WOW THIS IS REALLY BAD AT THE BEGINNING. Which makes sense, considering I was in sixth grade when I started this. Let's do some editing, shall we? Edited AGAIN as of 7/23/10 and 10/18/12, and a thorough edit as of 6/15/15.

Hi again! It's me, TMI! Anyway, this is my first Percy Jackson fic, so I hope it's good. I'm kind of used to writing Maximum Ride fanfictions, so I don't know if this will be... I hope it is! =D Written after The Last Olympian, but Beckendorf and Silena are alive still, and Silena is good. (: Here we go!

Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or Crest Whitening Strips! Apparently, Eros has some of the latter though…

Life for a demigod like me had been pretty damn good for awhile there. By that I mean Kronos was lying low, the camp was peaceful, and best of all, Annabeth and I were officially a couple.

And neither of us were wounded, sick, missing, or in mortal danger! That was a definite plus, considering our usual state of affairs generally included something like that.

But I guess that should have tipped me off that something bad was going to go down soon. In my life, trouble tends not to stay away from me for very long.

That's why I should have been preared when one day, I guess the gods must have decided that Camp Half Blood was getting boring in our luxurious safety and peace. I was playing volleyball when it happened, demigods versus tree nymphs. The nymphs were winning so far, so I was concentrating on the game. After all, who wants to admit to being beaten in sports by a tree? Not the son of Poseidon who's supposed to be super powerful and stuff, that's for sure. I had a reputation to uphold.

I guess that's probably why I didn't hear the first screams.

All of the girls from the Athena and Aphrodite cabins came running towards us, shrieking at ear-piercing volumes. In the back of my head, I kind of noted the difference between their screams. While the Aphrodite girls were shrieking with joy, the Athena campers screamed in terror.

Loping easily along a little behind them came a tall young guy, carrying a red bow in one hand and two quivers of arrows slung over his back. The dude was movie star material, sporting the whole cliché blond curls and bright blue eyes look. He even seemed to have an aura of something godly hanging around him as he moved forward, grinning widely. The air seemed to brighten and shimmer around him, sunlight bending to hit him in the most flattering angles possible to meticulously highlight every good point and make his tan skin glow.

That's when it hit me. Two quivers of different arrows. Incredibly good looks. Crest Whitening Strip teeth. The Aphrodite girls' apparent lack of fear for him even as the Athena girls screamed their lungs out in terror.

It was Eros, the son of Aphrodite: a god better known as Cupid.

Annabeth's POV

My half-sisters and I were all seated around one of the small oak tables in our cabin, having a great time discussing the differences between modern and ancient South American architecture, as well as the next capture the flag match. I was arguing with Kathleen over the finer details of our decided hiding spot for the flag, both of us furiously trying to find a way to protect it from that one elusive angle that simply refused to allow itself to be shielded. If the Apollo archers could get just one man up a specific tree, then our whole cause was doomed.

"We could just rig the tree with booby traps, and problem solved!" exclaimed Kathleen, pounding her fist decisively on the table top.

"No, because Ares' side has Apollo and Hermes this year, and we know how effective those cabins are at sniffing out traps," I retorted, earning an annoyed look from my half-sister at her realization that I was right. "We'll have to layer shields from that angle-"

"That would take forever," Kathleen groaned. She really never was one to be patient. "The game would be over by the time you were satisfied the flag was fully protected, Annabeth."

I opened my mouth to protest, but was interrupted before I could get a word out by a knock on the door.

We all grew quiet in unison, glancing around the table to confirm each other's confusion. No one at camp just knocked on a cabin door before entering. We all stared at each other, trying to communicate with our eyes on what to do next. Carefully, I silently stood up and snuck over to the door, dagger in hand. Maybe I could surprise the knocker-

BOOM!

The door flew open, knocking me painfully into the wall and forcibly removing the air from my lungs. A tall guy with blond ringlets and clear blue eyes stepped just inside the doorway, a polished scarlet bow held loosely in his hand. Oddly enough, he had two separate quivers slung across his back. One was filled with arrows tipped with red feathers and pink arrowheads, while the other arrows were tipped with black feathers and flint arrowheads.

Why was that so ominously familiar? A passage from a book scratched at the surface of my memory, struggling to show itself as I regained my breath. That was definitely a significant characteristic of a god...

"Hello ladies," the guy said pleasantly at my sisters, who were standing there frozen like startled deer. "I'm Eros. Which one of you is Annabeth Chase?"

Eros. Oh, damn it all.

I can't exactly say what happened next, because I was too blinded with fear to comprehend current events, but I do know that no one offered to point out who Annabeth was as every girl in the cabin screamed in a strangled, piercing harmony and sprinted to the windows, jerking them open and hauling themselves outside. I quickly followed suit, dropping my dagger in my haste to get away from yet another god who wanted to mess with my head. We sprinted in a pack, heading for the center of camp where there would be more backup. After all, there was safety in numbers.

By this time I had realized through my mindless fear that the girls from the Aphrodite cabin had also joined our ranks. However, instead of fleeing from the god, they were running to tell everyone that their half-brother was here. How lucky for them. Their half-brother hadn't barged into their cabin looking for them.

Then again, they would probably be overjoyed if he had been. Go figure.

