This story starts the very night after the meeting with which The Lost Hero concludes. I own nothing but the idea.
Enjoy!
I.
You've always loved how the waves sort of drain all your troubles away. How the soft sound of the sea rolling could soothe you to sleep.
Far ahead, you see thick clouds being swallowed by the horizon, swirling and rumbling. Intermittent lightning-bolts illuminate both the irregular aerial landscape and the softly-moving plains. Your goal is much closer, though.
You walk past several small dunes until you're standing at the beach. You stop and crouch to take off your shoes and socks, humming contently when your toes dip in the moist sand.
Staring out at it, you wonder if it wouldn't be more logical for you to be a daughter of Poseidon instead of Aphrodite, with how much you love the ocean. You're conscious of the absurdity of that thought, because there's no way in Hades you could have both a godly father and a human father. Still, you wonder.
Maybe you just love the sea so much because of all the good days you've spent surfing it in the company of your father. As if every image of the sea has always been attached to the thought of your father spending time with you… You don't know.
What you do know is that it makes you happy. And standing here, doing nothing but staring into the darkness as the ocean plays its music, you don't know whether you feel like laying down and falling asleep or like going off to stroll the length of the bay all night long. You decide you'll try to do the latter and begin walking, sighing pleasantly every now and then whenever a high wave rises to caress your feet. The water is quite warm.
Eventually you stop. You sit silently on a dry spot where the grass turns into sand. You close your eyes, hugging your knees to protect your body from the occasional cold breezes.
You're not really conscious of how long goes by. It's only when chills run down your spine that you open your eyes again. You know you're not alone anymore.
There's no reason for you to be scared. You're at Camp, after all. Not to mention you're at its beach, the farthest place there is to any kind of danger. The monsters allowed inside dwell at the woods, and that's well away from where you are. Some of the fiercest demigods in the world stand between you and any kind of monster that would dare venturing out of the canopy of trees. The worst thing that could happen would be to be found by a harpy, and even that would only mean having extra chores tomorrow and being personally scolded by Chiron.
There's no reason for you to be scared, so you try your best to stay calm.
You look around.
At first you don't see anyone. Or anything, really, just stars and a huge moon. Then you notice someone standing far to your right, beyond the place where your footprints turn to the place where you're sitting. With barely a glance you determine it must be a girl. Her figure is slim and tall, her movements confident although you think there is a certain slump to them, as if every step took a lot out of her.
You don't recognize her, but that's hardly surprising. You haven't lived here long enough to recognize anyone in the darkness, you tell yourself.
You wait for the mysterious figure to look around, to listen to your loud heartbeat and come say hello. You wait for her to acknowledge your presence in some way. But she doesn't. She just stands there, staring out into the ocean and taking slow steps at long intervals.
You feel like an intruder. You wonder if you should talk to her, let her know you're here. It would be embarrassing, but somehow you know it would be far more embarrassing to just sit and watch until she finally saw you. You suppress the urge to run away just so you don't alert her. Whatever it is she's doing, it feels intimate, private.
The girl walks until the water goes up to her knees, then she stops. You frown curiously, wondering if she's okay. You half expect her to dive into the water next. Maybe you should let her know you're here… to help her. What if she's unstable and plans on drowning herself? You've never heard of a depressive demigod, but the current situation makes you think about it.
Just when you're about to call out to her, the girl turns. You recognize her, and deep inside your head you tell yourself you should have recognized her earlier. It's not until you see her face that you notice the blond hair that falls on her shoulders, or the armor that covers her body, for that matter.
It's Annabeth Chase, hero extraordinaire.
Just today, your half-sister Lacy told you stories, legends of the brave Annabeth Chase, who helped defeat Kronos himself along with his army, who had come to be named the architect of Olympus, who was the girlfriend of Percy Jackson, the modern Achilles, and whatever else. The first time you met her, desperate and angry at the Grand Canyon, she hadn't looked so majestic.
Standing here, at the beach, she doesn't look so majestic either. It is suddenly obvious that she's been crying, which makes you feel more like an intruder. Her eyes are puffy and red, and her shoulders look like they could use some help with holding up her armor because of how slumped they are. The sight is sad, and strangely beautiful. It makes you think of what your father used to tell you when you were a child so that you'd stop crying.
