".. And I'm overboard, and I need your love,

pull me up, I can't swim on my own,

it's too much, feels like I'm drowning without your love,

so throw yourself out to me, you're my lifesaver.."

-OVERBOARD by Justin Bieber ft. Jessica Jarrell

CHAPTER 3: Man Overboard..

Percy was somewhere foggy, mist floating all around him. He stood on a familiar place with familiar scents and touches yet at the same time, completely alien. He was in a canoe lake pier, the wood creaked beneath his feet with every shift. He twist and turned, taking in everything, documenting it for him to dissect later. He heard a soft whisper. Someone was calling his name. Someone very familiar.

Her voice rang like an echo in his head.

"Percy."

"Where are you?" he called out.

"Percy."

He turned and saw something glow at the edge of the pier. He took a step and noticed it sounded different, no longer the creaking wooden planks but the squeaky noises as if he was stepping on plexiglass. But he gave no further thought to it. He leaned down to the glow and waved the mist away. There, he saw a beautiful girl, only glass apart. Her eyes were a mysterious shade of gray, her lips chapped but pink and her blonde hair floated around her, like she was underwater.

"Percy."

Her lips didn't move but for some reason, he knew the voice was hers.

"Yeah?" he whispered, gawking at her.

"Don't save me. You can't save me."

He didn't know how she was in danger. Why would she be? She looked so peaceful, so vibrant and mysterious beneath the glass, he wanted to reach out and see if he could break it. He wanted to hold her face in his hand, just to see, to know, if it really was as soft as he was imagining it to be. He wanted to taste those lips if they would taste like grapes or if her hair would smell like lemon..

"Why not?" he asked.

"Don't save me, please, don't save me."

"No, I can get you out of here. It's only glass. I'll rescue you." he said.

"Please, no!"Her eyes were frightened now. Frightened for him. "It's the only way."

"NO!" he yelled, a sudden rush of cold fear rushed through him. He realized now that she wasn't suppose to be beneath this glass. She wasn't suppose to be in water. She wasn't suppose to be not be able to talk. She wasn't suppose to be here, in this dream with him, at all. Because this is what it is. It's a dream and she was visiting him, warning him. Percy raised his hand and touched the glass, just above her cheek. "I can't leave you here!"

"It's the only way I can save you."

"I don't need saving!" he yelled, anger boiling up in him. He threw his hand back, curling it into a fist and started punching it over and over again until his knuckles bruised.

"Percy."

Her voice grew distant, as if she was going farther and farther away.

"Percy."

"NO! COME BACK!"

Percy sat bolt upright, drenched in sweat and panting, feeling exhausted rather than rested after eight full hours of sleep. He was in bed with Riptide drawn on one hand. He had unconsciously uncapped it. What did he dream about? He thought very hard on it, trying to grasp what it was. It was important, he knew that much. Demigod dreams weren't normal, they didn't happen just for nothing. So, he forced himself to remember, to recall what had transpired that had him so on edge but it eluded him. He sighed and took deep breaths to recollect his bearings and jumped out of bed. There was nothing he could do now but prepare for whatever it was that's coming.

He was staying in Jason Grace's old mansion, using one of the guest bedrooms rather than the master's one. It was still filled with the son of Jupiter's possessions and he felt like he was invading something utterly and privately intimate. As if it didn't belong to him even if the entire property was given to him to honor his station as praetor.

Percy dressed in his armor, though lighter than the one he actually wears for battle and donned the symbolic purple cape. He grabbed Riptide and went downstairs of the manor to be greeted by Reyna, her automaton hounds either side of her as she lounged patiently as she waited for him to finish dressing up.

The first time she had done this, he had been mostly surprised and embarrassed that he unconsciously kept her waiting. He had strode downstairs with a normal purple shirt, jeans and Converse but she had gently chided him and gave him the lighter armor, the reason why she had waited for him, and helped him put it on along with the cape. It wasn't like the ceremonial cape they wore during councils and war meetings, it was shorter and much more manageable between every day use.

