Percy Jackson, Prince of the Universe *Discontinued*

Chapter 8 - The Cruelty of Poseidon

-Annabeth-

"Annabeth? I can watch Percy over now. Is he okay?" Luke asked me, entering the infirmary. I did not respond; I just sat there. Luke came by my side with a worried expression on his face.

"What happened to you?" he asked. Then his eyes followed to where I was staring at and gasped. "Where did Percy go?"

"He left," I simply stated.

"Annabeth, look at me. What happened?"

Slowly, I turned to face him, tears spilling out of my eyes again, just as I had for hours earlier. "Percy said that this wasn't his home. He still lives through the pain we caused him. I tried telling him that I never kissed Kristof, but he refused to listen to me. So he left. Luke, my life's a wreck!" I cried out.

"Annabeth...Percy's been through a lot. You have to get over it. You have to. His fatal flaw is loyalty, and seeing you do that...it broke him, Annie, it broke him. I believe you when you said that you never did what he thought you did, but that was probably the last straw. Come on, let's get you some fresh air," Luke said, in his comforting voice. I remembered the first time I met him, how he gave me that dagger. How he was so kind to me.

I smiled a little, looking at the permanent scar on his face. "Okay. I would like that."

Silently, we exited the infirmary, before I asked him, "You don't think that Percy's in trouble or anything right now, do you?"

"Nah. He's probably in the Chaos planet or other planets, doing some other missions. He's already done his job, defeating Eternal. The rest of us...our job is to defeat Gaea and Kronos."

I felt reassured, but I frowned. "Luke...would do excuse me for a minute?" I asked him, and he politely nodded. I walked toward the Hermes cabin and knocked on the door.

Simon Kristof himself answered it- just the person I needed to talk to. "Oh, hi, Wise Girl!" he greeted me.

"Do not call me that," I seethed. Seeing me like this, he seemed to stand up a little taller. "Did you kiss me before?" I asked him.

At first, his expression was confusion. Then he looked a little alarmed, before turning back to a neutral expression. "That was a very...interesting...question. Yes..." he thought about it, thinking of a better answer. "I mean, no. Percy Jackson has always been the love of your life, hasn't it? And you would never give me a chance!" he smiled his stupid smile.

I was way too experienced with expressions. He's done something to my-our-minds, I didn't know what. But he definitely did something to drive Percy Jackson away.

I flipped him, they way I did to Percy when I finally found him the first time he disappeared, but harsher and with no emotion.

"I will kill you. For killing Percy," I seethed. I released him before returning to Luke, who was looking towards Thalia's tree with alarm.