CHAPTER SIX: PERCY

Percy dreamed of many things, most of which he couldn't remember. However, one recurring image was that of Annabeth's face, looking at him across the table at Cafe Olay, waiting for him to say something. She was golden and silver; the sunlight illuminating her hair, skin and eyes.

At the time, he'd been thinking about whether it really was wise to trust the Greek demigods, what with Bianca grilling him like beef and capsicum kebabs on a barbecue, and Nico seemingly unshocked by his story whatsoever. But after studying Annabeth, Percy knew that revealing Camp Jupiter's location was the right thing to do. It was a show of goodwill (and who knew how much more agitated the Greeks would've been without that gesture.)

Still, Percy had not only given them the info for the sake of peace; he had wanted to tell them. Why? Well… He had hoped, and he'd known it was a long shot, to somehow get an opportunity to see their Greek camp. He'd had a strong feeling inside him, drawing him to Camp Half-Blood. But, truthfully, he'd also hoped to get the opportunity to know Annabeth a little bit better…

Stupid, he chided himself as he dreamed. You've got a lot on your plate already. Percy knew the Roman camp would be horrified if they ever found out what he'd done. Octavian would have a field day.

Percy figured if he was smart, he would be worried about the reception he'd get back home, the questions they'd ask him when he returned - and gods forbid that anyone finds out about the Greeks... Yeah, if he was smart, his dreams should've reflected fear and guilt.

Just goes to show you, Percy thought, how I'm probably the most knuckle headed demigod. Because Percy wasn't anxious at all. Instead, he was happy.

Happy, because Gabe was out of the picture. Finally. Even if Percy never woke up again, if he slipped away and lost consciousness permanently, at least he'd managed to get one thing right.

Happy, because his mom, Paul, and now Annabeth too, were safe. It was amazing how quickly you could make friends when you were a demigod. Nothing showed you who had your back like life and death situations.

Percy continued dreaming and dozing.

He wondered if he would ever wake up. He wondered if he would see Tyson again if he didn't.

In the end, Percy did wake up.

His eyes were bleary. He tasted something warm and buttery in his mouth, as if he'd just finished a meal. Someone must've been feeding him nectar, and not too long ago. Despite this, there was no one around him. He was alone.

He was lying on a bunk, a green and blue quilt wrapped around him, decorated with wave designs. On a table next to him sat an empty glass and plate, crumbs resting on the latter like tumbleweeds in a desert. The room was dark, the floors made of wood, the walls of stone. It was a cabin, Percy realized belatedly.

He tried to move. His left leg screamed in protest.

Shot.

The memories of his encounter with Gabe flickered behind his lids.

Percy kicked aside the blanket. Which is when he realized that he was wearing different clothes; grey beach shorts and an orange t shirt. He shuddered and wondered who'd been responsible for that.

His gaze slid to his legs; his left leg had been bandaged near the top of his calf, but a small red patch stared back at him. X marks the spot.

His leg howled insults at him (in the language of pain) every time he tested moving it. Yet Percy was sure that he was healing faster than normal. The nectar and ambrosia would be to thank for that.

Percy got up from the bed gingerly. His muscles were sore, but the pain wasn't too bad considering what he'd been through. He investigated the cabin.

A trickling noise at the back revealed a small round basin, water jumping into it eagerly through the mouth of a fish statue. He noticed the cabin had been decorated in a sea theme - lots of netting and aquatic decorations, including a trident paper weight that rested next to Percy's pen on a nearby table.

Riptide! It usually stayed in his pocket. Percy guessed that someone must have taken it out recently. He frowned and stuffed it back in his pocket.

Percy slowly walked towards the fountain. The floor was cold for his bare feet. His leg was of course still hurting, but not so much he felt the need to scream out loud, which was always a good sign.

The spray rising from the basin was pleasantly cool. The scent reminded him of the sea. He felt very connected to someone… someone he had the faintest memories of - a smile, a sense of there-ness. His dad. Neptune… had never felt like the right term. He'd always preferred the Greek name: Poseidon. It just sounded better to him. Personal preference, he had supposed. Until now.

