Before you read this, I'd like you to keep in mind that everything is not necessarily as you think it is.

I'd also like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed. I'd like to say that this chapter would have been out now no matter the reception, but that just isn't true. You all are entirely responsible for this being updated today, rather than on Friday. I have a lot of things going on during the week, so it's very difficult to find time to write. The tremendous outpouring of support (tremendous of course, being a subjective term) is not something I'm used to, and I hope I continue to meet your expectations.

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO. Verbatim phrasing is unintentional, except where used entirely for effect.

With out further adieu, here is the second chapter!

Chapter 2: You Just Try Again (The Future Is Waiting)

Percy didn't understand.

How was he alive?

When Kronos killed him, it sort of made a little sense that he got sent back in time to now.

Now, of course, being midnight of the day, or perhaps day before, Percy killed Alecto; the day things started to go wrong.

But what Percy didn't understand was why he had come back to this time when he was killed by the Nemean Lion.

The only thing he could come up with was that whenever he died, he would start back from the beginning. But why?

And another thing: why had the Nemean Lion showed up in the first place? It was supposed to be the Minotaur. And hadn't the Nemean Lion been under the control of the Titans? He was fairly sure the Minotaur had originally been sent by Hades. Percy came to the conclusion that before the Titans controlled the Nemean Lion, Hades had. The Titans must have stolen control of the beast after Atlas was freed.

After thinking about it on the bus ride to the museum, while halfheartedly catching Nancy's weaponized horror show of a sandwich, he decided that the reason the Nemean Lion had shown up instead of the Minotaur was probably because he had let on that he knew more than he should before he killed Alecto. Hades must have thought he was a bigger threat than the first time.

Percy decided then and there that this time, he wouldn't let anything slip. He was a hapless, 12 year old son of a random god.

He decided he would come up with a set of rules as he went on.

Rule One: If someone is going to die, save them.

Rule Two: Never let on that you know more than you should.

That was all he had so far. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to make any more.

Well, third time's the charm, as they say.

Nothing really happened any differently until Nancy dropped her lunch in Grover's lap.

This time, however, Percy hadn't told Grover anything about his plans for Nancy, because he only said anything about that to cover up why he looked so creepy when he was lost in thought about how differently he would do things that time. So it was that Percy didn't do things the same way. Not exactly.

He wanted to mess with Nancy way more than last time, as payback for all the bullying she'd done, and was going to use her crush on him to do it, so he stood up and said, "Thanks so much, Nancy! That was so sweet that you shared some of your food with Grover. Let me thank you properly!"

Percy stepped closer to Nancy, and as he did so, he made a startling discovery: Nancy had the exact same look as the Stolls whenever they got caught red handed pranking someone.

Percy didn't have time to think about that, as he was busy giving Nancy a great big hug.

"EEEEEEEK!" Nancy yelled, her face, somehow, redder than last time.

Percy realized that he probably shouldn't have done that. Why exactly was he being so mischievous? Maybe it was because he hadn't been able to for so long. Preparing for war would put a damper on anyone's practical joking spirits. Well, anyone except for a child of Hermes. Hold on a second... a child of Hermes? Why did that seem important?

While Percy was lost in thought, Nancy was rocking back and forth in place, gently hugging herself with a dreamy look on her face. Her posse, however, were not nearly so satisfied.

"What the heck is wrong with you!?"

"Why would you do that!?"

"Is Nancy okay? She's looking kinda strange."

Nancy let out a sigh of contentment, and everyone stopped suddenly.

This seemed to shock her into reality.

"Oh goodness," she said, before promptly bolting away, followed by her posse.

Percy was certain at this point that Nancy had a crush on him. A really big one, by the looks of it. He felt sorry for her, he really did. It was so long ago that he had hated her. Looking back, she was never really that bad. Still, there wasn't much he could do unless she had godly blood.

Godly blood?

Suddenly, everything seemed to click. Constantly stealing things, same look as the Stolls. She was a daughter of Hermes! Percy's scent must have overpowered hers, and so Grover never noticed! Percy mentally kicked himself for not seeing it before. He was about to run after her when he remembered Grover.

Percy spoke nervously, "So, uh, that was unexpected, right?"

Grover was stunned. "What just happened, Perce? Why in the world did you hug her!?"

"I don't know, G-man! I thought it would tick her off, not make her swoon!"

"Too weird, man. Too weird.`

Percy sat back down on the fountain and dipped his hand in the water, nonchalantly; he needed to get back on track.

He wanted to help Nancy get to Camp Halfblood, but he really didn't have the time. Besides, she'd be safer not knowing. She certainly had a knack for theft, but she didn't seem particularly strong. Then again, neither did Percy. Percy pushed those thoughts out of his mind, and got back to the task at hand.

