—Chapter One: Broken

I'm doing it again, I guess. I don't know if you believe everything that happens to my crappy life or if you just like reading how I suffer. Either way, I need to get this story out there. So people understand what's happening. Just like a news update kind of thing. But I'm not writing this one this time.

You're just going to watch a digital recording of everything that happened in my epic quest to the eastern hemisphere. I don't remember a whole lot of it anyways. Some of it I don't want to walk about. But like I said, it's all about getting this adventure out there for people to read and remember.

Norse gods, if you're reading this, what the hell? Can't you understand us Greeks have our own problems?

Greek gods, if you're reading this, don't kill me.

Annabeth, if you're reading this, I love you. I always will love you, my Wise Girl.

Eleven months, twelve days and twenty hours since she died. Four more and it'll be eleven months and thirteen days. I shivered, looking up at the Zeus cabin.

I should probably go somewhere, ask Chiron for a quest, something. Anywhere to get me out of camp. I was feeling restless and jittery, ADHD to blame, as well as nerves. Teaching sword lessons to the campers isn't helping much, especially since a new batch of brats joined camp. Annabeth would never had let them get out of line though.

I smiled at the thought. Yeah, but she probably wouldn't have stayed with the camp either. She probably would've went off to the Forbidden Lands or something, admiring their architecture and then to Olympus, helping with the redesigning. Was she still allowed up there? Even as a ghost?

I should visit to check sometime.

She would've liked the upgrade to the cabins though. She never got to see the finished project, huh? I sighed, picking myself up.

"Shit," I muttered, ducking back down just as a harpy passed my cabin. Sneaky witches. I was gonna get myself killed. But that should've been the last round for Harpy-Lookout. It was morning already.

When I successfully made it back inside my cabin without being caught, I got dressed. Six in the morning was early. Didn't like it one bit. But there's no point going to sleep only to wake another hour later. I was dressed casually, fiddling with Riptide in my pocket and Annabeth's old invisibility cap in the other hand. Swore she'd lost it, but her brothers gave it to me after she died. Guess she didn't.

"Hey Percy."

I jumped. But it was only Nico and Will. I smiled at them as they walked over.

"You're awake," Nico stated. I rolled my eyes.

"And you're breathing. I forget sometimes that you're not a zombie."

Will chuckled, ruffling Nico's head before he could make a retort. "Play nice, boys. It's too early in the morning for banter. You could throw off the chemicals in your brain. Eating breakfast will help though."

There goes Will, spouting his medical fact things. He was like Annabeth in that sense, random fun facts that couldn't possibly be useful in my head. But it wasn't painful to think about anymore. No, when I saw Will smile and Nico unconsciously return the gesture, I felt relieved. Nico had found someone. That's all I could've asked for for him.

But it also didn't help that Will was the head of the Apollo cabin. They've went through the most switches of head counselors, so many children of Apollo dying… I pushed the thought away, Annabeth's hat trembling in my hand.

"What are you doing up this early?" Will asked and I scratched the back of my neck.

"Uh, no reason. Just felt a little useless sitting in bed."

"I understand," Nico muttered gloomily. I grinned. Having a medic as a boyfriend probably meant he spent more time being pampered than anyone else. I laughed.

"What're you guys up to?" I asked. I wanted to put Annabeth's cap on, but I didn't want to randomly disappear either. That would be rude.

"We were going to set up the infirmary before breakfast. Today we're going to help the counselor teach some of the campers proper first aid in the field."

"I think Nico needs a few more lessons in that as well." Nico huffed and Will nodded, thoughtful. Dear gods, he was taking me seriously. I shook my head. "Anyways, I've got plans for today.I'll see you guys later. I'm going to the Big House to ask Chiron something." Will grinned and waved as I walked away but Nico shot me a knowing look. He can understand alright.

I jogged over to the Big House, but before I could even knock, Chiron was throwing the door open and cantering out of there. Quite literally, but I guess all he did with horse feet was canter or gallop.

"Percy! I was just going to go see you."

I frowned. "You were. I swear, those Stoll twins are like fire these days. It's not me."

Chiron's hum of amusement was deep. But it also sounded knowing. "You boys should be getting too old for tricks and pranks."

"I didn't think they knew what growing up was," I said as I followed the centaur into the house. Like a sixth sense, my eyes were pulled to the stairs that lead to the attic. But the skeleton wasn't the oracle anymore, Rachel was.

