He'd taken first in regionals. Percy couldn't stop grinning as his mother snapped pictures of him on the podium with his gold medal. His coach was so proud of him. He was going to the east coast regionals and if he placed he'd go to the youngest divisions for nationals. At ten going on eleven, he could make the junior league next year on an international level. Ice skating was his life. At that moment he had been on the straight and narrow to becoming one of the best in the country, and maybe even the world.

The month of august, before Percy was to enter sixth grade at Yancy Academy, he spent in Europe. More specifically, he spent it in St. Petersburg Russia, at an ice skating camp run by Yakov Feltsman, one of the world's greatest ice skating coaches. Percy had been hand selected to go, and his mother and current coach, the one who was moving to Italy and would be quitting in the near future, had to for him onto the plane to convince him to go. Flying was a deathly fear of his, and things always seemed to be rough when he was on a plane. He'd never flown when there hadn't been a thunderstorm. He always kept the ultimate goal in mind so he got on anyways. ISU junior league for that next year. He was going to make it happen no matter what the cost was, even if it meant flying in a metal death trap that could very well kill him. Percy wanted to succeed and he was good at figure skating. Why not play to his strengths. School clearly was not the answer.

Percy found out he was chosen in May and then he spent as much time as he could leading up to the trip learning Russian. Most of it was studying in between practice and newspaper runs in the buildings on his block. His rent, flight and whatever else he needed was being provided by scholarships and competition earnings, though he needed money for food and other clothing he may need while he's there. Percy discovered he really enjoyed to learn languages that were not English. He wondered if it had something to do with his dyslexia. By the time he got off the plane in St. Petersburg he knew enough to find his chaperon and have a conversation with them and read some signs in the country.

Yakov yelled most of the time. Most of the crude anger was aimed at him and this blonde kid who later turned out to be his roommate. The elder coach switched between English and Russian in the first few days. Percy made it his goal to become fluent as fast a possible. It would be easier to take criticism and learn if he could understand what was being said to him. He was determined to make the best of his time there and try to prove himself to get an invitation back for next summer. He was confused as to why some of his peers were not taking advantage of the opportunity.

The angry blonde kid turned out to be his roommate. Percy had too much fin introducing himself to the Russian punk in his native language. The look on the blondes face was priceless and Percy later wished he had a camera to capture the moment.

"I thought you were American," the blonde replied in English.

Percy smirked and answered in Russian again. "I am. I wanted to learn Russian to make it easier to interact with my peers and coaches."

The boy scoffed, in English. "I can tell you're trying, but your Russian sucks."

"I could say the same about your English," Percy said.

The blonde finally cracked a smile. Holding out his hand to Percy. "Yuri Plisetsky

"Perseus Jackson," he replied taking Yuri's hand.

"I believe that this will be a magnificent friendship. But don't expect me to go easy on you, Prissy."

"Wouldn't dream of it, short stack."

In a single month, the pair became inseparable off the rink. On the ice, the pair wreaked havoc trying to outdo one another, pushing each other as far as they could go. It was paying off as well. Percy had vastly improved by the end of the month.

"Jackson!" Percy was startled as to why he was being singled out at the end of practice on the last day by Yakov. He skated over, wondering what he could have possibly done wrong.

"Yes coach?" he replied as politely as he could. "Was my free skate okay? What needed work?"

Yakov shook his head in amusement at Percy. "If only you could stay. You listen better than any of my skaters combined."

"Sir?" Percy questioned. He was genuinely lost within this conversation. There was a pretty lady standing next to Yakov, who was smiling brightly.

"This is Claudia Bordeaux. She is from Paris, but moved to New York a few years ago. I talked with her and your mother. Claudia wished to become your new coach. A strict but really good coach. It was the closest thing I could convince your mother of. Ms. Jackson would not let you move here to be trained by me."

"New coach?" Percy asked.

Claudia grinned. "Of course, darling. Sally is so kind, and we have had a wonderful time discussing you. I believe that Yakov would be a phenomenal coach for you, but your mother loves you too much to let you move here at the age of twelve. Yakov believed me to be the best substitute until the time you decide to move here with your mother's permission."

Percy gawked. Yakov seemed to hate him through the entire camp. There hadn't been thirty minutes that went by in the time he'd been there Yakov hadn't been screaming at him. About two weeks ago, he'd stopped yelling at him in English hoping that Percy would understand.

