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. Looking 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?" (Think Mrs. Weasley, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets) 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 I defeated Kronos and saved Olympus three years ago… 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. Most of them were pretty young, so they didn't know how to fight very well. The Little Ones, as those that were 8 and under were called, were running around playing. Those 9 and up were either in monster 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. Running up behind her, noticing she was lost in thought, he covered her eyes with his hands, whispering into her ear. "Guess who?" he asked teasingly. She jumped, spinning around, dagger in hand. Backing up with his hands raised into the universal position for 'surrender', he 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?" Percy asked with concern. She sighed. "Percy, I've been thinking-" Annabeth 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 cut him off. "No, Percy, you don't understand. I want to go to college in the mortal world. I've been accepted to Stanford on an architectural scholarship, and it's my dream. I've accepted, and I leave in a week...and I don't think that a relationship would be wise right now," Percy sat there, stunned. "You mean, you're leaving? Just like that? No warning, just 'Oh, hey, Percy, by the way, I, Annabeth Chase, your girlfriend of 3 years as of today, am leaving you for college!'" Percy exclaimed, anger creeping into his voice. "You've been disappearing for periods of time 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 youwanted 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 Stanford too and possibly, actually gotten in.' Because guess what, Annabeth, I did. I applied to Stanford, just to see, 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, that you obviously care about going to Stanford more then me turning down godhood to spend the rest of my life with you, then go ahead," Percy pulled a small box out of his pocket.

"I've been waiting to pull this out for weeks. You 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. I even built us a house in New Rome, close enough to the college that I could still see you every day. I was going to propose tonight, at the campfire. But I guess that's not what you want. You said Stanford was your dream? Well, you were mine. Happy anniversary. We're through." With that, Percy stormed off, furiously wiping away the droplets that splattered his cheeks.

Annabeth stood there, stunned. She had made the famous Percy Jackson, the Savior of Olympus, cry. His words hit her like bricks. He got accepted to Stanford, for her? He had built them a house? He was going to propose, tonight? She had completely forgotten about what the date was, she was too busy worrying about telling Percy about her decision to go to Stanford. Now she had ruined the happily ever after she had always dreamed of, and all for a stupid 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. Opening it, she gasped, before finally letting her tears fall.

Inside the box was a small silver ring with a small diamond. The center diamond had a silver-grey hue, and had two tiny sea green diamonds on either side of it. The band 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 Wise Girl. –Seaweed Brain

Annabeth cried as she traced the words with her fingers. After all this time, he had remembered her greatest desire, to build something that would last forever. Why couldn't she see that it wasn't building that would make her happy, but having Percy in her life? Wiping her tears, she slid the ring onto her finger before running after Percy, determined to fix what she had just ruined. As she ran along the beach, back towards camp, she had only one thought.

What have I done?

Percy ran through camp, not stopping to answer any of the questions thrown at him. None of them were nice, however. They were all hostile, 'Where do you think you're going?'s, 'Hey, are those tears, Jackson?'s, and 'What a wimp, like he was the Savior of Olympus's… With taunts and teases being thrown at his back, he ran towards the cabins.

"Thalia? Thalia?" Percy called. She had been visiting for a while, and had planned to leave after the proposal. He walked inside to find a note.

Lovebirds,

Sorry guys, but Artemis needed me back. I'm really sorry I can't be there for the proposal, but I promise I'll be at the wedding. Congrats guys! See you soon!

Your Cuz, (and future maid of honor [I'M NOT WEARING A DRESS! OR ANYTHING PINK!])

Thalia

Sighing, Percy put down the note. It wasn't Thalia's fault, but he needed someone to talk to. But who? Grover? He was off rallying the nature spirits for a huge pollution protest or something with Juniper. Nico? No, he was with Hades in the Underworld. Rachel? She was still in school, and would be for a few more weeks. Travis and Connor? No, they were helping their dad deliver messages today. Katie? Oh, right, she was going into town with Miranda today to get some supplies. Clarisse? She'd just tell him to stop being a wimp. Chiron? No. He'd just look at Percy with sympathy and pity, and that's not what he needed. He needed to get away. That left only one person left to talk to.

He barged into his cabin and packed his bag. He needed to see his mom.