It happened so fast that Percy really didn't even realize what was going on until it was too late.

He swiped the back of his hand under his nose, which had started bleeding not an hour before this hell had begun. He dodged under the legs of giants, running and stabbing as fiercely as he could with Riptide, quick jabs uselessly bouncing off armored skin. He barely missed being batted thirty yards away, narrowly avoiding the swinging hand of one of the things they were fighting against. He heard the angry yells of his friends, saw Jason rocketing into the sky, Piper desperately trying to quell a giant with her voice. Frank was changing back and forth, from an elephant to an eagle to a dragon and every other animal he could muster up into his head. Hazel was off to the side, raising chunks of earth and pitching them at her enemies, and Leo was throwing blazes at the monsters in vain, the fire not affecting their thick skin.

Then Percy realized. He didn't see Annabeth anywhere.

Terror struck into him, and for a moment, he forgot where he was. He spun around, looking in every direction until he finally spotted her. Relief coursed through his veins, and air entered his lungs at last. But, as Percy returned to the battle, he heard a scream. A very afraid, very angry scream. A scream he recognized as Annabeth's, though he had heard it very few times. He turned towards the shriek, and stopped dead in his tracks as he watched Annabeth be pulled into the air, enclosed by a giant's fist. The giant (Percy was too shocked to be able to tell which one) raised his arm above his head, and released his fist.

Percy was running before he even processed what was going on.

He watched, helpless, as Annabeth became but a streak in the sky, the wind whistling past her, blonde curls whipping around her head. Her limbs flailed frantically as she grew ever closer to the ground.

At this point, tears were streaming down Percy's face, no I can't lose her I can't I can't I can't nononononononono this isn't happening please oh gods no please, his legs carrying him as fast as they could.

In the back of his mind, Percy knew he wasn't going to make it.

If the impact didn't kill her, the fall certainly would. Annabeth's brain would be rattled around in her skull like a soccer ball, and her bones would snap due to the air pressure. At best she'd be in coma, and if she ever woke up, she'd be paralyzed, probably from the neck down, if her head being violently thrown by the wind was any indication.

But none of the lucky things happened. Instead, Annabeth plummeted into the ground, her body like a rag doll as it made contact with the dirt. Percy screamed, ran even faster. He dropped to his knees when he reached Annabeth's broken, lifeless form, blood pooled around her skull like a halo, and he sobbed.

That was the moment Perseus Jackson's world stopped turning.

It fell.

Hello, everybody! This is my first fanfic, although I've been writing for about 5 years now. If you'd like to check out my original works, my wattpad account is linked in my bio! Hope you guys liked this, and there should be more coming soon.

- Cresta