Hi! This is my first fanfic, and I'm really excited to see how it goes! This is going to take place after the Blood of Olympus! Please review and tell me what you think!
Chapter One
Percy's POV
"Waterland ahoy!" Leo stood at the helm of the Argo II by Festus and pointed to a small plateau in the distance, the wonderful nostalgic city of Denver, Colorado.
"Thanks for the ride bro," I walked over to Leo and slapped him on the back. "I owe you one."
It had been a little over a year since we had defeated Gaea. For the first time in my life, the Fates seemed to be finally giving us a break. The day after our victory, instead of celebrating, both the Greek and the Roman demigods had joined at Camp Half-Blood to mourn the deaths the many lost in the battle, including Octavian. The Hephaestus Cabin prepared an intricate mechanical shroud in Leo's honor, made with help from the Hermes cabin. Octavian's shroud was made of a collection of torn up stuffed animals placed on his white Augur toga. The shrouds were burned at campfire where we also prayed to the gods for a peaceful future free of any more bloodshed. When Leo's shroud was burned, the fireworks lit the sky, spelling out messages like "All da ladies luv Leo," and "Team Leo FTW!" in his memory. Everyone who had known Leo was in a state of mourning. Reyna, who still held a slight grudge against him for bombing New Rome, had shed some tears. Even the Stolls were in no mood to prank Katie. Drowning in guilt and sorrow, Jason spent days lying in bed. Piper cried so much that her Aphrodite cabin mates insisted on her putting on make to cover her blotchy eyes before she left the cabin, though she was so depressed that she didn't even lift a finger to protest.
Two months later, Leo flew into camp with Calypso on a bronze dragon that looked a looked a lot like the Argo II's figurehead, Festus. I had a strong sense of deja-vu. His grand entrance reminded me of the time I returned from Calypso's island after causing blowing up Mt. St. Helens and walked in on my own funeral. Still, I gotta admit, Leo had a much awesomer entrance. Hazel had rushed up to Leo and nearly squeezed him to death. Piper had stomped up to him, charmspeaked him into slapping himself repeatedly for not trying to contact them for the two months we'd thought he was dead. Jason walked calmly up to Calypso while Piper was interrogating Leo, narrowed his eyes, and said, "So you're the girl who got Leo all droopy and depressed." Calypso swore that she would never make Leo unhappy unless she knew it was for the good of the world. For the time being, Calypso resided in a guest room in the big house. Chiron shared his speculations about whether or not Ogygia disappeared when she left it, and if she was still immortal. After the initial shock, everyone welcomed Leo and Calypso back with open arms.
Since then, Leo had enlisted the help of his Hephaestus cabin mates to upgrade Festus with new capabilities, like the chicken nugget smoke screen he had joked about, but most importantly, the ability to switch between Argo II mode and dragon mode. Considering that Leo's past method of turning the ship into Festus included blowing up said ship and teleporting to a magically isolated island, the upgrade made everything a lot more convenient.
Right now, Festus is in Argo II mode. Hazel, Frank, Leo, Piper, and Jason are heading over to Camp Jupiter for a visit, and Annabeth thinks that we're joining them. What she doesn't know is that we are actually going to get dropped off in Denver at Waterland for a surprise date, where I would finally propose to her after months of preparation. I pulled a few strings with the gods, and they agreed to reopen and remodel the park for a day just for Annabeth and me.
Even though I had gone over the plan a million times, I was still nervous that something was going to go wrong. I started fidgeting and pacing the deck, when I suddenly heard a loud groan of metal, then the sound of a geyser erupting, followed by a squeaky scream that sounded like it came from Hazel.
"Dude, really? I just fixed those like five minutes ago!" Leo, who had been doing some system checks with Festus, patted Happy the dragon, who emitted a little puff of smoke, then went downstairs to fix the pipe I had once again busted in the bathroom below. He looked slightly irritated as he passed me, but I couldn't blame him. My nerves had caused the exploding of the bathroom pipes several times over the course of the past week. The destruction had been occurring more frequently as the big day grew closer, with today leading with a record of five times. Remembering why I was rupturing the plumbing in the first place, I started pacing double time, my shoes clapping on the floor, when I felt a hand on my shoulder, and turned around to find Jason with Piper by his side.
"Bro, you gotta calm down before you bust all the toilets on the ship. You're going to be fine." Jason said reassuringly. I took a deep breath, trying to calm the internal panic that was growing bigger in my mind by the minute.
