Hello kits! 'Tis I, Dovy! With a not-exactly-first-but-sure-let's-call-it-that story called Reality is Set in StoneShould I hint you the plot-line? Should I? No. That would be cheating. And cheating is cheating. Therefore not allowed.

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Disclaimer: I do not own a toaster. That and the original works of PJO belong to Rick Riordan. But you thought they were mine at first, didn't you. Right? Right..?

Summary

Percy is a regular boy. Because regular boys have dreams about uncanny, very realistic lives they've never had. Because regular boys carry the feeling that this isn't real, and with one misplaced step the ground could disappear beneath their feet. Right?

"Annabeth, stop!"

Too late. It was too late.

Even as the words managed to escape my blood-choked throat, Annabeth was following the descent of riptide.

Down, down, down. The lethal blade glowed brightly in the dim half-light, and seem to shimmer as if in laughter, before plunging in the back of the cackling, dirt encrusted lady. Riptide buried to its hilt, and weakly Annabeth held on to it.

The dark woman twisted around, wrenching the blade out of Annabeth's hand and dropping her to the dark, sharp-stone filled ground. Dazed, she tried to get to her feet, crying out when the knife-like rocks cut into her right arm.

Weakly, I pulled myself up enough to see the painful lacerations, some still embedded with stones, along Annabeth's arm.

Perhaps it was the pain that laced her face or the unfairness of the whole situation, but somehow I found the strength to drag myself over to her. Black spots dance at the edge of my vision, and dull ache pulsed in the small of my back. Within a few moments of painful crawling, I reached out my hand to hers.

She gasped when I grabbed her injured arm's hand, and let out a whimper from the fierce hold I had on it.

I was desperate, and Annabeth knew it. Desperate to know if she was really here, if we were really here. If the bloody, wounded mess around us was real.

Holding her hand firmly, I threw my free arm around her waist and pulled her close to my broken chest. Each breath was pained by the shattered ribs near my heart.

But I had to. The pain was dull compared to the ferocity, the strong animal voice that told me I had to protect Annabeth. To pull her far away from this jarring reality and closer to my heart. Maybe just having her close would heal my collapsing rib cage.

But I knew it was only a voice. A voice without a body. A promise without action. And still I listened.

"It's gonna be okay, Percy. Hold on, it's gonna be okay." Annabeth tried to sooth my rising panic.

When all of a sudden reality fell on me.

All the fear, desperation, and panic rose like a black wave and swamped me. But I couldn't fight because it was real. Not some voice telling me we could survive this. Not some fake hope that said Annabeth and I would live to see a happy future.

Just the dark, sharp-stone filled ground, and the realization that we couldn't survive this.

I didn't even know what happened to our five other companions.

"Well isn't that just sweet. The hero using his last strength to protect his lover."

The woman sneered with a giddy tone. Riptide glowed brightly from right between her shoulder blades like a misplaced horn. Gripping the hilt, the woman pulled the blade from its earthen sheathe, and black slime gushed from the quickly healing wound.

Tossing aside the sword, she stalked forward slowly. Like a wolf relishing its kill.

The ground trembled where the woman's feet touched, and dust seemed to swarm her. Her eyes glowed with ancient power, her dress was mud that constantly tore and reconnected itself.

She was the earth.

She was a primordial.

She was Gaia.

What hope did we ever have to defeat her?

Gaia slowed to a stop above us, her dark shadow covered our eyes from riptide's bright glow. She extended a hand and dust gathered into a tall pile in her palm. Blowing away the dust, a cruelly carved dagger, glinting a chilling red, was revealed in her hand.

Gaia took a step closer to us, and gripped the dagger in both hands. Her eyes fixated on Annabeth, and cackling slowly she raised the dagger as if in sacrifice.

"Where is your heroism now, sea prince?"

The dagger flashed downwards towards Annabeth's heart.

Time slowed down.

The feelings of honor, of dignity, of unspoken laws of nobility tore apart like Gaia's dress. Something inside me broke, and I let a guttural, inhuman cry. With whatever strength I had somehow scrounged, I threw my body over Annabeth.

I felt the dagger pierce me.

I felt it sheathe into the small of my back.

I felt the hilt press against my flesh.

I slumped over, pure fatigue held back the pain that would surely hit soon. My eyes locked on Annabeth's horrified, grief stricken ones. Our lips brushed together. Blood slowly bubbled out my throat.

Choking, I weakly called out, "Here it is, bitch. And here it will always be for Annabeth. Here it will always be." I whispered the last part against Annabeth's lips.

"I love you, Annabeth. Don't ever forget it."

Annabeth didn't speak back, she didn't need to. Her eyes told me everything. I love you too. So don't you die on me.

"How can you be so sure your love is even real?" Gaia spat out the last part with a cruel laugh. "What if you never met as you did? Are you so sure your love will still find you again?"

"What the hell are you-"

Before I could choke out the rest of the question, the world jerked into a painful spinning.

I felt as if my whole body was being ripped apart, piece by piece. A deafening scream that never broke for breath whistled around me. The scream could have been mine. I could no longer tell what was up or down, left or right. A wave of darkness crashed over me.

And the whole world grew silent.

Too Fast? Too Slow? Questions? Comments? Concerns?

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Lots of Love and a Bagel Fetish,

Dovy the Cat