Hey, guys…

*laughs nervously* I am REALLY SORRY for the late updates! I know, it's been like three weeks! Yeah… I'll try not to let that happen again. I'm really really really sorry!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

When he woke up, Annabeth was sitting by his cot again, eyes closed and chest rising slowly with each breath.

Percy felt a rush of affection for her when he realized that she must have been sitting by him the whole night, but looked away quickly. Yes, she was Annabeth, but she wasn't his Annabeth. For one thing, she was at least a year younger than him, and for another, she hadn't even fought in the titan war yet. They weren't dating, and she was still jealous of his relationship with Rachel.

A small smile flitted across his face when he thought about that: how his biggest issues back then had been girls. Now he had to figure out how to get back to his original time period.

Percy rolled over in his covers just as Chiron came trotting in and Annabeth jerked awake. "Wha-" she muttered sleepily, and Chiron smiled.

"Now that the two of you are awake, we have much to discuss," he said. "Come." Without another word to either of them, he turned and clopped out of the room.

Percy glanced at Annabeth. "You, uh, good?" He asked, remembering her panic-stricken face when he'd mentioned Tartarus.

Annabeth only blushed, though. "Yeah," she said, looking down. "I've thought about it, and I just figure that as long as we both get out of it, I'm fine. I guess. I don't know, just, do we ever get peace?"

She looked up at him pleadingly, and Percy smiled, remembering those few amazing months between the end of the titan war and when he got kidnapped by the Queen of the Heavens.

"For a little while," he said, smiling faintly. "The first few months after the titan war were amazing. And then Jason and I switched, and there was the giant war… but we also make lots of new friends!" He added hastily.

Annabeth snorted. "You sound like a kindergarten teacher," she said. "Come on, Seaweed Brain. Chiron wants us, and we don't to be late. Put your shirt on."

She tossed one to him, and Percy put it on, smiling faintly. He'd forgotten how refreshing Annabeth's bossiness was.

line break dedicated to my lovely, comfy, couch

They found Chiron in the rec room, sipping quietly from a mug of coffee. Percy was leaning slightly on Annabeth because of his wound, though it had healed considerably since the night before.

When he entered the rec room, he found the eyes of every head counselor from each of the cabins staring back at him. "Um, Chiron?" Percy asked uncertainly. "Aren't people not supposed to know I'm here?"

"Ah, Percy and Annabeth," Chiron greeted. "Thank you for joining us. And yes, that was the case three hours ago, but the situation has changed somewhat."

"So it's true," Clarisse said suddenly. "It's Prissy… from the future."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Glad to see you care, Clarisse. Also, won't this screw with the timeline and all that?"

"As long as we forget," Chiron said vaguely, and Annabeth filled in.

"He means we're going to have our memories wiped at the end, once you return to your original time. They'll be replaced with regular ones of whatever the campers here would normally be doing. The timeline should be safe… as long as anyone who knows you remembers nothing about it."

"Right," Percy said, feeling strangely light-headed. "And what's the rule on spoiling events from the future? Also, how exactly do we plan on getting me back?"

"Telling people what happens in the future will only cause unnecessary drama," Chiron said sternly, and many of the campers around the ping pong table made disappointed noises. "It doesn't need to be a secret, exactly, but generally refrain from telling too much. Got that?"

Percy nodded silently. "As to how to get you back… well, my boy, we have absolutely no idea. Annabeth and I will work with you separately on that, and in the meantime, campers will go about business as usual."

Chatter broke out almost immediately.

"How will we go about business as usual-"

"Will Percy participate in regular activities?"

"What if word gets out?"

"Who wins the next capture the flag?"

"Do I ever get together with Katie?"

"Travis!"

Finally, Clarisse asked the question that shut every other counselor up. "Do we win the goddamn titan war?"

The room was silent. Percy looked at Chiron quickly for permission, and he nodded. "Yes," he said. "We win. It's hard, and not without casualties, but yes, we win."

"Thank the gods," Silena murmured, eyes closed. Her prayer was echoed around the table, even Annabeth whispering it under her breath.

"What do we tell the rest of the campers?" Michael Yew asked, and Percy tried to ignore the twist in his gut when he looked at him. He'd died, and if Percy had just destroyed the bridge a moment later, he might have lived.

"You tell them the truth," Chiron announced. "If we attempt to suppress it, it will only leak out anyway. What will change is the borders - no one leaves camp. Dionysus will lock it down, so even he may not leave. We cannot risk damage to the timeline."

"We're stuck here?" Annabeth asked, frowning.

"Yes, child. It shouldn't be any different, however. Why would you leave camp in any case? This is merely a precaution."

Clarisse shrugged and banged her spear against the ping pong table, grinning. "Welcome back then, Prissy," she said. "If you ever want to spar… I'm ready to smush you into pulp when you are."

Then she turned and left the room, a trail of smoke lingering behind her. Percy stared after her. How the hell would he get out of this? "Well," he said finally, "this is definitely really weird, and I have literally no idea why it's happening, but hopefully…" he winced, touching his rib cage, and noticed Silena staring at him.

"What?" he demanded.

"You're just…" she pursed her lips, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. "I know technically you're only like a year or two older, but you just seem so much older than you are now. Like, the same, but…"

She smiled, and Percy tried not to wonder whether that was good or bad. "Well, Percy," Chiron interrupted, "We'll begin working on this dilemma tomorrow. Until then… well, why don't you take a day to get settled in?"

"Uh, sure," he said blankly. "Can I sleep in the Poseidon cabin, or…?"

"Yes, yes. As the other you is safe away in Manhattan, you should be fine." Chiron swished his tail nervously and waved his hands. "You all may leave," he said. "Council meeting dismissed." The few remaining counselors left, leaving Percy, Annabeth, and Chiron alone.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked, and Chiron nodded absentmindedly.

