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🦉
Annabeth woke up, rays of sunlight streaming into Percy’s cabin.
She reached out for Percy but her hand just ended up swatting the air. She turned to see that Percy was not there, her eyebrows raised in confusion.
She figured she’d probably find Percy at breakfast, so she got up and put on an extra set of clothes she kept in his cabin.
Walking out of the cabin, she saw Will and Nico heading out for breakfast too and picked up her pace in order to catch up to them.
When she finally caught up to them she asked them if either of them had seen Percy recently.
Nico shrugged, while Will muttered a faint huh. “He came into the clinic for some bandages at an ungodly hour in the morning,” Will replied. “I think I remember that his hand was kinda bruised.”
“That’s...weird,” Annabeth mumbled.
Ever since they'd been in the pit, Annabeth had made Percy promise to tell her everything, no matter how dangerous the situation was. It had partly been the reason why they convinced Chiron, with the promise to buy lots of Frank Sinatra vinyls for him, to let them sleep in the same cabin. They had to explain that they needed each other to be there when they had nightmares. No one else could console them.
Annabeth was numbly thinking of this, worried why Percy hadn’t told her as she walked into the dining pavilion. But as she sat besides Malcom and looked towards the Big 3 table, Percy was nowhere to be found. She scarfed down her breakfast and headed out in search of him.
She started out by searching for him in the strawberry fields, but no one in the Demeter cabin had seen him there. She searched by the lake, and the satyrs and nymphs told her that he had not come by in more than a week.
That hit Annabeth as strange because he had told her he was going to the lake multiple times that week. She was now extremely confused.
When she finally found him in the sword fighting arena, he was punching a dummy with his bare fists, which had bloodied bandages wrapped around them.
She called out to him. “Percy! Seaweed Brain?”
But it was as if he couldn't hear her. He went on punching, his fists slamming against the poor dummy until it fell back with one last punch.
“Percy!” She exclaimed, pulling his hand, making him turn around. He almost punched her, but then stilled when he saw her.
“Oh, hi. What are you doing here?”
“Oh hi? And what am I doing here?” She repeated. “I’ve been searching for you since this morning, Perce!”
He just shrugged. “Oh I didn't realize what time it was, I’m sorry,” he mumbled, disinterested. He turned, beginning to walk away from her.
She grabs his hand and says “Percy, we’ve talked about this, you aren't saving me from anything by keeping secrets,” Annabeth said, forcing him to look at her. “We’ve promised to share everything with each other. Remember?”
“I do, it’s just…” He trailed off, refusing to meet her eyes. “I’m okay, Annabeth. It’s nothing, really.”
“And you've been here since when?” She asked, her eyes scanning his bloodied hands.
“Like, since 5 in the morning maybe?” He said, shrugging.
It pained Annabeth to see him so indifferent, so humorless, dull and monotone.
“Come, let’s get you some food, I’m sure you have something to eat in your cabin,” Annabeth said,
But as they were heading back to the cabin, Rachel came up to them and said “I don't feel so good,” and her eyes fogged up, green smoke spouting out of her mouth.
As soon as Annabeth heard the raspy voice of the Oracle say “The son of poseidon shall…” she knew this day was only going to get worse.
🌊
“Percy?” Annabeth’s voice rang in his ears. “Did you hear the prophecy?”
“Yeah,” he mumbled, sounding disinterested. “I did.”
If he was being honest, the only thing he heard was owl and he was firm in the decision of not letting Annabeth come with him on a quest. Not now, when he’d been having dreams of her death. And partly, because he didn’t want her to see who, or what he’d become...
Annabeth said something he didn’t hear. Then he felt her shake his shoulders. “Percy? Percy!”
“Uh, yeah?”
“Do you wanna come with me to the Big House and tell Chiron?”
“Yeah...no, I’m kind of hungry,” Percy said
🌊
Chiron rose up at his table in his dining pavilion. “Rachel, our Oracle, has given a prophecy today,” he announced in his booming voice. “And it seems that Percy Jackson, along with an owl and skull have to go. Nico is the obvious choice, being the son of Hades. As for the owl…”
Annabeth stood up. “I’ll go.”
