Chapter 2: Lies and a Secret
Camp Half Blood (One Year Later)
It made absolutely no sense to Percy that the only peaceful year he'd ever experienced at camp had also easily been the worst. His closest friends wanted nothing to do with him, Poseidon had completely stopped acknowledging his silent prayers, and even Annabeth was a world away.
But he smiled at the thought of her, knowing he couldn't be mad because she sort of was in another world. Annabeth had been going on weeklong trips to Olympus, hell-bent on reading every book in its divine library since she'd gained access.
Percy knew that was where she was now, but this trip was longer: three weeks. They'd discussed it before she left, and Percy had had to pretend to be upset at the extension of the trip. He'd needed to hide his excitement towards what he'd realized he had just enough time to do. It'd been a rough year for him, but the plan he'd brewed up with Leo and Hephaestus' help had made it bearable.
The demigod had spent the first two weeks of Annabeth's trip embarking on various life-threatening errands assigned by Hephaestus. They were supposed to be for gathering necessary materials, but Percy had a feeling that a few were for the god's own amusement, considering they didn't require him coming back with anything.
The third week had been taken up by asking for Athena's permission. More precisely, he'd used twenty minutes building up the courage to, wasted five minutes stuttering out the single sentence, spent twelve hours trying not to get sliced or impaled by the goddess, and took five seconds to hear and process the "Yes." The rest of the week had been Percy recuperating in bed.
But the pain of the entire ordeal had vanished when, just hours ago, Percy had heard a short rap on his door. He was almost fully recovered, but he'd still had to half-limp his way to the cabin entrance. Though he'd found nobody outside, on the ground was a little wrapped package. The package: the entire reason he'd exerted the last twenty-one days on himself. Percy had quickly scooped it into his pocket and run to their spot, his heart somersaulting at what he was going to ask Annabeth when he saw her.
It was the night she was coming back from Olympus. Percy sat by himself on an isolated strip of beach facing Long Island Sound, the evening sun inching closer to the horizon. For the brief period between the two wars, when they'd started dating, he and Annabeth would sneak off to the secluded area to spend time together away from everyone else.
And when her Olympian expeditions had started, it'd become his favorite spot at camp for when he wanted to be by himself, which wasn't very often anymore considering it was no longer a choice. He sighed while staring out across the sea, reminiscing on the year that'd left him almost completely alone, beginning on the day he'd met his insufferable half-brother.
*Flashback*
The midday sun beating down on camp forced Percy to squint as he made his way to the Big House. It was August 4th, still marking summer, but that didn't explain the heat stroke he felt like he was having. His head continued to throb as he trudged towards the building, and it dawned on him that he was hungover. The demigod groaned incredulously.
It was one shot! he thought to himself.
Percy had never drank before, but last night on Olympus, most of the demigods had decided on a celebratory shot; only Frank and Hazel had abstained. Percy rubbed his temples and shuddered as he reached the front lawn of the Big House, swearing to never drink again and hoping his friends were in better shape than him.
Chiron had called a meeting, requiring all of the campers to be there. Percy was one of the last to arrive. He looked across the chattering horde, about a hundred and twenty demigods in total, and saw most of his friends littered among the crowd in similar shape. Frank and Hazel stood together and, even though they sympathized with their friends, the duo snickered at the various levels of nausea visible on each of their faces.
The campers fell silent when Chiron strode out onto the porch they were gathered in front of. His white stallion half looked tense, hooves gripping the maple floor. Chiron seemed to be unwillingly deep in thought, as if trying and failing to solve a puzzle that should've been easy. He relented and spoke.
"Campers, we have a new recruit," he announced, gesturing to the front door of the Big House.
The demigods looked at each other quizzically, wondering why an entire meeting had been called for something as trivial as meeting the new kid. Their collective question was addressed when the door swung open.
Out walked a boy with the gait of a gorilla on two legs, his arms and shoulders swinging exaggeratedly, and a haughty look on his face as he came to a stop next to Chiron. His unimpressive frame made Percy wonder where the conceited aura found its kindling. The thought was answered when Poseidon himself stepped out right after, positioning next to the kid. The god placed a hand on his shoulder.