"Don't look so surprised, boy. You are the only one who hasn't cracked yet, and still has a bright outlook on things. It annoys me to death, but Yura's anger is way worse than your outlook on life. Plus you are the only one who listens to me," Yakov grumbled.

"Thank you, sir," Percy said, beaming.

Yakov waved him off. "I expect to see you here next summer. When I do, I also expect you to call me Yakov. None of this sir stuff."

"Yakov wanted you to stay?" Yuri laughed in disbelief. "Yeah right, Percy."

"He practically offered me a future spot. If it weren't for my mom, I'd be moving in with Victor or Georgi at this moment. I'll be back next summer. We'll be roommates again then."

"Why would I want to room with you again, Jackson? You are unbearable."

"You love me and you know it, Yura," Percy said pulling the slightly younger boy into a tight hug, the blonde wasted no time returning it.

"You better not forget to text me, and call me, every day. Even if you are utterly unbearable, you are the only good conversation and competition I have," Yuri replied.

"I'll miss you too, and I will as often as my mom lets me."

"I better be the only one you contact, then."

"You have no faith in me, do you, Yuri?" Yuri responded by throwing a pillow in Percy's face.

Percy's roommate at Yancy Academy confused him to no end. The kid clung to him like his life depended on it. Don't get him wrong, Grover was a cool kid, but he wanted to follow Percy everywhere, and that wasn't really an option. Training after school with his coach were closed sessions. Claudia had kicked Grover out four times after Percy had pleaded to her to send him away, in French so Grover didn't suspect anything from him. Grover had always been extremely reluctant, but eventually stopped following Percy to the ice rink every day.

It was becoming a bit clearer that Grover was in cohorts with their Latin teacher, Mr. Brunner. Latin was a disappointment to Percy. He had fully expected to be learning the language. Yuri made fun of him for being obsessed with languages. Percy almost hung up on him for that snarky comment.

A few weeks before the competition season began, the sixth grade Phys Ed teacher decided to take the class on a field trip to the rink that Percy trained at. Initially Percy had been excited. He couldn't remember the last time he had skated to just skate. He had practice after anyways, and he figured it would be a good warm up.

He had his hair pulled back and his junior national's jacket on. He had a regional competition coming up on him quickly, and he was a contender for the Junior Grand Prix Final this year. He pulled on his custom figure skates and laced them with practiced ease. Mr. Brunner, and Ms. Taylor the gym teacher went around helping other students get on their rental skates. Percy shrugged and got up and made his way to the ice.

"Mr. Brunner! Ms. McTaylor! Percy's going out on the ice!" Nancy Bobofit screeched as she waited for her turn to get her skates laced.

Ms. McTaylor turned. "Percy? Do you need assistance?"

"No, ma'am," he responded.

"I was going to give a quick rundown of the basics for all of you. Will you please wait? I don't want you to get hurt."

He adjusted his gloves and his team USA jacket. He wanted desperately to shoot off a snarky comment, but he bit his tongue. "I think I will be fine. This is not my first time skating." Understatement of the year.

"Come sit down anyways. I will not allow anyone to get hurt on my watch, whether they think they are good or not." She had put her foot down. Percy internally groaned. He hadn't needed the basics since he was four years old. This would be torture. He put on his skate guards and glared at Nancy. It irked him that his teacher talked down to him like he was a wannabe. Percy wasn't. He was well on his way to becoming one of the best.

After the lecture about nothing fancy and being careful, they were finally allowed on the ice. The ice house had two rinks, the rink for hockey and open skate, and the rink for figure skating and lessons. Percy had yet to spend any time on this side of the rink. He wasn't very fond of it. The amount of people there may have been a big cause of it. All of his classmates were struggling and wouldn't let go of the wall. It was nice to cruise for a bit, but eventually for a soon to be professional figure skater, forward slow skating became boring. Backwards skating staved off the boredom a bit.

Apparently he had missed the portion of the lecture where skating backwards was dangerous.

"Ms. McTaylor! Percy's being reckless, and he his wearing girly skates!" Nancy yelled. He gave her a confused look. His skates weren't girly at all, but then he noticed the girl were all wearing brown rental skates, and the boys were wearing hockey skates.

"I'm not being reckless!" he immediately defended. Attempting a triple axel without supervision and permission would have been reckless.

"Jackson, off the ice! I told you no funny business," their teacher yelled.

"You can't be serious!" he exclaimed.

"I am. You disobeyed me and are not wearing proper male skates!" Ms. McTaylor shouted.

"Not wearing proper skates? Are you kidding me? These were custom made for me."

