Percy's P.O.V
Annabeth may have thought she was out of practice but I can assure you she wasn't. After dropping Nightshade off with Piper, we sparred for three hours. Annabeth beat me more times than I beat her.
"You've still got it Wise Girl" I told her as I passed her a bottle of water and sat next to her. She smiled at me before taking a sip of water. I just stared at her in awe, and I know I say she looks beautiful a lot, but post sparring/ battle I always thought she looked amazingly powerful. It was a beauty all on its own and it reminded me just how lucky I really was.
"You weren't bad yourself Seaweed Brain" she teased me and I smiled at her, it was a familiar place for us. I had been continuing to work out and spar for my sword fighting classes but it was nothing on her natural skill and battle prowess. She always pushed me to be the best version of myself, and that included in battle.
After we finished sparing I went to pick up Nightshade from Piper while Annabeth went to speak to Chiron about her idea.
I reached the Aphrodite cabin, knocked twice and entered. I immediately wished I had waited as I found myself interrupting a romantic moment between Piper and Malcolm. Both looked as embarrassed as I felt.
"Um sorry" I mumbled "I should have-" I started but Piper cut me off.
"No, it's okay Percy" she said, though I could tell Malcolm was quite embarrassed. "Nightshade's been asleep for the past half an hour" I looked at her pillow and noticed for the first time that Nightshade was snoring on it.
"Thanks again for watching her" I said as I scooped her up into my arms.
"Anytime" Piper told me.
It struck me, the parallel this drew to Malcolm walking in on me and Annabeth hugging when we were younger in the Athena cabin. I smiled at the memory, I'd been so embarrassed because I was comforting a friend that I loved, I just hadn't admitted to myself that's how I felt. I smiled and waved in farewell as I left cabin ten, I was glad they were happy.
Annabeth was waiting on the porch of the big house for me when I got there.
"All done?" I asked surprised and she nodded "I thought for sure you'd still be talking to Chiron when I got here." I said truthfully.
"If he hadn't of had a class to teach, that might have been true." She said.
"Did you get to talk about what you wanted to?" I asked as she stood up and laced her fingers through mine.
"Yes, he thinks the idea is a good one, wants me to blue prints drawn up" she replied, and there was pride in her voice like a daughter who'd just been given her father's approval.
"Great job Wise Girl" I said nudging her shoulder as we set off in the direction of home.
"Thanks Seaweed Brain" she said nudging me back. The rest of the walk was silent. I liked that we could do that that we could just be in comfortable in silence.
The rest of the day passed us by as we did menial tasks around the house. I would never admit this to Annabeth but I kind of enjoyed it, it kept my ADHD at bay and meant we could have days where we did nothing. Well as close to nothing as a demigod could do.
We sat on the sofa, talking about the wedding and things we wanted to do on our day.
"Percy, do you think Tyson would make our wedding bands?" She asked and I knew he would.
"Of course he would, why how do you want them to look?" I asked and I noticed not for the first time during this conversation that she was playing with her engagement ring, twiddling it back and forth on her finger. I smiled I really loved it when saw her doing that. It also made my heart do little flips in my chest.
"Well, I was thinking maybe we could have a grey coral owl on one side and a blue coral trident on the other." She said and it sounded perfect. I also thought that maybe on the underside of the band we could engrave our nicknames for one another and I asked what she thought about it. "Sounds perfect" she said and leaned in and kissed me.
I loved when she approved of an idea of mine, normally Annabeth was the artistic one and the planner, but every once in a while I came up trumps in both areas.
"I love, that you think so" I said to her before I kissed her again. I made a mental note to contact Tyson tomorrow and talk to him about it.
"You know" I said looking at my future wife "we need to decided who will be in the wedding party"
She sighed and I wasn't sure why, it certainly hadn't been the response I'd been expecting. "What's wrong?" I asked her; and I thought about it and before she answered me, I had figured it out. "You want Thalia to be your maid of honour" I stated, it wasn't a question. She gave me a look, which reminded me a little of her mother, it was a look that told me I was right.
"Do you think Artemis will allow it?" She asked me and I honestly didn't know, but if she would make an exception for anyone it would be us.
"Only one way to find out" I said and we discussed her plan before eventually calling it a night.
