Percy didn't go to Leo's funeral.
It was three days after the war ended. Every other shroud, Roman and Greek, had been burned, leaving a perpetual smell of smoke over the camp. More people smiled and laughed and jokes were filling the vacant gaps where friends should have been. Despite smiling with Annabeth about their future, Percy's heart felt heavy, burdened with guilt.
Since before The Titan War, Percy had known that his fatal flaw was the fact that he would let the world burn before letting a friend die. He had known since the beginning of this summer that he would have to make a choice, sacrifice a friend to save the world.
And in a split, indecisive second, with monsters surrounding him, Percy decided to let Leo die to kill Gaea.
It was the wrong choice.
Percy couldn't bear to go to his funeral. So instead of being with the rest of The Seven as they cried and mourned the lost of their flaming friend, Percy sat on the beach by himself. He figured that if Leo could die by himself, surrounded by nothing but flames and dirt, than he could sit here, ignoring the ache in his left hand that is usually held by Annabeth and push away fears of a monster attacking the mourning demigods as he sat doing nothing.
It hurt more than he thought it would. It was like losing Bob and Damasen and Berkendorf and Zoe and even temporarily his mom when he was twelve all over again. He just wished people would stop sacrificing themselves for him.
Percy heard feet behind him, and gripping Riptide in his pocket, he turned around, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw Annabeth. She gave him a small smile and walked to sit beside him. As she walked, Percy noticed that her hair was getting shinier and thicker and her bones no longer harshly jutted out when she walked. She still had dark purple half moons under her eyes that matched the bruises littered around her body, but she looked stronger and healthier.
She sat down and took his hand. She smelled like lemons, just like when she was twelve. Her eyes were red and swollen, but she smiled at him as she said, "People were looking for you."
"Nico said he's dead, Annabeth. For sure."
Annabeth reached up and wiped a tear from his cheek. Percy didn't even realize he had been crying. "Percy, he died to save everyone on earth. He knew what he was doing, he knew for days. We need to respect his choice."
"He didn't have to die. One of us could've done it. I could've done it." His voice cracked, and he pounded the sand with his fist.
"Fire, Percy. It had to be him, and he knew it."
Percy opened his mouth to argue again, but Annabeth leaned over first and kissed him hard. Their lips tasted salty, like tears, and when they broke apart Percy was sobbing. Annabeth pulled him into her chest and held him, like at night when he woke up sweaty with nightmares from Tartarus, and she whispered over and over again that it would be all right.
Over the past few weeks, Percy covered any lingering anger, guilt or pain he had from Tartarus with smile and jokes. If the others thought that he was fine, then maybe he really would be. Only with Annabeth did he let the façade crack because she was feeling the same things he was.
He stopped crying after a few minutes. He pulled back and wiped his face with face with his hands. He let out a slow, shaky breath. "I'm sorry," he muttered, glancing down at the wet mark on her bright orange shirt.
Annabeth squeezed his hand. "It's okay, Perce. I think I know what you need."
Percy looked at her, eyes questioning, and Annabeth stood up pulling him up with her. "Come on."
As they flew over the city he loved on the back of Porkpie, Percy scanned the area for damage from the war with Gaea. Chiron said that natural disasters like earthquakes and storms have been all over the news for days, but besides a few uprooted trees in Central Park, Percy didn't notice much damage.
Annabeth sat behind him with her arms wrapped tight around his chest, and Percy closed his eyes, letting himself forget everything for a few moments, as the wind pushed against his face and the sounds of the city echoed up to him.
"You nervous?" Annabeth whispered, her breath tickling his ear.
"No," he replied, despite how clammy his hands felt against Porkpies harness. "I'm excited. I've missed her so much."
That part was true. Percy was excited to see his mom again, but he had been gone for almost a full year. She didn't know where he was, or if he was even alive for most of that time. That was enough to make anyone angry, even someone as sweet as his mom.
Porkpie started to descend and landed on the ground in front of the old apartment building. If anyone noticed a huge pegasus land on the ground in the middle of a New York City sidewalk, they didn't say anything. Percy rubbed his mane a couple of times and tossed him a sugar cube from his pocket. "Thanks, buddy. Go keep Blackjack some company for me. I'll whistle if I need you."
Porkpie nickered goodbye and demanded that Percy and Annabeth bring home donuts as a get-well gift for Blackjack before flying off into the blue sky. Percy wiped his hands on his shorts and grabbed Annabeth's hand. "Here goes nothing."
