Well, you guys convinced me to make it a two- shot! Here it is. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
After his night-long conversation with Annabeth, Percy was in a pretty good mood. He'd gotten himself showered, dressed, and ready for the day, finishing just as the breakfast horn sounded. He left his cabin and made his way to the dining pavilion, where he sacrificed some of his fruit loops to Poseidon and sat down at his table.
A minute later, Chiron stomped his hoof on the floor, calling for attention. "Good morning, heroes!" he greeted. "Tonight, there will be a game of Capture the Flag after dinner. Cabin six currently holds the laurels." The Athena cabin started cheering while the Ares kids sneered and called insults over to them. Chiron stomped again, calling for quiet. "That is all for this morning. Everyone, have a good day. To the gods!" He was met with the resounding "To the gods!" of all the campers, and everyone began eating.
Part of Percy was a little lonely. Even after he'd made the gods promise to claim all of their demigod children last summer, no siblings had shown up for him yet. He wasn't sure if he was happy about this or not. His thoughts were interrupted when someone sat down across from him. He looked up to see Grover, who was eyeing him strangely.
"Hey," Percy greeted him.
"Percy," Grover replied, "You look exhausted." Was his lack of sleep really that obvious? Percy had hoped a smile would make up for the bags underneath his drooping eyes. Apparently it wasn't that simple. He didn't respond, so Grover continued. "You okay?"
"Yeah," Percy answered simply. His good mood was deteriorating rapidly. Grover could read his emotions, and apparently did, because he changed the subject.
"So," he said, "I heard you taught Chris's sword class yesterday. How did that go?" He sounded a little wistful. Despite himself, Percy had to laugh.
"Gods, Grover. They think I'm some kind of celebrity." He told the satyr about his experience teaching the younger campers and their many questions for the rest of breakfast. Grover laughed along with him.
"So, Mr. Lord of the Wild," Percy began, as they walked out of the dining pavilion, "How come you're here at camp and not out saving the world?" Grover chuckled.
"Saving the world is your job. I just save nature. It's less dangerous… most of the time." Percy laughed. "But I'm spending the week here. Visiting Juniper, you know? And, I must have pretty good timing; because it just happened to be the one week you decided to show up in months too." Percy smiled and nodded.
"Well, hey," he said, "I'll catch up with you later, man. I'm gonna go train for a while."
"Okay. See you later, Perce." They parted ways.
"Hey, Percy!" Percy heard, as he walked toward the arena. He turned to see Chris Rodriguez running over to him.
"Hey," hey greeted him with a smile.
"Thanks for covering for me yesterday," Chris said, "How'd it go?"
"It was good. I actually had fun, but, gods, they treat me like I'm some kind of famous person or something," Percy answered with a laugh.
Chris chuckled. "Trust me, man, to them, you pretty much are."
"Yeah, I've noticed."
"So, I actually had a question for you," Chris told him.
"Yeah?"
"How long are you here for?"
Percy shrugged. "I don't know. Probably until tomorrow. Why?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to help teach today. It's hard to demonstrate moves on campers who have no idea what they're doing. Normally, I'd use another counselor but most of them are at home right now, so I was wondering if I could demonstrate on you. Or, you could demonstrate on me. Or-"
"Chris," Percy interrupted, trying not to laugh, "Yeah, sure. I'll help you out. No problem."
Chris smiled. He looked kind of relieved. "Thanks, man."
Percy walked into the arena, smirking. He went to work, warming up on a few practice dummies before he was interrupted, as he always was, it seemed, by a familiar voice that seemed out of place.
"Hey, Percy."
He turned to see a smirking Jason Grace, clad in a purple Camp Jupiter T-shirt and a pair of jeans, with his golden sword sheathed at his side. Percy stared at him curiously.
"Hey. What are you doing here?" he asked. Jason shrugged.
"I had some business to attend to nearby and I heard you were here. I figured I'd come and say hi." Percy knew that by "say hi," Jason really meant "see how you were holding up," but Percy didn't mind. He and the son of Jupiter had become pretty good friends on the quest and he hadn't seen him since the war.
"Hi," Percy replied, grinning. "Good to see you. I need a practice partner. Care to spar?" Jason seemed taken aback for a moment, but quickly recovered and shrugged, grinning.
"There's an offer I can't refuse."
Percy enjoyed sparring with Jason. He knew he was considered to be one of the best, if not the best swordsman in the last three hundred years. He didn't know if that was true or not, nor did he care. He certainly didn't brag about it, but he was definitely better than most at camp. The only people who even stood half a chance against him were Clarisse, if she was lucky, and Annabeth, because she knew how he fought. Anyone else, Percy didn't even have to really try.
