Hey! This is a one-shot about Percy's first day back at camp after Tartarus. It goes along with chapter five of my other story, Long Road Ahead. You could read this without reading that first, but it would make much more sense to read LRA first.
As of right now, this is a one-shot, but I could turn it into a two-shot to show the next day too. Let me know what you think.
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Everything just seemed better in the water.
Percy walked out of the ocean, perfectly dry and started walking up the beach, to Camp Half-Blood. Blackjack had dropped him off at the ocean's edge around 3am, but sleep was simply not an option without Annabeth, so he'd been underwater for the past few hours. The ocean was one of the only places Percy could find any semblance of peace anymore, the only other was anywhere where Annabeth was in his arms.
The sun had risen about an hour ago, and Percy assumed that it was around seven in the morning and campers would start getting up soon. He made his way to his cabin and got himself showered, dressed, and as presentable as possible. All that considered, he looked rather bad, his lack of sleep showing, but compared to how he'd looked a few months ago, this was nothing.
He figured he'd head over to the Big House first and let Chiron know he was here. He left the safety of Cabin 3 and made his way through camp, trying to look as much his old self as possible. Few people were awake and about at this time of the morning, but the few who were seemed surprised at Percy's presence. They would look at him suspiciously for a few seconds before he would wave and try for a smile, and they would be forced to return the gesture. If Percy had been close to these people, this probably would have bothered him more, but the campers he saw were mostly newcomers, having been there less than a year, and he had been gone for most of said year.
Percy climbed the few steps leading to the Big House porch and approached the door. Just as he was about to knock, the door was opened by Chiron, himself. The centaur seemed surprised, obviously having not expecting Percy to be on the other side, especially at 7:30 in the morning.
"Oh, Percy," he greeted him, schooling his features into a kind smile, "Hello."
"Hey, Chiron," Percy replied.
"What can I do for you? I must say, I wasn't aware you were here, or even expecting you to be, frankly," Chiron told him.
"Well, Annabeth's in San Francisco for a few days, so I figured I'd visit camp…" Percy explained awkwardly. The centaur, thankfully, seemed to grasp the meaning of his words and nodded understandingly.
"Well, my boy, I must say, I'm glad to see you."
Percy nodded. "I, uh, just wanted to let you know I was here…" he trailed of awkwardly.
Chiron gave a dry smile and nodded. "I will see you at breakfast then."
Percy walked around camp for a while after that. He thought about heading to the arena, but he didn't want to get sweaty and gross before breakfast. Just as he was considering heading back to the beach, an ecstatic bleat broke the morning quiet.
"Perrrrcy!" was all he heard before being nearly knocked down by someone. Percy's first, and newly acquired, instinct was to defend himself against the bear hug he was receiving, but he fought against it because that bleat could only have come from a satyr, and the only satyr who would care enough to give him such a bear, or rather goat, hug was-
"Grover. Hey man!" Percy was actually really happy to see his friend, whom he hadn't seen for over a year, and really had missed.
Grover pulled away, and Percy could see that he really didn't look much different from the last time he'd seen him. He was maybe an inch taller and his hair was longer, but Grover looked very much the same as he had a year ago. "Perrrrcy," Grover bleated again, calmer this time, "Where've you been?"
"Well, let's see, where to begin… spent some time in California at Camp Jupiter;" Percy counted each place on his fingers, "then had to rescue Thanatos in Alaska; back to Cali; then, with the seven, to Kansas, Georgia, Rome-"
"Okay!" Grover interrupted, "I get it! I just missed you Perce. Practically scared the horns off me when you disappeared and the empathy link didn't work. Eight months, Percy! Eight months, and no communication, whatsoev-"
"Hey! G-man, I was either in a goddess-induced sleep, had no memory, or on a crazy dangerous quest, and/or fighting for my life the whole time! Cut me some slack."
"I know, I know, but that's no excuse!" Grover insisted, trying to sound patronizing, but he was smiling the whole time.
Percy was saved by the bell, or rather, the breakfast horn. He and Grover walked to the dining pavilion, joining the crowd of gathering campers. Percy got his pancakes, sacrificed some of it to Poseidon, and sat down at is table. He received some strange looks from some people, and worried ones from others, which would have made breakfast long and awkward, had Grover not joined Percy a minute later.
