I picked at my food, my appetite all but diminished. The half-eaten fish made an empty scraping sound as it slid around my plate. My family and friends were staring at me, trying to gauge the source of my mellow atmosphere.

Finally, Grover cleared his throat. "Uhm… Percy?"

I barely noticed.

"Percy!"

I jumped so hard that I stabbed my fork into the table with a resounding, THUNK. "Huh? What?"

Grover winced. "Dude. You've been moping around the palace for the past few weeks. Are you okay?"

I turned back to my food. "Um… yeah. I'm fine."

I could tell by his hesitation that he didn't believe me. "Hey, does this have anything to do with–"

"No."

There was a long pause. By now, everyone in the room was watching Grover and I's exchange like a tennis match. Well, except for the guards. They were all as silent and still as stone (spare Connor Stoll of course. He was over in a corner, smirking at me. When he noticed my glance in his direction, he gave me a sly wink).

There was a loud clatter, and Triton rose and quickly excused himself. He darted from the enormous room without another word, not even bothering to glare at me on the way out. A few silent, and exceedingly agonizing moments later, Amphitrite followed suit–as did Rhode and Kymopoleia, leaving my father, Tyson, Grover, and I to deal with the tension.

That side of the family never really cared for me all that much. Not that it mattered: it was really only Triton that despised me. Amphitrite and her daughters leaned more to the "uncomfortable" side of the spectrum, and Rhode and Kym were always a lot more focused on whatever it was girls did to fill their time.

When the silence endured, and kept enduring, Poseidon finally cleared his throat. We all turned to look at him. He didn't say anything, just shot a look to Grover. I almost groaned aloud. Whenever he did that, it usually meant that he wanted to talk to my best friend. Alone, preferably.

I felt Grover give the slightest nod beside me, and I wanted to roll my eyes. Instead, I stood and excused myself. "Yeah, um, I'm gonna go… do… stuff." I swam off before anyone could stop me.

Even if it hadn't been said outright, Grover knew I was still thinking of my birthday; or more specifically, the part where I had witnessed a shipwreck, and rescued the princess of the kingdom that had been responsible for killing my mother. If Poseidon ever found out, he would probably scale me alive. No doubt he'd be asking Grover about it tonight, and that–generally–made me terrified.

I came to a stop in front of a large, marble door, with sea-green jewels set into a graceful arc at the top. I'd always hated the way it had been designed (even more so now that I realized the stone was the same color as Annabeth's eyes), but I'd had no say in the matter–which was why I'd taken full reign of decorating the room inside.

I pushed the door open, taking a deep breath before swimming forward. At a first glance, everything was a cluttered mess. Which was… yeah. Everything was a cluttered mess. I didn't mind–in fact that was how I preferred it. Having someone else cyclone through and organize all my stuff had always made me feel uncomfortable, as if they'd seen all my personal things. But there was another reason for that.

Checking to make sure I was alone, I pulled one of my curtains just slightly back from the wall. Running my hand along the smooth stone, I felt my fingers brush into a familiar groove. A grinding noise filled the room. The floor trembled a little.

When the sound stopped, I swam to the opposite wall. In front of me, was a tapestry of a sailor's ship: much like the one Annabeth had been on. I decided to savor the irony later. I checked one last time to make sure I was alone, and slipped behind the tapestry, disappearing into the hole behind it.

As soon as I swam through, the grinding noise repeated. I turned and watched as two panels slid shut across the entrance, creating the illusion of a smooth stone wall. I pressed my hand against the stone, letting it cool my skin. I sat there for a moment, not doing anything, before finally turning around.

There was a narrow tunnel before me, with a small, broken grate at the mouth. I swam forward. In the center of the grate, the two middle bars were bent so there was just enough room to wriggle through. It was probably just big enough that my father could get stuck if he wanted. Although of course, he'd probably just bend the bars further back.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened my eyes again, I put my hands on the bars and slipped through the grate.

The room I had entered was actually more of a cavern than anything. It was filled top to bottom with all kinds of knick knacks–human–things, that I had collected over the years. Most of them were half damaged trinkets, that had been salvaged from old shipwrecks. This cavern also kind of doubled as my quiet place. I came here a lot when I wanted to calm down.

