Well, hi there. This is my first fanfiction, I hope you like! Happy reading~

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson, he is owned by a troll under the name of Rick Riordan or RSquared.

Before Goodbye

A Percy Jackson Fan Fiction

"You know that place between sleep and awake? The place where you can still remember dreaming. That's the place where I'll love you. That's the place where I'll be waiting."

Annabeth Chase lay on her back in her bed at Cabin Six. She was staring at the ceiling, reminiscing about today's events and the perfect night she shared with her boyfriend who stayed at Cabin Three, Percy Jackson, who was, probably, already drifted into a deep sleep. Her thoughts about Percy made a smirk spread across her face. They had been dating since August, after the war against the Titans, in which they won. Since then, they had been spending an awful lot of time together, more than when they were still best friends.

For once she thought everything was so right and nothing could go wrong. But hell, everything had gone wrong from the day they were claimed by their godly parents. It was a good sign for a god or goddess to claim their children, but it was only a beginning to what was coming. After a demigod is claimed, everything would, pretty much go downhill.

A few moments passed, finally sleep caught her and Annabeth slowly closed her eyes. She was hoping she would dream about today, a whole day in a dream replaying every second she spent with Percy on their first day of camp. Re-living a day in a dream wasn't so bad anyway.

Percy Jackson waved his hand at Annabeth Chase, who was waiting for him outside the camp's entrance while reading a complicated book Percy wouldn't even touch, much less read. She lifted her head up to find a good-looking son of Poseidon in front of her, grinning madly as he walked towards his girlfriend.

"Hey, Wise Girl," His grin grew even wider as he took the book Annabeth was reading off her hands and closed it shut. Percy gave her a quick peck on her lips and smiled at her.

Annabeth returned his smile, "Long time no see, Seaweed Brain." Percy embraced her and he put his arms around her waist while Annabeth did the same to him. Being in Percy's embrace made her feel safe and right, Annabeth could never imagine how her life would be without him by her side, looking out for her and protecting her back.

After a few seconds, Annabeth broke free from Percy's arms and said, "Let's go inside, shall we? Cabin Three is waiting for you." Then, she took his hand in hers and dragged him inside the camp they both love.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Percy put his bag on the floor beside his cabin door and plunged himself on one of the bunk beds, the one nearest to the window with the stunning view of the sea. The view from said window never made any sense to Percy whatsoever, but he never put much thought into it. As it was probably his father, doing his godly magic or some sorts. The smell of the sea in his cabin made it easier for him to be more relaxed than anywhere else. Although he rarely has to share the cabin with anyone and he sometimes feel kind of lonely, the cabin always felt like another home for him. Like a home away from home.

He sat there for a long time, thinking he had three weeks of camp ahead of him and spending every waking moment of it with Annabeth. He felt awesome, as if happiness ran through his veins and circulates around his body, made him more hype than usual. Like the usual Percy wasn't hyper enough.

Over the past two months after the war, after he started dating Annabeth, he couldn't stop smiling, grinning or smirking. Every time he heard her name, even if the name wasn't referring to his girlfriend, a silly smile would quickly spread on his face. A little smile always played on the edge of his lips when he talked about Annabeth with anyone, his mother, his step-father, his father or even some random sea-creatures that happen to pass by. And now, somehow, going to school didn't seem as bad as going to the underworld. He felt divine.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Annabeth left Percy on his own accord when Malcolm approached her to ask for the Hecate Cabin blueprint. Malcolm said hi to Percy before he went away immediately. She gave a quick kiss on Percy's cheek before she promised him to meet her at the beach in the afternoon, before lunch.

The daughter of Athena set off to her cabin to retrieve the said blueprint while Percy settled in his. She scrambled over ten blueprints until she found what she was looking for. The Hecate Cabin blueprint was under a thick pile of other blueprints for upcoming cabins. She pulled the blueprint from the stack and noticed a small piece of paper flew out of the pile. Annabeth picked it up; she blushed at the sight of what was written on it and scrambled the paper into her jeans pocket. After that, she tried to walk casually to his brother, to give him the blueprint he wanted.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Annabeth ran to the beach before lunch and saw Percy playing in the salt water, floating on the sea surface with only his boxers. She gave out a chuckle and approached him carefully. Percy, as if sensing Annabeth's presence, looked up and got out of the water. He lifted his girlfriend, which caught her by surprise, and carried her into the water.