That wasn't the case with Jason. Percy wasn't as familiar with the Roman style of fighting, as he was with Greek. The technique was totally different, and, though he had learned a small bit of it during his short stay at Camp Jupiter, he wasn't very in tune with it. Fighting Jason, Percy was pretty evenly matched. It made things interesting.
They fought lightly for a few minutes, warming up and getting a feel for each other. Then,things started getting more intense. Both boys' faces became hard with concentration, sweat beading on their foreheads. Percy found his rhythm quickly and the fight became a repeated dance in his head. Block. Stab. Slash. Parry.
The fight continued on for a few more minutes. Percy noticed a crowd gathering. Word must have gotten out somehow and apparently everyone wanted to watch. Percy ignored all of it. The only thing he was aware of was Jason's sword. Block. Stab. Slash. Parry.
The fight ended finally with Percy holding Riptide half an inch from Jason's neck, while Jason held his sword half an inch from Percy's. The arena was silent. No one said anything, and yet, Percy was aware of everything. Slowly, a smile spread across Jason's face, as did Percy's. Suddenly, everyone in the arena burst into cheering and applause. The demigods lowered their swords.
"I believe it's a draw," Percy said.
Jason grinned. "You just wait til next time, Jackson."
"Until then, Grace."
"So, how long are you staying?" Percy asked Jason as they made their way to the showers.
"I'll probably head back after lunch," Jason replied, "There's a lot to do back in New Rome."
"Huh, too bad. There's Capture the Flag tonight."
Jason's eyes lit up. "Well, in that case, I guess I could stick around for a while." Percy laughed.
"I thought that might change your mind." Jason laughed too. "So how's Piper?"
"She's good. Things are easier, now that her dad knows the truth." Percy nodded.
"What about you?" Jason asked, "How's Annabeth?"
"She's good, considering. She's spending a few days in San Francisco, visiting her family." Jason nodded, like he understood. Percy found talking to the others from the quest easier than other campers. They didn't require explanation. They'd seen him at his absolute worst, straight out of hell, and they understood. "You know, Thalia stopped by yesterday. You missed her." Percy said, changing the subject.
"Really?" Jason asked, "I saw her about a week ago. The Hunters were in California. We had lunch."
"They sure get around, don't they?"
Jason chuckled. "Guess so."
Percy sat alone at lunch, but this time, he didn't mind it so much. Jason sat at the Zeus table, also alone. The tables were right next to each other, so if Percy sat at the end of his table, and Jason sat at the end of his, they were close enough to be able to talk to each other.
Camp Half Blood treated Jason pretty much like a normal camper, who happened to be a child of the Big Three, which is to say, pretty much normal, but not quite. His time spent there had earned him the respect of the camp, but, whether he, Percy, liked it or not, Percy was the leader. Percy was the one they looked to when it came to important decisions. Jason seemed perfectly fine with this. Percy figured it was the same for himself at the Roman camp. He hadn't been there since Leo had blown it up and the quest had begun, but he figured things worked similarly enough.
"So, how have you been?" Jason asked carefully.
Percy didn't answer at first. "Things are… better. We're getting there, I guess." The son of Jupiter nodded and, thankfully, changed the subject.
The rest of lunch was spent talking to Jason about Camp Jupiter, Capture the Flag, and, strangely enough, the brownies Aphros had given Leo after the Shrimpzilla attack. When it was over, Percy left Jason and went to his cabin. He IMed Sally and told her of his plans to head home in the morning. He wanted to IM Annabeth too, but then he remembered her mentioning last night, that her dad was taking the family out today and she wouldn't be home until after dinner, her time. That kind of put a downer on Percy's mood, but he brushed it off and headed outside. It was time for Chris's sword class anyway, and Percy had promised to help out.
He met Chris at the entrance to the arena.
"Hey, man. Thanks for coming," the son of Hermes greeted Percy with a smile.
"No problem," Percy answered, following him inside.
The class was excited to have Percy there again. One camper asked if they could ask more questions after class, but Chris, thank the gods, told him 'no.' He began the class by showing the campers a few defensive blocks and parries, demonstrating on Percy. Every few minutes, they traded places. Chris would teach for a few minutes and would hand it over to Percy for another few. It went back and forth like this the whole time. It worked well, and by the end of the class, everyone was tired and sweaty. Chris dismissed the campers and turned to Percy.