I let out a heavy sigh, and let myself sink to the smooth granite on the floor. I flopped onto my back, staring up at the tiny window fifty feet above. Delicate shafts of light from the setting sun danced their way to down me.

I was still in the same position when Grover found me minutes later. The grinding of the trapdoor gave away his entrance, but I didn't bother acknowledging him.

"I thought you might be in here." He grunted as he squeezed through the grate. When I didn't respond, he swam over and sat next to me. "You're still thinking about her aren't you?"

I finally looked over at him. "I just… I just don't see them the way he does." I reached over and picked up a human fork from the ground. It's strange prongs were bent and twisted–from the wreck I presumed. "I don't understand how they could be so bad. I mean, take Annabeth for instance. She risked her life for a dog. She didn't have to, but she did it anyway. Brave, selfless, how are those detestable qualities?"

Grover was quiet.

"And Luke, he cared so much about his friend that it took five people to hold him down when her life was in danger." I looked up at Grover with an expression of desperation. "I just don't understand!"

My friend sighed. "Percy… you know why he's bitter."

I sat up and threw the fork across the cavern, where it clattered against a candle stand and disappeared from view. "Mom died years ago! People have changed since then!"

I pushed off the floor and swam up to one of the shelves, resting my elbows on the edge and burying my face in my hands. I let out a frustrated huff.

Grover sighed softly. "Percy, he really loved her." I could felt my friend coming up after me. He put a hand on my shoulder. "When the love of your life is killed for no good reason, you tend to think that you have to protect everyone from those cold-blooded monsters."

"But they're not!" I insisted, turning to my friend. "They aren't monsters. They're just like us!"

Grover's expression was sad. "Percy you don't understand. He's never given them a chance, and he never will. Think about it. To Poseidon, you're all he has left of your mother. He doesn't want to lose you too."

I glanced around angrily, looking for something else to throw. "So that's all I am?" I demanded. "A reminder of his past affair?"

I felt my hand close around something small and metal, but when I tried to launch it across the room, it bit into my hand. I yelped, trying to shake the fishing hook out of my palm. Before I could tear the skin any further, Grover grabbed my wrist. "Hey! Calm down!" He said, giving a small chuckle at my childish behavior. He then proceeded to gently slide the hook out of my skin. I winced slightly, trying not to cry out in pain.

It was then that I noticed he held one hand behind his back, like he was holding something.

I pointed at his arm. "What's that?" I asked, completely forgetting about my hand.

He noticed my sudden attentiveness and grinned. "Well, I wanted to make it up to for not giving you a birthday present earlier. So... I got you something really nice." Then out from behind his back, he pulled a fearsome, breaktaking, awe-inspiring… book.

It was a human book sure, but it wasn't like I didn't have those already. Then I took a closer look and my eyes widened. "No way!" I snatched the book from his hands and stared at it. "How did you get this?"

Grover smiled, rubbed the back of his neck. "Um, I went back to where the ship wrecked. I knew you'd want something from there, just for the sake of it. Then I found this, and well…"

"This is awesome!" I cried, punching Grover in the arm. "Dude, you're the best!" My friend laughed happily. "So that's it then? That's the one?"

"Oh this is definitely it!" I held the book to the light, brushing some grime off the cover. The silver cursive was murder on my eyes, but the picture of it was burned into my mind, and I knew what it said. Of the Palace.

This was Annabeth's book.

A/N:

Hey y'all! Thanks for being so patient. I know that it's kind of unsatifying to have such short chapters, but I don't exactly have a lot of time on my hands. For the person that commented on my JBA crossover, I promise promise promise that I am working on the second chapter! It will probably take a while, but it is coming.

Another thing, guys... I know I told you I would write a Sofitz fic, but I just haven't had the time! I'm thinking about writing it soon though, so be prepared! Also, ideas wouldn't hurt either, if you have any. Ah yes, speaking of ideas, I'm going to need some for my PJO one-shots. I only have a few shots out there and I want to expand! I know, I know, some of you have already given me ideas, but those are all in progress and have all come to writer's block in one way or another. So please, be generous!

Well, see you next time my little muffins!

-Amy