Poison. Oh gods, Percy hated poison.

Percy had put his arm out to stop Annabeth. "Your weak." the stranger said to her. "You think your strong but your not." Annabeth hit Percy's arm and charged at the stranger.

Percy had seen the knife that she didn't.

He stepped in front of Annabeth just as the stranger pulled out the knife.

As Percy collapsed backwards Annabeth went to the stranger and cut him with her dagger. Eventually he ran off, probably with his tail behind his legs.

Now Percy was laying on the ground, Annabeth, on her knees, stuffing Percy with ambrosia, and the stranger running away like a chicken with it's head cut off. Annabeth put her hand on Percy's wound as he said, "Annabeth stop. Ambrosia won't help. It's too late."

"Don't you dare say that, Perceus Jackson! Your not gonna die on me!" Annabeth pulled her hand to herself, covered. Covered in blood. Percy's blood.

"Keep Riptide for me. Tell my mom I love her and I ll miss her blue food. Tell Paul he better take care of my mom or I ll haunt him. Tell my dad I tried to be a good son. Tell Tyson he was the best brother anyone could ever have and give him my minotaur horn. Tell Thalia she s awesome. Tell Nico that even though he tried to kill me he s an awesome friend. Tell Grover he s like a brother. And tell everyone else I ll miss them. But tell Annabeth I love her so much and I m glad I took the knife for her." Annabeth smiled and kissed Percy s forehead. Then Chiron trotted over.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Some stranger attacked us. He stabbed Percy. Can you help him?" Annabeth looked at Chiron with tear stricken eyes.

"I'll try." Chiron soaked a rag in nectar and put it to Percy's wound. Percy shouted and gripped Annabeth's hand. Annabeth stroked his face and ran her fingers through his black and grey hair. She remembered all his stupid sayings, idiotic ideas, cute thoughts, adorable looks, and all his mistakes. She loved all his mistakes. "I'm sorry." Chiron said sorrowfully, rolling Percy onto his back.

"What?" Annabeth said.

"The poison's too strong, the wound is too deep. It's too late. I'm sorry."

"No. No. It can't be."

"Annabeth I'm so-"

"No! It's not too late! It can't be and it won't!" Chiron was shocked. Very shocked Annabeth had never yelled at Chiron that way. Chiron had known her since she was a mere child and she d never yelled at him. She had always agreed with him. Could Chiron really expect her to agree with him on the fact the Percy was going to die?

Annabeth looked at Percy. She picked his strand of grey hair out and twirled it in her fingers. She remembered that. She remembered the stupid look on his face as he tried to hold up the sky. He made her laugh even though she was in so much pain.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked.

"Yeah?" Annabeth sniffled and blinked her tears away.

"Give me a big hug." Annabeth did. "Kiss me". She did. His lips were cold and turning blue. "Now tell me that you love me."

"I-I love you."

"I love you too." he said, trying his hardest to stay awake.

"I'm sorry," Chiron whispered. "He will be missed." Annabeth sat on her knees, cried, and held Percy's hand as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

"Hey Thals." Nico said. No answer. "Hey Thals!" She had her headphones in. Nico popped one out and shouted, HEY THALS!

"WTF? Thalia shouted.

"Hi Thalia."

"Hi." Thalia said, wrapping her headphones around her i-Pod and stuck it into her pocket. She ran her fingers through her hair and stood up to walk with Nico. Surprisingly, they were the same height.

"Look I'm sorry for stealing your arrows yesterday." Nico said.

"It's okay."

"I gave you all of em, right?"

"Yeah. All twenty." Thalia answered. "Why?"

"I sat down on my bed and my butt got an unpleasant welcome. Instead of comfy, soft, goodness I felt sharp, pokey, badness." Thalia laughed.

"Well... I-uh. I really like you but since your in the huntresses I can't be with you so I thought maybe if you lost your arrows you'd have to quit...or something." Nico said, looking at his shoes.

"Look Nico I like you too. I do. I like you the way you like me, but Artemis would kill me and she would turn you into an antelope if she knew I was dating you."

"What would she do if we kissed?" Nico asked. "What would Artemis do?"

"Well if we kissed she would-" Thalia was shocked. Nico kissed her. She melted into it. Every stress she ever had melted away. Then she pulled away. She didn't want to, but she had to. She looked into Nico's eyes. "Probably kill us." Thalia said, pretending like nothing had happened."Wait, what-I-no. No no no. This isn't right. Nico you re my friend and I d hate to see you run through the forest as a jackalope. I'm a huntress. I've sworn myself and my loyalty to Artemis. I've sworn to stay away from boys, from Billie Joe Armstrong! I'm immortal."

"Sho? I'm like eighty but I look like I'm fourteen."

"Eww." Thalia shuttered.

"Well."

"Nico, I want you but I ca-" Nico kissed her again. She pulled away but their noses still touched. "I..."