So you know the first time you publish a story and you're all like this is perfect, there's nothing wrong with this? Well, I take it all back. I was a naïve sophomore who apparently had no sense of grammar. Or diction. So hopefully you'll enjoy this updated version. This is set after The Sea of Monsters. Sadly, I don't own Percy Jackson. So I'll settle for the blue cookies I baked (:

I sigh in content as I finally lay down in the grass near Thalia's tree. After the quest from San Francisco, I haven't had much time to myself. Even though it technically wasn't my quest, Annabeth and I were still bombarded with plenty of questions. Pushing those thoughts away, I breathe in deeply, smelling the fresh air that I can always associate with camp. The campfire was still going on, but I didn't feel like celebrating much. Or being confronted again.

Luke. Kronos. Bianca. ë. San Francisco. Yellow Volkswagen Bug. Annabeth. My thoughts were frantic, and rapid, pulsing before my eyes. Nothing was settling. Stupid ADHD.

"Hey Percy."

Finally, the chain was broken. Turning my head to the sound, I see Annabeth watching me carefully. I guess she was didn't know if she could sit next to me, so I pat a patch of grass next to me, inviting her. Turning my head to the stars, I can hear her settling next to me, laying her head on my shoulders. Putting my arm around her, I feel content. My thoughts aren't as crazy and jumbled as before. I'm a lot calmer now. With Annabeth around again, I don't feel like I'm about to combust of bounce off a cliff.

"Look at the stars." Annabeth half-sings "Look how they shine for you."

I caught on, turning my head to her, and finished "And everything you do. Yeah they were all yellow."

She smiled, happy that I finished the lyric. Our eyes locked for a moment before we both broke it. I could feel my face flush red. Cue awkward silence.

I guess she could feel the tension as well. "I never did finish teaching you those other constellations, did I?" she asks, starting another subject. Raising her hand, she lectures in a calm and confident voice. I listen and actually try to grasp what she's saying. I try to keep up with her fast words, but I just listen to her voice after a while. She grabs my hand out of habit, and pulls me back.

"Here's Sirius, the dog constellation." Annabeth says, grabbing my hand and pointing with it. I follow the pattern carefully, watching our hand intertwine against the stars.

"Sirius, like in Harry Potter, right?" I quickly ask, remembering the connection, stopping her in mid-rant about the star. She quickly frowns, but nods yes.

"Ya, like that. You know he was named after this star right?" She says slowly, as if questioning my ability to ask questions.

"Oh." Suddenly feeling like the seaweed brain she calls me. "Well, keep going!" I quickly say, waving our hands to the stars.

Glaring at me for a moment, she continues, but in a softer tone. "And see here, that new cluster? Well, now that's Zoë."

"Zoe." I mumble "There's Hercules too, the first constellation you taught to me. Apparently, the reason she hated me at first," I begin, "was because she gave Hercules riptide. My pen-sword. Although then it was a pin-sword then. Saw it in a dream." I rush out. Apparently, it made sense, because she accepted it. I hope. "I remember when you taught me Hercules. Do you?" thinking back to last summer. That was a short summer, since the sea of monsters quest seemed to have taken a while.

"I do actually, that's when Thalia was here too. We all snuck out to the beach together, just hanging out. It was nice, just doing nothing. A little like now actually."

"Good times. But I don't want to end like him." I blurt out, thinking out loud.

"Who, Hercules?"

"Yup," pointing to the sky,"Hercules. Everyone thinks he's a big hero. The best. He does I guess disserve it. After all those myths and stuff. I just feel like every hero wants to be just like him. And I get that." Taking a breath, I continue. "But Zoe gave me another perspective as well. He was really nice for a bit, but then turned into a jerk. And like every hero, he has this really terrible ending. I just have that feeling that I might end up like him. Especially with that prophecy you won't tell me about. Do you every feel that way Annabeth?" I turned my body towards her, waiting for a response.

"Percy, if you're worried about turning into someone like Hercules, you shouldn't. Yes you have his sword, and maybe you'll end up as famous as him, but you don't have to have the same fate." She pauses, placing her hand on my check. "Look as Zoe, she trusted you after he betrayed her. That's an accomplishment in itself." Smoothing out my tense face, Annabeth quietly continues. "Your heart is so much bigger than his. And besides, you have me to help you out along the way. I balance out the seaweed in your brain." In a calmer voice, she jokes, "You're the son of Poseidon, not Zeus. Water powers I think are much better, and practical, than lightning powers. But don't tell that to Thalia."

I relax at her words, releasing the tension in my face. She pulls at my hands again, going back to the stars.

"Well seaweed brain, there's Bootes, Sagittarius, Scorpio." Pausing for a moment, Annabeth goes on in another tone. In a stronger voice, "And over there is Perseus, your name sake. He was one of the few that had a happy ending. Maybe you'll get to live an old life like him Percy. There's still plenty of hope for you."