The Beginning of Forever
"Annabeth!" Percy whispered anxiously. She had been asleep in his arms, and she slowly sat up and reached for her dagger, soon remembering for the hundredth time that she'd lost it when they first fell. They had been in Tartarus for more than a month (or that's what it seemed like to her, considering they had no way of knowing the time or date) and they had been attacked numerous times. "Do you see that?" Percy put his hands on her shoulders and gently turned her to the left. That's another thing she was used to, the darkness. It was pitch black and they couldn't see anything. Annabeth looked in the direction Percy had pointed her in. "Is that... Light?" Percy scrambled to his feet, then kneeled down again to pick up Annabeth, whose ankle was still broken, due to lack of proper treatment (and ambrosia, which Percy had conveniently dropped sometime during the fall). He ran in the direction of the light, Annabeth locking her arms around his neck as he did. He stopped when they were a few yards away from the source. "Percy, it's the doors. We're here." They had reached the light at the end of the tunnel. They were gonna make it out. They approached the doors, and when they got close enough they could here Piper yelling, "They made it! They're here!" Percy started to run again, and soon they emerged and he put Annabeth down on the ground. Piper hugged Annabeth and helped her up. Hazel threw herself at Percy. "Thank the gods, you guys are okay." When she pulled away Percy exchanged a glance with Nico, and he nodded. He knew what it was like to be stuck down there. He got a quick hug from Piper, and then turned to the doors. The one on the left was open in Tartarus, the other open on their side. "Okay," he said, "I think I know how were gonna do this." ••••••••••••••
Percy took a deep breath, knowing it may be one of his his last, and jumped back through the doors, landing in the darkness that he had been so eager to get out of. He uncapped riptide, and turned around, flinching when he noticed a hydra nearing. He hurriedly grabbed the door and started pulling it shut. It was heavier than he had imagined, and he was making no progress as the hydra moved closer. He tugged and pulled, but it was hard to pull when a force so strong was pulling him in the opposite direction. Percy closed his eyes and started to think of Annabeth. What would she be like if he was gone? Their future would be crushed, and she would be broken to a point where it would be impossible to be sewn back together. He felt a sudden slam, and he gasped. When nothing happened he opened his eyes to see that he had closed the door and was no longer in Tartarus. One down, one to go. He also noticed that the hydra was about fifteen feet away from the other open door. He ran to it, and, yet again, started to push. In a snap Frank was beside him pushing the door as well. One of the hydra's heads managed to wedge itself in between the doors, and Jason flew up to it with his sword and cut the head off. Percy and Frank pushed the door fully shut, then collapsed against it, panting. "You know," Piper started, "To be honest, I thought that this would be a little bit more difficult." She glanced at Hazel, who nodded. "Don't talk just yet, Piper," Jason said. "We still have Camp Half-Blood to worry about." And the roman one points it out, Percy thought. "And you weren't the one pushing the doors closed," Frank remarked. Percy glanced down at his torn up orange t-shirt, then to Annabeth, who was standing, with the help of Piper. He smiled at her and she smiled back. At least he still had something- or someone- to live for. They all walked back to the
Argo II where Leo was waiting, with Coach Hedge right behind him. "And they're alive!" He screamed as they boarded the ship. "That was quicker than I imagined it would be." Piper put her hands on her hips. "I told you." Leo got Annabeth some ambrosia, which she chewed very slowly, as if she thought she might never taste it again. Percy sat down next to her. "Annabeth, we made it out of Tartarus. We're together." I smile slowly formed on her lips. They had made it out together. She put down the ambrosia and slowly stood up and tried walking on her foot, which lead her to trip, Percy catching her in his arms. He leaned in and quickly kissed her on the cheek, which made her laugh. "We made it out," she repeated with realization. "Yes, Wise Girl, we made it out. We never have to go back to that place." She smiled widely, leaning in to kiss him. "Uh, guys," Leo started, "Camp Half-Blood is about to be destroyed, so if you could pull away from each other for two seconds that would be great." Annabeth pulled away and gave Leo a shocked look. Percy raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, he's kinda been keeping us on our feet the whole time you two have been gone." Jason explained. Percy was impressed. "Leo? Keeping you on your feet?" Leo smiled. "Don't look so surprised." "I'm not, I'm just... Wow." Jason laughed. "So, Leo, do you have a plan?" Leo crossed his arms over his chest. "If course I do."
