Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or the song "I'm Only Me When I'm With You".
Snap.
I held my breath, frozen mid step as I looked down at the broken twig under my right foot.
I tried to mentally will my heart rate to slow down, but I could hear the blood pounding in my ears, sounding like an army marching in perfect synch. I prayed that nobody was there- that nobody heard the noise, that nobody would come running after me. I began to breathe slowly; in for ten, hold for ten, out for ten, repeat.
After what felt like a century, I straightened out and deigned the coast to be clear, but decided to travel via the trees for a while to be safe. Strapping my dagger onto my side, I shimmied up the nearest evergreen and entered the verdant world up above. I hopped quietly from tree to tree, looking down upon the enemy in the light of the sunset filtering through the foliage, looking, looking...
There! Staked into the ground under a tree on the edge of a clearing was the billowing scarlet flag of the opposing team, heavily guarded by members of the Ares Cabin.
Dagger in hand, I put my foot up onto a branch above and climbed up ten more feet in my tree. Catching the last rays of sunlight, I flashed my dagger northward in a pattern and wait for the return signal. I got a single long flash in reply just before the sun slips below the horizon.
And then I wait.
Just when I had started to get nervous that he didn't decipher the message correctly, I see a certain son of Poseidon amble onto the scene. Sword drawn, he began to circle the group of campers protecting the flag.
There were too many guards; I knew Percy wouldn't make it. He lunged in an opening but was immediately seized by two big guys and thrown back onto the ground. Wincing in sympathy, I crept over in the tree to directly above the flag and sat back on my haunches.
The kids of the Ares cabin grabbed Percy, laughing and jeering as they celebrated the capture of the other team's MVP. As they made to carry him off to their jail, Percy swiftly elbowed one of them in the nose and kicked free of the other captors. Swords were drawn, and soon Percy was in full combat with the opposing team. The last few campers who were guarding the flag ran into the fight...
...leaving the flag completely unguarded.
Smiling to myself at the brilliance of my plan, I slithered down the tree trunk in total stealth, my eyes darting between the flag and the brawl. I heard the smack of a shield coming in contact with a helmet as I swiftly unhooked the flag, the smooth silk running through my fingers gracefully.
I ran. I ran as quickly and as quietly as I could. As I left the clearing, I heard Clarisse La Rue cry out;
"The flag! She has the flag!" Cries of alarm rang out and the opposing team leapt into action. Forcing myself to run faster, my feet slapped the forest floor and sent pine needles flying. I was faster then Clarisse... under normal circumstances. But when her pride was at stake, I knew she would push herself beyond all limits to win.
I heard Percy whoop behind me.
Dashing past tree trunks, I became aware that there were archers placed strategically near the border. I front flipped over an arrow in mid flight an kept running, twirling out of the path of the projectiles. My breath was getting shorter and shorter, Clarisse closer and closer, and the storm of arrows thicker and thicker.
Thirty yards from the stream that served as the border, I heard the whizzing of an arrow in close proximity. It wasn't until I felt the warm, wet blood running down my cheek did I realize it had grazed me. Lungs screaming and throat burning and eyes watering, my ears were filed with the dull roar of my team cheering me on from the opposite side of the stream and Clarisse screaming bloody murder while her team sent up shouts of panic. Above all the din, I could clearly hear Percy shouting, "GO! GO!"
Blood from my wound flying back into my open mouth, I summoned all of my energy and leapt over the stream. My body hit the ground hard and I suavely ninja rolled onto one knee, raising the scarlet banner high above my head. The roar was deafening; as the flag rippled from crimson to blue-grey, my team lifted me up on their shoulders. Exhausted, I smiled warily and draped the flag around a younger camper whom was bouncing about exuberantly, celebrating victory with the rest of the team.
Well, most of them, anyway.
Percy splashed across the stream, eyes filled with concern. "Put her down!" he yelled over the commotion.
"PUT ANNABETH DOWN!" Percy bellowed at the mob. They fell silent and set me down.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"You're hurt! You should be on your way to the infirmary, not being tossed around. Here," he said, picking me up bridal style.
