JUST AS KARINA HAD GUESSED, there was a loose ring of campfires that flowed throughout the woods, completely surrounding the zhang mansion's property, but as they approached the front porch, the house itself seemed untouched.

wind chimes jangled in the night breeze, and frank's grandmother's wicked chair sat empty, facing the road. lights shone throughout the downstairs windowed, but it seemed frank had decided against ringing the doorbell, and went over to a stone elephant in the corner— a tiny duplicate of the one in portland. he reached down to pick up a spare key from below it's foot.

he hesitated at the door.

"what's wrong?" percy asked.

he didn't respond, his eyes glued to the door as if he was in a trance.

"frank?" hazel asked.

"ella is nervous," the harpy muttered from her perch on the railing. "the elephant— the elephant is looking at ella."

"it'll be fine." frank finally said, his hand was shaking so badly he could barely fit the key in the lock. "just stay together."

inside, the house smelled closed-up and musty. they examined the living room, the dining room, the kitchen. dirty dishes were stacked in the sink.

in the parlor, buddha statues and taoist immortals grinned at them like psycho clowns. karina remembered iris, the rainbow goddess, who'd been dabbling in buddhism and taoism. she figured one visit to this creepy old house would cure her of that.

his grandmothers large porcelain vases were strung with cobwebs, and the fireplace was dark and cold. none of this seemed right to karina, something felt off.

karina leaned further into percy's side, having been walking alongside him this whole time, and held his hand tightly. seeing this, percy tightened his hold on her with the arm that was around her waist, and rubbed her side soothingly. he could tell that this house had been making karina slightly anxious, and made sure she stayed beside him.

hazel hugged her chest. "is that— "

"yeah," frank said. "that's it."

"that's what?" percy and karina asked in unison.

hazel's expression was sympathetic, but it seemed to make frank feel worse about whatever the situation was.

"it's the fireplace," he told the two of them, which was stupidly obvious, she knew he was keeping something from them. "come on. let's check upstairs."

the steps creaked under their feet, which pained karina every time she heard a loud screech under her feet as she walked. they went into frank's room first, which had an extra bow and quiver hanging on the wall, some spelling awards from his school, which surprised karina, seeming as she figured he was just as dyslexic as the rest of them. there were also photos of his mom— in a flak jacket and helmet, sitting on a humvee in kandahar province, in a soccer coach uniform, in her military dress uniform, her hands on frank's shoulders.

"your mother?" hazel asked. "she's beautiful."

"yeah," karina replied, a soft smile on her face. "i would've loved to meet her."

frank didn't reply, and after a moment of silence, the piled out of frank's room and went to check all of the other bedrooms.

the middle two were empty. a dim light flickered under the last door— his grandmother's room.

frank knocked quietly. no one answered. he pushed open her door. frank's grandmother lay in bed, looking gaunt and frail, her white hair spread around her face like a basilisk's crown. a single candle burned on the nightstand. at the bedside sat a large man in beige canadian forces fatigues. despite the gloom, he wore dark sunglasses with blood red light glowing behind the lenses.

"mars," frank said, and karina glanced at him in confusion.

"what?" she asked.

"frank," hazel whispered. "what do you mean, mars? if your grandmother . . . is she okay?"

frank glanced at his friends. "you don't see him?"

"see who?" percy gripped his sword, along with karina's hand. "mars? where?"

it seemed as if frank was listening to an invisible entity speak, as he clenched his fists. he waited about ten second before speaking up.

"guys, it's . . . it's nothing. listen, why don't you take the middle bedrooms?"

"roof," ella said. "roofs are good for harpies."

