Sorry for the long wait. Thanks as always for all of the reviews, favorites, and follows.

Previously: "What? Who do you sense with your creepy Force sense?" I asked.

Qui-Gon frowned, clearly troubled, "It is Anakin."

Chapter 20: I Get a Shock

"What's he even doing here, I thought you said you left him at the Jedi Temple?" I asked. Honestly, at that moment I would have rathered Anakin stay safe with the Jedi than come with us on a possible suicide quest.

"More importantly, how did he get on this ship, and why did you not sense him before we jumped to hyperspace?" Annabeth demanded, clearly not happy with this new development either. "There's no way we can turn around now. It would take too long to approach and leave Coruscant again."

"It's not unheard of for initiates and Padawans to sneak out of the temple," Obi-Wan explained as he and Qui-Gon led us through the ship. Qui-Gon gave his Padawan a curious look, and Obi-Wan quickly added, "Or, so I have been told, but I do think Anakin might have set a record. The Council will not like this. They barely accepted him to begin with. They may not take him back now that he has run away."

"Anakin will still be trained." Qui-Gon sounded confident, but his frown said a different story. "As for not sensing him sooner, I believe Anakin subconsciously dampens his Force presence when he feels in danger or is trying to stay hidden. It explains why he was able to remain undetected even though other Jedi have visited Tatooine in his lifetime and should have sensed him. I imagine he relaxed his guard as soon as we entered hyperspace. Though, I will also admit that I was not as mindful of my surroundings in the Force as I should have been and allowed myself to be distracted by Annabeth's theories." We stopped outside of the queen's private quarters. "It might be best if Annabeth is the one to bring him out given the location of his hiding spot."

"He's in there?" Annabeth huffed exasperated. Qui-Gon just nodded. "It seems we have serious problems with our security if a nine-year-old boy can just sneak into the queen's chambers. It's a good thing he's not a Sith." Well, at least I wasn't the one she was mad at this time. Even though I was mad at Anakin myself, I couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor boy. Between facing a raging Minitour or an angry Annabeth, I would pick the Minitour any day, no contest.

Several death glares, a few very concerned handmaidens, and one angry rant by Annabeth later, we were all in the main hold. Anakin had weathered the worst of Annabeth's anger like a champ with lots of looking sorry and wincing at all of her threats. Finally, Qui-Gon asked what I really wanted to know, "I just do not understand why you would leave the Jedi Temple, so recklessly. You were aware of your tentative position as an initiative. I thought you wanted to be a Jedi. You seemed happy at the Temple, so why did you leave?"

Anakin hung his head, "I'm sorry, Master Qui-Gon sir, but I just felt like I had to be here. Like something really bad would happen if I didn't come." He glanced at me before continuing. "It was like when Peter Johnson knew he had to save his friend Grover and then again when he had to save Annie Bell even though all of the adults in charge told him not to. So, I snuck out just like he did although I had to crawl through air ducts and droid service tunnels and then sneak into the queen's wardrobe."

Uh-oh, I was so busted. Now, Annabeth was glaring at me. "Really Seaweed Brain, Peter Johnson! As if that wasn't bad enough you just had to use Annie Bell!"

"Who is Peter Johnson?" Obi-Wan asked, confused.

Annabeth snorted, "He's Percy. Our camp director likes to show how little he cares about us by purposely calling us by a wrong name, and that particular one is Mr. D's favorite for Percy."

Qui-Gon gave me an amused look, "Perhaps, the Council is correct, and you are a negative influence on Anakin."

"Hey, I didn't think he would use that as an example to run away," I said defensively, "Besides, he wasn't supposed to know it was me in those stories."

"Oh, I figured that out ages ago," Anakin said with a smug grin.

"Annoying child geniuses," I muttered, "they are too smart for their own good."

Both Anakin and Annabeth laughed at that, but then Anakin must have thought of something because he suddenly frowned, "Where's my mom?"

