Merry Christmas to you kiddies who celebrate Christmas, and welcome to the fifth and final segment to our little story here.

Part Five

He couldn't help but wonder if the sky was going to flash any time soon.

Oh, he knew, he knew that Mystery Girl said that would be the last time they met like that, but would she really know for sure? Time traveller she may be, but those events would still be her personal future, right? So she couldn't possibly know for sure!

Unless Future Percy told her it was the last time. He supposed, if nothing else, that Future Percy was someone Current Percy would have to trust. Especially if he was as "spectacular" as Mystery Girl said.

But still. He was growing comfortable with their little pattern. Big, scary, dangerous monster shows up, and heroic mystery blonde girl stops it. He liked that pattern. It was reassuring. It was constant. It was safe.

So when his teacher, Mrs. Dodds, turned into a weird bat-like creature attacking him for some stolen bolt, he couldn't help but wonder where the hell she was.

He would have been lying if he said he hadn't been scrutinizing every blonde girl he ran into, hoping it would be her. But alas, no dice.

Mrs. Dodds screeched again. Okay, maybe this wasn't the time for stray thoughts about gorgeous girls.

"What ho, Percy!" Mr. Brunner shouted, tossing a pen at him.

A pen. A pen. He wondered if that Mist thing the girl had once mentioned to him was deluding his Latin teacher into thinking that Mrs. Dodds was attacking him with a spelling test.

Then the pen turned into a sword, and he wasn't sure anymore who was deluding who.

He slashed the sword at his teacher, but she expertly dodged, still cackling.

Great. He couldn't even swing a sword properly.

Then, he heard the sound of a body hitting the ground. He spun around, and saw Mr. Brunner being knocked over. He fell out of his wheelchair, and slowly transformed...

...into a half-horse?

His beloved Latin teacher was a monster, too?

Before he had time to react, someone jumped over the paralyzed horse, looking highly disinterested. She glanced up at Percy, at the sword, at the crazy bat-like creature behind him.

He froze.

His heart stilled.

It was her.

Her stormy blue eyes looked straight into his.

She charged up the staircase, wielding not a knife, but a sword: half bronze, half steel. Her hands were gripped around the handle. She moved with the same expertise Percy was used to, which jolted him a bit since in this case, she wasn't an older teen, but around his age. Her hair was lighter than he was used to, too, as if she had spent days on end in the sun.

She charged past Percy without a spark of recognition. She slashed her sword, but it was a bit clunky in her hands and she missed. Percy blinked, and knew what he had to do.

Adrenaline kicked in.

He jumped.

The sword flashed through the monster, turning it to dust.

He landed.

The girl looked at him. "Woah."

He blinked. "Hey. Thanks for..uhh..."

"Totally missing the Fury when I was trying to save your life? Yeah, I'm so helpful." She sighed and stared at the floor.

"A Fury? That's what it is?"

"Yeah. Back at the barracks, we learn how to identify and battle creatures like them."

Percy tried to wrap his mind around that. Barracks? Is that where she's from?

He glanced down. "And what about the...Mr. Brunner?"

She followed his gaze. "The centaur?" She shrugged. "They're not so dangerous usually when they're by themselves, but yeah. We learn to fight them, too. Unfortunately, this one's ancient. Not as easy to kill as you'd think. I had to settle for knocking him out." She leaned against the wall, looking utterly dejected. "Seems like I'm not being very useful today, am I?"

Percy studied her. She wore a bright orange t-shirt, similar to the one he'd seen her in before, but newer and a few sizes smaller. There was a large letter "K" on it. He must have missed it before, since the one he had seen was well-worn.

"You'll do better, one day, I'm sure of it," he said, hoping it sounded soothing.

She scoffed.

He studied her again. Younger, definitely. But just as tough and formidable. But there was something missing...

His eyes widened.

"What?" Her voice was laced with irritation.

