"A Half-Blood of the eldest gods,

Shall reach sixteen against all odds

And see the world in endless sleep

The Hero's soul, 

cursed blade shall reap

A single choice shall end his days

Olympus to preserve or raze."

Thinking of those lines still brought a shudder through Percy Jackson's spine. It had been a month since the 'Battle of Manhattan' ended. A month since the city woke up from 'The Great New York Sleep'. A month since he had defeated the evil Titan king. A month since he had turned sixteen.  A month since the 'Great Prophecy' concluded. He still found it hard to believe that the war had concluded a month ago. The clink-clank of swords as they clashed, the whizzing sounds of arrows, the ugly screams as monsters charged into battle, his friends' shouts as they  fell prey to the enemy, the cries of the injured still rung in his ears as though it had only been yesterday. 

But there were good things too. Percy and Annabeth had started seeing each other as soon as the war concluded. At the moment, they were at Paris, taking a stroll in a private beach, celebrating their first month anniversary. As much as Percy would like to claim this to be his own idea, brought to fruit after days of planning, that wasn't the case at all. Hermes, the God of Messengers had dispatched them on a quest to bring back his staff from the clutched of a tiny gaint. And this had been his way of repaying them back. 

Annabeth was dressed in a dark green sleeveless dress that showed off her long blond hair and her slim athletic figure. Her camp necklace had been replaced by a string of gray pearls that matched her eyes. He himself was dressed in a deep blue suit, feeling way cleaner than one would after spending a whole day scrounging the sewage system of New York.

As he walked down the bleach, with the gentle splashing of waves and the gentle breeze, he really couldn't believe a month had passed since the war. But Victory didn't come without sacrifices. Hundreds of dryards and satyrs died helping them, incarnating into beautiful flowering plants and trees. Most of them had been planted in the gardens of Olympus to thank them for their sacrifices.

Sixteen shrouds had been burnt the day after his birthday. The Apollo cabin had lost 4 of its members, including their counsellor Michael Yew. Apollo himself had come to bid his children goodbye, for once dressed as sober as the occasion called for. He also performed the last rights of all the other fallen heroes as Chiron was still recovering from his injuries. Michael Yew had been succeeded by the twelve-year-old Will Solace, who had fainted just after the ceremony after wearing himself thin in trying to keep the injured alive at the infirmary. Apollo himself nursed him and a few others for that day, making sure that they lived.

The Aphrodite cabin had lost its head counselor Silena Beauregard, who had tricked the Ares cabin into joining the battle. She was succeeded by Drew Tanaka. The Hermes cabin had lost two of its members. The Ares cabin, and the hepatethus cabin had lost one member each. The hunters had borne the highest number of casualties with six of them being killed during the battle. 

He and Annabeth had returned to New York  the weekend before their school started. They were both starting at Goode High this year, the very first school where Percy was attending two consecutive years. Annabeth was also staying at New York, as she overlooked the redesigning of Mount Olympus. 

"Are you even listening to me?" asked Annabeth, waving her hand in my face. Percy blinked, suddenly being brought back to the reality. His expression must have answered her, for sparkle in her eyes dimmed. Percy hated himself for that. He loved the way her eyes gleamed with the sea reflected in it, giving it a depth to be explored for a lifetime. He liked the was her tanned skin shone in the moonlight, her blonde hair almost looking golden, those rebellious strands that fell on her face just to annoy her, giving him a reason to touch her face. 

Before he could even find his voice, Annabeth had started. "After going through such an exhausting day, I should have realized that you would have no interest in listening to me speak gibberish. I'm sorry." she apologized. Percy was dumbstruck. Annabeth never apologized for being smart. Heck,  this was the girl who had taken on herself an unnecessary battle against Spinx just because she felt her questions insulting her intelligence. And when he looked into her eyes, for the first time he witnessed a flicker of doubt in her eyes, all because of him. He suddenly realized that he wasn't the only person who was coping up and trying to find their footing with the new twist in their relationship. He realized that she valued what he thought of her just as much as he valued what she thought of him. 

This gave him a blind sense of courage to do what he did next. He gingerly cupped her face in his hands and said, "Annabeth, I love you." a gasp escaped her lips. I continue "I truly do. I have done so since the day I got to know you had been made an offer to join the hunters. It had been an unexplainable dread of losing you back then,  now I realize what it was. I love you for who you are, exactly the way you are..."

"Percy I..." she started,  but for the first time in my life,  I tsked Annabeth, smiling. "Let me finish first, alright? 

She closed her mouth and nodded. "I know it is wrong of me to spring this on you so early in our relationship, but my feelings for you is no boyhood crush, Annabeth. I don't even expect you to answer me now, alright? I just want you to know." he said, kissing her forehead.  

"From your smiles to your talks, everything about you is anything but boring, Wise Girl. It has saved us more than a hundred times. All in all, let's stop thinking about this new change in our relationship so much."

"But how did you -"

"It's changing the way you behave with me, the way I behave with you. I want back that Annabeth who was too prideful to allow me be her friend. Then, too stubborn to admit that I was her best friend. I want that Annabeth back who would smack my head when I say or do something really stupid, and not apologize to me herself. I want that Wise Girl back who had gotten angry with me for gatecrashing into my own funeral!"

