Percy used to feel guilty when he was with her. It felt almost like he was cheating on Annabeth, even though he logically knew such a thing was impossible.
After all, Annabeth had died years ago.
It hadn't been during a particularly monumentous event, nothing that would go down in history as anything other than "the event that killed Annabeth Chase." A simple Dracanae attack, with devastating consequences.
Percy and Annabeth had been on a date in the mortal world, relaxing at a café while they waited for a movie at a nearby cinema to start. They had decided to get something to eat, since Percy was always hungry, and Annabeth did not have the willpower to resist the temptation of hot chocolate.
All in all, a fairly normal, mortal, day. Until it wasn't.
Percy had been feeling uneasy for the past few minutes, and was barely fighting the urge to spin around and interrogate every single patron of the cafe, to find out if one of them was secretly a monster in disguise. He, however, didn't; due to the desire to avoid the police, and not wanting to ruin one of the few chances he had at a normal life.
Unfortunately, the Dracanae had no such reservations. They had rushed into the café, spears twirling and forked tongues lashing about.
"I sssssmell demigod!" The lead snake-woman shouted in an admittedly cliché moment.
That was all the prompting said demigods needed to kick themselves into gear, the date completely forgotten about in favor of survival. Percy whipped out and uncapped Riptide in a single fluid motion, Annabeth following suit by unsheathing a dagger from her boot.
Brandishing their gleaming weapons, the demigods slowly inched forward, waiting for the Dracanae to make the first move. It came, as expected, when one of the snakes became too impatient due to the lack of demigod-devouring action. She lunged forward, attempting to stab at Percy's sternum in a laughable strike. Percy spun around, cut clean through the spear, and then the monster. The snake-woman's explosion into dust was the unspoken signal for Annabeth and the rest of the monsters to join the fight.
The café burst into a whirlwind of noise and action, with the demigods spinning and jumping and hacking and slashing, the monsters doing their best to defend and attack.
There were eight Dracanae in total; including the one which Percy killed already. He was facing off against three, whilst Annabeth held back the remaining four. It was nothing new, nothing they couldn't handle. Percy was barely breaking a sweat, more focused on the fact that his date was ruined than the ongoing battle. It proved to be a fatal mistake.
He was completely unprepared for one of the snakes to throw her spear at him. Letting go of your weapon at such close range was suicide!
Unfortunately for Percy, that was the point. Taking advantage of the demigod's momentary surprise, the now unarmed Dracaena leapt forward, grabbing hold of Percy's sword arm. The other snake-women quickly followed their sister's lead, tossing down their arms in favor of tackling Percy to the ground.
The son of Poseidon went down hard under the combined weight of the three monsters, his head smacking against the tiled café floor. Slightly disoriented, he was slow in mustering up the strength to push himself to his feet, further hampered by the monsters clinging to him.
Annabeth, upon hearing the pained yelp of her boyfriend, had knocked back the Dracanae surrounding her as quickly as she could before spinning to find Percy in a predicament. The Dracanae holding down the son of Poseidon were all poised to take a bite out of him, only stopped by his flailing which prevented them from getting a clean bite. She sprinted over, pausing to toss a table behind her, and tackled one of the Dracanae on top of Percy.
Though not fatal, Dracaena venom could still cause paralysis in the bitten limb, which would end poorly for the victim. Desperate to avoid the outcome of that situation, Annabeth began punching and kicking and stabbing at the snake-women. Unfortunately, the snakes had a vice-grip on Percy, seemingly becoming more determined to bite the son of Poseidon.
Even more disastrous; amidst the chaos, Annabeth forgot about the other four Dracanae. That is, until she was stabbed four times through the chest.
Percy could only watch with muted horror as the monsters shoved their spears deeper into the demigoddess, causing her to cough up blood. Annabeth's face was caught between an expression of extreme shock and intense pain. In the end, her storm-grey eyes simply rolled back into her head as she slumped over, dead.
Percy was frozen, unable to process anything going on around him.
