SO SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A LONG TIME! MY COMPUTER SCREEN WAS BROKEN AND I WASN'T ABLE TO UPDATE BECAUSE I ALREADY HAD SOME OF THE CHAPTERS STARTED. ANYWAY,S HERE'S A QUICK CHAPTER. SORRY IT'S KIND OF LONG!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AT ALL! HE BELONGS TO RICK RIORDAN...AND ANNABETH CHASE!

"Darling, darling doesn't have a problem,

lying to herself 'cause her liquor's top shelf

It's alarming honestly, how charming she can be

Fooling everyone, telling them she's having fun..."

-Lana Del Rey, Carmen

PERCY'S POV-

"Move it! Kronos is waiting and I do not want to be the one to face him when he's angry!"

Ethan Nakumara was furiously rushing his five men, urging them to hurry up and get the cargo onto the sleek black van that was already revved and ready to go. He'd grown a lot from the last day I saw him and unlike before, this time he was wearing an eye-patch. From what I could tell, he must've gotten into some type of accident because the skin around his patch was tighter and shinier than the one on the rest of his face.

"Everett, keep the car running!" Ethan shouted to the redheaded man sitting in the driver's seat. "We should to be done any minute now!"

"Sure thing boss!" Everett yelled back.

I caught a glimpse of myself in a nearby warehouse window and grinned. My getup looked like the black suit used in Spiderman 3 only (in my opinion) more badass.

An hour ago, Grover had sent me an iris message telling me that he had spotted some Army members stealing tools from a company that sold underground digging supplies. Since I was closest to the location of the crime, Grover decided it would be more convenient if I went to investigate. According to him however, there was to be no interfering. Psh, killjoy.

I flicked the lenses on my suit to heat-vision mode and zoomed in on the packages being carried by Ethan's men. I was hoping to find something that would give me a clue on what The Army planned on building, but all I saw were random pieces made for no particular object. Saying that I was having a hard time piecing their plan together would be an understatement.

"Are all the packages in order?" Ethan asked.

"They're all loaded." Answered one particularly hairy crewmate.

"Alright! Everybody in!" Ethan jumped into the back of the van, ushering everyone inside along with him.

I was about to follow, when I felt something tapping on my shoulder. I swerved around and came face to face with one of the biggest guys I have ever seen. He stood taller than me (which is saying a lot since I'm 6'3) and had a cruel sneer lining his freckled face.

"Did you really think Ethan would leave his perimeter's unguarded?" The man's breath reeked of onion juice.

Before I could do anything, the man (or should I say mammoth) grabbed me by the shoulders and pushed me to the floor, using his knee as a weight to keep me down.

"What are you? An Olympian? Part of The Legion?" I can hear Ethan's van escaping in the distance and I curse, angry at the get-away. "Hey! Watch the foul language buddy! You don't always talk in front of a lady like that, do you?"

"Lady?" I squinted my eyes and to my horror realized that the ginger currently crushing my lungs was not a man, but a girl! And here I was, thinking that the two lumps on his chest were just moobs.

The man/women aims a punch at my stomach in indignity, but loosens her hold on me, giving me the chance to push her off. I make a jump start towards a nearby roof and would've made it if it wasn't for my leg being yanked back in mid-air, leaving my body dangling from the side of the building fifty feet above the ground.

"My name's Nancy!" Nancy's grip on my leg loosens. "And based on the way you're annoying me, I'd say your chances of survival are pretty slim!"

"So, what? You're going to let me fall to my death just like that?" I tried for some time. "Can't we come to some type of compromise or something?"

"Heh. You're pretty funny if you think you'll get away." Nancy slammed my body against the side of the brick-building wall and I groaned in pain. "But sadly, no I'm not going to kill you. That's up to Kronos to do himself."

"He's going to have to catch me first then." I bent my dangling knee so that it was against the wall while the other was still in Nancy's greasy hands.

Her eyes narrowed. "What do you mean? I already caught you."

I clutched the emergency ladder railing beneath me with both hands, using my leg held hostage as a catapult and my other as a force to flip Nancy off the building. It was a risk considering she was heavier than I was, but it worked either way.

