-Allistar POV-

After they had left, I contacted Chaos via holo communicator, he had asked me to fill him in once we had stopped the attack on the camp.

I activated the communicator and an image of a little boy came onto the screen. It was the same little boy I had met in the alley way all those years ago. Chaos was in his little boy mode.

"Good afternoon Percy. I hope you and the Angels are doing well," he said.

"Yes Lord Chaos we rescued the camp and have settled in. The Angels are enjoying some down time at the moment. There will be a meeting for all of our allies tonight at Olympus. Do you plan on attending," I asked.

He seemed to ponder that for a moment then replied,

"No, I think you can handle the meeting my dear boy. I sense indecision in you, such as I have not felt since before you joined with me. What is bothering you son?"

"She is still alive… Annabeth," I said.

Chaos rocked back on his heels and nodded his head. There was something of about his behavior, as if he was hiding something.

Then I put it together, of course he knew…

"You knew they were still alive didn't you," I asked.

I couldn't hide the pain in my voice. He knew they were alive, and sent me to earth thinking they were dead anyway.

"Why? Why did you send me here thinking they were dead? Only to arrive and come face to face with the very person who broke my heart," I demanded as my anger grew.

I felt betrayed, I felt lied to. This was supposed to be my father, why hadn't he given me all the information he had? Had he kept other important information from me? Was there more I needed to find out only to break down in tears afterward?

Chaos was silent for ten seconds when I couldn't take it any longer. Anger built up inside of me and came out in a barely controlled yell,

"Answer me! What else have you hidden from us?"

Chaos looked like he was about to get angry, nobody had ever used that tone with him. But just as he looked like he was about to yell back at me, he sighed in defeat. He suddenly sat down on his throne and looked older than I had ever seen him. But this was not the old that I had come to expect from the first being, not an immortal old, but a frail old, a weak old. I felt like I was watching him age right before my eyes. He finally looked back up at me and I saw despair in his eyes. Taking a deep breath he said,

"I am so sorry for keeping this from you. I had no right, I only kept it from you because I was afraid if you knew they were alive then you would not save them. I was worried that If you knew, you would abandon them to their fate. Earth cannot fall, it must not fall. If the evil that gathers there is allowed to spread, Order will grow stronger, he will influence more, he will spread more evil, and the universe will fall into madness."

My anger dissipated suddenly. Now I felt like the one in the wrong. I had yelled at my father, the one that saved me from an eternity of torture in Hades. I had made him despair.

"Father, please forgive me. I was out of line. You were only trying to do what is right. Please say you will forgive me," I said.

Chaos looked at me and smiled. The little boy laughed, and I had forgotten what that laugh sounded like. It was as if all the joy, love, and goodness was in his voice. After laughing he said,

"We both have reasons to repent. But if you can forgive me, I will gladly forgive you."

We smiled at each other, two being destined to rule. One nearing the end of his existence, the other just beginning yet not wanting to lose his father.

"Back to the matter at hand, what are you so unsure about Percy," he asked.

"I wish to speak to her, but I need to know something Chaos. Will she reject me," I asked.

Chaos smiled sadly and replied,

"My son you must walk your path on your own. Someday I will not be here to guide you. Someday you will watch over my creation. You may not understand what I mean when I say that now, but someday you will. You must act on your own initiative. I cannot give you the answer to that question. The only thing I can say is that things are not what you think they are, and you must prepare yourself for something you thought you would never again experience."

"I do not understand, but I trust you father. I will speak to her as Allistar. I need closure with her. I need to understand where she stands. She seemed so… shattered at the news of my death today. I know you cannot answer me, but I need to find the answer to my questions. And the only way to do that is to speak with her."

Chaos beamed at me and said,

"I have told you this before, but when I fade and you take over for me, the universe will be a much better place."

I laughed and replied,

"And I have told you several times, there will never be another like you, and there will never be another who will rule as well as you."

"We will see, well I guess I won't see. But only time will tell. I wish you all the luck in the world. Go and decide you path. I love you my son" he said as the communicator turned off.

I deactivated the communicator, and walked over to my wardrobe. Not wanting to wear hot, heavy armor around all day, To protect my identity I decided on a simple black robe, and a my silver eradicator mask a race of aliens had given me after I saved their home world. I strapped my cloak on, pulled my hood over my head, put the mask on, and turned to leave to confront my old love.

-Annabeth POV-

I stared at into the vast blue ocean. I had been here for an hour now and had no intention of going back. If this is what fading was like, I would gladly accept it compared to face another day without Percy.

After he… left, we were made immortal by the council of the gods. I begged not to be turned immortal. I begged to remain mortal, to die with my grief. At least when I died I could try for rebirth, that way I would not remember my agonizing pain. But no, they made me immortal. In making me a god, they guaranteed that I would suffer in torment every day of eternity. I was now Annabeth, immortal architect of Olympus and head advisor to Athena, goddess of Wisdom. People would bow when I walked into the room, men would turn their head at stare when I walked by. I was immortal, beautiful, wise, and empty. One hundred percent, unequivocally void of all essence.

