Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson or any related characters! Please, please, PLEASE review if you read; all feedback is greatly appreciated. You all are awesome, and thank you for reading my story!

Percy limped over to the ruins of the Big House and sat down on the ash and burned wood. He saw the sun starting to rise, turning the sky orange and blue. The wind that was formerly blowing through the forest was now a sea breeze. Thalia and a few medics came towards him to heal his injuries over the next few minutes, but Percy waved them off. He felt numb, and felt like he needed to feel something, even if it was pain. He also knew he wouldn't feel right if he was at perfect health and that there were campers and Cyclopes who were dead because of him.

He pulled his knees up to his chest, pushed his knees down a bit, and threw his arms around his knees. He watched the sunrise and thought of Apollo. After a few minutes, he heard footsteps behind him. Tyson, now human-sized, stood right in front of Percy with a small smile. "Percy is safe?" Percy raised his eyebrows to look at his brother, and though he was happy to see him, he felt miserable inside. He nodded slightly and Tyson stood there for a couple more seconds.

Tyson frowned. "Percy is safe, but Percy is not okay." Percy kept his eyes on the sunrise. Tyson thought for a bit. "This not Percy's fault. This pretty girl's fault. Percy did his best."

Percy knew the big guy was trying to make him feel better, and he nodded. "Thanks, big man."

Tyson nodded and began to trudge off. Percy heard the footsteps stop behind him, and unless Tyson took off flying, he was waiting behind him. He heard Tyson say one last thing.

"Annabeth is bad now. Percy stop her. Like Percy stop Luke. Like Percy stop earth lady. Think Cyrene. Sally. Paul. Camp. You. Save those people. Percy can. Percy must."

The footsteps resumed and Percy turned to thank Tyson for the advice, but he was too far away. Percy thought that Tyson had a point; Annabeth is bad now. No matter what the motivation is, she's been pulling strings for years, working as a double agent for someone. And it has all started to come to a climax, with Annabeth taking Cyrene.

Percy sat there for thinking about that for about twenty more minutes before the next person came up. By this time, the sun was up in the sky and Percy was looking to the side of it to avoid some scorched eyes.

"How're you feeling?" Jason took a seat beside him. Percy shook his head. "I feel pretty terrible," Percy admitted. "And I feel like a bad leader."

Jason sighed and looked out to the sunrise with Percy. "I'm sorry for everything you've had to go through lately. I can't imagine what that's like. I mean, I can imagine what the missing sister thing is like, but I can't imagine Piper betraying me like that."

Percy turned to Jason. Annabeth had told him that Jason and Piper had one of those movie romances. "If Piper had betrayed you, what would you do? How would you feel? Every time I see Annabeth on the battlefield, I freeze up. When I'm away from her, I make all these promises about how I'm going to kill her and stop this once and for all, as if I'm training with Lupa again. Then I see her and her eyes paralyze me in place. I think of every good thing she's ever done and my brain starts to irrationally come up with all these reasons as to why she's doing this. And it almost convinces me that maybe I can save her."

Jason thought for a few minutes. "The Romans did not have any mercy to spare for traitors. Every traitor who stepped foot on Camp Jupiter's grounds knew that they were on a straight path to death."

Percy looked at Jason in disbelief. "You would kill Piper?"

Jason shook his head. "I never said I would do so. I'm just saying what Camp Jupiter would do. But that's not where we are, is it?"

Percy sighed. "I guess not."

Jason turned towards Percy, and the breeze seemed to blow right in between them. "But if it's a decision between Annabeth and Cyrene, who do you pick?"

"Cyrene," Percy answered immediately. Jason nodded as if he expected the answer. "You have your priorities in line. Just make sure your logical priorities govern your behavior, not your emotions. There's a time and place for emotions-"

Jason stood up and patted Percy on the shoulder. "-and it's not on the battlefield. Let me know if you need anything at all."

Percy sighed and kept his eyes trained on the sky. The sun reflected off the dew in the grass, making it look like glowing drops of water on the ground.

He heard footsteps and Percy hung his head in his arms. He smelled a familiar scent; Piper McLean, the daughter of Aphrodite came up behind him and put her hands on Percy's head. She rested her chin on her hands and sighed.

"Jason told you to kill Annabeth, didn't he?"

Percy took his head out of his arms, but Piper kept her chin on his head. "Indirectly…I think. I'm not sure."