The campers snapped out of their momentary shock and knelt before the Olympian in front of them. They all looked up at Poseidon as he began to speak.
"This is my son Cameron. As of today, he will be joining Camp Half Blood, and I expect him to be treated with respect," the god said authoritatively.
Percy was dumbfounded that Poseidon suddenly had a demigod son around the same age as him. Processing that, he'd barely noticed the absurdity of his father publicly favoring a kid and demanding respect for him. The sea god took his hand off of Cameron's shoulder and walked back into the Big House.
"That is all. You are dismissed," Chiron said, his face returning to the same thoughtful, but agitated, expression as before.
Most of the campers shuffled away, but many of the newest ones stayed to meet the new demigod who'd been personally claimed by a powerful Olympian. Percy also wanted to get acquainted with his half-brother. As confused as he was about the revelation, he couldn't help but be a little excited at the thought of a sibling. The older demigod drew closer to the fan club of newbies Cameron had amassed. Getting within earshot, he caught the end of his half-brother's story of single-handedly defeating a dozen hellhounds at the top of Half-Blood Hill.
"...and it jumped at me, mouth open wide! I dropped my sword and grabbed its top and bottom jaw in each hand before I pulled up and flipped it over my head. It landed on its back, and before it could get upright again, I snatched up my sword and buried it in its side, killing the last one!" Cameron finished.
Percy lightly rolled his eyes, immediately knowing the story was embellished with lies. The new campers, however, stared in awe. Their lack of experience allowed them to miss glaring inconsistencies; this kid was not lifting up and capsizing a thousand-pound monster with his bare hands. The crowd shifted, and Percy finally got a good look at his new half brother.
Cameron was about average height and a little on the skinny side, nothing too out of the ordinary for his godly lineage. But nothing else made sense. His hair was chestnut brown and well-kept in a close cropped fashion. He was also noticeably pale, and Percy wondered how this could actually be a son of Poseidon. Then his gaze trailed up and sharpened as it settled on Cameron's eyes. They were grey, not unlike Annabeth's, but more striking. And around the grey iris sat a thin ring of sea green, an almost sparkling moat encompassing its bastion.
Is that what our kids' eyes would look like? Percy thought.
He mentally slapped himself to get focused. Cameron was still falsely answering questions for his throng of campers, and Percy decided that he'd talk to him later. Instead, he strode into the Big House to confront his dad about the hidden break in the Big Three's former pact.
Poseidon sat rigidly on a leather futon in the living room while Seymour, the mounted leopard head, eyed him suspiciously. The sea god was glaring into nothingness, but he quickly cocked his head towards Percy when he walked in the room.
"Hey dad," Percy said, smiling that last night's issue in Atlantis presumably went well. Poseidon stood, holding a stoic look on his face.
"Ja– Perseus," Poseidon corrected himself quickly. He looked at the jittery demigod to go on.
"Where did Cameron come from? Or wait, that's not what I meant. Where has he been this whole time? When did you break the pact again, because you told the council I was the only demigod kid you had during the period…" Percy realized he was rambling accusingly as he found the face of a raging Olympian.
"I do not answer to you, boy!" the god thundered, making Percy stumble back.
Poseidon's eyes glowed a dark green, and the demigod could feel the power rolling off of him in waves. His glare was ice, and Percy had never felt this kind of fear towards his father before. Poseidon looked like he wanted to kill him, and that only some invisible barrier was stopping him. Instead, the god flashed out in an almost-black column of water, a stark contrast to his usual trail of ocean mist, leaving Percy standing alone in the living room.
Walking back onto the lawn, he saw the Seven, Calypso, and Nico grouped together. Percy was still dazed from the "conversation" with his dad, but managed a smile to say hello. Annabeth's eyes showed concern, but he nodded assuringly to her. She gave his hand a quick squeeze while his friends caught him up quickly, explaining that they were all returning to their respective homes. Percy understood, but he was still sad to see them go.
Nico left first, promising to visit as often as he could from his Underworld duties as he dissolved into a shadow. The other six were heading off to Camp Jupiter, from where Leo and Calypso would leave for Mount Olympus to stay with his dad. They shared heartfelt goodbyes, officially disbanding the party that had fought off the Earth itself. Annabeth, in true daughter-of-Athena fashion, eyed Leo inquisitively.
