I'm so sorry that I didn't update yesterday. (Though were the angry messages really necessary? Honestly.)

I don't own the characters nor the original plot.

EDIT: Due to haters hating, all references to the book, even single words (except for titles) are now replaced with lines.

x

My mother teaches me bull fighting, Dionysus read, and both Grover and Percy winced at the same time. Annabeth eyed them both, her face falling a little bit, knowing what was about to happen.

Poseidon sighed when Ares growled in anticipation. "Ares, please," the god of the Sea pleaded, "if you are going to yell 'I sense bloodshed!' again, I'm going to smack you so hard you'll land in Sparta."

Ares wisely kept his mouth shut.

Grover bleated. "Your thoughts warm my heart!"

Suddenly Percy paled. "Oh, oh," he said in Annabeth's ear. "I think I'm going to be blasted to bits when everyone hears my thoughts – especially about the gods."

She paled a bit, too, but couldn't stifle a laugh.

"Big brother's watching you," Hades said darkly, and his two brothers eyed him in suspicion. Hades just chuckled as an answer, tapping an uneven rhythm on his Helmet of Darkness, which he had pulled onto his lap.

Thalia nudged Nico. "You're dad's weird."

"You're one to talk," he snapped back.

She just shrugged in response.

Percy and Grover first-bumped each other, and their younger selves smiled at one-another.

Young Grover bleated angrily. "Goat!" he yelled, turning towards Percy.

Everyone laughed at young Grover, who turned red. Thalia turned towards the gods, and said; "And that's why we call him Goat Boy."

Jason huffed. "At our camp, they're different – they'd be too frightened to 'trample you underhoof' with such an insult."

Grover just glared at him. "Those are fauns. Don't you dare compare me to a faun. It'd be worse than calling me a donkey!"

Sparky-boy shrugged.

A few gods snickered. "Like they're myths. Or Mr. Brunner's, for that matter,"

Someone started laughing – and all eyes and ears turned towards the weird sound. It was Nico, whose whole face had lightened up, whilst he was staring at Percy. "Dude," he said, gripping his tights to calm himself down, "you so don't get the point. You're like the guy who's being threatened to be tortured for eternity, and still be worried about the comment someone made about not being your type."

Percy turned red – and Annabeth started laughing alongside Nico, as if they had an inside joke. "You're right, di Angelo," she laughed, "Perce's the kind of guy who would think the world would end if he got a nosebleed, but 's okay with defeating an titan-army with his bare hands."

All the demigods started laughing now, not able to control themselves anymore by seeing the pissed-off face Percy was giving everyone. The gods glanced at each other, all thinking – our kids are weird – before gesturing to Dionysus to continue reading.

P.J. blinked a couple of times. "I don't understand."

Thalia, who had just calmed down a bit, started laughing again. "Gods, that's just Percy's constant state of being!"

All the demigods laughed again, not noticing the two Percy's looking at each other with pain in their eyes. No matter their age – being called stupid wasn't something they liked to hear.

Poseidon fake-coughed to get some attention. "Er, what exactly is behind you?"

His son just smiled mischievously as a response.

The whole room snorted.

The groans that filled the room were a combination of annoyed "Grover!"'s, and a few but loud and angry "HADES!"'s. Both the receivers of those complaints shrugged.

"I love strawberries," Demeter suddenly said dreamily, and more gods than they'd later admit jumped in their seats, having forgotten she was there at all.

Percy pulled his legs towards his chest, and laid his head on his knees, sighing. He knew this chapter was going to be a rollercoaster for his emotions – excitement, fear, anger, confusion, sorrow… and there was absolutely nothing to stop it. And he hated not being able to do something about it.

But, Percy thought, smiling a bit, it most certainly helped that his beautiful girlfriend was putting an arm around him and whispering words of comfort in his ear. Nope, he thought, hugging her back, it didn't hurt at all.

Younger Grover slapped himself in the face before someone could yell at older Grover for his stupidity. When Dionysus had stopped reading to stare at young Grover, he just rolled his eyes. "I'm slapping myself to hopefully learn from this – and avoid being such an idiot."

