13/

Percy's POV

I kicked a rock.

Now, I'm not usually the guy to sulk around with his hands in his pockets and glaring at every living thing, but I was just…so damn depressed. Lifeless. Robotic. Like everything I did was mechanical, automatic.

I missed her. Her smile, her laugh, her eyes, her hair, her face, her…everything.

A sound drifted over to me, a beautiful, musical laugh that made my head snap up and my eyes widen. It was her laugh. Sure enough, there she was, sitting under a tree near the Big House, her torso wrapped in white bandages, laughing fit to kill.

I squinted to see who she was with.

Anger flared in my chest. Nico? And Annabeth? Together? Laughing? I almost growled.

She seemed to realize I was watching her; her laughter cut off and she turned to stare at me with those wide gray eyes. Nico stopped too, then followed her gaze. A strange expression flashed across his face—guilt? Pity? I didn't stay to find out. I decided to book it.

You shouldn't care if they're a thing, an annoying voice at the back of my mind whispered.

Why not? I could almost picture the little devil standing on my right shoulder. You were together for like three years. You have rights, Percy, my man.

But if they're together, you can't just walk up and ruin it all, the angel on my left shoulder told me. You don't want to be that jerk ex-boyfriend.

Who. The hell. Cares? the devil sneered. She's your girl. He's your friend. You have the right to beat the crap out of him.

No! the angel snapped. Don't you do anything!

"Having a self-argument, are we?"

I whirled around to see Summer Todd, sunning herself in a red bikini. I blinked. I hadn't even realized I was at the beach. My surprise quickly changed to annoyance. I scowled. "Why do you always show up when I'm in a social crisis?"

Her eyebrows rose above her Dior sunglasses. "Grouchy much?" She motioned for me to sit. "What's up, Percy?"

I sighed, but I sat. "Don't you know already?"

She inclined her head. "Yes. I suppose that's no surprise."

"Not really," I agreed. "I guess being the Oracle has its perks."

She leaned back on her elbows, turning her face to the sun. "I'm not sure if I've said this, but I don't see everything; it's more like the future mugs me from time to time. I only get glimpses."

I stared at the water, which looked damn good from where I was sitting. "Did you glimpse what happened? I really don't want to relive it."

She pushed her shades up her forehead so it was like a headband. "No, Parker told me."

"What?" I yelped. "How did she know?"

Summer thought about it. "I think she mentioned Lacy told her."

"Who told Lacy?" I demanded.

"Eric." She went on before I could ask anything else. "Katie told Eric, Diana told Katie, and Diana got it from Tyler, who's like this—" she held up her crossed fingers "—with the Stoll twins."

"Dammit," I sighed. I laid back in the sand. "So everyone knows?"

Summer dropped her shades over her eyes and laid next to me. "Yep. Sorry, Percy."

"S'okay," I mumbled. "I guess it was bound to happen."

"Go for a swim," she suggested. "That always makes you feel better, doesn't it?"

I got the feeling she was winking at me from behind her dark glasses, but she was right. Water was bound to take this off my chest.

I dove in. I didn't bother to change—you know, since I never got wet anyway. There was a cloud of white bubbles around me, lasting only for a few seconds before disappearing toward the surface. I breathed in a sigh. Down there, it was a beautiful world of blue and green, swaying plants, bright coral, and the friendliest creatures. The water was cool and silent.

I think that's what I've always liked most about water. The serenity. The peace. The quiet. No crises, no Annabeth, no gods out for my blood. All my cares melted away. Always.

I settled on the reef. A woman's face peeked out at me curiously from a patch of anemone—a Nereid. I was a little surprised to see one; they tend to avoid shore, but before I could move a muscle, the face was gone.

Something buzzed in my pocket (get jealous; water-proof cell phone). I pulled it out. The screen of my phone read:

New Text Message

Annabeth Chase

I didn't bother to open it. I shoved my phone back in my pocket. The water didn't feel so good. That sinking feeling was back in my stomach, the feeling that appeared whenever I thought about something bad, the feeling that made me want to hide under the covers when I was little.

Suddenly I was angry. Not just angry. Furious.

Furious at Annabeth for breaking my heart. Furious at myself for somehow being the cause of that.

My hands clenched into fists.

Furious at Tony for being so happy. Furious at Summer for knowing everything. Furious at Hecate for starting the war.

I saw red. There was a sharp, painful tug in my gut, and suddenly the ground rumbled, so hard the coral reef cracked. The current around me got stronger. I was so surprised, I fell off the reef and rolled—straight for a chasm.

I couldn't stop. Not even when I tried to manipulate the water into holding me back. I was sure I was going to die.

A pair of arms dragged me back. Someone got two fistfuls of my shirt and—I found myself face-to-face with Summer Todd. Her hair was floating around her head like a cloud, her shades gone, her eyes wide open. I couldn't understand her water-muffled screaming, or the words she was frantically mouthing. I formed a bubble over her mouth.

