Two Months and Eighteen Days ago

We were really fucked at this point. The head shop money was almost gone, and as far as we knew, the only gods who were still on our side were dead. Life sucked at the moment. So we laid low. We were trying as hard as humanly possible to not think about how screwed we were. Thalia and Nico didn't leave their rooms much. Thalia loved using my shoulder as a handkerchief. The only thing that kept me from being in a similar way, was the single fact that I didn't know for sure. I felt like something had happened, I didn't think my father was dead. Something in my gut wouldn't let me accept that. I felt naïve. Thalia had told me she'd seen Poseidon be stabbed in her vision. I believed her, but for pity's sake he was a God! Hades and Zeus had to be sliced open and have their throats cut to die. I refused to accept the reality. But really, I didn't want to believe that my dad was dead. Hell, I wasn't even sure Gods could die.

I sat by the edge of the river outside the warehouse one day just watching the dirty water roll by. I felt hopeless. Then, I felt I presence behind me. Suddenly my heart leaped in my chest, I thought it was my dad. But, when I turned around Thalia was there walking up to me. I managed a soft smile, a smile she returned. She came up and sat next to me, she grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. After everything we still had each other at least. I let go of her hand and put my arm around her shoulder, tugging her close to me. She laid her head on my shoulder. I looked back out over the river. "I miss my bow." She commented with a sigh, "I don't really like guns. They're too damn loud." She would think as much, coming from the girl who was Artemis' lieutenant. She could probably shoot a fly with an arrow across this river. Then I had an idea, a perfect distraction from our current predicament. "What if I got you a new one?" She lifted her head off me and smiled, "I'd like that." So, together we hatched a plan, a plan to acquire a bow that harmed both sides of the mythical wall.

Eventually we decided on getting a crossbow instead of a normal bow, as a crossbow of the same power is considerably smaller than a normal bow. The only issue we had was finding someone who could supply us with a crossbow with the proper enchantments. We had lost almost all our contacts in the other world since the destruction of Camp. I even considered attempting to find the Roman camp, an idea I quickly abandoned, since all I knew was it existed. But I didn't know where. Soon however Nico noticed that we were not in our room anymore. He wandered outside searching for us. It didn't take him long to find the two of us seated by the edge of the water. He came up to stand behind us, I filled him in on Thalia's hate of our current arms. "We're thinking a crossbow might do. Know anywhere we can get one?" Nico thought for a few moments before snapping, "My contact can probably get us one.." I interrupted his thought. "One that can kill both monsters and mortals?" At that, he became quiet. "No harm in finding out." I looked up from the river for the first time since coming down to it. Nico had a thoughtful look on his face, I was instantly curious. "I think it's time Thalia and I met this contact of yours." Nico nodded. "I agree."

So a few hours later, we strolled into the alley where the son of Hades had spent countless hours. I had come up with an idea for a test of sorts, Riptide had been in my pocket throughout all of our exploits but I had never bothered to bring it out because it couldn't hurt mortals. Thus the test. But there was a slight issue, if this Alyssa person Nico was so fond of was indeed a demigod; Chances were good that she was a Roman. Romans and Greeks don't mix too well. Worth a shot though. So on our arrival at the alley, I reached into my pocket and grabbed the pen. Did I mention that I didn't bother to tell Nico about my test? The girl was standing exactly where he said she would be. She didn't seem to be expecting to see more than just Nico. "Who are your friends Nico?" She raised an eyebrow and moved one of her hands behind her back. I clicked my pen.

So suddenly and without warning Percy had got the idea in his head to bring out Riptide. Which, in retrospect, was not that bad an idea, but at the time. Not so much. My eyes shot between him, the sword and Alyssa. She was sporting a raised eyebrow with the same old expression she's always had. "Nice sword demigod." Our question was answered. She turned to look at me with a slight smirk, "Some how I always knew.." She commented. She raised her arm to grasp her right sleeve, she pulled the fabric up her arm to reveal the mark of the legion. She was a Roman. Fuck. Percy spoke up before I had the chance, "We would like to do some business." She chuckled as she rolled down her sleeve, "What kind of business?" In the back of my mind the thought occurred to me that we only had drachma, not Roman currency. Percy of course, didn't think of this.

"The weaponized kind, my friend here would like to see about acquiring a crossbow. One that works both ways, if you catch my drift." Percy just didn't know when to quit. "Well.." Alyssa began, "That's a whole different market there. Black market demigod armaments makes guns look like child's play." She leaned back against the door and crossed her arms over her chest. She didn't like how forward Percy was being. I looked to Thalia for some support, but she was looking at me with the same expression. Mega fuck. I stepped in front of Percy, literally, to get him to shut the hell up and so I could speak, "Aly, we need some help here. My friend Thalia here is well.." I stepped close and whispered in her ear, "Afraid of guns." Returning to a normal tone I stepped back in time to see her nod. "Alright demigods, one crossbow. It will take a few days since this isn't exactly a normal order. It will cost you at least 25 denarii..." She assumed we were Romans. Perfect. This might actually work out for a change. Only one problem, we were not Romans, and I didn't know if we even had any drachma.

