“Do you believe in magic?” Percy asked, his eyes circling around the beautiful night sky. The sky was truly beautiful at night at Camp Half-Blood, even though they were just a few miles away from the busy Manhattan. But it wasn’t as beautiful at sunset, when you catch the sky at the perfect moment, you can see the exact shade of grey in the horizon.

Annabeth snorted in reply, laughing at his question.

He frowned, “Oh right, stupid question,”

They were half-bloods, and they could flood major cities or build massive ships in just days. They knew the existence of the Gods,and some of them have even spoken and seen them. All of them carried their blood, and all of them had their godly parent’s powers.

“Yea, seaweed brain, that was kind of a stupid question,” Annabeth laughed, her soft beautiful voice flowing into the air. The stars twinkled above their heads. They were lying on their backs, on the sand, near the water.

Their hands entwined.

It was Percy’s favorite place. The water soothed him, gave him the comfort when Annabeth wasn’t there. He could hear the water now, begging him to sink his feet into the cold waters, dig his feet into the wet sand. The water was so close, that on a particularly big wave, the water would rise and gently tickle his feet, before receding back. Whenever that happened, Annabeth pull her feet back, so the cold ocean couldn’t touch her. Truthfully, Percy was slightly hurt when she did that, but he understood her fear.

He knew that Annabeth didn’t like the feud going on between Athena and Poseidon, and she did her best to make the Athena campers be friends with him and Tyson (actually, they were a bit better with Percy then Tyson, given that Tyson is a big, muscular, one-eyed cyclops). Even though she was trying, being the daughter of Athena, she couldn’t help but to shy away from water (or at least any large body of liquid), and spiders too. Percy couldn’t help but to incessantly tease her about that major fear.

“Then,” He tried again, “If you were mortal, would you believe in magic?”

Annabeth stood still, she was thinking it over, toying with Percy’s fingers. She was just about to say something, opening her mouth, inhaling a breath of air, then paused. She made no sound, but holding her breath, until she released it with a loud, audible sigh. Percy felt as if Annabeth was choosing her words carefully, and hesitating. He didn’t push and ask what that was for.

She did that again before saying, “I think I wouldn’t.” Annabeth glanced at Percy, worry etching over her face.

“What?” Percy asked, tracing her palm with a finger.

“I thought you’d be offended or something, you know, not believing in magic if I didn’t know all of this,” Annabeth waved her hand in the sky.

Confused, Percy said, “Why would I be?”

“No reason.” Annabeth quickly said, “I think I wouldn’t because...” She trailed off again, in thought.

“Because I think I would accept science and logic more than belief and hope,” Annabeth tilted her face to look at Percy’s face. Her ponytail had become undone, her blond curls splayed across the grainy sand.

“What do you think about the stars?” Percy pointed at the blinking little dots that were spilled across the sky.

“What’s up with the twenty questions?” Annabeth retorted. Her questioning eyes glimmered under the moon, making her gray eyes seem brighter and more alive than ever.

“Just answer the question, Wise Girl,” Percy replied, still tracing the stars with his finger.

“I think,” She slowly started, “That they hold many secrets,”

Her mind wandered back to Zoe, how the archer was imprinted into the sky. With that memory, her eyes darted around, searching for the familiar agile stance of an archer. Her eyes sought out anything that looked familiar, he point of an arrow, the angle of boot. At last, she found the figure, and she looked, drinking in the brightness of it and the beauty.

“I think that they’re beautiful. Stunning. They hold memories,” Annabeth continued.

Percy clutched Annabeth’s hand closer, “Stars are wonderful,”

Percy looked at Annabeth, the faintest trace of a smile lingered around his face. At that moment, Annabeth looked breath-taking. Absolutely enchanting.

It was amazing that they weren’t caught yet. It’s been a few hours, but that made it all the better. They weren’t caught and they finally had time to themselves, away from prying eyes, and whispering voices. They were away from gossip and bets.

He took a strand of her hair and twirled it around his finger, pulling her in for a kiss. A kiss under the stars. They were drowned in emotion, in love. Annabeth didn’t care with the cold wave lapped at her thighs, or with the sand, pressed onto her neck. She was too in the moment to care for anything.

When they drew apart, the stars seemed brighter, the sky seemed lighter. Everything else was just a blur of dark colors. Percy’s eyes were shining and bright, two bright moons in the dark sky.

Annabeth’s eyes were now a light gray, the clouds after a bad storm. The stars were reflected in them. He kissed her again. Again. And again.

They were face to face, the tips of their nose touching.

The sky was streaked with bright lines, from one end to the next, flowing smoothly across the dark depths.

“Hey seaweed brain,”

Percy smiled at her, “Hey Wise Girl, you believe in magic right?”

Annabeth nodded slightly, smiling softly. She was staring at the sea, the endless mass of powerful churning water, meeting the horizon in the distance.

“You believe in stars right?”

She nodded in reply.The small flickering orbs that danced above her twinkled.

“I love you,” Percy murmured. Their foreheads touched, Percy could feel her breath on his cheek. A strand of blonde hair came undone, tickling his neck.

“I love you too,” Annabeth replied back. Her cool hands went around Percy’s neck, in return, his hand went across her waist, caught in each other's embrace.

“Make a wish,”

After a moment of silence, each making a wish, they were sunk back in passion, and love. Tumbling in the sand, until they hit the cool water, they kissed.

Notes

Thank you for reading! This is just a one-shot.