Author Notes: Thank you for the reviews, favorites, and follows. Part 2 of today's update - sorry for any grammar and spelling mistakes. I was sleep deprived when I edited this.

Chapter 10: I Swear a Solemn Oath

As soon as I stepped off the ship's entry ramp and onto the hot sands of Tatooine, I almost turned around and went back. If Naboo was like Elysium for me with all of its surface and underground oceans, then this planet was like Tartarus. I couldn't sense a single drop of water on the surface or underground, only a little in the air. But, if I searched deep enough I sensed an echo of a memory, like the land remembered a time when it used to be a vast ocean. "I forgot how much I hate deserts," I muttered, "And why in the name of Hades's underpants are there two suns?"

"Cheer up Seaweed Brain, it's better than drinking fire-water," Annabeth said brightly.

Unlike the desert in Arizona that housed the Junkyard of the Gods, this one was completely desolate. Not even those little hardy shrubs could survive here. We hadn't gotten far when Panaka's voice called out from behind us, "Wait, the Queen requests that you take her handmaiden with you." Our party, consisting of Qui-Gon, Jar-Jar, Blue the droid, Annabeth, and I, stopped and turned around as Panaka and Padmé approached from the ship.

"No, absolutely not. Bringing Percy and Annabeth is risky enough, and they seem to have experience in dangerous situations," Qui-Gon replied sternly.

"The Queen wishes it. She is curious about the planet," Panaka appealed.

Qui-Gon sighed, like he was tired of fighting, "Fine, but this is not a good idea, and you must stay close." Before we turned back around, Panaka gave Annabeth a meaningful look. I had no idea what it meant, but apparently Annabeth did because she nodded.

As soon as we reached the space port, Mos Espa, Annabeth started gushing about African architecture and how they managed to use the raw materials available. Meanwhile, I was trying hard not to be rude and stare at all the nonhumans I saw. Plus, I had to save Jar-Jar from being trampled twice. I was starting to realize that if I kept Jar-Jar out of trouble I wouldn't have time to make any of my own which was probably that old Jedi's plan.

We headed to one of the smaller junk dealers and were greeted by the shop owner who looked like a flying blue Muppet with weird hummingbird wings. The Muppet called out in a strange language, and a young boy with blond hair rushed into the room. As Qui-Gon and the shop owner headed to the back to look for the part we needed, Qui-Gon told us, "Stay here, and don't touch anything."

Gee, was it really necessary to say that last part? Like magic, I was suddenly filled with the irresistible urge to touch everything. While Padmé talked to the boy, Annabeth and I followed Jar-Jar into a small side room. Perhaps, I was taking my job of keeping Jar-Jar out of trouble a little too seriously, but Qui-Gon just had this whole wise, old mentor vibe going for him that made me really not want to disappoint him. Maybe, he just reminded me of Chiron.

"You know, Leo would have loved this place," Annabeth said sadly.

I wrapped my arm around her waist and gave her a gentle squeeze. "Yeah, he would be worse than a kid in a candy store. Actually, he would be worse than a Leo in a candy store. He would be running around like crazy, and before Qui-Gon came back, he would have built four explosives, some annoying flying thing, and a talking trashcan or something," I predicted.

"Really, only four explosives?" Annabeth said with a small laugh that became a soft sob.

"Hey," I said squeezing her tighter, "we don't know for sure that he actually died for good. He had that Physician's Cure, and besides if Thanatos found me annoying, there's no way he could stand Leo. He probably brought Leo back to life himself, just so he wouldn't have to deal with him."

I was rewarded with a small smile for my cheering up efforts, but we were interrupted by Jar-Jar activating a droid which leapt up and knocked over more broken droids. To stop any further chaos, I grabbed the droid by the neck, and turned to the boy, "Umm, sorry about the mess and all, but how do you turn this thing off?"

"Just hit the nose," the boy said. He gave me a look like that should be obvious. As soon as my finger pressed the nose, the droid collapsed on itself. I returned it to its original spot while Annabeth fixed the stuff it knocked over.

