chap. 1
Percy
The stress of the last few days as well as exhaustion from the two battles he had faced was dawning on Percy. But in his heart he knew he wouldn’t miss the ship landing for anything, except maybe seeing his mom, who must be as wrecked as Annabeth.
Frank and Hazel were by his side and trying to loosen up his mood, but despite his cool smile, Percy was in chaos. His mind raced through a million different possibilities, all ending badly. He pushed them aside but they resurfaced like a float bobbing in the sea.
Sea! Sea.
He slipped away from his friends sides and came up to Reyna and asked her a five-minute leave. She shook her head apologetically. I know how you feel, was clearly the given message. Percy took a deep breath and stood forward with Reyna, keeping his eyes locked on the sea, its calming ebb and flow, its deep green color, even down to the little pieces of seaweed that floated…
Seaweed Brain… his heart ached at the old nickname. He turned his eyes upward, where a great ship was floating down to land, its sails brought up unprofessionally, ropes whipping in the breeze like cut electrical wires. He silently pledged to himself that this Jason, son of Zeus, would not get the advantage of lifting the ship to sky when it was clearly meant for the sea. At the mast was a tall boy, with a thick chest and blond hair, looking straight at him.
Percy smiled, his tension slipping with the thought of new friends by his side. Annabeth still tugged at his every thought but it was becoming more of an excited tug than a frantic one. His thoughts flowed and ebbed like the sea as the ship came to an un-elegant, thudding landing. From the mast, Jason stepped down, jerkily raising a white flag of surrender up high. Despite it, his uneven movements added tension to the strings on noched bows and made swords rise a little higher behind Percy.
“Ave, to the Roman Camp, to its new praetors, to its returning ones, to its people and defenders, and to its new ally- GREECE!”
A massive roar came up from the Romans, one that was loud and clear at first but gained a higher pitch of uncertainty as Jason announced the alliance. The sound of their old praetor though, seemed to boost their spirits.
“The Great Prophecy has taken the interest of Juno, our great goddess, and she has claimed the importance of this becoming of friends, so let us put down our swords my people, and welcome those who will fight loyally by our sides against the undeserving, chaotic giants of Gaea!”- This was welcomed by a stronger cheer before turning into beaming smiles powered by the promise of battle- “For now, let us rest, before our great trip.”
Jason stepped down fully, set the flagpole on the ground and became submerged is crowd generous in welcoming pats, and curious questions- mostly wondering if the Greeks really smelled as bad as their great-grandfathers had said.
Percy looked back to the mast, and found on it a loving face, framed by blond hair and capturing grey eyes. Without another thought, he began to walk-jog up the steps, and then finally broke out in full sprint before grasping Annabeth in a tight hug. She snapped out of her frozen state and hugged him back, hands clawing at his back, tears overwhelming her.
When they pulled apart, they looked at each other then kissed a long, sweet kiss before stepping back again. Percy looked out behind him. The Romans had fallen quiet; all their previous unwelcoming gazes softened to ones of sympathy, all except the bitter exclusion of Octavian, who seemed utterly disgusted.
“Those who have welcomed me here, I must express my thanks,” Percy started. He took Annabeth’s hand and led her to sit on the ship side, one over-looking a fairly deep part of the sea. “You have made up very kindly for the absence of my friends. You’re going to have to excuse me though, ‘cause- well, you know why!” He wrapped his arms around Annabeth’s waist and pushed them off the side of the ship, bringing a collective gasp from the crowd before pulling any smiles from it.
Underwater, Percy imagined bubbles, thousands and thousands of them, visualized the forming in a giant, impenetrable air-pocket. He opened his eyes and they landed on Annabeth, dry like him. What would it be? A kiss? A hug? A squeal of his name? The answer was “none of the above.” He got slapped.
“Do you understand what “stay put” means!? Do you have any idea what was going through my head, Percy? Every time we got close to you, you sprinted off in some wild direction. Can you imagine what that made me think, you retarded piece of seaweed?” Annabeth was to her limit of emotional capacity, her hands shaking uncontrollably.
“Um…I dumped you for Ma Gasket?” Percy guessed. Annabeth pulled out an exasperated puff of air and threw herself around his arms. Percy hugged her tightly, thinking of nothing more than pulling out into the sea, unfound, away from the dangers and repetitive prophecies of the Greek world.
Perce. Percy. Her calls went past his ears. “Hey, Jackson! You’re leaking.” Percy stepped away and glanced at his shorts, considering the possibility of him wetting himself under this kind of relief.
Annabeth laughed, “No, the bubble is leaking!” It was in fact letting a steady stream of saltwater into their little sanctuary. Percy forced himself to concentrate on the building pool of water. In a second, the first few centimeters of the water whisked out of the semi-permeable wall of the bubble. The second layer moved out less elegantly. The final collection of water moved into the air almost sluggishly before plopping back down to their feet tiredly.
Annabeth trained her eyes Percy’s face. “Demanding day, huh?”
“Hmm. Fought an army of dead Roman soldiers, shredded a glacier, got my memories back, and destroyed an egoistic giant with a god’s face. Tiring stuff.” He fell to the floor of the bubble, leaned his sore neck against Annabeth’s shoulder before asking her, “How are you holding up?”
“So worried for that little seaweed infested brain of yours that I would have believed it!”
“What?”
“I would have believed it if you told me you dumped me for Ma Gasket.” Both Percy and Annabeth shared a few tired laughs before falling onto each other, completely drained of any will to continue spreading a good impression now that they had each other. Everything else faded out into the murky expanse of the sea.
