Dearest Percy,
I figured out that putting feelings into words is better than keeping them bottled up and soon exploding. And no one else understands. Well, maybe Jason, but he can't even remember when his birthday is, much less how the Hades he got here.
So, how's it been going wherever you are? Many say you're a lost cause, but I won't give up on you. I'll never give up on you. No matter what.
Things here at Camp Half Blood are worse than better. We didn't realize until you left how much of a leader you really were—are. We're lost without you! Especially me. But that's besides the point.
I wonder if you remember me; or camp; or your mom. Sally and I have been really close ever since you left. (And sometimes that constituted of stealing Black Jack in the middle of the night to visit her. Just a minor detail, though.) I swear on the River Styx, Percy, if you don't remember us, I might just kill something.
Plan on more of these letters; I don't think you're coming home anytime soon.
With all my love and Wise Girl-iness,
Annabeth
She securely sealed the letter in a crisp envelope, then unlocked the secret drawer of her desk and carefully placed it inside. Even if she couldn't send those letters, she'd give them to him when she could.
My Seaweed Brain,
Letter number two. I think it's quite an accomplishment that I haven't broke yet. I feel as if I'm a dam just waiting to break.
Today the Stolls pulled another one of their pranks. It somehow involved pink hair dye and the Ares cabin, though I don't know the details. You could probably guess.
Sometimes I think they're just doing it to lighten the mood. Everyone's so glum and I can't stand it. I can't stand it because I feel like they don't have a right to be upset over your disappearance; like I'm the only one who's allowed to care. And then I get angry, and they just blow it off, they blow me off, and say stuff like "She's just acting this way cause Percy's gone," and I just want to show them my dagger! Even though that is the real reason I'm in this funk, they don't have to shove it in my face and other crap like that.
Gods, Percy, please come back soon. I'm a wreck.
Love love love,
Annabeth
The letter joined the other in the secret drawer.
Perseus Jackson.
You've been gone for a month.
WHERE THE HADES ARE YOU?!
I can't believe you've been gone for this long. I thought you would come back by now.
My temper is becoming short with the other campers; the newbies think I'm always this mean, but they don't know. The older ones haven't explained to them that I'm "extremely depressed and slightly unstable. Whatever you do, donot get on Annabeth Chase's bad side. It won't be pretty," yet. I thought by now it would already be self-explanatory to not make me mad.
Guess I was wrong.
I've been wrong about a lot of things lately. One: that you would come home in a timely manner. Two: I would be fine. Three: the gods have nothing to do with this. I was so, so wrong.
My suspicions are rising, and they might not be held back for long.
Camp update: everything's gloomy, you're not here, I'm never in my best state of mind, the Stolls are still the Stolls, Chiron is still Chiron, Mr. D actually says my name right, and you're not here. And yes, I know I've said that twice, but just to prove my point, you're not here.
Please come home. I'm not sure how much longer the dam will hold.
With love and hope,
Annabeth
The letter was placed with the others.
Kelp Head, I haven't slept in two days.
Leo (you don't know him, but he's a son of Hephaestus that came here along with your replacement, Jason) and I have been rebuilding the Argo II (giant flying ship thing) to take to wherever you are. We still haven't figured that part out yet. But, I've been working non-stop, trying to keep my mind off things *cough* you *cough*, and I pretty much turned anemic. Whoopee.
So, this is the first rest I've taken, since Leo forced me to. I'm supposed to be taking a nap, but I would rather do this.
How have you been? I've named your secret location Somewhere. How is it in Somewhere?
Jason has started to remember bits and pieces, and I can only hope you're doing the same. But, my question is, do you want to remember?
Jason has been becoming more comfortable around us Greeks, but I can still sense his uneasiness. I can tell he's starting to like it here.
What about you? Percy, I'm terrified that you'll want to stay in Somewhere instead of coming home. And, of course, being you, you probably already have a leadership position. How do I know? It just seems plausible, so I went with it.
Percy, if I lost you to Somewhere, or, maybe, someone, I don't know what I would do. It's only been two months, and I feel as if I've already lost my mind. How much longer until this misery ends? Or will it last for a long time? I can't bear the thought of losing you, Percy. You're my Seaweed Brain, and I'm your Wise Girl.
So, please, I know this is selfish, but if you remember anything about home or me, try to remember what we have.
With too much love I can't even express it,
Annabeth
She didn't realize until she was sliding the paper into the envelope that it had tear drops on it.
Three months.
Three freaking miserable months.
