"Sometimes, the smallest things take up the most room in your heart." –Winnie the Pooh
Annabeth smiled gently and gingerly ran her thumb over the smooth cover of the locket. As cliché as it was, it was plated in pure gold that she had tinted blue. It still sparkled just as brightly after all these years. The weight of it hung down onto a familiar place on her chest, a light presence that she learned to expect each day.
The front was engraved with an image of a pegasus (Blackjack, to be precise, but thinking about him made her heart burn) but years of rubbing it habitually had nearly worn the picture flat. The blurry lines of wings and a proud head and mane still stood out just as clearly. The simple action of running her finger back and forth across the pendant had served as one of the comforts she had left.
Annabeth snapped the locket open and stared at the photograph inside. The small clasp was nearly broken from constant opening and closing. Waves of bittersweet nostalgia poured over her like rain but he couldn't tear her eyes away, even though they were filling with tears. As delicately as she handled it, time had crinkled the edges of the image, yet the picture inside still enraptured her the same way it did when she first saw it so long ago.
Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut, a few stray tears dripping down onto her face, hot and heavy against her cheeks. Calypso's curse had taken its toll at the very last moment, and now he was gone.
So many years had passed; so long she had gone with pain, sorrow, anger, and regret burning separate fires into the fragile walls of her soul. She knew this was her last chance–her only chance–and she had to take it.
Annabeth made her choice, and for the last time, looked into the green eyes that the locket held. "I'll see you in Elysium, Seaweed Brain. You can't see me anymore, but at least you'll be at home."
Annabeth closed the locket gently, and with her gray eyes closed, flung it into the sea, turning away as the foamy wave folded over the small piece of gold as it sank beneath the translucent surface of the water.
She took a shaky breath and opened her eyes, letting the soft spray of salt that drifted from the ocean wash over her. Time to move on. Time to let go. Time to begin again. She forced the rest of the tears down.
"I, Annabeth Chase, pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis."
