Chapter 7

Percy walked along the shore of the canoe lake, his eyes full of relaxation. The water gently flowed against the shore, occasionally disturbed by the ripples of the fish underwater. The lake was dotted with canoes, a mix of Aphrodite and Athena campers canoeing for fun. He heard them chatting while they paddled along.

Next to him, Annabeth was holding his hand. Technically, she was supposed to be out there in a canoe but instead she opted to turn her canoe time into a date with Percy.

Normally, Percy wouldn't have been able to leave his cabin due to Jason's restrictions but due to Annabeth, he was able to go. Annabeth had reassured Jason that Percy wouldn't be able to cause any trouble since they were going to be together the whole time. Percy was happy just to get a breath of fresh air for once. He had broken Jason's restrictions a few times, but he made sure to never get caught. It was in his nature to not follow the rules, at least, not rules like having to stay in his cabin for a indefinite amount of time.

Annabeth's hand in his hand was softer than most would expect. A lot of people expected her hands to be rough due to her constant training with weapons like swords and daggers yet they remained soft and feminine. Despite Annabeth's hot warrior exterior, she did have a certain feminine charm about her.

Percy followed Annabeth to a small hill overlooking the canoe lake. There was a large tree at the top of the hill that gave plenty of shade from the afternoon sun. Percy recognized the tree, he'd seen Annabeth sitting under it before.

Percy sat against the tree while Annabeth settled in between his legs, her back pressing against his chest. Her blonde hair tickled his neck but he didn't say anything, he was happy just to have her company.

"It's been a while since we've had a date." She said.

She wasn't lying, Percy couldn't remember the last time they had a formal date. Sure there was that time in the Argo II's stables but that wasn't really a date.

"Yeah, it has." He agreed, pressing a kiss to her neck.

Annabeth sighed as a smile spread across her face. She walked her fingers across one of his palms.

"So, the summer is ending in a few months, what's your plan?" She asked.

Percy shrugged, "I don't know, I was thinking of finishing school at Goode but I'm not sure, you never know when the world needs saving."

Annabeth nodded, "Right. Well, I talked with Sally while you were gone. She told me I could stay with you guys and finish with you at Goode."

Percy's eyes filled with surprise. Annabeth had never told him that but to be fair, they didn't really have the time with him being kidnapped and all. He had to admit, Annabeth staying with him through the school year sounded nice, he'd need someone to help him with his homework, plus he really did want to be near her a lot more.

"I'd like that." He said, "It'd help with you know…the nightmares."

"You're having them too?" She asked.

"Yeah," He rubbed the back of his neck, "I mean, they're not bad but they do wake me up every now and then. I sleep just fine afterwards though. How about you?"

"It's about the same for me." She said. A few minutes of silence passed by, Percy knew she had something else to say judging from the look on her face. She looked him in the eyes and asked, "Promise you won't laugh?"

"I promise."

"Well, I do end up crying sometimes. I mean, not every night but sometimes." She said quickly.

Percy wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer to him. He was gentle with his embrace, he knew how much it took for Annabeth to admit something like that. She hated crying, admitting that she cried at all was hard for her due to her pride.

"I think my bed should be able to fit both of us." He said after pulling back.

Annabeth smiled at him, "Good."

Percy looked over at the lake when he heard a yell. He and Annabeth chuckled when they watched Malcolm splash Drew using his paddle. Drew responded in kind, eventually causing a little canoe fight. Percy and Annabeth watched until Piper paddled over and broke up the fight.

Percy looked back at Annabeth and started playing with her hair. She sighed and leaned against his chest, she looked like she could fall asleep in her position.

"So," He said in a uncertain tone, "Have you smoothed things over with your mom?"

Annabeth let out a sigh through her nose, "Sort of."

Percy didn't say anything but he raised his eyebrow at her wording.

"She apologized to me at the party." She said, "She said something about her personalities clouding her judgement."

Percy was surprised Athena even bothered to apologize. Most gods usually didn't care about how their children felt about them. After all, why should they? They were immortal beings who never had to bow to mortal whims, one bad opinion to them was about as impactful as a speck of dust getting on their toga.

"She said she'd try to visit me more." Annabeth said, "I don't know, she looked sorry for what happened but I don't think sorry will get rid of everything Tartarus did to us."

