Chapter 2- Happy to See Me?

Thank you so much Plymethwill for the review. I'm glad you liked it. Also, thanks BigBoii225 for the review too. Trust me, I hope this story goes well too.

I woke up and immediately crossed my fingers and bit my bottom lip. Please be in my cabin, please be in my cabin, please be in my cabin… I opened my eyes. I'm in the big house living room lying on a couch. Oh, gods! It was real! I nearly cried again but settled for groaning.

"Hey Percy," Clarisse said, from the opposite couch. She had her legs crossed, sipping a cup of coffee. Chiron was in his wheelchair sitting next to the edge of her couch. Continuing to look around the room, he saw the leopard head Mr. D likes to have, and also a girl sitting on his couch next to his feet. It was the Aphrodite girl who first started following him.

I nodded to Clarisse and then spoke to the Aphrodite girl, "Who're you?" I asked, sitting up and rubbing my horrendously red eyes. The NY Jets jersey was still wet from my tears. I wasn't asleep very long.

The girl blushed before speaking. "I'm Hannah Nix! I recognized you from your statue. Crazy how you're back huh? Well, I thought I'd do the wonderful Percy Jackson a favor, so I brought hi- you some clothes from my cabin mates!" Hannah looked to be around 16. She had blonde hair and a curvy figure, which you don't often see in female demigods with how often they workout. Not fat, her figure has its own kind of appeal different from being lean.

"Yeah… uh thank you, Hannah. I appreciate it." I said to her.

"You betcha, they're all just laying on your bunk bed." I nodded back to her. I assumed she would leave after that but she didn't. There was a moment of silence before Chiron spoke.

"You feel like no time has passed? You don't have any memories or dreams from your time… er, away?"

"Nothing Chiron. No different from having gone to sleep and waking up in the morning." I responded.

"So odd." Clarisse spoke next, "That day when you weren't there, it was just like the first time when Hera took you. Annabeth was so quick to your cabin when you didn't come for breakfast. She came out screaming, fuming mad. She obviously assumed another god had taken you. Nobody could have guessed you'd be gone for this long."

"Who do you think took me?" I asked, wincing at how my girlfriend had reacted. Poor Wise Girl….

"Probably another god." She growled.

"Don't rush into assumptions, Clarisse," Chiron said.

"Could it have been Gaea? You had just fought her. Revenge." Hannah spoke this time. I wonder if they taught the giant war, like in a history class?

"Nah. Piper and them put her right away and tucked her in. Impossible." Oh, gods, poor Piper, poor Jason.

"Mr. D will be here soon to take you to Olympus. I'm sure Poseidon will be happy to see you, Percy." Chiron said, seeing that we were getting nowhere with speculation.

"Good 'ol Dad. Haven't seen him for a while, my time even."

"Even with those new boats mortals have, there have been a record number of shipwrecks since you have disappeared. Mortals have started avoiding the oceans."

"New boats?" I ask. It is 2037 I guess. Who knows what kind of technology they have come up with. No doubt some crazy sh*t. Maybe Apple has come out with some brain chips to put into people.

"They float above the water. Can you believe it? We've come so far since those wooden dinghies in my day." Chiron said with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"They're not even that cool." Clarisse rebukes, "When you look at a boat you can't even see it is floating. Just prevents the boat from flipping over in some cases. When Poseidon is upset, nothing is going to stop him from sinking some ships."

"Boats are romantic," Hannah said creepily, looking at me as she said it.

"I prefer vineyards." Mr. D said, walking into the room. "Come on Perry. Grab my arm. I'm taking you to Olympus." He then glanced at his watch and scratched at his neck. He has a big neck. Why do all fat guys have rosy cheeks as well?

I stood up quickly before Hannah could offer me a hand. I've met some pretty bold Aphrodite daughters, she is just a drop in the water. It's way too soon after Annabeth to think of something like that with a girl though, even for something quick.