"Thanks, again, Percy. I actually learned a few things too," he said. Percy smiled.
"No problem, man."
"You know," Chris said, smirking, "You're a pretty good teacher. Maybe you should get a class of your own sometime."
Percy shrugged. "We'll see. Maybe this summer I'll ask Chiron for a class."
"So you are coming back, then?"
Percy looked at Chris strangely. "Of course. I just needed some time…" Chris nodded understandingly.
"Well, hey. For what it's worth, I've missed having you around. So has Clarisse, she just won't admit it," Chris said, smiling. Percy laughed.
"Thanks."
After dinner, Chiron had the campers suit up in armor, and gather in the dining pavilion. "Heroes!" he called to get everyone's attention. "You all know the rules. The flags must be displayed in plain sight, and have no more than two guards each. The entire forest is fair game. The creek is the boundary line. Prisoners may be disarmed, but not bound or gagged. All magic items are allowed. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional killing or maiming, please. The teams are as follows. Red team: Ares, Hephestus, Zeus, Dionysus, Demeter, Nemesis, Nike, Iris. Blue Team: Athena, Poseidon, Apollo, Hermes, Aphrodite, Hypnos, Hecate, Morpheus. Get ready and good luck!"
As the campers made their way out of the dining pavilion and toward the woods, Percy did a quick scan of those who were on his team. Both teams had good players and seemed pretty evenly matched. This was going to be a close game.
When the blue team reached their side of the woods, Percy noticed everyone was looking at him expectantly. Even the Athena campers, who normally led the team, were looking to him. It was obvious they wanted him in charge. It had been a long time since Percy had participated in a game of Capture the Flag, over a year, but the campers didn't seem to care.
He took a deep breath and began. "Um, okay then. Here's what we're gonna do…" He assigned positions to campers and stationed them in specific places. He set up the best fighters as defense on the ground and the best archers in the trees. He assigned the fastest runners to offensive positions and explained his plan, which was to send a diversion to distract the other team, while he and two "bodyguards" went in after, to get the flag. Everyone agreed with this plan and took off in different directions, to their assigned places, and the game began.
The fighting was heard almost immediately, but everything seemed to be going according to plan. The first group was sent in, distracting the other team, and a minute later, Percy and two Athena campers took off after the flag.
They burst through the woods, taking down any resistance before reinforcements could be called. They were fighting machines. Finally, they burst into a clearing. In the center, stood the flag and two guards: Clarisse LaRue and Jason Grace. Of course.
"Go!" Percy yelled. The Athena fighters took off, planning to fight their way through Clarisse. Percy hoped they were good enough. He'd been on the receiving end of her electric spear a few times, and it was never pleasant. He took Jason.
"You're gonna regret this setup, Jackson," Jason told Percy as their swords collided. He was grinning rather evilly.
Percy scoffed. "You forgot, Grace. You're in my camp now."
The fight was intense. Jason's body crackled with electricity. Water swirled around Percy. Their swords connected with blinding speed. From the corner of his eye, Percy could see an Athena camper go down. The other was heading toward the flag, not paying attention. He willed the creek, half a mile away, to explode, knocking Clarisse down with a hundred gallons of water. She flew backward and out of sight, screaming curses at Percy the whole way, but he wasn't listening. His attention was back on Jason. He analyzed his every move, trying to figure out his pattern. Percy made a lucky stab, bringing the golden sword into the perfect position for a certain disarming technique. He went for it, and, surprisingly, it worked. Jason looked stunned for half a second. Not a long time, but enough. Percy willed every drop of the creek to rise and took Jason out, sending him in the same direction as Clarisse. He didn't stick around to watch what happened after that, taking off to cover the Athena camper, who was now retreating back to the boundary line with the red team's flag.
Percy took off after him, just as an opposing defensive player ran up from behind the Athena kid, taking him down. In the next instant, Percy took said opposing camper down before he could do any more damage, but the Athena kid was injured.
"Here!" he yelled to Percy, tossing him the flag, "Go! Go!" Percy didn't argue. He took off toward the creek at top speed. He was almost there.
A quarter mile.
An eighth.
500 feet.
400-BANG!