After manipulating the water a little bit, Mrs. Dodds took him to the gallery, and demanded that he confess, or he would suffer.

This time, Percy feigned innocence. Sure enough, just before he got into serious trouble, Chiron burst in, well, rolled in, shouted 'What ho!' and threw Riptide to Percy.

Percy made quick work of Alecto, and when he turned to look for Chiron, he was gone.

Good. All according to what happened to Percy 1.0. He was Percy 3.0 now, and Percy 2.0 was a horrible flop. Running his mouth had got him killed last time, and it wouldn't happen again.

Unfortunately, now he needed to convince Chiron to let him go to camp early. He wanted to train, badly, so that maybe it would be a little less strange that he was so skilled.

He wandered back outside, after coming up with a plan, of course. Doing things more like Annabeth would be vital. He needed to plan, or he'd fail once again. It was not particularly enjoyable, you know. Dying, and all.

He shook off his distaste after thinking of Annabeth. He was strong.

He went up to Chiron with fear in his eyes.

"What was that, Mr. Brunner?"

"What do you mean, my boy? What was what?" Chiron was acting just as well as Percy, but Percy knew Chiron was faking, and Chiron didn't know the opposite.

"You gave me this sword." Percy uncapped Riptide.

Chiron clearly hadn't expected that. Percy didn't know why he hadn't done this the first time around.

"Er, Percy, what are you talking about? That's my pen. Please bring your own writing implement in the future." Chiron clearly wasn't giving it his all. He wasn't sure Percy would buy it.

He obviously didn't.

"Mr. Brunner, this is clearly a magic sword. The one you use on tournament days. I just killed Mrs. Dodds, who turned into a monster and demanded I return some kind of football helmet and a bolt, whatever that means." Percy acted like he was in shock, and dazed by what he'd done.

"Percy, are you feeling alright? There's never been a Mrs. Dodds-"

Percy cut him off. "Mr. Brunner, with all due respect, I'm holding the sword in my hands. What is going on?" Percy wasn't letting Chiron win.

Chiron seemed to notice this as well.

"Confound it all. Percy, I'll explain everything to you once we return to Yancy. "

From there on, it was smooth sailing, so to speak. He left Yancy the next morning, the bus broke down, the Fates cut someone's string, Sally drove them to camp. The only difference was that this time, Percy remembered what he'd learned at the end of his first quest. Gabe had been hitting his mother. Everything he said to Gabe was laced with fury. He was going to get his just deserts soon enough, but it would never be soon enough. Percy wished he could go back that far, but he couldn't. He would just have to wait for Gabe to become a huge step forward in super-ugly neorealism; in other words, a concrete sculpture.

Percy, Sally, and Grover were nearing Halfblood Hill when they heard a menacing roar, but not a feline one. It was the Minotaur.

Percy almost let out a huge sigh of relief, but was stopped when a bolt of lightning struck the car.

Percy was feeling euphoric as he checked Grover's pulse and scrambled out of the car.

He looked towards the Minotaur, in all his tighty whitey glory, who bellowed at him, searching for the demigod. His sight was terrible. He was try to smell him out.

My old friend, Percy thought. This would be the third time Percy had killed the beast. Percy decided he'd kill it before it had a chance to take his mother.

"Hey, ugly! Ground beef! Over here!"

The Minotaur charged.

He uncapped Riptide and gave the bull-man a good size gash on his abdomen as he jumped to the side.

He got ready for the monster's second assault. It had rushed past the car, and as the Minotaur started to charge back towards Percy, the driver's side door swung open, and Sally stepped out, dazed.

She never saw it coming.

Percy screamed, but she only looked confused. Why didn't she notice the Minotaur!?

Percy vision turned red as one of the bull-man's horns erupted form his mother's chest, a look of utter surprise on her face. She uttered one word. Run.

Percy met the Minotaur's charge head on, sinking his blade deep into the monster's head, right next to his mother's corpse.

The Minotaur dissolved, leaving only an empty hole through Sally's chest.

Percy sank to the ground, and cradled his dead mother in his arms, tears streaming down his face.

He had to come to a decision.

Would he keep going? Or would he end it now, and hope he got a fourth chance?

The choice wasn't hard for Percy.

To steel his nerves, he said his next statement out loud, for all the world hear.

"A world without my mother is not a world I want to save," he said, before closing his eyes and running Anaklusmos across his neck.

He felt warm. He was back in his dorm room at Yancy Academy.

Rule 3: If someone doesn't die, don't try to save them.