In my head, Annabeth and I were on the camp lake yesterday. The lake was calm, and if it wasn't I could have made it calm. Wise Girl was laying on the top of the canoe, soaking in the sun's rays. She was wearing a modest gray bikini, and I had on some green swim trunks. Her feet were in my lap, and I was rubbing them. If I had known that would be my last moment with her, I would have appreciated it more. All I was thinking about was if the Giants were going to win another super bowl. We had Eli Manning and Victor Cruz, they can do some good stuff. I should have been thinking about her. That's what I'm thinking about now. I wouldn't even know anybody on the Giants roster today.

I walked over to Mr. D and touched his beefy arm. Within an instant, we were outside the doors of the throne room on Olympus. A familiar sight for me. I hope Dad doesn't hug me too hard when I walk in. I guess the only way is in.

I shove open the doors, to see the sight of all 12 Olympians sitting either welcomingly or surprised. Mr. D had flashed to his throne. Apollo was the most surprising sight. Did he look like a kid younger than me… with acne? Gods do not get acne.

"PERSEUS! HAHA! THEY TOLD ME THE TRUTH!" Dad bellowed from his throne. He hopped off and shrunk down to human size. It is weird to 'reunite' with someone when it feels like I had just seen Dad for my birthday just a couple of days ago. He came up to me and embraced me strongly. Maybe too strong.

"Happy to see you too Dad," I said from within his hug.

He let go and looked at me. "Now tell me who did this to you." He said harshly.

"I'd like to know also."

He sighed. "It was a longshot. We tried everything to find you but came up short every time. Your girlfriend searched the hardest. We gave up hope for you after she died. But now you're back! And I am overjoyed. We will have a feast in Atlantis to celebrate your return! And I swear to you, my son, we will find who did this."

He then returned to his throne. I bowed to Zeus, which I just realized I had neglected to do. "Lord Zeus," I said respectfully.

"Perseus."

"You have found nothing of my captor?"

"Nothing. Which is more surprising than the number of people and gods who tried searching for you. I thought they were wasting their time. I was right."

"Don't be so harsh Father." Apollo defended me. Since when does he do that? Something must have happened to him. The world hasn't even ended. Several Olympians gave him rude glances.

"I should have punished you differently," Zeus grumbled under his breath. But Zeus isn't used to being quiet, so everyone heard him. To my knowledge, immortals don't change. Zeus is an example of that. Apollo is proving that wrong. So much has changed while I have been gone. It is almost overwhelming. Floating boats, changing gods, old friends, dead friends, new people. It's all too much.

I started breathing deeply to calm myself. I have one friend I can talk to who hasn't aged and hasn't changed. She's emo and has sworn off of men. Thalia. I wonder how she has been? Surely the hunt treats her well.

"Lady Artemis?"

"Yes, hero?" Hey, she didn't call me boy!

"When I go back down to Camp Half-Blood, may I see Thalia? Could you, uh, flash her there or something?"

"I can do that. Thalia would enjoy that, and she needs a break anyway. I will grant her time away from the hunt to be with you. You have my trust Perseus, so don't do any manly acts with her." As if I would do something with Thalia. I wouldn't insult Artemis though.

"Thank you." I bowed to her.

Time Skip

I sat on my bed on top of all of the clothes Hannah gave me. I couldn't stand being outside any longer. All of the campers crowded around me, hounding me as if I was some celebrity. Which I am to them. It's weird, and I don't like it. I'm just a normal guy. Well, normal demigod. Honestly normal and demigod shouldn't be used in the same sentence so I retract that statement.

Nothing much of note happened at Olympus. Zeus started yelling at Apollo, but gods have a knack for arguments. Ares called me a punk and said I wished I stayed away, but a good chunk of the council expressed that they were glad I was back. As fully back as I can be, a chunk of me is still on that lake with Annabeth. What I would give to be with her. Slowly, more tears started coming. I just couldn't hold them back. It may be frowned upon for men to cry, but after what I have gone through today, there's something wrong with you if you think I shouldn't cry.

