A/N: Hey everyone! Thanks so much for the reviews some of you posted, that was super encouraging and helpful! Alright, I promised some action in this chapter, so enough of me, happy reading!
Disclaimer: Yep, I don't own any of PJO or any of Rick Riordan's work. Only thing I own is the plot and the OC's, blah blah.
I steeled my nerves and walked down towards the beach.
Cat's POV:
I fired another arrow into the bull-eye of the target, then sat down, exhausted. I'd been training hard all day, trying to distract myself from the ominous feelings. I grabbed my water bottle and chugged it, the leaned back with a groan, rubbing my sore muscles. Hearing footsteps behind me, I turned slightly, to see Nico jogging towards me. He stopped in front of me, panting.
"You need to get in better shape if that exhausted you. And you need much better running form." I said critically, taking another drink of water.
He rolled his eyes. "Well good day to you too. And I've been running for ages so shush."
I shrugged. "Whatever you say. Anyway whatcha want from me?"
He jerked his head towards the water. "Percy wanted me to come get you. Apparently there's a commotion going on at the beach and he wants you to come help. And since he's lazy beyond compare, of course he couldn't come do it himself."
I groaned. "Gah, people are so needy. Yeah, I'll be right down, I'm just going to go change first. Unless it's urgent."
Nico shrugged. "It'll teach Jackson some patience."
I grinned and grabbed my stuff, jogging towards my cabin. I waved at my few bunkmates who were there, tossed my bag on my bed, and changed into a lace up lavender hoodie, black jeans, and tall brown combat boots. I glanced in the mirror near my bed and was slightly startled by my appearance. I hadn't paid much attention to how much I'd grown the past few years, but I realized I wasn't a kid anymore. I mean, oddly enough I had never felt like a kid, but now I didn't look like one either. As I looked at the mature fighter in the mirror, I knew, without a doubt, that something was going to happen today, whether I liked it or not. With a sigh, I turned and jogged down towards the beach, wondering what my lazy brother needed now.
Percy's POV:
"She's coming! Everybody hide!" Annabeth whisper hissed to everyone. All the campers dashed to their hiding spots, and my girlfriend grabbed my arm and tugged me under one of the tables. I grinned at her and she rolled her eyes, but smiled back. Her blond hair hung gently around her stormy gray eyes, and I leaned in to give her a quick kiss. She blushed and whispered in my ear. "We're supposed to be surprising your sister, not having a date, seaweed brain!"
I grinned and whispered back. "Doesn't mean I can't get a quick kiss or two in, right?" She shook her head but she was still smiling. I peeked out and saw my sister jogging into the pavilion, looking confused.
Suddenly everyone jumped out at once and screamed "SURPRISE!" She shrieked and jumped backward and everyone started laughing. But I noticed her hand had gripped the hilt of her dagger when we startled her, and I wondered why she was still on edge. Annabeth noticed too, and gave me a quizzical look.
I shrugged and went over to give my sister a hug. "Happy birthday, sis!" I said, ruffling her hair. She shoved my hand off but hugged me back. "So," I murmured quietly. "Anything happen with that feeling of yours?"
She nodded, looking uncomfortable. "I had a horrid dream…I still feel it. It's getting worse." She met my eyes, and I was startled by how old and strong she seemed. I hadn't noticed how much she'd grown up, only seeing her as my baby sister.
"I'm sorry." I said gently.
She shrugged. "It's life, I guess. But I suppose I should party."
I nodded, a bit confused by the change of subject. "Definitely. Just put the feelings aside, and enjoy your party."
She nodded, but a wistful look came over her eyes as she glanced at Annabeth, who stood behind me. "I just wish someone cared about me. The way you and Annabeth do, I mean."
Immediately a protective feeling washed over me, but I smiled. "Someday." She rolled her eyes, knowing exactly what I meant, and walked over to greet her other friends. I stepped back to Annabeth, grinning.
She had caught the last part of our conversation, and was smirking. "I think maybe one already does."
I looked at her, completely confused. "Huh? One already does what?" She gave me that look, the one telling me that I'm an idiot, and jerked her head at Leo. I turned to look at Leo, who was staring at Cat, nervously fiddling with a small box in his hands. Confused, I turned back to Annabeth. "What does Leo have to do with any of this? What?" Annabeth stared at me for a second, then muttered something about how clueless boys are and walked away, shaking her head in disbelief. I stood there for a few more minutes, looking back and forth between Cat, Leo, and my girlfriend, until I gave up and walked after Annabeth, muttering something about girls and how confusing they are.