Percy plunged into the water with Annabeth in his arms. He laughed while Annabeth got paralysed with shock. When she recovered, she faced Percy and shouted, "You'll pay for this!" And then Percy swam as fast as he could, away from Annabeth as she shot a death glare at him.

Minutes passed before Annabeth caught Percy. She soon realised that Percy was slowing down so that she could catch him. When she was near enough, Percy grasped her by the wrist and pulled her towards him. He kissed her fully on the mouth and as their lips pressed, she could feel his soft lips formed a smile against hers.

Percy let go of Annabeth's hand to cup her cheek and she ran her now-free-hands through his messy black hair. Percy's hands were on her waist, pulling her closer to him while deepening the kiss even further. They didn't care if they have to be in the big house anytime now or the fact that swimming in October might give them cold. It was times like these they wanted to last forever. They were truly happy and felt as if they were some normal sixteen-year-old teenagers, longing for each other.

And when everything was perfect, they heard voices and laughs, not far from where they were. Both of them sprung apart and quickly got out of the water. Percy put on his shirt and quickly dried himself. He then touched Annabeth's arm and, as if the water was absorbed by the touch of his fingers, her clothes were dry and warm. Percy put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulder and they walked casually away from the beach as Connor and Travis Stoll made their appearance, getting ready to make some mayhem in the dining pavilion before everybody gathered for lunch.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

They were all used to Connor and Travis' doings, even Chiron decided to give up on them, thus finding a mysterious gooey slime spluttered across their lunch table didn't surprise them a bit. Except for Drew, that daughter of Aphrodite screamed when she found, not just her cabin's table, but also the benches were coated with a greenish substance. Unfortunately for her, she was busy looking at her reflection on her mirror when she decided to sit on the bench. Connor and Travis, who were standing not far from the Aphrodite table, laughed their asses off and all of the campers followed as the red-faced Drew stormed out.

Percy swept the slime off his bench and started to eat his lunch alone in the Poseidon's table. Annabeth was having lunch with her siblings in the Athena's, constantly stealing glances at Poseidon's table to see her 'Seaweed Brain'.

When Percy was done devouring his lunch and drank his usual blue drink from a goblet, he went to Athena's table to talk to his girlfriend. "So," He said casually from behind her, putting his arms around Annabeth's neck. "What are you doing after lunch?"

"Same old, same old," Annabeth replied as she recognised the voice that belongs to her boyfriend. She turned around and continued, "I have to supervise the building of the Hecate Cabin, and then I have a sparring match with my best friend." She finished with a smirk, Percy thought her smirk was cute.

Percy raised his eyebrows, "Is that a challenge?"

"This is nothing your Seaweed Brain can't handle," Annabeth teased while she rose up from her seat with an empty plate in her hands. "Of course I am."

Percy took the plate from her hands and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Well then, see you there Wise Girl," He said, winking as the black haired boy exited the dining pavilion after dropping her plate into the bin. Annabeth hated that wink, it made her heart skipped rapidly and she didn't like it.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

A couple hours to kill before the spar, Percy went to the amphitheatre with his pet, Mrs. O'Leary, the hellhound. He played with her and she, in return, kept licking his cheek. In the middle, they were joined by Nico di Angelo.

"Hey, Percy!" Nico called as he walked towards them. Nico, looking as pale as ever, had his Stygian Iron sword on his belt and his usual black get up. He got taller, that was Percy's first thought when he saw him.

"Oh, hey there Nico, how's the new Hades Cabin?" Percy asked with a straight face because part of him didn't want Nico to know that his cabin, kind of, freak the hell out of him a bit. It reminded him of his constant visit to the Underworld, which wasn't a pretty memory since he almost got killed every time he went there. It felt like he was closer to death every time he took a step towards the entrance, in which actually true.

Nico patted Mrs. O'Leary before he answered, "It's pretty cool, and where did you guys get all those skulls?"

