Hope you guys like this chap.

Read the Author's Note at the bottom.

Percy's POV

After I went to see Annabeth in the beach, I had a close call. Grover started yelling, looking for her. The moment Annabeth turned to look at him, I took the chance to escape. I wanted to talk to her. Reveal myself.

I wanted to talk to her. Hold her and tell her that everything will be alright. When I first arrived here at camp, I spied on Annabeth. I knew that she's hurting bad. Everyone I know, including her, believe that I'm dead.

But I always remembered Salix's warning. I am not allowed to reveal myself. I'm only back from the dead to protect my friends. Not to be with them. I'm just a secret protector that they'll never know of.

When Salix told me that I can't reveal myself he said that I shouldn't ask for now. Maybe he'll explain it to me someday. But I heeded his warning. He said that it was important that I follow that rule. But he never said why.

But I had no choice but to obey him. He knows things that I don't.

He was from the future. He knows what will happen. So I just have to trust him.

I was still breathing heavily from teleporting. But I'm not as exhausted as I was when I first teleported. I noticed that if I concentrate on a certain place, that's where I'll be teleported. I hope that Salix will let me keep this power. I'm beginning to like it.

I can go anywhere I want to go without hailing a taxi, without riding a boat, without riding a plane. Now, I can ride on planes because my presence is hidden from Zeus and the other gods.

I picked a spot where people rarely go. I was deep in the woods, hidden among the trees. I have surrounded myself with twigs, branches and other things that would snap easily. If anyone comes close, I'll hear a snap and hightail it out of there.

My knees buckled and I fell on my butt on the soft ground. I took off the hood. It was getting real stuffy and hot with the hood on. As I took it off, I felt the cold wind sweep against my face.

I already did some scouting before the earlier battle, looking for a good place to hide. I also made sure that the place was beautiful. Since I can teleport anywhere, I took the chance to go somewhere good.

What I chose was a park in Australia. The park was filled with trees and right beside it was a stream. The water in the stream was very clear and was not polluted. Absolutely no trash. Even the ground didn't have any litter. The park had greener grass than any other park I ever knew.

One of the good things about it is there are few people there. It is also far from the noise of the city. It was very peaceful and quiet. I only stayed there for a few minutes after I found it. I remember that I had trouble fighting the urge to stay there. But I needed to go back to camp. I remembered my duty.

Of course, before I found that place, I made a few accidental trips to Japan, Russia, Thailand, proms, the middle of a war, weddings. Things like that. I'm still practicing this ability anyways.

I looked around me. So far, no one was near. I saw my surroundings perfectly. But I knew that I have one black eye. And I'm not talking about the black eye that you get when you are punched hard in the face. I mean that one of my eyes is pure black. It is not only the pupil that's black. But the entire eyeball.

I have already seen myself in the mirror. I remember that I teleported to a dressing room in a mall. Unfortunately, a teenage girl was already there. Thankfully, only her shirt was off. I remember her shocked expresion as she ran out the door, topless, calling for security.

I also remember what I looked like. I looked like an abomination. One sea green eye and one pure black eye. I'm like a half-son of Poseidon and half-black eyed freak.

No one would come near me if they saw me like this. But I shouldn't worry about that. No one would be seeing me anyway.

I stayed there. Sitting on the grass, I tried to even my breathing. My exhaustion was slowly disappearing but, in replacement, my head started to hurt.

I hugged my knees to keep myself warm. But it was no use. The cold wind went against my body.

I raised my arms a little to stretch. The black sleeves went down my arms, exposing a small portion of my skin. That's when I saw it.

My left arm had a scar. It was the size of an arrowhead. The scar went from the back of my left arm to the otherside. Then I remembered. This wound was from Chiron when he shot an arrow at me while I was Kronos' host. I remember that the arrow dug through the arm.

I quickly lifted up my pants and examined my right leg. Sure enough, another one of my wounds was there. It came from Chiron as well.

I hastily felt my ear. I felt the scar I got from Annabeth's knife. I traced the long scar until my hand reached my neck.

I took off my jacket and lifted my shirt up. I felt the scar on my shoulder. I got that one from Nico. Then I glanced at my stomach. The scar on my stomach wasn't that long. I didn't even bother feeling my back. I knew that the same scar is there. I got that from myself. When I stabbed myself with Riptide. I remember that the sword went through my body.