Cat's POV:
As Percy walked back to Annabeth, I turned and greeted all of my friends who had come. I saw Jane, who was talking to a girl dressed in all black, and walked over to her.
"Hi, Jane! Thanks for coming." I said, smiling.
She grinned at me. "Happy birthday! Here, I got you a little something." She handed me a small gift bag, her blue and green dress swishing around her legs as she did so.
"Aw, thanks!" I opened the gift and grinned when I saw my favorite candy. "Ooh, these are my-"
"Favorites, I know. Percy told me." She said, smiling. "Oh, and this is Alex, I'm not sure if you two have met." She gestured to the girl standing next to her.
"We haven't." Alex growled, fiddling with the hood of her jacket.
"Okay then." I muttered, but I supposed she might not remember me, even though we had talked a couple times when I went to see Nico. "Uh, hi Alex, thanks for coming." I said, trying to sound upbeat and polite, which was apparently the wrong approach.
"Don't thank me. I was forced." She growled, then stalked off towards a secluded corner.
Jane gave me a forced smile as I stared after her. "She's like that sometimes."
"Aren't all Hades kids?" I sighed, then gave her a quizzical look. "How long have you known her? I though you were both pretty new."
"Yeah, that's why we started being friends, well, sort of friends. We got to camp only a few days apart, so we were both new to all of this."
I nodded. "That's great."
Jane and I chatted for a little longer, then she glanced over my shoulder and whispered to me in a sing-song tone. "I think somebody has got their eyes on you!" Baffled, I turned around, and found myself being nudged in that direction. I gave Jane a confused look, but she just grinned. "Go on!" Confused, I walked over to where she had pointed, wondering what and who she meant. Then I saw him, and to my disgust, my face immediately turned bright pink. I pretended to drop the gift Jane had given me to give me time to recover, but instead he just had to be a gentlemen and help me pick it up. Suddenly he was right there, his curly hair framing his sparkling brown eyes. I blushed again as he grinned, rubbing his head.
"Cat! Did you miss me?" Leo Valdez handed me my bag, and I blushed beyond what I thought was possible as his rugged, strong hand brushed mine.
I stuttered for a second before managing to get coherent words out, all the while mentally screaming at myself for being such a ditz. "Maybe a little." I managed, grinning.
He made a fake sad face. "Aw, just a little? I must be slacking." He laughed, then nervously fidgeted with something in his pocket.
On an impulse, I hugged him before I could talk myself out of the idea. He was startled at first, then he wrapped his strong yet slender arms around me and hugged me back. I let go, blushing. "Alright, maybe more than a little." Jane met my eyes over Leo's shoulder and gave me a thumbs-up, grinning. I glanced around, looking for anything to distract me from his handsome face, and realized I hadn't said hello to Nico yet. "Well, I better go say hi to everyone else." I said, then slipped off, still blushing.
A couple hours later, after dinner and presents and a few games, I was beaming with happiness. This was the most fun I'd had in ages, and that weird feeling had finally gone away. Then the music started, and multi-colored lights lit up the dance floor. I gasped and hugged Annabeth, who had planned the party for me.
"You're the best!" I grinned at her, and she patted my head with a smile. Then Leo came up behind me, looking nervous, and stuck his hand out to me.
"May I have this dance, Milady?" He asked, his tone only slightly mocking. Naturally, I blushed, nodded shyly, and took his hand. He swept me out on the dance floor, then he looked down at me and murmured with a shy grin. "I don't actually know how to dance."
I blushed and looked up into his eyes. "Me neither…guess we will figure it out together." He grinned and we began to dance.
Jane POV:
I watched as Leo finally made his move and took Cat onto the dance floor with a grin. Scanning the party, I saw Annabeth nudge Percy, who noticed his sister and Leo dancing. His eyes widened and he opened his mouth, but Annabeth tugged him onto the dance floor instead, laughing.
As they passed me, I heard Percy mutter with narrowed eyes. "Valdez better be careful with my sister." Annabeth rolled her eyes and smiled at me, and we shared a 'boys' look. Giggling, I turned to Alex, who was standing next to me with her arms folded and her eyebrow raised.
"So, do you want to find a dance partner?" I asked, still excited for Cat and enjoying the party. She looked horrified and shocked.