Percy opened his mouth and raised a finger before he closed it again. "You don't want to know." Nico swallowed and somehow, he got paler. Right then, Percy broke into a laugh and soon they were laughing as Mrs. O'Leary barked happily around them.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Annabeth was ready with her dagger in her hand. Percy on the other hand, was not. He was still grasping for his pen inside his pocket. His left pocket, when the pen was in the other one. Annabeth, not wasting a good chance to attack, took a step forward and charged.

She was about two metres in front of him when Percy finally reached for his pen in his other pocket. Percy took the pen out and uncapped it with the speed of light. He was in time to block Annabeth's dagger with the flat part of his sword, Anaklusmos, Riptide.

And after that, everything went off. Annabeth flipped backwards, landing softly on the ground with her free hand. Percy didn't attack her; instead he played with his sword, spinning it on its hilt while watching Annabeth regained her balance.

For a moment, they stood still, facing each other. Percy produced a playful smile while Annabeth glared at him menacingly. They circled around the arena for a few moments and, for the second time, she decided to finish his boyfriend.

This time, she didn't hold back, Annabeth aimed at Percy's throat. But the son of Poseidon saw her move and he stepped aside. From the side, Percy caught his girlfriend's dagger by its hilt with his sword and made a move to disarm her. But Annabeth jumped backwards to avoid Riptide. Once again, a space filled with tension separated them.

"What's wrong, Wise Girl?" Percy asked, playfully. "Drawing those designs of Olympus has made you rusty?" Usually, Annabeth didn't budge at Percy's attempt to provoke her. But, today, his attempt was successful with flying colours.

Athena's daughter charged, and their swords clanged. Percy kept dodging the dagger while Annabeth slashed around, trying to hurt Percy in various parts of his body, giving him deadly blows. Percy didn't bother to lift the shield, which hung in his left arm, to block the never ending attacks.

In the middle of the spar, Percy noticed a lot of things. Like the fact that his girlfriend had a piece of paper hidden in her jeans pocket. Without Annabeth noticing, the paper flew out and landed gracefully on the arena ground.

Annabeth stepped forward while Percy still held on to his position. She ran towards the son of Poseidon and when she was a metre away, Percy turned around. He made a sudden movement, pivoting on his heel, and in a blink of an eye, Percy was behind her thrusting his sword at the back of Annabeth's neck. He played a smile on his face as Annabeth's head turned to take as glance at her opponent. She spat.

"So," Percy grinned. "I think that just ended your thirteen victories in a row." He edged closer to her as he spoke.

"It's only one win, Percy," Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"But," Percy said with such confidence. He leaned closer to Annabeth's ear and dropped into a whisper, "A win can change everything, Wise Girl." She flushed.

Before Percy had any chance to make anymore moves, Malcolm called Annabeth from the edge of the arena. She then kissed Percy's cheek, thank the gods and went away without saying anything else.

With Annabeth departing, Percy walked around the arena. Just when he was about to leave, he spotted a thin paper on the ground. He ran to retrieve it, brushing off the dirt before seeing what was written on it. After he read, he smirked.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Percy spent his hours before dinner by training new campers how to use a sword correctly with the help of Nico. "I heard Rachel is coming for her winter break," Nico said in the midst of training.

"Yeah, she is." Their swords met with a loud clang. "I think she said she will be arriving in about, three days?"

"Ah." Nico tried to disarm Percy, but he saw through it.

"Have you taken an interest in Rachel all of the sudden?" Percy asked as he avoided Nico's movement.

"Nah, I never talk to her," Nico slashed at him. "I heard from Beckendorf something about her though, pretty interesting if you ask me." Percy's eyes widened, knowing what was the 'something' which Beckendorf had told Nico, at the same time a sly grin spread across the son of Hades' face.

Nico knew Percy pretty damn well; he readied himself for his attacks. At this point Percy used all his might to disarm him. It wasn't easy avoiding Percy's attempts, it was tiring, but he was able to keep up with the son of Poseidon.

They sparred for almost ten minutes before Percy had Nico on the ground with riptide not far from his neck. "You got me, Perce," Nico grinned.

"Don't ever mention what Beckendorf told you to Annabeth or anyone," Percy said. His face had a mixed up expression somewhere between worried, scared, frightened and threatening.

"Fine," Nico sighed. "It's not like I want your blade near my neck again." Percy capped his sword and gave the Son of Hades a hand. He took it.

