A/N: Hey everybody. So this idea kinda popped into my head and I just had to write it down! This is a one shot and is during the war with Gaea. WARNING: character death. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: *glares at rick* I don't own Percy Jackson *walks away dejectedly*
Percy slashed his sword, cutting down the monsters in his path. He was coated with many layers of blood and monster dust. For every three monsters he killed, six more seemed to appear. Percy stabbed and slashed through the endless army of monsters surrounding him, combining both roman and Greek techniques.
Percy glanced around and saw all of his friends fighting alongside him on halfblood hill. Leo was burning every monster in his path to ashes, his entire body engulfed in flames as he wielded his hammer. Jason, along with Piper, would cut through monsters one by one with the occasional lightning caused by Jason. Frank, or what he assumed was Frank, had turned into a lion and was tearing apart monsters that were stupid enough to cross him. Hazel was atop of Arion, stomping on monsters and slashing with her sword. Nico was sending waves of dark energy off him that killed any foe in its path. He would also occasionally raise undead warriors to help fight. And then there was Annabeth.
Percy watched as she fought furiously with her drakon bone sword, golden hair flying in every direction. Her beautiful grey eyes shone with determination to protect her home and she killed every monster without mercy. Beautiful.
Percy returned his attention to the monsters in front of him. He stabbed a hellhound and kicked an empousa away from him. He tugged his sword loose and swung it at the empousa and she crumbled to dust. He ducked under an arai and stabbed her through the back. She screamed and exploded to dust. Percy grunted and faltered for a moment. The arai released some sort of pain curse on him. Percy tried to shake it off and continue fighting.
Suddenly, the ground started to rumble and crack. Monsters and demigods alike stopped fighting and turned to the source of the earthquake. Monsters roared in victory while demigods stared disbelieving. Gaea had risen.
"Oh Percy Jackson. I have a surprise for you," said Gaea with fake kindness.
I just glared at her with intense hatred in my eyes.
Games chuckled and spoke softly. "I figured since you were gone from your family for so long I thought it was my duty to fix that."
I looked at her in confusion. What did she mean fix that?
Gaea laughed again. "Poor Percy. You were never smart enough to figure the simplest things out. Here, I'll just tell you what happened so that you understand. I killed your family. Your mother, Paul, and your unborn baby sister."
I stood there, frozen in pain and grief. My mom was going to have a baby. I was going to have a sister. My mom is dead. Paul is dead. My grief turned into rage. I started shaking.
Gaea continued speaking, as though she was oblivious to my anger. "Although it's probably for the best that I killed them. After all, they wouldn't love a monster."
My breath caught in my throat. She knew. How could she know was I could do? I hadn't told anyone, not even Annabeth. Everyone was looking at me with confusion on their faces. Annabeth was searching my face. She walked over and took my hand in support. I looked at her gratefully, but I don't know how much longer she would love me like that.
Gaea saw my face and smiled gleefully, her dirt brown eyes looking into my sea green ones. "Why Percy! Have you not told anyone what you are? What you can do?"
I started to turn pale. There was a reason I never told anyone. I didn't want them to think I was a monster. Unworthy of being a hero.
Annabeth turned to me. "Percy, what is she talking about? Why did she call you a monster?"
I glanced at her with shame filled eyes and lowered my head. I was going to tell her soon, but not like this. Never like this.
Gaea' smile widened farther, if possible. "Percy can control the blood in ones body. Percy could kill someone with the flick of his finger. Percy is a monster."
I stared at the ground, refusing to look at my friends. I could feel the stares of the demigods on me. Out of the corners of my eyes, I could see some people back away slightly, as if they were suddenly scared of me.
I waited for Annabeth to let go of my hand and shove me away in disgust, but instead she only squeezed my hand tighter. I slowly lifted my head and met her eyes. Instead of hate and anger, I saw love and understanding swimming in her beautiful grey eyes.
She smiled lightly at me and said quietly,"no matter what happens, what you can do, what you have done, I will never stop loving you with all of my heart. Never." Then she lifted my head and kissed me. I leaned into her and cupped her cheek gently with my hand. When she pulled away, she smiled at me and turned to face Gaea.
Gaea's face was priceless. She must have believed that everyone would turn on me, would hate me for what I am. Annabeth brought herself to her full height and spoke boldly. "Percy is no monster. He is the greatest hero the gods have ever known. Nothing can change that. It doesn't matter he can control blood. It doesn't change who he is. He is our friend and the reason you will fade out of existence. He is the reason that we will win!"
All of my friends were cheering and moved to stand by my side, supporting me. They would fight until the end. Gaea's face morphed into anger. "Then you will all pay the price!"
The ground started to shake. Cracks appeared in random places and we would have to jump out of the way so we didn't fall in.
I had discovered another power in Tartarus other than blood bending. Poseidon is the god of the sea, but he is also the god of earthquakes. I had used it once, but I accidentally blew up Mt. Saint Helens. I had been secretly practicing ever since Annabeth and I escaped Tartarus.
I knelt and placed the tips of my fingers on the ground. I closed my eyes and focused on the earth. How it moved, changed, grew. I felt a warmth spread through my chest. The shaking around me ceased and calmed.
I opened my eyes and saw the faces of my friends looking at me, astonished.
"Percy how did you do that?!"yelled Nico.
"Poseidon is the god of earthquakes as well as the sea, remember? I can control the earth!" I explained. I returned my attention back to Gaea as I continued to protect my friends from the destruction Gaea was creating.
Gaea screamed in fury. "No! I will not be defeated this easily!"