I woke to find Annabeth gone; she'd headed off to Olympus early to speak to Artemis. I think part of it was nerves. She'd also taken Nightshade with her and it struck me how empty the house was without them. I grabbed a quick breakfast and headed off to camp. I had a meeting with Chiron first thing about the wedding being at camp, and then I wanted to catch up with Malcolm before my classes this afternoon.
Annabeth's P.O.V
I woke early and headed to Olympus to hopefully speak to Artemis, at the last minute I decided to take Nightshade with me, which, meant I had to go the old fashioned way, via car. I hadn't really thought about it when I picked up Nightshade, but now standing in the lift up to Olympus on my own with her I fought the urge to hold the doors shut. It seemed almost cruel that the doors of death mirrored the ones to Olympus. They had been the only thing I couldn't change when I redesigned Olympus because they were part of the mortal world.
'Pull yourself together Annabeth!' I chided myself. Finally the doors opened onto the sky bridge into Olympus. Nightshade walked obediently beside me as we made our way to the throne room. I knelt before the throne with a totem of animals for a back and I prayed to Lady Artemis, I hoped she would answer.
I didn't have to wait long and I found myself nervous to hear her answer.
"Annabeth Chase" Lady Artemis greeted me.
"Lady Artemis, thank you for answering me" I said and I got straight to the point. "I know you already offer a lot of leniencies to Thalia when it comes to Percy and I, and I - we - really appreciate that. I know you don't believe in the love of men but in light of our upcoming wedding ceremony I was hoping you might grant me one more leniency?" I asked nervously.
"Tell me your request" she said to me so I did.
"You must respect me a great deal, to ask me yourself rather than putting Thalia in the position where she has too. You also must have a great deal of respect for her, to ask me yourself." Artemis said to me.
"We do" I answered, because both Percy and I did. Nightshade sat at my feet eyeing the Goddess almost curiously.
"Yes, Percy Jackson; does appear to have a respect and understanding for myself and my hunters." She said almost thoughtfully.
I smiled "Anything we can do to help your hunters we will." I said and she nodded her head like she already knew that.
"I will grant your request" she said and smiled at me, Nightshade decided now was a good time to chime in. "Ah! you must be Nightshade, I've heard a lot about you." She said and then looked at me thoughtfully. "You honour one of my hunters, with her" she informed me. I nodded.
"I'm glad that's how you see it" I responded, I bowed and thanked her for granting my request. Nightshade licked the Goddess' hand a few more times before coming back to me. Artemis left to rejoin her hunt, I wondered where they were now, and we set off back home.
I was so glad to be on the ground floor again, I hated lifts and I knew I would have to work on that, so that the fear didn't control me. I decided as I was nearby to stop by Sally and Paul's place on the way home.
I knocked on the door and Sally opened it. She looked exhausted.
"Annabeth, is everything ok? Percy's..." she started with panic in her voice.
"Percy's fine" I assured her "everything's okay, I was just in the area. Sorry I should have called first." That was stupid Annabeth; I chided myself for the second time today.
Sally visibly relaxed and let Nightshade and I into the apartment.
"Don't worry" she smiled "I'm just a little tired, my minds a little all over the place."
'I can see that', I thought.
"Do you want me to take Estelle for a bit, so you can sleep?" I asked; it was the least I could do after putting the fear of gods into her about her son.
"I can't ask you to do that" she said leading the way into the lounge.
"You're not, I'm offering" I said "Nightshade and I will be fine with Estelle, is she napping at the moment?" I asked. Sally nodded. "Right, you go put your head on a pillow too and I'll sort Estelle when she stirs." I said a little sternly pushing her gently and without much resistance towards her room. She left without a word but I did receive a look of thanks before she closed her door.
"Right girl, we'll have to tell Percy we'll be a bit later getting home." I said stroking Nightshade and she didn't seem to mind.
Fortunately I didn't leave home without a pocket full of drachmas, I fished one out and iris messaged Percy.
Piper's P.O.V
Malcolm and I were on the beach at camp talking about Percy interrupting us yesterday afternoon.
"Do you think he'll tell Annabeth?" He asked me. 'Probably' I thought.
"Why does it matter to you if he does?" I asked instead. I knew why, but I wanted him to tell me.