“I was thinking Malcolm could come along with us,” Percy said.
Annabeth glanced at Percy, raising an eyebrow. “Are you being serious?”
“What?” He asked, raising his hands. “Malcolm’s a son of Athena too?”
“But Malcolm just came back fr0m a quest!”
“I mean I don’t mind going,” Malcolm said
Annabeth gave Malcolm a glare, one that Percy had only seen a few times but dreaded. Malcolm gulped. “On second thought, maybe I should take some rest,” he said.
“And besides, I’m cabin counselor, and this seems like a pretty big quest!”
“Well, the cabin counselor needs to be here! To...defend the camp?” Percy tried to counter.
“Percy that’s bullshit and you know it,” Annabeth said, glaring at him.
“Okay, hold on. Percy, Annabeth has a point here, she’s the person best fit for the job,” Chiron
“Chiron, really?! ” He said, standing up. Anger built up inside him, ready to burst. He clenched his fists. The goblets on the camper’s tables started to shake, some falling on to the floor, their content spilling onto the floor. He didn’t care how many goblets he spilled, but when his eyes fell on Annabeth, and he saw her eyes wide, as if she was afraid of him, he snapped out of it.
“I wasn’t hungry anyways,” he mumbled and stormed out of the dining pavilion.
🦉
Annabeth followed him out the pavilion. “Percy!” she yelled, running to catch up with him. “Percy, you don’t get to storm away from me with no explanation like that!”
“Yes I do,” she heard him mutter.
She grabbed his arm, firmly stopping him, and standing in front of him. “Percy, what’s going on? First, everything that happened in the morning and now this? You promised you wouldn't keep anything from me!”
“It’s nothing really, Annabeth,” he said, refusing to meet her eyes.
“It certainly doesn’t seem like nothing,” she said. “Percy, just tell me what’s bothering you. I know I can help you out.”
“It’s just..I’ve been having these dreams...about…”
Annabeth hesitated. She’d had her own fair share of dreams recently, none of them exactly pleasant. “About?” she asked.
“About...you dying,” he said.
Her eyes softened, as she sighed, lacing her fingers through his. “Percy, you wanted to stop me from coming with you on a quest because you had a dream of me dying?”
“Well, yes but still-”
“Percy, it was just a dream. Nothing’s going to happen to me, okay?” she reassured him.
“Yeah,” he said. “I guess you’re right.”
She smiled at him, then leaned forwards, kissing him on the cheek. “I’ll be alright. We’ll be alright.”
🌊
Percy went through the routine of getting ready for a quest with only one thing on his mind: He would keep Annabeth safe, no matter what he had to do.
🦉
Annabeth packed for the quest: considering strategies, storing some nectar and ambrosia along with her drakon bone sword, but her mind kept drifting to one thing: Finding out what was bothering Percy. She didn’t like him being so distant, and Annabeth had a hunch that it might be about her.
🦉
It had been a week since they’d left camp for their quest. A week of Annabeth trying to get through to Percy and him repeatedly pushing her away. She just wished he understood that she wanted to help him and didn’t want him to hide things from her.
They were currently making their way back to camp on foot. Nico insisted that he could shadow-travel, but Annabeth took one look at his pale skin before deciding that it was safer to not shadow-travel.
(And she knew Will wouldn’t appreciate it if they came back with a fainted boyfriend.)
Nico trudged a little behind Annabeth, who was leading the trio, and Percy was beside her.
She shot her boyfriend another worried look.
He must have noticed because he stiffened a bit, and turned to see her. “What?” he asked, sounding slightly defensive.
“Nothing, Percy, it’s just…” Annabeth sighed. “I’m worried. About you. It feels like something’s changed between us.”
“Everything’s the same, Annabeth,” he muttered.
“No, Perce, it’s not,” she said, wringing her hands helplessly. “Something’s bothering you, I know that.”
“You don’t know everything about me,” Percy said.
She stopped, reaching for his arm. “Percy, please,” she said, trying not to think about how their relationship was falling apart.
“I’m fine,” he said, sounding half-hearted. “Everything’s fine.”
