CH 1

A/N: Hey everyone, here goes the story. Enjoy!

Percy's POV

"Perseus Jackson," Zeus' voice boomed in the huge throne room.

I stood in front of the twelve Olympian gods, facing the lord of the sky, my mind thinking about the past. How everything had happened so fast, how I had lost track of time, how I had lost Annabeth.

What went wrong? I thought.

*Flashback*

I was away from Camp Half Blood, training in my father's palace, after Kronos was defeated. We- Annabeth and me- hadn't had enough time with each other, not enough for me at-least. I mean, I had waited four years for us to get together- well, sort of- and then my father came up with his training suggestion. Well, it was Lord Poseidon, and it's not good to defy a god, so I had left camp for training in my father's realm. Little did I know what would happen afterwards.

I IMd Annabeth once and found her laughing heartily with some guy. I don't know why, but I swiped my hand through the misty image in front of me. Maybe I was jealous. Maybe I wanted to give her some personal space. I don't know. But I felt hurt, I have no idea why.

The next time I IMd her, it was even worse. She was sitting with that same guy on the beach. It's our place, I thought bitterly. Our moment! When the guy left, I called her name, and she jumped in surprise.

"Seaweed Brain!" she said with mock anger.

"Hey," I tried to say casually. "Enjoying yourself, huh?"

I can swear she blushed at that comment, then said in a small voice, "Yeah."

"So, who's that dude you were talking to?"

"Oh, that," she said, her cheeks getting even redder. She had a dreamy look in her eyes, and I didn't like it. "That's Drake, new camper, son of Hermes."

That confirmed my suspicions. So this is why he looked like a younger version of Luke. Same blue eyes, same sandy blonde hair, same body features. I didn't want to think about that guy anymore, I was already starting to dislike him. So we continued our conversation, asking and answering casual questions. After that, I had a strong feeling that I would have to finish my training soon. I wanted to leave for camp as soon as possible.

*End of Flashback*

"Here we are again," Zeus said, but I wasn't paying much attention. I went on with my train of thoughts.

*Flashback*

I arrived back at the camp after months of restless training. It was dark, and as I was making my way towards the amphitheater where the campers were having a sing-along, I was expecting a cheerful welcome from the campers. I had to admit I really missed camp. But the Fates had planned something different for me.

When I entered the amphitheater, just after a song had finished, everyone burst into cheering. But I soon realized that they were not cheering for my comeback, they were cheering the two people in the middle, entwined with each other in a deep kiss. Horror washed over me as I realized it was Annabeth! And the guy was Drake!

And the whole camp was cheering them? I couldn't believe my eyes. I was extremely hurt by this, so I ran towards my cabin, not being able to watch their makeout session any longer. Once I reached my bed, I jumped on it and lay there, motionless.

*End of Flashback*

"You have proved yourself again."

I looked into his eyes, which seemed to contain the whole sky, and I could see a faint trace of gratitude in them.

"Yes." It was Athena. "The boy has done well."

I looked at her, a bit surprised, and it pained me how much she resembled Annabeth.

Annabeth.

*Flashback*

Someone entered my cabin later that night. I looked at the silhouette, trying to make out who the person was.

"Hey, Seaweed Brain." It was Annabeth, and I was not in a mood to talk to her at the moment. "Why didn't you tell me you were here?"

"Hey," I said weakly, getting up to switch on the lights.

As soon as the cabin lightened, I noticed the faint smile on her face. She looked beautiful, but I didn't ponder much over her looks at that time.

"So, how have you been?"

"Fine, I guess," I said, not looking her in the eyes.

"Percy, what's wrong?" She sounded a bit concerned. When I didn't respond, she asked again, "Tell me, what's wrong?"

And suddenly, I couldn't control myself. I blurted out, "What do you think you were doing back then, snogging Drake like there's no tomorrow?"

It came out harsher than I meant to, but right then, I couldn't care less. She had hurt me, badly. She hesitated a bit, her face blushing.

"Why did you do it?" I asked, my voice full of hurt. "I'm gone a few months and you've already started dating someone else?"

"Oh come on, Percy," she said like it was nothing. "No need to make a fuss of it. It was just a kiss."

Just a kiss? How often do you kiss me? I wanted to yell. It took her so much time to give me a small peck, and here she was, going around kissing random guys!

"Not to make a fuss of it?" I said incredulously. "How will you react if I do the same with some random girl?"

"Drake is not some random guy!" She said defensively. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you've done it with other girls. When you were 'stranded' on Ogygia, I bet you guys had make-out sessions day and night, you being alone there and all that with Calypso."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing, I just couldn't. She had changed. The Annabeth I knew wouldn't say such things to anyone, much less me. But then, the Annabeth I knew wouldn't hurt me like this by kissing someone else either.

"No we didn't," I said. "I could well have stayed there. But I came back! I came back… for you."

She seemed to soften up for a second, but recovered instantly.

"What about Rachel?" She spat angrily. "You would've easily gone for her had she not been the Oracle."

Rachel. Did she not overreact when Rachel was around me? Did she not make a fuss when Rachel tried to get my attention? And now she was the one telling me not to make a fuss!

"If you have this little faith in me…" I said, and I was surprised how calm I sounded. "Then I doubt if you even love me."

I shouldn't have said that, because what I heard afterwards horrified me.

"You know what? Yeah, you're right," she said roughly. "I do NOT love you Percy Jackson! I love Drake. And we're done, Seaweed Brain!"

Thunder boomed outside, and with that, she stormed out of my cabin. It was enough to break me. Annabeth broke up with me? The person I loved more than my life, more than anything, my only link to this mortal world, left me? I collapsed on the floor, and for the first time in my life, a tear escaped my eyes. I felt devastated.

