Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians. They belong to their respected owners.

Authors Note: Banged this out in two days to try and start back writing. What do you think?

The Fearless Knight

When you're a child, you need fairytales to survive. The world is a terrifying place; everything is too big, too loud and too scary. Fairytales help make it seem less frightening because there's always a brave knight or a superhero that makes it better in the end.

Just like how that ratty old soft toy you slept with all those years kept the monsters away.

Mine was a knight.

He fended off all of the monsters from the closets, under the bed and kept the shadows at bay. He protected me from the nightmares and kept me safe through the night.

He slept right beside me on the pillow.

Every night.

Without fail.

Until the real monsters started attacking.

When I ran away, I took my brave knight with me even though I knew he couldn't really protect me against the real monsters.

Or so I thought.

One time when I was desperate and about to die I threw him; my childhood friend, my hero, my protector, at the monster and he saved me. The sword got lodged into the monsters eyeball, giving me enough time to run away. I felt guilty later when I hid in a dumpster, how could I do that? Just throw him away to save myself? When I went back hours later, my knight was still there waiting for me. He was covered in dirt and grime; but he was there. Waiting for me to come back.

When I finally reached Camp Half-blood with Annabeth he was still with me.

To this day my Fearless knight is with me and I'm not ashamed to say I still sleep with him.

He protects me in the night; he keeps the monsters and shadows at bay, and defends against the nightmares. He keeps me safe all through the night, each and every time without fail.

He's my best friend, the one I can always count on.

He's there for me no matter what.

And right now I need him more than anything.

"Hey Fearless Knight." I whispered so my voice doesn't travel in the wind. I was sitting at the end of the forest where the river meets land; it was almost dark out but I had snuck out here with my knight to be alone. I needed time to think, time to figure out how to fix things.

But I wasn't sure there was a way to. Not this time.

Things were bad from the time I woke up and only got progressively worse as the day went on. First I woke up to someone accidently stepping on my fingers, then I couldn't find my right shoe, and then one of the younger kinds threw up, and then I almost took an arrow to my butt when I accidently tripped into archery practice.

So by the time sword lessons rolled around I was more than a little anxious. I decided to bring my knight with me, just to make me feel better. I knew he wouldn't really provide any protection but I needed a little comfort so I tucked him into my armor.

If I had known one of the straps would break just as I was attacking, leaving my chest open to a blow I would never have brought him. Because then the sword not only but my shoulder, but cut into him as well.

"I'm so sorry." I whispered and tried to tuck the stuffing back into his shield and side. "I never meant for this to happen. Really I didn't! Please forgive me…" I was nearly in tears at this point; what did he do to deserve this? Nothing!

"Luke? Is that you? What are you doing here?" Percy! Fuck!

Quickly I tried to hide my knight but I was reluctant to cause him any further damage. In the end I kind of gently tucked him under my shirt just as he showed up.

"Hey Percy." I greeted just as he jumped over a rock to sit beside me, facing the river. He smelled of soap and shampoo; Annabeth must have yelled at him to finish practice early today to help her.

He tried to finger comb his hair but settled for just shaking it, spraying water droplets on my shoulder. "Hey man. What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be leading someone somewhere?" He asked and chuckled as he scanned the ground for some rocks. "Or so Annabeth said."

I shrugged and snorted as I again tried to discreetly hide my knight budging under my shirt. It's not that I'm embarrassed to have him, okay well yeah I kind of am, but I made it this far without anyone knowing so I wasn't going to give up now. "Yeah well, I'm sure she can handle the new kids without my help for one night."

Beside me he shifted and picked up a few rocks. "Really? That's unlike you…you're not sick are you?" He glanced at me before throwing a rock into the river. It sunk immediately.

"No, just having a bad day." I mumbled and tried to inconspicuously pet Fearless Knight tucked under my shirt.

"It wouldn't have anything to do with that soft toy you have under your shirt will it?" He asked casually and threw another rock in the water.

I paled as he settled back down beside me, brushing his elbow against my arm. Why did I think I could hide this from Percy? As stupid as he seems, unobservant is not one of the skills he lacks.

"Luke? Hey man sorry, I'm not making fun of you…I just…"

"You saw?" I whispered and gently pulled my knight out from under the edge of my shirt. Several pieces of his stuffing tumbled out of him which nearly brought tears to my eyes. Poor Fearless Knight! It's my fault; if only I had secured him better, or wrapped him in bubble wrap this never would have happened.

