Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The blast came from nowhere.

Well, not exactly nowhere.

Camp borders had been attacked — again — by members of Kronos' army. It wasn't as full-on an offensive as the Battle of the Labyrinth had been a few weeks ago, but it was hardly a border skirmish.

These were monsters Annabeth had never seen before other than in textbooks. Demons from the underworld, carrying cursed magic, appearing to be a strange mix between the Furies and harpies. They screeched every time they swooped down, talons outstretched and midnight-black wings fanned out.

A scene out of hell. Literally.

Between Annabeth slashing at one of the demons before it could claw the life out of Percy and him shielding her from another with a wave of water, Annabeth heard an ear-splitting shriek.

Some of the demigods around her instinctively dropped their weapons, hands slammed over their ears. Some dropped to the ground in agony.

Annabeth's head rang from the resounding noise. Beside her, Percy stumbled, forcing her to catch him.

"What in Hades?" she made out from the movement of his lips.

One of the demons — the one who had emitted the noise — was hurtling into the air, similar to a rocket thrusting into outer space.

Raising a hand to block out the sun, Annabeth squinted.

She watched, eyes glued to the fascinating sight as the demon, upon getting a few hundred feet into the atmosphere, exploded into bronze dust, like a monstrous bust of fireworks.

Annabeth didn't close her eyes in time as the demon's final scream released a blinding flash of white light, but Percy pulled her back into his arms, both of them hitting the ground as monster dust rained down around them.

<<< >>>

There was a ringing in Annabeth's ears. Black spots danced before her eyes as she furiously tried to blink them away.

A heavy weight pinned her down. Percy.

"Percy," Annabeth tried to say, but her throat was hoarse. The effects, as far as she could tell, were akin to those in the aftermath of a bomb. She couldn't hear her own voice, but the vibrations in her throat told her she was speaking.

As her vision jarred back into focus, Annabeth felt Percy roll off of her, still too disorientated to comprehend what had happened. "Percy," she tried again, and this time she heard her voice like she was underwater. "Percy."

Annabeth rolled onto her back, panting as she scanned the surroundings. A black circle with a radius of ten feet was scorched into the ground where the demon had taken off.

Not a single monster was in sight.

Three figures lay writhing in the scorched area, their skin blistered from the blast — Annabeth's vision tunnelled as she recognised one of them as Chiron.

"Chiron!" she yelled, scrambling to her feet and staggering ungracefully towards the centaur. "Chiron!"

To her overwhelming relief, Chiron was fine, save for a few burns on his arms.

"Chiron," Annabeth demanded, helping him onto his legs. "Are you—"

She didn't finish her sentence, as the centaur gripped her by the shoulders, his face ashen. "Dark magic," he said between hacking coughs. "Annabeth — there's magic. I can feel it in the air."

"Chiron," Annabeth insisted. "Everything's fine." She raised her left hand to brush him off. "Everything's..."

Annabeth broke off abruptly, staring at her left wrist. There were small black markings in a thin line encircling her wrist — scribbles, no, words.

"What the hell?" she murmured under her breath, removing her hand gingerly from Chiron's arm.

When she looked closer, she realised that her eyes were indeed telling the truth. She wasn't hallucinating from some kind of post-explosion stress.

what's going on?

As Annabeth watched with eyes splayed wide open, the three words erased themselves from her skin, only to be replaced by new markings.

where is everyone?

"Chiron," her voice was shakier than she liked. "What..." She looked up bewilderedly to see Chiron's grave expression.

"Black magic," he said, barely above a whisper. "Hecate's doing. She's imbued these creatures with magic."

Annabeth's heart thudded in her ears.

Chiron didn't elaborate, eyes glassy as he stared into space, mind working at a million miles an hour.

Annabeth turned back to the other two campers on the ground — one of them a son of Demeter and one of them Silena Beauregard from Aphrodite.

"Annabeth," Silena croaked, braced weakly on her elbows as she sat facing the sky. "What—what's happening? There are words—"

Annabeth's heart jumped with relief. It wasn't just her. "Is it a sentence? What does it say?" She knelt down next to the other girl. Silena twisted her right arm to show Annabeth the words written just above her elbow.

Silena? Is she okay?

The words disappeared. New ones appeared.

Silena, where are you? The explosion—the demons—ow, my throat—

Annabeth barely had time to finish reading before the script vanished, and was replaced by something else.

Silena. Silena. Silena.

"Silena!"

Annabeth blinked. She turned around to see Beckendorf racing towards them, fear in his features before he dropped down beside them.

The two of them embraced, and Annabeth averted her gaze awkwardly.

When they withdrew, Annabeth caught sight of writing on Beckendorf's finger, looking like ink tattooed into his skin.

"Beckendorf," she interrupted. "Wait, your-your hand."

The son of Hephaestus looked down confusedly. Annabeth could just make out the words.

Charlie, you're okay. Oh, thank the gods, don't let me go, stay here, hold my hand.

Where's Lacy? My siblings? Are they okay?

Annabeth sucked in a sharp breath.

Hoofbeats sounded as Chiron neared, cantering to a stop beside them.

"It's their thoughts," Annabeth realised, looking up at Chiron. "Silena has Beckendorf's. He has hers."

Silena frowned. On Beckendorf's finger, the curling words were 'Thoughts? What? What's Annabeth talking about?'

"The demon gave off magic, didn't it?" Silena said, warily looking up at Chiron.

Chiron nodded grimly. "The camp's magical borders kept it within here. But I think we can safely assume that everyone here was hit by the magic."

Beckendorf made the time-out sign. "I don't understand," he said, gaze flicking between the three of them.

"Was everyone bonded to someone?" Annabeth demanded, getting unsteadily to her feet. "I don't get it. Does the spell choose randomly?"

Silena snorted. "Spells don't work like that." She blushed. "I read up on magic, okay?" She grabbed Beckendorf's hand and held it next to her arm. "It's love. Isn't it obvious? I have Charlie's and he has mine. We're together."

She laid it out like it was the clearest thing in the world. Annabeth couldn't deny that, logically, it was the likely solution.

"Is she right?" Annabeth asked Chiron.

He frowned. "Even if she is, how would we know for sure?"

Annabeth suddenly noticed that he didn't have any ink anywhere on his skin. She looked down at her own wrist.

shit, get up
come on, man
don't do this to me

An idea popped into her head. Annabeth did a sweeping gaze of the field.

Too many things were happening. She couldn't think straight.

Travis passing Connor ambrosia; Will Solace checking into the injured; Percy helping Grover to his feet—

She needed to focus.

Annabeth's gaze snapped to the satyr.

"Grover!" she called, immediately taking off into a run, desperately trying not to trip over anyone as she hurried over to him. "Words! On your skin! Find them! What do they say?"

Grover bleated, "Words on my what?"

Impatiently, Annabeth flashed her wrist in his direction.

Percy's brow furrowed. "Did you get a tattoo?"

Annabeth shook her head. "Neither did you." She gestured to the words peeking out from just under the neck of his shirt, flowing over his collarbone.

Percy's words were different to the ones she'd seen. They were too faraway to read, but the black ink vanished, and proceeded to reappear, far too quickly to try to make out.

A jolt of curiosity begged Annabeth to step closer and read the words, but she forced herself to stay put.

"It's on your knee," Percy said suddenly, snapping her out of her reverie. "What's going on?"

"Testing a theory," Annabeth said vaguely. She knelt down, peering at Grover's words.

What was that?
Grover? He was in camp!
Is he okay?
I can't get far enough from my tree.
damn it.

"How much do you want to bet that that's Juniper's?" Annabeth muttered, mostly to herself.

"Juniper's?" Grover repeated.

"Thoughts," Annabeth answered. She stood up as Chiron approached her, Beckendorf and Silena hobbling behind him. "Whatever magic the demon released; I think it's bonded everyone to their...significant other."

"But..." Percy's gaze drifted down to his collarbone. The words were still flashing far too quickly. "I don't have a girlfriend." He waved at her wrist. "You don't...have a boyfriend."

Annabeth paused. Well, then.

"You don't have to be with someone to be meant for them," Silena said, breaking the silence. She glanced at Annabeth. "It's the thoughts of your soulmate."

<<< >>>

The whole idea of soulmates, in Annabeth's opinion, was utter nonsense.

It didn't make sense to say that there was one person out of four billion whom you were destined to be with.

What if your so-called soulmate lived across the globe? You'd never meet them.

And what if they died before you met? Or after? Were you destined for a life of solitude and sadness?

And what if you didn't have a soulmate? No, Annabeth had much more faith in the science of compatibility.

Unfortunately, most of camp disagreed with her.

From the moment Silena "figured out" the puzzle, word spread like wildfire, and soon everyone could focus on nothing except the words on their skin.

Annabeth thought it was extremely stupid to stake their lives on a couple of words that constantly appeared and disappeared.

But a lot of the evidence supported Silena's assumption. People who had tattoes of each other — Silena and Beckendorf, Travis and Katie. Both pairs were couples.

Grover, upon finding Juniper, had tested it, and even though Juniper had been in the woods and hadn't been affected by the magic, her thoughts were displayed on Grover's knee, clear as crystal.

"It's romantic, isn't it?" Annabeth heard Dionysus' son say to his friend in the hospital bed beside hers. "This whole deal about soulmates."

Annabeth refrained from looking too closely at her own words. Odds were that she hadn't met her "soulmate" yet, and she wouldn't for a few more years. Hell, she was 15. No one met who they would end up with at that age.

"Surprised to see you here," Will said, eyebrows raised as he walked up to her with a roll of bandages.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm fine," she insisted. "I took nectar. Silena made me come anyway."

"One of them got you," Will pointed out the slashes in the side of her t-shirt.

"It's nothing."

Will started to bandage up her torn skin, and Annabeth winced at the rough cloth. She caught a glimpse of words on his palm, and made a face.

Following her gaze, Will grinned. "So you don't believe in Silena's theory?"

Annabeth crossed her arms with a snort. "It's dumb. Soulmates don't exist. This was some dark magic. And we'd be stupid to treat it as anything less than dangerous."

"Well, I don't know if I believe her," Will said with a shrug. "And if I did, I'd have some reservations about this person apparently being the love of my life."

He turned his palm up, and Annabeth peered at the words.

Fuck!
If I have to see China
one more goddamn time—

Annabeth couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in the back of her throat.

Will chuckled. "Yeah, it doesn't make much sense. A lot of angry swearing. Possibly a little racist?"

"A perfect fit for you," Annabeth deadpanned.

"I think it's a mortal," Will mused. "It's not anyone at camp. And if it's one of Luke's demigods, then I'll be having a word with Aphrodite." He patted Annabeth on the back good-naturedly before he moved on to the next patient.

Annabeth stared at her wrist. Will's mention of Luke left a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Oh gods, what if her soulmate was Luke? She traced out the words gently with her right hand.

wanna take a nap
so much stuff to do, urgh

Annabeth sighed, looking away from her wrist. "Lose a love to worse than death". Those had been the exact words of her prophecy. If it a higher power confirming that he was a "love" wasn't enough to tell her that she was hopelessly crushing on someone who should be her enemy, then what was?

Then again, she hadn't needed any kind of otherworldly sign to kiss Percy.

She couldn't help the reddening of her cheeks at the thought. That was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of her life.

She'd done it in the heat of the moment, but in hindsight, Annabeth knew she'd probably do it again. Gods, when had she decided that kissing Percy was a good thing?

Annabeth shoved those thoughts out of her head. In the back of her mind, she wondered if her soulmate was someone already at camp. They'd see her thoughts on their skin, maybe wonder who the hell they'd gotten stuck with.

At least if she got Luke, she could maybe get some insight into his battle plans from his thoughts. Think about Kronos, she implored Luke, staring at her wrist again.

oh, gross, PDA
please stop making out in front of me
man i'm hungry
i should call my mum
wonder what she's doing

Annabeth blanched. His mum? That could be Luke, right? Though she didn't think Luke's thoughts were so scattered.

Maybe her soulmate was a mortal. Somehow, Annabeth couldn't bring herself to believe that.

who's my soulmate
gods, i feel bad for her

The sentences on Annabeth's wrist were broken. They were in lower case, never with any punctuation.

—put up with me
—what a chore

maybe...no, no
don't be stupid
now that would be a miracle

Annabeth forced her gaze away from her wrist again. Maybe she should invest in a bracelet to cover it up.

Romanticising dark magic was definitely a mistake the demigods were making. Annabeth couldn't count how many times she had heard someone in passing say "I can't wait to find my soulmate!"

She'd rolled her eyes enough to make herself unbearably dizzy.

<<< >>>

The next thing they realised about the soul marks was something bad. Annabeth took it as solid, hard evidence that she was always right.

It happened in a sparring match. Percy versus Beckendorf.

Annabeth lazed in the stands, her feet resting on Grover's lap as she flicked through a book on Aphrodite. If she was going to get to the bottom of this soulmates' thing, she needed to do her research.

"Ow!" Beckendorf's shout jarred her from her thoughts. Annabeth glanced up to see a gash on his right bicep, which the son of Hephaestus regarded with a shudder.

"Crap, sorry," Percy said sheepishly, taking a step forward.

Something like a tingle down Annabeth's spine made her whip her head up, her gaze scouring the crowd until she caught sight of what had caught her attention in her peripheral vision.

Silena Beauregard, pulling her hand back from her own arm, frowning down at the blood dripping from her fingers as her faces twisted in pain.

Annabeth's heart nearly stopped.

Silena looked up and met her gaze, both of them staring wide-eyed at each other.

"Stop!" Annabeth's voice rang out, wavering slightly.

She vaulted over the seats until she got to Silena. Beckendorf was already by her side, Percy at his heels.

"What the hell?" Beckendorf muttered, inspecting her wound. "Did you cut yourself?"

Silena swallowed. "No, I didn't."

Percy looked up at Annabeth, his eyes clouded. The words on his collarbone flashed again. When he realised she was looking, Percy blushed and pulled his shirt up to cover it.

Annabeth tore her gaze away from him, her eyes momentarily flickering down to her own wrist.

oh no

Specific, she thought to herself.

"Go to the infirmary," Annabeth told Silena and Beckendorf. "Percy and I'll go tell Chiron."

"Tell him what?" Percy asked as the couple hurried off together.

Annabeth bit her lip. "That we know why this happened."

She explained just as much to Chiron. The magic had bound soulmate pairs together. Thoughts from your soulmate inscribed themselves in temporary tattoos on your skin, but injuries and wounds also went both ways.

"They've done it so they can take us down more quickly," Percy realised. He scowled. "This has to be Luke."

Annabeth felt something cold ripple down her spine at the look on his face. Percy had good reason to dislike Luke, given that he'd made a very personal betrayal, but how much Percy actually hated him was...disturbing.

When Chiron dismissed them, Annabeth pulled Percy aside.

"What's up with you?" she whispered to him.

"What do you mean?" Percy's eyes drifted down to her wrist before snapping back up to her face. He eased his hand out of her grip, and it made Annabeth recoil like she'd been slapped.

"Whatever you have against Luke."

Percy gave her an incredulous look. "You're kidding, right? You can't possibly be defending him right now." He paused in the middle of the grass, whirling around to face her.

"I'm not defending him," she argued. "I'm saying that there's no point in getting angry. That's what Kronos wants."

"Don't turn this on me—"

"I'm not trying to!" she snapped. "Why are you attacking me?"

"Because you're comparing me to Luke," Percy hissed.

"I don't want you to be like him!" Annabeth cried.

A mixture of emotions crossed his face.

Annabeth saw the words on Percy's collarbone flash.

annoying

The words disappeared and reappeared faster than she could read.

can't believe how ridiculous

son of a

A hot bolt of jealousy struck her. Even when they were alone, Percy's soulmate was still with them.

She already had to share him with Calypso and Rachel, but now some random girl too? Annabeth gritted her teeth. "You know what? Forget it. I was trying to be a good friend, maybe check up on you. But I forgot what a massive jerk you were."

With that, she stalked off, furious and practically steaming at her so-called best friend.

When she was sure she was out of his sight, Annabeth looked down at her wrist.

what the hell—
decide—so difficult to read
i'll never understand

Despite all logic, Annabeth felt her anger somewhat quench at the thought of someone out there being destined for her. If she was starting to believe what Silena had been spouting for days...well, no one had to know.

Word spread quickly through camp. By the time Chiron made his official announcement at dinner, everyone already knew what Annabeth had discovered earlier in the day.

That they were twice as susceptible to attack as they had been before. Great for the middle of a war.

As the chatter resumed, Annabeth poked at her food. She was miserable without Percy. They always did this, always had fights. But eventually, one of them would crack; Annabeth would knock on his door and ask to spar or Percy would show up at her door with a book he apparently "wanted to read".

Thinking back, Annabeth recalled the resolution of their last two fights. Both times, Percy had asked her to accompany him up the lava climbing wall.

Damn it, she thought to herself as she got up from her bench, plate in hand, ignoring the looks of her siblings as she crossed with pavilion with purposeful strides and sat down next to Percy.

Percy's eyes widened with panic — which she found hilarious — and even Grover looked surreptitiously from side to side.

The tattoo on her wrist rewrote itself.

she's crazy—
she's actually crazy

Part of her brain grappled confusedly with the words. But Percy was giving her an expectant look, and she still hadn't said anything yet.

Annabeth sat there in silence for about three seconds before she said, "Mr D wants to assign the mission to another one of Luke's old bases to someone. I said I'd do it." She paused her lips. The question was the hardest to get out, but Annabeth swallowed her pride and managed, "Will you come with me?"

Fortunately, following a wait with bated breath, Percy nodded. Apology accepted. Inwardly, Annabeth felt a small spark of relief.

Grover leaned back in his seat. "Wow, I've never felt so unwanted."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Don't be dramatic. I know you've got plans with the Council tomorrow."

Knowing that Chiron was about to come over and tell her off, Annabeth cleared her throat and got up. "See you tomorrow."

Percy offered her a half-smile, which she returned, before she turned her back and walked back to her cabin.

<<< >>>

Their mission itself was off to an uneventful start. Argus dropped them off in the forest on Staten Island. Chris Rodriguez mentioned that one of Luke's old bases was situated there, and Chiron was hoping that it hadn't yet been completely cleared.

Percy uselessly kicked a rock by his foot as Argus drove off, all his eyes pointing forward, except for one at the back that winked at Annabeth for reasons unknown to her.

"What exactly are we looking for here?" Percy said.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, shoving the map into his hands. "Read it. I wrote notes." She strode forward, examining their surroundings.

The forest was large and this section was quiet and completely mortal-free. They were essentially in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but Argus' tire marks on the ground.

"Yeah," Percy dragged out the syllable. "But it would be so much easier if you just explained it to me."

Annabeth shot him a glare, but she was relieved that they had fallen back into their usual rhythm.

"Chris said this was one of their old bases. Housed their harpies and giants." At her words, Percy sneaked a nervous glance to either side of him.

"It's likely cleared out," she told him. "Relax."

"I'm pretty sure the last time you said that we got attacked by a hydra," he pointed out.

"Pessimist," she said airily. Her gaze roved over the forest floor. The leaves were spread out everywhere...almost too perfectly.

"Look for tracks," she instructed, kneeling down beside a tree despite how reluctant she was to get on her hands and knees as she started pushing leaves aside.

Behind her, Percy made a gagging sound at the thought of getting down in the mud, but he joined her, exploring the other side of the clearing.

"Wait," he called out mere moments later. "There's tracks here." Annabeth hurried over to his side as he continued, "Huge footprints." He looked up at her. "Guess you were right about the giants."

The angle he was at made his hair fall against his eyes — Percy was in dire need of a haircut — and brush against his eyelashes. They fluttered as he blinked, green flickering in and out of sight.

Annabeth's breath caught in her throat, and she felt her cheeks warm when she remembered that they were alone for miles out.

For a moment, Annabeth allowed herself to consider actually doing something about this ridiculous crush of hers. So they had soulmates...did it matter? It didn't change her feelings for Percy, did it? She didn't feel anymore connected to the stranger she was magically bound to than she was to her best friend of four years.

She risked another glance at Percy. She never let herself think about him; it was too painful, knowing how unlikely it was that he felt the same way she did. And that was before Luke, Rachel, a supernatural war, and new soulmate tattoos came into play.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "This way then." Delving forward so he wouldn't see her momentary lapse in judgement, Annabeth kicked aside the leaves as they progressed.

Percy traced out their path on the map with a pencil as they trekked through the seemingly never-ending greenery, making sure they weren't going in circles.

"You're doing it wrong," Annabeth complained as she saw him noting down the wrong coordinates. "We're here, not by that hill." She gestured to the hill on their right as they walked past it, promptly snatching the pencil and map out of his hands to correct his mistake.

"Then why did you give me the map?" Percy protested, struggling to keep up as she quickened her pace.

"Sorry if I thought you could do something competently," Annabeth said sarcastically, tracing out their actual path.

"Annabeth."

"My mistake," she continued. "Forgot that—"

"No, Annabeth, look."

She glanced up impatiently, only to see Percy screeching to a halt. Ahead of them, overgrown and clearly abandoned was a shoddy cabin made of wood.

"No way," Annabeth said, astonished. "Luke was dumb enough not to clean up after himself."

Percy sent her a sideway glance. "So you think Luke is dumb, huh?" He was grinning unabashedly in a way that made butterflies jitter in her stomach.

Annabeth elbowed him playfully. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain."

For once, the mention of the L-word hadn't led to a ridiculous argument. Their spirits lifted at the hope of finding something that would give them a leg up over Kronos and his forces.

She unsheathed her dagger and stuffed the map back into Percy's rucksack.

He glanced at her. "Planning to attack the moss?"

"Giants, remember?" Annabeth said sternly.

"We would've heard them by now. They aren't exactly the most nimble," Percy said. "They're basically the Stolls of mythological monsters."

"I'll tell Connor and Travis you said that."

"Please, don't. I want to see their faces when I tell them myself."

Annabeth prodded front door tentatively.

"Boom," Percy said.

She shot him a withering glare. "Why do you have to have the maturity of a five-year-old?"

"Comedic relief. Our quests would get so boring without me."

"Or maybe they'd be successful for once?"

"Hey, our quests are successful!" he protested.

"Yeah, it was real fun when the Sirens almost ate us," Annabeth snorted. "Or what about the time Antaeus almost killed you? Or—"

"Okay, you can stop now," Percy said loudly.

