Chapter 1

The giant war was over: The seven heroes and Nico, all combined, had defeated Gaea, and sent her back to the ground, where she belonged. And as all the friends stood together, they remained speechless at what had just happened, and Hazel sat on the ground, her head buried in her hands. The seven friends had watched as Leo selflessly gave himself up, and went on to close the Doors of Death himself. It was a sacrifice he was willing to take with the group, and his last words were still ringing in everyone's ears.

"You each have someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to keep you safe. I never did. But now, I do. I have no one else to live for, yet I would totally risk death for all of you. Keep each other safe, for me." Though, he may have been talking to his friends, his eyes fell on Frank, Hazel's boyfriend. Everyone knew of the connection Leo and Hazel had, and yet he was willing to give that up, for her.

Leo's sacrifice led everyone to stand aghast as he fell deeper into Tartarus, and close the doors. He wouldn't let Percy nor Jason. He risked his life for them, and they weren't going to take it in vain.

Tears streaming down her face, Annabeth grabbed hold of Percy's shirt and dug her face in her chest, a wailing sound of sorrow escaping her lips. Percy snaked his arms tightly around her, protecting her, comforting her. It was over. It was all over. The prophecy was fulfilled, and still, the group was still torn. Piper and Jason comforted each other in a sea of tears, coping with the fact that they had both lost their best friend. And Frank was kneeling next to Hazel, who still sat on the ground, face in her hands, the only way you could tell she was crying was by the shaking of her shoulders.

He looked down at a mess of blond hair, always stuck in a ponytail. Just minutes before, Percy was willing to give up his life for his friends. He was ready to die, without a second though. Just like his fatal flaw, his loyalty to his friends almost killed him. But as he didn't think about it, he now thought about Annabeth. If Annabeth were to have sacrificed herself, he wouldn't be able to deal with that. He would always hate himself for it, and he would never be okay again. He needed Annabeth: she was more than his best friend, more than his girlfriend, more than the love of his life: she was him. And he was her. To be without her would be to be without himself. So he could only imagine how she would deal with it if he was the one to leave. To die.

Stepping back, he took Annabeth's face in his hands, and she looked up at him with tear-filled eyes and a confused look. "Annabeth, I love you." No smile, no jokes. It was the most serious thing to him. He'd said it plenty of times, but right there, he meant it with every inch of his body. "And I will always be with you. Always." he spoke, brushing tears from her eyes. Her hands grabbed onto his wrists as she stood on her tiptoes, and leaned in to kiss him, whispering his name. "Percy,"

"Percy."

"Percy, sweety. He's moving!"

Percy's eyes fluttered open, staring up at a white wall. "Annabeth," he murmured, and lifted his head up. "Annabeth?" he asked again, louder. The room around his was disoriented, but all he could think about was Annabeth, and where she was. "But there wasn't a blonde head in the room. A brunette woman, who looked fairly familiar to Percy ran to the bed, grasping his arm. Scared, he wrenched his arm from her and sat up in his bed, scrambling to the wall. "Sweety, it's me. Grover, call the Doctor in!" The woman's face was shined with tears, but Percy didn't care. The only image in his head was a girl with blonde hair. "Annabeth! Where is she? Annabeth!"" he screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice strangled from crying. "Honey, who's Annabeth, There's no Annabeth?" the woman asked, her face scared and baffled.

Percy stared at the woman, wide-eyed. He knew her. He knew her from somewhere. A face blurred into his mind; a woman, bring him a cake to the kitchen table, with blue frosting and blue cake. Blue.
"Mom?" he asked shakily, his eyes boring into hers.

His mother covered her face with her hands and nodded, too stunned for words. "Yes, it's me. Mom." she leaned over to give him a hug, and Percy couldn't help but hug her back, both teary-eyed. "The last time I remember seeing you is before I left to stay at Camp Half-Blood." he said again, a hint of laughter in his voice. But his mother tensed up and stepped back from the bed, her knit eyebrows seemed to scare her. She had faded scared across her face, multiple ones. "Percy, honey... Camp-Half Blood?"