They walked through the door, and Percy waved at the doorman. "Hi, Greg!" he said as cheerfully as he could, hoping that Greg didn't ask him too much about his disappearance.
"Percy!" The older man's eyes were wide-open, surprise etched on his face. He set his coffee down and reached out to shake Percy's hand. "It's been boring without you causing trouble around here. How was your dad's?"
Percy's shoulders loosened. "Great!" he replied, thankful that his mom came up with an easy and slightly true lie. "I better go see my mom, but it's been great seeing you again!"
Percy hesitated by the elevator. The last time him and Annabeth were in one was in Tartarus. His finger hovered over the up button, shaking slightly. Annabeth reached up and pulled his hand back down by his side. "I wanna take the stairs too, Percy, okay?"
"Yeah," he responded, his voice still slightly shaky. "Yeah me too."
They started the up the stairs, going slowly. After 4 floors, although neither of them admitted it, they were both out of breath. The acid air and lack of food in Tartarus changed their bodies for the worst, leaving them weak and easily tired.
Almost 15 minutes passed by the time they made it to the 14th floor. They both leaned against the wall for a minute, tired and out of breath. "I feel like I was just fighting Titans," Annabeth said between gasps of air.
"Do you think 'inhaled too much sulfurous air' will get me out of gym class next year?" Percy replied, laughing quietly at the end.
Annabeth laughed along with him, softly though. Annabeth didn't really laugh like she used to anymore, but Percy still loved hearing it.
Once they both caught their breath, Percy pushed against the large metal door and came face to face with the light blue door that would take him home. He hesitated slightly, turning over the warm key in his pocket a few times before pulling it out. "What if they're not home?" he asked softly.
Annabeth didn't say anything. She reached over and grabbed the key from Percy. She opened the door, and they could both hear Paul's voice coming from the kitchen. "Who's there?" he asked loudly.
Percy swallowed hard once. "It's me," he called back. "It's Percy."
They both heard something glass fall in the kitchen and shatter, but neither of them moved from their spot in the doorway.
Sally came running out first. She paused a few feet away, her hand over her mouth. Annabeth squeezed Percy's hand once and then let go. The moment Annabeth let go over Percy's hand, Sally and Percy both rushed toward each other. Percy grabbed his mom tight. He noticed that he grew even more over the summer. He used to be taller than her by a few inches, but now her head only came up to his chin. He bent down and buried his head in her shoulder. He clung on to her and silent sobs racked both of their bodies.
After a few minutes, Percy felt his mom pull Annabeth toward them, and Percy wrapped his arm around, pulling her into the embrace. Paul came in from the kitchen and joined too, and for a few minutes Percy felt completely at peace as the people he loved the most in the world surrounded him.
Sally pulled away first her and wiped her eyes. Faint mascara lines were smudged on her cheeks, but she smiled broadly at Percy.
"You are grounded for life and never leaving this house again if that means you will be safe," she said her voice still shaking.
"I don't wanna leave ever again, trust me, Mom," Percy replied.
"I've missed you so much, sweetheart."
"I missed you too, Mom," Percy said, his voice cracking.
His mom smiled and pushed his hair away from his eyes. Percy realized the other day one of the downfalls to sleeping for months and then going to hell was that you didn't have a lot of time to get a haircut. During battle, his hair blocked his sight so much he was almost ready to have Annabeth cut it off with her sword in between killing monsters. "I have dinner on the table," she said. "Why don't you two come eat and we can talk?"
They all settled around the table. Percy pushed his chair closer to Annabeth and pressed his leg against hers, a habit that came up in their last week or so on the Argo II. After all their time apart, it was too scary to not be touching her. Annabeth looked over at him and smiled. She wrapped her foot around his ankle.
They sat at the table until long after the sun had set. Percy filled his parents in on everything from the moment he disappeared, with Annabeth adding in the parts he had been in Camp Jupiter, asleep, passed out, or not there for. By the time they finish, ending with Leo's shroud burning this morning, the clock on the wall read 11. Percy yawned. Even without his Curse of Achilles, he was still perpetually exhausted. Maybe he was just still jetlagged from all his time in Europe.
"I want you two asleep soon, okay?" his mom said.
Percy nodded with a large yawn, and everyone at the table laughed softly.
"Before you go though, what are you plans for the next year?" she asked.
