Songs are by Fleetwood Mac and Pearl Jam respectively. Two songs for two souls.

Listen to these two please.

Also, I'm trying something crazy here. So just go with it. If it's confusing, if you don't understand, good. Thats exactly how (this) Percy feels.

Chapter 19: Dreams/Just Breathe

I'll manage.

That's what Percy had said. When they'd asked him if he could go into the church, asked him if he'd be okay, he'd spat out the same two words each and every time.

I'll manage.

Yeah. Who the fuck was he kidding? The second Percy stepped through the doors of the church it all just went to shit.

His skin started to smoke immediately, and not just a little bit, no the entirety of his body started puffing out trails of smoke into the air. Percy groaned the second the building surrounded him, feeling himself slip from Annabeth and Nico's arms as he fell to the ground.

He landed with a graceless thud and immediately hissed in pain as his hands met the floorboards. They smoked, then sparked, then the wood caught fire, immolating under his palms. Annabeth and Nico both reached for him but he three his hands out to stop them.

"Don't!" He grunted, "Don't touch me."

He struggled to his feet, taking note of the fact that blood had started to drip from his body. Eyes, nose, mouth, ears. It felt like his head was in a vice and being boiled from the inside out all at once. He struggled as he moved, with every step feeling like it was through tar and every breath feeling like it was on fire.

He took pause and noticed something. He was breathing, and it wasn't by choice. His body lurched and his lungs heaved, desperately sucking in breath after breath as he struggled forward into the church. It was like the building had wound itself around him like a boa constrictor, and was desperately trying to choke the poison from his body.

He struggled forward, grabbing the pews for support and letting out pained groans as they hissed under his flesh. Every step was agony, every pace was strained, every time he moved it was like he was surrounded in boiling molasses, slowly marching forward.

It hurt, but that was a good thing, because it meant it would hurt her too.

He eventually made his way up to the lectern, letting out an unimpressive yell as he collapsed on the floor under the crucifix.

He looked up, at the wooden carving of Jesus, and the statues eyes bled just as his did.

He let out a hissing sneer at the statue, before grunting out, "Bet you're loving this, aren't you?"

His friends followed close in tow, keeping up with him as he tried to collect himself on the floor. His body still burned, churning with pain from the place he'd entered, but... he wasn't burning up. Not completely at least.

Annabeth got down on her knees next to him, her face warped with worry as she gently took his face in her hands. She traced small circles in his cheeks as he forced out a choking laugh and a smile.

"See why I didn't want to come in before?" He struggled out.

She sputtered out something between a laugh and a scoff as she wiped the blood from his face. His breathing suddenly deepened a bit, as his form tensed in her hands.

"She's coming." He said, bringing his fingers up to his temple as he grit his teeth in pain.

"Are you sure?" Thalia asked over her shoulder.

He nodded, "I hear her. In my head, I hear her."

Thalia gave him a steely look before she cracked her neck and turned forward.

"Good. I've got a little something for her."

She reared her head up and started to change. Her bones cracked, her jaw elongated, her teeth grew into fangs which elongated into a snout as her limbs cracked themselves into a hounds four legs. A tail sprouted and she leaned on all fours, snarling as Nico looked at her in a three way mix of shock, amazement, and slight disgust.

"Jesus Thalia..."

He probably would've said more but was distracted by that agonized scream that poured from Percy's mouth. He looked over and caught sight of his friend, who had fire blasting out of his ears.

"DON'T FUCKING SAY THAT, NICO!" Percy cried in agony as his hands went up to his ears, "Not in here!"

Nico apologized as he drew his gun and looked back at the door.

It was rattling, and they all saw that.

Percy struggled to his feet, tearing a chunk of the lectern free as he rose. He clutched the stake tight. Tight enough that it drew blood from his palm. Tight enough that it hurt.

It hurt, but it didn't hurt enough. It should've hurt more. Enough to distract him.

He knew what he had to do.

The doors stopped shaking for a moment, growing eerily still. The group caught themselves, leering in a bit as Thalia softly growled.

They stayed still, until they blasted off their hinges, blowing into the building as they knocked the pews to the side. Nico and Annabeth both recoiled and Thalia let out a vicious snarl.

