This is my first percy jackson fanfic. Please give constructive critism. R&R.
Percy POV
"That's weird," I said to myself as I crossed of the date on my calendar. August 25th , exactly one year since I'd last visited Camp Half-Blood, two Years since the war. I mean seriously, the only reason I visited was because of Annabeth, now that she was close by I didn't need to go there. "Stop it!" I chided myself. At Camp Half Blood you meet all your other half-blood friends: Travis, Conner,Grover, the Apollo kids and Chiron. The weird part was that we hadn't gotten a monster attack in what, a year? The last time was exactly one year ago when Annabeth and I were on a date. I had just bought us popcorn and we were seated to watch some movie about an architect who finds love in a co-worker while drafting the blueprint of the Empire State Building. Call it coincidence or what?
Anyway, an old lady leaned forward from behind us, until her old, wrinkled, bony cheeks were beside mine and Annabeth's and then she transformed. She grew leathery wings, her toes became talons, she grew fangs and spoke in a wraspy voice I'd heard many times before, she was a Fury. Not just any Fury though, she was the first monster I ever fought, my Pre Algebra teacher: Mrs. Dodds. I recognized her by the way she said "Now honey, you haven't introduced me to your little friend."Annabeth and I jumped off our seats as fast as we could as I drew Riptide. We looked straight into the eyes of the old hag. She bared her yellow fangs and flew up which made it hard to pulverize her over the oblivious mortals. A few heads turned but they returned to the movie. I wondered what they saw under the Mist, probably a bat or something. " Hey you two,sit down!" an annoyed man yelled from the back of us. With Riptide in hand, I ran down the aisle to the side of the screen as one of the security guards shot me a look that seemed to say Hey kid, this is a warning. Mrs. Dodds positioned her talons at me but I sidestepped, a bit too slow earning a scrape on my shoulder. It went as planned though, she hit the wall and was momentarily down. I used that moment to slash and vaporize her into a pile of yellow dust. The people in the front row made no notice of me. I walked back to Annabeth who were still in our seats. She gave me a hug and the only thing that spoiled the moment was the same annoyed dude who said, "Hey you two, this is a cinema, go get a hotel room or something." We both blushed.
Annabeth wanted to go get me cleaned up. Girls. Always over reactive. It was a minor scrape for crying out loud, but I didn't argue and went outside. After cleaning up (which was a task because of the gender sorted bathrooms), we decided to spend the rest of our night out. Ever since that night I felt sort of strange but I didn't dwell on the feeling much. I had started improving academically after that night. I could read much better and I could pay a little attention in classes. "Mom! Going to the beach!" I shouted from my room as I grabbed a change of clothes. Annabeth and her dad wanted to spend some quality time together. They'd really been getting along recently. I decided to go to the beach. That was a perk of adulthood: FREEDOM ... to some extent. Long Beach was my favorite place until I went to Camp. As I stepped the ocean, I willed myself to get wet. I went for a swim after all. The sea didn't give much resistance that day, I didn't need much willpower. After a while in the water, I got out and sat in the sand, while I looked at the sea, imagining Poseidon's Palace, somewhere deep below, my Cyclops brother Tyson, working his butt off at the forges and the hippocampi, all so very deep down there. I thought about all of my adventures, my quests, how I felt when I first found out what I was, when I met Annabeth, our first kiss, all my friends who were lost: Luke, Silena, Charles, Zoe and Bianca and before I knew it, I was crying. I was actually crying. How in Hades' name did I resort to tears? I hadn't cried in years and I poured every last tear from my body for every possible reason. Then I headed home.
Annabeth was waiting for me in my room. I told mom how my evening went carefully omitting the part where I cried like a baby and went to my room only to find Annabeth cross-armed on my bed. I gave her a hug and she started about her day. Apparently, her dad needed her help to construct a replica of the twin towers for him to blow up.(don't be alarmed, it's about the height of a regular table). Nonetheless it had made her day and I bet she'd already have tons of blueprints mentally sketched just waiting to be started. I smiled as she went on and on about her idea. While she was speaking, a few rouge strands of her blonde hair blew in front her silvery grey eyes. I gently tucked it behind her hair and she smiled. It was one of those days when we actually connected and sparks started flying.
We were scheduled to go to Camp Half Blood the day after. Our clothes were packed a week in advance. Annabeth spent the night at our apartment (I know what you're thinking but no.. I took the couch and let her have my room ). We were on our way, first thing in the morning and when Annabeth told the cab driver to stop... in the middle of nowhere I must admit was a bit alarmed. She smiled, closed her eyes, and breathed in the sunshine along with the faint smell of strawberries.
"Annabeth, are you sure we shouldn't have gone a few miles ahead?" I asked perplexed.
"What do you mean? You don't see it?" she questioned.
"Um, are you joking, there's nothing to SEE here."
"Look over there," she pointed to a tree, a pine tree with what seemed to be a massive wasps nest coiled around it. Then the image of the nest flickered to a dragon. I felt this gut- reaction, like I'd known the tree somewhere. I rummaged my memory for anything on a pine tree in the middle of nowhere that seemed important. Nothing.
"Urn, am I supposed to know anything about it?" I could see the frustration in her eyes.
"Oh my Gods Percy, it's Thalia's tree!"
"Ohh, that tree" then it came back to me and if I squinted and concentrated enough, I saw the dragon that protected Camp.
"That's really weird, Percy. We should meet with Chiron at once."
"Yeah we should."
As we were crossing Camp borders, I felt a force pushing me out, as if I were not welcomed at Camp. I fought as if I were trying to defy gravity, as if I were battling the wind in a blizzard. When we were finally inside, I flanked Annabeth and looked on as semi- translucent images flickered before us. I concentrated on them and they materialized.