Chapter Text
This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
Percy fought his way across the Acropolis, elbowing and kicking anything that dared cross his path. His heart was in his throat, unable to tear his gaze away from the large gash in Annabeth’s thigh which was oozing blood and pooling on the ground below her, each drop bubbling on impact and turning from a deep, nauseating red, to the sickening colour of gold ichor.
Her blood watered the stones, one step closer to Gaea’s awakening. The floor shook beneath their feet, the sound of the Earth Mother’s heartbeat growing louder as the hoard cheered.
Piper stood over his girlfriend sweeping her blade back and forth to keep the giants at bay, which was the only thing that was preventing him from going completely berzerk. The daughter of Aphrodite was shouting something Percy couldn’t make out, but whatever it was seemed to strike a nerve, making the giants shuffle uneasily.
The girls were still more than forty feet away, over a hundred monsters and giants between him and them. Riptide had yet to return to his pocket, and he felt weak and useless with his dampened abilities, but he ran headfirst towards them anyway.
He needed to get to Annabeth.
He ducked under the swinging fist of an Earthborn and threw out his elbow, striking it between the eyes and making it stagger back. A couple yards away, he could see Porphyrion lying on his back, seemingly stunned, eyes closed, breathing slow and even.
When the Earthborn leapt at him again, Percy stomped on its foot, slamming his shoulder into its chest, taking it down. Before it could recover a second time, Percy brought his fist into its windpipe, muscle and bone crunching beneath his fingers. When it began to disintegrate between his knees, he jumped off its writhing form and detoured towards the incapaciatated giant.
He reached for a sword in Porphyrion’s hair, bending over his huge head to yank out a blade. The giant king wasn’t as dazed as he looked and rose suddenly, the weapon that Percy had almost freed, slipping from his fingers. Before he could react, Porphyrion backhanded him with a flick of the wrist, sending him flying through the air and smacking into one of the columns.
Percy hit it hard, slumping to the ground, his face and head screaming out in pain. Time seemed to slow, a piercing ringing in his eardrums making the shrieks of horror from across the temple sound muffled as he took stock of his body. He could still wiggle his toes, so his back wasn’t broken. Good enough for him.
He groaned, pushing himself back onto his feet, lurching sideways and ignoring the rattling in his brain. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he crouched into his fighting stance, preparing himself for the next blow.
It never came. The hairs on his arms stood on end, electricity crackling through the room as a voice from above the pit drew Porphyrion’s attention. Percy nearly managed a smile at the sight of Jason, Frank and Hazel standing atop the nearest colonnade.
He used the distraction, blinking through the black spots in his vision and ducking between the giant’s legs, to race towards Annabeth. He could see her through the crowd, standing alone, leaning heavily on a large hunting knife, barely remaining upright, as Piper sprinted to help their friends.
This had to work. It had to.
Back on the ship, a little more than an hour ago, they came up with an idea to stop the ritual. They realized that no matter what they did, there was no way to kill the giants without the assistance of the gods, so their only option was to find a way to take them out of the equation.
The plan was for Annabeth, Piper and Percy to sneak through the tunnels, using Athena and Poseidon’s scent to mask their entrance, in order take out the guards and dismantle the onagers, so that the Argo II could fly in to help from the North.
They agreed that once they managed to reduce the numbers of Gaea’s army, they would isolate the giants from the ruins.
Hazel was key. She would use her geo- geokinesis, he thought Annabeth had called it. Her ability to destroy caves, to trap the giants in the same sewers that they’d entered through, cutting them off from the Acropolis and incapacitating them long enough for Reyna and Nico to heal the divide between the gods’ split personalities and hopefully get the seven the help they needed. They were betting on the fact that the giants were big, not smart.
If they could do all that without spilling the blood of a boy and girl, they had a slim chance of stopping Gaea before she could rise. The odds were not in their favour but it was better than nothing.
It had gone wrong at first, with the giants capturing them before they could do any real damage. Percy was forced to watch Perioboia nearly squeeze the life out of Annabeth and slice a dangerously long gash into her thigh, unable to do anything but conjure a weak stream of water across the room. He’d never felt so scared and useless in his life.
