She had no idea just how long they'd been down here. Days? Weeks? She couldn't tell. She hadn't seen the sky in days, and boy, did she miss it. And now, her chance to see it again had come.

Annabeth and Percy had been running away from monsters for most of their lives now. It had started to lose it's horrifying effect; she was no longer frightened of creatures from the depths of the Underworld. She no longer cared about what she had to do to live. She had started to become numb. Annabeth had finally cracked.

They could see the doors from a few miles back. To be honest, they were hard to miss, about 60 feet tall, glowing a bright gold that even King Midas himself would have been proud of, if she had been feeling herself, Annabeth would surely have stopped and stared – just for a second – to admire the dedication it took to making them. But there was no time. Her ankle was still throbbing from her quest, and the stress she was under was doing nothing for it. Percy had a death grip on her around her waist, normally, Annabeth would have waved him off; scoffing that she didn't need his help. Today she thought she'd make an acception. Working together they had manoeuvred themselves around the river of fire, Phlegethon, and were now half-jogging-half-speed-walking as fast as they could towards the door.

A familiar face appeared in the gap between the doors. Even from a distance Annabeth could see the boy was well-built, athletic and blonde. Jason. At his side appeared a girl, tanned with dark hair, white feathers scattered within the layers of her hair, Jason put his arm around Piper protectively. A wave of relief flooded through Annabeth. They were so close. So very close. While deep in thought, the gap between she and Percy and the doors had begun to shrink. Percy released his grip on her waist and pushed her forwards with all his might, grunting under the strain of Annabeths dead weight.

She was through. Jason grabbed her arm as to steady her, Frank immediately rushed over, as if on cue, and poured cold, refreshing water down her throat.

'Percy, give some to Percy' she gasped at Frank, she was given a blank face in return.

'He's not through yet, Annabth,' he told her softly. Annabeth went into shock, turning her head she saw Percy preparing himself to close the doors. No, please, not again. Don;t take him away from me again, she started to pray to no God in particular. Pushing Frank away from her, a look of shock smacked across his face as Hazel steadied him again, helping him regain his balance. Pulling away from Jason she ran towards the doors. Her first reaction was to scream and collapse in agony as her ankle gave way underneath her, failing her once more. She didn't let it bother her. Her eyes were focused on Percy, he was all that mattered to her right now.

Percy, noticing Annabeth approach put out his rough, calloused hand to cup her muddy cheek, 'It's either me or you, Annabeth. And I- I can't let it be you'. Annabeth began to shake her head. Everything automatically snapped into perspective, how much she loved and needed Percy in her life. Every memory they had shared together, how precious and long ago they seemed – and soon it would all be over. If she let Percy do this she would be destroyed.

'Percy, you can't decide for me, just-' her mind scrambled looking for a strong, viable answer to this problem. It was clear this was one thing she couldn't fix.

'Just let me stay with you,' she sobbed.

In that moment, she could feel it. Feel her heart breaking. She knew what was going to happen. She knew that he would never let her stay with him, it was all too much for her to bare. They simply couldn't be together. No words came out, only small gasps and whimpers, she felt so small, so weak and powerless against this force pulling Annabeth and her boyfriend apart.

'I'm sorry Annabeth,' he whispered, so softly that only she could hear. Closing the gap between them, Percy kissed her hard, returning the kiss, she knew that this would be it. The last embrace that they would ever share. The talks they had had about their future together, having children and getting married, moving to Camp Jupiter – it all seemed so pointless to her now. She would never have that, and she didn't want it if Percy wasn't with her.

Annabeth became aware of Jason's grip on her forearm, lightly tugging her away from him, telling her it was time to go. As their kiss ended, she let Jason pull her away. Neither one of them was crying, there were no struggles to stop it happening, just looks of grief and pity. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Piper holding Hazel to her, whispering soothing words, but both were crying. Frank and Leo stood side by side, nodding at Percy in gratitude. Nothing needed to be said that they hadn't already told him. There was no point telling him how brave he was, how much they loved him or needed him; because he already knew.

Smiling gratefully at Jason, he made eye contact with Annabeth, she wanted to say something. She felt compelled to, to tell him she loved him. But he already knew that too. All she could do was look at him with pleading eyes, silently begging him not to do this, as he stared at her lovingly for the last time. Exhaling slowly, he started to push the doors closed, hismuscles flexing under his shirt, a look of determination took the place of his loving expression. Annabeth turned inwards to face Jason 's chest, he pulled her closer, holding her to him in comfort.

'Shh now, Annabeth, it's all over' he whispered into her blood soaked hair, over and over again, his voice cracking more and more each time he said it. The kind notion made no difference. Nothing and no one could take away the hollow feeling swallowing her up inside. Nothing could heal her of her broken heart.

For what seemed like minutes, the six demi-gods stood there in silence. Not one of them moving or daring to be the first to speak in fear of saying something wrong or insensitive.

It was Annabeth who spoke first, 'where's the ship?,' she asked. Not sounding confident at all, her throat sore and croaky from the silent tears she hadn't been aware were falling. No one replied. 'Where is the ship?' she asked again. This time a little louder. A movement to her left caught her attention, it was Frank. He said nothing but pointed to a large hole in the wall that entered into darkness. The only way out of the dark stingy cavern they were in.

'Lead the way,' Annabeth told him.