When the boat rocked to a stop I jerked a little, pulled out of my semi-conscious daze. Was this real? Was that Camp Half-Blood? I could see smoke rising from the amphitheater, hidden behind a massive copse of trees. Home. The thought revitalized me, and I took a deep breath. This is gonna hurt.

I stuck my hand in the water and it felt like I'd been sucker punched. I inhaled sharply, fighting to keep focused. Ten fathoms out, my tired brain whispered. Sixty feet. I could make it sixty feet.

I pushed against the water, willing it to help me out, just a little longer, and the boat rocked. Slowly but surely, the little craft hobbled through the waves, bumping against the shore with a soft thud that sent agony up my chest in waves. I pulled my hand out of the water, and the world stopped spinning for a minute. That didn't last once I stood up, though. My stomach twisted and all I could think was, first drinking and now seasick? I'm losing my touch! I crawled out of the boat and up to the treeline, headed for where I could hear voices. My gut was still twisting dizzily, and I fought against the dark crowding in on my gaze, pushing back panic. I will not pass out. The thought became my mantra, cycling over and over again in my head. I will not pass out. I will not pass out.

I'm telling you, this was no joke. Start out small with your powers, OK? Don't blow up a volcano on your first try. (I'm not counting the bathroom. Although I did fight Ares with a wave, I guess. OK, second time.)

I was so painfully close. Just a few more steps, and I was in the clearing, staring at the back of the stone pillars of the stage. The voice I was following had changed, I belatedly realized. It was Chiron any more. It was higher, sharper, but just as shaky. Annabeth. The thought lifted me a little. I leaned against the stone, relishing its coolness against the raging sun. Why was it so hot?

There was a burial shroud on stage.

I forgot to breathe. My heart pounded painfully loud.

It was blue. Beautiful, shimmering blue-green fabric with a hand-stitched trident in the middle, sloppy and lopsided. It didn't fit in with how clean the rest of it looked, but at the moment I couldn't have cared less.

That was my burial shroud.

Annabeth's voice broke through the ringing in my ears. "He was probably the bravest friend I've ever had. He…"

It felt like my heart was breaking in two when I heard that. I sucked in a breath. She sounded so sad. She continued for a moment, then paused, voice cracking hard.

I'd never heard Annabeth cry. I'm sad to say I've made her cry a few more times since then, but that's another story. It never gets easier to hear it.

"Percy…" My eyes shot up again, just in time to see her break down and run, orange shirt and sandy curls flying in the wind as tears streamed down her cheeks. I lurched forward without even thinking, desperate to make that sound stop. By the time I realized what I'd done, I was in the middle of the stadium. A collective gasp broke out in the crowd. Chiron looked at me like I'd seen a ghost. Beckendorf broke into laughter. "See, I told you!" But I only had eyes for one person, and she was almost gone.

"ANNABETH!" My voice cracked like death when I tried to yell, but apparently the sound cut through the crowd, because she turned. I cursed the salty tears that sprung to my eyes as she whipped around, the disbelief turned to a wild grin on her face making me want to laugh aloud.

"Hi."

Seriously, Percy? I mentally smacked myself. Everyone thinks you're dead, you're at your own burial service, and the best you can come up with is HI?

She ran toward me. If I'm being honest, I was hoping she would kiss me, and for a minute it looked like she was going to. She ran toward me, arms out wide– and proceeded to slap me across the face.

I deserved it, I know. "PERSEUS FREAKING JACKSON!" She shrieked, and I was stumbling, thrown off-balance by the force of her hand, and my gut felt like a white-hot blade had been stabbed into it. "Percy?" She was worried now. I drew into myself, wrapping my hands around my stomach. She took a step back. Her face seemed hazy. The world tilted sharply to the left and suddenly I was falling, falling, falling–

Everything after that was fuzzy. I could hear Annabeth shrieking for a medic, and Beckendorf shouting something, and I was lifted up into something warm and soft and dark. "Please, Percy." Annabeth's voice was really close to my ear. "I can't lose you again." And then everything went black.

—-

When I came to, I was greeted with a very familiar sight. The medicine room. Annabeth was sitting beside me, head slumped on a massive chemistry textbook. How she could read that with dyslexia, I didn't understand. (I still don't.) I smiled at the sight. The next thing I noticed was how dry my throat was. Maybe there was water around here somewhere. Looking around made my head pound.

