Chapter two: Et incipit itinere

DISCLAIMER – If I ever get The Mirror of Erised, it'll probably show Rick Riordan's face instead of mine but until such a time arrives, I can't lay any claim to the sheer brilliance that is Annabeth Chase (and the other ones too).

"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness."

- Desmond Tutu

Percy's POV:

Last month had been her birthday and the memory of the two of us sitting at my table during dinner, eating that chocolate brick with blue icing which somewhat resembled a cupcake came unbidden to my mind. I had tried to stay cheerful for her sake, knowing that she would never forgive me if I lost hope or gave up on her. But it was hard, doubts crept into my mind- "what if she doesn't remember you anymore, what if she's with someone else, what if she doesn't want to come back?" Those what-ifs were starting to claim more space in my head. Before I knew where Annabeth was, I had focused solely on finding her. But now that all I could do was wait till the Hephaestus and Athena cabins completed construction on the massive ship that was being built, I felt the doubts piling up, felt my resolve weakening and felt my frustration building, in that moment, I felt like murdering the entire cow population in New York and buying insane amounts of beef jerky just to stick it to Hera. Pacing wasn't helping and I did not want to be charged with cow-slaughter (Is that even a crime? At least in India it is ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.) So, when I saw Piper Mclean, daughter of Aphrodite near the creek, I decided to talk to her and get to know her a little. It had been decided that the envoy going to Camp Jupiter would include Leo since he was the only one who'd know how to fly the ship anyway, me because, well, obviously, Reyna so that the Romans wouldn't immediately try to kill us upon arrival and Piper on the off chance that they did decide to kill us before our ship's landing. Even though Piper was a relatively new demigod, her charmspeak was incredibly powerful. Leo once told me that he was afraid Piper would ask him to eat his vegetables and he'd actually do it. Even though all of them were incredibly powerful and amazing in their own ways, I was the only one with enough experience on quests. Apart from Reyna, no one on our ship had ever left camp for a quest of this magnitude and I knew that if something happened to them, it would be my fault. Pushing those thoughts aside, I waved my hand and called out to her.

Piper's POV:

"Hey Pipes" I heard someone say. I turned around and saw Percy Jackson of all people calling me. Ever since coming to camp with Leo, all I had heard about was Percy Jackson. It was all about Percy Jackson this and Percy Jackson that but in reality, he seemed pretty ordinary. We didn't talk much but from what I could make of him, he seemed like the kind of person who would do anything to save his friends. I mean, the guy had done everything short of marching up to Olympus and demanding his girlfriend's location from the Gods. "Hey Percy, how are you?" I asked. He smiled hesitantly and said "Well, I had nothing else to do and I saw you here so I thought maybe we could talk. What were you doing here by the way?" "I like coming to the creek" I replied, "the water is calm and it's so silent here. Before I came here, I was constantly being hounded by people because of my dad. Even when I tried to avoid the constant noise and public scrutiny, I never felt as peaceful as I do here." "Oh…I usually come here when I'm thinking of Annabeth" he said, and then with a small smile, the first one I'd seen that seemed genuine, he added "this was where we had our third kiss." Now I may be a daughter of Aphrodite, but I don't think anyone ever remembers where they had their THIRD kiss. So, I asked him "What about your first kiss? Wasn't that more memorable?" "Well, the first time she kissed me, we were on a quest and I was almost sure we wouldn't survive. It was more a goodbye than a kiss." Not knowing what to say, I just nodded. "We'll find her you know, your girlfriend, I mean." I said. Maybe he was the Saviour of Olympus, maybe he had defeated the titan Lord of Time, but right at that moment, I got the feeling that he needed hope, that he needed to be told that everything would be okay. "Thank you" he said after a moment," I needed that."

"Anytime Percy…... anytime" I said.

Just then, we saw Leo running up to us with his signature tool belt, extremely curly and dishevelled hair and a manic glint in his eyes.

"I am a genius" he said. I burst out laughing. "What is it now? Did you find a way to out-prank the Stoll brothers?" I asked. "Nope, something better." He was looking at Percy now and I got the feeling that whatever he wanted to say, it was serious and particularly important.

"Stop teasing us and get on with it then! What did you want to tell us?" I asked.

He looked at Percy and said two words- "It's finished." Before he could say anything more, Percy had already started running towards Bunker Nine. "Get ready. We leave at dawn." He shouted back at us.

"Oh great, months of working tirelessly on building the damn thing and I don't even get one day to rest?" he complained.

"Cut the guy some slack Leo, he's probably excited to get back to his girlfriend." I frowned.

"Yeah well, thank god I don't have that problem!" he joked, "All da ladies luv Leo!"

To be continued…

Author's note: Hey everyone! I know this one was kind of a filler. A big thank you to GodZeus, captainMcShizzl and Abwizbsu for their amazing and encouraging reviews! I'll try to do my best and do this fanfic justice. Thanks also to risc 2131 and salomon12 for thinking this story was worth reading (I'll try not to disappoint you!) Also, it would mean the world to me if you would review my chapters. I would honestly appreciate everyone's thoughts and criticisms about my story.