Disclaimer: Rick Riordan owns the characters, world, and plot of Percy Jackson. I simply expanded on it in the best way I could.
"Look, Travis, I know Cabin 11 is the 'pranking cabin,' but that doesn't mean you can put green dye in Cabin Four's shampoo bottles." Annabeth argued with Travis at the counselor meeting.
"Yeah," Katie Gardner, the Cabin Four counselor, said with a glare. "This," she gestured angrily to her dyed neon green hair and hands angrily, "is not funny."
"Seems pretty funny to me," Connor whispered to his brother with a snicker.
Travis wiggled his eyebrows tauntingly. "You could say you Demeter kids have green thumbs!" He winked and gave a thumbs up to Katie.
Her clear green eyes livid, the usually-peaceful-but-fiery daughter of Demeter jumped out of her chair, which fell to the ground with a clatter. She only sat when Annabeth stood up, picked up the chair, and gently guided Katie back down to sit.
"Let's all remain calm, okay?" Annabeth warned everyone with pointed look. "Travis, Connor, no more dye-related pranks. In fact, let's lay off the pranking for awhile, okay?" With a sigh, Annabeth sat down in her chair. "Next order of business, Piper?" she asked her friend, who was sitting next to her.
Piper blinked, and then sat up straight, picking up a crumpled piece of paper. Scanning it, she said, "Uh… strawberry profits."
"Right," Annabeth said with a yawn, running a hand through mussed up blonde curls. Katie and Piper shared a concerned glance. Their friend seemed really tired.
"So, Pollux," Annabeth looked to the son of Dionysus. "How are you and the satyrs doing with -"
Annabeth was interrupted as the door swung open, letting in a breathless looking Rachel (who was had just arrived a few days ago after her school had ended for summer break).
Rachel tucked a stray red curl behind her ear. "Annabeth, phone for you. It's Sally."
Annabeth stood up with wide eyes and followed Rachel out. Before leaving, she glanced over her shoulder in time to catch Piper and Katie's encouraging looks.
Annabeth followed Rachel down the hall quickly. What was going on? Did Sally hear news of Percy? Was he okay? "She didn't want to talk to anyone else?" she asked breathlessly as she walked through the door into Chiron's small office, where the phone was.
Rachel shook her head. "She asked specifically for you," she said with a small smile, then patted Annabeth's shoulder reassuringly and left the room. Annabeth took a deep breath and held the phone to her ear. "Sally?"
Small sniffles and hiccups were coming from the other end of the line. "Annabeth?" Sally said breathlessly.
"Yes!" Annabeth cried out. "Oh my gods, what's happened?" Annabeth was close to tears already. It was amazing and perplexing how scattered her emotions had been ever since Percy had gone. "Why are you crying? Did something-"
Sally interrupted her with a loud 'shush.' "Annabeth, sweetie, he called." Her voice cracked. Annabeth breath caught. "Last night," Sally continued with a deep breath, "Paul and I were already asleep. We didn't wake up when the phone rang. Probably because we could sleep through… anything." Sally gave a half-hearted laugh. Annabeth could hear endless disappointment that she hadn't been there to answer the call from her son. "And he said… well, just hear yourself. We got it on voicemail."
Annabeth heard some crackling noises on the other end of the line, and all of sudden she heard it. His voice. Although his voice was coming through two lines, Annabeth hung on to every word.
"Mom," Percy's voice cracked. "Hey, I'm alive." Annabeth could hear the smile in his voice, and she nearly broke down in tears again. He's okay. Her best friend was okay. Percy continued, "Hera put me to sleep for awhile, and then she took my memory, and…" Percy hesitated. "Anyway, I'm okay. I'm sorry. I'm on a quest-" Percy stopped abruptly, and at first Annabeth wondered why. Oh, she realized. Percy doesn't want us to know he's on a quest that could kill him. Annabeth almost rolled her eyes. Really, her boyfriend always seemed to be getting into trouble. But she loved him anyways. She just wanted him to come home. "I'll make it home. I promise." Annabeth's heart skipped a beat. She remembered the most recent prophecy Rachel had predicted. One of the lines was 'an oath to keep with a final breath.' Was the great prophecy already starting? Was this the promise the prophecy mentioned? Oh, gods. Annabeth cursed under her breath. What was wrong with Hera? Yes, Annabeth knew something big was stirring, but that doesn't mean the gods can just wreck Annabeth's life. Percy continued then, his voice thick with emotion, "Love you."