Maybe going outside would help. It didn't. The second I pushed myself into a standing position, pain exploded in my gut. My knees buckled and I pressed my eyes shut, bracing myself against the bed and table. Everything went fuzzy. I groaned, clenching my teeth. The pain left me faded. Everything was spinning. Strong, thin arms looped around my waist and legs, heaving me back onto the cot. A square of ambrosia was shoved into my mouth and the world came back into clarity for just a moment. Annabeth stood over me. Her hair was mussed, eyes shining like they do when she gets really worried or mad. Her mouth was moving, I realized, but I couldn't hear anything. Everything was slipping away. Her hand slipped into mine and I managed to catch one word- sleep. That sounded good. I closed my eyes, and slowly the warmth of her hand in mine faded until there was nothing but darkness.

—-

It took a long time for me to wake up again. Annabeth tells me it was four days. That's the longest I've ever been still for. But when I finally woke up, I felt a lot better. My head seemed like it was full of cotton fuzz, but the headache was gone and the world wasn't spinning. Best of all, nothing hurt. I just felt weak and drained. And hungry, and– I grabbed a glass of water on the nightstand and drank it all at once. The cool water brought back my energy for a minute, but not very long. In that time, I managed to push myself to my feet and make it to the balcony, swiping my hair to one side as I went. It was around noon, and the sun was beating down on me unbearably. Sweat beaded on my forehead almost instantly and I brushed it off. Annabeth had gone away at some point, but where to? Maybe she could fill me in.

I made my way carefully down the cobbled path to the well, drawing another cupful of water. This time it didn't help quite as much, and I got the feeling that pouring it on me wouldn't end well. So my powers are still on the fritz. I sighed. Even with exhaustion bogging me down as I sat on the wooden bench, my muscles itched to go back into the Labyrinth and look for Grover and Tyson. They had to be OK, right?

"Percy!" I turned so fast my head spun for a second, but it was only Chiron clopping up to say hello. "It's good to have you back, son. You had us worried there for a minute." My heart warmed a little. "Thanks, Chiron. Where's Annabeth?" The old centaur flashed me a knowing smile. "She's at the arena, knocking the heads off a couple hundred dummies."

"Don't we need those?"

"She needs them more." Chiron pulled me to my feet, watching as I got my balance. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got struck by Medusa and dunked in the river Styx." I deadpanned. "No, I'm OK. Just a little shaky."

Chiron patted me on the shoulder, then pointed to a crowd of assorted cabins headed our way. "There's some people who might be excited to see you. Tell me if you need me, Percy."

I didn't have time to process what that meant before the crowd was upon me. People jostled me every which way, asking me what happened and how I blew up the volcano and where I ended up. Even what the Coldwater Lake looked like from above. I told them as much as I remembered, but that didn't seem to be enough. Before long I was tired of being surrounded. Everything felt too close, and too hot with the sun still burning me to a crisp. I needed to sit down, but I didn't want anyone to know I was in trouble. I glanced pleadingly at Chiron, and thankfully he took the hint. He waded through the crowd, stepping on Clarrise's spear in the process. She was indignant. "Come on, Percy, back to bed with you! You'll get to see the hero soon, don't you worry!" His tone was teasing, but Clarrise muttered "Meh. It's just Percy." And stormed off. "Hey!" Yelled one kid I didn't recognize. He had a shock of unruly black hair. "That's Persassy to you!"

I laughed. "You know what? I like that!"

"I can't imagine how you earned that title." Chiron led me back towards the med room, and that's when it kicked in. I backpedaled. "Wait, I can't go to sleep! I'm tired of sleeping! Let me go find Annabeth!" Chiron wagged his head back and forth. Was it just me, or was his beard getting grayer? (That was probably our fault.) "Percy, you mustn't overwork yourself. You'll have time with her later, don't worry."

I halted one last time, a new thought coming to my mind. By now I felt like I was going to pass out, sweat running down the sides of my head in streams, the sun pounding mercilessly down on me. I was thirsty, still. "Am I gonna get my powers back?"

Chiron hesitated, then nodded. "You must pick the right time to re-familiarize yourself with the water. If you try too soon, you could very well hurt yourself worse." I screwed my face up as he continued. "But you know yourself, Percy. You'll know when you're ready. Oh, and one more thing. Make sure Annabeth knows who's fault all of this is, alright? Your fatal flaw may help."

Well, that's not comforting. I allowed myself to be herded back inside, sitting on the cot and glancing around. I leaned back against the pillow. My fatal flaw… Loyalty to a fault. But what did that have to do with Annabeth hiding from me? Make sure Annabeth knows who's fault all of this is.