"Maybe it's the sword that's the problem. It looked a bit heavy for you." When she seemed interested, he added, "Why not try a knife? Like, a really cool dagger?"

She paused, lost in thought. Her deep blue eyes were rather lovely. "I'll consider it," she said finally.

There was a silence between them, and Percy wondered if she was going to speak again. When he had seen her before, Future Her, that was, she had always seemed so high and mighty. But now, she seemed like a regular girl, almost.

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Shayla," she said. "Shayla Huxley. And you're Percy Jackson."

He froze. "H-how did you know that?"

She shrugged. "I came looking for you. We're hoping to recruit you."

"Recruit me for what?"

She glanced sideways at him. "You know all those old myths about Greek gods and the like?"

Percy nodded. He had just been learning about them downstairs.

"Well, they're real."

Percy nodded again.

Shayla raised an eyebrow. "You don't seem surprised."

"I've seen a lot of weird stuff throughout my life."

She shrugged, as if that made sense. Probably did. "Well, if they're real, I'm sure you understand that Kronos, the Lord Titan, is real, too."

Percy blinked. "Isn't he, like, the evil one or something?"

Shayla's eyes widened, and she shook her head emphatically. "What? No!"

"But Mr. Brunner said-"

"Your Mr. Brunner is a centaur. You really want to trust what he says?"

Percy frowned. She had a point.

Shayla continued. "Look, Kronos isn't evil. He's a genius. He's given us so many gifts."

"Us?"

"His army. A war's coming, and he needs all the help he can get."

"Why's that."

Her fingers tightened around her sword handle, and she snarled. "Eons ago, the gods cut him into a millions of pieces. But he's coming back, and he's going to reconquer the world and save it from the gods' foolish mistakes. And he has so much to offer us. These, blades, for instance," she said, lifting up her own sword. "Half steel, half Celestial bronze. Can kill mortals and monsters alike."

Percy let out a low whistle.

"Plus, time travel," she said, and Percy jolted. "That's real, too. As soon as Kronos gains enough strength, he'll have the power to send us anywhere in time we need to go."

"How?"

"He's the Lord of Time. Try not to question it."

"Oh."

Shayla straightened, slipping her sword into her belt. "Thanks for the tip on the sword, by the way. I'll try to find a dagger when I get back to barracks." She looked straight into his eyes. "So, you interested?"

"In what?" Percy asked.

Shayla rolled her eyes. "In joining us, of course."

Percy stilled, taking a moment to look down the stairway, where his class was still waiting for him. And Grover.

"They're going to expel you, you know," Shayla blurted. "One of your teachers is missing, and the other knocked out. They'll blame you, and you'll be expelled, or worse." She sighed. "With Lord Kronos at our side, you won't have to worry about moving around and making new friends. You'll have the recruits."

"Like you?"

She grinned. "Like me."

Percy still looked uncertain, so she added, "And think about this: your favorite teacher turned out to be a monster. Who else can you trust? On my way here, I could have sworn I saw a satyr kid in your class eating an apple."

"What?"

"Yeah. Curly hair, funny walk, looks a bit too old to be a student. If he's not a satyr, then I don't know what to say."

Percy felt a twisting feeling in his gut. That sounded like Grover. His only friend here at Yancy. A monster.

Shayla was right. He really couldn't trust anyone.

She put a hand on his shoulder, and he felt a comfortable warmth flood through him. No, that was wrong. There was someone he could trust. Someone who had come through several moments in his life, protecting him, slaying monsters.

And they were friends in the future. At least. He knew that much.

He supposed, if nothing else, that Future Percy and Future Shayla was the only people Current Percy could trust.

"What do you think?" she asked. "Kronos will give you the training, knowledge, and purpose you need. And I'll be there to help you out."

Percy pulled his eyes away from the staircase, where the nasty centaur was starting to stir.

He looked at Shayla.

"That sounds spectacular.

The End.

Oh, no, did I put Annabeth in the character list and label this a romance? Ha ha, whoops.