The lost hero returns

8. Late night talks

Percy's point of view:

I glanced outside the window.
When everyone went back to whatever they were doing I walk over to my friends.

They were sitting on the couch in front of a small fire place.
Yes this cabin has one. It is bigger than it looks on the outside.

We all have our own rooms, bathrooms and we have a kitchen, upper floor and more.
It is awesome.

I walk over to the others.

"I don't trust Matthew. I never liked him." Selina says leaning against Beckendorf.
They are still going strong.

"Me too. He is using charmspeak with every word he says." Beckendorf says.

"We are going to keep an eye on him. But for now, get some sleep. Tomorrow we are going to continue our routine. So wake up at 6." I say looking at Bianca.

"Ugh.. can't we start at a decent time. Like 12 or something?" She beggs.

We laugh. She is always late and doesn't like getting up early.

"No we can't. We need to stay sharp. By the way. If you want to reveal yourself to the campers you have my permission." I say looking at the fire.

They are quiet. They know that it will be a strange day tomorrow.

"Was it hard?" Zoë asks. I look up.

"What?" I ask knowing what she meant.

"Seeing her again. Being back at camp. Seeing your old friends again." She says.

I take a breath. "Yes, it is. But I don't think I am the only one that has a hard time comming back." I say looking at Luke, Selina, Beckendorf and even Bianca.

"I am going to show my face tomorrow. I can't wait to see my friends again. I also really want to meet Piper." Selina says.

"Me too. I really want to be with my siblings again. And I really want to see bunker 9." Beckendorf says excited.

"I really want to see Nico again. And I want to meet Hazel. I've always wanted a little sister. She sounds so awesome." Bianca says excited.

"Hey! What about us" Zoë and Selina say looking at Bianca like she hurt their feelings.

I have told them all about my old friends and everything we have been through.

Luke looks at the fire.
"Luke. Do you know what you are going to do?" Zoë asks.

"I am going to sleep." He says turning around.

"Luke. They forgave you a long time ago. Annabeth would love to see you again. The real you. So will a lot of other campers." I say knowing that we had this conversation a lot. And it always ended the same.

"You keep saying they forgave me. Percy. But have they? Have they really? They say that because I was dead. Will they still forgive me when they see me again?" Luke yells.

"Yes. Yes they will." I say confident.

"Well I don't. And I will never forgive myself." He says.

"Why not?" Selina asks gently.

"Because you died because of my actions. So did all of you!" Luke says. Tears in his eyes. "Every day I see your faces and I think about how you could still be alive at camp if I hadn't.." Luke doesn't finish the sentence.

Selina stands up and hugs Luke. Luke cries in her arms.
"We forgave you a long time ago. It is time you did the same." She says softly.

They sit there for a minute. Luke lets Selina go and looks at the ground.
"I will think about it." Luke says as he turns around and heads to his bedroom.

"You should all get some sleep." I say.
They nod and head to their rooms.

I stay back. I need some time alone.
After a couple minutes I decide to go outside.

I open the door and feel the soft breeze.
I head towards my favorite place in camp.

The place Annabeth and I had our first kiss.
Well technically second kiss. But the first one as a couple.

As I walk closer I see someone sitting on that spot. Annabeth?

She sees me standing and I start to turn around and walk away.

"You want to join me?" she asks.

I hesitate for a second but I join her.
I sit down next to her.

"So.. What brings you here?" She asks looking at the water.

"Just needed to clear my head." I say. I try to change my voice a little.

"Yeah.. Me too." She admits. "You know. You remind me of someone."

"Oh..really?" Is all I could say. My mind is racing. Does she know? Is it that obvious?

"Yeah.. He was a hero on this camp." She says looking sad. "He was also my boyfriend." A tear falls down her face.

Why is she crying? She broke up with me!
"What happened?" I ask.

"No one is sure. We defeated Gaea. And we got back to camp. But honestly. I can barely remember the next few months after." She says. Looking troubled. 

"A lot of campers have the same thing. Everyone says it is what happens after war. You try to cope with everything." She continues.

"But you don't think that is it?" I ask.

"No. I would remember breaking up with him. Nico says he left because he told us he felt like he wasn't wanted here. And nobody was trying to stop him." She says. Tears fill her eyes.
"And now he is gone. We don't know where he is. Hades and Nico say he is still alive.." She wipes away a tear that started rolling on her cheek.

I remain calm from the outside.
But in my head all alarms go off and I panick.

Should I tell her I am here?
I don't know what to do.

"What would you say to him if he were here?" I ask her. She looks at me with hesitation.

"I would tell him how sorry I am. I don't even remember the breakup. And I dont know why I did it. I just really miss him. I want to see his eyes. Hear his laugh and feel his arms around me. But most of all.. I want to beg for his forgiveness." Her voice faltered.

My heart is beating so fast it couldn't be healthy.
"Annabeth, It's okay-" I cant even finish my sentence.

The war horn blows three times.
Meaning an attack.

This conversation has to wait.
I run to the edge of camp. My team is with me within a minute. The rest of camp is very slow. I need to work on that.

Then monsters start to charge. A couple cyclops and other nasty looking things.
I don't know what they are.

But I am sure they are not here for some cookies.

"Get ready!" I yell.