecting him to yell at me again, or laugh at me, or call me a liar. I mean, he was obviously rattled about his parents and I just basically told him to suck it up.

But then he did something that surprised me even more. He hugged me.

I froze. When Percy didn't let go, I hugged him back.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth," he whispered in my ear.

"You had nothing to do with my past, it's fine," I replied, surprised.

"Yeah, but I'm sorry I acted like a jerk. I was selfish, thinking you hadn't gone through anything similar to what I had. And I'm sorry I yelled at you." He pulled away and looked me in the eye. "You didn't deserve that."

"Thanks," I responded softly. Suddenly all I could see were those eyes. Green, like the ocean, with flecks of blue, gold, and darker green, and a bit of hazel around the center. I could get lost in those eyes forever.

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted.

"Well, the newbie has found Miss Princess," a rough voice called from behind me. I turned, scowling. It was Clarisse and her two friends.

"Go away, Clarisse. Don't you have something better to do than pick fights you can't win?" I asked, annoyed, hands on my hips.

"Yeah, but there's always enough time to fight you."

"Annabeth, what…?" Percy cut in, looking completely lost. I sighed.

"Percy, meet Clarisse, daughter of Ares."

"Like the war god?"

"Yes, the war god. Now, let's go." I grabbed his arm but Clarisses grabbed him too. He didn't stand a chance. She started to haul him to the bathroom and I followed, annoyed as heck.

"Clarisse, just leave him alone. He hasn't done anything."

"Doesn't matter," she countered. "We have an initiation ceremony for newbies like Prissy here."

"Percy," Percy and I corrected automatically.

"Whatever."

I opened my mouth to try again, but Percy gave me a look. It said to let him deal with it. He had to deal with the bully, not me. I closed my mouth and sighed, mentally telling Clarisse all the reasons she shouldn't do this.

Once inside the bathroom, I stood by the entrance and watched through my fingers as Clarisse started to lower Percy's head into the toilet bowl while her cronies watched from behind. The bathrooms reeked, and I cringed at the thought of getting dunked in the water. Poor Percy. He'd have to take a shower right after this.

Then the most surprising thing happened. As Percy struggled against the grip on his head, the plumbing started to gurgle. I could hear the pipes around the room shifting and shuddering, as if a large amount of pressure was on them. Then an arc of water shot out of the toilet bowl Percy's head was almost in, flew straight over his head, and hit Clarisse straight in the face.

Percy fell to the floor as Clarisse was pushed backward and started screaming. Another blast toppled her over and propelled her across the floor. Her friends came forward to help her, but then the rest of the toilets came to life too, holding them back. Like some creepy Fantasia mixed with a Vegas fountain show, the plumbing was rebelling and water was flying through the air. It was hilarious until the showers joined in the fun. It soon turned into an unexpected deluge for me too.

The water continued its performance until the Ares children were ejected through the door. Then, almost magically, the waterworks shut off. The bathroom was soaked.

I looked up, expecting to see Percy as drenched as me, but he was standing in a circle of dry floor, not a drop on him. I was shocked.

"How did you…" I said. He just stared back at me.

"I don't know."

We walked out the door to see Clarisse and her siblings in a puddle of mud with campers all around, gawking. Clarisse glared at us, eyes full of hate. "You are dead, new boy. Totally dead."

I expected Percy to leave it at that, but he didn't.

"You want to gargle with toilet water again, Clarisse? Close your mouth." Clarisse's friends had to hold her back.

The crowd dispersed, leaving Percy and me alone. My mind was racing. I was in full strategic mode. If Percy stood along… And the Ares campers… Number of guards… Fighters…

I stared at Percy, a plan forming in my mind. Sure, I was kind of angry and grossed out, but what I could achieve with Percy on my team…

"What?" he demanded. "What are you thinking?" He must have see my expression. I smiled slowly.

"I'm thinking," I responded, "that I'm glad you're on my capture the flag team."

~o0o~

After dinner Chiron announced the capture the flag game. Everyone went crazy. What can I say? We love capture the flag.

I ran into the pavilion from where I had been listening outside. Some of my siblings and I were carrying our banner. It was gray with an owl and an olive tree for Athena. from the other side, Clarisse ran in with her siblings carrying their flashy-and ugly- red banner. We were so going to win.

I glance over and saw Percy talking to the head counselor of Hermes. I quickly looked away, not wanting him to catch me looking. Not that I'd mind looking into those eyes again.

"Heroes!" Chiron announced. "You know the rules." I did. I've been playing since I was seven. "The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game," he continued, and I mentally said his whole speech from memory. "Arm yourselves!" He spread his arms and all the weapons appeared. I grabbed my stuff and started walking towards the forest.

Soon Percy caught up to me. I wasn't able to out-walk those long legs of his.

"Hey," he greeted me.

"Hi." I smiled.

"So, Connor told me I was on border patrol? What does that mean?"

"It's easy," I explained. "Just stand by the creek and don't let the enemy cross the border. Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan." Oh boy, did I. I just hopped he wouldn't be mad at me.

"Ok." He sounded disappointed. I dismissed it, going over my whole plan in my head. Something occurred to me.

"Oh! And watch out for Clarisse's spear. You don't want to get hit with that," I cautioned.

"Ok."

"Very eloquent today, Jackson," I teased.