"Fine, fine," he muttered. "Simply quite a bit to think about. Well, I'll see you two tomorrow, I suppose… have to cancel my archery lessons…" And he trotted off, the faint smell of coffee still lingering in the air.

"This is weird," Percy said feveranty, and Annabeth put her hands on her hips.

"Gee," she said. "You think?"

line break dedicated to chocolate

Annabeth left to go tell inform her cabin of Percy's arrival, which seemed a little unnecessary to him, and also left him to stumble to the Poseidon cabin by himself. The wound in his side was better, but he still couldn't walk properly, let alone deal with the eyes of almost every single camper staring at him.

It reminded Percy of his week at Camp Half-Blood, when he'd just found out he was a son of Poseidon. He'd had no idea how complicated his life would be, back then. He'd been just a poor, innocent twelve year old, no idea of how mean and life-ruining certain goddesses of marriage could be.

"Hey, Percy," Clarisse called, and his head snapped up. "You wanna spar now? Get ready for the game of capture the flag tomorrow night? Course, I just want to make sure you're in good condition… wouldn't want to beat you and find out you're mortally wounded or something…"

Despite everything, Percy felt a flicker of a smile at Clarisse's offer. Some people never changed, and even aside from that, Percy was dying for a little action after being on bed rest for four days.

"Sure," he said, grinned, and started heading over to the arena.

line break dedicated to windows

When Percy entered the arena, Clarisse wasn't the only one there. The entire Ares cabin, along with about half of the rest of the camp had gathered up in the stands to watch. It reminded him of his quest in the labyrinth, battling Antaeus for entertainment.

"Why are there people here?" He demanded, and Clarisse shrugged, looking uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry, Percy… I told my cabin, but word must have spread. I…" She took off her helmet, actually looking sorry. "I'm sorry, Percy. Really."

"It's fine," he said. "Seriously. Besides, I'm more worried for your embarrassment, not mine." He smirked, and Clarisse grinned.

"You're in for it, punk," she said, and he smiled as she walked over to her end. It would be fun to spar again… everything had always been life or death on the Argo ll, no having fun in a friendly match.

If there was a small crowd… so what? "Seaweed Brain!" Percy spun around to see Annabeth storming up to him, hair flying behind her face. "What do you think you're doing? You're injured!"

Percy shrugged. He was itching to spar with someone, and he backed out of it now, everyone would think that him from the future was a wimp. "Maybe the movement will help it heal?" He suggested, and Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"You're an idiot," she said, but backed off.

"Ready, Prissy?" Clarisse asked, picked up her spear, and charged. The campers in the stands cheered, and Percy uncapped Riptide.

Fighting with a wound in his side really didn't limit himself at all, just made it incredibly painful when he stretched anything on his right side. That included fighting with his right arm, moving his body at all, and running.

Percy was better at handling pain than he was at fifteen, though. He sidestepped and ducked under Clarisse's first attack easily, whipping out Riptide and slashing at her legs, rolling quickly and jumping up behind her, before Clarisse even realized where he was.

Percy lunged before Clarisse could turn her head and disarmed her, Maimer skittering across the dusty ground before coming to a stop.

The entire room was silent. Clarisse stared at him, and Percy hastily straightened. He hadn't expected to make that much of a show, and the way everyone was staring at him... "Woah," Clarisse said, her voice low. "Percy, what happened to you? You don't just learn those moves from an extra two years of training. I mean, the you from this time was good, but not… that good."

Where he learned it. The memories came rushing in: battling off the Romans in War Games, the army in Alaska at the top of the ice, the monsters, the twin giants in Rome, the army in Tartarus.

"I…" His side burned suddenly, and lifting his shirt, Percy saw the wound was bleeding again.

"You were wounded?" Clarisse shrieked, storming up to him. "You were wounded like that and still beat me? Wh-"

"Move," someone snapped, and she was there. Annabeth. Percy looked down into her grey eyes, intense and angry and worried.

"I told you," she said angrily, and Percy laughed. If there was one comfort he could get from being trapped in the wrong time, it was that Annabeth was there with him. He could have her, at least.

"I guess you were right," he said, leaning against Annabeth as she attempted to help drag him out of the arena. "It did open up again."

"Of course I'm right," Annabeth said, staring at the ground. "Let's… let's get you back to the infirmary. If you're lucky, the wound might heal enough for you to play capture the flag tonight."

She glared at him sternly, then at Clarisse. "Tell them the show's over," She said. "We have work to do. Percy, come on."

When they finally got to the infirmary, he laid down on one of the cots and Annabeth sighed, collapsing down on one of the chairs. "The camp has no idea what to think about you," she said."Percy, you have no idea what your effect has on us. The state you're in, and how good you've gotten…" she bit her lip, and Percy knew she was thinking about what he'd let slip: Tartarus.

"They should at least be happy," he said. "They know we win the titan war, now."

"They don't know how much it takes. They don't know how many people die. And, Percy… to be that good with a sword, you'd have to have gone through things. You don't get that way just through training."

Percy sighed and looked up at her. "Will everything be cleared up at dinner tonight, at least? If Dionysus just…"

"Maybe. But there's also capture the flag, which, I have a feeling, will be… interesting."

Percy closed his eyes, wishing he wasn't always responsible for these kinds of things.. "We'll figure it out," he said. "Everything will be figured out. I promise."

Well. I have to be honest, I'm not super satisfied with this chapter… but what do you think? Please tell me! Also, anything you want Percy to do while in camp? I'm taking suggestions, you guys can get pretty creative! Anyway, thanks!

-blackthornfam13