#ramwfics

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Forever Cursed

This is my entry for the @pjo-hoo-bigbang! @shelbychild and @wisdomofchase were my lovely betas. TY for saving my tenses I know I’m a mess and for all the sweet messages you sprinkled in there. I see u and I appreciate u!  Please also go check out the collab piece that @officialpjo (lineart) and @wisdomofchase (coloring)  made for this as well as @silima piece and @aquacanis  piece. I was so excited to see how talented you all are! Also, I MIGHT re-visit this and add a more upbeat epilogue but I promise nothing lol.

This was really self-indulgent and fun to work on! I loved my team and I hope y'all enjoy it.

*************

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Clarisse La Rue/Chris Rodriguez Characters: Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase (Percy Jackson), Clarisse La Rue, Chris Rodriguez, Piper McLean, Drew Tanaka, Silena Beauregard Additional Tags: mentions of silena/beckendorf, mentions of silena, Heavy Angst, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Panic Attacks, Depression, percabeth, this is straight up sad yall Summary: How does one lose the infamous Curse of Achilles? Short answer: you don’t.

It starts with a fever.

It makes the demons inside Percy’s head all that more real. It’s harder to ground himself with the sight of his cabin back at camp. It makes his eyelids heavy, the fog and the heat of Tartarus all-encompassing.

He pulls himself to a sitting position at the edge of his bed, letting his head fall to his hands; his fingers run through his sweat-matted hair. The burning in his skin is real. It presses against his palms, and it makes his brain short-circuit.

I’m not there. I’m not there. I’m not there.

But he’s burning all over, and his blood feels like it’s boiling.

He can feel the sting of the Phlegethon down his throat. The scar on his shoulder aches as if it’s been torn apart all over again, but, unlike other nights, the pain moves all over, and keeps his breath in a choke-hold.

I’m not. I’m not there. I can’t be there.  

The pain blinds him, his cabin disappears, and his thoughts are extinguished to nothing but the pain.

Then, just as suddenly as it came, it subsides. Slowly, Percy can make out his stuttered breathing once again, until it’s just him, his breathing and his trembling hands, alone in his cabin.

He’s used to feeling worn-out after an especially bad nightmare, but the exhaustion that hits him then is different. It’s too heavy. For the first time since the Giant War, he’s pulled into an immediate, dreamless slumber.

Keep reading on AO3

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All Shades of You Chpt. 8

yep. 

Grover was trying to convince himself that Percy wasn’t acting weird, but it was getting harder and harder by the second. He seemed more on edge than usual, almost jumping at the sight of a pile of leaves Mrs. O’Leary had run into, and Grover was sure he’d only heard half of what he’d told him in the past hour.

He’d gotten to Beckendorf’s apartment before Percy had, and he seemed to share his suspicions. Grover chewed his lip anxiously as Beck told him about his grumpiness all weekend. “He has a test coming up,” he told Beckendorf, “he's probably nervous is all.”

Beck shrugged, clearly not convinced. They both were thinking the same thing: Gabe. Percy wasn’t exactly known for brushing things off, but it was the arguments he had with his stepfather especially that got to him. At the end of last year, things had started escalating. Grover had felt the change in his best friend. Percy had finally started sticking up for himself around his stepfather. Grover and Beck alike had encouraged it, but then Gabe walked in on Percy and his mom talking about him.

The fight had been so bad Percy had to stay with Beck for two weeks and he’d ended up taking his frustration out at school, finally earning him the boot from the institution. Percy had barely been allowed back to the apartment when Grover left for camp that summer. When he came back, Percy had gone back to keeping his head down around his stepfather. But it was only a matter of time before things blew up again.

His behavior was slightly different than before, though. There wasn’t as much anger, he just seemed frustrated, confused.

“Okay, what’s going on?” Grover finally asked.

“What?” He leaned down to calm down Mrs. O’Leary as a small chihuahua walked by and barked at her. “What are you talking about?”

“You’ve been acting weird all day.”

“No I haven’t…” He sighed, looking away from Grover. “I’m sorry. I’m just tired, Grover. It’s nothing.”

Grover wasn’t convinced. “You’ve been tired since I met you, Percy. You’re going to have to do better than that.”

Percy rolled his eyes at him but knew better than to try to lie to Grover again. “Fine! If you must know, Annabeth and I got into a stupid fight. I don’t know what’s gotten into her! Now, I’m sure I'm going to flunk that stupid test!”

Annabeth? Grover bit back his smile as Percy went on and on about how impossible she was. He’d had his suspicions since they’d started hanging out more and more without him needing to be there.

“Are you laughing?”

“What? No!” Grover quickly fixed his expression to something more sympathetic. “Annabeth means well, Percy. I’m sure she has a good reason, but she’s not great at expressing her feelings.” Quite like you, he thought to himself. “Just try to talk to her.”

Percy looked slightly panicked at that suggestion. He seemed like he was going to answer but then something behind Grover’s head caught his eye. Grover turned around to see what it was but all he saw was the busy New York skyline being lit by the last rays of sun. He turned back around to ask what all the fuss was about, but Percy appeared hypnotized.

“Seriously, man. What’s going on with you?”

Keep reading in AO3

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All Shades of You (Chapter 4)

I reached my first 1k a few days ago so, as promised, here’s the next chapter. Prepare for a lot of swimmer!Percy and some throw backs to my own swimming days (this was our actual stretching ritual). I can’t believe I reached 1k! That’s just crazy! Thanks once again to @san-penedo for being my beta and enjoy!

(please search #ramwfics or #ASoY for previous chapters)

Blue

/bloo/

Adjective

of a color intermediate between green and violet, as of the sky or sea on a sunny day.

Annabeth pinched her nose as she squinted through the brightness of her phone screen. Between green and violet. She guessed that meant that she was moving through the color spectrum. As of the sky. Yeah, she’d almost had a heart attack yesterday when she’d looked up, bracing for the recently bright green leaves of the trees, and was slapped with a clear, blue sky looking back down at her. Was this the color of Luke’s eyes? Was this what Thalia had seen all those years ago?

She sighed as she locked her phone’s screen and settled back down onto her pillow, sparing a quick glance to her roomate to make sure she hadn’t disturbed her. It was now obvious to her that she couldn’t keep ignoring this. Grover had tried to hang out with her more the past couple of weeks but she had guiltily denied in fear of Percy being there. Now she made the colossal effort of putting her pride aside and unlocked her phone once again, sending Grover a text asking if they could meet up tomorrow after school.

Even though it was around 12 am Grover answered right away. Sure! Where?

I dunno ur the new yorker, she answered back.

I know a great enchilada place.

She was about to answer but noticed the ellipses that told her Grover was still typing.

Tell thalia to come?

Sure thing. Annabeth knew that Thalia had been avoiding Grover longer than she had and felt guilty all over again about ghosting Grover for the past couple of weeks. She didn’t know if Thalia would agree, but it was worth asking anyways.

Annabeth walked to the address Grover had texted her this morning, self-conscious of her stupid, plaid school skirt. She spotted Grover right away and walked towards the booth he was at, careful to avoid tripping over the crutches he had propped beside him. “Those new?” Annabeth asked as a form of greeting. She hadn’t seen that particular pair before. Grover had EDS (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome) which meant he had pretty bad hips and chronic pain that fluctuated day to day so he didn’t always use his crutches.

He looked up from his menu and smiled at her. “Yep.” Grover looked past her hopefully, but Thalia had politely declined her invitation to come. She’d been acting a bit distant with Annabeth too now that she thought about it, ever since she told her about Percy and brought up Luke.

“So what’s good here?” She asked as a way to keep his spirits up. “I mean besides the enchiladas.”

He took a second to answer but collected himself quickly enough. “The guac isn’t bad,” he told her. “Percy approves of it even though he says his mom’s is way better.”

Annabeth ended up ordering the enchiladas and they fell into an easy conversation about school. She did a lot of the talking. Grover had never had a good time at school. She’d hoped things had gotten better with Percy there. She voiced her concern once she felt his guard go down.

He smiled a little to himself, he wasn’t nearly as proud as Thalia or Annabeth but she could tell the question still made hime bristle a little bit. “It was definitely better with Percy there. He got too worked up when people, you know,” Acted like assholes, Annabeth wanted to say but nodded instead. Her mind focused on the ‘was’. “He could give Thalia a run for her money with the temper he’s got.”

“What do you mean was? I thought you guys went to school together.”

By the way Grover stiffened she could tell it was a touchy subject. “He’s going to a different school this year.”

“How come?”

“It’s not really my place to say.” Grover had always been a sensible person, careful with how he handled his friend’s personal business. Annabeth could respect that, but she still wondered. By the way that Grover referred to it she could only guess that Percy’s departure wasn’t amicable. The mention of Percy’s temper also struck her as odd since he’d seemed pretty friendly when she’d met him. “It wasn’t really his fault,” he added hastily at the sight of Annabeth’s face. “He’s just got pretty rotten luck to be honest.”

Annabeth nodded, understanding that that was as much as Grover was willing to share about that particular matter. It eased her mind a little bit that Grover was quick to defend him though, he’s always been a great judge of character. Mostly.

********************

Percy couldn’t believe he’d let Rachel talk him into trying out for the swim team. He knew that Beckendorf held some of the blame as well, practically guiltying him into doing it. No doubt he’d also spoken with his mother since she just happened to know the date of the try-outs as well and had casually asked him if he was going to go for it. Percy knew that Sally had loved the fact that he’d joined the swim team at his last school. His grades had gotten slightly better and he had a good reason to be out of the apartment. Percy had even started considering the idea of college as an actual possibility for a while. Then people started asking too many questions. It was almost impossible to hide the bruises. It all fell apart pretty quickly after. He hadn’t forgotten the utter look of disappointment his mother had worn as the principal told her he wouldn’t be welcomed back to the school and that the other student’s family was likely to press charges. He couldn’t bare to do that to her again.

What am I doing? He asked himself for the millionth time that day as he walked out of the lockers, cap and goggles in hand. His heart was beating pretty fast, partly from nerves at the memory of what had happened the last time he’d been close to a pool, and partly in excitement at getting back in after so many months.

He was one of the first ones there. The blond guy he’d seen earlier in the week was there with three other freshmen-looking guys. He joined them wordlessly and got a brief nod from the blond captain. After about fifteen minutes, more boys started shuffling in. Percy could see the girls gathering around a tall brunette on the other side of the pool. Both captains signaled their groups to gather into one bigger group in the middle. “Alright! I believe this is everyone because if not you’re late!” Percy would never admit it but he actually set up about five alarms on his phone for particularly that reason. It was hard to keep track of time with his ADHD and he was known for being late. “My name is Lauren!”

“And I’m Cole,” chipped in blondie behind the taller girl.

“Right now we’re going to go through a standard warm up. If you’ve been on a team before you’re going to use the lanes on the right, if not use the ones on the left. The warm up is on the whiteboard behind me.” She pointed back and Percy started reading the routine. 400 free, 400 combined… Nothing fancy. “We’re not going to split you off into boys and girls just now but we will be walking around and rearranging some of you guys.”

“But first,” Cole chipped in once again. He was holding a CD player for some reason. “We stretch.” He hit play and Mulan’s ‘I’ll Make a Man Out of You’ started playing. He didn’t seem to notice the various eye rolls and groans that followed and happily started to lead the stretch. Percy had to bite down on his lip at the sight of Lauren doing windmills to the beat of Shang singing about honor and defeating the Huns with a completely stoic face. Both captains couldn’t be more different from each other.

Percy was moved three times throughout the warm up. By the end he was in a lane with two other guys and girls beside him. He’d always hated packed lanes both because he got kind of claustrophobic and because the constant brushing of his toes and having to slow down because of the person in front of him got on his nerves. One particular guy -he could only tell he was white behind his expensive goggles and cap- insisted on cutting ahead of him even when it was pretty obvious he was going extra hard to keep up with Percy’s pace. Percy forced himself to let it go since this was still only the warm-up.

After about twenty minutes they had them line up behind the diving blocks. “Okay! You’re all going to get two jumps! We only want to see your dives right now!” Lauren yelled over the commotion of about forty teenagers getting out of the pool. “Wait for my whistle!”

Percy waited for the five people in front of him to go. He felt his nerves mounting up in his chest as he got on the block. He almost realized too late that he’d actually failed to put his goggles on and barely had time to adjust them before the whistle went off. He landed smoothly in the water though, his hands touching the surface before anything else and letting himself glide for a couple of seconds before doing a dolphin kick to breach the surface. Braving a peak before ducking under the rail to the other lane, he saw that he’d reached just a little over half of the 25 meters. He swallowed his disappointment, last season he ate up more than three quarters of the pool with his dive.

As he lined up for his second dive, he made sure he had his goggles  were securely fastened, so by the time he was on the block again he felt much more confident. This time he reached his usual length. Things went pretty well from then on. They had them do a lap or two in each style, full speed, in medley order. Butterfly had always been Percy’s favorite style and he noticed some impressed nods as they noted his time of fifty four seconds for his hundred meter. Next came backstroke, followed by breaststroke, both of which Percy performed nicely at 58 and 57 seconds respectively.

They gave them some time to cool down before going for the fifty and one hundred meters freestyle. Percy’s nerves resurfaced as he waited for his turn to go for the fifty meters. He hadn’t missed Cole and Lauren talking to each other while sparing a few glances his way when he completed the hundred meters in 51 seconds. Even though he’s tied his personal best for the hundred everyone knew that the real show was in the fifty.

His heart started beating wildly when the guy in front of him completed his lap in twenty-four seconds. The girl afterwards swam it at twenty-eight earning an actual cheer from Lauren. Percy could tell she was pretty young, maybe even a freshman. His nerves were turning into actual nausea at this point. His arms felt heavy at his sides as he climbed up the block and he gave them a small shake before brushing his fingers against the ledge, toes curled around it. He let out a deep breath, tensed, and was off the block the second Lauren blew the whistle, his nerves vanishing the moment he hit the water. Percy’s only thoughts were faster, harder, keep it up, don’t slack. Before he knew it, his feet were kicking off the wall, his lungs begging him to come up but him waiting so as to not cut off his glide. That extra boost of speed that he always managed in the last couple of seconds kicked in and he was reaching, reaching…

“Nice!” Percy looked up at Cole as he broke the water, breathing heavily but looking expectantly at the chronometer. “Twenty-two point five!”

The co-captain helped him up and patted him on the back, Lauren beamed at him but was already looking at the next set of swimmers on the block. Twenty-two point five. He was five tenths shy of his personal best. That’s an Olympic qualifying time, Jackson. He remembered his last coach telling him. He’d swam it in twenty-two seconds during his last race. He tried not to think about it, but his stomach still churned in regret.

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All Shades of You (Chapter 1)

This is going to be the first chapter to a percabeth AU based on @ofswordsandpens ‘s  post (she was also nice enough to read it over and discuss ideas with me) This is my first chaptered fic so I hope you enjoy it! 

(please search #ramwfics or #ASoY for previous chapters)

                                                 *****************

Annabeth saw color for the first time when she was seven. It was before her brothers had come along. Her father had just barely met her stepmother and she’d invited them to her family’s beach house. Annabeth’d been so focused on building the perfect sandcastle that she’d completely neglected the ocean in front of her even though it was her first proper visit to the beach. It wasn’t until her father called her from the water that she looked up. 

It was unlike anything she’d ever seen. From her father’s bedtime stories she knew that the ocean was supposed to be blue or green. She never imagined it could be so many at once though. Deep green tinged with blues looked back at her. The colors were alive. She tried to mask her utter amazement but it must’ve shown on her face. Her father called to her once again, asking if anything was wrong. She forced herself to peel her eyes away and went back to her castle, never once mentioning it to anyone.

°°°°°°°°°

Percy had started to give up hope he’d ever see color. He’d spent so long in black and white that he’d started to believe they weren’t real, just something his mother had made up to get him to sleep during thunderstorms.

During one such storm, when Sally Jackson wasn’t there to lull him to sleep over the roar of lightning, he began to hope once again. It was too early for it to be light out but lightning lit the clouds every few seconds anyways. He’d buried his head in his pillow in an attempt to block it all out, but his heart continued  to beat too furiously for him to go back to sleep. Finally, he braved a peek through his curtains and threw them all the way back with a gasp. It wasn’t color, he was sure he’d know the difference right away when he finally saw it, but it was the brightest Percy had ever seen anything be. It shone with fierce life. Maybe he was being too hopeful, but it tugged at his heart anyways.

°°°°°°°°°°°

“This is nice.” Annabeth doubted that Thalia thought her neat, bland dorm room was nice but it was to her. There was also the added bonus of the peace and quiet she’d probably get without her brothers next door. “I can’t believe you’re actually here.”

Annabeth has been coming to New York since she was seven. During the summers for camp mostly, and that one time her family stayed for a full year. She’d met Thalia at one of her Dad’s charity dinners the first year they’d come to New York. Even though Thalia had been twelve, both girls had taken to each other right away. Thalia’d been there with her mother, whose career as a television actress had just started to fade, so she listened to the little blonde kid go on and on about the history of the Golden Gate Bridge. They had been like sisters ever since.

Thalia was the first person Annabeth called after a particularly nasty argument with her stepmother. She had helped Annabeth finally enroll in the New York boarding school she’d been eyeing for a while as a compromise.

“You’re actually pretty close to Grover’s school.” Thalia told her. They’d been pretty close with Grover Underwood before Luke died. They had all gone to the same summer camp. Annabeth had kept going even after Luke, but Thalia had stopped. She was surprised to hear Thalia still kept tabs of where he lived. She didn’t know if they were still talking. Grover had always changed the subject when she tried to bring it up. 

Her anger at her father rose again with full force when she thought about the summer with Grover she didn’t get to spend. She made a mental note to call Grover up to hang out as soon as she was done moving in. Hopefully he figured out her Dad was acting crazy again and he wasn’t mad at her.

“What about you? How far away are you?” Annabeth asked. She hoped her nerves didn’t seep into her voice, but of course Thalia noticed.

“Close enough, kiddo. Don’t worry.”

°°°°°°°°°°°

“Aren’t you worried that once you see color it’ll look awful?” Percy wasn’t sure if Rachel was paying him any attention. She was glaring at the canvas in front of her, twirling her paintbrush too close to her nose.  

She shrugged. “Maybe I’ll never find out.” She probably thought Percy was talking about the unfinished painting in front of her.

“Don’t you want to?”

Rachel put her brush down, turning towards Percy. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I just know that if I don’t I won’t be too beat up about it.” He didn’t know if he’d made a face, but Rachel seemed to notice something was up. “Why? Would you?”

“No-I mean- I don’t know…” Rachel was cool, but he’d only known her a few months. It felt too personal to talk about with her. He’d wanted to tell someone about the thunderstorm but the more he thought about it the more he convinced himself that he probably imagined it. Maybe he would tell Grover once school started.

Rachel sighed, going back to her painting. “We’re sixteen, Perce. If you really want it to happen, you’ve got time.”

“It’s not like I’m dying for it to happen or anything.”

She chuckled. “Okay, Percy.”

“I’m not!”

Percy really hated the summers sometimes. Sure, having no school was awesome, but it’d always meant he’d have to work. Anything to get out of the house and not be with Smelly Gabe. He realized “Smelly Gabe” was a pretty childish nickname for his disgusting stepfather but he’d been eight when he thought it up, okay?

It also meant Grover was off to his summer camp, with his ‘awesome friends’ that he always went on about. Percy was pretty proud of himself from meeting Rachel this summer. Well, more like crashing into her since he did almost run her over with his skateboard. It’d been quite a sight having a frizzy-hairedm shiny (he imagined she’d been covered in golden paint from the sheen of her skin and his mother’s description of the color) girl yelling at him. She said she’d forgive him if he donated to her cause (“Save Public School Art Programs”) but seeing as he was broke she settled for him giving her his honest opinion about her art. He’d been coming to her apartment each afternoon after his dog-walking job ever since. So far he’d helped her finish two paintings. 

He hadn’t really stuck around for the art though. Percy was pretty confused as to why Rachel valued his opinion when he clearly didn’t know the first thing about painting, but she did. She made him feel smart, and she was pretty smart herself. Rachel was also attending Percy’s new school: Goode High School. They weren’t supposed to start for another week but Grover got back today and Percy was excited to have his two friends meet. He tried to ignore how lame it was that he only had two friends. 

They were meeting at Rachel’s penthouse because it was big enough to fit two of Percy’s apartment in it and because it was always empty. Rachel’s parents tried to make up for leaving her alone all the time by providing her with endless amounts of cheese plates and all the take-out she wanted. Percy was also excited to see Grover’s face when he saw the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Percy’s phone buzzed with a text from Grover.  I’m at the lobby. U sure I got the right address?

Percy smiled to himself and answered:  Yep I’ll buzz u in

Grover’s face when Rachel opened the door for him was definitely worth it. Percy didn’t miss how uncomfortable all the attention seemed to make Rachel though, so he smiled at her and she couldn’t help but laugh along at Grover’s cry of excitement when he saw the enchiladas they’d ordered. “Whoa!” He hesitated but Rachel, clearly embarrassed insisted he’d go ahead. “What a great day. First Annabeth texts me she moved here and now enchiladas!”

“Wait.” Percy said, “Annabeth’s here?”

[rainagainstmywindow]

All Shades of You (Chapter 5)

Happy Birthday to Percy Jackson! This is super fluffy so it commemorates the Percabeth anniversary as well too I believe. Thanks as always to my lovely beta @san-penedo and enjoy the small lifeguard!Percy i managed to sprinkle in there! (please search #ramwfics or #ASoY for previous chapters)

Percy groaned as he attempted to read the same passage of his history textbook for what appeared to be the hundredth time. The exhaustion that weighed over him thanks to swim practice two hours prior didn’t help either, nor the fact that he had to wake up early tomorrow for his dog-walking gig. He would have little time the rest of the weekend to catch up on homework since he’d taken on extra shifts at the local pool where he worked as a lifeguard to make up for what he couldn’t work during the weekdays now that he was in the swim team.

He got halfway through the passage once again but it was no use, the words just taunted him from the page, dancing around in weird, curvy waves. Frustrated, he slammed the book shut, immediately flinching at the sound. He hadn’t heard anyone come in but Smelly Gabe would give him hell for making any noise during his precious “TV time.” Percy slowly poked his head out of his room and was relieved to find he was home alone. His stepfather was probably out drinking with his buddies and his mom should’ve been heading home from the candy shop. He felt his phone buzz. It was a text from Sally.

Will probably get there in a few hours. Had to close up late and I stopped to get some groceries. Don’t wait up. Love you

Percy texted back a quick reply, knowing full well she was probably closing up but at a new job. She had not wanted to admit it when he’d asked, too concentrated on congratulating him for making the team, but this definitely put a strain on money. His school tuition had already been too much even when he was working more frequently. He wondered once again if this was worth it, if he was worth it. He knew his mom wanted him to have what she didn’t, to finish high school and make it out of this neighbourhood. But he’d only managed to screw up every chance he’d gotten so far, and college just seemed too out of reach. His stepfather seemed to agree with it all being a waste. I won’t waste a dime on your little delinquent kid, Sally! Percy had heard him and his mother arguing after she’d gotten Percy the interview at Goode. As if Smelly Gabe had ever contributed anything but anxiety to Percy’s life. He’d silently prayed he wouldn’t be allowed into the school, didn’t really see how considering his record and poor grades. But, somehow, he’d made it in.

He made his way into the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge. He’d made sure to have an extra large lunch but he had not eaten since practice and he was starving. Percy looked at the clock. 10:32 pm. He figured Beckendorf would be at his apartment, getting back from work himself. Last year he would alternate his time between practice and Beckendorf’s apartment. Most days Grover would join them and they would pass the time bothering Beckendorf about Silena or playing with Mrs. O’Leary. Yet another thing Percy had screwed up when he got himself kicked out. He slammed the fridge door too, this time flinching because he knew he couldn’t afford to break the old thing. It’s not like Beckendorf had stopped inviting him over. He’d even hung out there a few days ago. Percy just couldn’t help but feel guilty whenever he saw him.

In the end, his own boredom and frustration won and he found himself in front of Beckendorf’s door. Mrs. O’Leary must’ve heard him come because Percy could hear her barking through the door. A few seconds later there was Beckendorf staring down at him, still im his mechanic overalls. “Hey! Everything okay?” Percy didn’t miss how his dark eyes scanned his face. There had been a couple of times last year when he’d knocked on his door later at night looking worse for wear.

“Yeah,” he answered casually, “I just got bored. Can I come in?”

“Yeah, of course.” Beckendorf stepped aside, making sure to hold on to Mrs. O’Leary’s colar. The large Rottweiler had started bounding happily at the sight of Percy, who scratched her ears on his way in. Beckendorf knew Percy too well. “You hungry?” He asked as they shuffled into his living room/kitchen.

Percy tried not to look too embarrassed as he admitted: “I’m starving.”

************

“What?” Percy asked Grover for the second time. He’d been too focused on a scrawny kid flopping around in the pool in front of him to hear what his friend was saying. He’d seen the kid before, not the strongest swimmer but Percy could tell it was more due to lack of confidence than anything else. He’d seen him manage quite well in the shallower parts of the pool. Today it seemed like he’d finally decided to try out the deeper end though. The kid’s parents were nowhere to be seen, and Percy could see the panic starting to creep into his face as he realized the water was too deep to stand in. “I’ll be right back.”

Percy slid into the water. He didn’t want to make a scene since the kid wasn’t actually drowning and he wanted to give him a chance to get out of there by himself. The boy spotted him right away, relief evident in his face. Percy was tall enough to stand in this part of the pool so he made his way slowly towards him. “Hey there.” The kid didn’t make a dash to hold onto him so Percy knew hadn’t gotten too desperate, but the way he was flopping around would tire him out soon enough. “What’s your name?”  

The kid, looking mildly embarrassed, told him it was Trevor. Slowly but surely, Percy got Trevor to paddle to a shallower part of the pool. His parents finally made an appearance not soon after. “Hey ma’am,” Percy called. They were clearly here just to pick him up and they didn’t look too happy about it. The father hadn’t even looked up from his phone. “Is this your kid?” The mother, a woman that appeared to be blonde with unusually dark skin (through his limited color palette Percy assumed it was due to a bad tanning job), looked him up and down but didn’t find it within herself to answer. “I had to help Travis swim away from the deeper end of the pool. He’s not a strong enough swimmer yet for you to leave him on his own like-”

“Oh, I’m sorry, are you complaining about doing your job?” The woman’s tone made Percy’s blood boil but he clenched his fists to keep his temper in check. He didn’t need any complaints going to his supervisor. He tried to apologize but the woman was too busy yanking Trevor out of the water to care. Percy tried to put on a fake smile as he waved goodbye to the kid and sulked back to his chair.

Grover looked distastefully at the spot where the woman had gone. “A plus parenting, huh?”

Percy rolled his eyes in agreement and slumped back into his chair. “What were you saying before?”

“Oh right,” Grover tried to calm his nerves, but he’d never been a good liar and Percy knew him pretty well by now. Grover was hoping to catch Percy in a good mood since he knew he wouldn’t like this next part very much. “Well, you know how you’ve been telling me you’ve been struggling with homework lately?”

That question alone was enough to hit a nerve. “I’m not struggling, Grover. I was just saying that I’m tired and I hate reading.”

“Yeah, well I was talking to Annabeth-” Grover held up a pleading hand before Percy could interrupt him- “She’s really smart, Percy! She could help you out after school!”

“Why did you have to tell her anything? I don’t even know her!”

“I didn’t tell her anything about that!” Grover argued. He knew it was hard for Percy to talk about people about his dyslexia and ADHD; he wouldn’t betray his trust like that. Little did Percy know, however, that Annabeth was in the same boat. “I just told her you needed some help with some subjects because I know she’s really good at all that stuff and she actually volunteered herself to tutor you.” It had taken Grover aback a bit actually. Annabeth was nice and always there to help, but she didn’t take on to new people right away. Grover hadn’t gotten the impression that she disliked Percy, but it usually took her a lot longer to show interest in new people. The only other person he knew she’d gotten along with right away was Thalia. Now that Grover thought about it, Percy and Thalia did have a lot in common, though.

“Tutor me?” Percy was looking thoroughly annoyed, eyes fixed on the water before him.

“She’s not going to charge you or anything,” Grover winced at his own comment. It was hard to manage Percy’s temper around this subject. He hated feeling pitied and wasn’t big on asking for help. “She’s just trying to help and she’s new here. She doesn’t know many people besides me and Thalia.” Percy sighed. “She’s the smartest person I know, Percy. I trust her. You met her. She’s cool.” Grover could tell he was going to give in. He knew Percy was worried about keeping his grades up. His swim coach had let him on the team under the condition that he would get his GPA up enough to get out of probation from the school. Grover was also secretly excited about his two best friends possibly becoming friends themselves.

“Fine,” Percy finally said, bringing his whistle up to his lips at the sight of a group of small girls chasing each other. He gave one firm blow and pointed at the sign that read No Running when they both whipped their heads towards him. “I’ve got some free time on Monday after practice.”

*************

Annabeth tapped her pen impatiently against the table she’d settled in at the library. It didn’t help her temper that today she found out that this same pen, which she’d been using since the beginning of the semester, was bright red. The color of romance, her father had once jokingly told her. And danger, Annabeth now thought. Yeah, that seemed more accurate in her case.

The guy was almost an hour late. She was about to give up when she heard what sounded like a chair being knocked over, a loud hush, and a quick apology. A few seconds later, there was Percy Jackson. His hair was still wet from what she assumed was swim practice and he was holding a battered skateboard under his arm. Annabeth was once again struck by the intense green of his eyes. She thought she’d gotten used to the color after seeing it everywhere for the past couple of weeks, but it still floored her. There was nothing else that was that exact shade of green.

“You’re late.”

He at least managed to look guilty as he pulled a chair out noisily, earning him a death glare from the librarian at the desk. “I know. I’m so sorry. We ended late and the subway broke down or something.”

Annabeth would’ve shrugged that off as a half-assed excuse but every time she’d gotten on the subway that week it had stopped for almost an hour. Percy also had a very sincere way of saying things that kind of put her on edge. She waved her hand dismissively. “It’s fine. Did you bring your book?” He pulled a history textbook from his battered backpack. She tried to ignore the fact he’d dogeared the page. “Fall of Constantinople, right?”

“Yeah.” She could tell this whole ordeal embarrassed him a little. It was becoming harder and harder to remember she was annoyed at him. “I just...can’t seem to understand why this city was so important. From what I managed to extract from the other chapter, it seems like this whole empire was already done for.”

“I mean it was certainly in decline, and the Ottoman Turks had taken the Balkans and Anatolia by this point. So that made Constantinople the last city holding up what used to be this seemingly unbreachable empire.” Annabeth saw Percy nodding along and jutting down some notes. There was no other way to call it, it was cute. “Constantinople also represented Mehmed’s rival religion.”

“Wait, so he tried to take it again? This Meh...however you say his name? He’d already tried before, right?”

“No, that was his dad.” Annabeth leaned closer to the passage Percy was looking at. He pushed the book towards her so she could get a better look. The font was so tiny that Annabeth almost got dizzy. It would’ve taken her almost an hour to decipher just one paragraph. She pushed the book back towards him, hoping he hadn’t noticed. Thankfully, she had always been good at remembering names and they’d gone over this in her school in San Francisco last year. “Murad was the one who failed to take the city and then his son Mehmed tried again and succeeded. He got this Hungarian artillery expert, Urban I think he was called, to build him a cannon powerful enough to take down the walls of the city.”

“Sorry, could you spell that last name?”

Something about the question made Annabeth falter for a second. Percy appeared to understand most of what they were talking about. It was the names that seemed to stump him. It sounded a little familiar. “Sure.” Annabeth spelled the name out for him and she watched him make some new notes. She thought about how Grover never failed to bring up Percy one way or another when she complained about homework assignments. “Once Mehmed seized the city he used the emperor’s famed cathedral as a mosque. I can’t remember the name though. Is it in your book? I don’t know if they’d want you to know it for class.”

Annabeth observed as Percy scanned the page; she could practically feel the frustration oozing off of him. She was absolutely certain her suspicions were correct when she saw him push the book a bit far away, a trick she herself had tried many times. “Hey Percy,” he grunted in response, still absorbed in the textbook, “are you maybe...dyslexic?”

She felt him tense right away. Grover hadn’t told her for a reason, it was clearly a touchy subject for him. Annabeth was grateful that Grover had also clearly failed to tell Percy about her. “I just think that’s why Grover brought all of this up.” He was now looking at her, a complicated look on his face, like he didn’t know whether or not he should be getting offended. “It’s just that,” it had always been hard for her to talk about it too. It was like a cosmic joke for someone that loved reading so much to be made in a way that made it almost impossible to do so. “I am too, dyslexic I mean. Just looking at that book just now made me want to throw up.” His expression immediately softened. Annabeth noted the way he could easily go from one emotion to another. “That font size is awful.”

“I know right. And it’s and older edition so it doesn’t have an audio version.”

“I think I still have one for my textbook last year. I don’t know if it has everything in this one but-”

“No, yeah. That’d be great! I mean if you don’t mind-”

Annabeth chuckled, definitely cute. “I don’t, Percy.”

He thanked her once again and they finally exchanged numbers. They got through the main events of Constantinople. Annabeth remembered everything pretty well and Percy took notes. She felt light as a feather the whole time. She tried to ignore it. It’d never been this way with anyone she liked in the past. Her crush on Luke had been anything but light. Being with Percy was just nice. She didn’t know about the whole ‘soulmate’ ordeal, she didn’t even know if she liked him that way really, but she definitely wanted to hang out with him again.

An hour later he casually checked his phone and almost jumped off his chair, earning him yet another glare from the librarian. Annabeth tried to mask her snort as a cough. “Sorry,” he said quickly. He turned to Annabeth. “I have to go. Are you free Thursday?” She was pretty sure she would be but she’d have to check. She could tell he was in a hurry though so she told Percy she’d text him. “Thanks again! See you then.”

Annabeth smiled silently to herself as Percy hurried out of the library, bumping into several chairs and failing beautifully at making a quiet exit. Her smiled melted when she looked down at the pen she was still holding. Bright red.

[rainagainstmywindow]

Fallen Heroes

So...I had to. Obvious SPOILER ALERT for THAT spoiler in TBM. This is the Greeks finding out about Jason. I know the timeline is murky but bear with me.

Percy was having the first normal day at camp in months when the nereids brought everything to a screeching halt. Most campers knew better than to pay much attention to the beautiful women that lived in Camp Half-Blood’s canoe lake. They loved to take advantage of those unfortunate souls who didn’t know about their tendency to flirt until they got you close enough to dump you inside of the lake. The naiads had always paid special attention to Percy, him being the son of the sea god and all, but these weren’t regular water spirits. Nereids lived strictly in salt water, the fact that they were in the lake caught Percy’s attention right away. That and the utter look of devastation in their beautiful faces. They were definitely not there to flirt with him.

Percy didn’t pay much attention to the questions from the Stolls brothers and Clarisse as he deviated from their way to the dining pavilion. He walked up to the nereids, already fearing for the worst. He tried to calm his nerves by reminding himself that Annabeth was probably already waiting for him in the Athena table; he’d seen her not two hours ago. She was fine. “My Lord,” started the nereid. Percy didn’t know her. Something was definitely wrong. “We’ve been looking for you. Something’s happened. My sisters in the Pacific tell me a hero has fallen.” Annabeth is fine. It’s not her. You just saw her. Through his nerves he made sense of what the nereid was saying. Pacific? She probably meant California.

“Is it Camp Jupiter?”

The woman submerged herself for a moment. Through the water Percy could see her consulting another nereid he’d never seen before. She looked younger, shaken. She finally came back up, nodding. “The boy bore the mark of the Romans, but it doesn’t appear to be the other Camp. He wasn’t alone, though.”

Piper. Jason. A hero has fallen. The boy. “What happened? Who else was there?”

“The others are alive but the boy perished. I’m sorry, my Lord. We can’t sustain ourselves in these waters much longer.”

“Wait!” Percy reached out and caught her wrist before she could fully submerge herself again. “Are you certain? Are you sure?”

Her dark blue eyes softened, looking up at him sadly. “Yes, my Lord. My sisters made sure to at least retrieve the body. There was nothing left to do.” Percy’s hand went slack and she swam away quickly.

Maybe it’s not him. It can’t be him. Not Jason.

“Jackson!” Clarisse’s voice zapped him out of his panic. “You done getting your fill of gossip? We’re gonna be late for dinner!” She walked to where he was kneeling and pulled on his arm. Whatever she was going to say died away when she caught his expression. “What happened?”

“Where’s Nico?” The son of Hades had confirmed his fears when Beckendork died. He’d know. Especially if it was Jason. He’d know.

“What? I dunno probably sucking face with Solace. Why-”

“I need to find him.” He got up and started heading towards the cabins but Clarisse caught his arm. He turned towards her. She was looking at his hands, which Percy just now noticed were shaking. He balled them into fist and shrugged her hand away. “I’m fine,” his friends had seen him and Annabeth struggle to more than a couple panic attacks since coming back from Greece. “Something’s happened. Something...I just need to make sure first.”

Clarisse looked like she wanted to say more and now she was definitely getting worried, but Percy’s sense of urgency was obvious and she let him go. She nodded and called for Travis and Connor, who had observed the whole interaction from a few feet away, to follow her back to the dining pavilion.

Percy’s brain felt sluggish. He tried to recall Nico’s schedule but his panic had turned to dread and his heart was beating so loudly it was impossible to listen to his thoughts. His feet instinctively took him back to Nico’s cabin. His eyes fell on his hunched from right away. His back was to Percy and he was sitting on the ledge of the bed. He walked towards him and almost tripped over his sword and shield. Clearly, he’d rushed into the cabin. “Nico.” He didn’t jump at the sound of his name. He’d heard Percy come in.

“He’s gone, Percy. “ He turned the slightest bit towards Percy so only half his face was visible. But Percy could see the shine of tears in his eyes. “Jason’s dead.”

Percy didn’t feel anything. His mind wa still reeling with dread and panic. What Nico was saying just made no sense. Jason couldn’t be dead. He’d killed a Titan with his hands. They’d just won a war. This didn’t happen now.

He didn’t say any of this to Nico, though. Because, through the noise of his thoughts and furious heartbeat, he’d caught the utter devastation in his voice. He rushed to him, seating beside him so he could see his pale, tear-stained face. With a jolt, Percy remembered how he looked when they’d rescued him from Ephialtes. He wore that same empty look in his eyes. Percy couldn’t bear it. “Nico.”

“I felt him go...I wanted to call his- his spirit but,” his voice finally broke. Percy hugged him, something awful hurting his chest at the sound of sobs racking through the younger boy. Percy knew that Jason had managed to connect with Nico in a way that everyone else had failed in the past. He was his friend, a good friend. Percy clung to that feeling of numbness. He couldn’t allow himself to lose it. Nico got to lose it. Nico deserved it.

Percy held him for what felt like an hour. It could’ve been ten minutes. His brain was still sluggish. Eventually, Nico calmed down enough to wipe his face. Percy knew him well enough now to know he’d want to do something erratic. He couldn’t blame him, but Percy also knew he’d just end up hurting himself more. “You can’t go looking for him, Nico. Not now at least.” Percy expected him to be angry, almost welcomed it. He needed to know he’d be okay before he did anything else. “Just let me figure everything out.”

“It doesn’t make sense for me not to look for him, Percy. How else are we supposed to know what happened? If someone else is hurt?”

He wasn’t alone. A new wave of worry for Piper, Reyna, Dakota, all the romans, stirred in Percy. Tyson! Nico made a lot of sense, but Percy didn’t want to let him.

“You’d think the gods would break their radio silence for something like this…”

“Did you try to contact your Dad?” Nico nodded, clearly he hadn’t gotten through to him. “Can you even go to the Underworld right now?”

“Probably not. But I could summon...him.”

Percy shook his head. That would just tangle Nico more and more into whatever was happening. Percy suspected it was probably linked to Apollo and whatever he’d been doing these past months. “You didn’t feel anyone else?” Last time Percy had seen Apollo he’d been with Leo. He was certain Piper wouldn’t have let Jason go on any quests alone, even after whatever had happened between them.

“No.”

Percy pushed his brain to go into overdrive, grasping at any possible course of action. Their silence was interrupted by someone opening the door. Will looked from Percy to Nico, panic turning into worry. “What happened?” He too rushed towards Nico, who took his hand but said nothing.

Percy looked past Will to the other person that had followed him in. Annabeth was asking him a million questions with her eyes. Are you okay? What happened? It was getting harder and harder for Percy to cling to his initial shock. “Jason’s dead.” Annabeth froze in her tracks, he felt Will do the same besides Nico. “We don’t really know what happened yet. But he’s definitely gone. Nico...felt him go.”

Annabeth’s gray eyes grew wide, still asking him, confused. She turned towards Nico, looked back at Percy. Is it true?

Percy needed to do something. He needed a plan, needed to know what to do, how to fix it. You can’t fix this. He got up, avoiding Annabeth’s pleading stare. Will looked at him. “Stay with Nico,” he told him. Don’t let him do anything rash. Will nodded and Percy moved towards the door, taking Annabeth’s hand and guiding her outside.

