Percy Jackson and the Armies of Chaos ~ Complete

Running

Percy's POV

Percy grinned as he strolled through Camp Halfblood. His life was finally looking good. Of course, that meant that he should have looked out for trouble at the first sign of something abnormal.

And something new did come to Camp. Well, someone. His half-brother, Luke. What a cruel twist of fate, right? Even though he looked nothing like the first Luke... With his light green eyes and black hair, he looked almost exactly like Percy.

And Percy didn't mind. He liked his brother. Sure, he could be a little arrogant sometimes, but he was still nice.

Percy was still absorbed in his thoughts when he ran into someone. He snapped back into reality, muttering something like, "Blue cookies?"

He heard the light laugh that he had come to adore. "Wise Girl?" He shouted to the stars. He heard a snicker.

He whirled towards the sound. "That's not fair!" He whined. "Using your hat is against the rules-" He broke off when he felt a finger tap his nose, and he saw Annabeth appear in front of him. He grinned widely.

"Chiron told me to get you for training. Something about new campers..." He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I forgot."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Kelp-"

"Don't!" Percy yelped. "Owl-"

"Hey!"

"You started it."

"Well-" Unknown to both of them, they had an audience, hiding in the trees.

The Stoll brothers exchanged drachmas, and Annabeth caught the glint of gold out of the corner of her eye. She turned her fiery gaze towards the trees, until she heard two yelps, and the sound of fleeing footsteps. She rolled her eyes yet again.

"I guess I have to go now." She muttered. Percy nodded.

"See you." Annabeth nodded back at him.

That was Percy's last happy memory at Camp Halfblood. The following weeks were filled with hurt and hate.

He and Annabeth began drifting away from each other.

"Wise girl? Do you want to go have a picnic on the beach or something?" asked Percy. Annabeth barely spared him a glance.

"Sorry, Percy, I'm busy." When was the last time that she had called him Percy?

Percy frowned. "Oh, ok."

His friends suddenly didn't trust him.

"Hey Juniper! Want me to watch your tree while you go collect berries?"

Juniper looked at him with a suspicious look on her face. "No, I'm ok. Lydia, another nymph, said that she would."

Percy frowned. "Oh, alright."

It was weeks and weeks of that, until the last, final straw.

Percy resisted the urge to skip down the beach as he clutched the small silver box in his hand. He planned to surprise Annabeth, and he saw her heading down this way earlier.

Percy saw Annabeth's blond curls ducked over something as she sat in the sand, and he thought that he could never be happier, until he came close enough to hear what she was saying.

"I think I might leave Percy." Annabeth said in a small voice.

"You should." Answered a rough voice. A voice that he knew very well...

"I mean, he's still as nice as before, but I don't feel that same... connection with him." Annabeth said to Luke.

"I know what you mean."

"I'll tell him tonight." A decisive tone. "Then we won't have to sneak around anymore."

Percy felt his heart shatter as he looked at the pair. He must have made some sort of wounded noise, because Annabeth looked over her shoulder. Her eyes widened.

"Percy!" He looked at her sadly.

"I guess I should have expected this, huh." He said, shuffling his feet, clutching the box. "I guess I missed all the signs. I really am a Seaweed Brain."

"No, it's not-"

"Be nice to her, alright?" He said to Luke. "You have your work cut out for you." He tossed down the box.

"In there is a promise ring." He said, nodding to the box. "I was going to give it to you, but it seems as though Luke could use it more. Bye, Wise Girl." He said, turning away so that she couldn't see the falling tears. "Bye Luke."

He took off running into the woods, planning to leave the camp and never come back. He didn't know what happened. Why had everyone turned their backs on him?

Percy thought about this as he sat crouched in the woods. He left Camp Halfblood a week ago, and he was deep in a forest, avoiding the Hunters. He didn't want to be found. They didn't want him anyway...

Percy already helped a few demigods to find the camp. He didn't give them a name, so they went confused, telling tales about the lost boy. The lost boy in the woods.

His head was bowed over a map, his brow scrunched together as he tried to decipher a path through the woods. To somewhere. To nowhere. Because he was an inbetween person now. A nobody. A nothing.