"sure," frank said in a daze. "there's probably food in the kitchen. would you give me a few minutes alone with my grandmother? i think she— "

his voice broke, and karina's heart fell heavy. she hated seeing frank this upset, and hated the fact that she couldn't do anything to help him.

karina began to move towards him, but halted her steps as she saw hazel going as well, and stepped back.

hazel laid her hand and his arm. "of course, frank. come on, percy, karina, ella."

as hazel led the three of them out into the hallway, ella quickly disappeared from sight, her bright red wings leaving a trail of fallen feathers as she shot down the staircase in search of the nearest window.

they all walked in silence down the hallways until they reach the two bedroom doors, and stopped in front of them, just now realizing that there were three of them, and two of the bedrooms.

"percy, you take that room," hazel said, pointing to the door on the right. "and karina and i will share this bedroom." she nudged her thumb in the direction of the door on the left.

percy looked at her hesitatingly, as if he wanted to say something to object but felt as if he didn't have the right to. "yeah . . . yeah, okay." he finally said, and looked to the two of them. "i'll see you guys later then."

hazel nodded and gave him a small smile before walking into the bedroom, leaving him and karina alone in the dimly lit hallway.

karina looked at him expectingly, seeing as he hadn't released the grip he had on her hand yet, and was staring at the side of her face.

percy cleared his throat. "uh . . . " he paused. "do you want to, like, come to my room later? just to talk and stuff. not do anything . . . weird, or any of that. just . . . hang out? o-only if you want to, though." he stuttered out, a blush creeping up his neck, which caused him to bring his hand up and rub the back of it nervously.

karina held back a laugh at his flustered manner, but she couldn't help but feel slightly jittery as well. "okay, percy," she said with a smile. "i need to shower first, and then i'll come over. okay?"

percy smiled. "yeah," he said quickly. "yeah, that's good. i have to shower too anyways."

karina nodded, an amused smile gracing her face as percy continued to be a blushing mess. "i figured you would have too," she said. "you smell."

percy's mouth dropped open. "hey! i do not smell!"

karina snorted. "yes, you do," she replied. "we all haven't showered in like, two days, obviously you're going to stink."

"well then why don't you smell?" percy said in rebuttal, tilting his head to the side with a mocked attitude.

karina smirked. "it's a secret," she said. " . . . that i will never tell you."

percy groaned in feigned annoyance as he began to back up into his room. "why not?" he questioned.

"because it's a secret, perc'," she replied, her smile growing bigger.

"i would think that we are on a high enough level of friendship that you would tell me a secret as simple as why you smell so good."

"hm . . . " karina hummed, tapping her chin in thought, just to make him annoyed, before rolling her eyes, looking at percy with a set stare. "do you really want to know?" she asked.

"yes, you idiot," percy said in response, a childish smile adorning his face.

"are you sure," she said in amusement, leaning in closer to his face as he was leaning against the wall behind them.

he too began to come closer as well, his voice dropping in volume. "i'm sure," he said in a low voice, his eyes dancing over her face as she came closer to him.

soon enough, she had gotten so close to his face that their noses were only centimeters apart, the only thing keep them away from each other was their own self-will, and even that was slowly deteriorating.

"positive?" she whispered, her breath mingling with his.

"yes," he breathed out, his eyes flitting from her eyes to her lips, and back up to her eyes again with a second of hesitation, his stomach doing summersaults as he felt her hand trace patterns up his forearm, eventually resting on his shoulder with a loose grip.

she leaned in just barely closer, to where she could feel his lips brush against hers, and said:

"it's a secret."

karina smirked and backed away from percy, her hand slipping off his shoulder and her face leaving the breathing space of his as she began to make her way to her room, a satisfied smile pulling at her lips.

but, before she turned to go into her and hazel's shared room, she turned to percy and said, "i'll see you later, fish face." and turned and closed the door behind her.

percy stood frozen against the wall, his mind still in a daze from what had just hapoened between him and karina. his breath was slightly labored, and his hands were sweaty with nervousness as he replayed the events that just to place over and over in his head.

