A/N: Yay, it's here! Just as an explanation: anything that is underlined is not my own words. Enjoy this chapter guys! It's really good, I promise!
The time had come. Presentation day for Greek Mythology. Annabeth was trying not to roll her eyes as she sat through one of Daniela's friends, Jordan Cannon's, presentation.
"I believe that I would be a Daughter of Aphrodite. She is the goddess of love, beauty, lust, desire, sexuality, and pleasure." After she said this, chuckles could be heard throughout the class, but Mr. Alexander quickly quieted the culprits with a glare. "It's obvious that I'm beautiful, so there's that. I'm also good with love, obviously, because I've been in it 15 times. I'm also helping my best friend get together with the guy that she likes, so there's that, too."
Annabeth had to resist the urge to groan when Jordan looked right at Percy. The rest of the presentation was just as terrible, and she read off most of the actual facts from a crumpled piece of paper that she held in front of her.
Couldn't she have been decent enough to use nice paper? Especially when the rubric said to memorize the presentation, Annabeth thought snidely.
"Okay, thank you very much Jordan," Mr. Alexander said, joining her at the front of the classroom. "So, class, who thinks that Jordan makes a convincing daughter of Aphrodite? show of hands."
A few people raised their hands, but Annabeth shared a look with Percy that just read 'no.' A lot of the class seemed to agree with them. That, or they didn't care.
"Sorry about that Jordan. Um, Annabeth, why don't you go next," Mr. Alexander said, gesturing for her to come forward.
"Hello, fellow demigods," Annabeth began. "My name is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena, and I am here to prove that to you. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. At my summer camp, we pay Capture the Flag, a lot. Because of my nearly flawless battle strategy, my team almost always wins." She sent a wink in Percy's direction. "I'm also considered to be the person who can always find a solution to a problem. Athena always has a plan, and so do I.
"Athena is also the goddess of crafts, making her a very skilled craftswoman; she is best known for her works in weaving. While I am not planning on becoming a professional weaver, I am planning to become an architect. I know when I say crafts, you probably think of popsicle sticks and glitter glue, but architecture is considered to be a type of craft, I swear.
"Let's talk about conception, and before any of you laugh or Mr. Alexander deems this inappropriate, let me explain myself. Athena is a maiden goddess, and therefore does not have children the same way the other gods do. Athena's children are conceived when her divine thoughts meet the mortal ingenuity of the men she favors (read end author's note). We are born the same way that she was: through the brain, making us, quite literally, 'brain children.'
"I have this irrational fear of spiders that can be explained through an event in my mother's past. She was once challenged by Arachne to see who could create the best tapestry. Athena's tapestry showed the gods, but Arachne's showed the gods making fools of themselves. Athena destroyed Arachne's tapestry, causing Athena to win. Arachne killed herself in despair, and Athena felt responsible for her death. So, Athena turned Arachne into a spider. However, all of Arachne's children, the spiders of the world, want revenge. They are out to get the children of Athena."
Some people laughed when Annabeth said this, but Percy was silently asking if she was okay. Talking about Arachne was not very easy, but no flashbacks occurred, meaning everything was A-okay, for now.
"Due to my mother being the goddess of wisdom, I happen to be very smart. Numbers work really well in my head, and I almost never need a calculator. I take all AP classes with high grades in these classes as well. Some people, I won't name names, have often referred to me as 'Wise Girl.' It's just a nickname, but I received it for a reason.
"If you know anything about Athena, the you know that she is depicted to have dark hair and intense gray eyes. I may not have the dark hair, but I definitely have the gray eyes.
"I grew up with a father who was never close to me and a step-mother who hated me, causing me to run away from home at a young age. I'm obviously not still a runaway, but my mother was also distant from me. I never had a real mother figure when I was younger, so saying," knowing "that Athena is my mother and knowing that I am so much like her kind of helps. Thank you for having us do this project, Mr. Alexander. It really helped me think about a lot of important aspects of who I am."
Mr. Alexander clapped along with the rest of the class as he walked up to Annabeth. "As a teacher, that is exactly what I want to hear from my students. Your presentation was amazing, and I'm proud of how much work was obviously put into it. Now, show of hands, who thinks that Annabeth makes a convincing daughter of Athena?"
Percy's hand was the first one up. Most of the class rose their hands as well.
"Very nice job," Mr. Alexander complimented her yet again. "Thank you," Annabeth replied quietly and returned to her seat next to Percy. He reached over and squeezed her hand.