I grabbed Jar-Jar's arm before he could do any more damage and headed over to the boy. "Thanks for the help, man" I offered him my hand. "My names Percy Jackson. This clumsy Gungan," I lifted my hand with Jar-Jar's arm, "is Jar-Jar Binks, and the amazing girl over there," I indicated with my head, "is Annabeth Chase."

The boy shook my hand and gave me a smile that lit up his startling blue eyes, "Nice to meet you. I'm Anakin Skywalker." I decided right then and there that I liked this kid – maybe because his eagerness and enthusiasm reminded me of Tyson, or the way he fiddled with spare parts while he talked made me think of Leo.

"Nice to meet you too," I smiled back, "You must be pretty good at building and fixing machines and stuff?"

"Haven't come across anything that I couldn't build or fix!" he said enthusiastically. Then, he frowned "Although finding the parts I need can be hard around here, but if it wasn't for me, there's no way Watto's shop would still be open."

"That's pretty cool. I can barely touch anything without breaking it or blowing it up, so I try to avoid tinkering with mechanical things," I said, getting a laugh out of him. "But, Annabeth is pretty good at it when she wants to be. I think she has more fun designing things and actually coming up with the ideas than physically building it."

The rest of our conversation was interrupted when Qui-Gon stormed back into the room. "We're leaving," he said gruffly. Guess the bartering must not have went well.

"Bye, Anakin, maybe I'll see you around," I said as I pulled Jar-Jar along with me.

Anakin called out "Bye, Percy," before he and Padmé also exchanged goodbyes.

After we all followed Qui-Gon out of the shop, Annabeth asked, "What happened?"

"Buying this part just got a lot more complicated," Qui-Gon replied, "apparently, dealers on this Outer-Rim planet do not take Republic credits. Come, we must find a quit place for me to contact Obi-Wan and see if we have anything of value on board the ship."

Annabeth and I shared a look and lagged behind the rest of the group. "Can we use the drachmas in our packs to trade for the part?" I asked. "I'm sure Watto is too greedy to turn down pure gold."

Annabeth frowned as she thought. "I'm sure we could, Percy. I'm just not sure it's the best idea."

"What do you mean?"

"At the moment, the drachmas are still our best bet if we need to bribe an immortal to get home," she answered.

"But we don't even know if this galaxy has immortals. And, even if we did find one, there is no guarantee that they will accept drachmas." I reasoned.

"I know, Percy, but it's still the best idea I've got. And I can't help but think that with the language similarities, some immortal might have crossed over before us instead of fading or something. Maybe I'm selfish, but I'm just not ready to part with the main piece of that plan yet. It would feel too much like giving up on going. . . on going home." She teared up a little, and her voice broke on that last word. "Gods, I'm an emotional wreck, today."

I didn't care that we were in the middle of a street and could be trampled by alien dinosaurs at any moment. All that mattered was that Annabeth was hurting. I just wrapped my arms around her and let her rest her head on my shoulder. "Hey, it's okay to tear up every now and then. I mean we've even seen a few gods cry, and if the always perfect gods shed tears, then it must be okay for us lowly half-bloods too as well. After everything we've been through, I would be more surprised if you didn't cry. I know I have." Now, some guys might say admitting to crying made me unmanly and weak. But, I was never ashamed when I cried now because it reminded me that after everything I still cared. I was still human, well at least half. After my time in Tartarus, I realized just how precious and fragile that humanity could be.

"Plus," I added, "we've been ripped away from our peaceful, almost paradise only to go back to fighting for our lives with an evil lord chasing us to boot. We are even in a place with no decent water, again. It's bound to make emotions run high and bring up some painful memories. So, we will keep the drachmas, then and hope we can get back home before something really bad happens."

"How about we keep them for a day. If Qui-Gon hasn't come up with a way to get the hyperdrive generator by tomorrow, then we will use them," Annabeth declared as she lifted her head and started pulling me in the direction Qui-Gon had gone.

"Sounds like a plan, worthy of Athena."

