Annabeth POV

"Annabeth?" my brother said, picking up his phone.

"Hey Malcolm. How's college?" I asked him.

"Pretty great. You're going to love it. I can tell you it's a lot more challenging than high school, but it's so worth it," Malcolm told me. I was closest to Malcolm than the rest of my half-siblings. He and I always just connected. We were very similar and he had gotten to camp only a year or so after me, so I had known him for forever. After Thalia and before Percy he was my best friend.

"I can't wait." College. It sounded incredible. Learning for the sake of learning. Living a carefree normal life. It sounded too good to be true, but I let myself dream. Everything was falling into place for my life.

"How's school for you? Are the classes good enough for you?" he teased.

"Plenty. Nothing too hard, but I'm not looking for anything too hard just yet. Still kind of overwhelmed," I admitted.

"How's- erm- how's Lord Perseus?" Malcolm said. Lord Perseus. It was as weird sounding to me as it was to Percy.

"He's great. We're great. He took me on a date to the movies a few weeks ago and it was amazing. Afterwards he brought me up to the top floor of the Empire State Building, well the one below Olympus, and we stargazed. He called in a favor from Artemis to make to stars even more perfect. He's just sweet like that."

"I'm happy for you," Malcolm said. The line went quiet for a moment. "How's being Head Architect of Olympus treating you?"

"It's stressful," I admitted, "Gods are coming to me all the time with suggestions and requests. Like just let me do my job..." Thunder rumbled overhead and I winced. Oops.

"Careful what you say," her brother warned. "Just because you're Head Architect and dating a god doesn't mean the Gods will spare your insolence."

I snorted. "Very funny."

"I have been told I am quite hilarious, though I've never been able to make you laugh like Percy- Perseus has," Malcolm said. She could hear his grin through the phone.

"Then I suppose you should step up your humor."

"Perhaps." The line went quiet again. "So what did you really want to talk to me about?"

"What do you mean?"

"Annabeth, I love you and all, but this is the first time you've called since camp ended. I know we've all been busy, I mean I haven't called you either, but why did you call? There's got to be a reason."

"Can't I just check in on you without an ulterior motive?" They both knew she was lying. Malcolm didn't respond. "Alright fine. Percy, well he came to me awhile back super upset over something. And, I was hoping you might be able to help me with it?"

"I'm listening."

"The Titans wouldn't have been able to rise if it hadn't been for the help of demigods," I stated. Luke, my mind whispered. "And those demiogods only turned because the Gods never paid any attention to them. They were ignored and stoyed away in the Hermes cabin, never to be claimed. Percy wants to change that. He wants all the children of all the gods to be recognized. Major and Minor. He wants a throne for Hades and Hestia. He wants kids to be claimed before they are teenagers. He wants the campers to feel loved, to feel safe."

The line was silent for an even longer period of time. I could almost see him thinking, the gears turning in his head. The way he'd muss up his perfectly placed blond hair, his gray eyes turned troubled.

"And how does he plan to make that happen," Malcolm said. "It's not that I don't agree, I mean I hadn't thought about it before, but it's smart. Tactical even. But that's no easy feat... even for a god."

"That's what I told him. The gods would hate something like that. They simply don't do change, but the more I think about it the more it seems neccessary. I'm not sure how we could bind them to their word, though."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing as of now. I just needed to tell someone. Make sure I don't sound crazy. It's not crazy, right?" I asked. It sounded crazy. But at the same time it sounded right.

"No it's crazy," her brother told her, "But when has Percy not been? Perseus, I mean. Di Immortales, this is going to take time to get used to."

"I know. It's taking him time too, but do you think it's plausible? I suppose, by the process of elimination we could help narrow it down for some kids. But then again the minor gods and goddesses would make that very difficult. We'd need to build them all cabins and I've already got so much on my plate. Between school, Olympus, Percy's palace, and Percy himself I wouldn't be able to pull that off yet."

"Change takes time, Beth," Malcolm said warmly, "And you won't have to do it by yourself. That's why you called me."

"I know," I said. I remembered Poseidon's words. It really wouldn't be so bad letting Malcolm help her. Only a little bit, she didn't want to burden him. "I'll call you soon, okay? We'll talk more about this. I uh- I'm going to need your help."

"I'm happy to help. Love you," he said.

"Love you too. Bye." I stepped out of the bathroom, seeing Lizzie standing there looking confused.

"Who was that?"

"My brother, Malcolm."

"I thought your brothers were named Matthew and Billy?" Lizzie said, suspiciously.

"Matthew and Bobby, actually, and they are my half brothers on my dad's side. Malcolm is on my mom's side," I corrected. She bit her lip.

"Okay." She drew out the word as if it were many more syllables than it actually was. As I moved past her to go back to my desk, she said "How come you take all your calls in the bathroom?"

