It's Cat. Hope you like this. It's an AU, yes. And a one-shot. Percy/Annabeth even if I hate her... OOC-ness! Enjoy.
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The sea was restless.
The sea churned and shifted as the waves grew and groaned as one.
The sea felt the future. She was unsettled. Worried. Scared…
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Part 1
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'I'm crying for another chance while looking at my future in the mirror. I really hate myself, I tell my lover as we lie in bed, all curled up and sweet. And I really, really hate what is to come.'
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Percy Jackson, the Prince of the Sea woke with a start. He rubbed his head sleepily, and swaggered to the balcony. The sea crashed up against the rocks with a mighty crash and a wall of mist sprayed upwards, sending a cool breeze up towards the drowsy prince, ruffling his shoulder length black hair and causing him to arch back, as if at a lover's kiss.
"What's wrong," he asked to the sea, as if it could hear him. His voice was throaty from disuse, his blue eyes changing to match the mood of the ocean. (Swoons)
He stared out for a moment longer. Disturbed at his love's odd behavior, he grabbed his robe from his dresser and headed down the grand main staircase and turned down a rather inconspicuous doorway leading down to the kitchen.
He wasn't surprised to see his father there, staring out the floor to ceiling window that covered the entire back of the house. He wasn't always home, being a god and all, but he visited enough for Percy to know he liked to pop up at the most unusual times.
"You can feel it too?" Poseidon asked. The prince nodded gravely and slid into the seat next to his father. The differences between them were few and far inbetween. They both had deep black hair that shone indigo in the right light, blue eyes that changed color according to the sea and strong yet lean muscles that were built for speed rather than macho. The king, though, had sun-kissed skin with the worn and scarred hands of a sailor. Percy's skin was kissed yet unscarred, as if a younger version of his father.
"What's wrong with her?" He whispered. He had never felt this way before. So… afraid. An emotion very much unknown to him.
"She had a vision. The future has her wound up. She's dreading what's to come." The king told him. "It's time for the Prophecy to be fulfilled. You will leave for Camp Half-Blood tomorrow morning. Get packed. I'll go get your cousin, he'll be coming too."
Percy nodded sagely. His destiny was just beyond the horizon.
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"We have to hurry!" Mr. D was particularly out of character today. It was a Monday at Camp Half Blood, and the demigods were up and about doing their weekly chores and rushing to their classes and activities. They all noticed Mr. D's strange behavior. He wasn't exactly a nice kind of guy and seeing him worrying and barking orders to clean this and that was… different and unexpected. Annabeth Chase and Grover Underwood brought this up with Chiron.
"He's trying to impress the visitor the Camp will be receiving today." Chiron laughed, "A powerful demigod – a child of the Big Three, raised by the gods themselves. Mr. D was ordered by Zeus to make a good impression, and if he does he gets 50 years knocked off his 'sentence' here."
Thaila popped up behind them. "A child of the Big…"
"Three, yes. I imagine he or she is here for you too Thaila. You both are, after all, candidates for the Prophecy."
The three friends soaked in this new and surprising information. Finally Annabeth spoke up, "Which of the Big Three?"
Chiron shrugged, which was an odd look for a centaur. "I was told very little."
Mr. D scurried over to Chiron and scowled. "Why aren't you getting ready? The bathrooms need to be cleaned, the dinning hall tables need to be scrubbed the bottom of the lake needs to be polished…"
"It looks fine to me cousin D." A male voice pepped in. Mr. D waved him off angrily. "What do you know, boy, this is my one chance to- epp."
Yes, the mighty god of wine 'epped'. You would too if you were in his shoes.
Behind him stood two males. One was about 16, with black hair and blue eyes and a mysterious grin on his handsome face. The other was shorter and about 12, 13 (How old was Nico again?) with deep onyx hair and dark black eyes that sparkled with mischief. Both were wearing black and had a weapon on them, the eldest a bow and the smaller a sword. The auras around them were unique, much like Thaila's herself. They demanded respect.
"M- master Percy! M- Mr. Nico! So nice to see you again, of course. I trust my father and uncles are well?"
"Of course, cousin." Percy smiled, "It's nice to see you too."
"My dad told me to give you this, Cousin D." Nico grinned while fishing something out of his backpack. He handed him a note. "Uncle Zeus was off settling something with some rouge Chimeras, so my dad wrote you this."
Mr. D paled drastically after scanning the note and eyed the two boys as if the fate of the world -meaning hisworld- rested on their shoulders. Chiron cleared his throat and he snapped out of it. "Sorry, um, Chiron, my I introduce you to Percy, Son of Poseidon and Nico, Son of Hades."
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"You must be Chiron, we've heard much about you," the younger demigod, Nico, said. The aforementioned centaur was still recovering from shock, but Thaila answered for him anyway.
"Yes, this is him," She said, going into her, what Grover called, 'ancient Greek princess alter-ego mode', "this is Grover Underwood. The girl on my left is Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena… and I am Thaila, daughter of Zeus. I apologize, for I was not aware of your being, cousins."
"No need for apologizes, Daughter of Zeus. We, too, were not aware of your being until recently," Percy, the eldest, said, and amused smile on his face. "We have come to address you about the prophecy, which may concern one of us three. Your father, our uncle, regrets not training you as his brothers have done us, and so we are here to teach you what we know. You are, after all, the eldest of us."
