Chapter 3: The Beginning

Percy POV

I could hardly believe what had just happened. Was I dreaming? If so, I did not want to wake up.

When Annabeth hugged me again, I finally recovered from my shock. Even though we were both soaking wet, she still felt warm. After such a long time of repressing my feelings, a wave of relief washed over me. All of my pent up tension and stress suddenly melted away, and was replaced with pure happiness. I'd never felt like this before in my life. I couldn't help but smile. I felt like I could do anything in the entire world.

Okay, all you have to do now is not screw this up, I thought to myself. Easier said than done.

"Come on!" Annabeth said with a smile, drifting away from me. "As much as I'd love to stay and watch you gawk at me, neither of us have eaten anything today, and it's been ages since I've had a hot meal."

I swam after her, still a little dazed. Once I made my way to the shore, I willed us both dry. I looked at her and hesitated for a second though; she looked adorable when she was completely drenched.

The awkwardness between us faded away as we started talking about what we should do during the rest of the day. We practically had a whole summer to ourselves. I was expecting a pretty boring few months of camp training, but now, I honestly had no idea what was going to happen next. There was nowhere else I'd rather be.

"...and then we could grab some lunch and find a nice spot for a picnic, and then do some combat training together. And then we could go back to the lake later tonight, since it'll be much cooler by then…" I kept eye contact with Annabeth as she thought aloud, planning a schedule in her head. For some reason I loved that about her. The more she planned something, the more she cared about it, and made me care about it.

We finally made our way to the outdoor mess hall. It was completely empty besides Beckendorf and an Aphrodite girl, Silena Beauregard. They glanced at us as we walked by. I knew why Beckendorf was still here; he was pretty powerful, and as a result a massive monster magnet. But why Silena? Monsters could hardly smell a child of Aphrodite, even without all the perfume.

We grabbed some food and sat down next to each other. Without the chaos of campers laughing and jeering, I could feel the tension in the air. Silena and Beckendorf kept glancing up at each other, accidentally making eye contact. Annabeth and I looked at each other and snickered. It was pretty obvious what was going on, but we decided to ignore it.

As we ate, we kept looking up at each other and smiling. We just couldn't keep our happiness to ourselves. It had taken a few years; but now, here we were.

It still felt unreal. A son of Poseidon and a daughter of Athena, I thought, Maybe we could even heal the rivalry between our parents.

It was still weird seeing Annabeth in girl mode. Just a few minutes ago she had been raving about how the moon was going to be a "perfect crescent" tonight, and that it was "super romantic". Although, the second she had seen Beckendorf and Silena, she went quiet. I knew she was probably still embarrassed about people knowing we were together, but I didn't really mind. It's not like it would've taken anybody a long time to figure it out anyway.

Suddenly, Beckendorf got up from his table, and momentarily stood still, as if he was trying to decide what to do next. Silena looked over at him hopefully, and it looked like she was about to get up herself, until Beckendorf sighed and walked off. She sat back down, defeated. For a daughter of the love goddess, she really sucked at flirting. This wasn't the first time this had happened either. They'd been interested in each other for two years now. Everyone at camp knew they liked each other, except them of course. Maybe it was time someone gave them just a little push.

I walked up to Silena, who didn't notice me until I was right next to her. I could feel Annabeth staring at me in confusion from behind.

"Hey Silena!" I said, causing her to yelp in surprise. "I heard Beckendorf needed your help with something."

She blinked several times fast before responding "R-really?" She replied, a curious tone in her voice. "W-what did he need help with?"

"Aw, I can't remember… I know it had something to do with you, though. You should go ask him."

Silena stood up abruptly. "He better not be trying to find that dragon again," Silena said worriedly, "I don't want to see him get himself hurt."

She ran off, not even bothering to look at me or Annabeth. I shook my head, smiling. That was easy, I thought. I looked back at Annabeth, who stared at me with her mouth half-open.

"Percy… I can not believe you just did that," she said in disbelief.

"What?" I replied. "It's not like it wouldn't have happened eventually. I'm just giving them a little… nudge. If someone had given us a nudge, maybe… maybe we would've figured out we liked each other sooner."

My cheeks turned red, but I wasn't afraid of letting her know how I felt anymore. We studied each other for a moment, our heads tilted. Her look of affection bore right through me. Annabeth finally exhaled and laughed. "I concur, green-eyes. Although, I think I need some time to digest before we start sword fighting practice. Wanna go on a walk with me?"

Of course, I accepted her offer.

Annabeth POV

Being with Percy was exactly how I had imagined it in my head: perfect.

