A/N: Hey! Thanks to all of you who review, it really boosts my confidence and helps me update faster. They will meet Janus in this story (yay!) since someone requested it in my last one. They will also get Madison to explain everything that has happened, once Nico can control his powers. This is a major Percabeth chapter, but no kissing or anything. That would be slightly freaky.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned little Connor...

Percy POV:

Nico and Connor really liked the park so far. Even though we had been there for almost two hours (I thought they would've gotten bored by now.) they really seemed to enjoy it. Annabeth, on the other hand, sat next to me quietly on the park bench, facing away from the other kids.

"Percy," Annabeth asked me. "Can we ride the carousel?"

"Sorry, we can't. We need to save this money for emergencies." I told her gently. She looked down at the sand, frowned, and then started to swing her feet.

We had found our way out of the woods a few hours ago, and Nico begged us to come to the park. Like all kids do, he used the puppy-dog-eyes on us, so we couldn't resist. Well, Clarisse could. She flat out told him, "No," which made him cry. I felt bad for the kid. He looked happier than ever swinging on the swing set, with Clarisse scowling at him as she pushed him back and forth.

Connor was playing in the sandbox. He learned that sand could be used as a weapon to anyone who came near his 'kingdom'. When Travis walked over and asked him if he wanted to swing, Connor launched sand into his face and laughed.

Annabeth really wanted to ride the carousel, but I knew we had to save our money. From what has happened so far, I bet that we would run out before we made it to the daycare center. I tried to get her to play on the slides, but she didn't really care for them.

She looked down and kicked her legs back and forth some more. I half-hoped that I didn't tell her too much about everything. Would she still be as smart as she was before? Could she figure out the truth easily as she could when she was older? If she did, then maybe she could help us. She would understand the situation, and maybe cut us some slack with the "I want it," stuff.

I couldn't help but feel sad for her. She just wanted to have some fun. Plus, we had dragged her into this. She deserved a little reward.

I pulled two dollars out of my pocket. "Here, Annabeth," I helped her off of the bench. "You can ride it once. Then swing or play on the slides. If you want, I can get Connor and Nico to play with you,"

"No!" she said quickly, frantically looking around to see if the two boys had heard her. "No, it's okay, really. I'll go swing on the swings next to Nico. No Connor. Please."

I had a feeling that she didn't get along with Connor well. "Okay. Get on the carousel and I'll pay."

"Can you watch me?"

"Sure." I told her.

She smiled and skipped to the little stand. A man was in the booth, expressionless, as Annabeth and I walked towards him.

"One ticket please," Annabeth flashed him a big grin.

"That'll be two dollars." He said in monotone.

I handed him the money and watched Annabeth get on a grey horse. She giggled as the horse went up and down over and over. If Nico or Connor saw her on the carousel, they would want to ride it, too. We would have wasted six dollars right then. We already spent five from Travis being 'hungry' every hour it took to get here.

"That was so fun!" she hugged me. "Thank you!"

"Don't tell Nico and Connor, okay?" I whispered to her.

She gave me a thumbs-up and ran towards the swings. I sat on the bench, watching my girlfriend smile as she played, wondering how she would react when I would tell her later.

"This day has been awesome!" Connor bounced up and down.

"And we still have a long way to go till we find the stupid daycare." Clarisse added.

"Aw, come on, Clarisse," Travis nudged her. "Don't be such a downer."

She punched him in the shoulder and said, "Don't insult me or I'll get my dad to rip your limbs off, one by one."

"Impressive. You've been coming up with more descriptive ways to maim people."

"I've had a lot of free time lately," she replied.

We walked down the crowded streets of New York, along with a huge group of people. We spotted a few shops that looked cool, but reluctantly kept going. Annabeth tugged on my shirt and pointed to a shop.

"It's a clothing store," she pointed out. "I saw a sign for it at the toy shop. They sell cheap clothes. And make-up!"

"Annabeth, you don't need make-up. You're beautiful without it." Whoops. Didn't mean for that to slip out of my mouth.

She blushed like crazy and bowed her head. "Thanks…but still, we should get some new clothes."

"For once, I agree," Travis said. "I only have this shirt that isn't ripped or dirty."

I gave in. "Fine. One outfit."

The sign said, "Aphrodite's Beauty Boutique", which made my stomach twist. Clarisse glanced my way and I could tell we were thinking the same thing.