Annabeth gave him a triumphant grin before she pushed the door with more force. The lock practically crumbled to dust as it swung inwards.

The interior of the cabin was mostly dust and wood that hadn't been touched for months.

"Don't know what I was expecting," Annabeth mused.

Percy pulled a face. "Still creepy."

"Good. You're going first."

"No," Percy whined. "Why is it always me?"

"Because you're the Chosen One," she quipped.

He made a face at her. "Don't even."

Annabeth snickered as he stepped in first, holding Riptide out for illumination and for pre-emptive defence.

"So what do you think about this whole soulmates business?" Percy's voice echoed between the walls.

Annabeth grimaced. Why did he have to bring this up? At least he was facing forwards, unable to see her very telling reaction to the subject matter. "We don't have to make small talk."

"Not small talk," Percy said, but she couldn't place his tone. "I was just curious. You usually feel quite strongly about things like this."

Annabeth shrugged. "Don't really have any prevailing thoughts in this case."

A pause. "Any ideas who yours could be?"

The L-word hung between them. This time, it held much more weight.

"No," Annabeth lied through her teeth. She didn't want to face the possibility that her soulmate might be Luke.

Sneaking a glance at Percy, Annabeth caught him staring back at her. Both of them glanced away immediately.

"You?" she asked, trying to sound as off-handed as possible as she inspected a cabinet. Annabeth pulled open the doors, disappointedly looking at the empty interior.

Rachel.

"No," he said, equally as unconvincing as she had been.

Good to know that they were both bad liars.

Annabeth wondered if he was thinking of the same person as she was. His t-shirt was covering up his collarbone, and Annabeth couldn't find a discreet way to look at her own 'soulmark'.

"I'm gonna check the rest of the rooms here," Percy said, quickly changing the subject. "You take upstairs?"

Annabeth nodded. "See you in a bit." Eager for the escape route, Annabeth made her way to the stairs. Once she was out of sight, her shoulders sagged from their previous rigid posture.

Pressing a hand to her forehead, Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut until stars danced in her vision. How was it that despite Percy being one of the people she trusted most in this world, they could barely even be in the same room for over a minute?

For once, Annabeth just wanted things to be easy with them.

Then again, nothing had never been easy when it came to Percy.

Annabeth stepped from the landing into the first of the three doors. It creaked open and hit the wall with a shudder, releasing a suspension of dust. She swatted the dirt away as she peered inside; nothing but a rickety bed and a table covered in cobwebs.

She backtracked and checked the other rooms — nothing. Honestly, she hadn't been expecting much. Luke was smart, he wasn't going to leave anything behind.

A loud crash from downstairs nabbed her attention and Annabeth's head snapped up, her dagger poised at the ready.

"Percy!" she yelled, feet flying as she raced down the stairs.

Annabeth's jaw dropped when she saw the giant towering over Percy, standing at nearly ten feet tall with broad shoulders and fists the size of boulders. The giant beat Riptide away like it was a toothpick, roaring as he backed Percy up against a wall.

"I could really use some help!" Percy yelped.

Annabeth was jarred back to reality. "Duck and roll!" she urged.

Percy obliged, tumbling out from between the giant's legs just as the monster's fist rammed a hole in the wall where Percy's head had been.

Annabeth made a beeline for Percy, but a deafening crash tore at her eardrums as the front door to the house splintered into a million pieces. Another giant, the spitting image of Percy's opponent, stood in the doorway, casting an ominous shadow on the wooden floor.

"Where are they coming from?" Annabeth shouted, recovering quickly as she staggered backwards, momentarily off-balance. Her hand flew out to grab Percy by the arm and yank him towards her body, both of them stumbling into what she assumed was the kitchen.

"First one was hiding out in the living room," Percy panted. "The second one must've been waiting outside." He glanced at her. "Not to state the obvious, but I'm pretty sure this was supposed to be an ambush."

"Well, you're not wrong." Annabeth gripped her dagger. "We can't take both of them at once. We have to separate them and then attack each one together."

"What, so I lure one out while you lock the other one in?"

Annabeth paused. "I—yeah, actually."

Percy nudged her. "See? I do more than comedy."

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but before she could retort, one of the giants lumbered into the room, bashing through the wooden archway above his head.

They rushed forward in unison. Percy slid past the giant, narrowly avoiding being grabbed up. Annabeth slashed across the giant's kneecap, keeping his attention on her.

It worked. The giant snarled at her, and Annabeth could hear the other monster being led out of the house.

But she had this giant in front of her right now, and Percy waiting on her outside. The giant took a step forward, and the ground's shaking became equivalent to the epicentre of an earthquake.

Annabeth wobbled but didn't fall, stabbing the giant in the thigh. "No!" the giant roared, hands going towards her.

With both hands on the hilt, Annabeth twisted her dagger further into the giant's flesh, gooey, dark, black blood running down his skin like a scene out of her worst nightmares.

Annabeth bounded out through the other exit, racing towards the front door before slamming it shut behind her.

Panting, Annabeth scanned the clearing around the house — the door wasn't going to hold that giant for a second.

She spotted Percy defending himself with slashes and parries just a few yards away from her. Annabeth cursed herself for not carrying another weapon, but she couldn't get her dagger back until they fought off the second giant.

Annabeth took off in a sprint toward Percy, scooping up a fallen branch, about as thick as her wrist. "Hey!" she yelled as she approached the fight. The giant whirled around to face her, baring his ugly set of teeth.

She screeched to a halt, fixing her palms on either end of the branch before snapping the wood cleanly in half over her knee, leaving her with a stake in each hand.

Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth saw words flash on her wrist.

wow
that was—
hot.

Annabeth suppressed the urge to laugh at her soulmate. They're timing could not be worse right now. Some part of her imagined a mortal boy staring dreamily at some girl on the streets. She hoped whoever it was was enjoying some normalcy.

"Percy!" Annabeth snapped, seeing him stationary behind the giant. Were his...eyes glazed over? What was he doing? "Percy! Now is not the time for your minimal attention span!"

Percy blinked. "Sorry!" he almost squeaked.

Annabeth gave him a weird look, but quickly focused her attention back on the monster about to charge her. She ducked the first swinging fist and, with all her might, jammed her right stake into the giant's calf.

It earned her a furious roar, but Annabeth was already bounding out of the way, Percy leaping in behind her for another attack. As the giant turned to face Percy, Annabeth linked a hand through the strap of his tunic, pulling herself up.

It's just like rock-climbing, she told herself dizzily, desperately trying not to get thrown off as Percy slashed at the giant's arms. Before she could hesitate or brace herself in the goriness of the upcoming scene, Annabeth staked the giant right through the side of his throat, shutting herself and pulling away as a spray of blood spattered her t-shirt.

Almost immediately, the giant exploded into bronze dust, and Annabeth was free-falling through the air. She landed on her left foot, hissing as a bolt of pain coursed through her ankle.

Percy's hands grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her. "You okay?" he asked, eyeing her ankle worriedly. "It's not broken, is it?"

Annabeth tested her weight on her left foot gingerly. Her ankle throbbed but she could walk, which was all that mattered at the moment.

The second giant was already hurtling out of the cottage and towards them, hungry for vengeance.

"No time," she rushed, pointing to the approaching monster.

Percy's head whipped around to stare at the monster. "You wait here," he said breathlessly before taking off in a sprint towards the monster.

Annabeth braced herself against a tree, scowling at his retreating figure. Had he learnt nothing about her after five years?

Sunlight glinted off her dagger, still buried nearly hilt-deep in the giant's thigh, evidently slowing him down and giving Percy a slight advantage.

Annabeth shook her foot out, biting down on her lip and forcing herself to ignore the pain. She had scaled the rock-climbing wall with burn blisters before. "This is nothing," she muttered as a reminder.

Annabeth started forward. Percy caught sight of her, and exasperation flickered across his face — a swapping of roles for them — but he didn't seem fazed by her decision not to listen to him — as her decision always was.

With the giant's back was to Annabeth, she took the opportunity to get her hands around the handle of her knife—

And wham!

Annabeth went flying backwards, the giant having backhanded her entire body hard enough that her brain slammed into her skull and gave her what was going to be a nasty concussion.

She hit the ground, spraying up dirt in every direction, her dagger falling out of her hand as she tumbled to a stop like a rag doll.

"Annabeth!" came Percy's distant yell.

"I'm fine," she groaned, getting onto her knees and picking up her knife with two fingers. Her head was pounding now but she couldn't exactly leave Percy to fend for himself.

Annabeth forced her head up, her vision blurring in and out of focus. But she could just make out Percy staring, alarmed, at her, starting forward as if to rush to her aid.

Except he'd forgotten about the giant, who took the opportunity of Percy's distraction to grab Riptide by the blade, the monster's hands slippery with dark blood, and rip it out of the demigod's hands.

"No!" Annabeth growled as Percy stood before the now armed giant empty-handed. His attention had left her and gone to the monster, his face pale with the realisation that he was so, so screwed.

She saw his mouth form the shape of a string of curses that would've made Sally frown.

Before she even knew what she was doing, Annabeth was on her feet, her dagger in hand as she sprinted forward, feet propelling her forward in a half-stagger half-run towards Percy.

Just a few more steps...

The giant raised Riptide at the same time Annabeth drew her arm back and flung her knife with all her might, praying to every single Olympian that all her practice with throwing stars weren't about to go to waste.

The knife hurtled through the air, whistling as it spun on an axis, an unchangeable trajectory tracing out a path straight for the back of the monster's head.

Except.

One second too late.

The giant thrust with Riptide and the celestial bronze blade ripped clean through Percy's abdomen with a horrifying squelch.

Annabeth's knife slammed into the back of the giant's skull, disintegrating the monster into a rainstorm of dust.

"No!" the raw scream tore from Annabeth's lips.

Percy teetered on the spot. His chin dropped and his eyes grew unfocused, as if he couldn't believe the sight of his own sword sticking grotesquely out of his gut, a red stain spreading rapidly through the orange of his shirt.

He wavered in the air, meeting her eyes from across the clearing. His face twisted into an expression of pain. "Annabeth?" the word fell like a whisper from his lips before Percy crumpled to his knees, keeling over on the ground.

Annabeth collapsed to the ground in front of him. Too many words were about to escape her, and her mind was spinning like a tornado, because — this wasn't happening. This wasn't—this was Percy.

Percy didn't die. Percy couldn't die. He was Percy.

But before she could voice anything, even the softest of croaks, a searing pain spread through her stomach.

Annabeth cried out, hands instinctively going to her stomach. It felt like it was on fire. Skin splitting, blood spilling, a knife in her gut—

What?

A wound was opening up under her fingers, her skin ripping inexplicably and tearing a hole right through her. She could feel it, and a tortured cry escaped her.

"What the hell?" Percy's voice trembled, as he stared at the spreading bloodstain on her own shirt, matching his own like a long-lost twin.

The sky spun and Annabeth fell over, hands grasping at Percy's shoulders as they curled into each other. His hand found hers, and Annabeth gripped it tightly, struggling to bring her own wrist up into her eyeline.

get up, Annabeth
don't do this to me

The tattoo flickered and this time Annabeth wanted to scream for an entirely different reason.

i would give up everything i have
for this to not be true

"I wasn't stabbed," Annabeth murmured, her vision darkened. Shadows closed in on her. "I wasn't..." She tilted her head up weakly, and Percy was gazing down at her with enough regret to sink the Titanic.

"Please, don't," Percy whispered. "Don't be hurt. Don't be hurt because—"

Annabeth gripped his hand as Percy's eyelids fluttered, and he went slack in her arms, head hitting the ground with a thud of finality.

She was too weak to fight anymore. She couldn't...

Annabeth hit the ground, head lolled to the side as she fought to keep her eyes open, Percy staring back at her.

The grass was red. His blood stained her fingernails and mixed with her own. They lay there in the middle of the clearing, bleeding out, surrounded by a silent forest.

Percy didn't let go of her hand.

"Fuck," Percy murmured.

Annabeth released a half-sob. "Right."

Percy's grip weakened and his eyes went glassy, and Annabeth couldn't stop the tear that rolled down her cheek.

This couldn't be it. It wasn't supposed to end like this. They weren't supposed to—

His fingers were still curled around hers. The sky went dark and Annabeth closed her eyes, falling asleep for what she knew was going to be the last time.

Chapter Text

Annabeth's first thought upon waking up was that this didn't look like the Underworld.

Her eyes squinted against the glare of the glowing orange yolk in the sky. The sunrise had splattered the blue with streaks of pink and purple. This was too beautiful to be the Underworld. No, even Elysium's sky was an inky abyss.

Her second thought was that there were trees in her vision and there was glass prickling her skin. Which meant that she was waking up in the same clearing she was pretty sure she had just died in.

And her third thought — there was heavy breathing somewhere to her right, and when Annabeth forced her head to turn, she saw Percy lying on the ground beside her, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.

Percy was alive. He was alive and breathing and fine after being run through by his own sword. The cloth of his shirt was bunched up from the angle of his fall, exposing his collarbone.

The soulmate tattoo was flashing as quickly as Annabeth had remembered, but now all she could do was ogle it with all the knowledge she had never had before.

this is insane
is he going to wake up
how am i alive
percy you need to wake up
how are we alive—who healed us—who helped us

The flashing made her dizzy. But the sheer surreality of the situation was worse. Because those—those were her thoughts. Annabeth's thoughts. She was reading her own thoughts as they ran through her brain.

this has to be some sort of paradox
if i just had paper to script it out
ask my mother
chiron might know
malcolm would help me
if only daedalus—

Percy stirred, and both the words on his collarbone and Annabeth's own feelings took a leap in another direction.

"Percy," Annabeth tried to say, not really sure what she expecting her voice to come out as. Mostly she was still in disbelief at being alive at the moment. "Percy," she said again, clearer and surer this time.

His eyelashes fluttered, and Annabeth was struck again by the ridiculous situation she was in. Stunned to the point that when his eyes opened wearily, Percy was met with the sight of a stricken Annabeth.

"Annabeth?" his words were slightly slurred. "I—are we—is this—"

Annabeth looked down at her wrist.

Hades is gonna kill me
any chance dad will come to the rescue

i cannot face nico again
that kid seriously creeps me out

Annabeth cracked a small smile that made her face hurt. "We're not dead." She struggled to prop herself up in her elbows. Her head was still pounding — like she was recovering from a hangover, or a migraine.

She drank in their surroundings. Her dagger lay a few feet away, stained with inky blood. Riptide wasn't anywhere in sight, but she was willing to bet that it had reappeared back in Percy's pocket.

"But how..." Percy's eyes travelled down to her stomach, and Annabeth followed his gaze to see the massive stain of blood on her shirt.

The words 'Camp Half-Blood' were no longer visible, drowned in her own blood. It might have dried, but the metallic stench still hung in the air and made her nauseous.

In fact, there was so much blood...everywhere.

Percy's own shirt was stained with it. Their hands looked like the rusty colour would never be washed out again. The patch of grass they were lying on was spattered with blood.

"It looks like a murder scene," Percy said with a shudder, slowly moving to sit up. His hand pressed against his temple as he winced, and Annabeth guessed that he was experiencing the same feelings she was.

"It almost was," she said grimly.

Annabeth's gaze flickered to Percy, and this time he caught it.

He mumbled, "I don't understand how..."

Annabeth swallowed. "I think it's to do with—with the fact that we're—" She broke off, studying his expression warily.

"Soulmates," Percy finished, paling. "You can say it. I figured as much when you were..." He waved dismissively, but grimaced. Percy's brow furrowed. "You had a stab wound. The same one as mine."

"Soulmates are bonded, remember?" Annabeth recalled. Percy her cut Beckendorf and Silena had bled. "Luke's spell."

Percy's tongue darted out as he slowly wet his lips. "Wait, so Luke...Luke isn't your soulmate?"

Annabeth glared at him. "Seeing as I almost just bled to death for you, no, I don't think Luke is my soulmate." Her exasperation felt familiar, gave her something to keep her grounded in the midst of all this chaos.

"Hey, you can't blame me for thinking it," Percy said indignantly. "You told me you had a crush on him."

"When I was 12," Annabeth emphasised.

"The line in the prophecy," Percy argued. "He was your 'love'."

"What about you and Rachel then?" Annabeth fired back, scowling.

Percy's face twisted incredulously. "Is that why you didn't get along?"

"How can one person be so blind?" Annabeth muttered, mostly to herself.

Percy looked at her. "Look," he sighed, "You never had anything to worry about," he hesitated. "It was always you."

Annabeth's jaw clenched unconsciously. "You shouldn't be allowed to say things like that."

Percy glanced at her. "Why not?"

"Because it makes me want to kiss you," Annabeth said loudly. "And I need to focus right now because I still have no idea how we're alive."

Percy fell silent.

Annabeth looked down at her lap. This was too much for her. This was too much for any one person. She was alive. She had survived a very fatal stab wound with barely a scratch to show for it. And she had just found that her soulmate wasn't as much of a stranger as she'd thought.

So much for...not meeting the person you'll spend the rest of your life with at 15 and how illogical the concept was and statistics and all that crap.

Of course, Aphrodite was just typical like that. Probably showed them on Hephaestus TV. The dramatic reveal must've made for great daytime television.

"I didn't know," Annabeth said steadily, staring at a spot on the horizon. "I didn't know if the prophecy was talking about you or Luke. I didn't..." Her right hand curled into a fist. "For the longest time, I thought he was always going to be the one for me. And then you just..." She gestured unintelligibly.

"I just, what?" Percy repeated softly.

"I don't know," Annabeth said shortly. "You were all...Percy. And then I thought you were going to die, so I thought — what the hell? — and I kissed you, and I thought I'd messed everything up." She sneaked a glance in his direction. Percy was still sprawled on the ground, limbs spread-eagles as he listened to her, his temple knotted, deep in thought. "And then we never mentioned it..." Annabeth trailed off and swallowed.

"I never mentioned it because I thought it was a heat-of-the-moment thing," Percy admitted. "Didn't exactly want to be rejected by my best friend."

Annabeth hid a smile. "I'm your best friend?"

Percy blushed. "You're not allowed to tell Grover," he said, alarmed.

She mimed zipping her lips and throwing away the key. "You don't have to feel obligated to..." she waved a hand unintelligibly. "I mean, soulmates sound great and all, but there are a million other things that could stop a relationship from working. Like, what if Beckendorf decided to move to Australia forever? He and Silena couldn't end up together. It wouldn't work. 'Soulmates' or whatever this is doesn't mean—"

"You think too much," Percy said abruptly, tugging on her arm to turn her toward her. "I think you're forgetting the obvious way to see if this works." He hesitated. "Can I..." His cheeks were flaming red. "You can't laugh at me."

Annabeth chomped down on her lower lip to stifle the snicker that was bubbling up her throat. "Sorry," she muttered. "Can't help it."

"Right," Percy said slowly, running a hand through his hair abashedly. "Because it's..it's you and me. It could be weird. We don't..."

"I won't laugh," Annabeth promised. Her heart was knocking madly against her ribcage, and she had keep her hands on the ground to keep them from trembling.

Percy leaned over and closed the distance between them.

It was only a peck. The lightest of kisses, and he pulled back almost immediately, already mortified and about to bolt. His chin dropped and he stared at a patch of ground in front of him hard enough to make it combust.

"Wait," she said quickly. Annabeth was smiling. In fact, she was smiling so wildly that she probably looked like the Mad Hatter. "Percy," she urged. He looked up at her through his lashes and Annabeth's breath caught in her throat. This was completely unfair. It was Percy. But...it was also...Percy.

This time Annabeth kissed him, pressing her lips to his for longer, moving forward so that she was kneeling between his legs. Her lips were tingling when she pulled away, both of them breathing hard, not necessarily from strain but from the surreality of the situation.

"I can't believe that just happened," he whispered, pupils blown wide as he stared back at her. His lips were a raw red and Annabeth felt a jolt of satisfaction. A territorial part of her that she ignored wanted to drag him out and show him to all the girls who'd ever almost come between them. She shook it off, but couldn't wipe the grin off her face.

"It's not weird," she reassured him. "And it's not in the heat of the moment."

"Good, good," Percy said, a little too quickly. "'Cause I don't think I can pretend that never happened." He braced his weight on his palms and leaned back, shaking his head and making a noise of disbelief. The weight of Percy's gaze on her made her look up expectantly at him.

She frowned. "What?"

"Just can't believe it," he murmured. "You could have anyone. Literally anyone, Annabeth. And you pick the guy who's supposed to die next summer."

Annabeth shivered at his words. She knew it was true. Kissing in the forest like they had their whole lives ahead of them was great, but reality was sneaking up on them.

"Don't want anyone else but you, Percy," Annabeth mumbled, her cheeks flushing. "Not very wise of me but..."

Percy shrugged, the corner of his mouth quirking up. "Luckily for me." The smile faded as a wary expression took over. "We have to get back to camp."

Annabeth grimaced. "God," she groaned, running a hand through her hair. "I don't know how long we've been gone. They must think we're dead." Struggling to her feet, Annabeth reached out a hand and hauled Percy up. The redness of his shirt made her feel queasy.

Reaching out, Annabeth tentatively lifted up the hem of his shirt.

Percy stammered, "Um, is this the best time—"

"Not that, you idiot," Annabeth grumbled, eyeing the patch of skin underneath the shirt. Not a single scar. No evidence at all that Percy had even been impaled in the first place. "Checking the wound."

"Right." He was scarlet.

"It's gone," she confirmed, dropping his t-shirt.

"So soulmates can heal each other," Percy reasoned.

Annabeth scanned their surroundings before she caught sight of her dagger. Picking it up by the hilt, she brought the blade up to her left index finger and gently nicked the tip of it.

A hiss of pain told her that Percy had felt the cut. She sheathed her dagger on her shorts and grabbed his hand, inspecting the cut. It didn't close up.

Annabeth didn't have much experience with magic, but she tried to focus on healing Percy, imagining the skin knitting up and closing over the wound.

And then it did.

Right before her eyes, the cut on Percy's finger closed, leaving no trace. The same on her own hand.

"That could be useful," she remarked, dropping his hand. "We should go. We have a whole trek back to camp."

Percy's nose wrinkled with disdain. "I don't suppose teleportation comes with the whole soulmate deal."

"Hey, you came back to life and got the girl," Annabeth scoffed as she started towards the trees. "Don't push it."

Percy jogged to catch up to her, stumbling over his own feet. "I got the girl, huh?"

