The Loss of a Hero: Chapter Six

Percy's POV

Sierra, Pence, and I walked into Camp Half-Blood. It was about one or two in the morning. The sight of the camp, my true home, was both happy and sad at the same time. This was my favorite place on earth. But, I no longer belonged here. I was dead. I stopped in my tracks, tears beginning to form in my eyes. As if she read my mind, Sierra gave me a little hug and said, "Don't worry, Percy. You're becoming part of a new family, us three."

Her words, well-meant as they were, hurt me even more. I'd lost the family that I'd been a part of for years now. I lost Grover. I'd lost Tyson. And… I'd lost Annabeth. And that was unbearable.

I walked them to my grave. "Riptide is probably still in my pocket- a spell was put on my body to prevent decay. You guys do what you have to. I'll be right back." I turned to leave, but Pence caught me on the shoulder.

"Don't reveal yourself," he warned me. I nodded, then slowly walked to the cabins.

I checked Athena's cabin, but Annabeth was nowhere to be seen. I sighed. I started to walk off, but a thought struck me. I turned, and walked to cabin three. My cabin.

As soon as I walked in the door, I saw her, sleeping in my bed. In one of the other beds was a girl I'd never seen before, but my attention was on Annabeth. I walked over and sat down on the edge of my bed, right beside her. Even asleep, her face looked sad. I leaned over and kissed her softly on her lips, and she smiled in her sleep. I smiled myself, then got up to leave. Sierra and Pence were standing in the doorway. I walked over to join them, and took one last look at Annabeth before the three of us traveled back to Aurora HQ, floor 314, room C. the room materialized around me, and a rush of fatigue swept through me, I fell to the ground and everything went black.

I woke up hours later. I got off the bed and stood, stretching my arms and legs. Pence was sleeping in a chair nearby. I shook him on the shoulder and he woke up. "Pence, man, you with me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm up…" he said, and his eyes closed again.

"Pence!"

He jumped and opened his eyes again. "Geez, can't a guy sleep?"

"No."

He grumbled, and got out of the chair and stood up. He looked at me sleepily, then his eyes widened. "Wait, how are you awake? Shadow-travelling twice in one day… what are you? Geez."

I thought about it. "Well… I dunno. Just your average half-blood."

Pence, still sleepy, mumbled something that didn't really sound like anything. Then, he looked up. "Oh yeah…" he yawned" I got this for you." He handed me a small box. I opened it, and there sat my favorite ballpoint pen. I uncapped it, and the blade slid out, forming a silver sword that was exactly like my weapon. Riptide.

"You like it?" Pence asked. "It should be exactly the same."

"Really?" I asked, and touched the tip. The sword shrank back into a ballpoint pen.

He nodded. "Yup, it should have all the same magic."

"Well then…" I put on a poker face, but I was grinning inside. I walked over to the door and threw the pen as far as I could down the hall, and closed the door. I walked back to Pence, who was looking at me like I was a lunatic.

"What was that for?! Do you have any idea how hard it was to craft that? It took me hours! And you just throw it away like it's nothing!"

I reached in my pocket and pulled out my pen, uncapping it. Pence's expression turned dumbfounded. I enjoyed it for a few seconds, then said, "Cool part about Riptide's magic. It will always return to my pocket, no matter where I lose it. I thought you might like to know."

"Oh, gee," he said sarcastically, "You think?!"

I ignored him, and looked around the room. "Hey, where's Sierra?" I asked.

Pence looked down. "Um… she's somewhere else right now."

"Where?" I frowned, something about how he said it didn't seem right.

"Well… she's kind of hiding."

This surprised me. "Hiding? From what?"

He studied the floor. "From you."

I stepped back, shocked. "Hiding from me? What do you mean? Why would she do that?"

Pence was silent for a moment, I could almost hear him thinking. Then he put a hand on my shoulder. "Ask her yourself," he said, and all of a sudden, I found myself on the roof of HQ. I didn't see Pence anywhere, but Sierra was on the edge, sitting with her legs hanging over the side.

I walked over and sat beside her, my feet hanging over a drop that would kill me if I fell. Well, if I wasn't already dead, anyway. "Hey," I said. "I'm not that repulsive, am I?"

She smiled sadly. "Funny. No, you're not repulsive."

"What is it, then?" I asked.

She looked away. "It's nothing."

"Yes, I can see that." I got up and moved to the other side, where she was looking. "Please, tell me what's wrong."