Inside, it looked like a unicorn had barfed rainbows. Everything was bright colors, streamers and balloons danced throughout the room. The floor was a pink, fluffy, carpet, and I confirmed my suspicions to be true as soon as the cashier walked out.

To me, she had long blonde hair and grey eyes. Like Annabeth. She smiled and waved as we walked in.

"Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot-t-tot," Travis stuttered as he saw Aphrodite.

"Guys, stay here," I told Nico and Connor, who were staring at Aphrodite with their mouths wide open.

Annabeth ran over to a bean bag chair and plopped into it. "It's so fluffy!" she told me with delight.

"That's awesome. Stay here okay?"

"Why would I want to leave this chair?" she answered.

When I got to the counter along with Clarisse and Travis, Aphrodite smiled warmly at us. It made me feel all tingly and funny inside. That's just what she does to you, you know?

"Hey, I heard from Hermes that you guys needed some help?" she asked.

"Uh-uh, yeah, sure," Travis tried to keep himself together. I choked back a laugh and I could tell that he hadn't ever met Aphrodite before.

"Poor darlings!" she clapped her hands together. "I've got just the thing. I'll give you a new haircut and a new style so nobody will recognize you from the airport. It was all over the news, not to mention Hephaestus TV."

"I-it was?" I asked nervously.

"Yep. Now, Clarisse, come with me. Percy, Travis, stay here and watch the little ones. They're so adorable!"

We watched Aphrodite take Clarisse into a dressing room. Clarisse glanced back at us and gave us a threatening look.

Travis leaned against the wall, which flowers were painted on. "Clarisse will kill us if we laugh,"

"How do you know?" Before he could answer, he glanced to where I staring. He raised his eyebrows when he saw Connor, who was holding up a pink bra. Connor and Nico ran over to me and held it up.

Connor poked it. "What is this thing?" He said with a hint of fascination in his voice.

"You do not want to know," was all that Travis told him.

Nico laughed. "It looks funny."

"Put it back." I yelled after them as they wandered off. "And don't touch the panties!"

"What are panties?" Nico said over his shoulder. He was searching through the hat rack.

"Girl stuff." I answered.

"Ew!" Connor slammed into a bean bag and buried his face in it. Nico did the same. "Girl stuff is nasty!" I barely heard his muffled voice.

Clarisse and Aphrodite came out of the dressing room. Clarisse had her hair cut short and spiky, like Thalia's hair. She was wearing a dark red shirt and ripped jeans.

"It wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but it'll do," Aphrodite sighed. "It definitely fits your personality, though. I'm sure Chris will love it. Here's your bag filled with some extra outfits."

Aphrodite looked my way. "Come on, Percy, you're next."

She took me to the dressing room, but when she pulled back the curtain, it wasn't a dressing room. It was more like a salon. There were racks that held kids', boys', and girls' clothes.

She sat me in a chair and had me lean my head back into a sink.

"So I was thinking that we have your hair spike up a little bit in a few places, but have your bangs drop slightly over your eyes. Older Annabeth will love it." She started to babble. "What do you think?"

"Um, yeah, that sounds nice. Whatever you think is best, Aphrodite. You're the pro."

She dried my hair and starting to trim. I watched bits of my hair fall onto the tiled floor. The goddess finally twisted my chair around revealing my new haircut.

"Do you like it?"

I didn't look anything like myself. Like she had planned, part of my bangs were pushed to one side, and pieces of hair stuck up so it looked natural. It was incredible.

"I love it. Thanks,"

Aphrodite pulled my out of my chair and searched through some racks, skipping ones that she thought weren't my style.

"No, too baggy. Skinny jeans? Never! Skull shirt? Eh, more of Nico's thing. Ah-ha! Here," she shoved a black shirt with a trident on it into my arms and shuffled to look for some jeans.

When she led me into the main part of the shop, Travis whistled.

"Man, if she can make you look good, then she'll make me look mega-sexy."

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "You'd never be mega-sexy."

"Oh yeah? Watch." He walked into the dressing room with his head held high.

"Oh, boy, this'll be good." Clarisse muttered. She turned and saw Nico and Connor examining tube tops. "Hey! Get over here, you two!"

They rushed over and sat in a bean bag silently.

When Travis came out, his hair was barely under his ears. He wore a simple plaid shirt and jeans. He, too, had a bag with extra outfits.

