Wow! Second update today! I'm on a ROLL! Haha! Hope you like this one! I really love this one! This is just a one shot. Thanks for checking this story out! As always, Relax, read, and REVIEW!
"It's all right. I'm okay." He stared into her eyes, his sea-green eyes shone with tears, and hers were already spilling over.
"Percy… No. I won't allow this. You promised!"
"Annie… I know. But this is my only chance to make this right! I have to."
"No, you don't, Percy! Come on! You know that they offered."
"Yes. They offered because they knew that we are needed up there. Well, one of us, at least, is."
"Exactly! The offered! So let them. Please, Percy!… I can't live without you!"
He grabbed her hands in hers, "And I can't live without you. But I also can't live knowing that I let someone die without making it right first. I'm sorry, Annie. I'm staying." He reached for her head, brought it close to his lips, and kissed her.
"Goodbye, Wise Girl. I love you. Tell my stories. Our stories. I love you." With that, he pushed her through the doors and turned, grabbing the hands of the friendly giant and the Titan, and pulled them into the doors. He pushed the button, and his thumb stayed on the button for twelve. Long. Minutes.
The monsters didn't kill him.
Annabeth sat huddled in the corner of the elevator the whole time, screaming, tears cascading down her face in angry torrents of pain. Bob and Damasen backed into the other corner of the elevator, staring at the normally headstrong daughter of Athena, the now broken, defeated girl they now stood across from. If one hadn't seen the transition from confident to weak, they might not have noticed that the two young women were the same person.
The war was over. Gaea was defeated. Once and for all. Never to rise again. Everyone was happy, crying tears of joy. Except for one.
Annabeth Chase.
She was crying too, but for a very different reason. Her Seaweed Brain. Her reason to live. To continue fighting, was dead. Gone. Forever.
And for that reason, she could not smile. Could not laugh. Could not speak. Could not move.
Jason Grace, seeing the heartbroken daughter of Athena, broke from his embrace with Piper, and walked over to her, crouching down, gripping her shoulders firmly, and pulled her to her feet, and once she was up, swept her legs up into his arms and carried her off to the Argo II, where they were getting ready to sail- well, fly- back to New York, to Camp Half-Blood.
He carried the broken girl back to the ship, and up to her cabin, and laid the already fast asleep girl down on her bed and quietly stepped out of her room and closed the door.
On the deck of the Argo II, Nico Di Angelo sat, staring off into nothingness, lost in his thoughts. Jason sat down next to him.
"I can feel him," Nico spoke out of nowhere.
"What?" Jason was utterly confused. He knew Nico could sense souls, but whose was he talking about?
"I can feel his soul. I can feel it in the waters. I can feel it in the moisture in the air. I can feel his presence on this ship. He's not dead. But he's not alive either."
"What?" Jason said again, "I don't understand. He sacrificed himself to close the Doors of Death. He sacrificed himself for Annabeth. And for Bob and Damasen."
"I don't know how. But I have an inkling of an idea. I don't want to tell Annabeth because I don't want to get her hopes up. Because if I'm wrong… this will be fatal. Her life force is already so weak…. It's scary. I mean, I've known Percy and Annabeth for a… very long time. And, if Percy really is dead… then, I can't… I don't want to lose Annabeth as well."
"I get you, Nico. I understand. I'll help you. Whatever you need, I'm here." he paused for emphasis, then said, "So…. what can I do?"
"Don't tell Annabeth. That's what you can do."
Jason was taken aback, couldn't he do something else to help? "Uh, what? Isn't there anything else I can do. I mean, I won't tell Annabeth… but can't I do something else? What are you going to do?"
"Nothing." Nico said, "I think that Percy spread himself so thin, like, he evaporated himself. He became just millions of tiny water molecules. He split himself into water droplets. I've figured out that this is very hard to do. Like, insanely hard. And it takes a lot of energy to do. Do you remember when you and Percy created that storm together, back in Charleston?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"Do you remember how sapped you were? You said that 'everything was spinning and everything is yellow.' and that was just commanding the sea and sky to do your bidding. Annabeth and Percy had just fought their way through Tartarus- which, I will remind you, has never been done before- and then they fought to regain control of the Doors of Death, and then he had to send Annabeth and the Titan and the Giant up through the Doors of Death. And on top of that, he then split himself so small that he could slip up here. If I'm correct, he doesn't have enough energy to piece himself back together."
"So… you think that he's waiting for his strength to build up again?"
"Exactly." Nico walked to the edge of the ship, and hung over the side of the railing, "And since water always fuels him, and heals him, I would think that he would stay near the water, and for that fact, we should, too."
Still hanging over the side, looking down at the raging waters before, Nico reached a hand out, "Percy… if you're near, if you can hear me, give me some incentive as to whether we should tell Annabeth or not."