he hadn't even begun to process how much of a hold karina had on himself. he knew that if she told him to do something, he would do it before she even finished the sentence. or if she was in trouble, he would drop anything to go and help her. he was very much aware of his feelings toward her, and with how she had been acting toward him recently, he had a feeling that she felt the same. but, he was scared. scared of rejection and looking like an idiot. scared of getting back all of his memories and finding out if he had someone else in his life before karina.

but, even then, he would still choose karina. no matter how much the other person in his life meant to him, he knew deep down that karina was the one that held control over his heart.

so, with butterflies in his stomach and a foggy head, he walked on clouds into his room, feeling like he was on some type of drug. but, in reality, he was.

he was living on the drug of love.

and, back in karina and hazel's room, she was feeling the exact same, except with a lot more thoughts swarming her head.

and along with that, she had hazel who was staring at her with a knowing smile plastered onto her face.

"what?" karina finally asked, turning to hazel.

"oh, you know what," hazel said, accusation showing in her features. "i can tell that you like percy, karina. it's painfully obvious."

karina scoffed, and began to rummage through the drawers on the other side of the room, looking for a spare change of pajamas for the night. "i don't know what you're talking about," she said, with a hint of amusement in her tone.

hazel, hearing the lie that came through karina's mouth, rolled her eyes and walked beside her, learning her side into the wooden drawer. "stop lying, nina, even hylla sees it. she's queen of the freaking amazons!"

karina snorted at that, and continued to dig through the drawer that was filled with old clothes, until she found a plain spaghetti-strap black tank top, and plaid flowy pajama pants, that were a mixture of dark blues, greens, and black.

"she didn't necessarily say i liked him," karina said. "she said it about percy, so technically, it could just be him."

hazel rolled her eyes again, crossing her arms across her chest with an annoyed look on her face. "you get the point, karina. you guys are like— in love with each other! just say it already!"

"oh, and you're not in love with frank?" karina quickly replied, her eyebrows raised in accusation.

hazel's eyes widened slightly and she suddenly became slightly flustered as she began to blink rapidly, looking at karina in disgruntlement.

"i— what?" hazel said with a nervous laugh, "i don't— i've never— i don't like frank."

"that's the biggest load of shit i've ever head come out of your mouth, hazel," karina said flatly, giving her a deadpanned look.

"i'm being serious!" hazel said defensively, but from the slight crack in her voice karina could tell she didn't mean it.

she merely raised an eyebrow at her failed attempt of defending herself, before hazel gave in.

she sighed and slouched her shoulders. "okay, i like frank." she said in defeat.

karina's smile grew wider. "i . . . KNEW IT!" she yelled, and proceeded bounce up and down on the balls of her feet. "i knew i was always a love expert," she said proudly.

hazel groaned in embarrassment and reached her hands out to steady karina, already feeling her whole body grow hot. "karina," she laughed. "karina— stop!" she yelled through fits of giggles, pushing her shoulders down so she stopped bouncing. karina calmed down, but still kept a stupid grin plastered on her face.

"it's okay to admit you like him, haz, it's not like none of us haven't already noticed. except for maybe frank himself."

hazel sighed and plopped down onto the corner of the bed, looking up at karina with big eyes. "do you think he feels the same?" she mumbled, her fingers drawing patterns on her washed out jeans.

karina scoffed in disbelief and took a seat next to her, turning her body so that the front of it was facing hazel, her left leg crossed across the bed while her right leg was dangling off the side. "are you kidding?" she asked. "hazel, that boy looks at you as if you invented beauty, and he definitely doesn't look at percy and i like that. don't worry— i'm not offended." she added the last part with a sigh, making it seem like she was hurt that frank didn't find her beautiful the way he does for hazel.

"really?" hazel asked in bewilderment.

"yes!" karina laughed out. "frank is head over heels for you, hazel. and if you don't start making a move soon, you'll never do it."

"i know," hazel admitted. "i guess i'm just scared."

"scared of what?"