“Percy-”
“Uh, guys?” Nico said, from behind them. Annabeth had almost forgotten that he was there too. “This place feels a little weird.”
She frowned, and placed her hand on a nearby tree. There were slight tremors, as the tree faintly shook.
“Something’s coming,” she said. “Gather up and take a flank.” She reached for her drakon bone sword.
Percy’s hand settled on Riptide’s hilt, as Nico pulled out his Stygian blade.
She frowned, her grey eyes scanning their surroundings for even the subtlest movement.
A figure flew overhead, and she looked up to see a creature with wings. Stymphalian birds, she had time to think before three more swooped in.
“What-?” Nico began, when they noticed vaguely humanoid shapes with brazen legs shuffling towards them.
“Stymphalian birds and empousai?” Annabeth asked, groaning. “It must be our lucky day.”
She turned, stabbing an empousa in the gut, then slashed her sword in a wide arc, driving back the other monsters. She and Percy stood shoulder to shoulder, and Annabeth allowed the thought to comfort her even in the midst of a battle: At least one thing hadn’t changed.
Nico slammed the butt of his sword against another empousa, as Percy brought Riptide down on a bird, slicing it in two.
Just as Annabeth killed an empousa, another lunged towards her, and she swung her sword. She gripped the hilt of her sword and drove it through another monster. Her eyes did a quick three-sixty, and widened in alarm as she saw a bird flying towards Percy, whose back was turned.
She ran, meeting the bird before it could harm Percy. She raised her sword, fighting off its’ razor-sharp teeth. Before she could stab it, the bird charged towards her, running its deadly metal feathers against her arm.
Annabeth let out a shriek of pain, staggering back as the bird quickly sunk its teeth into her injured arm.
Percy turned, shock clear on his face, fending off the bird. He clutched his sword tighter. Through her hazy vision, she could see him concentrating, gritting his teeth.
It first started with an empousa letting out a scream, another one following its lead. The Stymphalian birds slowed down, some falling to the ground. The monsters began crumpling, dropping dead.
She realized with a start that Percy was controlling them. She forcefully stopped herself from thinking about their time with Akhlys.
She’d been scared then, and she was scared now.
Though Percy rarely showed it, the son of Poseidon had absolute power. He could remove the water from someone’s body, and even the thought of that was terrifying.
“Percy!” She yelled. Annabeth saw the monsters slowly wither away, but some still writhed in pain. “Percy, stop!”
Nico stared at Percy with sheer terror on his face, as Annabeth struggled to move towards him.
“Percy!” Her voice broke into a sob. “Percy, please!”
She miraculously managed to reach him, tugging on his arm that was curled into a fist. “Percy, stop please!”
Her voice must have gotten through to him because he opened up his palms, stumbling backwards.
She glanced at Nico, and a silent understanding seemed to pass through them.
“Maybe we should to rest for a while,” Annabeth said, not letting go of Percy’s arm.
🦉
“You promised me,” Annabeth said, her voice barely a whisper but she knew Percy heard her. “That you wouldn’t do that again.”
Nico was curled up on the ground, sleeping soundly, as Annabeth pulled up her knees, resting her chin on them. Percy hadn’t spoken a word to her.
She heard him take in a deep breath. “How’s your arm?” He whispered.
“I told you that some things aren’t meant to be controlled the last time this happened,” she continued, ignoring his concern.
He shakily exhaled, maintaining his distance. “You shouldn’t have taken that hit for me.”
Annabeth wasn’t sure what hurt more: his reluctance to be open with her, or the fact that he stayed away.
“Why, Percy?” she asked, turning to see him looking at everything but her. She placed her hand over his. The way he flinched at the contact made her heart ache. “Why did you do it again?”
He looked at her for the first time since the incident. His eyes were filled with remorse. He looked broken. “I-I can’t stop it,” he said. “I’m sorry.”
“Percy, this kind of power...it isn’t safe,” she said, swallowing the lump in her throat.
“You’re scared of me, aren’t you?” He asked, a searching gaze on his face.
“I could never be scared of you, Percy,” she replied, squeezing his hand. “But...never mind, we need to get back to camp.”
