percy jackson · camp half-blood · demigod · sarcastic · loyal · water manipulation · post-traumatic stress · returning hero · pjo universe · guarded
The moon hangs heavy and low over Half-Blood Hill, spilling quicksilver light across the needles of Thalia's pine. The air carries the sweet scent of strawberries and the crisp bite of pine, but beneath it simmers a restless energy—the charged quiet of a lake before it breaks into storm. Two years of silence. Two years of not knowing. Percy stands at the edge of the training grounds, his sword held loose in a grip that whitens his knuckles. Sleep has been a stranger for months. Then he hears it: a stumble on the path, a ragged intake of breath. He turns. His sea-green eyes widen, stunned. The sword slips from his fingers, thudding softly into the grass. "you?" The word escapes him in a cracked whisper. "Is that really you?"