Chapter 1

Dragging myself to my feet, I untangled the broken branches and leaves from my shredded clothes. I stretched my muscles, cursing at how sore they were. My body had no visible scratches, but as I looked around, I noticed just how far I had strayed off the path. Remembering the reason why I was so far from the camp, my blood boiled with anger. Groaning, I brushed myself off and stumbled towards the path. After taking a look around, I used my internal compass to guide me back to camp. When I finally broke out of the line of trees, stumbling into the light, I was greeted with a shrill,

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

Crud, this was going to take some explaining.

Hi. My name is Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, Savior of Olympus, and Guardian of the Hunt. I am currently 19 years old, and will remain that way for eternity. That is, unless I fall in battle. You see, by Guardian of the Hunt, I meant guardian of the immortal Huntresses and their mistress, Artemis, Goddess of the Moon and the Hunt (among other things). I have been loyally serving Artemis for a couple months now, and trust me; it is anything but a walk in the park, er, woods. You see, it all started after my friends and I defeated Gaea and saved Olympus a few years ago…

LINE BREAK

Camp Half-Blood had never seemed empty before, but now it was full to bursting with campers. You could barely walk three feet without tripping over one of the god's newly claimed kids. The little ones – the few campers who were eight or younger – were running around playing. Everyone else was in some form of class or training.

Percy was walking to the beach to relax after a training session with the Ares cabin. They were no match for him, even all together, so the session ended quickly. Jogging down to the shore, he was happy to see that Annabeth, his girlfriend of 3 years, was waiting there for him. Jogging up behind her, he noticed that she was lost in thought and covered her eyes with his hands.

"Guess who?" he asked teasingly.

She jumped, spinning around with her hand clutching the hilt of her dagger. Backing up with his hands raised into the universal position for 'surrender,' Percy laughed.

"Whoa, Wise Girl, let's not make me into a Seaweed-Brain-On-A-Stick," he joked. She sheathed her dagger, her stormy grey eyes serious and focused.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned. Annabeth sighed.

"Percy, I've been thinking-" she began. Percy chuckled.

"When aren't you thinking?" he teased. Then he noticed the look on her face.

"Okay, okay, not the time for joking," he relented. She glared at him once more before continuing.

"So, I've decided…well…this is hard to say, but…I want to go to college!" she blurted. Percy blinked, surprised, then beamed.

"Well, of course, Wise Girl! You should totally go to college! I meant to keep this a surprise but I've been visiting New Rome and-"

Annabeth shook her head, cutting him off.

"No, Percy, you don't understand. I-I'm done being a demigod. I'm done watching friend after friend die, done burning their shrouds, done with the gods not caring. I want to go to college in the mortal world, to be a normal teenager for once in my life. Don't I deserve that? Just one chance at normalcy?

"Of course you do, Annabeth, but-"

"No, no buts Percy! I've been thinking about this for a while, and my decision is final. I've been accepted to Harvard on an architectural scholarship, and I accepted. I leave in a week." She finished, staring at him defiantly, daring him to contradict her.

Percy sat there, stunned.

"You mean, you're leaving?" Percy's voice cracked, and Annabeth winced slightly.

"Just like that? No warning, just 'Oh, hey, Percy, by the way, I, Annabeth Chase, your girlfriend of three years as of today, am leaving you for college?!'" Percy exclaimed, anger creeping into his voice.

"You've been disappearing on and off all year! You won't tell me where you go, or what you do! What am I supposed to think?" Annabeth screamed right back at him.

Percy plowed on, "'No, I didn't think of how you would feel. No, I didn't bother asking you what you wanted to do with your life, or what you had planned for the two of us. No, I did not think that maybe, possibly, you could have applied to Harvard too and possibly, actually gotten in.'

"Because guess what, Annabeth, I did. I applied to Harvard, just to see, just in case that's what you wanted, because your mom hinted as much, and I got in, just for you, as a major in marine biology. I applied just in case this happened, just in case you wanted to go.

But seeing as you don't care about me, since you obviously care about going to Harvard and having a normal life more then me, more than my choice to turn down godhood in order to spend the rest of my life with you, then go ahead," Percy finished.

"I never asked you to," she said quietly, and Percy froze. He blinked at her, stunned, before a wave of pain washed over his face and he reached into his pocket, pulling out a small black box.

"You want to know why I've been disappearing so often? I was proving to your mother that I was worthy of your hand in marriage. I was ready to propose weeks ago, but wanted to wait for the perfect moment. Gods, I even built us a house in New Rome, within walking distance of that coffee shop that makes your favorite hot chocolate.

"I was going to ask you to marry me tonight, at the campfire. But I guess that's not what you want. You want a normal life? Harvard is your new dream? Well, you were mine. Happy anniversary. We're through." With that, Percy threw the box into the sand and stormed off, ignoring the droplets that dotted his cheeks.

Annabeth didn't move, stunned by Percy's proclamation. His words hit her like bricks. He had been accepted to Harvard, for her? He had built them a house? He was going to propose, tonight?

She had completely forgotten about what the date was, having been too busy worrying about her decision and how to tell Percy. Now she had ruined the happy ending she hadn't dared hope for, and all for a stupid mortal school whose classes were probably going to be too easy for her anyway.

Kneeling down on the sand, she picked up the box Percy had dropped and opened it. At the sight of the ring, she gasped, before finally letting her tears fall.

Inside the box was a small silver band with three small diamonds. The center diamond was the largest, had a silver-grey hue, and was framed by two smaller sea green diamonds. The band itself had olive branches engraved around it, and on the inside of the band, Percy had engraved a message.

To last a thousand years. I love you, W.G. –S.B.

Annabeth's eyes watered as she traced the words with her fingers. He had remembered what she had said all those years ago about her dream of building something that would last forever. Why couldn't she see that it wasn't a building or a career that would make her happy, but having Percy in her life? She had messed up, worse than ever before.

Annabeth steeled her resolve, sliding the ring onto her finger before running after Percy, determined to fix what she had just ruined. As she sprinted along the beach, back towards camp, she had only one thought.

What have I done?