"That I second."

Chiron circled the ping pong table in the middle. Ah, I had such fond memories of this table. That one war council we held while the Stolls binged on crackers and cheese, or the one where Clarisse argue heatedly with everyone and wouldn't back down, or the one where…

I actually, thinking about it, memories weren't so warm as much as hot and angry and uncomfortable.

"Percy, I have a task for you."

"You do?" I asked and my interest peaked. Finally, something to do!

"Yes. I need you to do scouting."

And there goes my interest.

"Scouting?" I asked. I mean, there was nothing wrong with scouting, but… no a lot of things were wrong with scouting. I didn't like how pompous and irritating kids were these days. But there was nothing wrong with them! They just… who am I kidding. I was being bias because brats from yesterday thought it was fun to taunt me. But because they're new, I can't teach them a lesson. How irritating.

"Don't worry, it won't be the usual kind of mission. This one is special." Chiron pulled out a map of… I don't know what it was. Could've been another world for all I knew.

"'Special', he says. What is actually special about this?" An idea popped into my head. "Is it a child of the Big Three."

Chiron hesitated. "No. I mean special as in you'll be going somewhere special." He turned the map so it was right in front of me. "You'll be going to Europe."

At first, I didn't quite process what he said. Cool, I'll be going to Europe. But then, I realized, Europe isn't even on my side of the earth.

"You're kidding," I deadpanned. But inside, there was a thrill anyways. I'd be going back to those lands, the places Annabeth had wanted to go to, to explore with a passion. I wanted that. I wanted to be there, but I had wanted to go with Annabeth, show her the leaning tower of Pisa, show her the pyramids of Egypt, show her the temples of Greece. With her. I felt a pang in my chest, my ribs suddenly too small for pent up emotions.

Chiron seemed to notice too. He laid a hand on my shoulder.

"How are you doing, Percy?" he asked. I rubbed my neck, clenching onto Annabeth's cap even harder. If I pulled myself far enough away from reality, I could trick myself into thinking she wasn't actually gone. That's how good I was doing.

"Better than before. I'm alright though," I added quickly. "I want to go. Just tell me the details."

Chiron gave me a long look and not for the first time, I wondered which demigods from the past, which heroes he was comparing me to. Which ones were I like. Not to mention, I was wondering how he wasn't insane with having to deal with demigods for centuries. Sounded a little too cruel.

Chiron released my shoulder and continued, like that tense moment of despair hadn't existed. Truthfully, as soon as he started talking, I was already pushing the thoughts to the farthest points in my head, already forgetting them.

Turns out this really was a special mission. Scouting in the eastern hemisphere hadn't been done before, because—obviously—of how far away it was and the ocean in between the two continents. But Chiron figured it was high time to check out the Ancient Lands, see if there were wandering Greek or Roman demigods that needed some aid. But it wasn't so much of looking for demigods, as it was for scouting out the land. I was supposed to search up and down Europe for demigods, and a possible demigod population. Greek, Roman or otherwise.

"Am I going with a team, or just me?" I asked, looking at the map in a new light. Europe definitely seemed larger than the United States. But traveling through countries instead of states? I mean, I flew over most of them in the Argo II, but this was going through them, that… was going to be a problem.

"I was going to leave that up to you," Chiron answered, pawing the ground with a hoove. "I understand going there in the first place is dangerous. I only want to send experienced campers. You will lead, since you've already been there and understand the dangers. I advise though, teams of three in the United States is the recommended manpower that can move without drawing too much attention. There, I know it's significantly different."

"Yeah," I agreed. "But I just need a… someone who can watch my back. Someone who can also work with foreign countries too. But I guess in the Forbidden lands, a mechanic and a smart alec would be the best to travel with." I paused. "But I don't trust myself to go with someone I don't know. Sorry."

Chiron patted my back. "No need to apologize. I understand. Sometime after breakfast, I'll be back here, with a demigod or two that can accompany you on this quest."

Chiron pushed me towards the door. "Now get going before I tell the harpies you've been sneaking to the lake at night."

"Ouch, that's harsh," I said and Chiron chuckled as I left.

In the Big House: Leo and Calypso. That's who I'd be traveling with. To be truthful, I was already nervous.

I mean, it's not like Calypso and I are on bad terms. Actually, she'd worked very hard to penetrate my awkward depression for leaving her and eventually, we were good friends. I understood she held nothing against me.