Thank the gods that Piper had distracted the monsters and given them a second chance. The tides seemed to be turning now. He wasn’t going to waste this opportunity again.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Argo II float above the ruins right on queue, catapulting Greek fire, and incinerating the smaller monsters all around them. Percy dodged disintegrating bodies and gnashing teeth.
Once Piper joined their ranks, the four demigods began their assault, working together to back the giants into a corner, where the tunnels once were. With Jason’s sword and Frank’s arrows, the boys chipped away at the giants’ legs, finding chinks in their armour, while Piper covered their backs against the monsters.
Hazel was circulating on Arion as planned, working on a way to break through the thick stone walls to reopen the sewers which had closed behind them unexpectedly. Leo was manning the ballistae, raining hellfire from above, mowing down a group of snake people.
They were all doing their part, they even seemed to be winning the fight, but Percy couldn’t bring himself to run over and help them. In fact, his eyes couldn’t seem to focus on anything aside from his bleeding girlfriend who was trying to stand her ground against Perioboia.
His lungs rattled and blood was pumping loud in his ears, but with the crowd distracted, Percy knew he needed to take advantage of the brief respite. Rage and fear propelled him faster than he thought possible as he tore across the uneven ground. When he was ten yards away, he leapt with everything he had, pushing off the floor and wrapping his arms around the giantess’ neck. She bellowed, trying to swing him off, swatting and spinning in circles but he clung on tightly. Over Perioboia’s shoulder, he could see his friends stabbing at the other giants, keeping them trapped against the wall, nearly there.
Hazel’s scream tore through the pit as she raised her spatha, thrusting it at the stones, making long fissures spread across the walls. With another blood-curdling yell, Hazel swung her sword again, punching a hole into the rock, revealing the tunnels behind it.
Percy released his hold on Perioboia’s neck, sliding down her spine and kicking both feet into the back of her knee, making her stagger towards the others. He fell back to the ground, his ankles smarting.
With large, shaking steps, Perioboia teetered across the temple, arms waving. The four demigods dove out of her way as she bowled into the other giants, knocking the group of them into the entrance of the tunnels in a pile of flying limbs.
Jason stood and reached to the sky, conjuring a bolt of lightning and blasting Enceladus in the chest, keeping him down. Frank, now in bear form, raked his large claws across the leg of Thoon, making the giant howl. Piper closed her eyes and muttered softly, impossible to hear, but whatever it was made Perioboia and Porphyrion turn and run further into the darkness.
As soon as the last giant tripped and withdrew into the sewers, Hazel pointed her blade at the stones, eerily calm as the floor and ceiling began to rumble again. She lifted her open palm into the air and curled it into a tight fist, the earth crumbling into a smoking heap, closing the tunnels once more and sealing the giants inside. Percy could hear them on the other side, the boulders rattling as they pounded their fist against it, but the tomb seemed to be holding.
Holy fuck, it worked.
“Percy,” he heard Annabeth croak behind him.
He spun and raced towards her.
“Annabeth,” he cupped her face, covered in sweat and blood and so beautiful, “shit, are you okay?”
“Perce, you need to get Frank and Jason out,” she wrapped her fingers around his wrist.
“What?”
“The plan worked,” she said, her thumb brushing beneath his nose to stop a trickle of blood he hadn’t even realized was there. “The girls and I can hold off the last of the monsters, but we can’t afford any of the boys bleeding on the ground.”
He slipped his shoulder under her arm, “come with me, we’ll go together.”
She shook her head, “one of you could get hurt, you’re already bleeding, you need to go, I can’t be slowing you down.”
He scowled, “you’re coming with me.”
“Percy,” she repeated more firmly, “I’ll be fine. Go. Now.”
“No, screw that,” he retaliated, “you’re hurt, you can’t fight right now.”
“I can take out ogres in my sleep,” she snapped, “Piper and Hazel will need all the help they can get.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” his voice sounded desperate even to his own ears.
“We’re running out of time, you need to go.”
He could tell she was serious, from the hard set of her mouth and the furrow between her brows, he knew she wasn’t going to back down. He squeezed his eyes shut and blew out a heavy breath, “you better be right behind me, Chase.”
