ALL RIGHTS TO THE CHARACTERS (except Celeste, she's mine.) BELONG TO THE AMAZING RICK RIORDAN. I DO NOT OWN THE PJO/HoO SERIES!!!

Chapter 20 - Celeste

Celeste wasn't very good at hiding. If you spend half of your life invisible, you don't really need to hide. However, this was a I-need-to-hide-right-now situation.

She pulled herself into a small gap in the wall as Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Frank, Hazel, and Leo walked by. None of them noticed her. She sighed when they passed.

She wasn't happy about leaving them.

Especially not Percy. However, she needed to get away for awhile. She felt as if she had caused everything. She didn't want to put her friends in more danger.

She pulled herself out of the gap and walked in the opposite direction of the others. Stuffing her hands in the pockets of her jeans, she wandered around aimlessly. She could be attacked by a monster right now and she wouldn't care.

She was just so-depressed.

She didn't walk far until she ran face-first into something hard. She groaned loudly as she collapsed into the ground.

Being unconscious for several hours tended to give you a headache. Just her luck to run into something just as the headache was starting to go away.

When she fell, she didn't have the energy to get back up. She saw a boy a couple years younger than her appear above her. He was rubbing his head furiously. A large bruise began to form where he was rubbing. Celeste figured she had ran into him.

The boy had black hair and was wearing an aviator's jacket. He looked tired and not too entirely happy about running face-first into Celeste.

"Are you alright?" He asked, no concern in his voice whatsoever.

"Fine." Celeste mumbled, still lying on the ground, refusing get up.

"Are you gonna get up?" The boy asked.

Celeste sighed and stood up slowly.

That's when she finally noticed the boy.

It was Nico di Angelo. The son of Hades. Percy's friend.

Celeste remembered when Percy first met Nico. She was with them of course, unseen. She remembered how happy and upbeat Nico was. Of course, that was when his sister had been alive.

Celeste remembered Bianca. She still felt bad for Nico sometimes. Seeing his little face when he blamed Percy for Bianca's death. It was enough to make anyone cry.

"Are you Nico di Angelo?" Celeste blurted out. She hated it when she did that.

Nico looked confused. "Um. Yeah, I am." He said. He started to reach for his sword, but Celeste gabbed his wrist.

"No, no, no. Don't do that. You're looking for Percy right?" Celeste asked.

Nico looked a little embarrassed. His face was slightly red. But his face still showed confusion and anger.

"Well yeah. And others." Nico said.

Celeste nodded.

She pointed towards where the others had went, showing Nico where she had recently been. She didn't tell him anything else though.

"Don't tell them you talked to me alright?" Celeste said quickly.

"Why?" Nico asked.

"Personal reasons. Just-please." Celeste's begged.

Nico sighed. "Alright. Thanks. I guess I'll see you around."

And just like that, Celeste was alone again.

Sighing, she started to walk again. She caught a glimpse of the shore, not too far from where she was standing. The waves were calm, lapping the sand like a puppy lapping water.

"Hello Celeste." Said a voice. She whirled around to find Poseidon standing beside her. He was wearing a floral print shirt, khakis, and sandals.

He was holding his trident and smiling at her. However, she was scowling at him.

"I will kill you." She gritted through her teeth.

Poseidon laughed. "Will you?" He said, amusement in his voice.

Celeste clenched her fists. She began to reach for her dagger, but Poseidon only smiled brighter.

"I've simply come to show you something." Poseidon said.

Celeste was still furious. "What!?" She demanded. The god snapped his fingers and the ocean began to churn.

Celeste inched closer to the sea, curious. Then, a picture began to form. It was Percy and the others. She smiled sadly.

"Follow me." Poseidon said, stepping into the picture, distorting it just a little. However, as soon as he stepped into the picture, he vanished.

Her mouth open in shock, Celeste quickly followed. She wasn't going to let her father get away from her that easily. She had a lot of things to deal with and he was one of them.

She found herself by Percy's side.

However, when she tried to put her hand on his shoulder, her hand went straight through him.

She jumped back in surprise.

"It's still an image. We're still back at the beach, we're just watching the present unravel before us. I thought you'd like to see. We're only here in spirit though." Poseidon said, standing behind her. She gave him a scowl and turned back to Percy.

Her friends were walking still, and she followed them, leaving Poseidon behind.

"Guys!" A voice called. All of them whirled around.

It was Nico di Angelo.

Celeste smiled, feeling the bruise on her head.