Percy
The stress of the last few days as well as exhaustion from the two battles he had faced was dawning on Percy. But in his heart he knew he wouldn’t miss the ship landing for anything, except maybe seeing his mom, who must be as wrecked as Annabeth.
Frank and Hazel were by his side and trying to loosen up his mood, but despite his cool smile, Percy was in chaos. His mind raced through a million different possibilities, all ending badly. He pushed them aside but they resurfaced like a float bobbing in the sea.
Sea! Sea.
He slipped away from his friends sides and came up to Reyna and asked her a five-minute leave. She shook her head apologetically. I know how you feel, was clearly the given message. Percy took a deep breath and stood forward with Reyna, keeping his eyes locked on the sea, its calming ebb and flow, its deep green color, even down to the little pieces of seaweed that floated…
Seaweed Brain… his heart ached at the old nickname. He turned his eyes upward, where a great ship was floating down to land, its sails brought up unprofessionally, ropes whipping in the breeze like cut electrical wires. He silently pledged to himself that this Jason, son of Zeus, would not get the advantage of lifting the ship to sky when it was clearly meant for the sea. At the mast was a tall boy, with a thick chest and blond hair, looking straight at him.
Percy smiled, his tension slipping with the thought of new friends by his side. Annabeth still tugged at his every thought but it was becoming more of an excited tug than a frantic one. His thoughts flowed and ebbed like the sea as the ship came to an un-elegant, thudding landing. From the mast, Jason stepped down, jerkily raising a white flag of surrender up high. Despite it, his uneven movements added tension to the strings on noched bows and made swords rise a little higher behind Percy.
“Ave, to the Roman Camp, to its new praetors, to its returning ones, to its people and defenders, and to its new ally- GREECE!”
A massive roar came up from the Romans, one that was loud and clear at first but gained a higher pitch of uncertainty as Jason announced the alliance. The sound of their old praetor though, seemed to boost their spirits.
“The Great Prophecy has taken the interest of Juno, our great goddess, and she has claimed the importance of this becoming of friends, so let us put down our swords my people, and welcome those who will fight loyally by our sides against the undeserving, chaotic giants of Gaea!”- This was welcomed by a stronger cheer before turning into beaming smiles powered by the promise of battle- “For now, let us rest, before our great trip.”
Jason stepped down fully, set the flagpole on the ground and became submerged is crowd generous in welcoming pats, and curious questions- mostly wondering if the Greeks really smelled as bad as their great-grandfathers had said.
Percy looked back to the mast, and found on it a loving face, framed by blond hair and capturing grey eyes. Without another thought, he began to walk-jog up the steps, and then finally broke out in full sprint before grasping Annabeth in a tight hug. She snapped out of her frozen state and hugged him back, hands clawing at his back, tears overwhelming her.
When they pulled apart, they looked at each other then kissed a long, sweet kiss before stepping back again. Percy looked out behind him. The Romans had fallen quiet; all their previous unwelcoming gazes softened to ones of sympathy, all except the bitter exclusion of Octavian, who seemed utterly disgusted.
“Those who have welcomed me here, I must express my thanks,” Percy started. He took Annabeth’s hand and led her to sit on the ship side, one over-looking a fairly deep part of the sea. “You have made up very kindly for the absence of my friends. You’re going to have to excuse me though, ‘cause- well, you know why!” He wrapped his arms around Annabeth’s waist and pushed them off the side of the ship, bringing a collective gasp from the crowd before pulling any smiles from it.
Underwater, Percy imagined bubbles, thousands and thousands of them, visualized the forming in a giant, impenetrable air-pocket. He opened his eyes and they landed on Annabeth, dry like him. What would it be? A kiss? A hug? A squeal of his name? The answer was “none of the above.” He got slapped.
“Do you understand what “stay put” means!? Do you have any idea what was going through my head, Percy? Every time we got close to you, you sprinted off in some wild direction. Can you imagine what that made me think, you retarded piece of seaweed?” Annabeth was to her limit of emotional capacity, her hands shaking uncontrollably.
“Um…I dumped you for Ma Gasket?” Percy guessed. Annabeth pulled out an exasperated puff of air and threw herself around his arms. Percy hugged her tightly, thinking of nothing more than pulling out into the sea, unfound, away from the dangers and repetitive prophecies of the Greek world.
Perce. Percy. Her calls went past his ears. “Hey, Jackson! You’re leaking.” Percy stepped away and glanced at his shorts, considering the possibility of him wetting himself under this kind of relief.
Annabeth laughed, “No, the bubble is leaking!” It was in fact letting a steady stream of saltwater into their little sanctuary. Percy forced himself to concentrate on the building pool of water. In a second, the first few centimeters of the water whisked out of the semi-permeable wall of the bubble. The second layer moved out less elegantly. The final collection of water moved into the air almost sluggishly before plopping back down to their feet tiredly.
Annabeth trained her eyes Percy’s face. “Demanding day, huh?”
“Hmm. Fought an army of dead Roman soldiers, shredded a glacier, got my memories back, and destroyed an egoistic giant with a god’s face. Tiring stuff.” He fell to the floor of the bubble, leaned his sore neck against Annabeth’s shoulder before asking her, “How are you holding up?”
“So worried for that little seaweed infested brain of yours that I would have believed it!”
“What?”
“I would have believed it if you told me you dumped me for Ma Gasket.” Both Percy and Annabeth shared a few tired laughs before falling onto each other, completely drained of any will to continue spreading a good impression now that they had each other. Everything else faded out into the murky expanse of the sea.
