Chapter 3: Gone and Gone Again
Annabeth had let her guard down in that moment. Verbalizing her feelings about Percy, she'd released her hope in him. And the resulting fraction of a kiss was followed by every instinct in her body screaming both that it was wrong and that she was in danger. She ripped away, her head snapping towards the sea, expecting to see a hulking monster that would justify the distress her body felt. She realized that the source was actually a few yards behind her.
Percy stood facing the two, a Yankees cap in one hand and a small green box in the other. The demigod didn't need to speak; his features held enough of his voice. The demigod's eyes emanated unbridled pain as they welled with tears. Percy fought as hard as he could to hold them back, but he had no chance against the cascade that overpowered him, blurring his vision. And he couldn't have spoken if he'd wanted to. His throat felt bone dry and had closed up completely, watching and hearing the scene before him. Annabeth stepped towards him and started,
"Percy… please.." but what else could she say?
She knew it was already too late. She was the one who'd given up on him, if only for a second. But looking at him, Annabeth again became certain he hadn't done any of the things Cameron claimed. She didn't care about the "evidence" anymore; Percy's overwhelming pain and confusion couldn't have had any other explanation. In some way, she knew Percy was who he'd always been, but that subconscious belief meant nothing now. She'd already betrayed him, and he had every right to be angry. And he was angry.
Percy's eyes had quickly become bloodshot. His tears kept trickling down, but his posture stiffened like a cold statue. The demigod felt hollow as he stared at Annabeth, and his expression became briefly devoid of emotion. Cameron snickered at the mess in front of him as he reached out to put his arm around Annabeth. Percy's face then contorted to rage.
The winds ramped up as the ocean began to churn violently behind the pair. Panicking, Cameron thrust his arms out to try and slow the dark whirlpool that had roared to life dangerously close to the shore. A thick tendril of water shot out of the ocean and struck his sternum. As he flew backwards, wind from the opposite direction clotheslined him flat onto his face. His cry was barely audible over the thrashing gale.
Percy hadn't moved a muscle, but his glowing green eyes gave away that he was the source of the growing disaster. He finally stepped towards Annabeth, who frantically looked at Cameron's crumpled form in the sand. The wind whipped her hair in every direction as she turned towards Percy.
"How much of it was real?"
He'd finally found his voice, and it came out as nothing more than a whisper. But even through the raging storm around them, Annabeth could hear him. The fact that she'd made him feel the need to ask that made her throat tighten, and she was desperate to take his pain away.
"All of it. Percy, please. This was a moment of my weakness. It was one mistake," she pleaded unthinkingly. She realized her mistake as she said it.
"One mistake! It was one mistake?! What about lying about where you've been for these last three weeks? Planning to move to a college across the country without even mentioning it to me? And all those days you were so distant, were you really tired from the day with your friends? Or were they also spent sneaking out here with Cameron? ONE MISTAKE?"
Percy was roaring, but he was still almost drowned out by the deafening storm. He hadn't even thought to bring up the nights she'd come back from Olympus until he suddenly realized they'd been eating at him.
Annabeth stared at him, stunned. She quickly put together from her flailing hat in the wind that he must have seen the letter. The demigod fell to her knees with her head in her hands, sobbing at what he'd come to think of her. Cameron was struggling to his feet, choking out a laugh.
"I told you I'd take it all from you, Jackson! And you couldn't even figure out how I did it," he shouted over the torrential downpour.
Percy didn't hear anything he charged towards his half-brother. The raging demigod lowered his shoulder and barreled into Cameron's chin with a satisfying crack, sending him back into the sand with blood gushing from his lip. He uncapped Riptide and stood over the crumpled demigod, a murderous look on his face.
From right next to them, Annabeth watched at the scene in horror. She reached out and touched Percy's sword arm. A new feeling of regret built in his stomach as he snapped his head to look at her. From her position on the ground, Annabeth looked terrified watching him command the storm and raise his blade. He grimaced as he stepped off of Cameron's unconscious body, and the storm immediately began to dissipate. Riptide returned to its pen form and slipped back into a pocket.
As vindictive as Percy had felt in that moment, towards the both of them, he couldn't bear to be the reason she felt that fear. The winds eased, and the sea returned to its quiet tides lapping at the shore. Percy turned and began to walk away from the duo before he realized he had a final loose end. In his left hand, he was still clutching the velvet box.
