All characters belong to Rick Riordan.

Author's Note: Hi guys, I'm so sorry I kept you waiting on this chapter for so long, thanks for waiting. It's been really busy, and I've been caught up in a bunch of stuff. Sorry this chapter's kind of crappy and poorly written.

Chapter 17

"Alright, who's the head of each group group?" Annabeth asked. They all turned quickly to discuss it, and Jason and Percy were the head of their groups.

"Great." Annabeth was a little disappointed that Percy hadn't stayed out of it, but he was entitled to his own decisions. She had almost no clue how this was going to work, or how it would end, but she would have to wing it. "Here's how this is going to work: I'll tell one side to start and defend their position. The people up here beside me can be subpoenaed as people to testify to your case, but they have to be willing. You may not force them to. I will be the judge of anything, I am not biased. No matter what, my word is final. You may question relevance to anything the other side says or does, I will deny it or allow it. The people up here will also serve as a jury. They will carry out the verdict, and I will approve or disapprove. I know this isn't exactly how a real courtroom works, but you're gonna have to deal with it. You can ask anything, unless I say otherwise. You cannot purposely offend the opposing side, I will know if you lie."

Annabeth took a deep breath. This was going well, everyone seemed to be paying attention. No one was rising up against this idea. She turned to the people beside her. "You must only tell the truth if subpoenaed. You know that. Everyone here must tell facts and truth the entire time, do you understand me?" Everyone nodded a little fearfully. "Good. It's getting late. Do not forget these rules, and we will meet up in my apartment at 2:00 pm, on the hour. We will begin at 2:05, and continue for as long as we need to. We will have breaks, and you can bring things you absolutely need. Bring any evidence that you might possibly have and be prepared. I don't want you freaking out while speaking. Got it? Great. See you tomorrow."

. . .

Percy was shocked, but not really. Annabeth killed it, and she was amazing. She was so commanding, powerful, beautiful, strong and an awesome girlfriend... Percy slapped himself internally. He needed to focus. How should he present his case to Annabeth? Percy knew she wasn't going to go easy on him.

He was definitely supporting the it was okay side, and he was its leader. Percy had Will and Piper on his side, and was actually surprised when Leo took Jason's side. Percy mentally slapped himself again. That thought would probably lead to the things that started the need for this trial anyway.

Percy couldn't plan this on his own. He sucked at that kind of stuff. He couldn't call Annabeth to help, because she was the judge and couldn't help anyone, so he called on his people.

. . .

Will wasn't actually that surprised to get Percy's text to meet him at Starbucks. He knew Percy stunk (A/N: Is it stank? Someone please correct me if I did the wrong one. Wow. I'm saying it a bunch of times and now stank and stunk don't even feel like real words.) at planning stuff. Will chuckled to himself and headed out.

Percy was already there, with pencils, paper, and three Frappuccinos. One was cinnamon roll, obviously for Piper. Another one was vanilla bean, Will's favorite, and the last one was a brown color that could only be Double Chocolaty Chip Crème for Percy. His hands were tapping nervously on the table.

Percy saw him and gestured for him to sit with him. Will walked over and swiped up his drink immediately. Percy frowned. "How'd you know that was yours?"

Will took a sip, then pointed the drink at Percy. "Because I'm magic."

Percy rolled his eyes and they waited for Piper, sipping their Frappuccinos. She arrived about five minutes later, wearing a backpack, and spotted the boys.

She swung herself into the empty seat, and said "All right. Let's get down to business. How are we doing this?"

Percy's hand shot into the air for some reason. "Ooh ooh!" He said loudly. Some people turned to stare, and he quieted a little. "I have an idea. Let's write down all the reasons we support our sides in bullets. I hate paragraphs."

They bent their heads down, and the threesome set to work.

. . .

Jason had no clue why Leo had picked his side, but he was glad for the support. Jason had been out earlier and passed by the Starbucks, where he'd seen Will, Percy and Piper working together. It was going to be tough to fight against Pipes, but he would have to deal with it. He and Leo needed to get things done. Right now, all they had accomplished was going through a bag of chips, three cans of soda, and procrastinating. A lot.

Jason turned back to Leo, who was rambling on about something, he had no clue. Jason tapped him on the shoulder. "Leo. We need to do something that will help our argument."

Leo turned to him, looking very tired and dull, more drained than usual. His hands weren't even moving. "What's the point? Who cares? Nothing matters. Why should we bother with any of it?"

He kept muttering to himself. Jason had had enough. Nothing was getting done with Leo being all depressed. Jason left Leo's apartment and stalked back to his own to get some work done.

. . .

Percy, Will, and Piper sat back, relieved that they'd finished. The three had been sitting there for over an hour, furiously writing and getting more caffeine. The final list they'd come up with was pretty solid, even if it was small.

Arguments

Brings us closer

Learn more about each other

Keeps the secrets from being found later on, thus harming friendships less

Gives us something to talk about

Background of others

If something's wrong, we can think back to these and see if it has anything to do with it

Prevents future problems

Percy looked at the list again and nodded firmly. This was going to win them the trial.

. . .

Annabeth had found a gavel, and she brought it and a small piece of wood. She took a deep breath, unsure of how this would end. But she started it, she had to go through with it. Everyone was assembled, Percy, Will, and Piper on her left side, Jason and Leo on the right, and Nico and Calypso by her side.

Annabeth raised the gavel above the wood piece. "Order in the court! All rise for this trial, friends against their own."