Older Grover turned red. "Hey!"

Percy nudged him, smiling a bit. "He's got a point, Goat Boy."

"Oh, suck it, Kelp Head," he grumbled back, making several people giggle.

Hermes blinked. "I think I got that."

The brothers Stoll stared at their father. "We didn't."

When they all looked at Percy for an answer, he threw his hands in the air. "Don't look at me! I was kind of adrenaline-fueled that night, so I might have talked some nonsense."

"You might've?" Thalia said, snickering, which turned into screeching when she got a cold shower. (With love from Mr. Barnacle Beard).

"I like her," Artemis said.

"Uhm, Perce," Hazel said. "How on earth are you still calm about this whole situation? I would've been screaming on the top of my lungs right now."

"You're the bravest person I know." Percy said, sincerely. "You defeated… uhm, you know who," he said, glancing at the gods, who were watching him with anticipation, "when you were, like, thirteen. You tamed… uh, you know which animal, when no one could.. and you're asking me why I wasn't screaming like a schoolgirl when an unnamed figure was following our car?"

Hazel leaned back, seeming to be in deep thought, and then nodded at Percy. "Yes."

The son of the sea god smiled brightly at her, and laughed.

Percy leaned forward due to the curse, but almost half of the Throne Room followed his example. Even Zeus – who claimed he hated reading these books about his cousin – leaned forward, a stressed expression on his face. Athena wasn't leaning forward, but she was restraining herself not to show too much emotion.

As did Percy on the couch. Nobody laughed because of the tension in the Room, but a few people couldn't help but smile a little bit.

Percy started fidgeting in his seat, as if his skin suddenly started to burn, freeze, and get soaked at the same time. His whole face was a poker face – but if you looked good enough, you saw that his eyes were glazed over due to the sudden pain he was feeling.

"Ow," Percy groaned then, doubling over, grabbing his head. "Oh, just read on!" he quickly – and angrily – shouted at Dionysus when everyone was getting up from their seats to help him.

Nobody laughed.

Which was the same sentence Percy was muttering in his girlfriend's ear, who was eyeing him with suspicion.

"OH NO YOU DIDN'T!"

Everybody looked up. They had all expected Poseidon to yell this – and said god was indeed standing up, his trident in his hand, but his mouth was still closed – and so everyone was confused when the voice had sounded so small and girlish.

Annie was standing as well, her little fists facing Zeus' throne. Her grey eyes blazed with a fierce fire, even The Lord of the Sky couldn't help but be intimidated a little bit by the Daughter of Athena. "Why, why, are you so mean? It's not fair! He had done nothing wrong!"

Zeus spluttered some incoherent words, and apparently happy with the result of rendering the most powerful god speechless, Annie sat back down, and put her arms around P.J..

Poseidon glanced at Annie, laughed, and sat down. Maybe it was matter she had yelled at Zeus, he thought. Zeus never listens to him – but this seven-year-old kid made him shut up. Maybe Annabeth was good enough for his only human son. Maybe too good.

"Aww," Grover said, nudging Percy. Percy was already sitting up, grimacing, but obviously in less pain then before. "You do care."

"Always, G-man," Percy fist-bumped him.

"Oh!" Travis suddenly gasped, and nudged his brother. "I have this amazing idea!"

All the gods glared at them in annoyance, and they quickly went on with their conversation, whispering. Their faces radiated pure joy, as if they had just come up with the best prank in all history. Everyone didn't want to know what they were up to – and, they were just too stressful about the story to focus on something else.

Thalia raised her hand, a dead-serious expression on her face, and started waving at no one in particular.

Ignoring his stress, Percy face-palmed himself.

Poseidon whimpered. "Sally," he just said, as if that word meant everything.

The goddess of wisdom sighed. "Like I said," she gestured towards Percy, "loyalty; it's your fatal flaw."

Aphrodite cooed, when Poseidon turned red.

Athena just glared at Percy, as if she wanted to say, See? I told you.