Percy tried to think of anything he could do. I’ll just go to California myself. “Percy,” Annabeth said somewhere behind him. He hadn’t let go of her hand, he couldn’t let go. I have to find Apollo and Meg. “Percy.” Annabeth’s voice was firmer this time. She stopped and he was forced to stop as well. He only then realized he was standing right in front of the Zeus cabin. Maybe he’d been heading to his own. Either way, he stepped back when he saw the familiar marble door. Annabeth seemed to share his trepidation and guided them to her own cabin instead. It was thankfully empty since everyone was at dinner. She pushed him down onto her bed. “Tell me what happened.”

Percy recounted everything that had happened in the last hour robotically. Annabeth never interrupted him until he was finished. She looked as shocked as he felt but finally managed to say. “Do we know if the rest are okay? Piper?”

“Nico didn’t feel anyone else go. The nereids didn’t say much either, but I’m sure it has something to do with Apollo and Meg’s quest. Leo might’ve been with them.”

Percy heard Annabeth curse beside him. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze. It didn’t feel real. Everytime Percy had a nightmare about losing his friends, he was always there. He’d always been there, one way or another. It was the only way it felt real. Besides, Jason was one of the most powerful demigods he’d ever met. It just didn’t make sense.

Percy. Through his sluggish thoughts he made out the sound of his name. He was sure Annabeth hadn’t said a word in a while. This was something different. Percy.

Grover? He hadn’t heard from his best friend in months, hadn’t used their empathy link since before Hera kidnapped him. Grover is that you? A rush of excitement, immediately accompanied by despair overcame him. Percy saw a brief glimpse of Grover’s dirty high tops as he walked through what looked like a forest.

Percy something awful happened. Jason…

I heard something from a nereid here at camp. Where are you?

I’m in California. He’s really gone, Percy. I’m sorry. Hedge and Mellie went with Piper.

What happened? His vision suddenly flashed with images of a weird assembly of people. They had to be the strangest collection of nymphs he’d ever seen. As he looked closer he noticed Meg McCaffrey’s bruised face, Hedge, Mellie, and of course, the one and only Lester Papadopoulos. He couldn’t catch everything he said and his voice got frailer and frailer as he recounted what happened. But Percy got the gist of it. Another Roman Emperor, Caligula, had surfaced. Medea had helped him. They almost didn’t make it out. Jason sacrificed himself.

Afterwards, I went with Meg and Apollo to the burning maze. Medea was there. We wouldn’t have made it out in time but Piper killed her just in time. They got a new prophecy, Perce. Something about Reyna. Caligula’s on his way to Camp Jupiter.

The words ‘Piper killed her’ rang in Percy’s brain. Are you with them? Are you going to Camp Jupiter?

No. I’m heading home, Percy. Piper left for Oklahoma with Leo and the Hedges.

Good, Percy thought. At least Piper wasn’t alone, he would get to see Grover. How are you getting here? The gods have us on radio silence and none of our communications work.

I’ll try out the labyrinth and find local nymphs or satyrs. I have to go now, whatever’s affecting our communications isn’t doing wonders for our empathy link. I’m sorry about Jason.

Just be safe. Keep in touch.

We need to tell Thalia, Percy. Last I heard, the hunters were in Indianapolis. With that, the connection finally gave out.

This morning his biggest worry had been school, college, his SAT results. He was back to being normal for the briefest of moments. Now, one of his friends was dead and the other Camp was about to be attacked. War never seemed to stop. It followed him everywhere he went. “That was Grover in the empathy link,” he told Annabeth. She immediately perked up. He recounted what he’d told him.

“No.” She shook her head in disbelief, letting go of his hand and pacing around the cabin. “I should’ve been there. Piper-”

“She’s got Leo and Hedge and Mellie. She’s walking away from it, Annabeth.” Angry tears had started running down her face. She didn’t even bother wiping them away, imagining what her friend was going through while she was all the way on the other side of the country, with no way of reaching her. “Annabeth, Thalia doesn’t know.”

That got her to stop pacing. The look she gave him mirrored exactly what he felt. No, not her. She doesn’t deserve this. “Grover said she might be in Indianapolis.”

They had both immediately seemed to have come to the agreement to put everything else on hold. Whatever attempts at not getting involved before were out of the question now. There was always going to be something to be done. They’d both always prefer to do it themselves than to have it fall onto someone else’s shoulders.

Annabeth hadn’t stopped crying, but she steeled her expression, nodding. “We need to call a head counselor meeting. Tell Chiron. Burn his shroud.” Like Percy, she was already grasping for a plan.

***********

They didn’t waste any time delivering the news. Everyone in the rec room of the Big House had lost someone before. Half of the counselors had gotten there because their sibling had died. Percy didn’t fail to notice that half of the faces there were different than the ones a year prior. Beckendorf, Silena, Michael, now Jason. It still stunned everyone into silence. The death of a child of the Big Three, a child of Jupiter, changed everything.

“Nico and I,” said Will after a few moments, “we’ll design the shroud.” No one objected.

“What about my sister?” Whispered Drew. It was all too familiar to her. “She can’t be alone right now.”

“She isn’t,” Percy assured her. She nodded, wiping away at her face, oblivious to her makeup. “Grover also told me Caligula was on his way to Camp Jupiter.”

“We can’t even warn them,” said Clarisse bitterly. “Or send back up. It won’t make it in time.”

“Meg and Apollo are on their way. Besides, Caligula is travelling through water, right?” Chiron was about to protest from his place at the other end of the ping-pong table, but Percy held up a pleading hand, the other was once again secured around Annabeth’s. “Tyson is there, Chiron. We can’t leave the Romans alone” Annabeth had insisted on going with him. They’d have to leave right away, tomorrow at the latest. Percy hoped Grover got to Camp before then. They’d have better intel and he just hadn’t seen him in so long. No one liked it, but the only one that looked like she wanted to object was Clarisse. It was just the only way less people got involved. Percy and Annabeth were the most powerful demigods, their leaders. They were the best backup they could send. “Someone’ll have to tell Thalia too.”

“I’ll go,” said Nico. It was the first time he’d spoken during the whole meeting. “I can move around fast and can get the hunters to Camp Jupiter if I find them in time.”

It was Percy’s turn to protest but Annabeth pulled on his hand. She gave Will a look and he said: “I’ll go with him.”

Percy looked at Nico. Before, he would’ve defied him. I’m not a child! You’re not the boss of me! But he’d grown up so much since then, been through so much. The war chased him as much as it did Percy. He didn’t object, a small agreement passing between him and Nico. Percy trusted him. He knew why he needed to do this. He couldn’t protect him because he knew how to defend himself, could hold his own. “That’s settled then,” he said.

After everyone started shuffling away, Clarisse came up to Percy and Annabeth. “I’ll go with you guys,” her voice sounded strange. “You shouldn’t even be going. I can’t believe Chiron would let you.”

“We didn’t ask him, Clarisse,” Annabeth told her. “We’re not asking you to go either.”

“Just walk away. You’ve earned it, both of you. No one has done more. I get that you want to do something about Jason, but he’s gone. It’s just the way it is. Let someone else...” She was pleading, her brown eyes uncharacteristically tearful. They both knew how much Clarisse didn’t want to go. She finally had a good, stable life. She was only at camp now because her and Chris got some unexpected time off from college in Arizona. They’d just gone through a war, no one deserved to go.

Percy thought back to his first weeks of camp, when Clarisse was ready to zap him with his electrical spear, her anger towards him after defeating her father. Then, that time with her godly brothers, showing her her deepest fears: her friends perishing around her, among them Percy. They’d come a long way, fought wars together. He’d gladly fight another if it meant she got the life she was starting now. “You’re not going with us Clarisse. That’s final.” She immediately bristled at the sound of being given an order from Percy, because she was Clarisse. “You’re going to go back to Arizona with Chris, and you’re going to live your life.” She looked to Annabeth, as if begging her to make him see sense. But her mind was as made up as his. “Go Clarisse. I need you to go.”

She looked like she was going to punch Percy. He braced himself, but instead she hugged him, pulling Annabeth in with her other huge arm. “Damn you! Damn you both!” She squeezed them so hard Percy felt his ribs protest, but he hugged her back just as hard. She’d made it, is all he could think. While some heros fell, sacrificed themselves, others got to see the other side. That’s why he fought, not for the gods, Roman or Greek, but for his family. For those who were good, who deserved the happiness that others sought to tarnish. If he had to, he would fight for the rest of his life for them.

[rainagainstmywindow]

All Shades of You (Chapter 2)

Here’s chapter one of this ColorSoulmate! AU! Will probably update weekly from now on. Hope you enjoy!

(please search #ramwfics or #ASoY for later chapters)

Annabeth couldn’t believe Grover had talked her into meeting this Percy kid that he always went on about. She started school tomorrow! She didn’t have time for this, she need to catch up on whatever they’d covered last year. Her private school back in San Francisco wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t even close to the level of The New York Institute of Science. Annabeth had left the summer reading to the last minute because it gave her a migraine. She couldn’t help but think how stupid she’d been as she sat beside Grover at the park. Reading with dyslexia was already hard enough without adding the stress of a time constraint.

“Is he going to take much longer, Grover?” She asked, hoping she didn’t sound rude. “I’ve really got to head back to my dorm soon.”

“Yeah he said he’d be here like five minutes ago, but he’s not answering his phone. Can you try looking around for him while I try to calling him again?”

“Sure. What does he look like?”

“He’s probably walking like five dogs. You should be able to spot him easily.”

Annabeth scanned the park, her eyes fleeting from an old couple to a little kid and his mom and finally to a boy that looked around her age indeed walking a large group of dogs. He was struggling to keep the largest one, a rather large rottweiler, away from a tiny chihuahua that didn’t seem to realize he was much smaller. “There he is,” she told Grover.

“Where? How can you tell?” He scrunched up his dark eyes trying to look at where she was pointing.

“There. With the dark hair right? He’s the one. He must be.”

Grover finally seemed to have spotted him and called over to him. The boy immediately looked up, almost losing his balance when the rottweiler spotted a squirrel and gave a particularly nasty tug. He smiled wide and waved back before walking towards them.

Annabeth stood completely still as he approached them. She couldn’t seem to catch her breath. It had nothing to do with the fact that this Percy guy was kind of cute (of course not!), it was just his eyes. His eyes that she could see were a bright, startling shade of green. Ocean green.

Shit.

“Hi,” he said, sticking out his hand shyly, “I’m Percy.”

Annabeth stared down at the hand. Then back up at his face. She could feel Grover fidgeting beside her. He’d been nervous about the two of them meeting and not liking each other. She’d promised herself that she would at least give Percy a shot, but right now all she wanted to do was bolt. Get it together.

Annabeth took Percy’s hand, averting her gaze from his eyes. “Annabeth.”

“Right,” said Grover, “so now that you’ve finally met I thought we could go grab something to eat.”

Annabeth was racking her brain for the nicest possible way to ditch but just then Percy cried out: “Yes! I’m starving!”

“What about all these dogs?”

Percy shrugged, kneeling down to scratch the rottweiler, who looked quite intimidating now that she was closer, behind the ears. “Mrs. O’Leary is hungry too.”

*********************

Percy had wanted to hate Annabeth. He knew it was pretty unfair and it was just him being jealous of his best friend having another best friend. Still, knowing it didn’t make his feelings go away. But, turns out, that that Annabeth girl was actually pretty cool.

“Cool, but like in a scary way,” he told Grover after she’d left and they’d finished dropping off most of the dogs off. Percy hadn’t forgotten that steely look she gave him when he first offered her his hand. That was another thing as well. She had the most distracting eyes. If he could see color he’d guessed they were probably one of the light colors his mother had described to him, like blue or green, maybe even hazel. To him they just looked that shade between black and white that he sometimes caught, grey he’d been told it was called. He’d never really seen grey look like that though, almost like a storm.

It wasn’t only her eyes that intimidated Percy either. Annabeth Chase was simply the smartest person he’d ever come across. She pointed out buildings as they walked to the hot dog stand, going on and on about their structure. Usually, Percy wouldn’t really care for all of that, but she spoke with so much passion and confidence that he found himself holding on to every word she said. Her eyes just shone with life.

“I get it man,” Grover told him, “she’s like the smartest person I know. It can be pretty overwhelming. But she’s actually pretty nice. If anything, Thalia taught her how to look scary.”

Percy came down from his own confused thoughts for a second to catch that last name. Grover hadn’t mentioned Thalia in a while, not since another one of his camp friends -Luke- died a few years ago. He’d always wanted to ask him more about it, but for some reason it seemed as if Grover blamed himself for whatever it is that happened. Percy didn’t want to push him too far.

Both boys rounded the corner to the last dog owners’ apartment. Mrs. O’Leary was owned by a boy a few years older than them, Charles Beckendorf. Percy met him at the same school he met Grover, one of the many he’d gotten kicked out of over the years. He didn’t live too far from Percy and had even been nice enough to hook him up with the dog walking gig. Percy liked dogs, walking them was definitely one of his favorite jobs, but the real reason that he’d accepted was because he got to spend so much time with Beckendorf’s huge rottweiler. Like him, she seemed big and scary, but was actually pretty docile once you got to know her.

They both stopped a few doors before Beckendor’s apartment when they saw the girl he was talking to. Beckendorf had had the biggest crush on the girl that lived right across the hall from him, Silena Beugarde, ever since Percy met him. He’d never told him, but Percy was sure he could tell what color her eyes were. Now, the tall, dark-haired girl was standing right in front of their friend, who had the goofiest smile Percy had ever seen. He was still wearing his mechanic overalls and had a grease stain on his forehead but she didn’t seem to mind. He was much taller than her. Her delicate features were accentuated by the sharp contrast with his harsher ones, but they still scrunched up in a smile, guided a strand of her behind her ear.

After a couple of minutes she walked away towards where Grover and Percy were standing. Even though she was solid black and white to Percy he still felt a slight blush creep up his cheeks as she waved goodbye to all three of them.

“What was that about?” Percy asked as they finally walked into the apartment.

“What?” Beckendorf hadn’t stopped staring at his door. “Oh, uh, nothing,” he finally said, clearly wanting to change the subject. “How was Mrs. O’Leary today? Didn’t give you too much trouble?”

“You know she never does.”

“So you’re just going to pretend like Silena and you weren’t totally just flirting right now?” Asked Grover.

The older boy’s cheek’s got even darker. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure.”

Whatever was going on Beckendorf was obviously going to keep the younger boys guessing. “What about you guys?” He asked, clearly wanted to divert the attention away from him. “You’re starting school next week right? Both of you?”

It’d been quite a feat getting another school to take Percy in given his track record. Beckendorf had offered to help, but it was already embarrassing enough that he knew he’d gotten expelled yet again. He’d vouched so much for Percy in the past.

“Yeah,” Percy said, “Goode High School for me.”

Beckendorf nodded. “That’s a pretty good school. I’ve heard they have a great swim team.”

Percy didn’t think Beckendorf was being as subtle as he thought he was. He’d joined the swim team at his last school, had even swam varsity. He doubted he’d tried again this year though. It’d been hard enough then to hide the evidence of Smelly Gabe’s drunken tantrums. Goode was one of those rich schools where they asked a lot of questions.

“Good for them,” Percy finally said, not missing the look both his friends exchanged.

[rainagainstmywindow]

Breaking Vows

So here’s my fic for the @wlwpjoexchange ! I got @omegasmileyface I really hope you like it! Sorry I took forever, I got a little carried away because I loved this pairing so much! It’s my first time writing wlw and I loved it and ahhh I just hope you like!

Reyna found the Greeks excitement quite absurd. She didn’t doubt the Huntress’ abilities, she’d seen Thalia Grace in action herself, but she’d also seen her sister and the Amazons. They didn’t stand a chance, especially in such a rudimentary game of capture the flag. Apparently the Greek campers had never beaten the Hunters of Artemis, but they all seemed to be rooting for them. “Sorry,” said Jason as he walked over to her Pegasus. He was wearing a gray shirt that read Hunters Rule!

    Reyna chuckled. “Let the best sister win.” He dipped his head but seemed pretty amused by the whole ordeal. Reyna watched him join Piper and Annabeth who both waved back at her.

    Hylla was more than happy to let her warriors fight while she led from the background, often choosing to come in as a last resort or as a surprise, but she’d been eager to fight Artemis’ Lieutenant herself.

   “This is going to be awesome.” Now it was Percy who spoke beside her. He was already mounted on his own black Pegasus, Blackjack she heard him call him.

  “Yes,” agreed Reyna. “I rather enjoy watching my sister fight.”

    “Yeah I heard she’s deadly. If she’s anything like you, the hunters will have a good fight on their hands.”

     “I’ve seen Thalia in action, the Amazons won‘t be disappointed either.”

 Percy’s smile had a little mischief. “You talk like you already know who’s gonna win.”

   “They hunters will put on a good fight, I expect nothing less from a daughter of Jupiter, but the Amazons are, like you said, deadly.”

   “Zeus,” Percy corrected as he took off into the air, shaking his head with an amused look similar to Jason’s. “She’s a daughter of Zeus.”

 Reyna rolled her eyes. She wasn’t underestimating Thalia. She was just being realistic. Her sister had to fight for her throne and her warriors didn’t have the protection of mortality. Her sister had also been leading the Amazons longer as far as she knew. Plus, and she would never said this aloud from fear of sounding pretentious, she’d taken down Thalia with her hands tied before.

 She kicked off into the air. Below her Greek and Roman campers alike gathered at the entrance of the woods to see the two groups of lethal women burst into action. Reyna hadn’t been allowed to referee due to her relation to Hylla, but had still been granted permission to observe from above,  along with several other skilled Pegasus riders. She’d been surprised to find that Annabeth hadn’t been chosen as the Greek referee, but she’d laughed it off and said that she’d be too biased. Jason had briefly mentioned something about Thalia and her being on the run together when they were younger.

  Chiron looked up at them from the ground. Ready? Dakota nodded and she saw Percy do the same from the corner of her eye. The centaur blew the whistle and they were off. Reyna immediately scanned for Thalia and Hylla, but she figured they were seeking the other out, waiting for the right moment. Meanwhile she observed a young girl make a rather spectacular shot, pinning one of her sister’s warriors to a tree. The campers cheered in the background, Leo had set up a live feed to some screens at the entrance of the woods. Will Solace rushed to the warrior but she simply yanked the arrow, snapped it at her knee and ran after the young girl.

   Reyna looked up at Percy who had flown further to her right. He looked down in concentration, whistle ready at his lips, unable to help himself from smiling every now and again. He kept scanning the woods. Reyna knew that he too was looking for the leaders.

  Finally, after twenty minutes filled with expectation, thunder rumbled followed by the surprised shriek of an Amazon. Reyna urged her pegasus to get closer. She caught a glimpse of celestial bronze knives and smiled as she heard the clink of Hylla’s belt follow. Below her Amazons and Hunters engaged in impressive battle. Celestial bronze hunting knives and arrows against the spears, swords and daggers of the Amazons. The campers were relishing the fighting but Reyna paid no attention. She swept towards the place where she’d heard Thalia’s lightning. She was approaching a clearing. When she saw her sister emerge, knives in hand, she almost growled in anticipation.

She was now almost shoulder to shoulder with Percy, who had dropped any act of referring and was now watching as eagerly as she. “There’s Thalia,” he said, pointing at a dark figure perched atop a tree. She was holding a bow and arrow to her sister’s head. Hylla didn’t even flinch at the threat, her eyes fixed intently on her target. Reyna cursed for not bringing a pair of binoculars, but Percy seemed to be reading her mind and handed her a pair she hadn’t noticed he had around his neck. He was smiling, eyes never once leaving the two girls.

Through the binoculars Reyna got a clearer view of Thalia’s face. She seemed to be weighing out her options. Finally, she smirked and threw her bow aside, making her quiver disappear. She told her sister something that made her grin and pulled out her own hunting knives. Thalia jumped out of the tree and in a split second the daughters of Bellona and Zeus had attacked.

Reyna could admire both styles, Thalia’s clearly Greek but still different from other Greek campers she’d met, and her sister’s an even balance of powerful blows and speed. One such blow was too quick for Thalia, who was almost swept off her feet when Hylla lunged towards her torso, leaving an opening for her sister to kick one of Thalia’s knives away. Thalia retaliated by taking advantage of her free hand and punching the Amazon Queen square in the face. Percy almost laughed beside her but passed it off as a cough when she glared at him.

Below them the fight continued with no acknowledgement of the lack of weapon and bloody nose. Reyna thought it had ended for good when Thalia slid between her sister’s legs, making a nasty gash as she went along, but Hylla simply grabbed her by one of the many chains she wore around her neck and slammed her back on the ground, knife pressed to her throat. The Amazon stood over her just like Reyna had back in Puerto Rico. She recalled the raspiness of Thalia’s voice as she whispered close enough for her lips to feel her breath, but was pulled out of her thoughts when thunder clapped above them, almost hitting her and Percy, and traveled down to where both girls were. Reyna almost swept down to her sister, scared of what a direct lightning strike might do to her but Percy held her back. “C’mon, Reyna,” he told her, “Thalia wouldn’t do that.”

Thankfully, Percy was right. Somehow Thalia had dispersed the full force of the strike, causing the air around her and Hylla to crackle with electricity and her sister’s hair to puff up twice its size. It was enough to get Hylla to loosen her grip and for Thalia to jump back into action. Both girls blurred into a mess of knives and battle cries. Reyna saw another knife fly away, but this time it had been her sister’s. They finally slowed down enough for them to catch a glimpse of their state. Hylla was bleeding for the deep cut Thalia had inflicted on her leg as well as her bloody nose, and Thalia herself had a black eye and a bit of a limp. Reyna focused on their faces and found that they were both smiling. They seemed to be enjoying the show just as much as Reyna and Percy. She caught Thalia’s eyes travelling to her sister’s belt and both girls seemed to come to a sort of silent agreement. They both dropped their remaining knives, her sister unfastening her belt and striking it against the ground menacingly and Thalia pulling out a bracelet that suddenly transformed into a spear. Beside Reyna Percy cursed excitedly in what she guessed was Ancient Greek.

Clearly both girls had been saving the best for last. Each weapon was practically and extension of them. Hylla swung her belt with lighting speed catching one of Thalia’s ankles and tossing her into the air, but the young Lieutenant simply twisted in mid-air and used every last bit of the wider range her spear provided. It was speed and technique like Reyna had rarely ever seen. They seemed to move closer and closer until, “Percy!” called Dakota, “What are you doing?” Percy immediately turned, clearly annoyed by the distraction and looked at where Dakota was pointing. This time he cursed in English, and he didn’t seem as excited as before.

Reyna was trying hard to concentrate, Thalia had the tip of her spear pointed at her sister’s carotid and Hylla had managed to wrap the belt around Thalia’s throat, but just then Percy blew his whistle at them. “Hey!” He called. “You have no idea how much I hate to interrupt, but your girls seem to be having too much fun trying to kill each other!”

Reyna finally tore her gaze from the binoculars and urged her Pegasus to move closer to where Percy had sped off. She was shocked to see the forest decimated. It looked as if a tornado had hit it. Below her trees swayed, trying hard not to fall altogether, and fires seemed to have erupted all over the fields. “Hey!” Percy yelled. “Careful with the nymphs!” When he noticed that neither Amazons nor Hunters reacted to his yells or whistles he directed his voice towards the spectators. “Call the Demeter cabin! Quick!” Dozens of campers ran at his command and then he turned to Reyna. “Get Thalia and Reyna to break them up!”

Reyna nodded as he sped away and swept down to where she’d last seem her sister and Thalia. They were already running towards the commotion. “What happened?” Hylla asked, wiping some blood off her top lip.

“The Amazons and Hunters seemed to have gotten a little carried away. I think they might’ve forgotten the creatures that live inside the forest.”

“What?!” Thalia looked furious, her blue eyes flashed terrifyingly. The look made Reyna’s heart race. Thalia ran towards her Hunters, forgetting about her limp, Hylla followed after her.

      The scene they arrived at was chaos. Several campers were trying to tear Hunters from Amazons and vice versa but they seemed to be in a frenzy. There were several fires erupting around them and Reyna saw several nymphs running around in a panic. Thalia and Hylla stared dumbfounded, but it was Thalia who spoke first. One of her hunters had already spotted her and the mere sight of her lieutenant seemed to be enough to stop her in her tracks.

        “What is the meaning of this?” She wasn’t shouting, but her voice seemed to boom over the clearing. Slowly more and more hunters noticed their leader and stopped. Amazons did the same when they noticed Hylla’s furious look, a look that made Reyna feel sorry for the Amazons once they were alone with her sister. Thalia’s tactics were different though, she wanted the punishment to be public. Reyna once again remembered that she hadn’t been lieutenant for long, not by immortal hunter’s standards, and understood the need to make a show of the situation. “What exactly do you expect me to tell Lady Artemis when she hears of this? Her own hunters damaging that which she swore to protect?” Reyna caught her features turn into a disgusted snarl as she looked around, “you’ve brought me shame!” We’re guests in this Camp!”

    By then all commotion had ceased completely. No Hunter would spare to look a their lieutenant in the eye. The Amazons has dropped their weapons and stood frozen, waiting to hear what their own queen had to say. Hylla said nothing which was possibly worse. Just then a wave swept over the clearing, quickly putting out any fires. Percy dropped down from his Pegasus soon after. He’d spared Reyna, Hylla and Thalia but hadn’t even tried to cover the other girls, they stood soaked and embarrassed. Some even threw him angry looks he ignored. A petite girl charged out from on of the bushes that had been previously on fire. She looked quite odd to Reyna but she couldn’t figure out why. It wasn’t until she yanked the whistle from around Percy’s neck and started blowing it furiously did she notice her skin was green. Reyna figured she must be a nymph. “It’s a draw!” She shrieked furiously. “You all lose! You wicked women! The Council will hear of this! My boyfriend-“

      “Yes. Thank you, Juniper!” Percy quickly stepped in, taking the whistle from her hand. “I agree.”

      “The Council?” Reyna heard her sister ask.

      “Yes!” Answered the nymph, Juniper, testily. It was obvious to her that Hylla was one of the leaders. “And you shall all be punished for this abominable conduct!”

        “Agreed.” The nymph seems a bit taken aback by her sister’s instant agreement. “I will meet with your Council at once. I will also like to apologize to you personally for the action of my warriors. Know that this won’t go unnoticed by me either.”

       Juniper lost her rage fast. “Yes yes, thank you! You are forgiven...m’lady.” Apparently she considers a courtesy was necessary since she bowed and scrunched up her soaked dress in a Victorian fashion. She directed her green eyes at Thalia now and some of her fire seemed to come back. “I expect you’ll do the same, Thalia. And don’t think that because Grover-“

     “I know Juniper. I’m really sorry this should’ve never happened.”

      She gave another firm nod, chin up high, and turned around and disappeared into the forest. Reyna turned to look at Thalia just in time to catch her off guard. For a second she looked tired and embarrassed, then she noticed her and quickly went back to yelling at her hunters. Arrangements to meet with the council tomorrow evening were hastily made.

All Reyna could think about as she walked back was the look she’d seen on Thalia’s face and how much it reminded her of herself.

**********

“It was embarrassing that’s what it was!” Thalia told Jason later that day. They were inside their father’s cabin. “And of course Hylla kept her composure the whole time and I just lost it!”

“You have more to prove than she does. I probably would’ve done the same.” He looked quite uncomfortable inside the mostly empty cabin. Thalia noticed how he kept eyeing the huge statue of Zeus in the middle. She couldn’t blame him, it’d always creeped her out. “Couldn’t we meet in your cabin?”

“This is my cabin.”

He rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

“I can’t bring a guy into Artemis’s cabin, it’s against the rules.” She sighed as she looked around. Jason had left the little corner she’d camped out in untouched. “I got carried away. I don’t know I just wanted to prove something I guess.”

Jason looked confused at her. “You’re freaking Thalia Grace! What is there to prove?”

Thalia immediately thought of her little audience back in the forest. Was she showing off? As soon as the thought entered her mind she found, to her horror, that she was blushing. She quickly turned away, but apparently Jason caught it.

“Okay whoa!” He said. “There’s definitely something you’re not telling me here.”

“Shudup,” she mumbled, absolutely furious at herself. She was an adult for crying out loud! Lady Artemis’s right hand and lieutenant to a small army of deadly hunters! She cleared her throat. “It’s nothing okay.”

But Jason wasn’t about to drop this. He walked around to get a good look at her face. She begrudgingly looked up at him. There was a wickedly mischievous grin forming on his face. “What is up with you, sis?”

She looked back at her hands, afraid she might blush again. This was Jason, she could tell him anything. She was being stupid, right? “I just...remember how I told you about Puerto Rico? Well I might’ve left some details out.”

“Like?”

She sighed, pushing down her ego and ignoring the heat that rose back to her face. “Like maybe your good friend Reyna pretty much kicked my ass with her hands tied. And maybe I noticed her and dumbass Percy watching me and Hylla fighting earlier and wanted to show off okay!”

She looked up at him once again. His face seemed to change from confusion, to understanding, and finally to amusement. “You were showing off for Reyna?”

“What?! No! When you say it like that it sounds weird!”

He laughed. Gods he really annoyed her sometimes. “What then?”

“I just wanted her to see that I wasn’t someone she could just beat every time! She caught me off guard that time! That I deserve the praise-” She cut herself off. Gods she sounded full of herself. “What I mean is-”

“That you wanted to impress her.” Thalia thought he might be making fun of her again but he seemed genuinely determined to understand her. Somehow it made her feel worse.

“Who? Reyna?” Thalia wanted to brush it off, but in all honesty Jason had hit the nail on its head. The realization made Thalia panic. Why would she want to impress her? “Just forget it okay? I gotta go prepare for the stupid meeting tomorrow.”

“I could h-”

“No it’s fine.”

The door slammed shut as Thalia left. Jason stood there, debating whether or not to follow her.

The next morning he still felt guilty about the whole ordeal. He could tell that he’d further embarrassed her sister and that yesterday that was the last thing she needed. Once again he felt like there was so much he didn’t know about his sister, so he went to the person that seemed to know her best.

Annabeth was in the arena, watching closely as two young campers sparred and stepping in every now and again to correct their posture or make a quick note. She nodded  when she saw him but gestured at him to give her a second. Jason stood patiently as a new set of kids sparred. Once they were done Annabeth walked towards him. “Hey! What’s up? I know I haven’t gotten back to you about the temple-”

“Oh no it’s okay. Percy told me you were busy with college applications. I actually wanted to talk to you about something else.”

He walked beside her as she dropped her weapon off at the shed and took a swing of water. “Thalia?”

“Yeah, how did you know?”

“She stopped by my cabin last night. She seemed weird.”

“She’s pretty upset about yesterday.”

Annabeth shook her head. “No. I mean it sucked and everything but she’s dealt with worse. She seemed almost,” she shrugged, “I don’t know frazzled? Which I didn’t really think possible.”

Jason agreed. “She told me something about Puerto Rico and Reyna disarming her or something.”

Annabeth stopped mid-sip. “She never told me that. She didn’t even mention Reyna.”

Jason found that even more odd. Thalia told Annabeth everything. “Apparently she wanted to show off. Show her she wasn’t easy to beat or something.”

Annabeth still didn’t look convinced. “I mean sure that sounds more like her. She had this whole ego battle with Percy years ago, but she got over it. She grew out of it y’know? Did she say that?”

“Those were her words, but in all honesty I think she was trying to impress her.”

Annabeth got that look in her eye, the one that told Jason her thoughts were moving faster than he could comprehend. “I bet it’s nothing,” she said abruptly, “just stress or something. I don’t know.”

It seemed to Jason that in fact it wasn’t nothing and that Annabeth did know, but before he could question her further she mumbled something about needing a shower and rushed off.

**************

Reyna knew it was foolish of her to stay an extra day at Camp Half-Blood. There was too much work to be done and it wasn’t fair for her to leave Frank to do all of it. But she’d stayed anyways. Frank had told her it was fine in the Iris Message she’d sent, she was still getting used to it but Percy was nice enough to set it up for her. He’d understood she didn’t often get to see Hylla and since her stayed had been extended due to yesterday’s fiasco he figured it made sense. In all honesty Reyna hadn’t even thought about her sister. She felt guilty, but all she’d been able to think about since yesterday was Thalia Grace, and how utterly deadly she looked using that spear.

It was just her luck that in that moment, Thalia Grace herself was walking back to her cabin, tired and annoying after getting an earful from an ancient satyr and sheepish looks from Grover during the Council meeting. Reyna was so engrossed in her mental picture of Thalia in battle that she didn’t notice Thalia walking towards her. The daughter of Zeus, in turn, was so busy grumbling and she didn’t notice Reyna, which resulted in both girls running into each other and ending in an almost identical situation as the one months prior. This time, however, Thalia had ended on top. She cursed but stopped mid-sentence once she noticed who’d she’d actually run into. “Reyna! Gods, I’m sorry! I didn’t even see you!”

“Don’t be! I walked right into you-”

“I should’ve looked up or something.”

Had anyone been around, they would’ve been able to comment on how strangely high both their voices had gotten, and how intensely they looked at each other when they both abruptly stopped their rambling. After a couple of seconds Thalia was the one to notice and almost jumped back when Reyna’s shaky breath touched her lips. She got up an offered her hand to Reyna, who in turn accepted, unable to keep a blush from creeping to her cheeks. Both girls stood awkwardly facing each other, neither one used to feeling this nervous. Reyna tried to ease the tension a bit. “So...how was the Council meeting?”

A small flicker of annoyance passed through Thalia’s face. Reyna preferred it over the deer-caught-in-headlights expression she’d worn before. “Awful,” she said, “your sister knows how to handle official business much better than me.”

“Surprisingly diplomatic for someone so aggressive, right?”

Thalia chuckled. “Where you waiting for her?”

Reyna once again failed to hide a blush. In all honesty, she hadn’t been waiting for her sister. She’s subconsciously walked to this clearing, a small part of her expecting her to run into someone, maybe not quite so literally. “Yeah-yes,”she lied, “Did you see where she went?”

“I think she went back to the Amazons. I don’t really know where they’re staying.”

“Hylla likes it that way. She didn’t even tell me.” Reyna felt guilty at not even trying to look. Surely, Hylla expected her to and was probably wondering why she hadn’t already been to see her.

Beside Reyna, Thalia was building up the courage to ask Reyna something. She hadn’t really figured out what she was going to ask but she’d jump that hurdle when she got there. Reyna’s thoughts, however, had stayed on her sister and she’d made up her mind to finally go see her. “I should get going,” she told Thalia, whose mouth was half-way open. She quickly hurried away, leaving Thalia feeling confused and once again embarrassed. Reyna was almost gone when she stopped and faced Thalia once again. “By the way,” she started, a bit of a smile hiding in the corner of her smile, “nice fighting yesterday, quite impressive.”

************

Thalia’s head buzzes with Reyna’s words all day. As punishment, her hunters and her got assigned to wash the dishes at camp and she’s so distracted she almost plunges her hand into the lava without any gloves. Cara stops her just in time and gives her a weird look. Thalia is reminded of a very similar look given to her by Annabeth earlier. We need to talk. Annabeth sure hadn’t gotten any less bossy. Thalia figured Jason must’ve told her something. Not that there was anything to tell.

That night Thalia entered cabin six to find Annabeth analyzing some blueprints. “What are you working on now?”

“Remodelations, temples, same old.” She waved it away but Thalia still felt a surge of pride. She remembered seven-year-old Annabeth going on and on about all the things she wanted to build. Back then Thalia would nod along but knew deep down that they’d be lucky to get past the week, a future where she became an architect didn’t really seem possible. Yet there she was. “Talked to Jason,” Annabeth said, still looking at the blueprints, “he seems to be under the impression that he upset you.”

“Why would he think that?”

Annabeth fixed her with a look, a look that Thalia herself had taught her, that said cut the bullshit. “What’s going on with you?”

Thalia was tempted to say nothing and keep ignoring the weird ball of nerves in her stomach lately, but this was Annabeth. “I-I don’t know. It’s weird and stupid.” Annabeth rolled the blueprint up and finally looked up at her. Thalia was thankful the cabin was empty and suspected Annabeth had planned it ahead. “I feel stupid.”

“For wanting to impress Reyna?”

A small pang of annoyance hit Thalia but she pushed it down. Annabeth didn’t miss a beat. “Yes, Okay? What the hell is wrong with me?”

“So it’s not an ego thing?”

“What? No!”

Annabeth looked more interested than before. “Good.”

“I mean I wasn’t super pleased with what happened in Puerto Rico but it might have more to do with the fact that I lost Phoebe.”

Annabeth nodded. “She was one hell of a huntress.”

Thalia thought that Phoebe was more than just one hell of a huntress. She’d been her best friend among the hunters and had backed her up since day one. But she knew Annabeth understood. They’d shared loss before. “I don’t know what got into me to be honest. I mean Hylla is a bit intimidating with how she handles all the command stuff but if anything I’m glad she’s there to set an example for me to follow.”

Annabeth chuckled. “Wow, look at Thalia all grown up and mature.”

“Shut up.” She couldn’t even keep the smile from her face. She really missed Annabeth. “I actually ran into her today. Reyna, I mean.”

“And?”

“And I mean literally ran into her. Knocked her down and everything. As if yesterday wasn’t bad enough!”

Annabeth laughed. “So,” she got closer to Thalia and nudged her in the ribs, “did you ask her out or what?”

Thalia almost jumped straight into the air. Her heart raced. “Wh-”

“C’mon, Thalia. I saw how you looked at her. It’s okay.”

“Of course it isn’t!” Thalia has started whispering. “I made a vow Annabeth and-”

“And what?” Her grey eyes seemed to be challenging Thalia, but she’d seen them before a fight, this wasn’t it. “You’ve given so much Thalia. You deserve this, whatever it is. We don’t owe anything to the gods.” Thalia couldn’t help but be reminded of Luke. Annabeth saw it in her eyes. “He would’ve wanted you to keep trying, to allow yourself-”

“Stop.” It wasn’t only the vow she’d made to Lady Artemis. It was the fact that she’d made a much stronger vow, to herself. She’d promised herself never again the moment she’d pushed Luke off that cliff.

Both girls looked at each other but said nothing. They didn’t have to. Annabeth’s face told Thalia don’t give up and Thalia’s argued right back I already have.

***********

Reyna was only half-surprised to find Jason in the fighting arena. Back in Camp Jupiter they always ended up training at the same times, even before they were praetors. That’s how they’d become friends. No one really spoke to Jason, he was a son of Jupiter from a disgraced cohort, but Reyna had seen him fight before and welcomed the idea of a good training partner. He looked up at her and smiled. “Just like old times.”

“With the minor adjustment of this being an arena in a Greek camp.”

He laughed. “Right.”

The silence that followed was awkward, but Jason seemed determined to pretend like nothing had changed, at least for a little while. He drew his sword and Reyna followed almost on instinct. Before they both knew it they were sparring. Reyna was surprised to find some of the Greek style had seeped into Jason’s technique, but she hadn’t lagged on her trying all these months. Overall it felt good to fight with Jason again. She found herself letting go for the first time in almost a year. She’d missed him, missed this.

Afterwards they both sat, trying to catch their breath and taking turns drinking out of Jason’s canteen. It was almost painful how easy it was to go back to this routine because, at the end of the day, everything had changed. Reyna had to go back to Camp Jupiter and she’d only see Jason every now and then. He had new friends, new responsibilities.

“I missed this, “ he finally said.

“So did I,” she agreed.

He sighed and looked at his hands. She could tell he was nervous. He always bit down on that scar on his lip. “I just wanted to say I was sorry.” She looked away so he rushed to make himself clearer. “What I mean is that I just showed up after nine months like nothing had happened and treated you like a stranger.”

“I know you were still struggling with you memory, Jason.”

Reyna hated talking about things like this. Jason knew it, but he’d already stayed silent on the matter for too long. “No, Reyna. I was scared of going back, scared of how much I changed. But, all those months, they don’t erase the fact that you’re my friend. That you fought beside me and had my back for years.”

Reyna braced herself to look at him. It seemed foolish now that she’d been nervous about talking to him. It was Jason after all. And maybe he had glasses now, and he fought more like Greek and he had a girlfriend and friends she didn’t know, but he was still Jason. “I still have your back Jason. Always.”

“You too, Rey.” Gods she’d missed him. She didn’t have to be put-together for him. Seeing him come back to Camp Jupiter, their home, and treat it like it didn’t matter as much as it does had shattered her, and the worst part was that she’d had to keep her poker face on throughout the whole thing. The fact that he acknowledged it, acknowledged her, was like having a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. “I’m sorry,” he told her again, “and I get if you don’t want to go back to how we were-”

“Of course I want to, Jason!” She cursed herself for raising her voice and felt her face go red with shame as she felt the sting of tears but kept going. If she stopped she would never say what she’d been fearing since she realized he was actually alive. “I just thought that it wasn’t a possibility anymore. You’re finally who we dreamed of being! Who I always saw you pushing down all those years! And I don’t know if I fit into your life now-”

“Reyna,” true to his Roman upbringing it was Jason who felt the shame of the sting of tears now, “you will always fit into my life. You’re my family.”