Annabeth fought back a blush. "That was my subtle way of asking if the whole...kissing thing was fine."

"Thought you always had a plan," Percy commented. "You never get tongue-tied."

"Shut up."

"The answer is 'yes', by the way," Percy informed her. "But not if you keep being mean to me."

"You're insufferable. And that's non-negotiable," she said sternly. "I'm not going to be nice to you just because of that."

Annabeth scrunched up her nose for good effect, as if the mere idea of it was revolting.

"So you'll bully me," Percy said slowly. "But kiss me?"

"Yes," Annabeth said without missing a beat. "In fact, if you would stop moving like a snail, I'll kiss you when we get to the main road."

She didn't have to see Percy's face to know that he was grinning.

They didn't make it to the main road. It was Annabeth's fault, actually, though she'd never admit it out loud.

Percy said one too many stupid things, apparently Annabeth had a thing for morons, and then they spent a minute kissing against a tree.

<<< >>>

Clarisse was the first one to spot them. Annabeth didn't know how she didn't mistake for homeless stragglers when they crossed the border, clothes still soaked in now encrusted blood and looking like they'd just gone through hell.

"No way," were the words she uttered, with a few expletives. The daughter of Ares had blown her conch horn and was racing towards them, recovering from her astonishment fairly quickly.

She slowed to a jog as she approached them. "What the hell happened to you two?" Clarisse demanded. "We haven't heard anything from you in four days!"

Annabeth glanced up at the sky. It was sunset. Four days since they'd left camp. Which meant that they'd been asleep for three.

Percy caught her eye meaningfully, clearly already on the same train of thought. His eyes flickered down to her hand then up to her face again, flashing with something unreadable.

Annabeth looked down at her wrist. Stark as day, her soulmate tattoo read, 'do we tell them?' Clarisse was looking suspiciously at her wrist. Annabeth hastily tucked her left hand behind her back.

"Annabeth! Percy!" It was Chiron, probably about to pass out from relief, galloping towards them, a horde of demigods at his feet —hooves? "Thank the gods."

Annabeth heard Percy snort. She caught a glimpse of her tattoo.

not like they actually helped
we really shouldn't thank them
like ever

Annabeth hid a smile, wanting to kick him but unable to do so discretely. She could see Percy struggling to stifle his own grin.

"Luke sent through a messenger two days ago," Chiron sighed. He looked like he'd aged a decade over the last few days. "Said that both of you were dead and that we didn't have any choice but to surrender."

"Uh..." Percy stammered.

Annabeth fought the urge to roll her eyes. "We were ambushed," she explained. "Two giants were waiting for us at the place. I don't think Luke planted them though; probably just left behind when they evacuated. Percy was injured, so we had to wait for him to recover enough to get back. Luke must've thought the giants were successful."

"The explains the blood," Silena said ruefully, staring nauseously at the stain on Percy's shirt.

"That's a lot of blood." Will Solace frowned. "How are you still alive?"

Annabeth and Percy exchanged pointed looks. Not for the first time, Annabeth wished they'd been granted some form of telepathy.

shit
shit
shit

Her cheek twitched at the words on her wrist. Not really helpful at the moment, she thought, panicked.

'Are we going to tell them?' was the silent question that passed between the two of them.

Annabeth didn't know the answer to this one.

"There was ambrosia and nectar in the hut," Percy cut in, lying smoothly. It took all of her energy not to show her surprise. "I guess Luke didn't clear it all out."

"But there was nothing else," Annabeth informed Chiron. "Completely cleared out."

"That's still a pretty bad wound," one of the Stolls said. "You should get it checked out." Will nodded vigorously in agreement.

"It's fine now," Percy reassured them. "Completely healed. Guess I got lucky."

There were a few more unconvinced looks that went around. Annabeth cleared her throat, "So. Did anything happen while we were gone?"

Fortunately, Chiron took this as the opportunity to break in and fill them in on everything. "Silena and I pored over every piece of folklore we could find," he told her. "The soulmarks should disappear within a few weeks. Mr D confirmed it to be so — however off-handedly. All we have to do is hold out against an attack until then."

"Easier said than done," Percy muttered under his breath.

Chiron looked at the two of them again, still drinking in the fact that they were both alive. Annabeth felt slightly guilty for lying to him...but she wasn't ready for everyone to know about this yet.

"I'm glad you're both okay," Chiron repeated. "I have to see Mr D, let him know that the prophecy child is still alive." He nodded to them both before retreating.

A majority of the campers who had gathered round dispersed, leaving their friends behind to surround them with knowing looks.

"So you two have been gone for four days," Silena was the first to round on them, already scrutinising them suspiciously.

"Yes."

"Four days," Silena repeated. "Alone. In the forest. Both of you. Alone," she said again.

"Yes," Percy said, in the same monotone.

"How are you alive?" Silena demanded incredulously. "You two are constantly at each other's throats. You can't expect me to believe that you can spend four days together in isolation and there was no—no explosive argument!"

Percy shrugged. "I don't know what to tell you, Silena."

"Are we sure Annabeth didn't stab Percy?" Travis said warily, regarding their matching bloodstains.

Annabeth crossed her arms and glared. "Okay, I wouldn't stab Percy. I have come close multiple times but I have better self-control than that."

Clarisse made a humorous noise. "Oh. Oh, I see it now. They're not fighting because they finally got over themselves and faced their stupid feelings. Took you long enough."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Annabeth lied through her teeth. Percy matched her words with an innocent smile.

"So four days in a forest and you still couldn't face facts?" Beckendorf said frustratedly. "Come on."

"There's no way," Travis insisted. "Four days alone with Katie in a forest and we'd—"

"Please stop," Connor gagged.

"Yes, please stop." Katie was positively green.

"What's it gonna take?" Silena prompted impatiently. "Because we'll lock you in a room ourselves. I'm not kidding."

Annabeth looked over at Percy, who looked like he was about to burst with the amount of smugness he was holding in.

Their friends always did this. Whenever she and Percy were alone, even just in a room, it was speculation and insistence that they were both blind, et cetera.

Ironically, this was the one time they were actually right. Annabeth and Percy had spent the last day on their hike back making out against trees and having spirited discussions about their relationship, squeezing embarrassing stories out of each other.

Percy had some of the worst ones, Annabeth had to admit. The next time she was on Olympus, she was going to have some words with her mother and Aphrodite.

Percy didn't grin at her, but his eyes were dancing with humour. The irony of the moment wasn't lost on either of them.

"You can stop interrogating us now," Annabeth informed her friends. "We should get to the infirmary. Make sure the wounds haven't had any lasting effect."

Both she and Percy absolutely hated the infirmary. It smelled liked antiseptic and reminded her only of the various people who had died in it. But anything was better than this, and Annabeth knew one of them was bound to spill the beans if this went on for any longer.

She made a shooing motion with her hands, and the other demigods, still eyeing her uneasily, backed away, moving like a herd of deer towards the basketball courts.

Leaving behind just one person — Grover.

Annabeth heart jumped. The satyr was standing there, head cocked to one side as he glanced between them, clearly not buying the act. She didn't know why she had expected him to; Grover knew them both better than anyone on the planet, except maybe for each other.

He hadn't said anything since they got back, but the look he was giving them now made Annabeth fidget and shift her weight from foot to foot.

"You might be able to lie to them but—" Grover didn't look anything more than suspicious as he looked between them. "Something happened in the forest," he said knowingly. "You don't have to tell me — I mean, you guys do this all the time — could you just not have a big fight about whatever it is and then not speak for weeks?"

"We don't do that," they said in unison.

Grover bleated. "Sure, and I'm part donkey."

Percy's face seized up confusedly. "But...aren't you?"

"Part horse!" Grover said indignantly.

"We promise we won't have a big fight," Annabeth told him.

"Okay then." Grover clearly did not believe them.

Percy thoughts appeared on her wrist again — 'do we really argue that much?'

Annabeth snorted.

Seaweed brain, she thought. Percy's gaze flickered down discreetly to his collarbone, and he fixed her with a grin.

Grover looked at them again, then shook his head. "You're both weird. Maybe you hit your head when you got stabbed," he suggested to Percy.

"Right," Percy's eyes widened in that way that did when he got an idea. "The infirmary. We should go." He grabbed Annabeth by the arm, tugging her away as he waved frantically to Grover.

Grover watched them go with a perplexed expression.

Annabeth couldn't help the laugh that slipped past her lips as soon as they were out of earshot. "Oh my gods, their faces—"

Percy dragged her behind one of the cabins, ducking behind the wall and out of sight of any passers-by. His cheeks were red with the adrenaline rush, eyes sparkling mischievously.

"You know, they deserve this," Annabeth said breathlessly, hiding behind the wall. Both of them slid to the ground in a fit of snickers, huddled together. She hooked her feet around his ankles, pulling him in. "They're evil. They've teased us for four years straight!"

"I mean," Percy wiggled his eyebrows. "They weren't wrong."

"It's the principle," Annabeth said decidedly. She paused. "You know the reason I didn't say anything about," she lowered her voice, "us, wasn't because of you, right?"

"Well, I hope not." Percy grew more serious. "I do know," he promised. "I get it. The gods are always in everything we do — everyone is. It's nice to just have this one thing to ourselves."

"Can you imagine the look on my mother's face?" Annabeth snickered.

Percy paled. "Yeah, it'll be funny — for the two seconds before she kills me."

"Well, it'll be funny for me."

He elbowed her with a frown.

"Do we tell Grover?" Percy wondered aloud.

"I'm sure we will eventually. He already suspects something," Annabeth reminded. "I wouldn't expect any less, honestly. He's your best friend — plus, the empathy link, and he can sense our emotions. If he didn't think something was up, then that'd be weird."

"Let's just figure out what the hell we're doing first," Percy pleaded. "I mean we..." He gestured wildly. "We're — what — soulmates?"

"I don't believe in soulmates," Annabeth confessed. "Well, I never did before. The spell, um, changes things a bit."

"Do you believe in it now?" Percy asked curiously.

Annabeth eyed him warily. "Would it matter?"

He thought for a moment. "No," he said simply. "I don't know if I believe in soulmates. What I do know is that I've had a crush on you since I was 13."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "No, you haven't."

Percy grimaced. "I'm actually pretty sure I did. Although everyone knew but me, apparently."

"I didn't," she volunteered.

"Yeah, but we're just both stupid," Percy said dismissively.

Annabeth covered her eyes. "Urgh," she groaned into her palms. "Have we really been that blind? I mean, so many things make sense now."

"Rachel," Percy coughed conspicuously.

She responded with a sharp glare. "Luke."

"You don't...care about Rachel, right?" Percy said hesitantly. "Because, I mean, we're friends. I don't think I can just cut her out of my life—"

"Relax," Annabeth interrupted. "I don't own you, Percy."

Percy raised an eyebrow and pointed to the words on his collarbone. "You kind of do."

Annabeth hummed thoughtfully. "Does that mean you're obligated to kill spiders for me now?"

"I already killed spiders for you before," Percy informed her.

"In regards to the Rachel thing," Annabeth said emphatically. "No, I don't care. But you need to stop being insecure about Luke."

Maybe she shouldn't have brought it up. Luke always triggered a fight, and things were the most peaceful they had been in years — ever, in fact.

Percy did pull a face. But he nodded. "Fair. It was stupid to be jealous of him anyway," Percy admitted. "Sorry I acted like a dick about him."

Annabeth winced. "Well, sorry I was a dick to Rachel."

Percy smirked. "You kind of were."

Both of them laughed.

"You know," Annabeth realised. "If we'd just had a proper conversation in the last five years, we could've figured things out a lot quicker."

Percy snorted. "Hey, I tried to talk to you. You just ignored me — like always."

"Don't blame me, someone or something always got in the way," she grumbled. "Besides, I'll go to my grave swearing that Rachel has a crush on you. The number of times I have almost punched that girl..."

"Rachel doesn't have a crush on me," Percy said, confused.

Annabeth shot him an incredulous look. "You are the most oblivious person ever."

"That's not true," he protested.

"I kissed you in a volcano," Annabeth repeated.

"Yes, but like, as a friend or more?" Percy threw his hands up helplessly. "Unclear."

"You're such a Seaweed Brain," Annabeth muttered under her breath.

"In all fairness," Percy held up a hand. "You being jealous of Rachel was quite funny. Well, now that I actually know you were jealous."

"Wish I could say the same for Luke," Annabeth frowned. "Except the two of you tried to kill each other every single time." She sighed and leaned back against the cabin wall. "I don't care if you have female friends. Just—don't kiss any of them, okay?"

Annabeth knew that her rash declaration was probably the most territorial thing she had ever done — gods, she was becoming Percy, speaking without thinking — but it helped that Percy was grinning unabashedly.

"I won't," he promised assuredly.

<<< >>>

It wasn't like there was a massive change in Annabeth life. She didn't wake up feeling like a different person and her days passed similarly to how they did before.

But there was a change. Minuscule, but it was there. There was an evident shift in her and Percy's friendship; just the way they interacted with each other. Of course, they spoke before and hung out for all 24 hours in the day. But now they shared secrets and smiles too.

It wasn't easy at first to break the habit they'd unknowingly reinforced over the years — storming out during arguments instead of resolving them like normal people did.

"Communication is key to a relationship," Percy would quote monotonously at her, to which Annabeth would threaten to cancel the channel carrying Dr Phil on his TV at home.

It was weird at first. Both of them had too much pride that apologising didn't come naturally. But it got easier over time. They argued consistently — they always had, that was just something that came with being Percy and Annabeth — but now they also made up within the hour.

And everyone — and Annabeth meant everyone — noticed.

The Friday night after they returned from the forest was the bonfire and followed their weekly Capture the Flag match. Percy was on Annabeth's team (Percy was always on Annabeth's team) playing defence under Annabeth's instruction, hoping to have the element of surprise.

The plan was all about waiting for Beckendorf and their other teammates to capture members of the opposite team silently and one by one. But Percy got impatient, and when Beckendorf sent up the emergency sparks, he took the chance to step in.

But of course, that had been Hermes' plan all along. Once Percy was off defence, they made their move on the flag, and Annabeth was forced to sprint for her life back to base to defend it. Percy joined her at the last second, and they managed to salvage a win when one of the Apollo campers snagged the other team's flag.

While the rest of their team erupted into celebrations, Annabeth accused Percy of not following her plan and being reckless again while he insisted that going to Beckendorf's aid was more important than any of that.

"I didn't know who it was," Percy exploded. "I thought it might be you, or one of the younger campers, and I wasn't thinking!"

Annabeth recoiled into stunned silence.

"I'm sorry, okay," he mumbled, capping Riptide. There was the familiar shink as it retracted into a pen that Percy dropped into his pocket.

Annabeth swallowed, hard. Percy apologised.

Percy broke the silence first. "You don't have to look so surprised," he said reluctantly, after a few moments.

"It's, uh, a good surprise," she offered. Annabeth pursed her lips. "And I'm sorry, for what it's worth," she managed after a few seconds of internal struggle. "I shouldn't have put you in defence. Mind games are pointless against Kronos. You would've been more useful out in the field — I just wanted to try out a new battle strategy, that clearly isn't the one for us."

She waited for his reply with bated breath. Fortunately, Percy's expression cracked into an easy smile. He nudged her in the side. "Well, you could've just told me that."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Like you'd listen to me." Before she could stop herself, she reached out and untwisted the strap on her armour. "That's been pissing me off for hours."

Percy threw his head back with a laugh, and she joined him, grinning. When she recovered, sheathing her dagger sheepishly, Annabeth remembered that they weren't actually alone.

Surrounded by their teammates, who were ogling them like they were aliens from Mars. The other team had stopped their internal arguing to stare at them in a similar way. Expressions consisted of bewilderment mixed with disbelief and incredulity.

"What in Hades—" Beckendorf cut himself off, shaking his head. "Scratch that. Who the hell are you two?"

Clarisse snorted, leaning on her spear which had its point to the ground. "Yeah, and what've you done with the real Percy and Annabeth?"

Annabeth could feel herself going red as a beet. "You don't have to be so dramatic about it," she complained embarrassedly. Percy averted his gaze, messing distractedly with his hair.

Even Chiron was regarding them with a certain amount of suspicion.

"You make it sound like we hate each other," Percy protested.

"'Hate'," Beckendorf repeated, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Yeah, that's it."

Under other circumstances, Annabeth would've probably just died on the spot. Or done something to prove them wrong like ignore Percy for a week.

But all she did was shrug. "Okay." It was after she uttered the word that Annabeth realised her mistake, and she winced.

"Time for dinner," she announced, panicked, before anyone could say anything, marching forward to the rest of her siblings to drag them to the pavilion.

If the others hadn't thought something was up before, they did now. Clarisse watched them go with her mouth agape.

Annabeth figured they'd just drop it, as they always did eventually.

But apparently the change in her relationship with Percy wasn't going unnoticed anymore. Most of the jokes went right over their heads and barely even fazed either of them anymore.

"You're taking the fun out of it," Connor told them accusatorially.

Percy merely shrugged. "It's a shame, really."

It was only a couple days later when they were all hanging out in the arena, still with no one believing that this blanket of peace between Percy and Annabeth was going to last longer than a week, that Clarisse got that glint in her eye that told Annabeth she had a horrible idea.

"Prissy, spar with me," the daughter of Ares barked, shoving away her previous opponent, Travis, who was sweaty and battered.

Percy grumbled, "It's Percy." But he got up anyway, pulling and unsheathing Riptide. The giant sword sprung from the hilt.

Annabeth lost her train of thought for a moment, her mind going blank except for one irrational thought, 'that's hot'.

She saw Percy look down momentarily at his collarbone, then back at her with a smug look that she wanted to punch off his face, and Annabeth knew that he had seen the thought.

'Shut up', she thought, with an implicit eye roll. He saw that too, but winked at her jokingly anyway.

"—Annabeth!"

She blinked, attention snapping back to Grover, suddenly aware that she had zoned out mid-conversation.

"Urgh, I hate it when you guys do that," Grover complained.

"Do what?"

"Act like you're telepathic or something," Grover said with a frown.

Annabeth raised her hands. "Hey, you're the ones with the empathy link."

"Could've fooled me," Grover scoffed. He shook his head. "I just don't get it. You get on each other's nerves constantly—"

"That hasn't changed," Annabeth interjected.

"Yeah, but you deal with it differently," Grover insisted. "You're more...patient. And he thinks before he acts."

"Our Percy? Thinking?" Annabeth snorted.

"I can hear you," Percy called as he and Clarisse circled each other in the ring. His gaze moved off his opponent to meet Annabeth's eyes.

thought you weren't going to be mean to me anymore

Annabeth risked a glance at her wrist. Surreptitiously, she shifted her other hand to cover the words before Grover could see it.

'I made no such promises', she replied.

Percy pretended to shift his t-shirt, checking his tattoo.

On Annabeth's wrist, the previous words vanished, replaced by his newer thoughts.

my feelings are hurt.
i'll go cry myself to sleep tonight.

sure
see you tomorrow

Across the arena, Percy rolled his eyes.

Grover was staring at her again. "What the hell happened in the forest?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Annabeth emphasised. "I've told you a million times."

"Not nothing," Grover said confidently. "But you guys need to go back to normal. It's freaking me out."

Glad that this conversation had ended, Annabeth shifted her focus away from Grover and to the fight, as the rest of their friends were doing. She reclined in her seat, Grover following suit.

"3 drachmas on Percy," Travis declared. "Any takers?"

Silena swung one leg over the other and glared at him. "No, I'm not making anymore bets with you."

"Hey, I won fair and square!"

"I queued up for an hour for that autograph from Bruce Willis!" Silena said furiously.

Travis spread his hands. "Then you shouldn't have bet against me!"

"It's not my fault," Silena growled. "I was so sure—" Brown eyes flicked to Annabeth and then back to Travis. "Nevermind."

Annabeth frowned. "What was the bet about?" She met with the faces of six silent demigods. "Okay, seriously, what was the bet about?"

Katie was the only one with even a hint of remorse.

"Fine, don't tell me," Annabeth said irritatedly, leaning back in her seat.

"I'll win it back from you," Silena hissed at Travis. "I'm telling you. The next bet is mine."

"No chance," Travis scoffed.

"What are you betting about?" Annabeth asked again.

And yet again, she was met with zero answers and more bickering between her two friends. Beckendorf avoided looking her in the eye.

Annabeth scowled, but pushed it out of her mind, turning back to the fight going on.

Clarisse and Percy were dancing dangerously around the arena, a whirl of metal and the sound of clashing filling the air. They were pretty evenly matched on a normal day, especially when it was just a simple sparring match.

Today was different. Annabeth squinted. Clarisse's jabs had force behind them — actual force — and she nearly got Percy a few times. His brow was knitted with deep concentration, parrying and blocking without properly going on the offensive.

"It's a sparring match, Clarisse," Annabeth called out. "You're not fighting Kronos."

When Clarisse didn't respond, the narrowing of her eyes the only sign that she had even heard her, Annabeth felt her suspicion rise. The others didn't seem to have any knowledge of what was going on, Beckendorf leaning forward with confusion matching her own.

On Annabeth's wrist; she's up to something.

'Great minds think alike,' Annabeth thought to herself.

When she looked up, she saw that Percy had started to press his attacks more, slashing with wider arcs. The flat of his blade had already scraped past Clarisse shoulder a couple times.

Clarisse made a feint to the left with her spear, the blade crackling with electricity. Percy swerved right, stumbling backwards to avoid it, and Clarisse pounced, taking the opportunity to knock Riptide out of his hands with a downward slash.

"Ow!" Percy yelped as Riptide clattered to the ground, a dark line of red scarring his palm. The tip of Clarisse's spear had sliced right down his hand, leaving a shallow wound of about two inches long.

Annabeth felt the sting of the cut on her own hand a split second later, her toes curling in her shoes as she gritted her teeth and forced down the instinctive reaction to wince. Shoving her hands in the pockets of her hoodie, Annabeth curled her right hand into a fist, willing the blood not to stain her clothes.

When she looked up, Clarisse was staring straight at her in a way that made her skin crawl. Percy stood across from her clutching his injured hand, very purposefully not looking at Annabeth. Annabeth plastered a look of mild concern on her face, and released a breath when she saw Clarisse's gaze drop.

"Percy!" Grover was already on his feet, bleating, "You okay, man?"

"Yeah, yeah," Percy said dismissively. His gaze was trained on Annabeth, a silent question in his eyes. "It isn't deep."