"Mount Olympus is right here. Why are you two going all the way to California first?" she asked. Leo just smirked and embraced the other five into a strange ball of bodies.
"These Romans need a ride, don't they?" he chirped, disappearing with the group into a column of flame.
Percy and Annabeth stood dumbfounded at the display of one of his new immortal powers. They looked at each other as they overcame their shock. Percy wanted to spend some time with her, but knew she was raring to start packing for her first trip to Olympus. They shared a quick kiss and went their separate ways.
Percy spent the rest of the day back at his cabin, reeling from the events in the Big House. It quickly became night, and he sat on the corner of his bed, his head in his hands, still thinking about what had possessed his father to act like that. But Poseidon wasn't the limit of his familial troubles; all of Percy's initial excitement towards meeting Cameron had dissipated.
The new camper had a little demo going on right outside of the cabin. His retelling of the fight had evolved into a play, and Percy had been listening to reruns for well over an hour. It was as if Cameron was deliberately being as loud and as close as possible to the cabin to irritate him. The live demonstration eventually ended with the audience of newbies erupting in cheers.
Percy swung his legs onto the bed and propped himself against his headboard, relieved that the racket was over. Cameron made his way into the cabin and smirked at the disgruntled look on the demigod's face.
"It's nice to finally meet the half-brother that I've heard so many inflated stories about today," Cameron said.
Percy wasn't in the mood and was amazed at the awful first impression his new sibling was making. Still, he had to bite.
"What do you mean by inflated stories?" Percy asked only for Cameron to scoff.
"Come on. You may have those kids convinced, but I just got here, and I'm not going to be herded into believing those bedtime myths," he said, sneering.
Was he talking about my quests? Percy thought to himself, his confusion building. "Which ones did you hear about?" he asked. Cameron rolled his eyes and snorted.
"Oh you want me to stroke your fraudulent ego? Fine. Defeating Ares when you were twelve, holding up the SKY, killing two titans and a bunch of giants, and crossing hell itself with your little girlfriend? What a joke. Basically all of these stories are word of mouth, and I know you made them up. I've already got that through to most of those kids you heard outside. The older campers have seen you do a few things, so I'm sure they'll be harder to show the truth to, but I promise I will," Cameron finished, out of breath from monologuing while Percy's eyes glazed over.
The older demigod sighed dejectedly at the kind of guy his half brother had turned out to be. The kid was a liar that was irrationally full of himself, even with no experience to back it; he didn't believe Percy had done those things because Cameron couldn't see himself as capable of it. Between his father and new brother, Percy unfortunately chalked up the day's events to one loss after another.
The demigod groaned internally at his cranky mood because it would definitely be reflected in the vivid and dangerous dreams that all demigods were prone to. After mentally preparing himself, Percy's head hit the pillow and he was out.
To his surprise, he dreamt of nothing. Not that he didn't dream, but that his dream was nothing. The demigod found himself suspended in a plane devoid of all senses. He knew his eyes were open, ears were uncovered, and the rest of his senses were functional. But he picked up on nothing. He held his hands up to his face, and his field of vision didn't change at all, remaining an impossible black. He couldn't feel the ground beneath his feet, though he knew it was there. The deafening silence was off-putting at first, but Percy realized that maybe the conditions weren't so bad to get some sleep.
For a single instant, the demigod thought he sensed a presence watching him. He felt a tug in his head like a plug yanked from an outlet. But the feeling disappeared as quickly as it'd arrived, so fast that he wasn't even sure if it'd really happened. He disregarded it and closed his eyes.
The next morning, Percy woke up to an empty cabin and light streaming through open windows. Light? His time on the Argo II had adjusted him to waking up at the equivalent of 7 AM sharp every day; the sun should have barely been up.
Percy's head hit the upper bed frame as the familiar sound of the breakfast horn rang out, jerking him upright. He'd overslept by three hours, savoring the best sleep of his entire demigod life. But he was extra hungry. Unable to afford waiting until lunch, he threw on his clothes and hustled in the direction of the dining hall.