"Nico and Connor, come here!" Aphrodite said.

They jumped up and ran inside.

"They seemed excited about being alone with Aphrodite," Travis laughed.

"I swear, they're spawns of the devil or something," Clarisse shook her head and took a deep breath.

"Well, Nico is Hades son, and Connor's my brother, so you're right. Technically." Travis smiled.

Annabeth fell asleep in the bean bag. Her blonde hair flowed over the bean bag and she slept.

"Dude, you've got to be more careful when you talk to her." Travis told me.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You told her she was beautiful, she can't know anything that she didn't know before." Clarisse explained.

"Yeah, well, that's a problem." I told them about the conversation I had with Annabeth in the tent's kitchen.

Clarisse slapped me in the face when I was done. "You, idiot! You'll ruin everything! Just because she's your girlfriend doesn't mean you can blab to her about stuff! Not until she's sixteen again!"

Connor and Nico came out; both wear simple tee-shirts. They wore jean shorts, along with big grins.

"The washer-sink-thingy tickled!" Connor told me.

"Yeah!" Nico agreed.

"Annabeth your turn," Aphrodite knelt at her bean bag and slightly shook her awake. Annabeth rubbed her eyes.

When she walked inside, she wore an expression of terror. My stomach tied into knots. She didn't look scared of the 'makeover'. She was terrified of something else.

"I-I have a bad feeling that she heard us," Travis said nervously.

I sat down in the bean bag that she was in before and put my head in my hands. It was all my fault. I never should have told her anything. Clarisse was right.

It seemed like hours until she came out. She was wearing a blue layered dress. She wore light grey socks that went up to her knees and slip-on shoes. It looked perfect for a girl her age.

"Don't you guys love it?" Aphrodite squealed with glee.

"Yeah," Travis patted Annabeth on the head like a dog. "She looks normal. Even though we're not anywhere near normal."

"Th-Thank you," Annabeth barely whispered.

"Aw, you're welcome, sweetie. Now I'll see you guys later. I've got to reopen the shop. This is what I do in my free time."

I had never even realized she closed it. We waved goodbye ad we walked down the streets, for once looking normal."

Most of the streets were crowded with tons of people, so we took a shortcut through an alley. Annabeth took the lead. Light came from the apartments on both sides of us, but only faintly. The sounds of honking horns echoed through the alley.

Annabeth suddenly turned on us, her dagger in her hand. "Okay, tell me what's going on."

Nico and Connor jumped behind us, cowering and probably hoping she wouldn't stab them.

"Woah," Travis held his hands up in surrender. "Who decided to give the five-year-old a freaking dagger?"

"I pick-pocketed you, duh. Now tell me what you meant when you said 'Not until she's sixteen again,'"

She had determination in her stormy gray eyes, but I doubted she would hurt me. If she had heard the age part, then she had heard the part about me being her boyfriend.

"And if we don't tell you?" Travis did his famous mischievous grin. She smiled the way that Clarisse does when she makes a threat.

"I'll make sure you have an unwanted hole in your stomach." she threatened.

"Fine." Travis took a deep breath and told her everything. About all of my quests, our first kiss, and how Nico and Connor were supposed to be older, too. Nico and Connor stepped out from behind us to hear Travis more clearly. Their eyes began to widen with the more knowledge they got. Finally, when they had the whole story, they took slow, shaky breaths.

"So-so we're not really five," Nico asked, staring at the ground.

"No, we only turned you five so we could get into the daycare." Clarisse answered.

"And I actually let you do this?" Annabeth screeched. I could tell she was not happy.

"Uh, yeah."

Her face started to turn red, and I quickly added, "But it was for the safety of the other kids!"

Her expression softened for a moment, and she sat on the ground. We all sat down with her, ready to answer any question she had.

"P-Percy?" she asked me quietly.

"What is it?"

"What was I like? When I was older?"

"You were amazing. You let your best friend sacrifice his life to save the whole world. You're brave and funny and ready to take on anyone who disagrees with you. You were right most of the time when we were older. It'll all be over soon." I put my hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry."

"L-let's go," Travis said quickly. "I think I hear someone coming."

We hurried down the alley only to see a dark figure at the end of it. The last thing I heard was a loud thump, and then I blacked out.

A/N: This chapter was really fun to write. I hope you all enjoyed their little 'makeovers'.