"Sorry," Clarisse apologised, not sounding like she meant it at all. She was still eyeing Annabeth carefully.

As he walked over to the stands to pour nectar over the wound, Annabeth forced herself to look nonchalant, hands still in her jacket pockets. Her friends' heads had swivelled to look at her, most of their questioning gazes fixed on her hidden fists.

"Damn it," she heard Silena murmur to herself.

Beckendorf, who had his arm around her, leaned in to whisper. Annabeth caught some of it; "...for sure...owe me five drachmas..."

Clarisse entered the stands where they were sitting. "I'm done for the day, I think." Her body shifted so she was angled towards Annabeth. "Annabeth, why don't you take over? Spar Percy instead?"

Annabeth forced a glare down. Clarisse definitely knew what she was doing. Probably trying to test her hypothesis as to whether she was Percy's soulmate.

"Sure," Annabeth said, equally as unfazed, even tagging on a smile at the end for good measure. As she stood up, Annabeth brushed past Clarisse, feeling the weight of the other girl's stare as she walked towards the centre.

Percy turned around from the nectar, his hand already healed, regarding her warily. His gaze flickered back up to the stands, and then down to Annabeth's hands in her pockets.

"Annabeth!" he said abruptly.

She stopped short in her tracks. "Yeah?"

"Can I see your dagger for a second?" Percy asked, beckoning her over.

Annabeth approached him slowly, hyperaware of everyone watching them behind her back. Percy walked towards her, pivoting at the last second so that his back was to their friends, shielding them from sight.

"They're not as subtle as they think they are," Percy whispered.

Grinning, Annabeth pulled out her knife, bleeding hand hidden from their friends. Percy reached out and grabbed her dagger by the hilt. His fingers just brushed her arm, and Annabeth felt a soft tingling run up her skin.

"Oh, nevermind, I thought it was blunt," Percy said, a little louder for the sake of their friends, and handed the dagger back.

The wound on Annabeth's hand knitted itself up neatly, leaving no trace. She discreetly wiped the blood off on Percy's shirt, hoping they'd pass it off as remains from his wound, before she took her dagger back. "Please, I sanded it yesterday."

Percy sent her one last knowing smile before he turned around, retreating to the other side of the arena.

Annabeth turned her knife over in her hand a few times, basking contentedly at the puzzled expressions on their friends' faces when they saw her healed hand.

"Ready to lose?" she said cheerfully, voice travelling across the arena with a slight reverb.

Percy readied himself in position, Riptide's edge a few inches from his right cheek. His eyes narrowed and his feet shifted apart, planted firmly on the ground. Annabeth recognised the stance in a heartbeat. There was a reason they rarely sparred; they knew each other's moves like the back of their hand, and fights tended to end in an explosive argument and several days of no talking.

Annabeth glanced at the stands, where their friends were sitting, practically on the edge of their seats. Clarisse was standing, hands gripping the bar in front of her as she regarded them with pursed lips.

Annabeth knew why exactly why she'd been put up to spar with Percy; everyone knew that they couldn't resist an argument in the middle of a fight. Along with the heat of battle came rising tempers, and everyone looked like they were ready for them to get back to normal.

She raised her dagger, eyes flicking to her wrist.

they want us to fight
like, fight fight

Annabeth made an infinitesimal nod of her head.

well theyre about to be heavily disappointed

A moment's pause as Percy read her thoughts.

i've been meaning to ask—
why don't your thoughts have punctuation?
and no capitals—
and zero grammar—

Annabeth glared at him, spotting the twitch of his lips.

shut up

aren't you always getting on my back for not spelling my text messages right—
hypocrite

well yours are always broken off thoughts
so just
go away or something

see—
difference is that i don't care

"Fight already!" Connor said impatiently, pulling Annabeth's attention away from her soul mark.

Sometimes she forgot that she wasn't actually talking to Percy.

Annabeth made the first move, rushing forward, her mind already calculating a feint downwards. But Percy seemed to expect it, and at the last second, Annabeth whirled on her left foot, shoving her right foot firmly into the ground as she slashed with her dagger.

Percy caught the tip of her blade easily, parrying it away as he took a step forward, pressing the offense. Annabeth caught the strike on the hilt of her dagger and twisted her arm until it hurt, the force of it making Percy stumble back.

"No grace period?" Annabeth panted as she leaped forward, nimbly switching her dagger to her left hand as she ducked under Riptide's arc. When she sprang up, Percy had another strike in place, but Annabeth expected nothing less and had her knife ready to parry.

"Aren't the sarcastic comments with bad timing my thing?" he replied breathlessly, performing the disarming move on her. It didn't work; Annabeth barely even flinched. She gripped the hilt of her dagger tighter, flipping the move back on Percy by pressing her left palm into the flat of her blade and shoving at him — hard.

Riptide rebounded quickly.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Come on, you can do better than that."

Percy shrugged. "Worth a shot." He readied his sword. "That was the first move Luke taught me, you know?"

Annabeth smirked. "Who do you think came up with it?"

Percy scoffed, "Weren't you 12?"

"Semantics." Annabeth went in for another jab, Percy catching it with his blade. Gritting her teeth, Annabeth threw her weight into it, pushing against Riptide with the right half of her body.

Percy's jaw clenched as he matched her efforts. Stepping in, Percy closed the distance between them, almost nose to nose with their blades just a hair's width away from their faces.

Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth saw the words on her wrist flashing rapidly. Switching her attention to it momentarily, she caught a glimpse of — 'back up and let her stumble'.

Less than a second later, Percy leaped out of their interlocked position, but Annabeth was ready, pushing off of her back foot, she sprang at him, lithe as a cheetah, whirling around and launching a counterstrike.

Percy, caught by surprise, wobbled as he switched to the defensive, her relentless strikes forcing him into retreat. "Hey! How did you—" he gaped at her.

Her soul mark changed again.

MY THOUGHTS
NO WAY

"No fair," Percy protested indignantly, staggering backwards.

Annabeth shrugged, hands in the air. "Just pressing my advantage." She flew at him again, refreshed from the brief pause with a lungful of air. Executing a perfect backhand strike — which Percy deflected with minimal effort — Annabeth pivoted again and they were locked again in a dance of blades.

Riptide clashed with her dagger what could've been a hundred times, each metallic clang ringing sonorously and every scrape of their edges making her wince.

As she parried one of Percy's blows, Annabeth saw her tattoo rewriting itself again. It was a—what the hell?

The words didn't stop — didn't vanish — just continued on in a messy scrawl from her wrist, forming a block of what had to be at least thirteen lines of script, curling slowly towards her elbow.

Annabeth brow furrowed. What—

A strike out of nowhere at the exact moment when her grip was slackened and her mind was distracted sent her dagger flying out of her hand. Annabeth watched open-mouthed as the knife clattered to the ground at least ten feet away from her.

The air in front of her whistled as Riptide came down, the cold blade pressing against her throat. The wielded of the blade himself looked as surprised as she felt, Percy's eyes wide with astonishment, as if he couldn't believe he'd just won.

"Ah, shit," Annabeth muttered.

In the stands, their friends were staring at them in stunned silence. Grover was blinking repeatedly enough that it could've been in Morse code, and Clarisse had fallen into a seat, aghast.

Percy's shock was rapidly washed away by triumph. "Holy Hades. Did I just beat you?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes, reaching up a hand and gently pushing Riptide away with two fingers. "Shut up," she said, disgruntled. "Yes, you win this once. That makes it one to...what? Twenty-seven?"

"I don't care," Percy snorted, his arm dropping to his side. "I'll take it." He grinned. "Maybe you're losing your touch, Wise Girl."

Annabeth could almost hear the intake of breath from the stands in anticipation. This was the moment. This was the moment that was going to keep their track record straight — sparring followed by harsh, hurled insults.

But Percy looked so proud of himself, eyes sparkling, However annoyed Annabeth felt about losing to him, she couldn't help smiling at the nickname.

"Don't get cocky, Seaweed Brain," was all she said as she strolled over to retrieve her dagger. "Soon it'll be one to twenty-eight."

"Or two to twenty-seven," Percy corrected, laughing.

There was a thud from the stands. Both their heads swivelled to their group of friends huddled in the seats.

It was Silena, having literally leaped to her feet. "What was that?" she shrieked. "What—what—what was that?"

Annabeth folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow at the hysterical brunette. "Yes, Silena?"

Silena looked like she was seconds away from ripping her own hair out by the roots. "You always fight when you spar!" A string of curses escaped her.

Percy choked. "You kiss Beckendorf with that mouth?"

Silena's back was already turned to them as she conversed angrily with Travis, who had a smug look on his face.

Footsteps alerted Annabeth to Percy sidling up beside her, his gaze still fixed on their friends' fierce, hushed discussion.

"You know they're betting on us, right?" Annabeth told him, lowering her voice.

Percy shook his head in disbelief. "Do they really think we're that stupid?"

"You, maybe."

He shot her a withering look that Annabeth accepted with grace.

"So first they tease us relentlessly," Annabeth noted. "And now they're trying to make money off of us?"

Percy glanced at her. "We could really mess with them, you know."

Annabeth smiled. "Now that's an idea."

Chapter Text

Annabeth wished she was the type of person who could take the high road. Usually she was, but apparently Percy was a bad influence on her.

When she told him as much, complaining, "You're making me reckless," all he had to say was, "I think the word you're looking for is 'fun'."

To be fair, messing with their friends was completely warranted. After exchanging stories, Annabeth and Percy had both realised that whatever relentless teasing each of them had experienced, the other had gotten it just as bad.

Like the time Beckendorf knowingly set Percy up with this horrible new camper in an attempt to make Annabeth jealous, but all it did was leave Percy with a clingy demigod who followed him around for days. Or the time the Stolls locked them both up in the same cell during Capture the Flag, and then conveniently "forgot" to let them out once the game was over, and Annabeth had to spend eight hours starving in a jail cell with Percy — overnight, too. Also known as: the night Percy almost became a cannibal.

Besides, it wasn't like they were messing with them on purpose — at first, at least.

On Monday morning, before the sun could come up, Annabeth sneaked into Percy's room, bleary-eyed, clutching her laptop to her chest. For years now, Annabeth had been insisting that Percy watch Roman Holiday with her. It was one of those old, romantic movies, but because she usually watched documentaries and Percy was only into Disney or action movies, they had to compromise — reluctantly on both ends.

Annabeth stumbled into the Poseidon cabin, tripping over her own feet. "This was the worst idea you've ever had and that is saying something," she said with a scowl, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

There was a groan from underneath the duvet, which was bunched up in a heap. "Go away," came Percy's muffled voice.

"You made me get up for this so, no," Annabeth retorted. "You're waking up." As she turned on her laptop and scrolled down to the Roman Holiday video file, which she had downloaded before arriving at camp, using her free hand to vigorously shake Percy by the legs.

It took a few minutes for the video to start playing, and Percy spent three of them struggling to open his eyes. Annabeth shuffled back so that her back was to the headboard, squishing Percy between her and the wall. He was propped up in the corner between the wall and his bed, head drooping tiredly.

If Annabeth was being completely honest, she was pretty sure neither of them were paying attention to the movie. As much as she was trying to focus, Annabeth kept zoning out — a courtesy of possibly five hours of sleep and ADHD.

Percy was even worse. His head was practically balancing on her shoulder and he was very obviously staring blankly at her keyboard.

"I'm gonna quiz you on the plot after," Annabeth mumbled.

He bristled. "Please. If you're actually paying attention to this I'll eat my own shoe."

The movie was almost 2 hours long, and by the time they were reaching the end of it, the summer sky outside had brightened and most campers were already up and about.

"I hate living with morning people," Percy grumbled. The blinds to his cabin were shut but they could see the silhouettes walking past, and the soothing chatter of demigods floated in every now and then.

"You're not not a morning person," Annabeth informed him. "You're just lazy."

Percy was leaning against the wall now, his body half-facing her. "You know we just spent two hours sitting here doing absolutely nothing, right?"

"I think it's safe to say that watching a movie together is not our thing," Annabeth said, stifling a yawn. She tried to comb out her hair with her fingers, but the tangled curls kept getting in the way. Annabeth frowned. "I must look like a nightmare."

Percy shrugged. "Honestly, I've seen you look worse."

Annabeth released an indignant scoff. "Excuse me?"

His eyes widened with alarm. "No, no, not that you look bad!" he stammered. "Just like—we—quests and that time in the Labyrinth—and the water slide—"

A snicker escaped her at his failed attempt to salvage the situation. "Zeus, if I'd known it was that easy to make you panic..." Annabeth rolled her eyes, swatting at him with a pillow. "Relax."

Percy looked like he had just suffered a heart attack. He deflected the pillow with a scowl. "You can't do that to me," he complained.

"It's funny," Annabeth said defensively. "Seriously, you don't have to walk on eggshells around me just because—"

The cabin door creaked, making both of them jump.

Annabeth glanced at Percy with alarm. He stared back at with identical panic. They were alone in a cabin, not only breaking camp rules, but also with very compromising appearances.

Percy released a helpless squeak as Annabeth snapped her head around searching for a place to hide.

Without any other choice, Annabeth dove off mattress, tumbling under the bed and shuffling so that she was pressed between the wall and the floor, sucking in a breath.

"Percy!" It was Grover, walking inside with his recognisable gait. His shoes were the only things Annabeth could see as he traipsed over to Percy's bed. Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut.

'Please don't see me', she prayed desperately. Aside from the obvious rule-breaking punishment, Annabeth genuinely didn't think she would survive the embarrassment. No, no, if Grover found her in Percy's room, in her pyjamas with a raging bed head, she'd simply go drown herself in the sea. It was only a couple minutes away.

isn't drowning yourself a little dramatic?

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

shut up
and stop it
handle grover first
annoy me later

There was a second's pause before the soulmark vanished and was replaced.

i hope you know i won't let you drown yourself
besides
it would be kind of funny if he found you now

no you idiot
it absolutely would not be

it would be to me

"Grover!" came Percy's voice, dripping with gaze nonchalance. "What's up?"

Grover stopped short in his tracks. "Why are you so awake?" he said confusedly. "You don't wake up before 9."

"Um," Percy hesitated. "Nightmare."

Annabeth covered her face with a hand, holding in a groan.

what else was i supposed to say?!

As expected, Grover let out a scared bleat. "Kronos again? I know we haven't seen them since the failed attack from the Labyrinth, but it feels weird, doesn't it? What was the nightmare about? Do we need to tell Chiron?"

"No, no," Percy said hastily. "It's not that important. Just the usual...evil laughing...and stuff."

Annabeth closed her eyes and forced out a silent breath.

oh my gods he can sense your emotions
youre such a seaweed brain

There was a beat of heavy silence. "Okay," Grover said slowly. "Are you gonna go tell Annabeth?"

Percy released a nervous laugh. "Why-why would I do that?"

"Because that's what you always do?" Grover said skeptically.

"R-right," Percy stammered. "I'll tell her later."

"Yeah, oh, and tell her Beckendorf is looking for her. Something about mines."

mines?

tell you later

It was the plan they currently had in the works. The Princess Andromeda was the only lead they had on Luke or Kronos, and Annabeth and Beckendorf were in agreement that waiting for them to make the first move and attack was too risky. A war was already inevitable — at least this way they wouldn't be taken by surprise.

can you stop thinking so fast?
i can't read anything
just slow down

i said id tell you later
percy you need to answer grover
youve been sitting in silence for ages

"Sure," Percy blurted out. "So, did you have something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Oh, yeah," Grover said distractedly. "The Apollo cabin just challenged the Hermes kids to a canoeing competition. Travis asked if you'd regulate."

There was a loud exhale. "Yeah, yeah, sure."

"Okay, thanks, man," Grover said cheerfully. As he approached the door, Annabeth began to deflate, relieved.

"Oh, hey," Grover said abruptly, and Annabeth resisted the urge to groan frustratedly. "Have you actually seen Annabeth, by the way? No one can find her. She isn't in her cabin so we thought she'd be sparring with your something. But...clearly not."

Annabeth froze.

oh no
shit what do i say?
annabeth help me

Percy released a string of unintelligible syllables, each word tumbling out over the next. "I haven't seen her," he managed after a couple seconds of garbled speech. "But, um, I think yesterday she said she wanted to spar. Practice one of those new moves Clarisse was doing."

Fortunately, Grover seemed to buy okay. "I'll tell Beckendorf to check the arena. See you at breakfast." The satyr finally left the cabin after what felt like an excruciating decade, and Annabeth collapsed onto the floor like a rag doll, no longer tensing. The door slammed behind him.

"Oh my gods, I was so sure he was going to see you," Percy said breathlessly as she rolled out from under the bed.

Annabeth glared at him. "Did you really have to say that? Now Clarisse is gonna want to teach me that move she did. Which means I'll have to spend time with her."

"Sorry," Percy said sheepishly. "But in my defence," he added. "You were absolutely no help."

"Excuse me," she said, offended. Annabeth dusted herself off and struggled to her feet. "I was...you know...offering moral support."

"Okay, next time I would like moral support with actual ideas, please."

"Hey, if I can come up with the plans during quests, you can handle Grover," Annabeth pointed out. "I should get back to my cabin. And then get to the arena," she pulled a face.

Annabeth approached the window on the back wall of the cabin, facing away from the rest of the camp. As she wound the blinds up, she grimaced. "Next time, let's just go to the beach or something."

Percy helped her lift up the window as she hauled herself out one leg after the other, her head ducking under the sill.

"Have a fun day with Clarisse," he said with a mischievous grin when she landed on the other side of the wall.

Annabeth shot him a withering look. "I hate you." As she turned around, about to make her way to her cabin, Percy called, "Wait!"

Confused, Annabeth hurried back to the window, where he was beckoning her. "What?" she demanded, voice hushed.

Catching her by surprise, Percy kissed her, chaste and his mouth wide in a smile.

"I still don't forgive you," she muttered as they drew away, but Percy just gave her a knowing look. He shoved her away from the window with a snicker, which she combatted with a glare before backing away from his cabin.

Two days later brought on Capture the Flag, with Annabeth and Percy on the blue team, led by the Ares cabin.

Annabeth was trekking her way through the woods, invisibility cap on as she scanned her surroundings for any sign of the flag. They were playing against Apollo and Hermes, which was always unpredictable because of all the unclaimed campers.

A bright red spot in the distance caught her eye. Annabeth felt triumph wash over her as she took off in its direction, hand hovering over the dagger at her hip as she raced past the trees.

And then—

Her right foot dug into a pile of leaves on the forest floor. Annabeth's mind sprung into action — blaring alarms went off screaming "trap!". It was a couple moments too late; a net with a signature Hephaestus weaving pattern jumped out from under her feet, cinching over her head and leaving her hanging helplessly from the tree overhead.

As the ropes suspended her a few feet off the ground, Annabeth scowled as the culprits appeared, silhouettes stark against the forest backdrop.

"I can't believe you didn't see that coming," Beckendorf said bemusedly, swiftly nabbing her fallen dagger off the ground. Behind him, the Stolls shared a smug fist bump.

Annabeth crossed her arms, her sour glare not softening in the least. She hated losing. Especially to friends who would never let her forget it.

As the Stolls lowered her to the ground, they released her from the net, only for Beckendorf to promptly handcuff her.

Annabeth almost immediately fell over, the shackles around her wrists weighing about thirty tonnes. "Hades, what are these things made of?"

"Smelted celestial bronze from their own forges," Connor declared triumphantly.

"Well, don't tell her," Beckendorf said urgently. "Haven't you seen any movies? The villain's monologue is always the bit where they lose."

Travis held up his hands in false surrender. "At least let us be proud for stealing the design."

Annabeth's mouth dropped open, aghast. "You didn't."

"For people who are supposedly really smart," Connor grinned mischievously. "You guys really need a better security system."

"Assholes," Annabeth spat as Beckendorf dragged her forward by the chain attached to the cuffs, the Stolls flanking her on either side.

They continued to walk in silence. Annabeth was the first to break it, "Should I be flattered by the need for a security detail?" Her gaze flicked from side to side, trying to find a way out of this sticky situation.

Beckendorf spared her a backwards glance. "Please. You're not getting out of those."

Annabeth eyed the contraption on her wrists. She had to admit that it was a stunning mechanism. Annoying, but beautiful.

"The security detail's in case Percy somehow appears out of nowhere," Beckendorf informed her with a smile.

Annabeth frowned. "I am much more dangerous than Percy."

"Not if he sees you locked up," Beckendorf corrected.

As Annabeth pretended to sulk, she silently thanked her opponents for unknowingly giving her a solution.

percy. percy. percy.
they've captured me.

Annabeth waited with bated breath, knowing full well it was a long shot.

Her heart pounded twice before the familiar script curled on her wrist.

crap
where are you

Relief flooded her chest.

i have no idea
there are lots of trees around me

Another pause as the tattoo erased itself. One word of untidy scrawl appeared in its place.

helpful

Annabeth rolled her eyes.

shut up

"We're here," Connor announced.

Annabeth blinked, having been too distracted by Percy to keep track of the journey. She'd arrived at the mouth of a cave — probably where the Red team were keeping their prisoners until they won the game. It wasn't looking too good for the Blues at the moment.

i'm at a cave.

what cave
do you see any landmarks nearby

Annabeth discreetly eyed her surroundings. Unfortunately, she couldn't make out anything but thrush and overgrown weeds.

no,
ask Grover about the caves;
he should know.

on it

A hand shoved her forward and Annabeth staggered into the cave, swallowed in shadows. Small make-shift prisons lined the inside of the cave; large cages served as their cells.

Annabeth winced as she saw Clarisse in one of the cages give her a dirty look. Yeah, her reputation was taking a hit today. Annabeth couldn't even remember the last time she'd been successfully imprisoned in Capture the Flag.

Beckendorf led her to the cage furthest into the cave, surrounded by piles of vines and an assortment of insects that made Annabeth scrunch her nose distastefully.

"See you after the game," Travis said airily as he twisted the lock on the cage shut.

Footsteps echoed across the stone walls as the three demigods traipsed out of the cave, leaving Annabeth alone for the foreseeable future.

She slumped back against the cage, rattling the metal sonorously as her eyes fluttered shut.

How on Earth could she have been stupid as to miss the netting? That was something Percy did — not her.

sorry

Just in case Percy had seen that.

Before she could continue wallowing, Annabeth's ears perked up. A not-so-distant sound filled the cave. There was the telltale plip-plop of water and the rushing of a stream.