He was supposed to run to camp with Sally, not fight the Minotaur right away. She would have been sent safely to Hades and remembered none of it if he just stuck to the original plan!

Percy wondered if maybe saying goodbye before he left Yancy was such a good idea after all. He could send word, or just come see her after he retrieved the bolt. The quest hadn't taken long at all. It would take even less time if the avoided the Lotus Casino. He could finish it and say goodbye to his mom for the summer with plenty of time to spare. He needed to come back after the summer was over though, to collect Tyson. Percy hadn't thought of Tyson since he died originally. He loved his brother, even if he was somewhat upset with his father for siring him. It would be a long time before Percy saw him again. A very long time, if his current progress kept up. So far, he'd only managed to make it to camp when he was actually twelve. He realized just how much he had relied on luck to survive in the past.

He fell asleep thinking about his plans for the future, and once again, didn't have a single dream.

Nancy had just dumped her sandwich and said 'oops' when Percy responded.

This time however, he wasn't going to antagonize her. The first time, er, second time, he hadn't known she had a crush on him. The second/third time it was payback. This time, he would do the right thing. If she was a demigod, Percy was going to find out. But to do that, he needed to get at least somewhat close to her. She only bullied Grover so Percy would give her attention, and he was fairly sure of it. Percy made a mental note to make sure Grover knew about his thoughts on the matter so he wouldn't think he was betraying him.

"Nancy, that was rude," he said softly. "But I forgive you."

Nancy sneered, though she couldn't keep a tiny blush off her face. "Like I want your forgiveness, freak!"

She laughed, and one of her friends gave her a high five.

"Nancy, I mean it. I forgive you. For this, and everything. I know that you must have a reason for doing such awful things, and I think you must blame yourself, but know this," Percy had gotten up and placed his hand on her shoulder, "I forgive you."

Percy sat back down, but not before noticing the steadily rising blush on her freckled cheeks, and the way she stared at the ground in shame. He was slightly saddened. He hadn't really intended for her to feel bad.

If Percy was sorry for making her feel shame, he was totally unprepared for what happened next.

He wasn't really looking at her when he heard the first sob. After that he was staring right at her. He saw tears streaming down her face, and she was trying to keep her face straight, and failing. No one looks attractive when they cry, and she was quickly sobbing harder and harder, until she was full on breaking down.

Percy shot back up and went to comfort her, as he was never one for letting girls cry, but she swatted his hands away, before screaming.

"I... HATE... YOU!" Nancy screamed between sobs. She obviously did not mean that. In fact, she probably meant the opposite.

She was hard to look at. Percy was stunned. Had she really felt that bad about all this, all this time? Percy felt awful about how he treated her his two previous attempts, as he'd taken to referring to them in his thinking. She needed better friends than her stupid posse. Grover and Percy were better friends, and he felt obligated to help the young girl. If Percy was on the fence about staying at Yancy longer this go round, he wasn't anymore. He was going to do the last thing he ever thought he would do: befriend Nancy Bobofit.

But before he could say anything, Nancy ran away, quickly followed by her posse, which Percy was growing less and less impressed with every passing second.

As they left, one shot out a quick, "We'll never forgive you for this, Jackson!" before turning around and following the others. As if Percy had meant to make her break down.

Percy turned to Grover. "I really do forgive her. It's just the right thing to do. You're not too mad at me, are you, G-man?"

"Naa-ah-ah!" Grover bleated out. Percy realized it was a bleat of happiness. Grover had been waiting for Percy to forgive Nancy all along.

Percy decided right then that this was the best possible outcome for this situation. Yes, Nancy was crying and probably felt horrible, but she had realized what she was doing was wrong. Maybe she hadn't even realized she wanted to be forgiven before this. Even if it turned out she was just an ordinary kleptomaniac, though Percy very much doubted that, he had sowed the seeds of doubt in her mind, and she just might be nicer in the future.

He had 'perfected' this choice, which is to say, he would do this every time he came back to it, which Percy hoped was never, but the realist in him told him it would probably be several more times at least.

Rule Four: Forgive Nancy.

He manipulated the water behind Grover just large enough for Alecto to notice.

After he'd killed Alecto, he played dumb with Chiron, gave him Riptide back without a word, and went back to classes at Yancy like nothing had ever happened. Everything had worked out fine with this quest, in the end, so retracing his steps wouldn't do too much harm, other than being boring. He had given a tiny thought to not manipulating the water and seeing how long Mrs. Dodds would stick around for before deciding he was indeed a threat, but decided quickly that he had liked Ms. Kerr, her replacement, much better.

