Time: At The End Of "The Lightning Thief" (Book Version)

It was dusk. The camp looked completely deserted. The cabins were dark and the volleyball pit silent. No canoes cut the surface of the lake. Beyond the woods and the strawberry fields, the Long Island Sound glittered in the last light of the sun.

"What are you going to do?" Annabeth asked Percy, who really looked confused at the moment.

"I don't know."

He told her he got the feeling that Chiron wanted him to stay year-round, to put in more individual training time, but he wasn't sure that's what he wanted. He admitted he'd feel bad about leaving her alone, though, with only Clarisse for company.

What neither Percy nor Annabeth realized at this time though was that they weren't the only ones currently up at this time. Coming back from one of his then-sporadic evening patrols, one of the members of the Ares Cabin was listening in from behind a nearby tree. Colton Reynolds, who for the most part had went on that patrol to blow off some steam over Luke's betrayal for which the son of Ares had vowed to kill him the next time Colton saw him, for now stayed perfectly still behind that tree and listened in, feeling like he should stick around here a while.

Annabeth pursed her lips, then said quietly, "I'm going home for the year, Percy."

Percy stared at her, surprised. "You mean, to your dad's?"

She pointed toward the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Next to Thalia's pine tree, at the very edge of the camp's magical boundaries, a family stood silhouetted—two little children, a woman, and a tall man with blond hair. They seemed to be waiting. The man was holding a backpack that looked like the one Annabeth had gotten from Waterland in Denver.

Colton had noticed all four of them walking back from his patrol before he heard the first parts of Percy's and Annabeth's conversation. He hadn't thought nothing of it a few minutes ago, but given what he heard now and immediately right after it, he soon understood completely.

"I wrote him a letter when we got back," Annabeth said. "Just like you suggested. I told him ... I was sorry. I'd come home for the school year if he still wanted me. He wrote back immediately. We decided ... we'd give it another try."

"That took guts."

Colton had heard stories about Annabeth's childhood, and they were all from Luke since Annabeth never really talked about it. If he had to be honest, while his childhood was perfect up until the incident that landed him here in the first place, Annabeth had the short end of the stick. He really did feel bad for the poor girl.

Annabeth pursed her lips. "You won't try anything stupid during the school year, will you? At least ... not without sending me an Iris-message?"

Despite wanting to make a face other than what he knew he should make, Percy managed a smile. "I won't go looking for trouble. I usually don't have to."

"When I get back next summer," she said, "we'll hunt down Luke. We'll ask for a quest, but if we don't get approval, we'll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?"

Colton quietly growled.

Really Jackson? Colton thought to himself. I'm going to slay that traitor by my own hand regardless if what Annabeth thinks of him or not. He nearly killed you, her, and Grover via the Gods on that quest, and nearly killed you before and after it, Percy. He deserves to be taken out before he can hurt you, Annabeth, or anyone else again.

"Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena."

Colton snorted at that, though he still kept quiet. I mean, it's not really a plan worthy of Athena if I can easily crash the party since I know what you two might do now, he thought to himself. He had to admit, he was willing to do so for another reason than wanting to kill Luke. It wasn't really for the pride of his own cabin, but rather because deep down inside, he figured Percy and Annabeth most likely would require assistance from someone other than Grover. He knew Grover could do a lot of things, but that only went so far.

She held out her hand, and Percy shook it.

"Take care, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth told me. "Keep your eyes open."

"You too, Wise Girl."

Percy watched her walk up the hill and join her family. She gave her father an awkward hug and looked back at the valley one last time. She touched Thalia's pine tree, then allowed herself to be lead over the crest and into the mortal world.

For the first time at camp, Percy felt truly alone. He looked out at Long Island Sound and he remembered his father saying, The sea does not like to be restrained.

It was then that he made his decision.

Percy wondered, if Poseidon were watching, would he approve of my choice?

"I'll be back next summer," he promised him. "I'll survive until then. After all, I am your son."

That's when Percy heard a voice that was a bit unfamiliar to him since there were quite a few campers at Camp Half Blood he had yet to encounter. But when the person who said the following words stepped out from behind the tree he had been hiding behind, Percy could put a name to the voice and face.

"True, you are his son Jackson. Even so, surviving until next summer in the mortal world.. that's a risky proposition."

Percy had to do a double take. Standing before him now, armed with a Whitworth rifle from the Civil War era with accompanying Civil War era kit while also wearing Greek armor, was Colton Reynolds, aka per Grover's own words, "the anomaly to the part about Greek demigods preferring ancient Greek weapons and not more modern weapons". To be fair, the Whitworth wasn't modern given how old of a weapon it was, but it was fairly recent compared to ancient Greek weapons.