Lastly I checked my back. I felt the scars. There were so many. The scars overlapped each other so many times.

Then realization dawned on me. When I was Kronos' host, these were the wounds I received. I got the scars on my back when I was whipped. I shuddered, remembering the pain.

(If you read the 2nd part of the trilogy, you'd know about these wounds. You'd also know that Percy had a plan to defeat Kronos. And it involved becoming his host.)

I hadn't realized that I still have my old wounds. Now that I think about it, Salix said that he altered my face. Made it better. But he never said that he took away my wounds.

Although I shouldn't worry about it that much. It's not like someone's gonna see my scars.

I let my shirt down and put my jacket back on. Even though no one's gonna see my wounds, I'm still a little worried. Right now, I can remember the pain. Especially from the whippings.

Then I heard the sound of the beating of wings. I shot up from the ground and looked all around me. No one was in sight. Then where did that sound come from? As if on cue, something landed behind me.

My hand crept to my pocket and gripped Riptide. I spun around quickly, next thing I knew, I was facing an eagle. My sword was pointed towards it. But no sign of fear showed from the creature.

I gave a small chuckle. I recapped Riptide and put it back in my pocket.

"Shoo!," I said. "Go on. Scat!"

The eagle did nothing. It just stood there in front of me, staring me in the eyes. Just as I was about to scare it away with water, it did something that almost made me believe that I'm losing my mind.

It talked!

"Is that anyway to talk to an old man?", it asked.

I jumped back in shock. "What the fuck!", I said.

The eagle talked once more. "Don't freak out."

I rattled my head. "I'm going crazy.", I said.

"I said don't freak out Percy.", it said.

"How the fuck do you know my name?", I said, blinking rapidly.

"Don't you recognize my voice?"

I didn't say anything at first. I was too shocked to even try to listen what the eagle's voice sounded like. I even cursed. I rarely curse. I do that when I'm really shocked, surprised, and angry. But now that I think about it, the voice sounded familiar.

"S-Salix?", I asked. It couldn't be him. Because, firstly, he's a man. Not an eagle.

"Good. I thought you'd never figure it out."

"..."

"..."

"Bullshit," I said.

5 minutes later

It took Salix a while to convince me that he's the eagle.

"H-How-"

"-am I like this?", he continued.

I nodded slowly.

"Well right now, I'm in the cave.", it said. "I am talking to you through the eagle. Right now, it's posessed. Cool huh?"

I bit my lip and shook my head. "Not so much. It's more freaky than cool."

"Well, you'll get used to it. To talk to you, I'll be using this method."

"What? Can't you just IM me?", I asked.

"I could. But this is more fun."

"For you.", I retorted. "You almost gave me a goddamn heart attack."

I heard him sigh. But it was still wierd that it came from the eagle's beak.

"Just go back to watching over your friends.", he said.

"Right.", I said as I stood up. "I was just about to do that."

I turned around but gave Salix, I mean the eagle, one last glance. The eagle suddenly stumbled and eventually fell. I walked over towards it to help it up. But before I even touched it, it cawed at me and flew away.

I let a smile creep to my mouth before I teleported to a line of trees near the dining pavilion. Of course, I made sure to put my hood back on.

I watched everyone eat. I was hidden of course. I chose a place in the shadows where my entire body won't be seen.

Everyone was seated in their proper table. All were talking, laughing, and enjoying themselves. All except Annabeth. She was seated between Rachel and Malcolm and has hardly touched her food.

But she eventually ate.

She still looked like how she was when I first came here. A mess. Her blonde hair looked like it was no longer brushed. She was wearing the orange camp shirt as usual. And around her neck was a necklace.

To be more precise, it was the necklace that I gave her. I was happy that she's still wearing it. After all these years.

I stayed there, watching her. But soon, Chiron made an announcement. Everyone eventually became quiet after a few shushing. They all stared at Chiron and waited for his announcement. He took a deep breath. Like he was going to say something that the campers won't like. I was starting to get a little worried myself. But what he said drained my face of color.

He said that they're going back to school!