Nancy acted... a lot different, after the incident at the museum. She avoided him as much as possible, and though her posse still bullied Grover, she never seemed to be around when it happened. As far as Percy could tell, she was still mean to people besides him, but slightly less than he remembered. Percy largely ignored her stupid fan club, protecting Grover when he felt it was necessary. It was easy to forget that Grover was actually still older than Percy, seeing as satyrs matured about half as quickly as humans. If Percy recalled correctly, Grover was around 28 years old. Percy got along with him a lot better, which was saying a lot, since they were already best friends.

Nancy did, however, keep stealing things. She never got caught. Not even once. Percy saw, but the victim never did. Being around the Hermes kids for such a long time, he knew when he saw a master at work. She was at least as good as the Stolls at thievery, and they were the sneakiest of the bunch. Percy had no doubt she was a daughter of Hermes. However, he could also tell if someone would be a strong fighter, being one of the strongest on the planet himself, and he could tell she wouldn't be. Certainly better than the average mortal, but below average for a demigod in terms of raw fighting power. That could be improved, though, with plenty of hard work. If he could get her to realize she should be nicer to everyone, he was sure she'd fit right in at camp.

It was a lucky break. He wanted to teach her to be nice, and he also wanted Grover to be close enough to smell her. The best way to do that, he figured, was to get the three of them together, and then make some excuse for him to leave, maybe he'd pretend he had to go to the bathroom or something. That way, Nancy would be close enough to Grover and Percy far enough away. It was a plan worthy of Athena, or so Percy congratulated himself. He had no idea how to get the three of them together, but that was only a minor setback.

He could try to get all three detention, but then Percy wouldn't be able to leave. Maybe organize a study session? He and Nancy would both have dyslexia, so that was plausible. Grover had pretty good grades, he could tutor them or something. But he would have to actually become friends with the girl first.

At any rate, Percy was tired of being shrimpy. Every day he exercised, but never went to the gym, so as to not arouse suspicion. Push ups, sit ups, squats, everything. It was slow goings at first, but he was getting stronger. He ran laps around the building every few days, too. He was getting faster, and he was increasing his endurance at the same time. It wasn't long at all before he could easily do a hundred push ups and curl ups at a time. Being a demigod certainly had its advantages. Percy had a plan, and he needed to be as strong as possible to do it.

It was actually kind of a chore for Percy to keep his grades as low as they had been before. While he still had dyslexia, he had memorized what more words looked like by now, so he could read far better than before. Still not easily, but more so. He also had completed middle school, so it was not terribly hard for him to complete the sixth grade. He had to purposefully answer questions wrong on tests, just to keep his D average. He felt like a fool.

He was lucky that he had a lot of the same classes as Nancy. A few weeks after the incident at the museum, Percy caught Nancy before she ran out of Latin. He decided he'd have to take the direct approach, or he'd never get her to open up.

"Nancy!" he called. She paused for a second. Percy got up and went closer, so only they could really hear what was said.

"We should talk," Percy suggested. It felt nice, not having to lie. Not just retracing your steps.

"What are you talking about, freak?" Nancy said, but her heart wasn't in it. It was more a reflex than an insult.

"Nancy, just... I'll be in the library at six. I'll be waiting." With that, Percy pushed past her, leaving her confused.

Percy almost didn't realize she'd swiped his wallet as he passed her.

He turned around. "Also, I'd like my wallet back, thank you very much. Hand it over, Boba Fett."

He hadn't meant to call her that. It sort of just slipped out. But instead of being angry, Nancy looked straight down at the floor, his wallet in her outstretched hand.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

Percy said with a grin he made sure she saw, "I forgive you," as he took his wallet back. He didn't realize she'd swiped a fiver until he was back in his dorm room. She was good. Damn good.

He realized with a start that Nancy was probably freaking out that no one remembered Mrs. Dodds ever existed. Percy had kept pestering Grover about Mrs. Dodds, for appearance's sake, but he now realized that if he and Nancy both told Grover they knew about Mrs. Dodds, he might have no choice but to cave and send them to Chiron. He might not even need Grover to smell her!

It was with those thoughts that Percy went to the library, intending to be slightly early for his meeting with Nancy. When he arrived, he quickly realized how suspicious this looked. It was almost like he had asked Nancy on a date. Three or four years ago he would've gagged at the thought. Now, it was just... a little odd. She certainly wasn't unattractive, it was just that Percy, well... mentally, he was sixteen. But it seemed only his memory and skills were sent back in time, not his hormones, because he couldn't deny he felt at least a passing attraction in her, purely physically. He was very conflicted. That is, until he remembered he didn't actually like Nancy Bobofit. Then he felt fine.

