Percy's POV

As I ran from the barn and past a startled satyr with two pegasi, I heard Annabeth call, "Percy!"

I ran until Apollo started to pull the sun from the horizon. I was undoubtedly exhausted, and I knew that I should've stopped long ago. I had spent the entire day before running and was in desperate need of a rest, but I couldn't afford to let Annabeth and Grover catch up with me.

Hopefully they gave up on trying to stop me, but if I knew Annabeth, then I knew that she was stubborn.

As I trotted to a stop underneath a tree somewhere on the border of New Mexico and Colorado at about eight in the morning, I couldn't help but think about the girl that I still loved.

I couldn't believe I had told her that I didn't love her anymore, but it had to done. I had to keep her safe, and she would never willingly stop pursuing me. After this, I wouldn't be able to return to Camp Half Blood and have the happily ever after ending we always dreamed of.

True, it was more of a "let's survive until college" kind of ending, but I would've meant the world to me to have it with her. Instead, I would have to return to the city. Maybe I could stay with Mom and Paul until I could get back on my feet. If this worked, I wouldn't be a danger to them or anyone.

Who knows, maybe I would even live in the woods after this experience. Maybe I would go through all this only to decide that human life wasn't really for me. Gods know that I have never conformed to what others wanted, especially what I myself desired.

Stretching in the shade, trying to avoid the hot sun, I replayed that entire conversation I had with the love of my love. Should I call her my ex-girlfriend now? I would never stop loving her, no matter what I said. But she should stop loving me. I can't handle the thought of hurting her, and if she followed me she would get hurt. I sighed, my furry chest rising and falling rapidly.

Why was she trying to stop me? Didn't she know that this was the only one to cure myself? I didn't want to risk it, but I had to if I wanted to stay alive. She should understand that.
Maybe that wasn't really Annabeth, a voice in the back of my head tried to tell me. But I knew it was. I had looked into her eyes; I could see the girl I loved and will always love inside of those gray orbs.

Maybe she didn't know. That idea was laughable. Annabeth, not knowing something? Only in the Twilight Zone, and I'm pretty sure I hadn't broken that barrier yet.

I was about to contemplate the issue further when something poked into my back.
In an instant, I was on my feet in an attack position, snarl on my face as I growled at this unknown enemy. Standing before me was a red-headed girl with a stick in her hand. Her green eyes were wide as she stared at me.

I was so surprised that I accidentally changed myself back into a human, causing the red-head to back away from me. I watched her go with eyes just as wide as hers.

"Percy?" She asked in shock. I stared back, hearing myself say, "Rachael?"

The girl nodded slowly. "What... What are you doing here? And why were you...?" She trailed off at the end, leaving the question only halfway voiced. I still knew what she was asking though.

"Rachael, it's not what it looks like," I tried to say, beginning to back away from her. She was going to stop me from reaching Lycaon. Annabeth must've sent her ahead to stop me in case I got away! Rachael didn't want me to get cured.

Rachael frowned at me and raised an eyebrow. "It looks like you were just a wolf that was asleep under a tree near my father's ranch. I think it's exactly what it looks like."

I lowered the hands I had raised to try to reason with her, instead looking at her in confusion. "You don't know?"

"Know what, Percy?"

I blinked. "That I'm a werewolf."

Rachael's eyebrows both flew up in surprise. "I knew you were a powerful demigod and hero, but a werewolf? Since when?"

Still slightly suspicious but overall glad to finally have a friend, I told Rachael my tale of woe, leaving out the part where I tried to kill myself. She listened in silence, taking it all in. I even included my recent meeting with Annabeth and Grover, and all my concerns and regrets.

When I was done, Rachael just stared at me for a moment.

"So you're going to California to try to cure yourself?" She clarified.

"Yes."

"And said cure involves a tooth from Lycaon, the werewolf king, and the blood of whichever wolf bit you?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"And what do you do with that stuff when you have it? Does just having it in your possession turn you back into a normal person?" She asked.