This letter's going to be short since I need to start training soon. The new patch of kids need a teacher, and Chiron chose me. Seriously?! I can barely handle being around my siblings for more than a short amount of time, but now he wants me to chaperone and teach annoying ten year olds? That's just low.
I got a new brother yesterday. His name is Preston. And he's nine. I know I should have pity on the poor kid, but that constant whining is not going to get him anywhere. Gods.
Well. That's about it. I've already told you about the Argo situation and stuff like that.
Love,
Annabeth
The tiny secret drawer was half full. She hoped it would never reach full capacity.
Percy Jackson, I cried today.
Not like the little tears that happen when you get your knee scraped, or when you're having boy trouble. No.
These were the kind of sobs that made your vision blurry and your breaths uneven and loud gasps and wails that don't even sound human produce from the bottom of your stomach.
It was because I visited Sally, and I realized that it's been four months.
Four months and not a single laugh or sarcastic comment or order or joke. Absolutely nothing.
And I don't think I can take it much longer.
Sally and I cried together until my throat was scratchy and eyes couldn't produce any more liquid. Then I just hiccupped. The feeling was still there, even if the action wasn't.
So, when I didn't know to do with all this emotion anymore, I left her apartment and beat the crap out of all our training dummies till dawn. Their rubber limbs were mangled, and I didn't even know what I was doing when I just left them there, on the ground, in shreds.
It didn't take long for the rest of the campers to figure out who did it when I never showed up for training.
Anyway, my secret little drawer in my desk that I've never told anyone about is starting to fill with these letters. I don't know how many can fit in there, but hopefully you'll be home before it ever does.
Love times infinity,
Annabeth
The drawer was half full.
SINCE WHEN IS THERE A FREAKING DEMIGOD CAMP IN THE MIDDLE OF FREAKING CALIFORNIA?!
You can see that I found out where you are today. The only thing holding me back from running there myself is the fact that Leo still needs help on the Argo. So I can't leave just quite yet. It might be a while, but my crying has significantly lessened just by the fact of knowing the name of your residence. I really hope they're treating you fairly since you probably remember nothing… Thinking about that isn't really helping my state of mind, though. So let's move on, shall we?
When we told Sally about Camp Whatever that you're at she broke down in sobs of relief. It's the exact same thing I did, but I at least waited until I got back to the cabin. So yeah. Most of the campers are super pumped until we get the ship all fixed up and ready for the trek to Camp Whatever that I really cannot remember the name of at this present time.
I need to go to training. Should probably do that.
More love than you could possibly imagine,
Annabeth
Another letter in the drawer was like another piece of her heart breaking, but she still enclosed it in an envelope and left the Athena cabin for training.
Six months today.
Perseus Jackson, I need you to come home. Not just a want, but a need and ache so deep my heart literally shatters every time I think about the possibility that you might not be there when we go to get you. I don't think you know the true extent of my pain.
Imagine it like this: half of your body and spirit is cut off and shipped to a mysterious location and its memory is wiped. Then, you have to go on a wild quest to find it and pray to every god in your knowledge that it recognizes you.
That's pretty much been my entire life for the past half year.
Oh gods… when I put it in the perspective of an entire HALF YEAR I don't know how I've survived this long.
The thing about losing this other half of me is that I'm expected to get up and act like everything's okay and pretend like I'm not breaking on the inside. And it's really freaking hard. What if you're memory is also completely gone? What if you don't remember me or Sally or camp? What if you're with another girl? What if you're not even at that camp, but somewhere wondering around the wilderness? What if you're not even on this earth anymore, but with a certain death god? All these questions race through my mind every second of every day of every week and month. I can't even bear to ask any more.
So, my love, will you be the same Seaweed Brain that left Camp Half Blood, or a completely different person? Maybe that's what I'm most afraid of.
Actually, I'm really scared for my sanity. I'm writing to you and then stuffing these letters into a drawer. I'm also talking to you as if you could respond and we could have a conversation. Maybe that's just the hysterical part of me that's going crazy because you were here by my side every moment for FOUR YEARS and then you're just… gone. Almost like you joined Hades.
Let's not think about that, shall we? I would rather hope that you're actually alive before my heart rips apart.
Today we got another Athena camper. Her name is Madeline, and she reminds me a lot of myself when I was ten. Typical Athena look: blonde hair, grey eyes, super stubborn, and knows practically everything. It's like a mini-me is walking around camp, but that's how it is for all of my other siblings too.