"I just wanted to be the one to tell her, she's my sister." He said and then blushed; I could tell that my friend's opinion met a lot to him. 'He was cute when he blushed' I thought.
"Then tell him that, I know he doesn't always show it, but Percy is quite intuitive. He may already know that's how you feel." I said and smiled at him, I kept charmspeak out of my voice; I didn't want to magically influence him in anyway.
"It's kind of ironic" he said as we walked across the sand. "That it was Percy that interrupted; I always used to interrupt him and Annabeth, unintentionally. Though had it have been Annabeth it would have been no less ironic." He told me and I laughed. He smiled at me. The irony was not lost on me.
Malcolm and Percy had a meeting in a few moments so we headed back into the heart of camp and he left me to go to his cabin. I walked over to the Aphrodite cabin and stepped in.
"Hey Piper" Lacy, one of my younger siblings greeted me.
"Hey Lacy, how are you today? I asked.
She shrugged and responded. "So so" I raised an eyebrow at her, sat on my bunk and patted the spot next to me.
"What's going on?" I asked her, she sat down next to me but she wouldn't meet my eyes.
"Do you ever feel like, maybe you shouldn't be a child of Aphrodite, that you just aren't good enough at love to qualify?" I heard sadness in her voice. She reminded me a lot of myself when I first arrived at camp a few years back.
"Look at me" I said and I had to add a little charmspeak into my voice because I knew she didn't want to. "You remember what I was like when I first got here right?" I asked her and I knew she did. "I wasn't exactly thrilled to find out who my godly parent was. In fact I had hoped I'd be in cabin six with Annabeth. I have learnt that even if I don't want the makeovers and the gossip, I can still honour the part of me that I get from mom. And you can too" I told her "why do you feel that you aren't good enough at love?" I asked her.
"Well I've never been in love, how can a child of the love Goddess not have found love by now?" She asked and I had to try really hard not to laugh. Here was my fourteen year old sister upset because she hadn't found love.
"Something you should remember about love" I said to her. "Sometimes it finds you" I smiled.
"But, you've been in love" she said and then realised that she'd inadvertently brought up Jason "Piper I'm sorry- I"
"No it's okay. I made a mistake with Jason. I thought Hera and mom were influencing my heart and by the time I had figured it out it was too late for us. The guilt has been weighing me down for a long time. But, through friendship I've learnt to let go of that guilt and maybe love might have found me again." I added, daring to hope.
"Malcolm" she said, it wasn't a question it was more of a statement.
I nodded "we're still finding our way, but hopefully we'll get there" I told her and she nodded thoughtfully.
"I think he already is" she told me, I nodded, I knew what she meant, and I thought I had too. But, I was trying really hard not to overwhelm Malcolm, after all this had all started with me trying to help him open up to the possibility of love.
"Do you think I'll find it?" She asked me and I smiled, I had no doubt that she would.
"I know you'll find love Lacy. Whether it comes to you, or you find it, I know you will" I said "it will happen in its own time but until then you always have friends and siblings." I told her and she smiled at me.
"Thanks Piper, you always know, just what to say." I didn't - sometimes I had absolutely no idea - those were times I usually differed to Annabeth. But other times I kind of had a gut feeling, and if it was one thing I had learnt from being a daughter of Aphrodite, it was that you had to trust your feelings.
Lacy noticed the save the date on my bedside table for Annabeth and Percy's wedding.
"Theirs is so rare, a love so true, it's almost like they share a heart." I smiled and she said she didn't know love, yeah right!
"I know, they're so in sync sometimes they don't even need to voice their conversation. They just have a silent one instead."
"The kind of love people dream of" she said dreamily "do they even fight?" I couldn't stop myself this time I burst out laughing.
"Oh they fight" I said "there was a time where people didn't know whether or not they were totally in love with each other or going to kill each other, but that was only because they hadn't admitted how they felt."
"I remember hearing stories about those fights when I first got to camp. I don't think I want to be on the wrong side of either of them." She said, and I knew you definitely didn't.