I didn't know what to do. I even almost jumped out of my hiding place and ran outside. But I stopped myself just in time. I tried to calm down to be able to think. I decided to IM Salix about it. I'm sure he'll know what to do. So I teleported back to my hideout.

I felt a gust of cold wind against my face before I stood in the center of my hideout. Fortunately, no one was there. Unfortunately, I was looking directly at a tiger. A real, breathing, live tiger. Like the really big and burgly ones in a zoo.

"Holy Zeus!", I yelled. I jumped back in surprise and drew Riptide.

I held it towards the tiger. But I knew that Riptide won't affect it. Riptide is celestial bronze. So it won't affect the tiger. I knew that I should have teleported. But hey! When you're in panic, you can't think right.

Just then, the tiger started laughing. My expression changed from fear to confusion.

"You-ha-should have-haha-seen your-hahaha-your face!", the tiger said pointing a finger at me.

I recognized the voice. "Salix?"

The tiger just kept laughing but was able to choke out one word. "Yes!", it said. Then it continued laughing.

Salix, I mean the tiger broke out into peals of laughter and started rolling on the ground. It couldn't stop laughing.

"Told-hahaha-told you this was-hahaha-more-ha-more fun!"

"Salix! Salix!", I said. But it didn't work. Salix was still laughing.

Thankfully, his laughter subsided. But it happened slowly. Finally, he let out a long sigh. I hope that it meant that he's done laughing. "What?", he asked calmly.

That's when I let all my panic out. "Annabeth and the others are going back to school!", I said. "What do I do now?"

I stared at him, waiting for an answer. But it didn't come. Instead, he snickered. Before I knew it, he was back into laughing. The tiger sat on the ground like a dog and held its stomach, still laughing.

"Come on!", I complained. "This is serious."

"It's just that-haha-I remembered your-hahaha-your face when you first-haha-first saw me as a-hahaha-a tiger!". As he said that, his laughter slowly disappeared until it was completely gone.

"Well then start buying your school supplies.", he said calmly. "I'll enroll you in the school where your friends are."

"How?", I asked. "I don't even have money."

As I said that, the tiger grinned and I felt something fall on my head and land beside me. It was a backpack. I supposed that it had money. But I was starting to get irritated. Why did he have to make it appear right on top of me? Though it didn't hurt, it was annoying.

I was about to show him that I'm getting angry but he was already laughing.

"Now you do!", he said, still laughing. The tiger was acting like a real human being. It rolled on the ground, crying with laughter. It even flicked away a small tear.

"I haven't-ha-laughed this-haha-this hard since Zeus knows when."

"Haha", I said, sarcastically. "Aren't you supposed to be mature?"

"I don't-ha-don't think so.", he laughed. "Maybe next time I should go back in time and return as a dinosaur."

"Please don't even think about that.", I said glumly.

I picked up the backpack, slung the straps on my right shoulder and teleported to the mall. As I left, the last thing I heard was the sound of Salix's laughter. It echoed in my head until I reached the main entrance.

The first place I knew that I needed to go to was the bookstore. They're supposed to have school supplies like pencils, pens, notebooks, etc.

But I needed to take off my hood first. It was real hot and stuffy with the hood on. I decided that if I see anyone that I know, I'll just put the hood back on so they won't see me.

I passed by security as they checked me. Well there were two guards. One male and one female. Well the male guard did most of the work. He felt my pockets for any suspicious items. But all the female guard did was check me out.

Before I was granted passage I saw her wink at me and secretly blow me a kiss. Well that was wierd. I turned around and gave her a wierd look. But all I did was make her giggle.

I just forgot that ever happened and continued walking.

Every girl I passed either winked at me, stared at me, froze to look at me, or swooned. This was freaking me out. I mean, sure I was very popular with the girls in my old school. Every girl there had a crush on me but they don't act like this. This is way too much. (If you read the 1st part of the trilogy, you'd know about this :D)

Then it hit me. When Salix resurrected me, he told me that he made me look better. So if I was really good looking in my first life, in my second life-which is my life right now-I can't go past a female without being stared at. This is not good. Maybe I shold have kept my hood on. I'd rather get sweaty under the hood than get stalked by women.