Piper chuckled. "You know, when I first arrived at Camp Half-Blood, you were still missing. Everyone was panicking over Percy Jackson; I thought you were a celebrity. But I didn't think much of it because at that time, I was distraught. My relationship with Jason was just this huge fabrication. I was so sad, but Annabeth comforted me. I remember thinking that she would have made a pretty cool friend in more peaceful times and I even prayed to the gods that Athena would claim me so she and I would be sisters. Even still, I hoped that she could still be that for me; sisters. Hazel and I were bawling our eyes out when you and she were in Tartarus. We thought she'd never come back."

Percy laughed a bit, but the breeze had turned colder as he thought about their time in Tartarus. "Yeah, that's not a time I would want to relive."

He could feel Piper smile. "I looked up to her. She was strong and fearless, and tough, all while still finding room to love. She loved you, Percy. Or loves you. Her spirit was broken when you were gone all that time; she thought you had left her at first. When she realized that you were taken, no force on this planet could have stopped her from finding you. She scared Jason and Leo out their socks."

Percy wanted to turn to her, but she seemed so comfortable with her chin on his head that he only shifted his gaze upward. She was like a cat who has decided to sleep on the crook of its owner's neck for the night; the owner is stuck until the cat moves. "Why are you telling me this?"

Piper took a few seconds before answering. "Annabeth's not a bad person, Percy. At least I don't think so. There's still some good in her, but it just might be mixed up in a lot of bad right now. You're not Jason, nor are you Roman. You're not even Greek, technically. You're just a guy. Percy Jackson. Follow your heart. Also, Cyrene is the cutest thing I've ever seen."

Percy didn't expect it, but a laugh escaped his mouth. Piper giggled with him, and Percy full out laughed, the first time he had done that in a while. Piper hugged his neck and walked away. Percy sighed. How people with such opposite approaches to problems can make such a great couple was a mystery to him. However, he and Annabeth had a good run, so he figures he shouldn't question it.

After about fifteen minutes, the breeze blew a leaf towards Percy. It landed about three feet from him, then began to ride the wind again. Percy snatched it out of the air before it could blow past him and he looked at it. It was green and new, with a few drops of dew on it. Percy turned it around and saw writing on it. It said, Look up.

Percy did so and almost fell over. Festus was floating over him, and landed in front of him. Percy didn't know how he didn't spot him or sense him, it's almost like the dragon appeared out of nowhere. The wind that was produced almost blew Percy over to the Argo III. Once Festus hit the ground, a figure slid off his head and ran up to him. Percy looked at Leo as he headed towards Percy. "Wasn't that cool?! This thing has a stealth setting. I was curious to see if you'd hear it."

Leo had grown over the months; he was a few inches taller and his body was now a leaned muscular instead of skinny. His skin was a bit tanned and his hair was bigger and curlier. Leo's features had angled and sharpened just a little bit, giving him a more matured look. He leapt over and sat in front of Percy.

Percy would've smiled in better times. Leo was such a national treasure and an endless source of good vibes that Percy wished he would have that one day. Except when he accidentally fires on the Roman camp during the camps' first meeting. Leo tilted his head at Percy. "We'll find Nico, man. I will make sure of it. People in the Argo III have mostly stopped crying. A few of them have gone to sleep, which I think that I'm about to do in a little bit; I've been up all night. And by the way, I'm sorry about Annabeth, man. That sucks."

Percy nodded towards Leo. "Thanks, man."

Leo seemed to not hear Percy as he continued. "Yo, she always scared me a little bit, man. Those gray eyes always seemed like they looked straight through me. It's almost like she knew about my past and my fire abilities without me telling her. I knew she was hiding something because a few times, this look would flash over her face like a caged animal, but she would mask it quickly. I knew that look because I feel it on myself all the time, trying to hide the multiple burns I've suffered throughout life."

Percy nodded glumly. "You're telling me you've always seen that she was evil."

"Mm…" Leo picked a straw of grass and put it between his teeth. "…no…I don't know what I'm saying. Despite all that, Annabeth is too smart to be manipulated like a pawn in a chess game, or a piece of a machine. She's the one who comes up with the blueprints for the machine. Thalia and Grover had mentioned how she may be working for someone, but I don't think it's that simple. Regardless, she knows Morse Code."

Percy looked at Leo. He stared back. "I've never met a bad person who was able to communicate in Morse Code."

Percy raised an eyebrow as Leo's face melted into a smile. The piece of grass stuck out like he was a country boy. Percy fought the urge to smile and sighed. "How are you and Calypso?"

Leo fell back spread-eagle on the ground. "MAN! She is everything I wanted and more, and Perce, she is mas caliente que mi."