"They're private," I said between gritted teeth. She had the decency to look guilty, "Some things I don't want other people listening in on."

"I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, Lizzie, I get that you have questions and all. My life isn't exactly one that you might call typical."

"My friends just want to know your story. You were with us that first day then dropped us after your boyfriend and Matt spoke. And Percy just shows up drenched in blood one day then looking like a model carrying flowers the next? And you disappear on weekends for your mysterious internship? I'm sorry for eavesdropping, but I'm curious."

"What do you want to know?" I asked. Might as well get this out of the way. I've done it all before. Answered all sorts of inquiries, not truthfully, of course. Lying was practically in a demigod's blood. You wouldn't get very far without it.

"What's this internship about?"

"It's an architectural internship. I work at a firm based in the Empire State Building."

"What's the deal with you and Percy when you were twelve. Mya was showing me the case files and you were kidnapped! Percy got in a gun fight? Explosions and murder and disappearances? What the hell happened then and what the hell happened the next year with blowing up Matt's school?" Lizzie demanded. She seemed almost scared.

"You saw the case files, didn't you? Kidnapping, gunfights, explosions, disappearances. Isn't much more to it," I lied. Lizzie didn't seem to notice though. She was suspicious and confused, but she accepted my answer. "And Percy and I didn't blow up that school. It was a boiler malfunction, I believe."

"Then why did you flee the scene?"

"I had been going to his school to get him. We were going to go to the movies, but then a friend of mine who was really sick took a turn for the worst so we headed to visit her."

"Oh," Lizzie said, "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. She's okay now. Better than ever, actually." Being a lieutenant under the Goddess of the Sky and Hunt leading a band of kick-ass woman for eternity was, in fact, better than ever. Because before that was being a tree. A poisoned tree.

"That's nice." I looked at her expectantly.

"Any other questions?" I asked. She nodded.

"What happened to Percy that day with the blood?"

"Percy, well he's been working with an old friend to help him control his emotions, because he's been through a lot and sometimes when people threaten the people he loves he will explode. So our old friend was testing this out by having him get into a fight and a bit of blood got involved."

"Was it his blood?"

"The other guy's blood."

"Oh." I knew that 'oh' very well. You could see their thoughts through their eyes. The understanding of just how dangerous Percy was. And Lizzie didn't know half of it. She didn't know that Percy had been sparring a god. An Olympian even.

"Is his anger better now? Because I mean- I don't know- I wouldn't want him to hurt you or anything. My neighbor used to have anger issues and he'd break things and throw things and hurt people during his episodes. If you need help..." Lizzie trailed off.

"He'd never hurt anyone," I said sharply. "And he's fine now. He was never out of control, he was simply fixing things before anything happened."

"I'm sorr-"

"It's fine." I cut her off again. I needed to get out of there. "I'm going to head to the library to study."

"Annabeth-" I didn't hear what she said as I hurried out the door.


And so my life was in a cycle for monthes. Lizzie and I hardly spoke. Polite nods and words when necessary, but nothing more. I knew she still had questions and I had a limitless supply of shitty answers. But I was tired of lying about my existence, so I simply didn't speak to her about it. Matt's eyes still looked a little haunted every time he saw me. He would sneer, but his head was still searching for the memories we stole from him. He never dared to speak to me. Sometimes Johnny would try and greet me in the hallway, but only when he was by himself. I saw the way he would stare at Mya when she wasn't looking. I hope he will gain some courage and ask her out. I had a feeling she would say yes.

I shook my head at myself. I couldn't afford to get attached to the mortals here. I couldn't afford to let myself get distracted. All I had to do was show up everyday, do my work, and graduate. Nothing more, nothing less.

Thalia was coming to visit today. Artemis was in town for the week that led up to the winter solstice. Normally the Olympians would only arrive for the winter solstice, but I had helped Percy organize a meeting. Had it been anyone else who had asked the gods would've laughed in their face and possibly smited them, but it was Percy. Even deities feared him.

"If it isn't Annabeth Chase," Thalia said. Her and Nico were both standing outside the doors of my school.

"Thals! Nico!" I went in for a hug with two strictly non-huggers. They both allowed it. It was me after all. Who knew how much time we had left to not enjoy hugs.

"Where's Percy?" Nico asked. His hair was much shorter than last time, I observed, and the bags beneath his eyes had grown. His eyes were wild, his hand constantly twitching, as if reaching for the helm of his sword.

"In his palace," I replied. I had finished the design pretty quickly and the Cyclops were able to assemble it very quickly. The finishing touches were being put in, but Percy had already moved his family and himself inside. He said it was perfect. We're going to move some of my stuff in next weekend too.