In the dining pavilion, everyone had taken their usual seats. Most campers still sat at their respective parents' tables, but with how many empty tables there were for minor gods, a few cross-parent groups had formed. The most notable was the table of all of the head counselors that'd fought together in the Titan War. Will Solace, the Stoll brothers, Katie Gardner, Clarisse, and Annabeth sat together wondering where their last tablemate was.
Cameron hopped into Percy's seat instead, to the vague displeasure of the table. None of them had explicitly met the new camper yet; they'd just seen his introduction at the Big House and heard the ruckus from his string of performances.
"Hey guys, I'm Cameron, but I'm sure you already knew that from the Big House meeting. If you're waiting on Percy, sorry; he must've slept in because we were up really late talking about all of the crazy things he's done at camp," he said, feigning a very convincing friendly tone.
It worked as the counselors lightly welcomed Cameron to the table, but Annabeth remained wary at the unnatural warmness of the cocky kid from yesterday. The group talked for a few minutes, and most of them quickly took a liking to Cameron. As the conversation shifted to their first impressions of him yesterday, Travis Stoll threw his arm around the new camper and chuckled,
"Man you're nothing like I thought you'd be like."
Cameron smiled sheepishly before responding.
"You guys aren't like how Percy described you either," he added, "I really like you guys."
The implication quickly silenced the table. Eventually, Will Solace piped up,
"What do you mean 'how he described us'?" he asked, speaking apprehensively toward the kid throwing accusations at one of his closest friends.
Cameron looked around the table at the glares he was receiving, none harsher than Annabeth's narrow slits. He knew pushing the lie was going to be a difficult task, but he hadn't accounted for shuddering involuntarily at the hateful look in the daughter of Athena's eyes. He looked back at Will, donning a solemn mask.
"I shouldn't be doing this, but I feel like you should hear it." He leaned in so only Will could hear him. "Percy told me about Michael Yew dying. He said you could've saved him if you were braver and hadn't gone back to hide," he whispered, deliberately only emphasizing the one word.
Annabeth tried her best to eavesdrop, raging at the allegation against her boyfriend, but was only able to catch a first name. She quickly put together who they were talking about, and her anger faltered.
Did Percy really tell him about Michael? It took him weeks to talk to me about what exactly happened on that bridge, and he was devastated that he couldn't save him. Regardless, there's nothing in that story that had to do with Will.
She was dragged out of her thoughts when Will's face fell deathly white and tears welled up in his eyes. He quickly got up and ran from the pavilion, not willing to cry in front of his friends over a death he still blamed himself for. Cameron hung his head, allowing himself a brief smile, before stifling it and sadly addressing the rest of the group,
"I'm sorry. This was a mistake," he said before he slunk off to a group of newbies around a table that would later become Cameron's.
Nobody in the group had said a word since Will ran off, but the seeds of curiosity had been ingrained, and Cameron knew they'd find out what he'd said. At that moment, Percy ran into the dining hall very ready to eat.
Before heading to grab some food, he cheerily greeted his friends who, much to his confusion, responded half-heartedly. Most of the group was still a bit stunned; they knew Percy to be one of the best people they'd ever met, but Will's reaction wasn't something they could just gloss over. But Annabeth had complete faith in Percy and knew there was a reasonable explanation for what had just happened.
The horn sounded again as Percy sliced a portion of his pancakes into the central brazier. Most of it was an uncertain apology to his dad and the rest a 'hello' to Lady Hestia. He groaned as he sat down because his friends were already leaving for their classes, a couple a bit too quickly. The demigod raised an eyebrow at Katie not even glancing at him as she filed out. Annabeth stayed behind, not wanting Percy to eat alone but also curious about last night.
"How does it feel having your first demigod sibling?" she asked him.
Percy nodded absently as he tore into his regular-colored pancakes, miffed that the dryads still refused to make them blue.
"It's whatever. I only got to meet him last night when he got tired of entertaining all of the new campers and came to the cabin to get some sleep," he replied.
Annabeth pressed a little, asking him what they talked about. Percy shrugged.
"Honestly, nothing really. We just had some simple small talk and then a little about him and his merry band of performers," Percy said, not wanting to worry her about Cameron's weird villain speech.
