Hey you know what's great about August Eighth? A 2788 word chapter.

Percy never thought he'd be so relieved to get elbowed in the face. 

To be honest, he wasn't sure if Ethan had done it on purpose or not. But the kid could hit, that's for sure. Percy spouted some not-so-nice ancient Greek curses that made the rest of the arena gasp in horror. He even spied Nyssa, from the Hephaestus cabin, covering little nine-year-old Harley's ears.

"I'm so sorry!" Ethan told him, though Percy was a 110% sure he didn't entirely mean it. 

Flashback to when his nosebleed started the end of the world. 

Yeah, that was a bad day.

Percy clutched his nose. "What the Hades man!" He gasped, shooting him a glare.

Annabeth stood in front of them looking unamused. Her blond curls caught the sunlight just perfectly as always and it hurt to look at her. It hurt to think that there she was, his Annabeth, and know that he could never have her back.

His cloak felt like it was restraining him. The collar ever so slowly choking the life from his lungs. Percy could feel Annabeth analyzing them both, in her strategic way. She wore a CHB shirt and her camp necklace with her sneakers tied into prefect bows. Her pony tail was pulled back out of her grey eyes.

Grey eyes.

There was something off about her that Percy couldn't put his finger on. The roof of his mouth itched, as if he'd eaten a sour lemon; a stubborn warning that he was forgetting something.

"Who are you?" Annabeth demanded, arms crossed, "How'd you know my name?"

Percy guessed it wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't in front of the entire Camp Half Blood. IT felt like he was on stage for a play he'd never heard of and if he got any lines wrong it was a one way trip to Tartarus. He was sweating under his hood and it had nothing to do with the Summer heat.

"You just look like an Annabeth." Ethan supplied seeing how Percy was incapable of words to his other (better) half.

Annabeth crossed her arms, not satisfied. "Who are you and what are you doing in my camp?"

"They're a couple of the Chaos Soldiers." Malcolm appeared by her side looking more pissed than he had during the Counselors meeting, "Which you would know all about if you hadn't taken a free trip to the islands of "I'm Busy" and "Shitty Cabin Leader"!" He snarled sharply right in her face. Annabeth glowered. The tension was so thick Percy could barely breathe. 

"Well, I'm sorry that being the Architect of Olympus gets in the way of you being lazy, Malcolm." Annabeth sniped. 

"Lazy?" Malcolm roared at his half-sister, "I am doing your job, Annabeth! I never wanted to lead our cabin and I sure as Hades never wanted to sleep in the Big House because you scream in your sleep!"

Percy felt like he'd been sucker punched in the stomach. Sleeping in the Big House? It had to be a coincidence right? He only dreamed that stuff up. It couldn't possibly be all true. That's what Bianca had said.

Annabeth looked like she was going to kill Malcolm. Her blond curls bounced against her back as she took a deep restraining breathe.

Everyone seemed to breathe in with her. All the Campers were silently watching the sibling argument with worried faces. This was not Annabeth. This was not Percy's Annabeth. 

Then again if Annabeth returned even a tenth of the passion he had for her, Percy was sure that he in her situation, he wouldn't be anywhere near his normal self anyway. How could he even think that she could be okay after this?

They had gone through Tartarus together, with only each other to survive. They had made plans for a future together. They were going to act on those plans. 

"When your significant other gives himself to save camp, you can scream all you want too." Annabeth said in a monotone whisper that made Percy want to feed himself to a Chimera. It wasn't cold and it wasn't wavering. It was robotic. 

"Annie..." Thalia said, but she didn't look back.

"Don't call me that."

She glared at her speechless and exhausted sibling, then turned and leveled her wolf stare at Percy and Ethan. For a second, Percy thought she was going to bring back the "how did you know my name thing" again like she usually would, but she just huffed.

"Don't break anything." She said and walked off, arms wrapped around herself. 

Percy made the move to go after her before he even thought about it. Ethan saw it but he moved too late to stop Percy. His hand caught only air and Percy ran after the daughter of Athena.

"Savior!" He yelled but Percy just waved him off.

 He couldn't just let her walk off by herself. Especially if no one else was moving after her, not even Thalia who had stood the entire time silent as her pine tree. He didn't see her outside the arena. He paused for a second thinking of the place she might be because, Hades he was going to talk to her one last time. Percy didn't care if she found out his identity, even if it erased his entire existence.

Especially if it erased his entire existence.

He ran towards the the Athena cabin. The run was easier now that he was half dead. He didn't feel out of breath, and it left him more time to worry about everything. 