Ms. McTaylor clearly didn't buy it. "Now."

"Fine." The rink had cleared out a bit and there weren't many people other than his classmates left. On his way off he picked up enough speed and performed a single lutz. He landed it perfectly to the astonishment of his teachers and classmates. Claudia may kill him later. He angrily left the rink and slipped his skate guards on and grabbed his bag and went to wait for his coach in the other rink.

Which ended up not being a long wait. Claudia was early and found a fuming, upset Percy waiting for the Zamboni to leave the ice.

"Percy? Is everything alright?" she asked.

He shook his head, not looking up at her to hide his tears. "My teachers kicked me off the ice. They said that I was being too reckless."

"Were you being reckless?" she asked gently, but firmly. Percy knew better than to le to her.

"No. I was skating backwards. My teacher thought it was too dangerous and that I had not enough experience to be trying dangerous tricks. Like that is dangerous," he spat. "I did a single lutz after I was sent away to prove a point. Landed it perfectly just to shut them up."

Under normal circumstances, she would be upset. Instead, she gave him a hug. Claudia did not have the heart to yell at him for not waiting for her. He had been through this type of bull crap situations more times in his life than he should have had to.

"I'll talk to the teacher and the school. They all know that you are training for this, and should not be reprimanding you for being great at something." She wiped the tears from his eyes. "Go get warmed up, and do your stretches. We'll start with your free skate."

"Oui, Madame," he replied, and began his routine to take his mind off of the day he had already had.

Claudia didn't understand why he had been punished for being good at something. Sally got calls from the school all the time about Percy's behavior. Once she interrogated them, it usually was started by another kid who was written off as an angel. Both of the women were upset because the school refused to let him take a language because Percy had dyslexia. Percy struggled in English and in school, but the kid had an affinity for languages. At his own request, Claudia only ever spoke to him in French, and in the few months they had been working together, he had become almost fluent, and had been reading in the language as much as speaking it. He was close to being fluent in Russian thanks to Yuri Plisetsky's constant contact with him. The school was losing a wonderful student, and they didn't even realize it.

Claudia kept to coaching him, and waited for the chaperone to notice that he was gone.

Percy had gone through his free skate a few times, and was working on his step sequences for almost half an hour before his teacher came frantically looking for him.

Ms. McTaylor had caught a glance of Percy on the other rink and hurried over to the closed practice.

"Jackson! You aren't allowed to be on there! You are in so much trouble!" the teacher yelled. Claudia skated over to the wall and stepped off the ice and made her way over to the woman. Percy had frozen for a second before he saw Claudia taking control of the situation.

"May I help you?" Claudia intervene the loud woman before she could escalate further. The teacher wasn't expecting the French lady to talk to her. "This is a closed practice. If there is nothing that you need, I am going to have to ask you to leave."

"I should be apologizing then. I am sorry that my student is interrupting your practice. I will take him off your hands immediately."

Claudia smiled a bit evilly. "If you mean Percy, then I must say that you are the one interrupting my practice."

"As if. I'll just grab Mr. Jackson and we will be on our way. I am sorry for interrupting your day."

"You misunderstand me, Ms. McTaylor, correct?" The teacher nodded. "Percy is my student and skater. I remember emailing you, and the school that he will be joining your trip, but he will be staying after for his scheduled practice time like he does most days after school. I allowed him to go on the trip so that he could spend more time around his peers. It was never stated that you could come and drag him out of his practice because you feel that he has no worth in life.

"I must have missed you email," McTaylor brushed off. "He is under my jurisdiction. I will not allow him to practice dangerous stunts. Especially because I know he cannot perform those kinds of reckless things."

Claudia threw her hands up in frustration. "This is where he is supposed to be-"

"Jackson isn't worth your time or cause. He will only disappoint you."

Percy heard his teacher say this and saw his wonderful coach go frigid. "Madame, Percy is my pupil and skater, I do not know what impression that he has given you, and I do not care. He is training for international and professional leagues and cannot afford to be beaten down by your blatant disregard for the importance of his practices." Claudia took great joy in watching the color in the other women's face drain. "Now, this is a closed practice. Please leave."

McTaylor too great joy in making the rest of Percy's school year a living hell. Claudia had been very happy when the school asked that Percy not return for the fall semester. Both Claudia and Sally had been very close to suing the school. The next year Percy would be homeschooled and would spend more time than before at the rink training. Percy was ecstatic and didn't stop thanking the pair for months after they had kept their promise.