Both of them turned their face towards the campers. "And that's how a good spar should look like," Percy smiled at the new demigods.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Dinner was nothing special; it started like always and ended with scraping the good stuff from their dinner into the camp fire flame. The fire danced and shifted colours as the food were thrown into it.

Percy threw a good amount of his dinner, two of the sausages, some fries and half of his burger, to the burning flame and prayed to the gods. He asked for nothing, really, he just gave a lot of thanks to them for that first day of winter camp. He was enjoying the silence after the storm.

Annabeth approached him as he went away from the hearth. "Hey, how did the sword training go?" She asked, rather casually. Percy looked at her and spread a wide grin.

"It went well actually," The Son of Poseidon put his arm around his girlfriend. "Who knows I have a talent in teaching?" Annabeth smiled at that.

They sat around the fire and a minute later, Chiron came with a handful of Apollo kids trotting behind him. A guitar was held by one of them, he started to strum while the others sang a melody. The girl from the group started singing and not long after that, they were engulfed into the melodious tune.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

A lot of campers went back to their cabins after the laughter-filled-campfire was closed with some words from Chiron. It was one of their best campfires, to be honest, just because it didn't end with a bad news, like the death of their friends.

While the other campers decided to retreat to their respective cabins, Percy and Annabeth had different plans. Both heroes ran to the forest where they usually held the game 'Capture the Flag', Percy's favourite. They laughed, kissed, talked and shared stories along the way, simply having the time of their lives. After about fifteen minutes strolling under the full moon, they stopped in the forest clearing.

Percy turned around, which made Annabeth bumped onto his chest abruptly. "I think this is pretty cute," He grinned as he scooped something from his jeans pocket. At the sight of the white paper, Annabeth's gray eyes widened. "Captivating sea-green eyes," Percy read and held the paper high so his girlfriend could not reach it. "Are the pair in which only you have," He continued while Annabeth jumped to take the paper from him. "More beautiful than the skies," The boy smiled as the girl continued her struggle. "More dazzling than the moon," Percy finished and lowered his hand. The-gray-eyed girl took the chance to quickly snatch the paper from the boy's grasp.

"That's private, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said to him, pushing her boyfriend onto the grassy forest ground.

"But I think it's sweet." Percy fell, taking Annabeth in his arms; she fell on top of him. "That's me you are writing about, right?"

The Daughter of Athena rolled her eyes, "Seaweed Brain." She smiled at him as he brushed her golden locks behind her ear. Percy grinned in return while staring at her moonlit face in adoration. At that moment, their eyes locked, sea-green to stormy gray. Their lips were only inches apart.

Percy closed his eyes as he pressed his lips against Annabeth's. The kiss was slow and tender and before long, she started to kiss him back. "You are beautiful, Wise Girl," he said in between kisses. She just smiled at his statement without taking her lips off his.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

As the night grew older, Percy finally walked Annabeth back to her cabin. On their way, both of them stared at the glittering sky above them. "It's beautiful," Annabeth muttered. Percy nodded in silent. He was amazed as there were no stars in the sky of New York, which was kind of sad. With heads still bended upwards, their hands intertwined just as they continued their late night walk to Cabin Six.

"Thank you, Percy," Annabeth told him as they arrived in front of Athena's Cabin.

Percy chuckled, "Exactly what are you thanking me for, Wise Girl?" He was trying to find the right word, "All you have done for me for the past four years," he paused. "I think it is me that owes you a million thank yous."

Annabeth gave him a smile, "I am, clearly, more in debt to you than you are to me." She put her hand on his cheek, "For all the things you have done for me, for always being there for me, and for other countless things you have done for my sake. For those, I am thankful."

"And I, you," He caressed her cheek with his hand as he pulled her in for a kiss. As they kissed, snow came falling down from the sky. They looked up at the night sky and realised someone was watching them from above. As the cold snow came down on both of them, they continued to kiss. "I love you, Wise Girl."

"And I, you."

Three words, a kiss and the sound of his shoes against the ground.

A shout from one of her siblings woke her up. "Annabeth!" Malcolm called as the cabin door burst open. Annabeth, still in her sleep wear, scratched her eyes before she asked what had happened.