Ohhhh. The concept hit me suddenly. I crossed my arms above my head, staring out at the wind-blown fields. Annabeth probably blames herself for me getting hurt. Even though I told her to leave. And then she slapped me, and then I passed out.

"Thanks, Chiron." I mumbled. "Would you believe how clueless I can be sometimes?"

I didn't mean to, but I fell asleep, even though my throat felt like sandpaper, dreams full of (for once not death and creepiness!) ways to make it up to her.

—-

Two days later…

I wasn't getting any better, and it was annoying the crud out of me. Chiron had banned me from going into the Labyrinth, and to make matters worse my only partner in crime was ignoring me. I could hang out with the Hermes cabin whenever I wanted, so that was nice. But why did it have to be so hot? Every time I stepped outside it felt like some kid had shoved me in an Easy-Bake Oven. "I would make a very salty cookie." I muttered, then laughed at my joke. "What?" Silena asked. We were both headed the same direction– the arena. "Oh, nothing." I replied, keeping my head down and trudging along.

"How are you?" The question took me by surprise. "Oh." I thought for a minute. "I'm OK."

"What's it like, having your powers go haywire?" Silena seemed genuinely interested, and it took me aback. "I don't think I could manage any more 'perfect look' magic. Enough's enough."

"You're not a normal Aphrodite kid, are you?" I blame being lightheaded for not censoring my big mouth better. As soon as I said that her lips pulled back, eyes hardening. It was like a really pretty steel wall slammed between me and her. "Oh, look, we're here!" I yelped, stumbling inside. I glanced around. The two Stoll brothers were in the middle fighting, helmets down and longswords extended. The others were watching from a distance, forming a circle and cheering and clapping and placing bets. All that good stuff. I went over to Beckendorf. "You seen Annabeth?"

He gave me a smile, the same smile Chiron had given me a couple days ago. "Yeah, she just left. Something about studying in her room." I gave him a shaky nod of thanks and headed for the exit. All the way back… "Hey, Percy, you OK? You look kinda pale." My will hardened. "Yeah, I'm good!" I picked up the pace, almost stumbling as I forced myself out the door. It was just to the Athena cabin, I told myself. I'd walked there from the arena a thousand times. It would be fine.

I didn't count on the heat having a personal vendetta against me. I made it, but I was sweating and nasty and generally a mess. Still, I staggered over to the closest bunk and plopped down on it, breathing hard and wiping a hand through my greasy hair. The shade helped for a minute. Now if only the cabins had AC, I internally muttered. It didn't help that every time I tried to take a shower my body rebelled. Oh, gods. I probably stunk to high heaven. (High Empire State Building?) I heard a squeak, then some shuffling, and Annabeth, finally Annabeth, appeared from behind three massive rows of assorted weapons and armor. She was carrying a large, leatherbound book with an Ancient Greek title I couldn't read from where I was sitting. Something about demigods. When she saw me she slumped. "Oh. It's you."

"Hello to you too."

"I'm beginning to understand why they call you Persassy."

Silence. Things hadn't been this awkward between us since before… wow, that had been a long time ago. Before we finished our first quest. "So…"

"Wanna go for a walk?" She surprised me. To be honest, I really didn't, but I also wanted to do whatever she wanted to do, so I nodded and stood again. She set the book on a table by her bunk and followed me outside.

The second the sun hit me, I knew I was getting worse. It was like a thousand flames were being thrown at my face and body, just as hot as the lava from the telkhines. I staggered and she steadied me with a hand looped around my back. "Seaweed Brain." She grumbled. "How long did it take you to find me?"

"...An hour?" I guessed weakly. Black spots crowded in on my vision but I blinked them away. Surely it wasn't this hot. Maybe Apollo was making a special trip. With some effort, I pulled away and managed to stand on my own. Her hand was still clasped around my arm, but I didn't say anything about it, because I didn't mind.

"Stupid." She muttered. "Come on. We're going to the lake."

At the thought of the lake, my mouth went dry. Or, drier. "Uh… well…"

"Just trust me." I paled. The lake was all the way on the other side of the cabins, away from the arena. But I nodded.

Trusting her was a great idea. (She told me to tell you it always is. Well, it mostly i- she just smacked me. What an injustice.) The little bit of mist that carried off the top of the water cooled me off tremendously, and it gave me this weird, antsy feeling, like I was missing something important but I could get there on time if I rushed. We stood awkwardly at the edge of the pier for a bit, until an idea sprang into my head. "Annabeth?"