Annabeth fell silent while Percy continued to ravage his food. She thought to herself,
Percy's lying to me now? There's no other way for Cameron to have even known Michael's name, let alone the details of his death, unless Percy had told him.
Annabeth dropped the subject, silently hurt that he was lying right to her face, and decided she'd have to figure out the rational explanation on her own. They instead talked about their friends at Camp Jupiter while Percy finished up his food. As they got ready to leave, the daughter of Athena let him know she was heading straight to Olympus after she got done packing. Percy was sad to see her go but so excited for what she'd get to see. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her in to kiss her.
"I love you," he said. Annabeth paused before she smiled and rolled her eyes.
"I love you too. I'll see you in a week." And she was off to her cabin.
(Line Break)
The next months were the most confusing of Percy's life. What he'd noticed almost immediately was that Will had completely stopped speaking to him. The son of Apollo would storm away anytime Percy was in his vicinity, and had returned to sitting at his father's table during mealtimes.
Unknown to Percy, his friends had become aware of what Cameron had told Will, and their confidence in the demigod was shaken. They hadn't outright ostracized him, but there was always a level of tension at their table. At the same time, Cameron was dedicating more and more time towards catching Percy's friends isolated around camp. His next target was Katie Gardner.
Katie and Cameron had become friends. He always expressed his admiration of her weekly floral arrangements around the Demeter cabin, and one week, she let him tag along to help pick the next set. They were in a clearing just beyond Zeus' Fist, making selections from a natural bouquet of bellflowers. Cameron plucked one too roughly, killing it, and he grimaced while turning towards Katie.
"From everything I've heard about you guys, I thought this would be easier," he bemoaned.
Katie looked at him nervously, a sinking feeling in her stomach about what Cameron had meant.
"What have you heard?" she asked cautiously.
Cameron sighed before he told her what "Percy" had said. He explained how he'd heard the Demeter cabin was easily the least useful in the camp, and that Katie's bossy attitude came from insecurity at how powerless she knew she was.
From Katie's eyes, he knew he'd already gone far enough, but Cameron pressed on. He told her about how Percy thought she could've saved more lives at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel during the Titan War if she were as capable as she claimed to be. He'd hit the nail in the coffin; Katie began openly sobbing. Naturally, her relationship with Percy severed.
But Cameron wasn't done. As the months passed by, Percy's circle continued to grow smaller and smaller with no explanation for him as to why. The Stolls were next, learning that Percy had said the only reason they didn't turn out like Luke was because they weren't intelligent or determined like their former head counselor. Then was Clarisse, who left the most violently.
Percy and Clarisse had always been natural rivals because of the son of Poseidon's relationship with Ares. But the two had maintained grudging respect for each other's prowess that had evolved to friendship following the Titan War. It was all thrown down the drain when Cameron did his worst to reignite hatred between them.
He first dropped comments about how much of a loser Percy thought Ares was and how ridiculous it was that all of the war god's kids had anger issues. But Clarisse remained unfazed. She knew her father didn't need defending, and she didn't mind her anger considering it helped her stomp on anybody in her way. With every failed attempt, Cameron grew increasingly frustrated until he realized the card he needed to play.
One morning in the sword fighting area, he decided to finally break Clarisse. The demigod first made sure he was a couple yards away; Clarisse was holding her spear, and he'd seen her use it for much, much less. Cameron admitted to her that Percy was glad that, if someone had to die for it, it was "the traitor" Silena that'd spurred Clarisse into killing the drakon in New York.
The daughter of Ares exploded. Cameron jumped back to avoid the bulldozer that was Clarisse running straight through the wall of the arena, barrelling towards Percy, who was having yet another unsuccessful morning of trying to get his friends to talk to him.
"JACKSON!" she shouted, within ten feet of him.
Percy turned and met a flat slab of steel against the side of his head, sending him crashing into the ground. As angry as Clarisse was, she wasn't going to kill the demigod regardless of what he'd said. His vision became blurry, littered with spots, and his ears rang like Apollo was between them banging cymbals together. He tried and failed to form words; the searing pain in his temples kept him silent.
