A/N: Reviews are always welcome!

Athens, Greece

Fire blazed around him, a searing inferno that swathed him in a tight cocoon of flames and licked at his face and body. He knew that his death was near, that the combined power and deeds of all the heroes of the Argo II had still not been enough. Yet, even as the world fell into flames, he didn't want to die a failure, a pawn - he wanted his own death, invented in his own way.

With a roar of pain, the tall, dark haired boy ran straight through the inferno cocoon and into a large circular chamber where he doubled over and coughed, swearing at the smoke still stuck in his lungs. His face was burnt, his arms were blackened and numb. His eyes had managed to survive without any injuries, and he forced them open.

The boy regretted it immediately.

Tears leaked freely from his eyes as his hand moved on its own accord and stroked a girl's face, still beautiful, still so fierce, but no longer warm, no longer stretched with a smile or brightened by the shining eyes behind those closed eyelids.

"NO! ANNABETH!"

Percy Jackson shot out from his bed and collapsed onto the ground, his eyes and cheeks streaked with tears, his breaths entering and leaving his body in uneven gasps, his hair shiny and damp with sweat.

"It's just a dream, Jackson, just another dream," he muttered, trying unsuccessfully to convince himself.

With a weak groan, Percy pushed himself off from the ground and into the shower. Not bothering to remove his pajamas or underwear, he threw open the curtains and let the cool water run down his face and body, reveling in the comfort and power that it gave him.

As he stood there, with the water trickling down his face and clothes, Percy's mind drifted into his worries and thoughts. The Argo II was already in Athens, and neared the original Mount Olympus - the root of the gods. Leo had already told them that it would only be a week, probably much less, until they would arrive at their graves. So until then, he had told them to enjoy themselves.

It made sense, especially when Leo said it, but when you have to fight for control over your own body in every waking minute of your life, enjoying yourself is not very high on your bucket list.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, even Annabeth, Tartarus had ingrained... something in Percy - not simply nightmares or shame, but an actual physical living thing. An entity that skulked in the deepest and darkest corners of his mind, that whispered and tempted him with a power he had sworn to avoid, that planted nightmares and visions behind his eyes, and forced them upon him with every blink.

It waged war every morning, and twisted his mind every night. The whispers, the constant screams of torture, it took all of Percy's energy to stay sane and to fight on.

But he was losing. And he knows it.

And that was what scared him most.

Because this thing, knew his true potential.

Nearly thirty minutes later, when Percy stepped out from the shower, he swore he heard Tartarus' dark laughter in the back of his mind.

Percy was still shaking as he made his way to his room,a small, but comfortable compartment that Leo had designed to rearrange and manipulate itself to the user's preferences. But this room, once a safe haven he knew he could always retreat to, had now become a home to his nightmares.

And suddenly, he couldn't bring himself to open that door. His hand had already moved to the knob, but it merely rested there - frozen, incapable.

How am I a hero if I'm to afraid to even face my own nightmares?

Because you know what awaits you, a voice whispers back.

A roar of frustration breaks from his throat and he rips his arm back. His wrist is swollen and stung, but it's only a dull throb behind the pain between his eyes. His hands clutch at the bridge of his nose as he staggers up the stairwell and into the cold embrace of the night.

Percy gasps, struggling to force the cool air into his lungs as the voice fades to a whisper.

This is now my reality, he realizes. Running from nightmares at every night, fighting myself at every moment.

A tear leaks from his eye and slowly falls, tracing a line down the side of his cheek and landing on the wooden boards.

He inhales slowly and takes in everything. Ever since him and Annabeth had closed the Doors, overloading his thoughts and senses had become the only way to live; listening to the quiet whistle of the wind, the flapping of the Argo II's sail, the sound of the oars and the engine, the oily smell as Festus belched fire, the smell of pines in the wooden floorboards.

It worked, and his muscles began to relax.

Slowly, Percy lets his eyes open and raised them to the heavens - an expanse of darkness painted with streaks of color. He smiles, remembering when Annabeth had brought him to the beach one night and pointed out the constellations for him.