We found the rest of the group tucked in an alcove just as Qui-Gon pocketed his commlink. I was pretty impressed with the old Jedi's sarcastic comment about having nothing of value when Jar-Jar said we would be robbed. Perhaps he wasn't as solemn and serious as he seemed to be. "Don't worry Jar-Jar, I'll stop the crazy beings before they get to the crunching you part."

"That would actually require you to keep up with the group, young one," Qui-Gon said as he walked back to the main street.

"And, the sarcastic Jedi strikes again," I muttered.

Within a few minutes of walking on the main street, I noticed that Jar-Jar had fallen behind. What now? I didn't even think that I could get into trouble this fast. Sure enough, I saw a food vendor yelling at him. As I walked back to get him out of this new mess, Jar-Jar spat something out of his mouth, and it landed in an alien's bowl. The alien had a snout like a Chinese dragon and arms and legs like a monkey. He leapt off the table and pushed Jar-Jar to the ground. I got there just as the alien grabbed Jar-Jar's throat. "Hey," I yelled, "he's sorry for being clumsy. Now get off him already. Besides, if you're looking for a fight you should at least pick someone who can actually fight, unless you're scared?"

Insulting someone who was holding your friend by the throat probably wasn't the smartest idea. But, I really don't like bullies, and it did distract him enough so that he released Jar-Jar. Just in case this bully didn't understand basic, I looked him right in the eyes and gave him my 'wolf stare,' the universal way of communicating, 'No matter how bad you think you are, I'm worse.'

The alien took a few steps back, looked at Jar-Jar then back at me before saying something in the strange local language and heading back to his table. As I helped Jar-Jar up, I told him, "See, I stopped it before it got to the crunching you part."

"Nevertheless, you need to be more careful," Qui-Gon lectured the Gungan as the rest of the group joined us.

"Wow," a familiar, excited voice said, "I've never seen Sebulba back down from a fight like that before. Usually, he likes turning people into orange goo. How did you scare him away, Percy?"

"Hey Anakin, good to see you again!" I told the boy, "As for avoiding the fight, an old friend of mine taught me a trick to scare away bullies."

"Cool, can you teach me?" he asked, reminding me of the first time I met Nico with all of his enthusiastic questions.

I laughed, "Maybe someday." Just then, my stomach gave a loud rumble.

"Are you hungry?" Anakin asked.

Annabeth just huffed at that, "Percy is always hungry."

"Then you should follow me," he gushed. "I know where the best pallies on the whole planet are."

I turned to Qui-Gon, but before I could bring out the baby seal begging eyes again, the Jedi said, "Fine, we will get some food. Just please, spare me that sad porg look." I had no idea what a porg was, but I took pride in knowing that even the old Jedi Master wasn't completely immune to the cute baby seal look.

Anakin insisted on buying the pallies with his own money from a kind, old woman who looked wrinkled enough to be one of the Fates. Even though I noticed no change in the weather, she warned Anakin that a storm was coming. Anakin insisted that there was no way we could make it back to our ship before the sandstorm hit, so he offered to let us stay at his place. It was a good thing we listened to him because within a few minutes sand was blowing everywhere, and we had to shield our eyes.

Anakin led us through a door that looked identical to the many orange doors around it, reminding me of apartments back home. "Mom, I'm home!" he called out, and a middle-aged woman with a kind face appeared from another room. She was one of those people who you took one look at and just knew she was a great mom. She reminded me so much of my own that I had trouble breathing. I felt Annabeth's arm wrap around me and tried to focus on that.

Next thing I knew, Anakin had grabbed Padmé's hand and turned to Annabeth and me, saying, "Come on, I want to show you the droid I'm building." We followed them down a hall, and when I reached the door, Anakin said, "Umm, Percy do you mind just looking from the door? 3PO isn't done yet, and I really don't want him to blow up."

Annabeth and I both laughed at his over exaggeration of my destructive abilities, "Sure, I'll make sure he stays outside of the Percy's Sphere of Destruction."