On the second day she had sat on the sitting room, waiting for him, he had told her, jokingly, that he could walk out the door just fine without help, that she'll just grow bored and irritated since he wasn't exactly a morning person to begin with but she told him she didn't mind and that she chose to wait for him to finish.

After the fifth day, it quickly became a ritual.

"Good morning." he said, the sight of her made him hitch his breath. Reyna's eyes regarded him with intensity. It wasn't as harsh or as calculating as the past gazes she used to give him but those brown doe eyes had these mysterious depth in them now that made him want to dive into them and probe every secret they kept.

She smiled at him, amused.

"Good morning, Percy." she said in return.

They exited the manor via backdoor and walked their way to the mess hall. The place was buzzing with activity. Morning duties, training and patrols ran back and forth around them, weapons clanging, metal against metal, bows twanging and arrows flying. This is what Percy loved best during the day. The sound of camp in the morning. It seemed right, somehow, familiar. Percy could only guess these feelings were from living on the other camp and the thought of the greacus sent a bucket of ice water through Percy's spine.

"A silver for your thoughts?" Reyna said.

"Just wondering." Percy said.

"About the Greeks? I know. I have as well." She said.

"What do you think?" Percy asked.

She pondered her answer, her eyes growing hard and Percy knew instantly what she thought.

"I think we should be cautious. Jason is my friend, brother in arms and co-praetor, but even he had changed greatly during his stay with the Greeks." She sighed, her forehead creasing slightly.

Percy reached for her hand and entwined her fingers with his. Her brown eyes met his green and he smiled for her softly. She returned it hesitantly before it became firm and bright. He loved how strong she was, how resilient and bold. She always knew what other people needed and had a soft, unyielding heart. She's smart and wise and Percy just loved that most of all. It was comforting for him for some reason.

"We're in this together, remember?" Percy asked her.

She nodded. "I remember."

Percy's soft smile became a grin. "Good because I'm starving."

Reyna let out a delightful laugh and they walked, hands clasped tight, to the mess hall for breakfast.

"So, you're Percy Jackson. Don't talk much, do you?" Leo said, grinning.

They were in the mess hall. Percy, Reyna, Leo, Piper, Jason, Thalia, Frank and Hazel all sat in a wide table. Leo was still puzzled as to why exactly does Hazel tense whenever he came near or tried to strike up a conversation with her and Frank, the cuddly but scary panda Roman, would glare at him whenever he did, but besides that, it was a rather blooming morning. The Romans were warming up with the Greeks and Leo had found that by the way he talked with Thalia, Piper and himself included, Frank didn't glare at him because he hated Greeks, as he initially thought, he was glaring because he was talking to Hazel and making her uncomfortable.

Leo thought he was being too possessive but he respected that and left Hazel alone. Instead, he concentrated on his conversations with Reyna or every other conversation she had with the others, as a matter of fact. She had this way of taking control yet leaving out for the others to lead the conversation and it baffled Leo how she can look so stern but friendly at the same time. She just fascinated him.

The only demigod that seemed out of place had been Percy Jackson himself.

Leo had basked in the legends of this particular modern teenage hero. Jason was great and mighty and all but Percy's stories told by his friends had been hilarious. If Jason was a hero of legends and history, Percy was a hero of fantasy, novels, fairytales and anecdotes.

So, naturally, he took notice of the hero's uncharacteristically silent mood.

Percy glared at Leo.

"Jeez, take it easy, man." Leo said. "I'm just kidding around. It's not every day I meet the hero of Olympus."

"The what?" Percy asked.

"You were the savior of Olympus. You faced down Hyperion and you bore the curse of Achilles. You turned down immortality when the gods offered it to you, yada, yada." Leo said flippantly, as if those stories never impressed him at all.

Piper gave him an exasperated glare, knowing too well he'd been repeatedly demanding more of Jackson's adventures during story-telling time whenever he wasn't too busy building the Argo II and would join them during bonfire-sing-along nights back in camp.

Percy could only guess that this curse had been his invincibility that he bore before coming to camp and carrying Juno across Little Tiber. It was a curse, the Greacus said. How they called something that kept him alive and unharmed during countless battles and incidents a curse was beyond him. But something had peeked his interest at his apparent past heroics.