An older boy limped in, a man in a white coat following him. "Amazing," he gasped, and walked over to the bed. He tried to examine Percy, but all the boy could do was stare at the other boy that had walked in, who stood beside the bed.

"Grover?"

The boy was taller, his orange hair and goatee was trimmed and tamed, and he wore a Shasta hat on his head. The boy smiled excitedly, and swayed. "Oh, man Percy! I was about to give up on you! I knew you could do it, I knew you could fight it!"

Percy laughed again, tears still streaming his face. So Grover knew of the mission, and knew he succeeded. "It was Leo. He closed the Doors of Death. But did we really stop Gaea? Grover, is Mount Olympus still safe?" he asked greedily. He needed to know. But Percy's excitement fell when Grover's face look just as confused as his mothers. His eyes looked down from the bed, and widened when he noticed Grover's legs. Prosthetics. Grover and two prosthetic legs, both from the knee down. "Grover, where are your goat legs?" he asked, dazed, and glanced around to everyone's faces. They looked concerned. Worried. As if Percy was crazy.

But he wasn't. He knew he wasn't.

"Doctor.." his mother said, her voice cracking. But the doctor put up a hand. "This is common, Ms. Jackson." Then his eyes fell to Percy, and Percy looked up at him. "Percy, do you remember anything of what happened before you woke up?" he asked, his voice sounding so understanding. He sat himself up straighter, and looked blankly at the bed sheet. "I was in Tartarus, at the Doors of Death. We closed the doors, and stopped Gaea from defeating Olympus. Me, Nico, Leo, Hazel, Frank, Piper, Jason..." he said, and took a deep breath. "And... and Annabeth." Percy looked up painfully, staring at the Doctor. "Where am I? How did I get here? Where's Annabeth?"

Percy's mother broke into tears again, sobbing away as Grover rubbed her shoulder, coaxing her to sit down in the chair. Percy felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up with pained eyes, only to see a hard expression.

"Percy, you were a victim of a car crash. You, your mother, and your friend here were driving through Manhattan when a drunk driver skipped a red light and hit your car, causing it to flip over multiple times. You're mother was cut with glass all over her body, and the dashboard crushed underneath your friends legs, causing them to be amputated."

Percy's eyes horridly skimmed to Grover, to his legs, which in fact were amputated. Percy's breaths started to become deep and shaky. No, it's all a lie. He's lying.

"And you, Percy. Your injuries were so severe, especially for your body size, that your body shut down, forcing you to fall into a coma. And now you've woken up."

Percy's throat felt dry. His heart was racing. But the only thing that remained in his brain was blonde hair. Stuttering, Percy balled his fist and looked back down. "How long," he said, his voice cracking. "How long have I been here?" he asked. Something must have happened in Tartarus. They must have been saved. It was Poseidon. Poseidon saved him, that's it.

The doctor squeezed Percy's shoulder. "Percy, you've been in a coma for six years."

And his heart stopped. He looked back and forth from the doctor to his mother, neither one of them denying it. "No. No." he said, a crazed laughing gurgling up. "It was Posieden. I know it." he said, his head spinning with memories. The blonde face faded and replaced by a car. A blue car. And then glass. And the sound of sirens. He grabbed his head with both hands and screamed out, worlds mixing together, pictures swirling, fading in and out. "Annabeth!" he cried. "WHERE'S ANNABETH?" he screamed, again at the top of his lungs, this time, thrashing about in the bed. He pulled off the wires and cords, unhooking himself from medicine and machines. "I need Annabeth! Annabeth!"

"Nurse! We need back-up!"

But Percy wasn't crazy. Annabeth could save him. He needed her. He could help her.

Nurses came in to hold him down, grabbing him by the wrists and legs. "No, no! Let go off me!" he screamed again, the tears pouring down his face. "Annabeth! Annabeth!"

Percy felt a sharp pinch in his neck, and a coldness run through his veins, and suddenly, his vision started to blur into colors. The hands released him, but he also had the inability to move. "Anna...beth.." he mumbled, and a smiling face, one that seemed to know all our secrets stared up at him, and blonde hair pulled back into a messy ponytail was the last thing Percy saw before blacking out.