"Panaka convinced her to stay on Coruscant with the Naboo senator until this is all over." Annabeth answered. I couldn't help but smile at that. Over the past few days, I had noticed that Panaka seemed to be getting along quite well with Shmi. "After all, a war zone is no place for an untrained civilian."

Anakin seemed relieved, "Good, at least she will be safe."

I cringed slightly when I remembered Annabeth suspicion and cocked an eyebrow at her, my way of silently asking if Shmi still would be safe. Annabeth replied with a confident nod. Annabeth was hardly ever wrong, so if she thought Shmi was still safe then that was good enough for me.

Finally, once everyone had settled down, all five of us laid out sleeping gear in the main hold. I wasn't sure why the Jedi had decided to change their sleeping arrangements, but it might have had something to do with the bedtime stories I kept telling Anakin. I was pretty exhausted after such a stressful day, but before I could go to sleep Anakin begged, "Percy, can you please at least finish the story? You stopped right when Kronos was sneaking up to Olympus. I have to know how it ends!"

That was a pretty bad place to stop telling a story, but I had to stop when we reached Coruscant. "I don't know, Ani. Those stories are why you are here to begin with and not safe at the Jedi Temple. Maybe, I shouldn't tell you anymore."

"Pleeeaase!"

I sighed, "Only if Qui-Gon says it's okay." Honestly, I was hoping the Jedi would say no, so I could just go to sleep. I would tell Ani the rest of the story later even without the Jedi's permission because no one should be left with a cliffhanger forever.

"Will it encourage young ones to run away?" Qui-Gon asked.

I thought for a second before responding, "No, I don't think this part will."

"Then, I suppose there is no harm in continuing," Qui-Gon reasoned. "I will admit that I am rather curious to hear more details about your past missions."

So, with that I fought back my sleepiness and finished telling Anakin about the Battle of Manhattan. For some reason, I still used Peter Johnson, instead of saying I or me. I guess somethings were easier to share if you pretended it was all a story that happened to someone else. When I finished, everyone was quite for a moment, and I wondered if anyone else was still awake. Then Anakin started firing off questions as fast as possible, "I can't believe you turned down being a god! What was that prophecy about? What did your mom think about you courting Annabeth? Did the gods keep their promise? What happened to your invulnerable skin? Did Luke really get into Elysium?"

"Woah, slow down dude," I interrupted, stopping the endless questions. "Shouldn't you be more tired after a long day because I really am. So, I will answer only one question tonight. The rest will have to wait until later."

He thought for a moment before asking "I really don't get why you say Luke is a hero after everything he did. I mean it sounds like he tried to kill you, a lot. Don't you hate him?" Of all the questions he asked it had to be that one. I saw Annabeth stiffen even in the dim light, and both Jedi seemed to perk up. Guess, I had an attentive audience for this super personal question, but I also knew everyone needed to hear my response. I mean Luke had been a difficult topic between Annabeth and I for so long, and I needed the Jedi to understand that sometimes just because you hated someone didn't mean you would turn evil. And more importantly, if you did turn evil, perhaps it was possible to still be good.

I took the time to gather my thoughts because man was this a complicated question, "Honestly, I used to hate him, but now I don't. I guess I can understand why he turned against the gods a lot better than I used to. He was tired of being used by the gods as a pawn or a source of entertainment." I really couldn't stop the bitterness seeping from my voice. I was getting pretty tired of it too, especially since that seemed like the main reason why Annabeth and I got zapped to a different universe.

"Originally, I think he just wanted to make life better for half-bloods," I continued, "but he let Kronos twist his good intentions until they warped into something evil. So, Kronos was always the real bad guy. At the same time, though, I don't know if I will ever completely forgive Luke. He did make a lot of bad choices. But, even after all the terrible things he did, he somehow was able to make the right choice at the end and sacrificed himself to save the world. Not many people could have mentally overpowered Kronos like that. But mostly, what Luke did in the end, it kind of gives me hope that maybe if I ever actually did become evil, there's a chance that I could end up doing good again no matter what I had done. That there always is a chance for redemption. All it would take is one good choice at a time to turn my life around and maybe help make up for all the bad that I might have done."