"No, it won't." Percy confirmed, "We'll need time but it's a start. I never thought Athena would be the apologizing type."

"It's just really hard to forgive her."

Percy hugged her, "Annabeth, she's your mom. I mean, don't get me wrong, she scares me to death almost every time I see her, but I really do think she cares about you. She just has a weird way of showing it."

Annabeth closed her eyes, "I'll try to forgive her. What about you though?"

Percy frowned, "What do you mean?"

Annabeth twisted to look at him, "Percy, my mom gave me that quest that led to us falling into Tartarus. In a way, she's kind of the reason you even fell into that hellhole with me."

Percy shook his head and took her face in his hands, "Annabeth, no one forced me into Tartarus but myself. I fell in there because I couldn't let you go, not like that. I fell into Tartarus because I made that choice, and I'd do it all again."

Annabeth stared at him before smashing her lips against his. He grunted out of surprise and also out of the roughness of her kiss but eventually he went along with it. Their lips smacked together, each demigod losing themselves in the kiss.

Annabeth was the one to break the kiss. She panted as she stared into his sea green eyes, "Thank you."

Percy gave her his typical troublemaker grin. His heart pounded against his chest, even though he and Annabeth were a couple for almost a year now, he still couldn't get over the excitement that came with kissing her. The daughter of Athena had that effect on him.

"No problem." He said, moving to kiss her again.

They stayed like that until the horn for dinner rang through the camp.

Ω

When Percy and Annabeth strolled into the pavilion, no one bothered them. A few campers glanced at them but no one said or did anything to them.

The sun was starting to go down by now, giving the sky a purple hue. Percy thought the sky looked beautiful but he didn't stop to look. He walked alongside Annabeth to his table.

Jason was sitting at his table chatting with Piper about something. He didn't seem off to Percy this time, no weird twitching, no sinister smile, nothing looked wrong with him. Percy couldn't help but remember how Jason looked in front of the Big House, something was wrong with him, he just didn't know what.

Annabeth kissed him before walking off to her table. Percy smiled goofily as she walked away before sitting down.

The longer he sat there however, the worse off he felt. His smile slowly faded to a tense expression as he caught a few campers either pointing and talking about him in hushed tones or shooting glares his way. Leo refused to even look at him, he was making that obvious. Without Annabeth near him, the cold feeling of apprehension was back in full force.

Percy's heart nearly leapt out of his chest when someone placed a plate of food in front of him. He looked up at a dryad who smiled at him, "Have a good meal, Percy."

Percy peered down at his food, it looked amazing and even smelled great. He could see the white trails of steam coming from it while the warmth from the plate lulled him into a relaxed state. The steak in the middle of the plate was cooked just how he liked it but that didn't mean the ripe apples and mashed potatoes didn't look downright delicious either.

He was in the middle of eating when he felt something pelt him in the back of the neck. He looked over and found a small ball torn out of a napkin was on the bench next to him. Then another ball hit him. He looked around for who was doing it but he couldn't find anyone.

He looked up when he saw Annabeth talking with Travis at the Hermes table. They seemed to be debating something. Then he watched as Travis lost the debate and shook Annabeth's hand. That told Percy exactly what she was doing, she was securing allies for capture the flag.

He watched her do this to a few other tables, only a few cabin counselors were able to turn Annabeth down. He was surprised by her skills of being able to bend people to her will, the only ones able to turn her down were cabins who already had alliances with the Ares cabin or weren't participating. The Ares table glared at her since she'd managed to secure more allies than they had, Clarisse looked especially angry.

Percy watched as Annabeth started making her way back to her table. His eyes narrowed when he spotted the son of Ares that she'd knocked out before following behind her. Percy didn't do anything except move his legs out of his table so he could get up quickly and rush to Annabeth's aid if she needed it.

Evidently, that was the right thing to do because he could only watch angrily as the son of Ares sped up and grabbed Annabeth. They were on the outskirts of the pavilion, meaning not that many campers could see what had happened.

Percy stood up and started walking over there. The son of Ares pulled Annabeth back against him, whispering something in her ear that caused her to gasp before she started to thrash around. He grabbed her chest and tried to hold her still and that was when Percy lost his shit.

