*Gods, this chapter took a very, very, very long time to write. I consider it the most difficult chapter in the book, so I hope you guys like it.

I don't own any of the characters!*

EDIT: Due to haters hating, where there used to be a part from the book or a few words to signify what line was there, there is only a line.

Persephone had taken her mother to the kitchen to cook something for the demigods while the gods just ate some ambrosia and nectar, and while the demigods waited, they all gathered around the couch of the young children. Poseidon was again sitting on his Throne, trying to give his young son some space. P.J. seemed a little more at ease now, not so scared anymore, and he was talking like crazy with the young Annabeth about the place.

"So," P.J. said, gesturing to the room around him. "This is Olympus. Like, the Olympus?"

Annie smiled at him. "Yeah."

"But… I've never even been out of America! And now we're in Greece?"

Older Percy laughed at his younger self. "This Olympus is in America, little man. Mount Olympus is in Greece, yes, but this place – it moves with the heart of the west."

"Huh." P.J. just stared at him blankly. "That doesn't make any sense."

Annabeth – the older one – laughed. "Gods, Perce, you didn't change one bit. I remember trying to explain all this to you when you were twelve! You were just as clueless as you are now!"

Annie huffed at her older self. "Don't be so harsh on him! He's seven. And Percy," she pointed at the older one, "didn't really explain it very good. You can't blame him," she pointed at P.J. again, "for not understanding."

The silence was deafening, only to be interrupted by Persephone who came in walking, her arms full of sandwiches and cereal – probably Demeter's doing – which she gave to the demigods. She ignored their confused faces who were staring at Annie. All the demigods were trying to grasp around the fact that the younger Annabeth had a lot more acceptance for Percy than the other Annabeth did in the beginning of their friendship. Apparently, letting the two meet here, was going to change a lot of things. And nobody knew if it would be for the better or the worst.

After a while, Percy just laughed a bit, grabbed a sandwich and an empty glass – which quickly filled with Blue Cherry Coke at his command – and walked back to his couch. Annabeth followed him reluctantly, never breaking eye contact with her younger self.

"So," said Zeus after a while. The demigods were still eating their sandwiches – except Frank, who already ate, he was hungry – and they looked up at him. "Shall we just read on? I like to get this over with."

Percy shrugged at him, his mouth full of bread. "yaw bwure," he said, and winced after his girlfriend nudged him in his thigh. He quickly swallowed, and said, "I meant; yeah, sure."

Zeus grabbed the book from Apollo. Poseidon quickly stood up from his throne, and walked to the sofa of the little ones, shrinking to human size again while doing so. Zeus stared at his brother, his brow raised, but Poseidon just shrugged in response, pulling his son on his lap. His shrug was so much like Percy's, that some people couldn't help but laugh a little.

Zeus sighed, and opened the book to the right page. Grover unexpectedly loses his pants.

"Uhm, what?" Grover asked, turning crimson red.

Percy started laughing. "Oh gods, Grover, you are going to love this chapter."

"That isn't very thoughtful," Athena said.

"Percy often doesn't think," Annabeth explained, getting nudged by her boyfriend in the process.

One of the demigods, Thalia, huffed. "He actually has a point."

The brother's toll exchanged glances, devilish smiles on their faces. Percy noticed, and laughed at the two. "I wouldn't plan on doing anything with it," he told them, "I moved."

They both groaned.

"Awesome," Thalia said.

"The best," Nico corrected.

Poseidon started to turn red a little, and Athena eyed him suspiciously. Was that Seaweed Brain still in love with a mortal woman?

"You know," said Piper slowly, turning towards Percy. "That you're talking about yourself as well?"

Percy blinked a couple of times, a smile slowly tucking on his lips. "I'm talking about all of us."

The gods glanced at each other, worry dripping in their facial expressions.

Poseidon now truly smiled, his eyes twinkling with the memories of that one beautiful summer. His love for the woman was written all over his features, and he even smiled a bit towards Aphrodite, who was squealing in happiness.

Percy was smiling, too, and glanced at his father, who was still hugging P.J.

Aphrodite started squealing for real now. "She still loves you, Poseidon!"

His smile couldn't get any bigger, and Athena glared at him angrily, though she would never admit her anger to anyone. "I know."

Grover whispered in Percy's ear: "He just Han Solo'd her."

Percy started laughing.

Hermes whistled. "Some genius woman you've got there, P. You sure I can't borrow her sometimes?"

The huge wave hit him from nowhere, tilting his Throne backwards. With a screech the Lord of the Thieves fell, while Percy and Poseidon were laughing like crazy.

"Poseidon!" Hermes yelled at him. "You son of a –"

"It wasn't me," laughed Poseidon. "Percy?"

Percy shook his head. "Me neither. I guess P.J.'s learning his powers."

