My Ghost King {A Percico Fanfic}

Chapter V

Percy POV
I collapsed on the bed immediately, shoving my face into the pillows as silent tears streamed down my face. I refused to make a sound, continuing to hide the unexpected heartbreak of Annabeth's absence. I still felt hollow, and that's really what pushed me over the edge; I should feel something for her, anything now that we were officially not together, but all I felt was regret.

We'd led each other on for too long, and it ruined our friendship. Worst of all, I had promised myself I would warn her. I even failed at that, the one simple thing that could've helped her. It was too late now, she'd already- very publicly- chosen him, and there was nothing I could do.

Even when the tears stopped, I lay in bed, just listening and thinking. Collecting myself, if you'd think of it that way, for how I would handle everything tomorrow, and the day after. I held no grudge against Annabeth, and I swore to myself I wouldn't cause her any more pain than Gavin already would.

Who knows, maybe he wouldn't break her heart; maybe she'd finally be happy, and we could go our separate ways with no hard feelings. But the problem had never been how Annabeth and I's relationship would change. My friends, Gavin, the rest of the camp- how would they treat me? Annabeth? Our group would most likely shun her for using such a public and hurtful way of breaking up, and the rest of the camp would pity me.

I didn't want their pity.

I forced everything out of my thoughts and headed back outside, all hope of sleep lost. It was already midnight, but the harpies knew me well enough by now that they didn't bother me on my way to the beach. Instead of diving in the water, I sat on the beach and let the water gradually push sand over my feet. The tide pulled back, taking with it a bit of sand under my feet. It pushed in again, covering the skin with a thin layer of sand, the edges of the tide brushing against my fingers like a greeting. We became one, my breaths syncing with the push and pull.

In, out. In, out. My thoughts drifted where they wanted to go, drifting over topics without truly addressing them. In, out. In, out. In, Annabeth; out, Gavin. In, mom; out, my baby brother. In, out, in, out. The seven, Gaea, dark eyes, Luke.
Dark eyes, dark eyes, dark eyes. What was with that? My mind stopped drifting, focused on that one sure thought. But what did it mean? They held so much raw emotion, those eyes, pain shielded halfway by long, black hair. They belonged to someone, if I could just pinpoint who-

A splash of water disrupted my thoughts, striking against my ankle with a startling cold. The water was agitated, responding to my emotions, and so I stood slowly, ready to walk back to the cabin. I would wake no one because of my strange thoughts.

On the way to the cabin, though, I could practically feel someone watching me. Though I saw no one, I made sure to lock the cabin windows and door that night.

~Time Skippity Scoop~

That morning at breakfast, conversation was unnervingly quiet. Whispers of yesterday's events surrounded on me on all sides, especially at my own table. The only mercies consisted of Annabeth and Gavin's absences, and my miraculously perfect skin and hair. I'd have to thank the Aphrodite campers again later.

"Perce, you sure you're feeling alright?" Jason's concern was constant and his shameless, consisting of too many questions and an uncomfortable amount of worried staring. His intention was good, but all I wanted was to move on with my life and ignore the guilt and pain stinging my chest.

"Don't worry, man. I already knew. It wasn't working out well, and I'm sure we would've ended up splitting off soon anyways." I felt more relaxed than I had in a while, especially without the stress of Annabeth's somewhat demanding relationship; the only problem I truly couldn't get out of my head was the weird feeling from last night. I could've sworn someone was watching my every move, but no one had been there. Maybe it was just the harpies.

"Wonderful!" Leo pointed his fork at me, a piece of sausage dangling from the ends. "Well then, if you're feeling up to it, you should go check out the Hades cabin. I heard... ah... there was some... redecorating." His grin was contagious, especially considering the look of pure annoyance on Jason and Piper's faces. Clearly, I wasn't supposed to know about any of this, but a grin slowly replaced the look on Piper's face.

"What do you guys know that I don't?" Eyebrows raised, I chose to interrogate Jason, both as revenge for his previous interrogation and because he looked the most suspicious.

"Well..." he seemed to be considering his options, whatever they were. "I suppose it's not much of a secret, but you've got a lot to think about right now so we-" Hazel, on Jason's left, elbowed his side- "fine. I wanted to let you get over everything before you knew about this." Jason still hesitated, but when he spoke again her was more sure of his decision. "It seems like you're doing well, though, so you should know. Nico's back, and he's not doing great."

Not doing great? What the hell did that mean? I stood so rapidly that I hit the table with my legs, causing it to rock. Frank's water glass fell at the same time, spilling across my lap; but with an absent flick of my fingers, the water flung itself out of the fabric and evaporated into the air. My palms pressed against the table as I leaned toward Jason, eyes narrowed, never losing eye contact. He looked genuinely afraid.

"Take me to him."

Heyooooo! Once again, sorry for the long wait, but also not really because school sucks and I never really had the time. Thanks for bearing with me, and I hope you enjoy!
~The Physical Embodiment of Yoshi