"Paul," said Percy, walking into the kitchen, "I have a question."

Paul looked up at his stepson in surprise. It was late May, and he was busy grading his student's final papers. They were about ancient mythology, and the idea was to research an ancient mythical hero or monster and discuss how it had continued into modern-day legends. Percy had chosen the myths about Chiron and centaurs.

"I would've thought you would have chosen the Perseus and Medusa legend, or maybe the Minotaur," Paul had teased his stepson. Percy had looked at him with those sea-green eyes so much older than their years and said,

"Don't say those names, please. Names have a lot of power. Plus I met and fought them when I was twelve, and they still give me bad dreams. As if I didn't have enough nightmares already."

Then, in one of his sudden mood swings, he'd grinned, opened the fridge, and started looking for a blue Coca-Cola.

"Plus, Chiron's way cooler. Maybe I'll introduce you to him someday."

"Chiron?"

"Yeah, you'd love him! He's the head teacher at Camp Half-Blood!"

"Oh. Right. Naturally."

Paul shook himself out of memories as he looked at the young man sitting across from him. He had slumped shoulders, and he looked tired and upset.

"Something wrong, Percy?" he asked.

"No. Yeah. Well, sort of."

"Do you think you could be a little more specific?" Paul asked gently. Percy sighed.

"Remember how we were talking over the summer, and I mentioned girl trouble?"

"Oh. Right. That stuff. Listen, Percy, I'll help you as much as I can, but in the end, I'm afraid you have to man up and do a lot of this stuff yourself."

Percy sighed.

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

"Come on, Percy. From what you and your mom have told me, you've fought all sorts of monsters, gone on quests, visited Mount Olympus...and yet you're scared of girls?" Paul teased, trying to make the young man he thought of as a son feel better. It worked a little-Percy flashed him a smile, but then it faded as quickly as it had come.

"You've never met Annabeth, have you?" Percy asked. "Because there are some days when I'd rather face a monster."

Paul smiled.

"No, I haven't. Why don't tell me about her? Start at the beginning."

And so Percy told him-how she'd been the first other demigod he'd met, how she'd nursed him back to health and told him about the gods. They'd apparently gone on no less than three quests together, in two years. Then Percy, looking sad and angry at the same time, talked about how she'd been kidnapped by a manticore (Paul made a mental note to look them up later) and how he, along with some other friends, had traveled cross-country to save her. He told Paul about how he'd met Rachel Dare at Hoover Dam, then rescued Annabeth.

"So, you met this girl, Rachel. That was the one who helped you out when there was that explosion at school, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you about it sometime" Percy said with a sigh. "Then we went into the Labyrinth last summer."

"You mean..."

"Like, with Daedalus and all? Yeah." Percy smiled grimly. "Anyway, Annabeth and I were in Mount Saint Helens, doing this scouting mission thing for Hephaestus, and we ran into more monsters than we could handle. I thought we were going to die."

"That seems to happen to you on a regular basis," Paul pointed out dryly.

Percy grinned.

"Yeah, but usually I'm only pretty sure I'm going to die. This time, I was absolutely sure."

"Ah. Continue."

"So I told Annabeth to get out and to go back to Hephaestus. She did, but before she did, she, um, kind of kissed me."

"From that ridiculously happy grin on your face, I assume you enjoyed it?"

Percy went crimson. Paul let him suffer in silence for a couple of seconds before continuing.

"So, you're not dead," Paul pointed out.

"I...well, did you hear about Mt. Saint Helens blowing up over the summer?"

Paul stared at his godson with respect and a bit of trepidation.

"You blew up a whole volcano by yourself?"

Percy blushed and scratched the back of his neck.

"Well, Poseidon is called the Earthshaker."

"How did you survive?" Paul asked curiously.

"I got blasted into the air and landed on this island called Ogygia."

Paul frowned. The disadvantage of reading as much as he did meant that there was a lot of loose information floating around in his cranium, but it took him only a minute to remember where he'd heard it before.

"Wait, as in Calypso?"

Percy sighed.

"Yup," he said, popping the "p."

"Okay, I won't even ask."

"Thank you."

There was a silence between them. Paul let it stretch, knowing that Percy would break it when he was ready.

"Eventually, I came back to camp, and I realized that since Rachel can see through the Mist, she'd be able to guide us through the Labyrinth without any trouble."

Paul smiled.

"And Annabeth was jealous, and you want Annabeth, but you're still not completely sure how you feel about Rachel, and basically you just wish this whole mess would be over with, because you have a complicated enough life as it is."

Percy stared at him.

"Did you just read my mind?"

"Believe it or not, I was fifteen once too, you know," Paul told him gently.

"I had a situation much like yours when I was a teenager. What I did was I made a list of the negatives of both girls, and compared them, then went from there."

"Um, no offense, but I'm not sure how much that will help," Percy said.

"It's worth a try."

Percy heaved another sigh.

"I don't have to write it down, right?"

Paul smiled at him.

"I don't think so, no. I didn't."

"Nah, you just scratched it on a piece of papyrus."

"Be quiet or I'll take five points off your essay."

"I'll still have a higher grade than any of the other kids," Percy said. Paul decided not to go into that.

"So? Negatives?"

"Okay...Annabeth. She's bossy, she's a know-it-all, she spouts random facts about architecture or mythology, she calls me 'Seaweed Brain' about once a day, she can act really jealous and possessive, she has a crush on Luke, um..."

"All right, fair enough," Paul said. "And Rachel?"

Percy closed his eyes and let the breeze ruffle his hair as he thought. He remembered Annabeth, and Rachel, and when he looked at both of them in his mind, he knew. He opened his eyes and looked right at Paul.

"Rachel's funny. Brave. Clever. Artistic. She's only got one weakness."

"Which is?"

"She's not Annabeth."