Once we left Alyssa, we had to figure out some way to come up with 25 denarii. Unfortunately in this day and age, its not as easy as knocking over a 7 Eleven. So we were left with scant few options, most of which involved robbing people. We were not going to rob Alyssa, that much was certain, but who else was there? We didn't have many choices, and the pickings weren't great among them. Thalia, Nico and I headed back to the warehouse, we had a few days till the crossbow arrived so we had time. We just didn't have anything to do, but brainstorm. I sat atop one of the many piles of mattresses in the warehouse looking through what used to be windows towards the river. I had always felt safer near the water. Obvious reasons apply, but it always seemed like that was the only place where I could connect with my dad. He only contacted me when there was desperate need. The last time I heard from him was that day a nearly two months ago. Then a thought hit me, a memory. A photo album. I leapt from the tower of mattresses and bounced off a generous pile on the ground. I then made my way to mine and Thalia's bed room. I knew it was in there, it had to be. Annabeth's photo album, she had given it to me for some occasion I didn't remember at the time. I tore through my pack, I couldn't find it.

"Percy.." A soft voice broke the silence from across the room. I froze in place, and slowly turned round. There she lay, Thalia Grace, on our shared bed cradling the very thing I was looking for, like it was her child. "Looking for this?" she commented gently, a small smile on her face. I rose from my crouched position on the floor and went over to sit on the edge of the bed. It was turned to a particular page, the back cover to be exact, a note was scrawled in near perfect handwriting. "Never forget me Percy, in all that you will go on to do. Love, Annabeth." I felt tears come to my eyes, I looked up to Thalia, she looked similar. Now I remembered the occasion, it had been our six month anniversary. Grief swept my mind, I didn't quite comprehend why. I had spent numerous hours crying over her, but then it hit me. Our six month anniversary, was a year ago this month. We had broken up on bad terms, and never really gotten to be friends again. That was nine months ago. I had forgotten she had written that in there. I had forgotten her. I couldn't remember the sound of her voice. I had forgotten. I felt tears roll down my face. Thalia was crying also, she pulled me into a hug and sobbed into my hoodie. I let the tear flow, albeit silently. I missed my friends. I missed Annabeth.

Flashback, Nine months ago

I felt as though my heart had been torn out. I focus on the pain. It reminds me that I'm still alive. I sob and scream and clutch onto the bed sheets. My cabin mates knew what was going on, they were concerned. I didn't care. My best friend didn't love me anymore. I screamed so loud I knew he could hear. The noise from that cabin was considerably quieter, since there wasn't any. No one had seen him since our fight. It had started over something simple, Percy forgetting to brush his teeth, but it had evolved in a vicious hateful battle. We shouted at each other. We screamed. People stopped to watch. I hate yous were exchanged, he claimed we were just going through the motions, not really going anywhere. Then I said it, "Maybe we should just break up!" I regretted that sentence the moment it left my mouth. I remember my hands covering my mouth, I was beside myself. The look of hurt, and betrayal on his face said it all. The look didn't linger long though, moments later a look of fury overtook his features. He was shaking, then he snapped. "Fuck you Annabeth Chase! I don't know how I dealt with you for so long! We're fucking done!" He shouted so loud people in the big house probably heard. I was shocked. My mouth moved, but no words came out. He stormed off, people clear far out of his way. That was the last time people saw him. I didn't do much after that. I went back to my cabin and cried.

End Flashback

That was the last time Annabeth and I spoke. We never exchanged words again, I don't think we even made eye contact. Now I would never have a chance again. She was in the afterlife. I held onto Thalia for dear life, she returned my embrace. I didn't feel alone for the first time in a long while. I wiped my eyes and pulled back, looking down at her with a soft smile. She looked back up at me, searching my face with her piercing blue eyes. "I love you Percy Jackson." She said with a smile. "I love you Thalia Grace." I leaned in and pressed my lips to hers. For a moment it seemed the world stopped, there was nothing but me and her. Nothing else mattered, for a moment, no one was trying to kill us, we weren't afraid. For a moment, we were free. Soaring high above the clouds, we were with the gods. Then the moment ended, we parted. The feeling was gone. Our arms still held us together, but something was missing. Contact. Our eyes locked, our lips reunited.

