AN:I am so sorry that I just left all of you hanging. I don't really have an excuse. You see, I just stopped writing. This was the last chapter that my beta helped me with. After this chapter, I will most likely write every by myself, so I might update by the end of this month. I would like to thank The Silent Book-reader and everyone else that encouraged me to update. Thank you all so much.

Percy

I tried to avoid sleeping as much as I could in order to avoid the nightmares that haunted my very being. However, no matter how much I tried I knew that it was important to sleep.

That night, I dreamt of sailing across the ocean. The only thing in the vast cerulean waters of the ocean was my ship sailing far away from Athens, the city disappearing as the sails caught the wind. At first I thought that nothing was strange about my dream, but then I heard someone sobbing, Annabeth. I did not know what to do, but luckily I did not have to because I could not control myself. My "dream-self" walked towards Annabeth and I embraced her. Then I whispered in her ear, "Don't worry everything will be fine."

As soon as my dream-self finished the sentence, I woke up, startled. I didn't know what to make of that dream because it made me smile. Not many dreams did that to me.

I wondered if it was a message from the gods. And to tell you the truth, I hope it was. Does it mean she will like me one day? I thought. I suddenly remembered that I had to meet Annabeth in the garden before sunrise. It was still dark out, so I guessed that I had about two hours before having to meet her. I had nothing to do, so I went for a quick swim in the ocean. Swimming was the only activity that could calm me down.

After swimming for the better part of an hour I decided to go back to my ship. I dressed lightly, in a tunic with leather bracers and greaves, my sword resting in its sheath on my hip. I always carried the sword Chiron had given when I first found out I was a demigod, I hardly ever used it. I still had about an hour left, so I decided to leave early and just walk around in the garden until the princess arrived. On my way to the garden, I saw a beautiful white dove fly over me and perch itself on a branch near me. I decided not to think much about it and kept walking. I got lost a couple of times of times, but I had time. One of the times I got lost, I came upon a huge pond with tons of fish in it. I tried to turn the other way before they started talking to me, but I was too late. They all happened to get excited and started to gather around the edge of the pool.

"Shh, I'm going to be late," I lied, "I have to go." I had plenty of time, but I did not want to look like a crazy person who talked to fish. They all said good bye to me and I left. Things like that worried me. What if the princess was with me when fish were around? She would definitely think I was crazy. I kept walking until I was back in the garden. The garden was still beautiful during the day, but it was clearly designed to show its beauty at night. I still had no idea how she was able to get moon laces, but I decided not to think too much about it. As I was looking around the garden, a statue caught my eye and it wasn't just any statue. It was the statue of Athena, Goddess of Wisdom.

I heard footsteps, and as I turned around, I saw the princess. I wanted to be as polite as possible, so I stood up and bowed.

"Good Morning Annabeth. I hope you are well this morning." I greeted her.

"Hello, Perseus." she said politely. "I am good. I hope your fist night in Athens was comfortable?" You could feel tension in the air, and I just wanted to get over this as soon as possible. I wanted to be able to have a normal conversation with the princess.

"Athens is beautiful, thank you for asking. Would you like to walk with me?" I asked.

I offered her my hand, and she took it saying, "I would love too." I didn't know if she meant those words, but I hoped she did.

"Why do you like this garden so much, Annabeth?" I asked her.

"The garden was a gift to my mother." She replied carefully. I just wondered what a statue of Athena was doing in a garden that was meant for Annabeth's mother.

"It's beautiful," was all I could say in return.

We walked around for a while in silence, until I asked her if she wanted to go to the beach. It was a risk, considering all of the marine life at the beach, but I was willing to take it.

When she nodded her head I took her hand and led her to the ocean. She then told me, "I know a beautiful spot away from the docks."

I quickly understood. She wanted privacy. It's not something that can be easily found when you are such a well-known person.

"You like the ocean, don't you?" She asked me.

"I don't just like it," I said with my most genuine smile, "I love it."

After a brief pause I said, "The Ocean reminds me of happier times."

"I'm not really a sea person," she admitted to me. "We're almost there."

"Why don't you like the ocean?" I asked a little hurt.

It's too unpredictable," she said. "It scares me." I noticed that her words had a difffrent meaning, but I decided not to say anything.

"Well then," I said with my famous smile, "I'll have to change that."

"We're here." She said smiling back.

I sat down on the sand, and motioned for her to sit down too.

"I need to tell you something." I had to tell her that my father was Poseidon; I just didn't know how to tell her.

"What's wrong?" She asked with concern clearly shown on her face. I could tell she was on edge and I really wanted to know why.

"I need to tell you who my father really is." I said emphasizing on the word father.

"What do you mean, Perseus?" she paused for just a second, "You mean it's not king Paul?"

"No, he only adopted me when he married my mother." As soon as the words left my lips I could feel her analyzing me, but I could also tell it was subconsciously.

"Then who is your father?" She asked me. I didn't know how to tell her. I just didn't, so I sighed and breathed. "Lord Poseidon, God of the Seas, stormbringer, Earthshaker, and Father of Horses."

I clearly left her in a shock. Her eyes widened and she quickly drew a dagger she had hidden. Without any hesitation, she pointed her bronze dagger at my chest. As an instinct, I reached for my sword, but I did not take it out of its sheath. I didn't know what to do, I could not fight Annabeth. I just could not hurt her.

"Did he send you? Did he!" Her eyes instantly filled with fury. She didn't look like she was taken by surprise; she looked as if she had been expecting something like this to happen, but I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, so I did not answer her, and I let her talk. But I was starting to lose my patience. Meanwhile, I did not notice the ocean that was once calm, hit the shore with fury.

"What does he want?" She continued to yell at me, "I have done nothing wrong to anger him!"

I was tired of being confused, so I finally said, "Annabeth, I don't know what you're talking about. Trust me." I tried to stay calm, but started to shake. I am not sure why I got so angry, something just came over me.

"You really think a daughter of Athena can trust you!" There was my answer, but I could not believe it.

"Wait, you're a daughter of Athena?" I had to ask, just to clear my mind. My voice started to shake, but not from anger or impatience.

"Yes, but what do you want?"

"Nothing!" To prove my statement, I threw my sword on the soft sand.

By looking at her stance, I could tell she was about to attack me when I heard Chiron coming towards us.

When he saw us he said, "Annabeth, when I saw you running out of the palace I got worried, but I can see what happened. Put your dagger down."

I assumed she trusted him because she did as she was told.

"Well, it looks like we have some things to talk about." Chiron said, trying to stay calm. "So you both know each other's parents, right?" We simply nodded in response.

"Both of your parents threw a fit over this, but you must live with it." Chiron paused, expecting objections. "If you don't live with it, you might anger your countries," Chiron paused again, "Or the gods. I have nothing else to say, but please do listen to the advice I give you."

After he left, Annabeth and I continued to sit in the sand until she said, "I'm sorry for my outburst, Perseus."

I looked at her for a while, and then I said, "It's okay, and please call me Percy."

"Well Percy, I think we should try and start over."

"Sure," I paused for a while. I was trying to think of something else to tell her. "I'd like that." Then I acted on impulse. I kissed her gently on her cheek. I had no idea how I had calmed down so quickly, but I did.

"I have to go, but I'll like to see you later."

"I'll wait for you in your mother's garden, at midnight." I told her.

She did not promise to meet me there, but I did not care. I somehow knew she'd come.