My heart pounded furiously against my ribs, calves aching as I tried to sprint as fast as I possibly could. Some gods could be reasoned with or faced with honor, but when a god of love was asking specifically for me, I wasn't about to just offer myself up for whatever crap he felt like dishing out. I hadn't done anything wrong!

Soon, I glimpsed Percy, Clarisse, Beckendorf, Silena, and the Stoll brothers ahead, playing volleyball against some tree nymphs. In spite of being chased by the god armed with the arrows with the power to make or break a relationship, my heart still flipped a little when I saw Percy standing in the volleyball pit, with his black hair flopping over his focused green eyes…

When he heard my siblings' shrieks, Percy turned around and saw us running toward him and the rest of the volleyball players. The game halted, every camper reaching instantly for a weapon as they tried to process the situation. I saw the confusion on his face, before his eyes shifted over our heads to the god chasing us. A sort of horrified recognition slowly dawned on him as he realized exactly who our visitor was.

Aww, I was almost proud of him for actually recognizing Eros quickly. Maybe our mythology lessons were paying off after all.

But I was still fleeing said god, so my pride was put back burner. Maybe I'd congratulate him when I was no longer being chased.

We were almost free, almost surrounded by the flood of armed campers who had poured into the clearing at the sound of our screams. I could see Chiron approaching in the distance, hopefully to reason with Eros before he somehow emotionally maimed me. I stretched to run faster, but I was at top speed already, and had never managed to get past the back of the group since I had fled the cabin last. Survival instincts had kicked in, and adrenaline poured through me like fire.

That's when I felt something sharp and heavy hit me in the center of my back, and I cried out, stumbling and falling to the ground. It didn't exactly hurt, but it was definitely solid, surprising, and vaguely unpleasant.

And then everything went black.

PPOV

When I saw Annabeth in the crowd being chased by the god who wielded the arrows of love and indifference, my heart almost stopped.

This had to be some sort of sick joke. Why couldn't anyone let me just be a simple guy with a girlfriend?

"Annabeth!" I yelled, unable to help myself as I pushed past campers to try to move toward her. I had to get to her, get in between her and those arrows.

I swear that those blue eyes flickered to me as soon as I spoke, probably confirming that I was the poor sap whose life he wanted to ruin. Then Eros grinned wickedly and pulled a black-feathered arrow from one quiver.

Still running, the archer placed the arrow in the notch with one fluid motion and fired it instantly from his bow. My feet stopped of their own accord, and I watched in frozen horror as the arrow flew true, thunking directly into the center of Annabeth's back and going all the way through her torso. I almost threw up at the sight of the arrowhead piercing through her chest, struggling for a moment to make my knees stay locked. Annabeth stumbled and fell, a strangled noise forcing its way past her lips before she fell silent, eyes wide for a moment before falling shut.

Out of the corner of my eye I still somehow saw as Eros nodded slightly to himself, smirking in satisfaction at the look on my face, and disappeared in a puff of rosy smoke.

The world seemed to spin inward for a moment, but even as my mind struggled to clear I found myself running toward her as quickly as I could manage. The wicked looking arrow piercing her abdomen shimmered and evaporated into a grey mist, settling on Annabeth's shoulders and sinking into her skin. She curled up as it dissipated, her face wrinkling in what looked more like distaste than pain. Still, I sprinted even faster as I got closer, almost falling to the ground in my rush to kneel at her side. "Annabeth?" I whispered, touching her shoulder tentatively.

She stirred and opened her gray eyes, blinking at me in confusion.

"Percy?"

I thought I might keel over with joy. "You're okay, thank gods," I breathed, unable to keep myself from smiling. Immediately, I tried to help lift her off the ground so she wouldn't be keeled over in the dirt, but a look of alarm flashed across her face and she instantly scooted away. I stared at her for a second, confused.

"Percy, what are you doing?" Annabeth asked nervously. The suspicion on her face was all too clear, and I really didn't like it. A sinking feeling started in my gut.

"Trying to help you up," I replied carefully, and leaned over again to support her. She had just been shot in the back, after all, even if the arrow had disappeared without a physical trace. We needed to get he to the infirmary to double check her syste-

"Why?" Annabeth persisted, that strange look still on her face. She moved away again, evading my hands.

"Because you need help?" I continued, trying to sound as normal as I could. Once more, I tried to help Annabeth to her feet. She seemed fine, but now I was really getting concerned about the effect of that dissolved arrow.

"I don't need your help, Percy," Annabeth retorted, narrowing her eyes at me. "Stop that, now." She smacked away my hand as I tried to reach out to her again.

"Annabeth, you're-"

"STOP IT PERCY!" she finally yelled, apparently fed up with me. With a fair amount of struggle, like she was dizzy or something, Annabeth managed to pick herself up. With one last angry look at me, she trotted unsteadily away.

I just stared after her, feeling my stomach drop as I watched her leave without a single look back.

The arrow had worked. The arrow of indifference. Annabeth didn't love me anymore.

"Sorry, Percy," Beckendorf said quietly, coming up behind me placing a hand on my shoulder. I barely noticed, just focused on staring after Annabeth's retreating form. It felt like my insides had just been dropped off the Arch without the help of a river underneath to cushion impact.

In other words: pretty damn crushed.

Review? (:

~TMI~