Percy didn't move. Not even as the doors flew through the stained glass behind him or the pew smashed to pieces before him.

No. All he did was stare as she stood just outside the doorway.

Zoe. His Zoe. His demon in an angels garb. His prophet, his messiah. The one who'd led him from his flock and guided him asunder. The one who'd stretched out tender arms, cloaked in silk as she beckoned him forth, before she bore her fangs and chained his soul to the ground. She was there, in the church. She was there and he was here and the stake was in his hand.

It was all so perfect, wasn't it?

He knew what he had to do.

She took a step towards the church, layingher hand in the doorframe in spite of how it burned and burst with flame at her touch.

"Percy..." She spoke, in a voice so beautiful Percy could even see Nico's revolver lower a bit.

"Percy... please..." Her voice was tight. It was so real, so human, that if he didn't know better he'd think she was just a heartbroken girl begging for a second chance.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that's exactly what she was.

He took an agonizing step back, motion to his friends to get behind him.

"Stay close to the cross." He muttered through gritted teeth into Annabeth's ear, "If she gets close. Get out. I won't hear any arguments."

She met his eyes and he met hers. They met, and there was something. A moment of tenderness that flowed between them. Thick enough to feel, strong enough to smell, rich enough to taste.

He drew a deep breath and savored it. It was something he wished he could promise they'd share for years, something they'd leave this place and let flow eternally, but Percy Jackson wasn't a liar.

And a lie is all that would be.

He let his hand slip form hers, not even realizing she'd been gripping it. He turned away from her face, forcing himself to look away as he instead pointed his gaze at Zoe.

There was nothing in her eyes but a fire that burned greater than the flames beneath her palm. A fire burning from hurt, fueled by what he knew was genuine.

He knew what he had to do.

He marched towards her, stopping in rhe middle of the church as he clutched the stake in his hand. If she'd seen it, she hadn't made that obvious, but he'd doubted she had.

All she could stare at was his eyes. His sea green orbs that he knew was the only thing she wanted.

He was a threat, a danger to her. Unlike anything he'd ever been before and unlike anything she'd ever known him to be. He was dangerous, but she didn't know it.

That thought made him burn with self disgust.

She reached a hand out. Past the doorway, deep into the pain she knew was there, but put herself into regardless.

"Percy..." She pleaded. There were tears in her eyes, and he knew it, "Please... come with me..."

He was firm, and unmoving. He stood still and said nothing, but she heard all she needed to.

She stepped forward, walking into the church.

The second she stepped in, the doorway behind her burst into flames.

The fire spread rapidly, following her path as it spread across the building. It soaked the walls, it singed the floor, the pews that were left went up in flames. It matched an emotion her face didn't show, and showed an emotion she couldn't possibly express.

Bitter, agonizing, sadness.

She crossed towards him and he took note that the church wasn't stopping her at all. He felt panic build up, a panic that was warranted.

He turned from her, shooting a look at his friends that said all they needed.

Run.

They looked at him, and met his eyes, and he knew they knew.

Nico pulled Annabeth back, ripping her from her trance as tears poured down her face. Thalia led them, slashing her claws across a back exit and tearing the lumber to shreds.

He watched them leave, and that all he could do before she spoke.

"Look at me."

He felt it. The thing he'd dreaded. The thing he knew was coming but feared nonetheless. The thing he had for decades desperately tried to resist, but knew he couldn't.

She leaned in, whispered, and there he was.

A passenger in his own body.

He faced her, his face taught as his teeth grit and his hands remained locked at his sides.

She approached him, moving with grace even as an inferno sprouted from her path and flaming wings spread from behind her, casting their span over his vision.

She was staring at him. Eyes red with blood as tears poured down her face. Her lip trembled, her brow furrowed, and every ounce of her form shook with every emotion Percy knew there could be.

Fear. Pain. Regret. Longing. Rage. Jealousy. Envy. Disgust. Desire. Hunger. Want. Need. Lust. Hatred.

Love.

Love was there. It always had been, hadn't it? From the very second, the very bloody second she'd marched into that bar and laid her eyes on him, the only emotion she'd felt or cast or shown or held was love.