The good news: Nancy landed safely on a huge pile of garbage bags.

The bad news: I ended up somersaulting dangerously down the side of the building due to the amount of extra force I put into throwing off Nancy.

About halfway down, I managed to break my fall using pipes connecting between two buildings as monkey bars and I was left grinning in triumph until my grip slipped on a particularly slimy one and I found myself crashing through the bars. My breath got painfully knocked out of me when my chest collided with a pipe, causing me to fall face-forward onto the asphalt.

"Get him!" Nancy clambered out of her smelly landing spot, waving at a crew of people I didn't notice up until now. I shake colored spots out of my eyes, letting out a slight groan at the throbbing on my body and face. I jump back when a sudden movement alerts me that someone is about to kick me. I grab the person's leg and jab my elbow up their knee pit, forcing them to crash onto the grimy floor.

Three men approach me and I see that the person I knocked down was Nancy, still whining on the ground. Before I know it, various men with covered faces and drawn knives surround me on all sides. Man number one and two come at me from left and right. I patiently wait for them to be near enough before I used the wall behind me as a sort of kick board, leaping up over them and bashing their heads against each other's on the way down.

Nancy latches onto my leg from her spot on the dirty asphalt, twisting it in an attempt to bring me down, while man number three throws a downward kick at my knees. I slam backwards onto the parking street, right on time to see man number three bring down his knife above me. A burst of adrenaline hits me and I take a jab at Nancy's face with my heel hoping she would let me go. It worked, giving me time to roll out of the way right when man number three's knife stabs through the place I was just a few seconds ago, making a clanging sound on impact.

I push myself up off the ground, bringing my fist up to collide with the still bent man number three's stomach. He grabs my wrist a quarter of the way to my target and a shot of pain spread up my arm as he jams my palm backwards. I struggled to escape the man's grasp, instead managing to get kneed in the gut for having the misfortune of standing too close to him.

I held back from showing any signs of pain, opting to elbow man number three in the face. He growled slightly, letting go of my arm in the process, but soon it changed into a yell of victory when man number one and two appeared behind me. I had a very small chance of escaping.

I casually dug my hands into my pockets, eyeing each Army member with boredom, sending the message that they aren't even worthy of a fight.

"Look who's getting cocky." Nancy lifted herself off the ground, pinching her bleeding nose so that her voice sounded nasally. "We'll make sure to tell Kronos about your small attempt at an escape. He'll give you extra punishment for that."

My back came into contact with the wall, giving me the feeling that the whole time I was being cornered purposely against it. Nancy reached behind her and pulled out a double-sided sword the color of a midnight sky.

"Just because I can't kill you, doesn't mean I can't have a bit of fun." Nancy smirked. "First I'll rip off that little mask of yours, and once I know who you are, it'll be a whole lot more entertaining to watch you squirm."

I removed my hands from inside my pocket, this time bringing out a blue ballpoint pen that you'd easily find in a dollar store.

"A pen?" Nancy asked. "What's that for? To sign your will?"

Behind my mask, I read the words Anaklusmos carved onto the base of the pen in gold. Translation? Riptide. Meaning? I'm going make Nancy wish she still wore pull-ups.

"You think you're the only one with a weapon?" I said. "Think again."

With the flicking motion of someone snapping a whip, I changed my pen into a three foot-long, double-sided, bronze sword with a leather grip. In her surprise, Nancy didn't anticipate the swipe I took at her leg.

"Gah!" Nancy winced, glaring daggers in my direction. She stabbed at my stomach, and I have no way of escaping her blade due to my current cornered predicament. I felt a shock course through me and I gasped slightly at the sight of blood running down the puncture in my rib area. Nancy pulled out her sword out and waved away her men.

"I want to do this on my own." She leered. "Go wait at the van."

The men hesitate.

"Now!" Nancy snapped.

They shuffled away.

"You think you can fight me?" Nancy started.

I inspected my surroundings, taking advantage of her distraction to find any possible way of escape now that we were on our own. My eyes landed on a crane dangling off the nearest building and I saw a stack of boxes right underneath. It was only ten feet away.

