Yo! Yo! Miss me? I missed y'all. I've been super busy lately what with graduation and my 18th birthday and the opening of the latest beach volleyball season. I also got accepted into a summer program for my college! It's crazy! For the Filipinos out there who know about this, my debut is coming up and I've been stressing out with the dances and all the minor details. But, enough about me, I'm sure you guys are ready to read another installment of this fine story. LOL!

Jedi1: Yeah... Aren't stereotypes fun? ;)

Divergent Daughter of Athollo: I love stories that show growth as well. Its the hardest but the best thing to write.

ARBIT3R: Yeah... I figured that having that kind of scene would ease the tension slightly and what better than to have a little pervert-ness in the play? ;)

Forever-Fangirl-PJO-HP: Just wait 'til the next time they go there... ;)

PR3DAT0RS: I knowis there aren't any direct flights from New York to Athens so Percy and Annabeth were heading to Athens but they have a stop over in London. You feel me? :)

I Need To Change My Name: Maybe not a lion... Would monkeys be okay? They can be very aggressive. LOL!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Percy Jackson and the Olympians... Obviously since I am in no way, shape, or form Rick Riordan.

Annabeth woke up the next morning at sunrise. She checked her phone. It was at forty percent in battery life and she still had no signal and therefore, no internet and no way to contact the outside world. Groaning, she shut the phone off again in order to conserve the battery as best she could.

She had promised Percy that they'd search the beach and get a feel of how big the island they were on was. Getting out of the cot, she slipped on her shoes and went outside. When she exited the curtain, she saw that Percy was still asleep in his made up bedroll and noticed that he had changed his clothes to the ones she picked out. Smiling slightly to herself, Annabeth checked their inventory and decided that the food was still good to eat. They still had plenty of big water bottles and even more smaller ones. Grabbing a plastic tray and a small water, she sat on the floor next to Percy and ate her 'breakfast,' all the while watching the sunrise. While alone with her thoughts, Annabeth reflected on her life thus far. It seemed appropriate considering the fact that there was a very high chance that the two of them would die on that island. But, until that happened, Annabeth had to maintain some form of sanguinity and began to develop different tactics and plans that would help them to survive until the rescue team arrived. If they arrive.

Eventually, Percy stirred and subsequently sat up. "This can't be good for my back," he groaned. Annabeth smiled at his grogginess.

"At least your spine will be straight," she quipped. He looked right at her and seemed to notice the food.

"Is there anymore?" he asked.

"Plenty," she answered. "You want chicken or a burger?" She stood up and went to the food storage cabinet.

"I'll take a burger." Annabeth searched for the right plate and grabbed it, and went ahead and grabbed him a small water bottle as well. He moved over to sit next to her and they sat together, eating breakfast and watching the forest.

"I was thinking that we should use the ropes from the cargo hold to mark our paths from here to the oasis and to the beach so that we don't have to keep searching for the notches that I made," Annabeth said after a few minutes of the comfortable silence. Percy nodded as he took another bite of his food.

"That's really smart. Then, all we'd have to do is follow the rope."

"Exactly." They finished their food and drank their waters. When they had cleaned up, they went over to the cabinet and grabbed two large water bottles, which Percy packed in the large pockets of his shorts. Together, they climbed down the blanket ladder and gathered all of the ropes and ties that they could. When they were satisfied with the length, Annabeth found her first notch and tied one of the ropes around a low branch. She continued to walked and when she came to the end of the rope, she tied it to the end of the next one, made a loop on the next tree, and went on until she reached the oasis.

"So, are we going to continue from here or are we going to start back from the plane?" Percy asked. Annabeth assessed the situation they were in and all of the different scenarios ran through her mind. If they continued on from here, they would have to pass the oasis and possibly make a longer journey just to get to and from the beach. If they went back to the plane, they would have no way to know where the beach was. Annabeth bit her lip as she debated the different options that her brain came up with. Eventually, she decided on the best course of action.

"We should head back to the plane and see if we can find a shorter, direct path to the beach. We'll put notches in the trees so that we don't have to waste our ropes." Annabeth didn't wait for a response as she was still examining other ways to go about their situations. She knew that Percy was following her, though he hadn't said anything. Since their swim yesterday, they hadn't fought too badly and she was thankful for that. She didn't need a revolution of one rising up against her. She needed to maintain control of they wanted to survive. The pair reached the plane and stood a little ways off from the wreckage they had called home for the past day.

"Which way?" Percy asked standing next to her.

Annabeth surveyed her surroundings again and pointed in one direction. "That way," she said.

"How do you know?"

"Because, the waterfall is down that way and we walked south from there. That's south so the beach would be that way." Annabeth eyed Percy and noticed that he was watching her with careful eyes. No doubt she was shattering his previous assessment of her as a airheaded, blonde heiress. Good, she thought to herself. Serves him right for putting her into a degrading stereotype. "What?" she asked him.

"Nothing," he answered, looking away from her.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and began to walk in the direction she had pointed to, brandishing her knife and marking the trees as she went, leaving Percy to follow. The two walked in silence until they reached the beach. Annabeth was surprised to find that the trek to the shore was a short one. Notching the last tree, Annabeth turned to Percy. "Do you want to go ahead and mark the path with rope or do you want to explore the beach first?" she asked.

"Umm…" Percy looked around. "I vote explore. We can put the ropes around the tree to mark our entrance." Annabeth nodded and hung the rope on a low branch. She returned to stand by him and looked up at the sky.