They let the silence settle in between them after that. It wasn’t uncomfortable. They were both mildly aware of the other wiping a few tears away here and there, but the awkward tension that had been following since Jason came back to Camp Jupiter was mostly gone. It wasn’t exactly like before, Reyna doubted it ever would be, but maybe that wasn’t a bad thing.

After a while Jason asked: “How much longer are you staying? Just until Hylla leaves?”

Reyna had actually come back from talking to her sister when she decided to head to the arena to squeeze in some training. “She’s leaving tonight, actually. She promised the Council to check on some endangered nymphs so they’re heading out.”

“Hylla must share your bargaining skills, because the Hunters have to wash the dishes all week.”

Reyna chuckled along but a small spark on interest flourished in her chest. “So, Th-your sister is staying all week?”

“Seems like it, yeah.” Jason eyed Reyna suspiciously from the corner of his eye. Reyna pretended to ignore it. “She actually mentioned you yesterday.”

“Really?”

“Yeah she noticed you and Percy watching her and Hylla fight.”

“Oh well,” Reyna stalled by taking another swing of water, “they’re both very impressive fighters. I mainly just flew over there to see what was holding up, Percy.” Jason smiled to himself and laughed when Reyna punched his shoulder. “C’mon,” she said as a means to divert the conversation, “let’s go get some food.”

***********

Annabeth had physically forced Thalia to go to the campfire the following night. She’d even had to bring in Percy as reinforcement, for which Thalia had almost accomplished her long-running goal of killing someone with one glare. “C’mon, Grace!” She flinched as the sound of her mother’s last name. “It’s not going to kill you! Jason’ll be there! You could get in some quality sibling bonding time!”

She rolled her eyes and complained the whole walk there, but she finally agreed to go. She had been meaning to talk to Jason again anyways. Thalia had been too busy washing dishes the previous day. When she got there, however, she was surprised to see him seating not only with Piper, but with Reyna as well. “There’s Jason,” Percy stupidly pointed out. He had a dubious grin on. Thalia quickly looked to Annabeth, but of course she’d understood that their conversation, like most of the conversations they had, was very much private. Percy still knew something though. Thalia was once again reminded to never underestimate Percy. He’d been up there watching her and Hylla fight with Reyna during capture the flag after all. This led her to wonder how Reyna had reacted to her. She was already regretting coming to the campfire.

She was formulating a plan on how to run away without Annabeth noticing when Jason saw her. He smiled and beckoned for her to join him where he was sitting. It was just her luck that the only available seat was beside Reyna. They were packed in so snuggly that Thalia’s arm was pressed right besides Reyna. They were both wearing sleeveless shirts, so their bare skin was touching. Thalia felt as her whole arm were on fire. Piper was telling them something about her sister, Lacie, and this strange girl she’d seen at her school, but Thalia could barely concentrate. It was like waging a small war with herself and she kept losing. A small strand of Reyna’s hair had fallen loose from her braid as well, and every time Reyna leaned forward it tickled Thalia’s chin. She rushed up to rub the feeling away and accidentally caught Reyna’s eyes. And, once again, she lost the small war, but this time she didn’t fight back. You’ve given so much, she remembered Annabeth telling her.

Maybe I deserve to try.

Reyna’s eyes were strong and vulnerable all at the same time. When she finally looked away Thalia found that she kept searching for them. She was probably doing a crappy job at keeping up with the conversation, and for a second she felt guilty about not making a bigger effort to listen to her brother. Then she remembered how Jason had moved towards Piper when he’d seen her, opening a space for her to seat beside Reyna. So she sat half-listening to Jason and Piper talk and sing along to cheesy songs. Her other half slowly melted into Reyna’s side. Their hands ended up touching and Thalia felt her heart in her throat as neither one pulled away. Finally, she felt a familiar huff of breath hit the side of her face. “Let’s get out of here,” Reyna said. Thalia grabbed her hand and pulled them into the forest. She knew that if she looked back she’d lose her nerve so she kept going until she found a clearing with enough moonlight. She was forced to look back when she felt Reyna’s hand finally pull away.

Reyna was looking up at the moon, but quickly looked back down at her. Her eyes only stayed momentarily on hers, then they moved down until they rested on her lips. Thalia was out of breath due to the combined factors of almost running to the clearing and of her heart suddenly choosing to beat erratically. She felt like bolting when Reyna moved closer towards her, but found that her body didn’t respond. All she could do was keep her eyes trained on Reyna, and she finally allowed herself to think: gods she’s beautiful. Reyna wasn’t wearing her purple cape, or armor. Thalia realized she’d never seen her without a combination of both. She looked more real with a simple pair of jeans and a purple shirt. She looked achingly human. Thalia’s hand moved of its own accord to cup her face. She could feel Reyna’s equally fast heartbeat, could tell she was just as nervous. But they both seemed resolved to stay.

Reyna felt more like herself than she had in years. She was scared, terrified actually, but she wasn’t thinking about anything in particular when she looked at Thalia. She caught sight of her lips, felt her hand -rough with callouses from years of wielding a weapon- on her face, and let go.

Thalia thought Reyna’s lips tasted like glory.

[rainagainstmywindow]

...We’re Together

This is my small fic for the @pjosecretsanta2k17 and I got @dotshiiki ! Merry Christmas! I hope you like it! I’d also like to thank @rosyredlipstick for betaying the fic and suggesting a great song!

I also made a small playlist to go along with it! 

Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shouder) - The Beach Boys/ Somewhere Only We Know - Keane/ The About Time Theme - Nick Laird Clowes/ Silenced By The Night - Keane/ Long Live - Taylor Swift

**************

Annabeth liked to watch Percy sleep. They were in his cabin, and she’d woken up first. He was laying on his stomach, arm cascading down the bed and drool as ever present. She watched him and absentmindedly started memorizing every single detail of his face in that moment. She’d done the same at the stables back in the Argo II and even when they were in Rome, watching him talk through dinner. She’d only been able to catch half of what he’d said because she was so terrified that he’d vanish. She couldn’t afford to look away. And then Tartarus. He was dying and she kept looking back at Bob and Percy just looked so frail and small. They were only sixteen at the end of the day.

       She liked to look at him because she was so scared of blinking and finding that he was gone.

He’s here. We’re here. It didn’t feel real.

      Percy started to wake under her gaze. He stretched and quickly wiped the drool of his chin. Then he finally noticed her, staring intently at him, and paused. She looked almost frozen in her spot on the bed across from him. “Hey,” he said, “how long have you been awake?”

      Annabeth didn’t answer which made Percy worry. She was looking at him weird. He threw the blankets off him and walked towards her. “Hey,” he tried again. Sitting beside her, “You okay?” She nodded but didn’t look away. He smiled shyly in return because he wasn’t used to her staring at him like this. “What’s wrong?”

       She tried to tell him she was fine but she found that there was a knot in her throat. He’s here he’s here he’s here. Annabeth reached out to cup his face, to trace his dark eyebrows, ease the little crease in between them that formed when he worried. He’s here he’s here he’s here. He was so familiar. He was so new.

        When you miss someone you exhaust any memories you have of them. You revisit your favorite ones so much that, in time, the details become hazy. Annabeth liked to remember one particular moment in the beach, back when they were fourteen or maybe barely fifteen, during those months Percy had been missing. She would try to drown out the panicked voices in her head with his laughter. She remembered Grover had said something that had made them both laugh, but she didn’t remember what. She remembered that was the first time she’d noticed how much deeper his voice had gotten. She remembered how he’d said her name. She remembered because that was the first time that terrifying thought had first popped in her head: I love him.

When she finally got to see him again, he said her name different. It wasn’t bad, it just surprised her. All this time she’d been remembering the feeling instead of the actual sound of his voice, she’d made up the cadence of it because it had become a hazy detail. But it was still so familiar to her that she couldn’t imagine why she’d thought it sounded anything but the way it did in the first place.

“Annabeth?” She still couldn’t tell him, couldn’t explain, why this simple moment had floored her. He kept searching her face for any clue as to what was wrong. Nightmares? Panic attack? She didn’t know herself. Annabeth hadn’t taken her hand from his face, she pulled him closer. He was all around her, beneath her touch, against her forehead, pressed to her leg. He’s here he’s here he’s here.

He was right there, so why was she so scared?

Percy touched her hand, the one resting against his face. She could tell the intensity of her eyes had made him nervous. And she laughed. She saw his eyes widen in shock and confusion and laughed harder. Percy tried to rub the last of sleep out of his eyes, totally confused by what was happening “What the hell, Annabeth?” He grinned, a bit relieved, but when he looked closer he noticed she was crying.

Finally she said: “You’re here.”

“Yeah?”

Annabeth shook her head. “No, Percy,” she told him, “you are here.” Not in Rome or in Athens, or in Tartarus. He was home and he was going to live and she was there too.

His face softened. He seemed to finally understand. Percy pulled Annabeth into a hug and allowed himself to believe what she’d said. He held her tightly against him, probably too tight, but found that he couldn’t loosen his grip in case she slipped away. “I know. I missed you.”

“You didn’t even remember me, Seaweed Brain.”

“I did. How do you think I survived?”

She laughed because he was cheesy, as always, and he kissed her because he’d promised himself he’d never miss a chance to ever since that day in the lake. “I thought I’d made you up,” she confessed, pulling away just for a moment, “I thought I was crazy and that you weren’t real.”

“I’m real,” he promised, “are you?”

“Yes.”

It might’ve seemed foolish to anyone else, but they’d been in survival mode too long. The number one thought in their heads had been war and surviving and when it got too bad they reached for one another. There was no time for contemplation. Worst of all was the almost absolute certainty that they wouldn’t make it. Then all they could do was comfort and reach for the other when they ran out of bravery. Annabeth had convinced herself they would die in Tartarus, she’d even prepared her mind. She wasn’t thinking about his laughter then or the way he said her name. She was forcing the air in and out of her lungs and anticipating when she wouldn’t be able to anymore, and they were squeezing their hands in order to brace themselves for when the time came. To be brave enough to see him perish if it came to it, but comforted by the knowledge that she would soon follow. Together, that was enough to survive for just a little bit longer, as long as necessary but not more.

Percy pulled them back into his bed, no longer worried after understanding what her mind was doing. He let her look at him as he dozed off again. Annabeth noticed how he never let go of her, and how every now and then he’d squeeze her hand or run his fingers through her hair. His own way of making sure she was still there.

Annabeth wondered what twelve-year-old Percy and twelve-year-old Annabeth would think of them now. If they’d like their future. But she was that little girl still, taller and battle-scarred and Gods knew ten times as angry, and she knew she’d choose this messed-up future anyways because it led back to this moment. Right there in cabin three, fifteen minutes away from Katie Gardner interrupting them while she was making her rounds for cabin inspections, barely faced by Annabeth holding a finger to her mouth and nodding her head slightly to the right, simultaneously telling her Percy was sleeping and to keep her presence there a secret. Little Annabeth would be terrified of facing all the monsters and losing all those friends just as present Annabeth had been and still was. Maybe that would never change, but all the courage she needed and didn’t know she had was in there. And, if she ever needed more, that’s what her best friend was for.

[rainagainstmywindow]

After

I wrote this a while back for the @pjohoominibang and they were nice enough to post it for me but, in lieu of reaching 900 followers, I thought I’d finally post it here. Check out the art that @katslittlestar did for this! I hope you enjoy! I did some editing. I know someone had pointed out a few mistakes. 

+++++++++

In his dream, Percy was twelve again. He was standing just outside his front door, about to face his mother’s look of disappointment as she’d say, Another school? Worst of all there was Gabe, bound to mock him. The stench of his cigar drifted through the door and Percy got the sudden urge to kick something. Why was his mother with him? Because of you, a voice seemed to remind him.

Finally, he came in, dragging his bag behind him. “You’re not supposed to be here,” Gabe told him. Percy ignored him and his friends seated at the poker table. 

 "Hey!“ His voice grew louder, “I’m talking to you!”

 Percy clenched his fists and lied to himself, I’m stopping myself from hurting him. In reality, he was scared. He had felt his stepfather’s anger before. He shouted again, ignoring what the other two dirtbags at his poker table were saying. Suddenly, Gabe was there, right next to Percy. The boy had to look up to meet those beady little eyes that always seem to be suspicious of something.

 "I’ve got no cash,“ he heard himself say, and it was true, he kept digging and digging into his pockets. Although he found nothing, he could’ve sworn he had a five.

 "Don’t lie to me, boy,” Gabe warned. He was so close now that his stench had momentarily drowned out all of Percy’s other thoughts, save the money. He kept digging through his pockets, becoming more and more desperate with each passing second.

 Gabe could always sniff the money out of you, and the older man could’ve sworn he’s smelled something on the boy. He was losing his patience too. Percy knew that look. He was a skinny kid compared to this tall, stinking man. 

 "You must’ve gotten a cab to get here,“ his stepfather stated, “paid him fifteen for the ride with a twenty.” That’s what scared Percy the most, Gabe was smart when it came to these kinds of things. “That leaves you with a five.”

 He kept digging but his pockets seemed to shrink, mocking him. “I’ve got n-”

 He only felt the blow after he stopped seeing stars. Then, all Percy felt was rage. He picked himself off of the floor and spotted Gabe a few feet away, laughing. He was about to run to him when the world gave away beneath him. 

Suddenly he wasn’t at his old apartment anymore. 

 The air was painful to breathe. He felt faint, like standing up would be too much of an effort. Facing him was Tartarus himself.

The sheer magnitude of being told him he would never beat him came rushing back to him. Percy would die. Worst of all was feeling Annabeth’s ragged breath beside him. She was waiting on him; they were a team. How could he possibly let her know he couldn’t do it? He was terrified and small. He was a skinny kid to the tall stinking monster before him and he was too frantic to even move. His limbs didn’t tremble but just barely. Riptide’s familiar weight in his hand had never been heavier. Percy just couldn’t carry the sword anymore. With a newly racing heartbeat he let the sword drop. 

There was relief in giving up. 

 Tartarus and every single monster he’d ever killed seemed to smile down at him. 

 At last.

 Percy woke up then. He didn’t wake with a jolt, he didn’t thrash. He just felt the scream at the back of his throat and his heart beat in time with his headache. He lay there, paralyzed with fear. This fear tasted so bitter because giving up was so tempting, so easy. It was always like that for him.

 Then came the trembling, his body telling him to run, everything screaming: Danger! It was all he could do to stop himself from obeying and taking off.

 He shuffled into the kitchen, stealing a quick glance to his mom’s and Paul’s room. He never woke them up, even when all he wanted was to break down and tell his mother everything. He never did. She’d tried many times to coerce it out of him but his mouth would get so dry when he’d remember; it was like trying to talk through sandpaper. It was too much, too real, too terrifying, too hard to put into words. So he simply did what he always did: clench his trembling fists and pour himself a glass of water, knowing that he wasn’t going to get much sleep that night.

He glanced at the clock. It was 3:45 am. It’d have to do. No matter how tired he was, it was better than going back to sleep. He sighed and sipped his water, growing annoyed at his racing heartbeat. It was hard to catch his breath when he got like this. It was as if his ADHD didn’t exist because it was hard not to concentrate. Every little sound grew so loud. 

 He checked again to see if his parents had heard his loud breathing. He rested his elbows on the counter, his fingers running furiously through his hair, ignoring how damp the sweat had made it. Maybe if he rubbed his knuckles hard enough against his skull, he would scrub away the nightmare.

 "Percy?“ Paul’s voice interrupted his thoughts like a zap of electricity. 

 If everything had been loud before, now it was catastrophic. He could feel the screams of Tartarus roaring in his ears accompanied by the constant ring that had always been his cue to run.

 "Percy! Calm down!” His stepfather walked towards him.

 Percy tried to tell him to step away, clutching the counter between them, but he couldn’t breathe. The air was acid. His lungs burned with every inhale. Paul walked around the counter and tried to put a hand on his stepson’s shoulder, but the movement only sounded more alarms in the boy’s head. Percy tried telling him, stepping away. The sweet and harmless gesture only felt like a claw piercing back.

 He defended himself in the only way he knew. He was fast, much too fast for the older man. In no time he had Paul pinned to the floor, his hands roughly gripping his neck. Paul’s eyes pleaded for Percy to stop, but the boy didn’t see him, all he saw was a monster. He saw all the wretched creatures he’d fought in Paul, but why kill them? Why was he always killing something? 

With a gasp, Percy’s hand let go of his stepdad’s throat. He jumped away from him as his vision cleared. They stayed sitting across from each other, both trying to catch their breath, Percy failing to do so. 

 Paul only looked at him. “Percy, please, calm down.“ 

 He was so tired.

 "Percy! Listen to me, you’re having a panic attack. Control your breathing!”

He tried but couldn’t, he looked at his stepfather for help. This wasn’t real. He tried to concentrate on anything but the memories. The floor beneath his sweaty palms, the wall against his back. It wasn’t real. Finally, he held his breath. At first everything was worse to the point where his chest hurt and he had to release the air. But when he did, it seemed to come back easier. His heartbeat slowed down. 

 "There you go.“ Paul got up and Percy listened as he poured him another glass of water. He came back and handed it to him, but he was still shaking too hard. He just shook his head.

 "I could’ve killed you-" 

 "Don’t do that Percy.”

 He didn’t understand. It would’ve been so simple to rip his throat out. To get his heart to stop beating. Was it any different than all of the other times he’d done it? “Paul,” he made sure he was looking at him, “I could’ve killed you.”

Paul seemed to force himself to look at his stepson. Percy recognized fear in his eyes. “I know.”

 *********

 "Hey!“ Rachel’s chirpy tone greeted Percy as the two came into school grounds. "You look like hell.”

 "Didn’t sleep much,” Percy confessed. 

 "That seems to be becoming a bit of a routine, huh?“ She tried to down play it, but Percy could tell she was worried, as well as half of the people around him seemed to be nowadays.

 "It’s fine,” he lied. It was always annoying to lie to Rachel, after all, she’d been the Oracle. It was hard lying to someone that practically found everything out in the end. The spirit of Delphi might’ve gone silent but she still had that weird presence that had always creeped him out. She knew too much.

 "At least we’ve got Paul today, right?“

 "Yeah.”

 He tried to force last night’s events to the back of his head but they were begging him to remember as he walked to class. The way he’d looked at Percy… There was only one other person that had ever looked at him with that type of fear…

 "Are you sure you’re okay?“ 

 Getting through Paul’s class, Percy soon found out, wasn’t as hard as he’d initially thought it might have been. As a matter of fact, he soon found himself drifting into his old habit of dozing off. Slowly, he felt himself start to fall. Percy. He was beginning to wonder why he didn’t hit the floor. Percy. He just kept falling, the wind making it hard to distinguish the whispering. Percy. He was suddenly aware he wouldn’t survive the fall.

 "PERCY!” He woke up just as he was about to hit the floor, thrusting his hands in front of him. He could feel everyone’s eyes on him but didn’t look at them. He needed to run, to get out of there. All his instincts told him to do so; the way they did when he found himself facing a monster.

“Let’s have a word outside, Mr. Jackson.“ Percy took his chance and left right behind Paul, leaving Rachel with her mouth half opened and a worried expression on her face, a trail of whispering from the other students behind him.

 Paul was waiting outside the classroom, his back to Percy. "You can’t go on like this,” he told Percy. “You need help." 

 His tone was dead serious. It made Percy’s palms itch with anxiety. He’d waited all morning for something like this to come up but his stepfather hadn’t said a word to him the whole ride to school. He kept glancing at Percy nervously, trying to come up with something to say but clearly giving up once he noticed Percy wasn’t that interested in talking either. You need help. The words made Percy feel like a crazy person. He avoided looking at Paul by staring at the window.

 "About what happened last night… this… you can’t pretend it’s okay, Percy. Your mother and I are worried about you.”

 Percy was ready to apologize when something caught his eye outside. He stopped himself just as he was about to talk and focused on what appeared to be a gleaming golden object in the sky. As he looked closer he realized it wasn’t just an object but a person, and it was coming straight at him. Was it… Jason?

 "Percy? Are you listening to me?“ Paul turned to look at him as he tore his gaze from the window, he was starting to really hate that worried look everyone seemed to be giving him. "I’m serious about this.” Jason was right outside the window now, an urgent look on his face. He pointed at the door as if to say: Meet you outside. 

 For a second he looked back and forth between Jason, who clearly didn’t recognize Paul, and his stepfather. 

 "I’m sorry,“ he finally managed, "I need to go." 

 Paul stared at him, defeated. He looked behind him, trying to understand, but Jason was already gone. He’d never gotten used to Percy running off quite as much as he’d led him and his mother to believe. But now he didn’t even try to put up a front. Percy started to walk away. He thought of a million things to tell him. He kept coming back to ‘I’m sorry’, but that just didn’t cut it anymore.

 I’m sorry for interrupting your class and then leaving without an explanation.

 I’m sorry for being the kid you have to stand for the woman you love.

 I’m sorry I make everything complicated. 

 I’m sorry I tried to kill you. 

I’m sorry you’re afraid in your own home.

 Percy finally started towards the door, but not before taking a quick glance back. There was a terrible feeling of determination in his stride, as if he were walking away for good.

 ***********

 New York hadn’t exactly given Jason the welcome he’d expected. After going a full month without visiting his other camp he’d thought that maybe The Fates would take pity on him and let him make the whole journey without being attacked. This wasn’t only naive but stupid, as he soon found out. 

 The minute he’d stepped out of the plane he’s spotted a gryphon and had had mere seconds to get out of there and lead the creature away from the multitude of mortals that surrounded him. Turns out he was being lured into a trap where two of the ugliest cyclops he’d seen were waiting for him. Brutally reminded of his first quest with Piper and Leo, he’d made the embarrassing, yet still good, call of retreating and seeking back up.

 He had remembered Percy went to school not far from there and had flown off hoping that the pair of cyclops hadn’t seen him and that the blow he’d awarded the gryphon was enough to delay the message.

 He landed in a rock right outside the school and waited for Percy to come out. The fact that he’d made him leave when he’d clearly gotten in trouble with a teacher made him feel worse. 

 "Hey!” Jason was about to dive into his story when he saw how terrible his friend looked. He could tell right away that he hadn’t been sleeping, the bags beneath his eyes deeper than they’d ever been, and his eyes just looked empty. He was instantly reminded of an instance months ago when Percy had been trapped beneath the ocean, when he’d given up. “Hey, what happened?”

 Percy looked up but didn’t meet Jason’s eyes. “We’ve got more pressing matters on our hands.” Jason wanted to pry him a little bit more but, unfortunately, Percy was right. 

 "Why’d you think they’re looking for me?“ Jason wondered out loud to Percy, hoping to distract him from whatever it was that had been bothering him since they started towards the cyclops’ camp. 

 "I don’t think they’re looking for you. They’re probably just hungry and sent their pet to find whatever smelled the best.”

 "I didn’t know I smelled that good.“

 Both boys stopped in their tracks as they heard the whoosh of a powerful set of wings. They exchanged looks. If the gryphon tipped them off now they would lose the element of surprise. Percy uncapped Riptide at the same time that Jason took out his sword. He nudged Percy and pointed towards a boulder near them. Percy hunched behind it. Jason reached for the air around him, a small tug at his gut as he searched for the gryphon. A bird that size wasn’t hard to find. He reached out his hand and forced the wind to pull it down and crash against a tree.

 Percy tightened his grip on his sword as the creature went down. He was there in a flash of celestial bronze. Before Jason could react, the blade made contact with the gryphon’s throat and with a crude, sharp sound he’d finished it off. 

 The attack had been so quick and effective Jason couldn’t help but admire Percy’s skill. But, at the same time, he noticed how he hadn’t even flinched. He didn’t think twice about killing the monster. He hadn’t been the only one to notice this. The look of emptiness Percy had worn before seemed to have worsened.

 "We should keep going,” Jason whispered as Percy brushed the yellow dust off him. Percy nodded but didn’t cap his sword back. 

 ********* 

 Percy followed Jason as he hid behind a tree above a clearing. His heart wouldn’t stop pounding. He didn’t have to think about attacking, it was like breathing. He knew Jason had seen it as well, how instinctively he’d done it. “There,” Jason said pointing at a campfire where two large creatures seemed to be waiting.

 Percy tightened the grip on his sword. “There are only two?” He asked Jason, who confirmed it. “One each.”

 "Okay,“ there was excitement in Jason’s eyes. He didn’t see what Percy did. "I’ll draw their attention to me so you have time to sneak up on them.” Percy started towards the two monsters before Jason was even done speaking.

 He tried to concentrate on the battle up ahead but he couldn’t get the gryphon’s shriek out of his head. He was almost to the fire when Jason’s lightning cut across the sky. He was thankful for the diversion; he wasn’t even thinking about stealth. The cyclops had probably already heard him. 

He tried to make up for his clumsiness by slashing at the closer one as he turned to face him. The attack threw the cyclops off balance leaving the other monster with an opening to lunge at Percy. As if on cue, Jason dropped from the sky, landing on the cyclop’s back. Percy heard them wrestle as the cyclops Percy stunned started to regain his bearings. He realized that it was the second time Jason saved his neck that day. The sounds of battle would usually make Percy’s blood pump with adrenaline, but in that moment, he felt nothing. Everything seemed disturbingly in focus.

 He was so out of it that he barely had time to duck as the cyclops, back on his feet and wielding a nasty looking club, threw a punch at him. As he started to bring the club down on Percy, his adrenaline finally kicked in and he stabbed the ground with his sword. 

 There was a painful tug at his gut as the ground around Riptide started to shift, forming cracks that seemed to travel towards the monster. They reached him just as Percy urged the vibrations that seem to be rippling off his feet and sword to stop.

 This time when the cyclops was thrown off his feet, he landed hard enough to get the wind knocked out of him. Percy crossed the distance between them in two strides and was about to bring Riptide into a fatal blow when he made eye contact with the creature.

 His eye was wide with terror and milky brown, like Tyson’s. He had never paused long enough to hear his enemies last words but now he did. “Please!” He lowered his arm a quarter of a fraction. He remembered Tartarus and the curses that had rained down upon him. The dying wishes of everyone he’d ever killed. Did they all start as a plea?

 "Percy, watch out!“ The hair on the back of his head stood and he turned just in time to see the second cyclops inches away from him. His arms were already poised for a fatal strike, so it was with little effort that he brought down his sword, turning the monster to dust. He froze then, his heart pounding willing him to kill the other, but he forced himself to stay in place.

 Jason struck the last cyclops with lightning when he realized Percy wouldn’t move. "Percy?” His voice was cautious. Maybe it was the pity that made him run, maybe it was the way the yellow dust made his skin crawl, either way Percy ran. He ran away. “Percy!”

 ************

 Rachel tried not to panic when Percy didn’t return with Paul. All her efforts of searching for him around campus were thrown out the window when Paul told her that he had left. She was used to him running off to do his son of Poseidon business, but this felt different. No matter what Percy had always told her she knew he wasn’t alright. Over the past few months, she had been watching him silently hide his feelings, making them get worse and worse. The frustrating part was she didn’t know what they were. 

 She did what any smart person would do. She called Annabeth.

 Rachel didn’t have to look hard to find Annabeth amid the churning mass of Goode students. She could feel her stare for miles. No matter what her friend was feeling, her stormy eyes always radiated power. The redhead rushed towards her, the day’s events spilling from her mouth in an incoherent mess.

 "Start from the top,“ Annabeth told her, pulling them away from the other students. 

 When she was finally done re-telling the day’s events she was surprised to find Annabeth didn’t seem fazed. It was almost like she expected it. "It’s Percy, Rachel, you can’t expect him to check in every time he comes across a monster." 

 Rachel wasn’t convinced. "He was acting weird all morning. Something happened between him and Paul." 

 That caught Annabeth’s attention. "What makes you say that?”

 "I don’t know? I could just feel this tension between them.“ 

 Annabeth seemed to finally be getting the severity of the situation. Rachel didn’t know if that was better or worse. "You said he was talking in his sleep?” Annabeth asked. “And that he looked like he hadn’t gotten any last night?”

 "Yeah.“ 

 This was bad, Annabeth’s expression confirmed it. "We need to find him.”

 *******

 "We should just call Chiron. Or Sally. Annabeth-“ 

 "We’ll find him, Rachel!" 

Annabeth sighed. She didn’t mean to raise her voice but Rachel had been pestering her with the suggestion for the last hour and she was already on edge. "He’s never gone for long.”

 "Wait,“ Rachel pulled Annabeth to a stop, making the busy New York crowd annoyed at the obstacle in its path. "He’s done this before?”

 Annabeth cursed herself. “Yeah. Look, Rachel, it’s nothing to worry about-”

 "Nothing to worry about? Do you even hear yourself?!“ Rachel searched her face. She kept looking for something. Annabeth knew what it was. She was looking for her friend, the logical friend who would take care of things the smart way, the friend who wasn’t a mess and could convince herself that everything was going to be fine. She wanted to yell at Rachel that the girl she was looking for was gone. 

But before she could change the subject, her cellphone rang. "Jason?”

 "How did you find him?“ Annabeth asked Jason once the two girls arrived at the rusty old building.

 "Hi,” both Rachel and Annabeth jumped as Nico stepped from behind Jason. “Figured you knew this certain spot by now, Annabeth.”

 Annabeth felt both Jason’s and Rachel’s eyes on her and Nico. It was obvious they weren’t telling them something. Annabeth intended on keeping it like that, but Nico seemed to finally be cracking. “Why would I?”

 "Cut it out, Annabeth. He needs help.“ She wanted to scream out as the painful truth of Nico’s words hit her. She knew it. She’d known it for months now. But she’d kept quiet like Percy had begged her to, about the nightmares, the panic attacks, the shaking, the memories. She didn’t want to admit it. "I called Chiron and filled him in. We’re taking him to camp.”

 "What’s going on?“ Jason asked. 

 Maybe before she would’ve been able to beat Nico at the staring contest he was challenging her to, but deep down, she knew he was right. He was only doing this because he cared about him and both Annabeth and Percy had to stop running away from it. 

 "Fine,” Nico seemed to let out a breath when Annabeth finally replied, “You should go up with me. Jason and Rachel, you should head back to camp. We’ll catch up with you later." 

 Jason looked like he wanted to protest but Rachel put a hand on his shoulder. She understood that the situation was hard enough as it was. "We’ll meet you there." 

 "Are you finally going to tell me what happened down there?” NIco asked once they were both gone.

 Annabeth ignored Nico as she walked up the stairs to the building’s roof. She tried to act like she didn’t know what down there meant. “We should find him first, Nico,” was she ever going to be ready to talk about what happened? “Let him tell you." 

She felt him stop behind her. She was forced to look back at him. "He won’t tell me, Annabeth. I know that you think that just because I was down there too he’ll talk to me about it but he won’t.” He looked defeated, as if he’d said the same thing a million times with the same result: silence. He probably had. Annabeth knew that. “It’s not me that should be talking to him.”

 Stop, Percy! Please!

 She deserved worse.

 We’re your friends, Bob.

 "Let’s just find him.“ 

 Percy was never far from home. Annabeth learned that soon enough. Sometimes it was the ocean, sometimes a far out place in the woods. Sometimes, like today, the roof of his apartment building. "That didn’t take long." 

 "Percy, they’re really worried about you this time?” He was sitting close to the ledge, his back to her. Annabeth was thankful for Blackjack grazing in the corner. “Rachel called me." 

 That got his attention. "What for?”

 "You didn’t go back to school. She was worried about you, she thought something happened between you and Paul.“ She cursed herself as she said that last part. She knew she’d hit a nerve. "She wanted to help.”

 "Did she?“ 

 "Yes,” Nico said behind her, “we all do.”

 Annabeth knew Nico didn’t see it, the way his shoulders rose, taking a long breath. He was collecting himself. Percy had his back to the son of Hades. Annabeth doubted he’d turn to face the younger boy, and if he did, he’d be gone by the time he faced them. She almost yelled in frustration. 

 "I don’t need help, Nico. There’s nothing for you to help with.“ 

 Percy stood up from his place on a rusty bench and made his way towards the ledge. Annabeth’s stomach lurched as he swung one leg over the ledge then the other taking a seat on it. He pulled a smile onto his face, hiding behind it like a mask. It’s wasn’t his troublemaker smile, or her smile, the one only she knew; It was a whole new one. It was one that she detested because it only worked as a shield for whatever he was feeling. "I’m fine, I just needed some air." 

 That didn’t fool Nico, so he pressed on, "What happened with the Cyclops earlier?”

 "Jason and I took care of it.“

 "He said you almost got yourself killed!” the son of Hades persisted.

 Percy’s front wavered for a millisecond before he continued, "I’m here now, so why does it matter?”

 "You can talk to me, Percy.“

 "About what?” He shot, throwing his arms in the air. “Did it ever occur to you that the reason I keep pushing you back is because you’re suffocating me?” Annabeth looked away, she knew how this ended. They’d been arguing like this for so long. “Why don’t you ever ask Annabeth to talk-”

 "Because she doesn’t run around acting like an unstable idiot!“

 Percy laughed humorlessly. "So now I’m unstable? Is that what everyone is so worried about?”

 "Don’t victimize yourself, Percy. C'mon!“

 "I don’t victimize myself. All of you do!" 

 Annabeth had had enough. She was supposed to bring Percy back to camp. She stepped in and started, "Percy-”

 "Don’t, Annabeth!“ He turned to face her, his eyes staring daggers into hers. They used to be so soft. They used to reassure her. Now she couldn’t help but remember how dark they could get, how painfully vengeful.

 She looked away. 

 "You can’t even look at me anymore.”

 "Let’s go, Nico!“ Annabeth ordered, cutting over whatever Percy was trying to say. She steeled her expression, shoving down her emotions. How could he know? She felt Nico’s cold hand wrap around hers as her vision faded to darkness and reached for the back of Percy’s shirt before he could pull away.

 She reoriented herself as they appeared back in the camp’s forest.

 She quickly let go of Nico’s hand. "Go with Chiron, Percy. He’s worried.” She was already storming off.

 ********

 Percy wanted to follow Annabeth. He wanted to not have snapped at her, to apologize. But he did neither one of those. The fact that she’d once again brought Nico into this irritated him. The fact that she took him to camp was worse. If there was something they had in common was that they were both too proud for their own good. It was hard for them to budge and accept they were wrong, especially when it came to this.

 The whole ordeal seemed so personal. It was his problem.

 "She’s right,“ Nico said behind him, "I spoke with Chiron earlier.”

 "Of course you did.“ Percy whirred his head at Nico, his annoyance growing into anger. "Just like you pulled Jason into all of this.”

 "I’m trying to help!“

 "No one’s asking you to!”

 The son of Hades sighed, keeping his anger in check. “I didn’t ask you for your help either, but you still saved my ass when I was acting like an idiot.”

 "This is different.“

 "How?" Nico’s patience seemed to be waning. "Something horrible happened to you and instead of confronting it, you run away and deal with it the worse way possible." 

 Percy said nothing.

 "How is it any different?”

 Percy walked away.

 He couldn’t shake Nico’s words off as he strode through camp. He barely noticed the weird looks he got as he made his way to his cabin. Percy hadn’t set foot at camp in a long time. He hoped that people would figure he was too busy with his life in the mortal world, but everyone seemed to sense something was wrong. He usually wasn’t so serious.

 "Percy.“ He heard someone call behind him. He figured if he kept walking they probably would think he hadn’t heard them. He wasn’t in the mood to talk. "Percy!” This time he recognized the voice and froze in place, not facing him.

 "What is it, Grover?“ They hadn’t talked in ages, not once since Percy had gotten back from Greece.

 "I… I just wanted to see how you were doing.” Percy could tell he was trying hard to act casual, not cause a scene. He could almost picture him fiddling with his hands nervously. Good old Grover. “Talk or something? Catch up.”

 Percy wanted to, so badly it hurt. He wanted his best friend. He wanted his old life back, but there was something that kept him from all of it, from turning around and pouring everything out to the one person who first taught him what a friend was. “I’ve got to-" 

 Percy’s words were cut short by a panicked scream. Before anyone could react, a horn went off signaling that somehow a monster had gotten in. Everyone around Percy scrambled for a weapon, not bothering to look for armor. Percy uncapped Riptide and searched for their unwanted visitor. He caught sight of one of the Stolls, Connor, running down Thalia’s hill. "It’s a goddess!” He warned. “She brought some sort of demon-like ladies.”

 Will’s head popped from behind Connor. “Don’t let their talons get you! They’re poisonous!”

 Percy’s shoulder ached at the memory of the demon-like ladies. He’d fought this goddess before. “Melione? How did she get in here?”

 "No time to think about that now,“ Grover answered, his eyes trained on something ahead of them. "Look.”

 Percy’s eyes traveled up ahead to the strawberry fields were a swirling mist seemed to be forming. The mist traveled down towards the group of confused demigods, carrying with it a sort of chill that seemed to dim the brightness of the sunny day. A burst of whispering made some of them spring out in blind lunges, some even let a few arrows loose. When the first of the familiar batty beings stepped out of the mist they heard a voice. “What a lovely welcoming party.” Percy didn’t know what voice everyone heard, but several gasps were audible. Percy tried to focus on what he knew the goddess could do. Last time he’d been able to keep his own against her. Last time he’d had no ghosts for her to taunt him with. 

 More and more demon-bat ladies started crawling out of the mist. They were all eerily still until a shrieking laugh brought them out of their trance, and they attacked. 

 Chaos burst around Percy and suddenly Grover was at his side fighting off Melione’s servants. The creatures were fast and had deadly poisonous talons; they were proving hard to beat. The swirling mist just grew thicker and thicker making it hard to see them coming. The goddess herself hadn’t shown her face but she was slowing them down by whispering in their ears, her voice disguised as that of fallen friends and family. Percy’s sword arm was almost shredded to pieces when Beckendorf’s voice came out of nowhere, accusing him of being a coward. 

 “You ran away and left me there!” Percy stepped back just in time, but was losing focus fast.

 Pale mist people popped up in front of his friends making them hesitate, sudden panic overtook him as he saw some even putting their weapons down. Soon it was only a few of them, including Grover, fending off the ghosts. They weren’t even trying to beat them anymore; their priority was for them not to get touched by those talons. Percy had been lucky when he had gotten hit, but there weren’t many friendly Titans hanging around now. He felt Grover’s shoulder press against his. He’d armed himself with a wooden staff that made him look very Lord of the Wild-y. Percy almost smiled at the change, almost.

 Right in the middle of the clearing, where they usually lit a fire for their offerings to the gods, the mist was getting thicker. It swirled violently until it formed the silhouette of a man. As it morphed into someone tall and fat it made its way to Percy. He braced himself for whatever the goddess was about to show him, felt his hands get clammy and breathing get shallow. 

 Then the man came into focus. And Percy almost growled in rage. “How dare you!?” After all the friends he’d lost she thought that he regretted losing him?

His blood pumped so furiously against his ears he couldn’t even hear anything else. He was outraged. He could only zero in on that sneer, on the beady eyes. The man had made him feel so utterly worthless was brought back to taunt him once again. The anger in him flowed, he could feel it the way sometimes he could sense a current. He caught sight of him, her, IT, opening its mouth to speak and in one swirling cloud of red the anger just swept out of him, crashing into his old stepfather. He reached out his hand urging the ichor to travel to its throat. Not a single word, he wouldn’t let him utter a single word. 

 He didn’t even feel when he dropped his sword. He didn’t feel his body at all. All he knew in that moment was that water was all around him, his gut hurt, and he was going to kill Gabe Ugliano. As if on cue, the goddess’ features started fighting against those of Smelly Gabe. Blonde-white hair sprouted from her scalp revealing a strange face: one side ghostly pale, the other gruesome. “Please,” she mouthed. “Mercy!" 

 "There is none!” Another flare of anger overtook him, making his gut explode with pain and taking with it the last grip on control Percy had. Power, his power, was everywhere. He felt the poison in the demon’s talons and commanded it to crush its owner. A small part of him was terrified at what he felt. It wasn’t just the demons or the goddess, all his friends were within his grasp as well. The grass at his feet, the moisture in the air, there was barely any difference with this and the blood flowing through their veins.

 Stop, Percy. Please, never do that again. 

 He needed to stop, now. He tried to recede the ichor that had accumulated in the goddess’ neck. She couldn’t breathe, hideous wheezing noises trembled out of her pale lips. The effort made him shake all over. He focused all his energy in the ichor, tried to control it like he’d done before. But now he felt the strain, his hand shook violently in front of him. The tremors raced down his body to the ground. He felt fissures sprouting around his feet, vaguely heard people calling out to him. 

 He felt lost in a limbo where only him and his power existed. It threatened to consume him and his fight was killing him, sending him even more out of control. He tried to hold everything in, push it back to the place where it had resided inside him. He wanted to destroy that part of him that destroyed everything, everyone, around him. 

He couldn’t. Control didn’t exist. 

 Something else pushed its way past his spiraling thoughts, a connection he’d forgotten, one he hadn’t used in so long. Let go, it told him. He knew the voice but was in too much pain to match a face to it. You have to, Percy. You have to let go. 

 He couldn’t, they’d die. With one last painful effort he pulled his hand into a closed fist. White hot, blazing pain shot through him, ripping his throat out in a scream. He wasn’t even a person anymore. He was a hurricane, he was the violent crash of waves, the deadly tide. 

