Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Sixty seconds till the platforms go off. Sixty seconds till the hunger games start but all Percy can think about is the female tribute from his district, Annabeth Chase. He was lucky enough to get her as an ally for these games. She was smart enough to survive. He looks for her and his eyes meet hers from the other side of the cornucopia. He could see her mind working behind her stormy gray eyes.
They heard a shot ring out. The 66th hunger games had begun.
Percy jumped off the platform and was quick to run towards the sword he saw in the cornucopia. He reached the sword right as someone had come up behind him. He turned and almost cut them clean through. He realized just in time it was Annabeth. She did not seem pleased with him almost slicing her. She opened her mouth to lecture him.” Per-“
Before she could lecture him, another tribute came up behind them. Percy stepped in front of Annabeth and stabbed the guy clean through. The kid fell to his knees and dropped the pack he had. Annabeth snatched up the pack from the fallen tribute.
He felt Annabeth grab his hand and start pulling him away. Daggers and arrows whizzed past them, but they kept running. They ran through the deep forest. They both ran until their legs were on fire and they could barely move anymore. They heard the distant canons go off somewhere behind them signaling which tributes had died. He watched as Annabeth counted. She spoke, her voice quiet and shaky, “Eight tributes dead…only sixteen left…” The realization of what he had done back at the cornucopia had finally hit him once he heard the canon go off. He was a killer. He felt his knees give out and he barfed. Annabeth turned around to give him some privacy.
“I-I… he’s dead… because of me!! O-oh my gosh…I killed him. He looked no older than 14! H-he had so much life l-left to live…” He felt sick. He hadn’t meant to. He just wanted to protect Annabeth. Just wanted to keep her alive.
Annabeth bent down in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder and spoke in a calm voice, “hey, you did what you had to do to get us out of there. It’s the hunger games…its not like we have a choice.” She then pulled out some water from a pack she had picked up and handed it to him. He took the water from her and took a few sips.
“Don’t drink it all seaweed brain. I still need some.” Her voice was teasing but it was calming. He laughed and spoke his voice weak “No promises wise girl.” She laughed and stood up. She outstretched her hand and helped him up.
He looked at her and gave her his usual smile, “so, what’s the plan?” He handed her back the water which she stored away in the pack. She smiled back at him before speaking, “well, we probably need to find somewhere to camp out for when it gets dark.” He nodded along while his hand traced the hilt of the sword. He scanned their surroundings. Trees, and a lot of them. He wasn’t a great tree climber. There weren’t a lot of trees in his district.
“Let’s head farther away from the cornucopia just to play it safe.” She said and started walking in a direction. He followed her and kept his guard up.
After a while he got bored of the silence and decided to break the silence. “So, what kind of goods did you get from the cornucopia?”
“Well, we got some water, a thing of crackers, some rubber bands and a lighter. Not the greatest pack but we can make it work.” She shrugged back on the pack and continued walking. He nodded and moved to walk by her side.
They walked for a while. The sun slowly began to set. They found a decent place in between two big trees. The trees were big and covered in leaves. It was the perfect place to rest. They both agreed that they shouldn’t start a fire.
“Hey, you get some rest, Ill take first watch.” Percy said to Annabeth in a quiet voice. She tried to argue but he put his hand up. She sighed and laid down on the ground. She fell asleep almost instantly. Once he was sure she was asleep he sunk against the tree. He let himself be vulnerable and let himself cry. He missed his mom, how she would always bake the best cookies. He remembered her face when his name was called at the reaping. Hadn’t he broken hear heart enough in his 16 years of living? Why couldn’t he do something right for once? The tears continued to fall as he thought of everyone he had left behind in district 4. He thought of his mentor, Grover Underwood. He’d known Grover for years. He remembered when Grover had won his games 4 years prior. How he had hidden the whole game by using camouflage and lived off berries he found. Grover didn’t have any blood on his hands. Percy now did.
The capitol anthem played, and he looked up and saw the capitol sigil. The eight fallen tributes were projected into the sky. He saw the picture of the boy he had killed and felt sick all over again. The anthem ended and left Percy feeling alone in the dark. He looked over at Annabeth and felt a warmth bubble in his stomach. He had known Annabeth for years and when he heard her name called at the reaping, he promised he would protect her no matter what. Even if it cost him his own life.
He knew if he did die his mom may never recover. He knew his friends would grieve him and miss him. Yet, he felt such a strong urge to protect Annabeth. He knew she was strong but he still wanted her to be safe and make it out of here alive. He whispered a silent apology to his mother and thanked her for everything.