Nancy showed up at six o' clock on the dot. Percy almost expected her to say, "Have you been waiting long?" but she did not, for which he was grateful. Instead, she simply sat at the empty table across from Percy.

"What... what did you want to talk about?" Nancy asked nervously, but quietly. The library was louder than it should have been, but not loud enough that they could speak with full volume and still not be heard.

Do you remember Mrs. Dodds? was what he wanted to say, but he obviously couldn't lead with that.

"Why have you been avoiding me?" Percy asked earnestly. He was interested to see how she would respond.

"When did you change so much?" Nancy boldly countered. Percy hadn't expected that.

"The night before we visited the museum, I..." Percy hadn't actually thought about what he'd say to this question. It was actually incredibly refreshing, to be stumped like this in a conversation. He usually knew exactly what would be asked.

"I had a dream," Percy finished. "It really put things into perspective. I realized that you must have motives for being so mean to everyone all the time." Percy was a little more rude than he needed to be, but he wanted her to open up, and the best way to do that, Percy thought, was to make her mad.

This time, it worked. "Maybe I wouldn't be so mean if my mom-!" she caught herself before she said anything more, but Percy heard enough to get his foot in the door.

Nancy's red face and orange freckles looked a little funny when Percy asked, "If your mom what, Nancy?"

Nancy was silent.

"Nancy, is your mom mean to you?"

Nancy shook her head and mumbled out, "Not exactly."

"Then what, Nancy? Please tell me," Percy comforted, but he wasn't faking anything. It was horrible when someone had no good parents.

"She... she..." Nancy shook her head again. She was telling him she couldn't say it.

"It's alright, Nancy. You don't have to tell me now. You can tell me when you're ready." Percy's tone was so gentle, it surprised even him.

A surprising amount of the time, that line got people to talk right then, and not later. So it was this time, as well.

"My mom... she doesn't really care about me. She ignores me. I've been sent to boarding schools since kindergarten. But when I come back, it's like... like she's not even happy to see me. Too busy with her business for her only daughter," Nancy said bitterly.

It was time for the kicker. Percy steeled his nerves. "What about your dad?"

"Hmph. Never met him. Mom never talks about him."

It was common. Hermes was a bachelor god, so he had more kids than a lot of the rest of the gods. He would visit some once, when they were children, but not often. He often didn't even remember having them, but Percy knew he cared about all of them. Percy had seen it in the god's eyes multiple times. He wasn't a bad guy.

"Me neither. My dad left before I was born. But my mom's the nicest person in the world. I'm sorry you didn't have the same luck."

"Maybe that's why you're so much nicer than me," Nancy mused. Percy had a guess she was bright, and it seemed he hadn't been proven wrong yet.

"Maybe. But don't you want to be nicer, Nancy?" Percy asked, hopeful.

"Of course!" Nancy snapped. "Sorry, I just. It's so hard. I try and try and try but I just can't seem to be nice to anyone!" Nancy's voice was starting to get louder. Percy spoke quieter than usual to remind her.

"But you're being nice to me right now, aren't you?" Percy asked, bemusedly.

"You- you're right!" Nancy's face seemed to light up as she grinned. Maybe her teeth weren't that bad, Percy caught himself thinking. Nancy's face soon darkened however, as she said, "But you're different. I can't be nice to anybody else!"

"Well what makes me so different, Nancy?" Percy asked, teasing her.

"I don't know." Nancy mumbled so softly and quickly that it sounded more like "Iono" than "I don't know."

"How very eloquent, Boba Fett." Percy liked this new nickname for her. Wasn't very complex, but Percy seemed to think it was brilliant.

"Don't call me that!" Nancy protested, but with the tone she used, anyone could tell what she actually meant was "Please please please keep calling me that!" Maybe she'd never had a nickname before.

Percy and Nancy spent the next few hours talking to one another, talking about stupid pointless stuff, Nancy relishing in talking to the boy she had a crush on, and Percy relishing in a new conversation, something he realized he'd be having very few of for the foreseeable future. Unless...

"Oh my gosh I have to go! My roommate's gonna kill me if I'm not back soon! I'll see you tomorrow! Or... I don't know. I'll see you later!" Nancy rushed out the door.

Damn. Percy hadn't gotten a chance to ask her about getting tutored by Grover with him.

I guess it can't be helped... I'll just have to talk to her again soon. What can you do? Percy thought to himself as he made his way back to his room, where he did an extra set of a hundred pushups before going to bed. Grover was already asleep.