"What happened to him?"

"Sword practice."

"Ah…" He nodded and sighed, scratching his head.

"Yeah. My strap broke."

"You know, I'm sure one of the girls could sew that up for you."

"I know, but I'm not-"

"Going to let anyone know you still sleep with a soft toy?" He grinned at me. "Its fine you know. I'm not judging you." He shrugged and threw another rock into the river. "We all need something to comfort us…I'll do it."

"What?"

"Give me the knight; I'll go ask one of the girls. Tell them it's mine."

I cradled my knight close to my chest and sighed. "Percy I can't-"

"I'm not stupid. Clearly he means a lot to you. And…you've been good to me so this is something I can do for you." He turned to face me and smiled. "You can trust me Luke. I'll protect that," He glanced down to look at Fearless Knight and grinned. "Knight with my life. I'll even stay and watch while they fix him. I mean bandage his injury."

I was tempted to say yes. And not just because Fearless Knight was injured but because something in Percy made me want to trust him. I knew that if I trusted him with my knight he would make sure he was safe and was mended properly.

But I didn't want to let him go; after all these years I never had to give him up to another person. Not even for a second. And to have to trust Percy and some girl with his life? That was too much, especially after this day I've had.

"You can come too you know." He nudged my shoulder. "I can just tell them it's mine."

OOO

And just like that we were off to the Athena cabin; at least Annabeth won't be there. She's busy doing both or our jobs tonight. It was pretty quiet, but then again most people were down by the fireside. The door was open, so we just walked in.

Percy walked right up to a girl about our age sitting at a desk near the front. She looked to be reading a book; her light brown hair was pulled into a messy bun, and she wore a camp hoodie and black shorts.

"Hey, do you think you can do me a favor?" Percy asked her, leaning on the desk.

"Depends. What is it?" She looked up at us with a scowl then smiled when she realized it was Percy and me. "Oh, hi Percy! Hi Luke. What's up?" She closed the book and adjusted her glasses.

He held my knight in his two hands and gently opened them to show her. "This is my knight. Do you think you can fix him?"

"Aww. Is he yours?" She looked up at Percy with a smile.

"Yeah. He uh…took a blow for me."

"Awwww!" She cooed and blushed. "How sweet!"

"Yeah." He chuckled and shrugged. "Do you think you can fix him?"

"Of course! Let me get my sewing kit." She immediately jumped up and began to dig around.

Percy looked over and me and grinned. "Relax." He whispered. "Sit down or something."

I sighed and kicked at a random book on the ground. I couldn't relax; Fearless Knight was in someone else's hands and I had to trust her to make him better!

"Alright," She smiled as she sat down, needle in hand. "Hand him over. And don't worry I know what I'm doing I'll have him fixed like new in no time."

And so began the longest ten minutes of my life. She sat and sewed, and hummed and sewed while Percy sat and watched while I paced and tried not to attack her. It felt like a millennia has passed; and still she wasn't done.

OOO

"Well, what do you think?" Percy asked as we walked back to our cabins. I had finally gotten my knight back and I had to admit that girl did an amazing job. The stitches were neat and barely there; Fearless Knight looked good as new!

"Thanks Percy." I grinned and gently tucked my knight into my pant pocket so he was halfway in. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem." He shrugged. "You helped me with a lot of things; especially practice so don't worry about it. Oh shit there's Annabeth." He stopped walking with a groan. "I better get over there before she starts shouting. You go on back to your cabin; I'll cover for you." He scratched his head with a sigh and glanced at me still standing there.

I started to shake my head but he cut me off.

"Seriously, go ahead; I didn't save your knight for nothing!" He grinned then jogged off in the direction of the fire.

Almost immediately I heard Annabeth's voice shouting at him and I felt bad for a minute. Why did he do that? Why did he help me?

My hand brushed against my knight in my pocket and I felt a sense of calm settle over me as I resumed walking to the cabin. I was going to go to sleep; forget camp actives and monsters and people. I just wanted this bad day to be over.

OOO

I never thought I would be so grateful to anyone as much as I was grateful to Percy Jackson. Thanks to him my knight is safe, and mended and here with me tonight.

I sighed and settled down under the covers with Fearless Knight right by my side.

Just like every night before he would fend off the monsters, keep the shadows at bay, and protect me and keep me safe through the night.

The Fearless Knight ~ End

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