What? You thought I'd update early again? Don't overestimate me, I'm a procrastinator. I actually updated the last chapter two days early, not one. I haven't done one of these for a while: DISCLAIMER TIME! Me no own PJO.

I walked to Mark's house. I could hear music blaring from his house almost a block ago.

The party was crowded. It looked like half the school was here. Lights were flashing, people were screaming, singing off key, dancing horribly, fist fighting, couples were making out on couches, some went upstairs, some downstairs, some out at the back. Mark came up to me.

"You made it! Take a beer! There's more downstairs!" he yelled over the music, handing me a bottle of beer. He left, greeting other students. I put the beer on a nearby table and went out back. I don't like beer that much, and I didn't want to risk getting caught underage. Not even the Olympians would bail me out of jail. Of course, being at the party sort of ruled out the lower risk thing.

The backyard was quieter than inside, but you still had to shout over the music, and people were in the pool, and drinking punch. I took a bottle of coke (that wasn't spiked) and sat at the edge of the pool. I looked around. I saw Connor and Annabeth joking around, Drew seducing jocks and people playing drinking games. Someone came and sat beside me. I looked over at him and almost choked on my drink.

"What do you think you're doing here?" I sputtered out.

"Enjoying a good party. The people here are pretty stupid if you ask me. They don't even know they don't recognize me! So tell me, how've ya been? Haven't seen you in a long time."

"Why are you here?" I demanded, ignoring his question.

"Straight to the point, I see. Well let's see. I heard there was a party, and decided to crash. I tracked you and Rebellion Bro over there to this place. So of course, I had to wonder why two enemies were in the same place. They must have a target. Or in my brother's case, probably someone to protect. So, of course, I couldn't miss this opportunity. I left you a note, telling you I was here."

"What note?" I asked suspiciously.

"Did you miss it? I left it on your truck." So it was him. I figured it would be someone from Kronos's Army, but I didn't think they knew we were here. I thought they were being idiots and vandalizing random stuff! I underestimated them. "You know what a fun thing is to do at parties? Other than drinking and screwing? Betting. How much are you betting?"

"For what?" Bets were my strengths. I hardly ever lost.

"How many will die with one flame and and a bullet." He took out a lighter and lit it, as if to prove his point. He also took out his gun. It looked like a Glock 17. He gave it a quick twirl and returned it to his belt.

"So how much?"

"I'm not betting on how many you can kill."

"How about how many you kill. I'm betting I can kill at least three people. You? Maybe about two."

"I'm not killing innocent people."

"Why not? You do it all the time. Is our dear Percy going soft?" He chuckled. "You really are making this too easy. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to find some gasoline, or some other flammable liquid. Maybe get a good show at this party." He stood up and left. Maybe he was right. Maybe I was getting soft. Was I? I wasn't killing as much. I looked over at Connor and Annabeth. He could kill both of them for me, and I could easily take the credit. I shook off the idea. That way, he would win, causing Kronos's army to win. I couldn't let that happen. When it came to them, the MoA and the rebellion were allies. Which sucked, because we never really got along. But that's one minor setback, and neither of us wanted Kronos's Army taking over the US. I walked over to Connor and Annabeth.

"Could I talk to you? Alone?" I asked Connor. He just gave me a suspicious look.

"Why?"

"I'd rather not tell you, but it's important."

"How important?" I gave a quick glance at Annabeth.

"Important."

"Well whatever you tell me you can tell Annabeth." He put his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. My eyes flared.

"Connor. It's important. We don't have enough time." Connor looked me dead in the eye. When he saw the urgency in them, he sighed.

"Wait here," he told walked away from the crowd.

"I don't trust you, and don't even think about trying to get rid of me." He said in a normal volume. I could only barely hear him.

"I wouldn't. Annabeth would suspect something, and that would just interfere with my goal."

"So what did you want to tell me?"

"Luke's here. He's planning to start a fire."

Okay, so maybe I should tell you who Luke is exactly. He's pretty much the leader of Kronos's Army, and will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Before joining Kronos's Army, he was part of the MoA for four years. He's a son of Hermes, making him the half-brother of Connor. When he was eighteen, he was sent on a dangerous mission, and he had thought that the MoA had tried to kill him, which is why he joined Kronos's Army. He wanted to gain revenge on us, and wanted power and control. He wanted the kill.

He's about twenty one years old, has short, dirty blond hair, dark blue eyes that are always filled with bloodlust or malignity, a long, pale scar that went from near the edge of his eye to the jawbone. He had gotten it on his final quest from the MoA. People had said that his mother was mentally disabled, and now lived in an asylum, but she loved his son. Luke left her when he was fourteen, too scared to live with her.

Connor looked at me untrustingly. "I find that hard to believe. Why would Luke, of all members from Kronos's Army, come to start a fire. He's too important to them to risk him dying." I was getting pissed. Why did he keep questioning me! I mean, it's not like we're rivals. Oh, right. We are.