"Percy, it's a scrape, I'm fine. Furthermore, it's on my face; I can walk." I tried to wiggle out of Percy's arms, but he just tightened his grip and shook his head.
"Nope. You're coming with me. Carry on," he called over his shoulder at our team as he started walking toward the Big House. "Party at the Poseidon Cabin. Your team captains will arrive a little late though," he said, referring to himself and I. Cheering, they raced off.
"Everyone's welcome!" I yelled, nodding at the opposing team across the stream. With less enthusiasm, they began the trek to Cabin Three, trailing behind our team. Percy and I headed in the opposite direction. Without the noise, the forest was once again peaceful and quiet.
"You know, I can take care of myself, Seaweed Brain," I said, poking him in the chest. "In fact, I take care of myself and you most of the time." Percy frowned but said nothing.
"Come on, Percy. Put me down."
"Fine," he said, setting me down. "But I'm still going to hold your hand."
"I don't have any objections to that," I replied, playfully bumping into him.
We arrived at the Big House, where Percy waited outside while I had my wound dressed.
"Uh, honey? This cut isn't bad at all," said Geneva, the saytr in charge of the infirmary said, looking at me quizzically.
"I know..." I sighed.
"Percy?" She asked with a knowing smile.
"Percy." I confirmed, bobbing my head up and down.
"How sweet. Well, I hate to disappoint him but I think some Neosporin and bandages will do the trick. No stitches for you, missy."
A bit if gauze and several bandages later, my injury was taken care of and I was on my way.
"That didn't take long," Percy said, kissing me on my uncut cheek.
"I didn't need stitches, that's why."
"Really?" He asked, turning my head so he could inspect it, sounding as if he didn't believe me.
"Really," I said.
Muttering about the quality of medical service at camp, Percy escorted me to the Poseidon Cabin where a party was in full swing. Lights flashing, music pounding, campers dancing. Magical trays of food replenished themselves, loaded with everything from pizza to lobster to pancakes. Only child that he was, Percy's father had outfitted the cabin with the most impressive of magical gadgets for his graduation gift last spring, along with a full scale cabin remodeling orchestrated by moi. A state of the art kitchen, gleaming hardwood floors, movie theatre, master suite, open concept for entertaining, and, of course, pool and spa- Percy was, to say the least, spoiled. But it made his cabin the perfect pad to party.
Percy and I made our way about the cabin and shook hands with campers.
"Here's to seven consecutive Capture the Flag triumphs!" he said as we clinked glasses. Grinning, I took a long drink of grape juice, Percy doing likewise with his blue cherry coke. With grim determination, I faced the crowd of congratulators that had already begun to bombard Percy and I.
The rest of the party I spent with a false smile plastered to my face, kindly accepting congratulations and slaps on the back. Percy had adopted his "I'm a Hero" attitude and was, as usual, the life of party.
"Come on, Taylor!" he said animatedly, grabbing a small girl with ratty curls off her lonely perch on the barstool. Laughing at her surprised expression, I bent over to pick up her fallen notebook. It was filled with crossed out bits and pieces, which I realized were song lyrics.
Long live, all the walls we crashed though. All the kingdom lights sh-
"Erm, could I have that back please?" I looked up in surprise to see the owner of the notebook looking somewhat mortified that someone was reading her lyrics.
"Oh, sorry," I said, handing it back to her with a smile.
"It's ok," she said, returning my smile shyly. She but her lip. "Actually it's about-"
"AGGGGGGHHHH!"
Turning around, I saw Nico di Angelo looking thoroughly pleased with himself, swinging from the chandelier.
My chandelier.
The one I imported from Greece.
"Excuse me," I said to the girl, and marched off to pull Nico off my favorite feature of Percy's cabin. My inner architect fuming, I dragged Nico down and, to the amusement of the onlookers, chastised him with my most Athena-like glare.