"Guess I don't need this anymore," he whispered while eyeing it spitefully.
Percy was only talking out loud to himself, but Annabeth had heard him. She watched him throw the box down at his side and continue his walk back to camp, never looking back at her. He must have thrown it harder than he'd realized because the lid cracked off, revealing the contents to Annabeth.
The storm had left her physically unharmed, but the anguish on her face did nothing to reflect that. She stared at the most beautiful ring she'd ever seen as her eyes again welled with tears. In a voice too small for anyone else to hear, she whispered 'I do.' She didn't know why she'd said it, but she had. As the demigod crawled over to the ring and held it in her hands, she sobbed over the future that was no longer hers.
(Line Break)
Back at his cabin, Percy was shoving his essential belongings into a backpack. As much as he'd loved the place for so long, Camp Half Blood wasn't his home anymore, and there was nobody left for him here besides Chiron. Percy couldn't leave him with no explanation, so he jotted down a quick note for the old centaur. His eyes stung with occasional tears until he finished writing and folded the note into his pocket.
Closing his cabin door for what was hopefully the last time, he took a deep breath and whistled. Mrs O'Leary bounded out of a nearby shadow. Percy smiled at the sight of his loving hellhound as she barreled into him and licked him profusely. Getting up, the demigod winced because, when greeting her friends, the friendly monster forgets she's the size of a garbage truck.
Vaulting onto her back, he directed her to the front porch of the Big House. The demigod left his note at the foot of the door before he whispered their destination in Mrs O'Leary's ear. The hellhound barked excitedly, and Percy was shocked that her deafening woof didn't instantly wake the entirety of Long Island. She dissolved into the nearest shadow, and Percy braced his stomach for the 3,000 mile jump.
A moment later, they reappeared along the banks of the Little Tiber in Berkeley Hills, California. Percy slid off the back of his hellhound, who promptly fell over while panting heavily. Even for Mrs O'Leary, shadow traveling cross-country took a significant amount of energy. Percy rubbed her belly as he looked on at the Roman camp just across the near bridge.
He smiled fondly at his memories there: the war game where Frank had met his father for the first time, Percy returning from his quest to Alaska and being raised on a shield as Praetor, and the day the Argo had shown up and reunited him with Annabeth. His expression became pained as he relived the events of the past few hours. At the same time, a flare shot up from a newly built watchtower overlooking the river.
Adjacent to the watchtower, the closest barracks roared to life, and a squadron of a dozen legionnaires charged towards the river led by… the Minotaur? Squashing his confusion, Percy drew Riptide. The Minotaur tore ahead of the rest, brandishing a silver-tipped spear instead of his usual double-edged battle axe, and he had a massive bow slung over his body. Percy's eyes widened as he remembered the ceremony on Olympus where his friend had received an unusual gift.
He waved his hands over his head, but the fireteam didn't slow its charge. Percy needed to get them to stand down, so he thrust out his arms, calling to the water in front of him. With a soft tug in his gut, he willed the river to explode. Hundreds of gallons of water rushed towards the advancing unit at immensely high pressure, dousing them thoroughly and knocking them all off their feet.
"Frank! It's Percy!" he shouted, nearly certain that his friend had unlocked a new monstrous mutation.
The Minotaur looked at him, dazed, before seeming to process the information. The monster snorted, draining the remaining water from his sinuses, and then transformed into the burly Praetor of New Rome.
Frank grinned as they met at the top of the bridge, sharing a quick hug.
"It's been way too long, man," the Roman demigod said, clapping his friend's back.
"It for sure has. What's the Praetor of the Legion doing keeping a lookout in the middle of the night?" Percy asked. Frank laughed, confused.
"Percy, it's like 9 PM. We were wrapping up evening training when I felt a powerful presence at the river."
"Oh, right. Three-hour time difference. I just shadow traveled here with Mrs O'Leary from Camp Half Blood so I could tell you guys something," Percy said stoically.
Frank perked up, incredibly excited. Leo had arrived in New Rome earlier because he couldn't keep a secret about a package he'd delivered to Percy's door that afternoon. Piper had actually screamed when she'd heard what it was, Hazel had fanned her face to calm her excitement, and Jason had literally fist pumped the air, which had led to jeering laughs from everyone else.