I knew they had been together. It wasn't exactly a secret. They had been inseparable the first few months, then they started arguing. It didn't happen often for a while, but then it was every day something was a miss. Their fights became like a sporting event for some people. The Stolls even took bets on who would win at one point. Bets which I am ashamed to say Nico and I took. Then they broke up, and everyone was shocked. Which in retrospect, is a little surprising given that bets were taken. Annabeth wouldn't stop screaming til her voice went hoarse and Percy disappeared for a while. I was staying in a hotel in SoHo for a few days, so I didn't exactly hear about it til later, when he appeared at my door. He looked like he had run the New York marathon, been hit by a train, mugged, mauled by a bear and puked on. Suffice to say he looked like shit. He stumbled into me like he was about to collapse. Needless to say, I was stunned. Even more so since I was there on Hunter business, and being the lieutenant it was bad practice for me to be seen with a boy. But I didn't care. I didn't know why he was here or why he looked like he did. I didn't even know about him and Annabeth breaking up yet. But I was about to be informed, he looked me in the eye and that was when I noticed his eyes were blood shot and his face was tear stained. "We broke up." He said in a manner so fragile I didn't know what to think. I had never heard him speak like that or look like he did. "Come on inside." I remember saying. He stayed with me until just before I checked out of the hotel a few days later. So he could avoid the awkward situation of him and me coming out of the same room, greeted by a large group of immortal virgins.

While Percy and Thalia were back at the warehouse doing whatever they were doing, I was out doing other things. Alyssa was occupied with finding us that crossbow, so she wasn't available. I had my headphones jammed in my ears iPod set on shuffle. I had thousands of songs on that thing so anything could play at anytime. A particular song came on, Far From Home by Five Finger Death Punch. A song I had heard maybe once in my life. But this song struck me like lightning. By the time the line "The faces of people I'll never see again" was screamed at me I had collapsed into a ball in an alleyway. When the song ended I dug my iPod out of my pocket and replayed it. Once, twice, three times, I sat there in that alley for close to an hour listening to the same song. It was getting close to eight o'clock. I decided to head back, and to walk there instead of shadow traveling like I would normally. It gave me time to collect my thoughts, and listen to the song some more.

Thalia and I had fallen asleep soon after our make out session ended, the photo album had been forgotten between us and ended up on the floor. Nico got back some time later and walked by our room just as I was starting to wake up. He stopped in the doorway and looked in at us and shook his head. I yawned and rubbed my eyes, nearly oblivious to his presence. "What?" I asked sleepily, he sighed and started to say the word nothing, but something caught his eye. "Whats that on the floor?" he questioned in a curious manner. In my half awake state of mind I had no idea what he was talking about, but something in the back of my mind said Annabeth. Then my brain kicked on and I opened my eyes, before looking down to the white book on the floor. "It's a photo album Annabeth gave me." Instantly he was upon it, he opened the book and flipped through page after page of pain. He muttered "The faces of people I'll never see again." Thalia, awoken by my stirring and us talking sat up and followed my line of sight. The picture on the page was one of all of us, Grover, Clarrise, Annabeth, Nico, Thalia, me, Chiron, Juniper. Everyone. The whole camp, we were in the middle of down town Manhattan, so the picture must have been taken soon after we had defeated Kronos. We just sat there, the three of us, looking over those old photos. We laughed at a few, shed some tears at others.

Meanwhile

A giants flaming star was visible through numerous layers of UV proof polyurethane, a large horse shoe shaped room was behind the massive window. A large yet sparsely furnished room, nothing but a large glowing sphere and a throne with a lone figure seated upon it. The creator of the universe watched the three heroes, he saw something interesting in them. He saw mercy, compassion, regret. Aboard his purgatory class warship, the Donec Pretium, he observed them on what mortals would call a big ass crystal ball. A device he called the lucis visus, it allowed him to see anyone at anytime. It served as a great way to keep an eye on his creation. The fact that his attention was focused on them in the first place was a great honor alone. The god preferred to use Latin instead of Greek, although he wasn't sure why. "Alyssa." He called from his seated position, the girl whom the Nico had known for months stepped out of the shadows behind him and bowed respectfully. "Lord Chaos, are you satisfied with their progress?" The god said nothing he simply sighed before standing from his chair. Compared to how he looked to Percy in his dream, this form was far from frightening. He wore a white dress suits with a black tie, though he had long white hair instead of a bald head. His eyes, however, remained frightfully pale, white, and empty. He turned to face her with a bemused expression, "Rise, captain Holt. I am quite satisfied, indeed." Alyssa arouse from her bowed position and looked to her lord. "Thank you Lord Chaos." The god strolled around to the back of his throne, his hands behind his back. "I must admit miss Holt, I was surprised when you volunteered for this assignment. Being a daughter of Nyx, I am amazed that the monsters of the mortal world were not swarming you the moment you arrived." She smirked, "A little distraction helps, the foolish Romans think I am but a daughter of Nike." The god laughed heartily, he shook his head with the same amused expression. "Foolish mortals. The know not what sits right in front of them. Is the Morsus ready for launch yet? Long have I awaited an Inferno class vessel." Alyssa responded quickly, "The Morsus ran into some difficulties, it's progress has been delayed significantly." Chaos didn't seem concerned, "Very well. That is all Alyssa, return to your post on earth." The god of the void returned to his previous position seated upon the throne, looking out across the vast surface of the gas giant. Alyssa bowed once more before turning on her heel and exiting the throne room.

Behold. Chapter 10. Updates will hopefully be coming in a quicker fashion in the future as my thoughts sort of pool together. Reviews speed up my words per minute. ~Muffin