"It's my turn to prove myself! Beating someone working for the U-council! Hah!"

I rolled my eyes at Nancy's stupidity, even though she can't see it behind my mask and reflective lenses. I may be injured, but I could still crush her quite easily. In an instant I swiftly tilted my hips to face her from the side, snapping my leg upward and then down towards her knees. I felt a wave of guilt at the cracking sound her leg made, but I didn't give it much thought.

I sprinted towards the boxes, climbing my way up to the crane and roof. Upon reaching the top, I sliced riptide through the metal hook of the crane, making it impossible for Nancy to reach me. When I first got riptide, I didn't believe that Chiron was serious when he told me about the blade being able to slice through just about anything. It seemed so unbelievable that a sword could have the strength to take down metal, but it turned out that riptide was no ordinary sword. It was made out of a specially engineered metal available only to certain people, capable of much more than any normal old weapon.

"Kronos will find you!" I ignored Nancy's desperate attempts at scaring me, staring her down as a way to show her that I wasn't being fazed.

"Oh yeah?" I cocked my head to the side in mock questioning. "Well tell Kronos I sent him this."

I proudly stuck out my middle finger for Nancy's shocked eyes to see. She wasn't used to the idea of someone being impertinent enough to disrespect her boss and was just starting to realize that only I'm stupid enough to do exactly that.

With one final rude gesture in Nancy's direction, I walked away all bad ass-like into the night (technically morning).

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"Dude, you don't look so good." Frank noted.

"You think?" I leaned my head forward into my locker. "I stayed awake all night studying."

I could feel Frank pointedly staring into the back of my head. "Really? Because in the few days I'd known you, I've never heard the word 'study' escape from your mouth."

"There's a first time for everything." I grumbled, when really in my head I was still thinking about how painful my ribs were from the fight with Nancy. By the time I had gotten home, I wasn't able to get even a hint of sleep or properly fix my cut. The best I could do was hastily wrap a piece of white cloth around my stomach and run to school.

Frank paused for a second, shuffling his feet awkwardly behind me. "So are you gonna tryout for the swim team this season? The sign-up sheet is outside Coach Hedge's office."

I sighed and pulled my head out of my locker. "I don't know. Coach Hedge is picky when it comes to choosing who makes it in or not and I don't want to make a fool out of myself."

That's not the complete truth; the real reason I was avoiding the feared swim tryouts was because I wasn't sure it would be a very good idea to form any more commitment than I already had at this school. It would just interfere with my mission.

"You're Percy Jackson!" Stated Frank. "You can never make a fool of yourself! Not with all those girls swooning every time you look their way!"

"Maybe some other time." Frank was one of the first friends I'd made here at Goode High and I didn't want to disappoint him, but I also didn't want to become too attached.

"Please!" Frank's baby face made it harder for me to say no. "I won't be able to do it without you! I'll be the only new guy!"

I forget that the main start of our friendship was from Frank also being a new sophomore. We were both outsiders to the world of Goode.

"I'm not sure if I want to but…" Frank gave me a hopeful look. "I guess trying out wouldn't hurt."

"Great!" Frank yelled, relieved. "Now all we need to do is make it in, and that probably won't be too..." Frank trailed off and glanced at something over my shoulder in confusion.

I cast a glance behind me, catching sight of a very angry blonde figure coming my way.

"Shit." I breathed.

It was Annabeth getting ready to beat the heck out of me for the comment I made yesterday about Leo. I didn't mean to say it, but I was so mad for some unknown reason and I let it slip. I hadn't even known that her dating Leo bothered me that much until I actually said it aloud. Now I wish I hadn't because based on Annabeth's furious expression, I could tell that she knew I was the one spying on her and my mom through the fire escape window.

"Did you get Annabeth angry?" Frank asked, still ogling at her vengeful person heading in our direction. "Are you crazy? Her and Thalia are freaking scary when they're mad! Do you want to die young?"

I didn't say anything, instead turning to meet Annabeth in all her tantrum-filled glory.