Coming to the beach helped in some small way during the first hundred years. I would come and smell the sea and remember what his breath smelled like. I would feel the gently breeze and remember how it used to untidy his black hair. I would see the waves crash against the shore and remember looking into his emerald eyes and getting lost in how beautiful they were.

Every day I would pray to every immortal who didn't hate me. I would beg them to bring him back to me. I sacrificed, I begged, I pleaded, and nothing. Poseidon had left the Olympic council and we have not seen any of him since then. Hestia had reluctantly taken his place on the council. The gods condemned the actions of Hecate and her puppet Stephen. Hermes had put their fate up to a vote. In an overwhelming decision of eleven to one, Hestia voting against it, Hecate and Stephen were sentenced to eternity in Tartarus for their heinous actions.

Even though the ones responsible faced justice, it did nothing to ease the pain. The moment the spell broke I realized what I had done. I ran to Percy's cabin, hoping beyond reason that he would be there. Obviously he wasn't. His cabin was empty, and it has not changed since, nor has a single soul stepped foot in that cabin since the day he was exiled.

I learned three things the day I was made immortal. Firstly is that I would never see my seaweed brain ever again. A fact I will never be able to accept completely. Secondly, when they tell you that you are now immortal, the enormity of that fact doesn't sink in right away, but now that I have walked this earth for half a millennia, I understand that forever, especially a forever spent alone, is a very, very long time. And lastly, so many demi-gods want to live forever as a god. But now that I have experienced a small amount of forever, I realize that there is nothing. No comfort, no love, no happiness. Never changing, never growing, frozen in eternal suffering. There is nothing, but the cold, cruel abyss of eternity.

-Line break-

During the timeless period in which I spent staring into the ocean, a familiar voice suddenly shook me from my depressed stupor.

"I have heard that the ocean of the earth is the most beautiful body of water in the universe. Now that I stand upon its shore, I agree with the accounts. It is a wonderful sight to behold."

I spun around and saw standing merely feet behind me was the Commander of the Angels: Allistar. He was dressed in simple black jeans, black shoes, and a black sweater. Around his neck hung a cloak of pure black and he was wearing a mask to most likely hide his identity. This guy sure loved the color black.

"Hello Commander," I said, not wanting to offend him by my lack of self-motivation. I was sitting in a puddle of my own tears, with puffy eyes and my voice was shaking from the effort it took to speak. But I knew that he would have little patience for self-pity. I needed to act like my mother's daughter. I needed to pull myself together.

Allistar seemed to be thinking the exact opposite as he casually sat down and sighed. I was confused at why he was so relaxed and casual. He furthered my confusion as he looked over to me and said,

"Annabeth, don't pretend to be something you're not while you are with me. I know you feel that you must put on a show because of who your mother is, but you can be yourself with me. You don't have to mask the pain you so clearly feel."

That did it, I was absolutely weeping without control. I had never cried like this before. I shrieked, I cried, and pounded my fist, I cursed, and I hurt. I had lost all self-respect at this point. Here was perhaps the second most powerful being in the universe, a man I literally just met, and I had abandoned every ounce of control around him. I was losing it, I was beginning to lose my mind.

After ten solid minutes of uncontrolled mourning, he still just sat there in silence waiting for me to pull myself together. Even though I could not see his face, I felt comfortable around this man. He let me cry for far too long and just sat there. I finally gathered myself enough to have a conversation and asked,

"Do you think I am pathetic? A daughter of the war goddess who weeps uncontrollably in front of a man she doesn't know. You must think me a joke."

He looked right at me and replied,

"You may not believe this, but I know exactly how you feel. I know what it's like to lose a part of your soul. Long ago I was separated from the woman I love. She turned her back from me, and I have not seen her since. To my knowledge she still hates me, although I would die a thousand deaths for her without hesitation. Annabeth I am curious, what happened to you? Please be completely honest, I will not judge you in any way. I just wish to know what happened that did this to you."

I suddenly felt like I could connect with him, he had gone through this as well. I did not know him at all but for some reason trusted him completely. For this reason I decided to share the exact events of my life, and my eternal mistake, something I had not done with any other person.

"Before I begin, I need you to know that I will most likely need to collect myself several times during this story. Many parts bring me to tears simply by thinking about them. And recounting them to you will bring back many of the horrors that have haunted me since that day."

He nodded his head and replied,

"I will stay silent, and I will wait with absolute patience until you have finished. Please leave nothing out and don't for a moment hide any emotions. You do not need to be afraid of yourself. I will be here for anything you may need during the time you are speaking."

I nodded my head, mentally prepared myself, took a deep breath, and began.