Just then a person barges through my door. "Percy, my gods!" She shouted and hurried over to my bed. It was Thalia. She dived on top of me and joined me in my crying. "You're back! You're really back! I thought Artemis was playing a cruel joke." We laughed and cried at the same time.

"You're gonna ruin my mascara Pinecone Face." I joked with her.

"No that's me Kelp Head." We laughed again, tears no longer coming out. Thalia was still days away from turning 16. Her body will look like that so long as she doesn't fall in battle. After seeing 46-year-old Clarisse, it was refreshing to have a friend my age here with me.

After a few minutes of enjoying being with each other, we stood up to talk. "How in the name of Zeus are you back Percy? It's been so long. We stopped looking. I thought you would never come back."

"People keep on asking me that and I have no clue. Maybe the fates took pity on me." I said morosely.

"I wish Nico were here to see you. The children of the big three, back together again. It would be great. Hopefully, we wouldn't even have to go to the underworld."

"I wish he were here too." She let out a small sigh, before steeling. She stared me in the eyes, and then socked me in the gut, hard. I keeled over on the ground, coughing. She knelt down next to me and grabbed my chin.

"That's for leaving me, for leaving Annabeth, and for leaving everyone. Don't do it again." Then she helped me up.

"I'll try not to." I groaned. "You pack a mean punch Thals."

"I reserve the hard ones for friends who abandon me."

"It wasn't my fau-" I started to say before she glared at me. Thalia was always the 'tough love' type of person. We all loved her for it, despite how it hurt sometimes.

There was a knock at the door. I slowly got up from my spot on the ground, clutching my stomach. That will hurt for a while. Thalia went to get the door. I thought most campers would be too afraid to come to see me while I was in my cabin. I guess I was wrong. Thalia looked outside the door but didn't see anyone. She came back with a basket in her hands and a disgusted look on her face.

"Who the f*ck is this?" She handed me the basket. There was a loaf of bread in it, and some pictures under a rubber band strapped to the bread. The pictures were none other than nudes from Hannah Nix.

"Oh, my gods. I swear this chick is a psychopath. This is beyond anything I've seen out of an Aphrodite daughter." I grimaced. Not out of disgust of her (she was hot) but of the idea someone would do something so outrageous. I just came back from the dead to add to it.

"Don't eat that f*cking bread."

"Like hell, I will. It's probably laced."

"Slut!" Thalia shouted in the direction of the door. But Thalia was laughing. "You're hot Seaweed Brain but I don't know if you deserve something like this. You obviously wouldn't ask her for these considering Annabeth."

I handed the photos back to Thalia, who ripped them up. I chucked the basket to the side of the room. "How are my parents? I trust you've checked on them?" I ask, changing the conversation.

She looked down. "They're… ok. It destroyed Sally when you disappeared. They've somewhat turned into hermits. It's sad. You really need to see them, Percy."

Poor Mom and Paul. Also, my baby sister, who would be a little over 26 now. She would look older than me. That's weird. Mom and Paul would be in their mid to late 60's now. It's going to hurt to see them like that.

"Can you come with me to see them? Tonight? They would probably let us stay there overnight." I asked her.

She nodded. "Of course. Do you want to visit Leo as well? He stays in Indianapolis with Calypso. They do good over there. He has changed a lot though, I'll warn you. Then Artemis and my camp are in Oregon right now, so we can make our way there. Cross country road trip, kind of like what you, Annabeth, and Grover did when you were 12. It'll be fun. You can see the changed world. And hopefully, heal."

"That sounds perfect."

Dam thassa lot of dialogue. Hopefully, it wasn't boring. I liked it. Anyway, please review. Reviews are what I like to see. Critique me especially. Give me ideas as well. I have a good idea and direction for this story though. Not sure how long it will turn out to be. Also let me know if you would like longer chapters, with fewer updates, or shorter chapters like this one with quicker updates. GoldenSlayer218 checking out.