She stood to her full height, breathing heavily and snapped out a question at me. "How long have you been here without telling us?"

I slammed my locker closed, putting on my anger-filled façade and narrowing my eyes. This was the worst part of my mission; pretending that I was mad at Annabeth when I was really mad at myself for leaving her.

ANNABETH'S POV-

"Why didn't you say anything?" I cried exasperatingly. "Don't you know how desperate Sally was to find you? Did you want to play with her heart like that?"

"You're going to have to be more specific wise-girl." I almost grimaced at the way Percy said my former nickname with such contempt. Before, that used to be a term of endearment saved just for me. "Stomping up to me and demanding answers to questions that have no explanation isn't going to make me get what you're hinting at."

"Don't play dumb with me Perseus Jackson!" Percy flinched at the use of his full name. "We both know what I'm talking about! Or do you want me to tell Frank here about how much you love to peek through certain people's windows?"

"I think I'll go now." Frank said, face reddening with embarrassment. "See you at tryouts Percy."

Percy waved off Frank, not even sparing him a glance, too busy seething at me for making him look like some type of peeping Tom.

"What's with you following me around all the time?" Percy sneered.

"What's with you creeping outside Sally's fire escape last month?" I tried to constrain my voice.

"How would you know that? I wasn't even in New York at the time!"

"Are you sure that's not some lie you made up right now?" I asked. "Because if it is, you're going have a tough time explaining how you know about Leo."

Percy pulled out his iPhone 5 from his pocket (how could he even afford that thing?) and waved it in front of my face so I could see the time. "It's 7:58, I'm going to be late for class."

I thrust my palm onto Percy's chest right when he started forward to keep him from walking away, and he stiffened. At first I think he is uncomfortable about me touching him, but then I notice his pale complexion indicating something more along the lines of…pain?

I could feel my forehead crinkling in deep thought. I pressed down gently on the spot that seemed to get the most reaction from Percy and he immediately pushed my hand away, trying to hold back a grimace.

"I've got to go." Percy tried to go around me, but I blocked the only opening.

"Annabeth, get out of my way."

"Not until you lift up your shirt." I said.

"Excuse me?" Percy asked.

"You heard what I said."

Percy rolled his eyes, making an attempt to move past me. "Leave me alone," he said." I don't have to handle hormonally crazed teenage girls."

I wouldn't budge.

"Annabeth," Percy warned, "stop acting like a little kid."

"Make me," I said, tired of his asperity.

Percy pushed his palms into his eyes, sick of my presence. I yanked up Percy's shirt, taking advantage of his distracted state.

Percy's chest was just as I imagined (not that I've ever wasted my time doing so), except for unexpected amount of wreckage marring his skin. Right below his ribs, was a bloody rag tied messily around his waist for what Annabeth was sure happened because of a blade slicing skin.

Despite his weak state, Percy's still managed to hold Annabeth's arms to her sides, frightening her with the malice in his eyes.

"Don't. Even. Mention. It." He said, pausing after each word.

I took it as a challenge. "How did it happen?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Hissed Percy.

"I did," I admitted, "but hearing and listening are two different things.

Percy huffed, blowing up a wave of jet-black hair in the process. I could see his fury ebbing away, slowly being replaced with exhaustion. Exhaustion caused by me, I thought guiltily.

"Do you have any idea how to fix yourself up?" I asked.

"I was never the best when it came to the medical field," Percy grumbled.

"So, what, you're going to let it get infected?"

"It's not like I can go to a hospital." Percy avoided eye contact with me. "I don't have the money for it. Besides, doctors are known for being number one on the world class snoopers list."

"What if I told you that I could help?" I mused. "I took a nursing class last year and I know enough to patch you up."

Percy scoffed (rudely, I might add). "Then I'd reply that no way in hell am I letting you get any closer to me than you already are. I'd also say that you could easily put any doctor on number two."

"Nice of you to say that considering you don't have many options." I pointed out.

"Well, having no options is better than-" Percy stopped, mid-rant, and groaned.

It seemed that Percy no longer had the energy to insult anyone, and that worried me. I was starting to believe that it was his favorite hobby.

