Okay, to start off, this was never intended to be a Percy Jackson one shot. The idea was made for entirely original characters, but I changed it to a one shot. I would like to see your reactions, so please comment as often as you like.

Ideas and Questions welcome more than anything!!

Shuffle

I was sitting on the couch, resting my feet up on the coffee table, and shuffling my favorite deck of cards when the blond psychopath barged into my apartment.

"Hide it!" She screamed, slamming the front door behind her with all her might, "they're right behind me!"

I was on my feet in a flash, gallantly repeating the only word I could think of, "What?"

She glared at me and barred her teeth. "Don't play dumb with me, Percy!"

By now, there were only a couple problems with this scenario. First of all, I had never seen this girl before in my life. I would've remembered if a girl with such grey eyes stared me down. Secondly, I wasn't playing dumb. I had no clue who she was or what she was doing in this tiny apartment and I certainly didn't know how she got through the triple locked door.

I was also starting to think I really didn't want her in this house.

The girl threw all her weight against the door, panting heavily. She looked like a skater girl, a long blond princess hair in a backwards Yankees cap, fingerless gloves, the works. Her kicks were a shiny red that looked like flames on the carpet. What I really noticed, though, were her earrings. They were silver dragons that looped around her ears with fierce ruby eyes that were staring into my soul as she held the front door closed.

"I can hold it off forever!" The girl said, "Please!"

"Who are you?" I asked, "Who's "they"? What is going on?"

She groaned. Something heavy slammed on the door, shaking the entire building. If I hadn't known better, I would've assumed that some big huge monster was trying to break into the house. But that wouldn't happen. Never. Not in a million years.

I was sweating.

"Please!" The girl tried again, "They summoned it to kill us!"

"Why?" My pitch jumped to an octave guys should not have been able to reach, as I ducked below the sofa. Another slam that almost forced mystery girl away. Somehow she held her stance, looking both annoyed and amused with me at once. I didn't know people could wear two more emotions at once so perfectly.

Her hand went to her pocket, and she pulled out a handful cards. My heart leapt into my throat. A sick feeling overwhelmed my senses.

"Wait! No!" I shouted but the girl totally wasn't listening to me anymore.

She shuffled through the cards, hands shaking. She dropped a couple on the hardwood floor, one slid over to the edge of the carpet where I was hunkering. I couldn't do anything but stare at the decorative back.

Another hit to the door shook the room. I nearly lost my footing. The glasses from in the kitchen that I had neglected to put away in my boredom fell off the counter and crashed onto the ground with a sound that put my teeth on edge.

The next attack splintered the front door. The hole wasn't very big, was it was enough to get both me and the girl screaming. A wood splice the size of my hand ingrained itself in the wall opposite of her. Some liquid flowed through the hole, spilling on the ground. Something massive was outside, and just the idea was enough to make me want to throw up.

The blond girl grabbed a hold of her composure. She closed her eyes and shoved a single card against the fragile wood of my front door and yelled one word:

"Protect!"

Immediately the orange border of the card shimmered and broke out of its rectangular shape. The light was enchanting. It moved like an animal, past the door, past the corner, until it covered all the walls in my home in its soft sunset glow. The hole the monster had made fixed itself with a brand new piece, just as sturdy as the old one.

Most people love the sight of magic. It glows, it shines, it does things exactly as it's inscribed to do on the card. Some types of magic cards can even leave after smells in the air, like oranges or chocolate. Most people use it all the time.

I hate it.

I hate every type of magic card out there. Blues, greens, reds, all the colors. Magic sucks. Magic Cards suck even more.

"Thank the Dragons." the blond girl sighed with relief, "I forgot I had one of those in my pocket."

"What--What...?" I stuttered, "Who--Why?"

"A man of many words," She pointed at me, and I couldn't help but blush. "My name is Annabeth. Annabeth Chase. And if we don't get that card and leave both of us are going to die. I don't like dying."

Another pound on the door that shook the building, but not nearly as violent as before. The orange glow of the walls flashed.

"Is that going to hold whatever is outside?" I asked, already knowing I was going to hate the answer.

"Of course not." Annabeth replied, with a tight voice. Looking at her again, I could see that her calm composure was an act. There were bags under her eyes and a quiver in her voice. She glanced at the walls with a worried look I assume I wasn't actually supposed to see. She backed away from the door steadily. "That card was only a class C. I bet at most we might have a total of five minutes."

Another thump and the orange light flashed again. A thin line appeared in the protective border.

"Or five seconds." Annabeth amended.