I turned to my friends. "Take care of the monsters down here. I'll take care of Gaea. She's messed with my life for too long." I then started to form a hurricane, wind and water swirling around me in a deadly twister.
I willed the hurricane to grow and soon I was being lifted off the ground by the sheer power of it.
To destroy Gaea, I have to get her out of her domain. I had to get her in the sky. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly welcome up in Zeus's domain. Hopefully, he'll let this one time slide since it's for a good cause. Hopefully.
With the power of my personal hurricane, I lifted myself and Gaea into the sky. She started to shrink down to the size of a regular person the farther we got from the ground. Gaea fought me and threw dirt globs and rocks at me. The winds and water swirling around me knocked away anything that came close, but I was losing power fast. Keeping the hurricane together and containing Gaea was draining me.
Finally, we reached a maximum height. Or at least I couldn't go any higher without losing oxygen. Gaea had strangely stopped struggling. Now she hovered calmly and watched me with her dark, dirt drown eyes. She opened her mouth to speak. "Percy Jackson. Such a tragic life. A heroes life is never happy, is it? No. They always end in the worst possible ways."
I glared furiously at her. "Shut up! You no nothing about me!"
Gaea smiled. "That is where you are wrong. I know everything about you. The greatest hero the gods have ever known. Loyal to a fault. The perfect hero. Although, your life was horrible before you even knew what you were. Kicked out of every school, bullied by students and teachers alike, never enough money. And your stepfather. He would call you names, cast you out, bully you, and even hit you. You had the worst life."
I flashbacked to when I was young. Gabe had called me loser, pathetic, worthless and then thrown a bottle at me. My hurricane was rapidly losing power. I couldn't concentrate.
"Then you came to camp half blood and your life just got worse. Your friends would die because you couldn't save them, because it was your actions that caused them to die. The gods would use you to do their dirty work. They never cared about, despite what they tell you. Then you fall into Tartarus and see the feel unspeakable things. Annabeth almost died because of you. And now here we are. Your friends are down there right now, fighting for you, dying for you. And you do nothing to help them. I think it was best that your mother is dead. She would have hated you by now. You know, I wonder if she ever did love you in the first place. I mean, who would love someone like you?"
Gaea's words sank in. I started to believe them. We started to sink from the air back to the ground. No one loves me. I'm nothing. Then I saw my mothers face. Smiling, happy, eyes filled with love and compassion. I saw all of my friends, faces set with determination. They were depending on me.
I looked straight into Gaea's eyes. "You're wrong. My mother loved me more than anything in the world. She would never abandon me. My friends deaths might have been my fault, but I know they have forgiven me. I can feel it. Yes, my life was horrible. But I have friends who make it worth living. I have Annabeth with me, by my side every step of the way. We pick each other up and keep fighting, no matter how hopeless it seems."
With that, my hurricane grew stronger and lifted higher in the air. Gaea's face morphed into one of anger, and maybe a little fear. I formed ice out of the water and started pelting her. She was already muddy and sluggish from the water and now the ice was literally tearing her apart. She screamed in outrage. Rocks and dirt were flying in every direction. I was hit so many times that blood was starting to cover every inch of my body. Gaea locked eyes with me. She formed a spear out of rock and threw it at me. A second later she exploded. Dirt and water rained down onto the demigods below.
I looked down at everyone and saw that they had defeated the monsters. When they saw me they cheered and banged their weapons together. I caught Annabeths eye and smiled. She looked at me with a huge smile on her face and gestured for me to come down. I was about to oblige when I suddenly gasped. I looked down and saw the tip of a stone spear sticking out of my abdomen, covered in my blood. Gaea. She had thrown a spear before she died. I started to fall. Blood was running down my stomach and soaking my shirt.
I fell faster and faster towards the ground. I watched as it came closer, unable to do anything but fall. Right before I hit the ground, I was jerked upwards. I looked up and saw Jason above me holding tightly to me shirt. Jason grunted and gently lowered us to the ground.
My friends surrounded me and I saw Annebeth kneel by my side. She had tears in her eyes as she cradled my head. "Oh Percy. My poor Percy."
Tears were running down my face now as she stroked my hair. Annabeth was trying to get enough air into her lungs and she her face was twisted in pain. "Annabeth, I'm so sorry. Because me, you won't get to fulfill you dream, see your family, be happy."
She smiled softly. "I would rather be with you than not live on without you. This may be a curse. But to me it's a gift."
Leo looked confusingly between me and Annabeth. "What are you guys talking about? Your talking like your both going to die."
Annabeth locked eyes with me, asking a silent question. I nodded my head. Annabeth turned to Leo and the others. "When we were in Tartarus, we faced some arai. They are spirits of curses. When we killed one, a curse was placed upon the both of us, binding our lives. If one of us were to die, the other would as well. Percy is dying, so therefore I'm dying."
My vision was starting to get blurry. The pain was fading away. I started to feel numb. My friends were speechless, tears running down their faces.
Annabeth was clutching my hand. She leaned down and kissed my lips. Her lips tasted sweet, like strawberries. She smelled like lemons. I could feel myself fading away. She pulled away and I gazed at her for the last time. The way her hair fell in golden curls, framing her face. The way she looks at me with love in her beautiful grey eyes. I smiled up at her. "I love you wise girl."
Annabeth smiled down at me with nothing but love in her eyes. "I love you, too seaweed brain."
I felt myself fade away. The last thing I saw was Annabeths stunning grey eyes as I welcomed death with open arms.