•••••••••••••• They hovered over Camp Half-Blood, Leo adding the final details to his strategy. Annabeth couldn't help but try to tweak his ideas, but he refused to let her. She just sighed, too tired to argue. "You guys got it?" He said finally. "Yeah," they all chorused. He smiled. They descended from the Argo II, unnoticed by the Romans, who they had seen arrive shortly before they did. Obviously no one was expecting an attack; the situation was absolutely chaotic. It's was late at night, and there were people fighting in their pajamas. Percy laughed silently, then searched the crowd. Leo had stuck him with finding Octavian, which was much harder than it sounded. You would think an insane stuffed animal killer wouldn't be that hard to spot, but he was. He noticed Coach Hedge threatening to smash people on the head with his club. He (who surprisingly listened to Leo, too) particularly liked his job. Leo, himself, went looking for Reyna. Piper argued that it should be her, that her charmspeak could save them, but Leo didn't think it would work on Reyna. He was probably right about that. She seemed unbreakable. Percy thought of Annabeth. He didn't want to be separated from her, but they agreed that they needed to spread out as much as possible. She went with Nico to find Chiron, considering that Nico wasn't exactly emotionally stable at the moment. He finally spotted Octavian near the Hera cabin, avoiding the fighting. Wimp. Percy snuck up behind him, trying to be as quiet as possible. He inched close enough so that he could reach out and slit his throat with his sword. He hesitated for a second. Was he really worth killing? Blackjack suddenly appeared out of nowhere, landing on Octavian's head, knocking him out. "Well," Percy said to himself, "I guess I don't have to decide now." Blackjack stomped his hooves down on Octavian's back. "Hi, boss" Blackjack neighed. "That was the bad guy, right?" Percy laughed. "Thank the gods it was." He watched as Blackjack moved his hooves from Octavian's already dead body. Percy scanned the crowds of people and wondered what the others would say about Blackjack killing him. Leo would probably make some "witty" joke about horses and stuffed animals. It was now pitch black out, reminding him of the horrid pit he had just emerged out of. Annabeth, he remembered, was at the big house with Chiron and Nico. He moved quietly in the dark. He knew Camp Half-Blood like the back of his hand, so it wasn't long before he was standing at the gate of the house. "Annabeth?" He called. It was a minute before she replied. "Yeah, Seaweed Brain. I'm right here." Her voice sounded like she had been crying. Percy hurried around to the side of the house, were he found Annabeth kneeling next to a bleeding Chiron. Percy gasped. "We need to get him to-" "Percy," Annabeth interrupted, "It's too late. He's already gone." Percy's face turned white. Chiron, his mentor, his teacher, was dead at his feet. He gulped, then through himself into Annabeth's arms. He could feel her crying and a tear ran down his cheek. Annabeth never cried. When they finally pulled apart Percy wiped the tears off her cheeks. "Hey, Annabeth, it's okay. It's not the end of the world. I'm still here. I will never leave you." She smiled a sad smile and allowed Percy to pull her up off the ground. He looked around, just then noticing Nico's absence. He then spotted him running after Hazel, who was going towards the lake. "Is Nico okay?" Percy asked. Annabeth nodded. "He ran off right when we first split up. He seemed fine to me." Percy nodded. "I think we should find Leo. Last I saw him he was near the entrance. He probably hasn't gone far." Percy linked his hand with Annabeth's. "Oh and by the way, Octavian is dead." Annabeth froze. "You actually killed him?" Percy shrugged. "Actually Blackjack landed on him, but I guess I could take the credit." •••••••••••••••••••••••
They found Leo by the border, but he wasn't alone. He was with Reyna, and they were kissing. "Um...?" Annabeth muttered. "Plot twist!" Percy exclaimed. They broke apart and awkwardly backed away from each other. "Oh, hey guys," Leo said, his voice cracking. Reyna started laughing, and Leo followed. Percy and Annabeth looked at each other, both extremely confused. "So, what going on here?" Percy asked, gesturing between the two. "Leo, why don't you explain this?" Reyna said, blushing and acting completely un-Reyna like. Leo shoved his hands into his pockets. "Well, I was trying to convince Reyna to stop attacking the camp and all that jazz, and then she told me that she isn't actually a daughter of Bellona and she's been keeping it a secret for, like, ever. She wasn't the first one who controlled Camp Jupiter, it was that crazy stuffed animal killer dude." They stood there in silence. "So, who's your godly parent then?" Annabeth finally asked. Reyna hesitated, then looked over at Leo. "Venus." Annabeth's mouth was ajar. "Wait... You mean... Aphrodite?" She nodded. "Yes, I'm a daughter of... Aphrodite." Percy was still confused. "So, have you, you know, had feelings for Leo this whole time?" He watched while she pondered the thought. "I guess I did. I mean, it kind of threw me off when he got possessed and tried to destroy the roman camp, but once I knew it wasn't actually him it just kind of... happened." This was just preposterous. "So why were you acting so tough all the time?" Annabeth asked, clearly confused as well. Reyna brushed her dark hair behind her ear. "I was afraid of Octavian, so I thought if I pretended to be this strong girl he would leave me alone. It worked, kind of. I still hated him, but at least he couldn't give me orders anymore." Percy rubbed the back of his neck. "I suppose this would be a good time to tell you my Pegasus made a landing strip out of him, then." Reyna froze. "You mean, Octavian is dead?" Percy nodded. Reyna slowly developed a smile on her face. "He's gone," she muttered. "I never have to see him again." Leo slowly put a hand on Reyna's shoulder. "Um, if your done explaining it would be nice to tell those Romans of yours to back off Camp Half-Blood." Her smile faded. "Well, I can't very well do that, can I? What did you expect? That I could snap my finger and tell them to back off?" Leo shrugged. "I was hoping." Reyna sighed and shook her head. "You should go find they rest of your friends. Tell them that you failed. Tell them that were all gonna die. Go ahead." Annabeth glanced at Percy and squeezed his hand. "Actually, we should go find them. Make sure they're all okay." •••