"I guess I sort of understand," Anakin stated. He gave a huge yawn and was soon fast asleep. Annabeth gave my hand a gentle squeeze, and I drifted off to sleep too.

Of course, that's when I had my worst dream yet in this new universe. I found myself in this huge room that looked like it must have been part of an old factory since there were lots of big robot arms and conveyer belts all pushed to the side. Two figures were there. I immediately recognized the red and black tattoo-faced, evil dude that had attacked us on Tatooine, Darth Maul. He looked pretty rough, sprawled on the floor, and his clothes were smoking slightly as he pushed himself into a kneeling position in front of the hooded guy, our mystery Sith Lord. "I have informed those fools in the Trade Federation about the queen's plan to ally with the Gungans," the unknown Sith Lord said in a creepy, nasally voice. Great, that's definitely not what I wanted to hear from this guy. "They have promised to locate and subdue the primitives before the queen arrives, but they are confident that even if the queen does form an alliance with the Gungans, they will be no match for the droid army. Based on their previous incompetence, I doubt their ability to succeed even with the superior force. Therefore, you must guarantee the success of our plan, my apprentice. You will remove the Jedi and anyone else who stands in the way. Queen Amidala must sign the treaty."

"Yes, Master," Darth Maul replied.

"Do not fail me again, Apprentice. Next time I will not be so forgiving," the Sith Master threatened.

Darth Maul nodded his head in understanding, but I saw fear in those yellow eyes where I had only seen anger and hatred before. I didn't want to think what it meant that this super tough, macho, evil guy was actually afraid of this guy hiding behind a hood. Darth Maul stood, and both the master and the apprentice walked towards a door which brought them closer to my observation spot.

"You will leave immediately," the Sith Master ordered. "It could be a nuisance if the Jedi commission returns, but I am certain my allies in the Senate will–" he suddenly stopped walking. "I sense a presence." He turned towards me. Uh-oh that was never good when evil lords noticed you spying during your dreams. Kronos could sometimes sense me, and Keli the empousa also had that annoying ability too. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that these Sith could do it as well with that Force sensing the Jedi were able to do.

Darth Maul stopped with his master and also turned towards me. His mouth formed a vicious sneer, "It is the boy, the one I fought on Tatooine. How is he here, Master? I thought your power masked our presence so that not even the Jedi could find us."

The Sith Master tilted his head, as he considered me. Even though I was facing him directly, his hood was so deep, all I could make out was a pale chin and the tip of a nose. I tried to move, but my dream-self seemed rooted to the spot. "So, this is the mysterious Percy Jackson who has been causing so much trouble," the Sith Lord mused.

Huh, how did this guy even know my name?

"I know a great many things, young Jackson," he said in an amused, almost taunting tone. Guess I must have said that out loud. I was still trying to figure out how this dream spying worked. I knew he couldn't really see me, because on my quest with Frank and Hazel, I had used my dream to tell Tyson to protect Ella and confused the big guy since he could hear me but not see me. The Sith Master approached me or my conscious or whatever part of me that was there. I had a feeling he was seeing me with something besides eyesight. "I admit, I am impressed with whatever Force trance you have achieved. Not even Master Yoda during his deepest meditation would be able to find me since the power of the dark side clouds even his vision. But, this does not seem to stop you, quite intriguing."

I felt like I was a bug, and this Sith guy was examining me with a huge magnifying glass, debating whether he would squash me, watch me slowly burn alive, or catch me for further study. I didn't like the feeling, so I went with my very strategic tactic for distracting my enemies, annoy the Hades out of them. "The first evil lord I defeated blamed this particular talent on my unpredictable nature," I said with a casual shrug.

