Percy

As we walk through the empty hallway between classrooms, Annabeth looks at the piece of paper we found in the safe with the key. "It's just a bunch of letters. Ooh! I bet it's one of those unscramble games!"

"Ugh. I hate those. They do not go well with dyslexia."

"Lucky for you, I'm great at them." Annabeth whips a pen out of her pocket and begins scribbling all over it. I take it upon myself to make sure she doesn't run into a pole as we keep walking forward.

"Where do you want to go?" I ask.

"Preferably somewhere where there's a mascot," Annabeth mumbles. "Remember the lion's heart?"

"Oh, good point. Those will probably be outside? Or in the gym?"

"Gym! Wait, no. There's no 'g' in this scramble. Wait, but there's a 'q'!"

"Q's aren't common, are they?" I ask.

"No. They're not. Is there a map of the campus somewhere around here?"

We find the exit to the building we're in, and we step out into the bright sunlight. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust, but when they do…

"Oh, there's one!" It's one of those triangle-type map stands you find at malls, with a detailed list of all of the buildings on campus. I drag my finger across the list. "The letter q…"

Annabeth picks up my finger and places it onto a building painted in blue. I squint my eyes to read the tiny lettering. "The aquatic center." She grabs a paper copy of the map from a dispenser and pockets it.

I grin. "I so want to see their pool."

"As long as you don't take a swim." Annabeth hooks her arm into mine, and I pull her close.

"I dunno," I say. "I remember the last time we went for a swim, it went really well."

Annabeth rolls her eyes. "Like last place in round 1. Gods, that was traumatizing. Anyways, we should hurry. We don't know whether the others already got out of their rooms."

We race to the aquatic center, squabbling about whether we're going the right way. At some point, we end up in the middle of a playground, which I didn't realize college students even have. Eventually, we reach the aquatic center, which is this large indoor pool set in the very corner of the campus, between a bunch of other random buildings. It would be a nightmare to find without the map.

"Bingo," Annabeth says, and I follow her line of vision. In the opposite corner of the building, in front of the locker rooms, there's a giant statue of a cartoon lion wearing a red shirt. Nobody else is in the building, which means we're either ahead of everyone else or way behind everyone else. I'm crossing my fingers for the first one.

Annabeth and I half-jog, half-walk around the pool towards the statue (I've been yelled at too many times for running on the pool deck). As soon as we reach the statue, I notice a small circle engraved around the left side of the lion's chest. "The lion's heart."

Annabeth digs her fingernails into the crack and pries the circle open. Inside, there's yet another slip of paper. On this paper, however, there's no clue.

Annabeth examines the paper closely. "It's a key for Morse code."

"You mean that thing with the beeps?"

Annabeth shakes her head. "It can be through sounds, but it can also be lights, or even dots and dashes." Her eyes fixate to a point above my head. "I'm guessing it's lights in this case, though."

"Why is that?" I turn around, and I realize one of the pool lights above us is flickering. Some of the flickers are short, and some of the flickers are long.

"Quick," Annabeth whispers. "Do you have my pen?"

I dig through the pockets of my shorts. I realize somehow I accidentally pocketed the pen Annabeth was using earlier. I hand it over to her.

"You see how there's a period of time where the light gets dark? That's when the message resets. After the light turns on again, tell me whether the blinks are short or long."

I turn around, waiting for the light to flicker on again. When it does, it stays on for about three seconds, twice in a row. Then, it flickers lightly before turning off again. "I guess this one is long-long-short."

Annabeth scribbles it on her paper. I turn back to the light. "The next one long-short-long-long."

"I think I already know what it's saying, but what's the last letter?"

"Long, long…" The light switches off.

"Knew it." Annabeth pockets the piece of paper. "We're going to the gym."

Annabeth

When we arrive, the gym is completely empty. The bleachers are people-less and folded to the wall. The floors are devoid of anything except for the dust of disuse. No sign of the Zeus' Cup trophy at all.

"What clues do we have left?" Percy asks. "There's gotta be something here."