It was about a week later that the two actually managed to meet again, though, incredibly, it seemed no one knew they had met. Not many people went to the library, it seemed. It was also about a week later, and after he had asked Nancy to study with him and Grover, to which she responded in the affirmative, with a spark in her eye, that he actually asked Grover if he'd be willing to tutor them. He'd seen the look he'd seen on Nancy before, on the other Hermes' kids. She wouldn't bully Grover, but she'd prank the Hades out of hm.

"Um... Perce... is there something going on between you and Nancy?" Grover asked, not quite nervously, but it was getting there.

Percy almost had wipe the disgusting taste off his tongue. "What? Eww, no, no that's... that's gross, G-man. We're just friends. She's actually not a total b-"

"Okay, Percy. I know she's not really horrible. I have a good eye for that sort of thing." Grover was slightly amused. He clearly thought Percy had a thing for her, which he didn't. He'd only really known her for a week. And, contrary to popular belief, one week is not enough time to form a lasting opinion of someone. He still caught himself thinking she was a horrible person now and again, after four years of assuming it.

"Anyways, Grover, will you tutor us in Latin? Neither of us think we can pass."

"What are you talking about, Perce? You're like the king of mythology."

It was true. Percy held back in every class, but when a mythology question came up, he couldn't help himself. It was life or death for him-he had it beaten into him not to accept any misinformation when it came to the world of Greek gods and monsters, as that could easily lead to your early demise. He also did it for Nancy's benefit- she probably didn't listen to 'Mr. Brunner' before the incident, and he didn't want her to be totally uninformed, as many demigod's parents' tell them all about the myths as bedtime stories and such, and Percy very much doubted Nancy's mother had ever done that.

"Yeah, but I'm horrible at the actual language, G-man."

This was also true. Percy found out quickly that his skill in Ancient Greek carried over into Latin for only one thing: insults. Things like braccas meas viscimini, or revertere ad Ohio, which meant 'Eat my pants' and 'Go back to Ohio' respectively.

"Yeah, you are. Alright. Count me in. When is it?"

Percy and Nancy were already at the library when Grover walked in.

"What's up, freak," Nancy said venomously.

Percy smacked her lightly on the top of her head and said "Nancy!" in a playful yet unyielding tone.

"I'm sorry!" Nancy said, in an entirely different tone. She was genuinely sorry. "I- it's just a reflex! I didn't mean it!" She look down at the table and mumbled "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it," Grover said kindly. Percy knew there was a reason they were best friends. Grover could forgive anybody, so long as they recycled and didn't steal his cheese enchilada, which Nancy had almost done, once, but Percy stopped her, knowing full well the consequences of such an action would be swift and severe.

After about half an hour of conversatin' and conjugatin,' Percy decided it was time to put his plan into full effect.

"I gotta go to the bathroom. Play nice for a little while."

"See yah," Nancy and Grover said in unison, which made them look at each other strangely.

Percy left quickly, and found that he did actually have to use the restroom.

It took Grover less than a full minute to notice. He quickly realized who this girl really was. With Luke's scent, though less powerful, and the kleptomania, he put it together rather quickly, and groaned and put his head on the table.

Nancy took notice. "Come on Grover, I'm not that bad at Latin. Or am I?"

"No, no, you're not that bad. Better than Percy, actually, though he's much better with mythology than you. By the way, do you happen to have... dyslexia?"

It was Nancy's turn to groan and put her head on the table. "Yes," she said, clearly upset.

"Don't worry, Nancy. Percy actually has it, too."

"He does!?" Nancy asked, excitedly.

That night, Percy followed Grover to Chiron's office in secret.

"Chiron, big news."

"Well, what is it, my boy?"

"Nancy Bobofit is a daughter of Hermes," Grover said bluntly.

The three became fast friends, and did almost everything together. Slowly but surely Nancy's old posse was disbanded, as their leader was changing into a different, better person. They had all gotten guff about the whole thing at first, but eventually a time came when no one could remember the three not being friends. Everything was going swimmingly. That is, until Percy realized he didn't know how he was going to get Nancy to camp. He'd overheard Grover and Chiron saying that they wouldn't send either to camp until it was totally necessary. Percy realized he needed to utilize Plan B: Mrs. Dodds.

Soon after he realized this, he casually asked Nancy about it when they were alone, when it didn't seem too odd that he was asking.

"What's up, Perce?"

"Do you remember Mrs. Dodds?"

Way to go, Percy. Way to slip it in there, all casual like. Smooth as butter. You gods damned idiot he berated himself.

Nancy didn't seem to care that it was out of the blue. She looked up at him with teary eyes, before launching herself at him.

"I... thought I... was going... crazy!" she choked out between sobs.

Percy uncomfortably wrapped his arms around her protectively. It wasn't as if they had never hugged before, but it was uncommon, and she'd never been bawling her eyes out, as far as Percy could remember.

