Title: Hero's Soul
Set: During The Last Olympian
Summery: She's always known this was coming. One way or another, he's going to fall. So now that the time has arrived, why does she feel so unprepared?
Disclaimer: I don't own Annabeth, Percy, or any other characters. Percy Jackson and the Olympians belongs solely to Rick Riordan. Quotes are from The Last Olympian.
"How? Look at our camp. We can't even stop fighting each other. And I'm supposed to get my stupid soul reaped."
"I knew we shouldn't have shown you the prophecy. All it did was scare you. You run away from things when you're scared."
"Me? Run away?"
"Yes, you. You're a coward, Percy Jackson!"
So maybe that was a tiny bit unfair. When it comes to battle, Percy is never a coward. But with other things... I mean, he still has not even mentioned the scene in Mount St. Helens. How is that not cowardly?
And now he was talking about how all we did was fight each other, and how we should take Rachel's advise!
I felt like hitting something. The tetherball served my purpose fine. I whacked it as hard as I could as I passed, but the spinning ball did little to relieve my pent-up stress. I wished it were Kronos's head. The head he'd had before he possessed Luke. Although, technically, I guess he didn't have one… Ugh! Never mind!
I stormed into the strawberry fields, barely avoiding a few plants. The last thing I needed was Pollux hollering at me about squashed fruit.
I made my way to the edge of the woods and plopped down against a tree, holding back the urge to punch it. I was pretty sure a dryad didn't live in this one, but with my luck…
In the back of my mind, a cold, hoarse voice that sounded a lot like the Oracle's whispered, A half-blood of the eldest gods, Shall reach sixteen against all odds—
"Shut up," I snapped out loud, leaning my head back against the truck.
"What did I ever do to you?" a sharp voice demanded.
I raised my head a little and found a dryad glaring at me. Crap. What did I tell you? Hopefully this wasn't her tree.
"I wasn't talking to you," I muttered darkly, returning my head to its former position.
The dryad hissed something under her breath about "obnoxious, angsty campers" and swept away.
"Excuse me if I have a little trouble dealing with the fact that Percy has to die or the world is going to end," I growled. She was gone, though. That was probably a good thing. This was not something I wanted to discuss with a random stranger. Especially not a grouchy dryad.
The voice was repeating again, sounding as gleeful as a raspy, dead mummy possibly can:
A half-blood of the eldest gods
Shall reach sixteen against all odds
And see the world in endless sleep
The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap
A single choice shall end his days
Olympus to preserve or raze.
"There," I said out loud, crossing my arms and glaring at the sky above me. "You finished. Are you happy?"
There was silence.
What am I doing? I thought to myself. The Oracle was up in the attic. It—she?—could not hear me. Or be talking in my head. I was going crazy.
I sighed, pulling my knees up to my chest and resting my chin on them. I couldn't afford to go crazy. Hades, I couldn't even afford to have any qualms about Percy's death!
But I did. A lot of them. I felt like I was on the edge of a crumbling cliff. Percy had to die, or the world would end. And either way, I was falling.
I sniffed and looked toward the Big House. The attic window was as still and silent as ever. I pictured the room beyond, that stupid mummy on her stool and forgotten quest treasures all around her.
Aphrodite's scarf was still up there.
I rubbed a finger along my jeans. I shouldn't have bothered taking it. Somewhere, deep inside, I'd known it all along. My feelings for Percy had nothing to do with a perfumed scrap of pink material.
I'd let myself fall for a boy who was destined to die.
And the thing was, I believed he could return my feelings, even if he was about to die. Maybe that's not the drama-queen, Aphrodite girl thing to say ("OMG, what if he doesn't like me back?") but I've watched him lately. Just five minutes ago, he'd been staring at me like a complete doofus.
But of course, the next thing he did was talk about Rachel. Whatever feelings he may have for me, she was trying her hardest to change his mind and make him like her. She wasn't doing too bad a job, either. I wondered, briefly, what Rachel would say if she knew that Percy was going to die.
Probably something stupid and fakey.
I had already let him know how I felt. I say again: you can not get anymore obvious than kissing somebody, even if it was for a grand total of two seconds and the next thing you did was run out on them. It was his turn to make a move, and it had better be a good one.
It didn't look like he was going to do it.
I ripped out a handful of grass and threw it as far as I could, then remembered to look around for any dryads. They would probably freak out on me over that, too.
I pushed a hand against my forehead, looking toward the Big House again. I couldn't keep sitting here. I had stuff to do, weapons to clean, battle plans to go over…
Still, I stayed where I was for another long minute, staring out at the sea. Finally, I dragged myself up and headed back toward the cabins. Once more, a cold voice inside my brain chanted, A half-blood of the eldest gods, Shall reach sixteen against—
"Stuff it!" I screamed, loud enough to turn the heads of several campers in the dining pavilion. I ignored them, nearly running for my cabin. I had to get over this. Whether I liked it or not, I had to let go. This was not the time to go boy-crazy. It was too late for anything with Percy.
It was time to go to war.
"You know… This whole thing with Beckendorf and Silena. It kind of makes you think. About… what's important. About losing people who are important."
"Um, yeah. Like… is everything cool with your family?"
A/N: I hate to say it, but this is probably one of the weakest oneshots in this series. I'm sorry! I have two others for TLO, so at least I don't feel like I've totally messed up the book, but this... I don't know. I feel like it's needed to kind of... set up the scene, I guess. But I don't think I've quite pulled it off. I'm kind of tempted to just plunge right into editing the next one so I have something else to post with it. But seeing as I have tons of makeup work to do, that's probably not going to happen...
Anyway. Once again, thank you all so much for your reviews. I cannot tell you how impossibly encouraging they are. :) I smile like an idiot whenever I read one. (Then have to awkwardly explain that I'm reading my email when everyone notices and is all "...?")
I have an event next weekend, so I might be late with the update. Again. (Oh, and the reason I'm late on this one is FFN, for inexplicable reasons, would not load yesterday evening. Seriously. I was in the middle of answering PMs and it just kicked me off.) But the next oneshot is called More Than Luck, and will be up ASAP.
No random spelling facts for this one... But I think I've rambled enough as it is. :P What can I say? I ramble.
Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day! Virtual candies for all. ;) *Passes them around*
-Dovewings
