I Was Percy Jackson (A Percy Jackson Betrayed Fanfic)

Chapter 28 || Mending Slightly

ANNABETH CHASE

Those sea-green eyes, though flecked with red, blue, and black, were open and staring at me in question.

"Percy!" I exclaimed, hugging him as tight as I could.

"Ouch..." he winced.

Immediately, when he realized who I was, his face hardened.

"What are you doing here?"

I remembered Luke's words.

Say you're sorry. He'll come around.

"Look, Percy--" I started but he cut me off.

"Could you please get Zoë or Luke in here?" he croaked.

I felt my heart sank. But... I loved this man. I loved him. And I wasn't gonna give up so easily.

"I will," I said, pouring him a glass of iced water, "But I need to tell you something first."

If I just looked closely. Past the mask, I could almost see Percy. The real Percy. Not this dude named Thalost.

"I'm sorry," I said, looking into his eyes.

The ice never left them. He was still stone cold towards me. He stared for a little while before I decided it was best to leave him alone and get Luke and Zoë.

"Sorry," I said again, "Sorry, Thalost."

"No," Percy interrupted me and I turned around.

His eyes weren't back to normal, nor was his attitude, but a smidge of light returned to his eyes. Just a little. You couldn't tell from afar, but from a close up, you could.

"Call me Percy."

Those three words made me happier than ever. I nodded and raced out of the room to get Luke and Zoë.

PERCY JACKSON

The moment Annabeth said she was sorry, I felt like I was witnessing the saddest thing I'd ever seen. She was crying. Voluntarily. Begging on her knees just to get me to smile. So as she walked away, the love I felt for her--the devotion--kicked in and seemed to control me.

"No, call me Percy," I said and she stopped.

I could see the grin spread on her face. A beautiful grin. And she nodded, running out of the room just like the day we met. I took a deep breath and sighed, staring up at the ceiling. I wasn't going to fully release everything I had felt for her, nor would I do the same for everyone else, but at least let her know I didn't hate her as much as before.

I silently cursed myself, though. Because I was showing who I was. And that was bad. Percy Jackson was weak. And I wouldn't let that show anymore. I promised myself that only Annabeth and my army could call me Percy... Well, I wasn't about to purposely break Annabeth's heart by telling her I didn't trust her anymore... I took a sip of water and shivered at its cold touch.

The doors opened and there stood my two commanders, Luke and Zoë.

"Sup, dudes?" I smirked and they both ran to me.

"Dude, Perce!" Luke said, "You... look terrible."

"I've noticed," I laughed.

Zoë gave me another hug. I winced and she let go when she realized she was basically squeezing my broken ribs.

"Please kill me," I groaned.

"Nope," Luke shook his head, "Not gonna happen anytime soon, Perce."

"I need to discuss the information hidden in the pink lollipop."

Long silence before it was cut by one of Luke's idiot antics.

"Okay, that sounds weird."

I agreed. Idiot like idiot.

NICO DI ANGELO

We were all sitting at the beach, silently throwing pebbles into the water, occasionally skipping the rocks. That's when Annabeth ran to us looking like she just had the best day of her life. No one's had that in one thousand years.

"What?" Piper asked her, frowning.

"Percy's awake," she exhaled.

"It's Thalost," Frank corrected.

"Percy," Annabeth insisted.

"He's gonna blast you to smithereens for that."

Instead of tensing like Annabeth normally would, she laughed. A crystal clear laugh I've never heard her make in a thousand years. When he disappeared. She sat down, picking up a rock and skipping it across the surface. What the f**k made her so happy?

PERCY JACKSON

"So," Luke said after we had watched all the information displayed, "I'm guessing we're gonna show them all the counter moves to each of these skills Order's army has taught?"

"Yep. And to avoid being too tired out by the wave she'll send, we can strategically group our campers into each wave, calling the majority of the strongest for the stronger battles and the majority weaker for the weaker battles. Then, we can have an evenly balanced army. Of course, there are still strong and weak to create diversity," I suggested.

"Good idea, commander," Zoë said, taking note because I couldn't really do that right now.

"So that's for battle... for training, I'll first have to train you all and then, we can train them. That way, it'll be faster."

"What if we just gathered them there, just splitting them into groups so you could teach them? It'll be more effective learning straight from the source, as it'll take more time for us to master it," Zoë suggested.

"I actually like that idea," I said, "Just sending them groups at a time?"

"Yes."

"Alright then, so it won't interfere too much with training," I nodded in approval. "Sounds good to me."

"Me, too."

"Alright then. Let the rest of the army know."

Just as they left... the old gang walked in. Jason, Annabeth, Nico, Leo, Hazel, Piper, Frank, and Reyna. I could feel myself stiffen. I was alone. No way out of the situation. I grabbed the glass of water, tipping it upside down and drinking the water from a blue straw, controlling the water so it didn't splatter all over the place.

"So, Percy, how are you feeling?" Annabeth said and I could feel myself tensing.

Why? Because of the pain. It was still there. I could feel it. Burning into my soul. But just like an innocent girl thinks the bad boy will come back because she's loyal and devoted to him, I'm devoted to Annabeth. So I didn't destroy her for calling me Percy. I mean, I was the one who told her to call me Percy.

"Percy?" she waved her hand in front of my face to gain my attention.

I didn't feel like I had a voice. Just a ball of emotions in my throat begging to spill out. If I opened my mouth to speak, I didn't know if the emotions would pour out or not, but I remembered. I was also Thalost. I had no emotions. Whatsoever. They took this as a sign to leave but Annabeth stayed behind.

"Get better," she whispered to me, placing her hand on my shoulder.

The smell of her lemon soap stayed in my nose as she walked away and the tingly feeling was on my shoulder. What the f**k, Perce?!