*Peeks around corner and laughs nervously* Oh, hey guys! Fancy seeing you here… with pitchforks… and rifles… um, bye? *Runs away. Mob chases after* Ok, ok! Fine! I'm sorry, ok? There. I said it. The wait was atrocious (it's been what? A month? More?) and I'm sorry. Don't give me that look, it's true! I'm sorry! How many times do I have to say it?! But, seriously guys, thanks for sticking with me through such a long wait. My excuse… hum… I've been busy? Yeah, that doesn't really make up for it, does it? Oh well. Hopefully this chapter will sort of make up for it. Shout outs:

Myusernameisorigional- Aw, thank you! :) I actually did spend a ton of time working on the plot, so it's nice to have someone notice! And I'm so happy you like my Merlin fic… hopefully I'll be updating that one soon, too… :/

Wisdom's daughter- Yeah, school stinks. :( Thanks for sticking with me while I muddle through it, though! :)

Random Demigod- Yup, action is always more fun to read and to write. The last chapter, although all dialogue, was necessary though. :/ Hopefully there'll be more action soon! :)

Chazaq- Thank you! :) I tried to work in that "surprise visit" for you- I hope you like it!

CelticSun14- THE MERLIN FINALE WAS A HEARTBREAKER YOUR SISTER DID YOU A FAVOR! I cried my eyes out, no joke. :( Anyways, but yeah, if you haven't seen it, you probably shouldn't read my Season 6 fanfic (talk about major spoilers!) But you could read "When Druids can't keep secrets" (which is a cliché type reveal fic.) I don't think I have any spoilers in that one… you don't have to, of course. Just me thinking out loud… or, typing out loud. Whatever :/

Disclaimer: Even RR would update faster than me… and that's saying something!

Percy's POV

The fates hate me. Yes. After all I'd discovered in the last 24 hours, that was what was running through my mind. Why was I thinking that, you ask? Allow me to explain.

You'd think the son of a god with superhuman powers and a major role in a supernatural secret war for human survival would be a good fighter, right? I mean, it made sense! But no. In the last 24 hours, I'd also conveniently discovered that I was more likely to impale myself with a weapon than my enemy.

"Take a break!" Chiron called, yanking me from my thoughts.

"Thank gods," I muttered under my breath as I limped over to a stone bench outside the camp arena, collapsing down next to Annabeth. She gave a breathless laugh, shooting me a grin.

Of course Annabeth was a natural warrior. She'd quickly picked up fighting with a golden dagger that apparently had been a gift from her mother, and was pretty decent with a bow and arrow as well. She was also unfairly good at hand-to-hand combat- just my luck. I could just see her judo flipping me every time we argued.

I suspected she also liked having something physical to do to distract her from… well, everything, but I wasn't about to ask her about it. Even I had to admit this training Chiron insisted we do was far better than sitting around, knowing we'd have to fight earth-bounds on a regular basis soon.

"Percy!" Chiron called, motioning for me to join him in the center of the arena.

"Called out," whistled one of my friends, although I didn't see who. Walking up to Chiron, I shifted uneasily, mentally praying, please not the bow and arrows again. Anything but that.

"Since the other weapons aren't quite… up your ally… let's try something a little different, shall we?" He said, smiling at me as if he hadn't spent the last half hour detangling one of my stray arrows from another camper's hair.

"Different sounds good," I agreed, relieved.

"Have you done any sword play before?" Chiron asked, studying me.

"Well…" I hesitated, thinking of my pen/sword in my pocket. I had defeated one eath-bound with that, although it'd been more blind luck than anything else. Besides, I wasn't quite sure I was ready to tell Chiron about my dad's sword- my sword, now. "Not really," I admitted, figuring that was mostly true.

"I see," Chiron nodded. Somehow I got the feeling he knew I wasn't telling him everything, but if he did, he didn't press the matter. "Well, grab a wooden one off the rack and we'll go over the basics."

Grabbing a sword, I complied, honestly trying to get the techniques down. Maybe because I needed to be able to fight with something. Maybe because my dad had fought with a sword- whatever the reason, I did my best to pay attention for once.

A half hour later, Chiron leaned back in his wheel chair, looking satisfied.

"Well, my boy, I think we've finally found your niche," he told me, looking relieved and almost… impressed. "I do believe you could be an excellent sword fighter with a balanced sword and a little more practice."