Anakin removed a blanket and revealed a humanoid droid with lots of wires showing. "He's a protocol droid to help mom," Anakin explained. He flicked a switch, and the droid came to life with his eyes glowing like dim flashlights.

"Hello, I am C-3PO human-cyborg relations," the droid said in a stuffy English accent that reminded me of my eighth grade English teacher. Annabeth was impressed and immediately started firing off questions.

After Anakin survived the hurricane known as Curious Annabeth, Padmé said, "He's perfect, Anakin," and Anakin's face turned redder than the sun god's sacred cows.

Annabeth and I returned to the main area of the apartment, and we overheard Qui-Gon say, "I know five extra mouths to feed is a lot. I should have brought rations, but I had planned on returning to the ship before nightfall."

"It will be fine. I'm sure we can make do." Shmi replied.

"Perhaps, Percy and I can help with that," Annabeth said when we reached the two adults. "We have some nonperishable foods from our home world." She swung her bag off her shoulder and rummaged around until she pulled out a can of baked beans and chicken noodle soup. She looked expectantly at me, so I looked through my bag and pulled out my SpaghettiOs and beef stew. On second thought, I pulled out the pack of Double Stuffed Oreos. "Really, Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked with that voice that sounds exasperated but amused at the same time. "Are they even still good?"

"Hey, after our first qu. . . I mean outing, it's kind of a tradition. These babies were the main course the first time you, the intimidating in a good way, genius girl, opened up to silly ole' me. Double Stuffed Oreos must have magical properties besides being insanely tasty." I peeled open the seal and popped one in my mouth. I couldn't help the groan, "Man, I've missed these. I kind of forgot they were in here, but they are definitely still good." Annabeth just smiled and rolled her eyes while also taking an Oreo.

Annabeth and I helped Shmi prepare the meal, and soon, we were all gathered around the table for dinner. The conversation started pleasant enough with a lot of comments about how good the food was and a few jokes, but it turned serious when Padmé said, "I still can't believe there is slavery persisting in the galaxy. Surely, the Republic's antislavery laws. . ."

Shmi interrupted, "The Republic doesn't exist out here. We must survive on our own the best we can."

"I just wish we could help you. What would stop you from coming with us on our ship?" Padmé asked.

"All slaves are injected with a transmitter located somewhere in their bodies," Shmi replied.

Anakin added, "I've been building a scanner to locate mine."

"But, as long as the transmitter is there, any attempt to escape. . ." Shmi continued.

"And they blow you up!" Anakin finished the statement and slammed his hand on the table for emphasis.

"Wait," I said as the meaning of the conversation finally clicked in my head. "Are you slaves?"

Shmi raised her head and looked me straight in the eyes. "When I was a girl, I was captured by pirates and sold into slavery. Watto won us in a bet several years ago, so now we tend to his shop."

I couldn't believe it. I was angry. I can't remember the last time I was this angry. If there was enough water in the apartment to have normal plumbing, I'm sure I would have already blown up the toilet. I stormed out before I could explode the little water the Skywalkers did have. I barely heard Annabeth call out for me as I left.

Outside, I hardly noticed that the sandstorm had stopped or the growing darkness as the last sun slipped under the horizon. I walked blindly down the street. I stopped and closed my eyes, struggling to control my power before it could destroy a nearby moisture vaporator. My power had automatically reared up with my anger, ready to attack whatever the threat was. But, I didn't know what that actually was. Maybe, I could confront that blue Muppet. I immediately dismissed that idea. It made my conscious squirm to go after a relatively harmless civilian even if he was too greedy and owned slaves. Besides, the problem was clearly much bigger than one flying Muppet. I probably needed to focus on these gangsters that ran this planet, the Hutts. They were the ones that most likely controlled the slave trade.

