Chapter Text
The war was over. The great prophecy had been fulfilled. Percy should be glad. Because not only had he survived but Kronos had also been defeated. Luke Castellan finally came to his senses during the last moments of his life — thanks to Annabeth. She saved Olympus.
Percy understood that Luke meant it when he promised Annabeth a family. It was she who made him overpower the Titan lord. Percy connected the dots and realized how Luke survived the river Styx. His mortal tether has been Annabeth too, just as she was for Percy.
She reminded him of who he used to be, and in the end, he killed himself by stabbing his Achilles’ heel with Annabeth's dagger — or was it his?
Everything happened so fast after that. The throne room, Grover being promoted as the Lord of the Wild. Annabeth becoming the architect of Olympus. And then Percy received a huge — rather heavy gift: Godhood
Percy declined it, earning a variety of reactions from everyone present in the throne room. Zeus looked both baffled and irritated. Hera just rolled her eyes, thoroughly unimpressed. Athena looked at him as if she had somehow guessed his answer all along.
But his favorite reaction was Annabeth’s.
He looked at her after saying no.
She stared at him in disbelief? Well, maybe it was a remarkable offer to refuse, yet just by looking at her, Percy knew he had made the right decision. The possibility of being with her was worth more than godhood.
Then again so many other stuff happened. Percy and Annabeth briefly met his mom and Paul, letting them know they were safe. Then Rachel became the oracle and uttered a prophecy which Percy wished had nothing to do with him.
Everything happened so fast and finally camp settled.
A perfect example of calm after the storm.
The first thing Percy did when he reached his cabin was take a shower. He wanted to wash away the war wounds and exhaustion with water. By the time he had changed into fresh clothes and stepped out of his cabin, the sun had already bid its final goodbye. Campers wandered around the grounds; some carried ambrosia, while others helped the injured. The infirmary was filled with campers recovering from the war.
They had won the war.
But the victory had come at a cost.
They lost far too many demigods.
Percy was waiting for Grover, who told him he’d meet him later that day, but his blue eyes were scanning for someone else. He kept looking for her, and then his gaze settled almost immediately, when he found her.
She looked like she just got out of shower; traces of water droplets still clung to her face. She wasn’t wearing her camp shirt and pants like he usually does. She wore a simple white night dress that flowed to her ankles. Wrapped around her was her oversized pink hoodie, which she was holding onto tightly. Her curls were partly braided with several neat braids pulling the hair away from her face before joining in one long braid at the back.
Percy eyes refused to move away from her.
She looked like a princess.
A sad princess.
She was talking to Katie Gardener from the Demeter cabin. There wasn’t even a hint of a smile on her face. Her eyebrows furrowed every now and then, as if her mind was frowning with questions that had no answers.
After a minute Katie tapped Annabeth shoulder and said goodbye. Annabeth slowly lifted her eyes and caught his gaze. They stood there looking at each other.
Campers moved back and forth around them, and there were at least ten steps distance between them, but neither of them moved.
Her brown eyes met his blue ones, and his mind refused to see anything except the girl standing in front of him. The girl who sat in his heart as if it was her own throne room — and she belonged there.
He so badly wanted to reach her, to hold her, but he couldn’t. There was still something between them. There always had been. Something that they both never dared to speak of or do anything about.
He wanted to change that.
Then one of her siblings called out to her, making Annabeth turn away. His eyes remained fixed on her. She nodded at whatever her sister was saying, then gave him one last look before walking away.
He wanted to run after her.
“Close your mouth kelp head.” Percy snapped his head toward the sound and found Thalia standing there.
“I think you’re going to bore holes into her head with the way you’re staring at her.”
Percy didn’t even try to argue. He cast one last glance at the direction Annabeth had gone before turning back to Thalia.
“So, how are you?” He asked, “How is your leg?”
If it hadn’t been for the daughter of Zeus, Annabeth and he would’ve ended up as a demigod pancake. Apparently, Hera held some sort of grudge against Annabeth ever since she had taken Percy’s side the previous summer. So, the annoying goddess had tried to crush Annabeth beneath her statue on Mount Olympus.
