A/N:

Alrighty then, how's it going everybody? Good, good, I'm bored too. But, you know, such is life. Thankfully, Uncle Rick has given us a light in the darkness. Who else is way more than just excited about the promised Disney+ Percy Jackson series? Now, more than ever, I need this stupid corona thing to go away so that they can get on production!

My muse is back and better than ever! You'll never believe, but I pumped this chapter out in a day. I'm so excited for you guys to read this! I think you'll find it...unexpected (mwahahaha :))

Just so you know, I'm a prospective pre-med student, so I tried my best to make everything in this chapter as medically accurate as possible. But if it's not...well... I did say prospective, didn't I? Seriously, though, if there are any errors that you notice, please tell me so that I can go back and fix them.

As always, I hope you enjoy! And please vote and comment, they really do light up my day.

Goodbye, my lovelies! :3

The rest of the day went by in a blur. It had been at least a week since he'd seen Annabeth. That wasn't that long, technically, but to him it felt like years. Ever since the switch, it was like his feelings for Annabeth had grown ten fold. It was like that old saying, 'you never realise how much you love something until it's gone'. Annabeth was important to him, she was his rock, his world. And after Tartarus….They needed each other.

Besides, he knew she must be going out of her mind, by now. When he'd called from his apartment, he hadn't had time to properly explain what was going on, and every time he'd tried to Iris message after that hadn't worked. The whole thing reminded him just a little bit too much of Hera's schemes last year.

It was time. He had to make his escape. But he couldn't try and leave until night, or else the wizards would notice and get suspicious. And suspicion was the last thing they needed. The camps were still recovering from the war. Discovery would be fatal.

By the time dinner rolled around, his friends had realised that something was up. But he refused to answer any of their questions.

He felt like Nico at the beginning of the Giant War. Playing for both sides without letting either one know the other existed. It was harder than he thought it would be.

"Seriously, Percy, are you alright? What's going on? You've been acting weird all day", Tracey said, interrupting herself in the middle of talking about something he wasn't paying attention to. That made him feel a bit guilty. But not too much.

"Look, I'm fine", he replied, beginning to get a bit irritated at their repeated questions, "Same as I was when you asked me fifteen minutes ago. I just haven't been getting much sleep lately, that's all".

That was part of the problem too. He had grown used to Annabeth's constant presence by his side over the years. Within the past year or so, that included at night, too. He still had nightmares when they were together, to be sure. And he knew that she did too. But they weren't nearly as bad, and waking up to her beside him always managed to calm him down quicker and easier than even the ocean. Without her here or even a body of water bigger than a lake, he was at his wit's end. 3 hours of sleep every night for the past two weeks did not a happy demigod make.

Tracey frowned, and though he tried to hide it, Draco looked up in concern as well. "Maybe you should go see Madame Pomfrey", she suggested gently, "She might be able to give you something that would help".

Percy shook his head immediately. "No, no. I'm fine. I don't need drugs or potions or whatever. I'll figure it out on my own". The idea of taking something to help him sleep unnerved him, even though it was a perfectly reasonable thing for someone in his situation to do. Maybe it was the fact that stuff like that made you sleep deeply in a way he hadn't for pretty much his entire life. There was a reason for that. Demigods were always in danger, and they brought danger to those around him, too. Especially him, being a demigod son of one of the Big Three. He couldn't even count how many times he'd been attacked in the middle of the night and had to transition from sleep directly to battle. Sleeping so deeply could cost him his life. And more importantly, the lives of those around him.

"Alright…", she said, unconvinced.

They continued with their dinner with an awkward silence hanging over them. Draco in particular had an odd expression on his face. He looked kind of…constipated.

"You know", he finally started quietly after a few moments, "If you ever need to talk, you can wake me up. I know what it's like". He turned immediately back to his food as though embarrassed, but Percy was oddly touched.

"Thanks, dragon. I might take you up on that sometime". He had no intention of doing that, of course, but it was the thought that counted. The fact that he had even offered was comforting in itself.

Draco glared at him across the table, though it held no heat. "Don't call me dragon".

Percy shook his head petulantly, a trace of his usual grin on his face. "Nope. I like it, so you're stuck with it…Dragon".

Draco just groaned dramatically and threw a roasted potato at him in retaliation. Percy's hand flew up in caught it in an amazing show of reflexes and popped it in his mouth with a grin. "Ha!", he crowed. The younger boy just rolled his eyes.