 PERCY LET GO! 

THE EMPATHY LINK! I FEEL IT! YOU NEED TO LET GO! 

 He trusted that voice blindly. He let go. 

 ***********

 Percy woke up to the protest of every one of his muscles, feeling as if someone had shoved a vacuum cleaner down his throat and sucked out all his insides. His aching head was resting atop a comfortable pillow and he was covered by a soft blanket, but he was sure he wasn’t in the infirmary. He’d woken up there enough times to know the difference. There was also someone sitting at the edge of his bed. 

 Begrudgingly, he opened his eyes. The first thing he saw were the glittering hippocampi Tyson had hung on the ceiling of Cabin 3. 

 "Percy?“ He inched his head sideways. "Oh Gods! Thank goodness you’re okay!" 

 He groaned as Annabeth inched close to him but didn’t protest when she buried her face in his chest. His stomach twisted in guilty knots as he felt tears stain his shirt. Flashes of what happened came back to him and he was about to ask what had happened, how much damage he’d caused, when Annabeth beat him to it. 

 "No one’s badly hurt. I don’t know how but Grover managed to get through you just in time,” of course that voice had belonged to Grover, Percy thought, “Melione and her cronies vanished as soon as you passed out. Nico went to talk to his dad right away. He’s there now actually.”

 Annabeth sat upright, wiping away the few tears she had let escape. She was back to being all business. They actually hadn’t had a moment like this in the longest time. He felt incredibly self-conscious as she looked away, like she so often did now, and he lay there weak after his meltdown. 

What the hell was wrong with him? How could he lose control like that? He’d could’ve gotten everyone killed. 

 "I’m sorry,“ he blurted, Annabeth’s tired grey eyes meeting his for the first time in what seemed like forever. His heart ached, he missed her too badly to put into words, yet, it had been him who had started pushing her away in the first place. 

 He wanted to say more but just then Will walked through the door. "Good,” he stated, “you’re up." 

 "I’m fine,” Percy said before he went full on Dr. Solace on him. 

 "No,“ he assured, "you’re not.”

 He pushed Percy unto the bed when he tried to get out, not like he could’ve stood anyway,  and made Annabeth retreat to the corner. “I just need to do a quick check up. Chiron told me to leave you alone anyway.” Will glanced at Annabeth. She made it clear she wasn’t going anywhere. Annabeth stared intently as Will worked. 

“There,” he finally huffed, “all done. You won’t die.”

Percy was tempted to thank him as he walked away but he stayed quiet. Except, Will didn’t leave, he turned on his heel and faced Percy. With the look he was giving him he expected a full blown scolding. Percy knew he deserved it too.

 "We’ve all gone through war here, Percy,“ this was unexpected. "I think we’ve lost enough people to realize it’s not exciting or heroic.” He stumbled through his words, Percy could tell it was hard for him to talk about this. “Leadership is not something anyone wants. Not when it means guiding your family to their deaths. I of all people know that, Percy. My point is, we are, or at least I’m, not ignorant to the toll it has. Just because you’re Percy Jackson doesn’t mean you don’t suffer from it either. It’s for that same reason that you’ve suffered it worse than most of us.” He stared at the floor, losing the sudden burst of confidence he’d gotten. “We’re all broken, Percy, one way or another. But we can’t mend ourselves by ignoring the broken parts.” With that the head counselor of the Apollo cabin walked out of the room. 

 Annabeth waited until he’d left to say: “He’s right, you know.” She was staring straight at Percy now. He held her gaze. “You keep pushing everything that happened away. It’s not doing you any good. It’s-" 

 "Spinning me out of control?” They’d had this conversation before. 

 "Yes,“ Annabeth said, she wasn’t yelling she just sounded tired. "It’s not only hurting you.”

 "I didn’t mean to freak out like that. I’m sorry anyone got hurt-“ 

 "That’s not what I mean.” This time she didn’t stop her tears. Gods, he missed those eyes. 

 "Is that why you won’t look at me?“ He’d been ashamed of it so long that he felt his throat closing up. "I’m hurting you?”

 "Not you Percy. It’s not you that hurts me.“

 "Then what?!” He didn’t mean to raise his voice. He was just so frustrated. “Why won’t you talk to me?" 

 "Because I can’t look,” she was sobbing now. “I can’t look at what I did to you!” Her body was shaking as she sank to the floor, never once looking away from Percy. 

 He was out of his bed and on the floor cradling her in seconds. He didn’t care about every single one of his cells screaming in pain. Nothing hurt more than seeing her like this. “What are you talking about?" 

 "You fell because of me! I should’ve just let go! I let you fall with me!”

 He took her face in his hands, not believing what he was hearing. “It would’ve gone against everything that makes me, me, to not have fallen with you. You hear me?” He wiped away some tears with his thumb. “I don’t risk anything to be with you. I HAVE to be with you. It’s something that needs to happen in order for me to live. No matter how hard you would’ve tried to do it alone, I wouldn’t have let you." 

 "I’M not worth all of this! I can’t see you like this and know it’s my fault!" 

 Percy felt his heart crumble. He’d been so selfish. They took care of each other, that’s what they did. They had each other’s backs, at least she had his.

 "I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” He pressed his forehead against hers, feeling some tears of his own wet his cheeks. “It’s no one’s fault but mine, Annabeth. I caught you and I fell with you. And I would do it now if it meant I got to be with you. I’m sorry I’m a bit slow. I had to vent for a while I guess. I had to be stupid for a while." 

 "You’re not stupid,” Annabeth managed. “And you’re not okay." 

 "No,” he was letting go. He couldn’t hold on to the anger anymore. What had happened, happened. There was no going back. But he meant what he’d said. Annabeth was worth it. His life was worth it. “I’m not okay. And neither are you. And that’s not our fault." 

 Annabeth grabbed Percy’s wrist, trying to pry him off. He could see the fear at the prospect of not being okay. But if there was one thing he was going to hold on to, it was her. He pulled her face closer and kissed her. Her attempts at pulling him away were abandoned, as she pulled him even closer. 

 With everything he’d ever seen, all the myths he’d known to be true, Percy should’ve picture him and Annabeth as two strings that had morphed into one and that were destined to end by the same cut. But he didn’t see any of that. He saw two lost kids sharing some Oreos, in a quest they didn’t fully understand, knowing somehow that the only thing that would make sense for the rest of their lives was to stick together no matter what.

[rainagainstmywindow]

JUST POPPED IN TO LET YOU KNOW THAT I'M STILL 100% INTERESTED IN ALL SHADES OF YOU AND WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO READ THE SECOND CHAPTER!!!!1!!!1!! KEEP WRITING!!1!11!111!!!!!

I’ve actually already posted the second chapter if you search the tag ASoY in my blog u should find it. I also tag all my fics #ramwfics I’m planning on posting the third chapter later today. Thank you for reading!

[rainagainstmywindow]

In lieu of the current Tumblr mess, I’ll be transferring all my fics to AO3 where you can find me as RainySteve. All my works will remain here but since it’s hard to find them atm check there. I still don’t have everything up there but I’m working on in. 

As far as I know all my fics can still be found through the My Fics link on my blog and I tag everything #ramwfics

[rainagainstmywindow]

All Shades of You (Chapter 6)

Finally it’s here! Thanks as always to my lovely beta @san-penedo and enjoy some more swimmer!Percy 

(please search #ramwfics or #ASoY for previous chapters)

Purple, Annabeth had recently learned, was a color between red and blue, a combination of both. It was the color that peeked beneath Percy’s sleeve as he absentmindedly scratched the arm he was using to lean on her dorm bed, a bruise. Apparently she’d stared for too long because his cheeks flushed and he pulled down on the sleeve, burying his head deeper into the highlighted flashcards she’d made. It was clear to her that he didn’t want to talk about whatever had happened, but she couldn’t help worrying about the hand-sized mark on his arm for the rest of the hour. Percy was also quieter than usual and he looked like he’d gotten even less sleep than he normally did.  

Over the past couple of weeks, Percy and Annabeth had met up more frequently. She’d gotten to know him better. She still wasn’t sure about the whole “soulmate” thing, and, to her knowledge, Percy’s world was still very much in black and white, but she definitely considered him a friend now. She wondered if he considered her enough of a friend to talk about whatever was going on. He clearly needed to talk to someone.

“Your first meet is in two days, right?” Maybe he was just nervous about competing. It didn’t add up with the bruise but she decided not to push it.

“Yeah,” he didn’t look up but she could see his shoulders relax a little, “Coach put me in five events.”

“Do you usually swim that much?”

“Actually, I swam in all the events in my last school.”

“Oh excuse me I didn’t know I was talking to an all event swimmer.”

He finally looked up at her, green eyes rolling but laughing. He couldn’t hide the slight blush that had crept onto his cheeks. “Oh yes the Olympic committee is practically begging me to join the team, didn’t you hear? I’ve told them maybe due to my busy schedule.”

Annabeth snorted. She didn’t actually know if Percy was any good. She assumed he was good given all his Couch was doing to let him swim. Percy was apparently thinking similarly to her because he finally asked her if she wanted to go to his meet on Friday. Once again, he couldn’t help but blush a little. It sent a steady stream of butterflies into Annabeth’s stomach, but she ignored it and agreed. He quickly added that Grover was also going to be there.

They continued in mostly silence after that. Percy’s short burst of a good mood slowly dissipated, choosing to only talk to ask her about the notes. She still preferred this over the latter of hanging by herself in her room until her roomate Kacey got back from her boyfriend’s. Kacey was nice and all -she didn’t mind Percy coming over to study and had even covered for her once when the Dean almost found out (there was a strict ‘no boys’ policy in her dorms)- but she wasn’t Thalia or Grover or Percy. She wasn’t a friend. All the drama of meeting Percy aside, she was glad Grover had introduced them, she was sure she wouldn’t have made too many friends if he hadn’t.

She still couldn’t get the bruise out of her head after Percy left though.

*****************

Rachel knew that Percy’s relationship with his stepfather was rocky, to say the least. After a few months of hanging out with Percy, he’d finally let slip that his stepfather was being a pain but never more than that. Whenever Rachel had tried to pry a little further into what could possibly be going on, he always got defensive or made sure to quickly switch the topic. She could respect barriers, she always put up her own when he tried to ask about her own parents, but it wasn’t until she saw the fresh bruise in his arm that she finally felt the need to push further.

“How’d you get that?” The only reason she’d noticed was because the seatbelt had caught his sleeve as he pulled it over him. He’d been given her driving lessons for the last two weeks since his mom had taught him how to drive last summer and Rachel refused to let her parents pay for yet another driving school.

“Get what?”

He clearly knew what she meant. “C’mon, Percy.”

He adjusted his shirt and tried to mask the annoyance he clearly felt. “It’s nothing, Rachel. Mrs. O’Leary saw a poodle and ran off and I fell.”

The thing about Percy was that he really sucked at lying if you caught him off guard. “And what? You just so happened to fall into a hand-shaped rock?” He was avoiding her eyes. “If you got into a fight you can tell me, y’know?”

His jaw stiffened. “Is that what you think happened?” Rachel knew he was meant to look angry but his eyes looked mostly hurt when they finally turned to her. “I just went and picked a fight while I was on probation because I’m that much of an idiot?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Just whatever Rachel. Let’s get this over with.”

Rachel wasn’t going to let this go that easily. And she wasn’t going to let Percy jump to his own conclusions either. “Of course I know you’re smart enough not to pick a fight, Percy! Are you kidding? I’ve seen you work your ass off to get to swim tomorrow! You know that’s not what I meant.” In response, he got out of the car.

Rachel’s heart was beating furiously as she slammed her own door and met him on the other side of the sleek, black, expensive car her Dad had let her ‘borrow’ when he found out she was giving driving another shot. “Just don’t!” Percy said before she could even catch her breath. He was properly angry now, it made him look scarier than Rachel knew he was. She knew Percy was harmless to her, but she still felt her body tense. Guilt flooded her the moment it happened because his anger vanished as soon as it had flared, his scowl settling into a tight-lipped expression that she didn’t think she would ever see in someone as goofy and playful as Percy. He tried looking away from her but she’d caught it nonetheless and it broke her heart.

She shouldn’t have pushed it. She needed to fix it. If Rachel was being honest with herself, Percy was the one friend she had. Sure she hung out with kids at school and she liked them, but Percy was the only one that seemed interested in what she actually liked, not what she pretended to. He didn’t have to hang out with her, he didn’t have to like her. He chose all of those things and that made it all even more valuable to her. Rachel reached out for his hand in a desperate motion. When he turned back she found she had nothing to say, wanting to fix things -to make him feel better- wasn’t enough. So she did the first thing that came to mind, she rushed forward and kissed him.

*********

The thing Percy liked most about being in the water was how he didn’t have to think about anything else. He could concentrate solely on the rhythmic pattern of his hand breaking the water, reaching, gliding, doing it again. His whole world was his timed breaths, the muffled noise beneath the surface. Most of the time, he didn’t even look beside him to the competitor in the next lane. He just pushed himself to his limit and sometimes found that he could go beyond that. It was exactly what he needed this week.

     It had all started when he didn’t hear his alarm Tuesday morning. Coach had kept them almost an hour longer the previous day, so he didn’t have time to catch up on homework like he usually did before work and ended up going to bed way later than he should have. His phone just kept going until it woke Gabe up. Sally had already left for work so it was only the two of them.

     Percy jolted awake at the sound of his bedroom door being thrown open followed by a stream of obscenities from his stepfather. At this point, Percy had perfected the art of tuning it all out, but the combination of no sleep and the sudden realization that he was definitely going to be late and would have to skip breakfast culminated in him losing his temper and talking back to Gabe. The older man had immediately taken a swing at him, which Percy had dodged by instinct. Percy hadn’t been able to escape his grasp though as Gabe shook him until he screamed himself hoarse. It had killed him to finally apologize to the older man, but Percy knew that if he didn’t de-escalate the situation quickly, Gabe would truly lose it and Percy didn’t have time to come up with something to cover for that. He’d felt the soreness in his arm for the rest of the day but hadn’t actually noticed the bruise until it was time for practice. There wasn’t anything he could do to cover it so he just decided to not mention it, people’s need to appear polite almost always prevented them from asking any questions. Of course Coach had noticed it, but by the time he pulled him aside he’d formulated his “dog-walking” story. He didn’t look as convinced as Percy would’ve liked but it did the trick.

     Percy made sure to cover the bruise up with sleeves the rest of the week, but he should’ve known Annabeth was too smart to not notice. He knew she had, but she hadn’t pushed him or patronized him. Still, in her own way, she’d tried to make him feel better. Something about the way she’d asked him about the meet and teased him had made him feel so comfortable, it almost freaked it him out a little bit. It’d been a very brief moment but he couldn’t get it out of his head, not even after Rachel had kissed him.

      Percy liked Rachel, he liked her a lot. He definitely hadn’t stopped her from kissing him, but he wasn’t sure he would’ve ever initiated it himself. The rest of the afternoon after she’d kissed him, he’d debated the whole idea. He hadn’t really come up with any good reasons not to take this next step with Rachel. It was just that…

Percy tried to keep his mind blank through Coach Hedge’s pep talk, focused on tuning out the noise from the people on the bleachers as they stretched. He cursed Gabe for the millionth time that week as he tried to ease the still lingering soreness in his arm. He hoped Percy’s mom couldn’t see anything from her place on the bleachers. Sally waved at him when he caught her eyes. She looked a little self-conscious surrounded by all the rich swim moms, but Percy still felt they were no match to her dazzling smile and sparkling eyes. Seeing her calmed his nerves a little bit. He caught sight of Annabeth and Grover a few minutes later, for the first time he was painfully aware of how little clothes he was actually wearing.

He’d actively ignored the group of kids at the very front. Percy recognized some as the art kids Rachel hung around with and he was sure she was there because they’d talked about it yesterday. Neither had brought the kiss up again though.

It hadn’t been Percy’s first kiss, that happened in sixth grade at the only birthday party he’d been invited to, but it’d been his first real kiss. Maybe it was because he lacked experience, or because he’d romanticized the idea of soulmates so much, but it’d been pretty underwhelming. No butterflies or rush of excitement. He mainly remembered desperately trying to figure out what to do with his hands and then it was over. There was the other fact, something he’d talked himself out of believing for weeks now, to consider as well. The main reason why the kiss making feel nothing didn’t make sense in his mind.

Cole clasped his shoulder and he was once again brought to the present. If anything, at least the kiss had diverted his worry for the meet elsewhere. He hadn’t even put his cap and goggles on and he was going to start the two-hundred free relay. Couch had been mildly impressed with his times during practice, but not enough to let him anchor the relays. Percy needed to concentrate on starting them with an advantage. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, any other thoughts besides the race disappearing as his fingertips touched the block.

*********

Annabeth hated admitting it, but she was impressed. The water had caught her eye immediately upon entering the school. Since meeting Percy, she’d encountered so many shades of blue and green that she thought she’d finally seen them all, ocean water, after all, had been the first sign of color she remembered. But she hadn’t thought too much about it since coming to New York. Then there was Percy himself, he cut across the water so gracefully and with such precision, that he was out of the pool before she could process it all. She turned to Grover as the rest of his team swam their corresponding fifty meters, asking if that was it. No, Percy was set to swim in four other events. Right, Annabeth thought, he told me that.

Annabeth didn’t usually go to sports events. Not because she didn’t like sports. On the contrary, she was actually thinking of trying out for her own school’s volleyball team and had started going to the gym with Thalia. She was just aware of how competitive she got and felt embarrassed about getting too passionate in front of a bunch of strangers, and Grover. Not to mention Sally Jackson (Sally, she had insisted Annabeth call her), Percy’s mom, who’d hugged her warmly upon being introduced by Grover and thanked her profusely for tutoring her son for the past few weeks. Annabeth liked her right away and felt herself get a little jealous of Percy for having such a great mom.

Annabeth’s relationship with her mother, a respected business woman who’d divorced her father before she was even born, had always been strained. It’s not that Annabeth didn’t love her, or that her mother in turn didn’t love Annabeth back, she just would’ve never felt comfortable enough with her coming to her sports events and doubted she would cheer her on as passionately as Sally Jackson was doing for Percy at the moment. Not to mention Annabeth’s lingering resentment towards Athena for refusing to take her in after things with her stepmother got worse. Athena’s argument had been that she traveled all the time and would never be there to look after her, but, considering Annabeth had still ended up without the supervision of a parent, Annabeth had taken that as another excuse for Athena not taking responsibility of her.

Percy was now swimming his third event, by himself this time. He came a few milliseconds behind his other team mate but still appeared to have an advantage over the other swimmers. Sally and Grover were only getting louder and louder, to the point that it was becoming infectious. By the time Percy was getting ready to swim the two hundred meter butterfly -which Annabeth remembered was Percy’s favorite event- Annabeth was cheering right along with them. This time Percy completely dominated from the start. His pace didn’t falter for a second, if anything it got faster each time he hit a wall. He ended up winning with almost a five second lead, getting a pat on the back from the Coach himself once he exited the water.

The last event, the four hundred free relay, was mayhem. Everyone around Annabeth was yelling just as loud as them now, the boys from all teams stood at the opposite end of the pool, yelling words of encouragement as the girls swam their hits. It was the closest out of all the races, the Goode girls winning by a last superhuman stretch of the anchor’s arm. The girls, along with the rest of the school and spectators, outdid themselves when it was time for the boys to swim as well.

One specific girl at the very end of the stands caught Annabeth’s attention. It was her hair, to be exact, that caught her eye. It was closely related to the red Annabeth was getting used to spotting, but warmer somehow. She remembered seeing glimpses of it during sundown a few days ago. A red-head. Annabeth could tell she was covered in paint even from her spot even thought she could only pick out a few of the colors that caked her expensive Goode High School uniform. She didn’t seem to know a lot about the sport, yelling Percy’s name even when he wasn’t in the water. Annabeth hadn’t really heard anyone but them call Percy by name.

“Who’s that?” She asked Grover, who was now jumping like a maniac as Goode’s anchor jumped in the water. Annabeth had to ask again to get a response, practically yelling in his ear.

“Oh! That’s Rachel! She’s cool!”

Annabeth did remember Percy mentioning someone called Rachel once or twice. She cheered along with everyone else as Goode’s anchor repeated the feat of the girls, but couldn’t shake a feeling of uneasiness as everyone began to file out, waving back at Percy robotically and then following Sally and Grover to the parking lot. Not before, however, catching a glimpse of Rachel jumping over the stands and pulling on Percy’s hand to whisper something in his ear. Something in Annabeth’s stomach stirred as she watched him nod to whatever Rachel has said to him, a small blush tinting his cheeks pink.

Sally left almost right away, regretting not being able to congratulate Percy but having to go to work. Annabeth decided to leave early as well, Grover had mentioned pizza earlier but now she didn’t feel too hungry. She couldn’t get the image of those fiery curls and Percy’s blushing face out of her mind. Just a few days ago she was making him blush. She scolded herself for even thinking about it for so long. Why should she care?

That night she looked over the color book her father had given her so many years ago, reviewing like she now often did all the colors she could now see. Blue. Purple. Red. Orange. Her eyes stayed on the page describing green. One word in particular jumped out at her. Envy.

[rainagainstmywindow]

All Shades of You (Chapter 3)

So I missed my target of posting weekly (sorry) but here’s the next chapter! Edits by the lovely @san-penedo

(please search #ramwfics or #ASoY for previous chapters)

“You nervous?” Asked Percy’s mother as she fixed his tie. Percy had had some pretty awful uniforms in his academic past -military school had held the top spot until now- but Goode High School’s combo of a tie, blazer and slacks took the cake. His mother had even had to spend a big chunk of her salary on real shoes (as the dean had so nicely pointed out during their last visit to her office) since he wouldn’t be allowed to use his usual beat-up converse or Reeboks.

And yes, maybe he was nervous, but he wasn’t about to show it and make his mother even more upset. “I’m fine, Mom.” Percy had heard her and Smelly Gabe arguing last night. He could see some of the argument on her arm today which made his blood boil. He tighten his wrist at the sight but bit back his anger. Sally Jackson had made her son promise not to confront her husband ever since Smelly Gabe had punched Percy’s lights out a couple of years ago. The only thing he could do was act as upbeat around her as possible, even if he was a little terrified of his new school. The dean has made it very clear to him that he was already starting on probation due to his record. He’d have no second chances.

“Are you having any classes with your new friend? Rachel right? She’s pretty.”  Sally had caught a brief glimpse of her when they were hanging around the park once. Percy had found it utterly embarrassing that she was checking in on him

“Mom.” 

Sally tried to act innocent as her son blushed red and she finished tying his tie. After a quick breakfast, they both walked the few blocks to Sally’s work. He dropped her off at Sweet on America, the candy shop she worked at, but not before she kissed him on the cheek and fussed about his tie for another five minutes. He rode the subway the rest of the way to Goode once his mother finally released him. He was surprised to find Rachel already waiting for him at the steps of the brick building.

“Thought I’d give you a tour,” she told him with a dazzling smile. Rachel definitely wore the uniform better than he did, looking great in her skirt instead of his slacks. He’d been scared of her completely ignoring him once they finally started school, choosing to hang out with her real friends instead, so he graciously accepted her proposal. She asked for his schedule which he handed over. “Hmm you’ve got Dodds for Math. I’ve heard she can be a bit of a demon. But Blofis is pretty cool.”

“Blofish?”

“Blofis, Percy. He teaches English. I had him freshman year.”

Great, Percy thought. Being dyslexic English had always been one of his least favorite subjects. Thankfully they had homeroom together, so Percy followed Rachel to a classroom past a music room and through a couple trophy cases. Percy didn’t miss the fact that many of them were for swimming. It was even harder for him to avoid the sport when the Captain, a lean guy a couple of inches taller than Percy and with an unfortunate blonde quiff, and coach decided to barge in to his very first class and announce that they were having tryouts next Friday after school. “Isn’t the swim season like months away?” He asked Rachel, annoyed.

“Private schools have meets starting in November since most of them have heated, indoor pools.” Great. “Why? You swim?”

“Not really.”

***************************

Annabeth Chase was not freaking out because Annabeth Chase simply did not freak out. She’d tried to concentrate on her classes all week but she was soon figuring out that it was hard to run away from the color green. Annabeth had once read in a book that her father had given her that green was somtimes associated with harmony. She felt like hitting whoever wrote that upside the head since it could not be further from the truth. Annabeth had been able to see just that very specific shade that the ocean took at times since she was seven, but, since meeting Percy, her color palette had marginally expanded. Now, she saw dozens of shades of green wherever she went and, rather than harmonious, it made her feel like bolting in the opposite direction. She could see the dark green of her school’s banner’s, the lighter tone of the kale as she watched the barista blend her a smoothie in the morning, her own notebook!

She wondered how people lived in a world full of color. How they managed to focus on anything when inanimate objects just screamed at you from all directions. She also felt a strong sense of indignation. She still didn’t even know who Percy was! Sure he’d seemed nice enough, a bit goofy, but definitely smarter than he looked. Still, she’d only known him for a day. No way this whole “soulmate” thing worked so fast. Was he also in her same situation? She stopped midway through her spiralling thoughts: what color are my eyes? What if he wasn’t seeing any colors? Percy had seemed fidgety sure, but she thought that had more to do with his seemingly general susceptibility for hyperactivity than anything else.

When the bell finally rang and she realized that the whole hour had passed with her barely jotting down any notes, she decided to consult the one person she was certain could see color, or at least could at one point in her life.

“Well that took no time at all,” Thalia said as she graciously opened the door to her apartment. Annabeth practically stomped in after noticing that her door was, in fact, green. “How was school?”

Annabeth waved her hand dismissively as she plopped herself down onto Thalia’s ratty couch. “School’s fine! Schools is school!”

“Okay then, what’s up?”

All of the annoyance that had helped Annabeth refrain from properly freaking out started to wane under the older girl’s steely, almost mocking stare (which, thankfully, stayed colorless). She lost all her build up and opened her mouth just to close it back up at the feel of the dryness in her throat. Thalia making fun of her was a given, but she hadn’t really given herself room to figure how she really felt about it, about the fact that this was a pretty permanent change.

“Whoa, that serious, huh?” Thalia softened her look and went to sit beside Annabeth. “Did something happen with your Dad?”

Annabeth shook her head. “No. It’s-it’s not that.” She sighed, searching for the words to explain this. She’d never even told anyone about the ocean. “I think I might have found him.” She rolled her eyes when Thalia looked back at her blankly. Her mouth felt like it would reject saying the word soulmate out loud. This was ridiculous. “My soulmate, Thalia! There, you happy? You made me say it!”

Whatever Thalia was expecting her to say, it probably wasn’t that. “When...who?” Annabeth knew Thalia always felt awkward talking about these types of things. She was getting that look she got when kids starting to her, half concern and half panic.

“This kid named Percy, Grover’s friend.” Annabeth said quickly. “I barely even know him.”

“Do you want to? Get to know him, I mean.”

Annabeth thought that an odd question. “Well shouldn’t I?”

“You’re sixteen, kid. And it’s your choice.”

Annabeth built up the courage to ask what she’d wanted to know for a while and what had been eating at her even more since meeting Percy. “What did you do? When you met Luke? Did you tell him?”

Thalia looked down at her hands, a sad smile on her face. “Nah. I was too busy freaking out about it. I think Grover always knew, but it took Luke a while to figure it out.”

“That was when you finally got together, right?”

Thalia shook her head. “It wasn’t because of that. When I first started seeing color I barely knew him. We chose each other. That’s why it meant anything. I could’ve kept seeing black and white for all I cared.”

“What color were his eyes?”

She looked up but quickly turned away. Annabeth didn’t fail to notice a small tear sliding down her cheek though. “Blue.”

[rainagainstmywindow]

Mr. Jackson (pjohoo Big Bang)

So here it is!!! I’m so excited to finally post this fic! This has been an awesome experience and before anything I want to thank and applaud @percyyoulittleshit for her awesome job organizing this @pjohoobigbang ! I met some really awesome people this time around. @scriptorsapiens was my amazing artist for this and was always around to discuss deep meanings and cool scenes so thank you for keeping up with me. @cherrycolagirl was my beta (thanks for swooping in last minute). Here’s my two cents for the bang, I hope you enjoy it!

It all started when Grover’s head popped out of Percy’s locker. “Percy!” The satyr gasped. “Thank the gods, I’ve been trying to reach you for almost an hour.” Percy, who had tripped over a bench and almost lost the towel around his hip, was about to ask what he was doing inside his locker but Grover seemed to be in a bit of a rush. “I’ve got a small favor to ask, well it’s not just me it’s a camp assignment but-”

“I told Chiron I wasn’t getting involved at camp till after school ended-”

“Yes, but this is important-”

“So is graduating high school, Grover-”

“Could you let me finish?” Grover finally asked clearly exasperated. “We sent Clarisse and one of my satyrs to a school not far from camp. It was a strong scent, Percy, last time I caught something like that we sent Hedge and he came back with Piper, Leo and Jason.” That certainly got Percy’s attention.

“So it’s more than one demigod? At the same school?”

“Yeah, from what they could tell they all seemed to have different parentage.”

“How would they know that?”

“Well,” Grover started fidgeting with his hands, “once Clarisse actually caught up to them, one seemed to recognized her. He wasn’t too happy to see her.”

Percy stood dripping, confused. “So they were aware they were demigods? Could they be Roman?”

“From what they could tell and no, they were clearly Greek according to Clarisse.”

“So why didn’t they bring them in? They’d already made contact with them.” Percy heard an angry voice that could only belong to Clarisse herself telling Grover to hurry up.

“Some sort of monster got ‘em before they could. Plus, they didn’t really seem to want to come to camp. One of them, we’re guessing Hecate kid, put some sort of spell on Clarisse that still hasn’t worn off and Phil got hurt. You’re the closest and you can obviously handle yourself.” There was another string of angry cursing from Clarisse. “Not that you can’t, Clarisse! You know that’s not what I meant.”

“So what?” Percy asked, suddenly feeling slightly hesitant about this whole situation. How had Phil gotten hurt? “You want me to stall the monster while you send back up?” Percy could only guess a monster had caught the scent of so many demigods in one place and forced Phil and Clarisse to retreat.

“We already sent back up. Whatever that Hecate kid did to Clarisse seems to have hit the Stolls as well, we haven’t heard back from them.”

“What makes you think it won’t affect me either?” Why was the kid attacking them?

“Percy can you just go? We’re kinda desperate here.” Grover looked at him waiting for him to refuse. He could send someone else, whatever time they’d save sending Percy it won’t make much difference taking into account all the time they’ve already lost. But Grover knows Percy, he has a certain way of acting in this situations that always seems to work out.

“Fine.” Percy heard himself say. “Where do I start?”

~~~~~

Percy kept trying to convince himself that he didn’t like being on a quest again, but, if he was honest, this was the most relaxed he’d felt in months. This was easy to him. A clear goal and if any surprises popped up, he had Riptide. This made sense.

He tried to look for any sign of the three kids he was looking for but they were stealthy. They didn’t want to be found and this made Percy wonder if they had their own quest, and if so, who was giving them orders. It wasn’t the Romans since all three demigods were clearly Greek according to Grover. Percy mulled over this as he tried to look for any sign of them when suddenly he heard a roar. He stopped in his tracks and listened. There was another roar followed by what were clearly human screams. “Found you.” He ran towards the source of the commotion until he came along with what appeared to be an abandoned warehouse. Wood creaked and glass was sent flying, whatever monster the kids had attracted was pretty big. Percy ran inside and was met with a strangely familiar scene of three kids barely holding off a Hydra. There were two boys and a girl, the youngest was unarmed and the girl stood over him slashing away at two heads. The eldest was barely dodging the acid from the rest of the heads. Percy sprung out his shield and ran towards the eldest boy, he wasn’t going to last too long against that many heads.

“Who-” the kid started to ask but just then one of the heads threw him to the side causing his head to bang against a window and resulting in him falling unconscious to the ground.

Great, Percy thought. He smacked one of the heads as it came barreling down at him and narrowly missed another one spitting acid in his face. He tried to recall the last time he’d come across a Hydra. Fire, Annabeth had told him. Percy needed to cut a head and immediately burn the stump to stop another two from growing in its place. He also recalled Clarisse crushing the monster with a huge steamboat back then. He didn’t think he’d have that kind of luck now.

Beside him the girl’s strikes were getting slower, she was smart enough to not cut off any of the heads but she was battling three of them at once. These kids had definitely had prior training. Percy watched as she was cornered and disarmed. With no other choice Percy slashed at the head attacking him and raced towards the girl. He jumped in front of her and put up his shield just before a spray of acid sprang from the creature’s many mouths. The young boy the girl had been trying to protect finally sprung into action and charged at the Hydra armed only with a long piece of wood. Stupid, Percy thought as he raced once again to stop a kid from being melted into a puddle of goo.

Once he got to him he put up his shield. The last blast had badly charred the shield -so beautifully re-crafted by Tyson for what seemed like the hundredth time- and it barely withstood this one. Percy tossed aside the pitiful remains and tried not to concentrate on the few splotches of acid it let through to his arm. “Get your friends out of here!” Percy ordered the kid, they didn’t have time to defeat this thing; four demigods were bound to attract more than one monster. “Run towards the woods until you reach-”

“The camp, we know Helena was leading us there when this thing found us.” The kid told Percy before he could finish. He kept a close eye on him as he retrieved the unconscious older boy. He had the stereotypical slender body of an archer and a shock of blonde hair that matched the girls. He managed to retrieve the other boy and Percy concentrated back on the hydra as the three of them ran of.

Percy knew he needed to incapacitate the Hydra long enough for them to get away. He found himself wishing he had Leo at his side, fire in command would’ve been more than helpful in his current situation. He looked around at the weak structure and was struck with an idea. Just as the thought came to mind though, his stomach dropped. What if he couldn’t do it? What if he could but he lost control? The grip on his sword started to get slippery as his palms turned clammy. His arms actually started to shake so bad that his blow wasn’t strong enough to stop the beast’s huge talon from coming down on him. He rolled to the side just in time but still managed to get clipped on the side. The sudden pain made his senses come crashing back into focus. He pulled on his gut and called for the now familiar hurricane that always seemed to form around him when he fought. He concentrated on spreading it and felt himself smile as he heard the flimsy wooden walls creak. A sort of thrill spread around his body as he let his power loose for what felt like the first time in ages. It egged him to spread the storm, to feel the full extent of the godly side of him. No, he told himself. Percy grimaced at the lurch of protest his gut seemed to give but maintained the storm only to the boundaries of the warehouse. The biting wind made it hard for the Hydra, whose eyesight was already bad, to catch Percy or move much for that matter. He drew her towards the center of the venue and gave the hurricane a last ounce of strength. With a definite crash the whole building started to collapse around him. Percy barely had time to get out of there before the whole place went down, trapping the Hydra along with it.

~~~~~~~

Percy found the kids by a creek. This time they were in such a rush they left a pretty easy trail to follow. “You’re hurt.” Is all the girl says when he comes into view. The smaller boy is sitting beside her and the older one is still out. The girl -Helena- hands Percy a canteen full of what he suspects is nectar since she was previously trickling some into the unconscious boy’s mouth.

“Thanks.” He takes a swing and is met with the familiar taste of of his mother’s homemade chocolate chip cookies. The nectar gives him some of his strength back but only manages to slow the pain in his side to a dull ache. He looked around to get his bearings and found that they’re only about fifteen minutes away from camp. He was equally relieved and worried. A hydra that close to camp…

“You’re Percy Jackson.” The girl suddenly states. She has big brown eyes that don’t seem to blink as they stare right through him. “Aren’t you?”

“Yeah.” He was about to ask how she knew that when something finally clicks inside his head. His gaze had wandered off to the eldest boy since he seemed to be starting to come around when an old memory flickered out of nowhere. A younger kid with messy armor charging at him. He knew this kid. He was with Luke during the Titan War. He was in the Andromeda when Beckendorf-

“Well are you or aren’t you?” The younger kid demanded.

The older kid had finally regained consciousness and the minute his eyes fell on Percy they burned with pure hatred. “He is.”

~~~~

“He’ll get here,” Grover assures Clarisse. She’d been savagely clinging to the railing of the Big House ever since Grover spoke with Percy, he feared the old wood wouldn’t last long under her grasp.

“It’s been like ten hours!”

“Two actually.”

“Whatever!” She finally lets go of the railing and instead decides to grasp the poor satyr with a savage look. “You shouldn’t have called him in the first place, we had it under control.”

“Sure, that’s why the Stolls are still unaccounted for.” Clarisse responded with a very professional growl. Grover was sure she would’ve proceeded to do something worse but just then he noticed Percy walking into camp with three other demigods. “Told ya.”

Clarisse wiped her head around. “Jackson!”

“La Rue,” Percy greeted back. “Hey, man.”

“I see you found them.” Grover was disappointed to see that they hadn’t come across Travis or Connor. The waves of anger coming off of Percy weren’t exactly reassuring either.

“Sherman!” Clarisse barked. Almost instantly her second in command appeared at her side, he’d been closely following her every order ever since she announced she would be handing over head counselor duties to him after coming to the conclusion she couldn’t run the cabin and attend college at the University of Arizona at the same time. “Takes these three to watch the orientation film.”

“We don’t need to sit through your silly- ” the oldest one started to say but quickly enough the girl at his side elbowed him and shot him a look.

“We’d love to watch your silly film,” she told Sherman following him inside the Big House with the two boys close at her side.

When they were gone Grover voiced his top concern. “They’re way to old to have survived on their own all this time.”

“They didn’t,” Percy told them looking around to make sure no one would overhear them, “they were with Luke.”

“How-” Clarisse started to ask but Percy gave her a stern look, not here. “I’ll call a meeting.”

~~~~~~~

“Okay everyone settle down,” Chiron called over the noise of all the camp’s counsellors demanding to know what was happening. “We’ve got business to get to. Is everyone here?”

They looked around to make sure. Everyone was there except… “Annabeth?” Percy asked at the sight of his girlfriend walking through the door. “What are you doing here?”

“Clarisse called me as soon as it was clear the Stolls were missing.” She said. Why didn’t you?

“We’re glad to have you Annabeth,” Chiron cut in. “Now, Percy I believe you can answer some of our questions.”

“Yeah,” he was still weary at the sight of Annabeth but went on, “I believe the kids that I brought in were with Luke during the Titan War.” That settled everyone down. “I recognized the eldest from the Andromeda and it’s obvious all of them have had previous training.”

“Are you sure?” Annabeth asked.

“He’s the kid I threw down the stairs when Beckendorf and I were there, I’m sure of it.” Whispers erupted around Percy but Chiron quickly shot them down. “It’s not only that. I think they’re working for someone now.”

“Wait a second.” Clarisse cut in. “You suspect they might be working for someone and you still brought them into the camp?!”

“Well they seemed to want to come here, the girl-”

Clarisse planted her palm against the ping pong table causing a bowl of Cheetos to jump into the air. “Seemed? Seemed?! Are you nuts?!”

“What was I supposed to do? Leave them there to be killed?!” Percy bit back.

“You don’t invite them into the camp, Jackson! That’s such a rookie mistake! Have you been out of the game that long?!”

“They were close enough to camp to cause us trouble! I wasn’t going to let three monster beacons go unsupervised in our backyard!”

Clarisse snorted. “Like you care what goes on around here!”

“Clarisse! That’s enough!” Chiron cut in, but they already were on a roll.

“You haven’t cared about this camp in months and now that you finally grace us with your presence all you do is let in hostile demigods into the camp!”

“We can keep an eye on them here, Clarisse.” Annabeth said. “We’re not going to let this pass unnoticed. Obviously we’re going to look into it. That’s what we’re here for.”

“Don’t cover for him Annabeth! He messed up!”

“Oh and how exactly would you have handled it?!” By this point Percy was on his feet, anyone within a couple hundred miles of the door could probably hear the argument. “Last I checked you were here while I did your dirty work! Same as always!”

“What’s that suppose to mean?!” The two were centimeters apart now, but the anger had drained out of Clarisse at that last comment. “WHAT’S THAT SUPPOSE TO MEAN?!”

Percy didn’t answer. He looked like he wanted to keep fighting but fought against it. Across the room it was evident only one name had come to their heads when Percy said that. Silena. Clarisse had it spelled across her face, she wore it like a scar and Percy had just ripped the old wound right open. His anger was slipping away like running water. He didn’t mean it. No matter how angry he got at Clarisse he’d never hurt her with that. Yet he just had, and for a brief moment he felt satisfied with the blow.

Percy was suddenly hyper-aware of Annabeth’s stare and, unable to look Clarisse in the eye anymore, turned to look at her instead. What the hell’s the matter with you? She reached out for the daughter of Ares but she was already storming out. “Don’t you dare follow me, Annabeth!” She was choking back a sob. It was Chris who followed her out of the room. Pushing Percy aside along the way. What the hell’s the matter with you?!  He wanted to fix it, he could ruin things so easily nowadays, but as he started to turn a piercing pain shot all the way to his neck.

For a panicked moment he thought of the talons that left him with his most gruesome scar, the one that started at the base of his shoulder blade and ended just above his collarbone. “You’re hurt!” Will exclaimed. Percy remembered the Hydra.

