The World is Your Island *Heroes of Olympus Fanfic*

Chapter 2- Percy's P.O.V.

Percy's p.o.v.
I knew this was going to be awkward, bad and almost traumatising. Jason and Piper said that I shouldn't come after everything I've been through in the past year I shouldn't put myself through this. I shook them off saying I could handle it and that I owed this to Calypso. When I heard Calypso say Annabeth's name, though I wished that I could disappear into the depths of Tartarus again if it meant I could hold Annabeth in my arms just once more. Every time I think of Annabeth I think of the whispers behind my back at camp. 'The son of Posideon whose girlfriend drowned. I shouldn't of left her. I was assisting some of the newer demigods. On their first mission when I felt something inside me. It hurt, it felt empty and I felt like I was drowning even though I wasn't near any water. Soon it passed and we headed straight back to camp half blood. I could feel that something was wrong, maybe deep down I even knew what was wrong. When Chiron told me I wanted to kill myself. Hazel, Frank and Nico had been spending time in camp Jupiter. They came down that week so we could all be together but I couldn't speak to any of them. Annabeths body, her hair wet, her orange t-shirt wet. Her dagger was still lost in the bottom of the lake I told them to leave it there. Her grey eyes glassy and cold. Her shrewd, her ashes. I couldn't sleep eat or do anything. The only person I talked to was nico, at first I talked to him because I thought he could bring her back. Son of Hades and all, but soon we were just talking because he understood. I hated hazel because she had gotten a second chance, same with Thalia. Nico told me that when he hated me for biancas death, it was harder for him to accept it. That the same goes for blaming myself or the other campers. Nico understood and soon I did too. We were good friends but now we were more than that too.

I get out the phone Leo modified so that it was safe for demigods and text Nico.
We're coming back now -Percy
Ok, with calypso? -Nico
Yeah -P
Are u ok? -N
No. See u soon tho. -P
xx -N
'Guys, Nico is waiting back at the van. No monster sightings yet but Piper's right we should get going'. Leo looks surprised to see me taking leadership roles again but piper and Jason look relieved. Calypso still looks confused. I just want to leave. This is a place of the Gods, created as an alternate universe. Part of my wish to the gods was to give Calypso a proper life, this is what they gave her. An illusion. They needed her to keep in touch with who she was so they left the books here, the oracle books. The books aren't all true though, our fates have been changed. I'm sure Leo is relieved she remembers us but I don't think I am. That means we'll have to explain everything that's happened.

'How are we going to get out of this place, whatever this place is?' Calypso asks.
'Nico has been resting up for the past week so that he can shadow travel us all out of here, Leo invented something to give us more shadow travel fuel or whatever you use to travel like that and also he has some kind of GPS so we can get straight back to camp half blood. We can't risk being attacked since we will all be weak from the travel'
Jason says all this with Leo looking anything but humble, he's always looking for other people's approval. Especially Jason, since I've been more than a little out of it most of camp half blood has been looking to him as the leader he naturally is.
When Annabeth first died most of camp half blood tiptoed around me, everyone missed her. It was even worse now though as everyone seems to try and ignore the fact that she's gone. The Athena cabin especially, her own siblings erased all trace of her ever living in that cabin dumping everything on the doorstep of the Posiedon cabin. I couldn't touch it but Nico moved it all into the Hades cabin which I suppose is ironically appropriate.

We leave that spookily quiet library and move into the spookily quiet streets. There are no 'people' anywhere.
'Where is everyone?' Calypso looks worried and I think she already knows the answer.
'It was all an illusion Calypso, none of this was real except for in your mind. As soon as we leave this place will seize to exist' Leo mutters.
'Oh' she replies.

When we turn the corner and see the humble black van Leo grins again. Inside it is incredibly decked out. Leo spent the last four months working out how we could get it to shadow travel with everything inside it and eventually he did. He's telling Calypso all about it rapidly when the door opens and Nico stalks out my heart beats faster and faster. He's in a black tee and black skinny jeans. His hair covering his eyes, I don't know how he sees anything. I take his hand, his skull ring pressing into my hand. I kind of smile at him and he looks up at me. We aren't the cheeriest couple at the moment.
'Is that her?' He says out loud, looking at Calypso. Her golden hair is braided on the side and she's wearing a white sundress. I don't know how I should feel about her so I try not to feel at all.
'Yep, this is Calypso' I try and keep my voice light but I bite my lip as she looks at me and Nico, her mouth forms an o.
'We have a lot to catch up on.' Leo grins, laughing as he leads her into the van. Does he not realise what she doesn't know, that the girl she used to be jealous of is dead and the guy she once liked has a boyfriend.
Jason climbs into the van behind them. 'Hey' piper says softly to me. 'Everything's going to be fine, we'll be back at camp half blood soon and Leo is going to talk to calypso about what's happened. We'll be alright.' She takes her hand off my shoulder and smiles, Nico nods at me. They can tell that I'm zoning out, thinking too much. They think I'm going to relapse, stop talking and disconnect from them all again. They're right I probably shouldn't of come. I soldier through what feels like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders, again. I touch the grey streak in my hair thinking about that, it's mostly faded and grown out. I smile at piper. Kind of. 'Thanks piper, we should leave this place. It's spooking me out. Don't worry about me, I'm fine.' They all know that's a lie, how could I ever be fine again. Piper gives a tired, worried nod and we all climb into the van. I should try and be more involved I decide. At least look like I'm here, maybe if I pretend I'm okay my mind will fall for it. Sometimes I feel too full of nothing and sometimes I feel empty of everything.
'We need you up here!' Leo yells from the driver seat to Nico. I take a seat next to Jason up the back. It felt awful shadow traveling here and it will feel awful on the way back probably.
'Shadow travel would have to be the most horrible mode of transport ever, I don't even want to know how it works' Jason grimaces.
'Yeah, it seems pretty twisted. I don't think even Nico fully understands it.' I reply to him.
'Great, that makes me feel a lot safer, it's bad enough Leo is steering this thing'.
Right on cue Leo's voice is heard from the front.
'You guys better all pray to the Gods that this works a second time. Hope you're all strapped in!'
And like that we're sent into the dark, mysterious vortex of shadow travel.