The Sith Master stiffened for a moment at the not so vague threat I made. Then he laughed, a cold, cruel chuckle, that would have made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up if I actually had a body here. "Such arrogance, young Jackson," the Sith said once his evil cackling died down, "it will be your undoing. Though now I understand, this is not the first time you have spied on me. That explains a great deal. Perhaps the previous times were over a hologram, which is why I was unable to sense your rather distinctive presence." I didn't like how quickly this guy was figuring stuff out. I tried to will myself back to my body and end this bad dream, but unfortunately, I'd never had much control over my dreams. "Tell me, what are you really, for I know you are no Jedi? Where did you come from? Who was this evil lord you claim to have defeated?"

I could tell he was trying to goad me with that last question. A trick to get me to boast about my victory and reveal more about myself, but I wasn't going to fall for it. Despite what he may think, pride was not my fatal flaw. I mentally snorted, having no idea how that would come across in whatever weird, invisible, dream form I had. "For someone who claims to know a great many things, you clearly don't know a lot."

Darth Maul snarled at the insult to his master and stepped towards me, but he stopped when the Sith Master extended his hands with his fingers bent to form a sort of clawed shape, pointed right at me. "Just know, young Jackson," the master said in an almost casual tone, "if you are ever this disrespectful in person, this will be much more painful." Streaks of blue-white lightning shot out of both of his hands heading straight towards me.

I woke with a start, my heart pounding. I looked down, no smoking clothes no burns. The ship was still in night cycle, but Annabeth stirred next to me and opened her eyes. She must have noticed the panic on my face in the dim light because she sat up and quietly asked, "What did you see? And why is your hair sticking up like that?"

Keeping my voice low so I wouldn't wake the others, I told her everything that had happened in my dream while I tried to flatten my static hair. "This is really bad," she said when I was finished.

"Yeah, you think?" I asked sarcastically. "The Trade Federation will target the Gungans. This Sith Lord mastermind knows about me and my dreams, and he can pull a freaking Grace sibling and shoot lightning out of his hands. Did I miss anything?"

"Nope, that pretty much sums it up, though the Sith Master did mention allies in the Senate, meaning plural, which is way worse than one corrupt senator." In a gentler voice, she asked, "But, are you okay? The lightning didn't really get you did it, since it was a dream?"

I shrugged, "No it didn't. Though maybe I got a small electric shock through the dream or something because not even my bed hair is this bad. Besides, it's not like getting hit by lightning would be anything new for me." I didn't add that getting hit by that stuff would be a lot worse than the electric shocks Thalia used to give me. That lightning looked like it would be as painful as a lightning bolt, but it could last a lot longer. Hopefully, I would never have to feel it in person.

We both laid back down, but I didn't think I would be able to fall back to sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I could still see phantom streaks of lightning, like what happens when you stare at a bright light for too long. Annabeth scooted her bedroll closer to me and grabbed one of my arms wrapping it around her while she snuggled into me. My thoughts drifted back to that night in the stables on the Argo II. Maybe, if I fought hard enough and didn't make any more oaths, Annabeth and I could still have that chance at a happy, relatively peaceful life if not in New Rome than maybe on Naboo. Maybe, the drioid armies and Sith Lords would stay far away. With that happy thought in mind, I sank into a deep thankfully dreamless sleep.

Needless to say, when we all gathered in the queen's throne room the next morning, no one was thrilled with the news from my dream. "Are you sure you don't have anything that could help us identify this Sith Master? Or at least a location?" Obi-Wan asked clearly disappointed with my lack of details.

"Nope, all I got is that he's male, appears to be human, needs a tan, and has a seriously creepy laugh. As for location, my dreams don't work like that. If I don't recognize the place, or literally see a sign then I have no idea where it is. But, is shooting lightning out of your hand a common Force power?"

"It is usually only a dark side technique," Qui-Gon answered me. "There haven't been many reported sightings of it since the last Sith war though my own master did use it once to save my life."

