Okay. I am early with this chapter.

And no, I am not going to do Percy's point of view. What would be the fun in that! That is the entire thing this story is based on. One person's point of view. Sorry, people. I don't wanna give my game away so soon. ;)

The alarm blared at seven in the morning. My head was throbbing and I was in no condition to get out of bed. Obviously since I had had just three hours of sleep. So I closed my eyes and went off to sleep again. I don't know how much time had passed but my eyes flickered open to see a very angry Rachel standing over me and I realized that she had just slapped me across my face. Hard. Ouch!

'Wha wa tha fe?' I asked, annoyed, rubbing my cheek with one hand.

'It is nine, Annabeth.'

'I am not going, today.'

'But don't you have that first day of seminar with whatshisname?' She never remembers their names! *pout*

'Yes but I can't go. Long day today.'

'Where were you last night?'

Oh so she knew I had gone out last night. I didn't want to tell her what had happened. I didn't want to tell anyone what had happened. I can tolerate empathy but can't stand sympathy or pity which others shower on me so generously. I had realized that when my mother had died.

So reluctantly I told her what had happened. She pressed her lips together. Uh-oh! That was a bad sign. For Percy. Haha.

'What can I do?' She asked. My heart melted right there for what she had just said. I threw my arms around her and pulled her down next to me on the bed for a hug. I really needed this. I held on to her for some time, she was almost like a sister to me. Wait, scratch that, she was a sister to me.

So I told her what I had in mind for the day. I was gonna meet up with Chiron. But first I needed to sleep some more. She nodded and left me alone saying she was gonna attend her class and will be back in three hours.

I woke up after two hours. seven hours of sleep. Ideal. I had a shower and changed into my very comfortable jeans and a grey long coat with my usual sneakers.

Rachel and I made our way to a nearby diner. I was so thankful that she didn't talk to me about a certain Mr. Jackson so it was just general talk. We waited for about half an hour before Chiron showed up. Chiron is supposed to be my mother's younger brother. I mean he is. When mum died he filled in her spot for my best friend while dad took on the parent part. Neither of them could do it but they tried to and that was what counted. A woman's touch, they say, is magical and cannot be traded for anything else.

He was a corporate lawyer by profession and I had always made fun of him choosing that as his career and for the first time I couldn't tease him. I was lucky he chose that. I was lucky I could rely on him, that he was around. I needed him bad right now. He had flown straight from DC on an early morning flight, skipped work and the rest of his obligations. I think I may have freaked him out on the phone last night with my tone. I had been in shock then. I should have calmed down by now. Maybe just a little had I not had had three cups of coffee already without any solid food the past half hour.

I hadn't exactly told him anything. He saw me and realized that he couldn't get a hug and a hi out of me in this state so quickly set to work. I fished out my laptop, filled him in what had happened while he read through the document.

I was majorly stressed out. And when I am this way, I cannot eat. But for their sake had some fries and a slice of pizza.

'Annie, I am going the need their contract.' He and dad were the only people who could call me Annie without getting their faces disfigured. But Chiron never used 'Annie' on me. It was a mom-dad thing. But he could definitely get away with it.

And Luke called me Bethie. It took enormous amounts of willpower to control myself with him.

Anyway, so I very shyly logged into dad's email account to which I knew the password. He hadn't exactly told me but it wasn't difficult. annie&athena14. Me and mom and my birth date.

Usually Chiron would have scolded me (lightly, though) for this but right now his face showed just seriousness.

At around four o'clock, we finished. Nothing could be done. It had been forged perfectly by someone who knew what they had been doing. I didn't argue with that. Percy Jackson behind it? My hope was just a figment of my imagination. It was stupid of me to even think I stood a chance against him like this.

Nothing can be done. Those words haunted me and played again and again in my mind. Nothing can be done. I don't know what to feel. Hopeless. Helpless. Angry. Bitter. Upset. Disappointed. Empty. Yeah, all that and a bunch of other stuff which can be felt only, not described.

I made Chiron swear not to tell anyone especially dad about this. He was upset and he kept asking me what next. I told him I would be fine and that Percy and I had been friends a really long time and that everything would work out one way or the other in the end. I had told him the truth about the friendship but the rest was a big fat lie. I don't know anything. And I was...scared.

I convinced him to go back. He still seemed unsure and I don't think he bought what I told him but went with it.

It was five when we actually vacated the place and the waiter had been giving us dirty looks the whole time. I had to be at his place in two hours. I just felt so defeated as if all the energy had been drained out of me. I would've probably given in and accepted it more easily had he targeted me instead of dad. But that had not been the case.

So instead of packing like we should have been doing, Rachel and I spent the next one hour painting nails and eating ice creams and brownies. Comfort food, that I agreed with. But nail paint? She said it was an awesome way to calm down, though even after an hour I didn't see her point.

I had said by dinner and I was going to stand by it. I didn't want him to think I had given up already or I was scared or had resigned in any way.

So you think that we would spend the next hour frantically packing for my Golden Cage?

Wrong.

We went up to the roof of the building and lay down on its dirty floor and stared vacantly at the sky above us. Peaceful. As if my whole world was preparing for a war. That just now something catastrophic would happen. The way an ocean is just about when a tsunami is about to hit the coast.

Finally at a quarter to seven, we came to our senses and in about ten minutes of sweat-breaking back-breaking bone-breaking mind-dulling and every other such phrase you can think of, packing of all my stuff into four extremely huge suitcases, we were standing on the walkway trying to hire a cab.

Even though it was hardly a ten minute walk and we were two of us with four suitcases, but like I said or didn't say but implied, they were heavy. But they had wheels, but like I said, they were huge. And we were tired. I don't know about that actually, cause we haven't done anything to be exhausted.

Oh God!

I am losing my mind. Am completely out of my senses. I am senseless. What! That doesn't even make sense! Or maybe it does. I don't know. Don't put pressure on me!

Ugghh! Percy! What have you done to me!

Be good and review! :) Percy will appear in the next chapter.