Chapter Text
I don't own any of these characters, they belong to Rick Riordan and Marvel, I just own the plot. I hope you enjoy.
Percy's POV
I open my cabin's door and I lean on it. Camp's soft breeze caresses my face. The familiar scent of strawberries fills my lungs.
Gods, I missed this place.
I can't believe that the Romans left so soon. I'm already missing Hazel and Frank.
I lose myself watching the campers running around, living their life. It almost makes it seem that Tartarus was just a bad dream. Almost like that in a day it will fade off my mind.
Almost.
In the distance I see Annnabeth and Piper coming towards me.
Of course Piper is wearing Annabeth's favorite crop top. They switched clothes again, didn't they? But I guess it's ok, since me and Jason the same. We all grew out a lot closer after the war.
"Hi Perce!" Annabeth and Piper cheered in perfect sync. Gods, I didn't realize they were this close to me.
"Hi Pipes, hi Wise Girl" I smiled. "Did you slept good?"
"Yep" she announced, smiling and popping fiercily the "p". Oh, I love when she does this. Her eyes shine like shooting stars.
"No nightmares. Maybe it's actually fading away" Lucky one. I didn't sleep all night.
I faked a smile.
"Yeah, maybe. I'm happy you slept just fine."
'Cause I didn't.
Oh, shut up. Bad boyfriend.
Bad.
Boyfriend.
You should be happy for her.
I pushed both little voices down to the depths of my mind. Never think about it again. That's the rule.
"Percy? Earth calls Percy?" Piper's waving her hand in front of my face. I snap out of thought.
"Sorry. Lost in thought. What have you just said?"
"We asked you how did you sleep. You seemed a bit tired." Shit.
"Oh yeah, sure. I slept ok." I had worse.
I smiled.
"Really? You sure? You don't have to worry about telling me, you know right?" She gives me a worried smile.
"Yeah, really. Don't worry. I'm good." 'Good'. Such a nonsense word.
She smiled, happy. Gods, how I hate lying to her, but she looks so happy. Finally! I don't want to ruin that too.
"Is that Jason's T-shirt?" Piper gave me one of those looks that made her look a lot like her mother.
"Is that Annabeth's favorite crop top?" I give her that exact same look.
She frowns.
Annabeth lets out a laugh, her eyes shining like fallen stars. She's so beautiful.
"Ok, guys... Anyway, let's go eat breakfast. I'm starving."
\/>o<\/
I sit down at the Big Three table next to Nico and Jason. Since the end of the war, we started eating together, since we were kinda lonely alone at our tables.
"Hi." Nico raised his coffee cup in greeting. Jason just gave me a full on smile.
"I still don't get how you get coffee here." I frowned opening my blue coke. It made me once again think of my mom and how she started making blue food. The thought makes me smile.
"I'm smart enough not to tell any of you. Anyway, did you slept good?" My smile fell.
"Meh."
Even if I don't think 'meh' is the right word to mean that you stared at the ceiling for eight hours. Waiting for the day to come, too scared of nightmares to even close try to your eyes.
"Yeah, me too."
Gods, I hate that Nico went in that place. He didn't deserved it. He doesn't deserve all the nightmares. And the panik attacks.
Just like Annabeth.
"I'm sorry, guys... Want to train after breakfast?" Jason's giving us that worried look.
I hated that look.
"Yeah, of course. I love training with you guys."
"Yes, clearly. Anyway, you know that Thals is coming over today?"
"Really?" It's been like a week since the Huntresses left after helping with the war, but I still missed Thals.
"Sometimes you look like her brother!" Jason laughed. "You two look the same too!"
"Sorry, Jay... I just knew her for a while i guess. I'm sorry." Shit. I ruined the moment. Again.
"Don't be! I'm happy that you two are friends! I would've hated if my bro and my sister didn't get along... Also imagine the caos you two would've made if you actually fought."
Me and Nico looked at each other. He was grinning. Together we started laughing 'till we couldn't breath.
"Guys? Why are you laughing?" Jay seemed worried, like he was thinking he said the wrong thing.
"Don't worry... we were just think about the day we met."
