Chapter One – A Series of Unexpected Events
A/N - I do not own any of these characters nor do I own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This story takes place six months after TLO.
Percy POV
Six months after the fall of the Titan threat, all was back to normal. Mine and Annabeth's relationship was going great, but I was having a restricted amount of time to see her since she had taken on the redesigning/rebuilding of Olympus. I was currently away from camp attending high school, while Annabeth was back at camp, so she could be nearer to Olympus and her brothers and sisters, who had seemingly teamed up to take on the workload. This weekend I was planning on surprising her at Camp Half-Blood and taking her out for a fun weekend to take her mind off the plans. I was due to leave right after school and was I in for a surprise. I was just minutes away from heading away from my mom and Paul's apartment, and was walking in to wish them farewell for the weekend.
"Are you all packed Percy?" My mom asked me, even though I had been packed for a while, as I was excited to head back to camp.
"Yep, I am planning on heading out soon. I was actually coming to wish you and Paul both farewell for the weekend and to tell you I would see you both again Sunday evening late. Where is Paul by the way?"
"He said he had a ton of papers to grade. He had to fill in for another teacher, since they caught ill, and has fallen behind on his own grading now." My mom responded to my question.
"Well, you'll be sure to tell him I said goodbye? I am ready to head toward camp."
"Sure, I will tell him you said that. I hope you have a fun weekend Percy, and I'll see you Sunday."
"Bye Mom," I said giving her a hug, and I was off.
I drove the ten minute drive to camp, parking in the very small lot, seeing as most of the half-bloods are either not old enough or not trusted enough by their mortal family to have a vehicle. I walked over to Peleus, stroking his head before walking through the barrier toward my cabin. No one had spotted me on my way to my cabin to drop off my belongings, so I figured I might be able to surprise Annabeth. I left my cabin, making a beeline straight for the Athena cabin. I knocked on the front door.
"Hey Percy," Malcolm, one of Annabeth's siblings spoke with a slightly shocked look on his face. I guess that should have tipped my off to the fact that something was wrong, but I just thought the look was one of a good surprise in seeing me.
"Hey Malcolm, is Annabeth in?" I asked.
"Nope, she said she needed to get some fresh air for a change. She has been cooped up working on these plans for too long."
"Okay, I'll just look around camp then, thanks Malcolm." He looked as if he was going to say something, but just nodded and closed the door. I started to walk along the edge of camp, trying to not be seen yet looking everywhere for Annabeth, but she was nowhere to be found. I then figured that she could be where she and I always go when I am here, the ocean.
I walked toward to ocean, to a place where we often go when we want to get away from the hubbub of camp. I rounded the few trees that block the view of the beach, and I saw it. Annabeth and a guy from Apollo's cabin were in the sand making out. It took me a few second to fully process what was happening. Then Malcolm came sprinting toward the beach, shouting Annabeth's name as if in warning. She snapped out of her makeout-session with the son of Apollo and her eyes snapped toward Malcolm, whose eyes had shifted toward me, when he finally saw me. Annabeth turned around and her eyes locked onto mine.
"Percy! What are you doing here?" She asked
At this point I was only barely containing my rage – oblivious to what I was doing to the waters near the beach.
"I trusted you! And you cheated on me behind my back!" I yelled.
"Percy...I'm sorry…" She tried to begin her apologies, but I was already walking the other direction. Somewhere in between the ocean and our major river that runs near my cabin, she caught up with me. I would not deal with someone that I could not trust. So many thoughts were going through my mind at that point I just wanted to leave. Annabeth had just broken my heart.
"Percy, please wait. I'm sorry, without you being around as much the past few months, I begin falling for Blaine. I know it is not fair to you, and I know what I have done is wrong…" She tried to make reason out of the situation, but there was none to be found and I interrupted her.
"Stop talking! I gave up everything I truly valued for you! I declined Zeus offer to become an immortal and work alongside my father for all time simply to be with you! I cannot believe I ever let you overcome my desire to work in the ocean with my father forever! We are through, Annabeth, because my trust is something that is hard to lose and even harder to gain back. Leave now!" I had not noticed but massive amount of water from the river and even more water had begun coming from the ocean as I slowly was losing control of my hold on my anger.
"Not until you hear me out perc.." She tried to reason once more, but I had simply had enough, and cut her off.
"I said now!" I unleashed all powers of water I had built up. Annabeth's eyes went wide as she ran as quickly as she could. She got absolutely drenched by the river's water as it seemingly pushed her almost the entire length of camp away from me. However, no water from the ocean attacked her. I had not even had time to wonder about this as instantaneously my father appeared next to me. He put a calming hand on my shoulder.