The sun had started to peek over the horizon, I dim light cast over the entire camp. Percy thought about where things would go from there. If they succeeded at getting the Romans to leave, then him and Annabeth would probably sit and watch the sun rise, then go on to have a great life together. If they failed, the Romans would tear apart the camp. Gods know what would happen after that. "Put it DOWN!" Frank yelled, snapping Percy out of thought. One of the Roman guys was holding a piece of what looked like wood wood over a burning Hera cabin. "Why?" He called back. "What do you need the firewood for, big guy? It's not like this is your life I'm holding!" Percy could almost see the steam coming out if Frank's ears. "Frank," Hazel said calmly. "I don't think you should-" Frank ignored her and started to charge at the guy, simultaneously turning into a rhinoceros. He rammed at full speed into the guy, knocking the wood out of his hand and to the ground, yards away from the fire. He kept running, trampling everything- and everyone- in sight. When he finally cooled down, he stood next to the burning cabin, his hands on his knees, panting. Jason and Piper ran from behind to join them. "What'd we miss?" Jason asked, coming to stand next to Percy. "A lot," he replied. Frank stood and wiped his forehead. "I don't know what I just did, but it was pretty awesome." Everyone nodded. There wasn't a single Roman standing. Hazel moved over to Frank, taking his hand. Piper still looked very confused. "I have so many questions right now," she said. She glanced around. "Hey, where's Leo?" Percy and Annabeth groaned. "He's fine." Piper raised an eyebrow. "But where is he-" "Let's not talk about that right now." Annabeth interrupted. She threw her hands up. "Hey! Percy and I are out of Tartarus and were all fine!" Everyone smiled. "Well, almost everyone." •••••••••••••••••••••••••
The funeral was small. I'm fact, it wasn't really a funeral at all. Chiron's body had been put in a large wooden coffin with Greek writing on the front and set out in front if the big house. Jason, Piper, Hazel, Frank, Leo, Percy, and Annabeth stood around it. Leo scratched his head. "Wasn't Chiron immortal? How could he die?" Percy had been wondering the same thing, and he had come to a conclusion. "I think," Percy started, "That it was his time to leave. He wanted us to train the next generation of heroes." Everyone stood in silence. Annabeth leaned her head against Percy's shoulder.•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Camp Half-Blood hadn't been completely destroyed. The big house and the Hera cabin had burned down, but other than that everything was mostly intact. They had, however, lost quite a few demigods. The Hermes cabin was nearly empty, and the rest weren't any better. The Aphrodite cabin, however, was still full. Most of them had slept through the battle. Percy was standing at the top of the hill by the border, examining the damage. Since Chiron was gone, Annabeth planned to rebuild the the cabins and add a village like the one at Camp Jupiter; a place where greek demigods could grow up and be safe and live a normal life. As for Leo and Reyna's "relationship" Reyna had been staying at Camp Half-Blood (also because there were barely any Romans left, so there was really no point in going back to a deserted camp). Same went for Jason, who had adopted the empty Zeus cabin. Everything was back to normal, whatever "normal" was. ••••••••••••••••
*one year later*
"Keep your eyes closed, Seaweed Brain." Annabeth had her hands on Percy's shoulders and was leading him through the new greek village. "Can I open them now?" Percy asked. Annabeth laughed. "Not yet, just keep walking." They finally came to a light blue house with a owl and I trident carved into the wooden door. Annabeth was extremely nervous. And had no idea what Percy would think. "Okay," she said, her voice shaking. "Open." Percy gasped. "Do you like it?" "Annabeth... This is..." She suddenly got worried. Did I go too overboard? She asked herself. Percy turned around, revealing the tears brimming in his eyes. Annabeth felt like her heart had just melted. "Annabeth," Percy said, "I love you. I love you so much." He leaned in and kissed her, and for a moment nothing else in the world mattered. When they finally pulled away Annabeth struggled to catch her breath. "I love you, too," she replied. Percy smiled, a tear falling on his cheek. Annabeth, too, started to get teary eyed. Make wiped her cheek with the back of her hand and opened the wooden door. There was barely anything in the house, just a couch and a table in the dining room. "Remember those plans that you had for us?" She asked. Percy nodded, the tears drying. "How could I forget, Wise Girl?" They walked over to the couch and sat down. "Well, I figured this would be a blank canvas to paint our picture." Thy laced their fingers together; just the beginning of forever.