“It’s fine. Apollo helped, just like he helped Annabeth with her arm.”
Percy nodded. The image of Annabeth clutching her arm and collapsing was still fresh in his mind, haunting him.
“And I'm immortal too, so I recover quickly.” Thalia added with a smug smile.
Percy smiled and continued walking.
“So, I’m guessing you and Annabeth haven’t sorted out things.”
This made Percy look at her.
He remembered how Thalia had asked him to take care of Annabeth while she joined the Hunters, soon after being appointed as Artemis’s lieutenant. She had told him that she felt at ease knowing Annabeth had him. Percy and Thalia had been friends ever since.
“Well, I don’t know where to start. Things have been hard the past year.” They found a bench and sat down. Thalia nodded, understandingly.
“You met Annabeth before the war?” Percy asked
Thalia sighed before answering.
“No Percy, I wasn’t able to be there for her, even though I wanted to. The hunters have been busy, you know with the war going on.” She fell silent for a moment. Percy waited for her to continue.
“She did iris-message me sometimes, to check on me.” An affectionate smile appeared on Thalia’s face as she spoke. Come to think of it, Thalia’s demeanor always softens whenever she talks about Annabeth.
“During one of the iris- messages,” Thalia hesitated “how do I say this? I knew she wasn’t really doing well. I mean how can you forget when your sister sitting there with tears in her eyes telling she regretted not joining the hunt when she’d had the chance.”
This made Percy snap his head toward her so fast it almost hurt.
Thalia laughed at his reaction. Judging by his expression, his face probably looked horrified.
“She...she said that?” Percy asked her again and Thalia nodded in response.
Did she really think that?
Was I the reason for her to think that way?
Was she planning to leave me?
Was I close to losing her?
Percy’s mind went into panicky mode.
“Relax kelp-head. She didn’t mean it. She said in the heat of the moment. At least, that’s what I believe.” Thalia glanced at him.
“I only figured something was going on between you to because she avoided the subject when I brought up your name.”
“I believe you’re right.” He said pain laced in his voice.
Ever since the labyrinth, it had felt like everything they had built together was slowly breaking apart. They've no longer seen eye to eye on certain topics which led to numerous arguments and hurt feelings on both sides.
“So, I guessed you might’ve been a part of that sudden outburst, but there was more to it than that.” Thalia looked straight ahead with a hint of sorrow crossing her face.
“She talked as if she could’ve avoided a lot of things. As if it was her fault. Then I realized it had to do something with Luke too.”
Percy’s chest tightened.
“She told me what Luke did, you know. After the war, she told me about his visit. Last year.” Thalia’s voice softened.
"I could tell she was blaming herself for everything, and it made sense why she thought the way she did. The prophecy weighing on her shoulders, the secret she had to keep while watching more campers die thinking it was her fault.” She sighed.
“I think she just wanted away from all of it.”
Percy listened to her quietly. He thought about how much Annabeth had been carrying. Especially after hearing her talk about Luke’s visit and blaming herself for the war. Percy himself had wanted an escape from all this. That was one of the reasons he had spent more time in the mortal world, hanging out with Rachel.
Which was also something he and Annabeth hadn’t exactly seen eye to eye on.
Did Annabeth think he left her for—no way, right?
Thalia broke his chain of thoughts.
“And when you told me Hermes blamed Annabeth for what happened to Luke,” Thalia’s face showed anger and sparks of lightning flew across her fingers, “I was furious, but I was able to realize why she felt that way last year.”
Percy listened to her carefully while having a serious expression as well.
“I should’ve been here more; I didn’t even know about Luke’s visit until she told me about it during the war.” Percy said.
Thalia nodded.
“I don’t blame you, Percy, and I can see that Annabeth wasn’t the only one hurting.”
Thalia was right. Percy would feel frustrated whenever he came to camp and see Annabeth ignore him most of the time. He so badly wanted to talk to her, with her. But whenever he tried it would end up in an argument or Annabeth would ignore him for the rest of the days, he spent at camp.