Pure and true.

Caring and pleading.

Begging to be returned.

Crying out until it's throat bled, out into the darkness for years and years, even as the darkness kept its silence and met her with nothing.

It permeated, it festered, it grew. The love she'd had and the disdain the darkness felt. They matched each other, growing as one, laying waste to all that came before or would come after as they stretched out towards one another.

Their forms mingled, their bodies united, their skin touched, and from his lips, she drew his breath.

She held it tight, pressed it deep within herself, and became whole.

And now this was what they were. Her, a lover in sorrow, and him, a victim in chains.

Or was it the other way around?

What did he feel anymore?

What did he feel towards her?

What did he feel at all?

She reached out a palm, gently placing it on his chest as she let a bitter frown cross her face. There wasn't a heartbeat, but he wished he could be wrong. He wished it could just exist and he could leave her to herself. But he couldn't, could he?

He knew what he had to do.

"All the trouble this has caused..." She muttered to herself. She let her fingers dig into his chest and cut through his flesh.

He groaned. In pain, and in misery, and both came from far more than her fingers. They came from her. Her agony, her misery, her desire. All that which he could not return.

She grit her teeth as she pulled away, crossing her arms for a moment as she stared at the floor.

"This is it then. Isn't it?"

He didn't answer. He couldn't answer. He could do nothing but grit his teeth and struggle against the bonds that tied him to the floorboards. His body burned even harder the less he could move, searing his flesh as the smoke continued to rise from his form.

She looked back up at him, not expecting an answer. She just took a step forward, placing a shaky hand on his chest as she did.

"I love you."

The words weren't angry. Nor were they sad. There was nothing there but blunt honesty. They flowed from her as a gentle whisper, meant for his ears and his alone.

That's what hurt the most.

She pressed a little closer and laid her head on his chest, taking her own deep breath as the inferno raged around them.

Her hands drew themselves around him, pulling him tight. She pressed herself tight to his frozen form, taking comfort in him. It didn't matter that he didn't respond, that no words came forth.

All that mattered was the moment, sonshe savored it. She ran her hands up his body, to his face, and made him look at her.

"Tell me you love me."

He grit his teeth, fighting back against this. Against all that this was. Against all she wanted it to be.

She frowned, letting a defeated look fall over her face.

"If you won't say it..." She raised her hand up, pressing it against his forehead.

"...Then I'll show you why you should."

He felt everything go bright, then dark, then there was nothing.

No fire.

No smoke.

No church.

Nothing.

Then his eyes opened and air ripped into his lungs. His eyes bulged and his mouth flew open as shaky breaths worked their way in and out of his body.

He was... he didn't know where he was. He didn't understand at all. Where was the church? Or the fire? Or any of it? All he could see around him was darkness, a void empty of anything.

He blinked his eyes, and suddenly it all changed. He wasn't in the void anymore.

He was in a truck. A truck in front of a cabin.

He took a shaky breath, feeling himself draw air in and out again and taking note that the air he tasted was frigid. It tasted nothing like the air he'd been breathing the past two weeks. It was cold, and it felt like it froze in his lungs.

He took note of some other things. His clothes, for one thing, had changed. His old white tee and jeans were gone, replaced by something different. A police uniform. A black police uniform, with a leather bomber jacket over it.

He ran his hands over it before those same hands went up to his head and he felt at what say on his brow, before pulling it off to take a look at it.

A cowboy hat. A black cowboy hat.

He stared at the hat as his hand fumbled at the door handle, opening it wide as he stepped out of the truck in a daze. He shut it behind him, taking note of the trucks sea green colour and how there were police lights mounted on the roof.

He tentatively put the hat back on his head as he stared up at the cabin.

It was a simple thing. A low, broad, wooden structure. With a porch swing and a garage and a wrap around deck. He walked up to the door, slowly approaching and raking note of the mat that laid on the ground in front of it.

It had a little image of a dog with an eyepatch on it, and had words that read Sea dogs rest yer bones here.

It all felt... so familiar. He knew he'd never been here before, that this was all new to him and that it wasn't anything he'd ever experienced, but... it felt so familiar. Like there were memories in his head of this place. Good memories. Memories that were just out of reach but warranted reaching for.