"So? What is it?" Frank asked eagerly, wanting to be the first to hear it. Percy's eyes darkened as he looked at his friend.
"Can you get everyone together so I don't have to tell the story more than once?" he asked with poorly masked pain in his voice. Suddenly worried, Frank nodded silently as he turned to get their friends.
"Oh, and can we meet out here? By the river," Percy added.
He couldn't bear to go into New Rome just yet, remembering all of the times he wished he and Annabeth could move there together.
"Sure, man. I'll be right back," Frank said, trekking back to the Principalis and then New Rome to gather the group.
Percy only waited on the bridge for ten minutes before he saw his friends making their way down towards him. Momentarily surprised to see Leo with them, Percy realized he must've let them in on the proposal. He felt a pang in his chest when he noticed the excitement on all of their faces. Still, he really was glad to see all of them again.
They met at the bottom of the bridge with a round of either hugs or fist bumps marking their reunion. Frank had told them all that Percy wanted to talk there, so they all took seats on the grassy banks of the river, careful to avoid the areas the son of Poseidon had drenched. Out of the group, Piper shook with the most enthusiasm. As much as she avoided her mother's stereotypes, she couldn't not love hearing about her friends' relationships.
"Soooo, tell us the good news Percy!" Piper said, no longer holding back her eagerness.
Percy's face fell as he knew the news would hurt them, too. But he ripped the band-aid off.
"We broke up," the demigod said flatly.
Nobody said a word. Leo's jaw dropped, Hazel covered her mouth, Frank and Jason's eyes widened, and Piper looked like she'd been shot. It stayed that way for a minute longer until Leo broke the silence with a chuckle.
"Come on, man. You almost got me. That's not funny, Per–" One look at the pain in Percy's eyes switched Leo's tone immediately. "Oh my gods, dude. Can you tell us what happened?"
Percy took a deep breath. He was not looking forward to rehashing the worst year of his life considering the most awful moment of it occurred less than an hour ago. But he knew he couldn't tell his friends what he wanted to do unless they had all of the context. Percy began recounting the past year, starting from the morning they'd left Camp Half-Blood.
He told them about his final interaction with Poseidon, Cameron's mission to convince the campers that Percy was a fraud, all of his closest friends eventually hating and leaving him, and Annabeth's betrayal. The river had stirred more and more violently as the story went on before it promptly silenced when Percy broke down at the end. He rubbed the tears from his eyes as he looked back up at his friends.
Jason's face was red while flames sparked from Leo's hands. The rest of the group shared similar reactions at how the Greek camp had treated the most selfless hero to ever come out of it. But the worst part was what one of their own quest members had done. Piper especially couldn't believe that the most perfect couple she'd ever seen would somehow end up like this.
"So, with all of that," Percy continued, his voice shaking, "I couldn't stay at that camp anymore. Would it be fine if I moved to Camp Jupiter?"
"Oh, Percy. Of course it would. Frank will set you up with a house and everything in New Rome when you're ready," Hazel said through a few sympathetic tears. Frank nodded. Percy was able to pull himself together, grateful to still have his friends at the Roman camp.
"Thanks, guys. Also, it won't be for a few days. I just needed to see you all, but I want to go spend some time with my mom first. I need to let her know what happened and not have her worry when I suddenly disappear to the other side of the country," Percy said.
Some of the group winced at the malice in his voice at the end, realizing he was referring to Annabeth's acceptance letter.
They all understood and said their goodbyes, deeply upset about what their friend had had to go through. Hazel was glad that Percy felt he could come to them with something so serious. If he were more like Nico, he may have just disappeared entirely for some time, leaving them with nothing but questions.
Percy looked back at Mrs O'Leary to find that she was passed out on the grass, her tongue lolling out of her mouth. He rolled his eyes but smiled at the giant monster contentedly sleeping on her side. The demigod decided not to wake her and figure out some other way to start heading back. The group was starting to leave, but Leo looked back and saw the little predicament Percy was in.
"Man, if only you knew a cool, sexy, ladies' man with powers that could teleport you across the country," Leo said, slapping Percy's back.