Is it weird that I spend a lot of time in your cabin? It reminds me and smells like you. And it still has the clothes all over the floor and pictures on the wall. Everything is the exact same, save the fact that everyone avoids that cabin like Hades. I go in there when I can't fall asleep, and promptly fall unconscious in your bed… It happens, you know?
I'm not really eating anymore. My appetite is all wack and I'm just never hungry and I don't have energy. Most of the time I'm napping, whether it be in your bed or mine.
I can't really handle goodbyes, so, with love,
Annabeth
Not until she lifted the pen from the paper did she realize there were tear stains on the print. Her cheeks were wet, but she quickly wiped at them and shoved the letter into her desk drawer.
Today's the day, Percy.
We're coming.
I don't have that much time, but I just want you to know that I love you. I know I didn't say it all that often before you left, but when I do, I really mean it. Even if you don't remember me, I will always love you. I'm on the verge of breaking, and if I'm completely wiped from your memory, I'm going to fall apart. I'm not even kidding.
So, please, if you value my sanity at all, you will remember.
And, if not, you have me and these letters to remind you. Hopefully you still remember Sally, she'd be even more broken than me if you didn't. You are her son, after all.
Alright, well, Piper's calling for me, so I should probably g—
The phone for the Athena cabin counselor starts ringing, which surprises her, making her drop the pencil in her hand.
She goes over to the phone, and sees a number she will always recognize: Sally.
Her hands start trembling, expecting the worse. What happened? Sally never calls. Did she hear from him? Is he okay? Is he… dead?
Her shaky hands pick up the receiver, and weak "Hello?" escapes her mouth.
"Annabeth? Oh my goodness, Annabeth. He called. He's okay. He remembers." There are tears in her voice, and relief.
A waterfall of comfort and relief flood over her.
He called.
He's okay.
He remembers.
The only thing she can say is "Where is he?"
"At that camp y'all were talking about in California. What was it? Camp Zeus? No, Camp Jupiter. Yes, he's there, at Camp Jupiter."
Happy tears escape her eyes, and they're crying together, over the frail connection of the phone.
"We're going there, Sally. We're leaving now. I'm gonna see him." Honestly, she doesn't really care about her grammar right now.
"When you get there, give him a piece of our minds for scaring us so much. If I was there, I'd slap him myself." She laughs.
"I'll probably end up dojo flipping him, you never know."
"Annabeth!" Piper's voice echoes throughout the cabin. "Time to leave!"
"I have to go, but I'll make him call you again when I see him. Okay?" Annabeth says through the receiver.
"Alright. Be safe, love you, bye."
"Love you too." And the line goes dead.
Piper walks in to the room, her face showing shock when she sees Annabeth's wet cheeks.
"What is it?" she asks, worry filling her voice, expecting the worse.
"Percy, he called Sally from California. He's there, he's safe, he remembers."
"Oh, Annabeth, I'm so happy for you." She envelops the daughter of Athena in a hug, squeezing tightly as Annabeth cries happy tears into her shoulder.
Once she's straightened up, they leave the cabin with their bags, and climb aboard the Argo II.
"We're coming for you, Percy," she whispers.
There he is. Standing across the field, staring into her grey eyes with his sea green ones.
She's not sure who starts running first, but in a few seconds they're standing in front of each other.
"Annabeth?"
He's okay.
He remembers.
She jumps into his arms, and they're warm and familiar and safe and home.
After what could have been years, she takes his arm, yanks it over her shoulder, and the rest of his body follows, landing on the ground with a thump.
At least she kept her promise of dojo flipping him.
She kneels down next to him, putting both hands on his shoulders, and pinning him on the ground, his eyes wide.
"Don't you dare ever scare us like that again. I nearly broke. So did Sally." Tears fill her eyes, and she tries to push them back, but they're stubborn, just like her.
"I swear on the River Styx," he says and pulls her face closer.
And when she kisses him, it might have been on the same level of perfect as the first, best underwater kiss of all time.
She sits on the bed in his cabin, waiting for him to return.
After they reunited, she always kept contact with him: holding hands, arms around his waist, and her head on his shoulder. That way, she was always assured that he was there, with her, and safe.
And when they got back to camp, she told him about the letters, in her secret little drawer, waiting to be opened and read.
So here she is, waiting in his cabin, while he reads them. She didn't want to be present when he did.
The door opens, and without looking she knows it's him.
The letters are in his hand, envelopes askew.
He sits down next to her, wrapping her in an embrace, and whispering the simple words, "I'm sorry, and I love you."
And that's all she needs.
He's okay.
He's safe.
He remembers.