"You know what? Fine! Stay here and die for all I care! Just let him win!" I stormed off. May as well leave, before I got killed in a stupid fire. I went past Annabeth, she grabbed my arm.

"What's up Percy?"

"It's nothing." I wiggled my arm out of her grasp and walking away. She just grabbed my bicep again and spun me to face her.

"Percy. I know you well enough by now to know your pissed at something or someone."

"You don't know me," I told her in a dangerously low voice. I regretted speaking in that tone when I saw hurt flash in Annabeth's grey eyes. I turned around and saw Luke. He was holding a few plastic cups. Some liquid was pouring out of the bottom of the cups, as though there were holes in the bottoms. There was a very faint smell of gasoline. I looked over at Luke again. He was pouring gasoline around the house without anyone having a clue what he was doing! He made eye contact with me, and gave me wink.

I turned back to Annabeth and gripped her shoulders.

"Listen to me. Get out of the house, and get as far away as you can." Why was I doing this? Have the fire kill her, or at least weaken her. Then I could get back home sooner, and make amends with Nico. "Get as many people as you can, and leave. Get out. Save yourselves." Stupid mouth! Why was I telling her to do this?

"Percy...what are you-"

"Go!" I gave her a soft push towards the house. Me? I started going around demanding that people get out. I have no idea why I'm doing this. It must be because I didn't want Luke winning. I didn't want him to use these people as practice to take over. I didn't want him winning the bet, even though we never sealed the deal. Yes, that was it. It had to be.

I went down to the basement, where I was met with the fragrance of beer.

"Get out of the house! It's about to go up in flames!" I yelled at them. They all laughed, obviously drunk, but went upstairs after a few more yells. When I went back upstairs, I felt the heat before seeing it. The fire had already burned half the house. Stupid drunk...wasting my time... I rushed outside, but not without the fire singing the back of my shirt. I watched the fire, almost in a trance like state, with the rest of the party-comers. I heard sirens wailing, which made me snap back to reality. I snuck out of the crowd and went to go home. I heard an explosion, screaming, and whooping from those who were overly drunk.

As I was turning a corner, somebody ran into me. Or more accurately, limped into me.

I was met with a face full of brown, curly hair. It was Grover, a friend from school. He replaced Nico as a partner in classes, and he was fun to hang with. He was only about half a head shorter than me, but he already had a small goatee. He had bark-brown eyes, a frail looking build, and didn't have the clearest skin. He had crutches because of a leg disorder, but he was still a pretty strong guy. Right now, his eyes were frantic.

"What happened? Where was the fire?"

"It was at the party. What are you doing?"

"Well, my parents didn't want me to go to the party, so I snuck out. Where's Juniper? Is she okay?" He was shifting on his feet, and kept looking at the smoke. Juniper was Grover's girlfriend.

"Sorry Man, I'm not sure. I left before I saw who was there." Grover went around me and started going as fast as he could towards the house. I soon heard a scream, that was cut off by a gunshot and silence. Who did Luke shoot? My feet walked back to the house on their own accord. I looked at the commotion from behind a corner. There were two ambulances, a few police cars, and fire trucks. The fire fighters were putting out the fire and going inside to look for any bodies, and reporters were asking the teens questions about what happened. A body jumped out from the second floor window, and sprinted away without being noticed. Luke.

I saw four firefighters come out, each carrying a body. They laid them each on stretchers.

One was a boy with short, brown hair, and his chest was covered in blood. I was assuming that was the guy Luke had shot. I snorted quietly. The doctors shouldn't even try. Luke had aim I envied. He never missed his target. That boy was dead. I saw Mark rush to his side and grip his arm. Now that I look at them, they look very similar. Take away the blood and add colour to the dead man, and I doubt I'd tell them apart. Twins? Maybe, but they were definitely brothers. The police took Mark from his brother, but not without a struggle.

The second was a girl with curled, brunette hair. I couldn't look at her face. It was a sickening looking red. She was badly burned. I couldn't tell if she was alive or not. The third was another boy, who wasn't badly burned, but still had wounds. The fourth, and final, had familiar honey blonde hair. I don't know why it pained me to see Annabeth hurt, or why I wanted to rush to her side. She was still alive, I could tell by the rise and fall of her chest. Why couldn't she just die already? Why was I feeling this connection with her?

LINEBREAK

The next day, I walked into the hospital. May as well visit Annabeth. She would think I cared. When I got there, I saw Connor leaving the room. He didn't glare at me, but just looked torn. There was a bouquet of flowers on the table beside her. Annabeth was sitting up, and reading an architecture book. I took a chair, and sat beside her. I looked at her for a few seconds, then tried reading her book. I didn't understand the words I made out, and Annabeth still didn't notice me. I decided to break the silence.

"How can you understand all this?" She jumped a bit, then one of her arms gripped her side. Her facial expression remained calm, but her eyes were full of pain. I looked at her, faking worry. "You okay? What happened?"

