One year anniversary of the Lost Hero! That was only a year? Holly schmolly...

Anyways, count this as a celebration story; even if it has nothing to do with Heroes of Olympus. I had something planned out but tic toc tic toc- time wasn't on my side. Bad Kronos... Speaking of Kronos; I just realised that it's because of him that Percy and Annabeth ever got together. So we technically owe Kronos for that... O_o

Speaking of Annabeth; she's the reason this story is rated T. I didn't want to scare any young child with a brutal description of the results of a horrible accident. I've tried not to make it too graphic, but I'm me so sometimes things slip. But there will be no sexual/mature themes (but if you laughed when I said 'sexual' you might want to read the K stuff), bad language or other suchlike.

Well, I'm done rambling so ladies and gentlemen and others, may I present; Scarred.

Disclaimer: If I were RR, I'd be celebrating the 1 year mark on my blog- NOT on . Why would I be here anyways? You tell me.

1

"Annabeth better wake up soon. We can't keep smuggling in ambrosia."

"Secretary mean." A younger sounding voice said. It was familiar to her too; so was the first. She started feeling again- the comfortable and fresh sheets she was lying in, the squeeze on her hand, the beep of an LCD or something, the smell of absolute clean… Pain…

Annabeth's eyes fluttered open and she made out the hospital room around her.

"Grover she's back!" Somebody said.

"Oh thank the gods! Clarisse- go get Katie!"

"I want to see Annabeth!"

"Go!" Grover said again.

"Annabeth, can you hear me?" The first voice asked. She turned her head- which stung like heck- and saw the guy sitting next to her. Good-looking, messy jet black hair, green eyes with pockets, like he hadn't slept in a while, and definitely familiar.

"Percy?" She mumbled.

"Yeah, I'm here." He said.

"Oh gods… What happened? Why am I sore all over?"

"You were attacked," Percy said delicately. "You were walking home from your shift at the museum and the monsters got you."

Annabeth's whole face stung, as if saying 'I remember that! Man it was painful!'

"The only reason you're still alive is because we've been smuggling in ambrosia and nectar and stuffing them in your face or in the IV. But as you may or may not have heard, the evil secretary is onto us." Grover said, coming up next to Percy. He looked like he'd gotten a little more sleep than Percy.

"Grover, have you been making sure he goes home?" Annabeth asked. The satyr- or at least he was a satyr with horns, hooves and fuzzy legs under the Rasta cap, grass-stained jeans and mud caked shoes- blushed.

"He insisted to stay," Grover told her. "Malcolm wanted to, but he had to go back to Boston. And Katie, Tyson and Clarisse are around here somewhere. Oh, and Drew."

"Drew?" Annabeth asked, shocked. "Isn't she in LA?"

"Not anymore. She came back to see you." Percy said.

"Why?" Annabeth asked. Drew had grown up a lot at camp, and she was extremely nicer. But still, Annabeth wasn't that close to her. She hadn't even talked to Drew since she'd left for LA, where she worked for outfit coordination in movies. "And why does my face and skin sting?"

Nobody answered.

"Well?" She asked. She brought her fingertips to her face and it stung even more- it burnt like her fingers were salt, and her body was one big open wound. She pulled her hand off quickly.

"Owe, did I get burnt? Was the drakon or whatever monster attacked me acidic?"

"Umm- sort of." Grover said. Percy squeezed her hand.

"Don't worry about it, okay? We love you." He said.

"Yeah, you're still Annabeth!" Grover said. "The girl who saves and/or kicks our butts all the time."

"What do you mean 'sort-of'?" Annabeth demanded. Right then, Katie, Tyson, Clarisse and Drew appeared in the doorframe. Katie smiled in relief.

"Hi," she said sweetly. "How is everything?"

"Confusing," Annabeth said. "What happened? Why are you all so cryptic? Is something wrong with me?"

Everyone stood in a silence that aggravated Annabeth until Percy said;

"Your accident didn't go well."

"Okay, I got that seeing as I'm in a the hospital room, but… I'm still alive."

Nobody said a thing until Drew took a small mirror from her purse and handed it to Annabeth. The later nearly dropped it.

