Nobody's pov

"Annabeth." Percy whispered.

"Hey Percy." Annabeth's ghost smiled at him. Percy just gaped at her.

"Hey Nico." Annabeth turned to him.

"Hello Annabeth." Nico said, looking at Percy who was trying to form coherent words.

"Bye Nico." Annabeth said with an edge to her voice. Boy, she was scary even when she was a ghost. And Nico was THE ghost king.

"Uh...oh yeah. I'll leave you two alone." Nico walked off, tripping as he did. Annabeth turned to Percy, and a sad smile appeared on her face.

"Congratulations hero. I heard we won the war. I always knew you could do it Seaweed Brain." Annabeth said. That's when Percy found his voice.

"No!" He shouted.

"Percy..." Annabeth started soothingly.

"No Annabeth! I didn't do anything. All...all I did was fail you." Percy said, tears now starting to stream down his face.

"Percy, what are you talking about? You could never fail me. You are the best person in the world Percy. You can't fail anyone. I...I was the one who failed YOU." Annabeth said.

"How could you even say that?" Percy asked, practically yelling.

"You...you had this big plans about settling in New Rome and having a peaceful life and I had go about being stupid and not very strategic and getting myself killed. I'm so sorry Percy. Nico told me what happened afterwards. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do this." Annabeth said, all in one breath.

"Mean to do what?" Percy asked.

"Turning you into...this. You were not like this Percy. You were my optimistic, sarcastic, reckless, fun loving, defiant, upstart Seaweed Brain. Now...now you are a totally different person. Your eyes have lost their light, their playfulness. You've faced so much. Your mental state. Your time at school. All that! And I'm the cause." Annabeth said.

"No. No. You...you can't blame yourself for that!" Percy said.

"I won't blame myself if you change back to the original Percy. Forget me." Annabeth said.

"Forget you? Annabeth, that would be like forgetting how to live." Percy said, voice cracking.

Annabeth had very cleverly turned the tables around. One second, Percy was blaming himself for her death and the next, he was convincing her that nothing

was her fault. Once a daughter of Athena, ALWAYS a daughter of Athena.

"Fine, don't forget me. But don't live on my memory forever. Move on. Just imagine that I've moved away to another country...far far away from you." Annabeth said.

"Don't be silly Annabeth. I can't move on." Percy said.

"Ugh! Nico was right. You are impossible. Be serious Percy. Too much loyalty is bad for you. I mean, I'm dead and even I've moved on." Annabeth said, clearly frustrated.

"You have?" Percy asked.

"Yeah. I met someone in Elysium." Annabeth said. If ghosts could blush, Annabeth surely was.

"That's great! Who is it?" Percy wasn't sarcastic or sour when he said this. Neither was he faking happiness. He was actually grinning. He was genuinely glad that Annabeth had someone for herself. That she wouldn't be alone anymore. He didn't care at all that she'd moved so soon.

"I better not say. You might get upset." Annabeth said.

"Awww c'mon. Tell me. Who is it?" Percy said, suddenly playful. Annabeth smiled sheepishly.

"Ummmm...here." She said, as a figure walked up next to her. It was slightly taller than her. Slowly it's features started to form and Percy's jaw was on the ground.

"Hi bro. How's everything in the land of the living, huh?" Castellan grinned.

Percy, who still on his knees, sprang to his feet.

"Luke!" Percy said.

"Good to see you to. I hope there's no tension between us though. Y'know, with me trying yo kill you when I was alive and me dating Annabeth and stuff..." He trailed off. Percy just grinned like a maniac.

"No. Of course not. We're cool." Percy said. Annabeth couldn't help but smile when she saw Percy's colorfulness return to him. She was right. Talking to him was the only way to cure him. Only way to lift the heavy weight on his heart.

"Take..take care of yourself, Seaweed Brain. And move ahead in life. Promise me you will." Annabeth said. Percy nodded. She reached out to touch his face, but it just passed through it.

"We've got to go. Nico's going to get into trouble if we stay here too long." Luke said. Percy nodded again. Tears found their way on his cheeks again, though he tried to hold them back. He just waved at them, as they walked away, hand in hand.

Percy went back to where Nico was waiting. He had his eyes closed with a concentrating look on his face. Percy realized he was muttering prayers with fright.

"Nico." Percy slightly nudged him.

"Oh Percy, you're back! How did it go? I hope it wasn't a mistake! I mean...I know it would have revived your pain and stuff but Annabeth told me to do this so I...I..." Nico stopped rambling when Percy pulled him into a hug. To say Nico was taken by surprise would be such an understatement.

"Thanks Nico." He whispered in Nico's ear.

"No problem. So have you decided to move on yet?" Nico asked. Percy sighed, but not in the broken hearted way he had earlier that morning.

"You guys haven't exactly given me a choice." He said. Nico grinned.

"But," he added in a very Percy-like tone, "just cause I've agreed doesn't mean you should be expecting me to date every other girl I see." Percy said.

"Of course." Nico grinned evilly.

"By the way, I thought Luke was going to take rebirth." Percy said.

"I don't know. Something changed his mind. Fate, perhaps." Nico said.

Ooooooooo...line break...oooooooooooO

Percy got home just in time for dinner. Sally invited Nico too, although she seemed a little anxious. Anxious enough to not notice the change in Percy.

"Percy, we've got something important to tell you." Paul said. Sally bit her lip, looking at him. Percy's eyes widened.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked.

"Oh no Percy dear. Nothing is wrong. It's just that..." She paused and looked at Nico, who turned to the other side, whistling softly. Great. Looks like today all he was destined to do was intrude on personal conversations.

"Actually Percy..we wanted to tell you that...well we..." Sally looked at Paul for support.

"What your mom is trying to say is that we...actually we...I..." Paul trailed off himself. Sally took a deep breath in.

"Percy, honey. You...you're going to have half-sibling soon." Sally blurted out, before her face took on the color of a tomato.

Percy blinked, unable to take in the words he'd just heard.

"Huh?" Percy said.

"Yes Percy. I'm..pregnant." Sally said, not meeting his eyes. Percy looked between her and Paul, both looking seriously excited, and then, a miracle happened.

Perseus Jackson laughed. Not the meek laughter, he'd given Sadie when she'd joked about Sergil. This was full-fledged hysterical laughter. Nico, Sally and Paul, all three had their eyebrows raised dangerously high.

"Mom...this..is...AMAZING!" Percy said between laughter. He grabbed Sally by the wrists and waltzed around the house. Everyone couldn't help but laugh.

"Percy, stop!" Sally said, though she was laughing.

"Oh, I'm sorry. You're supposed to take rest right?" Percy said, calming down before collapsing into an armchair, still laughing slightly. Then he completely calmed down.

"I'm really happy for you guys. I'm finally going to get a non-godly sibling. This is so great!" Paul laughed about the non-godly comment. Sally was really glad to see Percy like this. Happy and smiling. She wondered if things had finally taken a turn for the better.

000000000000000000oooooooooo

A/N-and that's that. Sorry to all those who think shipping Luke and Annabeth is a crime. I'm not a fan of that couple either. I just thought that even Annabeth deserved a happy ending, though she died. Tell me if the sudden twist isn't satisfactory. Reviews would be appreciated.