Hello! Thanks for the reviews! From now on, I'm going to say all the reviews if there's more than three reviews. I'm just gonna say reviews if it's three or less. So, anyways, I'm really sorry about yesterday. I know I was supposed to update, but I had a sleepover and blue cake and Percy Jackson movie marathon (if you can call 2 movies a marathon. I think it's just a double feature) and cookies... I really couldn't. Plus, I had to write half of it still, so yeah. It really didn't seem like I'd be able to update. I'm really sorry. On the plus side, my poll is still up! Yay. On the down side, I own nothing. I never will. Increasing in positivity, you can ALWAYS enjoy the chapter, even if I'm not around. :)

Thalia's POV

Kneeling down next to her brother, Anne laid a hand on his shaking form, and asked, "What's the Academy?"

Oh gods. Will he tell the truth, or lie?

Percy opened his mouth to speak, but saw me shoot up to my feet to drag Anne away, and he smiled. He smiled, while talking about such an awful thing that happened to him. He. Smiled. I'll never understand boys.

"Well, Anne, do you remember John? Mom's ex, who used to live with us about twenty years ago?" Percy asked, voice low.

Screwing up her face in thought, Anne said, "Yeah, I think so. He died though, didn't he? They didn't know how...?"

Percy nodded, sighing. "Yes, I know how he died."

"How?!"

"I-I killed him."

Silence for all of five seconds. Then a shrieked, "WHAT?!" followed by a thud on the ground. I turned to look, and saw Anne lying in the ground, her mouth still open as if in a silent scream.

Frustrated, I glared at Percy. "Nice going Mr. Smooth. Way to break it to her gently."

Although he glared right back, he didn't make a move to defend himself. Thalia 1, Percy 0. Go me!

Turning towards Artemis, I nodded towards Anne and asked for some help moving her and repositioning her. Artemis nodded in agreement, and helped me sit Anne up and try at wake her up. After a minute or two, we were successful.

Sputtering, Anne asked us wildly, "Is Percy really a killer?"

Behind the poor girl I saw my cousin nodding his head, as if to say Yes, tell Anne that I really am a killer!

Cause im so nice, I used a different tactic.

"Well, I believe you were unconscious the night John died right?" Anne nodded. "Well, John was abusing your mother, and Percy knew that he had to be stopped. He only meant to knock John out, but in the hustle and bustle, John moved and was killed."

Tears in in her eyes, Anne nodded. "That-that makes sense. So, instead of being a vicious killer, Percy's actually a hero?" The hope in her voice made me nod my head in agreement.

"Right. So, afterwards, Percy met someone that offered to help him deal with the guilt and crime. So he went to the Organization, and they signed him up for the Academy." Seeing the question forming on her lips, I answered before Anne could ask. "The Organization is a group of messed up people that are trying to change the world. And not for good. They're psychotic, mad, cruel, heartless, and vile. And several other choice words as well."

Voice soft, Anne turned to Percy. "Why? Why did you go to them if they were so mean?"

Percy looked down. "I was lost. Five years old, and I had killed someone. The man k had met seemed so nice, and he offered to help me for a small fee. We were poor, we still are. But the man said that he could help. I couldn't go to you or mom, you'd think I was a monster. And i didn't know, I didn't know... They just seemed so nice..."

I picked up where he left off. "Soon, though, Percy figured out what they truly were."

"I-I tried. I tried to back out. I tried to save my few remaining shreds of innocence, but instead they eliminated them." Percy's voice shook, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. "They-they threatened you. They threatened mom. They said... They said they'd kill you both. They'd rob us, burn down our house, maybe even torture you. They said that you'd never be safe once I backed out. I-I might've as well just murdered you both as well." A tear streaked down Percy's cheek. "So I didn't leave. I stayed with them, but didn't participate as the other kids did. At the Academy..."

I jumped in. "The Academy is where they taught kids to be cruel too, they taught them how to work at the Organization, how the world needs to be changed, how to follow the crowd to world destruction. Luckily, Percy always did awful in school," I earned a few chuckles, "and wasn't exactly a star student."

Confused, Anne asked for an elaboration.

"Well, the other kids were the children of Organization workers, homeless kids, and kids that took the wrong path or did something bad. Most of them knew to behave. Not Percy," I explained.

"I never quite grasped the concept of behaving in class. But the teachers at the Academy were hard core. They didn't go back on their word, so they couldn't torture/kill you and Mom though, Anne. I didn't leave, so they took out their anger on me. The Organization was always experimenting, and they needed testers. I was their favorite dummy."

Anne gasped as she must've realized something. "The red monster that you turned into, was that because of them?!"

Flinching, Percy sighed. "Yes. The test was supposed to see if they could give people super strength and endurance. Instead, as the lab worker told me once I regained consciousness, they saw that they could make a monster. A vicious, bloodthirsty, killer that should be hunted down and killed before it could hurt people."

Tears straying down her face, Anne gasped, "That's awful! I can't-"

"I believed her."