Obi-Wan gave his master a curious glance, but Queen Amidala steered us back to the problem at hand. "So how does this new information affect our plan to retake our home?" Although she asked the room at large, her attention was on Annabeth.

"Well, Your Highness, there are only two things that really affect us," she explained. "Firstly, we must approach the Gungans with greater caution since we know the Trade Federation might have already found them and set a trap by the time we arrive. This also means it is extra important to come up with a backup plan not involving the Gungans. Secondly, we know for sure that Darth Maul will be there. Therefore, if we use a multi-pronged attack, we will need to evenly distribute Force-users between the contingents to avoid a complete massacre. As well trained as the Gungans and our own Security Forces are, I believe Darth Maul would easily defeat them unless challenged by a Force-user, preferably two based on the combat skills we observed on Tatooine. Do you agree Master Jinn?"

"Yes, I believe that would be the best course of action to avoid any great loss of life."

"What about the Jedi assigned to the Senate's commission?" I asked, "Will they help us once they realize how bad the situation is?"

Qui-Gon thought about it for a moment before responding, "I believe both Master Gallia and Knight Fisto will do all they can to restore control of the planet to the people of Naboo."

"That would definitely help a lot," Annabeth admitted.

Then Padmé asked, "Does anyone know how the Sith Lord even found out about our plan to form an alliance with the Gungans?"

Annabeth bit her lip no doubt debating how much of her suspicions she should say, "Currently, I have two hypotheses. The worst-case scenario is a spy as Senator Palpatine pointed out. It technically could be anyone in this room, or maybe someone high up in the senator's office. The other option is that the senator's office is bugged. I'm sure a successful politician like Senator Palpatine knows to have his office checked for such things, but before we left Coruscant, I used my computer to find several listening devices with a unique design on this ship. I believe most general detection scanners would not have found these new listening devices, so perhaps this Sith Lord managed to have a few placed in the senator's office."

"We should warn Senator Palpatine about this as soon as we land," Panaka stated. Annabeth and I shared a look, both of us clearly wondering if the senator was the one we couldn't trust.

We spent the rest of the day figuring out the best way to approach the Gungans and then discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the Gungan army. Even after the queen dismissed us to get some rest, Annabeth used me as a sounding board for her endless stream of battle plans and alternatives without the Gunguns until late into the night. We both knew at this point there were just too many unknowns, but that didn't stop Annabeth from trying to come up with a plan for all possible circumstances.

The next day, I realized early on that it would just be another really long meeting, so I sort of snuck out of the throne room at the first opportunity I got. Sure, not my proudest moment since it was my idea to come back and fight, but I really didn't see a point in trying to plan any more until we knew if the Gungans would fight with us. Plus, I was getting pretty sick of all these formal meetings in fancy offices, council chambers, and throne rooms. I missed the good old days where a serious meeting meant sitting down at a ping pong table and eating cheese whiz.

Obi-Wan found me a few hours later in the main hold practicing with Riptide solo. I stopped and asked, "So, Qui-Gon sent you to make sure I wasn't doing something that could destroy the ship in my boredom?"

Obi-Wan nodded, his mouth forming a small smile. "Something like that. Wouldn't it be a better use of your time to help the queen strategize, after all you know the Gungans and Naboo's hidden waterways?"

I shrugged, "Not really, Annabeth's much better at battle strategies and planning ahead. I'm more of the under pressure, last minute, crazy idea kind of guy."

Obi-Wan raised his eyebrows, "Do these crazy ideas ever work?"

"A lot of them do, actually though even I'm not sure how." I chuckled, remembering some of my greatest hits. "I mean this one time I helped kill this monster with impenetrable fur, like even your lightsaber would just bounce right off this thing, by throwing our planet's nasty dehydrated space food into its mouth. I also managed to dust my evil, giant half-brother, who the ground instantly healed, by dangling him from the ceiling by his loin cloth with the chains he had used to display the skulls of his victims."