"STOP!" she screamed.

That's when I realized.

The earthquake was me.

I slammed my eyes shut, my face screwing up with the effort of my focus. I concentrated to the point of mind-explosion. Then the tugging stopped. The shaking ceased. Summer was still holding me by my shirt, but her grip was slacking. She'd already used up the bubble. She was losing air.

I wrapped an arm around her waist and willed the water to shoot me to shore. I rolled her over the sand, spitting out some seaweed. "Summer? Summer. Wake up." I waited a few seconds. Out cold. "Great," I muttered.

Perfect.

Just perfect.

Nico's POV

Annabeth started crying after Percy disappeared.

Instinctively, automatically, I put an arm over her shoulders. I felt…weird. Intimidated. Percy's blazing gaze was more wistful than angry—though believe me, there was plenty of anger—like he wished he were me.

"It's okay," I told Annabeth, spitting her hair out of my mouth. She kept crying. It was wrong to see her all sobby. I was used to seeing her cool, and all business, ready to stab you in the neck with a knife then go to tea or something. I'd never seen her like this.

This war was turning the universe upside down.

Even worse, I felt someone's eyes on us. I looked up. Thalia's eyes. Just what I needed. Her eyes dropped to Annabeth sobbing on me, then back up to my face. I thought I saw sadness in the electric blue—almost like Percy's. Then she was gone too. I was about to shove Annabeth off and go after her but—

Everything went to hell.

The ground started shaking so hard it threw me from the tree, rolling faster and faster until I hit something that turned out to be an unconscious Travis Stoll. I barely had time to register what I was doing when I yanked Travis out of the way, watching, stunned, as a chunk of roof from the Apollo cabin crashed into the ground where we were just laying.

I exhaled a sigh I couldn't hear, thinking maybe I could catch a breath, but the ground around the chunk of roof started forming cracks—then suddenly started caving in on itself.

"Crap!" I was forced to save the Stoll twin again, throwing him over me and jumping up to run, only to lose my balance to the earth and smack my head on a rock. Stars danced in front of my eyes.

I shook my head, spitting dust. It took me a full minute to realize the earthquake was over. It was silent. Too silent. But only for about three seconds.

Then the air was split with moaning. "My leg!" or "Where's Kyle?" or "What the F*** just happened?"

I listened intently. There was no buzzing in my ears. Good. No one was dead.

I sat up, glancing over at Travis. Still out. Like a light bulb. Annabeth was slumped over by Cabin Four, her arms still wrapped around the rail like she needed to hold on to it. Her face was stained with tears.

Katie Gardner was unconscious by the crumbled remains of the agora fountain. Blood trickled down her temple.

"What…happened?" I turned at the sound of the voice. One of the Apollo girls was rubbing the bump on her head with a confused expression. It was already sinking back into her forehead. I snorted internally. Healing powers.

"Earthquake," I said.

She scowled. "I know that."

"Emily, right?" I asked. She nodded. "Go take care of the wounded. I don't think anyone's dead, but if someone is, then drag them over near the Big House. Got it?"

"I'm not stupid," she scoffed.

"Then go, smart one."

She shot me a glare as hot as her dad's chariot, but she hurried to Katie.

"Nico!"

The sound of someone calling my name was faint, echoing. I turned just in time to get tackled. I landed on my back with an oof, smacking the bruise on the back of my head. "OW!"

"Sorry." The person jumped up, dragging me with them. It was one of the Aphrodite girls, with dirty blonde hair and lavender eyes.

"Gods, what?" I yelled in her face.

The girl—what was her name? Elizabeth?—had a wild look in her eye. "It's Thalia."

A jolt went through me at the name. "Where?" My voice sounded strange. King of…emotionless, which was messed up, since I was feeling way too many things at once.

Elizabeth pointed.

I shadow-traveled there in a second. A sharp tug on my arm made me realize I'd accidentally brought Elizabeth with me—and now she was passed out on the floor. Shadow-traveling has that effect on people.

Only when I saw what happened to Thalia did I notice where I was.

Hera's Cabin.

Thalia had been pinned under a giant stone statue of the queen of the gods. [A/N: Yes, again, readers of TLO.] She wasn't moving.

"Thalia," I emphasized, though I knew it was useless. She didn't respond. I pressed my ear to her chest, trying not to feel frantic. The beat there was faint. Then it stopped. Her life force began fading rapidly. I was frozen, for a split second.

"No!" I shouted. I didn't know much about CPR, but I put my hands over her heart and started pumping in a frenzy. "You're not allowed to die, Pinecone Face," I muttered.

I put every bit of power I had over death in my hands—to stop hers. Trying to get it into her body, to get her eyes open again. To hear her voice. To see her beat up some poor newbie.