Percy's mom was missing. Greek Gods were real and his father was one of them. Monsters wanted to kill him, and he struggled to process any of the information being thrown at him.

Percy snuck out of the Hermes cabin the first night that he was conscious with his contraband cell phone and cried at the hearth. He wanted to go home, he wanted to skate, he wanted Claudia and his mother to hug him, but he was stuck at this strange camp with people expecting him to be some sort of chosen one. Outside of skating and languages that were not English he was nothing special. Percy was just another kid whose life was turned upside down in a matter of seconds, and everyone expected him to okay with it.

He stared at his mother's picture on his phone for as long would be able to keep his eyes open. It would be lying if he said he didn't scream when his phone began to ring. He was too worked up to even read the name on the screen. He figured it out once the shouting came from the other line.

"Yura?" he asked hoarsely. The Russian stopped yelling the second he heard the pain in his best friend's voice.

"Percy, what's wrong?"

It all came spilling out. Whatever he was supposed to be keeping a secret went straight to Yuri. Under normal circumstances, (read Victor, Georgi, and Mila) Yuri would think they were trying to pull one over on him. But this was Percy, and he was crying. Percy never cried, and he never went off the grid for more than a day or two. It was hard to call bullshit on Percy.

Percy, who was a demigod, and needed him. The boy who was practically being held prisoner at this camp his birth father wanted him to go to.

"What am I supposed to do, Yura?"

"I don't know. I want to come beat the shit out of these people if I could. Grandfather would never allow it, and Yakov might kill me. Have you called Claudia?"

"I can't get ahold of her." Yuri had no clue what to do at this point. There were no other figures he could think of to get him out of this predicament.

"If my mom is dead-"

"Don't think like that, Jackson."

"Do you think Lilia will take me in still? I know she saw potential in me, and hated the fact Yakov let me go."

"Percy. Don't think she is gone yet."

"I don't, but she vanished before my eyes," he yelled, probably too loudly. He heard a door shut somewhere.

"But moving to Russia? Percy, we have to wait this one out. She might come back, you really do not know yet. Give it a few weeks."

"Fine, Yuratchka. Then you will come and be my knight in shining figure skates?" Percy sniffed.

"You sound like Victor, Jackson," Yuri said, rolling his eyes. Percy laughed. Even in Percy's grief he was still a goofball.

"There is someone coming," Percy rushed, and hung up the phone on Yuri. He froze under the hearth, and hoped he would not be noticed.

"Are you there, Percy?" Luke asked, and came around and sat next to him. Percy looked away to avoid eye contact. Percy wondered how long Luke had been listening in on his conversation before he realized they hadn't been talking in English. "You know that you are not supposed to have a cell phone right?"

"It's a beacon for monsters, I know. My best friend, however has decided letters take to long to reach me."

"They don't take that long to get places anymore. He can wait a few days. Phones are not safe," Luke reprimanded.

"Yura lives in St. Petersburg," Percy began.

"A few states away," Luke says. "Let's get you back to bed."

"In Russia."

Luke looked confused. He had heard Percy speaking, but did not catch anything he had said. He was not sure if it wasn't because he was not sure what the younger boy had been saying.

"Russia? How do you even know people on the other side of the world?"

"Not important. He is clingy as hell, but won't admit it. He calls me all the time."

"Let's get you to bed. I will not be responsible for you getting yourself hurt."

Percy was later surprised at that moment of sincerity. Luke tried to kill him, and Percy regretted ever mentioning Yuri to Luke. Thank the gods Yuri lived on the other side of the planet.

That summer, Percy gladly flew to St. Petersburg, and wished that he never had to go back to New York where the Greek gods were real.

"Thalia, are you staying here?" Percy asked, making his cousin jump on the last day of camp.

"Where else would I go? My mom is dead. I have no family," She sneered. "Why do you even care?"

Percy looked a bit hurt, but got over it.

"We have a spare room in our apartment. If you need a place to stay, you could gladly stay with us."

"Nice try, fish brain. Tease me with having a home," Thalia groaned.

"I'm not joking, Thals. It gets lonely with just mom and me, especially because I am homeschooled. It would be nice to have another person around," he shrugged. "I'm at practice a lot and mom does work, but the offer is still there if you want it."

"Is your mom okay with this?"

Percy grinned.

"It was her idea, actually. She always wanted a daughter, and you want a home. We thought you may be happier with us than at camp."

"Okay."

