Chapter Text
Annabeth Chase was convinced that Elysium was located in Percy’s arms.
There was nothing in the world more comforting than being held by him, all lean muscle and steady assurance. He held her like he wasn’t ever going to leave her. If not Elysium, then Percy and his hugs were definitely home.
At that moment, Annabeth and Percy were curled up on her bunk in Cabin Six. Annabeth’s back leaned against Percy’s chest while his arms held her by the waist. Percy was amusing himself by playing with her braids while she read. Afternoon light cast the scene in gold, as if Apollo himself was trying to preserve the moment in amber. Sunlight illuminated the dust particles floating through the air lazily.
Luckily, her cabin was empty. It was midafternoon, a week out from the end of summer–their last summer here as campers–and the whole camp was engaged in a game of capture the flag. Well, the whole camp except for the two of them, who had stolen away for some private quiet time. Chiron didn’t have the heart to stop them after everything they’d been through, so he turned a blind eye when the pair had “snuck” away from the game. Old softie.
Annabeth had claimed she wanted to read as they walked towards the cabins. Percy, being Percy, had been flabbergasted.
“Why? We graduated high school like, three months ago. We’re no longer obligated to read.”
“People can read for fun, Seaweed Brain,” She had said.
Percy made a face. “I’ll take your word for it. If you’re going to–” he’d shuddered here “–read, then you’ll need emotional support. But my cabin is gross right now so I’d rather we not go there right now.”
And that’s how the two had ended up lounging in the Athena cabin, enjoying a rare peaceful moment while cuddling with each other.
At some point, Percy fell asleep, head lolling against the headboard. Annabeth hadn’t even noticed he’d stopped fidgeting with her hair until she heard a faint snore. She looked up from her book and twisted her head to get a better view. Naturally, he was drooling. Just a little. Annabeth snickered quietly. Gods, he was so adorable.
She shook her head gently, a faint sense of awe washing through her. When she was twelve, she thought his drool was disgusting. And objectively, it still was, but at some point in the last six years, she’d stopped looking at him like a gross teenage boy and started seeing him as Percy, the shockingly emotionally intelligent boy with more love in his heart than most of the mythical world could handle. To be clear, he was still a dork, but he was her dork. And that made all the difference. She couldn’t help but smile at his Percyisms.
How did they even get to this point? So much of their development was wrapped up in quests and prophecies and life-or-death situations. But somewhere between finding a scrawny, beaten-up boy passed out at the camp boundary and watching Percy reject godhood on Mount Olympus, she’d fallen head-over-heals, stupidly, and irrevocably in love with him.
Annabeth closed her book quietly and set it down on her nightstand. Her knuckles brushed a worn leather journal leaning against her lamp. She paused. Picked it up. It was her old journal. She’d started it when she was ten, but she’d never been very good at keeping up with it. It was just that sometimes, her thoughts were so loud and overwhelming (especially when she was younger and enduring puberty and prophecies simultaneously), and it helped to write things down. It cleared her mind to expel and organize all of her jumbled thoughts onto paper. But she hadn’t touched this thing since she was sixteen.
Maybe it was the hazy lighting or the rare peaceful moment, but Annabeth was in the mood to reminisce. She snuggled closer against the sleeping Percy and opened her old journal.
June 10th, 2005
Another boy arrived today. Rumor has it that he defeated the minotaur outside camp, except I guess it's not a rumor because he has the minotar horn. It's a pretty prestiges pristegous prestegus important spoil. Not that he knows it. I don't know how he defeated the minotar anyway. He’s so scrawny. But if he did actually have the power to defeat the minotar, he might be the one ment to take me on a quest. Chiron told me to leave him alone until he wakes up.
***
Annabeth had never been very good at listening to Chiron. Most of his advice was annoying anyway.
Annabeth, stop skipping lunch to train.
Annabeth, hang out with the other campers some more.
Annabeth, stop stalking the new campers.
Like come on, did he want her to be interested in the other campers or not?
The one thing Chiron told her that she’d actually taken to heart was that one day, a camper would arrive who was destined to go on a quest. A quest that she, too, would go on.
And unfortunately, she had the sinking feeling that it was this bumbling blond idiot, who somehow defeated the minotaur but couldn’t even hold a bow right, was the one.
She watched from the edge of the field as Luke and all the Apollo campers fell to the ground for safety as this kid–Percy, apparently–released an arrow that went wildly off track.
Oh, this boy was a hazard.
Gods, she really hoped it wasn’t him.
She leaned against a tree, fighting a chuckle as she pulled her invisibility cap farther down. Not that it did anything–she was already invisible–but it was a reassuring fidget, confirming for herself that no one could see her as she actually almost laughed at the newbie. At least he had the wit to make a joke out of his failure after.
Despite his incompetence, there was something interesting about this boy. Usually, she gave up hope a few days after a new camper's arrival, but with Percy, she was actually invested, for reasons she was still parsing out for herself.
Luke and Percy moved onto their next activity. Annabeth technically had arts and crafts at this hour, but she was probably going to skip to keep watching him (she didn’t consider following new campers around while invisible stalking, because that implied harmful intent and Annabeth wasn’t planning to kill them or anything). She’d almost never skipped activities to watch the new campers, especially not after a few days of them arriving, but Percy was…well, he was entertaining. And she still hadn’t ruled him out. So she followed him a little more.