"So, Perce," began the satyr, ever the talker, "How've you been? How's Annabeth-wait, where's Annabeth?" He suddenly looked anxious. "Is she-"
"She's fine, Grover, well, I mean, about as fine as I am, at least. She's in San Francisco for a few days. That's why I'm here…" Percy trailed off, hoping Grover would understand the way Chiron had, but, of course, no such luck. He looked slightly confused, but he could read Percy's emotions and he apparently decided not to push the issue.
"And how are you?" the satyr asked.
Percy took a deep breath, pausing before answering, "I'm... okay." Grover arched an eyebrow. Percy continued, "I'm handling it. I'm fine." This time, Grover seemed to catch the hint that Percy didn't want to talk about it, and changed the subject.
After breakfast, Percy headed to the arena with the goal of getting in some practice with Riptide. He hadn't actually trained with the blade since he and Jason had sparred one night on the Argo II. He did some basic techniques and disemboweled a few practice dummies before having to break. It wasn't so much that he was tired, but the last time he'd used Riptide was back in… there, and the memories had started to overwhelm him. So he sat on the bottom bleacher, trying hard to chill out and avoid a full-fledged panic attack.
When he'd managed to calm down enough, he tried again, and was successful in training for another thirty minutes.
"Oh, look. Prissy's back," came a voice that could only be Clarisse's, from the entrance to the arena, thought it didn't have the usual edge to it that she usually used when speaking to Percy. It seemed warmer, more compassionate even. Percy turned toward her voice and nodded to his friend in greeting. Because, yes, she was his friend, sort of. But if he told a soul that, he was a dead man for sure.
"How's it going?" Clarisse asked. Percy held back a sigh. He was getting tired of that question, no matter how it was phrased. He settled on shrugging instead.
"It's going," he replied dryly. Clarisse nodded. He was glad she didn't feel the need to ask more questions, but simply settled on asking if he wanted to spar. "You're on," he told her, grinning.
After another twenty minutes straight of sparring, the fight was still going strong. It seemed like it would tie. Percy knew that before the most recent quest and the war, he probably would have beaten her quicker, but the last few months had worn him down. Finally, with both heroes out of breath and sweaty, Percy tried the disarming technique Luke had taught him all those years ago. Clarisse's sword clattered to the ground.
He grinned triumphantly. She sneered at him, but in the end, she ended up grinning back.
He headed for the showers after leaving the arena. Lunch wasn't for another hour, but he didn't feel like training anymore at the moment. Most of his friends were at home for the school year, and the few who were here, were nowhere to be seen at the moment. Percy couldn't say he particularly minded though. He really only wanted to talk to one person, and she was in California. He entered his cabin and checked the time: 11:24. That meant it would be 8:24 in San Francisco. Percy would've contacted her earlier' he knew Annabeth wouldn't have slept last night either, but he figured her parents probably wouldn't appreciate her talking to him at some ungodly hour of the morning. He couldn't wait anymore though.
Tyson had somehow managed to fix the salt water fountain, which Percy had run through with Riptide the night before their quest into the Labyrinth, and it now looked like new, sitting in the corner of the cabin. The light streaming through the open window was creating a rainbow in the fountain's mist. He fished a drachma from his pocket and was about to use the old incantation to Iris, when he remembered his visit to ROFL with Frank and Hazel. Fleecy had given them a new, and in Percy's opinion, rather stupid, direct line to use for Iris Messaging.
"O Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Annabeth Chase in San Francisco," Percy said. He tossed the drachma into the rainbow and it disappeared. The mist shimmered and he was able to see Annabeth, sitting outside, maybe on a porch, eyes closed, head in hands. "Annabeth," Percy called gently. Her head snapped up. She saw the IM and gave a halfhearted smile.
"Hi, Percy," she greeted. She looked about as good as he did, which was to say, not great, but Percy thought she looked beautiful, as always.
"How are you holding up?" He asked her. She sighed.
"Not great, to be honest. I… I can't sleep without you. The nightmares…" she trailed off, shuddering.
"I know, believe me." She looked at Percy sadly for a minute, before seeming to realize that his surroundings were different than those of his New York apartment.
"Percy, are you at camp?" He nodded.
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep, and I needed to get my mind off of… you know. So I called Blackjack."
Annabeth nodded thoughtfully. "And how is it?" she asked after a minute.
Percy shrugged. "It's quiet. Almost everyone's at home for the year, but Grover sure was excited." Annabeth smiled at that.
Their conversation lasted about half an hour, until the conch horn sounded for lunch, and Annabeth had to go eat breakfast.
"I gotta go. Lunchtime. I'll talk to you later, I promise."