She learned quickly that Percy is much smarter than he acts. He knows four languages, three fluently, and that Percy loved to read as long as it was not in English. Plus he could in circles around her when it came to foreign cultures.

"It is not funny, Thalia," he whined to her the first time he came home in his ballet clothes.

"It's hilarious."

It was only worse when she learned of his ice skating. Even after she found out he was in a junior professional league, Thalia found it hysterical.

Once Percy warmed up to her, all he could talk to her about was Yuri, the mysterious best friend from Russia. Her brother was head over heels in love with the best friend, and he didn't even know it himself.

Thalia fell in love with Sally Jackson. When Percy was out of town in August she spent most of her time with her foster mother. Never in her life had she met someone so kind. It took two weeks for Sally to ask Thalia to stay for good. For as much as Percy drove her nuts, it would be a nice change for her.

Thalia's smile was the brightest it had ever been. She was getting a mother and a brother that would be there for her, unlike the one that had abandoned her and let her younger brother die before she left.

"I'll apologize in advance for my brother," Thalia said to Lady Artemis not long after Annabeth vanished. "He had no clue how to act around girls."

"Hey!" Percy exclaimed, smacking his sister on the arm.

"It's true, don't deny it," Thalia shot back.

"Not fair."

Lady Artemis peered at both of them. "He is still a man, I don't want him around."

Nico and Bianca had left a while ago. One of the lieutenants had shown them to a tent and was giving them the explanation of what was going on.

Thalia snorted. "He won't make a move on any of your girls, m'lady. He's gay."

"I am not gay!" Percy said indignantly.

"Yes, you are. Think about it, Jackson," she growled.

"I'll be watching you, Jackson," Artemis glared.

He didn't hear the goddess, he was too busy gaping at his sister.

Annabeth was visiting after camp in the months after the Battle of the Labyrinth. She showed up a few days before Percy was leaving for a competition in France. She looked a bit overwhelmed at the Percy who seemed to be very behind in his class work.

"You do know it is Saturday, right Percy? Let's go do something."

"Aren't you the one who usually wants people to do their homework?"

"It is Saturday, we can go and do something," Annabeth said, shaking his shoulders. "Thalia said something about a cool ice rink there was around here. I think it would be fun to go check it out."

Of course Thalia told her that. His adoptive sister had been bugging him for months to tell Annabeth the truth. This was her way of telling him to get your ass into gear and tell her you are an internationally recognized figure skater. And oh, you are gay and in love with your best friend, and have been since you were eleven.

He snapped closed his English book and followed Annabeth out the door. Maybe he forgot his skates on purpose. Maybe Claudia would scream at him later. Oh well. Annabeth would not be finding out today, or ever. She made fun of him for his English reading skills and his klutziness anyways. Sure, he sucked at English, but he made up for it in his other language skills, and avoided reading in English because he was more literate in Russian and French, and Percy was not a klutz, he just moved differently on his feet than he did on the ice. He was not giving her another reason to tease him.

Rental skates sucked, he decided as he glared at the brown yucky skates that were broken in in all the wrong places.

"They are not that bad, Percy," Annabeth reprimanded.

Yes, they are, he thought, but you wouldn't know that because you have never skated before. Nor have you paid more money than most people's rent for skates either.

He nearly tumbled because of the bad quality.

"Wow, Percy, haven't you ever skated before?" He did not acknowledge her as he smoothly glided out on the ice.

Annabeth tumbled a lot. Percy giggled every time, and she glared in response every time as well.

"How are you not falling?" Annabeth asked.

He shrugged. "I enjoy skating." Understatement of the year, but he wasn't a show off around camp kids. Annabeth was a good friend of his, but she wasn't Yuri and she wasn't Thalia. Annabeth would not understand as they do. She struggled to get up and fell again on the unforgiving ice. Percy offered his hand to help her up. She shoved his hand away and pulled herself up.

"Do you want me to teach me how to skate?" he asked cheekily.

"Yes." It turned out to be some of the most fun he had ever had with Annabeth. She smiled through her harsh looks and lightened up as the afternoon passed.

They stumbled off the ice laughing only to come face to face with Thalia. The girl looked a bit worried.

"Hey, seaweed brain. I brought you something, and a warning," Thalia sang and tossed him a duffel bag.

"Thanks. Why are you here?" he asked.

"You have practice, and Claudia is distracted for at least three minutes. I'd get rid of those rental skates quickly if I were you. You've got a competition and if you don't want an ass-kicking for putting your feet in harm's way, I would be quick about it."