"Yessir," I grinned, unable to hide my satisfaction. Finally, something I could do!

-Line Break-

"Percy. Percy! PERCY!"

"AH!" I cried, jerking upright and blinking my eyes open. Instinctively, I reached for my pen, only to discover it wasn't there. I was lying on a cold marble floor in the middle of a huge stone-white room, with tall ceilings that made everything echo. The room was empty, except for me and a middle-aged man with a sun-tanned face, black hair, and green eyes, like mine.

"Who are you?" I asked, scrambling to my feet. "Where am I?"

"You're back at Camp," the man told me, "sleeping. This is only a dream, Perseus, relax."

"How do you know my name?" I asked warily. After everything I'd been through, normally when someone knew your name they wanted to kill you. At my question, the man looked almost sad.

"As your father, I helped name you. I'd hope I'd remember that much," he told me, watching my reaction. I froze, shock running through me. My Dad? This guy was my dad?

Most people probably would have started yelling about 'how dare you abandon me' and what not, but what ended up coming out of my mouth was, "Uh, it's Percy, actually. I go by Percy."

"I see," the man- my dad- nodded. "You're so…"

Oh man, I groaned mentally. I've only known my dad for a couple of minutes, and he's already disappointed in me. Great.

"… Grown up," Poseidon finished.

Oh. Not disappointed, then.

"Um, thanks," I muttered. This would definitely make my list of top 10 awkward situations I'd been in. What was I supposed to say to the guy who'd walked out of my life before I was even born, leaving my mom to raise me by myself? Even if I knew his reason now, I couldn't help feeling a little mad.

"Listen Percy, we don't have much time," my dad said, a strange urgency finding its way into his voice. "Zeus will detect that I'm sending you a dream soon, and he most likely won't be happy."

"You're sending me this dream? How is that even possible?"

"It's an ability we all have- even you and your friends, although I doubt you've learned to control it yet. But that's not important right now."

"Not important?! But-"

"Percy! Listen to me! If something goes wrong on our mission-"

"You mean your mission to get that stone thing," I interrupted, trying to act like I knew what was going on. I probably should have kept my mouth shut, though, because Poseidon paled and stared at me like I'd grown an extra head.

"What do you know about the stone?" He asked carefully, his eyes never leaving my face, gauging my reaction.

"Not much," I admitted. "I know that you and your Union are going to look for it, and that it's important the Titans don't get it. But that's about it."

"You don't know your part in- no, of course not. How could you? Good," he nodded, speaking more to himself then me.

"My part in what?" I asked suspiciously; dread trickling down my spine for some reason.

"Nothing," Poseidon said, too quickly. "Listen, Percy, if we fail, you must not go to the Titans. No matter what, go nowhere near their camp. Understand?"

"Why would I go to their Camp?" I asked, confused. "They want to kill me."

"They don't want to kill you. At least, not yet," Poseidon said gravely.

"What? But Kronos-"

"Wasn't trying to kill you," my dad interrupted. "He wanted you sedated, ignorant. Maybe even injured, to keep you manageable. But not dead. When the time was right, he would have taken you to their Camp."

"Why?" I asked, fear creeping through me despite myself.

"Promise me you won't try to be a hero. Don't go to their Camp."

"Why would I-"

"Percy! Promise me!" Poseidon snapped, with real fear in his eyes. That was enough to terrify me.

"I promise!" I said quickly, and my dad immediately relaxed.

"Thank you," he said, giving a small sigh, suddenly looking very tired. "This is different than when you were at the MIST Academy, Percy. There was like a game, a way to keep you contained. Now, you're free. And that scares them. They need a way to control you, and they will do anything to reach that goal. Even hurt the people you love."

My mind immediately flashed to my friends, my mom, and Annabeth, and I felt like I might be sick.

"They wouldn't-"

"They would. You have to play your cards right, son, or you friend's lives- and the world- will be over. Train hard. You don't have as long to prepare as you think you do."

Then my dream spiraled into darkness, leaving me with a new burden on my shoulders and a face to put with the name "dad".

There! I was nice! No cliffy! Well, not really… that doesn't count. Not really. There's a semi-brief action scene next chapter! Yay! I'll try to update soon… maybe… :/ Reviewer's question: SO, WHO'S EXCITED FOR HOUSE OF HADES? :D I know I am! Until next time!