"As long as you aren't splitting them up you should be fine." I told her and smiled. "Also, they're like one of mom's favourite couples so definitely don't even try and separate them." I added just for good measure, not that I thought she would try but she might put the word out to anyone thinking about it. I wasn't worried about it though Percy's fatal flaw literally meant he was incapable of cheating on Annabeth. I thought it must be really nice to have that security, knowing that your boyfriend, fiancé or husband is so loyal to you that they'd never do anything to hurt you. I also thought in some cases, not Percy and Annabeth's mind but other cases, that it might be overwhelming.
Percy's P.O.V
"Well Percy I think we've come to a good understanding of what needs to happen for the time in which your mortal families are here." Chiron said to me as we finalised a few things, like turning off the lava wall and no capture the flag or at least a no weapons capture the flag - which might be more challenging actually. "I think so too" I said standing knowing he had a class to teach in a few minutes time. "Thank you Chiron" I said holding out my hand and he shook it. It was an odd gesture for us, but I felt it was right for this situation even if I did care a great deal about him.
Once I left the big house I headed to cabin six, the Athena cabin. I loved this cabin; I had many memories of Annabeth in here, of me and Annabeth in here. Every time I stepped in this cabin the smell of books and scrolls instantly sent my thoughts to Annabeth. Gods, I was so lucky to have her in my life. The more I thought about it the more I was convinced that I had had feelings for Annabeth since the first summer we had met.
I remembered the winter she had been taken by the manticore, Aphrodite had said she would make my love life interesting, that I would have indecisions and complications. Rachel had been thrown my way as an indecision to see if I would sway from Annabeth but I hadn't admitted to myself at that point that I was in love with her so how was I to know Rachel was an indecision? And, Calypso's island was another indecision that one had more of an effect, but still I had come home to my Wise Girl. Then there had been Luke, who had been Annabeth's indecision. But, even then Aphrodite wasn't done with us. Hera had plucked me out of camp after four months of us dating and sent me as a trade for Jason, complication number one although I don't think even Aphrodite could have planned for Hera. Then there was Tartarus, again I'm not sure that Aphrodite would have made that a complication for anyone, I guess there are some things even the love Goddess couldn't plan for. But, through all the complications and indecision's I was promised (even if I did not want them) we came out the other side even stronger than we had been before. I didn't know how accurate my thoughts were but I thought at least the indecisions were accurate.
Malcolm found me leaning against the door frame of cabin six. There was an odd expression on his face and I couldn't decide if it was a mixture of anger and worry or concern and embarrassment. It was part of the reason I'd asked him to come and find me after my meeting with Chiron.
"Hey Malcolm" I said and smiled.
"Hey Percy" he replied but not as friendly as he normally would. Malcolm and I had become quite close over the years, even more so because he was Annabeth's closest sibling. Our relationship was mostly based around my amazing future wife but over the past couple of years we've found that we do have some things in common as well.
"So I just wanted to clear the air" I started "I'm sorry about yesterday, I should have waited until Piper called out."
"It's okay, it's not like I haven't done the same to you and Annabeth, in a way." He said and I had to laugh because I had also drawn that parallel.
"That's not what's bothering you though" I noted, I wasn't as good at reading people as Annabeth or Piper, but Malcolm was the most similar to Annabeth of the Athena cabin siblings, so it made him slightly easier to read. I liked to think I had a better read on most of the Athena cabin and tried to help out if I could. Although, most of the issues were logical and I was nowhere near their level on those issues, but I could always try to get them to look at it in a different way. That had always been what I had managed to help Annabeth with the most. Well that and getting her to take a break.
"No" he admitted and I waited for him to continue. "I - have you told Annabeth?" He asked.
"No I thought you would want to do that, but I can if that's what you want?" I asked him.
"No" he shook his head "thank you"
"No problem man, so are we good?" I asked.
"Yeah, we're good" he replied and we continued to chat until we both had to head off and teach a class.
Sword fighting classes went well, all the campers had very different styles - I thought maybe I would ask Annabeth to come to a set of classes this week to help those with daggers; she had always been very skilled with a dagger.
Annabeth's P.O.V
I ended up staying at Sally's for most of the afternoon with Estelle. We played Greeks vs. Monsters which was a game Percy had taught her much to his mother's protests. He had a bunch of soft toys made of monsters we had battled (he had tried to pick the less scary ones, but there really weren't many of those) and then we were the Greeks so we pretended to battle the soft toys. Nightshade was an honorary hellhound like Mrs. O'Leary, she just looked happy to be involved in the game and keep running around after Estelle.