He said: “I’m fine.” But the ambrosia was wearing off and whatever those talons had was finally taking effect. Annabeth, quick to forget the argument that had just taken place, pulled Percy into a chair. Will got to work right away, inspecting the gash on his side. Percy could only think about Clarisse and how much of an effort she had to put into not crying in front of the rest of the counsellors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later, Percy sat on an infirmary bed refusing for what seemed like the millionth time to take his shirt off. “The longer you take the more the poison spreads, Percy.” Will was starting to lose his patience. “You know this! You practically hold the record for being poisoned the most!” Across the room Annabeth urged her boyfriend to do it, but she didn’t say a word. She knew why he was hesitant.

“You already pumped me up with enough ambrosia and nectar to do the trick,” Percy insisted. “I’m fine.”

“If I don’t apply something to the wound directly you won’t be fine! And I’m not going to be the one responsible for killing you! Just take your damn shirt off!”

Everyone around them suddenly froze. It was rare to hear Will raise his voice over a professional command, much less get him to curse. Percy supposed it was another one of his many talents.

Percy caught how Annabeth turned away as he grabbed the collar of his shirt and took it off in one swift motion. “Go for it.” He told Will. His voice sounded weird even to his own ears. A nervous sweat enveloped his hands. He knew they were staring. He knew because he’d stared before. He’d stared at Silena’s ruined face as she died. He’d stared at the line cutting Luke’s face the first time he met him.

Will went to work silently, any trace of annoyance gone. His hands shook slightly but still Percy noticed.

He never wanted to leave camp so badly.

~~~~~~~~

It took a while but Annabeth was finally allowed into the Ares cabin. It was empty beside the slumped figure of Clarisse over a desk. “He’s not okay, Annabeth.” Clarisse told her. “Neither are you.” Annabeth had come in prepared to comfort Clarisse not this. She was tempted to leave, but there was no point avoiding the conversation any longer. “Did you feel it?”

Clarisse was referring to the slight tremors that Percy had emitted during the argument. “Yes.” They all had.

“He needs to be here now more than ever.”

Annabeth said: “It’s not that simple.” Because she had tried before and gotten nowhere.

“Well stop asking then.”

“I’m not forcing him to do anything, Clarisse.” Annabeth would never do that to him, she wasn’t sure she could anyways. “He needs to want to stay.”

“That idiot loves this place, he already wants to stay.”

“Then why doesn’t he?!” She’s been trying to figure this out for as long as they came back.

Clarisse folded her arms pronouncing the muscle in them. “You know him better than anyone, you tell me.”

Annabeth thought of the scar that adorned half his back and almost escaped to his neck. The shame of looking away hit her anew. He was right to not want to come back. What was he coming back to?

“I’m gonna try to figure out who is this secret employer Percy suspects. He’s hurt so he can’t go.” Clarisse wanted Annabeth to go with her. “In the meantime someone is going to have to fill in for me for sword fighting practice.”

Annabeth considered the offer. Percy had been the one teaching before he went missing. She’d always loved seeing him in class. He managed to pull patience out of thin air when it came to young demigods, something rare for him. “I’ll talk to him.” Annabeth clung to the image of him fondly laughing as he watched two young Hermes kids give up on swords and punch one another instead.

“Good luck with that.”

~~~~~

Somehow, Percy managed to convince Will to let him go back to his cabin. He barely protested really. He was about to, but then he noticed how everyone around them tried, and failed, to hide the sideways glances they shot at Percy. He also remembered his own reaction.

Percy felt more bare than he ever had. He’d done a great job of hiding the ugly so far. He avoided mirrors and stopped himself from scratching the thick skin above his collarbone. If he made himself believe that all his ugliness lived in that scar, he could easily cover it with a shirt and will himself to forget it existed.

It was foolish of him to think it would last. Even if he covered it, he felt it. Churning. Poison waiting, begging, for a chance at overtaking him again.

“Percy.” He jumped at the sound of his name. It was only Annabeth, he hadn’t heard her come in. “Just wanted to check on you. You weren’t in the infirmary.”

“Will said it was fine if I stayed here tonight.”

“Tonight?” Annabeth asked. He obviously meant he wasn’t staying longer than that. He looked at her, perfectly-full eyebrow askew. What did she expect? “Stay.” Percy kept staring at her. He was expecting more of a fight out of her, but that’s all she said. She leveled her own grey eyes with his green ones. There weren’t many people who could beat these two in a staring contest beside each other.

“And what would I do here?”

Annabeth was winning. “I don’t have to tell you your own head counseling duties.” She was seconds away from victory, unblinking.

Percy dropped his gaze.

Yes! She thought.

“No.”

“What?” She’d won, hadn’t she? “What do you mean no?” Annabeth wasn’t exactly familiar with losing arguments, especially when Percy was on the other side of it.

“I mean,” Percy had gone from piercing gaze to sudden interest in his hands, “I don’t feel like babysitting random kids.”

“Don’t be arrogant, Seaweed Brain. You know most of them and they’re not exactly defenseless.” He wants to stay. He wants to stay. He wants to stay.

“I know,” clearly his indifferent approach wasn’t working, “but isn’t Clarisse teaching it now anyways?”

“She’s filling in for you.” Annabeth said. “Has been for almost a year.”

“That’s wasn’t my fault.”

“Plus,” Annabeth continued, ignoring Percy, “we’re both leaving tomorrow to look into who the mystery employer for the kids you brought in is.”

“Tomorrow? That’s too-”

“Soon?” Annabeth finished. “Percy the Stolls are still missing.”

“Well ask that girl -Helena- what spell she put out!”

“Obviously we did! It was meant to confuse the victim and should’ve worn off in a few hours. They sent them this morning.”

Percy opened his mouth to argue but closed it almost right away. Of course Annabeth was right. “Nico can teach the class.”

Annabeth let out a short laugh. “C’mon, Percy! We both know how that would end.”

Percy reached for any arguments he had left. He knew they would only serve to stall, Annabeth was right. He was the obvious choice. It was his class to begin with. Plus, if he couldn’t go find the Stolls he’d preferred the combined efforts of Clarisse and Annabeth to do it.

But there was an itch above his collarbone.

“Hey,” Annabeth said, reaching for his hand, “you’ll do fine. You’re a great teacher.”

“I was, Annabeth. I was a great teacher. I’m not so sure now.” He felt his bed sink beneath her weight and tried to concentrate on her hand in his, her warm breath ruffling his hair just slightly. “I’m not who they think I am.” He told her. She didn’t argue, making the pain in his chest settle in. He felt so young sitting beside Annabeth like this, so small and terrified.

“The way most people think of us is often wrong, Percy. It’s not something new and we can’t really show everyone exactly who we are.” She sighed, she was saying this to herself as much as she was saying it to him. “Sometimes they need to think we’re stronger and braver than we actually are so that when we need to be, we are the heroes the situation requires.”

“It feels a lot like lying lately.”

She wanted to tell him something more encouraging, but he wasn’t a camper looking at her for leadership. He was Percy, so he told him “I know” and held his hand tighter.

~~~~~~~

Argus shut the trunk of the camp van and got into the driver’s seat, signaling he was leaving in about ten minutes. A few feet away the two demigods whose bags he’d thrown in the truck were saying goodbye to their boyfriends. Clarisse was kissing Chris’s face in a surprisingly Clarisse-like manner while Annabeth and Percy (practitioners of public PDA themselves but perhaps a bit more conservative than the pair beside them) tried to act like the thought of one leaving on a long quest without the other didn’t make them anxious as hell. “Try not to make any toilets explode Seaweed Brain, we just remodeled them.”

“No promises.” Percy said thinking of the sword fighting class later in the day.

The whole thing felt so familiar. Argus and his many eyes sitting in the van, the strawberry fields gleaming behind them, the sound of dozens of campers waking up. It was painfully familiar. It hurt to think he no longer was a part of it. He pulled Annabeth closer, breathing in the smell of her shampoo and letting her snake her hands to the low of his back. “I love you,” he whispered because he didn’t need to shout it to the world for her to know. She said it back with a kiss before pulling away. Soon both girls had gone, but Percy hadn’t moved at all.

After a while he noticed that Chris was still there as well, staring right at him. “I can’t believe you said that to her, Percy.” Clarisse. She’d barely looked back at Percy as she left. Her eyes were still red from crying. “You of all people.”

Percy wanted Chris to hit him. He wanted to see rage flare off his eyes, he wanted to have no other choice but to hit back. But when he looked at the son of Hermes all he saw was honest disbelief. You of all people. Chris’s disappointment weighed him down even further, he was standing up straight but he felt like his knees were about to hit the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~

“I thought you were kidding!”

“Percy’s back!”

“Wait, THE Percy Jackson?”

Percy tried to ignore how many people were saying his name. “Okay everyone settle down!” He waited until all the voices faded. Annabeth had been right, he recognized a lot of the faces. Austin from the Apollo cabin waved at him to his right. Piper’s sister, Lacie, shot him a shy grin as she tried to carry a sword that was clearly too heavy for her. He carried on, slightly less nervous but didn’t let his guard down at the sight of the three new demigods. The boy he’d recognized looked royally pissed off that he had been put in the same class as beginners, but everyone tried to train together at camp; it familiarized you for battle. Once you felt confident enough with a weapon you usually trained one on one with someone else.

“So as you know Clarisse had to leave on a quest this morning so I’ll be filling in.” A small boy raised his hand. “Yeah?”

“You’re Percy Jackson.”

Percy found it odd that someone would raise their hand simply to state his name. “Yes, I am.”

The young boy’s eyes widened in wonder and all at once the murmurs erupted once more. This time it was Katie Gardener who silenced them with an efficient hush. Percy mouthed a small thank you to which she nodded. “Okay so I want you guys to split into pairs. Try not to pick anyone who’s around the same height as you, don’t go the easy way.” He was surprised that they did just as he said. “We’re going to try a simple disarming tactic.” He called Katie to the front since she had the most experience and demonstrated the move on her in slow motion, he was still too nervous to act it out realistically. His mind suddenly reeled back five years ago to the first time he’d disarmed someone…

“Percy.” Katie whispered. He’d zoned off for a few seconds.

“Yeah sorry. Everyone got that?” They all nodded. He was sure Clarisse had probably taught them the move, he knew he had,  but he wanted to see how far they’d gotten by having them perform something easy. “Okay try it out on your partner.”

Percy went around analyzing what they needed to work on. Clarisse had taught them the basics; they knew how to wield a sword and defend themselves, but he wouldn’t have bet on them to win in a fight armed with only a sword. Clarisse was a great fighter, but she clearly lacked a bit of patience when it came to teaching. “Everyone stop! Lacie that sword is bothering me way too much here,” he searched for a lighter sword and changed it for the stumpy one she’d been using, “use this one. You, the archer.” The youngest boy he’d brought back pointed at himself, me? “Yeah you. Shorten your swings you’re barely defending your chest. And you, her partner, come in closer, you’ve got the smaller blade.” Their friend glowered beside them. He’d performed the move perfectly. Percy realized that they’d probably had the same teacher.

He made a few more pointers and instructed them to try the move again. Almost immediately he heard the satisfying sound of swords hitting the ground. A small smile tugged at the side of his mouth. “Better.”

~~~~~~~~

“Can I just say that was the best class we’ve had in awhile.” Kayla told Katie and Austin after Percy’s class. “Clarisse just looked at us in disgust whenever we did something wrong.”

Austin tried to defend Clarisse. “She wasn’t that bad.” Both girls gave him a look, even Katie who considered Clarisse a friend.

“Wasn’t she the one that gave Lacie a heavier sword because she ‘needed more muscle’ ?” She asked. “I mean she’s an awesome fighter and all but she was clearly just meant to fill in for Percy. The world is as it should be now, plus she’s barely going to be around anymore.”

“You make it sound as if Percy is back for good.”

“Isn’t he?” Kayla asked.

Katie looked annoyed but Austin had overheard Nico and Will talking. “Apparently he made it pretty clear he was only here until he healed from the Hydra poison. I guess Annabeth convinced him to stay until she and Clarisse got back.”

“He’s staying,” Katie assured, “why wouldn’t he?”

“School.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Kayla. He’s never been a year-rounder anyways.”

“Maybe it’s something else,” Austin tentatively said, both girls stared at him like what? “Three wars is a lot.”

Katie’s eyes immediately darkened. “We all went through those wars.”

“You didn’t lead us in-” Kayla elbowed him. Katie had gotten suddenly pensive.

“I gotta go.”

Austin tried to follow her but Kayla stopped him. “It’s not you, she’s just worried.”

“About Travis?”

“About everyone.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Percy stayed back after everyone left the arena. He’d been pretty negligent of his own training the last couple of months. But now the timing was perfect, no one was around to see him go off.

He uncapped Riptide, relishing how nice the weight of the blade felt, and slew the dummy in front of him like it was nothing. He’d outgrown this type of practice long ago, but he didn’t trust himself to practice with someone else. Instead he hacked down what was pretty much the camp’s supplies of hay-filled dummies until he’d worked up enough of a sweat. The Hydra’s claw marks still hurt at his side but he ignored the protest. In fact, he continued until he felt someone walk into the arena hours later. He froze, ready to charge. “You should at least have dinner, Percy,” Katie said behind him. His muscles relaxed. Percy turned to tell her he’d be right there when he noticed how low the sun had gotten, how long had he been in the arena? “Chiron left a plate out for you.”

“Sorry I-”

“Lost track of time? Yeah it’s pretty easy for us isn’t it?”

She sounded weird. He’d never been too close to her but they’d been fighting together long enough to consider each other more than acquaintances. He could tell she was worried. “Travis will be fine, Katie.”

“I know that.” She didn’t sound convinced. “You just never get used to it.” Percy knew exactly how she felt, his anxiety probably tripled when Annabeth was off on a quest without him. “I wish I was the one to go.”

“If someone is bringing them back it’s Clarisse and Annabeth.”

“Yeah but I wish I was the one to go.” She laughed softly as she saw Percy realize what she meant. “If I went missing no one would question him being the one sent to find me. Chiron didn’t…he thought it best Clarisse and Annabeth go. And I get it but-”

“You never get used to it.”

She laughed once again, trying to hide how her eyes shone with tears. “Not that you’ve ever had to worry about that.”

“Remember when Atlas took Annabeth?”

Katie had actually forgotten that, which said a lot about their lifestyle. “You went nuts. You went anyways…”

“It was stupid of me.”

“You got her back-”

“We had help from a goddess and lost half of the team.”

“That wasn’t your fault.”

“I was the only one that wasn’t suppose to be there.” He turned away from her and started picking up what was left of the dummies. She walked towards him and helped him. They worked in silence.

For some reason he was compelled to make her feel better. Helpless was the worst any demigod could feel. Depending on someone else, admitting you couldn’t win, those were their worst nightmares. He brushed his hand over the grey hairs that lifting the sky had given him. They had faded a long time ago. “I tried to take on Atlas myself once we got there. In my head I had to be the one to say Annabeth. It was my fault.” Percy stopped and looked at Katie. “It was stupid of me-”

“But Krios-”

“That’s was years later, Katie. I was fourteen when this happened. I was not match for a Titan. It didn’t matter who my dad was or how many monsters I thought I’d beaten. I couldn’t win.” His arrogance had only increased that year because of Thalia. Suddenly she was the person everyone went to for direction. She exuded power and confidence so easily when Percy had to try his hardest everyday not to lose it. “That’s why I carried the sky. I knew Artemis could beat him, I retreated.”

“You gave the knife to Luke.”

Percy nodded, she seemed to have understood. “We’re not all-powerful. If you really think about it, I’ve never been alone.”

“Thanks.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

Day two of teaching proved a little more challenging than the first one for Percy. “Lacie stop shying away from the sword! Katie could you- yeah like that, thank you! No don’t -” He tried to count to ten as he observed how the dark-haired boy he’d brought in almost skewered his friend’s eye out. “Just stop! Everyone stop!”

They all stopped. An awkward silence following the sound of Percy raising his voice. His heart was beating fast and his face felt hot. It struck him how easily his temper could spike nowadays.

He tried to ignore the group of kids nervously waiting for him to give them directions and looked at his watch. It was way too early to call the practice off. It just seemed impossible to teach anyone anything. He sighed and looked up again, resigned to have them do easy drills to let the time pass.

“Mr. Jackson,” it was the small boy that’d raised his hand to announce his name yesterday, “we’re sorry we suck. We’ll be better, I promise.”

Percy stared at him. He was a little short for his age, his ratty bed head and too large shirt told him he’d been living in the Hermes cabin for a while. Percy wondered if he was unclaimed ? Was that child expected to go on a quest ? With a jolt he realized that, even though he was small, he couldn’t be younger than ten. He was going to go on a quest, sooner than later. At least, he had.

A lifetime ago he’d made the gods promise to not let a child go unclaimed. Even if he wasn’t that person anymore, he remembered why he asked that. “Pair up,” he told the young campers, “we’re going again.”

Everyone did as he they were told except one. “Screw this.” The eldest boy he’d brought in, Tom, pushed his way out the arena.

Percy told the rest to keep practicing and followed him. “Hey! Hey!” He touched his arm once he caught up with him but he was brushed away forcefully. Percy tried to ignore his muscles tensing. “Class isn’t over, kid.”

“I can do that in my sleep. This is a waste of my time.” Percy didn’t think he wasn’t a skilled swordsman -after all, he’d been taught by Luke- he just knew he wasn’t the best one.

“I know for a fact that several of those people back there are better fighters than you.”

“You don’t know me!”

“No, I don’t. But I remember you. And I know you remember me.” That got the kid to finally stop walking away. Still, he didn’t turn around to face Percy who was getting more ticked off by the second. His arrogance was what upset him the most.

Tom finally turned around. His eyes were full of hate and something else: pain, Percy realized. He reminded him so much of Luke. “How could I possibly forget you? Luke talked about you all the time. He always said how your biggest weakness was how good you were. How, no matter what, you couldn’t stand to be the bad guy.” He started towards Percy who immediately reached for Riptide. He was inches away from his face when he said: “I guess Luke really was an idiot because you didn’t care about blowing up a couple of kids.”

“I warned you to get out of there.” Percy practically growled.

“We never found two of them! I was too injured to do anything for months!”

“Beckendorf died to complete that mission.” Any smart person would’ve backed off at the sight of piercing green eyes and a tight fist around a celestial bronze pen; Tom didn’t seem too smart. “That’s war.”

“Is that what you tell yourself to sleep at night?”

Percy backed off. He wanted to break this guy’s nose so badly and if he stayed any longer, he would. But he’d been here before, he knew how this conversation ended and what the kid had to face every time he was left alone with his thoughts. Guilt. I was too injured to do anything for months. He didn’t even get to fight. That’s what ate at him every time he looked at himself in the mirror. He didn’t want to fight Percy. He probably didn’t even hate him. He just reminded him of that disgusting feeling of helplessness, of inability.

“Don’t walk away from me!”

In a flash their swords had connected. Percy barely remembered lifting up his weapon but the clang of the metal made his Jodi sing with adrenaline. Tom tried to push him back but Percy stayed rooted to the spot and instead inched his sword closer to him. Percy kept pushing until Tom’s sword was poised against his throat.

Percy could practically see his pulse, the kid was so nervous. He couldn’t blame him. He remembered the painting Rachel had made of him years ago of him in battle, he’d had to look away himself then. “You’re not going to do it.” There was still fire in Tom’s eyes but it wasn’t completely fueled by anger anymore.

Of course Percy wasn’t going to do it. Even though every cell in his body told him he could; all he had to do was push a little further, he didn’t. Tom released a gasp as Percy backed away. “No one’s attacking you here, kid.” Percy felt steady. He might’ve had a million problems he still dealt with everyday but he had one less than Tom.

He’d mourned Beckendorf. He’d felt the guilt ravage him. He was no longer haunted by his ghost. He carried every single loss in his heart as a reminder. “You’re also not the only one that’s been to war.” He told Tom. “Some of us here have seen half the camp die. Those kids in the arena you think you’re so much better than, they’ve saved lives and lost people. They’re not any less of a hero for not wielding a sword to perfection.” Percy remembered how Lacie had cried for two weeks straight without stopping after they lost Silena. After the Battle of the Labyrinth he walked in on Katie sobbing silently in her cabin. She’d been close to Lee Jordan. Austin couldn’t say his brothers’ names without choking up. He also remembered him stabbing a dracnae with his bow once he ran out of arrows. And Katie asking Grover to teach her how to use her gardening skills in battle. Lacie standing up to anyone who dared call her sister a traitor. Heroes, every last one of them.

He capped Riptide and started walking towards the dining pavilion, he was starving. “Oh and by the way,” he called over his shoulder, “your defense needs some serious work.”

~~~~~~~~~~

It’d been a long time since Thalia had seen Percy Jackson. She spotted him right away as she walked through camp, a tall, dark-haired mess walking off to lunch. “Hey! Seaweed Brain!” He stopped abruptly making her laugh. He rolled his eyes as he finally found her, a glowing, murderous teenager charging towards him.

Of course Thalia Grace was no child. She was well into her twenties in mortal years, and, even by Apollo calculations, she was nineteen. Even so, the sight of Percy roaming the camp once again elated her. Everything was as it should be. So she ran up to him and punched his shoulder (something that very few were comfortable doing nowadays) and made fun of his hair and crooked armor. She didn’t know that the annoyed little smile on his face was a rare sight. She didn’t know the relief Percy felt at having someone treat him normally. “I thought Clarisse was teaching now.” Percy didn’t look tired enough to have been training. “You back for good?”

Percy had actually been thinking about that as he walked towards the dining pavilion. The idea suddenly didn’t seem so far away. “Maybe,” he told her, “I’ve still got school so probably not the full week, but, yeah.” A small trickle of suspicion went down his spine as he observed Thalia’s wide, Cheshire smile. “Did…did Annabeth put you up to this?”

“Up to what?” Thalia smiled at the look Percy gave her. “No! Look, she didn’t. I swear!” Percy didn’t seems convinced. “Get over yourself we’re too busy to waste the few time we get together to talk about you. I didn’t know there was anything to talk about anyways.”

“There’s not…”

“Good.”

“Fine.”

Thalia stared. Percy stared back. They were touching familiar ground here.

The truth was that Annabeth had talked to her. She’d been talking to her since she got back, but She’d risked a cellphone call before leaving camp with Clarisse. Just keep an eye on him. As if it were that easy. It wasn’t even that last conversation that worried her the most. Thalia knew that’s why Annabeth had entrusted her with her worries about Percy. In their own way, Percy and Thalia had always found it easy to talk about difficult topics. Still, she needed back up. “Ran into DiAngelo on my way here. Brought him along.”

Percy looked last Thalia and found Nico talking to Will. He was supposed to be at the Roman camp helping Jason. “I see.” This was starting to feel a lot like an intervention to him. She went back to staring at Thalia. “This is ridiculous. You know that, right?”

“I’m doing this for Annabeth. Just go along with it.”

“Go along with what?”

“Our intervention.” Percy jumped as Nico appeared next to him. He brushed off his deadpan sarcasm and went back to staring at Thalia.

“Could you relax?” She told Percy. “She just told us to talk to you. She’s worried.”

“Worried about what?” Percy was suddenly acutely aware of Nico behind him. Both his friends exchanged a look that ended with Thalia shrugging and Nico rolling his eyes.

“Nothing-”

Nico stepped towards Thalia. “Don’t do that Thalia. If you’re going to talk to him be upfront.”   

Percy didn’t like people talking about him as if he weren’t there. To think he’d been in such a great mood a few moments ago. “I’m hungry. I’m going to get dinner.” Nico and Thalia both followed him, exchanging looks all the way to his table. “You’re not suppose to sit here.” He told them. No one was really dumb enough to enforce camp rules onto any of the Big Three kids but Percy was getting pretty tired of being left out of the silent conversation about him. He finished his brisket and headed towards the stables.

“Don’t you want to get some practice hours in? You’ve been out of the game for a while now, Jackson.” Thalia usually taunted him when she was nervous.

“I just got out of class.”

“C’mon, aren’t you bored? What do you even do with all the extra energy?”

“I’m tired.”

“You scared I’ll kick your butt even worse than before? You must be pretty rusty.”

Percy hated to admit Thalia got to him, but she did, more than most people. Of course he was angsty. Of course he was bored. He just felt like he needed to be more careful than before. He couldn’t risk messing around anymore. What if someone got hurt? Could he even hurt Thalia? She eyed him. She was intimidating with her electric-blue eyes and immortal glow. She was one of the best fighters he knew. Yet, still…

“You’re not going to break me, Percy. C’mon.”

So Annabeth had told her something.

“Fine.”

~~~~~~~~~

Nico couldn’t help thinking that this was pretty ridiculous. Thalia was just being an egomaniac and pushing it too far. Clearly she’d misunderstood Annabeth. Granted, she probably knew her better than Nico did, but Nico knew Percy. He especially knew this Percy. He had a reason to be careful. He’d had one before, but now…

“I’ll try to go easy on you.”

“Spare me.”

Nico eyed Percy carefully as Thalia took out her shield. He was one of the few people that didn’t even blink when he saw the horrible image of Medusa’s head.  Then again, he actually whacked off the gorgon’s head before so..

“If you want we’ll get closer to the lake so you can try that neat little levitation trick-”

Thalia was cut-off mid-sentence as Percy lunged. She barely had time to lift her shield up and the blow nearly threw her off her feet. Nico’s heart pounded but she simply raised an eyebrow, so this is how it’s going to be, and threw her shield to the side. She started to pull out her hunting knives but noticed how Percy’s eyes were trained on the canister holding her spear. “Old school it is.”

Oh great, Nico thought.

The moment Thalia’s spear expanded to its full size, they lunged. They were two wild animals. Except these animals were precise in their movements and seemed to be…enjoying themselves?

Percy looked concentrated but there was a glint of mischief in his eye. Thalia was straight up smiling every time Percy’s blade got too close. In any regular fight the pace would eventually slow down, but Percy and Thalia’s strikes only seemed to get faster until they were a blur. The all too familiar hurricane started building around Percy and Thalia zinged her spear with electricity. Nico couldn’t help but think that this was soon going to get out of hand.

His fears were confirmed when Thalia called a lightning strike and aimed it at Percy. She did know that he no longer had the Curse of Achilles, right? Nico was all too ready to break this up but Percy simply dodged the strike and thrust his hand forward. For a second both him and Thalia were confused but then they felt the ground shake beneath their feet. A crack on the ground followed Percy’s hand to where it was pointing at Thalia. She’d been so caught off guard that she didn’t have time to sidestep the assault -Nico wondered if she could have anyways- and was soon knocked off her feet.

It was Percy’s turn to laugh. “You’ve been using that bow for too long, Grace.”

Thalia got up, eyeing Percy curiously but still seemingly ready to continue. Nico on the other hand was now convinced that this was a terrible idea. “Okay, I think we’re done here. Didn’t you have business to discuss with Chiron?” This last question he directed at Thalia but it was Percy who answered.

“I’m not done but if Thalia doesn’t feel-”

“You wish, Seaweed Brain!”

They had begun to advance again when Nico stepped between them, his sword raised having been left no other option. He ignored Thalia and looked straight at Percy, trying to dig out some of the reluctance he’d started with. “Cut it out, Percy.”

This had the complete opposite reaction to the one Nico was going for. Instead of backing down, Nico saw a flicker of anger skitter across Percy’s face. “What are you afraid of?” Riptide was now leveled at Nico. His answer was clear even though it struck him with guilt. I’m afraid of you.

At least that’s what Percy saw, the same looks that seemed to follow him, that ebbed his anger on and blocked out the logical part of his brain. That part of his brain that was now telling him Nico was right, but instead of lowering his weapon like he’d down before with Tom, he let the ground rumble beneath his feet. He was tired of people avoiding looking at him, or looking at him pitifully like Nico did now. Like he was some broken thing they all had to stand because they felt too guilty to throw him away.

Percy was aware of Thalia. He was aware of her waiting for him to make the move. She’d always understood a darker part of himself. It’s why they fought. She’d learned to own it while he’d be too afraid to delve into it. He felt pretty ready now.

They all reacted at the same time. Nico ducking under Percy’s sword and Percy anticipating it, charging instead toward Thalia who met his sword immediately in order to keep the wide-range advantage. They weren’t fighting as a team but they were linked somehow. A beat wasn’t missed, the moment one moved the other was there waiting for them.

Percy easily pushed Thalia who kept her ground and allowed him to close the distance. Nico jabbed at Percy forcing him to release Thalia who saw her chance and slashed at both boys. Nico cried out but Percy didn’t even wince and met his sword over and over again. He drew the fight out of him, knowing full well Nico’s intention was to break it all up. Percy forced him to fight back and his muscles singed as the son of Hades not only retaliated, but did so expertly. This Nico he knew. Their whole relationship had been built on fighting. They were a flash of bronze and iron far past the point of being broken apart. Still, Thalia wouldn’t be left out of this. She has speed over the voice and was there every time they raised their arms to block an attack, soon she’d broken them up and on it went. They switched from two sparring one on one while the other nit-picked their weak spots, then they broke apart and it was two on one.

Eventually one began to tire. It wasn’t that he wasn’t a good fighter, he was just not match for Thalia and Percy’s years of experience. Percy had also taught him a lot of what he knew. Nico fell as he caught Thalia’s spear but failed to see Percy coming. He immediately zoned in on Thalia who, too Nico’s astonishment, was shining with sweat. All the playfulness has been drained out of her. Nico realized that she no longer had any sort of upper hand.

Percy on the other hand only seemed to be getting quicker and stronger. Nico’s own arms hurt from having contained the strength with which his blows came down with. He also noticed his absolute lack of technique. Percy had always fought with a sort of elegance. His strikes always seemed to flow one after the other, but now they were choppy, making them harder for Thalia to anticipate. His hurricane had gotten so strong that he could barely keep his eyes opened. The ground shook violently, the vibrations rolled off Percy in no specific directions. Everywhere, everyone. He was losing control.

“Thalia!” She was smart enough not to look towards Nico but she clearly registered the fear in his voice. Yet, Thalia didn’t feel like stopping. She was tired, which took a lot now that she immortal, and she could barely see Percy in front of her, but the violence seemed almost cathartic. Percy and her were quite similar in the way that when something bad happened they felt like hitting things. Hell, Annabeth and Nico were the same, but she couldn’t draw it out of either of them. Percy had responded right away.

So she carried on. She ignored Nico. She ignored the sound of Chiron trotting into the arena. All she could think about was Percy and Annabeth awkwardly dancing in that military academy. Annabeth’s owl earrings and how embarrassed she’d been when Thalia saw her waiting for Percy to notice. Percy offering her his hand while everyone stared on. Annabeth using a hammer as a weapon. Percy offering to catch up over burgers. And Annabeth…Annabeth.

It’s all my fault, Thalia. He did it for me. I did this to him.

It’s her fault. He stepped up when she should have.

I don’t want this to have happened! I don’t want to deal with it everytime I look at him! He’s good! And I corrupt everything!

She corrupted Luke. She couldn’t protect Annabeth. This shouldn’t have happened. And she was angry. And Percy should be angry. And AGH!

Everything around them was now chaos. She realized that it wasn’t all due to Percy. She strengthen his hurricane with gusts of wind she’d barely ever called upon. Lightning struck above them. Rain pelted down like ice.

Then, everything melted away. Thalia sunk to her knees, betrayed by exhaustion and met the rain, now a soft drizzle, wash over her. Only then did she notice Annabeth had walked into the arena.

~~~~~~~~

Behind Annabeth was pretty much the whole camp. They didn’t bother acting as if they weren’t all staring at Percy and Thalia, they were. Percy could sense they were afraid, but more than anything, they were stirred. Simply moved. Simply understanding or trying to.

Percy no longer felt the anxious itch or paranoid need to know what they were thinking about him. He knew it would come back, but for now he leaned against his sword and caught his breath, it seemed like he’d been holding it in forever.

It was Grover who finally dispersed the crowd. He was the last one of them to leave, because he didn’t need to try, he already understood. Percy felt, for the first time in almost a year, his link with his best friend. He looked at Grover Underwood, Lord of the Wild but remembered Grover, co-hater of Nancy Bobofit and lover of school cafeteria enchiladas.

Grover smiled at Percy Jackson, savior of Olympus, illegal candy merchant and professional pipe wrecker, and followed the crowd out of the clearing.

~~~~~~~~

That night Percy and Annabeth had their first normal campfire since the war. No one mentioned Thalia, Percy and Nico’s bruises, nor did they comment on the fact that the sword fighting arena was pretty much destroyed. Instead they ate marshmallows and sang corny songs.

Annabeth and Clarisse had come back with the Stolls and a few leads. The matter would require several other quests. Business as usual.

Percy clung to every detail of the night, knowing it wouldn’t last. He’d apologized to Clarisse as soon as he’d seen her and they were now friendly enough to throw playful banter across the fire. Katie had disappeared with Travis a few minutes into the first song, but not before Percy shouted “No detour you two!” after them. He heard Annabeth chuckle beside him and turned around and kissed her on the spot, because he could, because they were alive.

He almost felt drunk. He was lighter than he’d been in months. He secretly thanked Thalia and Nico for knowing exactly what he needed.

But it wouldn’t last.

Annabeth hadn’t said anything to him. She kept staring at him. He couldn’t bring himself to stare back. Sooner or later, she wouldn’t be able to pretend anymore. She grabbed his hand and he squeezed it back, Just a few more moments. She turned around and laughed at whatever Will had said.

They were happy, weren’t they? They were safe. They were together. Why couldn’t he just be okay. Why did he feel like the only authentic part of his life was the fear Annabeth reflected back at him the moment everyone else looked away?

He brushed Annabeth’s shoulder as she reached for another marshmallow. They were gone by the time their friends had looked back.

~~~~~~~~

Annabeth followed Percy mechanically to his cabin. She felt like she was shedding away the person she was around her friends the further they got. She hadn’t allowed anyone to see all the ugly. She promised herself she’d stop tainting what she loved.

Not camp. Not her home. Tartarus and this place couldn’t coexist. Yet Percy stood in front of her, breathing, his warm hand guiding her across the shell-encrusted door.

They finally settled on Percy’s bed, knees knocking against each other. “I didn’t…I didn’t tell her to do anything.”

“I know.”

“Percy…” It’s okay. I get it. “I…”

“It’s Thalia.” She worries. She will always feel responsible for you.

“Nico…”

“…is fine. He has Will. He’s getting better.” Are we? She ran her fingers along his bruised knuckles, not missing how he avoided her eyes. “You do know I’m not scared of you? Percy?” She waited until those startling eyes met her own, finally. “I’m not scared of you.”

“I am.”

“You wouldn’t be you if you weren’t.”

Percy’s fears didn’t feel patronizing to Annabeth, they’d both seen what he was capable of, but the fact that it tore him apart like this confirmed that it wasn’t a part of himself he was willing to exploit. Percy was good. That part of him was incorruptible.

It made her feel disgusted with herself. It was her turn to look away, but Percy caught her chin before she could. “What is it then?”

“What’s what?” Her voice sounded weird even to herself. He looked down at her lips and thought back at the kiss they’d shared at the campfire. It’d been cold, it had left no imprint.

He recoils at your touch! He hates you! Look at what you’ve done! You broke him! You idiot! Your mistake!

He’s good! He’s too good!

She’d barely realized she was crying. Percy wiped her tears and told her: “I wanted her to die. I meant to kill her.”

No! You’re good! It’s me!

“You stopped me, Annabeth. I would’ve killed-”

“Stop.”

“I would’ve killed her”

“Stop!”

“I felt her dying and I choked her even harder!”

“STOP IT!”

She was sobbing. He was shaking.

He was real. His gaze forced her to see all of him. His elegant nose and the dark bruise on it. His perfect jaw and the not so perfect way a nerve jumped there. Imperfect. Messed up! Broken! Annabeth!

“Do you still love me?” She could see his pulse on his neck. Her eyes went immediately to the gruesome scar that shown against his collarbone. Imperfect. She knew the way those claw marks tore his shoulder in angry white and red. She knew.

Annabeth only had to close her eyes and she was back there and he was dying. She was holding him and he was too limp. He was too pale. There was too much blood.  It felt unbearably hot against her hand. It was oozing out of him. She didn’t know exactly where it was coming from. She saw red. He was lost in a sea of red.

He’s dying. He’s dying.

Do something! Save him! He can’t die! Percy doesn’t die! PERCY!

“Annabeth, do you still love me?”

She felt like another one of his curses, sucking away his life.

She thought of Percy’s storm. How mesmerizing it had been to see all his frustration, all his anger. To see it and feel it destroy something else beside him.

Percy, whose very anger quenched her own. Percy, who had enough life left to keep her own empty body going.

Percy, who had a crooked front tooth to go with his crooked smile. Percy, who froze and blushed when she kissed him and blew up a mountain afterwards.

Percy, who followed her to the end and back and was still humble enough to question his worth.

“I’ve never not loved you, Percy.”

~~~~~~

“Do you think Mr. Jackson will mind if I ask him?”

Katie fought back a smile as she helped the young boy into his armor. “He won’t mind, kiddo. Ask away.”

“But what if he says no?”

“Why would he say no?”

This time she couldn’t help but smile as his big eyes bugged out in disbelief.

“He’s Percy Jackson! He’s too busy being like one of the best demigods the world has ever seen!”

“Don’t you think he needed sword fighting lessons?”

“No!”

“Well he did.” Percy had just walked into the arena. “There he is now. Go on! Ask him!”

He bit his lip as she finished the last of his straps. He gave her one last nervous glance and walked with as much purpose as a ten-year-old could muster in heavy armor into the arena. “Mr. Jackson!”

“Yes?”

[rainagainstmywindow]

My version of BoO for the PJOBIGBANG

“Moon lace?” 

Gaea didn’t bother looking back at her visitor. Instead, she took the delicate night flower in her hand and crushed it.

She’d been having short bursts of consciousness since her sons had escaped Tartarus triumphantly, she wasn’t going to waste them on prideful heroes. “You know what your job is,” she told him, her voice resonating through the ground. “Succeed and you shall have your revenge.”

“And if I fail?”

A dreamy smile passes along her face. “If you fail, you shall face The Seven.” “I’m not afraid of a few silly mortals!”

“Don’t forget you were once like them, and it’s pride and your hunger for power that got you killed.”

The god balled his fists. “It was Hera who got me killed!” He walked closer to the goddess, an instinctive attempt at intimidating. “It was all the Olympians”

“Don’t forget that said Olympians give the responsibility of fighting their wars to their mortal sons and daughters for a reason,” Gaea wavered as exhaustion once again washed over her. “Don’t underestimate The Seven”

“Why do you insist on keeping them alive?” His tone was as low as hers now. “Why didn’t you killed them when you had the chance?”

“There’s rules that even I have to abide to, but you should not underestimate me either, young one.” She smiled again, as if thinking of something pleasant. “I am everywhere and everything that you walk upon on is me.”

“Do you actually believe this is all I have to offer? Even as I speak to you, I’m ordering another army to attack, whispering into someone else’s ear.”

The god pouted like a small child. “Then why put me -one of your greatest soldiers- to such a simple task?”

“Don’t questions me Hercules,” her time was almost over, “do as I say, kill their loved ones, and retrieve your vengeance.”

********

Sally Jackson dryly hummed to herself and she watered her small garden. Her eyes stung when it was time to spray the delicate moon lace that her son had brought almost two years ago. 

“Percy,” she whispered, “where are you?”

The blossom had started to lose it’s beauty since he’d gone missing. Now, it was almost dead. Sally felt that if she let it die, he’d never come back. She believed in bad omens, and this one bothered her the most. 

She abruptly stopped when she heard the door to her apartment open. Paul isn’t suppose to come back so soon. “Paul is that you?”

She walked through Percy’s room to the kitchen and found no one. “Honey?”

“Sorry,” spoke a voice behind her. He didn’t sound too sorry. “But maybe you’ll find that I’m much better looking than this Paul”

Outside, the first petal of the moon lace fell off and drifted away towards the busy New York streets.

**********

I’m sorry. I’m sorry. 

“He’s sorry!”

Percy flinches when he hears their cackles. The wound piercing his chest makes it hard to breathe so all he can taste is blood. He’s dying. He didn’t know what he was doing. He’s dying.

“Feel the pain of all the ones you have brought suffering upon, Perseus Jackson,” they order. They’re horrible, gruesome hags and for a second he mistakes them for The Fates but there’s too many. “Did you actually think you could kill as you pleased with no consequences?”

He didn’t even stop to wonder. He never looked back.

“You’re as bad as all of them,” he feels one’s lips on his ear but hears the echoing voice all around. “You’re the worst of the lot.”

“No.”

Suddenly he’s in his cabin. He’s not in Tartarus; he’s flying in the Argo II. He’s not dying.

He presses his head against his pillow, clammy with cold sweat. It’s been thirteen days since his friends rescued Annabeth and him from that hell hole, but he’s dreamt of it every single one of them. Most of the time he can’t breathe, he can still feel gorgon’s blood coursing through his veins. But it’s not the poison that kills him. It’s the lie.

Percy Jackson, savior of Olympus. Percy Jackson, selfless hero. 