Chaos was evil, Omega was untouchable, Micheal and Bianca were out-of-commission for now, and Luke and Ethan and Percy were doing a risky balancing act on a tower of glass lies. Percy felt sick thinking about the rest of his team he left behind, Castor, Silena, Beckendorf... what would happen to them? What if they couldn't stop this Plague that had Huntress ensnared and slowly fading?What if an Apollo camper missed a target and got Percy in the back right where he died?

What if, what if, what if.

When did things get so complicated and dark and twisted? Percy had a feeling that the Fates had gotten bored again and decided "Well, Percy Jackson's life looks good for once; how about we kill him and start a Soap Opera?"

Annabeth wasn't in her Cabin, the lights were off and Percy couldn't hear anything inside. She wasn't on the beach either. He checked quickly. Even the waves seemed to have picked up on the somber aura. Percy didn't want to think that his dad was sitting in his Palace looking his age and drinking way more than the God of the Sea should. Percy remembered how his father had looked losing his palace underwater back when Kronos was rising and Typhon was giving the all powerful gods a beat down.

Percy tried to think where Annabeth would be. Camp store, Dinner Pavilion, Big House, Cabin again...she didn't seem to be anywhere. Campers were slowly exiting the Arena, but no one seemed to be in a hurry to get back to their schedules. 

Percy was about to go check the woods, though he seriously doubted she would've gone there, when he spotted the Golden blonde curls of a figure standing on top of the the hill a bit between Thalia's Pine tree and the Big House.

"She does that a lot." A voice said suddenly coming up behind Percy. Percy flinched with surprise.

"She...what?" Percy repeated, with a crack in his voice.   

"She stands there and just waits." 

"Waits for what?"

Chiron didn't answer which Percy assumed meant that he didn't know. Percy stared at Annabeth's back, camp shirt was fluttering a bit in the small breeze. There was something about the way she stood, where she stood, that picked at Percy. He should remember this. He should know why she was standing there not moving.

The old Centaur shifted, and Percy got the feeling that he wanted to say something more. Percy rubbed his arm. "I think I'm going to go talk to her."

"Good luck, my boy." Chiron said in a grave voice, "She has not been herself recently."

He walked off before he said something he'd regret to his teacher.

Annabeth didn't move as he approached, even though he made sure that he came at an angle so she'd see him. Her eyes were trained on the ground, the stormy grey seeing millions of miles underground. Maybe she was using her X-ray vision to try and find his soul in the Underworld.

"Hey," Percy said. His arms suddenly felt in the way, his hands awkwardly just there. He shoved them in his pockets (Thank the Gods there were pockets in his Chaos uniform pants). "You...you ah..." he cleared his throat.

Annabeth didn't move like she acknowledged his being. Her eyes didn't flick up, she barely exhaled enough for Percy to see her chest moving. Percy was surprised that she hadn't recognized his voice yet, but he then he remembered that when someone dies, the first thing you forget is their voice. 

It was strange to think about it when he was the dead person in question.

"You stormed off pretty shaken, back there." Percy tried again, "I mean, I just wanted to check to make sure you're okay."

She didn't say anything for the longest time and Percy was beginning to wonder if she was even really there or if he was hallucinating her. Percy took a step back then another. She wasn't going to talk to him, what was he thinking? He was a complete stranger. She was probably-

"Okay." Annabeth repeated her voice as small as a whisper of the breeze. It froze Percy in his tracks. "Okay: adjective, meaning alright. Alright: Adjective, meaning satisfactory but not especially good; acceptable."

Annabeth gave a huff of a snort, "In that case, according to Google dictionary, yes I am okay."

"And...according to things other than dictionaries?" Percy asked.

Annabeth moved so suddenly Percy almost jumped out of his skin. She fell to her knees, bringing her hands to her face, and just flat out sobbed. It was unreal, and Percy didn't know what to do. She broke like glass. 

Percy sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug, like the good hooded stranger her was. She fell into him like she had done so many times before, but today it felt off. Again he was reminded about how dead he was and how alive she was. 

Time passed. Percy wasn't sure how much but it did. It could have been hours, it could have been seconds, but for him it felt like the entire world had paused and only they existed in this bubble of time. No one came to bother them, not even Luke, who Percy guessed was the next in line for this kinda of thing. Maybe he had tried and met Thalia half way and they were brutally murdering each other on the basketball court.

"He died." Annabeth sniffled finally, sometime after she'd cried so many tears she'd soaked his shirt. "My boyfriend."

Percy wanted it documented that he refrained from saying, "I know."

"He  was the biggest dork in the entire world. Thought he was invincible. Went off to save the world a couple hundred times, though that probably means nothing to a Chaos soldier like you."