The problem is, having both of them, it seemed like a sweet little couple was tagging along for a dangerous ride through monster infested waters, monsters infested cities, and monster infested bathrooms (trust me, it actually exists).

Again, not looking down on them. Leo was strong and handy to have around. Calypso may have spent a lot of time on her island, but she was a polyglot and could speak like, a lot of languages. But the vibes just didn't fit the situation. Not while the two were shifting nervously as I stared at them.

"Was it something I said?" I asked when they wouldn't stop fidgeting. "I mean, I can practically feel the nerves on my nerves, and it's making my jumpier than I already am."

"You don't look jumpy." Leo pointed. "More like a statue that wants to run around playing leapfrog with other statues."

Calypso elbowed Leo who complained loudly, which she ignored. I smiled. "It's not that. It's just…" She made a vague hand waving motion. "We don't want to get in the way."

"Why would you get in the way?" I was completely lost now.

Leo made an exaggerated sigh. "Man, really? For forever now, you've been going on solo quests and missions and everything. And everyone knows you finish all of them. Like accomplish them on your own. It's like two mini wrestlers moving in on a pro wrestler's territory saying 'We've got this' in front of the pro wrestler."

"I almost got that." I said thoughtfully. Was that what people were thinking these days? I admit though, I spent more time out of camp then in camp. Some counselor I was.

Calypso sighed, but she smiled. "We want to help you with this one, just tell us what we have to do."

"There's a lot of people that want to help you. But we also know Big Brother Percy's like 'I've got this'," Leo pretended to flex his muscles, or his arms really. He was strong, but lanky.

"I'm gonna throw you to the sharks and tell them not to bite too much off of you," I said, but I patted his head.

I told them the gist of what the quest was.

"So that's why I'm going," Calypso said, nodding. "You'll need help with how many languages that are spoken over there."

"We're traveling by dragon, right?" Leo asked. "'Cause I don't think I'm going back to those places without Festus. I might die. I feel like the weakest here."

"No demigod is weak," I said wisely. "Unless you're Leo. Then you're in trouble." Leo denied it vehemently. "But yeah, we'll be taking Festus. Will he be big enough for three?"

"Dude, he's my Festus. He's big enough for six or seven. I can even add a few saddles." Leo paused. "Actually, I should do that. We're going to be traveling for a while, right?"

"A long while, so I want first class quality seats." I turned around and grabbed two packs from the ping pong table. "These are the bags we'll be taking. The barest necessities are already in here. Fill them with what you'll need. We'll meet at Thalia's Tree in a few hours, to give you some time, Leo."

Leo mock saluted. "Roger!" he shouted. "Sunshine, join me?"

He and Calypso ran off together, their hands linked. I smiled. They couldn't have been more perfect for each other.

"I vote they're the cutest couple of all the cabins."

"People trying to sneak up on me today or something?" I said, turning to Jason. My heart clenched when I saw Katoptris strapped to his waist. His eyes still had some shadows beneath them, even though the glasses hid them a little.

My hand instinctively drifted to Annabeth's hat, now buckled to my pant loop. Jason's eyes became pained.

There was a silence for a long moment. Nothing but us two demigods, just standing there. Me chest hurt so badly.

"Sorry, I just heard you were having a mission, so I stopped by…" Jason said. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop.

"It's no big deal," I said. An awkward silence followed.

"Can I join?"

I blinked.

"What?"

"The quest. Can I join?"

The awkward silence suddenly felt thick and suffocating. I started to shake my head.

"Percy, come on. Please," Jason said, looking more lost than he had in awhile. I clenched in fist, but Annabeth's hat wasn't there. "I want to get away from the camps for a while. But being the Pontifex Maximus is all about the camps. I just want a little break."

I understood. I more than understood, I could empathize right down to the last feeling his Jason's finger. I've been doing it for eleven months and thirteen days. Running away. Taking on every mission, quest, job I could. To get away. I knew Jason was doing something similar as well. Drowning himself in making statues, temples, shrines for every Greek and Roman god there was. He was trying to forget. I looked at his face again. He would never forget.

Neither of us would.

"Jason."

"Please," he said. He looked like he wanted to collapse. I wanted to stop that from happening. But I knew. We both knew if I took a step forward, I'd probably kneel over as well. "I just want a break."

"Ask Chiron for another quest. You heard me talking. This one's not a 'little break'."