—

Later that night, their dormitory was completely silent and dark. The only light was an eerie green colour caused by the lake above them, but that hardly bothered him. His eyes had grown very well adjusted to the dark during his stint in Tartarus, and though he didn't enjoy it much, it came in handy every once and a while.

He changed quickly behind the curtains that he had drawn closed before he went to bed, replacing his ratty shirt and pyjama pants with the more familiar Camp Half-Blood shirt and jeans. He patted his pocket and neck, ensuring that Riptide and both his camp necklace and Epizon were secure before sheathing an extra knife on his thigh, grabbing his go-bag and leaving. Percy was a powerful demigod, to be sure. But what he was about to attempt was crazy, even for him. He wasn't sure where he'd end up, and in his experience, it was better to be overly prepared than dead.

He stopped and looked back in the doorway, making sure that everyone was still fast asleep and wouldn't notice his absence. He wasn't sure what would happen if he got to camp, but looking at Draco and the other boys in his dorm, he knew he would try everything he could to get back.

With that thought in mind, he walked out completely, hiking his bag up on his shoulder and stepping out through the passageway and into the corridor. He didn't use any light as he made his way through the various passageways and corridors of the castle. He didn't need it. And even if he did, he knew the way to the lake by heart- he'd memorised it on his first night here.

The lake was where he was planning to leave from. Fresh water wasn't as good as salt water, but he would take anything he could get at this point. To mist travel over such a large distance was basically suicide, especially when he was as low on energy as he was. But there was nothing to be done. This was an emergency. He needed to get back to camp and explain everything before they sent out search parties and inadvertently revealed themselves. The meeting of these two worlds needed to be handled delicately. He was not about to let this become another New Rome incident.

The lake was calm as it always was when he arrived. Below the surface, he could feel that it was teeming with life. But the creatures that lived there did not tend to look very kindly on the wizards, and so rarely came to the surface.

Taking one last precautionary look around, Percy waded into the lake up to his knees, revelling in the rush of energy he got at the contact with water despite the cold temperature. This jump was dangerous; he could fall short and end up unconscious in the middle of the Atlantic or any other location along the coast. But he had to do it. He had no doubt the camp was capable of tracking him down, even in England. If they found him with the wizards and assumed him to be kidnapped, as they likely would, war could break out. And that was something neither side was ready for.

With a deep breath, Percy allowed himself to dissolve into mist. His consciousness moved quickly within the clouds, and soon the land below him fell away, leaving only the wide expanse of ocean as far as he could see in either direction. Mist travel was… hard to describe. He moved quickly through the atmosphere, and though he could still think, his body was gone, leaving him with only his powers as a guide. When he was in this form, they exploded. He could sense everything for miles around. But it was also a huge drain on his energy. He could feel it even now, the strain of travelling such a long distance in one go. But he couldn't stop. If he took a break halfway through, it would take too much time. He'd never be able to get there and back before anyone back at the castle noticed.

Land appeared as a smudge on the horizon, and he pushed everything he had into reaching it. If he fell short now, he'd be left in unfriendly territory and killed, too week from the travel to defend himself. And that wouldn't help anyone.

—

Malcolm had to drag Annabeth out of the forest for dinner.

She hadn't come for lunch, and she'd only stopped in the pavilion for all of five minutes for what could be considered breakfast that morning. It had been this way for almost a week, and it was obvious she was burning herself out. He could understand her worry, though.

Percy was missing. Again.

Percy loved Annabeth. Anybody could see that. They were engaged for Zeus' sake! But despite that and his own friendship with the guy, he couldn't help but feel a bit pissed off. Being a demigod came with risks. That much was unavoidable. But it was like Percy went looking for trouble. I mean, really. How much bad luck could one guy have?

"C'mon, Annabeth", he goaded somewhat impatiently, "We have to go or we'll miss dinner".

"But the dryads are supposed to give me a report tonight", she protested, "They said they would help. They promised".

"Their report won't have changed in the twenty minutes it will take you to get some food", he said gently, "Percy wouldn't want you to do this to yourself. He's strong. He'll be okay".

Annabeth sighed, the hardened expression falling from her face to be replaced by one of worry. "I know that. I do. It's just…there was a lamp broken in his apartment, knife marks in the wall. There were voices in the background of the Iris message he sent me, and he didn't leave behind any of the signals we agreed on. There is something wrong here, Malcolm. I can feel it".