Percy blinked. "I don't speak Italian."

Leo laughed on the ground. "I don't know if you're joking or not. But it's Spanish, pendejo. It means that she's hotter than me, pun intended. You know I used to be jealous of both you and Jason? I wanted to be you two."

Percy felt like laughing. Someone wanting to be him? Not in a million years.

Leo sat up, with grass and sticks in his hair. "You all had spectacular powers and beautiful girlfriends, and popular parents, and good looks…you all have it all."

Percy shook his head. "Leo, you don't understand…I envy you."

Leo's smile changed to shock. Percy nodded. "Dude, you have one of the nicest, most beautiful girls in existence. You fly a metal dragon, you have your own personal flying ship, and you have can literally yell flame on and catch on fire."

Leo's grass piece fell out his mouth. "Seriously, man?"

Percy nodded. "Yeah, man. And you're on the path to keep growing and thriving. And I'd like to be by your side as it happens. If you're up for it?"

Leo grinned and dapped Percy up. "Well, of course, mi amigo! But if you'll excuse me, I… am about to go knock out." Leo threw up the peace sign and jogged towards the Argo III. Festus curled up in a huge dragon ball to get ready to sleep on the grass, but Leo whistled. "AYE! UH-UH. Come on! Right here!"

If mechanical dragons with soul could sigh, Festus did so. He stood up slowly and dragged its feet towards the Argo III to go sleep in its room. Percy felt twelve years old again and shook his head in disbelief.

"Flying metal dragons, the Human Torch…How did I get here?" he muttered to himself.

After about ten minutes, Percy suddenly smelled a juniper bush. He knew what it smelled like because he's been around Grover's fiancé multiple times. He looked to his right and saw a bush just chilling there. Percy made a face; that bush wasn't there before. He sighed. "Hi, Juniper."

Juniper hopped out the bush and smiled at him. Percy just thought about her arguing with Grover and thought back to her also causing a Panic. He was suddenly uncomfortable. "Hi, Percy. Look, I just want to tell you one thing."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

Juniper took a deep breath. "Annabeth has comforted me several times; when Grover was being bullied by those insufferable Council of Cloven Elders-"

"Isn't Grover part of that Council now?"

"Not the point! Anyway, she comforted me when he was being bullied by them and when I thought that he was seeing someone else. I will always remember Annabeth saying that Grover would not even look at another tree. I always appreciated her for that. But Annabeth is not the one for you if she ever purposely hurts you. That's what I believe. And she has lied and crept around your back for a long time now; and there's something about her that reminded me of Luke."

Percy looked at the ground. "Not helping, Juniper."

Juniper covered her mouth and her words started to flow out of her mouth quicker. "Eep! Sorry! Look, I'm just saying that even if Annabeth was being ordered around or in trouble with somebody more powerful than her, someone who truly loves someone would…would…"

Juniper took a deep breath and put her chin out confidently. "They would rather die than hurt the one they love. That's how I feel towards Grover."

"She's right, you know." Percy turned and saw Calypso come up on the other side of him.

Juniper saw her and squealed. "Yikes! It's the one who was on the machine guns!" She hopped into the bush and disappeared, taking the whole bush with her in a poof of green mist.

Calypso had changed into some joggers and an orange t-shirt that seemed a bit big for her. The sunlight seemed to catch on her hair, giving it a golden luminescence. It was starting to get warm outside. She had her hands in her pockets and she looked at Percy. He started to turn red again, and figured that he needed to set this straight once and for all.

"First off-"

"First off-"

Both Percy and Calypso stopped talking; they had started to talk at the same time. Percy beckoned her to go first, bracing himself for an attack. She took a breath. "First off, I am sorry, Percy. I'm sorry for being, as Leo says, a sore loser and for cursing Annabeth. I always thought it was like how you humans curse; it's a word or a collection of words just like other words, but it just has a hostile meaning to it. However, Leo had told me that you all fell into Tartarus together and the curses started to take shape and…I…I'm sorry for any trouble I may have caused. Please forgive me."

Calypso looked away and sniffled. Percy couldn't believe this was happening. "You're sorry? Calypso, I have been a terrible friend to you. I wanted to apologize. I should've made sure the gods freed you from Ogygia. I told them that I wanted them to do it, but they either forgot or skipped over it, or something."

Calypso gave a small, teary smile that took Percy right back to Ogygia. "Percy, you believe that something slipped the gods' minds? They are deities, Percy. They just didn't want to set me free. And who am I to blame them; I am Titan spawn. A reminder of their worst days."