He got up to the door and felt his hand move in its own, reaching into his pocket. He fished something out first; a lighter. An engraved thing, like rhe one he'd had years ago, with Celtic knots and a silver shell. He frowned at it and stuffed it back in his pocket before he fished out what he really needed.

His key.

He brought it up to the lock and felt it turn, the tumblers clicking as the door unlocked for him.

It wasn't even in for a micro second before the door flung open, and there she was.

Zoe, and she looked... she looked breathtaking. Her hair cascaded down her shoulders. Her eyes glowed like onyx emeralds. Her features were as smooth as an angels. Her face was pulled into a frown, but he coukd tell she was trying to hide a smile.

He felt his hand move, all on its own again as he picked his hat off his head and threw it on the hat rack next to the door.

"Honey." He said, "I'm home."

He didn't know why he said that. He never said things like that, so why was he saying it now?

Zoe's eyes narrowed as her hands went to her hips.

"You're late."

He blinked a couple times, as more lines he didn't know but his mouth knew to speak drew themselves from him.

"Well, you did tell me to be, to be fair."

Zoe let her eyes narrow a bit, before her lips pulled into a pout, "Yeah, well that's before I realized how much I'd miss you."

She reached forward and grabbed his arm, pulling him into he foreign home he didn't recognize yet knew was familiar. She dragged him deeper, past the hallway that he knew too well, past the kitchen that held so much he didn't know, into the living room that he knew meant a lot to them.

To both of them, that's why there was paint cans stacked on the coffee table.

He looked at the paint, and felt more words pull themselves from inside him.

"I... I'm guessing this is the Zoe and Percy colour, right?"

She smiled, pressing a gentle hand against him.

"It's a special colour to me, Percy. It's the beginning of some things, the ending of others."

Her eyes flicked up to his, and for a moment they glowed.

"Wouldn't you agree?"

He felt his mouth snap shut as his eyes blinked, and for a second, just a fraction of a second, he smelled something.

Smoke. He smelled smoke.

He... why did he smell smoke?

He...

He shook the thought from his head. What smoke? There wasn't any smoke. The last time there'd been smoke in here is when he'd burned venison in their stove.

He wrapped his arms around her, feeling her melt into his arms as a smile spread over her face.

"Y'know, I think I agree. It's got that certain something just just screams Us." He replied with a smile. His voice... it was different. There wasn't an accent anymore.

Accent? He'd had an accent?

She beamed a grin at him, before she slipped from his arms and grabbed one of the paint cans off the table, holding it up for him.

He let out a sigh and fished out his lighter, striking it as it extended into a silver sword in his hand.

"Thank you Percy" She said in a mocking tone.

"You're welcome Zoe." He said, matching her tone as he cut open the paint cans and dumped the contents into the tray.

He smiled at the tray before he glanced at his sword. He froze for a second when he laid his eyes on it. It was the same as it had always been, the same silver blade with runes along it, but for a second...

He could've sworn it was made of wood.

He shook his head as he collapsed the blade, pocketed the lighter, rolled up his sleeves, and grabbed a brush.

They painted, running their brushes over the walls of the living room. His mind swirled as his brush left strokes on the drywall. Something felt wrong. Something he couldn't quite lay his finger on, but he knew was there.

She was humming something. Something he knew well, a song he'd heard for so long, so much longer than one should.

... Why did he think that?

They finished painting, taking a step back to the doorway as they stood and admired their handiwork. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder as he stood with a smile.

"So..." He began.

"So?" She mused.

"So..." He continued, a smile spreading over his face, "I..."

His face fell a bit as he felt his mind shift.

What... what was he going to say?

What... what was happening. Where was he? What was this? He felt his brow furrow and his smile drop further as errant thoughts scraped across his brain, fighting for his attention.

He smelled smoke.

It got quiet, too quiet. Zoe noticed. She slid her hand up to his cheek and let out a soft shaky breath.

"You have something for me." She said in a quiet, defeated tone.

"What?" He asked, pressing a finger to his temple. A name started weaving its way into his mind. A name he swore he knew but couldn't place his finger on.