"scared of what might happen if he doesn't feel the same," she said with a tone of sadness. "i feel comfortable with how we are right now, and i'm scared that if i tell him how i feel— it'll mess everything up."

karina smiled softly at her, reaching over to take hazel's hand in her's. "look— i am almost one hundred percent sure that frank feels the same way as about you as you feel about him, so if anything, it'll make things even better by telling him how you feel. and— if for some completely insane reason it doesn't go the way it should, i'll beat him up for you."

hazel tried to hide her laughter as she heard the last sentence karina said, and smiled back at her. "okay, nina. i'll try and tell him how i feel. only if you tell percy how you feel to him."

"now that wasn't part of the agreement," karina said, scooting back in defense.

"oh, it is now," hazel said with a smirk shining on her face.

karina rolled her eyes and got up from her spot on the bed, making her way to the small bathroom on the other side of the room. "whatever," she sighed. "i'm taking a shower."

"okay, but don't use all the hot water!" hazel yelled just before karina shut the door, to which she replied with a muffled, "i won't!"

karina, finally getting to have a moment of silence, put her pajamas she was holding in her arms onto the white bathroom counter, and moved to turn on the shower, letting the water run hot before getting in.

but, before she got in, and as she stood there half naked, with only her undergarments on, she stared at herself in the mirror, and ran her eyes across the dozens of white scars that littered her skin. they were everywhere— from her face to her feet, permanent white stains of pain and war danced across her skin, leaving marks of memories for each of them.

but, the one that stood out the most was one not from war, or fun a sparring match. it wasn't from a terrible battle or heroic save of a fellow friend or demigod— no.

it was from her father.

it was a thick, ragged scar that ran from just below her breast to her waistline. it had never fully healed, since she never had gotten proper care for it, so it was still slightly sensitive to touch, and looked like a much more recent scar than all the rest of them— when in reality it was actually the oldest.

she always tried to forget it was there, and basically just try to forget how it got there. she hated the way she was raised, and what she got from it, because she knew that she'd be such a better and healthier person if she had just been raised . . . normally.

she hadn't realized how long she had been standing in front of the mirror until she couldn't even see herself anymore, the mirror being completely clouded by steam from the shower.

karina sighed, and took off the remaining amounts of clothing she was wearing, and stepped into the shower, letting the warm water run down her body in a wave of heat and steam. she almost immediately felt her muscles begin to relax under the soothing feeling of the hot water rushing down her body and hair as she ran her hands through it, picking through all the small knots that had formed in it during the eventful things that had gone down in the past two days.

this is the first time in a while where karina felt genuinely relaxed— even if it was for just a couple minutes— but, in this moment, she felt at peace with herself. she was alone, no thoughts swimming around in her head, no dangerous monsters threatening to bite her head off if she turned away for just a second, and no crazy giants chasing after her every minute.

and, she knows that once she leaves this moment, she'll be twisted back into all of that chaos again, and into all the danger that she may face, but for now, she is safe.

and, as much as karina would love to just be a normal mortal, going to high school, going to parties and getting drunk, then having to go to school the next day, and having almost no danger in her life— she just couldn't see herself living that life, it's as if she's become accustomed to always being in the spotlight of danger, having near-death experiences every day of her life, living with the constant nagging in her head that she isn't fully safe, that she isn't out of reach from any creature or omen of death. and she always dreams of the day that she will finally be able to say that she is safe, but she also knows that when she does finally have the opportunity to say it, she won't know.

she will never fully know when she can finally sit down, and take a deep breath, and just find peace. peace in herself, peace in her world, peace in her mind. just a place where she can have no worries. only because she has never had a time where she could say it.

stepping out of the shower, karina quickly dried off her body and put on her fresh pajamas, and rung her hair out with a towel, feeling the leftover droplets of water from her hair fall onto the skin of her shoulders and straps of her shirt. she merely tossed her hair to fall across her back, dismissing it, and stepped back into the room, only to see that hazel had already fallen asleep, a small book hugging her chest as she was curled up in the farthest corner of the bed, her body still leaned upright against the headboard, and her hair flowing gracefully across her shoulders and face.

