Chapter Text
As the sun hit Annabeth’s hair, it lit up like a flame.
They sat on the rocks bordering the beach at Camp, watching the sunset. Percy looked more at Annabeth than he did the changing sky—her face was alight with the soft pink colour of the clouds, and she looked ahead intently, her eyes almost glowing. It took his breath away.
She caught his eye, smiling slightly. Percy’s heart flipped in his chest. “What are you looking at?” she asked, playfulness dancing on her lips. She leaned forward and kissed him, lightly and softly.
He could have melted. A rain of sparks came through every spot her lips touched his. She wrapped an arm around his neck, and warmth flooded through him into his chest, so intense he couldn’t breathe.
She pulled away. He frowned, the feeling retreating as her fingers did. “There’s capture the flag tonight,” she said, almost coolly, “and we’re playing. Remember?”
A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “You’re really teasing me like that?”
She grinned, then kissed his nose. “Let’s go,” she said, standing.
Annabeth walked away, her light hair glinting in the muddy gloom. Like the light of a candle. He’d follow it anywhere.
The sky was almost dark when all the campers assembled at the edge of the forest. They strapped on armour and chattered amongst themselves. Annabeth had joined cabin six, and was talking with their counsellor. Her and Percy had decided to pass on the role of counsellor, since they were both finishing school. The younger campers watched her with awe, listening intently to their conversation.
Chiron blew his horn, and all eyes turned to him. He briefed them on the rules, just like he did every week. “You can run anywhere in the forest,” he finished. “Any maiming will result in grave consequences.”
“Yeah, yeah,” an Ares camper called from the crowd. “But who gets Percy and Annabeth?”
Chiron looked to Percy. “They could be on the same team as cabin six,” he suggested.
The crowd erupted in a chorus of boo’s. “We’ll never win!” shouted a little boy in the front. His cabin mates elbowed him.
“It’s settled,” yelled the same Ares camper as before. “We get Percy. Athena and their alliances get Annabeth.”
They looked to Chiron, waiting. Chiron glanced to Percy, then Annabeth. “Is that alright?”
Percy felt a smile grow on his face. “Yeah, sounds great. Right, Annabeth?”
Her smile was white in the dark. “You’re on.”
Percy moved over to his team’s side as cabin six and all its alliances walked into the forest.
“Okay, gather up,” he called, and they all huddled forward. “We hide our flag at the very end of the creek. He scanned the campers. There was a boy, maybe eleven or twelve, whose armour was put on immaculately. “You,” Percy said, pressing the flag into his hand. “You’re in charge of putting the flag somewhere good. Somewhere they won't expect." He picked four more kids and told them to guard the flag. “If you need backup, throw your sword really hard into the water. If I’m anywhere nearby, I’ll feel it. If I don’t show up, knock on a tree and ask a dryad to get someone from your team. They like me.” He winced. “Sort of. I’ll head up the creek to try to find the flag.”
The counsellors of each other cabin took turns telling the group the rest of their instructions. When they were set, they looked to Percy. “Okay,” he said, straightening. “Let’s go.”
The group scattered into the forest. Percy found the start of Zephyros creek and walked along it, ankle-deep in the clear water.
He kept walking, sword out and extended. Apart from the soft glow of the celestial bronze, he couldn’t see very far. The forest was dead quiet.
With the water giving him a boost, he was on high alert, but no one came at him. From the creekbed he spotted the remains of the Myrmekes’ den, a colony of giant, poisonous ants. That meant he was at least halfway up the forest, and still nothing. He walked farther.
A rustle behind him made him stop, chills skittering up his spine. Careful not to splash the water, he edged forward, but another rustle stopped him. He squinted into the darkness behind him.
A body slammed full force into him, tackling him to the ground. His head hit the pebbles at the bottom of the creek, dizzying him for a second before the water cleared his head. He pushed his hips up on the balls of his feet and flipped the person over, coming out on top, but his sword was on the ground five feet away.
His assailant spit mud. His blond hair, though dirty, glinted in the moonlight. “Goddamnit, Percy.”
A smile tugged Percy’s mouth. “Good to see you, Malcolm.”
The child of Athena gave Percy a grin before he threw an arm around Percy’s neck and threw him to the side, leaving him sputtering in the water. By the time Percy wiped the mud from his eyes, Malcolm was gone into the trees.
Percy stood, picking up his sword from the ground. He left the creek and started after Malcolm.
He pushed the bushes aside, almost tripping over roots in the dark. Trees and plants crackled with movement up ahead, and low voices sounded in the distance. None close.
He crept into the clearing of Zeus’ fist, on guard and ready for an attack.
Nothing came at him. The clearing was empty.
A branch cracked behind him. Percy spun, pointing the tip of his sword under Malcolm Pace’s chin. Malcolm stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled. Shouts broke out from over his shoulder, from the creek behind him.
Percy’s eyes widened. “Sorry, Malcolm,” he said. Before the boy could react, he swung his fist forward knocked Malcolm on the head with the butt of his sword, then ran for the creek. Multiple sets of footsteps crashed through the bush, chasing after him.
A voice yelled, “Don’t let him get to the creek!”
Annabeth. He sprinted faster until he was pushed to the ground by another blond Athena camper. He rolled to his feet and kept running.
He broke through the trees, at the bank of the creek. Annabeth was running up the other side—his team’s side. He ran to meet her as she started wading across the water.
Their swords met as they both reached the center of the creek. He struck, but she parried his sword away. Campers gathered around the creek bed, ready to watch a fight.
They sure gave them something to watch. Percy dodged every swing of her sword, jabbing and slicing at her feet. She jumped and parried, trying to disarm him. They waded in circles around each other, almost in harmony—they knew each other as well as they knew themselves.
Their fight was barely a back-and-forth. He and Annabeth fought in a frenzy, a wild whirlwind, where every opening was a chance, and every move counted. It tested them both to the height of their ability, and every skill and trick they knew kicked into place. With Annabeth was when Percy was his best, his sharpest. And when he learned what her best was, too.
They fought on, kicking the water up in a spray. Annabeth started to falter, and Percy slowed with her. She took a second to straighten again, so Percy slowed and gently tapped the top of her head with the flat of his sword, teasing her. She looked up at him and smiled, but her eyes were cloudy. Before he could think more on it, she leapt forward and jabbed, and he was thrown into the battle again.
She stumbled, her sword dipping dangerously low to the ground. Percy stopped in his tracks, cold washing through him. His neck stiffened. Something was very wrong. He touched her blade with his and pushed it aside, stepping forward. “Annabeth—“
She looked up at him, and her face spasmed. She dropped her sword into the water and cried out, her face filling with pain. Percy let go of his sword and leapt forward. She crumpled.
Annabeth hit the water, body limp.