"Nico!" Hazel cried. She immediately ran up to her brother and attacked him in a hug.

Nico smiled and hugged her back.

Everyone welcomed him back and kept asking him questions about camp.

"Well, everything's alright so far. No civil war. Except there's this one blonde Roman dude who keeps giving death threats to everyone." Nico explained.

"Octavian." Everyone groaned at the same time. Nico arched an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah. I remember that guy now. He has serious issues." Nico said.

Everyone nodded. "Well I hate him. He kept calling me Greek scum, and a lot of other curse words in Latin." Nico said.

After they were done talking with Nico, they made camp.

It wasn't a very good camp. They collected some sticks and Leo lit a fire.

They laid on the sand. Nothing complex.

The sun went down gradually and the sound of waves was calming.

Celeste had laid down next to Percy, trying to take his hand constantly and being disappointed when she went right through him.

When everyone had fallen asleep, Celeste lay awake, staring at the starry night sky.

She was snapped out of her reverie when she saw Percy jolt as if he was being electrocuted.

"Percy?" She cried, knowing it was useless, he couldn't hear her.

Oh my gods. Celeste felt as if she was under her curse again and started to hyperventilate.

What if this was another of Poseidon's curses for her?

Now, no one could feel her presence, adding to the not being able to see her or hear her.

She panicked.

Of course her father would do this. She had already caused enough trouble.

Poseidon probably wanted Celeste out of the way.

She clenched her fists and screamed, anger, worry, and fear mixed together in her voice.

Percy cried out in his sleep, causing Celeste to jump.

Did he hear her?

No, he was having a nightmare.

His face was pale and sweat trickled down his forehead. His hands were curling into fists at his sides, making his knuckles white.

Celeste tried to shake him awake, but her hand went through his shoulders.

"Percy! Wake up!" She cried.

Then, she stood and ran to where she had left Poseidon sitting alone.

"I wondered when you would return." Poseidon said calmly.

"Take me back to Percy." She said through gritted teeth. She realized she sounded desperate and weak, so she cleared her throat and gave her father her best scowl of hatred.

The god sighed and snapped his fingers. The world seemed to shift a little, and then-

They hadn't moved.

"What the heck!?" Celeste screamed.

Poseidon sighed. "You may go see your brother now. But be warned my daughter, your presence around him only brings both of you more danger. Removing your curse was a terrible idea, but your powers are getting too strong for me to place the curse back. I hope you will learn to live your life wisely." And then he disappeared in a blinding light.

Celeste didn't have time to shield her eyes. However, she was fine. She stared at Poseidon's true form as if she was looking at any other normal guy. She hadn't burned to ashes like everyone else did when they saw a god's true form.

Oh great, another creepy power of hers.

After recovering from shock, she immediately burst into a sprint, looking for Percy and the others.

When she found them, she grasped Percy's shoulders in a death grip and shook him.

His eyes flew open and his chest was heaving in and out quickly. Celeste could feel his quickening heartbeat under her palm.

"Percy." Celeste exhaled. She fell on top of him, wrapping him in a death-tight hug. Percy groaned, but he didn't complain or throw Celeste off of him.

"Are you alright?" She mumbled into his shoulder, still squeezing him.

"I'm fine, Celeste." Percy mumbled.

Now he pushed Celeste off of him.

"Where did you go?" Percy demanded.

Celeste looked away from her brother.

She had left them on purpose. Being around the others made her feel like some kind of freak show. Plus, she knew deep down that she was the one causing all these life-threatening things to happen to Percy and his friends.

Now the gods and monsters were noticing her presence, they were trying to get to Celeste in order to kill her.

And they would kill anyone to get to her.

Even Percy.

She wouldn't let that happen.

"I just had to get away for awhile." Celeste finally muttered.

Percy still looked concerned. Celeste realized she hadn't asked what his nightmare was about yet. She was about to speak when Percy interrupted her.

"You'll stay now though, right?" He asked. His eyes looked worried. He actually cares about her. It made tears come to Celeste's eyes.

She couldn't say yes. She couldn't. She wouldn't. But she had to.

"Of course I will."

Percy smiled. Celeste's heart started to ache at the sight of him smiling. She knew she was going to have to leave him sooner or later. But she couldn't make him feel like she didn't care about him. She loved him.

She knew it was her job to keep him safe. She realized now that keeping him safe was not being with him at all.

Celeste hated saying it, but she really wished she was a mortal.