"Hm?"

"Are you still mad at me?"

"What?"

I tried for a slow smile but got a glare back. "You smacked me upside the face. You're mad at me."

"I'm not-"

"Annabeeeeeeeeeeeth."

"Fine." She took a deep breath, turning away from me. Her curls got all frizzy around the water and wind. I liked it. "I felt really guilty for letting you go on your own, and when you showed up I was more mad at myself than you."

"But I'm easier to hit, right?"

She didn't reply, but I got the sense she was smiling. Her orange Camp Half-Blood shirt fluttered in the breeze.

"So hit me instead."

"What?" She whipped around, and I took a step back. This idea was stupid. But Chiron did say I'd know when I was ready.

"If you can't hit yourself, hit me instead! Besides, I'm tougher!" That got her. Her grey eyes shimmered with a challenge. "I already tried that." She still protested. "It didn't help."

"I'm not gonna pass out this time!" I laughed. Another step back and my heels were against the edge of the pier. I could sense the water below me, ready, ready… I spread my arms wide. "Take your shot!"

She smirked, raising her fist. "I can't pass up an opportunity to maim Seaweed Brain, can I?" When it hit my shoulder, just barely a hit at all, I wrenched to one side, threw myself backwards… and let myself fall straight into the pond.

It took me a second to uncurl out of the fetal position. For all my bravado I'd been legitimately scared. I'd tried to dip my hand in the well just the day before and had almost fallen in. But the riptide in my gut had eased. I stretched out, laughing as the water seeped through me. For the first time in a week, my head was clear. My skin tingled like I'd just chugged an energy drink. Fish darted around me. I wasn't thirsty, or hot, or lightheaded. I was whole.

I smirked, clenching my fists. A wave rose up around me, sweeping the fish and me into a massive swell of water that took us up, up, up to where Annabeth was kneeling–

Splash! I exploded out of the water and grabbed her, pulling her back in with me. Her indignant shriek was muffled for just a moment as I pushed the water aside to create an air bubble. I laughed at her expression, pulling her close as her hands made helpless gestures in the newfound air. "Percy! You- you–"

"I know, I know!"

"You— your powers?"

I nodded. "Good as new, see?" I waved my hand, drawing back just a little bit, and a dolphin sprung from the waves, made of swirling water, dancing around us before dissolving back into itself.

"Seaweed Brain." She shook her head, lips pressed into a firm line. There was a lot more she wanted to say, I realized, but she didn't know how. With all this newfound confidence, I figured I could say it for her. "Wise Girl…"

She looked at me, and leaning up just a little, I kissed her. Her anger melted and before I knew it, her hands were threading through my hair. After a while we sprang apart and her hands looped around my waist and we both laughed breathlessly. It was awesome. I never wanted to leave our little bubble, but she told me I needed to take a bath, and so I spat us both up at the beach. Thankfully, she was still dry. (A wet Annabeth is not a happy Annabeth. I learned that the hard way.) I saw something glinting in the wet sand and stepped forward only to feel a slight tug. I blushed. Her hand was looped in mine. "You see that?" I asked. She nodded.

It was a pen. A very familiar ballpoint pen. With a slightly wet Sticky Note attached to it. "What does it say?" Annabeth asked.

It took me a while to read it, but here's the gist- You've got too much coming your way to give this awesome little trinket up, kid. Keep the pen. Good luck! -Dad

I laughed uneasily. That's how it usually went with him, comforting yet a little nerve-wracking at the same time. He tries. (He hasn't gotten any better at pep talks.) Then I explained to Annabeth how I'd lost it in the first place. I glanced up toward Zeus' Fist. "Now," I realized, slipping Riptide into my pocket. "We can go save Grover and Tyson."

"After you shower."

I glanced down. "After I shower."

—-

A/N: Whaddya think? Decent? I had no idea how to end it. Also I'm sorry if the geography is wayyyyy off, I had to give it my best guess. I know this is pretty much canon, I just wanted to see if I could match the writing style. Percy is such a simp ?

WHO"S EXCITED FOR THE SERIEEEEEEES

I AMMMMMMM

Ok thats enough.

I might have to start uploading once a week instead of twice a week cuz I have no time but we'll see.

Thanks to the one person who reviewd the last chapter, I can't see it anymore for some reason but I appreciate it :)

Peace :)