karina chuckled softly at hazel's position, and padded quietly over the wooded floor over to where hazel was sitting on the bed. she slowly began to climb onto the bed— careful as to not wake her— and softly slipped the book from between her arms, and set it on the bed side table, before, once again, carefully pulling the blanket that was sitting at her feet, over hazel's body, making sure her whole body was wrapped warmly under the soft blanket.

as karina began to crawl off the bed, she heard hazel mumble quietly in her sleep, visibly curling into the blanket, and repositioning her to where her head was actually laying on a pillow, and not against a headboard.

karina chuckled softly and whispered, "goodnight, hazel," before turning and silently walking out of their room, and turned to head to percy's room, which was conveniently right across from her and hazel's.

she stood there for a moment, just staring at the door, before knocking softly on the hard wood, the sound reverberating throughout the empty hallway. she cringed at the echo it produced.

when he didn't get response from the first knock, she knocked again, this time a little louder, and spoke softly, saying, "percy, can i come in?"

she waited for another minute, and still no response. karina, feeling her impatience begin to rise, just decided to walk in herself, whether he answered or not.

as she went to turn the knob, she slowly began to open the door, hearing the door screech sent another wave of annoyance through her body, and when she finally stepped into the dimly lit room, only a small lamp on the side of his bed emitting any light.

his room was empty, but, across the room, she heard the sound of the shower running, and karina let out an almost inaudible 'oh-h-h' and nodded to herself. that's why he wasn't answering the door.

she stood there for a moment, contemplating on if she should just leave and go to sleep, before percy could see she was even there. she wondered if he really wanted her to come into his room and talk, or he just felt bad and felt obligated to ask her.

with those negative thoughts consuming her mind, she turned to walk out of percy's bedroom, having second thoughts about coming into his room all together. but, before she could go to exit, she heard the sound of the bathroom door creaking, and the sound of heavy footsteps entering the room.

"oh, karina?" she heard percy ask in confusion from behind her, and she quickly closed the door again, and turned around to greet him, only to see that he was shirtless, clad in only a pair of loose faded gray sweatpants, his hair dripping wet from the shower he just took, droplets of water falling off the loose stands framing his face and falling onto his toned chest and abdomen, leading karina to stare in bewilderment and admiration. she had never really gone to realize how toned percy really was, as she trailed her eyes over the prominent v-line that was leading down below his waistline, and the sculpted six pack of abs that adorned his lower stomach, making karina's cheeks grow hot.

"i— uhm, i'm sorry," she stammered, quickly snapping her eyes up from his body and to the door, fumbling with the doorknob to leave, embarrassment flooding through her body. "i didn't mean to intrude, i'll just go— "

percy quickly cut her off by rushing over to the door, shutting it flat against the palm of his hand, his arm reaching across the side of her face so that he was leaning over her. "no, no! i'm sorry, i just wasn't expecting you to be here," he said. "i didn't think you'd actually come."

"why would you think that?" karina asked, casually leaning her body against the door frame, trying to ignore the fact that percy's bare, dripping upper body was only inches away from her's, and his face was just as close.

percy shrugged his shoulders, his eyes averting from her's shyly. "i don't know, i just figured you'd just go to bed or something."

karina smiled softly. "now why would i skip out on the opportunity to hang out with the percy jackson by myself!" she asked sarcastically. "i honestly couldn't think of anything better to do."

percy scoffed, his head dipping down slightly, causing a few wet strands of hair to slide down his forehead, hooding his eyes slightly. "oh, but i think i'm the winner here. getting to hang out with the karina, i-don't-know-your-middle-name, ashwood?" he said in feigned disbelief, a laugh escaping him at the end of it. "it's like a dream come true!"