I dig through my pockets and pull out all the pieces of paper we've received. Travel to the capital of Greece and dig deep. Been there, done that. Surf the seas until you find meaning. No more seas where we are. Find purpose with the lion's heart. Purpose found. Aquatic center unscrambled. Morse code key used.

"That's it. There are no more clues."

"That doesn't make sense. What did Hestia say? That different clues could be used at different times?"

"Yeah. But we've used all of the clues already."

"Do you think that we could use one clue multiple times?"

I raise my eyes to meet his. His pupils are blown wide, with tiny flecks of blue and brown among the emerald. I've always loved the color of his eyes, and right now, it might be my favorite color.

Times like this, I almost think that I love him. I know it's way too soon to be thinking about that kind of stuff, and we're not even together. But not only is he stunning, like the other girls whisper in the halls. He's attentive, determined, caring, and he's so damn brilliant. It leaves my stomach turning in anticipation of what will happen after this is all over.

It takes all of my willpower to not finish what we started in that stupid supply closet.

"You're right. We might be able to reuse one of these." I sift through the pieces of paper. "Any flickering lights or beeping noises?"

"Nope," Percy responds. "No C's either, this time. But there's also a giant mascot right there." Percy points at the wall behind the bleachers. "It also looks like there's something by the lion's heart."

I follow his finger, and at the top of the folded up bleachers, there's a cream-colored box painted to blend in with the walls. I grip his arm. "I think that's it!"

"Yeah, but how do we get there? We can't climb the bleachers. They're folded, and the cracks are too small to put our feet through."

"Is there a rope or something that we could use? Or a supply closet nearby?"

A loud squeaking noise echoes through the gym. The sound of sneakers against gym flooring. I turn around.

Behind us, in the doorway, stand Reyna and Hylla from CC's Academy of the Arts. If looks could kill, these girls would be murderers. Their dark eyes share a determination that I respect, but it's not so fun when you're on the receiving end.

Hylla's gaze darts across the whole gym, taking note of our positioning, and the way our bodies are angled up to the bleachers. She whispers something to Reyna really quickly, and points at the trophy. Great. They found it, too.

With a sudden jolt, Reyna begins sprinting across the gym floor, straight towards us. Percy gently takes my elbow, moving my body to the side. Reyna whooshes past us, and a mild breeze blows against my hair. With a monstrous leap, she jumps onto the wall created by the bleachers and pushes herself onto the vertical surface. She's able to take two giant steps up the bleachers before gravity takes hold. I gasp loudly as she loses her momentum and flails her arms around, trying to hold on. She's unable to. Her body slides down the plastic seating and she lands with a thud on her feet.

Hylla is up next. From the moment she starts, I can tell that she won't be able to make it. She's more built than Reyna is, more bulky compared to Reyna's lithe agility. Within seconds, she's on the floor with Reyna, rapidly discussing strategy.

Percy leans into me, whispering in my ear, "We've got to find something to help us before they figure it out."

"Let's go."

Without a word, we walk to the corner of the gym behind the bleachers, where the restrooms are. If there's anything at all that can help us, it would be… jackpot.

"Supply closet!" Percy yell-whispers. I jiggle the doorknob. It's unlocked. We step inside as soundlessly as possible and close the door.

"It's like escape room part two in here," I say, scanning the room for anything that could help. Except we're out of luck, because the only things I see in here are two brooms, a bucket, and a wad of thin but sturdy-looking rope.

"Well, now what do we do?" Percy asks. "There's nothing."

I don't suppose we could climb on the bucket. It's small and would likely break under our feet. The brooms are useless, unless we're in Hogwarts. And the rope would be impossible to throw up like a lasso. Wait…

An image of the folded-up bleachers flashes in my head. As we passed them to reach the supply closet, I remember seeing a series of pegs lining the sides. If I could weave them into a ladder…

I grab the rope. "Percy, come here. I need you to go in front of me, stick close to me, and do exactly what I tell you to. They may try to run past you and push you down, but you need to defend yourself because I'll be otherwise occupied, alright?"