"Yeah, so do I…" After a beat of silence, she continued, "I miss you Percy."
"I miss you too. I love you."
"I love you too. Say hi to everyone for me."
"Will do," Percy replied, smiling, "Bye."
"Bye, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth swiped her hand through the mist, and the message cut off.
Percy walked to the dining pavilion, a smile on his face. He received more waves and smiles from people, but this time they looked more genuine. He figured they had seen him after they'd returned from Greece, and had been worried about him, and rightfully so. Percy was their leader, the one they looked up to, and seeing him broken down like that had to have scared them pretty bad. His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar kid with elfish features and curly brown hair walking up beside him.
"Hey, Percy! Didn't know you were here!" Leo, ever the hyperactive demigod, exclaimed rather loudly.
"Hey, man. Yeah, I got here, uh, early this morning," Percy replied.
"That's cool. Hey, where's Annabeth?" Leo asked, looking behind Percy, as if he might have missed her.
"San Francisco," Percy answered, "Visiting her family for a few days."
"Oh. So, how ya been?" Percy knew what he meant. Even Leo understood how serious the situation had been with him and Annabeth. The fact the he wasn't making some joke about them being separated showed that fact. He was genuinely concerned.
Percy took a deep breath, trying to formulate an answer. The other campers may have seen him when he got back from the quest, but Leo had seen him drag himself and Annabeth out of there, and the generic answers probably wouldn't cut it with him. "It's getting better," Percy answered honestly. Leo was a jokester, but he could be serious when he needed to be, and right now he was. He nodded understandingly.
The son of Hephaestus, thankfully, changed the subject as they entered the dining pavilion together before going their separate ways to their respective tables. Percy sacrificed some of his food to Poseidon, and sat down to eat. Grover was off with Juniper somewhere, so he sat alone at the Poseidon table.
After lunch, he walked down to the beach. He stood in the sand, the waves running over his bare feet from time to time, sending strength surging through him. He stared out at the open sea. He wasn't really sure why he was there, but it was a beautiful day, and the sun glinted off the water, turning it a beautiful sea green. No one else was around with it being late in November and the water, too cold to swim in. Unless, of course, you were the son of the sea god. The beach was peaceful though, and it helped clear his mind.
He stood there for a while, taking it all in, until he eventually heard, "PERCY!" He turned to see Thalia running toward him at full speed, wearing her hunters' garb, smiling like crazy. Percy smiled back. He hadn't seen her since before being kidnapped by a certain goddess. The daughter of Zeus reached him and gave him the biggest flying tackle hug Percy had ever had the pleasure to behold. Her momentum almost knocked him down, but he managed to only stumble a few steps on the uneven sand before regaining his footing.
Thalia pulled away and her smile immediately turned into a glare. "Percy Jackson, you are such an idiot! Do you have any idea how worried we all were? We thought you were dead! We spent months searching for you, and you didn't even have the decency to call! Then, I find out that you-"
"Thalia!" Percy interrupted, smiling widely, "I'm sorry! It's really good to see you too." He hugged her again. "What are you doing here?"
"I was in the area and decided to stop by and wring my kelp head of a cousin's neck for disappearing and almost dying!"
Percy chuckled but responded coolly, "Yeah, well, I broke my record."
"Your record?"
"Of how close I've come to dying and still surviving." Thalia snorted, but smiled.
"Well, don't break it next time," she replied. Percy laughed but was glad when she changed the subject. They were getting dangerously close to a topic that Percy couldn't talk about. Not yet, at least. "Where's Annabeth? Don't you two, like, go everywhere together?"
"She's visiting her family in San Francisco for a few days."
"Oh, that's cool, I guess. How's that been?"
Percy didn't feel like lying. "Difficult," he answered. Thalia nodded understandingly.
"So how long are you staying?" she asked.
"Probably until sometime tomorrow. You?"
She shrugged. "I'll probably leave after the campfire tonight. The girls are camped nearby. We're heading out at midnight."
Percy nodded. He was about to reply when he was interrupted. "Percy!" Grover yelled, as he trotted over to them, "Oh, hi, Thalia!"
"Hey, Goat Boy," Thalia responded, giving Grover a hug. He seemed to forget that he had a purpose for tracking down his friend.
"Uh, did you need something, Grover?" Percy asked after a few seconds of staring at him expectantly.
"Oh, yeah! Chiron wants to see you. He sent me to track you down," Grover answered.
