One Shot Contest:
Rachel walked around the charred remains of the camp she had been in for a short while. It was bleak, all was destroyed, and not a grain of hope remained anywhere in sight.
It had been ten years since she had last stepped foot in the camp, ten long years. Rachel now had a family, a job as a high business owner, and no worry of any demigod nonsense and whatnot anymore. She felt as empty as that day ten years ago.
They were all too outgoing. They wanted peace, justice. The three all lost their lives for a lost cause. And what had Rachel been doing? She cowered back and ran home to her millionaire father and begged for forgiveness. She hated herself then, and she still hated herself for it now.
She slowly stalked over into the pavilion, shivering. It was a cold day, the sun never shinned anymore with the titans in charge. Even if it did, Rachel would never notice. The wind rustled the trees nearby, and the leavings fell off slowly gathering up into a pile. She was surprised there were still seasons with Demeter in Tatarus and all. They must have a limited number of power down there after Kronos stroke Zeus down with his scythe, the others soon to follow.
Rachel later heard eye witness accounts of the battle from those scared far into later life from the event. Thalia Grace painfully recalled the final moments of Annabeth and Percy to her before she fell into a fit of hysterics and was helped away by a fellow hunter with a piteous look on her face. Thalia said that they were fighting off a hell hound when Hyperion had spotted them and a devious smile grew across his face. He sent out a wave of fire that made a close by building crumble and fall to the ground on top of them.
The last image that flickered in her mind was them clutching each other as the stones tumbled down on top of them, their eyes filled with fear. Grover hadn't been much luckier, Connor Stoll told her.
All of this had been too much. The days were now colorless and everyone seemed glum. Rachel had lost her three best friends and died inside herself the same exact day. She fell to the ground with her knees of her fancy pantsuit grinding into the ash of Percy's old cabin and whispered something so faint that not a soul around could ever hear. But she heard it and it echoed back in her mind numerous times.
Why?