A/N: Hey, guys, sorry I haven't updated in forever, I switched writing styles and then kinda forgot about this fic. The main reason I'm updating today is because I start school tomorrow, and I don't know how much time for writing I'm going to have, so I'm going down my list and updating all of my fics, just so I have something posted before I start school. If weeks go by and I haven't updated, please review and yell at me and I'll try my hardest to find time to write, because I don't wanna give up on this fic. I like it too much :D

Anyway, here's chapter six. Sorry it's kinda short, this chapter was just really hard to write for some reason, but at least it's something. Please review!

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter Six

"How do you know your dad won't come home?" Percy asked, nervously glancing down the entrance hole of the Treehouse as Thalia looked something up on her phone.

His cousin raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you kidding? Empire State Building doesn't close till midnight; he'll be home tomorrow."

Percy felt bad about it, but Thalia had a point. Her dad was around even less than Percy's was, and that was saying something.

Percy gazed out the window at Thalia's house across the street. Her bike was parked in the driveway, chained to the fence so it couldn't be stolen. Percy remembered her sixteenth birthday when she'd gotten that bike. He never thought she'd use it once she became a Hunter.

"And… why do you still ride a motorcycle?" he asked distractedly.

Thalia glared at him. "Is that really important? Can we please focus? We need to contact the Amazons, and since their leader only sometimes occasionally likes me, you need to do the talking."

"Wait, why me?" Percy asked. "They have no idea who I am."

Thalia sighed, giving him a "Why do you have to be so stupid?" kind of look that he'd long since gotten used to from her, being family and all. "Just say you're a friend of Reyna's," she told him.

"But I'm not a friend of Reyna's," he pointed out.

She rolled her eyes. "Then say you're a friend of Jason's."

"I'm not a friend of Jason's, either."

"Well, you will be, if this deal goes well!" Thalia snapped.

Percy sighed. "Okay. Point taken. I'll talk to the Amazons."

"Perfect," Thalia said, handing him her phone where she'd already put in the number. "Leader's name is Hylla, and she's Puerto Rican so don't offend her."

"Great…"

"Leo, I'm hungry."

Leo looked up from the pieces of metal he was tinkering with to glare at Nico, who'd been following him around for the last few minutes, after their epic Mythomagic game had come to a tragic end.

"Go ask Annabeth when Percy will be home," he suggested, purposefully turning away from Nico to grab his extra screwdriver.

He hoped the younger kid would take the hint, but alas…

"I can't; she's talking to Bianca."

Leo once again glared at the kid, hoping to express his greatest annoyance and hatred in one look.

Nico simply rolled his eyes. "Come on, Leo! You know you can't interrupt two girls when they're talking! It ends in death!"

"Then wait till they're done," Leo snapped.

Nico crossed his arms angrily. "Come on, Leo. You can't be mad at me just because I beat you at Mythomagic."

Leo glared. "You definitely cheated."

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

Meanwhile, Bianca and Annabeth were sitting in the office at the back of the theater, listening to the boys argue.

"Boys are stupid," Annabeth sighed.

"Yeah, kinda," Bianca agreed. "Anyway, what did you want to tell me? Something about Luke?"

"No, not exactly…" Annabeth sighed. "Look, Bianca, I just wanted to warn you… This Winter Solstice… Well, when you see it… Percy and I may not seem… as composed as always… the Solstice can make us… freak out a bit… And by comparison, the Huntresses may seem like a better gang, at the time…"

"You said they were recruiting," Bianca remembered.

"Right," Annabeth said. "Look, I'm not trying to make choices for you. I'm just saying, the Huntresses only take girls, and I've lost friends to them before. If they ask you to join, I just want you to think about what you're leaving here. Who you're leaving."

Bianca turned around and looked out the window at her brother, who was throwing trading cards at Leo.

She sighed. "Right. Yeah. I'll think about it."

Percy left Thalia's an hour later, feeling physically and mentally exhausted. Hispanic girls were scary. He wasn't excited to meet Reyna.

He took a cab back to his mom's neighborhood, then stopped at a McDonald's before heading back to the Star.

When he entered the theater, an interesting sight met his eyes.

Nico and Leo were sitting at the table, throwing Mythomagic cards at each other, while Bianca struggled to pull Nico away. Annabeth watched from just inside the office, looking annoyed but as if she had no intention of interfering.

Percy stood in the doorway watching for a minute, then pulled his sword out of its sheath. The scrape of the metal sword proved efficient in getting his gang's attention.

"Percy!" Nico exclaimed, breaking out of his sister's grasp to run up to him. "Did you bring food?"

"I did better," Percy told him, pulling out the McDonald's bags. "I brought a feast!"

Nico and Leo cheered excitedly as Nico grabbed the food and brought it over to the table. Bianca sighed in relief and exhaustion, glad that the boys had stopped fighting, and Annabeth was now watching Percy anxiously.

Percy frowned at her from across the room and mouthed, "What's wrong?"

"Later," Annabeth mouthed back.

Percy nodded and crossed the theater to meet her. "Did Grover stop by?" he asked softly so that the kids couldn't hear.

Annabeth nodded. "He tell you too?"

"Nah, Thalia did."

His girlfriend frowned at him. "Since when do you talk to Thalia?"

"I know, right? Mass hysteria."

Annabeth laughed and kissed him on the cheek. "You know this Winter Solstice is gonna fail, right?"

"Oh, yeah, I know," Percy agreed. "But we don't have to tell the kids, right?"

"What they don't know won't hurt them," Annabeth said.

Percy nodded and wrapped his arm around Annabeth as he watched his family eat, noting the innocence in each of their eyes, and knowing that if things happened like he thought they were going to, there was no way that innocence would last.

A/N: If I were cruel, I could totally end the fic there. BUT I'M NOT GOING TO. I'm determined for this fic to have actual plot. Hope you liked it, please review! Again, I'll try to update soon, but I don't know how hard my school year's gonna be. But I'll try my best to keep up with this fic and update soon!