"You know, Pipes," he'd say. "The easiest way to know how beautiful a girl is, is by watching them when they cry. If they look beautiful when they're crying, there's no possible way to make them look ugly. And right now, Pipes — right now you look downright gorgeous."
It made you smile every time he said it.
Annabeth looks downright gorgeous as well, right now, right there, in front of you, squinting through the darkness in your direction…
"Piper?"
You almost jump out of your skin. It's not until she calls your name again that you realize she's the one doing it. You were so hypnotized by her sad expression that you didn't see when she noticed you.
Annabeth approaches you, shamelessly rubbing the tears out of her eyes.
"Hello," she greets with a sad smile on her face.
"Hi," you mumble.
"How long have you…?" Annabeth trails off. She doesn't sound angry, just slightly embarrassed.
"I… er…" You hesitate. She nods, understanding you've been here long enough.
"You shouldn't be here," she mutters. She sits next to you, chuckling. "We shouldn't be here."
"I just… came for a walk," you say.
"Tough day?" You nod silently. "Yeah. It's not every day you're told the world depends on you…"
"You say it like it's happened to you before." Annabeth just stares far ahead, as if thinking, If you only knew. "What's wrong?" you ask before you can think.
"What?" She pretends to be surprised, blinking too much and shaking her head a bit too impractically. "Oh, nothing. I just…"
She sighs deeply and her shoulders slump again. "Is it your boyfriend?"
She stays quiet for a long time. You briefly wonder if you've stepped over a line. It's being an Aphrodite's daughter messing with you once again. You've become good at reading people's emotions since you found out you're her daughter, and it's made you sort of reckless, making you feel like you were privy to everybody's secrets. You wonder if that impression has made you rude.
"I don't think I've given myself time to fully get it." Annabeth sounds thoughtful. "I mean, of course I've cried — Gods! have I cried — but it feels as if these last few days I've been so busy searching for him that I haven't accepted that I might not find him."
"And after today…"
"Yeah. And it's even worse because this is different than the one time I was lost, because then he rescued me in just days, and it's already been too long and I don't even know where he is and everybody expects me to know where to look for him…"
"But you don't."
"Exactly," she sighs helplessly. "Everybody expects me to know what to do. And now you guys show up, after saving a goddess and everything, with the only believable theory of Percy's whereabouts and I want to believe you but I just…"
"Don't know if you should."
She looks away, not denying it.
The whole exchange surprises you. Maybe darkness makes it easier for her to trust me, you think. Because you can't pretend you're not surprised. The fact that she's trusting you with all this makes you reconsider. Maybe you're not rude, maybe you're comprehensive, instead.
"I really want to trust you, Piper." She turns her face to you.
You don't know what to say. You're flattered she's trusting you, and you're happy because you finally feel like you've found a friend at Camp Half-Blood, someone you can talk to that won't dismiss you to build machines like Leo would, and that won't want to start talking about make-up or the naked torsos of movie-stars like your siblings would; someone to whom you're not attracted — because Aphrodite only knows just how hard it is for you to talk to Jason without getting flustered or without saying things you shouldn't say.
But you barely know this girl who's torturing herself over the absence of her boyfriend and who will most likely need all the emotional support she can get to get her through the next several months and you don't know whether you'll be up to it. You don't know whether you'll be able to really help or if you'll find yourself in a situation where her sadness overcomes your capacity, and you're afraid it'll hurt her even more.
You realize Annabeth's still looking at you, her eyes full of hope and her smile full of potential promises. You can already see her laughing to whatever stupid jokes you say to make her feel better, and crying her eyes out as you pat her back uselessly. You can hear all the secrets you'll tell her, and imagine all the romantic stories of her boyfriend she'll tell you. You can hear her voice whispering all the sadness out of her…
And you know it's something worth every risk, having her as a friend.
You smile. "And I'm gonna help you trust me, Annabeth."
It's important to remark that, although the story claims it is an Annabeth/Piper romance, it will also eventually become a Piper/Jason romance and an Annabeth/Percy romance, so you might like to give it a shot. This story started as a sort of experiment with the second-person POV (something I used to have serious issues with) and it just... sort of grew. Anyway, updates will be weekly. It might not be a piece as eternal as a Takara Phoenix story (no disrespect intended), but it will take some time to be completed. It'll be taking place between The Lost Hero and The Son of Neptune.
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