Percy came too and knew at once that this version of him was the one to go to the new universe. He hated again, which ever ended up in this place was going to hate this just as much. He stayed in the warm for another few minutes, pretending that Annabeth had just gotten up to use the bathroom and was not far away at Camp Halfblood. Eventually, he had no choice and got out of the bed.

He looked down at his body, now twelve years old again. He looked at his arm and found the SPQR tattoo in it's place. "Well, that's a complication for later." He muttered as he took stock of his body. He was scrawny again and he knew that was not going to stand. Percy groaned as he recalled how he had let his hero skills slip each school year between quests and he had no intention of allowing that again. He looked over and saw a younger Grover, sleeping in his bed. He smiled down at his best friend but did not disturb him. Percy dressed and left his room.

He snuck into Chiron's office and found what he was looking for. The pen form of Riptide was sitting on the bedside table, which was of course empty. Chiron was not one for beds, after all. Percy reached out and touched the pen.

"Riptide, you do not know me yet. But in my world, I was your partner. You were formally given to me by Zoe Nightshade."

At the name, the bed began to glow a bronze color.

"There you are. Please, I need you to change over to me as your true owner with Chiron as temporary. You will return to him for now, but I need to be able to summon and use you to train. I promise, I will use you only to protect those in need and never for selfish gain or glory alone."

The glowing grew before fading and Percy knew the magic in the pen had done as he requested. He picked up Riptide and headed out onto the grounds. He spent a good hour that morning, thank goodness it was Saturday and he did not have detention, drilling himself with Riptide. Practicing all the skills he could remember. He was winded and panting at the end of the hour and he knew he would need more training yet before he could get back to his level in the other universe.

"I'll need to exercise as well, gain some stamina and body strength." He added and made a note to ask Annabeth for help. He willed Riptide to go back to Chiron and it vanished for now. He hated feeling vulnerable and without his trusty ball point pen, that is exactly what he felt. He decided to do a lap around the school before using his dad's gift to call Annabeth.

***

Annabeth was very glad none of the other Athena children were year round campers. Her rage at waking up alone would surely have scared the others. As it was, there was a knock at her door.

"Annabeth, what was that scream about?"

Came a voice that chilled her to her bone. Luke. She felt nothing romantic towards him anymore, only Percy held her heart now. However she was not quite ready for him. She did her best to make her voice appear normal.

"I'm fine, Luke." She called. "Just a nightmare about my dad and stepmother."

There was a chuckle from outside. "That did always make you mad. Why don't I nick us some hot chocolate and we can talk about it?"

Annabeth cursed herself. Hey had she not seen how brotherly Luke was back in the day. Luke acted to her just how Percy was with little Estelle. She smiled fondly as she thought of her boyfriend and his sister.

"I'm fine Luke. I want to get a start on my work early anyways. Rain check?"

She heard him chuckle again. "Sure thing, Annabeth. Make sure you get some fresh air today."

She heard him walk away and sighed in relief. He had already stolen the Master Bolt and Helm of Darkness. She also knew Ares had both now. She leaned back in her bed, wishing Percy was there so she could cuddle up with him. Then she remembered that she needed a bowl of water. She got up and went to look for a suitable bowl.

It was an hour later when the water swirled and Percy's face appeared in it.

'Sorry I'm late, Wise Girl.' Came Percy's voice through the water. 'I figured I would get a head start on getting my younger body back in fighting shape.'

"Good call." Annabeth smirked. "A plan worthy of Athena. We are going to need you at your best, Seaweed Brain. I miss you so much."

She saw Percy smile softly. 'I miss you as well. Looks like I'm a couple days from my field trip where Dodds tries to kill me. Hopefully she doesn't decide to advance the time table since I know I'm a demigod already.'

"I hope so as well. I guess we will see. Train hard Percy. We will need you as strong as possible when you arrive at camp. I might see if I can sneak out to come see you earlier. Chiron is there after all, I could pretend to be on an errand to bring him something."

Percy nodded. 'Let me know. We should keep these calls to once a week for now, I don't want Grover to find out. Love the G-man but he cannot know our secret. Any chance you could IM Chiron and try to convince him to use the Mist to give us some proper exercise equipment?'

Annabeth laughed. "Can do, Seaweed Brain. See you in the few months. Trying to keep myself from going mad here will be challenging. The call ended and Annabeth got up. She decided she would also train her body and prepare herself. She would be ready when the time came.