"Two." Travis said.

"Huh," multiple people said, turning towards the sons of Hermes. They were holding a note-book (which they probably stole from someone when they weren't looking), and held it upwards as if it was their trophy. The title of the note read: MONSTERS PERSEUS DEFEATED. It had two names on it already: 1. Fury, and 2. Minotaur.

"Dude," groaned Nico. "Spoilers!"

A few gods looked at Poseidon, who suddenly had turned pale with shock and fear. The demigods hadn't noticed, and bickered on as usual.

Thalia huffed, "I've got to agree with my nephew there. Though, it is a great idea! Now we get to see if Perce exaggerated his awesome-ness."

Percy face-palmed himself for the second time in under ten minutes. "Timing, guys?"

"Oh, right," They quickly lowered the notebook.

"He ain't gonna listen," Piper said in a sing-song voice.

Demeter nudged Dionysus, whose voice faltered from reading. "D," she said, dead-serious, "you've got to cut the grass. That's just horrifyingly lazy of you."

He smiled at her, which was weird, and read on.

Jason whistled. "Bro, I like the way you think."

"Thanks, bro," Percy said back, and Nico sighed at their dumbness and idiotic bromance.

Percy suddenly stood up, and started pacing, ruffling his hair in agitated passion. Annabeth and Grover – who both knew what was coming – eyed him with pity, and a little bit of fear. They were scared he would lose control again.

"She's smart," Athena said. Poseidon eyed her with suspicion, not truly believing her. Athena was the goddess of wisdom after all – and, let's face it, a know-it-all – so complimenting someone on their intelligence was a big deal. A huge one. Especially if she complimented a former lover of the 'Sea Spawn', as she liked to call him.

Athena shook her head. "Barnacle Beard, how on earth did you manage to make this strong, in depended and overall intelligent woman to fall in love with you? And since when do you like smart women?"

Poseidon looked towards his son. He saw Annabeth staring at him, too, full of concern and love. He remember seeing that exact expression on Sally's face years ago. "I guess," he said slowly, "it's just our type."

Percy looked up towards his father, smiling for real this time.

Athena's face fell.

Apollo groaned. "Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. What's the satyr's deal with food?"

"Uhm," Grover glanced at the god, trembling a bit under his stare. "I… I was under stress, okay? And nobody denies that food is, well, good."

A few people shrugged.

P.J. erupted with laughter. "Gods," he said, and fell silent for a few seconds before continuing when all the gods said, "yes?" to him. "Imagine the look on his face!"

Percy laughed a bit, too.

"Because she is smart, Perseus," Artemis answered, and Dionysus crooked a brow.

"You're talking to a book."

"Right."

Percy started pacing again, this time with more fierce in his steps. If anyone paid enough attention, they could hear the distant rumbling of the pipes – a warning for a big explosion just waiting to happen with the plumbing.

Artemis sighed. "Perseus, if your mother had been a maiden, I would've been honored to have her in my group of huntresses. She is brave, and fierce."

"Uh," Percy said, "Thanks, I guess?"

Percy froze in his tracks, his hands trembling.

Percy continued his pacing again, this time with his eyes closed.

He didn't notice his friends slowly getting up from their couches, trying to be closer to him to calm him down when he needed comfort. They didn't want to screw up as bad as they did last time.

Grover winced. "I never knew she did that," he whispered, and eyed his best friend, who was still shaking like a madman, his face wrenched in fear.

"No, no, no, NO!" Poseidon started shouting, but was forced to sit down again when Zeus put his hand on Poseidon's chest.

"Calm down, brother," Zeus said, sincere pity in his voice.

A loud boom startled everyone – the toilets had exploded. Percy's whole being was trembling due to the sudden wave of sorrow he felt pouring into his body. Sure, he knew his mom was fine, and it would all be well, but he couldn't stop the emotion from breaking his heart and scatter it like glass across the rest of his limbs, making him feel numb and burned up at the same time.

