[A/N: I thought a lot of you would hate me for what happened in the previous chapter. Luckily, you like the drama and understand why I have to write it this way.

And, with your suggestion, I changed the rating to T.

Juzko Disco: Why not? Anyway, thank you for reading mine. :D

PuRceLLveRo: Thank you for making me your favorite. :D

ValenDea: Thanks, and I do write stories. My original novels. I'm currently working on the third book of my series. I hope it gets published someday. :D

Goddess of the Dark Flame: Yeah, there are a lot of drama coming on.

bOOkwOrmrock: Thanks! I read the reviews first before writing to see if you replied. Luckily, you did, so I was able to put what you said in this chapter. Just look for it. I made some changes, though, hope you don't mind. :D

So, yeah, like I mentioned, I put some words in this chapter from one of my readers and I just want to acknowledge her. bOOkwOrmrocks, thank you. :D

Don't forget to leave a review! :D


WISE GIRL'S SEAWEED BRAIN

Chapter 20: BREAK ON THROUGH

ANNABETH

I missed him.

No, that wasn't enough. I was going out of my mind thinking about Percy and what my sudden decision to break up had done with him. I couldn't find the appropriate words to describe the longing I was feeling. I wanted to see him, to hold his hand, touch his face and kiss his lips so bad that whenever it crossed my mind, I started hyperventilating.

I had been staying at Olympus full time, which was kind of silly since I didn't have to be there that much now that it was only the Parthenon undergoing construction and it didn't require my constant attention anymore. I didn't know where else to go. The only place I had really belonged with, apart from Camp Half-Blood, I had destroyed – Percy's arms.

I had been avoiding everyone, as well, even my own siblings and my mother. I knew Mother knew what had happened, being a goddess, and the last thing I wanted was to have her talk to me about my love life. Malcolm, Marie and even Elliot asked me what was wrong when I visited Camp once, but I didn't have the heart to tell them that I had hurt the only person I'd ever loved.

Dad called me a few times a day to check how I was. I didn't tell him anything but I must've sounded off for he kept on pressuring him to say what was wrong. I told him that I got it and I was fine. Eventually, he stopped calling. He knew me well enough to leave me alone when I asked him to.

Mother, however, was sent by Zeus on a secret mission a few days ago and hadn't come back yet. Thankfully.

Thalia visited one day. Well, she didn't actually come to Olympus to visit me but to report to Artemis about some monster she was tracking. Thalia stopped by my office to say hello. She walked in on me kissing Percy's picture.

She sighed and asked, "What did he do this time?"

I shook my head, setting the picture frame down. "Nothing."

Thalia sat down beside me. "Don't try that to me again. What happened?"

I started crying again. Seeing Thalia after so many months was great but I never anticipated that we'd see each other again while I was still heartbroken. Thalia hugged me and rubbed my back. "He's falling for someone again," I murmured.

Thalia suddenly sat up, looking shocked. "He is?"

I nodded. "I broke up with him because I wanted to give him a chance to be with someone else."

"Are you nuts?" Thalia yelled at me. "That was giving up and, Annabeth, you don't give up!"

I wiped my eyes. "Thalia, it wouldn't be fair if I don't give him his freedom."

Thalia was obviously fuming. "I'm going to call that guy and make him take his head out of his back side." She took out her phone and I lunged to stop her but she was much faster than I was and had already dialed the number before I could even get my hands on her. She shot me a look and I knew better than argue with Thalia.

She went out and gestured for me not to follow. I curled up in a ball and wondered what they were talking about. I missed hearing his voice, the goofy faces he made and his unintentionally stupid mistakes.

Thalia returned a few minutes later. She was smiling a bit and I wondered what she and Percy had talked about. I was about to ask her but she held a finger up and stopped me. "This will be fixed soon, you just need to be open-minded. Can you do that?"

Me, open-minded? I was a daughter of the wisdom goddess!

I wasn't going to tell that to Thalia, however, so I just nodded. She smiled at me and gave me a hug before leaving. I wanted to talk to her and ask her how Percy was doing but I didn't think I still had the right after what I did to him.

I went back to staring at his picture.

Anyway, most of my time was spent reviewing notes, inspecting all the renovations and supervising the on-going buildings. I tried to keep my mind busy but somehow, it always drifted back to Percy. I wondered what he was doing. A day didn't pass without me thinking about him.

Do I cross his mind also? I thought. I doubted that. He probably hated me, after what is aid about him being a distraction to me. I didn't mean that and I never wanted to hurt him but I figured it was the only way he'd let me go and try to figure out what it was he was feeling for Samantha.

