ELIMINATE | Percy Jackson & Twilight Saga |

| END OF BOOK ONE |

CHAPTER THIRTY | END OF BOOK ONE

"You can mock me all you want."

_

HER TIME AS A WANNABE mortal girl was over. Though, Malia had to admit, she'd played the part well.

She'd ended the schools year, not with flying colors, but with at least passing grades. Malia had used what the daughters of Aphrodite had taught her about charmspeak to her advantage—she'd made the teachers like her, and the students had at kept their distance. She was neither bullied or befriended; she preferred it this way.

Meanwhile, inactivity was a big no-no for the daughter of Poseidon. She refused to return to camp with a lower stamina and chub hanging from her gut, so she'd joined the track team at her school and had immediately climbed to the top of the ladder: first place at every track meet, and a mile time no longer than five minutes. Her coaches had been impressed, and had her grades been just as good as her agility, they might've let her skip a grade level and offered her a scholarship.

She was slightly disappointed, that even if she had worked toward it, there was very little possibility that Malia would have actually attended a college. It just wasn't for her—not anymore, at least.

Her relationship with an envious Bella had never turned out to be a happy ending—they still threw verbal jabs at each other over the dinner table. But in time, Bella seemed to have relaxed just a little. They were finally able to watch movies and share a bowl of popcorn on the couch at midnight, sometimes being able to joke around like sisters do. Malia respected Bella for overcoming her immature behavior, and didn't push it—she understood that the rebuilding of broken relationship took time.

It had come to the point where Bella had asked to hear of some of Malia's incredible stories—the time she had returned Ares' lost war helmet on a quest, when she had successfully turned a group of fully-grown cannibal cyclops' into nothing but a pile of ash, when she had quite literally died defending her friends and spent nearly a month in the Underworld. It'd been these stories that had helped to gain Bella's respect, but still, it'd taken time. They still had a lot of work to do before the ice was completely broken.

But Malia had to take some fault for their torn relationship—the girl had also been filled to the brim with jealousy and resentment toward her sister. The mortal girl would one day graduate high school and attend a college, then live a long, perfect life with a stable job and a loving family. Malia would never have this. So, again, she forced herself to get over it, even if it choked her.

Renee, on the other hand, had spent as much time bonding with her daughter as she could. They'd spend the weekends tanning on the beach, committed to some very expensive clothes shopping, and, for the first time in years, celebrated Malia's birthday together on April the fourteenth. It was at the beach, of course, but because it had been in spring, they had feared harsh rains by noon.

It seemed that the gods had been fully on board that day—the ocean had offered calm waves, and the skies had been clear. Even now, Malia had a hard time figuring out whether it was the gods doing, or just a coincidence.

There'd been a few close run-ins with vicious monsters—hellhounds, hydras, and the works. Renee had thrown a fit every single time when Malia came home from cross country practices accompanied by bloody cuts and ugly bruises. Thankfully, Chiron had been sure to send her home with a decently sized box of nectar and ambrosia. The man had stuck it in her packed bag just as she left the borders—it warmed her heart to know that he had gone out of his way.

"Back to camp, soon?" Bella asked, not very happily, as she walked past Malia's open door. She was packing a small duffel bag consisting of workout clothes, her weapons, and what looked to be pictures she'd taken in her time of being in Phoenix—mostly consisting of her and Renee.

"Er, yeah," Malia answered, not bothering to look at her sister. "Problem?"

"We just got you back."

"I'll be back next year." She answered, but mentally added, probably. Her stay with her mortal family hadn't gone quite well; of course, Renee played her genuine part as a loving mother, even after Malia screwed up so badly by leaving them in the dust. But Bella's constant bashes at Malia's intense life had left her with increased anxiety levels and had nearly triggered her PTSD which she hadn't realized she had. At least, not until her mother had mentioned in an appropriate setting and sugar-coated wording. Yes—Malia, while playing the part of a normal human girl, had found that she suffered from mild PTSD and high anxiety levels.

Bella noisily scoffed, "yeah, you say that, and then something is gonna come up." Bella began to mock, "Oh, it's too dangerous—no, I'm dead again—oops! I'm getting married—"

"Okay, that's enough!" Malia sneered, "You can mock me all you want, but the day I actually do wind up dead, is the day you're gonna regret ever treating me the way you have."

In truth, Malia was hurt—and she knew that Bella could see it when her eyes stopped changing at the saddened shade of ocean blue. The Dwyer girl had much love for her family—even the ones who couldn't find it in themselves to love her—and it sucked when she put everything she had into loving her sister, only to earn bitter jabs in return.

Then she remembered—Percy. At least she'll be with her older brother soon. Despite him only sharing half of her genetics and having hardly a year of knowing each other, Malia knew that the two of them would always offer each other more love and support than she and Bella ever could.

Malia turned her attention back to her backing when she was met with the silent stare of Isabella Swan, ignoring the hateful twinge she felt swirling in her chest. Despite the tension rippling in their silence, Bella seemed to linger in the doorway.

Bella started to say, "if—"

Incoming Iris Message; Will you accept?

A big screen-shaped ripple of mist appeared before the daughter of Poseidon, interrupting Bella's sudden interest to break the silence. The dull-eyed girl stared in shock as Malia simply accepted the message with a simple demand, and continued along with what looked to be a conversation without being startled whatsoever.

Again, the misty screen rippled, revealing a familiar blonde-haired female, who seemed to not have changed at all within the passed few months. Though, her skin was slightly matted with what looked to be ashes.

"What is that?" Bella stepped closer.

Iris Message, bitch, now get out, Malia thought, but opted to keep that to herself. It'd only been a few days since she and Annabeth had spoken, but nonetheless, the Dwyer girl was eager to hear from her real sister again.

"Mal?" Annabeth called through the mist, smiling as Malia's face came into view. "Hey!"

"What's good, owl head? Run into trouble?"

"Only a little—"

A startled voice called in the background, followed by sounds of explosions, "Annabeth!"

Annabeth glanced to her right, then urgently returned to the message, "I'm currently rescuing your brother from a group of angry giants throwing flaming cannonballs at him."

"Wonderful."

"But, before I can really do something about it, I thought I should tell you, Chiron needs you back at camp."

"Now? Why?"

"Your dragon—" Annabeth tried to hide her excitement as she dodged a flaming cannonball, "Our research did some good, he's hatched."