Percy looked to Annabeth to explain. She smiled at him and took his hand underneath the table. "We want to finish senior year here, Sally. We could hopefully go to Goode High School, if that's okay with Paul, and would probably alternate sleeping between here and Camp. We can't leave Camp for good—there is way too much work to do—but for a few nights a week it would be nice to sleep here. And then next year, well, we want to go to college in New Rome. It'll be nice to have some time off from fighting and just be normal kids."
"You can definitely come back to Goode. I told the other teachers that Percy was completing his junior year at a school near his father's house, and I'm sure you guys can manipulate the mist enough to make it look true," Paul said. "I'll probably even be your English teacher this year."
Sally stared in amazement at Percy. "I never thought I would see the day that my baby boy went off to college."
"Hey!" Percy protested. "I've always been quite the scholar, right Paul?"
Everyone laughed despite Percy's protests that he had in fact gotten an A before. "I wouldn't get too excited, Sally. Percy told me he wanted to get a degree in surfing," Annabeth chided.
Percy suddenly stopped laughing. His eyes turned a shade darker, and his smile faltered for a second as he remembered exactly when he had told her that. Annabeth bit her lip. "Hey, I'm sorry," she murmured.
Percy shook his head, as if he was trying to shake out the memories. "It's fine," he muttered. "I just don't like to think about it."
"I know," Annabeth said. "I'm sorry."
Percy noticed his mom watching the two of them with an unreadable expression, but she didn't say anything. "I'll go make up the couch. Percy, do you want to sleep there tonight, and Annabeth can have your bed?"
Percy and Annabeth exchanged an awkward glance, silently fighting over who would speak up. Percy lost, as usual.
"Look, uh, Mom, me and Annabeth usually just sleep in the same bed since we were in, well, you know. It's just, um, easier that way." Percy's face was bright red, and despite the slight blush Annabeth felt on her neck, she couldn't help but giggle.
"Look, Sally," she said, "Percy and I get nightmares, bad ones, and it just helps everyone else in the house sleep if were close to each other. Nothing will happen, I swear."
Sally didn't say anything for a second. "I guess we'll need to get you guys a bigger bed then, especially if you guys plan on spending a lot of time here this year. But, I guess it's alright for tonight."
Percy and Annabeth both breathed a sigh of relief. They were both just happy that Sally couldn't read minds, and see that they were both thinking of an extremely awkward encounter on the Argo II where Hazel walked in on something that might have scarred her forever, and led to Coach Hedge installing motion sensors that activated after curfew.
"It's fine, Sally," Annabeth assured her. "Any bed is better than no bed."
Sally stood up and gave the teens one last hug. As Percy held on to her tight, he noticed that like Annabeth, her shoulder bones jutted out from her back, and her eyes had dark circles underneath them. His stomach tightened, and for the one hundredth time that day, he cursed the gods.
It was the first night in over eight months that Sally fell asleep in under an hour. She curled up against Paul, thinking about nothing but the smile on Percy's face as he talked about the future with Annabeth.
Soon, her baby boy would be leaving her again. As she drifted off, Sally realized that this time she would be okay with Percy leaving. It would be his choice, not a kidnapping. He would be happy.
Sally just wanted him to be happy. And her last thought before falling asleep was that despite everything, maybe he was finally on the road to reaching that.
At first, she thought the screams were part of a dream. When Percy was gone, she would often dream of him screaming and crying and fighting against horrors unimaginable to her.
This time, though, the screams belonged to a girl. Sally reached over and flicked on her light. Paul stared up at her, his eyes wide. "Come on," Sally muttered, grabbing his clammy hand in her own, her heartbeat racing.
They rushed out of the room and down the hallway outside Percy's door. The door was open a crack, and Sally peered through quietly, unseen. Through the dim lighting, she could see Annabeth pulled tight on Percy's lap, her back shaking violently. Percy's eyes were shut tight, his lips pressed against her shoulder, as he rocked her back and forth in his lap.
Sally strained to hear him, but could only make up out him repeating Annabeth's name. Annabeth's screaming slowly turned to wet sobs. She clung on to him and gasped out parts of her dream. "I was blind," she sobbed. "I couldn't see you. I could just feel your blood against my fingers. And I remember hating you, hating the gods, hating everything. I just want to stop hating the world, Percy."
Sally covered her mouth with her hands. Next to her, Paul was silent, tears streaming down his face.
Percy held her tighter against him, not that Sally thought that was even possible. 'It's okay. I got you now. We're together. I love you."
Sally slowly slid down the wall, tears making her unable to clearly see the two teens anymore. All of the hope that she felt just hours before slowly trickled out of her, leaving her more broken hearted than she had ever been.