A/N: Okay, first I would like to say that this is my first fanfic. Actually, I have been working on another story for about a month now. It is also a PJO story, and I still plan on finishing it. But I also had an idea for a story that is inspired by all the people who wrote stories having to do with the weight of the sky that Annabeth and Percy had to carry. This story just sort of happened.
Summary: Percy never saw Annabeth when she was suffering under the weight of the sky. However I always wondered what the scene would be like if he had. So in this oneshot, Percy finds Annabeth holding the world, however she thinks he is Luke. I imagined this as some sort of dream or nightmare that Percy was having, however you can imagine it however you want.
Song inspiration: Apologize by Onerepublic.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson & the Olympians series.
For You I Would Bear the Weight of the World
Atlas, the prisoner that holds the weight of the world on his shoulders for many, many years. This burden he is forced to carry keeps him trapped on a mountain top, where the earth meets the sky. This horrible burden cannot be forced upon someone. The only way to become free from this weight is if a friend, a true hero, willingly takes this burden onto their own shoulders. But only a true hero would do so.
Off in the distance, he spots the mountain. He had finally made it. He was finally here.
He approaches the path leading up the mountain, and hikes for what seems like forever.
Then, he sees her. He sees it all. Suddenly, everything makes sense.
A few yards away, she sits, kneeling on her knees. Her hair is streaked with gray, her face dirty and pained. And it is at this moment that he realizes she is the only thing that he cares about. Forget the prophecy. Forget the gods. Forget Luke. What would he do without Annabeth by his side? Would he make it?
Then, she sees him, and her face is filled with hope.
"Luke!" she cries out.
He stares down at himself. He is not Luke.
"Annabeth, oh my gods! It's Percy, Annabeth! It's me! Who did this to you?" He looks at her, concerned and confused and angry all at the same time.
"There is not time, Luke. No time. You have to help me, please," she takes a breath, gasping for air. "I'll do whatever you ask of me, just please help me, Luke, please."
She is right. There is no time. Annabeth is dying right before his eyes. Percy runs over to her, and crouches on the ground beside her. He has decided that he will share this burden. He will take the burden from her. He will do anything to stop her from suffering.
Without an explanation, she adjusts her position, shifting the weight of the sky from her hands to his.
The second her body is free of the burden, she collapses on the ground. At first, it seems as if she is in more pain than before. She rolls around on her back, rocking herself from side to side. Her knees are pressed against her stomach and chest. She closes her eyelids in an attempt to block out the pain. Anything to make it stop, to make this horrible sensation vanish.
Percy stands, watching her with wide eyes. The pain is creeping through his shoulders now, and into his back. It runs down his spine, seeming to spread through every vertebra. This pain is indescribable, like no other pain he has experienced before. It burns every part of the body. It stings, stretches the flesh, rips the muscles. Every bone in his body feels like wood being slowly stripes away in layers. It feels like splinters.
Time no longer seems to matter. It ceases to exist. When someone is suffering under this terrible burden and being inflicted with such pain, time cannot be measured. Even though time will pass for others, the person who bares this weight is trapped.
Slowly, Percy finds that he is no longer standing. He is kneeling on the ground. Annabeth lies on the floor a few feet from him, still moaning. Her breathing is raspy and her face is pale. She has stopped moving, but now her eyes roll back into her head.
Percy's vision is beginning to fade. Everything is looking black and smeared. Soon, his vision will be gone. This blackness he sees will start at the corners of his eyes, eventually spreading until he feels as if he is looking through a tiny tunnel. Then all the light will go out.
Even when he has lost his sight, he will still cry. He knows that Annabeth is there, and can sense she it hurt. He cannot save her. The day has come when his luck has run out, and he is too late.
Percy is out of strength. He has used every last bit of energy in his body, and he has accepted the fact that he is going to die.
He lies down slowly, taking his time. It's in this cavern where he holds up the ceiling. It's on this mountain top where he holds up the sky. Eventually, he dies, being crushed under the weight of the sky.