"That day Perce and Thals fought. Like fought." He started laughing again.
"She struck me with a lightning. So I threw all the river at her." I commented, grinning.
"And were you two alright? Like she struck you with a lightning? You threw a river at her? What the Hades?" My grin faded, remembering the reason we fought.
"Annabeth wasn't there. Kronos kidnapped her. And she was the only reason we didn't kill each other yet. Also we blamed each other for the whole 'Annabeth's gone' thing. So, yeah."
"Oh." I shouldn't have taken for granted that me and Thalia actually fought together Kronos.
Why do we always have to talk about depressing shit?
"Percy, if I can ask, why are you wearing Jason's T-shirt? And why Jason's wearing your jeans?"
"Just because I guess? Dunno, it felt right." I blushed a little. Why did I blush?
"I just went to sleep over at Percy's last night. Zues' cabin sucks. That statue in the midde's creepy."
Nico's giving the same look Piper gave me a while ago. What is wrong with them?
"Why are you looking at us like that?" I narrow my eyes.
"You two are himbos" Nico mumbles, shaking his head. What does that even mean?
"We are... what?" Jason looked as confused as me. He does a cute frown when he's confused.
"Nothing... dumb guys..." I hate when he mutters under his breath. I never understand what he's saying.
Jason has still on that cute confused face.
"Ok... Shall we go training now?" He starts smiling.
I look at us. Nico's still eating some cookies, while simply chatting with Jason about his training.
It's like life is getting how it should be. Normal. Finally.
__/-o-\__
See Jason's sweaty six-pack under the bright sun after training does funny thing to my breath.
I quickly start drinking some water to keep myself from blushing. Nico's looking at us like that again.
What's he even staring at?
"Thank you guys for the training" Jason gives us both a big smile. What a cute smile he has.
"No worry. I'm always ready to kick your amazing ass" I joke-flirted, grinning. He laughs.
"And I'll always be there to punch your handsome face" He smirkes, while Nico's shaking his head.
"I swear I''m the straightest person here" We all laugh.
With them it's like Tartarus never existed.
It's so normal.
Finally.
"Hey guys!" Piper and Annabeth are coming towards us. Man, she's so gorgeous.
"Hi Wise Girl! Hi Pipes! How was your morning?"
"Good enough. First cabin inspection, then archery training."
"Wait. Cabin inspection was today?!" I'm officially paniking.
"Oh yeah, Perce. Your cabin is a mess." Piper smircked. Shit.
They all laughed.
I should have know. I'm an idiot. That little voice inside my head repeated 'Your worthless' in loop. Like some sort of lullaby. It was right. I'm worthless.
I try to push as far as possible that voice, the one who sounded like Gabe.
I notice Annabeth's knowing glare.
She always knows what's on my mind. She comes closer.
"Don't think that. We all love you like you are. No matter if sometimes your a bit messy." She whisper in my ear.
I give her a little grateful smile. I don't know what would I do if she was gone. Kill myself probably.
"We were here to tell you guys that it's lunch time."
"Oh, and there's Thalia here."
"Really? Where?!" Me and Jason exclamate in sync.
"At lunch. Like you should. Let's go!"
\/>o<\/
Singing around the campfire. Another thing I didn't think I would miss so much.
It has a nice smell of burnt wood. So different from the smell of Tartarus.
I almost couldn't sense it in my lungs anymore.
Almost.
I'm sitting next to Thalia and Jason, his arm around my shoulder.
They're like the siblings I've never had.
I wonder where Grover's at right now. He left after the war and I've never saw him since.
"Perce? Are you listening to me?" Lost in thought. Again."Yeah, sorry. What have you just said?" Thalia looks kinda worried. But it wasn't the look. Weird."I asked you if you know where's Annabeth"
Wait, what?
"She's with Piper, isn't she?" She has to be with her. They've been together all day.
"She's not. Piper just came here asking if we've seen her" Fuck.
I look around me. She isn't anywhere around the campfire. Not with the Athena Cabin. Not chatting with Leo about architecture. Not fighting with Clarisse. Where's Annabeth? She has to be somewhere!
