The fight was brutal.

In full Greek battle armor, one warrior held down her fear. Which was a lot, considering what could and would happen in this war. Who knows what would happen? Who knows who will die? She screamed as she took down a hissing dracaena. She's been screaming a lot lately. She's slowly been going insane. All the possibilities…they make her head hurt.

Her only distraction was the clanging of swords, the monster dust, all the blood and all the pain. This was more than just a battlefield; this is where you slash and hack and stab and hurt to kill or be killed. Somehow that makes her brain work again.

"No, no, no!" A part of her screams. It's the part that's still just a little girl. That little lost girl on the streets. It's the part that doesn't exist anymore, what she wishes doesn't exist anymore. "This is not you. You are not a killer. You are not a murderer. You are–"

Then suddenly everything was numb.

And she's screaming, she's shouting, for help, please help, I can't feel anything, I can't breathe, why is this happening to me, help, everything is numb, why is everything numb, what is happening to me, and her mind is in a scramble, she was on overdrive and then it hits her.

"Once they swear loyalty to me, they are indeed immortal… unless they fall in battle."

She can't help a bitter smile at that. She wasn't immortal. She never was, really. Just half. She already fell in battle. Being immortal was out. Never. Na-da. She never even thought about it. It wasn't in her string. She could've been, though. She could've been. Long ago.

She falls to the ground and watches the blood corrupt the grass.

"Thalia," someone calls. It sounds so far away…and she's drifting, she's drifting, drifting…it feels so good to die, she thinks. It feels so good to finally let go. In that moment she doesn't let her smile falter. She was once a happy girl, she thinks. But that was over but she's still the same. She was still her. She was still–

"Thalia!"

Her head hits the ground and her body doesn't move an inch.

Slash. Stab. Deflect. Kill. Step back. Turn around. Repeat.

It was in his blood, he realizes. His father…he always used to take lives away, and not care for it. He winces for a bit, breaking the pattern for a while, and then he drowns back in it. There was a time when he thought he couldn't do this, you know. Back when he was still just a kid. Back when he was still innocent.

Oh, how time and war can change that, he laughs. Little darling, with your blood full of sugar, did you know you'll be seeing the other kinds of sugar too? Isn't it sweet, isn't it delicious?

And now he's crazy and now he's insane. He doesn't know that, not yet, of course. But he watches the crimson liquid stain the blade and somehow that's a factor. He's screaming. He always has. He was always a tiny bit angry at everything and a tiny bit screaming at everything because of everything and–by gods, he's going mad.

There was once a girl, he thinks. She used to hold me and she told me she loved me. She used to hide me from the monsters. She used to hide me from the dark. She used to love me. Where was she?

Now he's really screaming. His thoughts come in stutters.

Blade. Crimson. Blood. Numb? Hurts. I-I can see it…Sword? Pain. Screaming. Alone. Girl. Dead. Is she? Am I? Fall. Grass. Red. Not green. Red.

I am dying.

And that's what breaks him. That's the kicker. Because really? After everything? He fought titans, he fought monsters, he fought giants, he sailed a flying ship from California to the entire world to Rome and to Greece. He can feel it too, she's dying too. And now he's screaming, not from pain, never from pain, but the thought of him dying seems so surreal. He was going to be gone. Just like that. After all of that.

Once upon a time, he thinks. When I was just a boy, I thought I would never die.

He doesn't feel the blood dribbling from his mouth; he doesn't remember his knees giving way. Numb. Just numb. That was it.

The heroes…they always die in the end. What happened to you, blood and sugar?

He watched the crimson stain the green, then he fell.

"Oh my gods."

"We can still save them! Hazel's a Daughter of Pluto, we can still–"

"No. No we can't."

One girl sobs on another boy's shoulder, and the other runs off. They can all hear her shout "Unfair!" in a broken voice before she stalks out of the room, and they all feel their heart break a little more as she makes sure to slam the door shut.

"She's right," someone says, the one who was wetting her boyfriend's shirt, "We already lost one of our leaders, and one of our allies. One of our friends. What hope do we have–?"

"We have a lot of hope!" One boy laughs, but it's marred by his red eyes and everyone notices. "We still do. We plough on, we keep on surviving, because that's what we do, okay? They, him, her, both of them, they didn't die in vain! We still have…"

"No we don't!"

"Yes we do!" He shouts. "Alright? We, we gotta keep moving. That's what they would've wanted us to do. They would've wanted us to kick some giant butt and some earth goddess butt, and they would've wanted us to win. They would've wanted us to live. Okay?"