Was she and Percy together now? The mere thought sent me into a state of panic and my chest heaved, trying to take in oxygen that my body would only end up rejecting. I closed my eyes and forced myself to calm down. But I couldn't. I knew it was a losing battle when I found myself doubled over and tears running down my face.

I hated myself for crying, for being so week. All throughout my life I'd mastered being the brave, tough one. I'd been through a lot and I took pride for being a warrior at heart but I knew I wasn't strong enough to move on from Percy.

Was that something I wanted? To lose Percy? No. No. I couldn't lose him. I needed him in my life. But then, why did I let him go and handed him to that mortal girl? Was it really because I wanted him to figure out what was going on with him and Samantha or was it because . . . ?

"Oh, dear," a melodious voice said behind me.

I stood up quickly, wiped my face with my hands and took deep breaths before turning around. I turned and found myself staring at a gorgeous woman, whom facial features seemed to shift from one beautiful girl to another one, the new one prettier than the last. She was wearing a Greek chiton the same color as Percy's eyes. I wasn't sure if she did that on purpose but it was pretty cruel. I didn't need anyone to tell me who she was.

"Aphrodite," I said with distaste.

I didn't particularly like that goddess. Percy told me once that Aphrodite would make his love life interesting, filled with heartbreaks and indecision, simply for the reason that she liked him. It crossed my mind if she influenced my choice to break up with Percy, but I didn't think that was the case. If it was, then I'd give Aphrodite a slap on her godly face.

"What is it that you want, Lady Aphrodite?" I demanded. It wasn't probably the most ideal way to greet someone who could blast me smithereens but I didn't care.

Aphrodite smiled at me. "Do you mind speaking with me for a few minutes?" she asked but I knew that if I said no, she'd turn me into a dove, or a pigeon.

"Do I have a choice?" I asked.

She beamed. "Not really."

I sighed and sat down. Aphrodite slowly lowered herself until she was sitting right beside me. I thought she'd remain standing up since sitting might ruin her clothes but it appeared that she didn't care.

"It has come to my attention that you had broken up with Percy," she said after a while. I gave a puff of exasperation. Of course, she did. "Poor boy is quite sad. I'd been keeping close surveillance on him."

I paid close attention to this. I felt guilt seeping into my chest hearing that Percy was depressed. Hurt because of me. New sets of tears pooled into my eyes but I didn't let them escape. I would not cry in front of Aphrodite.

"You broke his heart," she stated.

"Thank you for saying the obvious, Lady Aphrodite," I said in a quiet voice.

"I'm not just talking about your break-up with him," said Aphrodite. I looked up and saw her looking at herself in the mirror, styling her perfectly-styled hair. She made kissing noises and set the mirror down. She looked at me and I had to look away. I didn't know why. "I'm also referring to all those years he was trying to be supportive of you but you just kept on mentioning Luke. Do you have any idea how those affected Percy?"

I simply nodded. I wasn't aware of it in the beginning. As I've said, Percy was kind of hard to predict, especially when it has something to do with his feelings. While I was having a secret crush on him, I didn't know that he was starting to feel the same way about me. I questioned if Percy was the only obtuse one. But then again, I was still confused of what I felt for Luke that time.

He was the first person, apart from Thalia, that cared for me and it was inevitable for me to feel something for him. And I did develop a crush on Luke, but he just kept on treating me like a little sister.

Then Seaweed Brain came along and only complicated my feelings even more. It was pretty overwhelming for a twelve year-old, but as a child of Athena, I was pretty good at figuring things out, except for that one.

And then Luke betrayed me and almost sent me, Grover and Seaweed Brain straight into Tartarus and then he nearly killed Percy. I was so mad at him that time and swore that I would forget whatever I was feeling for him. But when I saw him again in the Princess Andromeda, I felt like everything I buried inside came rushing back to the surface.

That only made me more confused.

Meanwhile, Percy had been getting increasingly annoying, but there was something endearing about him. He was so sweet and so supportive, even during those times that I was always defending Luke.

Back then, I had been hurting him. Percy didn't abandon me when I was having trouble with my feelings but when he was the one who needed me to be with him, I just ran away.

Aphrodite smiled. "I see you understand what I'm trying to say."

"I just wanted to give him some time alone," I said.

"But what if that isn't what he needed?" Aphrodite asked. "What if he was counting on you to help him figure things out? It is very unusual for a child of Athena to run away from challenges, even from something as complicated as love."

"Love isn't complicated," I said.