"Hey! I have ADHD and dyslexia. Don't blame me!" he defended. I looked at him incredulously.

"Are you serious? You can't use that excuse here."

"Why not?" He scrunched his eyebrows together adorably.

"Percy, we all have ADHD or dyslexia, remember?" I prompted.

"Oh, right." He smiled sheepishly. I recognized that smile. But then he ran his hand through his hair and I started to wonder what that would feel like if I ran my hands through his hair.

I blushed, embarrassed, and marched ahead with a mumbled "See ya."

Focus, Annabeth. Do not let an extremely attractive, sweet guy distract you. I did need to focus. I was executing a slightly difficult plan. I was sending most of my forces towards the middle, as a decoy, hoping to draw out the defense. Then I would lead another group around the left flank and push in towards the flag. I would also, of course, have my own defense. I called it Plan Chancellorsville. Get it? From the Civil War? Ah, never mind.

Soon the horn started for the games to begin. Malcolm led the decoy right down the middle, leaping over the creek. I watched from a hill, trying to see what was happening. It was hard, but when it seemed that most of the defense was around Malcolm, I started our move towards the flank.

We progressed quickly, our small group cutting through the forest easily. We met the few defenders head on. They put up a valiant struggle but they weren't prepared.

I handed the command over to Thalia as we got close to the flag. Then I threw on my Yankees cap, the invisibility one, and sprinted in Percy's direction. If I was right, and I normally was, Clarisse and her buddies would be beating him up right now. I felt guilty for putting him in that situation, but it was necessary to eliminate the main strategic opposition. Gods forbid his beautiful face to be harmed.

I reached where he was stationed and heard the clanging of swords. I pulled out my knife, but when I came within sight, I didn't need to do anything.

Percy was standing in the creek, fighting off all the Ares kids. And he was doing well. Several of them were on their butts and one no longer had a plume on his helmet. As I watched, the others backed away except for Clarisse. She charged straight on, but Percy side stepped, caught her spear between his sword and shield and snapped the shaft.

I raised my eyebrows, surprised and pleased, then lowered them, realizing no one could see me anyway.

Just then, Thalia came sprinting across the creek with the other team's banner. Everyone was cheering, drowning out Clarisse's yells. The flag shimmered to the Zeus cabin symbol, but I was focused on Percy.

"Not bad, hero," I congratulated. He turned to me, but looked around confused. "Where the heck did you learn to fight like that?" I took of my cap and put it in my pocket. He had only been here a week, right?

"You set me up," he stated. I knew this was coming. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Thalia around the flank. You had it all figured out."

I shrugged. "I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."

"A plan to get me pulverized."

"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in," I gestured to my unsheathed dagger, "but… You didn't need any help."

"Fine, you're right. But has this been your plan all along? To use me as a distraction?" He was getting more angry.

"No! I didn't initially think you would be a distraction. You were part of our team. But the opportunity arose, and I couldn't deny the strategic advantage I would have with you here." Woops. Wrong word choice. He stepped forward, fists clenched at his sides.

"So now I'm a 'strategic advantage'? What happened to us all being family?" People were starting to watch our argument. I didn't care.

"No, I meant everything I said today. But I'm the daughter of the goddess of battle strategy, okay? And that is what this game is, strategy. It would've been stupid not to do this." I was desperate. I didn't want Percy to be mad at me.

"Fine. I was stupid too. Stupid to think you thought of me any differently than anybody else." He started to turn, and I froze. He thought of me differently? He must, if he thought I thought of him differently. A good different, obviously. Wait, he's walking away!

"Percy, wait!" I called after him. I started to run forward, conveniently forgetting there was a creek between us. I slipped, and I was going down. I flailed my arms, trying to catch on to something. Just then, strong, warm arms caught me.

It was Percy. I blushed. Everyone was staring at us, so I quickly straightened.

"I was fine," I muttered, trying to preserve my dignity.

"So glad you appreciate my help," he replied sarcastically. Then I noticed his arm was cut. I glanced at my hand, still holding my dagger. I looked back at his arm. Then the blood on my dagger.

"Percy! I cut you!" I cried, quickly sheathing my dagger. I dug in my pocket for ambrosia, but when I looked back up, the mark was almost gone. "How did you do that?" I asked quizzically.

"You just said so yourself Wise Girl, you cut me." I smiled at the nick name. But I quickly dismissed that.

"No, it was a cut. It's gone." As I spoke, the wound disappeared completely, then everyone gasped. Percy tried to apologize, but we weren't looking at the ex-cut. We were looking above his head.

A green light.

A sign.

A trident.

Poseidon.

"Your father," I murmured, dazed, as all the campers dropped to their knees.

"It is determined," Chiron announced.

"My father?" he asked, bewildered.

"Poseidon," explained Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

A/N: So very, extremely sorry for the late update! First I was very busy with my theatre group. Then I just wasn't very motivated, though I had the idea. I also didn't get much prompting in reviews *hint hint* How 'bout this: if I get 5 reviews, I'll update by Saturday, even if it kills me. If I don't get 5 reviews, I'll still update just not as soon.

Many thanks to CouplesAroundMeButMe and Dragon Clan for your reviews. Even the smallest words help, and bigger ones make my day!

The next chapter will have more modeling in it, and that includes Blue!