A few mutterings here and there, and quietly, he hears them close their doors.

Let them boil it over, let it sink in, he thinks. He goes to his quarters and flops to his canopy. After all, I still haven't…

Weeks later, when they go back to camp, she sees that the passing of two of their campers leaves them in a severe grief.

Of course they do, she thinks. Both of them were the camp leaders. They basically held the camp together. It's like they lost their older siblings.

She sees Mr. D drink more and more Coke than normal, and Chiron shut himself out even more. She sees the dryads turn yellow and naiads drown anyone who dares swim in the lake, she sees the pegasi squirm and the satyrs grow cold. A leaf just fell from her tree. The flowers wilt. The sky is gray. And the sea is in a rage. It's been raining.

The gods have been mourning too. She doesn't whether to clap or cry.

Crying, oh, she's familiar with it by now. They left such an impact on the world, they'll go to Elysium for sure. A pale boy clad in all black confirms this.

"They're happy," he says, then he merges back into the shadows.

He's sad too, she realizes. He's paler than usual.

That's when she thinks, that yes, they did make an impact. A big one.

They hold the funeral two days later at sunset.

The Hephaestus cabin put a lot of work into the shrouds. They made sure they were almost shining. They made sure they were special. They made sure they were golden, unforgettable, and every single bit of brilliant and beautiful as they could.

Just like the people they encased.

"S-She was like a star. She always wanted to be one, you know. Like, like the constellations. She used to tell me, 'Hey, hey. When I grow up, I'm going to be a star. I'm going to shine, one day.'

"And she did, gods, she did. She was beautiful, wasn't she? Yeah, she was. Smart, too. She was at the top of her game, like nothing was going to stop her. Nothing did. Not…Not until that day when it did.

"It was really stupid, now that I think about it. I mean, she died of a spear through her stomach. She could've died of explosions, drowning, eaten by monsters, burned alive…and she went by spear. It was pathetic. The least she could've done was have a dramatic exit, right?

"She deserved the best, even in the end. She deserved it. She wouldn't have wanted it but…to me, and to a lot of people, she did. She shined, she did. Like a star. I wish I could tell her that."

"We didn't have a great start, not at first.

"Yeah, it was stupid. I mean, how could you not like him? He was an overall great guy with awesome powers, and yes, good looks. He was also real nice and caring and while I never understood girls, I guess I could understand what they saw in him. Who wouldn't?

"Answer: me. And I wish I could go back in time and slap myself for being such an idiot. For not befriending him, for being jealous of him, for not saving him. I would go back and change it all if I could. Gods damn it, I would. I would.

"But I resented him. He just seemed so nice, it was practically inhuman. To me, I mean. It was also the fact that he was only awake for a week and he gets the Romans' trust so easily and…yeah, I was jealous. But back then, I was convinced it was hate. And I don't think he hated me, he just played along. Kinda annoying how friendly he is.

"You know what changed? It wasn't when we were kicking monster butt, or giant butt, or any butt at all. We were sitting under the stars, at deck, and we just…talked. About the things we did, about our adventures, about–about us. About how scared we were.

"That's when I realized he was just human. Like me. But in a way, he wasn't. Gods no, he wasn't.

"He was special. He was bigger than me. Or any of us. He was special and…and I wish I could tell him that. It just didn't seem like he knew, didn't he? It's…yeah. I wish I could turn back time and tell him that."

When they burned the shrouds, they smelt lemons and sea breeze. At that point, all of their eyes were misty.

When they were having dinner, all of them raised their goblets in remembrance.

To the Heroes of Olympus.

"Hey."

They turned. What they saw was a spiffy man in an expensive Italian suit. His name tag read…

"Chiron?" He asked, "Your name is Chiron?"

The other man grinned at the couple. "Charon. But good enough, young lad. Good enough. Now get in and go to Elysium, you lot. Get married. Have fun. If you see your uncle, go say hi. He missed you."

"What?" she exclaimed.

Charon grinned even more. "Perseus Jackson and Annabeth Chase. Admission Accepted. Now get in the boat, I'll personally escort you there.

"Both of you are a special pair, you know?"

A/N: So it's an hour past midnight and I spent the last-what?-two hours working on this. Huh. Hope you like it, guys! Or cried. Or reviewed. That would be nice too. Do my insomnia some justice, guys. Come on.