Camp Halfblood was at its finest. More Halfbloods than ever before thrived in this safe haven, filling the few dozen cabins built on the edge of the huge forest. It had been over half a year since Gaea had threatened to destroy the earth's surface and nothing abnormal had happened since. That is, aside from all the ordinary hero stuff like killing monsters and small quests. Chiron sat on the porch of the Big House with Annabeth Chase and surveyed the activity before them. Annabeth kept looking out over Halfblood Hill, trying for a glimpse of Percy as he was due any minute to return from a trip to retrieve a new demigod.
"What time is it now?" she asked impatiently.
Chiron chuckled, "About two minutes since the last time you asked. Be patient my dear, they'll be back soon."
Annabeth was unsatisfied. "They should be back by now; they were due here twenty minutes ago. Maybe something has happened."
"Perhaps," was all Chiron said in reply, leaving Annabeth even more worried. She scanned the horizon for the millionth time, not expecting anything new, but as her eyes crossed the top of the hill, she grew excited.
"There! Chiron, they're here! They're back!" She was already ten yards away when she suddenly heard Chiron charging behind her. As he thundered past she pondered his sudden interest. Chiron didn't usually act so enthusiastic. Maybe he too missed Percy. But her heart froze in terror when she heard Chiron cry out: "Heroes to the top of the hill! We have a major injury!"
Sure enough, when Annabeth studied the scene, she saw that one of the two figures on the hill was practically dragging the other over the top. "Percy, what have you done to the new hero?" she thought to herself in mild alarm. She kept running until she got to the bottom of the hill, where she looked up to see Chiron taking the limp boy onto his back and carrying him back toward the Big House. Only then did she realize the extent of the situation. It wasn't the new kid on Chiron's back, it was Percy. Frozen from shock, all Annabeth could do was watch as Chiron again ran past her back the way they had come. Finally, she overcame her initial surprise.
"Oh gods," she said. That didn't even begin to cover how she felt. A cold numbness spread throughout her body at the thought of losing Percy. She had begun to plan her whole life around him, and now he looked like he might be leaving her for good. Unable to cope with the idea, she simply sunk to her knees and watched as Chiron entered the Big House, followed by some campers from the Apollo cabin.
Everyone had forgotten the new kid. He stood alone on the top of Halfblood Hill, looking down upon the camp. He wasn't really in much better shape than Percy was. Exhaustion was written all over him and he more stumbled than walked his way down to the camp. He paused as he saw Annabeth kneeling in the grass, staring at the Big House. "He's fine," he croaked out, barely above a whisper. Annabeth was thrown out of her mental coma and stood to face the boy before her. She immediately felt a little guilty that nobody had done anything for him; the poor guy looked like he was about to collapse, but he spoke again, "He just got hit by a club in the head two miles back."
"Just a club to the head, huh?" Annabeth sighed. At least that meant he wasn't dead for now, though the possibility still remained. She thought about what he'd said. "Did you say 'two miles'?" The boy nodded. "How'd you get from there to here with him unconscious?"
He looked at here like that should be obvious, which made her upset as a child of Athena. "I carried him," he answered simply.
Annabeth just stared at him. He looked athletic, but definitely not like someone who went around carrying people for two miles easily. He must have had some incredible willpower, which was surprising considering he was new to all of this. Most new kids were pretty fragile when they first started. "What's your name?" she asked.
The boy gave her one last look, this one full of sorrow, as if bringing up his name brought back all the memories of his life before all this started, then said, "Ethan," before he passed out.
. . .
Percy awoke with one of the worst headaches he had ever had. "Gods," he moaned, "someone get the number of that truck." Before he knew what hit him, Annabeth had thrown her arms around his neck. "Whoa! Gentle with the head there," he cried as she caused the headache to spike.
"You idiot!" she cried, as tears ran onto his shoulder. "I thought I might have lost you."
With effort, Percy managed to put an arm around her as she cried. "Hey, I'm alright," he said, even though he felt like he had just overdosed on ambrosia. "Honestly, it takes more than a Laistrogonian to take me out. The thing just got a lucky hit on me." Suddenly Percy went rigid. "Oh gods, Ethan! Is he okay?" he asked with genuine concern. "Did he make it?"
Annabeth pulled back from her embrace and nodded, "Yeah, he showed up dragging your unconscious self over Halfblood Hill. He apparently managed to fend of the monster and carry you a couple miles all on his own."
Percy noted a slight awe in her tone, and he couldn't blame her. That was quite a feat. "Where is he? I should probably thank him."
"After we got you in here he passed out from exhaustion," she explained. "It's been a few hours since you two arrived, and he hasn't woken up yet."
Percy nodded gently in understanding. He felt like he needed a few more good hours of sleep too, or maybe days.
"Get some rest, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said, smiling. "I'll stay right here." With that she lay her head down next his on the pillow and rested her hand on his chest. Her touch still sent shivers down his spine, but the familiarity of it eased him quickly back to sleep. His dreams for the rest of night consisted of giants chasing him through way-too-loud rock concerts that were giving him a headache – it was good to be home.