"How'd you know?" Percy asked, demanded more like.

"The stories back at camp. You were famous. Never gone a day without someone mentioning your name." Leo said.

Percy snorted. So, the Greeks had practically worshiped him. The Romans never worshiped him. He had earned his title himself and gained their respect. The greacus probably didn't respect him in the slightest and was only interested in scandalous affairs and gossip. Greacus were sissies. They probably just liked him for his physical prowess and who his father was and not for who he was.

It must be that.

"Well, that's sort of sad considering I'm never going back." Percy murmured.

Leo gave him an incredulous expression, Reyna had turned to him and raised her eyebrows, Frank and Hazel looked at each other worriedly, Piper and Jason frowned while Thalia was downright shocked.

He had gone through near-death experiences and deadly injuries to the next dangerous mission to protect Camp Half-Blood. He loved teaching the younger demigods even if he hated school. He'd get in trouble with the Stoll brothers and personally go to quests for newly discovered demigods and bring them to their haven whenever he had the extra time. He helped build the new cabins despite his fingers being repeatedly squashed by his own hammer, for the gods' sake.

Percy loving Camp-Half Blood was a massive understatement.

"But Camp Half-Blood is your home, our home!" Thalia demanded in outrage.

"Haven't we discussed this the last time?" Percy said, rolling his eyes.

"You can't just say you aren't coming back. You need to go back."

"You aren't my mother, Grace." Percy hissed.

"And your mother will be devastated to know how her only son refused to ever come home." Thalia snapped, a red-hot rage coursing through her. "I'm not only talking about our friends back at camp but your family as well. Your mother, Paul and your brother, Tyson. They waited for you. She waited for you Percy. We all did for six long months. I had it bad, Annabeth had it hard but your mother had it worse. You can hate us all you want for gods know what reason because we sure as Hades didn't give you a single one! But don't you dare be selfish to Sally Jackson! She doesn't deserve it, Percy! Not after all you and her have been through!"

Percy was stunned silent. Thalia was panting and now the world had come back to her with a vengeance. She hadn't realized she had stood up in her anger. The Romans ogled her as if she had grown horns, the others on the table just seemed uncomfortable. Reyna looked sad and bitter for some reason, Thalia noticed, but it quickly disappeared, replaced by sympathy.

Percy looked confused and seemed to be battling some immense thoughts in his head as he opened and closed his mouth slightly, too dry and sandy for a son of the sea god. When he had finally overcome the war in his head, what came out of his mouth disappointed Thalia further.

"That's not my problem." He said through gritted teeth as if it was painful.

"Wow." Leo said, sarcastically. The others were looking at Percy with wide eyes as if he had just kicked a puppy in the face. "You're kind of a jerk, aren't you? I guessed they over exaggerated those stories about you."

"The stories are true. It's described as it was." Thalia said flatly. "It's the hero that's changed."

"What's your problem, Grace?" Percy snapped, standing up. Thalia had one hand reaching for her bow. Percy's hand was reaching for his pen.

"Cool it, guys." Jason said, as he stood up and held his palms up to stop them. "Thalia, calm down, you're dealing with a praetor of Camp Jupiter inside Camp Jupiter. Think this through. Percy, try to keep your head. This is my sister your talking to."

She didn't want to argue or fight with Percy but he was making it exceptionally hard. She took a deep breath and let go of her bow. Percy was nowhere near backing down.

"Then tell your sister to stay out of my business!" Percy snapped at Jason.

"Please, sit down, Percy." Piper coaxed with a mild taste of charmspeak and he did, slowly but surely, still glaring daggers at the daughter of Zeus. He was breathing hard, trying to reign in his temper.

"I imagined a different scene when we finally found Percy Jackson." Leo said.

"We never found my friend, Leo." Thalia said. "As far as I know, he's still missing."

With that she stormed out of the room with deadly looks or sympathetic ones trailing her from the other Roman campers. She couldn't find it in her to care.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'm having fun rewriting this. It's like reading and correcting a kid's story. I feel awfully old now. Leave a comment on what you think of this new chapter. Any sort of criticism is welcomed as well, so, feel free.