Her eyes sprang open.

percy
i'm near a stream.
i can hear water.

water?

There was a pause that left Annabeth staring impatiently at her wrist.

i know where you are

Annabeth released a hiss of "yes" under her breath.

on my way
don't go anywhere—oh wait

Annabeth made sure he saw her choice curses.

She could've been waiting for all of an eternity or five minutes, but by the time Percy burst in to save the day, Annabeth was just about ready to punch through the metal bars herself.

"Wow," the son of Poseidon uttered with raised eyebrows as he regarded her.

"Just help me," she said curtly.

"You never actually need my help," Percy protested. "Let me have this for one second."

Annabeth lifted up her wrists and the handcuffs around them, glaring at her best friend.

Riptide shattered the lock like it was made of glass. Percy stared at the fragments, satisfied. "Whoever said the pen was mightier than the sword—"

"No time," Annabeth interrupted.

"Right, sorry."

Before she knew it, Percy was kneeling down in front of her, inspecting the shackles.

"What the hell are these?" he said, voicing her exact thoughts. Maybe less eloquently than she would've put it.

"They were Malcolm's design," Annabeth admitted. "I told him he needed a more secure password for his laptop."

"What," Percy snorted. "It'd not like it was greyowls123..." When he was met with silence, Percy tore his gaze away from the handcuffs to fix Annabeth with an amused look.

"No way," he laughed, practically shaking from it.

Annabeth lifted the cuffs, fake-threatening to smash them down on him.

"Okay, I can't get these off," Percy said finally. "Riptide won't cut through them and the gears don't make any sense."

Annabeth groaned. "Come on. We can't win this if I can barely even move."

"I hate to break it to you but I don't think we can win this, period."

"'It's not over till it's over'," Annabeth quoted. She ducked out of the cage after Percy, struggling to drag the heavy cuffs.

"Wait," Percy said, bending down to grab the long chain attached to her cuffs. "There, does that help?"

Annabeth reweighed her wrists. "Surprisingly, yes."

As they straggled out of the cave — past empty cages that Percy must've freed on his way in — Annabeth tried to formulate a plan.

"Okay, so our attack team is probably on it's way back to the base with the red flag—"

Percy winced. "Yeah, about that; Tom got captured and the others had just returned to base when I left to find you."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "Alright then. Stronger defence — that's fine. What about our Plan B?"

"Sending out you to sneak your way past them with the invisibility cap?" Percy pointed out. "You got captured."

Annabeth scowled. Damn it.

"Plan C, then," she decided.

"We don't have a Plan C."

"We do now," Annabeth said sternly. "Plan C is we go capture the red flag from their base."

Percy's brow furrowed. "No offense to the others, but we're our teams best players. Without us at the base—"

"Well, it doesn't matter anymore, does it?" Annabeth demanded. "If we try to make our way back now, we'll probably just get back in time to see the Reds win the game." She jerked her head in the direction of the Red base. "If we can get the flag..."

"You with handcuffs on and weaponless," Percy said slowly, as if to clarify. "And me. The two of us. Practically one and a half demigods are this point."

"Yes," she replied simply.

"Your plan is insane."

Annabeth's eyes gleamed. "Aren't they always?"

Somehow, by a miracle, Annabeth managed to drag her exhausted self as well as five tonnes worth of precious metal to the Red base, where she and Percy proceeded to demolish their defences.

She was pretty proud of them if she could say so — never before had they worked so in sync. Annabeth disarmed the mines while Percy fended off the Apollo campers; one earthquake from him and the lot of them were sent to the ground.

Will Solace wasn't anywhere to be seen, confirming Annabeth's previous suspicions about him being their main attacker.

Annabeth did knock out Michael Yew with a satisfying conk to the head, probably giving him a concussion in the process, courtesy of the handcuffs.

When she turned around, Percy had the Red flag in his free hand, Riptide in the other. "Let's go," he urged.

"It'll be faster if you sprint," Annabeth pointed out as they started towards the exit of the clearing. "I'll meet you back at the base once you've won."

Percy paused. "I have a better idea." He sheathed Riptide, dropping the pen in his pocket and stuffing the flag into the strap of his armour. "Will should be on his way back here any minute now with the flag — it won't matter how fast I run back to the base because he'll reach here before I get there."

"You want to intercept him and steal the flag back?" Annabeth asked, unconvinced.

Percy nodded vigorously.

"We don't do interceptions."

"It's technically not against the rules," Percy reminded. "We just never do it because it takes more time and manpower than a good defence."

Annabeth considered the idea. Fortunately for Percy, they had scarce options right now. "Gods, I can't believe we're doing this." She gritted her teeth. "Okay."

Percy raised a hand for a high-five that Annabeth reluctantly accepted by clanking her handcuffs against his palm.

"I'll wait on that side," Percy gestured to the oak tree behind him. "You hide behind the bush opposite. He'll run in with the flag — at high speed expectedly — and that's when you're going to tackle him."

Annabeth gave him an uncertain look. "As in football tackle him?"

"As in run and smash into him," Percy agreed. "That's when you steal the flag."

"The entire Red team will be sprinting down with him to see their victory," Annabeth pointed out. "We can't fight off thirty of them all at once."

"We don't have to," Percy corrected. He gestured wildly as he explained his plan. "You'll be wearing your cap when you tackle him."

"I don't have my cap," Annabeth said exasperatedly. "I already said that in this morning's briefing — I left it in your cabin yesterday."

"You mean this cap?" Sure enough, Percy whipped out the familiar Yankees cap from his back pocket, grinning madly.

Annabeth gaped at him. "What? How did you—"

"I did a quick run back to my cabin before I came to rescue you," Percy confessed. "That's why I took so long."

"And you waited this long so you could do a dramatic reveal?" she guessed.

"The opportunity was right there. You would've been disappointed in me if I hadn't taken it." Percy shrugged.

He delved on, "The flag will disappear when you grab it and everyone will go crazy. In all the confusion, you'll sprint up and regroup with me up the line on the left — I'll have started running the second you tackle Will. From there, I help you carry the handcuff chain and we race back to base — probably with dozens of angry campers on our tail. There, we win."

Percy spread his hands proudly to mark the end of his soliloquy.

Annabeth shook her head in disbelief. "This has to be the craziest plan I've ever heard." She sighed. "It's also really good. Well done, Seaweed Brain."

"Gotta be doing something right if I'm impressing you," Percy winked. He started to back away to the tree, but stopped in his tracks. "Wait."

Annabeth turned around. "What?"

"Kiss for good luck?" Percy had the nerve to offer a grin.

Annabeth rolled her eyes, but stepped in to oblige. "Two kisses," she said before kissing him again, allowing herself a moment to relax where she returned the smile. "Need all the luck we can get."

Percy's grin was spread from ear to ear as she walked back to the bush, placing her cap on her head.

"Oh, and don't say 'well done' to me, it feels like I'm talking to Chiron."

"Gross," Annabeth called back. Looking down, Annabeth ensured that she was in fact invisible before crouching down behind the bush.

Percy had already disappeared behind the tree's trunk, having kicked leaves over their footsteps to hide any evidence that they'd been there.

Annabeth estimated that two minutes passed before the low rumbling of approaching campers alerted her to the trigger of Percy's plan.

She peered round the bush — sure enough, the telltale mop of bright blonde hair told her that Will was on his way down the slope. Lagging about half a yard behind him was a horde of campers, from the Red and Blue teams alike, racing to see the grand finale of the match.

"Come on," she whispered under her breath. This had to work. In the unlikely event that it did, Annabeth vowed to tell Percy that he was a genius.

Will crossed the rock that Percy had placed to mark the timing of Annabeth's entrance. As his foot went over the threshold, Annabeth snuck out from behind the bush, starting in a slow jog and gradually moving into a full-speed run.

The next minute happened in slow motion. Annabeth slammed bodily into Will from the side, sending both of them tumbling head over heels into the soil. In the tangle of limbs, Annabeth could hear Will's panicked shouts as she grappled for the flag.

A collective gasp erupted from the campers as her fingers clamped around the flag and it vanished from sight — at least, to everyone else.

"It's Annabeth!" someone cried out, but Annabeth had already taken off in a mad sprint. She ran as fast as she could force her legs to move in Percy's general direction, wind whipping her hair around.

"And Percy too!" came another shout.

Percy appeared from behind the trees, also breaking into a run as Annabeth's path melded into his. He reached out and snatched the cap off of her head, stuffing it into his back pocket as he fumbled to grab the chains still attached to her handcuffs.

"Get them!" one of the Hephaestus kids roared.

The ground shook as the amassed campers followed them, like moths to a flame.

"Keep—running," Percy panted, gasping for breath as he slung the metal chain around his neck, the chain hanging off his left shoulder and across his body like a sling.

The weight taken off of her allowed Annabeth to keep pace with Percy, even with the massive shackles she had to carry. The Blue flag was secured in her left fist like her life depended on it and she could see Percy holding the Red flag as they raced past the trees.

"Almost—there," she managed between heaving breaths, her heart thundering as her feet pounded into the ground.

The river was coming up in front of them.

"Quick!" Annabeth gasped, struggling to clamber into the water with the handcuffs. Suddenly she was in the air, Percy having scooped her up into his arms as he bounded across the water.

Annabeth was breathless as he set her down on the other side with a wink. They spun around to see the horde of campers raining down on them, just about to cross the water.

"Hold on," Percy murmured, raising his arms.

The water in the river erupted in an almost graceful manner — in fact, the entire river arced up in a way that made Annabeth stare in awe — dousing the other campers in water and propelling them back a few feet.

"Let's go!" Percy said, alarmed, grabbing Annabeth's hand and yanking her in the other direction while the campers recovered.

They raced across the grass, hand in hand, until Annabeth could see the familiarity of the territory they had earmarked as their base.

Percy stepped into the region first, his face alight with victory as Annabeth followed suit, crashing into him from behind.

"Yes!" Percy yelled, both flags dropping to the floor as he grabbed her by the waist and spun her around in the air triumphantly.

Unable to do anything else but laugh, Annabeth leaned in to plant a kiss to his cheek when he set her down.

"No!" Beckendorf shouted as the Capture the Flag banner over Chiron's head turned a stark blue. The rest of the campers had screeched to a halt the moment Annabeth and Percy crossed into home territory, the Reds moving off to sulk while the Blues celebrated wildly.

Before Annabeth knew what was going on, she was surrounded by her teammates. Malcolm snuck up beside her and undid the handcuffs, causing her to hiss in pain as the metal dropped to the ground.

"It's gonna bother you that you couldn't undo the cuffs, isn't it?" Percy mused, gingerly running a finger across the red marks on her wrists.

Annabeth whispered, "It's the first thing I'm gonna do when we get out of here."

He snuck her a furtive grin.

"How in Hades did you two manage to pull that off?" Clarisse demanded, inserting herself into the circle surrounding them. "The last I saw, Annabeth was locked up."

"Teamwork," Percy said unhelpfully, earning a mean scowl from the daughter of Ares.

"No, but seriously, how'd you know where to go free her?" Silena demanded. "Charlie and I had to go through the trouble of discovering an entire new cave system just to use as our jail!"

Annabeth risked a glance in Percy's direction. "Good instincts, I guess."

Percy shrugged in response, struggling to school his expression into one of nonchalance. He was also pointedly avoiding meeting Grover's eyes, whom Annabeth could see looked mighty suspicious of their vague explanation.

"You guys are just upset that we won," Katie insisted.

"Oh, please," Connor scoffed. "You guys didn't do anything."

"Now, now, we couldn't have pulled it off without you guys being as predictable as you could possibly be," Annabeth taunted. That's what they got for capturing her like an animal.

That cued another bout of squabbling, and Annabeth was just relieved that her friends seemed distracted enough by the game not to raise the question of her and Percy's hand-holding or cheek kisses.

Chapter Text

"Annabeth!"

The sound of pounding on wood shook her awake.

"Annabeth!" It was Malcolm's voice. How annoying.

"Go away," Annabeth tried to say, but the words came out as an unintelligible mumble. Sunlight was blinding, even against closed eyelids. She turned over on her side and buried her face in her pillow.

"You're gonna miss breakfast," came the voice of another one of her half-siblings.

Annabeth raised an arm lazily, waving them away. There were a few more murmurs before the sound of traipsing footsteps told her they'd given up on rousing her.

Unfortunately, the promise of sausages and bacon was too much for Annabeth to resist. Grumbling to herself, Annabeth forced her body to roll over so that she was facing the ceiling.

Why on Earth was it so hot in here?

Next dinner she would be praying to the gods for some air-conditioning.

The world teetered as she sat up, rubbing at her eyes, not bothering to stifle a yawn. The cabin was eerily quiet; Annabeth couldn't remember the last time she'd been alone in here. She was usually one of the first people up and there was always someone else working on the desks.

This was all Percy's fault.

Between sneaking around campers, their friends and Chiron, their time alone had been restricted to evenings and early mornings. Last night had been an evening of being sprawled on the beach, talking under the moonlight.

Percy sneaked them into the sea in a bubble until the cleaning harpies finished patrols. After that, they sat on the shore, where Percy talked about the sea animals in the Long Island Sound, and Annabeth figured that that was how she sounded to others when she rambled about architecture. She'd zoned in and out at parts, simply grinning at how animatedly he was explaining things.

By the time they stumbled back to their respective cabins, most of the campers were fast asleep and the clocks had ticked well past midnight.

Having slept on top of the duvet in a sports bra and shorts — the least amount of clothing she could possibly have on — in order to beat the heat, Annabeth ambled over to her duffel bag, shuffling it around to find a shirt.

She grimaced at the absolute mess it was; too much had happened in the last few weeks for her to be organised, whether it was getting called away for battle strategy talks, sparring and training, or to spend time with — she wasn't quite sure what they were — Percy. 

Her fingers grasped the shirt closest to the top and Annabeth pulled it on, hurrying out of the cabin before she could miss breakfast. There was no way she was sparring Beckendorf on an empty stomach.

As she sprinted across the grass in half-worn sneakers, Annabeth gave herself a once-over to make sure she was at least presentable. The shorts just about covered her butt and the shirt hung loose on her anyway.

"I'm here, I'm here," Annabeth panted as she stepped into the pavilion, nabbing a plate and a glass on her jog to her usual table.

She stifled another yawn as she slid onto the end of the bench, just enough space beside Malcolm to squeeze her in.

"Orange juice," she declared, watching satisfactorily as the glass filled up miraculously. "Oh, and sausages and a bacon omelette." Food appeared on her plate and Annabeth felt her stomach grumble.

She reached for her fork and knife—

Malcolm cleared his throat.

She glanced up impatiently. "Yes?"

"Um, Annabeth," Yvette, the youngest member of the Athena cabin, said timidly. "Is that...is that Percy's shirt?"

Annabeth's hand froze, hovering in the air with the egg still speared on the tip of her fork. "What?" Her gaze snapped to her shirt and Annabeth was positive she was about to go green.

It was Percy's shirt. The grey one with the trident on it — from Disneyland — that was all tattered because of how much he wore it.

Annabeth's felt her cheeks grow hot. Oh, shit. What had she been thinking? She didn't even know how it had ended up in her bag but she wanted to dig a hole, crawl in it, and die.

People's heads were starting to turn. There were a few badly disguised snickers.

Even Chiron, who sat at the head table, regarded her amusedly.

And a few feet away at the Poseidon table sat a very red Percy Jackson. His face was flaming the colour of a tomato, and his eyes were jarred with abject horror.

Annabeth released an extremely forced laugh. "Oh, what a coincidence," she said loudly. "Looks like the harpies mixed up the laundry again."

Yvette's brow was furrowed. "But the harpies never—"

"What a funny story we can laugh about for the years to come," Annabeth emphasised, staring at her plate, knowing full well that her friends were smirking at her from all corners of the pavilion. She prayed that people would just let this one slide.

Conversation didn't die down — in fact, she had never heard her name uttered so many times by people she wasn't talking to.

By the time she had built up the courage to risk a glance at the Poseidon table, Percy was eating again, focussing pointedly on his pancakes and very evidently avoiding Grover's gaze.

The satyr suddenly turned his suspicious look on Annabeth, who jerked her head back down, blushing furiously.

"What is she doing?" Down the table, another one of her half-siblings was speaking in hushed tones.

Annabeth's head snapped up, prepared to argue and lie her way out of this, only to see her siblings' eyes fixed on someone else. Averting her gaze, Annabeth felt a jolt of confusion as she saw Drew Tanaka out of her table, make the trek across the pavilion.

"I think she's headed for..." Malcolm trailed off, shooting Annabeth a wary glance that she didn't miss. "Percy."

Annabeth didn't say anything but her grip tightened around her fork, knuckles flushing white. Maybe it wasn't anything bad. Maybe Drew was just enquiring about an alliance for tomorrow's Capture the Flag.

"Hey, Percy." Drew breezed right past Grover and climbed nimbly into the spot beside Percy. "How're you doing?"

Percy seemed rooted to the spot. Annabeth could see the panic in his eyes from where she was sitting, and even Grover was shooting him alarmed looks.

"Morning?" Percy stammered. "Sorry, that wasn't meant to be a question. I mean, I know it's morning. But I meant 'good morning'—"

"Oh, Percy!" Drew's pitchy laugh resounded, playfully swiping a hand at his arm. "You're so funny."

Multiple faces swivelled over to fix on Annabeth's face — but she couldn't even be mad about it. Pretty much nothing except a sliver of self-control was stopping her from marching across the pavilion and throwing the other girl into the ocean.

"Uh, Annabeth..." Malcolm whispered nervously. "You're holding that knife really tight."

"That's because I'm about to stab someone," she hissed.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Katie and Miranda exchange a look of disbelief, and Connor slide a drachma onto the table in front of Travis. Clarisse was eyeing her, barely giving Drew a second glance.

crap
shit—shit—shit
what do i do
help me

The messy scrawl appeared on her wrist. For once it didn't do anything to calm Annabeth down.

Chiron was discussing something with Mr D — the one time Annabeth needed him to call someone out on the rules of not mixing cabins when eating.

"So, Percy," Drew said, her lips curving upwards into a smile more phoney than that of any empousai. The lull in conversation in the pavilion meant that every word of theirs could be heard by the many eavesdroppers. "It was so brave of you to go on that mission all those weeks ago. I heard it was really dangerous."

"Yeah," Percy said, letting out a nervous chuckle. "The, um, monsters ambushed us but it was a good thing I had A—"

"That sounds horrifying," Drew gasped theatrically.

Annabeth rolled her eyes so hard she saw her brain. Dropping her knife onto the table, she venomously stabbed a piece of sausage with her fork, taking a bite before she blurt out something she would regret.

"It's a good thing you'll be on my team for Capture the Flag this Friday," Drew continued, seemingly blind to how much everyone was waiting with bated breath. "Us against Athena and Hermes, isn't that fun?"

Annabeth counted to three in her head. She would not punch a fellow camper.

"Um." Percy scratched his head; for someone who was oblivious, he definitely knew what was going on, and that said something about how blatant Drew was being. "I mean, I'll probably be on the other team."

Drew frowned. "Well, that's a shame. I was really looking forward to getting to spend more time with you. I thought we could defend the flag together — you know, alone."

Percy paled. "I-I usually play attack."

"I'm sure you can make an exception for me," Drew insisted. Her gaze turned shy. "Plus, after we win, I figured that would be the perfect time for a great first d—"

Annabeth's fork dropped to her plate with a clatter. Even Drew paused mid-sentence to look at her.

"Excuse me," Annabeth managed through gritted teeth. "I think I'm done."

As she hauled herself out of her seat and stalked off, Annabeth caught Percy's eye. He looked like he was caught in an internal struggle, moments away from jumping up and following her if it wasn't for Drew's manicured hand on his arm.

Annabeth sped down the grass like a whirlwind, head spinning from a short but tense breakfast.

Drew had always flirted with Percy — lots of people did. The naiads, Rachel, the list went on. And Annabeth had already been territorial, so as much as she didn't want to admit it, this wasn't exactly her first time ever being jealous. But no one had ever had the audacity to ask him out before, and this time Annabeth had severely underestimated her reaction. She was pretty sure that if she hadn't run out of there — which was already telling, and when she was over this she was sure that her friends would never let her live it down — she would've marched right up and punched Drew in her perfect nose.

Annabeth slammed the door to her cabin behind her and tossed herself face-down onto her bed. She shoved a pillow over the back of her head and willed herself to think about anything else.

<<< >>>

Percy couldn't do anything but stare as Annabeth stormed out of the pavilion. Her siblings looked petrified, their meek gazes returning to him once she was out of sight.

Chiron's attention had been caught by the commotion, and he frowned as he regarded the lot of them.

A bubble of frustration burst in Percy's chest.

"Look, Drew," he said, tentatively shrugging his arm out of her grip. "I—" Percy hesitated, feeling guilty. He knew everyone was listening in on their conversation. And people had been telling him for years that Drew was flirting with him. But he figured that Drew flirted with everyone — and the situation was always too awkward to tell her that he wasn't interested.

It was killing him not to look down and see what Annabeth was thinking right now. He hadn't seen her this mad — even with Rachel — since...

Probably since that time she thought he'd died after Mount St. Helen's.

Drew watched him expectantly.

"I'm really flattered," he said finally, slowly sliding backwards on the bench. "I'm just...I'm not interested. Sorry. You're great and all," Percy tacked on lamely. "Just...I don't see you that way."

Despite how bad his excuse was, Percy was surprised at the eloquence of its delivery. Minimal stammering and he wasn't even that red anymore. Huh.

"I need to go," Percy interrupted before Drew could get another word in. Pushing his plate into the centre of the table, Percy swung his legs over the bench and made his way out of the pavilion.

His heart was hammering as he left, but he didn't dare look back. He just hoped Drew wasn't running after him or anything.

Percy knew everyone could probably see him walking away and he should've made a detour to throw them off, but he couldn't help it — he made a beeline for the Athena cabin, running a hand through his hair worriedly.

"Annabeth?" Percy called, knocking on the door. "I'm coming in."

The wooden door swung open to reveal Annabeth lying on the bed nearest to the door, curls and head hidden under a pillow.

Percy approached the bed like he would a lion's den — he didn't know if Annabeth was angry at him and he really didn't want to risk making it worse — with caution.

Shutting the door behind him, Percy sat down cross-legged on the foot of the bed, flicking her leg closest to him. "Oi, talk to me."