"Me? Dance? With a boy?" She stared at me until she realized I was serious and snorted. "Ha. You're funny. Absolutely not." I gave her pleading eyes, but she was unmoving. "You go dance if you desperately need to." I sighed, but surrendered to her grumpiness. Barely any of the boys at camp knew me yet, so I went to the very corner of the dance floor, and after checking that no one was looking, I started to dance by myself, remembering the lessons after lessons I had taken before I came to camp. I went with the flow, twirling and spinning, lost in the rhythm of the music. When the song finally ended, I opened my eyes to see a dark haired boy looking at me, who I recognized as Nico, Alex's older brother. He stepped up to me, and shyly asked if I would dance with him. I was completely surprised, but shrugged.
"Uh, sure." He smiled and introduced himself fully, then a new song started and we started to dance. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leo leading a giggling Cat down towards the beach, but I was too distracted with the dark eyed boy I was dancing with to pay attention to the happy couple.
Cat's POV:
Leo led me down to the very end of the dock, and we sat down with our legs dangling over the water. I laughed breathlessly.
"This has probably been one of the best nights of my life." I whispered with a happy sigh, leaning into him. He stiffened for a second, surprised, but then he relaxed and put his arm around me.
"So, uh, what do you want for your birthday?" He asked, and I tilted my head up so I could see his face.
"Um. There's nothing I want, really. Besides having fun. Or maybe a new bow." I said, musing.
"Well…this is awkward, since I didn't get you that." He said, fidgeting.
"Oh, you really didn't have to get me anything, Leo." I said, sitting up.
He looked away. "Well… I…uh… care about you."
I smiled. "I care about you too." I murmured, looking out at the gorgeous sunset.
He grinned as he pulled a box out of his pocket. "Well, I kinda got you this." He said, handing me a necklace with a multi colored heart pendant, engraved with my name. "I forged it myself." He said awkwardly, then added hastily. "With Piper's help with the design, of course."
My head and heart were screaming like crazy, but I somehow managed to speak coherently. "Oh, Leo! It's perfect!" I gasped, as he fastened it around my neck.
He blushed. "Really?"
"Really." I said, and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek to prove it. He grinned, and I leaned into him again, watching the sun slowly lower into Long Island Sound, happier then I had been in ages. That is, until that stupid dreading feeling came back.
Annabeth POV:
Percy lead me off the dance floor, a grin on his handsome face. He led me down to the beach, and as I followed him, I noticed Nico was dancing with the new girl, Jane. I pointed this out to Percy and he raised his eyebrows, surprised.
"I'm glad he's willing to try, finally." I said, smiling. "He's been in a bad place for too long, it's about time he had some fun in his life." Percy nodded, but I could tell he was distracted. "Is something wrong, seaweed brain?" I asked.
He shook his head. "Nah, just worried about Cat. She had a dream last night, but nothing too big." I nodded, slightly concerned, and decided I would talk to her the next day. Percy glanced over towards the docks, and suddenly tripped and fell flat on his face. I was startled, then I started laughing as he sat up and spit sand out of his mouth. He gave me a pouty face, which only made me laugh harder. "Not funny, wise girl, not funny." He muttered, but he was holding back a smile. I looked over at the docks, and realized Cat was sitting there, with Leo's arms wrapped around her.
"Wait, that's why you tripped?" I asked through my giggles. He rolled his eyes and stood up, shaking sand off. I was still trying to contain my laughter as we reached the seaside, so he shut me up with a kiss. I kissed him back, blissfully happy, grateful for this monster and trouble free day. Naturally, I just had to jinx it. A scream split through the air and Percy and I jumped apart, reaching for our weapons. Percy's face was ghostly white, and he dashed toward the docks. I ran after him, muttering to myself about the Fates and how I can never have just one normal day. That's when I realized who had screamed, and why Percy looked like he had seen a ghost.
"Oh gods…" It was his sister, screaming in pain.
A/N: *gasps for breath* Okay, that chapter was extremely long and exhausting to write. Whew, I might wait a little to post the next chapter…maybe a week, or maybe a month…jk, I wouldn't be able to stand the wait either. I almost split this chapter into two parts, but then I wouldn't have gotten nearly as much fun out of that cliffhanger! I suppose I should warn you, if you haven't already noticed, I love evil cliffhangers, so be prepared…*laughs evilly* It would mean a bunch if you would be willing to leave a review and let me know what you think. The next chapter will finally start to clue you all in to what on earth is happening here, so keep your eyes open and follow the story so you don't miss it! Have a great day, thanks for reading, and please drop a review!