"It's about eight-ish so, we should be good to go around for about ten hours. Hopefully, we can reach the here before them or we'll have to camp out."

"You sure you can handle that?" Annabeth, knowing that he was making another crass comment about her social status, spun around at glared at him. Just when she'd thought they were getting somewhere, he goes and says that. Deciding that it wasn't worth ot to push it further, Annabeth turnedg once more on her heel and stomped off.

They travelled in silence again. The only difference this time was that there was tension hanging in the air.

•-•-•-•-•-•-•-•

Percy wanted to bury his head in the sand. His comment was impulsive and rash and totally uncalled for. He didn't know what came over him. He just blurted it out as though there was no filter between his brain and his mouth. Annabeth had proven to him time and again that she wasn't the typical, bimbo heiress, so why had he said it? He didn't know. All he knew was that now, she was angry at him. He had taken a step forward and two steps back.

He walked on behind her, taking note of her body. He wasn't exactly ogling her. Of course she had a beautiful body, gorgeous even, but all of that wouldn't matter if it weren't for her stature. He saw the way that she carried herself with confidence in everything she did. The pride she had in herself was borderline arrogant but she walked that fine line with caution since he felt that she still emitted a sense of humility and modesty. She knew when to push past her limits and when to hold back. The perfect strategist. Not like Percy.

Percy was the complete opposite of her on a wide range of traits and attributes. In a natural environment, natural being New York City, Percy was carefree, impulsive, and, according to many of his high school teachers, annoying. At least two of those personality traits had followed him to the island, at least, when it came to Annabeth. He knew he had to do something to ease the tension between them because if it weren't for her, he'd probably be dead. Annabeth stopped walking but didn't turn around to face him. Instead, she looked all around her to assess their location. "About what I said, " he blurted. "I didn't mean it. It was something that just popped up and my brain filter needs to be cleaned out." Annabeth turned around, her eyes hardened to look like steel, and got close to him, her gaze piercing into him.

"If you thought it," she said, her voice dangerously low, "you meant it. Whether you say it or not." She spun around again, her ponytail slapping him in the face. She continued to stalk off, leaving him to follow her dejectedly. They'd probably walked for hours before Annabeth stopped. "It's about noon. We should take a break," she said looking out at the ocean, not even glancing at him. Her voice was cold and indifferent and Percy knew that he should give her more time to herself since he didn't want her cutting him open with the knife strapped to her waist.

Percy walked up to the edge of the dry sand and took a seat cross-legged. Closing his eyes, he listened to the calming sound of the waves crashing against the shore. The only great part about being on an island was that they were surrounded by water. Surrounded by vast openness. The ocean had always been a comforting place for him. Not even his own home growing up was comforting. Sure his Mom was great. In fact, his Mom was the best mom in the world, though, she had terrible taste in men. His own father left her to fend for herself and a child and Smelly Gabe was the loosest description of human. Percy had no idea how the sweetest woman got the worst men. All throughout his childhood, he had viewed his mother as a beacon of hope. Hope that there was good in the world. Hope that not everyone was turned against him and rooting for him to fail. One of his earliest memories of his mom was when they were at Montauk beach. They had gone there at least twice a year, every year: during spring break and Fourth of July weekend. That was one of the only times where it was just him and her and they were always the best times he'd had. Their days together on the beach were worth the time in between.

He recalled one trip to Montauk during spring break of his senior year in high school where he had just broken up with his girlfriend, Reyna, after two years of dating. His heart was broken as he lost her to the lacrosse captain, Jason. He had went over to her house to surprise her, only to find her and Jason sucking face on the couch. She tried to explain to him but he knew what he saw and it wasn't like she could argue that it was his fault; she was on top of him, unbuttoning his shirt. The first morning of his vacation to Montauk, Percy had woken up before sunrise and sat at the edge of the dry sand and just watched as the sky got brighter and changed hues from red, to orange, to yellow, to white, and finally to the bright blue of the sky. His mom had come out and sat next to him, not saying anything until he did.

"Why do you think she did it?" he asked, not looking away from the water.

"I don't know, Percy," she answered. "People will do things that will hurt you. They'll come and go and you have to endure it. It's not going to be easy. Life is full of tests and trials and it's our job to find out why we were brought to that point. What the significance of that occurrence is." When Percy didn't say anything, she continued. "Reyna, although she broke your heart, allowed you to know what it's like to love and to be loved. Maybe what she did to you, whether she knew it or not, was show you how hurtful it is to betray someone and that would help you to choose to never do that to anyone." Percy, not truly understanding the gravity of the words, at the time, but getting the gist of it, looked at his mother and smiled.

"Thanks, Mom," he said. "You always know what to say."

"That's my job, Percy," she laughed. They sat together, watching the sunrise, until Percy's stomach growled and complained of hunger.

Percy's hand unconsciously ran across the sand as he reminisced, touching the spot relative to where his mother sat beside him years ago. "I wish you were here, Mom," he whispered, his eyes brimming with tears. He uncrossed his legs and pulled them up to his chest like a lost child crouched into a corner. "I need you."

Short and sweet. You know... Until Percy puts his foot in his mouth... Lol. Sorry there wasn't a lot going on in this chapter. I needed to set up the next one. Yeah... I'm currently a writing monkey what with two stories to get out on a regular schedule. Bless The Lord for buffers.

Anyways... You've got two weeks to give me something good to include here. ;) See ya then!

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