The Sea of Monsters (Annabeth's POV)

Chapter 3: We Get Into A Car With Three Crazy Ladies

      A/N:  Before I start, I just wanted to recognize a little plot error.  In the first chapter, I made it seem like Annabeth was living somewhere in New York, when, in reality, she should live in Virginia.  Sorry about that.  If you notice some plot conflict with this chapter and the first, that is why.  Sorry again!  Enjoy the story.

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  I ran out of the gaping hole in the school building and went down an alley off of Church Street.  When I got there, I sat down on a crate to think.  How had Percy managed to end up with a cyclops?!  He surely didn't know what he was.  Cyclops were the worst.  I flashed back to when Luke, Thalia, Grover, and I were heading to camp. 

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We were in a big house, and I could tell something wasn't right.  Where were Luke and Thalia?  Then I heard Luke's voice, "Annabeth, come on, we're in here!"  And then Thalia, "Annabeth, come toward's my voice."  I ran towards the sound and bounded into the room.  "Welcome Annabeth," said Lukes voice, but it was not coming from Luke.  It was coming from a horrible beast with one huge, milky brown eye.  "I'm glad you made it for dinner," he said, this time in Thalia's voice.  I had no time to think.  So I did something rash.  I charged him and stabbed him in the foot.  While he was destracted by the annoying pain in his toe, Thalia and Luke broke free, and we sprinted from the house.

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I shake myself out of the memory, tears threatening to spill onto my cheeks.  But I stuff them down when I see Percy and that thing approaching, and hide them under a mask of anger.  The cyclops looks a little bit like the monster that kept us from reaching camp on time, and lead to Thalia's death.  Especially his eye.  The eyes are carbon copies.

"Where'd you find him?"  I demanded, pointing at the cylclops. 

"He's my friend." Percy said.  The cyclops kind of cowered beneath my glare.  When I looked into his eye, the tears almost came again.  That had been the scariest day of my life,  even scarier that the quest Percy and I took last summer. 

"Is he homeless?"  I ask, trying to calm my nerves.  I focused on Percy.  He looked slightly ticked off.

"What does that have to do with anything?  He can hear you, you know, why don't you just ask him?"  Di immortales, that thing could talk?  Just another way that he is like the other cyclops.  They are all the same.  Not to be trusted. 

"I can talk," it sputtered in a babyish voice, "you are pretty"

"Aww, gross!" I sputtered.  Percy was kind of staring at the thing's hands now. 

"Tyson," he said, "your hand aren't even burned."  Like he'd just now noticed that?

"Of course not," I muttered, "I'm surprised that the Laistrygonians had the guts to attack you with him around."  Meanwhile, the cyclops was trying to touch my hair.  I swatted his hand away.

"Annabeth," Percy said, "What are you talking about? Laistry what?"

"Laistrygonians," I replied, "The monsters in the gym.  They're a race of cannibals who live way far north.  Odyseuss ran into them once, but I've never seen them as far south as New York before."

"Laistry..., I can't even say that."  Of course not, your head is full of kelp. I thought.  "What would you call them in English."

I thought for a little bit before saying, "Canadians.  Now come on, we have to get out of here."  We had to get to camp.