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6. My Dead Friend Pays Me A Visit

I sat on my bed, the note that was left at my doorstep flipping in my hands; the words on the paper still echoing inside my mind. Lies are not easily forgiven and forgotten.

I settled back into my cabin, temporarily of course. It felt a little weird being back in here. Two years I hadn't returned to my old cabin for the summer. After I turned eighteen, Annabeth and I decided we could do well on our own. Plus, it helped to know that we were always welcomed to Camp.

Annabeth sat across the room, reading one of her favorite books. Her head rested on one hand as she held the book with her free one. Every once in a while she'd sigh and shift in the seat, but otherwise her eyes were glued to the book. I let go of the note and grabbed my horn. Grabbing a napkin I tried to wipe off the offensive words written on it. Suddenly, Annabeth slammed the book closed and sighed.

"You okay?" I asked. She stood up and walked over to my bed. She sat next to me and rested her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her.

"It's just upsetting that whenever something amazing and exciting happens in our lives, someone tags along to ruin everything," Annabeth sighed. I rubbed her arm and kissed the top of her head. I didn't know what to say to her. I mean, there was nothing very comforting I could say.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth," I said, because I just didn't know what else to say. She looked up at me and smiled.

"Percy, this isn't your fault," she said, resting her hand on my cheek. Even though she said it, I couldn't help but still feel that I was responsible for this. She propped herself up and kissed me. She then pulled away softly and we locked eyes.

"I was thinking… maybe we should get married earlier than we planned," Annabeth said. I didn't know how to react to that. I really did want to marry her, but everything seemed to be moving so fast. I thought we would have time to process it, but maybe she was right.

"Well, how early do you mean?" I asked cautiously. I didn't want to send the message that I didn't want to get married, because I did.

"Tomorrow, two days tops," Annabeth answered. I gulped. Tomorrow? I was hoping for something like, a few weeks not a day.

"Tomorrow?" I asked. I cleared my throat noticing my voice was just a tad bit higher than usual.

"Percy, I know it seems very fast, but… if this ends badly…" she paused and closed her eyes as if she could picture one of us lying dead on the floor.

"I want us to be happy… if… something happens," she said quietly. I knew what she didn't want to say; if one of us died.

"I'm happy now," I said, pressing my lips against hers. The rest of the night was a sweet release from our harsh reality.

The next morning, Annabeth volunteered to supervise the sword training and step in whenever needed to. I accompanied Grover through the forest as he gave some important nature news to all the nature lovers in camp.

"Hey Grover, Annabeth and I were talking about maybe getting married in a few days," I said. I hoped maybe Grover could calm down my nerves or something.

"That's great, Percy! But why so soon?" Grover said.

"Remember about that stalker problem we're dealing with?"

"Yeah?"

"Annabeth thinks it might end badly. She wants us to be married already if something really does happen," I said. Grover's expression turned into extreme worry.

"Percy, if it's meant to happen, it will. You two have survived everything, even the Lord of Time!" Grover said. There was a slight hint of sadness in his voice as he went back in time to that terrible moment. I put my hand on his shoulder to let him know everything is okay and he smiled.

"You'll get married at one point or another. Doing it sooner than you expected isn't so bad," Grover said.

"I guess you're right." Grover bleated as I agreed.

"So, what will you wear for your… wedding?" Grover asked, smirking.

"Oh man, I didn't even think of that," I said, hitting my forehead with my palm. Grover laughed.

"I knew you didn't. Well, I happen to know a place where you can find the best suits in town," Grover said.

I followed him out of the forest. He gave a kiss to Juniper as we finally exited the forest. Grover went to tell Chiron that we'd be leaving for a few hours to find a suit. While he gave Chiron the news I went to tell Annabeth I was going out.

"Aren't you going to find your dress?" I asked.

"Percy, I'm the daughter of Athena. No need for you to worry about that," Annabeth said with a smile. She had a point.

"Well, since we're going to get married, I'll spread the news of the wedding while your away. I mean, there's no time for invitations," Annabeth laughed.

"Okay babe," I said, giving her a soft kiss. She smiled and a few of the younger demigods giggled.

"They look so cute!" I heard a little girl, about seven years old, say to her group of friends. I chuckled and left for the hill where Grover was already waiting for me. He wore a Yankee's cap and his famous fake feet.

"Let's go."

We entered a store that wasn't very big to be the best place to buy suits.

"Grover, I'm not going to buy a suit. Can't I, like, borrow it or something?" I said.

"Yes, yes, you can. Come on," Grover said, pulling me further into the store. There was a medium-sized man standing in the back. His hair was taken over by globs of gel that held his hair back. He wore a very fancy black suit with a velvet tie. His nose was pointy and he looked like he had a permanent frown.

"How may I help you?" he said in a deep voice.

"My friend here needs a suit. He's the groom. Is there anything we could rent for a day?" Grover said, gesturing towards me. When he called me the groom, it was the weirdest thing in the world. The man looked over me. I suddenly felt underdressed. I was in a pair of worn-out jeans, a white T-shirt and sneakers. Compared to him, I must've looked like a homeless person.

"Yes… Well, we have this," he said, putting his long fingers on a rack holding about twenty suits.

"Thank you," Grover said as he began looking at the different suits that were on display. He handed me a black suit, similar to the one the man was wearing and sent me to the changing room. After I struggled with the tie (the tie winning) I came out.

"What do you think?" I asked, stretching out my arms.

"It would definitely look better if the tie was fixed, but it still seems a little big. Try this," he said, handing me another suit. I sighed and walked back into the changing room. On the small chair that was inside the room there was a broken sword.

"What the…?" I whispered, picking up the broken blade. I creased my eyebrows in confusion. How had this gotten here? Then as if this was the last puzzle piece everything clicked.

Someone's escaped the Underworld… alive.

Charon was able to give us a description, though. He had black hair and an eye patch.

It sounds like this person knows you.

Well, what does Nemesis have to do with any of this?

The broken blade…

"Can't be," I whispered. I stumbled backwards dropping the broken blade. It fell and clashed against the tiled floor. It rung softly through the store.

"Percy?" Grover asked. I fumbled with the changing room lock and held on to the doorframe. I looked at Grover.

"Percy, what's wrong?" Grover asked, rushing over to me.

"I know. I know who it is," I whispered.

"Who? Who is?" Grover asked frantically. I looked up at him.

"We have to go," I said. I swiftly changed, banging against the walls as I tried to get dressed as fast as possible. Grover waited for me outside. As we rushed to the camp I told Grover the whole story and who it was.

When we got there Peleus was blowing steam out from his nose as he glared towards the camp. Grover and I looked at each other confused. We ran up the hill. Grover kicked off his fake feet as he stumbled behind me.

When we reached the top of the hill, he was standing there; holding a knife to Annabeth's neck. Her eyes were wide and she was breathing so softly you could barely see the rise and fall of her chest. He tapped her chin with his knife and sent me a chilling smile.

"Hello, Percy," he greeted me. My hand twitched toward my pocket where Riptide still rested.

"Ethan Nakamura," I growled.