Percy glanced at his reflection in the water. It rippled. He squinted at the words on his reflection's shirt (for him, reading them backwards was not too different from reading them forwards); Camp Half Blood. Then he caught sight of his forearm. SPQR.

He felt like a contradiction.

"Senatus populusque romanus," he muttered.

"Your tattoo," a voice guessed. Percy turned, startled; Annabeth stood at the doorway. "Enjoying cabin three?"

She clutched an orange plastic water bottle in one hand, gauze and scissors in the other.

It took Percy a minute to recover. "It's all right," he admitted. But his heart started racing, thoughts whirling in his head… Cabin three... Did that mean what he thought it did?

Annabeth walked inside. She looked tired. "I came in to check on you. Chiron sent me."

"You're the one I should thank for taking care of me?" Percy gestured to the empty dishes.

"Yeah. Among others. You drool when you sleep, you know."

Percy groaned, flushing. "I - err -"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Relax, seaweed brain. You're turning redder than Mr D's strawberries. So." She tilted her head. "Wanna explain what happened back there?" It was an innocent enough question, but her eyes held an edge.

Shit. "I, err..." Percy realized he was in for it big time. "Sure you don't want to talk about my drooling a bit more?"

"Okay. Sure. You drool like the ocean's trying to escape your mouth." Annabeth's stare got twenty degrees colder. "Now let's talk about how you ditched me and your mom to chase up some guy called Gabe."

Percy stared. "Like the ocean's trying to escape my mouth?" He repeated, trying hard to fight a smirk. Annabeth would probably lose her cool and judo flip him or something if he didn't take this seriously.

"Percy," she began, her tone a warning to behave.

"That's pretty cold, as far as insults go." He couldn't help himself.

Annabeth's glare now put glaciers to shame. He figured the next words out of her mouth would not be very PG-13, so he cut her off. "Okay, fine. But it's a really long story - "

"I've got nothing but time, waterboy."

Percy decided to let that one slide. He took a deep breath. "It's difficult for me to talk about. Gabe used to be my stepfather."

Silence.

Percy stared at the water as he continued, absently dipping his hand in. The water was cool and fresh. It gave him some clarity, and the strength to go on. "He wasn't..." Percy faltered lost. Gabe wasn't what? The nicest? Ever there for his mom? Interested in being anything other than a greasy pig? "He wasn't a criminal when my mom met him," Percy decided to go with. "Or a monster. He was just a smell mortal, is all. So my mom married him and I never understood why - until I found Lupa. It was because of who I am - a demigod. Gage's scent saved me from monsters when I was growing up.

"After I found Lupa I realized a lot of things, actually. As you already know, I made it to Camp Jupiter and found out my dad was Neptune, one of the least respected gods in Rome." Percy made a sound somewhere in between a laugh and a scoff. Annabeth made a questioning noise and Percy explained. "Well, he's never really asked me to go on a quest. I find it funny that all the gods we respect most in Rome use us like little pawns, as if we're in a giant chess match - and gods knows I hate games like chess. But gods like Neptune, Minerva - the ones that don't really cause all the chaos - they're treated like -" Percy shook his head, too exasperated to continue. He risked a quick peek at Annabeth.

She looked concerned. "You remind me of someone," was all she said. She spoke it so softly he had to strain to hear her.

Percy shrugged. "Anyway. My first quest was where it all started."

"What was it?" Annabeth asked.

Percy hesitated. He realized, of course, that he didn't have to tell Annabeth all this. He could cut to the point. But he'd never talked about his life before, and he was curious… What would it be like to share some of his past with someone?

He met Annabeth's eyes. She was still hanging around near the entrance of the cabin. "I had to recover this lightning bolt. Jupiter's master bolt."

Annabeth's eyes flashed, like she was connecting dots. "Okay, okay - back it up." She held her hands up. "Could you start from the very beginning?"

From the beginning. Could he do that? Now that he was actually starting to share, Percy felt like it would be less scary for him to stand naked in front of her.