"Don't ever say her name again," Clarisse spat as she walked away.
Percy eventually made his way back to his cabin with some ambrosia and nectar courtesy of a sympathetic dryad who'd watched the scene unfold. He climbed into his bed while the god food slowly healed his head. Percy had finally given up on trying to elicit an explanation from Clarisse or any of his other friends, thoroughly convinced it wouldn't happen.
It was still morning, so Percy had all day to sit in bed and throw an earned pity party about the last eleven months. Day after day of increasing loneliness had taken its toll on the demigod. But, of course, Annabeth was still there. Just her name was enough to ease the throbbing in his face as he wondered how she was doing on Olympus that week.
(Line Break)
Annabeth had been away for much of the year, and would only come back from her weeklong trips for a couple days at a time. At camp, she'd spend the first day with Percy, and they'd talk about everything she'd learned that week. More accurately, she would talk while he'd try his best to keep up, but he'd be content just listening to how excited she sounded. The next day, or days, she'd still see Percy, but later in the day because she wanted to catch up with the rest of her friends. But during those later times with him, she'd always be more reserved.
Annabeth always said it was from the day's fatigue, but it was because her friends, and eventually Cameron, would catch her up on whatever else Percy had allegedly said about them. A little part of her remained dead-set that it was all somehow a concocted lie, but that sliver fell quieter and quieter as the evidence piled up. Cameron just knew too many details that he couldn't have learned from anyone else. Still, she held onto that hope, because the Percy she would spend the first day with was who he'd always been. He was nothing like the hateful person that could have said the things that'd driven his friends away.
But as the months flew by and the situation continued to worsen, her initial fear that Percy had been lying since the first breakfast with Cameron began to win her over. Even though her hopeful inkling remained, she found herself distancing from the demigod each week.
(Line Break)
With the side of his face still slightly throbbing, Percy thought about what had gotten him through the difficult months. Besides Annabeth of course, it was the plan he'd made with Leo, and then the Blackouts. He felt it was a fitting name for his periodic, perfect nights of sleep where he dreamed of nothing. At first, he thought they occurred randomly, but Percy put together that they only happened on nights where he dwelled on his father. Since the sleep was so deep that it ensured he'd doze off for too long, the demigod limited himself to the days that he felt the worst, like tonight. He laid in bed, waiting to call to his ever-silent father after his head stopped pounding.
About an hour later, the pain of the wound had ebbed completely, and Percy heard a knock on his door. He opened it to find Annabeth back from her most recent trip, and he immediately wrapped her in a tight hug. She tensed for a moment before she lightly mirrored him. The daughter of Athena hid the uneasy look on her face as she pulled away.
Instead of her normal routine, Annabeth had quickly visited her friends before coming to see Percy, and they'd told her what had happened between him and Clarisse. That'd finalized her decision regarding something she hadn't told Percy, or almost anybody else, about yet.
Percy was so relieved to see her after the day he'd just had, but her concerned expression worried him. Holding his hands, Annabeth sat him down on his bed with her.
"Percy, I'm in the middle of a really big content project on Olympus, and I'll be leaving tomorrow morning for a little while longer than normal. I'm sorry I couldn't be here for more time, but I wanted to come back and let you know before I left for three weeks," she said, feeling awful for lying to his face about where she was going.
Percy nodded in understanding; as much as he missed her at camp, he couldn't bear to keep her from those godly archives.
"That's alright, Annabeth. After you come back from discovering the secrets of the universe, you owe me a lot more time here," he said playfully, masking his excitement at the message he was going to send Leo after she'd left.
She smiled at his encouragement as he leaned in and kissed her. As Annabeth got up to leave, her confusion only worsened at the polarity between the person in front of her and the one that'd said those awful things about Clarisse.
Annabeth pushed it out of her mind as she opened the door and stepped out; she had somewhere else to be. Percy stood in the door frame, watching her walk towards her cabin. He called out behind her,
"I love you."
"Love you," she replied, not turning back to look at him. Percy didn't take note, though, as he was busy admiring the way the silver glow of the moon illuminated her blonde hair.