Percy didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything yet again. 

"He...he was an idiot. A brainless idiot. But he was my brainless idiot. We made plans, you know? And for a second...I really thought..." Her eyes got really red again and Percy felt his own eyes start to burn from the effort to keep his face clear. "Then he got killed, saving everyone. It's not fair! If he died, at least....at least I should be able to see his soul one last time. But Hades said he went straight to the Lethe to be reborn. That's so like my selfless, idiot, idiot, boyfriend. He doesn't want me to cry over him, he wants me to move on, but who says I want to?"

Annabeth looked up at him, "Who said I have to?"

"Your boyfriend?" Percy guessed.

Annabeth shook her head and looked down the hill, as if he didn't understand at all. Oh sick twisted irony. It twisted the dagger of misery in his gut, and begged him to rip off his cloak and kiss her.

"No one else knows, do they?" Percy asked, "That you feel like this? Being torn in two? One part wants to move on, the other wants to have whats already gone."

Annabeth was quiet, "No," She confirmed, "I never told anyone. I don't even know why I told you. I don't know you," she frowned, "Do I?"

"No," Percy said maybe a bit too quickly, "Why would you think you did?"

Annabeth looked back down the hill, at that one spot again. "You remind me of him." 

"You've known me for like five minutes, if that." 

Annabeth actually laughed. Well it was more of a snort, but hey, it was something. 

"This is where I first saw him." she whispered suddenly, the light atmosphere dragged back down. "Climbing right here, carrying his best friend over his shoulder, and in the darkness he looked like what I had imagined going through Tartarus would be like. I saw him make it to the porch and just collapse."

Annabeth shifted and Percy wondered if it would give him away to put an arm around her again. 

"Uh, hey." A voice said, breaking the silence that had descended. Percy and Annabeth turned around.

Nico Di Angelo was there in all his his dark and dangerous glory. The younger boy, kept his eyes on the daughter of Athena, but Percy got he feeling he wasn't here for her. The son of Hades twisted his skull ring around his finger.   

"Can I talk to Savior for a minute?"

Annabeth looked between the boys and shrugged returning to her silence. Percy swallowed hard and got up to follow the son of Hades off a little distance.

"You've been here before." Nico said. It wasn't a question. It was a statement.

Percy's heart did flips so dramatically it should have been part of the US team for Gymnastics in the Olympics. Outwardly he only, fixed his hood, and said a curt, "Nope."

"You're lying."

"Oh?" Percy said, trying to act like he wasn't and also didn't care what Nico said at the same time. It wasn't working. "I think I should go find Hero and Revenge---"

Nico grabbed his arm firmly before he could move. "What are you guys really doing here?"

Percy stared at him, wishing his throat wasn't as thick as it felt. "It's as Hero said. We're looking for the glowing orbs."

Nico didn't let go, as if he was waiting for Percy to tell him something more. What else could Percy tell him? There wasn't anything else he could think of. 

"You knew Annabeth's name." Nico hissed in a dark voice. It sent chills down Percy's back. How was it possible a boy this young was so terrifying? What happened to the kid that played Myth-o-magic and rambled happily about everything? "You knew where the weapons shed was and the arena, and I watched you pick out the Athena cabin as a place where Annabeth would be, when no one ever told who she was the daughter of. So Savior, who are you?"

Percy tried to step away but Nico's grip was surprisingly firm. 

"You are cutting off the circulation to my hand." Percy winced.

Nico didn't relent.

"Look, I can't tell you." Percy tried, "Just  trust that I'm not your enemy, okay, Nico?"

"I didn't--"

"Yo, Di Angelo." Thalia slid down the hill a little to meet up with them. Nico retracted from Percy like he was made of lava. "Chiron wanted you to know that Reyna, Frank, and Hazel are coming to talk about..." She glanced at Percy, "whatever you guys are."

"Chaos Soldiers." Percy said, though he wasn't sure she cared.

"Yeah, whatever. It's getting late. Dinner will be over in a couple minutes and Chiron said you and your buddies can house in an extra room in the Big House." 

Percy glanced at the horizon, surprised to see the sun was going down. Had it really been that long? Why hadn't anyone gone to get him? Thalia glanced past them at Annabeth who didn't look like she was going to move anytime soon.

"I'm going to try and get her to eat again." Thalia muttered, in a low tone and walked off towards her. 

Nico turned back to Percy but the undead son of Poseidon was faster in stepping away than last time. "I better go check on Revenge and Hero." He twisted the helm of his cloak, that was still dirt and stain free.

"Goodnight, Nico." Savior said quickly and practically ran towards the Dinning Pavilion.