Obi-Wan seemed torn between looking impressed or disturbed. "I am not sure I even want to know your thought process for concocting those particular tactics."

"Hey, they were clearly the work of a master genius."

He had a mischievous glint in his eye when he said, "You mean a deranged lunatic." I cracked up at that. Obi-Wan even managed a chuckle. His eyes focused on my sword. "Would you like a sparring partner? I could use some movement after standing still for so long."

"Sure." I had to use Riptide since I didn't have Qui-Gon's lightsaber, but Obi-Wan still put his weapon on nonlethal mode, so at least I didn't have to worry about Riptide smoking when its water essence got depleted.

After our water break, Obi-Wan carried back a cup and placed it on the floor next to where we were practicing. "Percy, I think you should try using your powers while we spar during this next round." He gave a pointed look at the water in the cup. "Maybe, just try to levitate it. You seem to have good control of your powers when you are calm and focused, but I want to see if you can do it in a more distracting situation."

"Umm, that might not be the best thing to do right now," I replied. I really didn't want to think about what would happen if I accidentally formed a mini hurricane on a space ship. "I've only used my powers while I've fought when I really needed to, and they sort of get swept up with my fighting."

"That is exactly why you need to do this exercise. You seem to rely on your instincts when you use your powers. While you may have managed some impressive feats that way, it is also the reason you blow up toilets when you get upset. You need to learn to control your powers regardless of what you are doing or feeling, so that they don't get as you say swept up unless you want them to."

"But I could end up destroying the ship," I tried to make him understand.

Obi-Wan just smirked, "Sounds like extra incentive to not lose control." I may have said some rather unflattering words about annoying Jedi in ancient Greek. He sighed, "Look, Percy I trust that you can do this. You just need to trust yourself. Besides, there is not a lot of water in that cup."

I sighed, "Fine, just don't say I didn't warn you. And if anything happens, I'm totally telling Qui-Gon it was your fault." I closed my eyes and opened up my sort of sixth sense to pick up the water. I only felt the tiniest pressure in my gut as I lifted the water out of the cup and shaped it into a sphere above us.

We started slowly at first. Part of my mind was focused on keeping the water up. But, soon Obi-Wan picked up the pace, and I got caught up in the rhythm of the fight. Unfortunately, the water got caught up as well, but I was too focused on the fight to notice until Obi-Wan gritted out, "Percy, control it."

I glanced around and realized the sphere of water had become a swirling cloud of water vapor spinning fast enough to make quite a breeze in the room. Oops, I concentrated, and all the water vapor halted in mid air before condensing back into a sphere. It was a good thing it was such a small amount of water. Obi-Wan waited a moment for us both to catch our breaths before he said, "Again."

"What are you nuts?"

"Just be sure to focus this time," he calmly replied.

With an over dramatic sigh, I lifted Riptide, and we started again though this time I made sure to pay more attention to my water sphere. Compared to creating personal hurricanes, keeping the water in a ball floating in the air was less tiring, but it required more focus since the intensity of my sword fighting did not match the intensity of the water movement. It was like trying to rub your belly and pat your head at the same time. I knew this wasn't my best sword work since I was more focused on the water, and Obi-Wan could have easily won the bout if he wanted to. But, he seemed content to just keep playing defense. Eventually, when I thought I was about to collapse after hours of swinging a sword, he called for a break.

"That was better, though next time you need to increase the pace of your fighting," he said in a smug voice. With a wave of my hand, I sent the sphere of water right at his face, but he managed to Force push it away just in time. I cocked an eyebrow at the challenge. We both focused on the ball so that it kept changing directions between us, but never moved very far either way. Before Obi-Wan could realize what I was doing, I expanded the sphere into lots of water drops and flung all the droplets at him from several directions.

"Not fair, you changed it's form," he said good naturally as he picked up his outer brown robe and used it to dry his face.

I just smiled, "I didn't think you Jedi were so competitive."