"I can try," he finally said. "When I first arrived at Camp Jupiter, I was only twelve. I was being chased by a Fury. It had been sent by Pluto, but I didn't know that at the time. The thing was hounding me non stop and it followed me right to Camp Jupiter's borders."

Annabeth was a good listener, so Percy continued.

"The Camp was freaking out, trying to man their towers and assemble their soldiers, but no one had been prepared for me to come barrelling in, chased by one of the scariest creatures in hell. There was this one camper, who was on guard duty at the time. He was running behind me and was really desperate to get to camp.

"He was scared out of his mind, which I totally get. I mean, he was only about eleven at the time - near my age, and I was - sure as Pluto - freaked. Only issue was, he accidentally knocked me aside into the Little Tiber, the river bordering the camp, in his rush to get to safety. I went under the water just as the fury swooped for me, and so she ended up catching the camper - a scrawny dude called Octavian - instead.

"Long story short - I controlled the water and saved him. There was just this instinctive feeling in my gut - um, like a buildup of pressure. That, and of course the seriousness of the situation, gave me the strength to push a tidal wave at the fury.

"That's when everyone realized I must be Neptune's son."

Annabeth whistled. "Some entrance." She spoke like she knew a thing or two about dangerous arrivals to camp. "So I'm guessing it was tough being Neptune's kid?"

"Well, no more so than being -" Percy faltered.

"Athena," Annabeth supplied. "That's my mother."

Percy digested that. "Right. It wasn't any tougher than being Athena's kid, or being any other demigod. Neptune wasn't well-respected, but the Roman soldiers were still willing to give me a chance, albeit sometimes grudgingly, because I'd saved Octavian. He was a big deal for a handful of people - and because this handful of people happened to be super rich and influential, as is Octavian himself, he was essentially a big deal for the entire camp..."

"But not you. You don't like him," Annabeth noted.

"No," Percy smiled dryly. "I do not. See, when you get to Camp Jupiter, you have to have someone vouch for you. They take responsibility for you and if you do anything to endanger the camp, or anything traitorous, they get killed along with you."

"How nice." Annabeth pursed her lips so hard they became a white line. Her tone made it clear that she thought this rule was anything but.

Percy could guess what she was thinking. "The camp needs to take care of itself."

"By killing the members who decide to take chances on new arrivals? What kind of place is this?" Annabeth countered.

"It's about making sure Roman soldiers take their duties seriously," Percy protested. Secretly he agreed with Annabeth, but hearing her attack Camp Jupiter made him defensive. "It's not as bad a place as I'm making it sound - it's amazing actually!"

"Right." Annabeth blew a strand of hair out of her face. "So I'm guessing this Octavian vouched for you?"

Percy laughed. "Nope. He's not the kind of guy to risk his life for anyone. But he took a liking to me and got one of his other chums in the first cohort to do it. A guy called Bryce Lawrence. His dad was Orcus, the god of punishment, though that was something I learned later. Now, I'm not the type of guy to judge people by their fathers - but Bryce, he was one nasty piece of work. Hated me, and I hated him too. Reminded me of Gabe, to be honest."

"Reminded? What happened to Bryce?"

"Well, the centurion of the first cohort at the time was Bex - and he was killed two years after I arrived. Bryce was responsible. The guy was a psychopath." Percy decided not to mention much more than that, but a plethora of memories flickered in his mind's eye. He thought of Bryce's trial in New Rome. He thought of Bex, who had taken him under his wing - even after Percy had been kicked out of the first cohort. He thought of how he had punched Octavian at the funeral (hey - the guy had deserved it!) "Bryce was dismissed from the Legion. The actual punishment for what he did is death, but Helen, one of the Praetors - that is, leaders - of the legion is against death penalties, so..."

"Do you think that was fair?" Annabeth asked hesitantly. "Bryce's punishment, I mean."

Percy thought about it. "I don't know what fair is anymore."

"Stop that. You do."