"I don't know how to say this," Malcolm continued. Right then, Annabeth realised how frantic her sibling looked. He was stuttering when he talked, he was a bit sweaty and he was panting while he scrambled his brain for the right words to say to her, to find a way to tell her the bad news, but nothing came out of his mouth. He was too worried about what happened and how Annabeth would react to it. After he noticed his attempt was futile, Malcolm decided to show her. "Come with me now."

It was nine o'clock in the morning when Annabeth followed Malcolm outside Cabin Six. She quickly realised they were heading for Cabin Three, Poseidon's. Her mind swirled and her stomach churned. The thought of Percy filled her head in an instant. What did he do this time? She thought.

Malcolm led her to Percy's cabin and let out a breath before opening the door. Annabeth could not see the inside, since Malcolm was blocking her view. From the back, Annabeth could tell that her brother was scanning the whole room. When he finished, he sighed and walked in, giving Annabeth a clear view of the inside of her boyfriend's cabin.

Annabeth followed Malcolm, she was ready to comment on whatever stupid thing Percy did this time and called him Seaweed Brain when she has finished, they would have a good laugh then. But her creatively sharp comments couldn't be used since Percy did nothing wrong, instead, she found his cabin empty.

The bunk beds were perfectly made, except for the one on the edge which Percy always uses for sleeping. Beside the bed, everything in the room was tidy, untouched. Percy's travelling bag was on the foot of his bed, sitting on a wooden box that always been there since the first time Percy came into Camp Half-Blood. Nothing had been taken from the room. She was here yesterday and everything looked the same, the only different thing was: Her favourite son of Poseidon wasn't there.

Percy went missing several times in the past and he came back, maybe with a few bruises. And, frankly, his disappearing wasn't a rare occurrence, but it's not a daily routine. He will come back eventually, Annabeth always believe that and he did come back. But this wasn't one of those times; Annabeth felt that this time, he may never come back.

"I have been trying to find him since seven, when I found his cabin empty," Malcolm ran his fingers through his blonde hair. "I was going to talk to him about today's change of schedule, but he is gone." He dug his hands inside the pocket of his pants while his sister stared at the empty cabin, paralysed, and lost for words.

She recovered a minute later and walked slowly around Percy's cabin, staring blankly at nothing before Malcolm continued. "He wasn't in the big house, strawberry fields, the arena, the forest, even the beach, he's just," he paused, licking his lips in the process. "Gone."

The word struck Annabeth like a thousand swords pierced into her body. She didn't respond, nor did Malcolm expect her to. "Look Annabeth, I'm going to inform Chiron about the situation, he'll know what to do next," With that, Malcolm left. Before he walked out of the door he added, "Sorry, Annabeth."

When she heard the closing door, her knee gave in and she dropped into the ground. Annabeth stared blankly at the floor and tried not to let herself cry over Percy's disappearance. But her thoughts didn't co-operate with her as her minds formed different possibilities of what had happened to Percy.

Annabeth's eyes became glassy as she heard his voice last night, replaying over and over again in her head. She remembered the good night kiss, his soft lips pressed onto hers, as his hands settled on her back and the other caressing her cheek with such tenderness. She didn't know it would be their last. He was so real yesterday and now he's gone.

For a moment, she stayed on the ground, kneeling, as her hands lay limply by her side. After she gathered her thoughts, she decided to stand up and try to find that son of Poseidon who went missing after just two months of dating. She couldn't accept his disappearance.

She took a deep breath and smelled a tinge scent of the sea. Percy always smells like that.

Annabeth's hand was on the door knob before she noticed a small white envelope on the messy bed. She walked over and took it off his unmade bed. She flipped the envelope.

To: Annabeth, it read.

A letter? Annabeth thought. Not very Percy. Yet, she still slid the envelope inside her pocket and went away to find the lost hero.

end note:

This is where people usually encourage the reader to review right? I won't do that though. You want to review or not, it's up to you. It's a free country after all. But I give you my uttermost gratitude for reading this fanfiction until the end. I am aware of the grammar mistakes I have made, but feel free to correct them if you feel like it. This note is getting too long, so bye!

p.s. I hate how fanfic net doesn't let me use double lines or a group of stars to separate the scenes. I should write an angsty letter to the admin or something.