I don't think I'd ever felt so happy in my life. Immediately, I started to plan the rest of our day. I wanted to be with him for as long as I could, so I put my brain into overdrive, trying to find a way to maximize our time together. You're overthinking things, I told myself, just relax. We have the whole summer to ourselves

I took a deep breath, but ultimately couldn't stop myself. Thanks mom, I thought to myself.

After Lunch with Percy, he decided it would be a fantastic idea to set up Silena with Beckendorf. Every camper wanted them to get together. They'd been trying to flirt with each other for years, but each attempt only ended in disappointment, and occasionally disaster.

I found it amusing that he would want to set up one of his friends, considering we'd just admitted our own feelings only hours earlier.

"So, where do you want to walk?" Percy asked.

I looked at the forest surrounding us. Not a lot of options. Then, I remembered a clearing I had stumbled upon during one of our capture the flag games. It was pretty far out, but still within the camp borders. It would be perfect for what I had planned.

"I think I know a place. And I doubt you've ever seen it before."

"Alright then," Percy said while taking my hand, causing me to blush, "let's go see this hidden paradise of yours." .

While we were walking, I realized that everything felt… different. The sunlight felt warmer on my back, the air more crisp; and the world more beautiful and colorful. Has it always been this way? I thought to myself.

We stayed silent for the most part, occasionally exchanging glances of affection with each other as we walked. We were comfortable with silence; the quests we had been on had prepared us for that. All we needed was to be in each other's presence.

After about 15 minutes, We came to a small clearing in the forest. Foliage surrounded the bare forest floor, and a pine tree stood directly on the center of the clearing.

"You were right Annabeth," Percy said, taking in his surroundings. "I haven't seen this place before."

Then, his eyes narrowed. "But why'd you bring out here to the middle of nowhere?" He asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice. "I know one of your plans when I see one."

Percy had good intuition; more than I gave him credit for. It'd saved his and my life on multiple occasions.

I walked towards the center of the clearing, and let the forest air fill my lungs. The sunlight was blocked by the trees towering over them. Nature spirits watched them from behind nearby trees, as if her life was some kind of spectacle to behold.

I turned towards Percy, and I must've looked afraid, because his facial expression changed to one of concern. I had been planning this moment all day, but I started having doubts.

"Annabeth, are you okay? You look like you've just seen a ghost." He said.

He was right; I was afraid. Should I go through with this? Is this the right time? What if he doesn't feel the same way? What I was about to do, I would never be able to take back. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized: There's nobody else I'd rather be with than him.

I steeled my nerves. Percy shifted his weight. He knew I was about to say something.

"Percy… I… I care about you. A lot. I've been thinking about us, and…"

I paused, going over it one last time in my head. Not a single doubt lingered. Now, I only hoped he felt the same way.

"I-"

Suddenly, I heard a branch snap. Percy and I both turned to face the noise, and looked up to see a massive, drooling hellhound.

Percy POV

The second I saw the hellhound, I instinctively uncapped Riptide, and put myself between the monster and Annabeth. I was not letting anything happen to her.

I cursed. How'd it manage to get through the camp's borders? That almost never happened. Someone inside the camp had to have summoned it. I started getting some serious deja-vu from my first year at camp.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled out. "Plan six!"

I groaned. We'd practiced several contingency plans in case we were ever in an emergency. Plan six was the one that involved me getting the enemy's attention, while Annabeth flanked them with her invisibility cap and dagger.

"Hey chew toy!" I yelled out. "Why don't you chew on something your own size?"

Not my best insult. But It worked. The hellhound turned to face me, baring its fangs. It stared directly at me with its yellow eyes. I was the perfect bait. As a son of Poseidon, the scent of my powers attracted pretty much any monster within a 10 mile radius.

The hellhound growled. I Could see Annabeth out of the corner of my eye. Annabeth drew her dagger and put on her invisibility cap. All I could do now was trust her.

"Uh… I don't suppose you like rubber balls?" I asked, trying to buy her more time.

The monster's nostrils flared before lunging at me. I managed to roll to the side just in time, but got raked across the forearm by one of its claws. The cut stung. It wasn't deep, but it still hurt.

"Annabeth? Any day now!"

Right before the hellhound could take another swing at me, a knife sprouted from the monster's chest. A perfect strike. The monster disintegrated before my eyes, and I let out a sigh of relief. Riptide was strong, but that meant nothing if I couldn't hit anything. Hellhounds were too fast and large to fight face-to-face. The only person who would've been skilled enough to take one on was Luke.

Annabeth's dagger dropped to the ground. She appeared before me, invisibility cap in hand, and bent down to pick up her dagger. She ran over to me and knelt on the ground, assessing my wounds. Her gray eyes were more intense than ever.

