Athena has always been wise.
From the instant he comes, she knows his life will only end in tragedy. So Athena herds her daughter away. Perseus is smart enough to not to follow.
Then Annabeth rebels. Athena swears it's because of him, but for whatever reason Annabeth is no longer that little girl who followed her words without hesitation. Her daughter tells her that she loves him, and Athena is devastated.
He is Poseidon's son. She is her daughter, her perfect, beautiful, oh so wise daughter. But even wisdom must bow to love, and Athena knows it firsthand. She lets Annabeth go.
They are happy. Athena gives him a warning, admitting she was wrong for the first time in forever. She tells him that he will have one chance and only one chance. If he fails, he will be gone from her life forever. And she means it.
Then Hera comes up with that crazy, crazy Idea, and all Athena sees it as is an opportunity to get him away from Annabeth. She votes for it. The next week, Percy is gone.
For the first time in millennia, Athena has not thought things through. Her daughter is dead inside, huddled up inside her cabin. The goddess can hear her sobs from Olympus, her prayers for Percy to come home to her. They break her heart.
But he is already gone.
Annabeth grips her shoulders one day when she goes to visit her. Her gray eyes, so like Athena's own, are flimsy and pale, like they might wash away in a second. But her gaze is strong.
"Where is he?"
Athena panics. Annabeth has always been wise, and she will know. She always knows. But then her daughter crumples into a ball, her fingers scrabbling at her mother's arm. "I nee—" Her eyes well with tears and her voice breaks off into a sob. Athena stays until guilt tugs her away.
Her Roman form consumes her. Talk of Romans has made her Greek side weak, and only until she wakes as Athena does she realize what she's done. It is true. She is missing one token, and she traces it back to Annabeth.
Athena sobs for the first time.
Annabeth…her perfect daughter. How could she have given her the mark? How? The prayers stop that day, and Athena knows who's to blame. She can feel Annabeth's despair, but when she goes to explain her daughter doesn't even look at her. It's too late.
Athena falls apart, piece by piece.
The next Olympian Council, she walks in with tear-stained cheeks and puffy eyes. Zeus peers closer at his daughter, and asks if she's okay.
"You wouldn't know!" She screams in a rare fit of fury. "You never cared about your children!" She turns and flees, and ironically Poseidon is the only one who follows. It's depressing that her own father doesn't find her.
Her rival finds her, on her knees in from of the crystal pool. Annabeth's image ripples in its depths, and together, they watch as Percy and her daughter plunge into the place no demigod has ever left alive.
Unconsciously he wraps his arms around her, and she buries her face in his chest. Her tears soak into his shirt and his into her shoulders. Behind them, Annabeth and Percy are falling, clutching each other the way she's clutching him.
The image fades to black, the two of them disappearing from the realm of the gods.
Then they return, and she's happy for the first time in forever. Somewhere in the back of her mind Athena wishes that she had the same thing. But she pushes it away and embraces her daughter, and for once Annabeth doesn't pull away.
Poseidon is behind, pulling Percy into his arms. They are the same height now, and both of them tower over her. Percy and Annabeth are holding hands through it all, as though they can't bear to let each other go.
She still knows their love will end in tragedy, but she can't ruin this perfect moment. So she keeps everything undercover, pulls a smile onto her face. Annabeth doesn't suspect a thing.
Later, they return to Olympus. The other gods cast them sympathetic glances, but she pointedly ignores them. She doesn't need their pity.
Poseidon looks at her, and in his eyes she sees the same doubt that she carries. But neither of them says anything. They don't have to. He knows, and she knows, and that's enough. She fears that saying it out loud will only make it come faster.
It comes faster than she thought.
"Is this Athena Chase?"
"Yes."
"I'm so sorry, Ms. Chase. Your daughter is—"
Click.
The news hits her like the edge of a sword. She sits down hard, staring at the phone in her hand. "No," She says, but it's true. "No."
And when she flashes down to the hospital, it's true.
Percy is sitting by her bedside, holding Annabeth's limp hand in his. Tears run down his cheeks and he strokes one hand down her porcelain skin, cold and lifeless. The look in his eyes is terrible.
Annabeth's blond hair is tangled and matted, the locks tossed over her face. A gash runs down one arm ,and the other wrist is snapped. Like a curse, a taunt from the fates, her face is untouched. If Athena didn't look past the neck, her daughter can still be alive.
She is beautiful.
So, so beautiful. But her eyes are glassy in death, and Percy lowers his head and sobs. Poseidon appears then, and one glance tells him everything. He kneels by his son's side, gripping him in an embrace, and Athena has never felt so utterly alone. She carefully touches her daughter's fingertips.
"How?" Her voice is choked and mangled.
"Car accident, ma'am." the attendant is strict but sympathetic too, and the goddess hates the note of sadness. Athena glances at Percy, and in a flash she understands. His hair is mussed, too, his clothes covered in dust. There is a small, barely noticeable cut on his forehead, and a bag of ambrosia is clenched tightly in his right hand.
She vows to destroy the monster who dared to touch her daughter.
Even she doesn't expect it to end like this.
She doesn't know when Percy invites her to coffee, but soon it becomes a regular routine.
They sit, they talk, and they forget. It becomes a weekly thing, and then a thing that happens every three days, and then they're setting aside thirty minutes every day just for each other. He gets over her daughter slower than expected. Tears still well up in their eyes when her name comes up.
Athena has never been so attached to a child in her long, long life.
But slowly, she begins to notice little details she never did before. She remembers Percy's favorite drink, his favorite color, and even the flavor of coffee he likes and the way his eyes sparkle with tears and how they make the green in them stand out.
She doesn't understand at first. Her tongue ties itself into knots when he smiles, which becomes more and more often each day. It makes her happy, too, and she is more confused than she ever has been. Finally, rumor spreads, and Aphrodite approaches her one day.
"You're falling for him," The love goddess smiles knowingly. "You know it."
The terrifying thing is, she does know it. In that moment Athena realizes that all she was telling herself is a lie. She likes, maybe even loves Perseus Jackson, and it terrifies her.
She cancels their meeting for the next day, suddenly seeing it as a date. His voice is confused when he agrees, and she can almost see those eyes in her mind, bright emerald green. "Bye, Sea Spawn," She says, and hangs up before he can comment that she has just made a joke.
She decides love is crazy, but she likes it all the same.
They meet again, the day after that, and she realizes one of the things she loves about him is that he doesn't pry. They continue their chat like nothing happened. Before she leaves, she kisses him on the cheek, bolting from the table and running out the door before he can call her back.
What has she done?
For the first time the goddess Athena has fallen into a hole she cannot climb out of.
When they really kiss, the hole only opens up wider.
"I can't do this," He says, after they pull away. His cheeks are flushed, but there is a sadness in his eyes that has never gone away. She understands—she is too much…too much like Annabeth. "I can't." Athena nods, though she is far from agreeing. Their eyes lock again.
"I know," She agrees. "I'm sorry." She's not sorry at all, but she doesn't mention it. He wraps his arms around her.
Being just friends is better than nothing, she decides, and hugs him back.
She keeps her emotions hidden behind gray eyes, where they can hurt no one but her. Percy Jackson is the only one who has ever broken through.
A/N: Thanks for reading, and Enjoy! I do not own PJO