But nothing made his heart break more than hearing his father whisper the constant word 'no' over and over and over again, a pained expression on his face. Somehow, his whispers were worse than his yelling from earlier – you felt the heartbreak the god of the sea felt with every word he uttered.

Athena suddenly stood up, walked towards Poseidon's throne, and put her hand on his shoulder. "I am truly sorry for your loss, Poseidon," she said. Everyone noticed her lack of the use of insulting nicknames, but they didn't mention it. "She was a great woman."

"Yeah," Percy said, grimacing. "Yes, she is."

Poseidon looked up to his son at that last word, hope in his eyes. And when Percy smiled at him – though a little forced – he smiled back, too. Maybe it'd be okay, he thought. Just maybe it'd all be okay, in the end.

Dionysus coughed, and read on.

Nico clapped his hands, a cheery expression on his face. "Cue bad-ass Percy!"

"Brave," Ares said, "but you need better insults, punk."

Frank sighed. "Dude, aren't all your ideas stupid?"

Percy shrugged, jumping a bit on the spot he was standing on. He radiated energy. "They all work in the end, do they?"

Nobody had an answer for that one.

Everyone turned their head towards Percy, eyes wide.

"Perseus," Poseidon slowly said, "How did you do that?"

Percy gestured his hands in a wild fashion, as if to say, magic. Hazel giggled.

"You took your time," Annabeth teased, trying to ease Percy a little bit. His eyes did lit up a little at her smile, but it was obvious that his adrenaline-rush wasn't going to calm down anytime soon.

Ares and Hades both snorted at the same time. "Yeah," the god of war said, "good luck with that, punk."

Ares' eyes went wide, and the whole room laughed at his shocked face.

"Hey, Perce," Frank said, his voice small. "You're strong."

Percy just shrugged in response.

Percy fell back on his couch, clasping his head with both hands. "Head-ache," he muttered to Annabeth as an explanation.

"Like I said," Travis said, holding up 'his' notebook. "Two."

"He's good," Apollo said, awe in his voice.

"Yeah." Hades said, eyeing Percy. "Maybe too good."

Poseidon turned to his brother. "What are you saying?"

The god of the dead quickly raised his hands. "Nothing, nothing."

Both Percy's whimpered, and both Annabeth's – as if they had rehearsed it – hugged them.

"Thanks, Perce," Grover whispered.

"Anytime," Percy whispered back.

Annabeth turned red, and started giggling a bit like a schoolgirl, before restraining herself. "Your first thought about me was that I was pretty?"

"Wise Girl," Percy said, with a teasing tone, "As I recall, your first description of me was even more romantic."

She turned ever more red, when their parents eyed them in anger, and Aphrodite squeaked in happiness.

Everyone started laughing at Annabeth – and Annie, who had quickly let go of P.J., as if the thought of him being 'the one' was disgusting. When P.J. laughed, however, Annie couldn't help but smile a little bit.

X

So, there's that.

Thank you again for all the reviews and lovely PM's and follows and favorites (64 reviews in 4 days? I think we broke a record) and I kindly urge you to continue! Your messages keep me writing :)

For the anonymous reviews:

FireSkyLeaf:Sorry, I hadn't noticed your review last chapter, but thank you! So much! Glad to be back and have you here with me again :)

Cooljoanna:Thanks! And since you anticipated this chapter to be 'good' too, I hope I lived up to your expectations?

HappyTheDragon:Thank you! Welcome to the fandom, and I do sincerely hope you'll enjoy your stay.

Guest:I will take that million amount of money gladly, thanks so much haha! Love ya too, you anonymous tosser.

Annie:Oh my god that's so sweet? Thank you!

Guest:Yeah, I don't see the attraction in the paring Poseidon/Athena either. I'm a huge fan, however, of them being friends… So I'm sorry if I pair them up (platonically) in my fic, but I'm not going to change that.

Pjoandhoo:You're such a sweetheart, as always! Thank you! And yes, well, I bought the book and I read the first two chapters but I haven't read more of it yet… Don't know why.

Wannabedemigod01:Yay! Glad to be back! And, well, same to you ! xoxo