Once all the demigods, Chiron, and Grover exited the Argo II, they were greeted by at least two hundred Roman campers, their swords drawn.

"State your business, Greeks," a girl commanded. She wore purple robes that stood out against her pale skin. Her dark, piercing eyes were narrowed, and she had black, glossy hair that was pulled into a braid.

"Didn't you get our message?" Leo asked, "We said that we were coming in peace."

"Well, that was before you injured our other Praetor."

"What? We didn't-" Annabeth started, but was cut off by the girl in the purple dress again.

"Silence, demigod! You indeed did injure my fellow Praetor, or at least your presence did. You will be held accountable for your actions. Now, one more time: Did you or did you not act violently against one of us?" the girl questioned, arrow in hand.

"Wait," Thaila stepped forward, standing a few feet from the girl in with the black hair, "Was that funnel conjured by one of you?"

"Yes. Was it you who summoned the lightning that struck it?" she replied.

"Yes."

"And you came here for a friend?"

"Yes. Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon." Thaila answered raising her chin. Muttering spread around the crowd at her words, and many people put away their weapons.

"My name is Reyna, by the way. I am one of the Praetor's here at Camp Jupiter. Octavian, I will have to ask you to direct our, ah… acquaintances to the Mess Principia." Reyna said. A blonde, serious looking boy, Octavian appeared from the crowd, and waved for them to follow. So Thaila, along with all the others, did.

Annabeth craned her neck, looking for Percy somewhere in the crowd of Roman's. He was obviously here, or at least the campers seemed to know his name.

"Are you Annabeth?" someone whispered in her ear. Annabeth turned around quickly to see a dark girl with golden eyes and brown, curly hair standing behind her.

"Yes," Annabeth answered hesitantly, "Why?"

The girl gulped, looked around and sat on the bench next to Annabeth.

"If you are the Annabeth that he was talking about…" she stopped for a moment, looking deep in thought, "I might be able to bring you to him. We'll have to find an excuse though… or we could just tell the truth…"

"Excuse me? Are you talking about P-Percy?" Annabeth stuttered. She had not said his name in months… whenever she did, all it did was remind her that he had been gone for nearly a year. The girl nodded seriously.

"My name is Hazel Levesque, Percy's friend. Let's go see if we can visit him."

"Visit him? Isn't he somewhere in here?" Annabeth asked.

"No, they took him to the infirmary right after… well, you'll see."

Annabeth felt as though she had no choice but to sneak away from Grover and the others, and follow Hazel out of the Mess whatever-it's-called, and across the grounds to the infirmary.

Only a few of the beds were occupied, but Annabeth could easily see Percy. He looked older then the last time she saw him, which made Annabeth break into tears. His black hair had grown longer, framing his jaw nicely. His face looked much more mature and defined, and he was much more muscular. But his hair was singed, and he had a large bloody bandage on his shoulder. He was taking quick, labored breaths.

"What happened to him?" Annabeth asked, sitting near his bed.

"He was shocked by that girl with the eyeliner problems. The shock traveled through the water he was controlling, landing on him. He was thrown back and he hasn't changed much since." A few Apollo kids were taking his temperature and re-adjusting him on his bed as Hazel spoke. Suddenly Annabeth had an idea.

"Can I try something?" Annabeth asked the demigods. They looked hesitant, but nodded and moved onto a different patient. Hazel smiled kindly at Annabeth then left the infirmary. Annabeth filled a bowl up with water and grabbed a sponge from a towel from a nearby cabinet. She carefully pulled away the bandage and grimaced at the wound. It was wide, and nearly took up his entire shoulder. She carefully dipped the towel into the water and dabbed at the wound. He groaned at first then sighed in relief. His breathing relaxed, and the wound began to close. Annabeth poured the entire bowl over the wound and it closed completely. She repeated the process twice, until Percy finally woke up. He looked confused for a moment, and then his gaze found Annabeth. His smile was huge, as though every wish of his was coming true.

"Is that really you?" he asked. Annabeth started sobbing, something she knew she would never admit to earlier and nodded. He grabbed her in a tight hug, pulling half of her down on the bed. Annabeth didn't care, she was just happy to have her Seaweed Brain back.

"Percy, I've missed you so much," she cried into his healed shoulder. He smelled like he always did- like the sea, pure and refreshing. He said nothing, but stroked her hair and kept her close.

They stayed like this for a while, but probably figured that they should return to the Mess Principia. Percy splashed water onto his head, which didn't leave a mark of course, then let Annabeth help him out of the bed. He could hardly stand from the after-effects of being electrocuted, but still insisted that he had to see everyone. She put his arm around her shoulder-which felt remarkably good for both of them- and helped him to the Mess Principia. Right before they entered, Percy turned towards Annabeth, looking extremely happy.

"Wise girl, you have no idea how much I missed you."

"Missed you too, Seaweed Brain. Now, are you going to tell me what you've been doing for the last eight months?" Annabeth asked.

"Soon, wise girl."