The Hanging Tree | Percabeth

Percy

I sat at the table with Annabeth after holding her for a good while. Her and my mother were where my home was. I grabbed her hand and looked into her eyes, she was smiling so big you would think she had the best, most simple life ever. Of course, only one of those things was true.

"Good morning kids. Paul will be back from his business trip today and I thought we could do something if you guys aren't busy." My mom strolled into the kitchen and poured a cup of coffee, then noticed the change in our attitudes, "Do you..." Her voice trailed off but I knew what she was going to ask.

"Yeah, I do. I remember everything." Tears threatened to push their way out of my eyes but I wouldn't let them. I swallowed them down and didn't let them up.

Annabeth smiled towards my mom, "Percy and I are going to take the morning and walk around New York. We have some things to take care of. When Paul gets in, call us. We should go to a late lunch or something. It's been forever since I've seen him.''

"Of course." Mom nodded towards us. Her non-verbal way of excusing us from the table to get ready and leave.

I was walking hand in hand with Annabeth as we sat down at the cafe she works at.

"I'm going to call Leo," she declared as she pulled out her phone. "What do you mean... Leo, I saw you a few days ago... What the Hades do you mean?... We are coming right now." She hung up and looked at me. "Percy... Leo told me he hasn't seen either one of us for weeks. The rest of the seven, plus Nico, Reyna, and Will have been at camp for weeks. They thought you and I were on a quest... We have to go there... Now." She stood.

Her eyes told me to do the same. We hailed a cab and rode in silence to Camp Half-Blood. I stared out the window the entire way there.

Annabeth and I ran up the hill and towards the Big House where everyone would be waiting for us. "Chiron! Seven? Hello?" Annabeth yelled as she burst through the door.

"In here!" Leo called. I recognized that mischievous voice immediately.

We hurried to the parlour and Chiron (in wheelchair form) motioned for us to sit down. "As you know, Luke played with Annabeth and Percy's memories. He was hoping to separate them because they both stopped him last time he tried to overthrow Olympus. We don't know what he is going to do to achieve that but we must find him-"

"He can't," Piper interrupted. "He can't overthrow Olympus. He doesn't have the power or the allies. He is going to come to camp, prove he's changed. He is going to eventually overthrow Olympus by killing the Ophiotaurus that's protected up there and that alone will give him the power. He doesn't need to kill Annabeth. Only Percy. Percy is the only one who would be able to see through Luke's act because of his fatal flaw. Loyalty. He will be paranoid trying to protect Annabeth and that's what Luke is afraid of." Piper looked around at us, sitting criss-cross, examining our expressions.

"How do you know all that?" Jason leaned on his knees with his elbows.

Piper smirked. "It's simple. It's what I would do."