"Prince Kelp Head couldn't be bothered to come and have lunch with us, huh?" Thalia said, half-joking half-not. Percy told me that he felt like Thalia really understood his situation with becoming immortal better than anyone else. That had hurt me a bit, because I really tried to understand, but I was glad he was able to talk to someone about coming to terms with that aspect of his life. But Thalia was a bit peeved that he didn't try and get me godhood also. I'm not mad about it. I like my life. Things are perfect for now.

"He's meeting us there, Thals."

"Oh okay." Thalia smiled and Nico let go of his sword. Together we walked to her favorite burger joint. We caught up on everything. Nico's been spending a lot of time travelling. He said he's been all over the world trying to test his limits on shadow travel. He said he's been spending a lot of time on the West Coast too, but wouldn't say much more than that. Thalia's been travelling too. Recruiting more Hunters. I saw Nico's face darken when she said that. I forgot that Bianca's death hadn't been all that long ago.

"Hey," Percy said, quietly. I jumped. I hadn't seen him walk up behind me.

"Hey yourself," I replied, but my heart was beating a little too fast. Partially because of his presence and partially because he scared the hell out of me.

"My lord, how blessed am I to be found in your presence!" Thalia said, her voice turning confused heads. Percy flushed as Thalia and I laughed. Nico even smirked.

"It's always a spectacle with you, isn't it, Pinecone Head?" Percy said. He too went in for he hug, but stopped last moment. "Is hugging allowed? Or will that break your vows of eternal maidenship?" Again, heads turned, but Thalia didn't blush.

"It's plenty allowed, but that doesn't mean I'll ever touch you if I don't have too." They both stuck their tongues out at each other, as mature immortals beings do, before we were led to our table.

"So I wouldn't suppose either of you two lovebirds have anything to do with this emergency meeting?" Thalia asked. Nico looked up at Percy with a raised eyebrow, than turned to Annabeth.

"Yeah, we do," Percy said. When the food was served he snapped his finger and his food all turned various shades of blue. He wasn't one for subtle. If I didn't know any better I would've thought he enjoyed turning heads.

"And...?"

"That," he began, "is a secret. A secret that you all will be privvy to sooner than later."

"A secret?" Thalia said disapprovingly.

"It's for the best," I said. "You both should come to the meeting, assuming the gods allow it."

"Can you give us a hint?" Thalia asked.

"I need to right a wrong. Fix a past mistake. Keep a promise. Change the world for the better," Percy said with a shrug. He was picking at his fries, not looking anyone in the eyes. "Take your pick."

"And this promise you have to keep, or wrong you must right, is currently out of your power?" Nico asked.

"Yes." His voice was a little empty and a little defensive.

"Okay. I mean, if you need any help..." Nico left his offer open ended. I smiled at the Nico. The son of Hades who was too powerful, too young, too alone, too tragic.

"Thanks Nico," Percy said. "I might have to take you up on that."

"Enough of demigod business, how are you guys?" I asked.

"Our whole life is demigod business," Thalia said with a laugh. "I mean I travel the world with Artemis, a rag tag group of deadly immortal girls, and a pack of magic wolves. Nico here, lives with the Lord of the Dead and has a zombie chaffeur. You work on Olympus which is actually the 600th floor of the Empire State Building. And Percy is a fucking god. So not exactly the epitome of normalcy."

"Well you're not wrong," I agreed. "It beats the world ending again though."

"Nearly everything does," Nico said.

We only small talked after that. We had had enough of depressing topics and secrets. Nico got slightly heated when Percy asked him if he had his sights set on any girl. I was watching him as his eyes darkened, they turned to me. It was a quick glance, but it spoke for itself. That's when I figured out that Nico probably had a crush on me. Well maybe not a crush, but I usually was good at reading people and Nico was 100% jealous of my relationship with Percy. I would keep his secret though. I was perfectly in love with Percy, after all, and I couldn't see Nico trying to get in Percy's way. Nico wasn't my type, but he was still my friend.

"We'll do this again sometime?" I said as we were parting ways.

"Of course, Annie." She was the only one who called me Annie. Not even Percy called me Annie. I wasn't a fan of the nickname, but it was coming from Thalia. It was nostalgic, I suppose.

"And I'll make sure you both are at the meeting," Percy said. I smiled at him. It probably wouldn't be too hard to get them in. Thalia being Artemis' lietenant and Nico being Hades' Number Two.

"My most sincere thanks, my lord," Thalia said with a smirk.

Percy only rolled his eyes.

"Hardly sounds sincere, but if we're doing official titles... goodbye Lieutenant. See ya Nico." Percy curtesied and went in to hug them both. The son of Hades stiffened under Percy's touch, but after a second loosened up and hugged him back just a little bit.

"Bye guys!" I grabbed Percy's hands and we exited the door. A perfect ending to a otherwise average day, but as much as Percy and I were planning, the plans of the gods were bigger.