Don't die. Don't die. Don't die.

I pinched her nose and breathed into her mouth. Don't die. I pumped again. Don't die. I put my lips on hers to breathe for her again. Don't d—why was her tongue in my mouth?

I recoiled, ignoring the will to stay there. "Thalia?" I asked hopefully.

Her eyes were just barely open—just electric, glassy blue slits. She looked at me for a fraction of a second.

"You are such a f***ing idiot."

Then she passed out cold.

Percy's POV

"She's okay," Miranda Bowman informed me. "Just a minor loss of oxygen."

I noticed Miranda's heart wasn't really in the assessment. Her mind seemed elsewhere, and she had the same expression as all the Athena kids—distant, like she was thinking a million things at once.

I didn't blame her.

My earthquake had caused mass destruction. Miranda's infirmary was bursting at the seams with campers. I think I even saw Thalia in a coma or something. I was a little surprised to see Nico di Angelo with her, clutching her hand. I would've thought him to be near An—I mean her, since I guess they were a thing now.

I saw her too. Unconscious, thank the gods. Even though her face was crumpled with pain, she was still breathtaking. Even though she broke me, she still owned my heart. Cheesy as it sounds, its true.

I looked back at Summer. "Sorry," I muttered. I knew she probably didn't hear me, but I didn't care. I would visit her later.

I headed out the door, cringing as I passed Annabeth's bed, feeling more depressed and angry than ever.

"Percy," the voice literally out of nowhere made me jump a foot in the air.

Alice raised her eyebrows at me. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you, just wanted to stop you."

"Huh?"

She gave me a skeptical look. "Percy, where are we?"

Only when she said that did I notice we were standing in the shallow water of the beach. How did I get here so fast?

"Oh."

There was a single beat of silence before she spoke. "It's starting, for you, isn't it?"

I knew what she was talking about without asking. "Yeah. That earthquake," I hesitated, "I think it was me."

"I know." Her expression was sympathetic—exactly what I didn't want. "Father's blessed us."

"Wouldn't exactly call it a blessing," I muttered.

"I know," she said again. "I'm sorry. It'll get so much worse before it gets better. You…you might not survive. Not this time."

"Wow, what a pep talk. I feel so much better," I said sarcastically.

A smile flashed across her face briefly. "Yes, well, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Great," I sighed. "Shoot."

"I'm returning to the Hunt," she said. "I'm not coming back."

I blinked. "What?"

"Brother, I think you heard me." She looked at me sadly. "The Hunters and I will be here until we win this godsdamn war, but after that… You don't need me anymore. This camp doesn't need me anymore. They need you. You're much better at this than I could ever be."

She held up a hand as I started to say something. "And besides, Percy: you never really liked me, anyway, so how can you miss what you never truly had?" Her eyes, exactly like mine, twinkled suddenly with mischief I'd never seen in her. A smirk played on her lips. "I've never really been much of a sister." She winked, then she was gone, in a spray of sea vapor, leaving me stunned.

Thalia's POV

"…know when she'll wake up?" A vaguely familiar voice threaded into my brain.

"There's no way of knowing. She's in a coma, smart one. She could come to at any second. And why are you asking me? I'm an archer, not a healer."

"Damn you, Hera," the voice muttered. Splat. "OW! What the hell—?"

"Ha-ha! She got you!"

"Shut your pie hole, Shawn! Ugh, gods, this stinks—"

"The only thing the shuts my pie hole is pie," Shawn stated confidently.

"Then stuff some pie down your hole," a new voice snapped. "What are you idiots doing?"

"Nothing—"

Thalia's in a coma, smart asses. Doesn't mean she can't hear you. And since what she's hearing is freaking annoying, the only way she can avoid it is by going deeper into her comatose state. So shut. The hell. Up."

"Don't worry, kid," I muttered. "Built up a tolerance."

I opened my eyes. Three kids were surrounding my bed: Shawn Spencer, son of Apollo, with an arrow stuck through his shoulder, Miranda Bowman, Shawn's sister, head healer, and Nico di Angelo, son of a bitch…and Hades.

"Thalia!" His face lit up when he saw me awake.

"Don't get your hopes up, Dead Boy," I mumbled. "Go off with your girlfriend, will you?"

"What?"

"Nico, get outta here," Miranda snapped. "Thalia's on painkillers, remember? And she just got out of her coma about two minutes ago. She needs rest."

Nico gave me a strange look—wistful, sad, almost. But he melted away into the shadows at Miranda's command.

"Show off," Shawn said darkly.

Miranda rounded on him. "And you. Get back to your bed. I'll be by in about an hour to get that thing out of your shoulder."

"Finally," he whined. "It hurts like hell."

