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I hate libraries.

There, I said it.

I hate reading. Small text, big text, even blue text. I can't stand it.

But this library was my favorite.

Why, Percy? Why was this library your favorite?

Reader, this library was the world's best jungle gym. Rope ladders and slides from the top shelfs and a zipline from one end of nonfiction to the other. I could literally zoom through thousands of years of history unfazed.

There was a little river leading up to a pretty decent water feature. Not the kind that sprays, because they would get all over the books, but this was a tiny rippling waterfall.

Percy removed his shoes and stepped into the stream, exhaling in relief. "Wow," I said, looking at swings hanging from the second level. "This place is amazing!"

Percy nodded. "This is Annabeth's baby," he said, then paused. "Probably not the best phrasing right now. Sorry."

The library was octagonal. We had entered on the third of about six levels. There was a stop-sign shaped hole connecting all the levels, but various portions of each floor were removed to make room for the playground equipment. It was like a game of chutes and ladders. Some rope ladders and jungle gyms only went to the level above them. One stretched from top to bottom. I could see normal staircases here and there, interspaced with slides that spat you out on different levels. "Annabeth designed this?" I demanded.

"Yup," Percy said. "And our collection of stuff from the Titan War starts on floor five. Come on." He took hold of a rope ladder and pointed to the plastic coverings on each of the grips. "ROYGBV," he said. "Red is at the bottom. This ladder is going to the blue floor. The best floor. The only floor that matters."

Man, Percy narrated stuff exactly like I narrate things.

He began to climb and I climbed up after him. It was fun, but after a bit, I became sad. This library was massive. I know I didn't describe much of the books before, but the shelves on each level were about ten feet tall. Two Percys tall. And the shelves were chock full. I saw books, I saw scrolls, I saw archaic inventions like pottery and DVD's… There was so much. And even though I hate libraries and reading… it was sad to see a place that so many people would love that would always and forever be stuck at the bottom of the ocean.

Annabeth and Grover were on the fifth floor in the world's squashiest looking beanbag chairs. I couldn't quite look right at her because I didn't want her to think I was thinking about how this other version of us was married. She might think that I was thinking it'd be a swell idea. No, easier for her to just think I didn't want to look at her.

"How do you afford all this?" I asked.

"My dad lets us use his construction crews," Percy said. "He voted for our banishment like everyone else, but he's happy to let us renovate on his dime. Thinks it's fair. Annabeth asks Queen Hylla of the Amazons to send us any books she finds. Annabeth has the largest collection in the world, and she uses it to help demigods on their quests when they come."

"How many come?" Annabeth asked. "You're in Japan."

Percy nodded and flopped into a large beanbag. "The last one was six months ago," he admitted.

"This beats," I said. "Why can't the Gods just banish you to… I don't know… Missouri? Nothing's in Missouri."

"The St. Louis Arch is in Missouri," Annabeth corrected me.

"Which is…"

"The Nation's tallest national monument."

"630 feet high," Percy agreed, staring at the ceiling.

"How do you know that?" Annabeth asked, surprised. Then, she made a face. "Hold on, I figured it out."

"Bingo," Grover said. "Hole in one. Dr. Annabeth Chase has filled both our heads with tons of useless fun facts."

"I also fell from it," Percy said, still staring at the ceiling. "So I remember the height really well."

"You fell from-"

"Remember Hoover Dam?' Percy asked Grover, a smile spreading across his face. "Because man, I could go for some dam fries right now."

Annabeth made a choking sound in the back of her throat. I just began to laugh. Once I began to laugh, Percy and Grover amped up the remarks.

"Yeah, remember Thalia, needing to use the dam restroom?"

"Did we ever end up buying that dam t-shirt?"

"Or that-"

Annabeth hid her face in a book. I couldn't tell if she was trying not to laugh or not.

Percy laid his head back down when they were winded from laughing and said, "I'd love to feel some dam sunshine right now."

My smile faded and my cheeks felt sore where they'd been stretched. In a matter of an instant, Grover went from cheeky to moody. Percy got to his feet. "Did you find the Polias?" he asked.