Percy shook his head. "No, I don't. Not for people like Bryce or Gabe. I don't think Bryce deserved a death penalty, but the guy was a complete terror."

"So you think he got off easy," Annabeth grunted. "But all that happened years later, right? So, when you initially arrived -"

"Right. Back then, Octavian tried to adopt me into his group. He thought I'd be a good, powerful asset." Percy made a face. "He claimed he'd shoved me in the lake on purpose, to save me. It didn't seem that way to me, but I thought, 'hey, who knows. Maybe that high pitched opera note he'd been screaming as he'd ran hadn't been a noise of utter terror, but rather his battle cry.' But even though I gave him the benefit of the doubt, we just didn't click. Octavian's big on making friends he can control, or that are less powerful than him. If you don't fall in either category, you're instantly on his bad side."

"But you couldn't have been the only one on his bad side."

"I'm not. The Legion's changed a lot as I've grown up. But back then, I was one of the only ones. Jason Grace was another."

Annabeth nodded. "You muttered his name as you slept."

"Great." Percy flushed. "Just great. That's not embarrassing at all." Percy ran a hand through his hair. "Well, he's one of my best friends. From the start, Jason and I got on real well. He was number one on Octavian's most hated list, and in a matter of days, I was sharing that title along with him." Percy grinned proudly. "Jason was in the fifth cohort - the most, err, unpopular cohort I guess. Now he's Praetor. I reckon Octavian was afraid that would happen, even back then.

"So, there was already tension between Octavian and me. But things really fell apart for me two weeks later, when it was discovered that Jupiter's master bolt had been stolen. Jupiter assumed I had done it - being a son of Neptune who had recently turned up. I was sent on a quest to retrieve it, because Julian and Helen, the praetors at the time, believed I was innocent.

"But most of the camp suddenly hated me, or didn't trust me."

"Octavian included," Annabeth guessed.

Percy nodded. "I was allowed to take two people on the quest with me. I wasn't planning to ask anyone to risk going on what seemed like a suicide attempt, but Jason just stood up and announced he was coming along. Never been more grateful to anyone in my life. And, of course," Percy clenched his fist. "Octavian was told to come too. Should've been Bryce, the guy who vouched for me, but he was on suspension for 'accidentally' killing three unicorns and injuring Preator Julian in the process - huge mess."

Annabeth touched Percy's hand, and Percy realized, with a mixture of surprise and excitement, that she had been moving closer to him as he'd been telling his story.

She led Percy back to his bunk and handed him her bottle. Percy took a sip; it tasted like nectar, warm and buttery.

"Percy, I'm still confused as to how this relates to Gabe," she said gently. Her tone was puzzled.

Percy took the gauze and scissors from Annabeth; she flinched because his hand was still cold from being in the basin. He put his drink down and started re-wrapping his wound. He knew enough first aid to know how it was done.

"Well, Octavian hated me after that - he almost died on this quest several times. One monster we met was Medusa, and I cut off her head. I sent it to the gods to send a message." Percy smiled at the memory. "Octavian went so purple I thought Bacchus had suddenly showed up and was turning him into a giant grape." He chuckled. "We eventually found the master bolt and returned it to Jupiter.

"On the way back, I wanted to stop by and visit my mom. Octavian and Jason came along, and… Octavian met Gabe and he knew… he could tell I hated Gabe.

"When I went in my room, I found Medusa's head. Waiting for me, to use as I wished. I was going to give it to my mom, but Octavian stopped me. He glared at me and said that if I did that it would count as 'patricide of sorts on my part', punishable by exile from the legion - or even death. He said he'd do his duty as a 'good Roman' and report me.

"My mom overheard and that was that - she refused to use the head, even though I insisted that Helen wouldn't allow death and it was worth exile to be free of that smuck." Percy was fumbling with the bandaging now, even though he'd practiced doing this in camp many times before.

Annabeth gently pushed his hands back. "I got it. Go on."

"That's it," Percy leaned back. "My mom eventually got the courage to tell Gabe to leave. And he did. For years we didn't hear from him and she met a nice guy called Paul Blofis who took good care of her.