All eyes turned towards P.J., who was shaking with laughter, for the first time pure joy masking his features. "That was fun!" he exclaimed, and looked to his father. "Can I do it again?"

Poseidon waved his hand, and from nowhere, a kiddy pool appeared. It was a few inches high, tall enough for P.J. to stand in it, and still be under water. He lifted his boy up, and put him in the water without giving an explanation.

"But dad!" P.J. yelled before his face hit the water. "I can't breathe –"

He was silenced when he was fully under water. His face turned to absolute bliss, and he took a deep breath, staring at his father in astonishment. He started giggling like crazy, swimming in the little pool, swirling round and round by just making hand gestures, taking deep breaths of water.

A few demigods glared at the older Percy. "That's actually pretty cool," said Jason, awe in his voice. "I couldn't even fly until I was like, fifteen or something."

Percy shrugged. "Water powers are just cool."

Poseidon nodded at his son, and walked towards his Throne, growing larger again. "They are indeed."

Nobody tried to deny it. Zeus quickly read on, trying to distract anyone from the fact that Poseidon's kid was more powerful as a kid than his son and daughter were when they were seven.

Percy winced, and shuddered at the mere thought of his stepfather. He was glad his younger self was enjoying himself in the water, not hearing this. Annabeth eyed her boyfriend, and pulled him onto her lap. He groaned at her, but kept sitting there anyway, and wrapped his arms around her.

"Yikes!" Aphrodite and Piper exclaimed at the same time.

Piper quickly fell quiet, turning red when all her friends laughed at her.

This time more people looked disgusted, but nobody had a more pained expression on his face than Percy did. Athena eyed him, knowing he knew the truth about his past would come out any second know, and that he would be unable to stop it from happening.

Poseidon was going to be heartbroken.

Hera gasped. "God, his manners are horrible!"

"This is the first and last time I'm going to agree with her," Thalia said, pointing at Hera. "That guy's a pig."

"Yikes, TMI," Jason said, laughing at Percy, but fell quiet when he saw Percy's pained expression.

Something is obviously wrong, Jason thought. Percy looked more scared now than when he fought a Fury.

After a deafening silence, in which everybody – and I mean everybody, from Grover to Dionysus – stared at the young and old Percy, all hell broke loose.

Poseidon lost control first. "WHAT?" He yelled, standing up, making the whole Throne Room shudder from the earthquakes he was causing. "My… my son? He.. the… HE HIT YOU?"

The demigods were no better at controlling their anger. They all started to yell at Percy.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Thalia yelled, standing up. The air sparked with electricity around her, as did her eyes who flamed with anger and sadness.

"We are going to kill him," Frank said with a pained expression on his face, for the first time in his life looking like his father, Mars. "No one hits Percy without receiving punishment,"

With every question fired at Percy, with every angry 'why didn't you tell us!' Percy seemed to shrink further and further back into himself, pulling his legs to his chest, trying to hide from all the people. His eyes turned bigger and bigger, until he couldn't help himself anymore.

He started to cry.

Everything went silent. The only sound was the quiet sobbing of the bravest hero all the demigods knew – a sound that broke their hearts in tiny pieces. Percy hadn't cried when he faced entire armies with just Riptide in his hand. He hadn't cried when he helped defeat Kronos, nor Gaia. He hadn't even cried during his time in Tartarus. But this was where he cried; reliving his abusive past, when his friends yelled at him for hiding it.

Annabeth's whole face was dark, unreadable. She hugged her boyfriend as tightly as she could, eying the rest of the Room full of anger. "You guys are unbelievable," she snarled. "Yelling at him? Like that's going to do any good!"

Everyone looked at each other, full of shame. Annabeth was right – they had all reacted wrong. They should've comforted their friend, instead of getting mad.

"Perseus," Poseidon began, very quiet, very slowly. "I am so very, very sorry. If I'd known…"

Percy started to get the hiccups, and with eyes glanced over with sadness, he tried to smile at his father. It was heartbreaking, and even Athena's eyes couldn't stay dry entirely. "Dad, I don't blame you. What happened, happened. I'm okay."

The wonderful thing was: he sounded sincere. Yes, his smile seemed fake, but he didn't blame his father or anyone in the room. Artemis couldn't stop herself from letting a tear drop. "Perseus," she said, her voice shaking with pride. "You are truly something else."

He hiccupped one more time, and tried to laugh. It sounded hollow. "Heard that one before. Now, if everyone could please sit down and ignore me, that'd be great. Yes, that son of a…" He took a deep breath, as if he wanted to steady himself before continuing, and entangled him from Annabeth's tight hold. He stood up, and started pacing around the room. He kept glancing at his younger self – who was still playing in the pool – making sure P.J. didn't know what was going on while walking around. "Gabe," He snarled after a while, "paid for his… deeds. I'm fine." It sounded like he was trying to convince himself. "I am. So, uh, Zeus, if you could read on… I feel embarrassed enough as it is."