He closed the door and laid stomach-down on his bed, kicking his feet behind him like the lovestruck idiot he was. He didn't know what it was that had him feeling so suddenly giddy. Could it have been an overcorrection from his loneliness at camp? Maybe. Or the fact that most demigods don't live long natural lives? Sure, that too. But those factors paled in comparison to the driver that was how much he loved that daughter of Athena.
While Annabeth went on her extended trip, he was going to do what he said he'd do. He was going to call Leo. He was going to ask Athena. And when his girlfriend came back, he was finally going to ask her. He was going to ask Annabeth Chase to marry him.
*End Flashback*
The sun had long set, and Percy's hand drifted to the package in his pocket. He pulled it out and removed the loose wrapping. In his hand sat a little velvet box, the initials AC carved into the sea green fabric. Percy hadn't planned to look at the ring beforehand, but he couldn't resist with it right in front of him. As he gently opened the lid, his breath hitched.
The intertwining band was a soft rose gold, Annabeth's favorite color, inlet with shimmering diamonds that Percy had stolen from Hades. The elegant frame seemed to pull his gaze towards the main attraction, set on prongs that stemmed seamlessly from the band. The center stone was a fragment of the jewel of Theia, the goddess of gems. Percy had felt bad about excavating it from her buried temple, though Hephaestus had promised to put the rest back. But with one look at the jewel adorning the center of the ring, the regret of his heist faded. Because of the goddess' enchantment, the gem had a kaleidoscope effect, causing it to shift between every kind of precious metal. Emerald, diamond, amethyst, jade. The shifting was hypnotic and it constantly perfected the ring, showing whatever gem the viewer most wished to see.
Percy shook with excitement as he sealed the velvet safe. Although he hadn't explicitly asked Annabeth to meet him on the beach, he knew it was where she'd come after noticing he wasn't at his cabin, and she was due any minute now.
A dramatic entrance. He needed to make a dramatic entrance. For the biggest moment in his life so far, he couldn't just be sitting in the sand. An idea popped into his head, and it required a magic hat.
Percy sprinted across camp towards the Athena cabin, doing his best to avoid any patrolling harpies in the darkness. He arrived at the cabin door and slipped in silently, hoping to not wake any of Annabeth's siblings. Thankfully, as head counselor, she'd designed a separate personal room in the back that her siblings wouldn't dare enter without her. Percy could, though, and he made his way to her desk where the Yankees cap hung off the top of her chair. He paused. He would never deliberately invade her privacy, but there was only a lone piece of paper on her normally cluttered desk, and the golden state seal of California had caught his eye.
Dear Annabeth Chase,
Congratulations on your acceptance, and thank you for submitting your intent to enroll at the University of Southern California. For our incoming architecture students, we will be having a pre-fall program that we greatly encourage you to attend from July 14th to August 4th…
Percy stopped reading and took a step back. A suffocating lump built in his throat as he tore his eyes from the paper. Today was August 4th. Was California where she'd been for the three weeks she claimed she was on Olympus? Was she planning on moving to a school on the other side of the country without telling him? What else was she hiding from him?
Dude, you're spiraling. This is Annabeth; you trust her more than anything. She'll explain all of this. Get back to the beach.
Percy's breathing steadied, and he flipped the cap onto his head, turning him completely invisible. His excitement returned, pushing the acceptance letter to the back of his mind as he trotted back towards their spot on the beach.
Still concealed, Percy got within earshot of his destination and picked up on two voices coming from the strip of beach. For a second, he was dismayed that two random campers may complicate the moment he'd prayed would be perfect, but he quickly recognized one of the voices as Annabeth.
"... haven't even told him yet," she said to whoever she was with.
"Even though it took all of these months, aren't you glad I still convinced you to apply?" Percy scowled as he realized it was Cameron.
"Yeah, I am. Thank you. I couldn't have done that to the Percy I thought I knew. But with everything we've learned this year about how he really feels–" her voice faltered, and she paused for a minute. "–he's not the person I fell in love with," she finished shakily.
"I know," Cameron said.
Percy surged forward to interrupt their discussion. But what he found made his chest tighten, and a hole seemingly tore its way through his gut. Cameron leaned down to kiss her while Annabeth leaned up and let him.