He pulled her into a hug, but she just sighed after a few moments and pulled away. "Dinner. And then I'm coming right back here to wait for my report", she said. Malcolm felt the sudden urge to snap into a salute and say 'Yes Ma'am!', but he refrained. They weren't at war anymore, and it made him all the more upset for his sister that she had slipped so easily back into that mindset.

He nodded and followed her as she marched back towards the dining pavilion.

Annabeth wasn't the only one worried for Percy, and that was evident from the rather subdued buzz of conversation as they entered the pavilion rather than the usual roar. Jason stood up as she entered and everyone went quiet. "Any word?". She shook her head, and they looked at each other solemnly for a few moments.

"None of the water spirits have seen or heard anything. Thalia and her hunters have searched, but any trail they get disappears at Sally's apartment. I'm still waiting on a message from Grover, but… it's almost"—she took a deep breath, forcing her voice to remain steady and even—"It's almost as though he disappeared into thin air".

Jason fell back into his seat, dread filling him at those words. Those same words that had started the Giant War with a swap of leaders. Something bad was coming, and if history had anything to say about it, this was just the beginning.

Malcolm returned to his seat with the rest of their siblings, and Annabeth grabbed a plate before making her way over to the fire and dumping the best parts into it. "Athena, Hermes, Poseidon", she muttered amidst her prayers. She stayed by the fire longer than typically necessary, praying under her breath, imploring the gods to help her, to bring Percy back.

She waited for a few moments following the end of her prayer, but nothing happened. She sighed and returned to her table. Every night she prayed and every night she allowed her hopes to get up. And every night nothing happened. Her siblings tried their best to comfort her, regaling her with tales of their newest projects and ambitions. She nodded and tried to give her encouragement, but her heart wasn't in it.

Annabeth was at her wit's end. Everything that was happening reminded her far too much of the beginning of the last war. She couldn't survive something like that again. Not again.

She was just finishing her food and was readying herself to go back and talk with the dryads when it happened.

A fierce wind blew in off the ocean, closely followed by rather angry looking clouds. Annabeth immediately stood up in alarm, closely followed by Jason across the room. Normal weather skirted around camp, so any disturbance like this had to be non-mortal in origin. She looked at the son of Jupiter in question, but he just shook his head. Whatever was happening, it wasn't his fault.

Of all the buildings in Camp Half-Blood, the dining pavilion was the closest to the Sound. But even still, the fact that she could hear the waves on the beach was unusual and meant they were growing choppy and stormy, much like the clouds that had now moved to cover the entire camp.

Annabeth rested a hand on the hilt of her drakon bone sword, a cold feeling prickling on the back of her neck. She exchanged glances with the other cabin leaders, but before they could do anything, the wind came again, but stronger, and directly off the water of the Sound.

Sea mist sprayed her face, forcing her to turn slightly and cover her eyes with her forearm. A small whirlwind of water condensed at the center of the pavilion just in front of the main table. The water swirled, as though angry, for several long moments before dissipating, and leaving none other than her missing fiancé in its place.

"Oh, I made it. Love it when I do that", he said, swaying unsteadily on his feet before promptly collapsing.

The dining pavilion was enveloped in a shocked silence for all of one second before everything burst into motion.

"Will!", Annabeth called, but the medic was already in motion.

She joined him kneeling at his side, and together they flipped him over so that he was laying on his back. "Percy?", Will asked, feeling for a pulse, "C'mon, buddy, wake up". In the background, Annabeth faintly registered Jason sending a few of Will's siblings off to the infirmary for emergency supplies and a stretcher.

Will shook his head, his jaw set in determination, "His pulse is thready. Do you see any injuries?".

Annabeth scanned him quickly while Will gently pressed around his abdomen and torso feeling for internal bleeding. "No", she said, shaking her head. She was beginning to grow a bit frantic but had reigned it in for now. She would be no use to anyone if she couldn't think.

Will reached over and opened one of Percy's eyelids, holding a glowing fingertip in front of his eye to test its reaction to light. "Fine", he muttered, "Everything is fine, but his body's shutting down". His first to fingers flew to Percy's carotid again and he swore, pushing Annabeth back and away so that he could get in a better position. "There's nothing physically wrong with him", he said, explaining his thinking, "He must have overused his powers, drained all his energy. It's messed with the electrical activity of his heart".

"Everybody back!", Jason called from somewhere behind them, "Give him some room to work!".

Annabeth felt tears burning in her eyes as Will started chest compressions. She moved up by his head to stay out of his way, holding his face between her hands. "You do not have permission to die, do you hear me, Perseus Jackson?!", she demanded, a traitorous tear making its way down her cheek.