I looked behind me. About 13 girls my age were following me. Everytime I look at them, some giggle, some look at me dreamily, and some start swooning.

It was like I was a celebrity being followed by the paparazzi.

I quickened my pace. I walked quickly but it was no use. The girls behind me quickened their pace as well to keep up with me. Before I knew it, I was running. The girls behind me were running as well.

I remembered what Salix told me after the battle in Camp Half-Blood. My attributes have greatly improved. Now I could jump higher than a normal human. Run faster, react faster, think faster, climb faster. Now I'm more flexible and athletic. Higher stamina. Better balance. Well you get the idea. I remember all those cool moves I did in the battle.

I myself think they were impressive. Not to boast, but I think my performance in the battle was outstanding.

I put on a burst of speed and ran to the nearest stairs. But instead of using the stairs and running down, I jumped on the hand rail and began to slide down. Any normal person would have fallen off but I just kept sliding down, maintaining my balance.

When I was nearing the ground, I jumped off the hand rail at the right time and did a front flip before landing firmly on my feet. Perfect timing. I didn't even stumble or fall. I maintained my ground.

I looked behind me. Sure enough, the girls were running down the stairs.

I knew that I had to think fast. I hid under a table and put my hood back on.

I sighed in relief. I waited for my breathing to be at its normal pace. Then I moved out from under the table.

I almost laughed at what I saw. The girls who were chasing me were running around frantically, looking in every direction.

Fortunately, the bookstore was right behind me. Without wasting a minute, I repositioned my backpack on my shoulder and darted inside the store.

I was walking down the street checking my backpack. I wanted to have a short walk before teleporting back to camp. I have already stuffed my supplies in the bacpack, along with tons of money. I had more than enough money left. I could even buy a car. Maybe I can get a Ferrari. Or a Mercedes-benz. A Lamborghini perhaps? Maybe even a Maserati. Or a Porsche. Or a-.

I stopped myself. I didn't want to recite in my head every brand of a car that I wanted.

I continued walking, wondering if Salix will allow me to keep the money. If he did, he would be like the grandfather I never had. Well I had a grandpa. But he was Kronos. I'd like Salix better.

Then I passed a particularly familiar apartment. I stopped walking, faced the apartment and stared at it.

My gaze was interupted by the sound of a car nearing in. It was an equally familiar car. The car came to a halt right beside me. As the engine stopped, a woman stepped out of the door to the driver's seat. I gasped when I saw her.

A person I haven't seen in a long time. And she was one of those that I care about deeply. One of those whom I greatly longed to see.

It was my mom!

She hadn't changed a bit. But it seemed like the happiness in her was washed away with grief and sadness.

She took out her car keys from her purse and locked the car. The car made a beeping sound that seemed to echo throughout the neighborhood. The sound died just as quickly as it came.

My mom looked at me with a frown on her face. I knew that I needed to hightail it out of there. And fast. But I can't disappear right in front of her. She'll get suspicious.

Fortunately-for me-she accidentally dropped her keys on the cold ground. The keys made a clattering noise as they fell. She bent over to pick them up so I took the chance to disappear.

I focused on the nearest tree and felt a quick blow of cold wind against my face. Before I knew it, I was perched on one of the branches of the tree. I watched my mom. Like an eagle eyes its prey before swooping down and grabbing it. Except that mom wasn't my prey.

I watched as she straightened up. She looked back at the spot where I was and her head shot back. She looked behind her with confusion covering her face.

She must be thinking, "There was a man right there. I looked away for 3 seconds then he's gone." But she had her fair share of experience with wierd, confusing events so she ignored it.

She shook her head and walked up the stairs to the front door. She fumbled with her keys and opened the lock, stepping inside. She peeked her head out the door for about two seconds before getting back inside and closing the door, locking it. That made me feel lonelier than ever.

I wanted to appear to her. To assure her that I'm alright. And that I'm alive. Just like I do with Annabeth and the rest of my friends. I decided that just like what I am to my friends and Annabeth, I will secretly protect my mother.

I looked at the shining sky above me before focusing on my hideout in Camp Half-Blood.

The last that I saw was a constellation that looked like a girl shooting an arrow with a bow.

It was called the Huntress.

How was that guys?

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Peace!

Until next time.

-E.B.