I felt power continue to build-up in my gut with my growing frustration until it felt like I was holding back the tide. I had to channel it somehow. I really didn't want another disaster on the scale of Mt. St. Helens, so instead, I tried to focus on the little bit of moisture in the air. My senses expanded as far as they could locking onto the water in the air. Then, I thought of all those tiny molecules flowing towards me and coming together making a stream. The pressure in my gut lessened as I pulled the water vapor toward me, willing it to trickle and flow like a liquid. I thought of the rivers and streams that fed the sea. I held out my hand, and a large ball of water started to form over my palm. I gasped and dropped to my knees as my power quickly drained, the toll of summoning so much water to me on such a dry planet.

Once I felt in control of myself again, I stopped drawing on the moisture in the air and just focused on manipulating the water above my hand. I shakily got to my feet and looked around. Luckily, no one was around to see my watery display. "Percy," I heard Annabeth's voice and swung my head around to see her jogging to me. "Thank the gods, I found you. I thought you might try to single-handedly storm the Hutts' palace."

I tried to give her a smile, but it felt more like a grimace. "The thought crossed my mind, but I didn't know where it was."

Annabeth gasped when she finally noticed the water around me. "Did you make that water?"

"I don't think 'make' is the right word. I think I kind of collected it from the moisture in the air. It was either that or blow up the moisture vaporator or let it all out like I did in Mt. St. Helens." Annabeth winced at that. "Do you have a bottle? Usually, I would let it go, but on a planet like this, it feels wasteful. This much water is probably a day's worth for Anakin and Shmi."

Annabeth nodded and quickly pulled out her empty water bottle from her pack. I manipulated the water into the opened bottle, and Annabeth returned it to the pack before reaching out to cup my face. "Percy are you okay?" Her storm-gray eyes looked deep into my sea-green ones as if she could peer into my soul and sooth all the things hurting inside of me. I brought my hand up and gently pushed back a strand of her blond hair behind her ear.

"Yes," I paused, "I don't know maybe? I'm not going to lose control and cause an earthquake or anything anytime soon, but I'm still mad." Annabeth let her hand drop so that she could squeeze mine comfortingly, and we slowly started walking back. "Anakin is so young and good and innocent that he reminds me of how Nico used to be. And Shmi is so much like . . . like mom," I managed to get out. "How could someone do that to them? How could someone do that to anyone? In this place where there are fancy spaceships and laser swords, how could something as backwards as slavery still exist? For eight months, we have been living in paradise, and here, Anakin and Shmi have been denied their most basic right."

Annabeth frowned. "It's terrible Percy, but there is no way you can blame yourself or feel guilty about the past. We didn't know. Gods, Padmé didn't even know, and she's been in this galaxy way longer than we have. Now, that we do know, maybe we can do something about it."

"Well, well, well, what have we here? Sebulba didn't mention that the scary human who threatened him was only a little boy," a voice rasped out in Basic. Two burly looking aliens stepped out of an alley and blocked the way back to Anakin's apartment. The larger one had three ridges protruding from his bald head, heavy brows, and a huge underbite that would be an orthodontist's nightmare. The smaller one had a large flat nose, wrinkly face, and many long braids coming from his otherwise bald head. Both were holding weird short staffs with four blades on one end and a curved end that looked more like a club though the big one also had a blaster on his hip.

"Run away, girl. We aren't here for you. We just need to teach this boy here a lesson. No one makes Sebulba look bad," the larger one said.

I snorted, "Good luck with that! I've been told I'm a slow learner." Without really thinking, I automatically pulled out Riptide and uncapped it. Next to me I saw Annabeth draw out her sword from her backpack. One day I would remember to ask her how that sword even fit in there. We both took a few steps away from each other to make sure we had room to maneuver.

"What a pretty little weapon," the chatty big alien said with his eyes on Riptide's glowing blade, "perhaps I'll take it as a trophy when I'm finished with you." With that, he charged.

I sighed, as I watched his wild, unbalanced approach. Guess this fight would be a quick one. He must usually rely on intimidation and brute strength with little actual skill. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other guy foolishly charge Annabeth. When biggy got close to me, I dodged his wild swing and sliced at his upper leg. I had planned to give him a deep enough cut that should make it difficult for him to walk for a while, but Riptide just passed harmlessly through him.

