Percy
They stood outside the small house in San Francisco, the Golden Gate Bridge a dark silhouette against the setting sun. Nico stuffed a square of ambrosia into his mouth and chewed slowly as Percy took several shaking breaths. He gathered every last shred of courage he had left and knocked on the front door.
He flashed back to the winter Annabeth had disappeared when Mrs. Chase opened the door for him, her dark hair tied back. Percy fiddled uncomfortably with the small bag in his hand. He stood with his spine stiff as he looked at the woman standing in front of him.
"Mrs. Chase, is Dr. Chase home?" Annabeth's stepmother's hand fluttered over her heart.
"Why?" She asked hoarsely, stark fear covering her face. He stood there, the silence nearly painful.
"Where is Annabeth?" She whispered. Percy just stood there, looking at his feet fighting back the tears in his eyes. Dr. Chase suddenly came down the stairs, his expression slightly dazed and distracted.
"Honey have you seen my..." He trailed off when he saw Percy standing in the doorway, his wife transfixed with a look of horror on her face.
"I'm sorry." Percy choked out. Dr. Chase sank down to the floor, his face pale. Mrs. Chase let out a cry like a wounded animal. Percy couldn't stand it anymore. He held out the bag which Mrs. Chase took with shaking hands. She opened the ties and tipped the contents out. Inside was the Harvard ring, the letter Dr. Chase had written to her about reconciliation when she was ten and the one picture she'd saved of her and her father by the Sopwith Camel he'd once used to help them fight the Titans.
"How?" The man asked brokenly, taking the objects Percy had delivered from his wife's hands.
"She is a hero." Percy said, avoiding the question. They didn't need to know. Percy couldn't talk about it without breaking down anyways. Better to not discuss it at all.
"How?" Dr. Chase demanded more angrily. Percy shook his head. He couldn't close his eyes without seeing it, hearing her scream. Her parents didn't need to know.
"You don't want to know." He whispered. Mrs. Chase wrapped her arms around her husband as he began to sob.
"The gods themselves made her shroud." Percy whispered, each word a knife to his heart but necessary. He'd promised Annabeth to tell her family. And he wasn't going to fail her a second time. "Hades said he would fast track her paperwork to Elysium. She has a headstone in the Valley of Heroes." Percy passed them a slip of paper. 'That's how to get there." Percy choked. He couldn't do it anymore. He couldn't stand on the porch of her house when she wasn't here to live in it anymore. He started to back away.
"I'm sorry." He managed to force out again before turning and fleeing back to where Nico was waiting.