Percy had enough of this guy in particular touching Annabeth in that way. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Riptide, drawing his sword before rushing towards the scene. A few campers looked over when they saw his blade's glow. He ignored some of their calls while he ran towards the son of Ares, who only had a split second to react before his nose was smashed by Riptide's pommel. The blood from the camper's nose splattered onto the trident design of the sword.

"HEY!" Clarisse shouted, rocketing to her feet. Her siblings followed behind her.

Percy ignored their yells for him to stop as he started beating down on the son of Ares, alternating between savagely punching him or hitting him with the butt of his sword. Wet squishing sounds could be heard with each impact. He didn't cut him but he got really close at some points. His green eyes burned with a rage that could only be described as fierce.

"Percy!" Annabeth grabbed him and pulled him off the son of Ares. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned in to whisper in his ear, "You need to stop, you're going to get in trouble!"

The entire pavilion was filled with yelling as everyone had stood up to watch what had happened. Everyone had seen Percy savagely beating on a son of Ares. The beating left the guy scarred and bruised. Blood was splattered onto the floor as more spilled from his nose. Percy was covered in sweat as he barely resisted Annabeth's hold.

To some campers, the beating was as brutal as watching a shark tear someone apart.

"The fuck is wrong with you, Percy?" Clarisse yelled as she started stomping towards him.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with your pervert of a brother?!" Percy yelled back.

Both demigods seemed to inch towards each other, their fists clenched and their teeth gritted.

"ENOUGH!" Jason shouted, his voice followed by thunder.

Everyone looked over to find the son of Jupiter had left his table and was now standing near both Clarisse and Percy. He wore a look of a leader as he looked between them.

"You need to deal with him." Clarisse said to Jason as she pointed at Percy.

"No," Percy denied, "You need to deal with that perverted piece of shit over there."

"Enough, both of you!" Jason said firmly, "Clarisse go take your brother to the infirmary."

Clarisse shot Percy one last glare before walking to her brother and helping him up. She walked off, followed by Will and a few Apollo campers.

Jason turned to Percy, "Dude, what was that all about?"

"Who cares what it was about?" One of the campers called, "He needs to be punished!"

"Give that bastard stable duty again!"

"No, give him kitchen duty for a month!"

Percy glared at the campers who shouted out punishments. Most of the campers who did so were ones who didn't like him or didn't know him. A lot of the older campers, like Travis and Katie, tried to shut up their siblings.

"I'll decide the punishment!" Jason declared, silencing all the campers, "I'll decide after the bonfire tonight."

Percy didn't miss the look Jason gave him. Jason really didn't want to give him a punishment but he didn't exactly have a choice.

Annabeth squeezed his arm, causing him to look over at her.

"I'm okay, Percy, relax." She tried to calm him down but he knew she was doing that just so he didn't end up in even more trouble.

Percy walked back to his table, his ears and neck burned as he felt everyone's eyes on him. He knew he should've let Annabeth handle the pervert but he just couldn't stand to see a repeat.

He sat down at his table and looked down at his dinner, his appetite was completely ruined. Nonetheless, he picked up his silverware and continued eating, even though a few campers were looking at him the whole time.

As he ate, he made a plan, a plan that would end all of this.

Ω

Percy stood on the front porch of his cabin. He looked towards the bonfire where a good portion of the campers were surrounding the fire and singing. He knew Jason was in there, his punishment was delayed until the bonfire was done but Percy didn't plan on sticking around to find out what his punishment would be. He wasn't sure where Annabeth was but he knew she'd seen him leave the pavilion in a hurry.

He opened the door to his cabin and silently walked in, slowly shutting the door behind him as to not make any noise. He turned the lights on and made his way to his wardrobe. He opened the wardrobe's door and took out a old black backpack, it was one that he had for a while but it was still in pretty good condition, save for the tear on the right strap thanks to a hellhound's claws.

He grabbed a week's worth of clothes, everything from camp shirts to jeans to hoodies. He couldn't pack everything inside the backpack but he was able to fit a lot more thanks to his mom showing him a few techniques when it came to folding clothes.

He walked over to his bed and reached under it, pulling out a small pouch of about ten or so drachmas. Those were the only drachmas he had left, the only cash he had was in his wallet. He knew he'd have to get creative because he doubted he had enough money to make it more than a week.

