Annabeth arrived within the Underworld under the influence of an eerie calm that lasted about as long as it took for her to realize where she was- which was all of three seconds. The boat she was about to board should have given it away in an instant, what with the robed, skeleton figure peering at her through the black depths of his skull. He spoke, probably inquiring about her payment or making an observation about the fact that they'd met before, but Annabeth didn't hear him. She just stood there blankly in confusion. She couldn't be dead. She shouldn't be here; she should be back out there, helping the others. This wasn't right. Memories flooded her and she just wanted to block them all out, but she knew that she was overwhelmed and that she couldn't process them all at once and so when she looked up- intending to tell the impatient ferryman to wait for a moment- and saw Silena Beauregard walking toward her with bittersweet concern in her eyes, she had nearly passed out- or faded into unawareness, whatever the dead person's equivalent of fainting would have been. But the girl's arms were around her in an instant, and before Annabeth knew it she was sobbing pathetically into the girl's shoulder.
It was odd that even while her phantom eyes could not tear, Annabeth could still go through the motions of crying, her breaths coming in gasps even though she didn't need air and her eyes squinching shut in that way that they tended to when she was trying to slow the flow of her tears. Silena held her, tracing comforting circles against her back and speaking sweet nothings into her ear. She let Annabeth cry for a few moments before gently pulling away, holding the girl at arm's length and pressing a hand against her cheek comfortingly, knowingly. From Elysium she had been able to see all that had been happening; while many spirits chose to block out the living world, Silena cared too much not to keep tabs on her mortal friends, even if it did cause her to worry incessantly about them during her time of apparent peace.
"Annabeth, you have to look," Silena spoke urgently, pointing at the open doors behind them. "Do you see those doors over there? They're wide open. You can go back; you don't have to leave Percy. They're going to close any second now, but if you get out now, then you can live again."
For a moment Annabeth just gaped at the Doors, but realization flickered on her face in an instant. Percy. She'd left Percy behind, and the gods only knew how he was coping at the moment. Panic fluttered in her chest, and she immediately shifted toward the Doors, but a fear caught in her gut and she was rooted to her spot.
"What if I can't-? What if things-? Don't you want to come with me?" she asked, stammering and glancing back toward the Doors. They were closing, slowly but steadily, and she still felt jittery and confused. She understood that the Doors were still open; she knew that she could live, but she was still having trouble processing the why and how of it all. If she were to admit it to herself, she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to go back, not after everything that she had experienced in Tartarus. Returning would mean being cured of her immediate cause of death but succumbing to the frailty of her mortal body. If she had one, her heart would be pounding.
"I can't," Silena said simply, drawing Annabeth from her reverie and enveloping her in one last hug before releasing her. "If things go wrong, you'll end up back here anyway, probably with Percy and the rest of the seven. But they won't, because you're all incredibly strong and resilient. You have to go; Percy needs you," she urged, eyeing the girl with a steely, no-nonsense gaze before softening, pressing a hand to Annabeth's shoulder and urging her in the right direction.
"I'll see you in the future," she spoke, a vow she didn't need to affirm. Annabeth nodded, and Silena shoved her forward lightly.
"Go," she commanded, and Annabeth went, turning back once and managing a weary smile in the direction of the other girl before bolting straight through the Doors and into the light of the outside world.
Piper was braiding her hair. Annabeth wasn't particularly sure how they'd gotten to this point, but somehow they'd wound up on the deck of the Argo II. Leo had started a contained bonfire in his specially built fire pit and the two sat loosely in front of it, Annabeth gazing out at the sea thoughtlessly and breathing in the cool, refreshing ocean air as Piper worked her magic. She sipped a cup of tea- something Frank had thought to bring her, though he stayed far from the fire- and nibbled on half of a bagel that Piper had insisted she take, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to keep much of it down.
After having been left with little to no food to eat in Tartarus, she and Percy were both having difficulties eating even small portions of food; their bodies simply weren't used to it. Annabeth had once read that victims of starvation sometimes became ill upon eating too much after having nothing at all, and so she'd been careful, sipping nectar and drinking juice instead of gorging herself on the chicken and beef she knew she wanted. Still, it was frustrating. She was constantly hungry, and she felt useless in her weak state. She could barely look at herself in the mirror; the dark circles under her eyes had hardly faded, and she had become gaunt and bruised down in Hell. Any trace of fat she had had on her body had withered away, and in turn her muscles had been weakened. The worst part of it all; however, was her ankle. It had been broken further after their fall, and she knew it was on the verge of infection, only kept at bay by the ambrosia and nectar she'd been consuming religiously on their journey back. She dared not think of what would come of her ankle once they returned home, but her fear was that she would lose part of her leg, and it haunted her almost as deeply as the thought of separating from Percy. It might have been superficial, but she needed her leg; she needed to walk; she needed to defend herself, and she was petrified that she wouldn't be able to do so as well with a prosthetic. It was this fear that made her long for Percy to awaken, but after he'd fallen asleep the night before she wouldn't disturb him.
He'd been awake for long enough making sure that she got back on the ship safely, and once she had fallen into her own exhausted coma he'd done so as well, only he'd remained asleep after she was shaken awake by a nightmare that'd left her hysterical. She'd realized later that she'd frightened the rest of the seven. None of them had been hesitant to tend to Percy- who was out like a light- and even Annabeth when she was asleep, but once she had awakened it was another story. Nobody knew what to expect from the tortured teenagers, and the keening sobs emanating from the daughter of Athena's cabin didn't sound so inviting. Hazel had finally been the one to interrupt, and while she hadn't gotten to know Annabeth well in their time together before the fall, she was gentle and effective in her efforts. It hadn't taken much to quell Annabeth; Hazel had simply had to explain that Percy was in the next room and that he was recovering and the daughter of Athena had pulled herself together stoically in her presence, wiping her eyes embarrassedly. It wasn't long before she was requesting food and an opportunity to bathe, both of which were granted to her easily, and then she was in the infirmary, stroking through Percy's matted hair as he slept peacefully, much to her surprise. His wounds were grave; there was a particularly deep gash running diagonal across his torso, but at least he was alive. Her own wounds had been mostly sustainable after she had come back from the Underworld, save for her ankle.