He shrugged, "Some are more than others though the masters try to discourage such behavior, but I was more curious if I could even hold it in the Force while you were controlling it."

I thought back to our game of tug-a-war, "It felt like I was controlling the water, but you were pushing the air around it. So, it felt like I was running it into a wall"

Obi-Wan nodded his agreement, "Then, when you changed the shape of the water, most of it was able to evade my Force push."

That night, Anakin once again pestered me for a story, "Please Percy what happened next? What happened with the next Great Prophecy?"

"What, you don't believe we all just lived happily ever after?" I asked, sarcastically.

"Well no. You and Annabeth somehow got here, so something must have happened in the two years between now and the end of the Titan War," he reasoned. "Plus, clearly you're no longer invincible since you were bleeding when we left Tatooine."

I thought about everything that did happen in that second Great Prophecy. "Ani, I don't think I'm ready to talk about what happened next even if I tried to pretend it all just happened to Peter Johnson. It's still too fresh." Sure, we had given Panaka and the Jedi Council summaries, but those weren't as personal as the stories I was telling Anakin. Plus, I really didn't even want to try to describe Tartarus to a nine-year-old. "But, yes, I did wash off the Curse of Achilles for better or worse."

"How could washing it away be a good thing?" he asked.

"Near invincibility can really get to a guy's head, even mine," I replied. "I'm sure if I had it long enough I would have gotten overconfident and sloppy. It would have killed me one way or another. There is a reason it's called a curse."

"Can you at least tell me how you got here? Are you from a different galaxy or something?" he begged.

"Actually, we think we're from a different universe altogether since Annabeth and I don't have any midi-chlorians. As for how we got here, I was dumb and made a stupid wish out loud. Annabeth and I had another perfect day ruined by a monster attacking us because he wanted the great glory of killing me. So, I wished we could live someplace where no one knew us, somewhere we could just have a normal life in peace. Unfortunately, Nemesis heard and decided to grant my wish."

"That's Ethan's mom, right?" he asked.

I smiled. The gods didn't really like being referred to by their kids. "Yep, not exactly the most pleasant goddess."

"Well, I think you need a refund on your wish," he stated. "I mean, you're about to fight a huge droid army and a Sith to retake your planet. That doesn't seem very normal or peaceful."

I laughed a little at his very sound logic, "Yeah, you're right, but I'm starting to think that's the point Nemesis was trying to make. I mean she did give us a fresh start. No one knew about us when we came here. They've never even heard of the gods. But, somehow in less than a year, I've aggravated another evil lord, sworn a binding oath to free thousands of slaves from cruel gangsters, and am about to be in another battle. I'm clearly a trouble magnet no matter what universe I'm in, but if I really wanted a normal life here, I suppose I could have just let myself get rounded up with all the other citizens of Naboo and be stuck in a prison camp. I guess I'm finally realizing that I might never be able to have a normal life. I just can't sit back and do nothing when there are bad things happening around me, especially to those I care about. Jedi, please ignore that last part." Qui-Gon chuckled softly at that comment.

There was a pause before Anakin asked, "Percy, do you think I could be a half-blood like you and Annabeth? My mom always said I didn't have a dad, but maybe that's because he's a god."

"Wait, you don't have a dad?" I guess I always just assumed that Anakin's dad must have died or just left.

He shook his head, but even in the low lighting, I could see the hope in his eyes. I glanced at Qui-Gon, "I thought you said there weren't any gods in this universe."

"I said to my knowledge there weren't any beings like you described," Qui-Gon emphasized. "However, I believe Anakin was actually conceived by midi-chlorians."

"So, if my dad's a limited form of the Force and Anakin's dad are these Force microorganisms, I guess that means we are sort of related," I said with a grin. "Welcome to the crazy family Ani!"

"Great, now he'll just be even more attached," Obi-Wan muttered. I wasn't sure if he was talking about me or Anakin, but at the moment I really didn't care.