Annabeth closed her eyes as a click sounded that Percy had hung up then. Although Percy's love had technically been directed to Sally, she couldn't help but feel that it was meant for her.
"Annabeth?" Sally's soft voice came on the other side of the line. "You know what this means, don't you? Baby, Percy's safe. And he remembers." The dam broke inside of her, and Annabeth burst into tears, sobbing into the phone as a wave of emotions, kept inside since the morning her boyfriend disappeared, overwhelmed her.
Rachel rushed in, took the phone from Annabeth, spoke a few rushed words to Sally, and hung up the phone. By now Annabeth had collected herself, sniffling and blinking.
Annabeth walked out the door, followed by Rachel. Walking out, Annabeth saw the counselors leaving the Big House. Piper and Katie were dawdling and, on seeing Annabeth, rushed to their friend.
"We ended the meeting early," Piper said quickly as she grabbed a tissue and handed it to Annabeth. "What's wrong?"
"Is Percy…?" Katie, who - unlike Piper - had known Percy, asked with a pale face.
Rachel, too, looked very sick and worried. Her lips were pursed as they waited for Annabeth to collect her thoughts and answer.
Annabeth shook her head, managing a weak smile. "He called Sally last night. He… he's fine." Rachel and Katie breathed a sigh of relief as Piper gave Annabeth a large smile.
"WHOOP!" someone yelled.
The four girls' heads turned to the window, where Travis stood grinning. Behind him stood Connor, Will, Clarisse, Lou Ellen, Pollux, Jason, and basically all the other cabin counselors.
"What?" Travis asked. "We knew something was going on -"
"So we had to find out!" Connor completed his brother's sentence.
"And we were right!" Travis said gleefully. "Percy's okay!" The other counselors cheered happily, even Clarisse had to smile. The counselors rushed into the Big House, enveloping Annabeth into a large group hug. She, half-laughing and half-crying, was unable to speak, even as her friends came up and congratulated her.
After a few minutes, Annabeth found herself squished between her brother Malcolm (he had attended the earlier meeting because he would soon be promoted to Cabin 6 counselor once Annabeth left) and Katie Gardner, whose clear eyes were filled with tears of joy and relief. Malcolm gave her a one armed hug. Katie grabbed her hand, smiling.
"He's safe," Katie mouthed over the loud chatter of demigods. The Big House had become more and more crowded as demigods streamed in, hearing all the commotion. The celebration had started to turn into the party, with several people bringing in food. Pollux had started to play some music, and people were laughing and chatting with the most excitement Annabeth had seen in a while – specifically since Percy had been back. Annabeth nodded at her friend, giving her a weak smile. Then Travis and Connor pulled Katie away into the crowd.
Annabeth took a deep breath, tears leaking out of her eyes as she turned to her brother, who gave her a full on hug. She sighed quietly into his shoulder, wetting up his orange tee shirt. "I told you," he whispered, his eyes starting to tear up despite himself. Only Annabeth could hear him. "I told you everything would be alright."
Annabeth buried her face in her brother's shirt, sniffling the last of her tears. But unlike the tears she had shed for the last few months (in private, of course), these cries were accompanied by a small smile.
"He's safe," Malcolm muttered, but Annabeth couldn't tell if the statement was directed to her or himself. "He's okay, and you're okay."
And he remembers, the daughter of Athena added silently in her mind. He remembers. Percy remembered enough to call his mother, and say hello, and if he remembered that, he must at least remember something about her.
His best friend. His girl friend. His other half. Someone who had thought about him almost every single minute of every single day that he had been gone, though it hurt to talk about.
He had to remember her. He had to. Maybe not everything about them, but they'd get through it.
They had to.
But what if Hera's powers worked differently on him, a part of her worried. Maybe that is the cruel fate of it. He might remember his mother, but that didn't mean he remembered Annabeth.
Before her mind could start racing in a million different direction, Malcolm patted her shoulder. "He's safe," her half-brother repeated.
Annabeth was silent for a moment, overwhelmed. She gave a slight nod into his shoulder, then pulled back to look him in the eye. Malcolm had known his sister for a long time, so he could tell how dazed Annabeth's grey eyes, identical to his own, very well. Annabeth was still so shocked that she only managed to croak out three obvious words.
"Malcolm, he called."
A/N: I'm willing to put another short extra chapter if anyone wants. Thanks for reading, and please review!