Percy nods. "I trust you."

I smile. "I'm glad."

When we sneak back out of the supply closet, Hylla and Reyna are still trying to jump up the bleachers. It doesn't look like they're succeeding.

"I need you to keep me out of their sight. Distract them?"

Percy cracks his knuckles. "I gotchu." He steps forward, casually leaning on the bleachers as if it's some sort of door frame.

Rolling my eyes, I get to work. Just a simple criss-cross pattern, right? And then I can put my shoes into the divot. I loop my rope around the bottom row of pegs twice, so that it provides a sturdy hold, and then I begin to weave a triangular pattern with the rope pieces, making a ladder-like structure.

In my periphery, Reyna notices Percy and gives him a scrutinizing look. "Where did you guys go? Where's your partner?"

"Took a little bathroom break." Percy's voice echoes through the building. "She's still in there. Wish we could've gone together, but that sounds like it might break some rules."

I can almost hear Reyna's lips curl in disgust. "And this is why you guys will lose. You don't take this competition seriously."

"Of course I take this competition seriously. Serious is my middle name."

A different, louder voice chimes in. Hylla. "Stop talking, boy. You could be doing better things with your mouth."

My cheeks flare red, hearing that, but I'm almost halfway up. My hands begin working faster. No point in getting jealous, since we're six feet away from winning. That, and there's only one person Percy will be using his mouth on today. Me.

Wait, that sounded wrong.

"I dunno, Hylla. It seems to me that my mouth is doing exactly what it wants to."

"And what is that?" She taunts. Five more feet. I begin my ending ties. If I stand on the top "rung" of my ladder, I can push myself up the rest of the way.

"Distracting you, of course!" Percy grins.

"Wha-," Hylla mutters, but I'm already standing on the top rung of my ladder. I look over to see two very shocked, red-cheeked girls staring at my sudden appearance. Grinning to myself, I crawl across the bleachers and slam the button on the trophy's box.

The intercom crackles to life. "And Goode High School comes into first place!"

From below, I hear Percy let out a whoop. I come back down the ladder, but before I can touch the floor, Percy grabs me by the waist and pulls me down, spinning me around. I'm so overwhelmed, I can hardly process what's happening. All I know is that my face is buried in Percy's shoulder, Percy's screaming bloody murder, and that Reyna and Hylla are fuming.

"Do we take it down?" I ask, referring to the ladder.

"Nah," Percy says. "Let them fight over the ladder. We did it!"

Laughing, I wrap my arms around his waist and pull him into a hug. He presses my head into his chest and holds me tightly. I could just stay there for the rest of time.

At some point during our hug, Reyna and Hylla use our ladder to push the button and get second place, but I don't really care. We made it. We're done. No walls in between us, no walls ahead of us.

Except, of course, me having to move to a different city.

I pull away from the hug. "Percy -"

He shakes his head, placing a hand over my mouth. "Nope. We're not having that conversation. Let's just enjoy the moment."

"But-"

"Annabeth."

Sighing, I lean my head against his shoulder. He grins and grabs my hand. "Let's go exploring."

Somehow, as we walk through the amber campus as the sky dims, I don't feel like the night is ending. I feel as if it's only begun.

We've passed by the building where our escape room is, and we noticed a couple groups huddled by the map, so Percy figures we still have at least ten minutes before the last of the groups reaches the trophy. We still have fifteen minutes left of our time before we have to return to the auditorium, so of course Percy has to stretch it to the last possible second. Instead of going back early, Percy pulls me up a staircase with a sign that says Roof Access.

"Ever since we passed by this campus, I've always thought of how these roofs are perfect for just sitting and relaxing," Percy gushes. "Might as well do it for the first time with you."

It's so sappy that I blush, but in the flickering lamplight, he won't be able to see it. I can't see much of him either, but I see everything I need.

