Hey guys. Sorry I'm kinda getting behind schedule a little bit. I used to post everyday, but I'm lazy now. I'll try to post more often. Anyway, we have back to back Percy chapters again. Sorry! I just need to speed up this story a little bit and throwing in useless chapter just for some variety isn't the way to do that. Sorry again. Anyway, thanks for the reviews, all rights to Rick Riordan, and hope you enjoy the story.

Percy

Percy felt almost like a celebrity. Everyone wanted to talk to him and hear his stories. Even Clovis, despite not being able to keep his eyes open through one campfire song seemed to be incredibly intrigued with every word out of his mouth. Percy himself didn't exactly want to tell them what went on in Tartarus, so he mostly told about the events on the Argo II, and if he had to mention Tartarus at all, it was vague and shut down any questions. He knew everyone was itching to hear about it, especially his friends, but they knew better than to pry.

"Yeah and that's when I started pretending Mr. D was on the ship and all the dolphin people got scared and ran away." He was standing in front of the campfire telling about Chrysaor. He didn't go up by choice though, he told the story to Travis and Conner earlier that day and they thought it was so hilarious that they practically begged him to go up. The whole camp was rolling with laughter.

"Mr. D for the save!" Travis whooped.

"At least he's good for something." Katie laughed.

"Wow who knew Mr. D could be intimidating." Lacey shook her head.

"Oh oh Percy. You gotta tell us about when you fought Jason." Conner eagerly sat forward. The color coded flames behind him turned yellow with interest. He laughed as he was badgered with more and more questions from those who didn't know.

"You fought Jason?"

"Who won?"

Percy gave himself a small grin. "Well it's hard to say. We were both trying not to fight as hard as we could and Piper was telling us to stop and all but..." His eyes swept the crowd. "Technically I was the last one standing." Everyone was cheering, saying how they knew it. Grover just rolled his eyes at him, a small smile on his face. Percy felt comfortable. He finally felt at home. But, something was missing. Annabeth.

Every summer he had spent here, Annabeth had always been right by his side. It felt odd being here when she was so far away. It almost felt like when she had been kidnapped and forced to hold the sky. He had returned briefly with Thalia, Grover, Nico, Bianca and the other hunters, but it had felt off. He of course had jumped at the chance to help her, and now he was just sitting doing absolutely nothing besides telling stories. He tried to tell this to Grover.

"Yeah, no I get you man. But, you're not fully healed yet. You can't just run back into a war when you're still hurting." Grover shook his head.

"But they need my help. I'm one of the seven. The prophecy didn't say six demigods with one sitting at camp. I need to be there!" They were walking aimlessly.

"Dude who cares about the prophecy. What about your mom. She doesn't even know you're back!" Grover turned down a trail. Percy followed.

"Hey that's not fair to bring up my mom. You know how badly I want to see her. But, if we loose this war, everyone dies, including her. I'd be doing her a favor, and you too." Percy almost stumbled over a root. His hands were shaking again. He crammed them into his pockets.

"How do you know the others wont win the war without you? Don't you trust them?" Grover reasoned.

"Of course I do. But it wouldn't hurt to have someone else on their side."

"Okay fine but what about the Romans? They're going to come marching in here any day now. You being here has taken their minds off things at least for a little bit. You can't leave them in the middle of a battle." Their walk led to the beach. It was night and the waves crashed over the sand. Grovers hooves were getting wet, but Percy's feet remained completely dry.

"I never said I feel good about leaving. In any other scenario I would stay. I mean, this is my home! But I need to help Annabeth. That's what I'm supposed to do." Percy stopped his walking and stared Grover right in the face. The wind whipped his curly brown hair in front of his goat-like eyes. Percy's face was set in determination. He refused to just sit on the sidelines. He was one of the seven. He had to go.

"Couldn't help but eavesdrop." Thalia casually came from the trees, not even a little bit ashamed that she was listening in to their conversation. "I think I have the solution."

"And that is?" Percy sighed and rubbed the back of his head where his hair was cut off.

"We just go with you." Silence only interrupted by the almost rhythmic pattern of the waves.

"Hey that's an idea." Grover started nodding.

"No. Thalia, you have your hunters. And Grover, you have the Romans. You guys have this war and I have my own. You can't come." He shifted in the sand.

"Oh come on Kelp Head." Thalia rolled her eyes as if she knew his response. "When are you going to get it through your thick head that you don't have to do a=everything by yourself. Quests are always of three. What makes you think we're just going to let you go off on your own?"

"Please guys no." Percy started to panic. They couldn't come. He couldn't loose them. He felt cornered in a hypothetical room. They just couldn't come. "Please just don't come."

Thalia and Grover's faces showed concern. They must have heard the worry in his voice. "Look Percy if you're so persistent on going, you need people to come along and have you back. Come on. Like the old days?" She gently punched his shoulder. No way he was going to let them come. He couldn't. Not after Claire and the castle. His chest felt tight and it was hard to swallow. They weren't going to let this go.

He heard himself say: "Okay fine." The both of them smiled.

"Alright. Another quest. We can't seem to get enough of those." Grover laughed. Thalia joined in.

"We'll leave tomorrow after the campfire. Let's get some rest." And she started up the hill. Grover must have sensed his emotions because he clapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey everything is going to be alright. I promise." Percy couldn't help but recite the prophecy in his head. An oath to keep with final breath. He faked a smile.

"Of course. If it's okay, I'm going to stay down here for a while."

Grover smiled. "Sure thing. See you in the morning Percy." Percy watched him leave. He turned back towards the ocean and sat in the sand. He watched his hands shake in the moonlight. He had to leave. Now. If he waited any longer they would come with and he couldn't let that happen. The only things he had left were his friends and family and he couldn't loose them. That's why he couldn't see his mom until everything was over. That's why he couldn't let Grover and Thalia come with him.

He had spent nearly a week and a half feeling more comfortable then he had in a long time and he was about to give that up. He closed his eyes briefly and took in the salty sea wind. It blew his messy hair around. He then stood up feeling sure about the choice he had just made. He walked up the beach to his cabin. He grabbed Annabeth's backpack and started packing clothes in it. He then snuck into the kitchen and packed food, nectar and ambrosia.

After that he snuck into a shed stole one of the camp's small boats. He tied it up to the dock and was about to leave when he remembered something. He ran back up to his cabin and pulled out a notebook and a pen. He tapped the pen to the paper thinking for a minute about what to write. Then he started. It was hard with his dyslexia, but he figured he managed to get the point across. It read:

Dear Grover, Thalia, or whoever is reading this,

I had to leave. Sorry! I just can't loose anyone else. Please don't chase after me. It would be pointless. I really doubt you'd be able to find me. Anyway, love you guys. Tell my mom I love her too. And in case Annabeth comes back before I see her, tell her I love you too. Thanks.

Love, Percy

P.S. You're probably really mad reading this right now, so I left a chocolate bar that Travis and Conner got in from the nearest convenience store. Hopefully that will make up for it. See you soon I hope!

He figured that would be good enough. He then boarded his boat and untied it. As he started drifting away, he whispered into the night.

"See you soon Camp Half-Blood." He was leaving his home. But, in a way, he was also going towards his home because he was going to Annabeth.

Hey so sorry it's taken me a while to write this one. I actually wrote the whole thing out and was about to publish it when I decided it sucked and deleted the whole thing and wrote it all over again. I hope you liked it.