The beauty of the game being pretend is that you could have any power you wanted Estelle chose water just like Percy and gave me a fire power like Leo's. I had to admit it was fun. Sally stirred from her sleep around half past three while we were playing the game.
"Oh I'm sorry Sally, were we too loud?" I asked immediately regretting our choice of game; we should have just put a film on or something instead.
"No not at all" she replied and smiled at me. I relaxed, I was glad she managed to get some sleep. "Thank you for looking after Estelle."
"My pleasure, did you manage to sleep?" I asked, I wanted to be sure.
"Yes thank you" she smiled at me and it was slightly different than her usually smile. It wasn't any less warm; I just couldn't place my finger on what it was that felt different.
"I best head back to the village" I said "unless you'd like me to stay so you can do your work?" I asked.
"No, no, I think we've stolen enough of your day, I'm sure you've pushed something you were going to do to stay as long as you have" she said to me.
"Only wedding stuff, I can do it when I get home." I told her, and I could.
"I appreciate it" Sally said to me and we chatted for a little longer before I scooped up Nightshade and we made our way back to camp.
Percy was sitting at the kitchen table when we got home, I placed Nightshade on the floor and she went bounding over to him. He smiled as she nuzzled his legs and picked her up.
"Hey Girl, how are you? Did you enjoy your day out?" He asked ruffling her head and she licked his face in response. "Do you want your dinner?" He asked her and her tail went wild with excitement. "Okay okay" he said placing her back down and filling her bowl with food.
I stood leaning on the door frame watching my future husband as he pottered around the kitchen. I knew for as long as I lived as long as I had him everything would be okay.
He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist; I placed mine around his neck. He pulled me in for a kiss, and when we broke apart I had to catch my breath.
"Hey to you too" I teased resting my forehead on his.
"I missed you today" he said sweetly and I had missed him too.
"I missed you too" I said, and I kissed him again. When we broke apart again, he lead me over to the sofa and we sat, he brushed a curl of hair from my face and tucked it behind my ear. He left his hand cupping my face, and I leaned into it.
"You okay Seaweed Brain?" I asked him and he smiled at me.
"Sure am Wise Girl, you?" He responded.
"Yes" I responded "how was your day?" I asked him.
"Good. Chiron was happy with the plan for camp while our families are here. You can reassure your dad that Bobby and Matthew won't be able to get burnt or thrown off the lava wall. And, they'll have a no weapons or magical items capture the flag on the Friday." He said
"No magic items huh?" I said thinking of how many times I had relied on my magic Yankee's cap. "Might be worth playing that one" I said starting to plan a strategy in my head of how it could work.
"I thought it would be an interesting game too" he said "I also have been thinking a lot about the winter you were taken by the manticore" he said and I hadn't thought about that winter in a long time. He told me about the visit from Aphrodite and that she'd promised him indecisions and complications even if though he didn't want it. He then proceeded to tell me what he thought some of those things were.
"I'm not sure Rachel would thank you for saying she was an indecision" I told him and he chuckled a little.
"I know, but I'm right aren't I?" He asked.
"I - yes, I think so" I said remembering how jealous I had been because I had fallen so hard for Percy and felt that, at the time, she had threatened that. "I think it's really sweet that I've been on your mind all day" I told him.
He leaned in and kissed me again, his hands on my cheek and my waist pulling me as close to him as he could get me.
"Always" he told me, when we broke apart my heart was racing and my stomach had butterflies. This had become my new normal, and I loved it. Truth was I had thought a lot about him too today mostly while I'd been at his moms. I couldn't wait to marry him in just a few months time. It was flying by. Percy's birthday was in a few days as well as our anniversary. I was looking forward to it all the more this year.
~Author's Note~
Trizah19 – Thank you, I'm really glad you love it and are enjoying it – I was thinking about what to cook for breakfast while writing that bit and ended up having to make a snack as it also made me very hungry!
ILoveboookshi – Don't worry about getting to it – I'm just glad you are enjoying it when you do have time to read it. Thanks again for your compliment I appreciate it!
Perceus-Prior – Thank you! Glad you are enjoying.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter, let me know what you think!
Happy reading