We sit on the grimy cement floors, staring up at the stars (or lack thereof because smog), just relishing the fact that we're together.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask.

"Talk about what?"

"You know, the closet?"

"Ah. The closet."

"Yeah." I try to discern what I can in the darkness of the roof, trying to memorize the details of this moment, but all I can see are his eyes. Bright and turbulent and swirling with something intense.

"You know…I. I just want to start off by saying, I never hated you. Ever. Even when you were mean to me."

"Neither did I."

"And, and, some part of me, for the longest time, kept hoping that maybe we could move past this. Become, maybe not this, but like, not rivals anymore. Like friends."

"And we did, didn't we?"

"Yeah, but, Annabeth. I think that part of me wanted more than friends all along. And I think, I think we're a good team."

"The best."

"I think I want to stay in that team. See how much more we could do together. Maybe test the boundaries a little bit."

I can't see much, but I can feel his breath flickering against my cheek. "Tell me what you want, Percy."

"I want…I want to kiss you."

My hand finds his cheek in the shadows. I drag my thumb against his lips, his chin. "Then do it."

And he closes the distance.

Percy

It's fumbling at first, probably because we're in the dark and can't actually find each other's lips. But when we do, gods. Her lips are sosososo soft, and they taste so sweet. Like the blue vanilla milkshakes my mom makes, but so much better.

We pull apart. Her moonlit eyes glimmer with amusement. My heart does a triple backflip in my chest.

"Way overdue, huh?" I can barely recognize the sound of my own voice.

"As everything you do always is," she whispers fondly. Smiling, she leans in again, and I oblige.

I lose myself in the feel of her, of the way her silky curls slip through my fingers and her back arches against my palm. I test the waters a bit, drag my tongue across her lips. She lets out a little moan, and my entire body is set alight with the feeling. It burns through my stomach, through my whole body. I press closer, as close as I can possibly get without falling on top of her. My heart pounds against my chest, against her hand pressed against it.

I barely register the crackle of the intercom as Mr. D tells us to 'haul ass back to the building…oh sorry, I forgot no cursing.' I just want to stay here in our little cocoon of reality and revel in the taste of her. It's addicting. She's addicting.

But Annabeth's smart, doing what needs to be done. She pushes against me lightly, shifting away from me so that I can't reach her. She presses a chaste kiss against my lips, and whispers, "We have to go."

"Do we?" I whine.

"Unless you want to send the whole competition into a panic because they lost two kids."

"That doesn't sound so bad," I tease.

Annabeth rolls her eyes and pushes herself up, reaching out a hand to help me. "Come on, seaweed brain."

We walk back to the auditorium silent but hand-in-hand, smiling to ourselves. We untangle them as we stand before the giant doorway. Best not to make a big deal of this new development. Not yet, anyways.

We walk past the rows and rows and eager parents and students. Halfway through the hall, I notice a row filled with my friends: Nico, Hazel, Frank, Grover, Juniper, they're all there. I recognize Jason a couple rows down, along with Piper and some of Annabeth's other friends. My mom and Paul are right at the front, and they yell my name as we walk past. Annabeth and I sit along with the other participants at the very first row, right beside Jake Mason and his partner, Mitchell. Mr. D stands at the front, insistently tapping on his mic and adjusting his suit jacket.

"Can I have your attention, please!" Mr. D says, in an uncharacteristically polite manner. "Before we begin announcing the winners…" And he drones on, thanking various organizations, sponsors, and families who helped out with the organization. We cheer when he mentions Hestia's name, but the rest is not memorable at all. I might have fallen asleep a bit, but then Annabeth pinches my arm.

In the same droning, dull tone, Mr. D says, "And now we will be announcing the top five schools. The remaining schools will receive their placements via email."

I jerk up in my seat. The entire audience begins whispering amongst each other.

"We must remind you that the scoring process for this competition is a completely objective process and based on numerical data. The first and second rounds were based on mathematical equations translating times and scores to rankings, and the third round was evaluated by professionals who do not have any affiliations within the region. The fourth round was purely based on who finished the course first. Any complaints or requests for reevaluation will not be accommodated."