After everything settled down again, I continued to pretend to be excited about our win though I was growing weary. I wasn't really the party type to begin with. However, as I was not only the counselor of the Athena Cabin and the Captain of the winning team but also the Head Girl at Camp, I felt obliged to talk to everyone personally. I faked interest in a debate amongst the Aphrodite girls regarding leg warmers, discussed battle strategy with an somewhat sadistic child Ares who sort of freaked me out, and assured Juniper that she was a lovely, organic shade of green and not at all sea sick in any way.
At half past midnight, the crowd hasn't thinned much. A game of twister had started, which proved to be quite hilarious with the saytrs whose hooves kept skidding about and Piper charm speaking people into human pretzels. As I watched a particularly flexible daughter of Demeter twist her torso around 180 degrees, I spotted a mop of raven hair back away from the crowd and slip of the back door. Tired of keeping up my own façade, I quietly followed suit.
I found Percy on the beach, shoes off and walking leisurely in the surf. Kicking my own sandals off, I jogged over to him.
"Ditching your own party, Jackson?" I teased from behind him. He spun around and grinned at me.
"I was hoping you'd show up here," he said, reaching out for my hand. We flopped down on the sand some ten yards away from the water and I snuggled into Percy's shoulder. Titling my head up, I looked up at the spectacular display of stars above us.
"Hey, Seaweed Brain, you see that star, three stars to the left of the North Star? Well, if you follow that straight down..." I began to point out the constellation of Perseus to him, a tradition that he and I had developed whenever we stargazed. Percy wrapped his strong arms around me as I told him the myth of Perseus, just as I had many times before. When I finished, I looked up and smiled at my boyfriend, who kissed me deeply in reply. After a long while we broke apart, and sat there contently.
Not speaking a word, we listened to the crickets sing their soft lullaby. For the first time that evening, I allowed myself to relax and smile, not because I was expected to smile, but because I was truly happy. Every thing I needed was right there by my side.
"So, not bad for a Friday night, huh?" Percy said, breaking the silence with his baritone voice. "Though you seemed a bit off."
"Oh, you know..." I said, sighing. "I was tired, and I'm not exactly a party animal-"
"You seem fine now," he pressed. "You just didn't seem yourself tonight."
"Maybe I wasn't," I said, my brow furrowed. "It's like no matter what I say or do, I'm only me when I'm with you."
"Oh, that's not true..."
"Yes, it is. You know everything about me; I don't have to hide anything from you. You know my secrets, my fears, everything." I wiggle my toes in the sand, suddenly aware of how private what I had just said was, but I realized it was one hundred percent true. "It's just- when I'm with anyone else, it's so difficult to be who I really am. And you're the only on who can tell."
Percy looked down at me with such tenderness I could practically feel my heart melt into a helpless puddle. "Do you mean that?"
"Absolutely," I said, trying to let him know that what I said was true.
Percy looked rather awestruck. "That's the sweetest thing I've heard you say, besides 'I love you'."
I smiled at him, out heads bent and foreheads touching.
"I must be a pretty awesome boyfriend," Percy said playfully, lightening the mood.
"Now don't go getting a big head because I poured my heart out to you," I said, punching him lightly. "You still drive me crazy half the time."
"Like...THIS?!" Percy seized my waist and tacked me, and, pulling up my shirt, blew a huge raspberry on my stomach.
"Percy!" I shrieked, cursing the day he found out I was ticklish. "You'll pay for that one!" I jumped on his back and leaned over his shoulders, my fingers tickling his stomach expertly. Screaming like a little girl, he twitched so violently he almost threw me off. Both of us giggling, we staggered along the shore where Percy pushed me into the water and I dragged him in with me. Both wet and full of sand, Percy kissed me in the moonlight, and I happily kissed back. We broke apart with a start though at the sound of a firecracker going off from the direction of camp.
"...I guess we better get back to the party," Percy said, his eyes following the flaming tail of the firework spiraling in the sky.
"I guess we should," I said, sighing as Percy helped me up and siphoned the sand and seawater off my person. "I don't trust Nico with my chandelier."
Hand in hand with Percy, I walked back to the party and savored the last few precious minutes I would spend being myself that night.
Wow! Almost done with the first album already- my, how time flies! If you haven't noticed, I now update every 5 days. Yay!
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