He knelt near his nightstand and packed a few personal items. He stared at a picture of him and Annabeth smiling widely in front of his cabin. He sighed as he remembered when that picture was taken, it was only a few months after they'd started dating. He grabbed the picture and gently put it into a small pocket of the backpack.

After he was certain he had everything from his wardrobe and nightstand, he walked into the bathroom and started packing up everything he would need, mainly his toothbrush, razor, soap, and a small medical kit for emergencies.

Percy knew he was in for a rough time, he was going to be alone out there. He couldn't go to his mom, mainly because he didn't want to draw monsters to her, Paul, and Estelle. She would've insisted for him to come but he wasn't going to risk it. Even if he could deal with the monsters, he didn't want to risk them getting hurt on his behalf, this was his burden to carry, not theirs.

The knowledge of the danger ahead of him caused Percy to pause. His hand drifted into his shorts' pocket where Riptide was dutifully waiting. He looked back at his wardrobe where his bronze armor seemed to glint at him. His helm stared back at him from the top shelf, the blue horsehair plume stuck up proudly. His breastplate leaned against the back of the wardrobe.

Percy set this backpack down and walked over his closet, changing into a pair of jeans and a hoodie, the long sleeves would provide protection against the cold but he doubted it would help against a monster's teeth or talons. He slid on his breast plate and made sure the straps were tightened. He left his helm, the blue horsehair plume would give him away too easily.

Just as Percy started to put on his backpack, the door to his cabin opened. Instead of Jason, a different blonde walked into his cabin. Annabeth shut the door behind her without taking her eyes off of Percy.

He could tell from the look on her face that she wasn't at all pleased with what he was about to do.

"I knew it, you were planning leaving." She said, "So this is it?"

"What?" He already knew what she was asking.

"You're just going to leave now, right?" She asked but this time, her voice quivered.

He sighed, this was going to be difficult. "Annabeth, I can't stay here." He said.

He didn't miss Annabeth's fists clenching.

"No, it's not that you can't stay here, it's that you don't want to." She corrected him, "Do me a favor, if you're going to leave, at least tell me why."

Percy had a plethora of reasons why he was leaving but he figured he minus well tell her, "I know when I'm not wanted. I'm not stupid, Annabeth, I know how people feel about me around here. It's so obvious that I don't belong here."

"And where do you belong, Percy?" She asked, "Camp Jupiter? You're Greek, not Roman."

"I never said I was going there." He said.

"Then where are you going?"

Percy wished she hadn't asked that. The cold hard truth was that he didn't know, he just didn't know. He shrugged.

Annabeth shook her head and let out a exasperated laugh, "You're kidding me. Percy, you're telling me that you're just going to leave camp and go gods knows where?"

"Anywhere is better than here right now." He defended, "At least I know I won't get fucking beat by someone with a sword."

"Yeah, instead you'll just end up getting chased by a bunch of monsters that want to eat you." She said, "That's not such a great step up is it?"

"Annabeth, what the hell do you want me to do?" He asked with a frustrated tone, "I can't stay here. The longer I stay here, the worse off I'm going to be. You think all this stuff I'm being blamed for is bad, it's just the beginning."

"What happened to wanting to clear your name?" Annabeth asked as she stepped closer to him, "Why are you running away? I know you, Percy, you don't run away."

"Well, this time, I am." He said, "Even if I do manage to convince everyone that I didn't do any of that shit I'm being accused of, which by the way is impossible at this point, whoever framed for the shit at the beginning is just going to come up with more stuff to blame on me. I'm not going to stick around for that to happen."

"Okay, I get your point." Annabeth admitted, "But what about the rest of us, Percy? What about all the people who love you here?"

"They'll be safe when I'm gone." He said, "Whoever is hurting these people is clearly trying to get rid of me. If I leave, then they'll have to find someone else to blame. I'm not going to sit here and just take it like a bitch." Annabeth was about to say something else when he said, "Listen, any second now, Jason is going to come through that door and give me a punishment that I know I can't take, I'm not going to stick around to find out what that punishment is."

Annabeth's face was stonelike as she glared at him. He knew she didn't want him to leave. When he looked in her eyes, he didn't see anger, he saw a desperation he never thought he'd see in her eyes.

He moved past her and started walking towards the door.

"You're just going to leave me?" She asked, "Just like Luke and Thalia? I thought we were something permanent, Percy."

