Angel

A Percabeth Oneshot

Told by Annabeth Chase

[~]:[~]:[~]

Sometimes, you just feel completely awkward around a certain person, right? Whether you're worried you'd disappoint them, you can't even understand them, or if you have a big crush on them, it's incredibly awkward.

For me… It's the latter.

And since the person that makes this wise Daughter of Athena, into a fumbling, bumbling idiot is Percy Jackson, I think I can honestly say I take awkward to a whole new level.

Having specific orders from Chiron to go all the way around Camp Half-Blood in search of a Seaweed Brain, and you just cannot find him — in all the public places, mind you — leaving you to look in the last, most private place, is a bit nerve-wracking.

I happen to be in that position.

Private. Me. But most importantly him? Admittedly, I'm surprised I'm not hyperventilating.

You all are probably going: What happened to the chill Annabeth Chase we all knew?

She's gone. Absent. Faraway in Greece, or some other place.

Only when Percy's around, though. Only because of Percy.

I sigh to myself. You're hyperventilating, Annabeth. Stop it. If you haven't understood any of my obviously incoherent rambling, here: I… was requested by Chiron… to find Percy… who isn't anywhere in public… meaning he is in his cabin… alone.

Do you see this crisis I've been twisted, entrapped, and winded into now?

Silena comes up to me, her pearly teeth glistening in the sun, as a grin stretches across her cheeks. "Hey Annabeth! Have you found Percy yet?"

My eyebrows furrow. "No… is Chiron desperately in need of Percy or something?"

She laughs, covering her mouth slightly with her hand. "I'm not sure, but he just said to hurry up! Don't want to keep Chiron waiting, do you? Toodles!" And with that, she runs off giggling.

What was that all about? I wonder, shaking my head to myself. Focus, Annabeth, you have to find Percy.

I head to Poseidon's cabin, and knock on the door, hoping Percy would open it. "Percy?" I call. "Are you in there? Chiron needs you…" I roll my eyes when there is no response—he's probably snoozing the day away. "I'm coming in," I sigh. I really tried to avoid doing this.

As I enter the cabin, a salty aroma embraces me like I'm next to the ocean. "Percy?"

The cabin floor is spotless, the beds made, and completely, utterly vacant.

Groaning, I lean against the wall of Percy's cabin and close my eyes. Gods… is he trying to make this hard on me? When I open my eyes, they zoom in on a piece of paper on a dresser.

Curious, I look at it.

On the first day of camp, I became Supreme Lord of the Bathroom. That was the day I learned that my father was Poseidon. All those other years, I had spent believing in God…

"Erre es korakas, Percy," I mutter to myself, rubbing my cheek.

Everything is tidied, besides that piece of paper, almost like Percy had intentionally left it out… and that was definitely Percy's hand writing… was he trying to make this into ascavenger hunt?

I scream in frustration. "PERCY!" There's nothing more I want to do, than to go to the arena and—as Clarisse would put it—pulverize some dummies.

Now is not the time, Annabeth, I tell myself. You still need to find Percy, and the only way would be to go along with this game.

I study the note more. Camp… father was Poseidon… believing in God… Wait. Supreme Lord of the Bathroom. That was when Percy first made all the water in the bathroom explode on Clarisse and her friends…the bathroom!

I can't believe it. Seaweed Brain has brains after all.

[~]:[~]:[~]

…And then less than a week later, I am told that the gods—namely Zeus—were trying to kill me, and so I was granted a quest to retrieve the Lightning Bolt. Suddenly, you took off your Yankees cap and said you would join. I wondered if you were like my Guardian Angel who would guide me on my quest…

This is the next note that I find, taped onto the mirror in the bathrooms. This doesn't have a specific place like the last note…

Taking the previous note out of my pocket, I hold them next to each other, trying to spot similarities between the two. This can't be that hard… It's Percy, after all…

Ah. Of course. Granted a quest to retrieve the Lightning Bolt. You took off your Yankees Cap and said you would join. How had I missed that? The Big House!

I head towards there, chuckling, forgetting about why I need to find Percy in the first place, as well as the anxiety that was building inside me because of it.

[~]:[~]:[~]

…But then I saw you at Thalia's Pine on Half-Blood Hill. I realized that you needed an Angel yourself, and so I wished I could have sent you one. If I still believed in God, I would have asked him to send you one…

I get this clue much quicker than the rest. It's blatantly written there, so, so obvious. Thalia's Pine.

As I run past the volleyball courts, I can't help but think, Where's he going with this?

[~]:[~]:[~]

Underneath Thalia's Pine, I find the note. It has only one word on it: yet.

"Di Immortales," I curse under my breath. Pointless. This entire thing had been pointless. Yet doesn't tell me anything; not about where to go next, where Percy is, or what the notes mean.

I slouch underneath the tree, leaning my back against the rough bark of Thalia's Pine.

On the first day of camp, I became Supreme Lord of the Bathroom. That was the day I learned that my father was Poseidon. All those other years, I had spent believing in God…

And then less than a week later, I am told that the gods—namely Zeus—were trying to kill me, and so I was granted a quest to retrieve the Lightning Bolt. Suddenly, you took off your Yankees cap and said you would join. I wondered if you were like my Guardian Angel who would guide me on my quest…

But then I saw you at Thalia's Pine on Half-Blood Hill. I realized that you needed an Angel yourself, and so I wished I could have sent you one. If I still believed in God, I would have asked him to send you one…

Yet…

"What does it mean?" I ask myself out loud, calling out into the wind, putting my face in my hands. "Yet…"

"Yet I knew the Angel would be sent back." I know that voice. My head lifts up out of my hands, to see the face of Percy, who is crouching and smiling at me. "Because an Angel can't protect someone who is already an Angel."

Tell him… Tell him Chiron needs him… a part of me is yelling, but no words come out. Another part of me—the blushing side—is hyperventilating. He called me an Angel?

The words finally come out. "C-Chiron needs you."

He grins at me with a wink. "No, he actually doesn't."

A thought—such a nerve-wracking thought—suddenly enters my mind. "You… set this all up?" I ask the question, although I am already positive about what his answer would be. My face flushes even more in realization. "You asked Chiron to tell me to find you?" Again, it's a rhetorical question.

Percy rubs at the back of his neck nervously. "Yeah…"

I bite my lip, debating over whether or not to ask my next question. "Why?"

His face rids itself of the nervousness that was previously showing, and changes so he is radiating confidence.

"Because I want you to be my girlfriend."