Aphrodite looked at me, still smiling. "Is it not, child? Tell me, do you fully understand what it is? Even I, the goddess of love, can't claim that I totally know what it is all about, though if you tell that to anybody, I might end up making you a parakeet." She took a deep breath before proceeding. "You and Percy have been keeping me entertained for a while. I like seeing you struggling and having constant fights, which is normal for couples, but even I have to admit that this break up is juvenile."

"It's not!" I protested. "If I was being childish, I would've stayed with him and – "

"Did you really do that for him or for you?" Aphrodite said, cutting me off. I looked at her, asking for an elaboration. "The problem with you Athena's lot is that you're all too proud. Pride is your flaw. You think you know what's best for everybody. You always assume that you can solve everything using your oh so wonderful minds, but tell me, Annabeth, did the thing your brain told you to do cause you anything but pain?"

I couldn't answer. When I made my decision to breakup with Percy, it was a decision that came into my brain. My heart, however, was telling me not to let him go.

"You are all born leaders," Aphrodite continued, gazing at her reflection in the mirror yet again. "It's in your nature to lead, to take control, and you even applied the same attitude towards Percy. You were always trying to manipulate him."

"I'm not! If I was being a control-freak, I would've stayed with him and forced him to face what's happening."

"You let him go," Aphrodite repeated. "Don't you think that is manipulation also? You didn't ask for his opinion. You just went and made your own, regardless of what Percy's going to feel about it." I couldn't answer, knowing deep inside me that she was right. Aphrodite must've sensed my silent agreement for she smiled at me. "You see now, do you? A relationship can't be one-sided. It has to be run by two people. Your opinions can't be the only one that counts. You have to hear Percy out also from time to time."

"I do listen to him," I said.

Aphrodite raised her eyebrows, which were nothing more than two lines. "Do you? That's another problem of yours, my dear; you don't listen. You think you know everything and you don't even consider what other people have to say."

I gritted my teeth to force back some biting comments. I thought about that for a moment. Aphrodite had a point. We children of Athena were born from the divine thoughts of our mother. It's in our nature to learn and use our knowledge to develop things, but what if the very thing that I cherished was the one that made me destroy something I'd been waiting for all my life?

"Before I go, I will leave you a question," said Aphrodite. "Did you really break up with Percy for him or because you couldn't bear being with him when there's a possibility that he might be falling for someone else?" As soon as the last word was out of her mouth, the goddess of love disappeared in a puff of thick pink smoke.

I gagged and coughed for a minute, having the smell trapped in my nostrils. When it dissipated, I stood up, fuming and went down to go back home. Who did she think she was, judging me like that? She didn't know anything about me, or Percy.

I caught a taxi and gave him my apartment address. You think you know everything and you don't even consider what other people have to say, she had said. For the first time, I stopped and actually thought about that.

I knew my fatal flaw was hubris. I felt like I could do everything and solve anything thrown at me, being the daughter of the goddess of wisdom. Lately, I didn't feel like one, what with all the indecisions I'd been experiencing. Sometimes, I wanted to go back to Percy but sometimes I felt like I was doing the right thing.

Maybe I shouldn't have broken up with him the first place.

I arrived at my apartment faster than my liking. It was only a few blocks away from the Empire State Building, which was why I picked it. I paid the taxi driver and walked to my front door only to find an attractive guy with dirty blonde hair, blue eyes and fashionable clothes waiting for me at the door.

"Mitchell," I said, wondering what he was doing here.

He looked up and grinned at me. "Annabeth, hi."

I unlocked my door and motioned for him to come in. "Why are you here?" I asked. "It's already eight."

Mitchell looked around my apartment as he shrugged his jacket off. "Mother contacted me and told me you might need my help. She transported me here using magic and instructed me to talk to you about . . . um, you know, Percy."

I sighed. Aphrodite could be pretty annoying most of the times. "Gods aren't allowed to directly interfere with our lives," I pointed out to him.

"She knows, that's why she sent me," Mitchell said, smiling. He was probably one of the most attractive guys back at Camp. Being a son of Aphrodite and all, it was given, but I thought it wasn't anything about his looks that made him interesting; it was because he wasn't like Drew, which seemed to think that spreading heartbreaks was her mission. Mitchell was cool guy.

I shook my head and went to the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink?" I asked, popping a soda open for myself.

"Nah, I'm cool," he said, sitting down.

I sat down beside him, having no more chairs to sit on other than those in the kitchen. Then I realized we were sitting at the very same couch where Percy used to sleep. The memory brought a lump to my throat.

"So," he said, "is it true?"

"Is what true?"

Mitchell chuckled. "You know you're good at a lot of things but playing dumb isn't one of them." He smiled at me and I noticed he had a natural sparkle in his eyes. "So mother told me that you broke up with Percy for the reason that he's falling for another girl, is that right?"