*End of Flashback*

"You have proved your loyalty and skill time and again." Zeus said, his voice echoing. "You have shown such courage that no one has ever had in the history."

Flattering, I thought. Zeus never showed such gratitude to anyone.

*Flashback*

Percy Jackson, a crier? No way.

I got up from the cold floor, feeling like hitting something. Anger had replaced the feeling of hurt now. With one cry of sheer frustration, I punched the wall, as hard as I could. "Arrgh!"

The whole cabin shook, and I cursed my invulnerability. Right then, I decided there was nothing here for me. The camp was better off without me, everyone was better off without me, Annabeth was better off without me.

I quickly flung my backpack over my shoulder, it still being packed as I had arrived just a few hours ago, and left my cabin, Annabeth's words still playing over and over in my mind.

We're done Seaweed Brain!

Whatever, I thought bitterly. This is what I got for falling in love. This is what I got for trusting people.

"I hate you Aphrodite! I hate you for toying with my life!" I yelled to the night sky, and vowed to myself never to fall in love again. It was worthless.

*End of Flashback*

"Your deeds must be rewarded."

All the gods murmured in agreement, even the ones that hated me, surprisingly. The gods never agreed on anything! I knew what was coming.

*Flashback*

I walked towards the beach, the rain pouring heavily, though it wasn't supposed to. Not caring about what others would think, I made my way to my father's palace.

The rest is a blur. I practiced sword fighting, wrestling, summoning huge waves, whirlpools, cyclones and loads of other stuff. I trained and trained and trained, partly to become a better warrior, partly to channel my anger somewhere and get over what happened. I pretty much succeeded too. Now I was not haunted by nightmares involving Annabeth. She just crossed my mind from time to time, and that too, didn't hurt as much as it used to.

I tried to stay in contact with Thalia, Nico, Grover and a few others. Every time they would ask me about my sudden disappearance, I would tell them that I needed training, not mentioning Annabeth.

And then came the war. The third war against Titans, lead by Oceanus. But this time, I was ready. And they didn't have Kronos on their side.

The memories of the war are nothing but a blur. It was bloody, no denial in that. Almost the same as the previous one. My father and other gods fought Typhon, who had grown more powerful, while I fought Oceanus and other sea Titans. And I defeated them all, surprisingly, courtesy of my recent rigorous training.

After that, I headed for the land. Our forces were weak, many warriors had been lost in the previous war. The monsters seemed infinite, but we defeated them on the land too. I still can't believe it, but I single-handedly defeated the likes of Hyperion and Atlas. I guess my powers and abilities had developed over time.

The last threat that remained was Typhon, the gods not being able to defeat him this time. I joined them in their struggle. Apollo, Zeus and Dionysus had already been knocked out, and it came as a shock to me. But that ugly thing was NOT going to ruin my city. No way was I letting him do that!

I summoned all the power I could, and fought, not caring what the consequences would be. Desperation gave me strength, and I felt an aura surrounding me, which I later came to know was 'The Spirit of the Sea'. I grew in size, everyone gaping at me in awe as I fought. I felt ecstatic, like I could do anything. And with my new-found power, I kicked that monster back to Tartarus with the help of others.

That pretty much summed up the war. The surviving monsters retreated, and those who were unfortunate and stupid enough to stay were turned to dust in no time. Soon, I found myself in the throne room of the gods in Olympus, facing Lord Zeus.

So here I was, awaiting the decision of the gods.

"And as a reward, we offer you, yet again, godhood."

I felt different reactions to this from the back: some gasps, must be the new campers; some cheers, some of my friends and Tyson's brethren; and some complaints, no doubt from the Ares campers. I won't say it was unexpected, but I was still mildly surprised by this.

I couldn't decide what to do, so after a few moments of awkward silence, I turned to look back. There, between other familiar faces, was the beautiful face of Annabeth Chase. But this time, there was no Annabeth to tie me to the mortal world. She wasn't looking at me.

She is completely happy with that son of Hermes, I thought. I was happy for her, no more hurt. But oddly, Drake was nowhere to be seen. That was weird, but I shrugged the thought. I walked towards her with a warm smile on my face, and hugged her.

She looked a bit surprised, but soon recovered, and said uncertainly, "Um, Percy…?"

"Goodbye Annabeth," I whispered in her hair. "Guess we guys were not made for each other."

I pulled away and turned to leave, but she caught my hand. I looked back, and the tears in her eyes pained me. I carefully wiped them away with my hand, and softly said, "Hey, don't cry. I want you to be happy."

"P-Percy," she whispered, stammering. "D-Don't. Please… don't leave me."

I closed my eyes, for her words brought back bittersweet memories, and it hurt. All the voices in the room had died down. It seemed like each and every being in the room was watching us, including the gods.

"I love you, Annabeth," I said painfully. "I always will. And you don't know how hard it is for me to make this decision. But I can't live with what you did. I'm not blaming you. No, I cherish the moments we spent together, but Drake is better than me in more than one way. He'll keep you happy Annabeth."

"No," she almost begged, tears flowing down her cheeks non-stop. "I won't be happy without you. Please don't leave me. Please."

"You have to," I said firmly, and left. I had walked a few steps when someone jumped on my back and whispered in my ear, "I'll miss you, Seaweed Brain."

It was Annabeth. She gave me a quick peck on the cheek and ran outside, not looking back even once. She was happy, and so was I. I made my way back to the gods.

"So Perseus," Zeus spoke. "Do you accept our gift?"

"Yes, my lord." There was a finality in my voice. I was no longer weakened by emotions. I was free.

OK, don't kill me. Yeah, Percy and Annabeth are done. Hello? It's a Pertemis fic, remember? But I didn't want a sad ending, like Annabeth being a bitch or something. They both are happy now, and on their own separate ways. And Percy is a god! Yay! Now it's time for some action…