Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
Half-Life
Walking around without her was like living a half-life, one where the best parts of him were stripped away and left in their wake were the ones that Travis never wanted to look at again.
Her smile, her touch, the way she tasted and smelled, they were all gone, just wisps of memories that Travis wanted to let go of, but was terrified to lose. Wouldn't it be a easier life, he asked himself, if he was able to look in the window of a flower shop and not feel a sharp stab of pain when he saw a tulip in the window because he would remember that they were her favorite flower? Wouldn't it be easier if he could just forget how much she loved her damn Rice Krispies and be able to watch a commercial about them? Wouldn't it be easier if he could even look at one of her pictures without breaking down?
Yes, it would be, but it sure as hell wouldn't have be much of a life.
One moment they were walking hands and laughing as they walked down the sidewalk without a care in the world, and the next she had been torn from his hand and attacked by a monster. Travis tried desperately to kill it, this monster that had no other reasons to kill her other than the fact that she smelled like a demigod and had wanted revenge on the gods. And he did, but by the time Travis had finished it, time had run out. There was no way to save her, not even nectar or ambrosia would have been any help.
Travis knows this of course, but no matter how many times Conner tries to tell him that it wasn't his fault and that no one could have saved her,not even the gods, he was cursed to a life of regret and what ifs.
What if I could have killed the monster faster?
What if the monster had gone for me first instead?
What if we had taken five more seconds at the restaurant?
What if we hadn't gone to the movies after all and just would have gone home instead?
Why didn't I spend more time paying attention in my sword lessons instead of goofing around?
Why didn't I just listen to her and not persuaded her to do what I wanted?
This is my fault.
Walking around without her was a half-life, but walking around without having her wouldn't have been a life at all.
A/N: I know! I'm sorry, please don't kill me. I swore I wouldn't do this (this whole melodramatic thing) with Tratie, but I couldn't help it. This just popped into my head and demanded to be written. Oh, and the whole reason I wrote this AN to begin with was becaue I got the title (and idea) from a prompt on livejournal. Thanks for reading!