Percy's eyes widened before he chuckled. If there was one word to describe Leo, it was dependable. Percy thanked him and told him that his mom lived in Montauk; she'd bought the cabin they went to every summer and renovated it into a beach house with Paul.
Leo grabbed his shoulder, and the duo disappeared in a column of fire. They materialized on a cliff overlooking the Atlantic. A few hundred feet behind them sat Sally's newly renovated home. It was two stories in a contemporary coastal style with modern flat roofs: very expensive-looking. And of course, it was painted blue.
"Damn Perce! Your mom's been living it up after she dropped that last book; this is niceee," he praised.
Percy hadn't been back since it'd been renovated, so it was his first time seeing it as well. After he got done admiring the place, he turned to Leo.
"Thanks for everything, man. Can you let everyone know that I'll be back in five days?" Percy asked.
Leo nodded before giving Percy what he'd call a totally-masculine-man-hug and disappearing in a ball of fire.
Alone, Percy sighed before he let his shoulders slump forward, and tears again stung at his eyes. Everything that had happened was still so fresh in his mind, but he felt that he had to hold a stronger front with his friends. The demigod was so exhausted from it all, and just wanted to lay on the couch in front of the fireplace with his mom like they used to. With those fond memories in mind, he held a small smile as he trudged tiredly towards the front door.
(Line Break)
Annabeth had barely moved from her position on the beach when Cameron finally came to. He groaned meekly as he sat up, his hands cupping his chin to try and dull the pain. Annabeth's throat was dry, and she silently shook as if she were still crying, though there were no tears left to fall. The demigod turned to Cameron and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, needing to know the truth.
"Percy didn't say those things about anyone, did he!? How did you know about them? Are you a spy? A servant of Gaea? Kronos? Tartarus?"
She flung random accusations, desperate in her attempt to justify how she'd fallen for the lies. She realized she was shaking him violently as he whimpered while clutching his chin and his chest. Annabeth let go as he began to speak.
"No, what the hell are you talking about," he groaned, but spoke carefully, "He did tell me about his stupid exaggerated adventures. I just added the hateful things he said about his friends to get them to see him the way they should."
He fought through the physical pain he was in, remaining stable enough to not reveal the whole truth. And with the emotional turmoil Annabeth was in, Cameron was sure that answer would be good enough for her. He was right.
Annabeth made an almost choking sound as she felt another sharp pain in her heart. Her hopeful hunch had been correct; none of those awful thoughts were Percy's. She'd lost faith in the person she loved more than anybody else because of statements that he would never even think of. And there was nothing Annabeth could do to mend it; she knew she'd had so many chances to confront him, but her hubris had convinced her she could figure it out herself.
Annabeth still had to try, but she knew Percy wouldn't want to see her so soon. She shuddered as she got to her feet, exhausted from crying and the overwhelming self-loathing she felt, and made her way to her cabin. She would see him at breakfast tomorrow and do everything she could to undo her mistake.
The next morning, Chiron found the note Percy had left for him.
Dear Chiron,
I'm leaving camp for good. I'm sure you know about everything with Cameron and my friends and you'll hear about Annabeth soon, too. I hope you know I don't blame you. I know that as the camp director, you're not allowed to get involved between campers' problems that aren't life threatening. Anyways, thank you for everything, and don't worry about me. I'm going to Camp Jupiter.
- Percy
Chiron felt a deep guilt at the loss of his student. He'd watched Percy's life at camp fall apart and was completely powerless to stop it. The centaur knew Cameron was behind it somehow; he'd been keeping an eye on the boy from the day he'd strangely arrived with the sea god. But still having no damning evidence, he shook his head and sighed. Although they hadn't treated him like a friend, Chiron felt the campers should know that Percy was gone.
During breakfast, the centaur stood at the front of the Pavilion and demanded the campers' attention. He announced that Percy had permanently left Camp Half-Blood. Many of the campers looked at each other in shock that such a powerful demigod would up and leave with no warning. Cameron stood from "his" table of goons. The bottom half of his face was swollen, and he seemed to wince slightly as he breathed.
"Good riddance to that loser. Nobody wanted a fraud here anyways!" he scoffed.