She's probably ok. Maybe she was tired and just went to sleep.But without telling anyone? Doesn't sound like a thing she would do.
We run towards Piper, that checked Athena's cabin. She shaked her head. She wasn't there. Annabeth wasn't there.
Fuck.
A screamreaches my ears. No. From the forest. No, no, no.
We started running towords the scream. As fast as we could.
"Annabeth! Annabeth!" Please tell me she isn't hurt.
We arrive to a clearing in the woods. Just as soon to see two hellhounds running away. No. No, no.
Monster dust everywhere. No.
Blonde princess curls laying in the blood. No. No.
It can't be. No. No. Not after everything we went through. Not now.
"Annabeth!" Piper cries out. She goes to check Annabeth pulse. She's too pale. No, no. Piper cries out again. No pulse.
Annabeth's dead. No. No. NO! I can hear Thalia ugly crying. I think I've fall down my knees.
This can't be real. Not after everything. This must be just a bad dream. This can't be happening.
We were supposed to live at for a while camp, have a good house in New York. Have kids. No, no, no.
Other campers are coming. I can hear their gasps. Some are crying.
But it doesn't matter. Annabeth's gone. Nothing matters now. Nothing.
Later...
Thaila's POV
I still have tears in my eyes.
Percy's carrying Annabeth body wrapped in her shroud. It's beautiful, the grey shimmers, changing color with every shift of the fabric. Percy's hands are clutching at the cloth so fiercely, his knuckles turn white.
How could it be real?
After two wars, she dies because of a pack of hellhounds in the forest? Why was she even there?
We should have been there. If I was there she wouldn't have died. I could have helped.
A single look at Percy's face makes me realize that he's thinking the same.
Chiron's telling a speech for Annabeth' funeral. Something about how she fought like a lion and she died with honor.
Bullshit.
It couldn't be real. After everything, she leaves us now? It doesn't seem fair to me.
Yet, seeing her shroud burning down in the fire, makes it feels too real.
I hook my eyes with Percy's. They've darkened to an intensity I haven't seen before. It's suddenly impossible to look at them.
It started raining, no sign for the storm to get away anytime soon, as the sea aggressively throwing itself against the beach.
The grey shroud melted down, leaving little silver sparkles in the campfire, that was now the deepest shade of black.
4 days later...
JASON'S POV
The wind howling between the cabins is the only sound that reaches my ears. The non-stop chatting of the campers, the screams of victory from the volleyball field, the laughs and the clanging of the swords in the arena that I got used to, are long gone. I've never fully understood how this Camp was connected to Annabeth until now. The Hermes Cabin didn't pull any prank in days. The plants were slowly dying.
The brown grass cracks under my feet as I walk towards Cabin 3. I though that maybe it was a good idea for Percy to go to see his mom or at least try to make him come out of his room, eat something. It wasn't anywhere near healthy for him to stay isolated in his cabin for days. I miss his company.
I drag myself to the deck at the back of the cabin. His lean figure comes into my sight. He sits utterly still, with his feet in the water, the waves are innaturally motionless around him.
I let myself slip beside him and I take a look at him. He looks like a completely different person now. He found friendship and comfort in the shiny seagreen eyes that are now staring lifelessly the sea.
"Percy" I look at his face, as he still doesn't acknowlodge me. "Can we talk please?"
"Sure" He doesn't even consider me.
"I thought that maybe you can take me to meet your mom, Thalia told me she's the best and I'd really love to get to know her" His eyebrows are narrowed, as if he's trying to decide if this is a good idea.
"Also" I added more cautiously, shifting in my seat, "Thalia told me that your mom and Annabeth were really close, maybe you should talk to her about what happened."
He bites his lip, then he nods quietly. "Yeah, you're right." He mutters, his gaze fixed on his hands.
I smile, trying to be as comforting as I can be. "Let's go then." I get up, and I offer him a hand to help him get up. He looks up at me, his eyes narrowed, as if he's asking, 'Why are you doing this?'
I want to say that I'm just trying to help a friend. That I miss spend my time with him. That I miss his laugh.
I just smile as he accepts my hand.