Annabeth's POV:
The sound of screams and weapons clanging is all that could be heard. I was standing about two feet away from an empousai, ready to attack at a moments notice. A couple metres away from me stood Percy Jackson, the camp's best fighter and my boyfriend. Percy was fighting left and right, backwards and forwards. Sweat gleamed on his forehead as he swung his sword in a low arc, slashing a hellhound as it got a little too close. An empousai coming up behind him got my attention back to my fight. I turned at just the right moment to see the monster in front of me lunge and almost claw my eyes out. I backed away and got into a fighting stance. The empousai approached me and a swung my knife dangerously close to it's face. I slashed it's leg and it fell to the ground, slowly crumbling into sand. I sensed a presence behind me and turned to see a hellhound growling and glaring at me with bloodthirsty eyes. It lunged and a ducked as it soared above my head. It lashed out a paw and I fell to the ground, my head throbbing.
"Annabeth!", I heard a familiar voice call out. It was faint, but I could hear that it was Percy.
"Per- Percy?", I managed to stutter out.
"Wise Girl," he was beside me now, "you alright?" I looked up at him and almost screamed. The side of his face was covered in blood and he had a black eye. He saw me staring and said, " Don't worry. The blood's not mine." But that just made me wonder... Whose was it?
Percy helped me get to my feet and then rushed to stop a hellhound from ripping my arm off. I picked up my knife from the ground and stabbed an empousai before it could cut Percy into millions of little pieces. A snake woman called a dracaenae came up behind Percy and before I could react or yell to him, the dracaenae struck.
The blow hit him squarely in the head and he stumbled, dazed. An empousai rushed to hold me back as I was about to kill the dracaenae. It placed it's hand on Percy's head and pushed him down roughly. Percy cried out but managed to get a grip on Riptide. He tried to swing the sword out, but the dracaenae was quick. It got a hold on Percy's arm and twisted. Percy yelled in pain. His arm was definitely broken. I screamed as the dracaenae picked up Percy's sword and swung downward.
I wrestled the empousai holding me until it let me go. I stabbed it then threw my knife at the dracaenae. They both crumbled until they were a pile of sand. I rushed to Percy's side and held his hand, which was covered in his blood.
"Percy..." I fumbled with his shirt, soaked with blood, until it came loose and I assessed the damage. He had a deep wound in his stomach. There's no way he should be breathing right now.
"Help!" I yelled, loud enough to make ears bleed. I tore part of my pant leg and made an attempt to stop the bleeding, but a hand reached out and gripped my own.
"Anna- Annabeth."
I looked down at Percy, my eyes red from crying. "Percy, don't worry. I'll get Will to come... He'll heal you..." I stopped because Percy was shaking his head weakly.
"No..." He spoke softly, "I've lost too much blood... There's no-... There's no healing..."
"Oh, Percy, don't say that! I- I couldn't stand it if... If you... Died." I whispered.
"Annabeth... Trust m- me. Please..." He coughed.
"Percy... I can't just sit here and watch you... Die..."
"Annabeth-... " Before Percy could finish that sentence, he broke down into a fit of coughing.
"Percy!" My voice was hysterical as I yelled. "Someone! Anyone! Please..." My voice dropped down to a whisper as I started crying again.
I put my head between my knees and cried, still clutching his hand as if my life depended on it. He stopped coughing and took a shaky breath. "Annabeth... I- I love y- you."
My breath caught in my throat. He loved me...? I looked into his eyes, his beautiful sea green eyes that were always bright with happiness, were now dull and unfocused. "I- I love you, too." I said, sure of it now more than anytime in my life. Percy sighed as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
A sob escaped my mouth as I watched Percy's eyes flutter shut, and his chest stop heaving with painful breaths.
And just like that, the only person I ever truly loved, was gone.