When she nodded, he reached for the back of her neck and pulled her in for a quick, firm kiss. Her hold on his arm tightened, the other hand clutching the fabric of his shirt tight. He allowed himself the briefest of moments to revel in it, promising that this wouldn’t be their last. He pulled away slowly, forehead pressed to hers.
“Go,” she whispered against his lips.
He released her reluctantly, praying to every god that Piper and Hazel could help Annabeth out of there, relatively unscathed. He knew she was powerful, more powerful than anyone he’d ever known, and he would never doubt her abilities, but he could see that she was labouring, trying to hide the pain in her features.
He grit his teeth and sprinted towards his friends who were now dealing with a particularly large dracanae. Percy pinched his nose to ensure another drop of blood didn’t accidentally trickle onto the ground as he ran, his ribs still sore from being thrown across the ruins.
He barrelled into Frank and wrenched on the boys’ shirts, pulling them towards the exit, “we need to get out! We can’t bleed on the ground. Piper,” he called, “hold them off a little longer. Hazel, we need you to find us a way out.”
Piper nodded in acknowledgement, baring her knife, focused entirely on the monster in front of her.
“I can sense an opening over there,” Hazel shouted, pointing across the cave.
They began racing behind her horse, Jason and Frank tripping after him, sweaty and exhausted.
Gaea must’ve been communicating with her minions somehow, because the few remaining members of her hord screeched and began barrelling towards the three of them, ignoring Piper.
Percy’s legs were shaking and his head was pounding but he pushed as hard as he could. He could see Annabeth hobbling to cut off the path of a gryphon that was carving through the air, headed straight for them.
Hazel pulled ahead on Arion, and as she’d done twice before, lifted her spatha and sliced it at the walls, cracking the stone. With another pass on her horse, she smashed through the rock, revealing a small hole. One more stab widened the crack, large enough for a person to slip through, a peak of path visible on the other side.
She looked to Percy for confirmation and he nodded, “help Piper and Annabeth until we get out, then run for it,” he yelled to her.
She turned and raced off back into the diluted throng. Jason was the first to reach the hole, diving through the ragged entrance. The ground shook beneath their feet, as if Gaea could sense the loss.
Frank was a bit slower, being such a large guy, but he was still faster than Percy, who was struggling to staunch the flow of blood from his nose. Frank reached the hole before him, squeezing his shoulders through it and tumbling onto the other side.
The earth was quaking now, Percy’s teeth clattering on impact as his toes dug into the dirt.
Ten feet to go. Five feet.
He felt something nearly swipe at him, a gust of wind cutting dangerously close to his ear. Percy jumped, launching himself over the stone wall desperately, soaring through the entrance and clattering to the floor in a large heap. He felt a surge of power race through him as he crossed over the border, like his essence was being restored.
He turned back to look at the pit, the ground convulsing angrily, shuddering like it was taking a final breath. It rose and fell rhythmically, its pulse slowing, before falling still completely.
Percy took a beat, and then another, but nothing happened.
Holy fuck, they did it.
He ducked his head back through the hole, watching Annabeth slash the wing off the gryphon, making it spin out of control and slam into the wall, disintegrating on the spot.
“Beth,” he screamed at the top of his lungs, “Beth, we’re out, come on!”
She grinned, or maybe grimaced, waving at Piper and Hazel to follow suit. There were only a couple monsters left and the girls cut them down with ease as they ran. Piper and Hazel were in the lead, managing to cross the vast expanse beneath the Parthenon with impressive speed now that the earth stood still. Hazel hopped off Arion, who raced away in the blink of an eye, a blur of black speeding out the opening at the top of the ruins. Percy moved out of the girls’ way as they reached him, grabbing their arms and helping them out of the cave, one at a time.
He looked behind him, to see that Frank and Jason had begun climbing the steep slope of rubble, the sun of the upper world far, far above them. Piper waited but Percy jerked his head towards the debris, “go ahead, we’ll catch up,” he ensured.
She chewed her lip for a moment, searching his face before nodding and turning to join their friends in their assent.