Annabeth tossed the pillow aside, glaring at him. It had been a long time since Percy had been on the receiving end of her glare — properly, at least, it didn't count if it was just him doing something stupid.

"I told her 'no'," Percy said, figuring that they had to start somewhere. "But I'm sure you knew that already..."

Annabeth pursed her lips and looked away.

Percy stopped short. "Or you didn't," he said, shaking his head. "You're kidding, right?"

"This is not the time," Annabeth grumbled, turning over so that she was sitting facing him. Her hair wasn't in its usual ponytail, and the curls frizzed up, forcing her to impatiently brush it away from her face.

"Why would I ever agree to go on a date with Drew?" Percy said quizzically. "I can't think of a single reason to."

"I know, I know," Annabeth said, face scrunched up frustratedly. "It's just—" She frowned. "Forget it. It's stupid."

"No, tell me."

Annabeth crossed her arms, leaning back against the mound of pillows. She stared at the ceiling for a second before looking back down at him. "Every time I think we've finally figured it out. Someone comes along and ruins it. First, Rachel. Then, Calypso. And then Rachel again." She held up a hand. "I know, I know, you don't think Rachel likes you, whatever — but that's just what it felt like to me. I-I'm not used to getting what I want."

"I'm sorry," Percy said quietly.

"Don't be," Annabeth sighed, tucking her hair behind her ear. "It's just me being me. As usual. Turns out I get jealous easily."

"I don't think that's the surprise you think it is." The joke slipped before Percy could stop himself.

Fortunately Annabeth didn't punch him. She just rolled her eyes, her mouth quirking up on one side.

"For what it's worth, most of the time when I was with Rachel I was thinking of you," Percy offered.

"That does help," Annabeth mused.

"Besides, I thought we kind of had a..." Percy trailed off. "Thing here." He blushed when she raised her eyebrows.

"We'll, we never defined it. I didn't want to assume," she admitted.

"Annabeth," Percy said seriously — or as seriously as he could muster. "For someone who's so smart, I can't believe you're saying this. I woke up at 5am for you. I don't wake up at 5am for anyone!"

Annabeth buried her face in her hands, but her muffled laughs came through. Percy grinned.

"And you say I'm the oblivious one."

"Shut up," she groaned, shoving his knee. "You're the worst."

Percy prodded her right back. "Be careful or I won't be your boyfriend anymore."

Annabeth slowly looked up. "Does that mean you're my boyfriend?"

"I mean, technically you haven't even asked me—"

"Forget it," Annabeth huffed, tumbling off the bed and onto her feet, threatening to walk off. "You're insufferable."

As she passed him, Percy grabbed her hand and pulled her in, laughing as she crashed into the bed. Annabeth righted herself, standing between his legs, hands resting on the back of his neck.

Percy looked up at her with a goofy grin. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Fine."

Percy stood up, suddenly only an inch away from Annabeth as he leaned forward to kiss her. She was smiling as he drew away, matching his own grin.

The door handle turned and they jumped apart at the creak.

"Annabeth?" Malcolm stepped inside. "Are you—" He stopped short upon seeing Percy standing about two feet away from her, cheeks flushed pretty obviously.

Percy felt his stomach sink. They were busted. There was no way Malcolm didn't know.

Annabeth's brother raised an eyebrow, gaze flicking between them. He cleared his throat. "I'll, um, leave you guys to talk then—"

"I was just leaving," Percy blurted out. "I just came to...uh..."

"Check on me," Annabeth piped up abruptly. "Yeah, my stomach wasn't feeling too good." She was fiddling with her hands, nonchalance plastered on her face. "That's, uh, why I left breakfast early. Sorry for storming off."

Malcolm was leaning against the door frame now, looking at them amusedly. "Right. That's why."

Percy waited expectantly for Malcolm to say something like, "Drop the act. You guys are obviously dating." But he simply stared at him silently.

Apparently this was pretty common, then. Percy thought back and yeah, there were zero times where he and Annabeth had been caught alone that they had looked even vaguely platonic. There was always a lot of blushing involved.

Gods, they really had been oblivious.

It clearly worked in their favour.

"I'll go...then," Percy said awkwardly, gesturing to the door. Annabeth's gaze was pointedly fixed on the floor as he shuffled past Malcolm, avoiding eye contact.

A Percy ducked out of the Athena cabin, Malcolm stepped inside and shut the door; somehow Percy knew Annabeth was about to be interrogated.

But nothing was going to dampen his spirits. There were butterflies in his stomach and Percy felt like he could swim across the Atlantic ocean — Annabeth Chase was his girlfriend.

Percy walked on knowing there was a stupid grin on his face. Annabeth Chase was his girlfriend. Tell that to the Percy Jackson from a year ago, or just a month ago, in fact, and he wouldn't have believed it. No way.

Annabeth Chase was his unattainable best friend, who teased him and had a crush on an evil demigod and put his brain in a tangled pretzel and maybe occasionally kissed him in volcanoes, but that was it.

Annabeth Chase was not someone Percy Jackson got to take on dates.

Except apparently she was. Percy felt like he was about to wake up from a dream. It was too surreal to be reality.

"Hey!" Grover was trotting over to him, worry etched into his face. He shoved the rasta cap out of his face. "What happened? Is Annabeth okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, she's fine."

Beckendorf jogged up behind the satyr, their friends on his heel. "Seriously, what did she say to you?" he said breathlessly as he approached them.

"Um. Said she was fine. That her stomach hurt," Percy said distractedly.

Silena crossed her arms. "That's a lie if I ever heard one."

Percy blinked. Right. This was still a secret. The haze on his mind dispersed. "She said she was fine."

"And you left her?" Silena exploded. "Are you out of your mind—"

"Okay, leave him be," Travis complained. "He's already said he doesn't like Annabeth."

"Thank you!" Percy exclaimed, surprised that one of the Stolls was coming to his defence.

"But," Travis held up a hand. "If that's true — which I doubt it — then that doesn't explain what just happened in the pavilion."

Percy stared blankly at his friends.

"You turned down Drew Tanaka!" Connor said, aghast. "How could you do that?"

"I-I don't like her," Percy said meekly.

"Yeah," Katie rounded on Connor. "Why's that your question? Drew's a bitch."

"Doesn't matter — she's hot," Connor said, like it was a matter of fact. "You don't turn down Drew Tanaka."

"Connor has a point," Beckendorf added.

Silena scowled. "Really? You want to tell me how attractive you find Drew too, huh?"

"No, no!" Beckendorf rushed, panicked. "I just mean, Percy can casual-date Drew. No rules against doing that. If he really didn't like Annabeth, then casual dating isn't out of the question, right?"

All head swivelled back to Percy, who stood petrified as he desperately wracked his brain for an excuse.

"Uh," he babbled unintelligibly. "I-I-I just can't?" he tried.

"Why?" Clarisse demanded.

"Because," Percy started helplessly. "I kind of—I" He winced. "There's this...girl?"

The many pairs of eyes widened. Silena clapped a hand to her mouth.

Beckendorf had a matching expression of astonishment. "Holy Hades, are you finally telling us you like Annabeth?"

Percy was panicking. Percy was seriously panicking. "No?"

"Then who is it?" Grover bleated near-hysterically. "Rachel?"

If it was possible, Percy's face grew even hotter. "No! It's—it's no one. Forget it!"

Hastily, Percy weaselled his way out of the group, racing back to his cabin. Only when he was sure he was alone and far from any danger did he relax, slumping onto his bed.

He peered down at his collarbone.

that was one of the funniest things i've ever seen.
your thoughts are hilarious.

can you stop laughing at my expense
i dont think ive ever been that freaked out in my entire life

so tell me;
who's this mystery girl you have a crush on?

anyone but you
youre terrible
i hate you

no you don't

no i dont

A pause.

you looked good in my shirt

bold.
that was so embarrassing.

it was funny for me

shut up.

Percy knew he hadn't heard the end of it from his friends; not even close. But that night at the bonfire, when he and Annabeth shared a stick of marshmallows without even a word of argument, it seemed to perplex them even more.

"I think we're messing up their betting pool," Annabeth whispered to him, smirking.

Percy snorted. "Good."

<<< >>>

"Okay!" Chiron announced in that 'let's get serious' voice of his — gravitas and all. He clasped his hands together. "Most of you will have been campers here for at least three years, which means you probably know the ropes to fighting—"

"Spoiler alert," Mr D cackled, looking pleased with himself. "You don't."

Chiron pursed his lips with that everlasting patience of his. "That's...not what I was getting at. You're all very good," he attempted to reassure the campers standing before him. "But we can always be better. Especially because we can't afford to slip up here. Not with Kronos at our heels."

Annabeth glanced to her right — across the fifteen-or-so campers assembled — peering over heads to spot Percy sitting on the bench. His attention was directed to a crow perched on a nearby branch, studying the bird with a small frown as Chiron's instructions clearly went in one ear and straight out the other.

She ducked her head to stifle a smile.

"While you all fight pretty well, you can always be better — especially since I know some of you have started to relax your stance and have taken on your own preferred—"

"Sloppy!" Mr D interjected gleefully, gaze still focussed on a vine (of some sort of fruit possibly?) he was coaxing out of the ground. A couple demigods rolled their eyes.

"Positions," Chiron's eye twitched. "When fighting. Today we're going to focus on your posture and stance." He clasped his hands together. "Get into pairs! Pick someone who can match you in a duel!"

Annabeth cast her gaze on the group of demigods, sizing each one of them up. Silena, who was stood beside her, snorted, and sidled away to find someone else. Annabeth saw her grab Drew by the arm and drag her away. Annabeth frowned; she would've loved the opportunity to beat up—work with Drew.

Pushing her way through people trying to find a pair, Annabeth tapped Percy on the shoulder. He was conversing with Beckendorf, but cut himself off when he saw her, grinning brightly. Annabeth couldn't help the pleased turn of her stomach.

Annabeth placed her hands on her waist, hips cocked to one side. "Partner up, Seaweed Brain?"

Percy slid Beckendorf a guilty look.

"Oh, it's fine," Beckendorf chuckled. "Go. Besides, I think Clarisse is making a beeline for you."

That seemed to set off the alarms in Percy's head because his eyes widened and he hurriedly grabbed Annabeth's hand, pulling her towards the centre of the arena.

The daughter of Ares missed them by seconds, leaving Beckendorf to the wolves.

"Thanks for the rescue. She takes any opportunity to beat me to pulp," Percy gulped, as he found a vacant spot for them.

Annabeth stepped away, putting a decent distance between them. "Bold of you to assume I won't do the same."

Percy's only reply was a smug look.

She unsheathed her dagger, pointing at him with the tip. "Time to wipe that smirk off your face."

"I mean, you did pick me," Percy called. "Means you think we're evenly matched."

"Or that I pitied you," Annabeth retorted, taking another step back. "Wouldn't want you to have to partner up with...I don't know, Drew?"

Percy laughed. The familiar ballpoint pen was in his hand, spinning between his fingers. "Care to make it interesting?"

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Please. I can't win anymore bets against you. My conscience'll kick in."

"Not a bet," Percy reassured her. "That's boring. We make bets all the time."

"Agreed," Annabeth laughed. "That's why I have something from the bottom of the ocean now." Instinctively, she reached up to touch the red conch shell threaded onto her beaded camp necklace. "Bring me back a shark next time."

"I'll find you an oyster if you win," Percy decided.

"Fine," Annabeth smiled. "And what if you win?"

Percy gestured to her left hand. Looking down, Annabeth saw the scrawl she'd come to love.

you go on a date with me

She looked back up and raised an eyebrow.

a real date
to the new york aquarium

Annabeth pondered this for a moment. An oyster if she won — she could start a collection, maybe get a fish tank for her cabin. And if she lost — sure, pride and all that...but a date to the New York Aquarium?

"You're on," she said confidently. "But it's still just a bet. Thought you said they were boring?"

"Ah, you've played right into my master plan," Percy said, imitating Kronos' voice.

Idiot, Annabeth thought fondly.

"We swap our weapons for the duel," Percy finally said, eyes gleaming playfully.

Annabeth walked towards him, nabbing the pen from his grasp. She handed over her knife, hilt first. "Finally, a challenge."

"This'll be fun," she heard Percy murmur as she turned her back and returned to her original position.

Looking around her, Annabeth could see that the leftover demigods had finally gotten into pairs.

"Woah," Beckendorf marvelled, only a few steps away from her. "Are you holding Riptide?"

"I don't believe it," Clarisse snorted, standing across from Beckendorf and leaning on her electric spear. "Prissy's whipped."

"It's a bet," Percy called back for good measure.

Annabeth didn't blame the others. No one ever got to hold Riptide. Ever. Percy was as possessive of his sword as...well, as Annabeth was of him.

She suspected it was because it had really been there for him through everything. Before he was demigod, through all their quests. On the Percy Jackson loyalty scale, Riptide was up there with Grover and herself.

Curiously, Annabeth uncapped the pen. Sure enough, the celestial bronze sword sprung up from her fist, as it always did. Sometimes she got déjà vu from all the times she'd seen Percy fight with it.

This sword had killed a Fury, drawn blood from Ares, and fought Kronos. Annabeth glanced back at Percy. For how self-deprecating he was, Annabeth sometimes forgot how Percy was one of the most powerful demigods of all time.

Not that she was ever going to admit it to his face.

"Aw," came Percy's voice, muddling her train of thought. His eyes were trained on the soulmark on his collarbone. He looked back up at her cheekily.

"Shut up," Annabeth said pointedly, blushing a little. "I'll still beat your ass."

Chiron cleared his throat loudly to get everyone's attention; conversation in the arena dulled. "One of you will take the offensive and one of you will take the defensive. You will switch when I say so."

Percy gestured to Annabeth as if to say "you first".

Chiron waited as silence fell on them. "Ready your weapons!"

The sound of metal whistling filled the air. Annabeth held Riptide to her right, stepping into an offensive position, her back leg tensed and her body prepared to spring into action. Percy took his usual defensive stance, gripping her dagger so that the blade was pointing behind him. His eyes narrowed, the green darkening.

That was thing about Percy, Annabeth thought. They messed around, sure. But when they had to fight, there was no question they were ever anything but serious.

"Go!" Chiron declared.

Annabeth took off in a sprint, bringing Riptide down in a high arc. Percy was prepared for the strike, bringing the dagger up at lightning speed to parry it. Spinning around, Annabeth struck again, Riptide close to her cheek — but Percy was there again, holding his own with the dagger crossing his own sword.

Gritting her teeth, Annabeth stepped in closer, pressing her advantage as Percy's knees bent under her force. At the last second, Percy nicked his blade free and leaped back, leaving Annabeth to stumble forward.

"Annabeth, footwork!" Chiron called, trotting around as he observed them.

"Sorry," she muttered, regaining her balance and righting herself into another attack stance. Annabeth trained her gaze on Percy.

Swapping weapons had been a larger disadvantage that she'd expected; Percy clearly thought so too.

Annabeth's right arm was already aching from how heavy the sword was. The weight slowed her down and she wasn't as nimble as she usually was with her dagger, which meant that most of her usual plays were useless here.

Percy, on the other hand, was struggling to adapt to the technique a smaller blade required. His usual combination of brute force and strategy wasn't working here. The dagger was smaller than he was used to, and it meant that Percy was more likely to overestimate the strength behind each strike.

Should be easy to unbalance him, Annabeth figured.

Slowly, she approached, Percy shuffling his left foot and anchoring his defensive position. He held it even as she slashed at him in a diagonal arc, deflecting the blow. Annabeth winced at her clumsy blow, but apparently Percy hadn't been expecting it, because his sword arm jolted back. He released a pained hiss.

Annabeth slashed again, Percy barely blocking the move, and she began to move forward, Percy with no other choice but to retreat.

In her head, Annabeth saw memories of Luke fighting play back. Just as she prepared to execute his signature disarming technique—

"Switch!" Chiron ordered.

Annabeth's eyes widened in surprise, leaving her with a delay of a fraction of a second. It was enough for Percy to react, hacking down at her with a series of quick strikes.

Stumbling backwards, Annabeth almost tripped over her back foot. Footwork, she chided herself. Between Percy's strikes, she repositioned her feet, shuffling backwards with more orderly movement.

"Stance, Percy!" Chiron reminded. "If Annabeth was properly sparring she could catch you on your open left!"

Percy frowned at his words, apparently realising he had adopted a stance that didn't exist. As he righted himself, Annabeth took the chance to catch her breath.

If this was anyone else, she should have the advantage. She had fought with a sword many more times than Percy had with a dagger, even if her experience was minimal and when she was about 7.

Unfortunately Percy had seen her fight with her dagger so many times that he was — very annoyingly, she had to add — repurposing her own moves against herself.

Percy slammed the hilt of her dagger into her wrist, eliciting a grunt from her, before locking the knife around Riptide, twisting so that her wrist pinched with pain.

She struggled to unlock their weapons, retreating now as Percy advanced.

"Stole—my—move," she panted, raising Riptide as Percy brought the dagger down.

She swept him away easily — Riptide's length giving her more leverage here. Annabeth returned the strike, which Percy caught on the hilt of his dagger.

His eyebrows shot up with delight, equally as surprised as she was that he'd pulled it off.

"Copycat," Annabeth said breathlessly, parrying wearily. Her eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Okay! Good work so far!" Chiron shouted. "Now we spar!"

It was Annabeth's turn to flip the situation around, swinging Riptide from her left in a backhand strike. Percy yelped as he ducked, narrowly avoiding the blade. He blanched. "Where the hell did that come from?"

"You're forgetting I fought beside Luke for years," Annabeth reminded him, approaching him again, Riptide held out at hip-level.

Percy slashed at her, the flat of the dagger's blade slamming against Riptide's edge with a sonorous clang. "You saying—Luke's a—better fighter—than me?" he managed between pants.

"No," Annabeth broke off, breathless, shoving the dagger away as she went in for another strike. Percy deftly manoeuvred out of this once, twisting his arm so that Riptide spun away. "You just know your moves too well."

"And yours," Percy fired back, the corner of his mouth pulling up into a lopsided grin.

"Fair enough." Annabeth executed another backhand slash, then an arc on her forehand from above her head diagonally down to her left.

Riptide scraped against Percy's armour, producing a horrible sound. He pulled a face.

Annabeth continued to press forward, Percy in full retreat, their weapons tangled in a dangerous dance, both of sidestepping to avoid the other campers as the weaved through the crowd, blades swinging and clashing from side to side.

Somewhere along the way, Annabeth lost her footing and Percy nearly managed to disarm her, the hilt of Riptide wobbling in her palm. She cursed under her breath, readjusting her grip as she was forced to take the defensive.

The person taking the offensive switched around frequently, as it always did when Annabeth and Percy sparred. There were noises all around them as people won and lost their own fights. Drew stood empty-handed before Silena, who held both blades triumphantly. Beckendorf was stumbling back, thrown up by Clarisse's zap to his arm. Annabeth had to step over Connor, who was tumbling on the floor with Will, parrying strikes left and right. 

In fact, the duel was pretty evenly matched until Percy, in an effort to retake the offensive, left his wing open. Annabeth felt a spurt of satisfaction in her brain. That was the side she covered when they fought together.

A crucial mistake.

Annabeth leaped to the right, engaging Percy on his other side, where he struggled to reorientate as she twisted Riptide purposefully, catching the dagger in stride and sending it clattering to the ground several feet away.

Percy stared open-mouthed as the dagger landed. He turned back to face her, brow furrowed. "Damn it."

Annabeth already had Riptide pressed to his throat. She smiled; from where she was standing she could see the flecks in his eyes.

"Because I'm such a gracious winner," she whispered. "We can still go to the aquarium."

Percy's face lit up. "That's all I want," he promised.

As Annabeth removed the sword from his throat and capped it, she laughed at Percy jogging away to retrieve her dagger.

"It was fun," she said truthfully, handing over the pen as he slid her dagger into the sheath on her thigh. "Makes it thirty to two, you know?"

Percy only grinned. He lowered his voice, "I'd kiss you right now if there weren't about a million people watching."

In her peripheral vision, Annabeth saw that he was, in fact, right.

Percy didn't make any move to indicate he wanted to move away. His hand still hovered above her thigh sheath, eyes trained on her and her only.

Annabeth reluctantly stepped back, putting a couple more inches between them. She heard someone mutter something about "sexual tension".

"Good—good fighting, everyone," Chiron himself sounded pretty confused. Annabeth found the look the old centaur was giving them to be absolutely hilarious. Her mentor looked away from them, to the other campers. "I saw some improvement. But we're not quite there yet. We'll have another session tomorrow at 9."

Groans erupted from the demigods, and suddenly people were more preoccupied with complaining than with Annabeth and Percy.

"See you at dinner, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth called over her shoulder as she walked back to join Silena and her other friends.

The questions were immediate. "Why didn't you kiss Percy? You guys were so close too!" Katie whined.

"Don't be silly." Annabeth regarded her friends. "Come on, now. Why on Earth would I kiss Percy?"

<<< >>>

Three weeks after what happened in the forest, it was the 4th of July. That meant the annual fireworks and the chaos that preceded it. Camp was hectic enough without anything else.

Of course, this also coincided with the disappearance of the soulmarks.

It was incredibly anticlimactic. Annabeth didn't feel anything, didn't feel changed at all. She woke up and looked down at her wrist as she always did, curious about Percy's dreams.

It was blank.

Percy's mind was many things but never empty.

Annabeth blinked. Maybe it was her blurry vision. Maybe she was imagining things. But no, her wrists was still blank. Not a drop of ink in sight.

She swallowed. She was supposed to feel glad about this. Annabeth didn't believe in soulmates, but she did believe in dark magic, which was all this was — a ploy by Kronos and his army — right?

Percy was her boyfriend. And maybe he wouldn't be without all this. Maybe this wasn't how it was supposed to go. Maybe this hadn't been the love story Aphrodite had written out for them — a happy ending instead of the original tragedy she had planned.

But she was here now. And everything was okay...right?

"They're gone," Annabeth heard one of her half-siblings whisper to another. "The tattoos."

The other person sighed. "That's a shame. I kind of liked mine."

The sentiment was similar amongst all campers; everyone felt the loss of the soulmarks. Most people hadn't even found their so-called 'soulmates'. But the tattoos had been comforting, a reminder that they were never alone. And now they were back to being themselves. Alone.

As Annabeth went through the motions of her day, she wondered if this had been Luke’s plan all along. Not to cripple them with dark magic, but to dampen everyone’s spirits so that they were too weak to fight back.

