My Ghost King {A Percico Fanfic}

Chapter II

Percy POV~
I woke up to bright light streaming through my window, the morning sun making me groan in annoyance at the thought of getting up. After finally kicking the covers off of my now shivering body, my feet made a loud slap on the cold floor of my cabin as I crossed from my bed to my dresser and finally to the door.

Heading to breakfast, I walked calmly across the camp and watched the unusual calm around me; it was winter, so most campers were out with their families. I would be, if it wasn't for my mother's new baby boy, Noah. In reality, it wasn't the baby's fault of course, nor was it even my mother's, but it was my own fear of harm coming to the growing Noah that kept me away from home. So here I was, settling myself next to Jason at breakfast, waiting for the blue pancakes to appear on the buffet table.

I walked up to the Athena cabin, knocking on the hard oak door. Malcom answered after the second knock, already calm and collected, ready to go to whatever class or training he had first. I almost rolled my eyes at how early he must've been up to be ready already, but then remembered I had a question to ask him and was currently making him stand in the doorway of the cabin, cold air filtering through the open door.

"Is Annabeth here? I haven't seen her since yesterday before dinner."

"How would I know? She's usually not here until late. For all I know, she could be training right now." Malcom's foot tapped impatiently; I could tell he thought I was wasting his time.

"Well yeah, but she said she was working on a project with you last night" I responded with just as much annoyance. At this, Malcolm's foot froze.

"That, I don't know of. She always tells us she's out with you," He said, pointing a finger at me, his eyebrows scrunched in confusion.

As stupid as Annabeth thought I was, I was never an idiot. Something fishy (I had to) was clearly going on, and though I trusted my girlfriend, I couldn't help but think about how uncomfortable I was before with her. Could she be feeling the same way and avoiding me because of it? No, that was impossible. If that's how she felt, she wouldn't have been so clingy yesterday, and even if I don't feel that spark, she's been one of my best friends for years and I would've known if she was having second thoughts. So why was she lying to Malcolm and I?

"Well thanks, I guess. Sorry to bother you." I turned my back to the door and was about to search for Annabeth elsewhere when I felt Malcolm's hand on my shoulder, so I turned back.

"Hey, if you figure it out, tell me. She's been coming back after curfew most nights, and if its not you she's with- well, I hope you figure this out soon. Tell me what I can do to help." Now that I really searched his face, I noticed bags under his eyes. He'd been planning out the future expansion for the mess hall, as so many new campers were arriving each year. I had assumed that was what Annabeth was working on with Malcolm because she'd volunteered for it, but if she wasn't, then he was doing it all on his own, and the stress was really showing.

"It's okay, man. Just get some sleep for now, we have plenty of time until summer. The plans don't need to be done for a while. I'll make sure to tell you if I figure out anything though." All he did was nod, letting go of my shoulder and trudging into the cabin. Annabeth had told Chiron she'd work on this project with Malcolm, and that clearly wasn't happening. My resolve to find her strengthened with my anger from her selfishness; Malcolm was my friend too, and being my girlfriend didn't excuse Annabeth from treating anyone this way.

~Time skippity scoop~

I've searched all of her favorite places, and yet I still haven't found Annabeth. Every place I've looked, I asked people if they had seen her and all had said no; even Chiron had no idea where she had gone, and was appalled when I told him about Malcolm working on the project alone. Now we're both searching, separately to cover more ground, and both of us have a little... talk, let's say, we want to have with Annabeth. She had no right to treat Malcolm that way, even if I had to push away my initial instinct to defend her to realize it.

I kept wandering, my feet dragging in the grass as I aimlessly kicked the dandelions scattered across the ground. Eventually, the tip of my shoe hit frost instead of green grass, and I knew I had reached the edge of camp, so I turned around- until an idea popped into my head.

There was one place, just outside of camp... Annabeth had taken me there a few times. She told me she had never shared it with anyone, she told me it was ours. Of course she had gone there, hoping to be alone. Once again, she may have been avoiding me... but going off camp grounds alone is dangerous, she knows that. So, sliding my ballpoint pen out of my pocket and gripping it in my fist, I strode out of camp.

Hey again! Dear god, It's been way too long since I've updated this, sososo sorry. I'll admit I forgot about it, and now that I'm back, I really hope I won't forget about it again, but I can't promise anything. Especially with school, I can only work on it during study hall, but the teacher sits right behind me, so... as long as I leave the page open on the chapter I'm working on and not my home page, I guess I'll be fine. Anyway, if that doesn't work I'll just do it on weekends. Cya!

~Several Very Small Mangoes