"Alright," Percy replied, his curiosity peaking. "Thanks, G-man. See you guys later." He turned began making his way back up the beach.
He found Chiron on the porch, playing pinochle with Mr. D. The centaur had his back to Percy and didn't notice him, but, of course, the wine god did.
"Oh, look. The celebrity is back. What do you want?" Mr. D asked, bored. Chiron turned to see who he was talking to and smiled.
"Ah, Percy, there you are." He said.
"Yeah, um, you wanted to see me?" Percy asked.
"Yes. I was wondering if you were available to teach Chris Rodriguez's sword class today. Something has come up and he is unable to make it. He had asked me to find a substitute."
Percy blinked. "You want me?" he asked incredulously. He'd figured he was the last person Chiron would ask for something like this, given the state in which he was in the last time he'd been at camp.
"Yes, if you are willing, my boy."
"Why?" Percy asked.
"Is it not true that you are the best swordsman in the last three hundred years?" Chiron asked innocently.
"Um, I don't know-"
"Ha!" Mr. D interrupted. "I win!" Chiron redirected his attention to the card game, studying it, before placing down his hand.
"No, Mr. D, I'm afraid I do," the centaur replied, sounding slightly smug. Dionysus looked at the cards, disbelieving, before he cursed in Ancient Greek and stormed away, inside the Big House. Chiron looked back to Percy. "Now," he said, "Where were we?"
Percy hesitated, "Chiron, are you sure you want me to do this?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Well, the last time I was here, we, I wasn't exactly… stable," Percy replied, studying the deck below him with great interest. The last time he'd been there had been when the Romans were attacking. The peace was made, but Percy and Annabeth had been anything but stable. Tartarus had taken it's toll on them. They'd spent most of their time there too weak to move, overwhelmed by nightmares and hallucinations.
"And how are you now?" Chiron asked, studying Percy now.
"Um, well… better, I guess."
"Then I see no reason why you shouldn't be trusted with the sword class." Standing there, talking to Chiron, Percy realized something. The centaur believed in him. Even after everything he'd been through and the terrible state he'd been in a few months ago. It didn't matter what the other campers said or thought. Chiron didn't see Percy any different now than he had a year ago, except maybe as more experienced and even more of a hero. Percy realized, a smile slowly spreading across his face, that standing there, talking to Chiron alone made this trip to camp worth it. Percy was still Percy, no matter what, and only he had the right to change that. No person, no monster, no Titan, no giant, and definitely not Tartarus, had that right.
Chiron his noticed change in demeanor and gave a small, approving smile in response. "So, what do you say, my boy? Will you do it?"
Percy looked up at his teacher and smiled. "Yeah… Yeah, I will." The old centaur smiled and put a hand on Percy's shoulder.
"Very good. The class is in half an hour. Chris said to teach them whatever you feel is best. Go, Percy, and know that I'm proud of you."
Percy smiled again. "Thanks, Chiron." He walked down the steps of the Big House, feeling better than he had in a long time.
He walked into the arena and finished strapping on his armor. He stood in front of the group of young campers, who stared at him curiously.
"Um, hi, everyone," Percy began awkwardly, "I'm your sword instructor for today. My name's Per-"
"Percy Jackson!" someone interrupted.
"Son of Poseidon!" added another and suddenly, the arena was full of voices.
"Hero of Olympus!
"Twice!"
"You're my hero!"
"Dude, You're awesome!"
"He went fell into Tartarus and survived!" Percy winced at that one.
"Best sword fighter in three hundred years!"
"Okay!" Percy yelled, "Okay, good… HEY! EVERYBODY QUIET DOWN!"
Silence.
"Thank you!" Percy said," Alright. I'm gonna show you guys a few tricks today." Percy demonstrated a basic defensive order of strikes and parries, ending it with a disarming technique. "Any questions?" About twenty hands went up. He pointed to a Hispanic kid, about eleven years old.
"Are you still dating Annabeth Chase?"
"Um, yes, but-"
"Isn't she a daughter of Athena?" someone interrupted.
"How did Athena not kill you yet?" another countered.
"Have you ever been to Olympus?"
"How many times have you almost died?
"Have you ever-"
"ENOUGH!" Percy yelled. The campers quieted down again. Percy took a deep breath. "Does anyone have any questions about the technique?"
Percy answered a few questions about how to hold the sword and where to aim, before dividing the campers into pairs and having them practice together. The rest of the class passed rather smoothly, and soon, it was over.