When Zeus reluctantly opened the book again – which he had slammed close before in anger – Poseidon ran towards his son, and hugged him. Percy froze, first unable to move, before he hugged his father back. His eyes glazed over again, but this time not because of haunting memories.

Zeus stared at his own children for a second with wonder – would his children appreciate hugs, too? – before respecting Percy's wish to read on.

Annabeth and Athena looked at each other, both suddenly understanding why Sally married that pig.

Percy let go of his father, and smiled. He looked normal again – exactly like Poseidon – tall and confident, a loose smile on his face. His eyes thanked his father in silent for the comfort, and he sat beside Annabeth again, who didn't wait more than two seconds to grab her boyfriend again, hiding her face in his shirt.

"At least somebody's got some decency," Thalia said, her voice still small.

Thalia scowled. "Never mind."

Dionysus suddenly started laughing. "Consider that done."

"Wait, what?" Percy said, eyeing Mr. D with suspicion. "What did you do?"

The god's eyes had a devilish glance in them, and he just smiled as an answer.

"Jerk," Annabeth muttered under her breath.

Hades huffed. "I never know if he's joking or not."

Nico suddenly started laughing, a sight not many people had seen before. When his father eyed him, he said, "inside joke", still giggling.

A few people shuddered.

"Mama's boy," Ares snickered. His mother quickly slapped him on the backside of his head, an angry expression on her face. Though all the demigods were supposed to hate Hera, they all laughed at Ares' shocked face.

"Good woman you have there, Poseidon," Hades said, sounding sincere.

Poseidon sighed, his eyes far away, probably thinking about Sally. "You bet."

Percy leaned back, obviously calmed down, now his Book-Self was calmed down, too. "My mom's amazing," he said to nobody in particular, a smile on his face. Annabeth was also a bit calmer, and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, ignoring the angry glance her mother was giving her.

Athena let it go – the boy deserved some comfort after his darkest secret had come to light.

Hera and some other female goddesses began to squeak.

Nico snarled. "Get your own bean dip, pig."

"He's not a pig," Artemis said, causing everyone to look at her. She smiled. "That's an insult to the pigs."

As Percy did at the same time.

"What about a god?" Hermes said, nudging Poseidon. The god of the Sea just turned red as an answer.

A series of knocking haltered Zeus' reading. He glanced up from the book, and saw P.J. knocking on the glass. He gestured up, as if he wanted to get out.

Poseidon waved his hand, and the pool disappeared. P.J. smiled at his father, still completely dry. "Thank you," he said, "but I want to know what happens next."

He walked towards Annie and little Grover, and positioned himself between the two of them. He obviously was doing much better than he was before, and Poseidon could feel a great weight lifting off his chest.

"You know your mother knew," Annabeth said.

Percy sighed. "I didn't know that at the time, remember?"

"Wait," Zeus said, thundering sounded in the distance. "You told a mortal who you were?"

"She figured it out." Poseidon said, a smile tucking on his lips. "She's clear sighted."

"Montauk." Said a few demigods at the same time, and Percy smiled broadly.

Annie started growling, and drew her dagger. Her eyes breathed fire, and she put her other hand over the body of P.J., who had started trembling again at the mention of Gabe. "I'll show him some bean dip," she snarled. No god tried to calm her down. "Right up his –"

"Annabeth!" Said Athena, shocked.

Annabeth smiled at her younger self, and Percy kissed Annabeth on the top of her head as if he was saying thanks.

"Honey," muttered Poseidon under his breath, jealousy flowing over.

"He better," someone said angrily.

"The horror!" Aphrodite yelled, grabbing her hair in a dramatic gesture.

Piper rolled her eyes at her mother.

Jason's nick name came true – he started sparking electricity. "He paid for your game, old man," he growled.

"It's all for you, Perce," Grover said, smiling sadly at his friend. Percy didn't answer.

"That guy's stone dead stupid." Dionysus, surprised.

Thalia growled. "Like he'd be the one driving!"

Everyone laughed, and Thalia turned red. "Oh, gods," she murmured. "I think like Seaweed Brain,"

Her reward was a cold shower.

Silence.

Athena blinked a couple of times. "Perseus," she said after a while, awe in her voice which she couldn't stop from soaking through her features as well. "How did you do that?"

Percy ruffled his hair, a sheepish smile on his face. "Not a clue."

That boy's strong, multiple people thought.

"I love it there," P.J. said suddenly.

When P.J. turned red, many people laughed.

Poseidon sighed, a lovesick expression on his face. Athena huffed at the same time Aphrodite squeaked because of that face.