Percy shook his head. "No. They should've followed through on their promise. Will you forgive me for being a bad friend?"

Calypso tilted her head. "Will you forgive me for putting curses upon your Annabeth?"

Percy frowned. "No, you didn't do anything wro-"

"Will you forgive me?" Calypso maintained eye contact with Percy and her teary eyes broke his heart. He nodded. "Yeah, I forgive you."

She gave a small smile in return. "Good. And I have already forgiven you."

Calypso laughed when she saw Percy's face. "Percy, Juniper is right. Your love is pure and you deserve better. However complicated this situation with your Annabeth is; you do not have to forgive her. You do not have to do what other people want you to do. Just remember that you are a gift. And if someone throws away the gift, for whatever reason, their actions have made it evident that they did not want to have the gift. So would you give that person the same gift a day later?"

Percy trained his eyes on the leaf that Leo had blown to him. He was used to thinking of himself as not deserving Annabeth, but thinking the other way around was a foreign concept to him. He wasn't sure if he liked thinking of himself as a "gift" though…he pictured himself trapped in a human-sized box that had wrapping paper and a bow on it with a sign saying, To monsters!

Calypso took something out of her pocket. It was a bracelet that seemed to be made of otherworldly materials and metals. On the bracelet was a one small petal that glowed white. She held it up to Percy. "I made this for you. When I heard what Annabeth had done to you, I wanted to give this to you. The petal on this bracelet is from one of the flowers that you helped me plant when you were on my island. It is called a croiya rose. If you have it on your person, it will glow the color of the emotion you are feeling at that moment."

Calypso handed Percy the bracelet, and he put it on. It was miraculously lightweight, to have so much on it. Immediately, the petal began to glow a deep violet. Percy's eyes widened and the petal began to glow a bright yellow. Calypso smiled at him. "Yellow means you are excited, or happy. A deep violet means you are experiencing heartache. The rest of the colors, I believe you can figure out yourself. Percy, you were a blessing when you were on my island. You were funny, helpful, pure of heart, brave, and cute. However, now that I'm off the island, I'm not sure if I loved you because the gods wanted me to, if I loved you because you showed up on the island, or because I loved you of my own volition. Regardless, Leo saved me from my prison and I fell in love with him away from the confines of my island, of my own free will. But I will never forget you, Percy. You brought me happiness in the short time you were with me. Whenever you look at that petal, remember what you bring to the garden."

Calypso began to walk away. The petal on the bracelet glowed a strong blue. Percy thought it was still weird that she was in casual human clothes and on Camp Half-Blood soil. He heard Calypso call back, "And to think you left me for her!"

It could've easily been taken as an insult. But the playfulness in her tone matched with the smile she shot him when Percy turned back made him laugh. The petal glowed yellow.

Percy sat there for a few minutes and sighed. He really did have some pretty awesome friends. He smelled someone approach him and Percy rolled his eyes. It was like these people had a line to talk to him. He turned and saw the same kid he saw some days ago, the one with the coffee brown skin and the cool Jordans. He didn't have those on anymore, though, he had on some small battle boots. He smelled like cologne that was too mature for his age. The kid hesitated when Percy saw him, then jogged up to him.

"Hey…Percy!" He started to take sudden interest in the ground and Percy could feel the heat coming off him. He was nervous.

Percy grinned and his petal glowed yellow. "What's up, man?"

When the kid saw Percy's smile, he straightened up a bit. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. "So, I've been a huge fan of you. I know you haven't really been at Camp, but I hear stories. I really like the story about the Minotaur, because you were close to my age when it had happened. It gave me strength that I could make my mark in this really big world of monsters…and gods, and immortals, and Romans, and mythological creatures. But when I met you in person, you were so nice and so awesome, and…this is for you."

Percy unfolded the piece of paper and saw a drawing. It was a picture of Percy leading the campers into battle. It was good, especially for someone who was only thirteen. Percy could see the detail in his face and the Wolf in his eyes; he looked almost animalistic. He saw the kid drew him with fangs as well to go along with the Wolf look. Rachel would've been jealous.

Percy looked up. "Thanks, man. What's your name?"

The kid gave Percy a wolfish grin. "Kofi. It's Ghanaian for 'Born on a Tuesday.'"

He pronounced it like coffee, but with a strong o. Percy thought that was a cool name. "What day were you born?"

"A Tuesday," the kid laughed. Percy grinned and looked at the picture again. Percy was holding Riptide up in his left hand, but his right hand was holding Thalia's hand. Thalia's eyes actually had lightning going through them and the kid had drew them as the same height.

