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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?”

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