"It's just a small burn. Don't worry about it," she reassured, and yet, I didn't believe it. A 'small' burn doesn't need a bandage and hurts when you jump a bit. "How did you know something bad was going to happen?" she asked. I shrugged. Why did she have to ask that particular question.

"Just a feeling."

"Two died. I tried getting Miranda out, but she wouldn't believe me. She was in a bedroom outside, and started getting stupid. She wouldn't get out. I gave up trying to get her out. If I didn't get out, I wouldn't have made it either. I tried going downstairs, but it was blocked by the rising flames. I hid in the bathtub and got myself wet. It was the only thing I could've done." Annabeth had tears in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall." I just nodded. I didn't really need to know what happened. I noticed a necklace around her neck. It looked out of place, her wearing a hospital gown and all. It was the same one she wore the first time I saw her. In fact, she had worn it everyday.

"What's up with the necklace? You wear it everyday." Her hand hand came up to it, and she fingered the first bead. It was black. I think there was a green trident painted on it. Annabeth looked at me sadly.

"It's from...a friend. It was a goodbye gift."

"What was her name?"

"It was a guy who gave it to me." I raised an eyebrow and smirked at her.

"A guy, was it? Gave you a piece of jewelry. And you were just friends?"

"Yes. Guys and girls can be just friends." She hesitated a second. "It doesn't have to have any romance involved." She probably had a crush on this guy. It would explain her hesitation.

"What was his name?"

"It doesn't really matter." A young nurse came in and told me I had to leave.

When I got home, I saw today's newspaper. I don't normally read the newspaper, but the front cover had my attention. It had the picture of Mark's house burning down, and near the bottom was a sketch of me. It wasn't fully accurate, but it was obviously me. My eyelashes were too long, my hair was only a bit shorter, my eyes weren't that far apart, and my teeth were not that straIght. Either a reporter or the police asked an artistic student to draw a picture of me, or the police (who was good at drawing) asked for a description of me and he drew me.

Perseus Jackson, 15, saved most of the party. He went around the house, leading the party-comers outside before the fire started. How did he know the fire would start? Did he start it, wanting a good show? Or did a friend tell him he would start the fire, and Percy went around warning people? We still have not heard from our hero, but we will be asking him questions.

Before I finished the entire article, I felt my phone vibrate. A text from Zeus. This could not be good.

Saw the paper. Have we taught you nothing? You may have saved those people, but can you save your mother?

Mom. Oh God, no. They can't do this! I ran upstairs, grabbed my backpack, and packed a few of my things. I had to get home before they killed my mom. I looked out the window, and saw a police car pull up. A policeman and a reporter came out, and started walking towards the door.

Is it just me, or is this chapter short? It's almost 3000 words, but it feels shorter. Is that just me? Most people guessed the Annabeth's nickname question, and I don't know if that's a good or bad thing. The cookie question was sort of rhetorical, but thanks to those who answered that question! The age most people guessed was around 15-ish. Is that because most people are that age? Or is it the writing style. I might never know...

Heyreviewers,wanttoseemyreply RED SQUIGGLY LINES!

XOsweetPURPLEcandyXO – Good guess. I'm not saying it's right, and I'm not saying it's wrong. You'll find out...eventually, maybe.

ChildOfWisdom – Thanks :) Okay, sure.

doifrgac – Annabeth? Well, maybe... Maybe blue dye would...try it out and tell me if it does. :) That's a cool guess, I probably wouldn't have thought of that... As for age...close enough. And thanks for the long review :)

Pirate-Spy-Demigod-Wizard – Your guess for the spray paint was the closest. Here's a cookie for that (::) Killed Sally...what? Good guess though :) Far fetched? Nah.

unknown nobody that loves PJO – You're such a nice friend (sarcasm). Then again, I'd probably do the same ;) So, your guess for age...between 13-15? Sooo...You guessed 14! Is that your final answer?

PercyJacksonsLittleSister – Who Connor was. Good guesses.

Peseus the Assassin of the old – What part confused you?

flyonfan14 – thanks ^_^

Ferris Buller – I'll change it then...in a few chapters. And no, I'm not. Sirius is Harry's godfather :P Anyway, Percy doesn't really like killing, and earlier on it said Percy doesn't like using guns.

little-black-blue-hood – Lol. Thanks.

Percabeth rocks 4 ever –thanks ;) - Cookies' answer was right :)

Percylover – Maybeee...

magicdemi-god223 – Yup. He's ADHD, it was meant to be random.

Ginyus –Nudge? She talks a lot.

Daughter of Magic – When I read "IM LOVIN IT!" I was thinking of the McDonald's jingle.

LaughLoverCrystal – Nice guesses.

April – Thanks. And I sometimes do, but not often. Why not just use a computer? I mean, I use my iPod for reading ff, but if I don't have internet on it or something, I go on the computer to check updates. But anywho (I said it :P), thanks!

Huntress0fArtemis – I started reading the review, and I started laughing, because I wrote something similar to my friend's story (as a joke) Then I read the last sentence and thought "oh...okay then." Thanks :)