Anna... Something. What was the name?

She traced a gentle circle on his cheek with her thumb and the feeling of her flesh drew his attention back to reality.

Reality?

"You were going to say..." Her eyes flicked up to his and they held nothing but sadness, "...you have something for me."

His eyes blinked, then blinked again, then a smile spread over his face.

"I've got something for you."

She raised her eyebrows and nodded, "Well that's quite the coincidence, Jackson."

He felt his eyes squint, "Why's that?"

A smile drew itself across her face as she looked up at him, "Because I got you something too, dummy."

He slid his arm off her shoulders and walked back over to his coat, plucking something out of the pocket as he shot her a soft smile over his shoulder.

"Close your eyes."

She sighed, rolled them, and shut them tight. He took her hand and led her to the bathroom. She stood in front of the mirror as he smiled and opened his palm, observing what he held.

It was a necklace. A necklace with a simple, silver pendant of an archer. It glinted slightly in the light and he felt his smile waver a bit as he looked at it.

It was silver. The metal, silver...

Why did that matter to him?

"I'm waiting, Jackson." Zoe said, as she crossed her arms across her chest.

He shook himself back into focus and put the necklace around her neck, ejecting his hands on her shoulders when he was done.

"Alright, open them."

She did, and he watched as her eyes lit up at the sight. They sparkled gently as she put a hand over her mouth.

"It's beautiful..." She said in a gentle voice.

He smiled, "Maybe... but it's nothing compared to you."

She turned around in his grip, spinning as she rested her hands on his cheeks. She was so beautiful. Her skin glowed, her eyes burned, her hair cascaded like a waterfall of magma down her shoulders.

She drew him close, pulling his face toward hers until their lips met. His hands slid, first to her waist, them her back, clutching her tight as he deepened the kiss. She shivered gently in his touch, melting into him as they were lost in each other's arms.

He wanted to focus on her, and her alone. Give her every ounce of himself, pour his heart into her hands, but... he couldn't.

Something nagged at him, at the corner of his mind. Something that cried out from nothing, and called him towards it.

A voice. Calling his name.

His eyes were closed when he kissed her, but something told him to open them.

He did, and looked in the mirror, and it was wrong.

She wasn't wearing the grey sweatshirt she had on. She was clad in a tight shirt and jeans. His cops outfit was gone, replaced by his own jeans and a white t-shirt. Their bodies were still embraced, their lips still together, but the home, their home...

It burned all around them.

He pulled away quickly, drawing a shaky breath as she ran a gentle hand up his cheek.

"Percy?" She asked, her voice wrought with worry, "Is something wrong?"

He took another shaky breath, snapping his eyes back to the mirror. The image was gone, faded back to mirror this reality, but he couldn't ignore it. He knew exactly what he saw.

She ran her second hand up, turning his head so he'd face her.

"Percy..." She looked him in the eye, and he met her gaze.

Thoughts pried at him.

Reality wavered.

The veil rippled.

He smelled smoke.

He felt heat.

She closed her eyes and drew a breath, snapping them open as she exhaled.

For a moment, they glowed.

"Let's go to the kitchen." She forced a smile back on her face, one he saw right through, "I've got a surprise for you."

She led him out of the bathroom, closing the door behind her as she pulled him by the hand into the kitchen.

He was uneasy. He kept looking around, looking for something, something that sat just beyond his reach but grazed his fingertips. Something he knew, but didn't.

A name.

A voice.

A girl.

Blonde hair and grey eyes, both of which he couldn't shake from his mind, no matter how hard he tried.

He didn't want to try, though.

His hands clenched at his sides as Zoe pulled out a record player. A record player, just like the one back at... at somewhere. Somewhere that made him think and made him hurt, hut he didn't know why. Somewhere that he knew, but didn't.

She set it down on the counter as she shifted a vinyl into the tray and dropped the needle.

The song started to play, drowning out the cries that called out to his mind..

It was one he knew, Dreams by Fleetwood Mac.

Zoe turned to him and caught the look in his eye. The uncertainty, the confusion, the pain. She saw it and she knew it and it's what made her gaze fall.