It’s all a lie. How had he been vane enough to believe it? It wasn’t his bravery that got him out of there; it was Bob’s and Damasen’s. It was Annabeth’s brains, it was Nico’s kindness. 

He was neither brave nor kind nor smart. He never was. As much as he hated what Tartarus and Gaea had done to him, he hated how scared he was. He could still hear his sword clatter to the ground at the sight of the big black pit himself. That painful knot of fear never left him. It was with him now, always. But the crew all looked up to him. They could’ve been ten times the leader Percy had ever been thought to be. Jason had been praetor far longer than Percy and even with his sudden Greek flare, leadership came easily to him. Frank was already doing a spectacular job. Still, he seemed to be looked up as the leader. Every single member of the crew seemed so incredibly powerful to Percy, more deserving of the respect he was given. 

They didn’t need him. So why was he still alive?

Annabeth?

He sighed and sat up. As he shuffled into some sneakers –he always slept clothed nowadays in case any monsters attacked while he slept- he decided to wake up Annabeth. It’s not like she’d been getting a lot of sleep either. She was probably up planning a plan for the plan she’d already planned. Counting sheep didn’t really help his girlfriend.

“Is that you Seaweed Brain?” He didn’t even have to knock before she called out.

“Yeah”

“It’s opened”

As predicted, she was laying on her back staring at the ceiling. Her eyebrows furrowed letting him know she was in fact coming up with a plan. With and impending war, those were never enough. He slumped beside her and immediately reached for her hand. “Can’t sleep either, huh?”

“Nope”

“We should really figure this out,” he mumbled. “We’re not at our best when we’re sleep deprived.”

Annabeth turned her head to stare at her boyfriend. “What?” She shook her head.

“What?”

“You sounded just like Jason, that’s all”

It was Percy’s turn to stare at her. “How exactly did I sound like him?”

“You were all like we must think of the others, we cannot be anything less than fully functional.”

“You’re definitely sleep-deprived”

She laughed. Hearing that made Percy’s neck a little less stiff. 

“You two are a lot more alike than you think you are.”

“I don’t know,” admitted Percy. He’d never really thought about it. “Are you saying that because he’s been acting weird lately?”

“Partially”

“He seems less…wound tightly”

“Exactly”

“He seems less-”

“Roman”

Maybe Percy wasn’t the only one considering a different camp. Maybe he was a bit like Jason. “Yeah”

“Well, Roman or Greek, Jason’s a good guy,” Annabeth said.

“Since when are you best buddies with Jason? Last time I checked, he made you kind of nervous.”

“That’s because Hera swapped him with my boyfriend,” she explained, “I’ve gotten to know him better and -if Piper trusts him- I should too.”

“I trust them”

“You’ll trust anyone that’ll shake your hand, Percy”

“They’ve both saved my life plenty of times.” Why did Annabeth think he was so naive? “It’d be selfish of me not to trust them”

“That’s not what I meant”

Percy sat up. “Then what did you mean?”

“I-” 

It was hard to talk with those intense green eyes looking at her. She’d seen Percy angry plenty of times, but now she couldn’t help but remember how he controlled the poison, how he almost didn’t stop.

He scoffed and got up. “I’m going to get some practice. Try to rest”

Fifteen minutes later, Percy was at the stables. Riptide drawn at his side. As he leveled his sword with the horribly battered dummy he’d built the day before, he pictured the cursed arai. This time your blows won’t hurt me, he told himself. For some reason, Percy always found himself thinking of Clarisse La Rue back at Camp when he fought. He remembered how she tore her own dummy down to pieces the summer of The Battle of the Labyrinth, her anger. Never had he imagined he would sympathize with Clarisse, but he understood now. He understood anger and the realization scared him. 

Gaea had called him a pawn and that’s exactly what he felt like. That’s exactly what he was. Now, Annabeth was calling him naive. He’d always had a problem with trusting. He did it too fast, he cared too quickly. But for Annabeth to just point it out like that made him mentally flinch. He wasn’t twelve anymore. Those type of mistakes weren’t allowed anymore.

He moved past the ruined piece of hay beneath him and continued to attack and jive until his mind was simply thinking of slicing. Training had always cleared his head, it was also one of the first things he found was good at. Percy was a good killer. 

There was a small prickle at the back of his neck, he tensed. 

“Hey Perc-“

“WHOA!”

Percy’s fingers where around Jason’s throat, blade leveled with his nose. Immediately, he retreated. “Sorry.” He didn’t realize he had been breathing so hard. 

Jason looked at him, eyes surprisingly full of concern. “I should’ve knocked or cleared my throat or something. My bad.”

Both boys stood in a silence too awkward to break for what seemed like an eternity. Jason was the last person he wanted to see.

Finally, Percy’s ADHD got the best of him. “Did you need something? Or-“

“No, I was just-,” he cleared his throat, “walking around.”

“Oh.”

It suddenly struck Percy that he’d never actually had a proper conversation with Jason. Not alone at least. Jason’s a good guy, he heard Annabeth telling him.

“So, you’re practicing?” 

“Yeah”

“Want some company?” Jason took out his own sword. “I haven’t practiced in a while myself.”

Percy chewed his lip, hesitant. “You should probably take advantage of the few hours you have to sleep.”

“Fine, then we should both crash.”

They both knew what Jason was doing. Percy was slightly annoyed by it. He didn’t want to be taken care of, especially not by Jason. He didn’t have anything against him, but the way he could just selflessly offer help to others made him cringe. Maybe he was jealous, or maybe he was just on edge these days. Either way, the pity wasn’t appreciated. 

  “I always wanted to be taught by a roman.”

The blonde smirked. “I’ve heard nothing but praise about your teaching skills.” In an instant their swords had connected. Jason looked like he wanted time to analyze him for a bit longer, but that’s how romans fought and Percy couldn’t help but dive in. He had him cornered five minutes later, but Jason spun out of the way and almost got him just as quick. They continued like that, each swerve made Percy feel lighter. 

This was a simple problem with a simple solution; fighting just for the purpose of getting better. It’d been a while since he’d done that. Actually, he probably hadn’t done it since he was twelve, with Luke. Two friends practicing. 

Last time he was at camp, he was the one teaching. Even then the campers looked at him the way the crew did. It didn’t really bother him if the admirers where thirteen-year-olds that had a hard time wrapping their heads around the fact that the gods existed. When the ones giving him admiration were not only experienced fighters but his friends; He didn’t know how to react. He’d hoped that maybe since Jason knew what it was like having the weigh of responsibility on his shoulders, he could relate. 

Could Jason be his friend? “Nice one,” he prompted as Percy jived and forced him to retreat. They finally caught their breaths. 

“Use the hilt,” Percy offered. 

“Huh?”

“Your hilt, use the whole sword not just the blade.”

Jason furrowed his brows as he considered his advice. “No roman would do that.”

“I think we both know you’re more than just roman, Jason.”

Blue eyes stared back at him, they held a playful glint. “You’re smarter than you look, Jackson.”

“Why do people always tell me that?”

********

The next day, Jason showed up to sword practice again. Then the next day. Annabeth was right, Jason was a good guy. He still couldn’t get their conversation out of his head though. Maybe he was reacting too dramatically. One way or another, they always ended up fighting and one way or another they always figured it out. But that hit too close to home.

It was like she picked out the thing that bothered him the most and just tossed it around as if it were nothing. As if he was still that same old kid that trusted Aunty Em or that couldn’t finish off the Cyclops. 

Still, he couldn’t stay mad at her. She was Annabeth.

Today’s night shift had fallen upon them both, and Frank. Poor guy always ended up getting caught in their drama. 

“Hey Frank,” he called.

“What’s up?”

“Can you give us,” he nodded towards his girlfriend, “a moment?”

He went pink, which was quite a sight with his new growth spurt. “Uh, sure sure”

“It’s not like that-”

“No need to explain Percy-”

“Frank-” he wanted to explain that it wasn’t what he thought it was but he’d already left.

He sighed and walked towards where Annabeth was, at the mast. She didn’t look back at him even thought she probably heard his whole conservation and his clumsy steps. What had she and Silena described them as? A love-sick Minotaur?

“What was that about?”

“Frank being Frank, y'know.”

She nodded but stayed where she was. If one of them was going to apologize, it was going to be Percy. “Look,” he tried,“I might have overreacted the other day-”

“Might?”

Percy pressed down on his teeth. “Okay, I overreacted the other day.”

“You did.” She huffed. “But I shouldn’t have said that”

This was new. He started to say something but she beat him to it. 

“You’re not a little kid anymore, Percy. And you’re not naive.” Annabeth turned around, she looked wistful. “Sometimes I forget that, sometimes I just want it to be like before. Even us”

“We’re so paranoid and grown-up now-”

“Please don’t say mature because I’ll be forced to attack you and verify you’re still my girlfriend.”

She chuckled. “Maybe not that. But..older”

“I know,” he massaged the back of his neck, glad Annabeth wasn’t mad at him, “I can’t believe it half of the time either”

“You just seem to take everything as it goes. Whatever challenge presents itself, you just don’t question it anymore.”

“Well, after five years it’s lost a bit of the shock factor, you know?”

She chuckled. “Not as exciting to see mythical beasts attack you anymore, Seaweed Brain?”

“No, not anymore.”

Annabeth reached out to hold his hand, she hadn’t realized it was smaller than his, softer. “We’ll get through this,” she bit down on her lip,“I promise.”

Percy looked at those stormy eyes. Ask me again when we defeat Gaea. He had a lot to look forward to. And not just with Annabeth, but with his mother and Paul and Tyson. He wanted to live. He wanted to get the lengthier version of what he’d seen after the Titan War, the growing old parts too. 

He placed a kiss to her lips and then whispered: “I love you”

She hugged him, slightly swaying thanks to the waves below. She could’ve stayed like that forever.

************

The waves were choppier than usual in Ogygia. They’ve been like that for the last few days and Calypso was starting to worry. She tried looking into the future but, as she’d told Leo, it wasn’t like looking into the past.

Leo

Her mind kept wondering back to him no matter how forcefully she tried to distract herself. She’d already sewn enough jackets to shroud a thousand mortals. And of course all of them were exact replicas of the one she’d made for Leo. 

You have to stop this, she told herself. She couldn’t get her hopes up, not again. As much as she liked Leo and trusted him, she didn’t trust the Fates. They’d never let him return. Besides, he had friends to save. Braver, more important friends than a silly goddess complaining about her luxurious island. 

“Silly.”

Leo and Calypso’s Auto Repair. He’d sounded so silly even bringing it up, but could she have that? Did she deserve it? “Fair,” she tried. “It’s only fair”

Abruptly, she stopped playing with the pile of dirt in front of her -she’d been too lost in thought to actually plant the poor blossom. She didn’t feel vengeful like she had after Percy had left. She didn’t want to curse anyone, she didn’t want revenge. She wanted justice. And it was only fair that she’d get a silly repair shop with a wonderful, scrawny boy.

“It’s fair.”

Leo had promised, a full promise. Calypso wasn’t going to doubt someone courageous enough to stand her whilst she was mad, pure enough to admire her while she worked under heat and grime. 

She smiled to herself as her lips tingled with his kiss. 

“You stupid girl,” a low chuckle made her neck stiffen, “after all this years, you’ve still learned nothing.”

**********

Leo woke up to an incredibly loud, incredibly annoying banging noise. Buford. He blamed himself for telling him to wake him up for breakfast. After all, how soft could a table knock? It’s hard to do that with no hands. 

With curls that looked more like odd angled screwdrivers and an inside-out shirt, the son of Hephaestus made his way towards breakfast.

He was the last one in. Even last night’s guards had managed to get there before him. That also meant Percy was there and they had to engage in that painfully awkward moment when he stared at him just starting in for a pleasant greeting and Leo failed to return the gesture thanks to the image of Calypso aggressively shoving a plant into the dirt. 

He didn’t hate Percy Jackson; he actually thought he was a decent guy. He just hated what he’d failed to do, how he got her hopes up. He hated the tears he’d brought to her eyes. 

“Okay,” Jason started once everyone was seated. He’d taken the seat to Annabeth’s left leaving her to be at the top of the table. “Frank, you had something to tell us?”

“Yush,” the big guy swallowed a whole pancake before speaking, “we saw a couple of Earthborn, around 12, couple hours after Annabeth spotted some Cyclops-”

“My best guess is a few hundred of both,” Annabeth finished for him. “They want to see how strong we are, distract us.”

The clang of Frank’s fork was the only sound after that. 

Leo expected the Couch to tell them to man up or to make some comment about beating them senseless with his bat, but he was probably a few countries away now. They were alone, no adult supervision, nothing. 

“We all knew this was coming. We’re ready,” for a second Leo felt assured by Percy’s words, then the moment passed. “After the battle in the house of Hades you’ve proven more than that.”

“They won’t hurt us too badly if Gaea is toying with us,” Piper twirled her braid which made Leo feel incredibly confident about that idea. “Right?”

“I bet they’ll even say ‘sorry’ after stabbing us with their friendly, sharp rocks.”

“Leo.” Jason gave him a stern look. He felt a light breeze pick up. Jason was nervous, he couldn’t hide that, not from him. 

With a bitter taste he realized that Percy was the only one that had made him feel sure, even if it was just for a second. 

“So we just sit around and wait?” Leo could never do that. Even thinking of it made his head want to burst into flames. They couldn’t just wait for these guys to attack! Didn’t Annabeth have some incredibly smart plan to surprise them and defeat half of them in one go?

“I guess so.” You’re becoming too optimistic. 

Percy traced the tip of his orange juice. “We train.”

Training, Leo soon came to learn, was hard. 

Of course he’d trained before in Camp Half-Blood. He even considered himself a decent fighter. Compared to your average sixteen-year-old, Leo was a good fighter. Compared to the rest of the crew?

Sure he could just burst into flames and beat Hazel right now, but that power had failed too many times. He needed to learn how to defeat with just a hammer in his hand. 

“You’re moving too slow,” Frank pointed out as his girlfriend got him good in the ribs. 

“Thank you for your critical analysis Zhang; I really couldn’t have guessed otherwise.”

Leo barely dodged another one of Hazel’s blows and barely had time to catch his breath before she had him cornered once again. That girl didn’t need Arion to move fast.

He gasped for breath as she kicked him in the chest. 

“Too slow-”

“I KNOW!”

“It’s your feet.” Leo almost jumped when he heard the son of the sea god behind him. Wasn’t he helping Piper? 

“What about my feet?”

“You don’t move them.” He stood beside him, imitating his stance. “You’re just moving your torso from side to side. Hazel’s small so she’s always going to be close but her swords got a wide arc giving you room to move around.” “You should probably help out Leo. I’ll go with Frank.”

NO! Hazel! Come back!

“Sure.”

Too late. 

Leo tried to look tough for about 2.4 seconds. It all kind of fell apart once Percy uncapped Riptide. “Don’t worry, it’s just practice.”

“I’m not worried.”

He lunged, Leo stepped back, he lunged again, Leo tripped over. 

“Calm down,” Percy ordered.

“I’m calm.”

As Leo stood up, he summoned another tool and laid down his hammer. A small wrench. When Percy lunged again Leo found that the lack of weight made him faster. He still got hit but it was easier to regain his balance. 

“That’s more like it!” Percy capped Riptide once again and kicked Leo’s feet apart. “Now try to move your feet more and don’t pull them too close together.”

“Okay.”

“Your weapon isn’t as powerful now so you’ll probably end up throwing or stabbing. Only the quickest fighters use a short blade so move in more on your opponent.”

“If you’re closer you give the opponent less space”

Leo nodded and tried not to show how helpful Percy was actually being. He’d pinpointed his main mistakes in all of his battles. He regretted spending so much time in the forges and less in the arena. 

They both stood there awkwardly. It was Leo’s turn to talk but he just didn’t know what to say to Percy Jackson. He confused him too much.

“I’ll go check on Piper now.”

Leo tried to find something to say but he’d already left.

*********

“We need to send out an Iris message.”

“What?”

“We can’t let them wonder if we’re alive or not.”

Reyna stood up from her seat beside a thick tree. “He’s right,” she told Nico. “It isn’t fair. They’ve already got too much to worry about.”

“Whatever.”

No one moved. 

“Well?” The praetor of Camp Jupiter looked at him and the couch expectantly. “You’re the Greek.”

“I’ve got messages of my own to send,” argued Gleeson Hedge, “Say hi to your sister for me.”

Nico wanted to argue but he was too tired. He knew it was pointless arguing with either one of them and a conversation with Hazel was always harmless. “Fine.” He took out one of his few remaining drachmas and stumbled towards a strong ray of sun in front of him. 

He didn’t specify to talk to his sister though. He just called for the Argo II.

“NICO,” Percy called out when the image cleared. “Are you guys okay? How’s it going?”

“We’re fine.” His eyes never left the floor beneath him. Never once meeting the green gaze before him. “Is Hazel there?”

“She’s catching on with some practice with Frank. Do you want me to call her or-”

“No, it’s fine.”

Nico could picture Percy biting his lip nervously. He was so oblivious, obtuse -as Annabeth had so perfectly described him. “Have you talked with anyone at the camps?”

“No,” he answered. Reyna had told them it was better for her to face Octavian in person and Chiron had been out of reach due to their locations and constant monster attacks. “Have you?”

“No.”

“Well then,” he just wanted to crash beneath a tree and sleep for the rest of the day, “we’ll keep you updated.”

“Wait, Nico!”

“What?”

“We’ll keep you updated?” There was hurt in his face. “What’s going on? I thought we were fine.”

“We are!” He couldn’t just drop it, could he? “Did you seriously expect me to just go back to the way I was after the war?”

“Don’t be naive, Percy”

“I’m not!”

Nico clenched his fists. What was he doing? This wasn’t Percy’s fault… “We need to talk, Nico.”

“Goodbye.”

**********

Percy was seriously getting tired of the hostility. Leo, Nico who’s next? He couldn’t understand what he’d done wrong? 

“Was that Nico?”

“Yeah,” he answered Jason.

“What’d he say?”

“He just wanted us to know they were fine.”

“Nothing else?”

Percy cocked his eyebrow at Jason. “What else could’ve he said?”

“Nothing.”

“You sure?”

Jason knew how to pretend. Lying was a whole other concept. “I’m positive.” He wasn’t.

“Why do people keep doing that?!” 

The blond pursed his lips making his scar look like a crescent. 

“If there something you need to tell me just say it already!”

“It’s none of my business, Percy. You’ll have to work it out with him.”

He watched as he left him behind with even more questions and a tighter knot of guilt.

Percy wasn’t mad at Jason or at Leo. He didn’t understand why they acted like that towards him, he knew Leo’s motives -his story hit way too close to home. But he didn’t get where Jason was coming from. Nonetheless, he didn’t blame them, it’s not like he’d been all that approachable lately and, as hard as it was to admit, he didn’t know them all that well. He trusted them, but that was a different thing. 

He couldn’t start a friendship with them and act like they’ve known each other for forever when they hadn’t; you could only fit in so much unnecessary training. It wasn’t in him to pretend anymore and, even though he saw potential, did he have time? 

They deserve saving, that he knew with certainty, but he had friends. Annabeth was his best friend and had been since they were both twelve but they almost never agreed and when those disagreements turned unto actual fights there’d been someone who didn’t even need to be told that Percy was upset. Satyrs could sense emotions after all. 

It’d never really struck him that he missed Grover -primarily because he couldn’t remember he existed for a little while- but he did, terribly so. He’d even started to long for the horribly played Hilary Duff songs on the reed pipes. 

Everything they did back then seemed so simple now. They got a quest and a prophecy and even during the war it was clear what they had to do. Now, it seemed that every possible chance at winning ended with someone dying a painful death, and he was starting to believe it was going to be him. How much longer could he miraculously survive? He didn’t want anyone else to die for him.

Knowing that the others might take a while training, he decided to grab a bite. “For you, G-man,” he mumbled as a pair of enchiladas appeared on his plate. 

I sure love those.

Percy tensed, he was obviously imagining voices now. Nostalgia was getting to him. 

What? You can’t even recognize your best friend’s voice?

“Annabeth is that you?” No one answered. “Annabeth?”

He strained his ears for any suspicious sounds but nothing came. He was definitely losing it. The lack of sleep was seriously affecting him. 

He jumped when Annabeth came in sweaty and disheveled. “What is it?” “Did you hear that?”

She rolled her gray eyes at him. Normal Annabeth behavior; she was definitely not a illusion. “Hear you calling me? Yes, I did.”

“No, not that.”

“What then?!”

He started to explained but stopped half way. What was he going to say? He missed Grover so much he was starting to hear him in the middle of the day. 

You warm my heart, Percy. 

“Okay that!”

His girlfriend looked at him slightly concerned and slightly annoyed. “I didn’t hear anything, Percy”

The empathy link.

The empathy link.

Grover?

Hi!

Percy looked at his girlfriend, excitement bubbling in his stomach for the first time in what seemed like an eternity. “The empathy link.”

Her eyes widened and a smile spread across her face, the gears of her fast-working mind didn’t take long to figure out was was going on. She walked over to Percy and sat beside him while he concentrated. It’d been a while since they communicated like this.

Are you guys okay?

“We’re fine.” He could slowly start picturing a park but couldn’t quite see Grover’s location yet.

You fell to Tartarus. I couldn’t believe it when I heard. I thought….

“We’re fine, man. We made it out.”

Okay, Percy could tell he wanted to ask more questions but -as always- they didn’t have much time. Do you guys know when Nico and the statue might get here? Things are getting quite heated. Some of my other satyrs are keeping an eye on them and it doesn’t seem too good.

“I talked to Nico yesterday but he didn’t specify. They’re shadow-traveling so they shouldn’t take longer.” Annabeth squeezed his arm at the sound of that as if to ask why he hadn’t told him about his conversation with the son of Hades. “Plus, they’ve got Reyna with them so don’t worry…”

That’s kind of impossible to do, Percy. 

“I know. I’m sorry-”

Don’t be, it’s fine.

Neither of them talked for a while. The situation in both New York and in Greece was getting worse. Percy wished he could split in two but he had his own battle to worry about. He didn’t forget the army of cyclops and other nasties waiting for them.

I didn’t just call to check on you, Percy. I- 

There’s something we have to do. It’s for the best.

Percy didn’t like the way his friend sounded, almost defeated. “What is it?”

The link…

“What about it?”

We need to break it. He looked over at Annabeth who mouthed 'what is he saying?’ “What do you mean break it?”

“Break the link?” Asked Annabeth. “Why?”

“I was just about to ask him that.”

I don’t want to sound too gloomy but… Me and some others are going to try to hold back the Romans a bit earlier since they’ve got a lot of numbers and, well, I’ve been having a bad feeling, man. 

“Don’t you dare think like that, Grover.”

You’re in that prophecy for a reason and if I die and we’re still linked we’re all doomed. 

He wanted to argue but suddenly it occurred to him that if someone was close to death, it was him. He hadn’t forgotten what Grover had told him the first time they talked via empathy link. If one of them were to die, so would the other. At best he’d end up in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. 

But not knowing weather or not his friend lived….

“I’ll do it under one condition.”

You’re not going to stop me from fighting. That’s out of the question and Juniper has already tried, believe me. She ended up agreeing.

“Well, you should listen to your girlfriend!”

“Agreed,” Annabeth added. She clearly didn’t know what Grover was saying. 

“Grover wants to fight the Romans before they attack and break the empathy link.”

“Okay, listening to your girlfriend? Kind of overrated.”

Did you tell on me to Annabeth?

Look, I’m going to fight no matter what you say and we’re going to break this link. I’m not asking you, Percy. You know it’s for the best.

It suddenly struck Percy that the days of shy, awkward Grover were long gone. He wasn’t going to change his mind. Grover was taking care of him as much as he had when they were little. He’d run out of Nancy Bobofits.

He grabbed Annabeth’s hand. “Don’t do it, Seaweed Brain,” she told him. 

“They’ll kill him!”

“I’ll do it.”

“Percy!”

Okay.

“What do I need to do?” 

Annabeth stood up, letting go of his hand.

Picture the link. Something that holds us together like a rope or something. It has to be breakable.

Percy tried ferociously, but all he could picture was a steel cable. Not exactly breakable.

“How do you break a steel cable?”

You melt it. 

Percy imagined a torch, but it seemed pitiful against the strength of the cable. Then he tried something simpler, just fire. Fire spreading through the strong metal, but it only seemed to darken the spotless color. 

We need something stronger. Like a furnace or a forge. 

He tried to imagine the forages back at camp turned all the way up. He pictured it so well that he coughed up imaginary smoke and felt imaginary heat press against his face. 

For a moment he panicked having such a familiar feeling like the one Tartarus had given him. His lips cracked, every single breath hurting his absolutely dry lungs. 

Percy! Grover brought him back. Concentrate. 

He focused the heat unto the cable, he didn’t expect the feeling that it brought. The heat didn’t burn him, but he somehow could sense the steel. He couldn’t really place it anywhere, but it was a part of him. 

Almost there.

Percy could feel the metal liquefying, slowly becoming weak. 

Percy, called Grover. His voice seemed distant, it could barely reach him anymore. 

I’m sorry. 

“Grover,” he called. He knew he was gone but he didn’t want to believe it. Had he made a mistake? “Grover?”

Annabeth asked: “Is he gone?” 

“I think so.”

Percy barely saw her cover her face with her hands from the side of his vision. “This was a mistake,” she told herself, starting to mumble to herself the way she did when she was nervous about one of her plans. She seemed more exasperated though. “Percy you should’ve convinced him?”

“He already had his mind set, Annabeth.” I could’ve tried harder. “I-”

“I did all I could.”

She shook her head. “You could’ve tried harder. You should’ve tried harder!”

“And told him what?!”

“Anything!” She rubbed the space between her eyebrows. He could tell she was holding back tears. “They’re going to kill him!”

“Why do you always patronize him? He can take care of himself,” a small bubble of annoyance surfaced above Percy’s fear. “Gods know he’s taken care of us millions of times.”

“I’m not stupid enough to believe he’s an easy kill! But both of us know what the Legion is capable of, they’re ruthless.”

Tension built inside Percy like worn out rubber. The worst thing about fighting with Annabeth was that she was almost always right. Her words seeped right into his guilt making it unbearably heavy. But still, he’d done all he could. When he said that Grover had his mind set, he was right. Nine months wasn’t going to change the fact that he knew Grover Underwood. “Cut me some slack,” he begged Annabeth getting up and reaching for her hand. 

“There’s no room for mistakes, Percy.” She pulled her hand away. “And if what you did was just one of them, then Grover’s dead.”

“What exactly did you expect me to do? Charm speak him via empathy link?” Anger, finally he’d come to anger. “You know it’s not always my responsibility to save everyone!”

Annabeth scoffed. “You’re so pretentious. You’re seriously going to make this about you now?”

“You’re the one that’s blaming me for practically killing him!” Somehow he’d ended up two inches away from her face. He had a direct view into her stormy gray eyes. It wasn’t until he took another step towards her, hands shaking and height towering a few inches over her, that he noticed the fear they held. He immediately stumbled backwards. The air seemed to leave his lungs as he watched Annabeth cry for Grover. She wasn’t just scared of what might happen to their Keeper, she was scared of Percy. “I’m so-”

Just then the alarm went off and Leo ran in covered in grease. “They’re here,” he gasped for air, having run all the way from the engine room, “if we’re looking for a time to attack it’s now.” He was completely unaware of Annabeth wiping away her escaping tears and Percy’s paler-than-usual complexion. Before Percy would finish, Annabeth was out of the door along with Leo and he faced yet another fight.

*********

Were they losing? 

Leo had never been one to brag about their mighty power, but it actually seemed like they were losing. It finally struck him how easy it would be for him to die. A single blow from the Cyclopes’ heavy fists, if one of those rocks managed to hit him; he wouldn’t survive. 

He watched as Annabeth and Piper took down a specifically nasty looking one but just as quick a dozen Earth Born came rushing back towards them. A strong gust of wind made them stumble and bought them enough time to charge but it had been painfully close, too close. Then there was Frank, who had given up on shifting and seemed to have a limp. Leo’s gut wrenched with fear for his clumsy friend, but he had his own one-eyed problem to deal with. 

With a bitter taste, he regretted blowing Percy off. He needed the speed, he needed the practice. The son of the sea god was putting up one hell of a fight like always, but Leo saw sweat glisten down his face, and worried.

“Watch out!” Before he could react, a diamond flew past his face and something hit him from behind, making him fall down with a thud. Through his hazy vision he saw Hazel ward off a couple of misshaped Earth Born with her cavalry sword. He knew he had to get up but his arms could barely hold his weight. 

His friends voices seemed to become distant, a small wave of goosebumps traced a line in his spine making him feel cold. Poor Leo Valdez, the Earth seemed to tell him. You’ll never win. You never have. And now, I get to take her like I did your mother. 

His eyes go wide as he hears the dirt chuckle beneath him. “Calypso” Then, just as she came and the wave of monsters hit them, they all vanish. Leo waits a few seconds before he rolls unto his back and finally manages to get up. 

“Where’d go?”

Everyone is still holding a fighting stance. Wiping the sweat off his brow, Jason answers: “I don’t know, the just vanished”

“They were toying with us!?”

Annabeth finally relaxes. “We always knew that is was a trap,” she says. “But something doesn’t feel right.”

“Well of course nothing’s right!” Answers Percy, who seems more anxious than anyone. “Didn’t you hear her?”

“Who?”

“Gaea”

No one seems to have an answer until Leo finally works up the nerve to say: “She said something about taking her the way she did my mother.”

“She-” Something seems to dawn on Percy. “She said something about our loved ones, how she would take them.” The look he now wears is now of utter terror, not helping settle Leo’s own. 

Percy exchanges a look with Annabeth before running back to the ship. He doesn’t check for more monsters, he doesn’t wait for them to follow. He sprints with the dread that keeps Leo rooted to the spot. 

“What is it?” Asks Piper after seeing the tear that trickles down her friend’s face. 

“Annabeth, what is going on?”

“Grover”

“The satyr?” Asks Jason. “The one from my dream?”

Calypso. Thun. Calypso. Thun. Calypso. It might be selfish of Leo to just think of her but something about the way Gaea mocked him made him believe she wasn’t referring to his siblings at Camp. “We need to get back to the ship.” He walks the way Percy left -too sore to run like he did- trying hard to think about the twigs snapping beneath his feet and not what might be waiting for him at the other side of the Iris message he plans to make. He’s barely aware of the others walking behind him, tired and confused. 

When they reach the ship Percy is sitting down, hands covering his face. Immediately, Annabeth walks towards him. “What happened?!” She asks “They told me that Grover was talking to Juniper,” he says, not moving. “I made them check and he was.” Before Annabeth can sigh in relief, Percy looks up. His eyes are red with fresh tears and his bloodshot green eyes are looking at a watery image Leo failed to notice before.

It’s a small apartment, New York is Leo’s best guess, and it looks like it’s been hit by a tornado. The furniture is sprawled hazardously and there are claw marks in the tapestry. 

Suddenly Leo is struck with the fact that Percy has a mother, and that Percy is from New York. 

They all jump when he gets up and punches right through the image, making it vanish. With a frail look, Annabeth reaches for him, but he steps back. 

“Everyone should check if they’ve taken anyone else.” He says and then leaves. He doesn’t storm out, in fact, his footsteps are so light they make no sound, but everyone hears them at the edge of their stomach and they all flinch when he leaves the door ajar with a silent slam of defeat.

******** Thinking about how close they were to getting Thalia makes Jason feel sick even after just having talked to her. He immediately sent an Iris message of his own after the news on Percy’s mother and had gotten some serious chest pains thanks to his uncontrollable beating heart. 

“Jason!” She’d called when her blurry image appeared before him. He wanted to cry with relief. “I was just about to call. Are you okay?”

“Yes, well-”

Her deep blue eyes grew wide. “What? Did anyone get hurt? Where’s Annabeth?”

“We’re all fine but,” he got a bitter taste remembering the look of horror in Percy’s face, “they took Percy’s mom.”

Jason had heard quite a bit about Sally Jackson, both Thalia and Annabeth held a warm affection for her and he knew how much she meant to Percy. He remember how jealous he was of him just a couple of days before. The closest he ever got to a parent was Dakota and -not that he didn’t appreciate his friends energetic talks about having two pints of Koolaide- that didn’t really count since he was taking care of him most of the time. 

Now he just felt guilty for ever being jealous of Percy. Maybe he’d gotten a good mother when none of them had, but he’d also gotten a whole prophecy to himself. Jason’s situation was by no standards better than Percy, he’d lead the army after all, but that’s what he’d trained for his whole life. That was his life, Percy had a mother to lose. 

It was heartbreaking to see his friend like that. They’d taken from him the one person he needed to protect. It was cruel what they’d done. It was just cruel. “Oh Gods,” his sister had sobbed. “Do we know if-”

“No.”

She nodded and wiped a couple tears off. “We’re coming to join you in Greece,” she announced. “The hunters are set and I know that it’s what Artemis would want.”

“Thalia you don’t understand-”

“I wasn’t asking for your permission, Jason!” He was taken back by her tone, but almost immediately her face softened. “And I do understand. This isn’t my first war, little brother.”

She passed her hand through the message and the image disappeared.

Jason tried to concentrate less on Thalia and more on the issue at hand after having talked to her. They couldn’t reach Nico, Reyna and the Couch. 

Jason tried to feel optimistic by telling himself that they probably already left Greece and were traveling so fast to New York that they couldn’t be reached, but there was also the possibility that, like Percy’s mother, they’ve been “taken”. He didn’t yet want to give them for dead, Gaea could be using them as bait. “Nothing.” Hazel huffed after furrowing her brow in concentration for almost an hour. “Maybe he’s traveling too fast. I don’t think I could reach him anyways if he was shadow traveling.”

Jason shook his head. “They’ve already should’ve called.” He insisted. “Percy talked to Nico a few days ago, he said he’d keep us updated and after this…” Piper put a conforming hand on his shoulder. “It’s hard enough to Iris message with the state of the gods it must be even more difficult while moving around so fast and with that many monsters on your case.”

Neither Hazel nor Jason seemed convinced. He could tell Piper was worried too, she usually snuck in a few drops of charm speak into her voice when he was upset. At least they knew her dad was okay. 

He still felt incredibly lucky for her comfort. He knew it was hard for her to see him worry about Reyna, it made her anxious. But she’d come to terms with it and Jason couldn’t and shouldn’t hide his affection for Reyna. He had been a terrible friend ever since they met again in Rome and she didn’t deserve that. Now there was this to top it all off. 

He took Piper’s hand and tried to calm down. He couldn’t think straight when he was this worried. Everyone was just so tense, they usually had Percy to relieve some of that tension but no one expected him to barge in with a goofy grin on his face after what happened. He’d even seemed strange before all of this. “I’m going to go check on Percy.” He told her. She pecked him in the lips and went back to trying to find the others with Hazel and Frank.

Percy wasn’t in his cabin or in Annabeth’s cabin. Jason remembered the time Frank had found them both and headed towards the stables. When he got there, he heard them arguing and stopped right away. There was a part of him that was dying to go in there but Annabeth was there, Percy would be fine. At least he hoped he would, they needed him.

******* The goddess could make Leo’s favorite clothes non-flammable, tell off the Earth Mother and look incredibly beautiful whilst yelling at him, but no communication device. Not even a trace that she’d ever been real. But Leo seriously doubted that he could imagine such a realistic kiss. 

“Maybe they can’t reach her either,” he told Buford, but even as he said it he wanted to spit. Lies taste bitter. 

He might tend to drift off when people talk to him (especially if said talker is a goddess and is angry at him) but he could never forget a thing Calypso had said to him. He knew that gods often visited her, they could get into her island. They could taker. 

He felt like two people, part of him -the part that seemed to be screaming inside his head- wanted to run all around the ship and yell at his friends to do something. But the other couldn’t quite process it all; that part seemed to be in control of his body since he sat completely still. He felt like he couldn’t breathe. 

“Leo?”

He knew they couldn’t kill her. 

“Leo!”

He didn’t even jump once Piper stuck her head in his vision, yelling his name. 

“What?”

“Are you okay? You look like you’re going to throw-up or something.”

“I just might.”

He barely registers her sitting down in the floor besides him. Her hands around her legs as she asks: “Is this about the girl you met when you were gone?” “They took her too, I know it.”

Piper stays quiet and doesn’t get a change to talk since Annabeth walks in looking pale and tired. “Piper we should-” she stops when she notices Leo. “They’ve taken her too, haven’t they?” 

It’s a difficult situation, this one. Leo always assumed that Annabeth didn’t even want to hear the name “Calypso”, but right one she doesn’t seem jealous or bitter. Right now Annabeth looks worried. 

It’s dumb that it took him this long to figure it out, but he gets it. He gets that what Percy did was wrong, but doing one wrong thing doesn’t make you a bad person. He didn’t even make that mistake on purpose; at one point, he tried to fix it. 

There wasn’t such a thing as good and evil, even if it hurt to admit it. What would he have done if he’d had an Annabeth of his own waiting for him? Sure, it was different, but he was no better than Percy. He’d just had less complicated circumstances and nothing to lose. 

“Look, Leo,” the daughter of Athena told him, her eyes strong, “we’re not letting them do anything to her. We’re not letting them win.” 

“I can’t even reach her. It’s impossible to go back.” 

She seemed to ponder for a bit, scrunching her face in the way that you could almost hear her urge the wheels in her head turn. “We’ll figure something out.” He nodded, not feeling afraid of her for the first time. A few month ago he would’ve laughed at the idea of Annabeth ever considering him a friend, but now it didn’t seem so laughable and she didn’t seem so scary. “C'mon,” offered Piper helping him up, “we should help the others look for Reyna.”

******** Sixteen countries later, Reyna barely felt the nausea of shadow travel. The moment her feet seemed to hit solid ground, the monsters came just like they had been coming since they left Epirus. She hadn’t slept in what felt like days and their food was scarce but they still managed to fight whilst being attached to an enormous statue. 

“Stay close to Nico,” ordered Gleeson, who was finishing off what seemed like a Doberman mixed with a seal -a telkhine he’d heard him call it. She obeyed him knowing that the son of Pluto -or Hades apparently- was in no shape to fight, much less stand up. They’d been planning to grant him more breaks but they hadn’t had one second to set their weapons down. Reyna slashed through a stampede of venti and couldn’t help missing her own horse, they could’ve used some support in the skies. She pushed aside the memory of Jason zipping through the air and finished off a vampire woman. But they simply kept coming. They hadn’t even been able to advance a single step. She hated asking him but: “Hey Nico! Do you think you could manage a small jump?”

Reyna waited as he stuffed a few squares of what they called ambrosia into his mouth. “Give me some more space,” his voice was barely a whisper and she feared that he might not make the travel. She was about to tell him that they could wait when he got up shakily. “Hurry!”

She called to Gleeson and told him to back them up. He didn’t seem happy about not being able to finish them off but he did as asked. She slashed and cut at the monsters, her main goal not being killing but making them retreat at least a little bit. It seemed to be working but her arm was much too sore and she could barely see through the sweat that slipped from her forehead. 

She felt a prickle in the back of her neck and watched as a venti -this one shaped more like the demonic angels she was used to seeing- made his way towards Nico. She cursed herself from letting him slip away and tried to think. She couldn’t run towards Nico right now, she’d be throwing away they’re work. She knew that he could call to an an army of skeletons and defend himself but they would leave the shadow traveling option out of the question. The knife strapped to her leg grew heavy. They weren’t in any position to throw away weapons but it was the only choice. 

She slashed once more at the creatures in front of her, making a particularly nasty gash in one of the Eartborn’s arms, and pulled out her knife in a swift motion. The knife could either kill the venti or go right through him, she didn’t hesitate. Pulling back her arm like a lasso and then bringing it back quickly, the knife left her fingers. She’d aimed at the space between where his eyes should be. 

She didn’t miss. 

She didn’t have time to congratulate herself and immediately went back to the small army she was previously dealing with at one point a snake lady -one of the empousai- caught one of her blows, making pain flare up her arm. She let out a horrible laugh and Reyna watched as her friend readied to finish her off. “Not today,” she grunted. Before they both could react, she dove her left fist straight into the first one’s nose and took advantage of the others surprise to slash through her armor. 

“Now!” She heard Nico call. She kicked at an incoming Cyclops and ran towards him, Gleeson close behind. She was please try surprised by the distance she managed to make the retreat. 

Nico didn’t look much better once they got back to him but there was no other option. They quickly strapped the huge statue to themselves and took hold of Nico’s cold hand. “I probably won’t get you as far as the Brooklyn bridge,” he told them. “I don’t know if you can steal a car or-”

“What are you talking about?” Asked Reyna. 

He seemed irritated by her interruption but continues anyway. “I’ll take us to New York, but I can’t land directly on Camp Half-Blood, it’s too specific and it takes an amount of strength I don’t have.”

“That’s an overseas jump.”

“I know.” His grip seemed to get colder. “Listen to me. You take and exit on Route 25 A,”

Reyna tried to keep up before the Couch cut it. “You’re wasting time,” he said, “I already know where the camp is.”