"Annabeth's got so much stuff, we don't even know where to begin," Grover said.

We all got up from our beanbags and began searching the shelves. At the end of each shelf was an artefact. A breastplate someone had used in the war. A broken weapon. We all split up, but at a certain point I passed Annabeth staring at a knife. I looked at the inscription. "Cursed blade hero's soul shall reap," it said.

"Wonder what that means," I muttered, and continued searching.

The statue of the half naked Athena was nowhere to be seen. I passed Percy twice and Annabeth again and none of us could find it. Then, in the distance, I heard someone calling us. Percy recognized Dr. Annabeth immediately. "We're up here!" he called. "Floor five!"

"Wrong floor! Come down to one!"

I had seen a red slide a little ways away and dashed back to find it. I happened to run into Annabeth, who said, "Have you seen a staircase?"

I pointed to the slide. "Red is floor one."

"How do you know?"

"Percy told me." I went to the slide and jumped down. It was much larger than the kiddie slides are. An adult could easily fit in it. I zoomed down, down, down, and then was spat out on the first level. Dr. Annabeth wasn't too far away. At the end of a bookshelf was the wooden Athena statue I'd seen. But Dr. Annabeth didn't look happy.

I got up and came to see what she was frowning at. The plaque read, "Original Polias on loan to Sally Jackson for her book."

"Oh," I said. "Will this one work?"

"Maybe," Annabeth said. "Probably not, though."

Behind us, Annabeth came out of the slide. She didn't stick the landing and tumbled across the stone floor. I heard her hiss. Dr. Annabeth sprinted away and dropped down by her side. I hurried over too. I didn't like standing beside the mock Athena Polias.

"I'm fine," Annabeth was saying. Her knee was scraped a bit. "I've had worse. Camp, y'know."

"Want me to kiss it better?" Dr. Annabeth asked. Annabeth shrugged, and Dr. Annabeth leaned down and kissed her scraped knee. Then, she opened her arms and Annabeth leaned in for a hug. Dr. Annabeth kissed her hair. Annabeth closed her eyes.

I thought about what Percy had said. About how I already had a mom. I didn't know much about Annabeth. I knew she was a year-rounder. She probably didn't have a family, then. Or not one she was close with. I wonder if she'd ever met Athena before Grover had taken us up to Olympus.

Percy and Grover appeared from around a bookcase. I assumed they'd found a different slide. Grover lifted the polias off its pedestal, paused, and then replaced it with a sigh. "Seriously, Percy? Your mom?" Grover headed away towards a nearby staircase. Percy squinted at Annabeth and Dr. Annabeth. I realized Annabeth had started crying a little. She was wiping her face with her hands. Dr. Annabeth switched sides in their hug to hide her from Percy and I.

"Why don't you have children?" Annabeth asked. "If you want them."

"Gods said no," Dr. Annabeth replied. "Hera cursed me. She's the Goddess of Fertility, you know. They thought any children of ours would be too dangerous. That… may or may not be why I told her to divorce Zeus."

"Wow," Annabeth said. "That's awful."

"She's a sorry excuse for a lady," Dr. Annabeth agreed, and kissed Annabeth's head again. I guess Annabeth must have wiped her face again and then they both got up. Annabeth had ripped a hole in Dr. Annabeth's jeans, but I wasn't worried. They could apparently just order things from the Amazons to be delivered right to their doorstep.

Annabeth, Percy, and Dr. Annabeth took the stairs up, but I couldn't resist climbing up the rope ladders to the third floor one more time.

On the way out the door, I noticed a sign. It said, "Please leave us a Yelp Review! It helps other demigods know that we are a safe place to come for help." There was a pad of sticky notes underneath it, a pen attached to a curly plastic spring, and a slot with a light shining in it. I stopped and wrote the following:

"I hate libraries, and this is the best library I've ever been in. Bring it to New York so more demigods can use it. Even so, it's worth the trip. Signed, the Young Percy Jackson." I turned it into the light. The sign changed.

"Thanks for leaving a review! We hope you come back soon."

2/8's chapter will be called, "Grover gets a call"