She stepped towards him, reaching out and taking her hands in his. It was a motion he knew well, but not with her.

He... he knew who it was with.

She looked up at him, forcing another smile.

"Feel like dancing, Jackson?"

He didn't respond, not how he knew she wanted to. There were lines there, a script of words that he knew he should say, that he knew she wanted him to say.

But he couldn't.

He met her gaze, took a shaky breath, and spoke.

In a thick, Texan accent.

"What is this, Zoe?"

She kept her smile, forcing it on her mouth, before it finally fell, dropping from her face and sinking like a stone into the ocean. Her eyes darkened, her eyelids drooping as her eyes laid themselves on his chest.

"This is our life, Percy." She whispered, in a tone he didn't want to hear.

He shook his head and took a step back, removing his hands from hers.

"No. No it isn't, this..." He looked around as he drew a shaky breath, "... what is this."

He raised his hands in front of his face, reaching up to feel if his flesh was real, but stopped when he got a look at them.

They were covered in blood.

He snapped his eyes forward to face her, and there was nothing but pain in those onyx orbs.

He took another step away, lowering his now shaking hands.

"What is this Zoe?"

A silence fell over the two. A dull silence that nearly deafened him. Percy heard a hum in his ears, a droning buzz that got louder and louder.

Zoe took a shaky breath through her nose and met his eyes.

"It's a reality." Her voice was weak, barely hiding back what he knew took everything from her.

"...but not ours." She continued, her voice a scattered mess of desire and devastation, "Something that could've been, but wasn't. Something that should've been, but never was. Something I plucked out of the ether and made real. Just for us."

She took a step forward, moving closer to him.

"Something I want more than anything. Something I want to share with you, and you alone."

He drew a breath, one he knew he didn't need to.

"Why?"

Her hand came out, and laid itself onto his chest.

"Because you..." Her voice faltered. Her eyes pressed themselves closed and he watched as a tear dripped from her eye. She took a shaky breath and exhaled, opening her eyes and staring at his chest.

"Because here you love me back."

He stayed still, watching as her head fell and her eyes streamed tears. Her arms pulled themselves across her form, clutching tight as the tears brought sobs and the sobs shook her body. This was breaking her, he knew it was, and maybe that's what made him say what he said.

Or maybe he said it because it was the truth.

"I do love you, Zoe."

Her eyes snapped up to his. So fast he thought she'd break something. She drew back a sniffle, wiping the tears from her eyes with her hand as she took a tentative step forward. There was fear in her eyes, but a different kind now. Fear that this was a trick, or worse, fear that if it wasn't, she'd find some way to ruin it.

She reached a shaky hand out, not far enough to touch, but far enough that he knew she wanted to.

He drew a breath, and stepped forward. Pressing himself against her palm.

She closed her eyes, letting out another soft sob as she collapsed against him. It was somber sound. A tragic noise of relief that was coming all too late.

For either of them.

He knew what he had to do.

His hands came up, rested themselves on her shoulders, and pulled her tight. He held her, even as the smell of smoke burned his nose and the heat started kissing his feet.

"I love you Zoe. I love so much about you."

She lifted her eyes to his. Her onyx eyes that only glinted for him.

The counter tops caught fire.

"I love the way you cared for me, even when I was cruel to you."

A ghost of a smile pulled at her lips threatening to spread.

The cupboards singed with flames.

"I love the way you hold me tight, whenever you can get your hands on me."

Her smile grew as her tears stopped falling.

The walls around them collapsed, falling inwards against the singed floor.

"I love the way you smile when you look at me." He let his own smile grow, "No one ever smiled at me like that. Not before you."

Her eyes shut tight and her smile grew as she listened to what he said.

The roof collapsed above them and the rain soaked them both.

"And when I kiss you..." He moved his hand just under her chin and gently tilted her face upwards. She didn't hesitate, she met his eyes with all she had.

"... It..." He furrowed his brow and took a shaky breath, swallowing the sadness he knew was there, "... it feels like nothing else, Zoe."

She watched his reaction, watched his emotion slip through, watched as the true him, the true Percy, finally showed itself to her. Fully and completely.

She ran her hand up, then the other, pulled him in, and they kissed.