"Where does it hurt?" I didn't bother trying to hide the concern in my voice.

Percy caved, the aches on his body forcing him to accept my assistance, and waved in the general direction of his bloody silk bandage. It doesn't surprise me that he did.

"Alright." My voice drops down to a whisper. "Here's what we're going to do. I'm going to use my off-campus permission slips to get us out of here and I'm going to drive us over to my mom's house. If they ask, I'll say that we were sent to do community service somewhere. This'll only work if you keep it together until we're out of anyone's view. Got it?"

"Whatever." Percy leaned his head back against his locker. "I just want an aspirin."

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Twenty minutes later, I was stumbling up the stairs leading to my new bedroom, having a hard time lugging a half conscious Percy along with me. I had given him one of those "over twenty-one only" pills thinking it wouldn't be a big deal, but regretted it only five minutes later. The guy was now delusional.

"Gosh!" I managed to get out. "What have you been eating?"

"Protein," Percy muttered, head lolling to the side. "Where else do you think I get my muscle?"

I pushed open the door of my room and dumped Percy onto my bed.

"I don't know," I breathed. "Fast metabolism?"

"Eh, it could be part of it." Percy's voice was muffled by my pillows. "But most of it could just be because of all the Olympian training I had to do."

Great, now the guy thinks he's a professional athlete.

"Olympian training?" My eyebrows furrowed. "Are you delusional?"

I flipped Percy over onto his back, noticing the thin veneer of sweat coating his face.

"I dunno." Percy shot me a dreamy look. "Are you the tooth fairy?"

"Yup," I sighed, "You're definitely delusional."

I slipped my first aid kit out from under the bed, clicking it open in the process. Upon quick inspection, I could tell that Percy's cut was in dire need of stitching. I rolled up Percy's shirt and positioned myself into a comfortable sewing position, before setting to work closing the folds of Percy's skin. That is, until he started to give me problems.

"Percy! Stop giggling!" I scolded, feeling more like a motherly figure than I ever had.

"I-I can't!" Percy was squirming like a crazy person under my grip. "It tickles!"

"Can't you hold it in?"

"Can you hold in your poop?" Percy paused for a moment. "I don't think so!"

He started laughing hysterically at his own potty joke.

I wanted to slap him. Instead I said, "Are you hungry?"

Percy nodded enthusiastically.

"How about in exchange for you shutting up, I make you lunch?" I proposed.

Percy went silent immediately. Apparently, he still remembered my amazing cooking skills.

I finished my handiwork, gently dabbing some anti-biotic over Percy's stitches.

"Are you up for some grilled chicken sandwiches?" I asked.

Percy's stomach growled, and he grinned. "My tummy says yes."

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"Can I have another one?"

"You just had three!" I shouted back.

"I'm still hungry," Percy whined. "Pretty please with a blue cherry on top?"

"Tough luck," I retorted. "Didn't you have breakfast this morning?"

"No," Percy leaned back in my bed. "I was on an uber secret mission and didn't have time to eat, but don't tell anyone…because it's a secret."

"I would never have guessed." I rolled my eyes that Percy was still going on about his "secret mission" charade. Those pills he had must've been stronger than I gave them credit for.

"You don't believe me, do you?" The innocence in Percy's eyes had me deciding to be honest.

"Considering you're currently under the influence…no."

"I can prove it." Percy kept on insisting despite my disbelief.

"Uh-huh." I set my lunch to the side, feeling Percy's forehead and changing the wet cloth sitting there. "You've still got a moderately high temperature. You probably don't even know what's coming out of your mouth."

"Oh yeah?" I can tell by his tone of voice that Percy's starting to get riled up.

I noticed that the water dripping down Percy's face was leaving a trail of unevenly colored skin. Curious, I leaned up over him and wiped away some of the liquid from his cheek. My finger came away bearing hints of tan powder.

"Are you listening to me?"

"What?" I snapped out of my thoughts when I take in that Percy had told me something.

"It was me," Percy repeated. "I was the person at the window.