Jeers went up from his section of the Pavilion as his band of newbies scrambled for the lesser son of Poseidon's approval. Everyone else watched them bewildered, having witnessed Percy's strength in some way or another, not understanding how the dig made any sense.
The table of head counselors was completely silent. Annabeth turned deathly white; her chance was gone. She'd already told the rest of the table about what Cameron had admitted the night before, as well as everything that'd led up to it. They sat around the table with various levels of shock on their faces, processing what they'd been complicit in doing to their friend.
Chiron stared at Cameron with intense hate in his eyes. The campers around the boy shrank from the glare as the centaur's hand unconsciously gripped his bow, anger clouding his normally calm thoughts. Before he could do anything rash, an equally rageful daughter of Ares bounded over several tables and decked Cameron square in the nose, shattering it. Clarisse stepped back while swearing at him, her face red in anger and in shame for believing that Percy would say what Cameron had alleged about their friend.
Cameron collapsed, both hands clasped over his nose that was bent in an unnatural direction. Chiron snapped out of his thoughts, and released the bow he didn't realize he was holding. Two of Cameron's cronies, sons of Apollo, began to heal his nose as the centaur cut breakfast short, dismissing everyone to their daily tasks.
Everyone shuffled out of the Pavilion, whispering to each other about their normally stoic instructor's reaction, Clarisse attacking Cameron, and theorizing about where Percy had gone. Only the head counselors remained in the dining hall. They went up to Chiron, begging for him to let them go find Percy or asking if he'd said anything about where he was going. The centaur shook his head.
"No, nobody will go search for him. I do not know where Perseus is, but even if I did, I would not tell you; I believe you all know that part of this was brought on by yourselves," he said gravely before returning to the Big House.
Chiron was grateful that Percy had people to turn to in the Roman demigods. In the living room of the Big House, he flicked a drachma into some mist, wanting to thank the Romans for being there for Percy.
"Lady Iris, please show me Praetor Frank Zhang at Camp Jupiter."
Chiron had been around long enough to develop a friendship with the goddess, no longer needing to say the traditional phrase to get her attention. But silence followed his present request. He raised an eyebrow before throwing two more drachmas into the misty rainbow.
"Iris, this is important. Show me Frank Zhang," he said, a little agitated.
Again, nothing. The drachmas were disappearing, so Chiron knew she was getting them. He was about to speak again when an exasperated huff came from the mist, and the Goddess of the Rainbow appeared.
"It's not working! I can't relay messages to people purposely avoiding them! What did you do Chiron?" she said, obviously frustrated.
Chiron's eyes widened as he realized the Romans must be reacting to what Percy's friends had done. Sighing, he simply swiped through the mist and severed the connection.
Meanwhile at Camp Jupiter
"They drove him away from their damned camp! Percy led them through two wars and a dozen quests, and they still abandoned him in favor of a lying new recruit! They are not worthy of Rome as an ally!" Frank shouted to the mass of soldiers gathered in front of him.
The Twelfth Legion was in an uproar. They'd all either been present to raise Percy on a shield as Praetor or had heard about his exploits during his time at Camp Jupiter.
The Romans respected him and were outraged at how their counterpart camp had treated the demigod. Using his power as Praetor, Frank created a new statute cutting all ties with the Greek camp. He had the demigod children of Trivia use the Mist to block all means of communication to and from Camp Half-Blood, including Iris Messaging. The Romans were happy to welcome Percy into their ranks, who they still considered an honorary Praetor, but did not plan to extend the invitation to any other Greeks again.
Following the announcement, five days went as quickly as they came with no word from Percy. Day Six had arrived, and Jason sat in his Roman War Tactics Lecture, paying no attention to the Testudo diagram in front of him, while he tapped his leg at a million miles an hour. There were a lot of words to describe Percy, but tardy wasn't one of them, especially when it came to promises made to his friends.
Piper had already chided him in the morning, telling him that it made complete sense for Percy to want to spend a little longer than he'd expected with his mother. Jason knew she was right, but he couldn't shake the sinking feeling in his stomach. He decided not to worry any of his friends at camp and would call Nico later in the day, who still hadn't been filled in on the entire situation.