The fact that Luke had never launched any kind of attack on them during the presence of the soulmarks told Annabeth that either her theory was right or the dark magic had been a complete accident in the first place.

For magic that supposedly revealed a fated “the one”, accidents seemed a bit out of place. Even to her.

Annabeth didn’t see Percy all day. It made her stomach sink even further; where could he be? A fearful part of her wondered if he had succumbed to doubt. About them. What if he’d woken up and realised that the magic had had some kind of influence on his feelings? What if he regretted the last three weeks?

Instinctively, Annabeth’s gaze flicked down to her wrist. Of course, it was bare. The realisation stung like a slap to the face. She and Percy didn’t have that connection anymore.

The rest of her day wasn’t any better. Neither Grover nor Beckendorf knew where Percy was, and it worried her. Even Connor, the jokester himself, looked a little sad. Annabeth passed by Drew sitting cross-legged under a tree, staring at the book in her lap.

It was open to a page, but the daughter of Aphrodite made no move to turn it. Clearly, her attention was focussed elsewhere.

Annabeth felt an unfamiliar pang — sympathy.

Drew had a soulmate. She probably didn’t know them, probably thought she would never find them. And it wasn’t like she’d gone after Percy to intentionally provoke Annabeth; no one even knew they were dating.

Weirdly enough, Annabeth felt sorry for Drew. Maybe she’d misunderstood her. This whole ‘soulmates’ ordeal was something they had in common. Maybe Drew had her own justifiable reasons for her actions.

The only campers who seemed to be somewhat happy were the couples. In fact, they were all attached at the hip. Beckendorf even endured lunch at the Aphrodite table. Chiron didn’t have the heart to enforce rules on them today — not when he knew everyone was wallowing.

Seeing Travis and Katie speaking in hushed tones, seeing Beckendorf and Silena kiss when they thought no one was looking, Annabeth desperately wished she could do the same with Percy.

Hiding their relationship had been a good idea, she was sure of that. Trying to date when they were being scrutinised under everyone else’s lenses was stressful.

But Annabeth didn’t want to be anyone’s secret anymore. Gods, Percy was…she didn’t have the words. Three weeks didn’t sound like a long time but it was too much for Annabeth. She wanted to hold his hand when it wasn’t in a locked cabin or under moonlight. She wanted everyone to know that she’d finally found her family. A permanent one, here to stay.

She’d take all the looks and the teasing and the jokes.

The only good thing that came out of the day was that everyone left Annabeth alone to ponder over a thousand different things, too occupied with their own burgeoning thoughts.

As a quiet dinner passed and nightfall swept over them, Clarisse brusquely brushed past her on the way to the beach.

The daughter of Ares spared Annabeth a second glance, stopping in her tracks, hand-in-hand with Chris Rodriguez.

“Fireworks,” Clarisse jerked her head in the direction of the beach. “Now.”

Annabeth waved a hand dismissively. “Yeah,” she said absently. “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Clarisse pursed her lips. “If you’re looking for him,” she said gruffly. “I think he’s in his cabin.”

Annabeth didn’t even have the decency to blush.“Thanks.” She was already walking away.

All the campers filed past her in groups, making their way slowly to the beach, where the Hermes and Hephaestus cabins would put on their infamous fireworks show.

Annabeth bumped into a few of them, apologising as she went, interested only in one certain demigod.

When she reached the Poseidon cabin, Annabeth hesitated.

“Percy?” she called out tentatively, voice coming out a lot smaller than she’d intended.

A beat of silence. Annabeth grew uncertain; Clarisse could be wrong, Percy was probably down by the beach, perfectly fine. But she couldn’t shake the anxious feeling in her chest.

“Percy?” she repeated, louder this time.

When she didn’t receive an answer, Annabeth twisted the handle and pushed the door open. It swung open to reveal Percy sitting with his back against the fountain fiddling with something in his lap.

Percy looked up. “Sorry,” he said tiredly.

Annabeth frowned, letting herself in as she closed the door behind her with a gentle click. “Are you okay?”

Percy stared at his lap. Time stretched out. “No, not really,” he said finally.

Annabeth kneeled down and sidled into the space beside him. It took a few moments for her to muster up the courage to say, “I’ve been thinking a lot today.”

Usually, Percy would’ve quipped back something along the lines of, “And is that out of the ordinary?” She would laugh, elbow him in the side, and they would run down to the beach together to watch the fireworks and stare at constellations.

But today Percy didn’t respond.

So Annabeth delved on, “I’ve been thinking that…” She stopped short. “This is, um, harder than I thought.” Annabeth took a deep breath. “Look, everyone who cares about me leaves.”

This time Percy lifted up his head to look at her.

“And I know that that sounds like I’m being unfair,” Annabeth continued. “But my life started when my mum left me on my father’s doorstep. He didn’t want me. My stepmom didn’t want me. Thalia got turned into a tree. Then Luke became evil, I got Thalia back for half a year before she left. Again.” She picked at her shoes. “And it sucked. It really sucked. Even though I’ve sort of patched things up with my dad, I don’t think I’ll ever forget what it was like to be completely alone. That fear that he’s going to leave is always, always there.”

“And then there’s you.” Annabeth’s voice softened. “This boy who became my best friend. Who…who looked at me in this way. Who made me feel like—like—who made me feel things I have never felt with anyone.” She glanced over at Percy. “Not even Luke,” she confirmed quietly.

“And I have spent years being terrified that you’d leave me too. I was sure of it. When Mount St. Helen’s blew up, I thought you were dead. And I hated that I never got to tell you everything I was thinking — even though I doubt I could’ve verbalised it back then.” Annabeth frowned. “Ironic, isn’t it? I’m supposed to be the one that’s good with words.”

“And then I was sure I was always going to be your second choice. Second choice to Calypso. Second choice to Rachel. And it sucked, being insecure and being angry at everyone and everything, and all I wanted to do was talk to my best friend about it,” Annabeth laughed dryly. “Which was the one thing I couldn’t do.”

Annabeth shifted so she was facing him. “Percy, you have come to mean everything to me. I don’t even believe in soulmates — at least, I didn’t — and now here I am, actually believing that you could be mine. The last three weeks, all you’ve done is be yourself, and I think I…” she hesitated. “Well, it was enough that today all I could think about was that fear. I’ve spent the whole day being terrified that you were going to leave me.”

Percy’s head snapped up, his mouth opening as if to cut in. “I’m not done,” Annabeth said quickly before he could interrupt. “Like I said, I’ve been thinking a lot. And I’m not going to make the same mistake again.” She sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “All I could think about was how much I wanted to talk to you. How you were the only person who understood me even when I didn’t understand myself.”

Annabeth gestured to herself. “So here I am. Talking to you.” When Percy didn’t have any visible reaction, Annabeth tried for a joke, “It’s this new thing I’m trying out — communication.”

Slowly, Percy leaned forward and slid his hand into hers, threading their fingers together. Annabeth looked down and finally saw what he’d been fiddling with.

An oyster. The one from their bet.

“I forgot,” Annabeth realised.

“Me too,” Percy admitted. “I was down there the whole day, trying to find one. Didn’t want to see you empty-handed.” He paused. “I think I just didn’t want to see you. I was afraid you would…” he trailed off. “I was afraid you’d changed your mind.”

Annabeth’s brow furrowed. “Percy. I chose you. In fact, there wasn’t even any other choice. It’s always been you.”

“It’s just that,” he broke off frustratedly. “You don’t get it. Without the tattoo, I can’t even justify to myself why you would ever be with me. You’re you, and you’re smart, and you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met.”

“You pretty much just described yourself.”

“Please, you call me ‘stupid’ all the time,” Percy said embarrassedly.

“I don’t mean that,” Annabeth protested. She frowned, staring at their joined hands. “Look, I-I tease you because I like you. It’s kind of the only way I can deal with things, if you hadn’t noticed. I’m not very good at, um, processing emotions.”

“I noticed.”

“Shut up,” Annabeth said with an eyeroll. Her gaze grew serious. “But I mean it. Everything I just said. You’re clever, Percy. Anyone who says otherwise is blind.” When he still looked unconvinced, Annabeth nudged him. “Seriously. I’ll tell you all the time now.”

“No, don’t,” Percy said immediately. “That would be weird.”

“That would be weird.”

They were silent for a couple more seconds.

“Can I tell you something?” Percy said suddenly. He eyed her carefully. “I’m not good with words, but I don’t want you to freak out or anything.”

Annabeth exhaled slowly. “Okay…”

Percy struggled with himself for a few moments before he finally managed to say it.

“I think I’m in love with you.”

Her lashes fluttered as she blinked, blurring out Percy for frames at a time.

“O-okay,” Annabeth tried.

“Are you freaking out?” he asked warily.

Annabeth waited for the feeling of panic to swell up and overwhelm her. There was none. “Not yet.”

“You don’t have to say it back,” Percy said instantly. “I mean that. It’s not, like, an obligation or anything. I just—I tell you everything.”

“You don’t understand,” Annabeth pressed a hand to her forehead frustratedly. “I-I do want to say it. Believe me, I do, but—”

“I don’t want to pressure you.”

“You’re not,” Annabeth insisted. “Really. It’s just that I…” She bit her lip. “My turn to tell you something.” Annabeth gripped Percy’s hand. “It’s just that I’ve never said it.”

Confusion was knitted into his brow. “You’ve never said…”

“‘I love you’,” Annabeth confirmed awkwardly. “I’ve never said it to anyone.”

“Ever?”

“Ever.”

Annabeth peered up at her boyfriend. She could see it written on his face; years of uttering those three words to his mother. And using it comfortably with Grover. Maybe even once or twice to his dad.

“So it means a lot to me,” Annabeth admitted. “I just…I want to really mean it when I say it, you know?” She struggled to get the words out. “But, you know that I-I do…right?”

I do love you, the phrase was on the tip of her tongue. Annabeth hated that, for once, Percy couldn’t see what she was thinking. Thinking it was hard, saying it was worse.

Percy smiled softly. There wasn’t a trace of venom or blame in it. “I do.”

Annabeth leaned forward and kissed him. It was chaste and sweet and held so much meaning. When they drew apart, Annabeth could feel her lips tingling, and she fought the inane urge to lift her fingers up to touch it.

“Will you go watch the fireworks with me?” she breathed.

Percy grinned. “Yes.”

He got up first and hauled her to her feet, his arm snaking its way round her waist, thumb tucked tentatively into the waistband of her shorts.

They made their way down to the beach at their own pace, shoulders bumping together as they walked.

The sound of an explosion rocked the beach. Sparks hurtled into the air, the splattering of colour forming the image of an army of demigods fighting a legion of monsters.

The Battle of the Labyrinth.

“Woah,” Percy echoed Annabeth’s thoughts.

Their footsteps sped up as they hurried down the hill to the other campers spread out across the sand, staring up in awe at the display.

“Great, you made it in time for the ending,” Grover said distractedly, attention fixated on the fireworks as Percy and Annabeth joined their friends.

Annabeth sat down on a log and pulled Percy down beside her, both their gazes transfixed on the sky.

The next bout of fireworks held a platoon of red. The sparks rearranged themselves, hovering until Annabeth realised what they were — a volcano.

“Mount St. Helen’s,” she voiced.

Annabeth glanced to her right to see Percy looking right back at her. She didn’t need any tattoo to know what Percy was thinking.

Their first kiss. The one thing they had that was just theirs. No meddling gods, no evil Titans. Just the two of them.

The bubbling lava and molten rock dissipated into a show of the god Pan in a cave, five silhouettes knelt down before him.

And then after all the sparks had dispersed, the grand finale.

The depiction of a monster hurtling into the sky, black magic streaking around. Campers staring up from the ground and blossoming hearts starting to form all around.

Annabeth smiled. Maybe soulmates were real. She snuck a glance at the boy sitting beside her, the very one who had caused her change of heart. Well, it wasn’t like anybody knew anyway…

There were murmurs of “wow” as everyone regarded the final scene of the 4th of July fireworks, knowing they wouldn’t get one till next year. If they even got one next year.

Annabeth shoved it out of her mind. The Great Prophecy and looming battles could wait. There wasn’t anywhere else in the world she’d rather be.

Once the fireworks ended, a round of applause for the Hermes and Hephaestus campers erupted. As they took a bow and returned to their respective friends, the atmosphere got a whole lot livelier.

“Everyone was so down in the dumps all day, we didn’t really have a choice, did we?” Travis insisted.

The bonfire burned brighter and higher than Annabeth had ever seen it. Laughter made its rounds and marshmallows were shared amongst demigods, regardless of their godly parent.

Take that, Luke, Annabeth thought, pleased with herself and the place she called home.

Percy glanced down at her. “You look deep in thought,” he noticed. His arm curved around her, palm resting on the wood of the log they were sitting on beside her left leg.

Annabeth smiled. “When am I ever not?”

His gaze shot monetarily away from her, before returning as he rolled his eyes.

“What?” she asked, turning around to see what had caught his attention.

The log adjacent to them held most of their friends, in an animated discussion. Silena was gesturing vigorously as she and Clarisse swapped whispers.

“You’re not as subtle as you think you are,” Annabeth called out to them, leaning into Percy’s side as she turned to shoot them all glares.

“Subtle about what?” Connor said, the image of innocence.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. “Look, I know you guys are making bets about us.”

Beckendorf shrugged. “No idea what you guys are talking about.”

Percy snorted in answer. “Right.”

Annabeth turned to face him. “They think we’re stupid,” she said in disbelief.

Percy was on the same page. His lopsided grin was there again, refusing to budge. “Prove them wrong?”

Annabeth laughed, tangling her fingers in the collar of his orange camp t-shirt, pulling him forward and willing him to kiss her.

He obliged. Enthusiastically.

Annabeth allowed themselves three seconds of pin-drop silence before she forced herself to pull away. Percy was smiling wide against her mouth, and then he was there, still grinning madly at her at a way that made her dizzy. Percy brought the back of his hand up to wipe his mouth.

Annabeth turned, satisfied as she took in the astonished faces all around.

Chiron looked like he had seen a ghost, and even Mr D was regarding with something close to mild interest. It was a rare occasion that Drew was speechless, and this was one of them, alongside the rest of their friends ogling them with incredulity. Raised eyebrows and wide eyes were commonplace, and Grover’s mouth hung open.

“So,” she declared. “How much money do I win?”

Chapter Text

"You don't think I could stand to see a friendly face?"

"What...my face?"

The words simply didn't make sense together. Friendly face. Nico di Angelo.

"You're so dense," Will noted.

That was how it started.

—*—

Nico trudged through the strawberry fields of camp, awkwardly waving at each person he saw. A few days had passed since the final battle against Gaia. Since Octavian's fiery death. Since Leo's disappearance.

He had to admit; campers were nothing if not resilient.

"Nico!" came a breathless voice. It was Percy Jackson, wobbling as he made his way through the fields, trying his best not to trample the fruit.

Nico waited patiently for the butterflies to go crazy in his stomach upon seeing the green-eyed son of Poseidon.

Nothing.

The memory of confessing what had once been his deepest secret to Percy himself flashed through his brain. Right.

Nico felt his cheeks flush slightly. He hadn't spoken to Percy since. Gods, what if it was awkward? What if Percy never wanted to speak to him again?

"I need to talk to you," Percy panted. He finally arrived beside him, shaking his hair out before snapping his head up to look at Nico.

Nico's heart began to hammer more violently against his ribcage. Shit. This was it.

"Will said you need to be in the infirmary," Percy told him.

The blood rushing through his ears meant that Nico barely even heard what he said. "What?"

Percy waved a hand dismissively. "Something about owing him three days of rest." He shrugged. "I got Annabeth into the infirmary. I'll force you there too."
When Nico didn't react, Percy tagged on, "Will Solace? Blonde, son of Apollo—"

"I know who he is," Nico interrupted. There were the butterflies in his stomach.

"Okay, cool," Percy said, smiling. It was the signature Percy Jackson grin. Lopsided, friendly, a hint of "you have no idea what I'm about to do". Nico felt a spurt of embarrassment for his younger self; that particular move had floored him many times.

Nico hesitated. "Is that it?" This was slowly turning into one of the longest conversations he'd held with anyone in the last three years, excluding Reyna.

"Um." Percy ran a hand through his hair, a sheepish look on his face. "I mean, that is what I supposed to tell you, but..." He trailed off. "About what you said — after the battle — the other day."

Nico closed his eyes. Oh gods.

"I probably didn't react that well," Percy winced. "I was just kind of shocked. I really thought you'd hated me."

"I did," Nico said cautiously, studying Percy's expression. "A little bit. At one point. Because of Bianca. I don't anymore."

"Right, right," Percy paused. "And the...the crush. That's—"

"Over now," Nico reassured.

"I know, I just mean," the other boy stammered. "When did you..."

Okay, so they were doing this right now.

Nico knew his cheeks were hot. Miraculously Percy wasn't blushing. The boy who used to go red at every mention of his now-girlfriend. Right.

"Probably from when we first met," Nico said tentatively.

Percy's eyebrows shot up. "Wow, okay." He scratched at his head awkwardly. "And — you don't have to answer this if you don't want to, by the way — liking guys, that's—"

"Percy," Nico broke off. He swallowed. "I-I'm gay."

The words hung between them for a few seconds.

"Okay," Percy said simply.

The one word made Nico stare blankly at him. "That-that's it."

"After you said you, y'know, liked me, I suspected," Percy said embarrassedly. "I just didn't want to assume."

Nico couldn't stop staring at him. He had never said those words out loud to anyone. Ever.

And here he was, uttering it to the boy he used to have a crush on.

"It's not the end of the world, just so you know," Percy said slowly. "You're still you. I-I don't judge you for it. I mean, if that's what you're worrying about."

Nico couldn't help the doubt that slipped past, "Really?"

Percy's expression grew serious. "Of course not." This was one of the few times when there wasn't even a trace of humour in the demigod's face.

Nico cleared his throat nervously. "But you don't feel awkward? I didn't make you feel weird or anything?"

"No?" Percy cast him a look of disbelief.

Nico ran a hand over his face, feeling pale and clammy. "Sorry, I just..." I spent so long thinking this would be the end of it for me, he said silently. Never thought it could feel so freeing.

As Percy scrutinised his reaction, Nico felt a tinge of guilt. Percy didn't get enough credit for the kind of person he was. He was a good person. One of the best, in fact.

And he wasn't just an ex-crush. Nico had always assumed he didn't have any friends. Campers thought he was weird. People called him 'freak' in their heads. But since Will had brought up the contrary, Nico was starting to wonder what else he'd been blind to.

Bianca had been his confidante for so long, Percy might just be his oldest surviving friend — or at least one of the closest things to a 'friend'.

"Thanks," Nico managed, hating the wobble in his voice.

Percy placed a hand on his shoulder — something he could do because of how much taller than Nico he was, which he hated, but not so much this time — and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "It's okay. I just didn't want you to leave camp because of me. Would be nice to see you around a bit more."

Nico cracked a smile. Gods, his face hurt from the rare movement.

Percy seemed to take it as a win, because his face lit up immediately. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and Nico respected it. It took courage to do so.

"I won't force you to hug me or anything," Percy promised, his hand dropping back down to his side. "And I won't tell anyone or anything. I mean, I don't know if it's public knowledge—"

"It's not," Nico confirmed.

Percy shrugged. "That's fine. I won't mention it to anyone then."

"Thanks," Nico repeated. A small part of him was still incredulous that this was an actual exchange he was having with Percy.

"See you around," Percy called over his shoulder as he retreated back through the fields, a little less clumsily than before.

Nico watched Percy's retreating back. Since finding out that he was a demigod, Nico figured that nothing else could ever faze him.

Apparently there were still a few surprises left in this world, Percy Jackson included.

<<< >>>

Nico's rare good mood lasted a day. To be fair, most of it was spent in holed up in the infirmary...with a certain son of Apollo.

Maybe the infirmary wasn't that bad.

Problem was that it was an echo chamber. A safe house away from the rest of the world that allowed Nico to ignore other parts of reality that maybe weren't as appealing.

He and Will parted ways when they entered the pavilion for dinner, Nico heading over to sit at the Hades table. Since no one else was in his cabin, Nico usually sat by himself (at least the very few times he'd been here in the last year). He kind of enjoyed the solitude.

Except today he enjoyed the whispers less.

Nico didn't know if it was his own paranoia, but he could've sworn his name had come up in neighbouring conversations. Sneaking a glance to his left, Nico saw the kids at the Aphrodite table whisper something to each other before multiple pairs of eyes flicked over to him.

He stared back down at his plate. Okay. So maybe people were confused as to why he was staying at camp.

He glanced up, seeing the Ares table from where he was sitting. Some of Clarisse's siblings were leaning over in not-so-subtle discussion.

"...heard that...crush...likes boys..."

Nico's heart sank as he caught whiffs of the conversation. Adrenaline made him feverish, his vision blurring with dark spots for a moment as a feeling of terror struck him, hard.

His hands trembled as he continued to saw at his steak. Shit. Fuck. Nico bit down on the food, feeling the sudden urge to hurl.

Across the pavilion, Nico felt Clarisse's gaze burning into him.

"Shut up, asshole," he heard her mutter to her siblings, who paid her no heed.

Nico desperately wanted to get the hell out of here. Unfortunately he couldn't exactly leave without making a scene.

Once dinner was over, he would shadowtravel while everyone else was at the bonfire. No one would even miss him. Nico felt a pang of regret; Will would understand. Besides, they'd only really been friends — if that — for a few days. He probably wouldn't even notice.

Yes, Nico would leave. He could explore the world again. Maybe do a trip around South America this time. He hadn't been properly travelling since the time he accidentally shadowtravelled to China a couple times—

"Hi," a voice abruptly broke into his thoughts.

Nico looked up, nearly choking on his food as he saw Jason slide into the seat across from him. He blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"We're sick of eating alone," Percy declared, taking the spot beside Jason.

Grover shuffled in beside Nico, giving him a nervous smile. Nico knew the satyr was a little afraid of him ever since he crack he'd put in the marble way back when.

Nico stared at them. "What?"

"Come on, the rules mean that we have to sit alone," Jason pointed out. "It's not very fair is it."

Percy just made a grunt of agreement through a mouthful of pasta. He was tucking into his food like he hadn't eaten for weeks. To Nico's side, Grover munched on a pile of empty Coke cans.