Out of nowhere, lightning struck the ground in front of Percy, throwing him fifty feet backward. Jason stood before him, advancing. Percy waited, faking unconsciousness, and when Jason got close enough, WHOOSH! A wall of water, a hundred feet high, took him out again. Percy willed it to carry him up, and he rode it like a skateboard. It landed him a hundred feet from the boundary line. He ran. Jason, having recovered faster than the first time, swooped in, controlling air currents. Percy could see his team fighting off an opposing teammate, who was running toward her side, bearing the blue team's flag,. Percy's team was giving her a run for her money, but she was good…
No, he thought, suddenly angry. This was the capture the flag against the hunters, four years ago, all over again. The fight he and Thalia had had... No. He wasn't losing this time. Percy's sudden anger fueled him. Without even realizing it, he had willed the water to swirl around him again as he fought Jason, bronze against gold. Percy gave one final whack with the butt of his sword, which bounced harmlessly off Jason's armor, but the momentum pushed the Roman back a good ten feet. This was it. Percy took off running, full sprint. Jason flew up, but the water around Percy had formed a mini hurricane, which acted as a decent defense, and knocked Jason back with every try.
He was six feet away.
Five feet.
Four.
Three.
Percy crossed over the creek and into friendly territory, holding the flag high. It changed color in his hand, turning a deep green, with a trident in the center. Cheering arose from all around him. The blue team lifted him onto their shoulders and carried him, chanting. "PERCY. PERCY. PERCY." When he'd finally managed to convince them to let him down, Chiron cantered over, grinning hugely, with a strange sparkle in his eye.
"A game well played!" he announced. "Congratulations to the blue team!" He paused, drowned out but the huge amounts of cheering coming from the blue team members. Percy couldn't wipe the smile off his face. This was how camp had been for years, and gods, it felt good to be back. "Now, everyone," Chiron continued after the noise died down minutely again, "Curfew is in twenty minutes. To your cabins, please. Well done and good night!"
It took a few minutes before the demigods started to disperse. Percy received so many pats on the back and high fives, he almost couldn't keep up. When he could finally see through the crowds of people, he noticed Jason standing at the edge of the clearing, still dripping wet, but smiling slightly as he looked back at him. Percy made his way over to him.
"Hey," he said, rubbing his neck nervously, "Sorry about back there." Jason just smiled wider.
"Don't apologize, man, because that was incredibly cool. Just watch out next time. "
Percy grinned. "You too, Grace. I don't back down very easily, you know." He held out his hand and Jason shook it with a smile.
"So I've noticed, but, hey, thanks, you saved me shower," he said with a grin. Percy chuckled and willed Jason dry. The latter looked down at his clothes, and then back at Percy. He looked more impressed. His smiled widened again. "Thanks."
"No problem."
So, are you heading out tonight?" Percy asked, once they were out of the woods and safe within the boundaries of camp, standing in front of the hearth fire. Jason shrugged.
"Yeah, probably. Cabin One isn't exactly comfortable, you know?"
"Yeah, Thalia may have mentioned that once or twice."
"Well," Jason said, "It was good seeing you, man. Say hi to Annabeth for me." He whistled into the night.
Percy smiled again. "Will do. Same to Piper."
Jason nodded. "Come visit California sometime. I'm sure everyone would like to see you, especially Frank and Hazel," he said.
"Maybe I will. We'll see. Say hi to them for me too."
"I will," Jason answered, as his storm spirit horse, Tempest, landed next to him. "Well, I guess I'd better get going. It's pretty late. See you later, Percy."
"See ya, Jason. Maybe next time I'll let you win," Percy replied, smirking.
"In your dreams, Jackson," the son of Jupiter scoffed while also laughing, before climbing onto Tempest and flying off into the night. Percy watched him fly away in the darkness, smiling and shaking his head, before heading to his cabin for the night. After he had showered and thrown on a pair of sweats and a camp shirt, Percy decided to IM Annabeth. It was about ten at night. That would make it seven in California. She had to be home by now.
"O, Fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Annabeth Chase; San Francisco, California," Percy said, as he tossed a drachma into the salt water spring. The mist shimmere, and Annabeth appeared.
"Hey, Seaweed Brain," she greeted him. She looked and sounded tired, but Percy knew she dared not sleep. He himself was exhausted too, especially after Capture the Flag, but he knew the second his head hit the pillow, he would be back in that place. The nightmares would overwhelm him, and he definitely didn't want that.
"Hey, Beautiful," he replied. Annabeth smiled.