From the top of her left ear to the bottom of her jaw, three ugly scars cut through like claws. Above her eyebrows it looked like her face had been ripped off and sewn back on. One of her eyelids was just as scarred. From the bridge of her nose to her ear there was another huge cut that looked sewn back, one of her earlobes was missing a bit, her nose looked different, and a cut ran diagonally across her lips. Her chin, under her ears, right cheek, and neck looked like they'd been acid-burned. A few other scars sketched across her face, too many to completely document right now. She looked nothing like she'd ever looked like.

"Oh my gods…" She breathed.

"Annabeth still pretty." Tyson offered.

"Tyson is right, Annabeth." Percy said.

"I told you to fetch me when she woke up!" A man who had to be a doctor appeared in the doorframe.

"Hello Annabeth, my name is Doctor Patrick Ouellette." He said as Drew, Tyson, Katie and Clarisse took a step back.

"Hey," Annabeth shook his hand but the second that the skin made contact, she pulled it back. She looked at it; the skin was raw on her palms and the backs were criss-crossed with web-like scars. The simile made her shudder. Seeing her face so scratched and destroyed was bad enough. Spiders did not need to be thrown in the mix.

"Yes- some areas of your skin have suffered from severe –and curiously incurable- burns." He said. "I see you're already accessed damage to your face…" Dr Ouellette said, casting her friends an accusing look. Drew stepped forwards sheepishly, picked her mirror from Annabeth's knees and backed up again.

"There's more than my face?" Annabeth asked. She looked down at her arms; at least they seemed okay. She threw the blankets off her legs. They were completely bandaged- probably to hide the same result. She jerked the covers back and ran her hand through her hair to try and process this, but her hand stopped short.

"What?" Annabeth whispered. Her hair was cut shorter. Looking in the mirror she hadn't even noticed that.

"For how long have I been out?" Annabeth feeling smaller than usual said. "How old are my injuries."

"13 days."

"Thirteen?"

"Yes," he said. "Really Miss Chase, you're lucky to be alive. The surgeons worked long and hard to reconstruct your face, and try to minimise the scarring. Parts of your face were nearly ripped off when the ambulance brought you here- your nose, forehead, cheek..."

"I guessed that much." Annabeth said, still in shock. Percy took the hand he'd been holding earlier, the one that didn't burn, and gave it an encouraging squeeze.

"We tried to bandage you up," the doctor said. "But you moved quite…"

"Violently." Clarisse filled in shortly.

"Yes," Dr Ouellette continued, "Violently whenever you were touched, unless it was Mr Jackson over here took your hand. It seemed like self-defence, so we have police looking into the attack. They might ask you a few questions later today. Anyways, that is why we haven't taken you off life support at this point. We managed to bandage your legs but your face... We've had to take our chances at leaving the wounds exposed. We'll bandage them all later. It is very likely judging from your state at this point in time that most of your scars will not fade and your appearance will never be what it was before." Dr Ouellette said.

"Okay," Annabeth said her brain fuzzy with shock. She'd look this hurt… Forever?

"I'll give you a minute," Dr Ouellette said, leaving. Percy's thumb rubbed on her hand.

"You okay?"

"I'm alive."

"You know that's not what I mean," he said.

"That's why Drew came back," Annabeth said. "To see if there was anything to do to fix my…"

Drew nodded.

"You don't need to be fixed, Annabeth, you're not broken." He said.

"They just thought it might be easier on you." Drew said.

"You know that's not what I meant either," she repeated. "So is there any..?"

Drew shook her head.

"I'm sorry Annabeth, I even asked Chiron. You were attacked by hellhounds, but there was this really rare dragon with them. And the one that got you… the acid's stronger and it burns more. Let's just say we're lucky they're rare. Usually they were used to get rid or disfigure corpses; if it helps you were incredibly strong and lucky to be alive anyways."

"Strong is good," Clarisse nodded.

"I'm sorry Annabeth." Drew repeated.

"That's okay, I guess." Annabeth said. Katie came to give her a careful hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" She said.

"I'm fine, Katie, glad to see you too." Annabeth replied, hugging her back and ignoring the stinging in her arms and the pain fuzzing over everything- coming from her new scars.