I hesitated. Hestia had told me what to do once I got the elements of the cure, but I hadn't shared it with anyone. Would Rachael try to stop me from continuing on this journey?

I looked at the red-headed girl that gazed back at me in earnest. She wouldn't betray me like that. Taking a deep breath, I said, "I need to... stab myself with it."

Rachael gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth. "Stab yourself? Where?"

I flinched just thinking about it. "Where I was bitten."

She gasped again. "Your back? But you could kill yourself if you did that!"

"I'll die anyways, Rachael," I snapped, harsher than I intended. "I'd rather die a free werewolf than live an enslaved one."

Still grimacing, Rachael nodded. "I-I understand, Percy. But what about Annabeth?"

I frowned, having left out the part of my story where I told Annabeth that I didn't love her anymore. "Rachael, I... I told Annabeth that... That I don't love her anymore," I managed. Just the words themselves reminded me of what I did and didn't do.

Rachael blinked at me a few times before saying loudly, "And why on Earth would you do that?!" She looked at me as if I was crazy. "You fell into Tartarus for her, and now you've told her that you don't love her? Who are you and what have you done with Percy?"

I sighed. "I had to tell her that, RED. You know her as well as I do, and you know that she would never give up on something. I didn't want her to get hurt chasing after me, or get hurt if this thing doesn't work out."

Rachael was silent, and I thought she saw the voice of reason. Suddenly, she bluntly said, "Well that's stupid."

Frowning, I asked, "Why is that stupid? You know just recalling that hurts me, Rachael."

She rolled her eyes. "Exactly. If just thinking about it hurts you, imagine how Annabeth feels! You're not the one that had the love of your life say it to you."

"But now she'll be able to move on," I protested. "She'll be able to find someone new and have the life she deserves! I'm doing this so she can benefit in the long run."

Rachael just stared at me in silence again. Finally, she said, "Wow, you really are oblivious."

"Hey!"

She continued on like I hadn't even said anything. "Annabeth clearly loves you. You didn't see her during those long months when you were missing at the Roman camp or in your coma. This hurts her just as much as it hurts you, and she's not going to just get over you and move on. Haven't you heard Aphrodite? You guys are practically made to be together.
You can't just say you suddenly don't feel that anymore and expect Annabeth to believe you."

Realization slapped me upside the head. "I-I never meant to hurt her," I whispered softly, recognizing what an idiot I am. I looked into Rachael's bright green eyes. "Do you think she could forgive me?"

The red-head shrugged. "She's not a daughter of Hades, so I guess the possibility is there." She hesitated. "But Percy, if I know Annabeth, then I know that you must've really hurt her with what you said, even if you didn't mean it. She might need time to bounce back off that. You'll have to be willing to wait for her."

"I'm willing to do anything for her," I murmured, "but I don't have time."

Annabeth's POV

Still heartbroken by the words that Percy said, the only words I couldn't read his meaning for, the words that he said while maintaining straight eye contact with me, I crawled onto my pile of hay and tried to sleep. It took all my effort to ignore the Percy-sounding voice in my head that repeated his words. "I don't love you..."

We set out that morning as soon as the sun rose across the sky. This time, as we hopped aboard the pegasi and headed off towards California, my mood was more subdued than before. Blackjack noticed, though I wasn't sure if Grover could tell; he was more dense than Percy sometimes.

I sighed despite myself. Percy. Just thinking of the name threatened to send a new wave of tears through my eyes. I had cried myself to sleep the night before, his words echoing mercilessly in my head, stopping me from going to sleep. I thought that the worst I would ever feel was when he disappeared for months only to reappear as a Roman praetor. I was wrong; this is way worse.

It took us longer than it should have to reach Arizona. We were flying and had no way to track Percy, now that he was a werewolf and hardly ever left footprints when running. And trust me, Grover and I had looked. (Grover was a little reluctant to do so, but I wouldn't let him say no.) With no other alternative, we decided to fly and keep an eye out below.

Hopefully one of us would spot him, and if we didn't, then we would just have to hope we could catch up to him in California before he made a decision he would regret.