"Then go, before I make it hurt like the Kindly Ones are after you." Miranda gave Shawn a glare, and he left.

I was about to thank her, but then she turned around, smiling.

Crap.

After lots of unwanted testing and being probed in several unspeakable places, I finally escaped Miranda's "research".

More like torture, I thought.

Anyway, I let some other sucker take my spot and hightailed it out of there. Now I was walking around camp, bored out of my mind.

Ow! What? Okay, okay, so maybe that's not the exact truth.

Really, I'd like to say I was bored out of my mind. The truth is, I was trying to avoid what was in it.

I hate to admit it, but we were weak. Campers were dropping everywhere I looked. Slumped against trees in exhaustion, nursing jacked limbs, snoring. I seriously wanted to get in on that snoring thing, but I knew there was no way I was going to be able to sleep. So what was I going to do?

"Hey, Kelp Head."

Percy looked up at me in surprise. "Oh, hi, Pinecone Face." He scooted over as I sat down next to him.

We didn't look at each other. "Being awesome sucks," I sighed.

"I know," he agreed. He looked really depressed. That was scary. He was always so stupidly optimistic.

I sighed loudly. "What's wrong now?"

Immediately he went on the defense. "What? Nothing!"

"Please, little cousin. I may not have feelings, but I can tell when something's up."

He glared at me for a few seconds. "Fine," he grumbled.

I waited. "Well?" I demanded.

"Me and Annabeth broke up."

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye when I didn't say anything. I was in complete and utter shock. "Huh?"

"Annabeth dumped me," he mumbled, obviously furious he had to say it again.

"You're pulling my leg."

"No."

"Seriously. How much is she paying you to do this to me?"

"Thalia, I'm NOT KIDDING!"

I held up my hands. "Okay, sorry. It's just…hard to believe."

He sank down again. "I know. I thought…I thought she loved me."

"Percy, everyone thought that." I shook my head. "I can't believe she'd do something like that. It's not like her at all."

"Yeah, and now she's with Nico," he grumbled darkly.

I felt a strange burning in my chest—jealousy? Since when did I get jealous? I cursed myself. "I know."

"I hate that we're doing this," he mumbled. "I don't know why this happened."

I made my decision. "Where is she?"

"Infirmary, probably," he said glumly. "Maybe Cabin Six." He gave me a suspicious glance. "Why?"

"No reason. Just gonna talk some sense into her." I got up and left before he could stop me.

I found Annabeth in Cabin Six, staring at nothing and shoving crackers in her mouth. Crumbs littered her lap. I stared at her, my talking-sense-into-Annabeth speech lost. How did I not see it earlier? It was like a lit-up billboard! Come on, Thalia! I did a mental face-palm.

"Thalia?" she asked, finally noticing I was there. She stared back at me. "What?" she demanded.

"You're pregnant!" I yelled.

"What?" she protested. "N-no!" She laughed and stuttered at the same time.

"You ARE!" I shouted. "You're eating CRACKERS! No one eats crackers for fun! And you've got that happy-glowy-baby thing!"

Her expression wavered. For a second it reminded me of glass—fragile, ever-changing, something you could see right through. She didn't look so sure about the last bit of my announcement. She sank down in exhaustion and depression, covering her face with her hands.

"Fine," she mumbled through her fingers. "I'm…pregnant." She choked out the word.

I waited for a split second to make sure she wasn't looking, then did a fist pump in the air. I knew it! "Well," I said, sitting next to her. "At least this explains why you threw up on Travis Stoll."

She ignored that. "Thals, what am I going to do?" Tears squeezed out her fingers.

"Percy doesn't know, does he?"

Her hands dropped to her lap. She shook her head. "No." She let out a dry, bitter laugh. "He'd do something stupid. He's such a Seaweed Brain." She wiped the tears away from her face like she hated them—which I didn't blame her about.

I wrapped an arm around her. "Agreed. I won't tell." Annabeth was like a little sister to me. I couldn't see her getting a speeding ticket, let alone preggo. I rested my cheek on her head. "Does anyone else know?"

"Nico," she mumbled. "And Rabbit."

I smiled briefly at the second name. Kid did me a damn good favor. He wouldn't spill unless he wanted to lose his eyebrows—and a lot more. I frowned when I processed the first one. "Nico knows? That's not bad, isn't he your boyfriend now?"

Annabeth stiffened. "What?" Her voice came out clearer in shock, rather than the muffled, stuffy tones of a depressed pregnant girl who'd been crying. "No! He fell on me and felt it. He was just…there when Percy couldn't be."

I relaxed. "Oh." I felt like the world had been lifted off my shoulders. Huh. I wonder…

"You'll be okay," I told her. "I'm with you through this, okay?"

"'Kay," she muttered.

I sat there with her, staring at nothing just like when I found her. I didn't leave. Not even when she fell asleep.