They talked the entire night. Percy told her about his day: Jason showing up, helping Chris with his class, Capture the Flag, and everything in between. Annabeth told him about her family outing. Apparently, they'd visited a museum, gone to the park, and gone out for dinner. It sounded like she had genuinely enjoyed herself. Percy loved listening to her. He loved her voice. It was like music to his ears. No matter how bad his day was going, she always made it better, and, right now, it made a good day even better. Which was awesome. They talked right into the early morning. Percy watched the sunrise over the Sound through his window. His clock read 7:29. They had made it through their third, and last, night apart.
He ate his breakfast alone at the Poseidon table, but it wasn't very lonely. The whole time, people were patting him on the back as they walked by, congratulating him on his Capture the Flag victory. Honestly, Percy hated the attention. Was it not bad enough that he'd saved Olympus twice and survived Tartarus, making him a superstar to younger campers? He couldn't just play Capture the Flag like a normal camper, without it attracting attention? Okay, so maybe he had saved the game last night, and maybe the old Percy would have liked the attention, but not now. Now, he would have given almost anything to just blend in. He was tired of the stares. He just wanted to be normal again.
After breakfast, Percy said goodbye. He tracked down the few friends who were there. Leo, Chris, Grover, Juniper, even Clarisse, but that was really only because she was with Chris when he'd went to say goodbye. Everyone told him to say hello to Annabeth for them, and hugs and handshakes were exchanged.
He walked back into his cabin, which was extremely clean, especially considering he was the one who'd been staying in it. Okay, it was spotless. Percy grabbed his backpack, which he had packed his things in before breakfast, and took one last look around, throwing on a hoodie over his camp T-shirt. As warm as the magical borders kept it inside, in the mortal world, it was almost December, and it was pretty cold. He smiled at the memories the place held. I'll be back. Percy thought, and he had no doubt that he would. And next time, Annabeth would be there too.
He stopped in front of the Big House, where he found Chiron on the back porch, staring out at the Sound. The centaur turned around at Percy's arrival, smiling his characteristic smile.
"Hello, Percy," he greeted his student.
"Hi, Chiron," he replied.
"I take it you'll be going home this morning," Chiron said, eyeing the backpack slung on Percy's shoulder.
"Yeah. Annabeth's coming home tonight and…" Percy trailed off.
"And you need to get some sleep," Chiron finished, "And you can't do that without her." Percy felt himself blush a little. He'd forgotten just how observant the centaur was. And maybe his lack of sleep was more than a little obvious...
"Uh, yeah," he answered, staring at the floor.
"My boy, before you go, I just want you to know that you have exceeded my every expectation of you. You are a true hero, Percy Jackson. Know that." Percy just nodded, looking up from the deck below him to meet his teacher's eyes again.
"Thanks, Chiron."
"And Percy, know that you are always welcome here. I understand things are different now, but, if you are willing, I'd love to have you here for the summer session."
Percy blinked. "I'll be here, Chiron. Yeah. Absolutely." The centaur smiled warmly.
"Well in that case, I spoke to Chris Rodriguez yesterday evening. It is his wish for you to take over his sword class this coming summer, if you wish."
Percy was dumbfounded but made his decision rather quickly. He smiled slightly. "Yeah, sure thing. I'll do it." Chiron smiled broadly.
"Very good. Then, I will send you off. Do you need a ride? Argus can drive you into the city, if you'd like."
"No thanks. I was just gonna have Blackjack take me, if it's okay with you."
"Of course. The Pegasus is practically yours, anyway."
"Chiron," Percy said before he could stop himself, "Thanks. For everything." The centaur's smile returned.
"You are very welcome, Percy. Send my regards to Annabeth, would you?"
"I will. Bye, Chiron. Thanks again."
"Goodbye, my boy." Percy smiled at his teacher one more time before retreating back to the front of the Big House and down the steps. As he made his way over to the stables, he couldn't help but feel at home. As messed up as things had been lately, and as weird as things still were there, Camp Half-Blood was his home, just as much as his apartment in Manhattan was home. It always would be. Yes, he would be back, no doubt about it, and, in the mean time, things would only get better. For him and Annabeth both.
Percy entered the stable and walked to Blackjack's stall. Yo, Boss! the Pegasus greeted him, Got any sugar cubes for me? Percy smiled, shaking his head in amusement, but pulled some out of his sweatshirt pocket anyway. Some things never changed.
"Hey, Blackjack. I need a ride."
Where to, Boss?
"My apartment. Take me home."
Done! What did you think? Please review. Let me know!
This is a two- shot, so this story is finished. It is kind of an excerpt from another story of mine called Long Road Ahead, which is about Percy and Annabeth's road to recovery after Tartarus, so, if you haven't already, go check it out!
Thanks!