"What's with all the blue food?" Frank asked. "I've seen you eat it before."

Percy smiled, and just gestured at the book.

Thalia snickered. "Seaweed Brain… your streak isn't, well… a streak."

He shrugged as a response, and the demigods laughed.

Both the Percy's looked up at their father, who smiled at them with love.

Annabeth sighed. "She actually described Percy as well." She said, and most demigods nodded. Poseidon raised a brow, and smiled more broadly now. P.J. fidgeted in his seat, not used to compliments like that.

"I am," Poseidon said, sounding sincere.

Jason, and the other demigods, glanced at each other. They never got that kind of recognition from their parents, and though they all thought Percy deserved it, they couldn't help but feel a tang of jealousy.

"I did," Poseidon muttered it so silently, that almost no one heard him. P.J. however, did, and glanced at his father, his eyes big. "I did my check-ups now and then."

The last sentence was heard by more people, and Zeus growled. "Poseidon," he said, the sky thundering. "You broke the rule."

Poseidon just shrugged as an answer, mimicking his son. "I'd break every rule and law to see him grow up. That stupid rule about making no contact – it breaks my heart. At least I tried to make sure he was safe… and I couldn't even do that." He eyed his son with sadness, but Percy tried to smile for his sake.

Zeus stayed silent. He, too, felt heartbroken about missing to see his children grow up. Thalia and Jason's eyes crossed, and they both smiled a bit at each other.

Poseidon looked down at his feet.

"Seaweed Brain!" Annabeth said angrily. "That's not nice!"

"At least he regrets it," Hera said. Nobody even glanced at her.

Annabeth kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. His smile almost broke his face in two. "You aren't."

Poseidon growled. "My brothers, I presume."

Athena glanced at the god of the Sea. "You send Cyclops after him, to watch over him?"

Poseidon scratched the back of head. "Actually, no."

Tension filled the room again.

"Whoa," said Nico, awe in his voice. "Just like Hercules."

Percy growled in response. "Don't even compare that douche to me."

Artemis raised a brow. Maybe this male hero wasn't like the last bearer of Riptide.

"She's a very noble woman," Artemis said sincerely. Most people nodded at her in agreement.

"Camp Half-blood!" many demigods started cheering, only to be silenced by an angry glance from Zeus' direction, before he continued reading.

"You know," Annabeth said slowly, "It is a bit weird if you put it like that."

"You must've been so confused," Athena muttered quietly.

Percy whimpered, and Annabeth just sighed. "Perce could've been the next oracle," she explained to the gods. "I hate his dreams."

Zeus groaned. "Not this again," and glanced at his brother.

The ground around Percy's couch began to shake – again, for the millionth time that night.

The gods groaned "Hades," in unison, but the demigods all looked at their feet, knowing it was much a darker figure.

Athena huffed at Poseidon's direction. "You're in a good mood."

This time, it was Poseidon's time to huff, causing a few people to laugh, even P.J. joined the rest.

Annabeth and Athena both gasped, suddenly understanding the bizarre title. Grover just hid his face in his head, turning red at imagining the reactions of the rest of the people.

"Why would she be scared of Grover?" Asked Dionysus, and Ares just pointed at the book, not needing words to explain that it would probably be explained in the book. Even Ares – not the smartest god out there – could understand that now.

Annabeth laughed when her boyfriend stilled in her arms, an angry and confused expression on his face,

P.J. gasped. "Wait – was that Greek? But… I understood him!"

Annie rolled her eyes at him. "Uh, duh. We're Greek demigods, of course we can understand Greek."

He turned red, and mumbled something incoherent back.

"Just say it," Dionysus grumbled, ignoring the roll of the eyes Ares was giving him. "Spit it out."

The goddess of the hunt sighed. "I said it before, but I can't restrain myself from repeating it: your mother is a very brave woman."

All the demigods started laughing at Grover's embarrassed expression, while some gods just raised their brows. "That's it?" Dionysus said, annoyed. "Well, that was anti-climaxing."

Zeus just sighed at him, and threw the book in his direction. "Well, your turn, mister Complain-A-Lot. The chapter's ended."

Dionysus just grumbled something, while the rest of the room laughed more, and opened the book. My mother teaches me bull riding.

X

Right, okay.

If you liked it: review! Please! They're my joy in life! They're my only payment for doing this! :) :)

Anonymous reviewers:

Nix:Thank you very much! Twice! Xo

Pjoandhoo:Thank you! And hmm, maybe, but I've seen my writing when I started eleven years ago and I've seen every stage of the progress; you've just seen the stage where it's at right now… Still, I thank you for saying so, it's very sweet (:

Guest:you are, of course, very right. Thanks for pointing it out.

Cooljoanna14: That you were. And thanks :)