He had just watched the love of his life be cut down without fanfare; no last words, no dying declaration of love- just the sudden all-consuming void of death. He didn't even register the fact that he was completely at the mercy of the snake-women who had caused this.
Luckily (or unluckily, depending on who you asked) the snake-women seemed satisfied with killing the most talented demigoddess of this era, because they slithered off without another glance at the unmoving son of Poseidon.
The police found him ten minutes later, staring open-mouthed at the cooling corpse of his significant other, unable to tear his gaze away for even a moment.
It had taken a while for Percy to be able to interact normally with the rest of the world. He was still in shock, still grieving. The other demigods at Camp Half-Blood gave him space, only talking to him when he initiated a conversation. Despite being teens, they knew the feeling of loss intimately. Such was the fate of a demigod.
Even after a few months, Percy still felt hollow. He had thrown himself into training, becoming something of a beast in the arena. Few demigods, like Clarisse, had the courage to challenge him at this point. This just made him all the more lonely. Many of the new campers had a subconscious fear of him, causing them to avoid his gaze, and sometimes his presence in one extreme case.
Ignoring it all, Percy continued with his intense training regimen, increasing the general awe- and fear- of the local half-blood community. And yet, all the respect in the world couldn't replace the love of Annabeth.
Without the daughter of Athena around, and nobody brave enough to try and control him, Percy's impulses were allowed to run rampant. It showed in his battles, with his movements becoming more erratic with every passing fight. He was less likely to care if something happened to him, focusing solely on an overwhelming offense. He acquired more injuries, felt more pain, accumulated more scars. Yet, he did not stop.
To many of the campers, it seemed as if Percy had simply stopped regarding his life as something important. With no idea what to do about that, they simply stayed quiet, fearing the possible repercussions an inquiry may bring. The many demigods who had experienced the death of a loved one usually had more loved ones around to keep them from going down an uncontrollable spiral. Percy, unfortunately, did not have that.
Though he was well liked around the camp, that was more hero-worship than friendship. His actual friends were anywhere except Camp Half-Blood, and nobody had the idea to contact them.
Jason had returned to Camp Jupiter as a Centurion of the First Cohort, Piper accompanying him. Frank also went to the Roman camp to fulfill his duties as Praetor, and took Hazel with him. Leo was… somewhere. Most likely with Calypso, exploring the mortal world, but definitely not nearby. Tyson was not allowed a break from the undersea forges until the summer months.
Sally and Paul were still in their little apartment in Upper East-side Manhattan. They also could not help, since Percy had chosen to remain at camp during the school year, and the camp's barrier prevented mortals from entering without invite- which nobody thought of, again.
The gods- well, they were off being gods. Following a bunch of dumb rules about not being allowed to interact with their children, for fear of changing their destinies.
And thus, Percy was left to suffer alone. Until, he found someone else.
Nikki, who had helped so many people like him, people unable to cope with loss by themselves. She calmed his nerves, made him less anxious. He became more approachable, amicable, less likely to lash out at someone for the smallest mistake. He even smiled more.
These days, it was rare that Percy went anywhere without Nikki. It was as if he was completely dependant on her, like she flowed through his veins, was part of the very air he breathed.
When his mother died, Nikki seemed to become a part of him. She was always around, close by in case he needed to relax. He became even more reliant on her, barely letting her out of his sight. Some of his friends felt that this dependency was becoming something dangerous. Percy just laughed it off, told them that he was perfectly fine. In fact, he felt better than he had in a long time.
Monster attacks on the son of Poseidon were at an all-time low. He cut back a bit on training, realising the need to have fun every now and then. He even participated in the occasional prank war with the Stolls, when they were around on their college breaks.
All in all, life seemed good. And it was all thanks to Nikki.
Nobody was particularly surprised when Perseus Jackson was diagnosed with lung cancer at the age of 30. Just disappointed in the inevitability of the situation. After all, how many people can smoke two packs of cigarettes a day for nearly ten years and not suffer the consequences?
Just a little one-shot, inspired by a song. Got me thinking, and so this happened. I guess I can do a Q&A, in case any of you want. I'll post it as a new "chapter" to this, but after that, it's over.