She pulled her hand away, missing his warmth almost immediately. “Hey, Nico? We need to get moving.”
🌊
Annabeth might’ve said that she wasn’t scared of him, but Percy knew. He just knew that what he did terrified her.
He was exactly like the empousai, and Stymphalian birds. Even if he didn’t want to admit, he’d experienced some sort of satisfaction when he controlled the monsters.
He felt disgusted with himself. With what he did. But he wasn’t thinking when he took control. He just knew that he needed to get them away from Annabeth. He felt powerful with adrenaline coursing through his veins. But just like before, Annabeth’s anguish broke through to him again.
Back at camp, he did everything he could to delay the moment he’d meet Annabeth again. The way she looked at him, horrified, replayed in his mind all the time.
Percy sat down at the beach, his hands pressed against the sand. He heard soft footsteps, and Annabeth sat down next to him.
“Hey,” he muttered, knowing that he couldn’t ignore the problem anymore.
“Hey, yourself,” she said, softly, taking his hand in hers.
He glanced at her to see her bandaged arm. That didn’t make him feel any better. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk to you,” she replied. When he opened his mouth to protest, she cut him off. “Look, Percy, I’m not dumb. I know you. You’ve been trying to avoid me and trying to postpone this conversation. But I can’t be like this anymore. We can’t be like this anymore. We need to sort everything out.”
Percy sighed. “I’m sorry.” It seemed like that was all he said these days. “I’m really sorry.” His eyes stung, and before he knew it, tears were falling down his cheeks.
He remembered his fear of drowning from his time on Argo II. Now, he felt like his throat was closing up, like he was suffocating in poisonous waves.
“Percy, it’s okay,” she said, her hands on the small of his back, and he gripped her hand tighter, like he was afraid she’d disappear if he blinked.
“No, no it’s not.”
“Listen, Percy,” she continued. “It's okay, It's okay, Just breathe. You don't have to be sorry for anything, I've got you.”
The thought that had been bothering Percy came back, a voice buzzing in his ear, asking a horrible question.
Percy turned to look at her, his mouth set in a firm line. “How do you destroy a monster without becoming one?” he asked her.
“A mons-Percy, what?” She said, confused.
“It’s just…” His head was pounding and he felt like he might break down any moment.
“Percy, please, just tell me what’s going on. You’ve been acting weird for weeks now,” she said. “I just want you to let me in. Don’t shut me out like this, Percy. Please, tell me what’s wrong.”
“This urge,” he slowly began. “To bloodbend. I’ve been controlling and suppressing it for a while now,” he muttered.
“What?” she asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was scared, Annabeth,” he admitted. “I’ve been having these nightmares, and they’re not just Tartarus. I see myself losing you, and it’s all my fault.”
“Percy-”
“And in a way, it almost happened, didn’t it?” He continued. “You harmed yourself trying to stop that stupid bird from attacking me.”
“I decided to do that,” she interrupted. “It was my choice, not yours, Percy.”
“But what good am I if I can't protect you?”
“Percy, that’s not true.”
“But it is!” He insisted. “I had to bloodbend back there. What if my usual power wasn’t strong enough? What if you…” died? He couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“Percy, nothing of that sort would’ve happened,” she said. “We would’ve taken down those monsters just fine. Besides, we’ve gotta have each other’s backs, right?”
“I just...I thought if I acted like it didn't matter, it wouldn't,” he mumbled.
“Look, Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth said, lacing her fingers with his. “We promised to be open with each other. You shouldn’t hesitate to tell me about things like this, okay?”
“But-”
“I’m here for you, Percy,” she said. “There’s no need to carry this burden by yourself.”
Percy stared at her. When he tried to speak, she leant forwards, pressing her lips to his and effectively shutting him up. He tried to put everything he couldn’t bring himself to say in that kiss:
I’m sorry, I should’ve told you. I’ll tell you everything from now. I was just terrified of you dying. I love you.
They didn’t know how, but they fell asleep there on the beach, their legs tangled together as the sea lapped against their feet.
And for the first time in what seemed like forever, Percy didn’t have nightmares.