“She needs to know in order to get in. She needs to be invited in.” He looked at her, his black eyes like coal. “I, Nico Di Angelo son of Hades, allow you to cross into Camp Half-Blood. Now,” he continued as if he just hadn’t invited Reyna and her Legion into their enemy ground, “after you take the exit you have to head through the woods along the North Shore until you see some hills appear on your left. Stop when you reach Farm Road 3.141. You’ll have to hike from there, even though I assume that’s where the Legion has set their camp.”

Reyna stopped her nerves as the battled to take over her. She dreaded the conversation that needed to take place in order for her to pass but somehow she could picture the Greek camp. Strawberry fields and an arrangement of cabins, a camp worth saving and worth fighting alongside to. 

She stared back at Nico and nodded. “C'mon!” Gleeson told them. They were about to be overwhelmed. She felt the poison of their blades on her skin, but before any real damage had could be done they melted into the shadows.

*************

They were almost in Athens. After all the fights, all the things that had been thrown their way, they would soon arrive to their last resting place or the insured safety of their homes. 

After all that happened, Percy wanted to be just that; he either died or he didn’t. But that wasn’t the case anymore. As always, they wouldn’t let him have anything easy. Even if he did deserve it. 

At first, seeing his old apartment destroyed and sending off his best friend unto his probable death, had made him sick with anger. He’d rarely ever felt wrath like that one; a wrath that moved him to control poison and kill monster after monster. He wanted to scream at the gods, curse them for giving him this fate. But what was the use?

Gods didn’t change, gods didn’t feel guilt or compassion and he wasn’t going to change that. 

Now, as he stood against the rails he saw how pointless it all was. He’d never though of it that way and that scared him even more. A scar of his own was cutting across his face. “No,” he mumbled. “I’m not him.”

He needed to save her, he needed to save all of them because that’s what he fought for, not the gods and their stupid feuds. He clenched his fist around Riptide and headed downstairs, to Annabeth’s cabin. He’d acted like a coward yesterday, he wasn’t thinking straight. She was just trying to help. 

“Annabeth,” he calls once he opens the door. She’s hunched over her desk, she no longer has Daedalus’ laptop so she stares at her Yankee’s cap instead. It’s only when he steps through the threshold that he notices her tears, and his heartbreaks. 

Seeing Annabeth cry used to be a rare occasion; one in which he never knew what to do and only worsened the situation with his stuttering tongue. This past weeks have been full of tears for the both of them, and he hated it. “Hey,” he called, making her turns right away and uselessly wipe away her tears, “I’m fine, we’re fine.”

“No, we’re not,” she sobbed, “How can we possibly be?” 

He doesn’t have an answer.

“Everything that could’ve gone wrong went wrong! There’s no plan I can come up to that can solve that! And now they’ve taken Sally and Grover’s-”

“Stop it,” he told her. “We can’t do this now. I know it’s too much to ask Annabeth and there’s nothing I hate more but we need to do this.”

“I don’t think I can.”

He knelt beside her. “I’m terrified too, Wise Girl. And I can’t assure you we’ll make it, but we owe it to ourselves to try.”

She looked at him and some of that old glint came back to her eyes. The mind of glint that she gave him when they were in different teams during capture the flag and she knew that he stood no chance. He felt overwhelmed by her strength, but it was one if the few things that kept him going. Some things never change. He kissed her, pulling her in by her shirt and not even thinking about what he was doing. He just did. ********* Annabeth almost broke the kiss with a smile. The memory of her fourteen-year-old self played in her mind. She remembered thinking that Percy Jackson couldn’t possibly hold off an army of telkhines but that she wanted to kiss him anyway because it wasn’t his fighting skills that made an annoying batch of butterflies sprout at her stomach. 

She dared pull away from his lips. “Everyone should be having dinner about now.”

He nodded and stood up. They walked hand in hand towards the dining hall where the rest of the crew waited. There was a frail whisper of a conversation that stopped when they walked in. Jason failed at hiding the concern on his face and Hazel tighten the grip she had on her boyfriend’s hand. 

This all went unnoticed by Percy, or maybe he just decided to ignore it. “Any news from Reyan, Nico…?” They all shook their heads. “We have to trust they’re okay. We’ll keep trying to reach them.” His eyes scanned their friends until they stopped at Leo. He managed to look worse than any of them. They seemed to exchange a conversation for a moment, understanding crossing both their faces as they looked away. 

Percy knew about Calypso. A small part of her didn’t want to believe it, but that part of her was selfish and she willed it to shrink until it was barely present. “What about the mortals?” She asked eager to ease the tension. “What about them?” Jason answered. 

“Are they noticing anything? They must be waiting for us in Athens and we already know they’ve never been worried about hiding themselves from civilians.”

Frank seemed to consider this, for the first time apparently. “We actually haven’t checked,” he admitted. “Leo, do we have any television signal?”

“I don’t see why we shouldn’t. The best TV is in the Couch’s room.”

No one hesitated, and in no time they were all crammed inside the messy cabin. No one was happy with the arrangements (personally, Leo thought that Frank might be a little bit too close to him) but they were all inclined to see what was happening in the outside world. Annabeth had made a fair point and her fair points almost always turned out to be a fair plan.

The TV came on and immediately the local news came on. The reporter -a young man that tried too hard it look in his thirties- talked in rapid fire Greek and seemed to be reasonably excited about….something about a fancy party was Frank’s best guess. 

“A gala,” murmured Percy, “a gala in the Parthenon?”

“Well, only Gaea would want to throw a party.” 

Hazel’s small fist hit a wall. “That twisted, evil-” Eyebrows went up and steps were taken back. Well, so long for Hazel being 'innocent’ one. 

“Okay!” The new Praetor seemed like he was trying hard not to laugh. “So, the party, what do we do about it?”

Annabeth didn’t even bother suppressing her amused smile and answered: “It’s more of a gala. They’re opening a new display.”

“What about?”

“Famous Heroes and They’re Tragic Deaths.”

Percy snorted. “At least we know she’s got a sense of humor.”

Annabeth ignored him -the two seemed to be a bit more relaxed given the circumstances- and went on, “We need to find a way to sneak in there without causing a big commotion. We’ve gotten enough attention as it is and we should keep the mortals as much in the dark as possible.”

“We can go as guests, at least a few of us,” offered Jason, “the rest can keep watch outside.”

“The act can only last so long,” argued Percy, “they’re not hiding this because they want us to be there. They already used their decoy so this time we should except something bigger coming our way.”

Frank added: “It still seems like they’re trying to distract us from something.” Hazel -now a bit more calm- seemed to agree with her boyfriend. “Still,” she said, “our best chance is to sneak into the party like Jason said.” She turned towards Piper. “You probably look best with a dress you should go.”

“Fine.” She didn’t seem too happy about the dress part. “But I’m taking Percy and Annabeth with me, my Greek sucks.”

“Because Percy’s Greek is so great.”

Leo was given an annoyed look and a rude remark in a surprisingly perfect Greek. “Okay, ” Percy continued, “so us three go to the gala and the rest keep a tight perimeter around the building. It’s likely that we’ll have to buy time while you guys evacuate everyone.”

It was great finally planing everything, as a team. They no longer had Couch or Nico but there was a reason them Seven were chosen, for this moment where, in the middle of a war, the could discuss a perfect strategy and trust each other to follow it through.

“We have 24 hours till the gala, we should get some rest.”

********

Leo dreamt of a damp cave. He could hear the irritating drip- drop of an unknown leak and felt the cold radiating from the pale walls. It all seemed sinister, but it became terrifying when he heard a crude laugh bounce of the stone. “You’ve got guts, girl.” He knew that voice, that arrogance. “But sadly that won’t be enough to keep you or your puny boyfriend alive.”

“You underestimate me, Hercules.” Leo’s stomach went in knots and not because of the mention of that jerk’s name. “I’m a goddess as well and, unlike you, I’ve got powerful people on my side.”

He laughed even harder, giving him the urge to punch his frustratingly handsome face. “You’re the one that underestimates the Earth Mother’s power,” Leo’s vision seemed to be getting closer until he saw her, Calypso. Her beautiful hair was covered in dirt and some loose strand clung to her sweat-covered forehead. She had a stubborn look on her face that made him proud, but he didn’t fail to notice how her back rested against the cavern, as if she needed the support. 

Her eyes finally found his and his breath hitched.

“Don’t underestimate me, Calypso!”

********

“You know,” said Jason behind he, she hadn’t even heard him come in, too busy trying to control her hair, “if you’re trying to blend in, your failing miserably.” Piper gave him a look through her mirror. “Don’t be cheesy Jason. Plus,” she added, “Drew would die if she knew I was attending a gala without washing my hair.”

He chuckled. 

“Is everyone else ready?” She asked. 

“Yeah.”

“We should get going then.”

As predicted, Annabeth and Percy we’re completely tied up with their own outfits. In Percy’s case, literally. “You know,” he told her as she walked unto the deck, “I already carry a weapon I don’t need another.” “It’s a bow tie not a knife.”

“Well obviously!” Somehow he’d gotten his thumb stuck inside the knot. “A knife a could handle, this is impossible!”

“What are you complaint about? Bow ties are cool!” Cut in Annabeth who seemed to be battling with the high heels Piper had miraculously found for her. “You’re all set! I still need to do my stupid hair.”

“You look great, Annabeth.”

She slapped his arm. “Don’t just stand there, Piper!” She scolded her. “HELP ME!”

“Calm down.” She turned towards her boyfriend and silently asked him to help Percy with his bow tie. “It’s too hot right now your hair will go crazy. Let’s go to my cabin.”

Piper had underestimated Annabeth’s hair. She’d faced monsters calmer than her vicious, golden locks. “There,” she sighed. “I’m done.”

“Finally!”

She really did look great, she opted for a dark blue gown that clung to her nicely and showcased her back spectacularly. And, of course, Piper’s hair do really did tie it all up nicely. She looked great with her hair down, but she guessed it was harder to gut a cyclops with loose strands of her getting in your mouth. “Let’s go,” she said risking one last glance in the mirror. 

Once again in the deck, Piper took Jason’s shoulder. 

“Well, this is as close to promo as we’re getting.” Annabeth pointed out. Percy groaned beside her. “I hate dancing!”

For some reason that made Annabeth laugh, which made Percy blush, which made Piper wish the two would just get a room. But it wasn’t until Jason discussed the last detailed of the plan with Leo and Annabeth cut in one last time to make sure he got it and Percy reminded the time that Piper felt truly nervous. 

It wasn’t even the risky dress she was modeling (even though she wasn’t a fan of yellow but then again they’re “shopping” style hadn’t really given them many options) or the fact that Jason looked like James Bond in his suit. No, she was starting to realize that she might die. Not just might, probably. She probably wouldn’t see her father again, or her siblings -Lacy, even Drew- it was all coming to an end. It felt that way, or at least the start of it. They’re whole quest had been exhausting, but it never really struck as a war. 

As she walked away from the Argo II and into the city of Athens, she felt the war. She felt it in the extra seconds that Hazel held her gaze as they parted ways, none of them wanted to say goodbye, so they didn’t. Jason’s grip was a but too tight and Percy might’ve gotten his smile back, but his eyes were still so sad, so heavy. 

So heavy.

Suddenly, she stopped walking. “You okay?” Asked Jason. Both Annabeth and Percy stopped as well. She tried to say that she was fine but the words seemed to stick to her throat and didn’t make it out. “Pipes,” insisted Jason, “you don’t look so good.”

“Maybe we should catch up with the others-”

“No!” She managed to say, she knew that this was the right way to go. She couldn’t put the whole mission in jeopardy for something as silly as fear. “I’m fine.”

“Hey,” she was surprised to see Percy being the one addressing her, “we’re all terrified, Piper. We’re only human.”

“No, we’re demigods.” She insisted.

“Yes, and just like we forget we’re mortal, we can forget we are.” Then, Piper saw something else in his green eyes, and he felt it in Jason’s grip and in Annabeth’s set jaw. They were all terrified. “But there’s nothing wrong with being aware of the fact that we can die and it doesn’t make us weak, it makes us honest.”

She nodded and they kept walking. Piper hoped that they lived so she could get to know Percy, watch him make her friend happy and listen to her complain about how dense he could be. She wanted to live and get to a point in her and Jason’s relationship where they felt as comfortable as they did. She wanted Leo to make her laugh and watch Hazel grow-up beside Frank. She wanted it all, a life. And she would fight for it.

**********

“They’re preparing to attack,” growled Clarisse at Chiron, who’d insisted on them 'standing by’ as the Romans grew more and more restless, “we need to attack first. They out-number us by too much.”

“I’m not one to agree with Clarisse,” cut in Will Solace as he tested the point to one of his arrows, everyone was ready to fight, “but maybe I could send-” “No.” Chiron hadn’t even opted to get out of wheelchair mode. “We must trust Nico, Reyna and Gleeson to arrive with the Athena Parthenos any minute now. We’ll spare as many lives as possible.”

“Well we ain’t saving any just sitting around!” Clarisse punched the ping-pong table where she once stabbed her knife almost a year ago. “Even the satyrs set out!”

“They’re just holding them back.” The old centaur didn’t seem so sure himself. 

“My decision is final. We will not attack the Romans…..unless they attack first.”

“Any minute then.”

He sighed and rolled out of the wreck room. For once, all the counselors seemed out of things to say. Most of them remembered the Titan War and didn’t want any part of another one, especially one that included angry Romans and Giants. Still, they were siting ducks.

“Do you think Annabeth would’ve attacked by now?” Asked Travis Stoll. His brother stayed silent but Rachel -who’d now been invited to all counselor meetings- seemed to ponder over it. 

“I don’t know,” she said. “What’s the smarter choice?”

“We should wait,” murmured Malcom, “but be prepared for an attack. I agree with Chiron and I trust Annabeth.”

“Annabeth isn’t here!”

“And do you think that what they’re facing is any nicer?”

Clarisse bit her lip. “I trust Annabeth too. It’s the Romans that make me nervous. We’ve never dealt with them, how can we trust them?”

“We can trust them,” Nyssa cut in, speaking for the first time, “because Jason is Roman, and last I checked he didn’t try to kill us.”

“But they’re not all Jason,” she argued back, “what about that Octavian guy?”

“Reyna knows how to take care of him,” Rachel’s tone was final, “I agree that we are wasting time just sitting here so I purpose you go and take care of whatever needs taking care of.”

They watched her leave and knew she was heading to her own cabin to try and make some contact with the gods. So far all her attempts were hopeless but she seemed to be getting something. Rachel had acted quite normal since coming back from her little talk with the roman Praetors, and that was weird.

Rachel had started drawing again. Not painting -she was always doing that- but doodling the way she did before the last war. Everywhere she went she found herself writing something in Ancient Greek and even Latin. Last time she didn’t understand any of it, and it wasn’t as if her Greek was any good; but she understood enough to be scared now.

“C'mon already!” It was useless trying to make contact with the gods. Even Apollo had stayed completely silent and that was a miracle. 

She flopped down on a lounge chair by the pin ball machine and nervously passed her thumb through her blue comb. She’d been carrying it around for the last week, hoping it would bring some sort of good vibe. It didn’t seem to be doing much of anything but it reminded her of the time she’d spent in the Labyrinth with Percy and Annabeth. Rachel couldn’t believe she was looking back at those days as the easy ones. “At least both of you were here back then,” she murmured to herself.

She saw so much for them and the rest of the seven. Some people thought being the Oracle just meant getting your body hijacked by an old spirit now and again; and that wasn’t a complete lie but there was a lot more to it. It was like studying and memorizing everything for a test without even noticing. You just woke up knowing. 

In occasions it was more than helpful but there were some things that most people didn’t know for a reason. She didn’t want to see her friends die but every time she found herself carving their initials into her jeans, she seemed to be doing into their grave stone. To storm or fire the world must fall. None of their attempts would stop them from that and everyone seemed alarmed when she mentioned it, but that was the line if the prophecy that worried her the least. To her it felt like a new beginning.

An oath to keep with a final breath. She’d hoped that that line was completed but it didn’t feel that way. It felt near and she knew the oath had been made, many years ago but -somehow- very recently as well. “For once!” She told the ceiling, yelling at any god that could possibly be hearing. “For once I’d like ONE clear message!”

“You tell them.”

“Clarisse,” the daughter of Ares hadn’t even come in but Rachel knew, “I’m busy.”

“Yelling at the ceiling and what not?”

“Exactly.”

She ignored Rachel and sat down beside her. “It feels just like last time.” 

Clarisse seemed to be chewing her lip in a much too nervous manner. “I can’t sit around and so nothing….again.”

“Is that what this is about?” Clarisse didn’t answer but it was all clear to Rachel now. She felt a trickle of sympathy for her friend. She still hadn’t forgiven herself for the stunt Silena had to pull in order for the Ares cabin to fight in the last war. She wanted to tell her it wasn’t her fault, but she’d decided nit to fight. “You couldn’t control what and how she did it, Clarisse.”

“Don’t…”

“She was meant to save the people she saved the way she saved them. It was the only way she could’ve forgiven herself for her past actions.” She laid a hand in her shoulder which Clarisse surprisingly didn’t shrug off. “You need to find a way to forgive yourself now.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do! I won’t sit around like last time!”

“This is exactly what Gaea wants.” Somehow she found new assurance in her words. She’d always known that, in order for her plan to work, she needed both camps to turn against each other; but her gut seemed to be assuring her now. There was a crucial moment about to happen. “This is exactly what Gaea wants.”

“Okay but-”

“She going to send them again!” Eidolons. “We need to-”

“Too late silly mortal!” The voice of Gaea vibrated through her dark walls. “Did you actually think you would see me coming?”

Outside, the organized yelling of battle started to rise. Both girls flinched whenever they heard a sword or an arrow zip. 

“You’re all out of heroes. Who’s going to save you now?” 

Rachel felt a warm breeze hit her from behind. With painful realization she noticed that it was just like the breeze they’ve felt in the maze, when they talked to Pan. She remembered how he’d given each of them a message, except Nico. Or had he?

“This is a camp full of heroes!” She spat at the goddess. “Two camps, actually!” Clarisse gave her a look that she ignored. Rachel’s confidence grew, she could actually hear Gleeson Hedge yelling at Reyna and Nico to hurry up. “They’re close,” she told Clarisse, “tell the others.”

Before she could be stopped she ran outside and towards Thalia’s pine tree. Clarisse knew it was hopeless to stop her, gods know how she ran so fast. Gaea seemed to be gone by now, so she was left there to process the Oracle’s less-than-clear message. She watched Rachel pass the camp boundaries and tensed. “Hey!” She would never hear her. Before she was completely out of sight, she stopped. She seemed to be talking to someone and it wasn’t until she started hugging them that she knew. ***********

Leo wished Jason was with them instead that down there. It seemed rational that he would be assigned of 'watching out’ since he was one of the two that could fly, but he was aware that Jason was much better with people than probably any of them. They had to blend in and if Leo was down there a and he suddenly got hit with a questions he’d probably set himself on fire again. It was both good and bad that they got to sit around and wait. They’d barely had time to take a breath in a long while, but it all seemed to calm. He wouldn’t be surprised if the small tuft of grass that stuck out from the ruins they’d settled with turned into a carpoi and suddenly decided that he would look better as grain. The anticipation was destroying his nervous system. It was ridiculous thinking about relaxing now, all he could think about was the plan and his dream. A small part of him wished he’d been wrong about Gaea taking Calypso, he wouldn’t wish any of his loved ones to get hurt but with her there was zero possibilities of contact. He knew that Annabeth could do the impossible along with Piper, and they had promised, but it all seemed like a whole bunch of ifs. He needed certainty.

Frank dropped beside him, turning back into a less feathery form. “Everything seems to be going fine,” he announced, “as long as Percy doesn’t start dancing again, they’ll be fine.”

Leo gave him a nod and watched as he set off again. He pulled out his recently-made radio and updated Hazel. Nothing had gone wrong, yet.

“Don’t think too happy, Leo.” He whispered to himself. 

He pulled out his binoculars and tried to spot his friends. After searching for fifteen minutes he found them huddled around some sort of display in a glass box. They looked completely normal, like the sons and daughters of an important politician. There were lots of politicians there, it made Leo wonder how exactly were they going to cover up the possible destruction of one of the world’s most important monuments. The Mist only went so far. If I don’t die I’ll probably spend the rest of my life in prison. 

The ceremony started; he shared a nervous look with Frank above him. They all gathered deeper inside the building -giving Leo a poor visual- and some important looking man and women started making speeches that he couldn’t possibly hear. There was so stoning odd about it all, it seemed like they were mocking the guests. He adjusted his binoculars to try and get a good look at their faces but they kept moving. He called Frank. 

“What is it?” He asked once he came down.

“Don’t those people look weird to you?” He gave him a look that told him he was thinking the same thing. “I can’t see their faces, try to get closer.”

He nodded and took off. 

It didn’t take him long to come back down. “They’re definitely not human. This is it.”

Annabeth had warned them to look out for anything suspicious even before any commotion started. If a fight broke out, they needed enough time to evacuate the mortals. 

He tried to get a visual again as Frank told Hazel, after a lot of adjusting he got it. Leo went pale, he knew that woman she’d almost convinced him and Jason to kill each other. “It’s Medea,” he told Frank. “She must’ve gotten though the doors before she closed them.”

The son of Mars had heard enough about that woman. “We need to get those people out of there now.”

He didn’t have to tell him twice. They both scattered to their respective exits, Leo headed to the one up front while Frank went back and Hazel took the lower one. Once he got there he waited until he heard Frank’s arrow break the glass. Yep, they were definitely going to jail.

*********

Percy felt like everyone was staring at him. He wasn’t being vain, gods no, but it was like everyone around him knew he was a demigod. He felt like the first time he’d gone to Camp Jupiter, with all the lares whispering behind his back. Even though he had Frank and Hazel in that moment, they didn’t know each other too well and he was glad that this time he did. Somehow -even knowing that he was probably going to die soon- he felt safe. 

“If someone comes and tries to make conversation with you just go with it.” Annabeth told them. Her Greek put Piper’s and Percy’s to shame but they all had to be in a look out for Jason who might thrive in Latin but failed to convince anyone with his Greek. 

After a while of just standing around and looking at the displays, Jason and Piper drifted. She and Annabeth seemed to share a brief conversation with their eyes and for some reason Annabeth looked grateful. 

He took her hand and they walked to some painting Percy briefly looked at before laying eyes in the real work of art. “You look amazing,” he told Annabeth. His insides seemed to melt just like that time he’d seen her in Circe’s island with that white dress. 

“Thanks.” She wasn’t looking at the painting either, to amazed by the building itself. “I can’t believe we’re actually here. It’s like everything lead up to this moment in a way. I always imagined myself coming here with you.”

Percy didn’t know what to make of that. He’d pictured it too, after all, she’d been taking about coming here since they met. He’d had something different in mind though, the possible death wasn’t new, the war was a surprise. “Well,” he tried to forget about it all and just acknowledge that -like she said- they were finally here, “what do you think? Is it a huge disappointment?”

“I had a lifetime to visualize it, so, yeah, a little.”

“Things tend to loose their magic once you realize how real they are.”

“I guess so.” Sighed and turned to check on Piper and Jason. “I’ll just have to come up with a new building to fantasize about.”

He smiled at that thought but felt his already heavy heart weight a little more with sadness. Annabeth really did deserve to live. He looked at her and how full of life she was and he almost forgot the image the Death Mist had given her, it seemed impossible that someone so wonderful and powerful could ever stop existing. “I love you.” He didn’t whisper or mumble, he said it clearly enough for the group beside them to hear and the words made his fearful vision turn sharp. Her gray eyes looked back at him. “I love you too.”

He was leaning in to kiss her when a woman caught his eye. She was attractive and timeless in a way that she could’ve been twenty or forty but still manage to look like royalty. Jason had caught sight of her too and neither him or Piper seemed happy to see her. “They know her,” she heard Annabeth whisper behind him. “I think I know her.”

All four of them watched as she walked across the long marble room to an array of chair near a small stage that has been set up. Percy’s radar went off at the sight of the rest of them. Nine of them were human, he knew it. 

“That’s Medea!”

He remembered her from when Jason had explained their quest back at Camp Jupiter. “The sorceress?”

None of the dared go near them, the last thing they wanted was to make them angry with all these mortals around. Percy tried to scan their faces, to see if he could recognize anyone else and, of course, he did. That sorceress must’ve had an amazing control over the Mist as to hide such terrible creatures. “They’re all there.” All the enemies he’d fought as a kid had made a nightmare-like comeback. He half expected them to find his face in the crowd and kill him on the spot, but they were working for Gaea and she didn’t show that much mercy. 

“They should be here soon,” Annabeth told him, “let’s try to het closer.” She nodded towards Piper and the four of them walked closer to the stage. They were just about to get there when Medea stood up and walked over to the microphone that had been set up in the podium.

 “Good evening allies,” she didn’t seem to be addressing the guests, Percy realized that there must be even more monsters mixed into the crowd and stopped, “today all our hard work finally pays off. Both camps are finally at the verge of war,” the crowd behind her roared along with some within the crowd, everyone else just looked confused. Medea brushed them off with a smile, she was using charmspeak he could feel it. “All the heroes that bathed in the glory of taking away what was ours and sending us to Tartarus will pay! The blood of Olympus will be spilled and our mistress will rule generously!”

There was more cheering. Mead’s charmspeak made the mortal guests glassy eyed, as if they too had been wronged by Gaea. Percy felt their anger, the curses that they had inflicted upon him. He was the villain in their story. As the sorceress went on everyone around him, even the mortals, seemed to be filled with fury. A woman in an expensive looking red dress through her glass of champagne at the wall and the man beside her roared in agreement. “She needs to stop talking.” The mortals, all those people, they were going to make them fight. 

Piper and Jason walked over to them. “I can maybe slow her down but-”

“You stopped her last time,” assured Jason, “you can do it again.”

Piper shook her head and stole at nervous look at her old enemy, she stared right back. “She knows what she’s doing. Those feelings come from deep inside of her she barely has to concentrate to use them. I-”

“You’ve got feelings of your own you can use.” The daughter of Athena checked the exits. “The rest won’t be long, they’ve clearly seen what’s happening.”

Piper didn’t seem sure but didn’t hesitate to walk directly towards the stage, grabbing a mic of her own from the podium. Medea was taller than her, she wore a smile that said she knew it all and stood like she could never be knocked down, but Piper didn’t need a show. “You think we’ve been unfair?” She asked her, her voice bouncing off the walls. “We didn’t choose to fight you, we didn’t defeat you for fun. We defeated you because you would’ve killed us otherwise. We fight because we have NO choice, because our lived are worth fighting for. You’ve already had a life,” Medea’s smile seemed to waver, “it isn’t our fault that it ended the way it did. Grudges shouldn’t be passed down as heritage.”

He couldn’t feel Piper’s words like he’d felt Medea’s and he was about to worry when he realized that the sorceress had forced those thoughts into his head. Thoughts of anger and bitterness were there, but not as strongly as the ones his friend talked about. 

“Why are the not attacking?” Jason didn’t take his eyes off his girlfriend for one second. “Don’t think they suddenly decided that we should just talk things through.”

“She mentioned the camps,” added Annabeth, “they’re probably waiting for them to fight, break us enough to make us surrender.”

“Which means they haven’t already.” Percy’s spirits soared for a second, there was no stopping Coach, Reyna and Nico. 

“We don’t care about fairness for you demigods. We were never given justice in our past lives and you failed to convince us that the gods could ever give us that. Your world, your precious lives, are only precious to you. We rot, always running away, while you get called heroes.”

Percy had to hold back Jason to stop him from helping Piper out. It killed him to see her stuttering and helpless but he knew it was a battle only she could fight. When he thought of the last battle in Athens, and he did it often, he always imagined aching limbs and swords clanging against each other, but there were many types of battles. There were battles that you fought with your voice and your conviction, battles you fought with yourself and your own fears. All those fight could be fought bravely, you could gain glory from any of them. 

So he held Jason back and told Annabeth to let Piper handle it. And Piper did. “We are heroes, but not because we fight our parent’s war. We’re heroes because we do what’s needed for the people that need it.”

Medea’s beautiful face contorted into a hideous scowl, but just before she could say anything……

********

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Leo told the crowd of people. He’d hoped his Greek wasn’t as horrible as he thought it was but the guests didn’t seem to like it, responding by shrieking at him like angry hyenas.“We are experiencing a robbery,” he ignored the shrieks and tried his best 'I’m-trying-to-look-calm-but-I’m-not’ smile, “please head to the fire exists in an organized matter.”

He’d hoped that his incredibly realistic cop outfit and his overwhelming charisma would suffice to convince them to do as he said but they all stood their ground with confused angry looks one their faces. He needed them to start leaving so that the rest of the people got the image and left ASAP. He started to panic when he saw their eyes turn glassy; Medea must’ve been working her magic. He was about to light his pants on fire from panic when he saw Piper standing beside her on stage with that witch. He also remembered Hazel, waiting somewhere beneath him. They had magic of their own. 

Piper stood with a smirk on her face as Medea looked from her to Leo, outraged. When she finally said something, it was simply effect full: “We all want you dead.”

Her words were so strong that his fists immediately set ablaze. Sadly, it had the same effect in the mortals. He barley had time to shut off his flames before a heavy woman who was made heavier by her coat jumped on him and knocked him down.he hit his head painfully against the floor but had a few seconds to marvel how utterly humiliating dying like this would he and got right back up. The woman had run off in her death-seeking frenzy but as he looked around Leo found himself in total chaos. A young woman had dug her nails into Annabeth’s hair and they engaged in the weirdest game of tug of war he’d seen. Percy had a guy trying to choke him and Jason was trying get rid of a young boy biting his leg. He tried to ignore it all and get to Medea and the rest of the real enemies but they all vanished before Piper could get Katropis out. He ran up to her -having to jump over a hunched politician in his way there- and said: “Where did she go?”

“I don’t know but we’ve got to deal with this before trying to figure that out.”

“Can’t you just tell them to beat it?”

“It’s to loud,” she shouted over the vicious screams of Greek socialites, “I need them to pay at least some attention. Medea’s enchantment is still over them.”

Leo really didn’t get how this whole magic thing worked. He used magic himself, a few godly parts here and there, but this what out of his field of expertise. “We need to find Hazel.” He started scanning the crowd. He couldn’t catch a glimpse of neither Frank or Hazel. Then he spotted a blob if curly hair far in the back. Hazel turned to look at them just in time to get trampled by the probable heirs to the Greek enterprises. 

Leo didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t attack the mortals; it want their fault they were being completely annoying. He cursed Gaea and her terribly smart schemes. 

He took a deep breath and faced the mob of crazed mortals. “Let’s do this,” he told Piper.

********

A Legion of venti, dozens of drakons, blood-thirsty Cyclops, that’s was Hazel expected when she thought of the last battle in Athens. To say that she was surprised was like saying that Octavian was just slightly irritating. 

When she managed to get throughout the hidden tunnel she found. In the Parthenon she met chaos (lower case chaos). Everywhere she looked there were mortals acting like wild animals. She managed to spot Piper and Leo on top of a small stage by the podium; Leo noticed her too but a middle- aged man knocked the wind out of her before she could make her way towards her friends. He struggled to get away from him but he had the drive of a vengeful gorilla. He was yelling at her in Greek with a kind of hate that didn’t seem to belong to him. Hazel knew this was probably the works of Medea but the man still managed to scare her. 

She tried to stand but he caught her ankle. When she turned to look at him again his lips seemed to move in an unnatural way, speaking with the voice she’d heard the last day of her last life. “Who will you save, daughter of Pluto? You can’t even save yourself! They can’t be saved!” She kicked the man’s nose, probably breaking it, and ran towards the stage. 

“Hazel!” She heard Piper call her name and looked around the glass displays. Se had to duck a couple of purses, but she finally found her. “Can you make them calm down?” Piper asked, Leo close behind her. “I just need you to make them listen and I’ll get them out of here.”

Hazel could feel the magic that ram sacked the minds of the mortals around them. It was powerful in ways she could barely understand. But Piper spoke with such confidence (no charm speak, her own voice) that she didn’t think twice about giving it a try. “Okay,” she told them. “Cover me.”

She didn’t have to concentrate to much to figure put what they were seeing. They were seeing them, the Seven, dead and suffering. They were seeing Hazel slash through a Gryphon but hearing only the creature whimper. She saw Annabeth laughing as Arachne struggled through her bonds and Percy laugh as he finished off one of the Giants. She Jason light some pitiful looking demons on fire with a clap of thunder while Piper mocked them with charm speak and Leo urged the flames to consume them. Frank soared over all of it as a dragon and she swore she could see a smirk on his face as his claws dug into a reptilian like woman. 

All of this made who stomach churn with fear because, even though she knew the truth, she also saw her circumstances getting harder. Where they going to end up as killers?

“No,” she whispered. But try as she must she couldn’t make the gryphon look evil or the demon women any less pitiful, because she couldn’t see it herself. So she imagined something else: the stables at camp where they kept the unicorns and how she’d stopped them from getting hurt, Skippy the Pegasus flew freely, Ella laughed alongside Percy’s brother as they both sat in a book nest of her making. “We could be so much more,” she didn’t know who she was telling it to, but she believed it. 

All around her, the yelling stopped. She felt Piper’s hand squeeze her shoulder but could only close her eyes to keep the tears from coming. “Go home!” Piper didn’t need Greek to make them understand, her words washed over them like a gentle wave that urged them to walk way. 

Everyone started filing out of the building calmly and silently. Leo followed them from behind to make sure everyone was out and waited exactly two minutes after the last glassy-eyed mortal left. “Well that was easy.” Hazel looked around at her friends: Jason, Percy and Annabeth’s attire had been ruined by the raging mob of mortals, Leo had lost his cop hat and Piper was now barefoot. “Where’s Frank?” For a moment her stomach convulsed with worry, but then she saw a bright green gecko make it’s way towards her and slowly turn into her boyfriend. “Thought it’d be better to stay low, you seemed to have it under controlled.”

“Yeah,” Piper huffed. Jason grabbed her hand, trying to look as confident as one could with a missing sleeve. “What now?”

The hairs at the back of Hazel’s neck shot up. She turned around just in time to see a familiar brooding face, a face so handsomely cruel she would never forget it.

“I was just begging for you to ask that, dear Piper.”

No one moved as the god snaked it’s way into the building, crushing broken glass under his bare feet and not even flinching. Percy stood taller and was the first to draw out his weapon. Hazel wanted to call to him to wait but before she could do anything, the Celestial Bronze sword turned into a delicate comb. Percy’s green eyes urged Hercules to make the next move. He did. 

With a swift snap of his thumbs, two figures appeared in front of him. Two young women, even though the one to her left seemed much younger but she could barely tell since her face was covered in grime and a gag ran across what she supposed was usually a bright smile. The wind seemed to be knocked out of her when the other woman looked up, she looked just like Percy. The trace at the crinkle of her eyes that told her she was used to smiling, it was also Percy’s.

“You son of a-”

“Don’t,” Percy’s free hand held Leo back, “they’re not really here.”

“You don’t understand! I saw her!”

Hazel assumed that Leo was referring to the younger looking one, even though she wasn’t sure how she knew her. The island, it was the only explanation. That was probably why he didn’t want to give them any details. 

Percy was right, they seemed to be simply images -some sort of Iris message-type apparitions- Hercules was taunting them. 

“What do you want?” Hazel asked. 

“You know what we want,” his eyes looked at her through his death sunglasses, “it’s what we’ve so fondly asking for.”

“You’re even more stupid than they say if you believe we’d actually give up that easily!” Annabeth’s eyes shone with tears, she swiftly turned to look at the image of Sally Jackson and a storm brewed in her eyes. “You know we’d fight all along, why do this?”

The god didn’t answer, he simply turned back towards Leo and the boy holding him back. “Is that a no?”

He gave them five seconds and the the images disappeared “Fine.”

Hercules retreated and Percy tried to lunge but he was gone before he could catch him. “Coward!” He yelled. 

They didn’t have a time to look for him because almost immediately all the monsters that had vanished with Medea came back in a flash. They must’ve been waiting impatiently for their answer and eventually the opportunity to shred them to pieces. But Medea was in longer leading the small army, and the army was no longer small. 

“I expected a lot more after last time, Jackson.” The man addressing him was tall enough to be a dwarfed Giant but he had the aspect of a man. His muscular body was covered in blinding armor and his eyes were the color of an bleak sun. Helios. “I see you no longer have your goat friend to use his tree magic on me.” The crowd snickered but a growl cut them off. “Save the speeches brother.” The other Titan, who looked just like the first but less bright, rolled up his sleeves.

 “Let’s finish this.”

Jason had now let go of Piper hand and had drawn his sword. “What happened to your bare hand son of Jupiter?” The god taunted, but Jason kept his eyes fixed on him. 

A vampire lady with flames for hair fixed her eyes on Annabeth, and soon all of them had an enemy in sight backed up by a long list of old foes they thought they’d gotten rid off a long time ago. There was brief moment though, where only them seemed to exist; there were nods and faint grin here and there. A small goodbye. 

Then their war began. **********

Fighting for survival hadn’t really made sense to Percy in the past five years of his life. He knew that he could die any second but there was always that excitement weighing the fear down. Ignorance wasn’t only bliss, it was his anchor. Even during the Titan War there had been the new rush brought in by the curse if Achilles, he didn’t want it admit how unbeatable he felt. If there was anything he’d learned was that fighting lead to more fighting and that the cycle of evil could never be fully stopped. There was always going to be a war blocking his path; he was always going to feel the need to end it. He wasn’t unbeatable.

As Riptide cut through his attackers like she’d done so many times before, as he felt his arms ache and sweat trickle, he could no longer tell which side he was on. The good? The bad? Was there such a thing? Because as much as he wanted to hate them, he couldn’t. He had killed and there was no way to mask that, no amount of heroism could wash the blood off his hands. 

But he kept fighting. He fought for Annabeth who’s shoulder brushed past him now and again, for his mother who deserved so fiercely to live, for his camp, for both camps. He didn’t want to think about why Gaea was doing this or what she had planned next. The possibility of the two camps fighting was so huge that it made him sick with worry and guilt. Maybe the should’ve sailed home. 

“Percy!” A bloody scythe missed him by an inch but he didn’t have time to recognize the voice who’d pretty much saved his life; his own blade had pierced a drachnae who had probably been wielding the weapon. From the corner of his eye he saw Krios and Jason engaged in battle, the so of Jupiter was so focused on the Titan he couldn’t see the arrow that was being pointed at his head. Percy knew better than to warn him, too late. He ran towards him -dodging blades like a ninja- and threw Riptide unto the arrow’s path. He’d never had a good aim and there were no gods to pray to, so he just sucked in a breath and let to of the handle. 

Krios had been aware of the incoming arrow all along and growled when he saw it scrape across a sword. “Useless!” He screamed. Jason caught Percy’s eye for a millisecond and felt his already aching lungs collapse when he realized he’d left him without a weapon. Even if it returned to his pocket, he’d be left defenseless for much too long. 

“I’m fine!” He was lost in the blur of battle be fore he could argue. Krios’s sword almost cut the worry out of his head.

C'mon you stupid sword, Annabeth urged as she saw Percy’s fist hit a small telkhine square in the nose. He wasn’t going to make it any longer weapon less. She cursed him for being so careless but knew she’d just saved Jason. She cursed anyways. 

Piper’s back pressed against hers. “She’s stalling,” Piper reassured her, Annabeth had the same idea, “but what for?”

Annabeth had to yell to be heard over the chaos. “She wants the camps to see us fail. Break they’re spirits.”

“That means there’s sprits to break!” She ducked and Annabeth slashed a cyclops in the eye. The ring of it’s wailing echoed in her mind even as she ran to help Hazel. She knew that if the camps saw them beaten they would give up, and even though there were too far away, they were fighting in this war as well. They’d sent the angriest monsters to Athens but left small armies all over home to seize anything that wasn’t protected. They weren’t going to lose time. 

Each defeat made Annabeth’s arm heavier and her strikes lower, their fighting was useless. They were playing right into Gaea’s game. She needed to contact the camp. 

She risked a glance behind her and saw that Riptide had reappeared in Percy’s hand. A smile manage to form along her cut lips and tired face. She retreated back so she was shoulder to shoulder -just like old times- with Percy. “I need to send an Iris message to the camp.” She didn’t care if anyone overhear, she would never let Gaea stop her from doing this. “I need water!”

He nodded and kicked a gryphon in the snout. She was surprised Helios hadn’t attacked Percy directly, she didn’t ponder over it afraid she’d jinx her luck. “I’ll need to pull some from the coast,” he smiled at her cockily like he always had, the only change being the experience in his eyes, “cover me.”

She played defense as her boyfriend pulled put his arm in front of him and pulled on an invisible force. There were too many of them, she couldn’t keep them away by herself. She felt an arrow pierce her bicep and stopped only to pull it away. Percy turned. “No!” She scolded. “Don’t stop! We don’t have time!” Maybe this was the last thing she did, maybe her end would come by the waves and waves of old enemies, but she wasn’t going to let it be in vain. The Iris message would be sent and her fight would continue to be fought by her family back at Camp and by her allies in the other. 

