PJO #4 : The Battle of the Labyrinth - MISSING SCENES

You Don't Have To Be Strong Around Me (Between Chapters 3 & 4)

Everyone was stressed as they went back to their cabins. Chiron seemed anxious over the fact that the innocent landmark had an entrance to the Labyrinth under it, and he ran off to the Big House to contemplate. Pretty soon, the only people left outside were Percy and Annabeth.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked his friend cautiously. He wasn't sure if she was still mad at him or if she was just in an irritable mood at that moment, but her expression looked stressed and frustrated. "I'm fine" she responded, not wanting to admit the fact that she was actually really scared to the other demigod. She wasn't supposed to show vulnerability, at least not in her mind. She had already shown way more of her emotions to this guy over the years and was hoping to limit the number slightly.

"Annabeth, it's okay if you're freaked out" Percy reassured her. "I'm freaked out too. That was a really scary situation, especially considering that we lost time" he shuddered. First, scorpions. A reminder of how Luke, a guy he'd looked up to, tried to kill him when he was only eleven years old. Then a cave, reminding him of the fight with Polyphemus when he was twelve. And now they come out only to learn they lost a ton of time in what felt like only a few minutes. Just like the Lotus Hotel.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked, eyeing him carefully. The set of his jaw, the rigid stance of which he stood, the way his hands were balled into fists... She could tell he was on edge, as was she. Percy let out a tense exhale. "I just wish we could go one summer- Just one- Where nothing bad happens" he said, visibly stressed. "But, no. Of course as soon as I join this world of demigods and wood nymphs and 'Oh look, I can breathe underwater', everything has to go badly" he sighed. "It's a lot"

"But it's not all bad, right?" Annabeth asked, partially out of fear that she was part of the problem, partially to try and soothe Percy's own mind. He shook his head. "No, it's not all bad" he replied. "I have you and Grover and Tyson, and also I finally have a place I fit in, even if I'm still kind of an outcast cause of who my dad is"

A moment passed between the two.

"Can I have a hug, Percy?" Annabeth asked cautiously, avoiding his gaze. She wasn't used to asking for what she wanted, and she didn't feel like she deserved it. A small part of her still thought she should've been the one to die on that hill all those years ago instead of Thalia, and every moment of her life felt like a fight just to justify her existence.

Percy just smiled and embraced her.