Annabeth's hand brushes my wrist, and I wrap my fingers around hers. They're freezing cold to the touch, and mine are probably sweating pools into her palm, but we're both too nervous to bother.

"Beginning with fifth place: Empire State High School!" A roar comes up from the back of the auditorium. Jake and Mitchell leap up to receive their ribbon, and we scream their names as they go onstage. They're all bright smiles and shining faces as they get their photo taken, and I recall from Annabeth's old statistics sheet that they got second last year. They still made the top five this year, which, for Zeus' Cup, is pretty amazing.

As Jake sits back in his seat, I give him a fist bump. "Nice job, dude."

"Could've done better, but it's fine. That whole thing stressed me out to no end. Hey, give me your number."

We exchange numbers as Mr. D recollects himself. "And fourth place, hmmm, let me see. Long Island High School!"

Two beefy-looking guys make their way onstage, and Annabeth whispers to me, "They got the same place as last year. Pretty good."

"But wait, does this mean we might've made top 3?" I whisper back.

"Maybe. Crossing my fingers. The first round is going to pull us down, so we either just missed top 5 or got the podium."

"Third place is… Hamilton High School!"

The two girls, Nyssa and Zoe, walk up onstage and collect their prizes. Nyssa seems pretty stoked, but Zoe wears a poker face. Another team that got the same place as last year.

"Could we have gotten top 2?" I ask Annabeth.

Annabeth chews on her lip, "Unlikely, but I'm not sure how their scoring works."

"We did get two first places," I offer.

"You're giving me hope, Percy. Too much hope is bad."

"But just enough hope?"

Annabeth shakes her head. "I'm too nervous to think."

"That's a first."

"Second place is…woah. Here's an upset. CC's Academy for the Arts!"

I scream, but it gets drowned out by all of the other screams and cries in the audience. CC's got second? That means…does that mean…

"Which means first place is Goode High School! This makes history for the school, folks."

What. The. Hell.

Annabeth and I shoot out of our seats. The entire audience bursts into applause and cheers. I can hear my mom screaming louder than everybody else. I wrap Annabeth into a hug. She grabs my face and kisses me. The cheers get a lot louder after that. We run up onstage, and Mr. D shakes our hands. "Perry Johnson. Annabelle Case. Congratulations."

The rest of it is a blur. We somehow get whisked out of the auditorium with medals around our necks and piles of flowers in our hands. Cameras flash all around us, but I don't really pay attention. All I know is that Annabeth's smiling, my friends and family are smiling, and everything feels right. I bring my hands to my eyes and they come away wet.

Among the whirlwind of people congratulating us and patting us on the back, I pull Annabeth close. I whisper in her ear, "There'll be a surprise waiting for you at home. Your dad will let you know."

Confusion clouds her eyes. "My dad? Wha -"

I wink at her. "You'll find out." I wrap an arm around her shoulders, knowing there's nowhere else I want to be.

So. This is the last official chapter of Wordlessly! There's going to be an epilogue, of course, but it's crazy to be ending this journey. This fic has been an in progress for the last four years. I was a completely different person four years ago, a completely different writer, and to reread my old work and see how this story has grown with me is kind of crazy to see. I hope those of you who have stayed throughout those four years haven't gotten too mad at me for my hiatuses and completely irregular updates, and those of you who have just discovered this have enjoyed reading this high school AU. I tried to make it unique from other high school stories, and hopefully I've accomplished that. If not, at least it was entertainment value.

Anyways, as far as future fics go, I have a couple one-shots that I might post if you want it or if I feel like they're good enough to be posted. I've been working on a fic called Starry-Eyed, but I don't want to post it until I have most of the chapters drafted, so that I don't end up in the whole four year delay situation and put you all through that. I'll still be writing going forward, but don't be surprised if you don't see anything new on my profile for a while.

In summary, I hope you all enjoyed this story, and let me know your thoughts as always!