"oh, shut it," karina laughed out, shoving his chest away from her, making him stumble backwards as she began to walk towards his bed, sitting down a little awkwardly, not really knowing what to do.

percy also moved from his spot by the door, walking softly over to where karina was sat, and set himself down right beside her, not saying anything.

it was silent for moment, and karina was confused as to why it was so awkward all of a sudden. they always talked normally to each other, didn't they? what made it so different this time?

"do you want to play twenty questions?" percy suddenly asked, and karina turned to him, confused.

"what's that?"

"well, it's basically in the name," he said. "but, you just ask each other 'yes' or 'no' questions back and forth, in a way to get to know each other better. but, to make it more interesting, we can just ask each other whatever we want to know instead of just 'yes' and 'no' questions. get it?"

karina blinked. percy had just explained that so fast she barely had time to even register his words before he was finished. "uhm— i think," she managed. "you just go first."

percy chuckled. "okay," he said, and paused for a moment, thinking of what to ask. "here's an easy one," he finally said. "where are you from?"

"valentine, nebraska," karina said, and sighed. "born and raised."

percy's eyebrows furrowed. "did you guys invent valentine's day?" he asked curiously, but then suddenly gasped. "or was it created because of valentine's day?" as soon as karina heard that, she inwardly groaned in disbelief.

she seriously wondered what went on this boy's head sometimes.

"what are even talking about?" she asked, shaking her head in utter confusion.

percy shrugged his shoulders. "i don't know!" he exclaimed defensively. "i just thought that valentine, nebraska, and valentine's day, could have some sort of connection!"

karina rubbed her eyes tiredly, letting the balls of her palms squeeze into her eyelids before pulling away, seeing black stars dance around in her vision before clearing away, and she saw percy's defensive face looking at her, his eyebrows still furrowed.

"okay, i'm just not going to even try and answer that," karina finally said, clearing her throat before speaking again. "okay, it's my turn now?"

percy nodded and karina tried to think of a question to ask.

"where are you from?" she decided on, and percy smiled.

"manhattan." he said brightly, as if the thought of his home made him feel better than anything else.

"oh," she said knowingly with a sly smile on her face. "so you're a city boy?"

percy laughed and nodded. "i guess i am," he said. "and you're a small town girl, aren't you?"

karina then began to laugh as well. "yeah, you could say that," she said light-heartedly, laughing at the cringiness of what they just said.

percy then went silent again, putting his fingers to his lips in thought. "have you had any pets?" he asked.

"only caelius," she responded.

percy visibly paled. "your pet does not like me, rina." he said, grimacing at the thought.

"well, not really," she admitted. "but that's only because you said death and my name in the same sentence. we've been over this, fish face."

"yeah, yeah, i know," percy dismissed. "but still, i think your cat needs to learn to forgive and forget. not just attack."

she chuckled. "but it's his responsibility to protect me," she said. "it's in his blood to protect his owner to the death. and it's been like that for thousands of years. through dozens of owners he has had. it's always been like that."

percy rolled his eyes, but karina could tell that he was mildly impressed at the sound of that. "whatever. i still think he needs to have some anger management help."

she responded with a laugh, and after that, they continued to ask each random questions, ranging from: 'what's your favorite color?' to 'what would you do if you only had eight fingers?'

and it went like that for a while, until karina asked:

"who's annabeth?"

percy paused, and is body stiffened slightly, not saying anything.

karina immediately felt regret wash through her body, and began to stutter up an apology. "i— i didn't mean to ask that, you don't need to answer that, i'm sorry. i'll think of a new quest— "

"no, no," percy replied calmly, his face remaining stoic as he shushed her. "it's fine. i just wasn't expecting a question like that."

karina visibly deflated, her stress that was eating away at her stomach slowly dissolving as she realized percy wasn't mad at her.