"What does it want?!" I stumbled back nearly tripping over the coffee table, "Why is it here? What did you do?!"

"It's after the card! The Orange Card of Power!" Annabeth said.

The look on my face must have been enough to tell her I didn't know what she was talking about. Normally, I'm really good at hiding my emotions in a curtain that no one, including my own Mom can break through, but when a stranger breaks into your house, knowing your name, and right behind her is a monster, then you can try and lie to me that you didn't nearly wet yourself.

"Look, I don't have a clue what this card of prowess is--"

"Power." Annabeth interjected, "Card of Power."

"Whatever! This isn't even my house!" I exclaimed, "I'm just house sitting! This is the last place you are going to find any magic cards! The Thomason's hate magic!"

"We are going to die!" Annabeth yelled scrambling away from the door. She swiped a few of her cards off the ground and flicked through them frantically. "I don't have any more orange cards." She looked up at me like I was going to have some brilliant magical plan to execute.

"Don't look at me! I don't use magic cards!" I grabbed a handful of my regular deck of cards and shoved them in her face. She hit them away, sending my Jack of Spades sliding under the couch.

"We've got to find that card!" Annabeth said, running towards the hall that lead to the bedrooms. "Have you seen anything weird happening recently? Like orange glows or little spells?"

I dug the Jack of spades out from under the couch and scooped the other 51 cards back into a stack and shoved them into my pocket before racing after her. The crack in the orange was widening and I really doubted that I wanted to be around in the next seven seconds.

"I told you!" I yelled, "The Thomason's hate magic! They can't stand any type of magic at all. They won't just have it lying around!"

Annabeth was throwing things around in a panic, emptying everything in the bedroom the old couple shared. Horrified as I was to see the underwear of a woman I considered to be my grandmother, I didn't try to stop the blond girl. I rushed over to the closet and flung it open. Most of the clothes were hanging, and even though Mrs. Thomason had taken enough clothes to last the month, it was still pretty full.

"Cards of Power move around, moron!" Annabeth shouted back at me as she dumped an empty jewelry box on to the carpet floor. I winced, praying that the old woman wouldn't skin me alive when they got back for this. "That's why they are so hard to find! They appear wherever they please!"

I shoved the dresses back, "Why would it just appear here?"

Annabeth screamed and I dragged myself out of the closet. Do you know how hard it is to resist the urge to hide in a dark closet when there are crazy people in the house? The entire building shook and the unmistakeable sound of just about everything breaking made me almost throw up again. The orange glow shattered and there was no doubt that the card protection was broken. Annabeth grabbed my hand and dragged me further into the apartment.

The next room was the guest room, that I had taken over for the time being. It was tidy as Hell but that's okay because I was too busy staring at the monster to be embarrassed. It was big, the top of its broad shoulders slamming on the ceiling. The entire thing was made of water, the liquid body dark and swirling and screaming dangerous. The yellow eyes glowed in the mixture.

And I knew I was not sleeping for the next week.

"Move!" I yelled bodychecking Annabeth into the next room as the monster screamed so loud it broke the windows. I scrambled up and hopped the laundry basket that I hadn't bothered putting away. The Water monster charged down the hallway. It's thick footsteps covering the floors with murky water. Annabeth screamed, kicking the door closed. It was a useless gesture; without a protect card it would be in seconds.

I grabbed my bag, wishing I could take an actual inhale instead of just the short shallow gasps that kept coming in. I dumped the contents on the unmade bed, books, other playing card decks, pens, notebooks, I frantically shook until everything came out.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled, "Help!"

I threw myself onto the floor sweeping under my bed. It had to be there. Mom made sure I always had it with me, in case of emergency. I remember throwing it on the ground when I saw that she had stashed it in my packs yet again. She knew I hated magic cards, and what were the chances of this situation ever occurring? I didn't think I was ever going to be desperate enough to fight open the pencil case that held four cards.

Annabeth screamed even more high pitched than before. The door splintered worse than the front door had. Annabeth fell to the side to avoid being completely killed. I ripped open the case and dove towards her. The monster bellowed and smashed into the room. Water flooded the floor in seconds but I was already holding a card out in front of us.

"Teleport!" I shouted, "Teleport now!"

The Monster swung a water fist right down on us but we were already gone.

~~~

I can already feel this being a bad idea, but oh well! Again this was not originally made to be a Percy Jackson one shot. If you are interested in seeing the real version let me know and I'll see about it. 

C YA LOVELY READERS,

~Greenninjagal