"I know, but everything has to be perfect for my Wise Girl." I said. I know it sounds a bit cheesy, but Annabeth deserves the best. My elaborate plan had taken weeks of asking campers to distract Annabeth for hours at a time so I could sneak away to my cabin to Iris-message the gods about the park's arrangements. Everyone agreed to help out. Athena oversaw the reconstruction of the park, grumbling, "If the sea spawn is going to propose to my daughter, it is going to be the best proposal this world has seen in eons." Aphrodite squealed so much when she heard my plan that I thought my ears were going to burst , promising to make the park "the most romantic thing since Helen and Paris," complete with just about a thousand more squeals. Needless to say, I had put a lot of time and hard work into this plan. Despite my ADHD, I'd sat at my desk and stared at my scattered notes and plans for hours. I really hoped I wouldn't mess it up.
Piper put a bit of charmspeak into her words and said, "Annabeth is going to love your surprise. Do you know how many girls would kill for a proposal this romantic?"
"Yeah Perce, it's going to be really hard to top this."
Piper turned to Jason with big, wide eyes, her mouth slightly ajar. "You're- you're going to propose?"
"I meant- I mean I didn't mean- I mean of course in the future but-" Jason stuttered over his words, blushing furiously. Piper laughed at his nervous expression and cut him off with a kiss. It seemed like they would be there for a while, so I walked down the stairs leading below deck to find Leo.
I found Leo in the bathroom fixing the pipe I burst earlier. Hazel was standing in a large puddle, completely soaked from head to toe with Frank trying to dry her off with a towel. Frank saw me in the doorway and glared.
"Thanks for the surprise Percy. I'm sure Hazel loved being blasted with toilet water out of nowhere." I rubbed my neck, looking slightly embarrassed and apologetic.
"Sorry Hazel, I was just thinking Annabeth and…" I trailed off, getting nervous and starting to fidget again. The sink faucets turned on, and Leo rushed over to turn them off before I flooded the bathroom completely. Again.
"It's alright, I know how important this is for you." Hazel smiled as she wrung her hair out. Frank softened his glare.
"Here, let me help you." I walked over to Hazel and touched her forehead the same way I did to Jason in the Nymphaeum. The water quickly evaporated from her hair, then her clothes, then the tiles around her feet until not a speck of toilet water remained. Well, except for in the actual toilet of course.
"Ooo! Can you dry my hair for me like that? Letting it air dry takes for-e-ver!" Piper and Jason appeared in the doorway, back from their make-out session. Hazel gave her a sympathetic look.
"I think you'll have to find someone else to be your personal hair-dryer." I replied. Leo finished fixing the pipe with one final twist of his wrench, stuck it back in his magical tool belt, and stood up.
"Is it time?" Everyone looked over at Leo. He nodded and walked over to us.
"It's time."
I took a deep breath and tried to stop hyperventilating. "Everyone remember the plan? Piper, are you sure you can keep Annabeth occupied until Leo rings the lunch bell? Wait, are we sure the bell works? Or what if Hephaestus hasn't disabled all his booby traps from Aphrodite and Ares's dates? Maybe we should do one final check-"
"We remember the plan Perce. Geez, Annabeth really rubs off on you." Leo said. I guess it was true.
"What can I say, Wise Girl's the best."
Leo grinned and used his best army commander voice. "Commence Operation Percabeth! Everybody, hands in!" Everyone stuck their hands in a pile and looked over at me expectantly. I couldn't help but smile as I put my hand in and we all chanted, "Percabeth!", the ship name for us that had slowly gained popularity. Everyone went off to carry out the plan I had been fretting over for weeks, Piper and Hazel going to Annabeth's room, Leo going to steer the ship, and Frank turning into an eagle to fly with Jason to Waterland to prep the park. Sometimes they complained it was a bit much, all the time I spent going over every little detail, but I knew it would all be worth it when Annabeth saw the park. It'd be worth it for the one moment I'd get to tell her how much I loved her, and ask her to spend the rest of her life with me. Anything is worth it for Annabeth.
A/N: Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it! I'll try to update within the next week or less. Sorry if some parts are a bit confusing. Feel free to give me advice and ideas by reviewing, and tell me if you liked it! Please?
Also, did anyone catch that Imagine Dragons reference in there? ;)