"Let's have Mr. Jackson go next," Mr. Alexander announced.
"Wish me luck," Percy said quietly to Annabeth before walking to the front of the room.
- "Hey everyone," he began, "my name is Percy Jackson, and I am a son of Poseidon. I know it's unbelievable, I'm not nearly as cool as a god of the Big Three! Well I am here to tell you, that's not how family works, and there are some really cool things about me that I believe would classify me as a son of Poseidon."
Annabeth smiled to herself; she had helped him come up with that sentence to serve as his thesis.
"Some of you already know that I'm going to try out for the swim team. If you didn't, guess what? I'm trying out for the swim team! Swimming has been a passion of mine since I was born. I feel like the water is a second home to me. If you guys have been good little students and actually listen during Mr. Alexander's lessons, you would know that Poseidon is the god of the sea. My mom and I have been taking trips out to Montauk for as long as I can remember, and the blast of salty sea air along the beach makes me so happy. If the water is like home to me, then the ocean is every good memory and person I have been privileged to experience in my life while living in that home. It make next to no sense if a son of the sea god hated the sea.
"The Big Three also play a role in why I would be a son of Poseidon. I am a natural leader, a role model in a way. At my summer camp, I am the head of my cabin, and I've led many teams in the games that we play there. This relates back to the Big Three because they are almost like role models to the other gods. Maybe they aren't the best role models." There was a thundering in the distance that could only be the protests of Zeus. Annabeth laughed quietly to herself. "But they are the leaders, and they are trying. And in a sense, that's how all leaders feel, and how I feel as a leader.
"I am going to end my presentation with some fun facts. First, I coincidentally share the same physical traits as Poseidon. I will be passing around headshots at the end of my presentation, and if you ask nicely enough and loan me a pen, I'll autograph it for you. Second, when I met my dear friend Annabeth, we clashed. We could not have been more different, and I was a little intimidated by her. Though we ended up becoming such good friends, before I knew anything more than her name, our relationship could have taken a turn into a feud, much like Poseidon and Athena. The fact that she believes that she would be a daughter of Athena makes the situation kind of amusing."
Percy caught Annabeth's eye and winked at her. She smirked back at him.
"I would be a son of Poseidon, the god of the sea, because we are so alike. Also, I think he would be a cool guy to play some catch with for bonding. On a serious note, as a kid, I never knew who my real father was. I just knew that he left, and if he were nearly as cool as Poseidon, I would consider myself the luckiest kid in the world."
Annabeth smiled as she clapped along with the rest of the class.
"Great job, Percy," Mr. Alexander said to him then looked to the class. Before he even said anything, Annabeth rose her hand. As did everyone else.
"Wow, you convinced every single person. I believe that deserves bonus points." Mr. Alexander looked amazed.
"Thank you, sir," Percy replied then returned to his seat.
"Well, due to the length of Percy and Annabeth's presentations, we are out of time for today. We will pick up on Monday. The three of you that went today did very well," Mr. Alexander announced after the bell rang. "Have a good evening!"
Annabeth walked out of the room hand-in-hand with her boyfriend.
"Good job today, Seaweed Brain. Your presentation might have been better than mine. Might have," Annabeth said jokingly.
"It was only good because you helped me," Percy said and stopped to kiss her on the cheek.
"Hm, I suppose." She smiled up at him.
"You are making it really hard for me not to kiss you in the middle of the hallway."
"Well then you can kiss me at my place where you can also make me dinner tonight."
"Sounds good." He kissed her forehead and they continued their walk home.
Cute little Percabeth moment at the end :) SO the first time I underlined something, it was because I took the sentence from the camp half blood wiki on Athena. I wasn't sure how else to phrase it, so that was my lazy way of citing it.
You may have noticed that every time Percy actually spoke in his presentation, it was underlined as well. That's because my lovely sister wrote Percy's presentation. She hasn't read a word of this fanfiction, but she loves Percy Jackson just as much as I do. I think it worked out really well.
She hasn't really been on fanfiction at all recently, BUT she told me that she wants to start writing again soon. You should all check her out to see how freaking amazing her writing is. She is EmmyMichelle here on fanfiction :)
QOTD: What did you guys think of Emily's writing? she's really anxious to see what you think! I think that she did awesome for not knowing what else was going on in the story at all xD
until next time!
edit: I fixed the underlined part where my sister wrote since it didn't work the first time. sorry this took me awhile, but I've had band camp and I just come home and pass out every day. I still have another week of band camp, so I'm not sure when I'll get the next chapter out.