"you don't have to answer if you don't want to," she said softly, scooting closer to him and laying her hand overtop of his. "it was wrong of me to ask anyway."

percy shook his head. "no, it's fine," he said. "i'm just not sure of how much i remember about her, that's all."

karina nodded in understanding, smiling softly at him in sympathy. "i understand, perc'."

percy attempted at a smile in return, but it was weak, and forced. she could tell he was hurting, mentally, from not being able to remember.

"i remember her face," he said, his eyes focused on karina's hand over his own. "she had grey eyes. scary grey eyes."

karina laughed and percy continued. "she had blonde hair, and was always saying something nerdy, something i never understood."

"probably because you have kelp for brains," karina responded, and percy flicked her forehead, pursing his lips at her.

"oh, shush, i'm not that dumb," he said, but then quickly retaliated, "actually, don't respond to that."

karina nodded in agreement. "good answer,"

percy snorted and began to speak again. "i don't know much else, only that her and some guy with one eye are searching for me," he said, his voice dropping. "and . . . i always see her in my dreams. it's like she's calling to me but can't reach me. and i can never respond. it's horrible."

karina sighed softly, placed her other hand on his as well, making him look up to her. "i'm really sorry you have to go through this," she said sympathetically. "you don't deserve it."

percy looked up to her as well, their eyes connecting. "yeah, but if this had never happened, i would've never met you."

karina felt her cheeks heat up. "i guess you're right," she responded, her voice dropping as well. "it's just crazy how fast my life changed when you got to camp. i mean, all i was worried about before you arrived was if i was going to be able to keep my position as praetor— but now, it seems to small of a problem that i don't even think about it anymore."

percy nodded, and she felt the tips of his— now dry— raven hair brush against her forehead. "well, i mean. my life changed the day i woke up with no memories on the doorstep of a crazy wolf's training facility. so, i guess both of our lives changed."

karina smiled. "i guess so."

after she said that, she looked up to look at percy, only to see him already staring at her, his eyes connecting with her's once again. she felt her heart rate begin to increase, and for what seems like the millionth time today, her percy's lips were only inches apart, and they seemed to be almost begging for the other to connect them, like a taunting mantra of pleads and whispers for them to place their lips on each other's own, sealing off what has been open for so long.

she looked down briefly to see percy's adam's apple bob nervously as he swallowed, his eyes flicking from karina's eyes to her lips in quick, repetitive motions, as if trying to tell her with his eyes what he wanted her to do.

"percy . . . " she whispered, barely a breath away from not even speaking at all, but he heard it, and it seemed that was the only trigger he needed, as he reached the hand that wasn't covered by karina's and reached it up to cup the left side of her jaw, and brought his lips to her's, connecting what had been lost for so long, their lips molding together like the perfect piece to an endless jigsaw puzzle, the final moments of a timeless piece of artwork, finally completed from just one action.

karina's mouth parted in shock at the feeling of their lips connecting, leading it to be sort of awkward at first, but she quickly regained her senses and kissed him back, her mind in a whirlpool of stardust and sun beams of hundreds of emotions flooding through her at once. she released her hands from their grip on percy's hand and traced them up along his chest, winding them around the back of his neck and pulling him closer, as she felt him place his— now free— other hand on the dip of her waist.

karina couldn't even fathom what was happening to her in this moment, the feeling of percy's incredibly soft lips moving against her's, the feeling her his fingertips tracing the base of her jaw, and squeezing lightly into the skin of her hip, and she had been feeling so many emotions at once— happiness, nervousness, excitement, lust, and so many more she couldn't even count, that she hadn't almost seemed to block out the sudden feeling of guilt that washed over her like a tidal wave of negative thoughts.

and then suddenly, she wasn't feeling everything she was feeling before— instead, she began thinking about annabeth.

what if annabeth had been percy's girlfriend before this? how would she feel if she came running into her boyfriend's arms after they reunite, only to find that he found someone else, someone new, someone annabeth knew wouldn't have even been in percy's life if none of the horrible events that have taken place would not have happened. the feeling of guilt and regret began to pile up, almost suffocating her to the point where she could hardly breathe.

she quickly pulled away from percy, scooting back in regret, and began to shake her head, dark thoughts consuming her mind.