It takes me a moment to understand Percy's confession. Suspecting it was one thing, but hearing it said out loud was another, and I had to use all my willpower to try and NOT throttle the nonsense boy in front of me.

"Why are you telling me this?" I said between gritted teeth.

"So that you can stay away from me." Percy's pupils are still dilated, but he somehow managed to look sharp nevertheless. He reminded me of a drunken person who finds himself unable to tell a lie. "Once you get all your answers, you'll no longer feel any need to be near me. That's how I want it to be."

I focused my attention back on removing what I was now certain was makeup from Percy's face. After a while, I started noticing bumps decorating the spot under his eye. Feeling the need to keep the silence at bay, I spoke.

"Why were you spying on us?"

"I wanted to make sure that my mom was okay." Percy shut his eyes and I realized that he was a lot more tired than he let on. "I didn't plan on you being there…it was the first time I got to see you both in years."

"Where were you during that time?" I knew that taking advantage of a wounded person was cruel, but I needed to know so badly.

"I already told you. I was training to be an Olympian," Percy slurred. "You know, like the mythology types…Zeus, Hades, that funny looking guy with the 3-pointed stick thingy."

"Poseidon?" I wiped away the last of the cover-up on Percy's skin and gasped. Whatever he was hiding must've been more serious than I thought because his face was almost as bad as his upper body.

"Yeah, that guy." Percy opened his eyes slightly. "Wait, who were we talking about again?"

"No one. Stay still." I grabbed an ice pack from a nearby mini fridge and placed it on Percy's purple, swollen eye. He let out a sigh of relief.

"That feels good." Percy placed his hand over the hand I was using to hold his ice pack. I almost pulled back at how warm he was. "Does this mean I have to call you nurse Annie now?"

"Don't call me Annie unless you want me to add a busted lip to your collection." I threatened.

"Awww, there's no need to be mean about it," Percy whimpered. "How's Mrs. Chase sound?"

"I don't like using my dad's last name more than I have to," I replied.

"You're tough to please, aren't you?" Percy teased. "What if I call you wise-girl?"

"You already call me that."

"Oh, you want something new? Fine." Percy sent me a devious smirk. Uh-oh. "Would you like it if I called you Mrs. Jackson?"

I almost chocked on my own spit. I could feel my face going red in my utter embarrassment. "Do you want a death sentence?"

Percy started playing with my fingers, smugness displayed plainly on his face. "Is Annie-bethie too afraid to admit that she has a crush on me?"

"I do not have a crush on you!" I pushed the pack deeper into Percy's eye.

"Ouch! You don't have to be so rough!" Percy winced. "Love really does hurt."

"Sorry," I said, really not sorry at all.

Seconds of silence followed afterwards. All I focused on was the feel of Percy's calloused finger gently rubbing against mine, and the rhythmic sounds of his breathing. It made me feel somewhat…fuzzy.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Percy asked.

I raised my gaze to meet his. "What type of secret?"

"A really big one." Percy inspected the room to make sure that we weren't being overheard, and then answered me in a solemn whisper. "I did something awful."

That caught my attention. "What did you do?"

Percy gripped my hand tight and said, "You have to pinky promise that you won't tell. Dionysus will get pissed if he finds out that I was the one who did it."

"Dionysus?"

"Promise me or I won't tell you."

I debated whether I should trust Percy or not. In the end, I decided to hold out my pinky. "I Swear."

"Percy's eyes flickered to anywhere, but me. "Ten years ago, one of the Olympians was sent to Half-Blood Alley as punishment for being a huge alcoholic. His dad, Zeus, thought that he needed to sober up and apparently having him work with us trainees seemed like the perfect place to do it."

Percy frowned. "I hate him. He's always found a way of setting me off, but there was this one time when he went too far and I couldn't help feeling like I had to do something about it." He pauses. " So I did."

I rubbed some ointment onto the nick under Percy's lip to keep me busy. I could tell that Percy's story was going into forbidden territory. I still didn't know if I should believe it. "Do you regret doing it? Is that why you're telling me this?"

"No." Percy looked too serious for someone with a mind clouded by painkillers, yet somewhere in the back of my mind I knew that he wouldn't be telling me this if it wasn't. "But that doesn't mean that what I did was okay."

