Finally, I get to insert the line breaks. It was really confusing, wasn't it?

-L

Percy felt lucky when he landed on Half-Blood Hill with Blackjack. Aside from a venti attack that was most likely not planned by Octavian, his trip back to Camp Half-blood went pretty well. Better than he expected, at least. He'd tied Reyna's ring onto his Camp Half-blood necklace so that it wouldn't get lost.

Fingering with the silver band, he slid off Blackjack and started towards Chiron, who was waiting for him behind Thalia's Pine. Percy nodded to the centaur, who nodded back and gestured for him to follow. Chiron led him to the Big House, only the click clack of his hooves against the path breaking the silence between them.

They entered the blue building to find the other cabin counselors already gathered around the ping-pong table, waiting for the duo. Grover was munching on a chicken enchilada. When Percy raised an eyebrow, he explained, "There're no more cheese enchiladas. Apparently, the other satyrs finally realized how delicious these babes are and started gobbling them up like frenzied piranhas. Those things aren't nice, I tell you. Grandpa Woody nearly got his right hoof bitten off by one of them when he visited the Amazon River."

Yup, that's right. Grover's grandfather had the same name as the cowboy from Toy Story. But this wasn't an appropriate time to mention what injuries those scale-covered murderers gave your granddad. The satyr's words earned him an exasperated glare from the cabin counselors. However, he took no notice and nonchalantly took another bite of his enchilada.

"So, you got the ring," Piper spoke. Percy nodded and showed her Reyna's ring. It had a crossed sword and torch, the symbol of Bellona. Percy hoped that it could provide enough protection for him and Piper if Circe decided to go crazy and shoot a deadly curse at them. Or maybe send some horrible monsters like the shrimpzilla. Uh, that was bad.

"When will you leave?" Clarisse asked. Everyone turned to Percy. He gulped and fidgeted in his chair, feeling self-conscious. "If possible, Piper and I will leave next week. And we need a boat."

Not a dingy like the one Camp Jupiter gave Frank, Hazel and me for our quest, Percy wanted to add. Preferably one like Queen Anne's Revenge. I liked that ship. Sad that he had to leave it. Suddenly, Percy realised that everyone else was giving him a weird look. "What?"

"The prophecy told us to use hippocampi," Piper reminded him. The son of Poseidon blinked, and then smacked his forehead. He muttered while rubbing the bruise, "Oh, yeah! Sorry, I forgot."

Curse him and his memory lapses. Percy hated them. His memory lapses, not himself. But who knows, maybe if this quest became an epic failure, he might start hating himself too. Suddenly, it felt as if the silence was a little too awkward. Something was amiss… Percy scanned the room and noticed, "Hey, where's Leo?"

"He has already left for his quest," Chiron replied with a frown, "but of course, I do not approve of him going on such a dangerous quest himself." Percy's eyes widened. "What? He went on a quest himself?"

The son of Poseidon swore, if that Leo Valdez ever returned, he would get an earful from the former for scampering away on a quest alone. Man, did that guy know how dangerous that was? Even Percy wasn't allowed to go on a quest and do a one-man show. Truthfully, he found it nicer to have his friends around so that he could talk to them. And of course, they would always help him when he needed it.

Then again, maybe Leo had his reasons. Yeah, sure, he was single, but normally he would be accompanied by Piper and/or Jason. His best pals. Something really weird was going on. If Percy had realised that, his friends probably already had. Annabeth had always told him that he could be a real 'Seaweed Brain' at times.

The sudden heartache felt like a heart attack. Percy clamped his hand on his chest, trying to stop the pain that wasn't there. It wasn't just there. He depended on Annabeth to live. If his Wise Girl got separated from him, he would feel like he had lost a part of him that would never return.

"You okay, dude?" Grover asked with concern, waving a half-eaten enchilada at him. Percy managed a stiff nod, and turned to Chiron, hoping that he would take the cue. The centaur inclined his head briefly, just enough for the boy to see. He announced, "Meeting adjourned."

"Percy, I may be stupid sometimes, like when I realized that Reyna's initials were R.A.R.A. and said it out loud, but you are obviously not okay," Grover said, trotting on his hooves to keep up with Percy. The latter noticed other campers sending the satyr warning looks, which he blatantly ignored. Percy sighed. "Look, I don't want to talk about it."

Grover seemed to understand (for once) and clapped him on the back. "I'm there when you need me, man. Gonna go meet the Elders."

As Percy watched Grover's retreating figure, his mind wondered back to the first time they went on a quest together. He had been twelve then. That was, like, five years ago. It seemed like forever. Percy still couldn't grasp onto the fact that he was already seventeen.

Even though he had only existed in this world for seventeen years, he felt like he had already been through enough to last him for a lifetime. Seriously, Percy bet that even an average mortal old man hadn't experienced as much love, despair, heartbreak, depression, joy, sadness, excitement, anger, shock, surprise and the whole lot as he had. Percy suddenly felt so old. That was kind of depressing.

Trudging back to the Poseidon Cabin, Percy merely glanced at the mess around the floor, too dejected to even bother to clean up. Who cared about cabin checks, anyway? His girlfriend was in danger. And that was almost the worst thing in the whole wide universe. Would you be bickering about the cleanliness of your cabin when your loved one was comatose?

Percy flopped onto the bed and sighed, his elbows propped on his knees. The new fountain that Poseidon had built for Cabin Three sat in a corner, spouting jets of water. Percy had sliced the last one with Riptide as he had been too traumatized with the scenes that had appeared in the mist of the fountain. Even though it was early, Percy decided to crash in. He was exhausted from all the flying and the hassle.

"How does it protect us?" Piper enquired, examining Reyna's ring. Percy face-palmed, not believing his forgetfulness. "Oh, no," he grumbled, "I forgot to ask Reyna!"

Piper shook her head to say that it was alright. Percy wished it was. No, in Hades' name, it was not alright at all! He would have to go back to Camp Jupiter again, and the quest would be delayed. Delayed quest meant a longer time taken to save Annabeth. A longer time taken to save Annabeth meant that she might die. And if she died, Percy would probably borrow some elder viper's poison from Tartarus and swallow it. Never had he thought that poison could one day come in handy for him.

"Calm down, Percy, you're getting all worked up." Percy flinched when Piper put a hand on his shoulder. The person who did that the most was Annabeth, his very own Wise Girl. How did Piper know that he was having an internal panic attack? Oh, right, she was a daughter of Aphrodite. Bachelor's Degree at reading facial expressions. Was that even the highest degree? Nah, never mind. Percy removed her hand gently and stared into the distance. "What do you suppose we do, then?"

Piper looked thoughtful. "We figure it out ourselves. You can't go back again, it'll be troublesome and will delay the quest too."

The son of Poseidon nodded wearily. He took the ring from Piper and rubbed his finger against the crossed sword and torch. Not working. He tried to twist the pop-upped part. Still not working. Push it. Not working either. Percy pressed the ring at random spots, hoping that some force field would pop out if he applied pressure on the right spot. Nothing happened.

"I wish Leo was here," Piper mumbled, fiddling with the silver band. "He could've figured out how to activate the protection system." Percy was nodded. He didn't speak, but he was trying to recall the times which he had really appreciated the son of Hephaestus. Maybe it was the same case with Bob and Calypso. Sure, Leo was his friend, but Percy realised that he didn't start being grateful for someone's existence until that person was gone.

"Percy!"

The son of Poseidon spun around and was confronted by a figure that towered above him, covering him in its dark shadow. His eyes widened to the size of saucers.