Prompt used is ignite.
I do not own PJO.
Avenging Angels
"Where you used to be, there is a hole in the world, which I find myself constantly walking around in the daytime, and falling in at night. I miss you like hell."
― Edna St. Vincent Millay
Everything is burning, smoke filling the air in thick gray swirls, obliterating everything but the girl dying in front of him. "Annabeth, no!"
This feels like the time when she took the poisoned knife in the shoulder for him, but it's not. He can't save her this time. The wound is too deep.
Already her eyes are becoming glassy, her breathing ragged, coughing up blood.
His hands flutter over her body like butterflies, not knowing quite what to do. No one else can help him, no one even knows what Annabeth just did.
She smiles faintly. A smear of blood is on her chapped lips, and he wipes it gently away with his fingers.
"You'd better win, Seaweed Brain, you'd better beat her, because I didn't do this for nothing."
"I won't," he says, holding her close. A tear lands on her face, and she looks up at him, grey eyes more innocent than he's ever seen them.
"Don't cry," she says, and with a trembling hand brushes a stray tear from his cheek. This simple gesture is almost too much.
He nods shakily. Her chest is barely moving now, and the circle of blood is spreading fast, soaking the entire front of her shirt.
Her eyes seek his gaze. "I'll be waiting for you," she whispers. He clutches her tighter to him, fingers closing around hers in response. "Keep living for me."
And then she's gone, and her fingers relax in his grip, and her eyes are lifeless. He bows his head and the tears come streaming down his face while the battle rages around them. He doesn't even notice. All that matters is that Annabeth is gone and she's not coming back. Images of Annabeth fill his mind, telling him he drooled in his sleep when he first met her, freaking out at the spiders on their first quest, sparring with him at camp, telling him off for one thing or another; moments where Annabeth is real and warm and very much alive. He's surrounded in sunshine blond hair, sparkling grey eyes, and warm tanned skin. He could stay here, in this fog with Annabeth, forever.
Someone's shaking his shoulder frantically. He doesn't respond, trying to make them go away and leave him alone, but Jason will not be denied.
"Percy!" Jason's voice cuts through the fog, dissolving it into a thousand shattered memories that float away on the wind.
Jason's kneeling in front of him, one hand on his shoulder. His eyes bore into Percy's. "There's no time. We have to keep fighting. Are you okay?"
He's floating, floating away.
Annabeth's voice, sharp and crisp, brings him back to reality with a jolt, even though her voice is barely more than a whisper. "Keep living for me."
"Percy?"
"Yeah," he says, rubbing his face with one hand. Riptide appears in his hand and he's back in the fray, but it's with a new energy. He's got someone to avenge.
Hope you enjoyed! Reviews are greatly appreciated.