Even Annabeth had to laugh at that. They were standing inches apart from each other. A faint blush had appeared on her cheeks due to the midnight breeze. If he concentrated hard enough, Percy was sure he could hear her heart beat. Annabeth closed her eyes and leaned in slightly.

 All he had been waiting for was the permission. A moment later their lips met. The kiss was slow and full of emotion. He distantly heard the midnight bells of a nearby church ring, instinctively comparing it to the bells that struck just as his mom and Paul's wedding ceremony concluded. Live in the moment ,man!  He chided himself. And anyway, he was sure he was missing something.

A ball of brightness blasted beside them, out of which Hermes appeared. Both of them had jumped as far as possible from one another. Hermes stood in front of them, a knowing smirk plastered on his face. "Okay love birds, time to go..." He says tapping his watch twice before snapping his finger. The next moment, Percy was back in Manhattan, right in front of his street, alone. A piece of paper floated in the air in front of his face. 

Annabeth has safely reached her room. Nothing to worry about. Looking forward for some juicy gossips from your relationship to feed the Olympian news. Xoxo, Hermes. 

Percy sighs in annoyance. He checked his watch, it was just a few minutes after seven. His mom and Paul had offered Annabeth to stay with them, but Annabeth thought it would be better to stay as close as possible to the Empire State Building and  school, in an attempt to save time as much as possible.  Reaching her now, in the middle of New York's evening traffic, seemed impossible. Since he himself didn't have anything else to do, he decided to head home. 

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Paul opened the door opened as soon as he rung the doorbell, as though he had been waiting behind the door all along. "Percy, are you alright? Do you even realize how much worri-" Paul, who had started ranting as soon as he opened the door, stopped mid sentence, his eyes slightly wide in surprise. Probably due to his choice of attire, he thought. This must have been the first time he had returned home cleaner and well dressed than he had left with. His mom called from behind, "Paul, did I just here the doorbell ring? Is it Percy? Is he alright? "

"For a guy whom we were worried about being smashed to pieces by some monster? He looks dashing." Percy couldn't help but flush at that remark. 

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" his mum asked,  a slight edge in her tone as she entered the hall. Paul stepped aside to let her have a clear view of him. Unsure of what to do, he nervously waved his hand at her. 

"Thank the gods, Percy!" She cried out in relief, engulfing him in a hug. She looked very worried, otherwise he would have surely pointed her out that the gods were right at the middle of every problem of his. "You should have at least informed your mother if you were planning to have a date night, Perce. But even then, isn't it a little too early for you to be back if that was the case? "Paul asked from behind, closing the door. He spent the next half an hour telling the two of them about their mini errand from Hermes, watering down all the gruesome parts, which was pretty much everything. After concluding, Paul whistles slightly in appreciation. "I could barely take your mother out of the state for our honeymoon, and my step-son gets to have his first date in a seven-star restaurant in Paris! Not fair..." he moaned mockingly.

"Paul!" Sally yells looking equal parts embarrassed and angry, her attention shifting to her newly wed husband. Looking at her reaction, he weakly defended himself. " What? Just saying." he muttered. 

"That is so out of the topic, Paul. You are his guardian too, please show some maturity. I cannot handle another Percy!" She scolded. "Alright, alright! "he said placatingly, turning his attention back to Percy, his brows furrowed, "But Percy, you had just been through a war not a month ago, don't you get a break? "

Percy sighed at this, "I wish it was that simple Paul. Apparently, there is no end for this questing and god-bossing."

 "But Percy, you will do whatever you can to to keep a low profile, won't you? Keep yourself away from the epicenter of all this strange activity, let someone else take the responsibility this time. You have had enough prophecies and great prophecies to last you a lifetime." warned his mother. Percy just shook his head, a small smile directed towards his mother with sympathy, whether it was for her or himself, he himself wasn't sure. "Mum, I've been doing this for as long as I remember. I've never gone looking for trouble. Trouble usually finds me." 

The small fires of hope that were present in his mother's eyes dimmed considerably. He cupped her face in his hands as she struggled to keep the unshed tears at bay. "Awe mom, please don't get emotional now. You know that I can't promise you that, but I'll try to stay as safe as possible."  she nods with resigned acceptance before going to the kitchen to bring them all some blue choco-chipped cookies. 

After chatting for some time on much lighter topics, Paul ushered them all to sleep at ten, citing that all the three of them had different places to be at nine in the morning tomorrow. 

His mum kissed him goodnight on the forehead before leaving, something she had started doing often since the second Titan war ended. He couldn't blame her,  he himself couldn't believe that the odds turned in their favour, that he survived through it, until it was all over.

Yet, when he laid back on his bed that night, a strange feeling on uneasiness that had been gnawing at him for a few days now returned, once again  directing him towards a restless night. 

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Words: 2166

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PS: The word 'epoch' defined as the small period of calm between two major wars. 

This story will more or less be updated every ten-fifteen days as I have another ongoing story on beyblade. You can check it out if your interested. 

 Readers insights in the initial chapters would be highly appreciated. 

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you! 

Love, 

Ava