The Unforgivable Curse

It started out as a normal day at Camp. Annabeth was keeping herself occupied on the porch of the Big House reading a book on architecture written in Ancient Greek. Meanwhile, Percy had gone to Half-Blood Hill to bring Peleus some dragon treats. He stood at the top of the hill underneath the branches of the tree that once was his friend Thalia Grace, stroking the head of the dragon who guarded the Golden Fleece.

The Golden Fleece glittered in the morning sunlight as Peleus happily chewed on his treats. The valley was calm this morning, the grass was a bright green and the water of the lake was smooth and glassy. A few of the Apollo kids were practicing archery at the target range, while Clarisse was teaching some new kids how to use swords in the arena. Percy had the feeling it was going to be a good year, hopefully free of quest and wars so he could spend all his time with Annabeth.

However as he looked to the other side of the hill, his hopes were shattered. Two young demigods, no older than ten, were struggling up the hill followed by a satyr franticly playing his panpipe, controlling the acorns that were scattered across the hill and launching then at a woman who perused the group. This woman marched through the field towards Half-Blood Hill throwing Energy Blast at the children. As the young demigods endeavoured up the hill, one tripped on an untied shoelace and fell to the ground.

Percy drew Riptide and raced across the magical border protecting the valley. He raced towards the woman as the satyr helped the two young demigods across the boarder. When the woman saw Percy charging towards her, she stood and watched him approach. He seemed to recognise her dark hair plated with golden threads and her vivid green eyes.

"Hello Percy Jackson, it has been a while," she spoke as he stopped in front of her with his sword raised, ready to strike. She flashed a dazzlingly white smile and regarded him warmly.

"Circe. What do you want?" Percy spat as he stood at the bottom of the hill prepared to defend his home.

"Percy?" Annabeth called as she raced over the hill and across the magical border. She had not recognised the sorceress standing in front of her boyfriend.

"How lovely, you are both here," Circe remarked as Annabeth met them. She shifted to face both of them causing the dark, silken fabric of her dress to ripple and the shadows appeared to be those of animals. "It really does make this so much easier."

"Makes what easier?" Percy demanded to which the sorceress mealy replied with a laugh. He gripped Riptide harder and glanced over to Annabeth standing besides him wielding her dagger as well.

Before they could react, Circe had Annabeth by the shoulder and was muttering an incantation under her breath. A surprised Annabeth had been disarmed by the witch and was now at her mercy. Percy tired to attack Circe but was prevented by a force field that the sorceress had enclosed herself in. The pair was powerless against Circe.

Circe had finished her enchantment and removed her hand from Annabeth's shoulder causing her to fall backwards onto the grass in a daze. The witch turned to Percy, who prepared to strike, but instead of advancing she flashed him a smile before saying "you have made enacting my revenge so much easier, boy. You have paid the dearest price for destroying my home.

"You and your little friend may have ransacked my island and desecrated my powers, but I hope you do not think that I could be disposed of that easily. No, I have spent the last few years regaining my powers," she continued before Percy advanced ready to attack again, which she deflected with the force field. "Now, just you have been the cause of my misfortune, I will now be the cause of yours. I heard some gossip that you and your little friend here had fallen in love. It was then I got the idea for the ideal revenge. Have fun with my curse, boy," she finished before turning and striding down the hill and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

He looked back towards Thalia's Tree and found Will Solace and Harmony, Will's sister, helping Annabeth over the magic border and Chiron cantering down the hill to meet Percy.

"What happened here?" Chiron asked as Percy stashed Riptide, in pen form, into his pocket. He explained the event to Chiron trying to replicate Circe's speech and instructing Chiron to make sure that Annabeth gets to the infirmary. Chiron reassured Percy and led him back across the magical boarder into Camp.

In the infirmary, Annabeth was sitting on a cot while Harmony checked her vitals. She continually insisted that the she was all right, but the daughter of Apollo continued to inspect her for and physical traces of the curse.

"Does anything ache, or hurt, or feel off?" Harmony inquired as Annabeth quickly became frustrated.

"I already told you that I feel fine," Annabeth snapped becoming sullen, crossing her arms and furrowing her brow.

"Fine, I guess you are clear to go then. But if you start to feel weird in any way please come back and we will try to help out," the girl instructed trying to keep cheerful despite Annabeth's sudden moodiness.

Annabeth quickly left the Big House and headed towards the beach, she was in no mood to talk to anybody and at this time the beach would be deserted. She dug her heels into the sand and rested her chin on her knees while she gazed out over the ocean and allowed a melancholy mood settle over her. Along with this melancholia, there was a disgust that came with the thought of her boyfriend. She never wanted to see him ever again.

Meanwhile, Percy had gone looking for Annabeth, first checking the infirmary in the Big House. There he was informed by Harmony that she had been discharged and stormed out. Out on the porch he found the book she had been reading still opened to the page that she had been reading before she came to his aid against Circe. This worried him even more; Annabeth would have never left a book laying around. He asked a few people if they had seen where she had gone. Finally Malcolm informed Percy that she had last been seen on the beach. Percy thanked Malcolm and ran towards the ocean finding Annabeth still sitting in the sand.

"Annabeth, are you alright? What did Circe do to you? I swear to the gods, if she hurt you," Percy demanded as he sat in front of her and grasped her shoulders as she regarded him coldly.

"Leave me alone, Percy," she replied shrugging out of his grasp and avoiding his gaze.

"What's wrong?" he asked desperately. "Annabeth, look at me. I just want to help you."

"Percy, if you want to help me then you could start by leaving me alone for a while. Maybe for the rest of the summer, maybe for the rest of eternity," she declared before standing up and walking towards her cabin leaving Percy alone on the beach as his heart started to crumble inside his chest.

A/N: Hello, I hope you liked this chapter. And I apologise for making the prologue/first chapter so short, I apparently have a really bad habit of doing such. Hopefully this more extended chapter makes up for it.

And I would like to thank Jasmine di Angelo for favouriting this story as well as trio-of-friends for following it. And thank you to everyone who reads and reviews, I really appreciate it. Thanks!