"What would you think of me now?
So lucky, so strong, so proud?
I never said thankyou for that, now I'll never get the chance.
May angels lead you in...
Hear you me, my friends,
On sleepless roads, the sleepless go.
May angels lead you in..."
-Jimmy Eat World- May Angels Lead You In.

Annabeth's POV

Percy and I stumbled across the barren lands of Tartarus, breathing heavily. Percy yelled in alarm as 4 basilisks slithered up to us, I gripped my makeshift weapon harder than ever and glanced around for an exit. The snake-like monsters hissed with malice and advanced toward us. Three lunged forward, their fangs dripping with poison. I dodged one, and it hurtled past me; I stabbed the soft hide under it's stomach and it growled. It whisked around and I had that dread that paralysed my whole body and turned my brain to goo. I heard a sickening 'slack' and saw Percy, holding Riptide with green slime dripping all over the blade. He gave a crooked smile and turned back to the others, the fellow basilisks seemed enraged as they writhed. They slithered up to us and hissed, spitting out venom, I looked away as the poison splattered on the ground before me. The grass hissed and shrivelled, before crumbling into dust. I stumbled to the right, as they spit out more poison, a droplet landed on the rim of my shirt, it angrily devoured my orange tee, stopping halfway up my sleeve. I sprinted straight at the huge snake, and it bared it's fangs in anticipation. I dodged at the last second as it darted forward, I used the momentum and buried my drakon tooth sword into its' skull. The head sprang back, pulling me with it, I gave a small scream as I hit the ground, my bone blade landed next to be, stabbed in the earth. I got to my knees and gagged, before plucking my blade out and wiping it against my torn shirt. I turned around just as Percy made a deep gash in the third basilisk, it made an unearthly sound and collapsed to the ground, Percy's mouth was in a grim line as he stabbed the point of his sword into the beasts' head. His radiant green eyes met mine and they showed nothing but relief. He made his way towards me, just as a blur exploded from a nearby bush. I screamed at Percy to get out of the way, but just as he turned the 4th basilisk slammed into him, sinking it's sharp teeth into his stomach. A sob exploded within my chest as he got wrestled to the ground, as the basilisk detatched its teeth from his unmoving body. It turned its head to meet my eyes, it snarled in pleasure, before slithering leisurely toward me, not as afraid as before. I just stood there as it advanced, not caring if I lived or not anymore. It suddenly arched its back and screamed at the sky, it slumped to the ground, bursting into a foul smelling gas. Percy stood behind it, breathing heavily and gripping Riptide with two hands, he looked at me and smirked, sadness flickering in his eyes. He stood swaying around for a bit, before slumping to the ground.
"Percy!" I screamed, rushing over to him.
There was a gaping wound where the basilisk bit him, and blood was trickling out of his mouth. He coughed hoarsely, resulting in more of the crimson liquid to spill out.
"Keep on going Annabeth, I'll be there with you in a second." He choked out having the nerve to chuckle.
"No! No YOU WON'T!" I exploded, not able to contain any more of my bottled up emotions.
At this his facade crumbled and he looked at me, almost guiltily, I immediately felt bad, with each breath his voice quivered. Every time he blinked, made it harder for him to reopen his eyes.
"I...I" Percy coughed slightly, his lips crimson red,"I love you Annabeth."
I let the tears come out and trickle down the side of my face
"I love you too Percy." He trained his eyes on me and we shared a kiss. One last, bittersweet one.
"My only regret would be not spending more time with you... But.. See ya in Elysium wise girl, I'll be waiting. But until then live your life. I want you to be happy."
With that last statement his hand went limp and his eyes lost the playful sparkle that was always in there. I bit back sobs as I closed his eyelids, his body shimmered as a hot, poisonous breeze picked up. He turned into golden dust right in front of me, being carried away to whatever magical land awaited him. I stood up sniffling and stumbled away, not caring where I went.