The next day, Annabeth left her cap on her bedside table. This was getting ridiculous. She’d spent the entirety of yesterday following Percy around while invisible. By the end of the day, her skin had felt like it was breaking out in hives from the hat. She’d mostly grown used to the faint itchy sensation, but even she had her limits. On top of that, she’d missed all her scheduled activities. That definitely couldn’t be healthy behavior. Chiron was probably right. She needed to stop.
She walked out of her cabin, and didn’t look back at the yankees hat.
But as she walked towards the dining pavilion for breakfast, Annabeth couldn’t help but wonder what activities Percy would fail epically today.
That afternoon, Annabeth was running drills in the field. She shouted commands at the Athena campers, her siblings, many of whom were older than her. She clutched her dagger and stood tall, trying to command as much space as a five-foot-nothing twelve year-old could. She even deepened her voice a little to sound older.
Here’s the thing: her siblings respected her. They knew she had seniority at camp. But she couldn’t shake the feeling of smallness, and not just because of her height. She loved camp, but she felt she’d grown as much as she could here. She had all the skills but none of the experience to back her up. She was a fraud, stifled by the camp border, waiting for her moment to prove herself in the real world. Then she wouldn’t feel so small anymore.
That’s why she needed to go on a quest. She needed to earn her rank.
That’s when she spotted him. A few seconds before he spotted her, too. Percy was walking by the field with Luke, gaze sweeping over the sparring Athena campers before finally landing on Annabeth.
His stare felt like a challenge. It probably wasn’t, but Annabeth was competitive nonetheless.
She crossed her arms, shifting her weight to her heels as she leveled her stare at him. Her power stance. It was almost muscle memory, a habit born from being a short, young, black girl with something to prove and in charge of one of the largest cabins at camp.
They held eye contact for a few tense seconds. Neither one knew what to make of the other.
Gods, Annabeth desperately wanted to figure him out. How did he, of all people, beat the minotaur? And why did she have the inkling he would be the one to take her on the quest? None of it made any sense. And Annabeth loved nothing more than a puzzle.
She wondered if he recognized her. She’d been invisible a lot lately, but there was that one night in the infirmary when he woke up and saw her. Did he remember? She couldn’t tell.
Percy just raised an eyebrow at her. Not the usual effect she had on people (unless it was Clarisse, who didn’t take anyone seriously, to be fair). Percy broke eye contact first, saying something to Luke. Annabeth couldn’t read his lips. She wished she had her invisibility cap to eavesdrop. She wanted to know what he was saying, if he knew something she didn’t.
She couldn’t believe she’d left her invisibility cap behind. Stupid, stupid decision. She’d run back and get it later, and hopefully catch up on any reconnaissance she’d missed out on tonight.
Luke looked over and smiled at Annabeth, a knowing glint in his eyes. He probably guessed Annabeth had been following them these past few days. She just shrugged at him. She didn’t have to explain herself. Luke knew why. He knew everything about her. She trusted him enough to know he wouldn’t get in her way.
Luke said something to Percy, and the two walked off. Annabeth weirdly felt more intrigued than ever in their wake.
Clarisse was such a bully. Annabeth didn’t hate her–they were both daughters of war gods and year-rounders, so if anything, Annabeth felt a kinship with her. There was mutual respect there, even when they faced each other in capture the flag like they would tomorrow.
But she was so unnecessarily violent and immature when it came to new campers! Seriously, she thought a camper of Clarisse’s age would know better than to stoop so low as to give a kid swirlies.
Not that Annabeth was going to stop her. This was the perfect opportunity to see that fighting instinct that helped Percy kill the minotaur.
Annabeth stood in the doorway, invisible, and watched Clarisse and her goons push Percy to the floor.
Come on, she thought, as if she could telepathically force the words into his head. Fight back! Show me what you’re capable of.
Disappointingly, he didn’t. It was kind of pathetic the way the older girl kicked him around like a ragdoll. Her confidence that Percy was the one was slipping by the second. There was no way someone this useless was destined to go on a quest.
Annabeth was about to turn around and go to sleep when the ground trembled. Faintly, but it was there. Annabeth froze. She heard a rumble. Then a toilet flushed.
What the…
The toilet exploded, three arcs of sewer water rocketing out and slamming into each of the Ares kids with enough force to knock them against the wall. They scrambled up, shocked and thoroughly soaked. Annabeth had to clap her hand over her mouth to keep herself from laughing in delight. She backed out of the door to let the Ares kids storm out in a fury, still suppressing a giggle. She looked back into the bathroom, where a perfectly dry Percy was standing, gazing at the puddles of water with wide, confused eyes.
Several pieces of the Percy puzzle clicked into place for her at once. Percy did that. Not only was that a powerful display, but only one god had dominion over water like Percy had just displayed. Annabeth had a strong feeling about who this kid’s dad was. And it was not good news for him.
But it was fantastic news for her. Because if she was right (and she always was), a child of the Big Three was a big deal, and thus, definitely quest bound. Which means Percy–weak, scrawny, absolutely useless Percy–was her ticket into the real world.
Annabeth took off her cap.
It was time for her plan to begin.