A few seconds passed. Nothing. Then, a jet of water shot out of the sea and drenched Nico. He sputtered and spit water from his mouth, and when he turned to face Jason, the son of Poseidon stood, his form made of only water.
"Percy."
"Nico. Jason." Percy said, "I don't have long. Please... Tell Annabeth I'm alive. I need her to have hope. I can tell how close she is to giving up. Give her this." he handed something to Jason, a letter of some sort. Soaking wet, but Percy's writing was still unmistakable. Annabeth. Written across the top, "And please, stay on the sea. I want to stay near the Argo II, but if you guys start flying, I can't. I hate to say it, but I am too weak to regain my human form right now. Give me a few more days. Then I can come back."
"Of course, Percy." Nico smiled.
"Thank you. How are Bob and Damasen?"
"They are fine. They are staying in Greece. Help repair the damage and such. They owe you their lives, Percy."
Percy smiled, and droplets of water shook off his body. His smile faded. "My time is over. Thank you. Give the letter to Annabeth. Tell her I love her. Tell her what happened."
A burst of wind flew across the deck, breaking apart Percy's form and sending the water into the sea once again. Back to where it belonged.
"Annabeth?" Jason knocked on her door, and then stepped inside. He had Percy's letter clutched in his fist.
Annabeth didn't even look up when he sat next to her on the bed. "Annabeth." Jason tried again, "Percy's not dead." Annabeth's bloodshot eyes shot up to meet his as Jason recounted everything that had happened in the last half hour, starting with his conversation with Nico.
"He said we need to stay at sea for the next few days, and then he would come back. He said to tell you that he loves you, and to give you this." He handed her the letter and then backed out of the room.
"Jason?" Annabeth's voice was raspy. The first words she had spoken in a very, very long time. Jason turned to face her, his hand still on the doorknob. "Thank you."
Jason nodded, then stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Percy appeared to Jason and Nico four days ago. Annabeth had gotten increasingly better, to now, she stood confidently, but the boys had a feeling that if Percy didn't come back soon, she would sink into depression once again.
Annabeth sat on the deck with Nico and Jason just as high noon struck. Since Jason had told the daughter of Athena about her boyfriend's appearance to them, the three had become nearly inseparable.
Just as Annabeth was about to go below decks to her cabin, a gush of wind blew across the deck, and water from the sea rose up, piecing together, like a puzzle, the shape of a teenage boy, around six feet tall. The water solidified into the son of Poseidon. His black hair sparkled in the midday sun, and his green eyes were just as bright.
"Annabeth." he breathed. The girl in question rushed forward, tears cascading down her face.
"Oh, Percy! I missed you so much!" she looked him in the eyes and grabbed his face and kissed him. They kissed for quite a while, before Jason started whistling, which made them break apart.
Percy draped his arm over his girlfriend's shoulder and turned to Jason and Nico. "Thank you." he said, and looked at Nico, "Thank you for figuring that out. I didn't know how I could have explained what I did." Then he focused his gaze on the son of Jupiter, "Thank you, Jason, for taking care of my girlfriend. I don't know what I would have done without you. Both of you."
"Now, you get the honor of telling everyone else how you got are not dead!" Piper McLean said from behind the four.
They spun around, staring into the eyes of Coach Hedge, Hazel, Frank, Leo, and Piper.
"Uh… Percy… all you, man." Jason stuttered, then commanded the winds to pick him up and fly him behind Piper.
"Nuh-uh, don't you dare, young man!" Piper spun around on her boyfriend, "don't think you don't have your own explaining to do!"
Between Percy, Jason, and Nico, it only took ten minutes to explain everything that happened. Once the last word was out, Hazel ran forward and jumped into Percy's arms, telling him how much she missed him, and once Percy set her down and said, "I missed you too, Hazel. All of you." He turned to Leo and asked, "How long 'til we're back at Camp Half-Blood?"
"Less than a day. We've been going pretty quickly, actually. A lot quicker than I anticipated. I wonder why…" he trailed off, staring directly at the son of Poseidon.
Percy blushed and looked at his shoes.
Annabeth noticed this transaction and asked her boyfriend, "Did you, by any chance, have anything to do with that?"
"Uh… maybe?" he replied, dropping Annabeth's hand to rub the back of his neck.
Annabeth rolled her eyes and grabbed his hand and lead him below decks.
"Whoa…" Percy stumbled, dropping Annabeth's hand to lean against the wall.
"Percy?" Annabeth asked, worriedly, her brows creased together in concern.
He straightened, and turned to his worried girlfriend, "I'm fine, Wise Girl. Just tired. Still not… back to one hundred percent."
He took her hand in his and together, they walked to Annabeth's room and laid down, and within a few seconds of her playing with his messy locks, he was out like a light, his breathing evening out, and calmed by his wellbeing, Annabeth felt like she could relax. Finally. She shifted Percy's head so he was on her chest and a few minutes later, she, too, was fast asleep.