Oh Styx, now I was in trouble! Apparently, even though the alien looked more like the monsters I fought than the human mortals back home, he was still technically a mortal, so the Celestial bronze couldn't hurt him. My confusion distracted me and gave my opponent time to swing the blade end towards my side. I barely managed to avoid the blow but moved right into the alien's punch. I flew back and landed hard on the sandy street with a groan. "Percy!" Annabeth yelled. I quickly glanced her way and saw her give the other Alien a cut on the arm followed by a knockout punch when he dropped his weapon. Clearly, Drakon bone did not have the same limitations as Celestial bronze.

Mr. Biggy was pretty confident now as he waltzed towards me, swinging his staff thing. I decided to play-up how hurt I was and pretended to fail at getting up. He grinned which just made his overbite worse, "Not so cocky now, are you?" He jabbed the club end at my gut, but I was way ahead of him and had already rolled to the side. I grabbed on to the middle of the staff as he bought it up and sprang to my feet. In one swift motion, I twisted my body and used the staff as a lever to throw the heavier alien over my shoulder. He landed hard on his back and let go of the weapon.

Yes, I might have stolen Annabeth's go-to move, but the look on the alien's face made it totally worth it. I expertly spun the staff thing. "Nope, I'm just as cocky now." I smirked at him. I knocked him out with his own weapon before he could reach for his blaster.

"Was the quip really necessary Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth asked. "After all, your smart mouth is what got us in this mess to begin with, as usual." When I gave her a confused look, she sighed, "Quip means a sarcastic comment."

"He started it."

"Why did you even let him hit you anyways?" she questioned as she gently touched my split lip.

I winced more in embarrassment than from the pain. "I sort of forgot that Riptide wouldn't hurt him since he is a sentient mortal even though he looked and more importantly acted like a monster."

"Sometimes, I think you will never learn. Just because someone tries to kill you doesn't automatically mean they are a monster." She pulled out her water bottle and poured some water onto a cloth from her bag. She dabbed at my lip with the damp cloth as the water slowly healed the small cut. After she wiped away any trace of blood, she reached up and gave me a kiss. "Better?"

"Much!"

We managed to make it back to the Skywalkers' apartment without any more incidents. When we sat back down at the table, everyone was just finishing up their food. Qui-Gon took in my rumpled appearance and sandy clothes. "What happened?" he asked me.

I just shrugged. "I fell." He snorted at my response which was by far the most undignified thing I had seen the old Jedi do. I looked at Anakin and Shmi and said, "I'm really sorry I ran out like that. I just got so angry when I realized that there's slavery going on in this galaxy and had to get some fresh air. I promise to do everything I can to help free you." Anakin's smile lit up the room, but Shmi just nodded sadly, like she knew better than to hope. The look in her eyes reminded me so much of Calypso when I told her I could come back for her on Ogygia. It was like she already knew that I wouldn't come back, that even though I meant well, I would forget about them.

I needed her to know that I was different from the other people that must have promised freedom in the past. I was one of the good guys, a hero. She could trust me. But then a small nagging voice that had haunted me ever since Tartarus asked, 'Are you sure you really are a hero? After all, you forgot about Calypso, you ignored Nico, and you just used Bob then abandoned him to the mercy of Hades. You are no better than the gods who just use people and discard them,' the voice accused.

No, I was different. I had to be. I wouldn't forget about Ani and Shmi. This time I would come back. They had helped us. But what about all those identical doors outside that must belong to other slave families? Could I just ignore them like the rest of this stupid galaxy did, just because they hadn't been useful to me? No, I wouldn't be like the gods who had ignored so many of their kids. These people had to know that they mattered even though they were slaves, that they weren't forgotten. Freeing these slaves couldn't be harder than battling Titans. I would just have to honor my word. I would make sure I had to come back this time. I only knew one way to make that happen. So, I took a deep breath and said, "In fact, after this current mission is done and everything is back to normal, I promise to do everything I can to free all of the slaves here. I swear–"

"Percy, no!" Annabeth interrupted.

"On the River Styx," I finished.