She sighed. "It's just… I thought you were nice, a good person… to be with. But, last night, when you kissed that girl… your heart is already taken."

I almost fell off the building. "Wait, you like me? That's why you hid?"

She sniffled and stood up. "Y-you're just someone else I can't have." She took a shaky breath. "I need to get out of here. Goodbye, Percy," she said and then in an instant, was gone.

"Sierra? Sierra!" I shouted, too late, into empty air. I grimaced, I was tired already, but I knew I'd have to shadow-travel again. In a flash, I was back in the room, and I staggered, feeling what little strength I had leave quickly. Pence looked up. "Well? How'd it go?" he asked, then noticed my frantic expression. "Hey, what-" he began, but I cut him off.

"Sierra just left, I don't know where she went. I think it's all because of me… we have to go find her. She-"

"-Just needs to be alone a bit." Pence interrupted. "She'll be fine…" he trailed off, looking worried, then he shook his head. "Right now, I gotta worry about you. In fact, I was about to go get you. You need to sleep, there's something you're gonna do tomorrow that you need to rest up for."

"But Sierra-" I started, but Pence cut me off.

"I'll look for her while you sleep. Go to bed. It'll be fine, alright?"

Grudgingly, I walked over to the bed. As soon as my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.

I woke up, some time later, to Pence shaking me. "Hey, lazy, get up. You gotta come with me.

I got up. "Did you find Sierra?" I asked.

He grimaced. "Er, no. I didn't. But, we'll worry about that later. Today, you start training! After you train a few weeks, we'll figure out where we should put you."

"Where you should put me? What am I, a potted plant?"

Pence chuckled. "I mean your job. Almost everyone finds something to do in the city. Some go to the real world, though. Live on their own."

"Alright. Sound fun." I said, and Pence grinned.

"You won't be thinking that when they're done with you. It's pretty brutal."

"Heh, challenge accepted." I said, and he put a hand on my shoulder and all of a sudden we were in a large round room. Several people were sparring in various corners. Pence let go of me and yelled, "Hey, we got a new recruit. Special guy, Warrior class Elite. Name's Percy Jackson."

"Percy Jackson?!" a voice from behind us yelled. That voice… I turned. Sandy-blonde hair, a scar on one side. I looked into the eyes of…

"LUKE?!" I yelled.

The son of Hermes grinned at me. "None other!"

"What are you doing here?" I half-yelled.

He shrugged. "Death. Somehow wound up here. Same as you," he said, then realization dawned across his face. "Wait. Why are you dead? Percy, what happened?"

I told him the story, starting with just after he sacrificed himself to defeat Kronos. When I told him of the promise I made the gods take, he smiled. He didn't seem surprised when I said that Annabeth and I had dated. "Kinda figured that would happen. It was really obvious that you guys liked each other. Even in battle." When I told him of how I died, he winced. "Oh, Zeus… poor Annabeth. She's had a long, hard life… especially because of me."

I punched him in the shoulder. "Hey. Luke. Relax. She forgave you. You don't need to beat yourself up for all eternity."

He looked up. "Yeah, I guess you're right…"

Pence (who had been standing there looking uncomfortable the whole time) spoke up. "Umm… Luke, sir?"

Sir? I thought. Luke must have read my mind, he took one look at my face and laughed. "That's right, Percy! I'm one of the top battle instructors here, I happen to have the honor to be your trainer for the next several weeks!"

I smirked. "One of the top battle instructors? Gee, I wonder why."

Luke smiled smugly. "Well, apparently, I'm the best swordsman they've had in three hundred years!"

"Y'know, I think I've heard that somewhere before."

He laughed. "Alright Percy, let's see how long it takes for you to lose."

"Ha! You're the one going down," I shot back, grinning. This was gonna be a fun couple of months.

"Let's get started then!"

End of Chapter 6

A/N

Hey guys! back for a second day in a row with a new chapter! once again, did some major, major editing from what i originally planned. you guys won't see Sierra for a while, sorry! tell me what you guys think! i hope i'm not twisting the characters up too much from what they normally are.
thanks to Ajax1996 for favoriting AND following, and to Nocturnal Hymns and for favoriting.
to the guest, Charisma, thank you! i worked hard on it. hope you read it some more!
to Im Dead-Gone-and-Over-With, thank you, i hope i didn't break character with Nico too much! and you'll be seeing more of nico and eve.
Welp, see y'all later! i have one or two chapters that i have written in my notebook, once i figure out how to use those, i'll need to come up with new stuff! wish me luck!