Annabeth was still limping across the Acropolis slowly, and he fought the urge to jump back through the hole to help her, gripping the rock beside him. She would absolutely murder him if he accidentally spilled blood on the ground because he couldn’t let her walk the last five yards herself.
He felt like he could finally breathe when the last monster fell to dust with a nimble swipe of her knife.
He smiled at her and she grinned back.
She was only a couple feet away from him when her expression morphed into one of confusion, her legs slowing to a stop.
He cocked his head, “you okay? Let’s go.”
She opened her mouth to respond when her body was suddenly jerked down, her shoes sinking into the dirt.
“What the hell?” she exclaimed, trying to pull her feet free.
A shudder went through the cave and a crackling, hissing voice filled his head. Annabeth clapped her hands over her ears, her weapon clattering to the ground.
“ Perseus Jackson ,” Gaea whispered.
Percy looked at Annabeth frantically, watching the earth pull her another inch, slowly sucking her down. His heart slammed against his ribcage with panic, dread settling into his bones.
“Beth you gotta hurry up,” he urged.
“I’m trying,” she exclaimed, pulling at her pant legs.
“ Join me, child ,” Gaea said softly, her voice sending shivers down his spine.
This could not be happening.
“How is this possible?” Percy asked Annabeth, reaching his arm out of the hole for her.
She shook her head unsure, redoubling her efforts to pry her feet from the earth, “I don’t know.”
“ Perseus ,” Gaea repeated. “ Join me on the ruins and spill your blood. Help me rise .”
“Like hell. Annabeth,” he pleaded, “hurry.”
She leaned forward, stretching for him, the tips of their fingers barely brushing. He pressed his head against the rock, leaning out as far as he could, but he couldn’t grasp her hand.
She huffed, “I- I can’t, I’m stuck.”
“ My followers are gone, I am eroding, only you can save me now ,” Gaea rasped.
“Good,” he taunted.
“ Free me ,” Gaea grew louder, “ help me rise, and you can sit atop the world and watch it fall .”
“Fuck off,” he snapped. “Annabeth, you need to move.”
She tried to throw her weight forward, but the ground pulled back, yanking her down to her shins. She screamed out in pain, clutching the crusty gash on her thigh which reopened and gushed a new wave of blood down her leg.
“Let her go,” Percy cried.
“ Ah ,” Gaea hummed, “ I see now .”
The floor rumbled again, and Percy watched in horror as the shape of a woman slowly rose from the dirt, twisting roots, and black hair like tilled soil. The form of Gaea shook, weakened but solid. Her face was the last to mold into shape, her eyes as deep as the crust of the earth, a sinister smile spreading across her lips. Dirt Face had been an apt name for her.
Percy froze, a chill spreading over him. “Don’t you fucking touch her,” he breathed threateningly.
Annabeth reached down for her fallen blade, but one of Gaea’s vine-like arms shot out, slithering over her torso and curling around her shoulders until the goddess’ sharp fingers were grasping her neck, trapping her arms to her body.
Gaea opened her mouth and spoke, “ I’ve seen your mind, Perseus Jackson. I know what matters to you most .”
He’d heard enough.
He started to scramble through the hole, but Annabeth raised her hand as much as possible with them pinned down, “don’t. Percy, you can’t.”
“Annabeth.”
“No,” she exclaimed. “Stay there, you can’t bleed on the stones. That’s what she wants.”
He turned to the rubble behind him, looking up at the path where his friends had climbed, “somebody!” he wailed. “Somebody, help.”
The words echoed uselessly off the walls, bouncing back to him. “Help! Piper, Frank,” he tried. “Jason, Hazel!” his voice cracked. “Help!”
The cave was silent except for his own heavy breathing. The other demigods were gone, too far now to hear, he and Annabeth were alone.
He looked back at Gaea, “you don’t need her,” he pleaded.
The Earth Mother’s grip tightened around Annabeth’s neck, and his girlfriend’s eyes widened, scared. He hit the wall next to him, “Annabeth please.”
“Her power is limited to the ruins now, you can’t cross over,” she insisted, struggling against the constraints around her body, nail digging into Gaea’s skin.
“I don’t care,” he shouted.
