Chapter 1

If I'd known that what I was about to do would lead me down a path of impossible choices, ones that would test not just my strength but where my heart truly belonged, I might've hesitated. But looking back, I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

I found myself pacing up and down my cabin in Camp Half-Blood. My hands were continuously fidgeting in my pocket. My eyes kept darting around the large, dimly lit room—from my bed to the newly repaired fountain at the back, to the windows, and back to the fountain again. The sun hadn't risen yet, leaving long shadows cast across the ocean-themed walls. The room felt still, but my mind was far from it. I rubbed my eyes, trying to shake the restless energy as I continued pacing.

For what felt like the hundredth time, I stopped in front of the fountain, staring blankly at it. Unease prickled at my skin as my hand brushed the familiar circular metal in my pocket—a golden drachma.

The large basin, made of gray sea rock, seemed to pull me closer. Warm, sea-green light shimmered from the pool's bottom, casting mesmerizing water patterns that danced gently along the cabin's walls. The light washed over me, calming but also making me feel like I was standing in the ocean itself. A carved stone fish head at the fountain's spout trickled water into the basin, the soft splash filling the cabin with a peace I hadn't felt in weeks. Warm mist rose into the air, further adding to the illusion that I was near the sea.

I tried to shake the trance as I moved slowly toward the fountain, but it was no use. The stillness and the warmth had drawn me in completely. I pulled the golden drachma from my pocket and turned it over in my hand, staring at it wistfully.

I was about to toss the coin into the fountain but caught myself at the last second, squeezing it tightly in my palm. I'm getting worked up over nothing, I thought, trying to convince myself. Nothing will happen, anyway. But I should at least try.

Before I could convince myself to stop, I threw the gold drachma into the mist and blurted out, "Iris, goddess of the Rainbow, please accept my offering. Annabeth Chase, Olympus."

I'd wanted to call her for a while now, but even knowing that, what I was doing felt impulsive. As the mist shimmered, I thought about waving my hand through it. What am I doing? I hadn't even planned what I was going to say. The mist kept shimmering, and the longer I waited, the more determined I became. I needed to talk to her. After everything we'd been through—and everything that had happened between us—I had to try.

Just when I was about to lose hope, Annabeth's image appeared. She was in a small room made of beautiful gray marble, alone. Clothes, crumpled paper, and heaps of documents were scattered across the floor. Despite the mess, I immediately knew where she was: her room in Olympus. She was hunched over at her large wooden desk, surrounded by architectural drawings. There were so many papers on her desk, I was surprised she had space to work at all.

She was wearing sweats and a T-shirt, her blonde hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Bags under her eyes made her look exhausted; she looked a little thinner than the last time we'd seen each other. I stood there, watching her, all the thoughts in my head drowned out by one overwhelming desire—to be with her.

"Hi, Annabeth," I said softly.

At the sound of my voice, Annabeth jumped, knocking her chair back a little as her hand flew to the dagger on her desk. She looked around wildly, her eyes full of alarm.

It took her a moment to realize it was an Iris message. Her surprise deepened when she saw me. A whirlwind of emotions flashed through her eyes—surprise, hurt, happiness. Her grey eyes locked on me, scanning me cautiously.

"I wasn't expecting you," she said, her voice guarded as she fidgeted with her ponytail. "It's almost four in the morning, Percy. Why are you up?"

I shrugged. "I could ask you the same."

She shifted her weight, her gaze flickering for a moment. "I just... have a couple of things I need to catch up on."

I wasn't convinced. "Did you wake up early or are you going to bed late?"

"Does it matter?" she asked, deflecting. The silence between us grew heavy, uncomfortable.

"I haven't gone to bed yet," I admitted, trying to break through her defenses. "I've been having a hard time sleeping lately. I figure, why even bother if I'm just going to toss and turn?"

I could see Annabeth analyzing her situation, trying to determine what her next move would be. We kept on gazing into each other's eyes, as if we were having an entirely different conversation going on at the same time as the one with words. As words left our mouths we scrupulously searched for signals and signs to figure out what exactly it was that we wanted from one another.

"Same here. I haven't gone to bed yet either." She finally said. Her grip loosened on the dagger. She sat back down on her chair. The conversation with our eyes continued in silence until Annabeth asked, "How's camp?"

At this point I was glad she hadn't kicked me out and ended the call. Before calling her I had been worried that she wouldn't want to talk to me. I was initially going to respond to her question in a way to continue the small talk that we were doing, but my heart started taking over.

"It alright. It's gotten pretty lonely recently." Annabeth looked down as I finished the sentence. "I uh. . . I don't want to take up too much of your time. I didn't even think this Iris message thing would work. But I was... I was just wondering if you'd want to start talking again. Maybe it's been long enough?"

A faint smile crossed her lips, so small I almost missed it. She set her dagger aside, sitting quietly for a moment. I could tell her mind was racing.

"Yeah, I think that'd be great," she said softly. "I've been thinking about us a lot, Percy. I wanted to talk to you too, but... I didn't think you'd want anything to do with me. But if you think it's a good idea, maybe I could take a break from work and come to camp? We could talk in person."

My heart fluttered, and for a moment, I thought it was another one of those dreams I'd been having about her lately. But this wasn't a dream—Annabeth was still there, right in front of me, offering a chance.

"Yeah," I said, smiling. "That'd be good."

"Cool," Annabeth said with a tired but hopeful smile. "I'll try to get ahead with my work and come down tomorrow before it gets dark."

I studied her face for a moment. "Try to get some sleep if you can. You look like we just finished fighting Kronos in Manhattan."

"You do too," she replied sincerely, her eyes softening. "I guess it's just part of having a broken heart."

"I guess so," I said quietly. "Maybe it won't be like that for much longer."

"Maybe not." She mused. "I'll see you soon, Percy."

"See you soon." I was about to waive my hand through the mist when Annabeth blurted out my name.

"I'm really sorry." her voice trembling slightly as if she'd been holding onto the words for too long.

"I'm sorry too." We both gave each other a weak smile to one another before I waived my hand through the mist and our short call was over. The gentle splash of the water pouring into the fountain once again filled the silence in the cabin. The sound of the water felt relaxing. For the first time in a couple weeks, I felt like I could relax.

That had gone infinitely better than I could have ever hoped. I let out a deep sigh, feeling the tension drain from my body as my muscles finally loosened. The restless need to pace up and down my cabin—something I'd grown used to—faded away. For the first time in what felt like forever, sleep seemed like a welcome relief rather than a punishment. There's nothing to be anxious about now, I told myself. Once Annabeth gets here, things will go right back to normal.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

Ok here is a short TedTalk on the history of this story. All the way back in 2011 when perhaps some of you weren't even born yet, a youthful, ambitious pjowriter27 started this story with great hopes and dreams. But like many (many) other writers on this site, I got 2 chapters in and then completely forgot about it. Fast-forward eleven years later to 2022, and after an interesting string of event in which I won't go into detail, I remembered this fic, revised the story, and wrote a couple more chapters. I then (again) forgot about it for about year and a half... But now! I have edited the edited version of what I originally wrote, and everything is lining up to drive this bad boy all the way home to "The End." The premise is exactly the same as it was 13 years ago, but this time, it's going to now be both semi-decent quality and more importantly: COMPLETE.

The story is mapped out. The stakes are high. And by the end Percy and Thalia may be able to look back and say, "How the Hades did we (1) survive that, and (2) why didn't we do this wayyy sooner?" Thalia might even forgive Percy for calling her 'Annabeth' at the worst possible moment...

So take a seat, prepare you minds, and get ready to dive into this action-packed, romance-filled story that's been thirteen years in the making!