Thalia looked at him and placed her hand on his shoulder, making him look up at her.
“Listen Percy, you and Annabeth are two of bravest people I’ve ever known, but you both are also the most stubborn people I've known.” Percy looked down at his shoes.
“I don’t know what’s going between the two of you, but I know you care for each other. So, make up already.” He nodded as she gave his shoulder a reassuring pat.
“Well then,” Thalia said, getting up and stretching “I’ll head to my cabin; I’ll be spending a couple days here, so I’ll see you around. I think Annabeth will be waiting for me. We have things to talk about.”
Percy didn’t have to ask her what it was. He knew the two girls' relationship with Luke ran deep, so he knew they’d need time to mourn his death.
Still, Percy wished he could see Annabeth again. The thought of her teary eyed and helpless, just as Thalia had described in their iris-message made his chest tighten.
He wanted to find her and tell her it had always been her — that he wanted to be with her too. However, he realized he should give her space.
Today the person who would hold her and comfort her was not going to be him, and that thought alone made his fists clench.
Annabeth entered the Zeus cabin. It had been a while since she’d been there. Ever since Thalia left, she never stepped into the Zeus cabin. Still, she made sure the cabin was clean from time to time.
Earlier today, Thalia told Annabeth that she’ll soon join her, and to wait in her cabin.
Annabeth didn’t stay in the Athena cabin for long. She didn’t think she would be able to see the unoccupied beds; they would only remind her of her siblings she had lost.
She went and sat on her bed which was on the farthest corner near the big window. Bronte, who used to share the bed opposite her, would tease her, saying she looked like a little owl sitting by the window.
Today Bronte’s bed was empty. Her sheets were crumpled — something Bronte hated. She always made sure to straighten them. Now they just remained crumbled.
Annabeth couldn’t stay there.
She looked for her belongings. She never stayed in San Francisco that long; nor had she told her dad that she was preparing for war. All she told him was that she needed to go to camp early.
Annabeth tried to pull out fresh clothes to change. Her battle outfit was soaked in blood of monsters she killed — and her own. Her arm was better thanks to Apollo. But the scar remained.
She didn’t think it’d ever fade.
While she tried to rummage through her suitcase, she noticed a shopping bag nearby. She instantly recognized it.
It was a gift from Silena Beauregard for her birthday — a simple white night dress.
“I saw this and it quickly reminded me of you Annabeth, I wanted to get you something you didn’t have, and I thought this would be perfect.” Silena had said that to her, with a warm smile on her face.
A smile Annabeth would never get to see again.
She normally wore her camp t-shirt or oversized t-shirts with shorts. When she was younger at camp, Silena and her siblings from Athena cabin would often share clothes with her, since Annabeth spent her whole year there at camp.
Thinking about Silena made Annabeth’s eyes fill with tears. After Silena died in the war, Annabeth didn’t speak to anyone for hours. It was as if her mind refused to acknowledge the fact Silena was gone.
But she was gone.
Ananbeth took the bag and uncovered the dress. She felt like she wanted to wear it today.
She quickly got up and something fell with a soft clink — her dagger.
Annabeth stared at it for a moment, she bent down to reach for it, but she couldn’t bring herself to touch it.
The cursed blade.
The dagger that had seen Luke’s blood.
The dagger he had given her when she was seven.
Annabeth left it there and went to take a shower.
Then she met with Katie Gardener and had a brief chat about camp, the injured demigods from both sides. After Katie left her mind was already processing on registering what Katie had said, coming up with solutions — until she saw him.
Percy.
And everything went blank.
He was standing a little away from her, but she could still see his deep blue eyes boring into hers.
He was there — the boy she thought would be the hero of the prophecy. They boy she thought wouldn’t make it to sixteen. The boy who had lately been invading her thoughts, all the time.
Percy.
Every molecule in her body screamed at her to run into arms, so she quickly walked away.
One thing she’s really good at. They both were.
She still felt his eyes on her as she left.