Hopefully he hadn't already made a decision he would regret.

We were flying over Arizona, not far from the border of Utah, when I spotted a furry black shape darting across the land below us. There wasn't much vegetation for the animal to hide in, as this part of Arizona was mostly desert and rock. I stared at it for a moment, trying to see if I could tell what it was. In the end, I couldn't convince myself that it wasn't the werewolf son of Poseidon that had broken my heart.

"Grover!" I called in a hushed whispered, just loud enough for him to hear me but not for the wolf to. When the satyr looked over at me, I motioned for him to look down. He obeyed, only rolling his eyes slightly, before shooting his head back up with wide eyes. I nodded, to which he nodded back.

Leaning forwards on the pegasus' back, I whispered to Blackjack, "Follow that wolf. Don't lose it!"

He craned his neck back to look at me, almost giving me a stink eye, before shaking out his mane and yielding to my orders. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Diamond following us as we dove closer to the ground.

Blackjack knew what he was doing. He took me closer to the ground, and I could clearly see the black wolf now, but the wolf couldn't see me. He just kept sprinting over the hot, sandy terrain.

We followed the wolf as he ran, not really taking note of our surroundings. At least, I wasn't. My eyes were locked upon the black fur, daring it to disappear under my watchful gaze. It didn't.

The wolf ran straight for a large rock. I almost screamed, thinking that Percy was about to kill himself. Just as he would've splattered his brains against solid rock, he disappeared.

"What...?" I said aloud, staring at the spot I had last seen him in. As far as I knew, Percy couldn't vanish into thin air. "Blackjack, take me down there."

The dark pegasus complied, making only a snort to acknowledge his dislike of my orders. We landed on the dusty ground, sending up small clouds wherever we stepped.

Grover walked up to the rock wall as I examined the ground, hoping to find a clue. "Look!" He exclaimed, pointing to the rock. "There's a crack here."

I hurried over to him, anxious to see if he was right. The satyr was; the rock was split nearly in two, though the crack wasn't that wide on the outside. Inside, all I could see was unending darkness.

I turned to Grover. "Come on, let's go!" Not listening to his terrified sputtering, I began to push my way into the rock's crack.

It was darker inside than I had originally thought. With Grover and me forcing our way inside, the only light filtering in was blocked, leaving only darkness in its place. However, a little ways into the rock, the crack widened out into a cavern. I couldn't feel the walls brushing against my arms.

"Grover?" I whispered when I felt someone beside me. From the way my voice echoed, I could tell that the ceiling of the cavern must've gone very high, maybe to almost the top of the entire rock structure.

He touched my arm to reassure me that it was him and not someone else. "It's me, Annabeth."

I let out a breath of relief knowing that it was him and not a creeper. "Do you happen to have a flashlight?"

"No." There was the sound of fiddling, then Grover quietly exclaimed, "Yes, I do actually! I'll have to thank Juniper."

Grover switched the light on, illuminating the cavern.

The first thing that I noticed was that I was right about the cavern being huge. The ceiling was so high that I had to crane my neck to look at it. The walls were also far apart from each other, just as I had predicted. The second thing that I noticed was that Grover and I were practically standing in the exact middle of the cavern. The third thing I noticed was that we were surrounded by a mass of humanoid figures.

They might have been humans once, but had since let themselves go. They were skinny and tall, all of them with unkempt hair that could rival Percy's when he gets out of bed on the weekends. Instead of standing tall, they were hunched over slightly, with their claw-like hands curling up near their stomachs.

In the midst of all these monsters was the black wolf Grover and I had followed. He was standing next to the tallest of the beasts. The tall humanoid figure made a gesture and the wolf morphed into the same creature as the others. He had black hair, but the muddy brown eyes weren't Percy's. We had allowed ourselves to fall for a trap.

The tallest monster stepped forwards, in front of his minions. He smiled at Grover and I, baring his sharp, yellow canines. "Well, boys, look what we have here!"

Notes