Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or any of its characters or elements.

Annabeth's P.O.V.

It was as if everything was running in slow-motion.

I felt only the cold celestial bronze invading my body before the real pain started. My very being was on fire, every muscle contracting in protest. It seemed like it took forever for me to fall. I simply crouched lower and lower over, bent over my wounded stomach, until I simply tipped over onto the bloody battleground, which was once Manhattan.

I laid there for what seemed like hours as the battle raged around my nearly lifeless form. I groped blindly for my dagger, which I'd dropped when I had been stabbed. I let out a sigh of relief as my fingers grasped around it, but my triumph was shattered as someone's foot kicked it out of my hand, breaking my wrist in the process. I bit down on my bottom lip, determined not to show pain, as it was a sign of weakness. I would never admit to the enemy, or myself for that matter, that I was a weak, little girl. No, I was a half-blood warrior, a demigod; a daughter of Athena. I would never give in to something as meager as pain, although I had to admit, the wound in my stomach seemed like a pretty plausible reason to show my distress.

I gritted my teeth and looked up at my unexpected visitor. Ethan Nakamura stood above me, dagger in hand. "Give up, useless girl." He suggested with a smirk. "Your battle is lost."

"I'll kill you!" I snarled, venom in my voice as I struggled to stand.

He lifted his foot to my back and pushed me back down. "Yes, I'm sure. Because you're in a fine condition to be doing that, I presume."

"You wanna bet?"I screeched, pushing myself up, ignoring the pain exploding in my abdomen. I staggered forward and slashed at him with my own dagger, although he dodged the blow with ease. I continued to stab at clean air, black spots clouding my vision along with the mid-blowing pain, which was also distracting, obviously.

Finally, although he seemed amused by my feeble attempts to attack him, he soon grew tired and kicked my legs out from underneath me. I fell to the ground with a thud, rolling over onto my back as blood continued to seep from the wound. Ethan grabbed a hunk of my hair, pulling my face up to his level. "It's the end of the road, daughter of Athena." He told me, holding his dagger to my chest, pressing hard enough only to draw a small drop of blood.

I struggled against his hold, but I was simply too weak to escape. Knowing that this was the end, I closed my eyes, waiting for the pain, but it never came. Instead, I was knocked to the ground again by an unseen force that came tumbling past, screaming "Let go of her, you bastard!" I laid sideways on the ground and watched through the slits in my eyelids at what was going on.

Percy had come to my rescue, tackling Ethan off of me, and he was now wrestling him to the ground off to the side. He pinned him down and reached over to me, taking my dagger out of my limp hand. He held it to Ethan's throat. "You. Will. Never. Touch. Her. Again!" He yelled, fire in his eyes. Soon enough, Connor and Travis Stoll came to relieve Percy and bound Ethan's wrists.

From my position on the cool grass, I could only see the sides of Percy's Reeboks as he bounded towards me. "Oh gods, Annabeth!" He exclaimed, crawling to the side to grab an old knapsack. Hurriedly, he took a canteen of nectar from it and held it to my lips. The cool liquid slid down my throat, tasting of grape soda, but the relief from the pain did not come.

"Posioned-dagger…" I managed to say, rolling my head to face him.

He looked around at the furious battle around us. "I've gotta get you out of here." He said, more to himself than to anyone. "Thalia!" He yelled. "Back me up!"

Although my vision was blurring quickly, I could see Thalia sprinting towards us, her bow and arrow in hand. She stood behind Percy, guarding his Achilles spot as he swiftly picked me up and began running towards the Plaza, which the demigods had claimed as a sort of fortress. I could hear battle cries around me, screams of pain, the frantic beating of Percy's heart near my head, Thalia shooting enemies around us, clearing a path ahead. And soon, I could barely hear that. My hearing was leaving me, as well as my sight. My senses were numbing, leaving me unable to comprehend much of anything around me, by sight, sound, or touch. I could only smell the smoke around me and taste the warm blood on my lips.

Now seemed like the time to speak my mind, to voice anything I wanted to say before the end. It seemed pretty likely right now that I was soon about to die. There were so many people I wanted to see, to talk to, to say goodbye to one last time. I knew that Thalia was otherwise occupied beside us, my father was miles away, and Grover could be anywhere in this bloodbath. All of my friends, fellow children of Athena, were all either fighting or wounded. The only person even close enough to hear my feeble voice was Percy.

"Seaweed Brain…" I whispered, barely audible. My lips were cracked, and my throat was raw. I wanted water, but now was barely the time to ask. I was about to die anyway. "Percy…"

Instantly, his eyes met mine, and only now did I realize how beautiful their brilliant sea green color was. "We're almost there, Annabeth. Just hang in there." He ordered.

I swallowed, wetting my dry mouth enough to utter out what I knew would be my final goodbye. "Percy… I love you."

I felt a bump beneath me as Percy ran, since he had nearly tripped over his own feet at my words. Still, once he had regained his balance, he continued to run without a second thought.

"Percy…" I whispered again. "I've always loved you."

"Don't you dare start saying your goodbyes!" He demanded, his pace quickening into a frantic sprint.

"What's the point?" I croaked. "I'm going to die anyway."

Percy shook his head. "Will you just shut up? You're going to be fine, I promise!" He assured me.

I let out a breath as my vision went black. He was so clueless. I was going to die, and he knew it as well as I did. He simply didn't want to admit it. As something inside of me seemed to stop, I sighed in his arms before I fell into the overwhelming darkness.

I had wanted to hear him say he loved me as well.

So, my lovely readers, how was it? Did you love it? Do you have no specific opinion? Was it worse than anything you've ever read before? Tell me in a review! I accept all forms of constructive criticism, even flames if necessary. I really want to know how I can improve my writing. Hope you enjoyed reading!

Chapter 2 to be posted soon!