"Octavian was so mad at me after that quest, probably because the entire legion really liked me. I got a lot of attention and the centurions of cohort one, especially Bex, started taking a special interest in mentoring me. I think Octavian had realized this would happen - because he wasn't surprised, just sullen and mad.

"Many months later, Octavian got me transferred to the fifth cohort. But that's another looong story. Soon after that Bryce was dismissed. But eventually life returned to normal. Until about four months ago, when Gabe suddenly started harassing my mom and Paul.

"He'd spent the years becoming some sort of gang leader, but he'd never cared about me or my family before. I just don't understand why -" Percy stopped. Took another deep breath. Continued. "Anyway, it was really stressing me out. Especially since I couldn't manage to take any time off to see my family." Percy was leaving out the details of Gabe's harassing, but he couldn't bring himself to say more.

Annabeth was still working on his leg. It hurt, but as Percy kept sipping nectar. Each mouthful lessened the pain. "So that's why you were so keen to get to New York."

"Yeah. Reyna and Felix probably think I've died or been stranded somewhere. I needed to take the opportunity to check on things back home. I didn't plan this or anything, but…" Percy shrugged.

Annabeth finished off Percy's leg. She looked up at him. "I was talking to your mom when I saw you running off from the apartment window and excused myself. I didn't know what you were doing, but I figured it was dangerous. I didn't want to get your mom involved. So I put on my invisibility hat and followed you."

"Were you the gasp in the alleyway?"

"Yes." She paused. "You know, here at Camp Half Blood, we heard something had been taken from Mount Olympus, from Zeus, when I was twelve. And that it was returned. No idea it had been you." Annabeth frowned. "I knew the lightning thief. Now I get to meet the guy who retrieved the lightning too."

Percy realized that he was extremely close to Annabeth - if he leaned down a few inches their noses would touch. And if he leaned down even more...

Percy swallowed. "This is Camp Half blood then? I'm really here?"

"You're really here all right," she said, her tone holding something Percy hadn't expected to hear - respect. She stood up, straightened her frame. "Come on, seaweed brain, there's quite a few people who want to meet with you."

They talked some more on the way to what was called the Big House. Annabeth seemed really fixated on the fact that the eidolon had decided to posses Gabe four months ago, and then started harassing Percy's family ever since. She seemed to think someone was out to get Percy, but Percy insisted that no monster would know about Gabe. When Annabeth suggested Octavian might have played a part, Percy dismissed that idea. Although he did hesitate, thinking it through, in the end he decided that Octavian would never risk disobeying the rules like that. Octavian liked to twist the ancient Roman laws to achieve his ends, not break them.

"But you know," Percy remembered, "That insult - disgrace to cockroaches. That was almost as scathing as the one about the ocean escaping my mouth."

Annabeth elbowed him hard in the ribs for that.

Percy laughed, but his laughter quickly died when Annabeth then told him that Grover still hadn't been found. They assumed his was still making his way back to Camp Half Blood, but not even their oracle, someone called Rachel, could see where he was.

Percy felt wretched - Grover had been his best friend when he was younger. He'd risked his furry goat behind to help Percy and his mom. Percy wanted him to be safe.

Percy was still sombre as he and Annabeth approached the big house - a ranch style house with a wrap-around porch. Standing outside, waiting for him, were three figures; a centaur, who Percy instantly recognized, Nico Di-Angelo and what looked like a surfer dude.

"Mr Brunner!" Percy blurted out, when they reached the group. "What the - ?"

"Percy," Mr Brunner smiled, but it was a sad smile. "My boy, how have you been all these years?"

Annabeth frowned. "This isn't Mr. Brunner. This is Chiron."

"Mr Brunner was my alias whilst I was undercover at a schooling institution once," Mr. Brunner - or was it Chiron? - explained to Annabeth. "Yancy Academy, I believe."

"Yes, sir," Percy nodded, puzzled.

"Percy, we certainly have a lot to discuss." Chiron glanced at Annabeth. "But first, er, perhaps you can help me end the meeting we're having inside?"

