Hey guys! I told you I would be revising this one first. This was the first one shot I ever wrote, and it originally came to me randomly back in 2010, and the formatting of the original document was completely RUINED. Here it goes for the face lift, hopefully that makes this way easier to read. This story takes place in BOTL, after Mount St. Helens, while Annabeth doesn't know if Percy is missing or dead.

I still in absolutely no way own the rights to the PJO series or characters.

I sat alone on the steps of Cabin 6, staring across the courtyard toward Poseidon's cabin.

He's gone…. My best friend.

Yeah right! What kind of "best friend" are you? Part of my mind snarked.

But he is my best friend! The other side argued

You left him at Mount St. Helens! You actually did what he said. He probably didn't even have a plan in that kelp filled brain of his.

Then why would he tell me he did?

He probably just wanted to make sure you were safe. Stupid Seaweed Brain!

I ignored my siblings going in and out of our home, and the other campers milling around me. I didn't care about lessons today. I didn't care about them yesterday either. I couldn't remember what the last lesson I went to was… I was the only one who had emerged from the Labyrinth. I was the only person accounted for on my quest.

I reminisced about my times with Percy, fiddling with the trident bead on my camp necklace. That very first year, I had been the one who found him on the front steps of the Big House before he passed out. I nursed him back to health with godly ambrosia and nectar. How could I be so stupid, the first thing I told him was

"You drool when you sleep," gods! What kind of a daughter of Athena am I!? I hadn't meant to say that, but his eyes, they were the most beautiful shade of green I had ever seen. They were the exact same shade of the ocean before a storm. They had startled me, and so I said the most stupid sentence known to demigod kind.

Percy was the one who got me my first quest, and I didn't know it then, but it would be far from my last. During that stupid "Tunnel of Love" ride, the spiders had paralyzed me in fear, but Percy was able to keep them away from me. Percy Jackson saved us, when I was too scared and distracted to form a plan through my screaming.

Percy is the one who got us out of the Lotus Hotel when all Grover and I wanted to do was stay and play video games. At the very end of that quest, he was really brave, even if he was a Seaweed Brain for making an enemy of the God of War.

Then, that second year, I tried so hard to get to him before he went to school, but I was too late outside his balcony. When I went followed him to get his help for Thalia's tree… he had a picture of me in front of the Parthenon in Nashville. I wonder if he looked at that photo , sure. I helped save him from those Laistrigonian giants, but he, and his cyclops friend were irreplaceable in the battle with the Cholchis bulls.

Then we had disobeyed Tantalus' direct orders and we went on a quest without Camp's permission. At Circe's Isle where I felt so beautiful and seen. I was so near staying to study magic, to learn. But, that kelp brain both ruined it and saved me by being dumb enough to get turned into a guinea pig! Don't even get me started on when we had to sail past the Sirens. I didn't realize that the temptation would be that strong. Or maybe I did… and my hubris just let me believe that I could resist it. He saved me. He pulled me away from the daydream, kicking and screaming, I fought him the whole time, until he made us an air bubble under the water. And in that bubble, at the bottom of Siren Bay as I sobbed and Percy swam us back to the boat, I realized that I was in love with my best friend.

He saved me after I nearly got killed by the cyclops Polyphemus, but he never acted like I was a damsel in distress. Percy knows that I can not only hold my own in battle, but that we make a great team.

Then, last winter when Luke's stupid manticore had kidnapped me, Percy was the only thing that kept me strong. The thought of his anguished face at being unable to rescue me was enough to help me hold up the sky. I couldn't hurt him like that. I had to stay alive. I held up the sky, because I knew that Percy would come.

And now… after Mount St. Helens, he was dead, and it was all my fault.

No it wasn't, Annabeth. You can't blame yourself.

But maybe if I had stayed, then he would still be alive.

Or maybe you would both be dead.

No! He can't be dead

Annabeth, it's been a week and a half. Where could he be?

What if… he's on Ogygia…? No, then he'd never come back. His loyalty… he'd be the hero to fall in love with Calypso for sure.

"Lose a love to worse than death"

No, no… that can't mean Percy, can it?

Yes, yes it can.

"Annabeth, my child, I believe it is time for you to make him a shroud," Chiron told me sullenly. I hadn't heard him come up beside me. Looking up at him, I responded hollowly,

"Okay. I want to be the one to make it."

With that, I went into my cabin and started drawing up my plans. I wanted it to be unique, and to symbolize Percy, while still having a sense of myself, the daughter of Athena who was crafting it. Once my design was finalized in a way I liked it, I made my way to the Arts and Crafts building, and sat at a loom.

I had never used a loom before, but I was a daughter of the goddess who had weaving as a proficiency. I began weaving through my tears, feeling as though I was making the shroud of them. It was blue, his favorite color. It took me two or three days of work. I made sure to embroider a delicate trident in the middle, once I was done. Percy's shroud was one of the most beautiful things I had ever created.

It seemed wrong; now that I knew almost for certain where he was. Now that I was sure he had to be alive, but that he would never come back. I would keep that secret until I died. I would never tell anyone that he was with Calypso, I would never say it out loud. It would be too painful.

"Lose a love to worse than death"

The next few days after I made Percy's shroud were a blur. I cried. I ate. I slept a little. I took my anger out on the practice dummies in the Arena. I even went out to the beach and screamed at the Long Island Sound, as loud as I could.

I cried and screamed at the ocean until I had no voice left. That was the pattern of my days until Chiron came into my cabin one afternoon, and gave me the word.

"Annabeth my dear, I believe it is time," he was sullen.

I just nodded. Chiron scooped me up, and placed me on his back like I was seven again. He carried me to the brazier at the Amphitheater for the funeral of Perseus Jackson. The first half of the memorial is still a blur. I was crying so hard that I could barely see, let alone remember anything. Then, Chiron called me to speak.

I stood by the flames, and I stroked the shroud I made. My voice sounded hollow, even to me.

"He was probably the bravest friend I ever had. He was- He's right there!" I screamed, pointing at the one person I wanted to see more than anyone else in the world as he came into view. I bolted toward him, hugged him as fiercely as I could. Looking back on it, I may have almost cracked his ribs.

I was so happy to see him that I could have kissed him again! If I wasn't so angry at him for leaving me in the first place!

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" I shrieked at him.

"I uh- I got lost," Percy said, rubbing the back of his head, like he always did when he was nervous.

"TWO WEEKS PERCY!" I shouted, "I-I mean we thought you were dead Seaweed Brain."

I got him back. I'm so excited! Wait, if it didn't mean Percy with Calypso…

"Lose a love to worse than death"

Then what's to come in the Labyrinth?

And there we go! A Revised version of "My best friend, or more?"! I hope this was more streamlined and pleasant to read. It ended up a little longer than the original as I elaborated on things. Please feel free to leave new reviews. See you next week on "A Texas Sized Trick".

~FG