Percy chased after the rats like there was no tomorrow. After saving the world from Gaea and defeating the Giants not once, but twice, you would think catching rats were a piece of cake. Nope. Not for Percy. The rats have been raiding his snacks and leaving well-chewed homework all over his dorm.
"Gods of Olympus! What kind of cheap school has rats?" Percy muttered as he swatted at the balls of fur moving around his chair with a broom. His jeans caught on the chair and down he went, sprawling all over the little black pellet-shaped presents the rodents left for him.
"What in Hades is going on in here?" The door to Percy's dorm opened. Annabeth strode in, her blond hair in waves around her shoulders, holding a stack of books. She laughed at the mess on the ground that was her boyfriend. Percy blushed. Two years of dating and he still couldn't stop embarrassing himself.
"Um... I'm taking a nap."
"Oh, Seaweed Brain. Don't tell me you haven't gotten rid of the rats!" She helped him up off the ground. They were still around the same height, which Percy wasn't proud of. But he was still in the lead, standing a few inches above Annabeth.
"Maybe..." Percy tried to straighten his hoodie and sweatpants and hoped he didn't look like a total douchebag. "What are you doing here?"
"You called me to help you on your Algebra, remember?"
"Oh, yeah. Make yourself at home. But guard those books tight. You have no idea how fast the rats can eat through one. Even Grover and Coach can't top them."
Annabeth wanted to punch something. No matter how much she loved Percy, she couldn't deal with the fact that he still didn't know his multiplication tables. Sure, the guy went through Tartarus and saved the world twice. But that didn't mean she was going to let him slack off.
After explaining for the 60th time that it didn't matter why he guy in the book bought 62 watermelons, her phone rang. Demigods weren't supposed to use phones, because it acted like a homing beacon to monsters, but she kept it on her in case of emergencies.
Annabeth picked up her phone. "This is Annabeth Chase. How may I help you?"
"Annie!" Piper's voice blared from the other side of he line. "You've better get back to the camp right now!" The line went dead.
"What's wrong?" Percy asked.
"I think there's some kind of trouble at camp." She replied. "We'd better get back immediately."
Percy's heart nearly thumped out of his throat. He and Annabeth sneaked out of their high school ASAP and caught a taxi to Long Island, New York. He noticed the golden gleam of a giant celestial bronze dragon in the valley when finally made the trek up Half-Blood Hill. The head on the dragon was the unmistakable former masthead of the Argo II. And standing beside the giant gleaming dragon...
"LEO!" Percy forgot about homework, he forgot about monsters, he forgot about anything mythological that might ruin his life. He and Annabeth rushed down the hill at the scrawny, Hispanic kid.
"You're alive!" Annabeth cried.
"You guys worry too much." Leo replied.
"Worry too much?!" Percy exclaimed. "You've been missing for a year, idiot!"
"Has it been that long?" Leo asked. "Well, the Bad Boy Supreme is back from the dead and awesomer than ever!"
Piper, Jason, and Nico were gathered around Leo and another girl. A very familiar face.
"Perseus Jackson." The girl stiffened up at the sight of Percy. He couldn't blame her.
"Calypso." Everyone suddenly got quiet. Three years ago, on a quest in the Labyrinth, he'd accidentally blown a mountain up and landed on Ogygia. Percy had wanted to stay but he had obligations with his demigod duties and there was Annabeth.
"I see the gods had honored your request, even though they were a bit late." Calypso held out her hand. "Thank you."
"No heard feelings?" Percy reached out to shake her hand.
"I guess not." Calypso looked to Annabeth. "Take care of him for me."
Annabeth's face turn red. "Take care...!" She caught herself. "Yeah. I will."
"Where's Hazel and Frank?" Percy asked.
"We contacted Reyna." Jason said. "Hey should be here soon..."
A horse whinnied and the vapor trail from Long Island Sound told Percy that Arion had arrived with his passengers. The horse stopped a few feet from Festus and said a few unpleasant words about traffic in New York.
"Leo!" Hazel cried and jumped off Arion's back, followed by Frank and Reyna. There were a lot of happy tears shed and group hugs consisting of Nico trying to shadow travel away from the mushiness. The group made their way to the Big House. Campers gathered around and congratulations were given. It was the best day Percy had ever had. But then again, he hadn't had many of those.
The Hephestus cabin crowded over Leo like they were his personal body guards. Percy noticed that Nico had been spending a lot of time with the Apollo cabin, especially Will Solace.