Annabeth:
After the war with the Titans, Percy's eyes have never been the same. There has always been a tinge of sadness in his murky green, blue eyes. Even when he laughed. His mouth moved in the same pattern every time he would laugh, like he practiced it in his cabin in front of a mirror to fool everyone. But not me. He couldn't fool me. His mouth would curl at the edges to make a shape that resembled a smile, but when you had known Percy for as long as I have known him, you could tell that this smile was forced. This smile was not the smile that broke out on his face and lit up the room when someone told a corny joke or recapped something funny that had happened that day. His walk was not the same. He used to walk with confidence and precision. Like he knew where he was going and exactly what he was going to do. I envied that about him. But now, he walks as if a sword was plunged in his side and as if the Earth were to split open and swallow him up, he would say, "Thank you, I really needed that". This was not the same Percy I fell in love with. Yet, I still love him to the bottom of Tartus. I would've followed the old Percy anywhere. To the ends of the world. Now, it seems I would only follow him halfway. And I bet that's what he feels too. Not full, half-full. It's as if the battle of the Titans drained something from him. I take that back, it's as if it offered him something that he could not reach. Like how kids can see the cookie jar but can't reach the delicious sweets that lie inside. I've tried everything to cheer him up. Games, kisses, swimming. But everything I try has failed. Grover has even come back to try to hang out with him. But Percy locked himself inside his room. It's almost as if we remind him of something he once had but lost. Eventually, I almost gave up. I almost gave up on the person of whom I've spent fighting for almost 5 years. Weeks went by and a routine had settled with Percy. Wake up. Have breakfast with me and Grover. Retreat back to his room for the rest of the afternoon. Go swim until it gets dark. Kiss me goodnight. Sleep. Repeat. I want to press a magic button to make him stop. To make him realize that he is not losing anything. And yet, I can't even convince myself that.