It was clear that Percy wasn't waking up anytime soon. Even so, Annabeth would have stayed at his bedside for an eternity; however, the confinement was agitating her. Maybe it was stupid, but she was going insane holed up in the cabin under the deck. After having been in Tartarus for so long she craved fresh air almost as much as she craved food and Percy, and since she couldn't consume much of the former and the latter was unconscious, she felt the need to be out on the deck. The infirmary was bright, well-lit by fluorescents, but her breath had started to come in gasps and panic had overtaken her, and Hazel had insisted that she go outside to the deck while she watched over Percy. Annabeth agreed, granted Hazel alert her immediately if awakened, and she was off.
She had some help from Piper and Leo, but Annabeth had made her way up the stairs stoically even while on crutches. She was weakened more than she'd realized, but eventually they'd made it out to the ship's bow, where they were sitting currently. Leo manned the controls and Piper remained at Annabeth's side, more relaxed now than before, and that was how she'd wound up braiding Annabeth's clean, damp hair. The others- Nico, Frank and Jason- Hazel was in the infirmary tending to Percy- had gathered as well and a sort of makeshift picnic had formed, all of them united by Annabeth despite the arguments that had broken out in her absence. She and Nico made small talk; he was the only conscious person on the ship who could understand her struggle to some degree, and everyone was silent for a while, unsure of what to say around the unstable girl. Ultimately, it was Annabeth who broke the silence, looking down at her cup of tea before to Piper, who had finished braiding her hair.
"You guys don't have to be so skittish around me; if anything, it should be me who's going insane right now," she said, taking a breath and fumbling with the mug of tea in her hands. It wasn't often that she grew uncomfortable, but the fact that she had to use the terms "me" and "going insane" in a serious context embarrassed her. Her mental instability was warranted, but that didn't make her more comfortable admitting it. The others were clearly nervous, and as she glanced at them they all seemed to gape at her, still nervous to provoke or agitate her, which was infuriating even though she understood their apprehension. To fill the silence she spoke once more, taking a sip of tea and looking to Piper and the rest of the crew.
"I was dead. You all know that; Nico or Hazel can affirm that. I couldn't remember much at first upon resurrection, but I remembered everything by this afternoon, and it struck me, Piper, that you are quite a bit like your sister." Annabeth spoke, looking at the daughter of Aphrodite.
"What-?" Piper began, but Annabeth cut her off.
"Silena. Silena Beauregard. She met me when I made it back into the Underworld and all but shoved me back through the Doors after a few choice words. She had good timing, too. Had she waited a couple seconds more, I would be dead." Annabeth spoke. "She's like you because while she made her mistakes, they were made in part due to her devotion to her loved ones; she's gorgeous, even if you two look completely different from one another, and she has an uncanny knack for persuading others to do things, even if she wasn't blessed with your charmspeak."
The daughter of Aphrodite looked at her for a moment, unsure of what to say, before she spoke. "Oh. Really?" she asked, and Annabeth simply nodded and shrugged.
"You just walked back through the Doors after dying?" Leo asked in astonishment, and Annabeth couldn't help but laugh heavily at his awe, nodding. Her amusement broke the tension a bit, and Frank spoke.
"Back at Camp Jupiter, Gwen, our centurion, was killed in battle after being stabbed by a spear, but within moments she was awake, exclaiming that she just walked back through the Doors. I guess it wasn't so difficult for demigods, when they were open," he said, shrugging, and Annabeth nodded once more. It was silent for a bit as they all thought, more comfortably than before.
"I couldn't leave all of you, and I know that Percy caused a scene screaming at you all about not shutting the Doors in case I managed to come back. And I did, but I wasted quite a bit of your time down there, and I'm sorry. I can't imagine that it went over well with all of you; Percy put everything in jeopardy with the hope that I'd come back," Annabeth looked around. At one point Jason had been shooting daggers at her, but now he looked away, unable to meet her eyes. She understood why he would have wanted to get the Doors closed, and she didn't blame him. "Anyway, I need to thank all of you for complying with him in the end, because otherwise I wouldn't be here right now," she spoke softly, looking around at the five demigods who stood before her. So far, everyone was still alive, but that could change in an instant, as she'd learned. They needed to trust one another; there was still a Titan to defeat and a long, rocky road ahead of them.
It was less than a minute before Piper had wrapped an arm around her shoulders and Leo had sat down on her other side and followed suit, abandoning the ship's controls. They were experiencing a rare moment of peace, and he was taking full advantage of it. "You're welcome, Annabeth," Piper spoke, and the others spoke in affirmation. Annabeth smiled. They all talked about mindless things for a while, glad to take focus off of the war if only for a little while. It wasn't long; however, before a voice broke the silence and the six's attention was drawn.
"Annabeth?"
Hazel's voice rung from the bottom of the stairs that led to the upper deck, and in a couple seconds she was up, looking flustered and breathless. "Percy's awake."
(A/N: A wonderful deviant-art reader (~glittergirl0609) of my other story, Dying Light, pointed out that since Thanatos is freed, the dead would stay dead and be unable to come back to life, so the plot of this story is impossible in canon. But this is fanfiction (and I'd already written all of this) so anything is possible! Anyhow, thanks so much for reading and please post a review with feedback and CC; I always need some!)