"But why would you schedule a meeting now - ?" Annabeth frowned.

"Mr D has arrived back early." Chiron's tone was nonchalant enough, but Annabeth must've known something Percy didn't because she paled. "He's called the usual meeting to get a report on the things that have gone on in his absence." Both of them glanced at Percy.

"Right." Annabeth rushed inside the house. Percy made to follow her, but Chiron put a hand on his shoulder.

"Percy, would you mind waiting out here for a few minutes? Or better yet - Nico and Will can give you a quick tour of the place whilst I help Annabeth - er - handle things." Chiron smiled, and this time it was happier. "It's good to finally see you here, by the way." Off he trotted.

Percy was incredibly confused, but he let Nico and the blonde surfer - Will - show him around the camp.

They saw the Cabins, which amazed Percy. But he was secretly glad that there wasn't an accommodation-by-parentage system in Camp Jupiter, because he'd have been completely alone if there was. He was shown the strawberry fields, the campfire, the lava climbing wall and lots of other equally crazy things that were both similar and extremely different from the set up at Camp Jupiter. What struck Percy the most was how much smaller Camp Half Blood was in terms of numbers; they had far fewer campers.

Lastly, he was shown the forest.

Nico had been happily chatting the entire time, whilst Will seemed a bit distant, although he was polite enough if Percy asked him a question.

"I'm really glad you're alright man," Nico was saying. "I was totally freaking out that you got hurt. But Annabeth and Will fixed you up real good. You're looking better than you did before." Nice slapped his left shoulder. "Maybe you'll even be well enough for a game of mythomagic tonight."

Percy seriously doubted he looked like anything other than a pile of schist, as Hazel would say, but he nodded and thanked Nico anyway.

Will snorted. When Percy looked at him, curious, he pretended it was just a sneeze. Percy looked back at Nico, who looked equally nonplussed. "What's up, Will?" Nico asked.

Will shrugged. "Tickle in my throat."

"Thanks to you too, man," Percy said. "I'd be long gone if it weren't for you and your medic magic." He grinned. Will stared at him, stony for a full minute, his mouth twitching. "I mean," Percy ventured, "I know this is Camp Half-Blood, but I'm pretty sure the aim isn't to actually arrive with only half your blood still inside you." It was a bad pun, but it worked; Will's twitch finally turned into a reluctant smile.

He shook his head. "Your sense of humor man…"

"I know!" Nico beamed. "Isn't it great?"

Will froze, and was about to say something.

But at that moment the air rippled in front of them. It was an Iris message. Percy couldn't believe his eyes, because next thing he knew, he was looking into at a little waiting room. Inside, all alone, sat Grover. He was looking at Percy. The thing was, Percy knew that room - it was inside the Senate House in New Rome.

"Percy! You've got to help me!" Grover's eyes were wild.

"Grover!" Percy exclaimed. "What -"

"No time man! My trial is happening tomorrow and they'll be back to check on me any minute." Grove bleated in frustration. "Percy, they think I did something to you! They won't believe me when I say I didn't - apparently the Augur thinks I'm the key to finding where you are. Where are you?"

"Camp Half Blood," Percy began.

"I knew it! You can't let them know about that Camp Percy."

"I won't - I'll come get you - I promise -"

"Percy, you need to know, Reyna and Felix are coming to New York! They're looking for you - this camp is really worried. They're using their eagles. They don't know where in New York, but -"

Eagles? That was a lot of effort to spend on one demigod… Percy frowned. "Grover, are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," he squeaked. Even after all these years, Percy could still tell when he was lying. "You take care of yourself -" He looked behind Percy - "Oh no, they're coming-"

Before Percy could say another word Grover waved his hand and ended their connection.

Hey guys. Really tired so I'll just post this chapter for now. I'll edit this Author's note later tonight. xx : ) But thank you for every read, favourite, alert and review! Especially my reviews for the last chapter - they were a HUGE motivation for me writing this next one so special thanks to you guys! : D Cheers.