"that was a mistake," she began to say, her voice shaking. "we shouldn't have done that."

percy shook his head in disbelief, his cheeks flushed red. "what are you talking about? what's wrong?"

karina swallowed, her voice thick with emotion. "i hardly know you, percy. you hardly know yourself! don't you think you might have someone else in you life? someone who likes you the way i do? maybe even more?"

percy licked his lips, his face showing confusion and bewilderment. " yes, maybe there this, but— even if there was, how would i know? i don't even have my own memories for god's sake!" his voice was increasing in volume. "so why does it matter what happened in the past, all i care about right now is you, karina ashwood. you're the one that i want."

karina shook her head, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. "but what about when you get your memories back? will i still be the only one you care about them?"

"yes," percy said. "yes, you will."

"but you don't know that!" karina exclaimed, her voice cracking. "you know just as much as i do about your life, percy! and that's not saying much!"

"gods, karina, don't you understand," percy said, his voice basically pleading for her to listen to him. "i don't care about what was in my life before this. whatever there was, it's gone. it's been gone! but you, you are here right now. you're with me while i'm going through this shit storm when no one else is! you're here for me, right here, right now. not from empty memories of my past. not in my dreams. here. and that's all i want. you're all i want."

karina's lips trembled, the tears that were sitting on her eye lids now falling freely down her face. "it's not fair, percy," she whispered, her voice trembling. "it's not fair to try and erase the people from the past from your life, even if you can't remember them. don't try and force the people from your past, away from your mind just for me. it's not fair to them, or to me."

percy's jaw clenched and unclenched in desperation and anger. "then tell me what i can do," he said hardly.

"what?"

"tell me what i can do to make you believe that you're the only one i'll ever want to be with."

karina's lips parted, and her stomach dropped in surprise at his words. but, she managed to keep a calm voice. "when this is all over," she began, her voice soft. "and you have all of your memories back. then, we can do this again. but, until then, this never happened. and if it turns out that there was someone waiting for you on the other side of this battle, then this never happened either."

percy's jaw trembled at the sound of her saying this. the thought of not being able to spend his life with karina sounded, honestly, worse than anything he's ever gone through. she's been the main focus of his thoughts and dreams for the past four months, and now when he thought he finally had her— she slipped right through his fingers.

he sighed, unshed tears swimming in his eyelids. "okay," he said, his voice unsteady. "but, just know, that before this battle is finished, this won't be the last time, this," he pointed his finger between the two of them. "happens again. because i can assure you, that with memories or not, i have no one waiting for me on the other side the way i have you right now."

karina's lips turned into a sad smile. "i hope you're right, percy. because if not, you're going to make me feel like the worst questmate in the world."

he chuckled and looked at karina one last time, before she stepped out of his room, a cloud of regret and uncertainty hanging over the room, and percy couldn't do anything more than just stare at her retreating figure slip out of his room— wondering what he could do to make her realize that he had remembered what annabeth was to him, and she wasn't who karina was to him.

he just didn't know how to tell her.

6659 words

HELLO LONG CHAPTER PHEW

also this is probably one of the worst chapters i've ever written, and i'm really sorry if you didn't like how i wrote percy in that moment before, i just felt that he would react like that, in that particular moment.

i don't want to make it seem as if he doesn't care about who is waiting for him on the other side, because he does. but, in the spur of the moment, he was just saying anything to make karina stay, and didn't really mean what he said about how they 'don't matter' . trust me, he's still going to act the same way he did in the book,, whether annabeth is his gf or not, i won't be changing that. so please, don't come at me for making percy 'change' just for my book. it was just a heat of the moment thing, and he didn't mean any of it.

okay? okay. just clearing that up. don't hate on me for making percy say that,, please. he didn't mean it, OKAY !