"Come with me," he said as his grip on my tightened slightly and we were transported to his palace under the sea.
"Percy, I was having a discussion with my new architect, about how to best redesign the game room as it was trashed by Oceanus, when I felt a large mass of the ocean lift and transform ready to attack. I immediately stopped it, but was curious as to what you were doing, as someone could have been seriously injured. The last thing we need on Olympus right now is a quarrel between parents over a quarrel among their children."
"Sorry dad, but Annabeth made me lose control. I came to camp to surprise her an hour ago, and came upon her and Blaine, a son of Apollo, making out. I turned down everything I've ever valued to be with her, and a few months later she cheats on me." I explained with a combination of anger and sadness.
Poseidon thought long and hard for a few seconds before answering. "Son, stay here for a couple of weeks. The water will help clear your mind, and calm you down. I'll Iris message your mom and Chiron to tell them what happened and that you'll be here for a decent amount of time. Just stay here and train and get past Annabeth. You are free to stay here as long as you like."
"Thanks dad that is very kind of you. Almost everywhere I go reminds me of her, with the exception of here, as she has never been here. I will train and learn to better control my water powers and my anger, so that something like this never happens again. Will your wife be okay with me being here?" I replied
"Well, Percy, I know what it is like to be let down by those who you trust the most in your life. I cannot tell you how many times something similar has happened to me. The only way to get past it is time progressing, sadly. I will talk to my general of my forces and tell him about you. Feel free to train with all of my forces, and earn experience fighting underwater. While you are here, act as if you are at home. I will talk to my wife and let her see reason in this instance, and will be back later on to check on you. For now, get settled in, and I'll see you later on."
Poseidon's POV (Four weeks later)
"Poseidon, how much longer is that boy going to be here?" My wife, Amphitrite asked rather venomously.
"Percy will be here as long as it takes for him to move on in his life." To tell you the truth, I could not be happier to have him stay here for a few more months or even the next couple of years. The water takes his mind off of things, making him happier. When he is happy the rest of the army is happy, and life is so much more enjoyable in general when they are happy. Not to mention that, he has moved up quite quickly through the ranks of the army, and is by far the best fighter in the army thanks to that dip in the River Styx.
"Hasn't he imposed on us long enough? I am ready for things to get back to normal." Amphitrite responded.
"Amphitrite, he will stay as long as it takes. I know this must be somewhat awkward for you, as it is my son with a different woman, but he was the savior of Olympus just a little over a half-year ago. Another reason I have not pressed the issue any further is that Oceanus is stirring up trouble again in the ocean, ever since I took back my palace when Kronus fell. As Percy is one of the best fighters alive, and is good at fighting underwater, I want him nearby if Oceanus was inclined to strike again." And with that I walked away leaving my wife to digest my words.
(Two weeks later)
"Lord Poseidon," one of my commanders of the army said to me. "Our scouts have confirmed, Oceanus has launched his attack toward us, they will be here in less than six hours."
"Thank you, Delphin; do you know where Perseus is? We must prepare for battle at once." He pointed in a general direction toward his current residence, and I swam that way.
I got to Percy's place and knocked on his door. He must have sensed me coming, for he was ready with the door when I got there.
"Father, what's wrong?" He must have been able to read my face, as he had already cut to the core of the conversation.
"Oceanus is soon to attack. We have been thinking that this was a possibility for a few days now, and it appears our thinking was correct. You have a decision to make Percy. I promised you that you could stay here as long as you want, but if you are to stay here I would prefer your help in the battle. If you want to go back to the mainland though, I understand your logic in that also."
"Of course I will stay and fight dad. This time let us send Oceanus to Tartarus and make sure he never attacks again. Just tell me what part of the army to join up with and I will fight alongside them." He responded with a slight smile.
I gave him a smile, "Percy, I don't want you to simply fight alongside them, I want you to lead the whole army into battle. Tyson is the commander of the Cyclopes, Delphin is the commander of the dolphins, but I need a commander of everyone so that we are all on the same page. I want you to be that leader. The only person you will answer to is me in the battle."
"What about your son Triton? I feel like if we could work together we could protect the city well, but I do not want to boss him around." Percy asked.
"Triton can fight alongside you. You and him should both pick off the 'bigger threats' and leave the smaller threats to the rest of the army." I responded.
"Thanks dad, I accept your offer. I will get the army prepared for battle to the best of my ability." And with that he swam off toward the rally spot of our forces.