"Claudia's here?" he croaked. Percy turned pale, and tore his skates off as quickly as he humanly could before dashing into the locker room, sliding in his socks as he went.

"Is Percy afraid of Claudia?" Annabeth asked the laughing Thalia.

The blue eyed girl shook her head. "He respects her immensely, and is a tiny bit scared of her."

Annabeth scoffed. "No surprise Percy's scared of a girl."

"Woman," Thalia corrected. "And it is only because he is truly dedicated to his coach and his sport. Now that my annoying brother is unavailable for the day, you and I need some warranted best friend time."

"But Percy and I-" Annabeth started, and Thalia's heart broke for Annabeth a bit. The girl had no fighting chance with her brother. He was already in love, and that boy was head over heels for Percy right back.

"Skates off, shoes on, we are going shopping for weapons."

"Thalia, where did Percy go?" Annabeth asked the next week when she was visiting again. Thalia was getting the impression that her friend was lonely.

"He is in France. He'll be back in a few days," Thalia said. "No matter the outcome, he will be unbearable."

"Isn't he normally obnoxious?"

"Well, yeah, but he won't speak English at all for at least a week," she groaned.

"I didn't know that Percy spoke two languages," Annabeth said. "He struggles to to read so much."

Thalia roller her eyes. "Have you ever seen his room? My brother won't stop reading and learning, Annabeth

"Are you sure we are talking about the same Percy?" Annabeth replied. Thalia dragged her into his room in response and plopped her in the middle of it.

It was a small room. Bed, desk, closet and dresser with a few pieces of clothes scattered across it. There were posters up of people named Victor Nikiforov, Chris Giacometti and Yuuri Katsuki. But his room was not what she had expected. Every wall had floor to ceiling bookshelves and every one was overflowing with books.

"Percy is a bigger bookworm than you, Annabeth. These all have been read, possibly more than once. Take your pick."

Annabeth shrugged and took one off the shelf. She began flipping through it, and realized she could not read it, and it was not because of her dyslexia.

"Thal's, this isn't in English." Thalia peered over her shoulder.

"Nope. That's German. You got lucky that it is in our alphabet."

"Are you sure that this isn't Sally's room?"

"Sally is hopeless with languages," Thalia laughed. "I'm no better."

"Seaweed Brain is trilingual?"

"No." Annabeth literally sighed in relief with the knowledge that Percy only know one language. "He is a polyglot."

"What?" Annabeth screeched.

"I don't even know even know anymore. He's fluent in French and Russian, speaking and reading. He is almost fluent in Japanese, Italian and German. I think he's been studying Thai, but I don't remember."

"I was going to tell you why he's in France, but I think I broke you enough for one day," Thalia said watching Annabeth gape like a fish.

"I thought you were staying for the New Year?" Will said. Clarisse, Thalia, Will, Stoll's, Annabeth and Percy were all sitting around the fire a couple of days before the New Year.

"Percy's leaving. I'm staying," Thalia said.

"I've got a competition in a week or so and my best friend is coming in from out of town," he said just a tad bit dreamily.

"Ugh, this is why I am staying here. You get strange when he is around," Thalia groaned.

"No, I do not!"

"Oh yes, you do. And I never understand a word you say to each other."

"It isn't my fault that Yuri's English sucks," Percy shrugged, and placed the entire blame on Thalia.

"It is your fault that the two of you only speak in Russian anytime he is around."

"Not true."

"You don't even realize you do it, Jackson," Thalia exclaimed.

He gave her a funny look, and walked away anyways, and he couldn't wait to see the only person who truly knew him in the world. He felt like he was floating on air.

"You don't have to do this, you know," Thalia told Percy as he walked her to Goode High School that she went to, and where their step-father Paul worked at.

"I know, but I'm curious. This is the only day in the next two weeks Claudia isn't planning on working me into the ground in between designated study time," Percy shrugged. "Besides, Paul said I could sit in on a few of his classes, and maybe see a few of yours."

"I'm not sure why you think this is fun. School sucks, and you are lucky that you don't have to go to it."

"I have not been to an actual school since I was twelve. I want some high school experience."

"You track record with school points to otherwise. It's stupid. There is no point for you to be doing this," Thalia said.

"But I want to!" he whined.

Thalia ended up being right. Percy had chosen that day to wear some of his dance clothes as he had ballet after Thalia was done with school. He ended up being very lucky that his older sister was there to save his ass, otherwise he would have been in a lot more pain than a smack upside the head.