Say, what you wanna say, and let the words fall , I wanna see ya be brave

I slumped against a huge unearthed stone, sending a spike of pain race up my spine, I uncontrollably sobbed and my whole body was shaking, Percy sang that song to me on our 6 month anniversary right before he disappeared. I gave a wistful smile.
****flashback****

Percy sat against the tree, crossing his legs out in front of him as I let my head fall onto his radio in front of us, announced the new top ten songs.
"And next up sitting comfortably on number five in the top ten... Brave by Sara Bareilles!"The radio announcer cried excitedly,"I tell you Jimmy, I love this new song!"
Percy gave me a boyish smirk as the instrumental part kicked in. He sprang out in front of me and started singing, he didn't sound amazing, but he was actually better than I expected.
"You can be amazing, you can turn a phrase into a weapon or a drug.

You can be the outcast, or be the backlash of somebody's lack of love.

Or you can start speaking up..."
***End of flashback***
I was rudely awoken by the cold, goosebumps creeping up my arm, I shivered and I could almost feel Percy's arms around me, telling me he wasn't really dead, that he was still my boyfriend, the guy that made me laugh, annoyed and infatuated at the same time. I wiped my nose on the unburnt sleeve of my shirt.
"I want you to be happy."
His words rang through my head, how could I be happy without him? How could I live? Without him, I would simply be existing. Who was it that comforted me when Luke died? Who was it that came back from Calypso's island because he didn't want to leave me? Who was the one who had mapped out our future so clearly and became embarassed when he mentioned it to me. How COULD I be happy without him? I got up, I probably looked horrible right now, my blonde hair, all over the place, dirt and grime all over my face, arms and legs.
"Bob is here." The titan announced proudly, monster slime and dust coated all over his broom and janitor's uniform. Small Bob mewed along with him, as if to say 'Hey! I'm here too.' I managed a crooked smile, gripping my drakon tooth sword. Bob's happy expression drooped,
"Where is Percy? Has he gone ahead?" I bit back sobs as I answered a small 'no'. Bob straightened, his eyes a mixture of pity and determination.
"Don't worry, Bob will get you to the doors of death." His cat companion scrambled to his shoulder and lay there, purring contently.
"Actually Bob.." I started,"Can you take me to Hades' castle?"
I saw Bob's look of concern.
"Yes... But I thought I was taking you to the door's of death?" He scratched his silvery hair, in a confused manner.
"Scratch that Bob, can you take me there or not?" I asked with fierce determination. His eyes widened but he nodded, Small Bob padded down from the titan and gave a little snarl, at first I thought it was directed to me but I realised, as I turned around it was far from it.
A horde of giants were hollering with glee, no doubt beccause they finally found me, their footsteps causing a mini earthquake with each step. I turned to Bob, who looked grim, he turned to me.
"We must outrun them, they are stupid and weak. It will be easy."
I raised an eyebrow at Bob's remark, it seemed even though he lost his memory his hatred for his savage brothers still remained. Without another word Bob chucked me on his shoulder, as Small Bob hopped on and took off sprinting. I felt the humid atmosphere rip into my face and I buried it into Bob's shoulder, Small Bob however, was sitting normally, licking his paw and staring lazily at the fast, vanishing landscape. His fur flickered, transforming into his skeletal self before flashing back to his normal calico. True to his word, Bob outran the giants, leaving them in the dust, soon you couldn't even hear their noisy bickering and loud footsteps. Bob finally slowed, his chest was rising and falling, he let me off before taking a huge intake of breath, when he let it out he was breathing normally again. Ahead, I saw the familiar tunnel where Grover flew in, so long ago wearing Luke's cursed sandals. I staggered in, my body suddenly feeling heavier than it did before. Bob grunted, his footsteps more laboured, each step that I took made me feel emptier, heavier, sleepier.
"This." Bob breathed in,"Is how Hades keeps out unwanted visitors, gravity. Heavier." I was panting by now, struggling to keep my eyes open and take more steps.
"Fight it... We can make it." Bob muttered, catching up to me.
I felt the pressure punching down at me, I gasped, collapsing to my knees.
"Bob." I swallowed down the lump in my throat,"What happens... If we can't make it."
Small Bob mewed with a strained tone.
"Tunnel thinks we're an unwanted monster... Flushes us back to Tartarus."
Fear pricked through my entire body, and I felt all hope leave my body. I collapsed to my knees, each breath I took became shallower, shorter.
"I'll wait for you Annabeth."
"Sorry... I'm so sorry Percy."