Annabeth saw the first signs of the tide and felt relive through the pain and exhaustion. But it was quickly replaced as Helios finally took his turn in the killing of Percy Jackson. He struck with a blinding burst of light that left his clothes smoking and thrust in his wicked sword almost right away. She held back a sob as Percy barely managed to stop the blow with a quivering arm. She knew she wasn’t going to survive if she didn’t focus on her own wave of enemies, all around her her friends fought battles predestined to kill them. Fighting was what She wanted, but there was no other way. If they stopped, they would die. The Iris message, it was their only hope. She yelled in frustration because she knew there wasn’t enough. The prophecy had to be wrong, Seven couldn’t win them a war. 

There was a stillness so quick she almost missed it when she heard the arrows. The arrows she’d heard when she was seven and traveling with her young family of broken demigods, the arrows she’d heard the first time she’d met Nico and Bianca Di Angelo.

The Hunters. 

Her face was streaked with tears when they dispersed into the mass and silently and efficiently started taking the creatures out. “Annabeth I can’t-”

She didn’t let Thalia speak even though she wanted to hug her until both their arms fell off. “I need you to cover me long enough to send an Iris message.” She didn’t explain; she didn’t have time. She simply rushed towards the few water she’d seen earlier. There were three drachmas in the small leather bound in her thigh that once held a knife but she didn’t have a way to make a rainbow. She heard Helios curse and soon she was bathed with sunlight. The puddle at her feet rose up in a fountain of sea spray, hitting the light just right. She couldn’t see Percy, but he was there. 

She offered the coin to Iris’s assistant, hoping her line was still working, and gave the address of Camp Half-Blood. Immediately, the image of Thalia’s hill appeared before her. It was the first she’d seen of what had been her home and it would probably be the last.

“I told you!” Rachel’s grinning face took up the image, along with Octavian and behind them: the Athena Parthenos. “Annabeth, you’re alive!”

The rest if the campers looked ate her stunned. She wanted to tell them everything that had happened but, as always, there was no time. “Protect the camps,” she told them, “fight as one.”

Rachel’s face fell just a bit, she looked confused which was a clear sign that her future was still uncertain. “That’s all you have to say!” How she disliked Octavian. “We’re going to need more detail than that-”

“You’ve been brought the amends to the feud between the camps and now you have no reason to not fight together.” He was about to interrupt her but Annabeth wasn’t going to gel that happen. “Now, I’d like to talk to the actual leader of your camp so…”

“Reyna.”

“I should’ve stayed behind.” The fight probably didn’t look any better via Iris message. “What can we do here?”

“They’ll try to take down Olympus but will attack over there was well. They’ll seize anything and anyone that can prevent them from rising. 

You can be positive that they’ll never take down Olympus, but we won’t be over there to help you with the rest of them.” She felt like she was giving her last orders. This felt like goodbye so much it made the Praetor of Rome shed tears. “We’ll protect your homes together so that they’re ready for you when you come back.”

There was another flash of light, her time was up. “Annabeth,” it was Chiron addressing her, he looked so old, “the prophecy chose you for a reason that’s beyond anyone’s, even Gaea’s power, don’t forget that.” She nodded and looked at the campers, both Roman and Greek, stand together. Then her hand passed through the image and it was gone. They were alone in Athens.

*******

Thalia honestly thought they weren’t going to make it. She hated it, but she had to admit that Gaea’s strategy had been excellent; they would never hurt the mortals. Sadly, this had slowed them down too much. Piper and the Roman girl Jason had spoken of, Hazel, could barely be seen. Leo was once again locked in battle with Khione and her brother and Percy were fighting Helios and Krios. This wasn’t her definition of great. 

She played defense until she finally saw Annabeth dash into the hall they’d taken. She was so used to taking care of her after all that time on the run, but that had been ten years ago and she’d grown into one of the fiercest fighters she’d ever seen. Luke was so proud of you, kid. You beat both of our expectations. 

Thalia knew how prophecies ended and she would never forgive herself for backing away from hers. Whatever happened today, she was saving Annabeth and guaranteeing her a future with Percy, they seemed like the only ones fit enough to take care of Jason. Not like he needed much help either, he was standing incredibly against the Titan who seemed to double his strength with the hatred he had towards him for sending him to Tartarus. 

Her mind reeled between sneaking glances at Annabeth. Dodge. Check on Jason. Stab. Where’s Percy. Kick. There he is. Nice lunge, Piper. Fighting was easy, she’d never really fit in anywhere but the battlefield. Which is why she feared what Gaea really had in store for them. All the enemies she’d rallied here couldn’t possibly know either, they were getting what they wanted. Gaea must want them off her back, but why?

She lost her pace when she heard Phoebe cry out in pain and felt the wind get knocked out of her. I need to get to her. She couldn’t breathe, she needed air. She felt around with her mind and sucked in a light breeze. Her lungs where hit with a burst of relief but she didn’t have time to congratulate herself, she had to find Phoebe. 

Her heart felt sick with worry when another cry reached her ears. It was Jason. He seemed to have been handling the Titan before but now he was pinned to the ground, the tip of his sword deadly close to his chest. He struggled to get up but he seemed to be stronger than him, too strong. Thalia inspected his face and felt anger bubble when he saw the Eidolons in the Titan’s eyes. That fight was never fair. 

She wasn’t the only one aware of Jason, Piper kept looking back towards him, missing the talons of what appeared to be a woman in a leather jacket. Thalia almost fainted when she turned around and saw her mother staring straight at her. She thought back to two years ago, to the Underworld. She wasn’t loyal to Hades before, of course she’d side with her. But as she examined her closer she saw something different in her. Her mother didn’t appear to be a ghost, there was only that anger claiming she had ruined her life in her strangely inhumane eyes. Like she wanted revenge for what Thalia’d done. 

Nemesis.

Piper needed all her concentration to face a minor goddess like her. She seemed indecisive, going back and ford between fending off Nemesis with her dagger and turning towards Jason. Thalia had wielded a shock of lightning unto Krios’s back, but neither him or the Eidolons were faced. 

“Percy!” Piper’s voice held shaky command, but she didn’t need magic to get his attention. “Call in a tide!” The daughter of Aphrodite then looked at Thalia and asked for a favor. Save Jason. Her eyes seemed to be only one color, dark. I can’t, you have to do your best. 

Her hands trembled and Percy risked a moment of concentration and filled the Parthenon with a gentle tide. Thalia felt the water tickle the soles of her feet. She ordered her hunters to cover her and with a deep sigh released a surge of lightning across the water. It was like gripping a slippery rubber band getting to all the monsters around her but making sure none of the Seven or the Hunters got hit. She searched for the Eidolons, her electricity smelling for their scent like a hound. And once she found them, the waves electrified. 

  There was a shrill scream and a flash of Jason’s golden sword, then everything turned to darkness for Thalia Grace as she felt herself fade.

********* He’d felt the sparks lick the surface of his skin and for a full second, his heart stopped beating. He held on tight to the small tide he’d brought in, he could feel them all. But those sparks never did any damage and he could barely believe his eyes once he worked up the courage to open them. 

Somehow Thalia had done it. Now, only the seven stood. All the hunters where crouched besides their lieutenant who laid motionless on the ground. He could see Jason start towards her from the corner of his eye but he only saw one thing: Krios and his strangely golden eyes. “Jason.” With no army to fight, the room had gone eerily quiet. “Jason, don’t touch her.”

His friend started to say something, puzzled by Percy’s command, but he could only see past him. Behind him lurked a figure, he’d waited patiently. They we’re only toying around, getting rid of all the promises Gaea had to make in order to build herself and army. When would he stop being the pawn? How?

“You know,” started Hercules, his every step resonating with condescendence, “I admit, you were impressive. I’ll hand that to you. I’m impressed.”

Percy didn’t have to look to know that Annabeth’s grip in her sword had tightened. “We’re just delighted. It’s one of our life goals, really.”

“It’s a good thing you got to fulfill some before dying, isn’t it?” Annabeth charged. “Oh none of that princess,” they all watched as Thalia rose along with his open palm. She stood up like a rag doll being pulled up by some strings. “you wouldn’t want your friend here doing something stupid because of you.” 

“What are you doing to her?” Jason’s voice was almost a growl.

“To storm or fire the world must fall,” he chuckled making his handsome features look unattractive, “you’ve really got to start paying attention to prophecies, little brother. Our sis here is going to help us.”

“Do what?”

“It takes something sacred like, say, the blood of a couple of demigods to wake Gaea. But to wake Olympus…you need something pretty powerful.” His palm went up once again but this time Thalia didn’t move. It was Leo who convulsed besides Percy and when he finally composed himself, his eyes were a fierce gold. “Or someone.”

Percy couldn’t move, nobody did. It felt like they all shared the same breath. The only thing he could hear was Rachel’s voice reciting that prophecy for the first time. He could only see his trashed apartment. He could only imagine what Paul will feel like. 

“Leo, this is not you,” Piper’s voice shook with desperation but still held charm, “they’re making you do this..whatever it is-”

“Don’t waste your breath, beautiful. This Eidolons aren’t bound to their minds, they’re bound to their souls, only death will get rid of them.” 

Percy could feel his stare through those sunglasses saying: 'silly mortals’. Somehow he didn’t feel scared. Maybe he’d surpassed his terror limit, maybe he knew it was all over but he started to think. Not the way Annabeth did, with all those kinks in her head turning. He thought the way he did when he made split-second decisions. Black and white, yes or no, those weren’t answers he’d ever relied on. Victory or defeat, what did all of that even mean?

“So what are you planning to do, Heracles?” Stalling, it never failed him. He didn’t know why he used the Greek name, it just tumbled out. “You going to destroy the world along Gaea, then what?”

“Don’t waste your time on mind tricks Jackson, you don’t have that much to lose anyways.”

“No, I don’t. Unlike you who has all the time in the world,” he really did hate him, “right?”

He scowled at Percy and deviated his palm to the side, just as he did Thalia’s body convulsed backwards. There were shouts of protest from the hunters and Annabeth. Jason stood frigid and afraid. Heracles bent his fingers one by one making her twist in weird angles, piercing arrows from the hunters followed. “Oh please.” He scoffed, letting them fly and being completely undamaged by them. Percy’s focus went directly towards the ground. Of course, he was on Gaea’s side. He had a minor flashback to The Labyrinth when he fought one of his least favorite brothers. Sadly, he didn’t see any chains close by. He had to throw him off enough to cause a distraction, he didn’t know what he was distracting him from exactly or what he was going to do next but his mind was in battle mode; somewhere inside his jumbled up thoughts he’d already formed a plan. At least that’s what he hoped. 

“There’s a balance to follow, cousin. Don’t mess with it. There’s seven of us for a reason.” He could only pray Annabeth got the message. “What are you going to do with two or three?” It was all confusing to Heracles who still thought he was trying to play 'mind games’ on him. But Percy was directing his words to someone else and she seemed to be catching on. 

The god stared at him confused. Percy tapped his sword once against the sunken down floor, twice, three times. 

Then Annabeth lunged.

Percy took his chance and ordered the hunters to leave. Some of his stalling nonsense was true, they had been chosen for a reason and -even thought he didn’t dare question the strength if the hunters- he knew that only they could end this. But getting them away from Thalia was no easy task. 

“If you think we’re leaving her behind you’re insane, Percy!” Phoebe was bleeding pretty badly, he usual healthy glow was gone. 

“You can’t help her,” he pleaded, “fighting won’t help.”

“Then we’ll find another way!”

The ground beneath them shook, the giants were here. Percy hated what he was about to do;he hated sending to a battle they knew they couldn’t win, but the hunters weren’t going to sit around and do nothing it went against their very nature. It went against their oath. 

The message was clear. They both had jobs to do, Percy needed to go with the rest of the Seven. “Wait!” Phoebe didn’t stand a chance like that. 

Percy prayed to Artemis. He’d never done it, never prayed to just her without her brother. He didn’t even send a message, he just reached out for her the way he did to a tide. He found himself wrapping a small line of water around Phoebe’s leg and made it crawl until it lingered on her wound. 

For a second the hunter looked more like a small girl with brown hair and eyes that told him she was no girl, then he ordered the line of water to heal her. And it did. 

Thank you, you brave man. 

Artemis’s maidens sprinted away like gazelles armed with bow and arrow. Percy didn’t miss a beat. He knew that Annabeth more than anyone could take on a god but this certain god had been a demigod for a long time, and he soon came to find he fought like one too. He could only stare as they locked weapons, sword and bat clashing. The ground beneath him clawed at him like rising souls, it was the Titan War all over again. He was rendered useless as Annabeth fought. But this wasn’t Luke, she would never get through to him. 

“Percy!” It was Frank calling his name, he stopped straining against Gaea’s power unlike the rest and looked pale but strangely calm. “We need to get Leo and Thalia back.”

“But he said the Eidolons were bound to their spirits. How-” Frank pulled a small stump of wood from his pocket. “No-”

“I’m not asking, Percy. Either way I’ll do it, so help me.”

He looked at Hazel who inspected them closely between nervous glances and attempts to free herself from the ground. Annabeth’s arm shook violently and she pulled away, she fought like she still had a knife instead of a sword. He turned back to Frank, his friend who seemed to have aged a life-time in the last couple of weeks. “Okay.”

His fist closed around the small piece of wood. “We need to figure out how to move towards them.” Thalia and Leo stood perfectly still as Heracles fought Annabeth, both pairs of eyes golden and glassy. They were only a few feet away. 

“I’ve got an idea.” Percy wasn’t really sure about this. Last time he tried it hadn’t gone well. “It won’t last long, I’ll need Hazel to finish the job.”

“What do you mean?”

“You’ll see.” He felt the familiar tug in his gut. “Once it starts dive towards them.” Frank nodded and called Hazel’s name. He explained as best as he could through nods and a few hand signals. Percy motioned for Jason and Piper to get back once it started. He couldn’t do anything to tell Annabeth, he just hoped he had enough control of it to not hurt her. 

Here goes nothing. It started with a small quiver, he barely felt it beneath his feet. He didn’t want to explode like last time, he couldn’t control it with desperation. He would release it gently. Soon the quiver turned into a rumble and that rumble traveled like a small crack. He pressed harder and harder until his gut ached, but it didn’t feel like he was wearing himself out, it felt like exercise. Like a muscle he just hadn’t used in a while. Everything was shaking beneath him. “Now!” Hazel had gotten here through tunnels and he knew she could just as easily bring them down, they just needed a little push. When the floor collapsed Frank turned into a stag. The moment his hooves hit the ground besides Leo and Thalia he turned back into his human self and took out the piece of wood, it immediately caught fire. 

“Frank no!” Hazel’s cry brought the collapse to a stand still. Jason and Piper where pressed against a far column, the only one that seemed to stand. Frank stood in a small patch of rubble that seemed to hold. That only left Percy and Hazel on the side of the old building that hadn’t suffered much damage. “Percy how could you let him do this?!”

He didn’t know.

“He’ll die!”

He’s mind tripped with words when he found muscled looking up and noticing that between all the rubble Hazel had helped him create a huge crevice. And just waiting to fall was Annabeth. Heracles’s bat rested beneath his girlfriends chin and there was nothing he could do. He searched his mind for possibilities but he was out of maybes and what ifs. He was too far away; she was going to fall. His heart stung a sting so bad he thought he was dying. She slipped and he watched as the edge chipped the sole of her feet and how she dropped into the abyss, her once-beautiful dress waved at him. It all happened so fast he seemed to be the only one to notice. 

“FRANK!!” There was no fire, but all the gold has vanished from his friend’s eyes. Friend. 

“Where’s Tha-”

A powerful blast of wind threw him of his feet. For a second he seemed to black out because suddenly Annabeth was sprawled against the rubble and Jason’s lighting left a permanent zing in the air. 

He didn’t need to know what happened, he just needed to know who’d risked it all to make it happen. He lost sight of everything around him and focused the sudden wave of pain on a single pair of dark sunglasses. His range travelled from the pit of his stomach to the every edge of his lips as he let out a roar. Forget a quiver, he’d unleash a full on quake. 

The crevice collapsed along with Heracles and he watched as he too disappeared. But he knew he wasn’t gone, he felt him just as quick as he’d gone. “Is that all you’ve got, cus?”

He laughed. He remembered being scared of how he sometimes laughed while fighting, but now he made it even louder, because he wanted to scare. He wanted to terrify, he wanted him to suffer. 

The god struck but Percy forced the ground beneath to throw him off balance making him miss and giving him a wide arc to strike. So he did. Over and over again, until that stupid smirk no longer rested upon his face and his shades fell off to reveal fear. His bat finally clattered to the floor and he hit him Greek-style, with the butt of his sword. But if there was something the Romans taught him, was to finish it off. 

“You can’t kill a god.” He seemed to be assuring himself more than Percy. “After all you’ve done, you think you deserve death.” He thrust his sword in his face so that he was barely scratching his chin with the blade. “I’m not going to kill you Heracles, but there won’t be a day you won’t remember me and all those you made suffer.”

He promised himself he would never tap into such a dark part of himself ever again. Not after seeing how scared Annabeth was, scared of him. It was hard to remember that promise when all he saw was her falling with no possible chance of him getting to her, when all he saw was Thalia and Zoë and his mother. So he grasped that rage and he felt it flow from his veins to the gods. It wasn’t like controlling poison, Ichor was much heavier and so ancient it might’ve forgotten it -like most everything else- contained water, but Percy found it. Beads of sweat tumbled down from his hair as he grasped what little was left of that water and sucked out. He wasn’t going to give him the simple pleasure of containing some humanity. He would live forever, suffering. 

“Percy!” 

“Percy they’re here!”

He turned has attention from the slumped god beneath him to the entrance. The hunters had held them off as long as they could, but it wasn’t long enough. One by one the giants entered. 

Piper cried to the sky. “Help us!” Her words rang with such power than Percy immediately sprinted towards her. Jason kneeled besides her, staring at the darkness that had swallowed his sister. Percy couldn’t wrap his head around the idea of Thalia being gone. Not her, she’d been the strongest one, the immortal one. She was suppose to out-live him. 

“We can’t call to them for help.”

“What?” Jason looked up confused. “That’s the only way to defeat a giant, Percy.”

“To storm or fire the world must fall. Someone already gave into fire,” he couldn’t possibly look towards Frank, “we just need a storm.”

Right on cue a blue-skinned giant burst in. A few hunters followed his wake along with the rest of their siblings but the giants simply swatted them off. Their eyes reeked of hunger and vengeance fueled by theirs mother’s wish that could be felt in the shift of the earth beneath. That had nothing to do with Percy. He knew that the answer wasn’t a fight to the death. Death wasn’t an option when it came to immortals, but they still had to fight and no gods were around to help them. 

“Go ahead,” it was Piper reassuring them, “we’ll fight and give you enough time.”

“Piper-”

“No,” she took Jason’s hand, “it’s what we’re meant to do.”

Fate. They’d been trying to fight it. Percy was so sick of being a pawn, of being told that everything he did was already planned but he’d confused it all. He had a choice and no one but himself had chosen a long time ago. It’s what they were meant to do. 

He heard Annabeth slowly get up, Leo checking if she was okay. He could still see her falling, still hear her slam against the wall. But she was fine. It didn’t make sense, she didn’t even seem to have broken bone. Then he saw it, as small veil of silver light that seemed to encase her. For a terrifying second he thought that she’d finally become a huntress, but the usual healthy glow that surrounded them was different from this. He’d seen it before, a blessing. The blessing of Athena. 

The gods were there after all. One by one he saw his friends be shielded with the light of their godly parent. Orange, gold, pink, blue and his father’s sea green. He stared intently at Frank waiting for Mars’s red, but it never came. There’s still time, he told himself. He couldn’t pass him for dead; he’d seen what he could do. He couldn’t be. 

  He felt like he had Achilles’s curse again. Physically the only thing that had changed was the new aura that surrounded him, but he felt that invincibility once again. Like his skin was armor. He turned towards Jason who had gotten up. He’d never seen anything but kindness and leadership in him but now he saw fierce vengeance in the curl of the scar on his upper lip. It scared him but he felt it too and he was done with control. 

Alcyoneus, the giant he thought they’d finished off in Alaska, strode in after Polybotes glaring at all of them with humor. “You’ll pay for this.” It was Hazel. She’d finally left Frank’s side and was directing her blade towards her old enemy. Percy was more than happy letting her finish the giant off, he knew that she could do it. Annabeth set her course for the shortest of the giants who was flanked by the twins they recently met in Rome, Leo was right after her hand ablaze. 

As for him and Jason, they strode towards their father’s enemies: Porphyrion and Polybotes. 

“At last,” said Porphyrion, “I see your father has finally considered me worthy of a fight.” 

Percy leaned in his sword. “Don’t kid yourself,” he sounded smug even to his own ears, “the ancient rules deny a god to fight.”

“Especially pathetic scum as yourself.” Polybotes’s nose flared giving them an ugly vision of the bats in his cave. “But that’s why we’re here.”

Porphyrion had had enough and didn’t even let Jason finish before he stroke. Percy was the one who caught it though, throwing his weight on the giant fist that threatened to kill Jason. The veil of strength that his father gave him made it easy to throw him off. The white-eyed giant staggered in disbelief and lack of balance. Jason sneered as Polybotes threw his giant trident and he easily deflected it with a strong gust of wind. All around them their friends were having the same reaction. They were stronger than they ever were. Hazel reached for all the metal in Alcyoneus’s hair and thrust down making his head bang against the marble of the building. Annabeth circled the three giants, taunting them while Leo set on fire any of them that came near him.

For once they fought a fair fight. But ironically enough they were not meant to fight them, that wasn’t their main fight at least. That one grew relentless beneath their feet, outraged at the weakness of her sons. She was meant to wake, she needed to.

What they were doing now was doing just that. The Earth goddess was waking. The Seven continued toying with the giants. It might’ve seemed so ridiculous to them a couple weeks ago that they’d be the ones messing with the giants. Maybe because they were so scared back then, now they had nothing to lose no everything to fight for. 

Percy realized that there’s nothing he’d ever been actually good at in his life but fighting. He thrived with a sword at his fingertips and if he was going to die today he would die with the last surge of satisfaction that beating the creatures that had brought him so much heartbreak. 

At one point he found himself back at the crevice where Heracles still laid defeated. He almost jumped when the god’ scold hand wrapped around his ankle. “The girl,” he croaked, “her and your mother.” His heart twisted in his chest at the sound of his mother. He knew where she was, he was trying to tell him. 

Ahead of him Jason stood his ground against the giants and the earth gave out small tremors in response. Percy bent down and picked Heracles up by the cuffs of his ridiculous toga. “Where are they?” He growled into his face. He’d lost his shades and now his blue eyes where at full view, nothing to hide. They seemed defeated and to Percy’s shock, human. Heracles had always hated being immortal because it meant he had to live forever with the implications of his actions (even if most were Hera’s fault) so he guessed that he’d chosen the one form that brought him peace. His human form. 

A tickle of sympathy fluttered inside Percy, but it was so small he shrugged it off instantly. He’d killed so many without flinching. He was not human and even when he was he’d been the most despicable of them all. “Where are they!?” “The island,” he choked, “I never forced the girl out of the island I just locked her and your mother inside one of it’s caves.”

“Are they still there? Can we save them?”

“I don’t know.” Percy tightened his grasp on him making him flinch. “She might’ve made the cave collapse. It doesn’t help that you’re pissing her off even more now.”

The god fell to the floor as Percy’s hands went numb. Had he already killed his mother -Calypso- by executing his plan? Was it too late? Even if it wasn’t, how would he get to the island? 

Leo.

Without thinking Percy ran towards his friend. He found him easily; he was helping Annabeth by setting the giant’s hair in fire. “Oh I’m sorry,” he sarcastically apologized, “did I ruin your perm?” Percy stepped in and slashed a reasonably big slash across the giant’s thigh, giving Leo time to back off for a minute. Annabeth barely noticed still busy with Enceladus and the other twin to give him a warm welcome. 

“Leo,” he grabbed his shoulder taking his mind off the fight for at least a second, “I need you to do something.”

“Sure, man!” He didn’t get how serious Percy was being at first. It seemed that the sudden advantage had given them a rush of happiness and confidence. It was strange that such things could exist inside the somber outline that was most likely their final battle. 

Then Leo saw how dark his friend’s eyes were. Was that a tear? “What happened?” He scanned the room looking for his friends. Where they okay? Frank still lay in the floor making a dagger of worry pierce his stomach, but so,e of the color seemed to had returned to his face. The rest were fine, putting up the best battle Leo had ever lived to see. “What is it, Percy.”

“You can save them.”

“Who? What are you talking about?”

“My mom,” he looks down, “Calypso.”

A wall of emotions exploded in his chest. He’d resigned to keeping his promise. They were going to die; he wasn’t going to be able to save her. “How?”

“You need to go back to her island.”

“But no one can-”

“You can.” A sad smile passed his face. “You promised you would.”

Leo understood, he could save her. “What about you guys?”

Percy shrugged. “An oath to keep with a finally breath. Right?”

“No.” No, it was supposed to be him. His final breath. This meant he was going to get it live and leave them to die. “I can’t-”

“You can’t let them die either. Look,” his hand came down on his shoulder once again and his eyes darted towards the giant. Hazel had retreated and was helping Annabeth, it only took one look for her boyfriend for her to know he needed to do this. “My mom is there too and I owe Calypso my life anyways.” “Percy.” He wanted to say no and keep fighting but he was right. He couldn’t let them die. It was an impossible decision. One he didn’t want to have to take, but it was too late. Somehow Percy had moved the tide again because the floor was quickly covered by a few inched of water. To his right he saw how the spot where the beach met the ocean had disappeared and how in it’s place, waiting for him, was the raft. 

“Tell my mom that I’m sorry….for everything and that I lover her.” Leo started to argue but Percy didn’t let him. “And tell Calypso that I’m sorry too and that,” a smile -a genuine Percy Jackson smile- passed along his face, “she couldn’t have asked for a better person to get her out of that island.”

Leo looked around with the tightest iron fist clutching to his heart. For a moment all of his friends stopped to look at him, even Frank managed to flutter his heavy eyelids open, it wasn’t close to the goodbye he wanted. He didn’t want a goodbye at all, but there was an order of things and responsibilities and, even thought he might never forgive himself, it was the right thing. 

It was ironic how things turned out. When Leo first met Percy he’d expected this tall, tough hero. He’d scared his socks off most of the time even though he didn’t have all of the tall and tough he thought he would. That first night in Rome and just a few minutes (had it been hours) ago with Hercules, terrifying. But now he just saw his friend and the hero he’d proven to be and he didn’t feel fear, only respect and love. All of them had earned it. 

“This is the hardest thing I’ll ever do.” 

Percy clapped him in the back and said: “You’ve got time to do harder, Valdez.”

Leo wanted to say that he stood with his head held high as he let the raft take him to Ogygia and away from his friend, but he didn’t do that. Instead he hunched and cried because he was going to live and they most likely weren’t. He cried until he felt the raft hit the smooth sand of the familiar beach and then he stopped, he’d run out of tears. 

He soon realized that Percy hadn’t told him exactly were they were and he assumed they weren’t calmly having a cup of tea in Calypso’s dining room. He was right. They were no where to be found and as he looked further into the island a small wave of panic toppled him. What if they weren’t here? That’s when he heard the familiar chatter of two of his favorite Boreads. He’d started to wonder where they were when he was fighting Khione. 

“Never,” that was definitely Zethes, “have I even more disrespected! Do you not understand what we are, Cal?” Leo knew he didn’t. “We’re immortal babysitters!! And to who? A mortal, a mortal!” 

“But the goddess-”

As he crept closer Leo saw Zethes flailing his arms dramatically. Neither if them were paying much attention, their swords had never looked more useless. He started to wonder why Calypso hadn’t made any moves, she could’ve easily beat. Especially with Zethes’s appreciation for a pretty face. 

Had they done something to her? His stomach twisted in angry knots. He was about to charge -he’d fought their sister, after all- when he saw a frying pan stick out from the cave entrance they were guarding. Sadly, so did Cal. 

  The toothless Boread yanked the pan right out of the air just second from it hitting Zethes right on top of his 1970’s hairdo. With it came a women who fell to her knees but not before Calypso finally appeared with a pan of her own. Zethes had finally recovered from the shock and was about to do the same thing his brother had done. That’s when Leo charged. “Get away from her!” He took out his hammer and nailed him square in the back, but that in,y made him furious. “You!” With his thick French accent it didn’t sound as intimidating as he hoped it would. “How dare you be alive?!” Zethes finally reached for his sword but not before Leo engulfed his hammer in flames placing some fear in his icy stare. Behind him Calypso and call seemed to wrestling over the pan. Leo was pleased to hear an un-Cal-like shriek and then a deep thump. That distracted his brother enough for Leo to have another swing at him and then both brothers where down. 

He could feel his shallow breath racking his chest but, more than that, he was aware of Calypso. She was so close. 

“Leo-”

“We need to get out of here.” His could he possibly bring himself to say anything to her? What would she think of him after leaving his friends behind? And Percy…. “There’s more where they came from.”

“Umm, excuse me but,” it was Percy’s mother, “who are you?”

Leo couldn’t bear to look at her. Thankfully Calypso stepped in for him. “He’s Leo Valdez. We can trust him. Mrs. Blofis.”

Without looking back at the two women behind him he started for the raft, praying it was still there. No on spoke as they raced towards the beach. In an attempt to free his mind of recent events, Leo turned him attention to the way they’d handled the Boreads. In a different occasion he might have had a hard time containing his laughter. Who knew a frying pan would be their demise? “It’s still here?” He hadn’t noticed they’d arrived at the beach. “How?” “We don’t have much time to question it, just get in. Quickly.”

She turned with a sharp look on her face at the sound of him giving him orders. Despite it all, the sight if her still made his heart run out of breath. We was grimly aware of Percy’s mother -Mrs. Blofis?- giving them a look while trying to hide a smile. She implied it in the matter that only another could and his heart seemed to ache even harder. 

Leo followed Calypso into the raft closely followed until the three of them were somehow comfortably seated in the small raft. He heard Calypso gasp as it started to drift away. “How?”

“Well I promised, didn’t I?” He still remembered the cold dread that had swept over him as he made that promise. He’d feared for his life, he remembered the prophecy. 

She reached for his hand making him turn immediately even though he didn’t want to. “What happened? I saw only bits and pieces…” 

What was he going to tell her? 

“My son,” Leo turned to face a familiar look of sympathy, “do you know anything about him?” His expression told her too much. “Is he?” He had to be. “Alive?” “Yes.” She sucked in a breath. “But he told me to tell you be was sorry and that he loved you.” Once again they held their gaze and understanding dawn on her much too hard. “I-” a hand came to rest gently in his shoulder. He could only remember Piper doing that, and very faintly his own mother. 

“Percy had a way of surprising us,” she told him, “don’t give up on him just yet.” He knew she was right but last time they spoke seemed so much like a good-bye that he somehow knew he was put of surprises. “He told me to tell you the same thing too.” It was obvious he was addressing Calypso. Nervously he cleared his throat. “I mean the part where he says he’s sorry.” He wasn’t going to tell her about that last bit hid managed to tell him. 

Calypso looked at her hands. He’d always liked how they seemed so strong; they seemed to reflect what her delicate beauty sometimes couldn’t. “Oh, Percy.” Was all she said.

Annabeth had little time to ponder on the conversation that Percy had had with Leo, she had even less time to register the raft that took him away, but she didn’t need to think about it. Somehow she knew. She’d never been a sucker for happy endings, but this was the closest she’d been to being in the presence of one and it brought a giddy joy to her heart. 

Percy’s back stood against her like it had so many times since they were twelve. She could t help but notice how his spine now reached higher than hers and how it stood perfectly straight. 

Enceladus lunged at her and she ducked, Percy bending back helping her dodge the blade. They fell into a pattern much to familiar. He ran back and ford between Jason and Annabeth. She was barely paying attention to the giants. The tremors beneath grew fiercer with each blow. The plan was working. There was a loud cry that sounded anything but human and she turned just in time to see Porphyrion land painfully hard on his back. It had been Jason that had thrown him off with a powerful blast of air. Percy was close to follow sliding through the ground just in time to slide Riptide inside the giant’s neck. He went limp when a sudden blast of lightning cut through the room and landed in the middle of his chest, finishing him off. 

There was a silence that followed and Annabeth soon realized the rest of the giants had become perfectly still. Not missing a beat, she through her bone sword aiming at Enceladus’s own chest. He too crumpled to the ground. The twin giants had been seized by Piper and her dagger. Her words were the sharpest of all. Annabeth was quick to recover her sword and help her finish them off. 

Behind them Jason, Hazel and Percy were taking care of Polybotes and Alcyoneus. The floor had become so stable that Piper and Annabeth couldn’t get to them without falling. Jason was keeping Alcyoneus busy while Percy and Hazel finished off Poseidon’s opposite, but Alcyoneus wasn’t as cooperative as they’d hoped. Jason still glowed with his father’s blessing but he’d been fighting non stop and had gotten rid of the biggest of all the giants, he was tired. He took advantage of this and managed to side step Jason paying him a blow that knocked him off his feet. 

“Jason!” 

Annabeth only saw the giant’s plan. She couldn’t reach her. “Hazel!” She looked around helplessly for anything that could help her friend. She couldn’t hear her and they couldn’t reach her. Alcyoneus reeked of vengeance and all they could so was watch. She turned away enough to see Frank’s body beside the ruble. It happened so fast it took her breath away. Frank slowly turned his head towards his girlfriend who was too busy with Polybotes to notice. Fire shone inside him and seemed to strengthen him enough to get to his feet. He called out for her but it wasn’t her name that flew from his lips, it was the loudest roar Annabeth had ever heard. A dragon’s roar. 

It started from his head until it traveled the long way to it’s toes. Millions of scales, copper ones that might as well been armor, turned under his skin covering him until it was almost blinding to look at him. His arm spread out until they grew into the most deadly pair of wings. Where his mouth had been now stood a smoking snout and the shape fangs seemed to follow. The talons in his hand matching. A dragon, Annabeth and never seen one. He took off towards Alcyoneus. The giant noticed him too late. A column of fire had consumed him before he could sputter his last words. 

No giant remained standing. 

Annabeth didn’t know if it had been the defeat of her sons or Frank’s roar but it seemed like the Earth Mother had finally awoken. The ground no longer shook. Without thinking all Seven, no six, of them gathered. Their shoulders touched each other as they stared ahead at the on true enemy. She rose slowly, the dust and rubble seemed to be sucked into the on space in the middle of the room until they formed the sluggish form of a woman. She wore the same dreamy smile but her eyes no longer remained closed. When she blinked them opened, Annabeth gasped. They were the fresh color of damp soil, flecks of green stood our vividly making it obvious that she was not human. 

She felt Percy’s hand take hers. She expected urgency but his touch was soft and comforting. Gaea seemed to stunned by her consciousness. She’d slumbered for so long that she didn’t pay attention to them right away, her anger forgotten for just a moment. 

Percy seized the moment. 

“Hey, Wise Girl.” He didn’t mean it to sound as if he needed her attention. He knew he had it. He simply said it as if he were greeting her at the sing-along after normal day at Camp. Hey, Wise Girl. 

She interlocked their fingers and smiled up at him unable to stop a tear from falling down. “Hey, Seaweed Brain.” 

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

Somehow his eyes were perfectly dry which he was glad for. For that moment she could tell herself they were alone after sneaking around and managing to sneak into his cabin while everyone trained. He was just Percy. She was just Annabeth.

And they were saying good-bye. 

“The greatest of your kind.” The moment was gone, they held Her attention. “I am honored.”

No one said anything. She craned her neck slightly and saw Frank -now back to his human form- and Hazel, to the left were Piper and Jason. She almost strained further for Leo, but he was not here. He was safe. 

Gaea did what Annabeth though counted as her version of pacing. Her gown seemed to swallow her feet as the clumps of dirt that created it shifted all around her, swallowing her arms also but not her hands. With palms out reached she moved closer to them, her eyes seemed to carry the falsest sympathy. It disgusted Annabeth to see that somehow she wanted to act like their mother too. 

Her piercing eyes scanned them all. She was looking. “Where is Leonardo?” A roll of satisfaction encased Annabeth. “Surely the couldn’t have killed him if all of you stand.”

“Oh, they didn’t.” She let go of Percy’s hand, a twinge of longing piercing at her stomach. For some reason the goddess had decided on an average human height. Annabeth stood taller than her by a few inches. “You under estimated us. I figured all those millennia asleep would’ve at least taught you something.” “You always had a mouth on you.” Gaea cupped Annabeth’s chin with her thumb and index finger. She was faintly reminded of a mother telling her child she’d done something wrong. “I hoped that your step-mother’s disbelief would’ve taught you something.” She tilted her head and let go of her chin. “I guess I was wrong.” 

Annabeth forced her nails to dig into her palm to keep herself from sticking the goddess. It couldn’t have been her all those years ago. All demigods attracted monsters and all children of Athena spiders. It wasn’t her. 

“Do you truly believe that, Annabeth? Was the fate of Leo’s mother not proof enough for you?” Suddenly the goddess seemed to tower over her. “I’ve been with you since the day you were born. I’ve watched your every step until it finally led you to me.” Gaea stared ahead, past Annabeth. “My little pawns.”

“I’m nobody’s pawn.” 

The fleck of green in her eyes seemed to glow with a brief hatred. “You.” She composed herself and let another lazy smile adorn her pale lips. “You sure put up a fight, Perseus. Never have been one to abide by the rules. Like father like son.”

“Not that you’re the startling reflection of your father. No, I’ll leave that misfortune to Triton. I’m pleased to see that we both share a dislike for him. Most gods actually.”

“Stop it!” Annabeth saw exactly what Gaea was trying to do and immediately drew the attention back to her. 

“Don’t you trust him? After all this time, you still believe him a fool?” 

A frigid tension took over the room as Gaea Stared at Annabeth with satisfaction. She’d always given intellect it’s place in war, not just scheming but the actually thought out words that one could say to their enemy to win. Now, that intellect threw the first blow, catching her by surprise. “I don’t believe he is anything but himself.” Her words sounded useless even to her but she had to trust Percy not to listen to Gaea. Otherwise, she’d be right and Annabeth never liked to be wrong. 

This is what I must do to defeat her. 

How many time had stalling saved her life? She hoped that it would help one last time. Not to save her own. “He was never a pawn. Maybe you expected him to be, but Leo isn’t here and neither is Hercules. So I guess he surprised us both.” Strangely enough, Leo was there. Maybe only in spirit but the gadget he’d entrusted Annabeth with as they fought the giants would play as much of a rule as any of them. A plan never planned. But they were meant to fight together, they would know. 

She held the small square behind her back, in clear view of the demigods behind her. She had often learned that those who saw so much failed to see what was right there in front of them, she knew Gaea was the same. The goddess expected them to bicker, she was in no rush to kill them. She’d won, she didn’t need giants she was fully conscious now. 

With a sharp intake of breath, she threw the square. In the moments when it sailed towards her she saw everything that could go wrong. She could dodge, she could have seen it, the item could simply not work. A fraction of a second. 

Then it hit. 

There was a gasp that made her chest tighten and then the goddess was on her knees, struggling against the binds that had once killed Daedalus’s own enemy so many years ago. She thanked Leo, knowing she would never hear her, for his curiosity. For prying into the laptop the greatest architect had left behind before it was lost forever. 

Of course it didn’t kill her the way it had the King but so much of her essence was present before them that she was successfully trapped. She roared at them making wild explosions of earth surface stronger than any canon. Percy and Jason disappeared behind her and Piper yelled at Gaea meeting the power of her cries and somehow making them subside. Frank soared above, back in his Dragon form with Hazel riding on his startling copper back. Utter chaos engulfed them. All Annabeth did was laugh.

“Ready?” Jason nodded. His blonde hair was now so long it cast shadows over his blue eyes. “It was a pleasure, Grace.”

The boys smiled one last time. “The pleasure was all mine, Jackson.”

Two blades met, one gold and one bronze. Percy reached into his gut and a shudder caused by only him followed, the wind picked up around them. He urged the feeling to grow stronger and stronger until it hurt so much he wouldn’t have been able to stand upright. Lighting cackled and he felt a metallic burn in his mouth. But the taste of soil was far stronger. Above him he could faintly hear Frank and Hazel, but everything else was drowned out by destruction. It wasn’t enough.

He couldn’t reach any further into his gut. There was nothing left, no big explosion. He’d been told over and over again through-out his life as a demigod how dangerous and powerful he was. Was this it? Just when he needed the power and the danger. 

No. 

Then, Percy reached somewhere he’d never thought of before. A different pull that had always been easier to stroke: he reached into his heart. He saw Annabeth pulling him of the lake, his mother stroking his hair after a nightmare. He saw Grover and Annabeth and him playing hacky sack at a bus station, heard them laugh as Grover ate the apple they’d been using to play. He saw Thalia’s worried expression as they looked for Annabeth and heard Nico babble on and on about mythomagic. Everything that pulled at his heart, his brother and father and step-father, Chiron and his friends. They surfaced and explosion that Percy didn’t try to contain. 

There was sea spray so strong he felt it cut against his face, the electricity in the room singed the hair on his arms. He could no longer feel his feet on the ground. All he was certain of was his sword against Jason’s and the feeling like his body was tearing itself apart. Only one thing cut through the powerful sound of wind against his eardrum. Annabeth was laughing. 

“Seaweed Brain, you idiot.” 

Then the world fell to his storm.