EllaIncarnate: SO true! I think I'd be an Earthbender…lols. But no, I haven't heard your Amon theory. But sure, I'd love to hear it! A lot of people think it's Ozai and I'm all like O,O. There is a really awesome ATLA writer, actually. Her name is Light-Eco-Sage. She writes a lot of lemons, but there are a few here and there that are clean. Did you see the most recent episode? I got all excited during the flashback. :)

CheekyDragon: It's 'kay, I don't mind. :]

PercyJacksonLittleSister: Her, her…I don't know what else to say…

Chapter Nineteen: A Little Help from Hermes

About a half hour after Percy loses the letter…

Percy sat on a stone bench with his head in his hands, "Gods damn it!" He repeated.

"Hmph…you shouldn't use our names in vain. You can get vaporized for that." A male voice said. Percy looked up in the direction of the voice. Hermes was standing at the base of a marble column. He was hiding something behind his back.

"Lord Hermes." Percy stood up, "I'm sorry."

Hermes waved away Percy's apology and put on his usual weasel-like smile, "You look like you're in a lot of trouble." He pulled a piece of paper in his direction. Percy gasped, "Is that-"

"The invitation? You can bet on it." He grinned a little more. Percy scowled and grabbed for the invitation, but Hermes pulled it away at the last second, "No, no, no. You have to promise me something, eh?"

Percy's scowl deepened, "Okay-okay. Just tell me, so I can get to that party." Hermes handed him the paper,

"Win this. My money is on you, of course." He turned a corner and was gone. Percy followed a huge wave of people parading towards a building on the top of a hill; he assumed that was where the party was. It seemed like there were a million steps before you actually got to the top of the hill. He was planning on charging through everyone, but they stepped aside when he passed through. When he was facing the door, he paused, and turned. They were staring, just staring. Then suddenly, the crowd started cheering, he smiled and waved to them. What looked like an usher was standing by the door,

"Please present your invitation." He said. Percy thought his voice was so dull and boring he could easily pull of a robot for Halloween. Percy carefully handed it over, as if it was a bomb waiting to explode. He had already lost it once; he didn't need to repeat that. The doors swung open and he stepped inside. Percy was inside a hallway lined with statues wearing Greek armor. As he got farther down the hall, he could hear music blaring through speakers, people screaming and shouting. Through the entryway, he could see balloons flying across the room. But once again, room was an understatement, but now it was even more.

The whole cathedral-sized "room" was circular shaped; with polished stone floors, and windows that circled all the way around. Right across the room was a balcony, and most of all, a very accurately painted ceiling. He wandered some more, and he felt someone tap his shoulder. He turned and saw the face of Poseidon, "Well, son? Are you enjoying it so far?"

Percy nodded, "Yup, but what do you mean so far?"

Poseidon shrugged and looked like he was staring at something. Percy turned in the direction he was looking in. Then Poseidon started speaking again, "Somebody usually spikes the punch by now…"

He snorted at his dad, "Yeah? And how would you know?" Poseidon furrowed his eyebrows.

"How would I know? I've drunk enough of it!" Poseidon beamed and started to walk towards the buffet tables. Percy continued his search for Annabeth, which was almost an impossible task by now. He couldn't find her, so he decided to check the balcony for any signs of her. Percy stepped out, but there was no sign of her. Was she too nervous to show up? He thought to himself. He started to head back inside, but did a double take when he saw a flash of blue in the corner of his eye. Percy fully turned, and saw that this was in fact her.

He reached out to touch her shoulder, but she turned before he could. Percy's breath hitched at the sight of her dress, "Annabeth…you look-"She smiled.

"Pretty? Beautiful? Ravishing?" She smirked.

Percy forced himself to answer her, "Uh…all of the above."

A slow song started to play, "Well? Aren't you going to ask me to dance?" Annabeth asked.

Percy felt a wave of nausea churn in his stomach, "I wasn't planning on it. You know how terrible I am at dancing."

She extended her hands out to him, and he took them. They started circling slowly, and Percy was saying to himself, Don't step on her feet, Don't step on her feet, Don't step on her feet…Just then, two people rushed in their direction. He broke away from Annabeth, and saw that it was a cameraman with a reporter, "Um…who are you?" Percy asked.

The lady-reporter flashed a pure white smile etched with maroon red lipstick, "Why, I'm Octavia Odele, Olympus T.V.'s head reporter!" He looked at Annabeth, eyebrows arched. "Right." Percy stretched the word out like it had a thousand I's in it.

"We were wondering if I could get an interview from the both of you; for the competition bit?" Octavia flashed another partially-blinding smile.

Percy mentally rolled his eyes, were the reporters blind or something? "Could it wait, please? I'm trying to spend some time with my girlfriend." He gave Annabeth a reassuring smile, and she blushed a little. Octavia clasped her hands together and sighed dreamily.

"Oh! A demigod romance! So cute!" She squealed. Percy had to give her credit, she was doing a good job of flattering them; flattering them so she could get that interview. "Please reconsider, it will only take a few minutes!"

Percy wrapped his arm around Annabeth's shoulder and started to walk back inside, "Thanks, but no thanks. Now we really need to go back to the party." He said politely. Just then, the song they had been dancing to ended, and it went back to blaring party music.

"You know," Annabeth started, "They're going to attack us with cameras tomorrow."

Percy nodded,"Mmm…Who knew that this thing was such a big deal?"

You're probably wondering why the people stepped aside. It's because he's Percy-Freaking-Jackson! And by the way, I know Octavia is a name from The Hunger Games and blah, blah, blah. It's ALSO my sister's middle name, so, this chapter is kind of dedicated to her.