Nico shadow traveled just next to Jason in a panic. "What's going on?", he demanded, eyes deadly serious. He had felt Percy's life force wavering from where he had been visiting Hazel in New Rome and had come immediately.

"I don't know", Jason replied grimly, "Keep them calm. I'm going to go see what I can do to help". He nodded and Jason ran to Percy's side, directly across from Will.

"How can I help?". Will glanced up at him, now breathing quite hard.

"Something's disrupted the electrical signals of his heart", he panted, "I'm beating it for him for now, but I can't do this forever".

"How do we get it started again?", Annabeth asked from her position by his head. Even crying, the look in her eyes was fierce.

"We need something to shock it back into its normal rhythm", Will said, shooting a pointed look at Jason before focusing back in on what he was doing.

Jason's eyes widened in alarm. "I can't do that. What if I hurt him!", he protested.

"He's already dead!", Will snapped, "If you don't do this now, he'll stay that way. We have a defibrillator in the infirmary, but if we leave him like this much longer, he'll have brain damage. We need you to do this Jason!".

"Please", Annabeth asked softly.

Jason's eyes hardened and he nodded swiftly, gesturing for Will to move. He rubbed his hands together until they sparked and made brief eye contact with Annabeth, "Watch out!". Will jumped away seconds before Jason's hands made contact with Percy's chest. His entire body jerked with the shock, and for a brief moment, nothing happened.

Then he jerked back to life with a gasp, rolling over onto his side and coughing. His mechanical arm felt like dead weight at his side, but he had little time to think about that before Annabeth all but tackled him. He hissed, bringing his good hand to his chest in pain and collapsing back into his previous position on the ground. Though this time, thankfully very much alive.

"Gods", he gasped, turning to look at Jason with a tired grin, "I think you just shorted out my arm".

Jason stared at him a moment before bursting out laughing, relief flooding through him. "Yeah? Well I wouldn't have had to if you hadn't tried to die on us".

Percy's grin took on a more strained quality to it, "No promises".

"Don't you dare", a shaky voice whispered, but it cut off their joking immediately. Percy turned to look at Annabeth, frowning at the tears that were spilling from her eyes, "Don't you ever do that to me again, Percy Jackson!", she yelled, hitting him in the arm as hard as she could.

Will made a sort of odd squawking sound out of concern for his patient from where he was still kneeling off to the side, but Annabeth was on a roll.

"What on Gaea possessed you?! You promised! You promised never again, but then you go and do this! Your heart stopped, Percy! You were dead".

"Hey, hey, hey", he said gently, reaching up to cup her cheek with his functioning hand. She leaned into his touch, and the knowledge that her tears were for him broke his heart. "You're right, I did promise. And I would never break it. Not to you". He reached for her hand and brought it to his chest, placing it over his heart. "See. Still beating. I'm still here". She hit him one last time, but the anger behind it was gone.

"Don't you ever", she started, and he nodded.

"I know".

She smiled shakily and leaned down to kiss him, only breaking away again when the stretcher bearers arrived.

"Make a gap!".

Percy smiled at her one last time before catching sight of the stretcher behind her and rolling his eyes. "Is this really necessary? I'm fine".

"You are most certainly not fine", Will cut in, glaring, "Under no circumstances will you be walking anywhere until I give you a full workup".

Percy huffed, but didn't complain again, knowing it was pointless.

"Alright, alright. I think that's enough excitement for one night!", Chiron called over the building ruckus, "Percy, it's good to have to back, my boy. Now off to bed, the lot of you!".

There was some general groaning and protests with a few called well-wishes, but eventually the crowd dispersed.

"I think you owe us an explanation, Percy", Chiron said, looking at him critically once everyone had gone, "But first, rest. Go. We will talk later". Percy gave a lazy salute with his working arm, already growing drowsy from some sort of draught Will's siblings had forced him to drink.

"You got it, horse-man". Chiron gave a long-suffering sigh but didn't comment any further than that, proof in and of itself of how relieved he was.

"Nice job, doc", Percy continued drunkenly as they carried him away, "Though I think you broke a rib or three".

Annabeth couldn't hear his reply from where she stood next to Chiron. "Go with them, my girl", he said, staring after them worriedly, "This isn't over".

She frowned but dutifully jogged over to catch up. She was worried, but not surprised. Knowing Percy, it was never just over. And this was no exception.