"Right." Nico couldn't remember the last time he'd actually had a meal with someone. Crappy infirmary food with Will didn't count. It had probably been with Minos — and a Happy Meal.

Jason and Percy's heads blocked the Ares table from view, and Nico frowned, not knowing what they were saying about him now.

"You guys don't have to do this, you know," Nico muttered. "Seriously. I'm fine. So everyone's talking about it. I don't care."

That was partly true. He didn't even know how everyone found out. Nico didn't think Jason, Percy or Annabeth would tell anyone. And if Will suspected...no, he wouldn't do that either. Someone might've overheard his conversation with Percy this morning. Or from after the battle. Hell, it didn't matter. What mattered was that everyone knew.

A shudder ran down his spine. Gods, everyone knew.

"It's not very nice of them," Grover said, to Nico's surprise. The satyr didn't look any less terrified of Nico, and he was hesitant to say anything, but Nico appreciated the effort. "I mean, I get the campers like gossip. But it was horrible when everyone called me a fraud in my search for Pan." The satyr shook his head, horns swinging from side to side. "And it's not like that was even comparable to this, but..."

Nico stared at his food.

"It's kind of crappy of them," Grover finished.

"Thanks," Nico said bleakly. It wasn't like that magically made everything better. In fact, Nico still felt like shit. He swallowed. "Is it true that satyrs can sense people's emotions?"

Grover looked slightly taken aback, apparently not expecting Nico to really acknowledge him. "Um, yeah."

"So you knew then." Nico decided he was just gonna go with it. Everyone already knew. Talking about it behind his back was worse than to his face. There wasn't any use in treating it like a dirty secret.

"I," Grover released a nervous bleat. "I wasn't sure."

Nico supposed he should be glad Grover hadn't mentioned anything to Percy before. He was, a little. But right now all he could feel were people's stares on him, and while Jason, Percy and Grover alleviated the anxiety, Nico still felt the brunt of it weighing on his shoulders.

"Will you come to the bonfire with us?" Jason tried. Nico appreciated it, he really did. The son of Zeus had been the first person to find out, and while Nico expected judgement and disgust, he had been met only with understanding and sympathy.

Nico's heart sank; he hated to let Jason down.

"I...I think I'm gonna leave tonight," he said quietly.

It hurt to see their faces fall, but Nico forced himself to focus on his steak. It would be better after this. He could be alone — as he always was. It would be easier.

None of them tried to convince him otherwise. Nico was glad for that. He really didn't have the energy to argue right now.

Behind Percy's head, Nico saw Piper stand up, hissing something he couldn't make out to her half-siblings, who were stunned into silence. When she was done, she sat back down with a permanent scowl, the rest of her table eating wordlessly.

Nico risked a glance to his left. Annabeth sat at the Athena table, food untouched as she eyed the rest of the pavilion with a glare that would scare a god. Her arms were crossed and her face made it clear that she wasn't above using violence.

After dinner, as everyone filed off to the bonfire, Nico headed back to his cabin, hands stuffed in his pockets and head hung. He refused the company of his friends, just wanting to be alone with his thoughts for a bit.

Only when Nico had shut the door behind him did he relax. He sunk into his bed, head in his hands. Curses were muttered under his breath.

This was a disaster.

It was the fruition of his worst nightmare. Everyone knowing he had a crush on Percy. Everyone knowing he was—he was gay.

Not only was the creepy son of Hades. He was also now the weird gay kid. Perfect.

There were a few raps on the door.

"Can I come in?" the voice was hesitant and muffled, but Nico recognised it immediately.

"Preferably not," Nico said sourly. He stood up, grabbing his duffel bag and stuffing his scattered clothes in.

"I'll shout at you through the door."

Nico glared at the door. He knew she couldn't see him but it felt good. "Fine," he grumbled. "Come in."

The hinges creaked as Annabeth stepped inside, a wary look on her face. "Gods, it's dark in here," she muttered. The blinds were closed and with the door shut, the only source of light was the dim bulb in the centre of the room.

Nico had a weird relationship with Annabeth. At least, weird on his side. For everything he had felt when he was around Percy, Nico had spent sleepless nights trying to convince himself that it was because he had a crush on Annabeth. Surely that feeling was jealousy, right?

Clearly it wasn't. It was even worse that he actually got along decently with Annabeth, which was rare for him. She didn't call him weird, didn't look at him like she was afraid he would attack her, didn't treat him like an outsider. Annabeth reminded him of Bianca a little, weirdly enough, probably because she was a couple years older than him.

And it was so painful watching her and Percy together. They fit together like perfect puzzle pieces and it killed Nico, knowing that. Seeing Percy survive the Styx, coughing out water on the bank of the river, eyes frantic and glassy. Knowing that people who dipped in the Styx saw their lifeline, and knowing that he had probably seen Annabeth.

Nico felt so guilty that he was practically lusting after Annabeth's soulmate — because that's what they were, right? How could he have ever competed with that?

Especially when Annabeth constantly defended him and treated him like a younger brother.

So now as Annabeth stood in his cabin, Nico didn't want to meet her eye. The last time they spoke she had offered him a friendly high-five. But unlike Percy, Annabeth was hard to read. She masked her emotions like her life depended on it, never letting her guard. She was almost as good at it as Nico was.

Nico swallowed. Was Annabeth here to berate him? Chase him out of camp herself? It couldn't be nice hearing everyone talk about someone who had a crush on her boyfriend.

Before he could panic any further, Annabeth cleared her throat, interrupting his thoughts. "So Percy said you were planning on leaving. I'm not here to convince you to stay."

"Really?"

"I know that you don't change your mind when it's made up." Annabeth threw her hands in the air. "You're as stubborn as Percy."

Nico almost smiled.

"But I just wanted you to know, that whatever your reason for leaving camp, I really hope it isn't me," Annabeth said steadily. "I mean it. I know you don't exactly talk about your feelings much — especially not to me. But if you think that I'm holding a grudge against you for any reason, I just need you to know that I don't. At all."

Nico frowned. "I had a crush on your boyfriend."

"So?" Annabeth snorted. "About fifty other people here have. Join the club."

"It's different," he insisted, angrily shoving one of his hoodies into the bag.

"How so?"

"It's—" Nico cut himself off. "It just is."

Annabeth folded her arms across her chest. "Because you're a boy?"

Nico's heart thudded. Yes, he almost spat. Because I'm a boy. That's the point of all this.

"That shouldn't make this any different." Her voice was almost pleading. "Percy doesn't resent you for it. I don't resent you for it. I know you were born in 1932, and I know that you might've internalised the horrible close-minded things people have said to you, but you have to know that they aren't true."

Nico closed his eyes. "You don't get it."

"I know I don't," Annabeth admitted. "I know I'll never understand what it's like." Nico knew she knew. Annabeth had all the privilege that came with being a pretty blonde girl dating a boy.

"I've spent four years being the freak here," Nico's voie cracked. "I don't...I'm tired. I don't want to spend the rest of my life hearing what everyone else has to say about me."

"I'm sorry," Annabeth said softly. "I'm really sorry. That you have to deal with this. If I could everyone's butts—"

Nico shifted his weight from one foot to the other. "I just don't think it's something that can help in this situation."

He knew Annabeth hated being helpless. But she knew he was right.

"Then I'm in no place to tell you to suffer through it if you don't want to," Annabeth concurred. She sighed, brushing her ponytail over her shoulder, pursing her lips. "Can I hug you?"

Nico stared at her for a few seconds.

"Sure," he said finally.

As she wrapped her arms around him, Nico felt tears prick at his eyes. Fuck, he finally, finally had people he could actually call his friends. They were few and he could probably count them all on one hand, but Nico hated that he had to abandon them.

Stay, his brain screamed.

Nico shut his eyes and the faces of campers judging him and whispering about him filled his head.

No. He wasn't going to stay.

"I'm gonna miss you," Annabeth said, voice tight. "You can come visit me and Percy anytime in Manhattan, okay?" She drew away. "I mean it. It'll just be us, so you're welcome anytime."

"I'll take you up on that," Nico said.

To his surprise, he meant it.

There were a few raps on the door.

Both their heads swivelled to it confusedly. Nico's heart skipped beat. There was no way—could it be—

The door pushed open and in stepped none other than Piper Mclean.

Nico blinked, thinking he might be imagining things. But she was still there, zip hoodie pulled over her t-shirt and shorts, standing uncomfortably in the doorway, looking like she'd rather be anywhere else but here.

"Hey," Piper said awkwardly. "Can I talk to Nico for a second?"

He glanced at Annabeth, who looked as perplexed at he felt.

She slid him a curious look. "Sure." Annabeth gave him one last smile — the one she reserved for her friends — before she headed for the door. "I'll be down at the bonfire."

The daughter of Athena waved as she left, figure disappearing into the distance as she walked away. Leaving Nico alone with Piper.

"So," she said.

"So."

Nico had probably spoken to Piper less than ten times in his entire life. On the Argo II, Nico had spent most of his time talking to Hazel, and a little to Annabeth, Percy and Frank. Even Jason, after the House of Hades. But Piper Mclean was quite possibly the last person he would ever have guessed would show up at his door.

It was the equivalent of Clarisse showing up to pay him a compliment or something.

"I guess you've heard?" Nico said.

Piper sent him an apologetic look. "Yeah, um, Lacy overheard something and told the others, and that kind of started everything. I'm really sorry. I tried to stop them but it had already gotten out and—"

"It's fine," Nico shrugged. "What's done is done." He raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you wanted to talk about?"

"Kind of," Piper said hesitantly. Apprehension was written all over her face. "I, um. I think I'm bisexual."

It took all of Nico's willpower to keep his mouth shut so he didn't gape.

What?

"No," Piper shook her head. "I don't think I'm bi — I know I am. I, just, haven't said it out loud to anyone. Ever."

"And you're telling me?" Nico said slowly.

"I just figured if anyone would understand..." she trailed off. "What I mean is, I know how you feel. At least somewhat. I don't think any of the others get it. Not really. It's like — I know Jason's not going to hate-crime me or anything, but I'm afraid that he would treat me differently. That everyone would."

"What you did, telling Percy," Piper said in disbelief. "Was so brave. I don't know if I could ever do something like that. Especially not as a 15-year-old. Just thought you should know that, even if people are saying bad things, there are people saying good things too — like me."

"Telling Jason made me feel like, like I was going to throw up," Nico admitted. "It made me sick to my stomach. I'd spent almost a century keeping this a secret, and it was practically forced out of me. But it also felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders."

The words were charged with a sincerity that sounded foreign to Nico's own ears. He had never said any of this to anyone. Never spoke of everything he was thinking, except to Reyna a few times.

"I know it's hypocritical," Nico said quickly. "I'm saying this as I'm running away, but..."

"It's different."

Piper understood. Piper understood him. She got what he was thinking without him even saying it, not because they were best friends but because she was going through the exact same thing.

Nico wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. No one ever understood him. Not like this.

Piper offered him a sympathetic look as he blinked unexpected tears away.

"I know," she almost-whispered. "No one's ever understood. I'm glad you do. All the best, Nico."

They weren't automatically the best of friends. Nico didn't even know if they were 'friends' at this point. But Piper did leave his cabin with a certain sense of camaraderie between them, and with Nico feeling a lot lighter than he did before.

He continued to pack — throwing in belongings like a watch, jackets, wallet — maybe more sluggishly than before.

Can't stay, he told himself. Can't face everyone.

As much as Nico was tempted to consider it, he wouldn't allow himself to. He would construct some imaginary future for himself and only be more crushed when he came to the same final decision.

Leaving meant a new start. It wasn't like he would never see them again. He'd visit.

The door burst open with a deafening bang, scaring Nico with a jolt.

"Gods!" Nico gasped. "What the hell?"

"Yeah." Will Solace stood in the doorway with a fixated grim expression. "What the hell?"

Nico winced. Oh, Styx.

"Will, I'm leaving," Nico said tiredly, zipping up his duffel bag.

"No, no, I've heard that from about five people today," Will said furiously, stalking towards him. His long legs crossed the room in three strides. "Five people who weren't you."

"I didn't tell you because I knew you'd react badly," Nico muttered sullenly. "Exactly as you are now."

"Yeah, I'm angry," Will gritted his teeth. "I thought we were friends, Nico. You said you'd stay. We spent the entire day together. Friends don't just pack up snd leave."

"'Friends'?" Nico echoed. "All my other friends didn't even try to get me to stay. They're respecting my decisions. Asking me to stay for you is—"

"I'm not asking you to stay for me!" Will exploded. The usually calm demigod was caught in a rare fit of frustrated. "I'm asking you to stay for you!"

Nico gave him an incredulous look. "What?"

"What do you think the rest of your life's gonna look like if you keep running away from things when they get scary?" Will demanded. "You'll never stop running, Nico. You'll never find somewhere to call home."

"That's the whole point, Will," Nico snapped. "I'm a son of Hades. He's not welcome on Olympus — I'm not meant to find a home. Moving around? That's my entire destiny!"

"Destiny is not predetermined," Will insisted. "You make your own choices. Your own decisions. This is a time when you need to choose right!"

"And choose to stay?" Nico said helplessly, pressing his hands to either side of his head. "Choose to endure whispers about me every single day?"

"Choose to stay where all your friends are?" Will shot back. "Choose to stay where—" he stopped. "—where you could build a relationship? Where you could actually have a life that isn't just about being alone?"

"There is no promise of that," Nico growled. "But there is a promise of everyone treating me like I have the plague."

"I know that," Will said harshly. "Believe me, I know that the worst case scenario is all you can think of right now, but Nico, there are so many better—"

"You don't know that—"

"Yes, I do!" Will cried. "Are you blind? Nico, I'm gay!" He began to pace, chest heaving from the nature of their conversation. "I know you think you have it especially hard because you're gay and a son of Hades, but trust me when I say it wasn't easy for me either."

"Yes, there have been assholes and jerks and bigots," Will gestured wildly. "But I've also made the most incredible friends. My family is here now. Camp is my home. And I hate that you can't see how much you could have if you just took a chance—"

Nico surged forward, hands gripping Will's shoulders as he kissed the other boy. In an instant, Will went rigid against him, and panic tore through Nico.

Was this a mistake?

But Will was kissing him back, pulling them closer until Nico loosened his grip.

Nico had only ever kissed two people before. The first had been a girl in the Lotus Casino when he was...probably 12. Her name was Margaret and it happened beside a Ms Pac-man machine, and the kiss was wet and kind of gross.

His second kiss was with a boy. Nico had been stranded in China, forced to take refuge with the first English speaker he met. The woman was kind and had a son — Zhangwei — whom Nico spent the better part of three days with. The hour before he left, Zhangwei kissed him. "A goodbye," he said. To the boy he would never see again. Neither of them were interested in seeing whatever they had past that timeframe, but both of them knew they were stuck in situations where they might never get to kiss someone they wanted to ever again.

Nico's third kiss was with Will Solace. This was, by far, his favourite.

They broke apart, Nico gasping for breath even as he didn't let go, foreheads still touching. Will's back was arched to make up for their height difference, sky blue eyes peering down.

"You're only the third person I've kissed," Nico panted. "First one was a girl. Second one was a boy in China."

Confusion washed over the other boy. "Why were you in China?"

"I accidentally shadowtravelled there two years ago," Nico said impatiently. "Doesn't matter."

Apparently it did to Will, because he looked like the floor had just fallen out from under his feet. Rosy cheeks were turning into a deathly pallor — and that was 'deathly' coming from Nico.

"Wh-what," Will stammered. "What is—"

"This is me taking a chance," Nico said, breathless.

Will swallowed down what seemed like a thousand words. "Was it worth it?" he managed.

Nico bit his lip so hard he could taste the blood drawn.

Was it worth it? The ultimate question. To stay or to go; it didn't matter what choice he made, both would have their ups and downs.

Staying meant enduring a life time's worth of gossip and judgement and days that would make him feel like nothing was worth it anymore.

Except that now, staying also meant seeing his friends. The closest thing he had to family. And Will, maybe.

"It is," Nico said truthfully.

And he meant it.

<<< >>>

At the end of summer, Nico was lying on the sand, feeling rays of sunlight beat down on him.

"I'm going to burn and it's all going to be your fault," he complained.

Will lay beside him, hands palm-down on his stomach. He made an exasperated noise, turning his head so that he was looking at Nico through sunglasses. "It's your fault for living like a vampire for the last century. You probably have a vitamin D deficiency—"

"You are not allowed to run any medical tests on me," Nico said immediately. The best threats were preemptive.

Disappointment emanated from his boyfriend.

Nico's mouth quirked into a small smile. Boyfriend. The word sounded foreign.

"Why are you smiling?"

"No reason," was Nico's vague answer.

Sand shifted as Will turned over properly, pulling off his shades and setting them down. Nico dropped his head down to his right, looking expectantly at him. "What?"

"I have to tell you something."

A million different things hurtled through Nico's brain. That was the worst way to start a conversation — all it did was elicit panic.

"I don't want you to panic," Will warned.

"Too late."

Will took a deep breath. "Do you know the story of how Percy and Annabeth got together?"

Nico blinked. "That is not what I thought you were going to say."

"Humour me."

"Um, okay." Nico wracked his brain. "No, I don't. I just figured they pulled their heads out of their asses at some point and realised they'd basically been married for years."

"Close enough," Will shrugged. "This was a couple years ago. Week after the Battle of the Labyrinth. I think you'd just left camp, took off to — China, apparently."

Nico frowned. "That wasn't intentional."

"There was this monster skirmish," Will continued. "Just inside the camp borders. We had to fight them off, but they weren't the usual monsters — they were these creatures Hecate created. Made of dark magic and dark magic only. In the middle of the fight, one of them exploded."

"Exploded?"

Will nodded. "Like fireworks. It was in the sky and it sent dark magic through the entirety of camp. The borders kept it in so the rest of Long Island wasn't affected." 

"How have I never heard about this?" Nico asked in disbelief.

"People don't like to talk about it," Will informed him. "Too many 'what ifs'. Anyway, the magic gave everyone these tattoos. And they were the thoughts of each person's soulmate."

Nico coughed. "Excuse me? 'Soulmate'?" He snorted. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard since—"

"Humour me," Will repeated with an eye-roll.

Nico shut his mouth and forced his various opinions back.

"It was crazy. Silena and Beckendorf — you didn't really know them — had each other's thoughts. So did Katie and Travis. Annabeth thought it was some kind of coincidence. She was one of the few campers who didn't believe in the whole 'soulmates' spiel."

"That's because she's smart," Nico pointed out. He sighed. "Right, sorry. Continue."

"Anyway," Will said with a glare. "The soulmarks — we called them 'soulmarks' — were the first part of the spell. Then, as other parts of it came to light, we found out, when one person suffers a physical injury — like a cut — their soulmate gets the same one. No one knew if it was Luke's intentional doing to make us more vulnerable, but it put everyone on edge. That's how Percy and Annabeth found out they were soulmates."

Nico's eyebrows shot skyward. "Percy and Annabeth are soulmates?"

"Thought you didn't believe in them."

"Well, this all sounds like too much just to be a coincidence." Nico paused. "What, so Percy got a papercut and Annabeth bled?"

"Bit more than that," Will sighed. "They almost died, Nico."

"What?"

Will nodded gravely. "Yeah. They were sent on this mission and disappeared for three days. We all thought they were dead. Kronos told us they were. And then out of the blue, they return, sporting matching bloodstains on their t-shirts."

"They didn't tell any of us at the time, but Percy explained it to me last summer. On the mission, they got ambushed and he got impaled."

"Holy shit. But that means Annabeth—"

"Exactly," Will confirmed. "He said they both passed out in each other's arms, having only realised what it meant when Annabeth's abdomen opened up into a miraculous stab wound. They woke up two days later, completely healed."

"So soulmates can heal each other?"

Will nodded. "Apparently so."

When he didn't continue, Nico prompted, "And what happened?"

Will blinked. "Oh. The soulmarks disappeared within three weeks. Percy and Annabeth kept their relationship a secret for months and only told us they were dating when they kissed at the bonfire and royally screwed up our betting pool."

Nico frowned. "I mean, it's a great story and all. But I don't see your point."

"The point of the story was to prove to you that soulmates exist," Will told him. "I knew you wouldn't believe me if you just told you about the tattoos."

"I still don't see your point."

Will stared imploringly at him. "Nico, I had a tattoo."

Nico felt his heart drop into his stomach. Oh gods, he wasn't Will's soulmate. "Do you—do you know who he is?" he tried to stop his voice from trembling, but it wasn't much to mask the evident fear.

"I didn't," Will admitted. "It was a bunch of jumbled thoughts that didn't make any sense to me. All I remember was something along the lines of  "I can't believe I'm in China again" and "if I have to see this country one more time I'm gonna run into a brick wall", with more swear words..." He trailed off, an unreadable look in his eyes.

The words registered. Nico stared at Will, speechless.

“At the time,” Will said, starting to ramble nervously. “I figured; ‘great, soulmate’s a racist’—”

“The first time we kissed,” Nico interrupted, realisation dawning on him. He sat up suddenly, prompting Will to scramble into a sitting position. “I said something about China—” He spun around. “You’ve known this whole time?”

“I-I suspected,” Will mumbled.

“You’ve known for two months,” Nico repeated. “That I was your soulmate.”

“I didn’t want to guilt you into staying,” Will said tentatively. “Besides, I thought you didn’t believe in soulmates.”

“I do now.”

Will studied him carefully. “So telling you the story was a good idea then.”

Nico snorted. “The story wasn’t what made me believe in soulmates. I mean, yeah, it makes sense from a magical and logical standpoint, but…” He averted his gaze to his shoes, choosing to pick at the laces rather than meet Will’s eyes.

“It’s you,” Nico tried. No, his explanation wasn’t making sense. He frowned. “You understand. In a way that no one else does. I don’t click with people. I don’t even like people most of the time. But you, Will—” Nico glanced at him. “I could believe that you were my soulmate.”

Will leaned forward, closing the distance between them as he pressed his mouth against Nico’s. Kissing on a beach hadn’t previously been on Nico’s bucket list; but he was starting to regret that.

“I love you,” Will said quietly when they came up for air.

Nico’s stomach erupted into butterflies. But not the anxious kind — the good kind.

“I love you too,” Nico murmured.

For someone so closed off, Nico thought it would take longer to get this attached to someone. The familiar fear of abandonment wasn’t anywhere to be felt — Will was here to stay.

It was worth it, he thought.

It seemed that when it mattered, he made the right choice.