Chapter 1: Home
"Welcome back, Percy," I heard a voice say. I turned to see the head of camp activities, Chiron, gallop over towards my friends and me. It had been almost two years since I'd seen him. Anyone at camp, really. It was good to be back.
"Thanks, sir," I responded, smiling. "Sir, these are my Roman friends, Frank, son of Mars, and Hazel, daughter of Pluto." They both waved awkwardly.
"Welcome to Camp Half-Blood, Frank and Hazel. Although, you seem to be short a member," Chiron noticed. "Where is Leo?" Everyone became eerily quiet. Hazel and Piper turned away, fighting back tears. Frank rocked back and forth on his feet. Jason and Annabeth gulped, not making eye contact. I pulled Annabeth into my side, squeezing her tight.
"He, um," Jason explained. "He sacrificed himself to save us." A single tear slid down his cheek. In other circumstances, I may have laughed, but not now. Never about this. Leo was our best friend, Jason's especially. I knew the loss was hardest on him.
Chiron shook his head sadly. "I am so sorry for you. All of you. If you need anything, please know that I – all of us here at camp are here for you. Now, on to sleeping arrangements. Hazel –"
"Will sleep with me in the Hades Cabin," Nico said, running up to us with Will Solace. This surprised me, until I saw him grab Nico's hand. Good for Nico, I thought. After all, Nico and been through a lot and deserved to be happy.
"Nico!" I heard Hazel squeal. I turned to see her running towards her brother. She tackled him in a hug. "Are you okay? How long have you been here? Who's that? What's his name? What have you been doing? Oh, I missed you!"
"Hi, Hazel," Nico chuckled, pulling Hazel off himself and standing her up. "Let's see. Yes, I'm okay. Only a few weeks. This is my boyfriend, Will. I've been hanging out with him and teaching a few classes. I missed you too."
"Well then, that's settled. Frank, I suppose you could stay in Cabin 5 with Ares' children, but if you didn't want to, you could always stay in Hermes' cabin with the other "unclaimed" campers," suggested Chiron.
Frank pondered the choice for a moment. "I think… I'll stay in Ares' cabin. There technically my siblings, right?"
"It's settled then. Nico, take Hazel to Cabin 13. Jason, take Frank to Cabin 5," instructed Chiron. "Give them a camp tour and then help them unpack."
I turned to Annabeth. "I'm going to go find Grover and Tyson. Need anything before I go?"
"I'm okay, Seaweed Brain. Really," Annabeth assured me. She leaned and kissed me. Small and sweet. I felt her soft lips against my own, remembering the night on the Argo II down in the stables. Everything seemed clearer then. It was just us, and that's all it had to be.
I pulled away, but only just. "See you, Wise Girl." I turned away and began walking down Half-Blood Hill.
As my eyes found the Arena, I spotted my best friend, Grover. He sat on a small bench on the edge playing his panpipes. As I jogged up to him, he glanced up and dropped his pipes. Grover cantered over, smile growing. He practically jumped three feet when he hugged me.
"Hey, man! How's it going? How are things with Juniper?" I asked. Grover threw his arm around my shoulders, playfully dragging me down.
"Hey, Percy! Juniper's great. Everything's great. Gods, I missed you," Grover beamed. As we crossed the Arena (not smart) we talked and laughed, catching up on what the other had been doing, not really paying attention to what was going on around us (definitely not smart). I barely stopped in time as a sword flew passed my head. I turned towards the direction it came from. Clarisse.
"Get the hell off my arena, Jackson!"
"Nice to see you too, Clarisse."
As Grover and I kept walking, we were constantly greeted by campers, new and old, who had heard the story of The Seven and wanted autographs or to hear my version of their favorite parts. I have to admit, I kind of liked being famous again. It had been a few years since I'd found Zeus' lightning bolt or escaped the Labyrinth alive.
As we approached Cabin 3, my second home, my half-brother Tyson burst out. "Brother!" He rushed over and embraced me tightly. Really tightly.
"Hey, buddy," I wheezed. "I missed you, too, but I also can't breathe." Tyson laughed and let me go.
"Come inside, brother," he smiled. "I have been preparing for your return." Tyson beckoned me inside the cabin excitedly.
Woah, I thought. The cabin was decorated in blue streamers, blue balloons, basically any decorations you could think of were in the cabin. All over. All blue. I grabbed a blue cupcake off the dresser.
"This is… amazing. Really, man. Thank you. Who made these cupcakes?" I asked, mouth full.
"I stole them from the mess hall," Tyson exclaimed proudly. I was surprised. It wasn't like Tyson to do that.
"Well, do it more often because these are really good."
I turned to walk out when I paused. "Hey, have you seen that picnic basket Annabeth and I used to use?"
As I made my way to Cabin 6, I rehearsed what I was going to say to Annabeth when I saw her. I knew what ever happened, she would say yes. The only issue was getting her to say yes at that moment. After all, she could say "Sure, just after this" or "Sure, but how about after dinner". But that wasn't an option. It had to be now.
"'Hey, Wise Girl. I've got something to show you," I muttered. "No, she'd say she'd look at it later." I paused for a moment to think. "'Annabeth, want to see something awesome?' No, she'd definitely would say no to that." Too late now. I was already outside. I took a deep breath and knocked on the cabin door.
"Come in," Annabeth's voice called out.
"Hey, Wise Girl. I've got a surprise for you," I said. Nailed it, I thought.
Annabeth put her book down. "Really? It's not even my birthday."
I closed the door and strolled over to her bed. "Does a boyfriend need an excuse to do something nice for his girlfriend?"
"No… why?"
"I told you already. I have a surprise," I repeated, hopping onto her bed.
"Percy, you know the rules. You and I can't be in a cabin alone," Annabeth reminded me.
"Does that rule really apply to counselors?" I asked, leaning in to kiss her.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming," she said, pushing me off the bed. "Can you let me get my shoes on, or is that too long to wait?"
I rolled my eyes and stepped outside. Soon Annabeth stood next to me. She smiled. I leaned over and kissed her on the cheek, grabbing her hand.
"Let's go," I said. I began walking towards the North Woods.
"Percy, where are you taking me?" Annabeth asked again.
"Fine," I sighed, giving in to her pestering. "You know that small clearing on the edge of the North Woods? That's where I'm taking you. And that's all you're getting out of me until we get there."
Soon we reached the edge of the trees. "Ready," I asked. Annabeth nodded. I brushed my hand along the side of a tree and a dryad handed me a small blue flower.
"Here," I said, handing it to Annabeth. She smiled and pulled her hairband out of her hair, let her long blonde curls fall across her shoulders.
As I stepped into the clearing, I shooed away the small animals trying to get into the picnic basket I had set down across a small blanket. I heard Annabeth gasp behind me.
"So, what do you think?" I asked. I waited for a response, but it didn't come. I turned around to find myself standing alone. "Annabeth? Annabeth!"