"Are you sure you want to tell me what you did?" I wanted to make sure I wasn't forcing him into anything.

"I need someone to know." Percy clutched my hand like it was his lifeline. "Dionysus had a golden goblet that was his prized possession. He used it for his wine, and even when he wasn't aloud to use it, he still carried it around with him everywhere. The only problem was that he was too confident that no one would try to steal it. He didn't think a person could be insolent enough to give it a go. Turns out that I was the one he should've been cautious about, but he didn't know me long enough to realize it."

"You stole it?" I couldn't believe that I was starting to take Percy's story seriously.

"Borrowed," Percy corrected. "At the time, I had this crazy idea that I could dish a two in one. Meaning, that by stealing the cup I could get revenge on the two most pig-like people I know. I slipped way with the goblet when Dionysus wasn't around and framed someone else for stealing it."

I froze. "Who?"

Despite the tenseness of the situation, Percy chuckled a dark laugh that sent shivers down my back. "Gabe Ugliano."

"But…Sally told me that he left her for another women."

"Oh, it was a lie. The Olympians are known for working under the radar you know." Percy dismissed the subject with the lazy wave of his arm. "I helped lead the mission that caught him with the cup in his work bag, red-handed. I still remember him being dragged away screaming in the back of Charon's truck to what we Olympian members refer to as The Underworld or more specifically, our form of a jail. He was sent to the fields of damnation where all the people who mess with the U-Council get sent to have their spirit crushed over a period of years."

The bitterness in Percy's voice frightened me.

"I know you've never liked Gabe, but why would you send him to be punished for something you did?" I asked. "Where's the justice in that?"

The death glare sent by Percy shut me up. "He beat me."

My eyes widened.

"He treated me like an animal in front of all his stupid friends and I didn't want him to do the same to Tyson or my mom while I was gone. I'd be torn to bits."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" I combed back Percy's velvet soft hair with my hand so that I could see his sea green orbs more clearly. His pupils were still an abnormal size.

"If I failed to report him, then he would just victimize my mom as a type of rue. I couldn't let that happen again, but that's not the point of this story." Percy shook his head for emphasis. "Right now, at this moment, Gabe is going through life-long punishment and I'm the only one that can stop it. I want to know…does that make me a bad person?"

Green clashed with grey as I scanned Percy's eyes for any sign of remorse, but came away finding none. "I don't know. That's up for you to decide."

Percy closed his eyes once more, cutting any link we had going a few moments ago. "I'm sleepy," was all he said.

"Then go to sleep," I replied, voice hushed. "Can you answer me one more question though?"

"Go right ahead." Percy was already starting to drift off.

"Why'd you leave us?" I remained talking silently, not wanted to disrupt Percy's moment of peace. "If you cared so much…why didn't you stay?"

"Come closer and I'll tell you. I don't feel like yelling."

I leaned down so that Percy's warm breath was tickling my ear.

"It was my fault Bianca died. I'm like a walking curse." Percy muttered. "I wanted to protect you."

And that was the last thing that came out of Percy's mouth for a long time.

THE END! MY NEXT UPDATE WILL BE ON FRIDAY..IF I DON'T COME UPON ANY FURTHER COMPUTER PROBLEMS. I AM GOING TO BE MAKING A TUMBLR ACCOUNT UNDER THIS SAME USER NAME. IT'LL PROBABLY BE UP BY TOMORROW IF NOT TODAY AND I'LL BE USING THAT TO GIVE YOU GUYS UPDATES ON HOW THE STORY IS GOING. THERE WILL ALSO BE SNEAK PEEKS, GUEST REVIEW REPLIES, ETC.. ANYWAYS, SINCE WHAT HAPPENED TO GABE WAS REVEALED IN THIS CHAPTER, I WILL BE SENDING ONE OF YOU THE NEXT CHAPTER SNEAK PEEK I PROMISED SO BE ON THE LOOK-OUT BECAUSE MAYBE THAT'S YOU!

REVIEW, FOLLOW, FAVORITE?