They pulled each other close, his hands slipping around her back as hers tangled themselves into his mess of hair. She pulled him in and he felt his brow furrow as he desperately clung to her, holding her tight as they pressed ad close as they could.

Closer than they'd ever been before, and closer than they'd ever be again.

He pulled away, breaking the contact, and he met her eyes again. She opened her mouth and spoke.

"I..." She faltered, closing her eyes and taking a slow, deep breath, "...I want this forever, Percy."

He drew a breath and let his hands slip in to her cheeks. He couldn't help it. Any of this. He couldn't help the emotions they were suffering through as much as he could help the fire that raged around them.

"I..." His voice broke and he looked down.

"I don't."

He watched as her eyes tightened and fresh tears poured down her face. She opened them, and couldn't meet his eyes. She just stared at his chest.

"Then you know what you have to do."

He knew what he had to do.

He knew what she wanted, what she needed, what she couldn't live without.

Him

Forever.

She wanted him forever.

But forever isn't for everyone, is it?

He looked up, into the hole that had burned its way into the roof, up into the sky.

The stars were shining up above them.

"They're beautiful, aren't they?" He spoke.

He heard her take a deep breath and let it out, all before staring up at the sky.

"They are." She replied, "They only look better the longer you look at them, and I've had a long time to look at them."

He wanted to ask her, How long? But it didn't matter anymore.

He dropped his gaze down, and found her staring into his eyes, and suddenly realized, she was never talking about the stars, was she?

He reached up, into his pocket, and felt his hand clasp around the stake. It burned in his hand, even if the fire didn't touch it.

He knew what he had to do.

He laid his hand on her cheek, and felt her shiver at the touch.

"I..." He drew another breath, staring into her eyes as tears poured from his.

"I'm sorry, Zoe."

She laid her hand in his, closed her eyes, and let out a shaky breath.

"It's okay, Percy." Her voice was weak. It was a lie, a lie they both chose to believe, because it was sweeter than the truth they both were forced to bear.

It's okay.

It wasn't. It never would be again.

He ran his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in. One last time, for one last kiss.

Their lips met, their forms touched, their bodies pressed themselves together, they finally became one.

And he did it.

She didn't scream, or cry, or try to get away. Her body stiffened, tensing up as her arms clenched around him tight. They pulled her form against him, clinging to him for safety even as he was the danger. Holding him tight even as he was the bitter end.

He was no better, pressing his face into her shoulder and letting out deep, heart wrenching sobs as he felt her arms loosen, her skin leave his, her, body start to crumble.

He felt her pull away, her beautiful eyes looking at him one last time. One last time, before they closed. One last time before it all went dark.

One last time, so he'd be the last thing she ever saw.

She shut them tight, her hands left his body, her body went still.

And she crumbled to dust in his arms.

And that was it.

The stake fell from his hand as he fell to his knees and dropped his head into his hands. He sobbed, not bothering to hold it back and not bothering to hide. Tears dripped from his face, evaporating as they struck the flames.

He was free. At last he was free. But why?

Why did it have to be like this?

His for settled, easing itself off his knees as he leaned back and sat down, kicking his knees up and resting his forearms on them.

He stared at the pile of ash on the ground. The pile that was once her.

He stared at it, closed his eyes, and tried to picture her.

He couldn't. Not well enough, anyways.

His eyes opened and he drew a breath, coughing violently.

He wondered if he should just stay there. Stay in the church as it burned around him, wait for it to collapse and crush him.

He considered it, honestly, before he felt a pair of hands grab his collar and drag him out of the church.

He burst through the back door just as the building collapsed, falling into itself in a towering inferno.

His savior dropped him flat on his back on the ground as rain washed over him.

It wasn't a monsoon anymore. It was soft, gentle rain. The storm had passed, and this was but an echo of it.

He watched as the person who saved him dropped in front of him and grabbed his collar, shouting words at him that sounded like faded mumbles.

He took in the features.

Blonde hair.

Grey eyes.

Tan skin.

Beauty.

Beauty that he remembered properly now.

Beauty that had tied him to this world, even when he'd been miles from it.

It was the last thing he saw before he felt himself slip into unconsciousness.