SORRY SORRY SORRY for the wait!
I meet Percy in the training room, after dropping Luke off.

"Did you tell them we'd be fighting?" He looks uncomfortable
"I did, as an incentive to get them in here. We don't have too."
"Good." His eyes are pained, but I don't ask him what's the matter. Not here, not in front of everyone.

"You want to do something extremely cool to impress them?"
"Sure." He jerks his hands up, suddenly, and the air feels wet, like it's raining, but barely, so it's like mist. As I watch, the air seems to swirl around and around, before solidifying (Or liquefying, whatever), into words—'I'm back'. They swirl again and reform, this time into 'I'm ready for a second chance at this'. Then into, 'Anyone else?'

The room is dead silent for a second, then everyone begins shouting at once. At first, I can barely make it out, it's random questions. But then, rising up from them, come's a single word, a chant. Percy's name. Slowly, they all pick it up, until the room is full of the eerie sound of Percy.

I wave my hands to quiet them. "Yeah, yeah, Percy's back. Go back to your rooms, go to bed. See you all in the morning.

I leave, Percy at my heels. I stop at several rooms on my way up to his, and by the time we make it, all the demigods from Camp Half-Blood are following us. We settle in Percy's room, which is fairly large, and regard each other.

"Well," I say, clearing my throat. "I want to have a war council. Because, let's face it. Nothing's looking good right now. We've got Luke locked in a room somewhere, monsters on every side of us, forty-some demigods who are starting to disobey me, and a bunch of other crap that's happening. Any ideas of how to fix anything?"
They all exchange glances.

"We can torture Luke for info," Clarisse offers. "Then kill him."
Percy shakes his head. "That won't work. We—he's seen everything. And I mean, everything you can think of torture-wise, he's already been through. Trust me."
Katie sits forward, staring at him intently. "Why would they torture him, too?"
He shrugs. "They didn't really need a reason."
I notice uneasy glances.
"Okay, what about the other issues?" I press. The each stare at different things, thinking.

"Did you say forty-some, Annabeth?" Percy asks.

I nod.
"That's just here, right?"
"Uh, no, that's it. We've got forty demigods, all here or near here."
He blinks. "But…" He starts muttering under his breath.

"You okay?" I prod, leaning to look at him closer.

"What happened to camp?"
"We assumed it fell with you," Jake says.

"Oh. Because they always were talking about two things they had to take care of, and I guess I just assumed that you had split up your resistance."
"No," I reply. "I don't think there's anyone else. We've sent out coded messages and have never gotten any response. I mean, sure, you'd have to be smart to decode them, but you'd have to be smart to survive here."
"Annabeth," Percy says, looking right into my eyes. "Camp Half-Blood doesn't have any computers. And never will, because Peleus sets off a magnetic field that erases the memory. You told me yourself once, when I asked to use your phone."
I stare it him, mouth open, my mind running ideas and scenarios.

"Oh my gods," I whisper. "You could be right."

Nico nods. "We should check it out."
"Yeah. So in the morning, you and…Clarisse can shadow-travel and see if it's deserted or what."

He nods. Everyone starts chattering excitedly, and I stare at the floor, lost in thought. I can't believe I didn't think of it before.
"Hey," Percy says softly. "You can't think of everything always, Annabeth. Sometimes, like once every three years, it's someone else's turn."
I manage a grin. Talking around me slows to normal pace, and soon, the familiar sounds, the feel of Percy near, and the small, tiny, sense of safety makes my eyelids droop, until I'm asleep.

Dreams are jagged, like pieces of different puzzles thrown together. Percy and I, together underwater after the Sirens. Percy's body without a pulse. Percy and I kissing, surrounded by kids in purple. Percy with a nosebleed, and Percy and I together in a giant bed.

I lurch awake, panicked, because I never dream that much of Percy. Speaking of who, is sitting in the chair next to me, reading a piece of paper. We're alone, and he hasn't seen me yet. He's concentrating hard, because of his dyslexia, probably, and the familiar sight makes me relax. They were just dreams, I tell myself firmly. No relevance at all to the real world. Because we only kissed once, and there wasn't anyone around except for telekhines.

I watch him start to mouth words. Love, forever and always, Annabeth.

I jump up like I was pinched.
"What are you reading?"
He looks up, startled. "Thalia gave this to me. She found it in your room."
I snatch it out of his hand. "It's for the dead version of you."

He looks at me funny. "Uh, okay."

Angrily, I fold up the paper and move to leave. His voice stops me.

"Annabeth?"
I stop. Turn around to face him. His expression is hopeless, scared. Not scared, I realize. Terrified.

"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't really know what it was at first, and it took me like half an hour to read it, and it didn't really process."
I raise an eyebrow.

"Well, okay. It did. But, I just—I don't…can you…"
He stops, frustrated, rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah?" I ask, quietly.

"I'm scared," He admits, looking back at me. "Okay? I just…I've been in there for three years, and I didn't go to sleep, because I was scared I'd wake up and you'd be gone, and then I don't know what I'd done, because—because-" He pauses, taking a deep breath. "Could you stay here tonight? I think—I don't want to—"
I step forward. "Of course."
He looks relieved. "Thanks. I mean, I didn't really say it clearly. Felt like I was speaking dyslexia."
I smile.
"Sorry, for reading your letter," He mumbles.

"It's okay," I tell him. "Thalia gave it to you. It's not your fault."
"Thanks."
We stand, looking at each other. My breath catches because I know exactly what he read, and I wrote it thinking he was dead. But he wasn't dead. He was never dead. So I wrote the letter to him, period.

A small part of my mind wonders what the heck I'm thinking.

"Percy," I say, hesitantly. "I—I just wanted to tell you that…"
"Yeah?" He prompts when I trail off, realizing I had nothing to say.

"Nothing."

"Okay."

He doesn't ask for an explanation, and I realize I love that about him. He takes what I say, nothing more.

"Wait," I blurt out, as he's turning to the bathroom. He looks back at me, smirking. Scratch that last thought.

"Can I have a hug?"
The smirk disappears.
"Of course."

Let's see, absolutely nothing happened in this chapter. Sorry. But hey, I got it up!
Anyway, please review.