"I used to ask everyone but they told me I was crazy! I didn't want you to think I was insane so I never asked you-ou-ou!" she sobbed into his shoulder.

"And the same goes for me. I only just worked up the courage to ask you about it. I have a confession, Nancy."

She looked up at him, still in his arms.

"She was a monster. Like, a real monster. After the museum incident, she took me into the gallery and said a bunch of stuff about confessing or suffering but I didn't know what she was talking about! Then she transformed into a monster with bat wings and talons, and Mr. Brunner showed up, threw me a pen which transformed into the sword he uses on tournament days, and I slashed Mrs. Dodds with it, and she crumbled into dust." Percy finally had told Nancy, and it felt good. Of course, he still hadn't told her he knew everything about what he was talking about, but it was one less secret he would have to keep.

Nancy looked at him in shock. Percy was afraid she wouldn't believe him, but she started tearing up again and bawled into his shoulder once more.

"That would explain so much! All the boarding schools I went to, something freaky happened and I had to leave!"

"Me too, Boba Fett. Me too."

Percy let her cry for a few more minutes. She had thought she was going bonkers. It was only fair to let her cry it out.

After a little while, Percy said, "We should confront Mr. Brunner about it." He wasn't worried about her arguing this point. If there was one thing Nancy loved doing, it was confronting people.

"Mr. Brunner, we both know about Mrs. Dodds," Nancy said, with a somewhat rude tone. She wasn't exactly kind to authority figures, but this was about as nice as she got. She liked Mr. Brunner. He was cool.

"I remember, very vividly, killing her and her turning to dust," Percy added.

Nancy continued, "And then everyone forgot about her, but Percy and I both remembered separately for months!"

Chiron couldn't do anything about this tag team assault.

"And you told me there was never a Mrs. Dodds and said I wasn't feeling well, but Nancy remembers!"

"Explain that, Brunner!" Nancy finished.

Chiron looked like he was deep in thought for about a minute.

"I suppose I cannot hide the truth from you any longer. It was for your own good, but I can see you will not accept comforting lies any longer," Chiron said sadly.

Percy found it a lot easier to act surprised when there was someone next to you showing you how it's done.

Eventually, Chiron finished his spiel and the two children finished all their questions.

"I will send for Argus to collect you two and Grover in the morning."

"Grover?" Nancy asked.

Chiron explained to them both.

Nancy looked about ready to cry.

"So he wasn't really our friend?" She looked devastated. Percy tried to look just as devastated, be he just couldn't. He knew Grover was still their friend, but she didn't and she only had Percy and Grover in the entire world. Percy still had his mom.

Chiron smiled at them. "No, no. In fact, Grover told me he'd never met two people he enjoyed being with more in his entire life. And that means a lot coming from him, because he's 28 years old."

Nancy's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull, as did Percy's, though he was more forced. It still did weird him out every time he heard it.

"Twenty eight!?" Percy exclaimed.

"Yes, satyrs mature half as quickly as humans."

"That's crazy!"

"Quite. At any rate, you'll be headed to camp first thing in the morning. We'll notify your parents. You'll probably be able to see them again, at some point," Chiron said, not unkindly, though his words were somewhat blunt.

"Probably?" Percy asked. Nancy stayed quiet.

"Yes, if you decide to stay year round then there's really not much you can do, though many do go home once summer ends. After you've been trained, you can decide what to do. Which reminds me... do either of you want to continue at Yancy?"

Nancy looked down. "I kind of already got expelled."

Percy thought it was the perfect excuse, since he had forgotten to get kicked out. But he did actually mean it when he said, "Then I don't want to stay either. Let them kick us out, sir."

Nancy looked a bit better about it.

"I see. Well, get some sleep you two. You've a long day ahead of you."

When Percy told Grover, at first he looked worried, but he still managed to say, "At least we get to miss finals week."

Unsurprisingly to Percy, the van broke down on the way to camp. The fates were on the other side of the road, and Percy made the same stupid joke about the socks, which Nancy found hilarious. At first, Nancy had been scared by Argus, but she got over it pretty quick. She usually didn't really judge others very quickly, even if she was mean to most everyone but Percy and Grover. She got along well with Argus. After the fates snipped the cord, the van came back to life, and they were back on their way.

Somehow, it had gotten dark by the time they reached camp. It didn't really make sense. Was this the work of the fates? Was an encounter with some kind of monster here at night unavoidable entirely? He shivered thinking about the repercussions it might have. If people's deaths were unavoidable, then what would be the point of all this?