“She’ll destroy the world, Percy,” Annabeth choked, her eyes starting to brim with tears, “she’s going to kill everyone.”
How could he tell her that the end of the world didn’t scare him nearly as much as the thought of losing her? She wouldn’t understand that he would rather sacrifice the world if it meant she would live on. She would never forgive him.
In the corner of his eye, he noticed stones and debris starting to vibrate on the ground. His feet began to lift slowly, wind picking up speed, swirling around him. He didn’t think it was Gaea’s doing this time.
He was losing control of himself.
He tried to even his breathing, focusing on Annabeth. His toes touched back down and he stilled the rattling pebbles in his mind.
He could sense the dirt beneath his shoes. The rock between his toes and the crunch of dust as he shifted his heel. With every leveled breath, he pushed the feeling out, spreading over the stone barrier into the cave. He could feel Annabeth’s legs shifting in the grip of the mud, and he recognized Gaea’s force connected to the floor, the elements running through her. He searched for the bond that tied her to the soil, a thin thread weaving just beneath the surface. He followed it in his mind, tracking the string across the expanse of the ruins all the way to the throne, where her weak power pulsed and radiated.
Gaea’s form shuddered, a clump of her hair falling loose, “you’ve been a valuable pawn, child. You’ve played your part well. Complete the ritual and I will spare your beloved.”
“No,” Annabeth shouted.
“You already have her blood,” he tried to reason, “you don’t have to do this.”
“ A mere drop of blood for a lifetime together ,” Gaea uttered, “ isn’t that enough ?”
“Don’t,” Annabeth shook her head.
Percy pulled at his hair and swallowed thickly, “you’re not getting my blood, Gaea. You’re going to wither away, and we will be free of you. I can see you falling apart even now.”
Gaea’s sneer turned deadly and Annabeth dropped another inch, “ then I will take her with me .”
“No!” he stretched for Annabeth instinctively, but he still couldn’t reach. “Why?” he shouted, “why, just let her go, please.”
Gaea chuckled, a rumble that reverberated through the cave. “ Why? ” she scoffed.
Another spike of pain shot through his mind and he fell to his knees, a surge of memories rushing behind his eyes.
A vision of Percy dropping a pile of bricks on Polybotes’ head. A flash of using Terminus to smash the giant in the nose, turning him to ash. Then snippets raced by, almost too quick to catch. Kneeling in the throne room of Mount Olympus, burning food in the fire at Camp Half-Blood, hugging his dad.
“ You killed my son without remorse, you’ve helped the gods over and over, ” Gaea sneered, “ I told you I would make your death painful .”
“My death,” he repeated, “my death is what you want. Annabeth has nothing to do with this.”
“ I see the truth ,” Gaea jeered, “ this will be more painful than any death of yours. This choice will haunt you forever .”
He slammed his fist against the stone again, his skin tearing on impact.
“Fuck you!” he roared. “I will rip you apart!”
Gaea didn’t know. She didn’t know that his powers had grown, that he’d discovered parts of himself down in Tartarus that nobody knew existed. If anything happened to Annabeth, he would destroy her, tearing her atom from atom. He clung to that thread vibrating with her force in his mind.
He was desperate to cut it, to watch Gaea’s grotesque form crumble to the earth, but he knew that would only sever her physical body. She still existed in the soil, woven intrinsically throughout the Acropolis. If he broke the string, she might just take Annabeth down sooner. He needed to find some way to get his girlfriend out of the ruins before he faced Gaea, some way to release the floor’s hold on her legs without the goddess noticing.
He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know what he could do.
“Percy,” Annabeth whispered, snapping his focus back to her. She shut her eyes, tears streaming down her face, “Percy, it’s okay.”
“No, no, don’t you dare, Wise Girl. Don’t give up,” he begged.
“We’ll see each other again,” she sobbed.
“NO!”
Gaea laughed, “I see into your mind, too, Annabeth Chase,” her sharp nails made of rubble hooked into the skin of his girlfriend’s throat, rivulets of blood curling down her neck. “I see what you wish for. Rest assured, you will join me in the earth for eternity. Even when the son of Poseidon shucks his mortal coil, you will not find each other. You will not have peace in Elysium, you will never see him again. There will be nothing, no respite, no hope, no future. This is the end for you.”