By the last day of our journey, everyone was pretty tense. There was no more planning they could possibly do, so that just left the awkward wait before a battle. Maybe flinging part of my lunch at Padmé wasn't the nicest thing to do, but she just looked so stressed and miserable that I had to do something to distract her. It quickly escalated into a full-scale food fight with a few other handmaidens banding together against us boys, and Annabeth, the traitor, joined them, quickly using one of the tables as a shield and organizing their attacks. Even Qui-Gon joined in. Obi-Wan was a grumpy old man about it until Anakin and I got him pretty good. In the end, all of us were laughing, and I realized just how young we all were. Most of us in that room were still teenagers. Panaka might have been less than pleased when he checked to see what all the noise was and got some food on his shiny uniform, but he knew better than to reprimand us. He was a good soldier. I understood that the silent nod he gave me was a thank you for boosting everyone's morale even if I had chosen a messy way.

After Annabeth, Anakin, and I had rewired the ships computer to play music from home instead of dimming the lights when the pilots switched to the night cycle (I had the very important job of look out), we lay low in the spare equipment room. Pranking to boost morale was always a very noble cause. It was the first time the three of us had been alone together in a while, so Anakin was telling us all about his tour of the Jedi Temple and the other initiates he had met. It did sound like he could have a good life there, assuming the Council would take him back. "Oh, I almost forgot to give you these." He reached into his pocket and handed us each a metal wristband about the size of a watch.

"Thanks, Ani, it looks like they came out pretty well," Annabeth said inspecting hers.

"Umm, what are they?" I asked.

"They are special comms I built for you guys. Annabeth helped me figure out how to boost the range, and she gave me more of that Celestial bronze wire to make them. I'm pretty sure that's some kind of wonder material. Its properties are incredible. If only I had enough to make a droid with it." He got a far-off look that I recognized when Annabeth starts day dreaming about architecture. I groaned. Celestial bronze automatons was the last thing that this universe needed. He seemed to shake himself out of his droid dream and continued explaining the wristbands, "Anyways, these comms are a pair, so they can only communicate with each other, but they should be able to reach each other almost anywhere in the galaxy as long as you're not in hyperspace. If the other one is in hyperspace, and you try to contact it, then this light will flash. I figured these would be useful if you guys are ever separated."

I was pretty impressed that this little thing could reach across the whole galaxy. "Wow, that's really neat! Thanks Ani!" I put the band on my wrist and his eyes lit up. "But now I feel like I need to give you something."

"No, you don't Percy, neither of you do, really" he said seriously. "You both have already given me so much. You freed my mom and promised to look out for her when you can. Annabeth's given me some really cool specs that I can build when I'm not training, and you've given me all those stories to help me be brave. This really was the least I could do."

"Well at least let me give you a hug, after all you're sort of family," I scooted over and gave him a Tyson style hug. Annabeth joined in a few seconds later.

I don't think any of us slept well that night. At one point I noticed that Ani was missing. I figured he was probably freaking out about tomorrow since there was a really good chance that we all could die. I heard soft voices coming from the mess hall, so I headed in that direction. Sure enough, there were Anakin and Padmé sitting at a table with their backs to me. It looked like they were maybe drinking tea or this universe's version of hot chocolate. I was trying to decide whether I should join them or not when Anakin said, "Percy really loves Annabeth doesn't he?" I froze even though I was aware that I was once again eavesdropping.

Padmé laughed softly, "Yes, he really does, and I know Annabeth loves him just as much. It's really cute how they sort of complete each other."

"Some day I want to love someone that much." Poor guy, he really didn't get this no attachment rule. Though maybe between the two of us, we could change the Jedi's minds, show them that true love could save you.

I decided that I'd heard enough and would leave those two to console each other. I started to quietly head back to the main hold, but I still heard Padmé say, "Well, whoever she is, I bet she will be a very lucky girl."

Author's Note: Next chapter is sort of half written, so hopefully, I can get it out before two weeks.