Jason had no explanation as to how, but the son of Hades could get perfect cell service in the Underworld. That evening, Nico appeared at the camp border after a brief phone conversation with Jason. At the same spot Jason had learned it from Percy, he told Nico everything about what had happened. The son of Hades was shaking in anger and eager to visit his cousin, if only to check on him.
The two clasped forearms and began to dissolve into the nearest shadow. Jason braced himself to not throw up but Nico just smirked; he'd mastered shadow traveling with no side effects as long as the jump wasn't halfway around the world. A split second after being fully enveloped, they appeared on what used to be an intact cliff overlooking what should have been a calm sea.
The duo immediately dropped to a knee as hurricane winds berated them. The sea roared at their backs, thirty-foot waves off the coast threatening to breach their vantage point on the cliff. The ground beneath them shook and sheared, actively falling apart. Massive cracks stretched across the cliff face below them as well as all around them, almost reaching the house ahead. The two demigods nodded to each other as they braved the torrential rain and the rest of the natural calamities while they forced their feet towards the building.
They slowly fought to within a dozen yards of the house, and the weather conditions around them eased. The monstrous disaster continued to rage behind them, but it seemed to deliberately be avoiding damaging the house. Jason realized his gut must have been right; there was only one non-Olympian that could do this, and even he would have to feel impossibly emotional for it to approach this level.
Reaching the front of the house, the two stood in front of the door and caught their breath. Nico's face fell a dozen shades paler than usual when his hand touched the doorknob.
"Thanatos has been here," he said in a small voice before the duo inched through the front door in fear of what they'd find.
Past the opening hallway, the living room was in disarray: overturned bookshelves, a shattered TV, splintered coffee tables littering the floor. Monster dust was sprinkled across the debris. Jason and Nico did what they could to avoid stepping on glass as they quickly moved towards the kitchen doorway. Walking through it, their breaths hitched in unison.
Blood was splattered along the stove and across the granite kitchen island. More golden dust was strewn across the floor. As the two crept around to the far side of the central island, Jason covered his mouth and put his other hand on Nico's shoulder. On the floor were two bodies: Sally Jackson and Paul Blofis.
Nico was no stranger to death, but he felt his heart clench at the scene before him. Jason shared his pained expression as they looked on at the gruesome aftermath of the unknown event.
"Gods, we have to find Percy," Jason said, his voice uneven.
Nico just shook his head as he knelt between the bodies, putting a hand on each of their brows. The demigod whispered a prayer, and the bodies glowed faintly before they sank into the ground to be buried.
"They've been dead for over a day. Percy's long gone and, for whatever reason, didn't even have the chance to bury the bodies. I don't think we'll see him for a while," Nico said solemnly to an anguished Jason, who only nodded.
"I'm going to go talk to Mrs. Jackson in the Underworld," Nico continued, "The gods should know about this, so can you ask your dad to call a meeting on Olympus? I'll meet you there to fill in with what I learn."
Before Jason could object, Nico dissolved into a shadow.
Alone in the empty kitchen, Jason wrote a short note on a napkin and left it on the counter, hoping that Percy would come back and find it. He looked around the house one last time before heading outside. The son of Zeus didn't do it often, but he clasped his hands and prayed to all the gods for Percy's safety. Sighing, Jason hoped his father was in a generous mood, and he took flight towards New York City.
On Olympus
Jason quietly entered the vast throne room. No matter how many times he'd step into the expanse, the demigod would always feel like an ant. Strangely, he found Zeus, Hestia, and Demeter engaged in a deathly tense game of poker at a table conjured in the center of the room. Normally, he wouldn't have interrupted, but the circumstances were different.
"Um, hey dad…" Jason started.
Nice job man, very authoritative, he annoyedly thought to himself.
Zeus simply grunted in response, his attention almost exclusively on the game. The King of the Gods was ready to go all in and stick it to the goddesses that had been cleaning him out for the last two hours. Before he could, Jason steeled his nerves.
"Dad, I need you to call a meeting. Percy's gone."
The Olympian looked up in momentary shock before a grim expression overtook him. The trio of deities exchanged glances before folding their cards simultaneously and flashing back to their thrones. The King of the Gods shot his bolt into the sky, and the remaining Olympians teleported into their seats.
All heads turned to Zeus, who then gestured towards Jason.
"It appears that we must once again discuss Percy Jackson," the god thundered.