"Percy! Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine. Nothing a little water won't fix."

Annabeth cursed, which he rarely heard out loud. She must've been angry.

"We need to find Chiron. Now." She said sternly. "If there's been a breach in the camp's security, we could all be in danger."

I nodded in agreement, still slightly dazed. I hadn't been expecting a monster attack so soon.

"Come on. We'll stop by the river on our way." Annabeth took my good hand and helped hoist me up. It was times like these when I realized how grateful I was to have her as my friend; or should I say, girlfriend. Definitely not getting used to that anytime soon, I thought to myself.

We made our way back through the forest and stopped by a river. A thick fog had started to disperse itself throughout the camp, making me feel even more uneasy. I submerged my arm, and within just a few seconds, it was back to normal. Out of all the powers I had, that one was definitely my favorite.

It was silent on our way back to camp. The hellhound had scared off all of the nature spirits and wood nymphs. I knew Annabeth was beating herself up about it; but it wasn't her fault I got myself hurt. She tended to take responsibility for things like this, even if it was completely out of her control. However, she had gotten angrier than usual. I guess it was just extra proof that she really cared about me. If she was the one who got hurt, I probably would've reacted the same way.

When the main house came into view, we picked up pace. Chiron was already standing outside alongside a few other campers.

"Annabeth. Percy!" His wrinkled face relaxed as he sighed with relief. "Thank the gods you two are ok. We were about to send a search party to find you. We've received several sightings of monsters who have somehow managed to find their way into camp half-blood." He looked exhausted, like he had just pulled an all-nighter. It must've been serious.

"Yeah, we just ran into a hellhound. A hellhound, Chiron. The last time that happened, it was Luke who summoned it. I'm telling you, this isn't an accident. It's intentional."

Chiron's lower half moved anxiously. "I hope for our sake that you are wrong, Percy. I've been talking with the harpies, and they say they haven't seen anything unusual; although this weather indicates otherwise." He gestured to the fog around them. "I'm afraid that while we are still ignorant, I will be putting camp security on high alert. Nobody is allowed in or out of the camp, nor is anyone allowed outside of their cabins past dark. Until we know more, ensure you are prepared for a fight should the need arise."

We all nodded grimly. "And, might I suggest," Chiron continued, "stay in pairs. If any of you are familiar with math, then you'll know that two demigods are much harder to kill than one. And with that, I will leave you. Be cautious, young heroes."

Chiron followed his own advice and closed the door to the big house behind him, leaving me, Annabeth, and the rest of the campers to ourselves. I looked around and saw a few familiar faces: Silena, Beckendorf, Ethan Nakamura, and Clarisse. Clarisse had decided to stay at camp over the summer in the hopes of nursing Chris back to health. Her face was tired, yet determined. They might have had their differences, but he had come to respect her, and she likewise.

Silena and Beckendorf seemed to have finally gotten over their awkwardness around each other. They were standing next to each other, holding each other's hand. Clearly something had gone right. About time, I thought.

Annabeth turned to face me, her hair flipping as she moved. Even when she wasn't trying, she was beautiful.

"Percy… I think we should stay together." She said, almost as if she was asking for my validation.

"Hey, it'll be ok. It's nothing we haven't been through before."

"No… it's not that," She replied, crossing her arms, "it's just… everything's different now, Percy. I don't want to… I just… I want to be with you."

She had trouble getting the words out. I had to hold back a smile. It was rare that she was ever tongue-tied. I had to relish those moments as much as I could.

"Annabeth… you know I feel the same way. In fact… I have something to ask you." My chest tightened. She looked up at me expectantly. I just hoped I wasn't overstepping any boundaries by asking her this.

"I was thinking, and… I thought we could spend the night together. In… my cabin."

My voice quavered at the last part. I prayed that Athena wasn't watching, about to strike me down from the skies and yell, "Out of your league, Jackson!"

"Well, someone's moving a little fast, aren't they?" She laughed at my discomfort, then moved closer to me. There was a loving look in her gray eyes. She placed her hand on my chest, causing my heart to flutter. "Of course I'll stay with you. Besides, we never finished our day together. Looks like I'll have to reorganize some things…"

My face felt hot, but Annabeth was beaming. She had already spiraled back into organization mode. I guess it's not so weird, I thought to myself. After all, we'd slept in some pretty strange places together. I remembered our first quest, where we'd took turns sleeping in the back of a circus truck surrounded by a bunch of animals, including a hungry lion. It was a miracle that I had gotten any sleep that day.

I looked around and saw the other campers watching us, half shocked at what they were seeing. I ignored them, and took Annabeth's hand, leading her back to my cabin.