I wanted to go back to Olympus and shaved Aphrodite's head bald for sharing something private like this like it was nothing more than a trivial thing. I simply nodded at Mitchell, having no clue how to answer.

"Did he confirm it?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No. But he didn't deny it, either. He just kept on apologizing." I looked over to him. He was looking back at me and I held my gaze. "I don't want to be rude, but I have no idea why she sent you. I wasn't under any impression that she's that interested in my love life to actually send someone to talk to me."

Mitchell chuckled again. "I didn't know that, either," he admitted. "But to answer your question, Mother sent me because I went through the same thing that Percy is going through right now."

That caught my attention. "You did?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"I didn't know you have a girlfriend."

That made him laugh. "Yeah, I keep it a secret. I know that if Drew finds out, she'd pressure me into completing my right of passage and break her heart, which I have no intention of doing."

"Oh," was all I could say. "Anyway, continue with what you were about to tell me."

"As I was saying, there was a time when I thought I was falling for a different girl while I was still in a relationship with my girlfriend," he said, looking out the window. "It was really confusing. I wasn't sure of my relationship with Aria anymore. I used to be so certain about the two of us, but since I met Christine, I found myself questioning what Aria and I have."

I knew that was what Percy was feeling; confused and unsure.

"Then Aria found out," Mitchell continued. "She saw the text messages in my phone, text messages from Christine."

"Were you cheating on her?" I accused.

Mitchell chuckled. "Gods, no. I was merely talking to Christine about my complicated feelings and she wasn't making it any easier by being such a good friend to me."

"How did Aria take the news?" I asked, curious. "How did she handle it?"

Mitchell looked at me. "She stayed with me. You know most people would say that if you really love someone, you have to let them go. But Aria wasn't like that. She stood by me and helped me figure it out."

"You didn't fight at all?"

"We did," he admitted. "That's given, if one of you feels like you're falling for somebody else. Fights aren't unusual with couples. If people don't fight, then their love isn't real. Love is when you fight, but at the same time, you fight for each other, to stay with each other."

I couldn't answer. I'd been speechless so many times in the past hour that it was probably a world record for a child of Athena.

"In the end, with Aria's help, I realized she is the only one for me," Mitchell said. "By staying with me and giving me love more than I can handle, I found out that what I was feeling for Christine were all friendly feelings." He then looked at me and hesitantly held my hand. It was uncomfortable, but not for the reason you might think. I wasn't attracted to Mitchell; it was for the fact that I had a feeling of what he would say next. "Percy needs you to help him," he said. I was right. "It isn't going to be easy for you. I knew it wasn't for Aria, but in the end, it was all worth it."

I took my hand back. "I'd made my choice, Mitchell. As a daughter of Athena, I value my intelligence. I can read people and I knew Percy needs some time alone."

Mitchell sighed, obviously miffed. "Then maybe you should stop being the daughter of Athena and just be yourself. Now what would Annabeth Chase do for Percy?"

I didn't need time to think. The answer was just right there sitting on the tip of my tongue. "She'd fight for Percy," I said.

Mitchell smiled. "You see. Now it's up to you whether you'll be a daughter of Athena or Annabeth Chase. But let me tell you something, Annabeth; Percy loves you. Anyone who isn't stupid can see that. He doesn't need do anything to prove that to anybody. Maybe it's about time you do something to prove your love to him."

I nodded, making up my mind. The daughter of Athena would continue with her course of action and let Percy have his time, but I was also Annabeth Chase and she was a born warrior and she doesn't give up.

I surprised even myself when I hugged Mitchell. He seemed stunned, as well, but quickly returned the hug back. "Thank you," I murmured.

"It's nothing, Annabeth," he said.

We broke apart at the sound of my apartment door being closed loudly. I jumped to my feet and grabbed my dagger. I heard Mitchell gulp behind me and I fought a smile. Being a son of the goddess of love, he wasn't much of a fighter.

Then I noticed a bouquet of flowers dumped on the floor. I frowned and bent down to pick it up. Attached to it was a note saying I'm sorry. Please come back to me, in a handwriting that could only be Percy's.

My heart thumped as I threw my door open and rushed outside. If I was right, which most likely I was, Percy had been here to apologize and talk to me. He had probably walked in and saw me hugging Mitchell. He might have gotten the wrong impression.

I ran to the street and saw the rear lights of a car. Even from a distance, I knew what kind of car it was. There was no mistaking it.

It was Percy's Corvette Stingray.


[Ooh . . .

Next - Chapter 21: CASTLE OF GLASS]