The Beginning of the End

DISCLAIMER: I unfortunately own nothing of the beautiful universe of PJO or HoO. Credit to my favorite of the gods, Rick Riordan

~Annabeth~

The warmth of his body pressed against me in the dark was like adrenaline. Even if real adrenaline coursing through my veins, everything would have been in high definition focus as we moved towards Zeus' Fist. I heard the subtle rustle in a tree and moved my shield to stop an arrow from flying into a chink in Percy's armor.

"Nice save," he whispered.

"Shhh," I hushed him, "it means they know we are here." He brushed a curl out of my face, and I took a deep breath as his sea green eyes locked on mine. I smiled faintly as my insides warmed and scanned the surroundings. I saw a flash of silver in a bush and nodded my head towards it. I pushed it aside and thrush my bone sword towards the throat of a young hunter. She squeaked as Percy took her bow and bound her hands with water. Then we dashed off towards the silver flag of the Hunters.

"I think we have a chance this time!" Percy said quietly. A Hunter charged us with her hunting knife. I hit her chest with the flat of my blade. She fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of her.

"I'll make the diversion," he murmured in my ear. He kissed my cheek gently and ran off. I began to count in my head, then time stopped. Literally. A cold metallic laugh filled my ears and my blood went cold. No… it couldn't be. A man walked out from the trees. His skin perfectly tanned, and his hair the color of Riptide. He didn't have the same body as the last time I saw him, but his eyes were the same: pure gold. I wanted to swing my weapon at him, or, better yet, run, but I was frozen in time.

"You two are so sweet," Kronos rasped into my ear, "What an adorable couple. I really do ship Percabeth. He loves you so much, doesn't he? He would do anything for you," My mind was racing. The Time Lord was killed when my Lu- the traitor sacrificed himself on Olympus. He couldn't be back already, right? It took thousands of years for him to be strong enough to return the first time. It hadn't even been a decade yet. I could hear the chaos of Percy's diversion behind me.

"Don't worry, Ms. Chase. I don't want you. I do know someone does, though." Kronos' plan suddenly made sense to me. As he slowly walked around my still form, he pulled out his scythe, unfroze me, and slashed my leg in one swift movement. I screamed as my flesh, bone, and soul were ripped open by the blade. I collapsed and my blood flowed onto the forest floor. Kronos smiled with glee at my agony.

"You- you-" I couldn't get the words out. My vision was going dark around the edges. Percy ran out of the woods, followed by a few campers and Hunters. They had heard my scream. Percy looked at me and paled. He brandished Riptide and looked Kronos in the eyes.

"What do you want?" he said. I could tell he was trying to be confident, but his voice wavered. Kronos didn't reply immediately. I was getting light-headed as my blood was draining out of my leg.

"Come with me, Jackson. I believe we could do great things together."

"Ha. You're actually a funny guy, Kronos. I'd love to hang out sometime, but I'm pretty busy this week. If you-"

"Jackson, I will not have this nonsense from you. Come with me, or your girlfriend dies." Kronos twirled his scythe and it turned into a sword, Backbiter. He took the point and put it over my belly button. He pressed it slowly and it melted through my chest plate like butter. I didn't have the strength to stop him. I knew it would come to this. I was going to die anyway, from my leg wound. I couldn't feel anything below my ribs besides a burning sensation where my calf was split open. I tried to tell Percy to ignore the offer, but I was too weak. I could tell he had already made up his mind. Gods damn his stupid fatal flaw.

We locked eyes one last time before he said, "I'll go with you."

"No…" I breathed.

Kronos' eyes glowed. "Excellent choice," he said conversationally. He forced his sword through my body and I screamed with the last of my energy. Percy lunged towards me, but Kronos grabbed him. The last thing I saw before the world blacked out was a brilliant flash of golden light, and several Hunters and dryads running towards me. I settled into the cold, hollow nothingness.

Yay! First fanfic ever! Sorry for it being a kind of short first chapter, but I just wanted to get things rolling. Let me know what you guys think! For the first few chapters, I'll update every day or two, but then I'll probably go weekly. :)