Percy didn't have time to think about that as the menacing roar of the Minotaur was hear behind them, and Argus punched the gas in a futile attempt to reach camp.

The van exploded.

Percy was dazed, but could tell Nancy was conscious. Grover was not. He couldn't tell Argus's status, but he guessed the guy wasn't too badly hurt. He was a monster, after all. Percy scrambled out of the car, careful not to make too much noise. He was gonna play this one by the books, and try to run from the Minotaur.

Then he thought that he really would rather Grover be awake, so he leaned his head through the shattered window and whispered in Grover's ear, "Wake up! It's enchilada day and you're missing it!"

"Hh?"

"There's a bunch of tin cans over here!"

Grover's ears perked up, which was odd, because he had human ears.

"Hmph. Time for the big guns. Grover! Someone just threw a soda can in the trash!"

"WHA-!?" Grover yelled, before Percy clamped his hand over his mouth.

"The bull-man's here, Grover. We gotta get Nancy and go!"

Percy realized that Nancy was already out of the car, and had been listening to Percy try to wake Grover up.

"Great, let's just go then," he said.

They were almost all the way up the hill, Argus included, when it happened. The Minotaur found them.

A bellow came from directly behind them, and all four froze.

Percy spoke. "Keep going and bring help. We're almost there." Percy knew they wouldn't get help in time, but Percy had killed this wimp three times already.

They didn't know that.

"Absolutely not, Perce!" Grover said.

"I'm with Grover. We can fight it together," Nancy said.

"Argus, take them to camp. I don't want them to get hurt, and it's probably me who he's after anyways. I've got this loser. This tighty whitey-wearin' namby pamby beef patty ain't got nothin' on me."

Wordlessly, Argus scooped up both of Percy's friends, one in each arm, and started trudging up the hill, much to their chagrin, as they complained loudly.

Percy ran to the side while shouting insults at the monster, trying to direct its attention from the others. It worked.

Percy was far off to the side when the Minotaur charged at him with an enormous bellow. As Percy rolled to the side, he used the beast's momentum against it and ripped off one of its horns.

As it turns out, the Minotaur didn't like that very much.

As the bull man charged again, Percy drove its own horn into its stomach, but was horrified when it didn't dissolve. It hadn't been a killing blow.

The Minotaur roared in agony, and Percy tried to run, but it was too quick. It speared Percy through the stomach in the exact spot Annabeth had been stabbed when she took a knife for Percy: a nonfatal one. The Minotaur bellowed in victory before charging up the hill towards the others.

Percy needed to save them, because he really really didn't want to kill himself again. He spent a long time alive this time, and he was not looking forward to doing it again. Unfortunately for him, he knew he was fading fast. If he moved to save them, he'd be dead, so there was no point in moving. Either way, he was going to have to restart.

That is, he thought he would. As fate would have it, Nancy wasn't just a thief. She was a thief who had a serious thing for Percy.

She wrestled her way out of Argus's arm, and ran at the Minotaur. It reminded Percy of when he thought his mom had been killed. He had felt invincible, rage fueling his strength.

It happened that Nancy did nearly the same thing as Percy had the first time. As it charged, she used its leg as a springboard to jump up to its head, and eventually managed to rip its other horn off before she fell off herself.

So it was that the horn that had stabbed Percy in the stomach also stabbed the Minotaur in the stomach, but this time, the Minotaur died.

She rushed over to Percy, who wasn't dead, but was dying. This time, however, Argus was here, and Argus had something Percy hadn't had any of the other times he'd fought this fight: ambrosia. The many-eyed guardian of camp shoved a square in Percy's mouth without a word, and the bleeding slowly came to a stop. Percy had a chance to live. He closed his eyes, and passed out.

When he woke up, he was in the infirmary, with a child of Apollo standing over him: Lee Fletcher. Another person whose life he would save, if he had his way. But Percy needed to get stronger. He wouldn't allow a failure like this to happen ever again. If he had aimed a little higher, this wouldn't have happened. Percy was upset with himself.

Rule 5: Don't lose a fight you've won before.

There ya go!

I hope you've had a good read. He finally got to camp Halfblood! Yaaay! Plot progression! And it only took 14000 words to do it!

I'd like to point out that just because he and Nancy are friends doesn't mean that he likes her romantically or that they'll start dating, nor does it mean they won't. It means that I'm giving Nancy a chance. I know some of you won't like the Nancy-centricness of this chapter, but if you don't... get used to disappointment. I think we all know who Percy is choosing for his questmates.

The pairing IS still undecided, but Nancy WILL be in this story, for now at least. If everyone hates her, then she might not stick around, but for right now she's in.

Anyways, sayonara!