Annabeth felt empty. After she had woken up, she was very confused. It felt as though someone had taken away a big chunk of her heart and she didn't know what it was and why it was so important to her. No one responded to her questions, besides the occasional pitiful glance and supposedly comforting pat on the shoulder.
It was just life, the thing that goes on when no one really notices, you know? No one really notices it and no one really just stops and says, "This must be how it feels to live." because right then, when you take a step back, it's just life with its twists and turns and in betweens. With its loopholes and heartbreakers and it's miracles. It's just life.
Life is all it is. But you know that something's missing, waiting in the shadows, hoping that one day, it can sweep you into its arms and carry you away. And you can live there together. No saving the world. No big adventure, just you and that missing chunk of your heart wearing out your lives together till your bones creak and your hair grays. You just want a life with that person.
But, you will never have it. So no matter how hard you cry and plead, they won't tell you what you're missing. And it's all his fault. And you realize how much he must love you to do this to you, hoping you'll be able to live a little longer. So maybe he's not that far after all, and you eventually stop fighting and you just sit down and say, "This must be how it feels to live."
And he knows that it was worth it.