Percy wandered aimlessly through the halls of Jade Mountain Academy, thinking. The dragon he fought yesterday, Peril, as it turns out was a mass murderer, according to Queen Ruby of the 'Skywings'. He gritted his teeth. Good thing he prevented her from continuing to kill, one part of his mind thought. The other part chided him, saying that she was reformed. His short conversation with Clay after the fight told him that much.
"I just wish you didn't fight her, you know," Clay said ruefully.
"She had it coming, just attacking me like that," Percy responded. "Besides, I beat her easy, no harm no foul," he continued.
"She didn't attack you. She was suspicious of you though I can't really remember what it was exactly. Besides, she's not the dragon she once was. She was manipulated by Scarlet into doing those atrocious acts. Scarlet fooled Peril into thinking she had to do so in order to survive," Clay said.
"Really? What changed?"
"I happened. She tried to save a student during the attack a few days ago," Clay replied.
"So you changed her? Why didn't she listen to you before attacking?"
"She is her own dragon now. I told her not to, but if she deems you suspicious enough to attack, then so be it," Clay said with a sigh. "How exactly are you suspicious again? I can't remember."
Percy glanced around uncomfortably, trying to formulate an answer that wouldn't be suspicious.
"Eh, whatever. I could go for a cow right now." Clay concluded. "And, oh, yeah. Feel free to stay here. We can even add you to the staff, though, of course, you would need to talk to Tsunami. She is technically the principal," Clay added before flying off to go look for something to eat.
Percy was surprised that Clay was so relaxed about everything. Now, he was just wandering the hallways of the school, thinking, but not about where he was going, just following a small tugging in his gut. He came to a remote cavern before he noticed.
"Wow," he breathed out. It was stunningly beautiful and serene. Mostly because Annabeth was there already.
"About time. I figured you would find your way here. Eventually, at least," she said.
"I hadn't even noticed you were gone for so long, so..." Percy trailed off.
"Oh you seaweed brain," Annabeth chuckled. "The water is nice, why don't you join me?"Percy smirked, before leaping into the air with a few flaps, then diving into the water with a tremendous splash.
He surfaced again, pearly teeth revealed in a smile.
"You know, I'm still getting used to the swimming in this form, so don't flex on me," Annabeth said.
"What's that? You want me to flex on you?" Percy asked before pulling her under and twirling around, like a crocodile drowning its prey. Except Percy's not drowning Annabeth because that's not nice.
He formed an air bubble under the water and gave her a moment to catch her breath. "
Just like camp," Percy whispered in her ear.
"Shut up, you idiot," Annabeth giggled.
"No," Percy replied before kissing her.
They spent some time playing in the water and bantering.
"Wait. Remember when I was fighting Peril and it got super silent, then someone said Percy?"
"Yeah. I think was a red dragon in the crowd. He looked panicked and tried to hide when you tried to find him."
"Who do you think it could be?"
"Someone who knows us, and it wasn't Clay or Sunny."
"You know, we should probably get out of the water now and go do something useful."
They swam towards the edge of the lake and climbed out. They then dried off, which was just Percy willing the water off of himself and Annabeth.
Turning towards the exit, they were met with a red dragon with armor standing in the only entrance and exit to the underground lake, except for the ceiling hole, which bathed the crystal clear water with shafts of light.
Percy took a defensive position, lowering his body and flaring his wings, then maneuvering himself between the mystery dragon and Annabeth.
"Who are you?" Percy hissed.
The red dragon sighed. "Sorry about the scare," he said ruefully, before trailing off, deep in thought.
"Just want to make sure, are you Percy?" he asked after a few moments.
Percy merely narrowed his eyes. "Do you need to know? What do you want?"
"So you're Percy, right?"
Percy didn't answer the question.
"I'm just going to cut to the chase. You're Percy right? I called your name during your fight with Peril. I'm Jason," he blurted.
"Prove it," Percy hissed.
Jason sighed, then turned and zapped a nearby rock then looked at Percy. Percy's eyes widened.
A small smile formed on Jason's face before tears started spilling.
"I've been so lonely here, you know. Even after joining the Skywing army, and making friends. Now, to see you in front of me... You have no idea how good it feels to find you guys. I thought I was stuck here alone!" Jason whimpered.
Percy's posture loosened.
Annabeth peeked out from behind Percy. "Jason?" she asked. "That would explain a lot," she exclaimed through a teary smile.
Percy ran towards Jason and swept him up in a crushing hug.
"Jason," he whispered over and over, through ragged breaths.
Annabeth could only smile, shaking her head to remove the stupid grin. They'd found Jason, a soldier no less!
"Look at you two!" she chuckled. "Crying like little babies."
"Hey, give us a break. We aren't emotionless machines like you!" Percy retorted.
"I'm not emotionless you fool," she said.
"Hey Jason, what's happened before you found us?" Percy asked.
"Oh man, you have no idea," Jason exclaimed.