21 Not A Lie

There were screams. Before Y/N could realize what was going on, she got dragged aside by Harris who informed her about the situation. About Percy. She was packing her belongings ready to go when she got the news. Immediately going to the sickroom, she assisted Chiron in healing him as much as she could. But her energy depleted and she fell unconscious after a while.

Percy woke with a drinking straw in his mouth. He was sipping something that tasted like liquid chocolate-chip cookies. Nectar.

He opened my eyes.

He was propped up in bed in the sickroom of the Big House, his right hand bandaged like a club. Argus stood guard in the corner. Annabeth sat next to him, holding his nectar glass and dabbing a washcloth on his forehead.

"Here we are again," he said.

"You idiot," Annabeth said, which is how he knew she was overjoyed to see him conscious. "You were green and turning gray when we found you. If it weren't for Chiron's healing ..."

"And Y/N. Besides," Chiron's voice said. "Percy's constitution deserves some of the credit."

He was sitting near the foot of his bed in human form, which was why he hadn't noticed him yet. His lower half was magically compacted into the wheelchair, his upper half dressed in a coat and tie. He smiled, but his face looked weary and pale, the way it did when he'd been up all night grading Latin papers.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Like my insides have been frozen, then microwaved."

"Apt, considering that was pit scorpion venom. Now you must tell me, if you can, exactly what happened."

Between sips of nectar, he told them the story.

The room was quiet for a long time.

"I can't believe that Luke ..." Annabeth's voice faltered. Her expression turned angry and sad. "Yes. Yes, I can believe it. May the gods curse him.... He was never the same after his quest."

"This must be reported to Olympus," Chiron murmured. "I will go at once."

"Luke is out there right now," Percy said. "I have to go after him."

Chiron shook his head. "No, Percy. The gods-"

"Won't even talk about Kronos," he snapped. "Zeus declared the matter closed!"

"Percy, I know this is hard. But you must not rush out for vengeance. You aren't ready."

Percy didn't like it, but part of him suspected Chiron was right. One look at his hand, and he knew he wasn't going to be sword fighting any time soon. "Chiron ... your prophecy from the Oracle ... it was about Kronos, wasn't it? Was I in it? And Annabeth?"

Chiron glanced nervously at the ceiling. "Percy, it isn't my place-"

"You've been ordered not to talk to me about it, haven't you?"

His eyes were sympathetic, but sad. "You will be a great hero, child. I will do my best to prepare you. But if I'm right about the path ahead of you ..."

Thunder boomed overhead, rattling the windows.

"All right!" Chiron shouted. "Fine!"

He sighed in frustration. "The gods have their reasons, Percy. Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing."

"We can't just sit back and do nothing," Percy said.

"We will not sit back," Chiron promised. "But you must be careful. Kronos wants you to come unraveled. He wants your life disrupted, your thoughts clouded with fear and anger. Do not give him what he wants. Train patiently. Your time will come."

"Assuming I live that long."

Chiron put his hand on his ankle. "You'll have to trust me, Percy. You will live. But first you must decide your path for the coming year. I cannot tell you the right choice....But you must decide whether to stay at Camp Half-Blood year-round, or return to the mortal world for seventh grade and be a summer camper. Think on that. When I get back from Olympus, you must tell me your decision."

Percy wanted to protest. He wanted to ask him more questions. But his expression told there could be no more discussion; he had said as much as he could.

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Chiron promised. "Argus will watch over you."

He glanced at Annabeth. "Oh, and, my dear ... whenever you're ready, they're here."

"Who's here?" Percy asked.

Nobody answered.

Chiron rolled himself out of the room. He heard the wheels of his chair clunk carefully down the front steps, two at a time.

Annabeth studied the ice in the drink.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked her.

"Nothing." She set the glass on the table. "I ... just took your advice about something. You ... um ... need anything?"

"Yeah." Percy blushed and fiddled his fingers, "There's something I've been meaning to tell you. I mean you don't have to accept-"

"Yes."

"W-What?"

"I know what you want to ask. Everyone has been talking about it."

"Who? Y/N?"

"What? No, besides it would be natural for you to think so after knowing how she knew about your mother but she had your best interest in mind."

"....She knew what?" Percy was fuming. He suspected her after he got to know how Apollo kids are usually knowledgeable about these stuffs but, he wasn't sure yet. Somehow, his mind being blogged with Luke's betrayal also started filling with anger thinking how she was partly like him too.

"Wait...what?" Annabeth stuttered, "She didn't...tell you yet?"

"Help me up. I want to go outside."

"Percy, that isn't a good idea."

He slid his legs out of bed. Annabeth caught him before he could crumple to the floor. A wave of nausea rolled over him.

Annabeth said, "I told you ..."

"I'm fine," He insisted. He didn't want to lie in bed like an invalid while Luke was out there planning to destroy the Western world, and with Y/N being his friend for the longest time, and still keeping it a secret while he was feeling heartbroken about his mother.

He managed a step forward. Then another, still leaning heavily on Annabeth. Argus followed them outside, but he kept his distance.