Percy pointed at the drawing. "Am I holding hands with Thalia in this picture?"

Kofi's grin widened. "Yeah, she's really pretty. Catch you later! Hope your mom lets you spend some more time at Camp!" Kofi spun on his heel and jogged away.

His mom…

Oh, gods.

Percy realized that his cell phone was left at Camp Jupiter because he had left in such a hurry. And he couldn't Iris-Message her, meaning that his mom hasn't heard from him in some days. To her, both her children may be missing. Percy quickly stood up. "Hey, Kofi!"

Kofi stopped jogging and turned towards Percy, his face scrunched up since he was looking directly into the sun. "Yeah?"

Percy blushed a bit. "Mind if I use your phone for a bit?"

Kofi jogged back and gave his phone to Percy. "Tell her I said hi!" He grinned and jogged away again. Percy silently thanked him and dialed his mother's number. He wasn't sure whether or not she would pick up this early in the morning, but she picked up once the first ring was halfway done with.

"Hello?! Percy?"

"Hi, Mom."

"OH MY-"

The curse words that his mother put together would've made Cyrene cry. He endured it all though, and she ended with a "Thank the gods you're okay. Tell me what happened."

The story spilled out of Percy as if he was seven again, telling his mommy about the mean kids in school. Percy gave her every detail and left nothing out, even ignoring the "Oh, Percy," when he told her about the Thalia in the bath stuff. Once he finished, Percy was panting.

He closed his eyes and felt the sunlight bathe his face in warmth. "What should do?"

His mother sighed. "Well, you need to get my baby girl back, that's what you need to do. But I'm not panicking as much because I know that if my son is on the case, he's going to make everything right."

Percy ran fingers through his hair. "Aw, Ma…"

"Don't aw, ma me. I know this must hurt for you, but remember. Cyrene needs you. She is my priority and I know she's yours. Regarding the whole Annabeth stuff, she was a good girl. I had a good feeling about her. But if she really did take my Cyrene, she is an enemy of the Blofis household, which means no more cookies for her."

Percy's blood went cold. Annabeth was really ex-communicated if she received that sentence. His mother continued. "I'm not in this world of yours, though. It's filled with all twists and turns and betrayals and love. If I know anything, though, it's that you have a good heart and you need to follow it."

Percy kicked the leaf on the ground. The petal on his wrist turned a deep violet. "But personal loyalty is my fatal flaw, Mom."

"Then don't die. Or I will come to the Underworld, grab you by the ear and pull you back to the world of the living and no more cookies for you. Get some sleep, Percy. You sound like you have bags under your eyes."

Percy was unsure of how his mother knew that, but she was right. Percy could feel his tiredness and decided to head back to the Argo III.

Before his mom hung up the phone, Percy said, "Oh, and Kofi says hi."

"Who's Kofi?"

"The kid who's phone I'm using."

"Tell him I said he has a beautiful name and that he earned a free batch of cookies."

The petal burned yellow, then a pale white. Percy felt that it was 8:00 in the morning, and Percy had gotten less than one hour of sleep. He entered in the Argo and went into the room he had changed into his battle gear in. The room was large, about the size of a basketball court. There were twin-sized beds arranged expertly to fit in the room. The beds had white pillows and white sheets with red trim, as if Leo knew that most people staying there might be dealing with blood.

Percy changed his clothes, throwing on an orange Camp shirt and a pair of shorts. He crashed one of the beds and his body was so tired that it hurt to lay down. Every time he closed his eyes though, he saw another corpse, another death, another camper's life lost because of him. He smelled Christmas in the room and saw Thalia asleep in the corner room. He craned his neck to see if Grover was there, but he wasn't; he was probably with Juniper. Percy sighed and lay on his back. He kept his eyes opened as the sunlight poured through so he wouldn't see another death. Percy heard a voice that made him nearly jump out of his skin.

"Get over here, Aquaman." Thalia's voice sounded sleepy and lazy, but she scooted over in her bed while keeping her eyes closed. She reached up towards the wall she was against and pressed a black button that closed the windows and made it dark in the room. Percy looked at her for a second, then got up and headed towards her bed. He slowly slid into the space she left him. The bed was warm, homey, and smelled even more like Christmas. Thalia took his arm, put it around her, then lay on his chest. Percy started to blush, but Thalia started to hum. It was a sad song, but was a catchy tune, like something out of a Disney animated movie. His petal glowed a light blue, providing a small nightlight. Percy started to feel tired, and when he closed his eyes, he dreamt of Christmas.