"Okay, good job, guys! Dinner is in about an hour. Leave all practice swords and armor in the bins by the door and go hit the showers. A few kids started to make their way toward the exit but stopped when they saw that most of the class was still in their places, not moving. Percy furrowed his brow.
"You can go now," he told the class. A hand went up.
"You never answered any of our questions," a girl, about thirteen, complained.
Percy sighed, realizing that he wasn't going to be getting out of there yet. "Fine. You have five minutes. One at a time."
Every hand went up.
"What was your first monster?" a skinny blonde kid asked. Percy didn't have to answer because half the class did for him. He couldn't decide if he was honored or scared that they knew so much about him. What else did they know? He pointed to another camper, a boy with brown hair and blue eyes.
"You never answered. Are you still dating Annabeth Chase, the daughter of Athena?" No one answered. Percy prayed to the gods to make these five minutes pass faster.
"Yes," he answered with a sigh, "And before you ask how I'm still alive, dating a daughter of Athena, I have no idea."
Another hand, "Do you kiss her a lot?" Oh, gods…
"Uh-"
"Do you fight a lot of monsters with her?" Percy was never so happy to be interrupted.
"Yeah. I've fought a lot of monsters with her in the past," he answered. There had been a surprising lack of monsters attacking over the last few months, but hey, Percy wasn't complaining.
"Can you really control water?" another kid asked.
"Yes."
"Show us!" about ten campers shouted at once.
"Um…" Percy sighed, closing his eyes. He held up his hand and the water cooler emptied itself. He carried it through the air over to him and willed it to circle around him, almost like it did when he summoned a mini hurricane, but much slower. The kids' mouths hung open. After a minute, he returned the water to the cooler.
One camper, who seemed to get over his shock faster than everyone else, called, "Have you ever been to Olympus?"
"Yeah," Percy answered, "A few times, but your five minutes is up. No more questions."
"AWWWWW," echoed the class, clearly disappointed.
"Go shower and get ready for dinner," Percy instructed them. The campers started filing out of the arena. Percy followed them out and walked in the direction of Cabin 3 to put his armor away.
"Show off," called a voice behind him. He turned to see a grinning Thalia walking after him. "You're like a celebrity." Percy shrugged, also smiling. "But some of those questions were funny, oh my gods."
Percy laughed. "How much did you hear?" he asked.
"Well, I watched the whole class. I was in the way back, though. You didn't notice me."
"Oh, great."
"Yes. I enjoyed myself." She laughed. "You're a good teacher though."
"Thanks, Thals."
Once Percy was showered, he hung around his cabin for a few minutes. He was thinking about IMing his mom before dinner when something crashed behind him. Percy had his sword drawn before he could even process what was going on. Tartarus had made his reflexes even better, if that was possible.
The crash turned out to be Nico di Angelo. He'd shadow traveled into Percy's cabin and had knocked into a dresser, knocking it over. Nico looked around, confused, for a second, before noticing Percy. He looked from his cousin, to the toppled dresser, and back again.
"Uh," Percy began, "Hey, Nico."
"Hey, Percy. Sorry about this. I was trying to get to my cabin. Shadow traveling can be inaccurate sometimes." Percy nodded slowly and looked at the mess on the floor. Nico seemed to register his mistake for the first time. "Oh, hey, sorry about that. I'll clean it up." he said, bending down and picking up clothes that had fallen out. No one used that dresser, but there were a few camp T-shirts inside. Percy helped him right it. The dinner horn sounded right as they closed the last drawer.
"Good timing," Nico said. Percy eyed him. The son of Hades didn't look much different than he had a few months ago. Maybe slightly less tired, which was good. Percy turned and started walking toward the door. The younger demigod followed him.
"So, what are you doing here?" he asked Percy.
"I could ask you the same thing," Percy replied.
"Came for dinner," Nico explained, shrugging.
Percy nodded, lapsing into his own explanation. "Annabeth is in San Francisco for a few days and I needed to get my mind off of… everything." Nico nodded. He was the only other person who really had any idea what Percy and Annabeth had been through in Tartarus. Percy had worried about him when he'd gotten out. At least he'd had Annabeth. Nico had'd really had anyone. Well, he'd had Hazel, his sister, but, Percy supposed, it wasn't the same.
"So, how have you and Annabeth been?" Nico asked cautiously, like he was afraid Percy would fall into a flashback and become a screaming lunatic at any moment.
"It's getting better," Percy told him.
Nico nodded. "Good."