"I understand… but-"

"Jason. You need a real break. Rest. Sleep for a day or something. Going on a long distance, high-stress level quest won't help you." I tried to turn away. Jason grabbed my arm and I flinched. He backed off.

"Please." He was begging. I felt like my chest was being squeezed of air. Their was a lump in my throat I hadn't noticed. I swallowed past it.

Another long moment of silence passed. Even though I know… I know taking him along won't help him. It won't help either of us.

"I'll get a pack ready for you." I said. I turned to him. "But you know what this quest is. High priority and all that crap. If I think you're going to lose it, or fall apart, I'm sending you back here. My word's final. Got that?"

Jason's shoulders slumped in relief and he smiled gratefully. "I understand. Thanks. I really do want this."

I hesitated. "I know." I said. I walked away. Distressed Jason meant distressed Percy. Distressed Percy meant sword practice until I annihilated all the dummies that were unlucky enough to be near me.

I packed the basics and made my way back to the ping pong table, throwing the pack at Jason who caught it deftly. He fiddled with the straps. Nervously. I rolled my shoulders.

"You know the drill. Fill it up with what you need. Thalia's Tree in three hours." I looked at my watch. "Two hours and forty-nine minutes I mean."

Jason looked at me, sighing. "I'm sorry, Percy. I didn't mean to push this on you but-"

"I know Jason." I said. "I've already packed my stuff. I'm gonna be at the climbing mountain if anyone needs me." A flash of hurt shined in Jason's eyes. "Make sure to tell Chiron you're joining."

I walked out of the Big House, hating myself for leaving Jason like that, hating him for not picking himself up already, and hating myself again for thinking he could just pick himself after what he went through. He was a kid too.

We all were.

The climbing wall had upgraded since the growth of Camp Half-Blood. It was more of a mountain. Not overly large of course but it was larger than a large hill, spanned about a quarter mile and rose about a quarter mile. Still had lava, still had deadly spikes. But now there was a few controlled monsters thrown in there, more bumps and rises to maneuver. It was actually Annabeth's design, before…

I spent a good two hours at the climbing wall (mountain, whatever). I was jumpy and reckless, not running around trouble but running through it. I was a mess. But I made it to the top. I started my way back.

I checked my watch. I couldn't beat my record time. I guess not with that performance. But there was still some forty minutes to burn. A sigh left me and I recapped Riptide. Miraculously, Annabeth's hat was still hooked to my belt loop.

Half an hour of sitting at the bottom of the lake passed the time. I made my way to Thalia's Tree and waited the last five minutes. Peleus the dragon kept me company.

"Yo!" Leo's voice shouted from above. I looked up and watched as Festus, Leo, Jason and Calypso atop him, landed with a clang of metals and gears. He huffed. Peleus snorted before going back to sleep. I looked back at Festus. Leo really had installed saddles on Festus. Four of them, each with low back supports. And if my eyes were to be trusted, I was definitely seeing seatbelts.

Chiron was galloping up the hill and he stopped near us.

"I trust you all understand the quest then?" he asked. I nodded. "Good. I have no more to offer you other than good luck and my blessing that you may make it through this as unscathed as possible."

"Difficult," Leo said loudly. "We've got our blonde Superman and King Triton traveling together. We might end up in their friendly fire exchange."

Chiron chuckled. But then he looked down at me and his eyes were serious. "I don't wish to burden you with responsibility. But you'll lead this one Percy, since you've the most experience…" he looked up at the metal dragon. "And the most stability. Take care of them."

I nodded, shaking Chiron's hand before backing up. "I will. Promise."

Chiron's eyes hardened. I grinned but my heart was already heavy as well. Spur of the moment words left me before I could stop them.

"I swear on the River Styx they'll come back alive."

"Percy-"

"It's ritual," I added quickly before climbing on top of Festus, in the seat behind Jason. "See you Chiron. Let's go Leo."

"Festus was in the air within second. I stared down at the figure of Chiron, growing smaller and smaller.

"Was it wise to make such an oath, Percy?" Calypso asked over the wind. I felt the coming of nausea and buckled myself up, wishing there wasn't only a strap of leather to keep me from falling.

"Wise or not," I said. "Now I don't have a choice but to bring you guys back alive."

They didn't argue with that.

Author's

Note

:

Let's do this! Hint! Pay close attention to the wording of Percy's oath! There's foreshadowing there and it's Scary!

Chapter

2

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—Falling