It wasn't long before the counselors were herded into the Big House to have a meeting. Chiron was in the back making sure all the leaders and quest members were in the building.

Annabeth, as the last one, turned around to take a final look at Perseus. Chiron didn't want him in the meeting, saying the meeting was about Perseus and it wasn't appropriate that he would be in there.

Annabeth stared at the back of Perseus' head from his sitting position on the last step of the pouch stairs. He didn't even seem to mind that he wasn't included in the meeting, like he had expected it.

"Come along, Annabeth." She did what Chiron said and walked into the Big House for the long meeting that awaits her.

~I am Roboto from 'Cause You're A Head Full Of Thoughts! MsPenguingirl1234 thought she got rid of me, she was wrong! MY KIND WILL RULE THE WORLD WITH OUR HORRIBLE THEME SONGS! WE TIME SKIPS HAVE BEEN USED BY WRITERS FOR TOO LONG! WE WILL TAKE OVER! *Insert evil robotic laughter*~

Annabeth was deep in thought as everyone around the ping pong table talked and argued. All on the subject of pros and cons about Perseus.

Perseus. Annabeth couldn't believe she had spent a month with the Lost Legend and not know it. To remember the stories she had heard from her siblings and to hear some of the truth from Perseus and Chiron...

Was it even the truth? Did Perseus really betray his friends, his family? Annabeth had been with him, he couldn't have done it. Perseus didn't seem like the type to do such a thing. She saw this tiredness underneath his surface, he regrets something, but she didn't believe for one second it was from the crimes he was accused of. It was unlikely he could do something and regret it. Unless he did and regretted it, that's why he had isolated himself in Alaska.

"Annie?" Annabeth looked up, noticing all eyes on her.

"What?" She was too distracted to yell at Thalia about the nickname. Raised eyebrows and snickered were her answer. Annabeth glared at them all.

"Annabeth, do you anything to say? You did spend a month with Perseus." Chiron's words brought up moments that happened with the two when they were in the same space.

The almost kiss wasn't the only...romantic moment that the two shared. There was the time Perseus came into his office without a shirt on while Annabeth was bent over the desk looking over maps.

Perseus had crossed his arms over his chest with his back leaning against the door frame. Annabeth realized he did that a lot. Maybe it was from all the times he had to stand straight to command armies and he has long since leaned back to relax his back.

She soon found herself ramming face first into his bare chest. "What...?" She was confused on why it felt as if she walked into the wall when she turned, she knew the doorway shouldn't have been that close. Question is, what did she run into?

A chuckle was her answer. She looked up to see Perseus ice eyes stare into hers. They sparkled in amusement.

Annabeth had blushed lightly, taking a step back with crossed arms and a huff, a light red blush covering her cheeks.

That was after a first few days they had met.

Another was when Annabeth was in the shower...another when Perseus was in the shower...

A month is a long time. It was filled with awkward interactions between the two.

"Something happened..."

"...she's blushing!" The Stolls stated the truth.

Annabeth didn't even realize she had been blushing. She tried to send another glare at them, but it wasn't as terrifying as it once was. Stupid blushing...

Thalia sat forward. "Did you and him-"

"No!" Annabeth cut her off, blushing even more. "We just...things happened, but not in the way that you are thinking! Perseus-" She paused, wanting to say something to defend him, only she came up with nothing. She stood up and walked to the front door.

"Annabeth?"

Ignoring the questioning words and looks, she went to one of the windows and opened the blinds, knowing Perseus was still by the porch.

He was. He just wasn't alone. Annabeth smiled unknowingly at the scene. "Do you really think that Perseus would have done something so cruel? I mean look at him. Really look."

She heard chairs sliding as her fellow demigods got up from their seats to move towards what she was seeing.

"Wow."

Outside of the Big House was Perseus surrounded by kids. He hadn't left his spot on the steps. All of the demigod children sitting in a half circle before him, smiling and listening intently. At some points one of them would raise their hand and talk, probably asking Perseus a question.

After a minute or two of watching, one of the kids, a Daughter of Hermes by her looks, raised her hand and pointed at the gathered leaders at the window.

As all the kids turned to look, Perseus didn't seem to react. He must have something because the kids all looked back at him and complained. Soon the kids left, going back to their activities with the rest of their siblings or cabins.

"See. He isn't a danger. He might be powerful, but the kids-" Annabeth started to rest her case, she got interrupted instead.

"One of the punks was Gary Hunter." Clarisse spoke. "He came to Camp a few months ago. He hasn't spoken to anyone. We don't even know if he can fight. I'm sure the kid just smiled. He's never done that before."

Some of the demigods shifted uneasily at that.

"Yeah. One of the girls was a Daughter of Demeter. Her name is Vanessa, one of the shyest little girls I know. Perseus seemed to ease her enough for her to smile and open up to talk in a group environment. She doesn't do that." Katie brought up.

A few others revealed similar stories about what the group had witnessed. Once three or four more stories came up, Thalia crosses her arms over chest, staring with narrowed eyes at Chiron.

"Are you sure Perseus betrayed the gods in the war? We all know that my father overreacts." Cue thunder. "He had reacted badly when Nico was in the throne room during the ceremony after the war. He could have gotten scared by Perseus' power." Many agreed with that statement.

"So Perseus is innocent?" Hazel asked, looking around.

We all turned to Chiron as he was there. His tail flickered around nervously, his eyes going distant as he watched Perseus. "I was there during the battle. Perseus had gone after Gaea when she came to the battle. We all watched as Gaea leaned down to whisper something in his ear. He soon turned and started to kill half of our side. He killed half of his own army. His friends and family. He even tried to kill Hercules."

Silence covered the room. No one knowing what to believe. How can someone kill other demigods then years later be able to put shy kids at ease? For them to smile and be happy. Content.

"We still have to decide if we will allow him on our quest or not." Jason said, guiding everyone back to the original conversation.

The others nodded in agreement and walked back to the ping pong table. Only Annabeth remained by the window, looking out as she thought it all over.

There was more to the story. From the sound of it, Perseus and Gaea themselves are the only ones who knew the truth of what happened that day on the battlefield.

Annabeth wasn't exactly excited about a second war, she was excited about learning more about the man of the legends. The time they had spent with each other, she knew there was still more to him than she knew of, but this was getting be a more challenging puzzle than she had first thought.

Annabeth sighed, turning around to join the meeting once again. This is going to be a lot longer than she initially thought.

Sorry for not updating this last night, I was too busy yesterday dress shopping for my cousin's wedding to write this chapter.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading this book, I didn't expect for it to get this good when I started it last year!

~MsPenguingirl1234.

Published: January 12, 2018.