Either way, Percy knew full well from what had been said of Colton that compared to the other people in the Ares Cabin, including Clarisse, he was the one that truly was not to be underestimated. To finally encounter him for the first time - since he had rarely ever seen Colton in the week he had spent at Camp prior to going off on his first quest, Percy had to admit.. he definitely was a bit nervous.

"What exactly would you know about surviving in the mortal world..?" Percy shot back, a little bit annoyed by Colton's words. For his part, the son of Ares was as emotional-less as ever, with his weapon currently in the right shoulder shift position with the right hand on the flat of the butt, the lock-plate facing forwards, and the muzzle end pointing upward at a diagonal angle. Compared to what this weapon would be for Colton down the road, it was still at historical lengths, being 49 inches overall, with a 33 inch barrel length.

"A few things actually.. even if I hadn't stepped one foot out of this camp since arriving here.." Colton said back. "First off, Luke is probably going to try to kill you again per the orders of Kronos.." The air chilled around them a little. "..so you can't interfere with whatever they are planning. Second, you are a child of the Big Three, so like Thalia, your own scent is amplified more than normal demigods, thus attracting gods know every damn monster in the region to your own location. And three.. I'd imagine only the skilled would ever be able to survive on their own - and not with what.. oh, I don't know.. barely a few weeks of training."

"I appreciate your concern, Colton.." Percy said. "..but I'll be fine."

"You, sir, have to be insane.." Colton said back. "But then again, maybe you are.. considering that you have pissed off my sister enough for her to try to get back at you at least four times now.. and fail every single time. Plus, you actually defeated our father in battle so.. there's that."

"Yeah, I did.." Percy angrily shot back, remembering the fight with Ares. "..so what's your point..?"

"You might think yourself someone high and mighty now.." Colton said sarcastically. "..but sooner or later, with the low amount of training you have, a monster is probably going to come along that brings you crashing back down to Earth and then has you for lunch."

"Do I look I even asked for any of this though..?" Percy replied.

"Nope.. I know you didn't.. and neither did I, for that matter.." Colton said, looking a bit sad now as he remembered what he witnessed that introduced him to the world of the Gods.

Percy, however, didn't seem to take the hint. "What could you possibly have experienced to make you fall in the category of not wanting to be a demigod?" he said, and Colton now grew mad.

"FOR YOUR INFORMATION, Kelp-for-brains, my own parents were killed in front of my own eyes by the Lydian Drakon when I was 10!" Colton roared, though not enough to wake the whole camp.

"How is that any different from what I had to go through..?" Percy said, not realizing how much he was poking the bear.

"AT LEAST YOU STILL HAVE MORTAL FAMILY TO BE WITH.. the rest of mine had always treated my parents like garbage and once they were dead and I came here, it seems that those among them that did care simply vanished off the face of the earth like they never even had existed!" Colton said, looking really angry now. He was pissed off that Percy could be this condescending to his own pain.

"I.. I.." Percy started, before pausing to figure out what to say next, since he felt bad now. "..never knew. That must be awful."

"Well it is, Octopus Head.. and believe me.." Colton said, snarling. "..all of that is what motivates me to be who I am here! All I want is to take revenge on the monster that took my parents away from me! And no one is going to interfere in that!"

"You need to calm down.." Percy said, being an idiot once more.

"Who the fuck do you think I am, Jackson?!" Colton shot back. "Just because you're a son of the Sea God doesn't give you the fucking right to tell me what to do! Do you really think you're that fucking better than me?!"

That's when Percy said the words that lit the fuse to it all. "Since I humbled your sister and defeated your father, yeah.. maybe I am.." he said, and he could have sworn literal flames appeared in Colton's eyes.

"In your fucking dreams, Jackson!" Colton said back. "You want to prove you're better than me, fine! I'm all for this clash, for this means fucking war!"

Then, he stormed off before Percy could say anything else. To be fair, Percy really didn't want to say anything else to Colton, since right now - Percy was thinking that Colton was just like Ares and Clarisse. Someone who really thought that they were better than anyone else.

Percy didn't seem to realize just how far from the truth that really was. Compared to some of his siblings, Colton didn't really have much of a problem with people proving that they were better than him or his siblings, as long as they put in the effort and training to do so. The fact that Percy had done with he had done in a few weeks, from killing the Minotaur to completing his first quest to defeating his father to dethroning Colton from where he stood in who was the strongest at Camp Half Blood, without much training.. really pissed him off.

Either way, Percy knew that although he didn't know much about Colton, he was certain that he could make him eat his own words. We'll see who's laughing at the end of this mess Luke caused, Colton, Percy thought to himself. I can promise you that.

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, since he didn't really have much time to focus on Colton, for Percy Jackson currently had other things to do right now.

With Colton gone now, Percy asked Argus to take him down to cabin three, so that he could pack his bags for home.