Before the campfire, Percy went to his cabin and IMed his mother, who was glad to hear he was okay, but was otherwise used to him leaving at all hours of the day and night. When he'd finished with his mom, Percy Iris Messaged Annabeth. She was sitting in the living room, reading a book, or, at least, trying to. Her nine year old brothers sat on the other couch, playing video games rather loudly. Thankfully, Annabeth noticed the IM almost immediately. She smiled at Percy and shushed her brothers, who ignored her, too absorbed in their game to listen. They hadn't even noticed the message.
"Hi, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said.
Percy and Annabeth talked for a few minutes, practically yelling over all the noise in order to be heard. They gave up pretty quickly though. Percy told her he'd IM her later, when it was quieter.
"Okay. Talk to you soon. Love you." Annabeth answered.
"Okay. Love you too. Bye!" Percy swiped his hand through the Iris Message and made his way out to the campfire.
They did all the usual camp numbers, which somehow never seemed to sound better, but Percy didn't mind. He sat next to Thalia and Grover. Nico had left after dinner. When the fire was dwindling and the s'mores were all eaten, the campers started making their way back to their cabins for lights out. Percy soon followed suit, dodging a few questions from the kids from his sword class along the way.
He IMed Annabeth again. Thankfully, she was alone this time. They talked for about an hour, exchanging stories from their day. When the conversation trailed off, Annabeth sighed.
"I really miss you, Percy," she said.
"I miss you too. Camp's not the same without you," he told her.
"You're not going to sleep tonight are you?" she asked.
"Probably not. Neither are you."
Annabeth sighed. "It's just, no matter how good the day is, everything goes bad at night. Especially when you're not here. I'm scared to even close my eyes without you."
Percy sighed too. "I know. Just a few more days."
"Yeah, and, not counting this one, one more night. Percy, I don't know if I'll make it."
"You will. You're strong."
She sighed. "I love you, Percy. I'd sit and talk to you all night, but my stepmom's calling for dinner."
"I love you too, Annabeth," Percy replied, "IM me tonight if you need to. I'll be here."
She smiled. "I know. Bye, Seaweed Brain."
"Bye," Percy replied, smiling. She swiped her hand through the mist and the IM disappeared. He sat down on his bed, deciding what to do. He could try to sleep. He really was tired, but he knew that he'd be plagued by nightmares. He didn't want to end up screaming his head off and waking the whole camp just when they were starting to treat him normally again. Percy decided that he'd just stay awake. Maybe he'd head over to the beach again.
He stood up and walked over to his window, staring out it, at the view of Long Island Sound. He stood there, letting his mind wander. The cabin was quiet except for the peaceful gurgle of the salt water fountain. After a few minutes, Percy realized something: he was bored.
Honestly, he shouldn't have been surprised. He was an ADHD son of Poseidon, who'd been to hell and back. He wasn't supposed to be able to sit around and do nothing. It wasn't in his nature. Spending another night under the ocean was sounding better and better, but something held him back. Annabeth. He'd told her to call him if she needed him. What if she did? Sound didn't travel well underwater. If she IMed him while he was down there, would she be able to hear him?
After another few minutes, Percy decided he needed to do something, anything. He looked around the cabin. It was really clean, considering Percy was the one staying in it. Tyson had cleaned it up the last time he'd stayed there, which had been for a few days over the summer, while the Seven had been on their quest to stop Gaea. Percy had stayed in the infirmary when he'd gotten back and he'd been staying at home in Manhattan ever since. The only mess was from today: dirty clothes from this morning and armor spread across the floor. Percy cleaned it up in less than five minutes and was bored again. He sighed and threw himself down on his bed, exasperated. The beach was looking better and better…
It had been maybe an hour...
Just as Percy sat up, ready to wander around camp and hopefully avoid being eaten by Harpies, the air in front of him shimmered: an Iris Message. Percy smiled at Annabeth. It looked like she was in a bathroom. She'd apparently made a rainbow in the mist from a shower.
He talked to Annabeth all night. Most of the time, their conversation had no real subject, but it was just nice to see her and hear her laugh.
The next thing Percy knew, his alarm clock read, 7:18am. Breakfast was in less than an hour. He and Annabeth had made it through their second night apart, and who knew, maybe the third night would be survivable too.
There! What'd ya think?
Please review, and let me know if you liked it or not, and also if you want me to turn this into a two-shot.
If you haven't already, check out my other story, Long Road Ahead. This one-shot was based off of chapter five of that story.
Thanks for reading! :D