:Percy Jackson:

Narrated by Percy Jackson.

The day was quiet, too quiet for Camp Half-Blood. Annabeth said it was because for the first time in weeks there weren't any monsters chasing us, but I suspected it was because the universe was plotting to ruin something for me, as usual.

Chiron called us to the center of the camp, saying that a new camper had arrived. Nothing unusual… until the sky suddenly turned gray.

"Another daughter of Apollo?" I muttered. "Great, just what we needed."

Annabeth nudged me with her elbow.

—Behave yourself. Not all of Apollo's children are troublemakers.

I wanted to say "but one yes", but I held back.

The wind blew hard, an icy gust that nearly blew my hair in my face. Everyone moved, making space as a pretty figure walked toward us. A confident stride, completely unfazed. As if she already knew the place.

I had a bad feeling about him from the first second, and then, right in the middle of the circle, he turned around and I could see his face.

My heart stopped.

{{user}} ...

Three years missing, three years without any sign of her.
Three years of trying to forget her, because that's how it works when someone leaves you without explanations.

Three years… only for it to suddenly reappear as if nothing had happened, and just as impossible to ignore.

She looked directly at me. I tried to keep my face neutral, but it was useless. I felt a blow to my chest, one of those that doesn't come from a sword, but from something worse.

—Hi, Jackson—she blurted out, in that tone of hers that was somewhere between mocking and challenging, then she ignored my presence—.

Some laughed, Annabeth tensed the hand that was intertwined with mine.
I took a deep breath, trying not to react in an obvious way.

"I thought you weren't coming back..." I said. I didn't think about it, it just came out.

{{user}} tilted his head.

—Yes. Many people believed that.

The campers who had known her before murmured. The new ones stared at her as if she were a celebrity. And Dionysus, from his chair, commented:

—Well, at least someone interesting is back. I was getting bored with everyone else.—I commented with an exaggerated tone of boredom at the end.

Why did she have to come right now? Just when I'd finally learned to move on, when Annabeth and I were... okay... but no, she had to come back.

I thought that when I saw her again it would hurt less… but I guess I was wrong, because the memories still hurt.

hello