A New Beginning-A Chaos Percy Jackson FanFic

Nostalgia

Storm POV

Being back at camp gave me mixed feelings. On 1 hand, I was happy to be back to the place I used to call home. But on the other, nobody knew who I was. Hiding my face in front of my past friends was hard when Chiron talked about us.

Some of the others wanted to keep their identity secret, like Luke and Silena. No matter how many times I tried to tell them that they were heroes, they still didn't believe me. They didn't feel comfortable here.

Even if Luke didn't show it, he was glad to be back. Earlier, I saw him look longingly at the Hermes cabin. Oh, yeah, about Luke. So when Chaos introduced us, not that we needed it, we weren't exactly friends, but we also weren't enemies. It wasn't until we were stuck with each other for over a year on a mission! We were on our last few days, and we were raiding an enemy compound. They were firing at us, and he was about to get hit when I took the gunfire instead. I got shot about 10 times, which wasn't that big of a deal because we were immortal, but he looked shocked.

He said, "Why did you do that?" I had replied, "Because that's what friends are for," before passing out. He finished our mission and raced me back to Chaos. I was in a coma for weeks because I lost so much blood. When I woke up, Luke was sitting by my bed, fast asleep in the same armchair Chaos had occupied. I had gotten up to leave the room when he startled awake.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I thought you still hated me for what I did." He sheepishly had rubbed the back of his neck.

I had responded with, "It's okay. That was you in the past. You've made up for your mistakes. Besides, you were the hero, not me." We had become like brothers after that. I had suspected Chaos for that particular mission in the hopes it would bring us together. We were also good pranking buddies.

Back in the present, Flames and I headed for Annie. Since I had my Wise Girl, we had changed her name. Annabeth even let me keep her programming. My ship has been much improved since the finding of my brothers. Annie had grown, so we could fit everyone on it. Her horsepower had been upgraded, as well as her lightspeed abilities.

After Annabeth had arrived, we had painted over the original owl I had had. We changed it to flowers and some of the constellations. Even Zoë's was there.

In the present, I counted a few seconds before Leo followed us. I came back a few days after my first mission when I thought about the fact that Leo was dead and he wasn't here. Storming to his office, I demanded that Chaos bring the mischievous son of Hephaestus back. He looked so confused and then had the nerve to laugh. When he caught his breath, he said: "Leo's not dead. He came back with the physician's cure. He's just taking care of something before going to camp."

So I wasn't surprised when I saw him on Mt. Olympus. I had also heard his comment about my ship.

"Hey. I'm Leo, a son of Hephaestus. I was wondering if I could come with you, cause I figured you were going to Annie, can I call her that? Anyways, what can she do? I built a ship, not like that but an actual hip that goes into the water. It flies too. There were a few problems after Festus was free..." Leo rambles, coming to stand with us.

I smile at the familiarity of his ADHD. His has always been the worst case out of all of us. He fiddles with something in his hands, and he looks back and forth between it and us as he walks.

"You can come. It's been a while since I showed my baby off. And yeah, call her Annie. She'll like it. Also, are you talking about the Argo II? We have heard about it even in space." I think about the good times aboard the ship, like when Frank found Annabeth and me in the stables. Or when Leo and I had pulled pranks on the others that resulted in bonding over them.

"Ah, thank you so much. I can't believe the Argo II is known in space! Well, it's more of an Argo 2.5 right now. I rebuilt her right after I came back from the dead. There's nowhere to fly it, though. It's really disappointing. But there's Festus, so that's a plus."He paused to take a breath. "He likes to fly the campers around. I should probably shut up now. ADHD and all."

"Oh yeah, we know. This has it bad too. I have a question. This Festus, he's a dragon that you found?" Flames finally piped up.

I thought he might ask about him. I told him of how Leo had fixed him up after his death. Knowing that his dragon was in good hands brought some relief to him.

"Yeah. Festus was attacking the campers, so I did some readjustments and gave him some wings, and he was as good as new!" Leo said enthusiastically.

"Here we are." I interrupted their bonding. I pushed the little button in, waiting for Annie to scan my fingerprint. There was only a select few who had access to her, including Demon. The ramp lowered, and I gestured them forwards. I heard Leo gasp as he got inside.

"Hey, Annie? Got any updates?" I asked her, wondering how concerning our situation was.

"The engine looks a little fried, and your lightspeed capabilities look to be shot through," came her voice.

"Anything major?"

"You don't think that the engine is major, sir? But no. Nothing that I can see. Not that I can see, sir."

"I think you're getting better at the humor. Keep working on it." I complimented her.

"Will do, idiot."

I laughed at the name. The members of my team had taken to inputting different nicknames for Annie to call me. Seaweed Brain was still my favorite.

"You have an AI system?" Leo asked excitedly.

"Yep. Programmed her myself. She has a mind of her own."

"You gave me that capability, sir."

"True. She used to be a person, but the actual person put her mind on a hard drive. She said that she wanted to be able to protect and serve even after death. Annie, this is Leo Valdez. Just call him Leo."

"Hello, Leo. Welcome aboard."

The three of us spent hours working on fixing her back up. I had to restrain myself from saying something that would compromise our positions. In all, we enjoyed ourselves. I had a feeling that Leo thought of us as friends.

A quiet knock sounded, echoing on Annie's steel interior. I jumped up past the jumble of clothes on the floor and stumbled towards the lowered ramp. What I saw there shocked me. Not literally, mind you.

It was Calypso. She was wearing her hair back in French braids and some jeans with a light pink blouse. She looked more like herself and stood more confidently than the last time I saw her.

"Is Leo here? Because my boyfriend needs to come to dinner, and you should too." She asked.

My eyes widened. I knew that Leo had been stranded on Oygia, but I hadn't realized it was serious. Then I mentally gave myself a slap. She was the important thing that he had to take care of!

"Um, yeah. Leo's ah, in there. I'll go get him." I said, retreating to my quarters.

"Hey, it's dinner time. Your girlfriend's waiting for you," I spoke, startling them both.

"Oh, schist! I didn't tell her where I was going." He raced past, running towards dinner and his girlfriend.

Flames and I stood in silence for a couple of minutes before he spoke up.

"So that's Leo?"

"Yup.Bit of a hand full."

He laughed.

"Come on. I'm hungry."

Word Count: 1357

Author's Note

Sup guys. I loved this chapter a lot. You get a little background on Luke and Percy. Yay! Also, I know that the song above is not Percy Jackson related but it is Throne of Glass related. There are so many songs that Victoria Carol writes about this series and she is absolutely amazing. Please listen. Also, have a good Thanksgiving.