Percy froze before he could reach for the doorknob. He slowly turned to face Annabeth.

"You think I'm breaking up with you?" He asked.

"That's exactly what it looks like to me." She said, "You didn't even bother to come and get me. What, were you just going to leave and have me figure out what happened in the morning?"

"I wasn't—"

"Do you have any idea how fucked up I was when you first disappeared, Percy?" She asked as she started walking towards him, "I couldn't eat, I could barely sleep, I cried myself to sleep for days after you were gone. Now you want to put me through that again, but this time I'll know that I had to let you go."

Annabeth had him pinned against the door, her finger on his chest while she stared into his eyes.

Percy had to admit, she was doing great at convincing him not to leave. He didn't want to leave if it meant hurting her, but he knew if he stayed, he'd be hurting himself.

"Annabeth, I'm not breaking up with you." He said, "But if I stay here, I'll either be forced out or dead. I promise you that. You think that whole thing in the infirmary was caused just by a sword? Someone was trying to kill me and I know it."

Percy never told her, but he knew someone was covering something up when Will told him that the blood sample they'd gotten from him had mysteriously disappeared. Will had tried to get Jason to look for the sample but after a few days of searching for it, they never found it. They chalked it up to the sample being misplaced and lost. The investigation for the person who assaulted him had went nowhere, they just couldn't find any clues. Percy knew that the chances of them finding that person was slim to none.

Annabeth didn't say anything as he turned around and opened the door. He stepped out into the cool night air and sighed. He looked over his shoulder at her one more time before walking off the porch of his cabin and towards the stables. He took extra care in not being seen by anyone at the bonfire.

When he got to the stables, he slowly opened the doors and crept in. The smell of the stables wasn't that bad thanks to him constantly cleaning the place. The horses inside regarded him like a old friend, partially because of his parentage but also because of what he'd done for them by cleaning the stables.

Percy couldn't see much as he walked through the stables. He bumped into a few wooden posts every now and then. He walked until he came to a stop at Blackjack's stall.

Yo, boss! Blackjack neighed as he woke from his slumber.

"Hey, Blackjack." Percy said with a smile.

You going somewhere? You're all dressed up like you are.

"Yeah, you down to fly?"

Anytime, boss. Blackjack flapped his wings.

"That's what I like to hear." Percy said.

He opened the stall and guided Blackjack out. The other horses bid their goodbyes before going back to sleep. Percy looked out the doors of the stables to make sure the coast was clear before leading Blackjack out.

Well, this is it. He thought, I won't be seeing this place for a while.

For a moment, a pang of nostalgia hit Percy. He was really going to miss Camp Half-Blood. He was going to miss the strange noises the monsters made at night, along with the smell of the strawberries throughout the whole camp and the constant view of campers flying around on pegasi. He was going to miss the view of the sunset from his cabin. There was more, but he would've been there all day.

Percy climbed up onto Blackjack's back, making sure he was saddled in before getting ready to take off. He had just finished securing himself when he heard someone whisper-yell, "Wait!"

He looked over and found Annabeth running over, a backpack of her own on her back. She clutched a laptop bag in her hand while her Drakon bone sword hung from her waist in its sheath. She too was dressed to leave, her denim cut off shorts and camp shirt were replaced with a pair of jeans and a hoodie she'd stolen from him. Her own breastplate clung to her body.

"What are you doing?" He hissed as she stopped next to him.

"I'm coming with you." She said with finality.

"Are you insane?" He asked, "Your cabin needs you!"

Annabeth looked up at him, "You need me more. Now help me up."

Percy looked at the bonfire, where people were starting to disperse and head back to their cabins. He looked back down at Annabeth and reached his hand out. She grinned and grabbed his hand, climbing up onto Blackjack with him.

"Hold on tight." He told her over his shoulder.

Annabeth's arms wrapped around his waist as he prepared to take off. Once he told Blackjack to take off, they soared from the ground and far into the night sky, not a single person saw them as they left.

The wind roared in Percy's ears as he flew Blackjack towards the lights of New York City. Annabeth held on tight, her hair flying behind her.

"Do you know where you're going?" She yelled over the wind.

"Nope!" He looked back and found her shaking her head.

"You really do need me more." She said. Percy grinned back at her.