By the time they reached the porch, his face was beaded with sweat. He made it all the way to the railing.

Y/N was just standing there, putting her weight on the railings. She looked weak.

It was dusk. The camp looked completely deserted. The cabins were dark and the volleyball pit silent. No canoes cut the surface of the lake. Beyond the woods and the strawberry fields, the Long Island Sound glittered in the last light of the sun.

"What are you going to do?" Annabeth asked him.

"You lied to me about my mom," he said as he reached Y/N.

Y/N looked taken aback and shifted her eyes towards Annabeth who was apologizing to her with her eyes, "I didn't lie," Y/N said looking back to Percy, "I wasn't sure myself, how was I supposed to tell you an inaccurate information?"

"Maybe it would've given me hope?! Did you think about that? Hope to see my mother alive?!"

"I get it you're angry but if I told you and it turned out to be false, wouldn't you blame me for giving you false hope?"

"I wouldn't! I would know that you atleast tried to help me through it!"

"You say that now but let's be honest. Just like you are right now? You would've been pissed at me there too," Y/N sighed, "You can't help it. It's your mother."

"You know what? You are almost as bad as Luke. Keeping secrets like this while we were on a dangerous quest?!"

"How about you?" Y/N asked, raising her tone and furrowing her eyebrows, "Did you tell us everything Percy?"

He stayed quiet for a while. It was true what she said. He kept secrets on multiple occasions until it was absolute necessary to spill it.

"Thought so," she said and looked away, "You can be angry all you want but I don't have the energy to fight with you. I did it as your friend, and whether you accept it as the truth or not is up to you."

Percy felt a bit bad about his behavior. She did sign up to the quest to keep them safe. Not only that, she tried her best to keep all of them sane with her bright personality. And she assisted Chiron to heal him. Her whole weak demeanor right now was because of him.

He sighed and said, "You know what, I'm sorry. My mom's safe now and that's all that matters."

Percy turned to Annabeth and told her how he got the feeling Chiron wanted him to stay year-round, to put in more individual training time, but he wasn't sure that's what he wanted. He admitted he'd feel bad about leaving her alone, though, with only Clarisse for company....

Annabeth pursed her lips, then said quietly, "I'm going home for the year, Percy."

He stared at her. "You mean, to your dad's?"

She pointed toward the crest of Half-Blood Hill. Next to Thalia's pine tree, at the very edge of the camp's magical boundaries, a family stood silhouetted-two little children, a woman, and a tall man with blond hair. They seemed to be waiting. The man was holding a backpack that looked like the one Annabeth had gotten from Waterland in Denver.

"I wrote him a letter when we got back," Annabeth said. "Just like you suggested. I told him ... I was sorry. I'd come home for the school year if he still wanted me. He wrote back immediately. We decided ... we'd give it another try."

"That took guts."

She pursed her lips. "You won't try anything stupid during the school year, will you? At least ... not without sending me an Iris-message?"

Percy managed a smile. "I won't go looking for trouble. I usually don't have to."

"When I get back next summer," she said, "we'll hunt down Luke. We'll ask for a quest, but if we don't get approval, we'll sneak off and do it anyway. Agreed?"

"Sounds like a plan worthy of Athena."

She held out her hand. Percy shook it and pulled her in for a kiss. It was kind of weird for it being their first kiss, kind of like a peck.

"Take care, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth told him. "Keep your eyes open."

"You too, Wise Girl."

Annabeth walked close to Y/N who asked, trying her best to smile, "You guys are.."

"..yeah, together." Annabeth said, her smile faltering for a second but it was back again. "I'm sorry I didn't know-"

"It's fine. I was planning to tell him before I left anyway. I gave him a hint once but I guess he didn't get it. I can't carry the weight of it for that long."

"Okay, take care." She hugged Y/N and left.

They watched her walk up the hill and join her family. She gave her father an awkward hug and looked back at the valley one last time. She touched Thalia's pine tree, then allowed herself to be lead over the crest and into the mortal world.

Once again, Y/N felt alone. All of her friends are gone. Luke betrayed them, Percy was angry, Grover was gone to search for Pan and Annabeth was going to be too busy.

"When are you making it official?" she asked turning to Percy.

"I don't know," he sighed, "next year if I'm alive."

"You will be." Y/N said looking down, remembering his little act before with Annabeth. She felt weak and didn't have the strength to hold back her tears anymore.

"Hey...are you crying?" Percy asked, looking at her.

"Uh..it's just that I feel really weak and sleepy."

"It's because of me isn't it?"

Y/N's heart stopped for a moment. She asked, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, for healing me? It took a lot of your energy."

"Oh.." Y/N sighed in relief, "Yeah, um I would get better with practice, I promise."

"I know you will." Percy said and left to his cabin.

Y/N stood there for a minute, looking at his cabin with tears still streaming down her eyes. She didn't know if it would've been better to just confess and get it over with.

But, she didn't want him to worry any more than he already was. She turned to cabin seven - the Apollo cabin and decided to pack her bag.

A year without him around will help her forget him...right?