His audience, Nico and Mr. D included, blinked in surprise. Percy's smile turned into a soft, yet not unkind, smirk. "I am 14, and you Thaila are 15, correct?" They had all assumed he was older, because, frankly, his attitude and appearance were very mature for his young age. Thaila nodded blankly. Chiron quickly cleared his throat and smiled at the two visitors.
"We are please you are here! Please, relax and make yourself at home. Anything you need will be at you disposal, would you like a tour?" He said, gesturing towards the cabins, half hidden behing the house.
"Yes, please."
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-6 months later-
"Push upward with the sword! Grip it hard; don't be afraid to hit me, cousin!" Percy said as they fought across the Training arena. Thaila grinded her teeth in determination and aimed a strike upward as instructed, but her cousin was two steps ahead as always. He twisted his sword to match hers and landed a kick to Thaila's knees. She tumbled slightly, and Percy took advantage and took one of her arms, pulled forward and hit precise place on her unprotected neck with his bare hand. Her spine when rigid at the blows and she collapsed into her backside with a thump.
"You're being predictable. When I point something out, store it in your mind. Then, when you have the time, perfect it and it can be used as a weapon later." Percy explained and held out a hand to help her up. She took it gratefully and grabbed her water bottle from the stands. Annabeth, Grover and Nico watched from the stands as the two got into position and started fighting again. Annabeth's eyes glazed over as see watched, her eyes focused on Percy. She was, though she wouldn't admit it, harboring quiet a crush on the handsome blue-eyed man. He was so mysterious, and, unlike Nico, refused to drop his ice-prince attitude. But, there were moments when his kind personality shone through his hard mask. Those were the moments Annabethfoundherself falling for- badly. Nico noticed her smothering glaze and tugged on her sleeve.
"You're drooling." She jumped and gave him a sheepish look. He smiled sadly at her.
"Do you love him?"
Startled, she shook her head hurriedly, "no, no, no. I mean-" she faltered, "it's just a crush."
Nico nodded gravely and sighed. "It's for the best." He paused, looking thoughtful. "Do you know, Annabeth, why most of of the daughters of the Big Three join Artemis and the Hunters?"
She gave him an odd look. "No, why?"
He sighed. "Because, Annabeth, all the children of the Big Three... are incapable of real love."
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Annabeth stared at the younger boy. "Incapable of love? That's impossible."
Nico shook his head. "Like I am only able to love the darkness, and Thaila can only love the sky... Percy can only love his ocean, his sea... she, is his only love."
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Part 2
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'Singing out loud, not caring who hears. I'm not being a rebel- I'm saving my soul. Saving my soul from the world.'
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-4 months later-
"Good job," Percy panted, out of breath for the first time since training started. But Thaila wasn't cutting any slack for the man who's been beating her up for the past 10 months. She swiftly switched the direction of her blow, aiming for the stomach instead of the shoulder. Percy managed to block it, but Thaila was ready for it and drove her sword upward, blocking Percy's sword with her silver shield. She stopped a second before it hit his head, and sneered at her younger cousin triumphantly. Percy returned it with a smile.
"You've passed by course. Congrats, Thaila." He said. The stepped apart and, to her shock, he wrapped his arm around her in a half-hug. "I'm proud of you."
Thaila extremely pleased with herself. She passed, and she broke through Percy's shell! She grinned back at him and embraced him fully before turning to Nico, who was waiting for their stealth lessons.
As she walked away, Percy's smile got bigger and he poured his water over his head and instantly felt his aches and pains heal.
"You're smiling." A voice came from his left. He turned and saw Annabeth leaning against a wooden dummy, a calulating look on her pretty face. She has her mother's looks, Percy found himself thinking, the look of a god. The look turned into a smile. Beautiful, he thought firmly, as if trying to also convince himself of something, trying to prove something wrong.
He stepped towards her, his smile wider still, "yes, I am actually."
Her smiler got wider too and looked up at him. They were standing close now, his lithe body shadowing her petite form. His face lowered to hers and brushed against her cheek.
"Stop teasing me," she breathed.
"I want to give it a chance. I want-" He murmured into her ear. She shivered, "I can't promise... but... I want to try..."
"Then," she said, leaning over to look him in the eye, "let's."
She leaned up and kissed him full on the lips, letting him take over. They melted together perfectly and they both let go, following their instincts back to Percy's cabin and into his bed.
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Thaila collasped onto her knees over Luke's bloody body. She won. They won. The era of the gods would continue in peace. She smiled bitterly. Finally.
A hand fell on her shoulder and she looked up to see Nico. His face was twisted with pain.
"What's wrong?" He turned his head and she followed his glaze. Annabeth was crying over a body.
Her eyes teared.
"Percy!"
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"He was the brother I never had." Thaila said. It was a small funeral, consisting only of Percy's parents, Nico, Thaila, Grover, Annabeth and Chiron. They stood in a circle around his coffin. It was closed.
"He died for me." Annabeth said. "It's my fault. I let my guard down. Luke-"
"No." Nico scolded. "Percy when down for his beliefs. He died fighting for his life. He died for you, yes, but also for all of us. He died for honor. It is no one's fault."
Annabeth stared at him for a moment and nodded grimly.
Percy's mother patted her shoulder. "He loved you, you know."
Annabeth looked towards the sunset, then met Nico, Thaila and finally, Poseidon's eyes.
"No," she whispered. "He tried, but he can only love his ocean, his sea. She, is his only love..."
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The End
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