Everything was happening so fast. His brain couldn’t wrap around it. They won, they were leaving, they were supposed to have a life together.
Annabeth gasped, choking on Gaea’s words like they were as real and tangible as the grip around her windpipe. She stared at Percy, more terrified than he’d ever seen her. He realized why. She was fine with dying, she didn't mind being pulled into the earth if it meant saving the world, safe with the knowledge that Percy would follow her one day, and they would be reunited in the afterlife.
But now.
His cheeks felt damp and he realized that he was crying in earnest, his vision blurry. There had to be something, some way.
He saw Gaea’s wicked grin over Annabeth’s shoulder and Percy shook with fury, “I am going to kill you,” he exhaled deeply, eyes trained on the Earth Mother, “I will destroy you until there is nothing left. No consciousness, no fragments, you will be forgotten and no one will ever speak of you again. You will be wiped away from this world you claim as your own, and everyone will rejoice,” he spat fiercely. “I will never stop, I will come after you with the might of all the gods behind me until I am certain that you are not even a mere speck of dust on this planet.”
Gaea’s smile widened, like she was feeding off his anger and sorrow.
“ You’ve said enough, Perseus. This is your last chance, spill your blood and save the one you love ,” she clenched her hold on Annabeth, “ or you will never lay eyes on her again .”
“Percy,” Annabeth called again, tear tracks cutting long lines on her grimmy face, “Perce-” her voice tapered off like she was scared of what to say next. She breathed in slowly, “if- if you kill me before she pulls me down, then maybe I’ll go to Elysium.”
“What?” he gaped.
“You need to kill me,” she repeated, her chin wobbling.
“No.”
“Use it,” Annabeth said, shuddering, “use what you learned in Tartarus, stop my heart.”
“Never, no,” he said violently, not even wanting to picture that in his head. “No.”
“Please,” she wept, “please, I don’t want her to take me.”
“No,” he denied, still, “no, you can’t make me do that.”
“It’s the only way,” she insisted, “I need to see you again. Please, she- she can’t have me.”
“There’s gotta be something else we can do,” he said desperately.
“There isn’t,” she answered, resigned. “You can do this.”
“Think,” he appealed, “you said there’s always another option, always another way. Think!”
“Not this time,” she choked.
“You promised,” he shouted angrily. Angry she was giving up, angry that she was being taken from him. “You- we promised each other that we would never be separated again.”
“Please,” Annabeth could only ask, letting out trembling sobs and closing her eyes.
“We’re supposed to have a life together,” he cried, coughing on his tears, “New Rome, college, family, kids. You promised, Wise Girl.”
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.
“ Make your choice, child. Either way, I win .”
He licked his salty lips, “I can’t do this without you, Beth.”
She opened her eyes again, grey and so full of love, “you can,” she insisted, “you can. You’re going to have an amazing life, you’re going to make me so proud and- and you can tell me all about it when I see you again.”
He shook his head hopelessly, “I don’t want to do this without you,” he corrected himself.
“I need you to try for me.”
He pressed the palms of his hands into his eyes, “I can’t, I can’t,” he muttered.
“I love you, Percy Jackson,” Annabeth declared, her voice more confident and sure than he’d heard it all afternoon.
He lowered his arms and looked at her. Blonde hair matted to her neck, dirty and bleeding. She was so beautiful.
Settling his breathing, he searched the ground for her presence. He could feel it, like it was a physical being in his palm. He sensed her moving in the earth. He tugged, isolating the life force inside her and shut his eyes.
He made his decision. He would see her again.
“I love you, Annabeth Chase,” he uttered back, voice breaking on the words.
Percy steeled himself. The air around him whirled, roaring. His hair was floating in the current, power coursing through his veins. A surge rushed through him, his skin warm.
He heard someone say his name, a whispered Perseus , and he didn’t know who it belonged to now.
He raised his fist, and inhaled deeply. He pinched his eyes tight, wincing, shaking.
“I love you.”
He snapped the string to her beating heart and her body thumped to the ground.