But that had been nothing compared to this. A golden crescent illuminates the city in the distance and shines upon the mountainous landscape beneath them. Streaks of gold, blue, and green are painted across the sky, dotted with small pinpoints of light. The sheer vastness of it all left him breathless, and feeling very, very small.

We are but a speck of dust among all this.

The true beauty of the world, without humanity's imprint was awe-inspiring. Everything that he had heard Grover rant about now made sense, and he understood his old friend's desperation to protect this world. To think he had grown up without ever seeing this, to think that the human race had twisted this marvel into a haze of smoke and pollution and dared to call it technological advancement disgusted him.

"It's beautiful isn't it," a voice whispers from behind Percy.

His heart immediately speeds up, and a smile breaks across his face, "It is, it really is."

He turns and brings a hand up to Annabeth's cheek, "But you are as well."

She laughs out loud as a blush spreads across her cheeks and takes his hand in hers.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain, unless you plan on standing here all night long, let's find somewhere to sit."

He opens his mouth to protest, but quickly closes it.

"Ok."

She gently tugs at his hand, and he lets her guide him, their footsteps quiet thuds against the wooden deck. Guiding him, she brings her into her cabin, a room with almost the exact same layout as his, but without the snacks and equipment that littered his cabin.

"Well, it's better than my room, for sure," he smiles.

Annabeth laughs - a clear, joyous sound that makes him ridiculously proud of himself.

"Here, I'll show you the best part."

She lifts a remote and shows it to him.

"I discovered this feature a few days ago, when I... when I couldn't sleep. Apparently, Leo had done the same thing with our cabins, but there were a few kinks that I had to fix up."

She notices his confusion and smiles, "I'll show you."

She slides open a hidden control panel, and presses a button, followed by a series of keys, and immediately, the lights shut off.

On either side, walls, previously colored with the natural shades of gold, respond to his preferences and showcase his old home back in Camp Half Blood, with the cozy walls, fountains, and Tyson's shield hanging from a peg. Up above, in the western corner, is the Huntress - a bounding and leaping figure running and hunting endlessly. And far off, visible through the Southern window, is a small apartment nestled into Manhattan's sprawling landscape, its windows painted with the figure of a dancing woman with her husband and their new child.

All this, it brings memories and nostalgia, of the times before when things had been easier and so much more straightforward. Now, with the Prophecy of the Seven, Percy felt as if the Fates had brought upon another quest just to mess with his life. His father had told him many years ago that the life of a hero was never easy, even downright painful at most times, but he doubted that even Poseidon had predicted that the Fates would weave his life with barbed wire.

Times like these made him nostalgic about the Second Titan War, and that was not good. Because if your life is so screwed up that you miss Kronos - you practically know that something has to be fucking with your life. And as a demigod, having primordial beings take interest in your life was not beneficial for your health.

"Percy? Hello?"

"Wha-?" he shakes himself, "I was listening, go on."

"No you weren't," she smiles.

"Yeah, I was. So, what did you say again?"

Annabeth hesitates, "Never mind, it's nothing."

"You are a terrible liar."

"And you're a Seaweed Brain."

"Well, at least I'm your Seaweed Brain," he grins.

She snorts, and in the darkness, Percy sees her look down at the floorboards.

"Is the stone cold Annabeth Chase really blushing?" Percy jokes.

"Shut up."

He laughs, but obeys her command and lets silence fall over them as they sit there, enjoying the view.

"Percy?"

"Yeah?"

"You're thinking about the giants, aren't you?" Annabeth asks.

"How did you know?"

"Your eyebrows furrowed and your mouth turned downward."

Percy laughs, "You know me too well."

He lays back on there bed and stares into the ceiling.

"Well, it started with something Leo said, about trying to have fun while we can, remember? And, you know, I laughed when I heard that, cause I was thinking, how? How can we have fun and enjoy ourselves while we meet death at every turn? How can we have fun when we know that any second may be our last?" he draws a shaky breath before continuing, "And how can we possibly relax and enjoy ourselves when our loved ones could die at any second?"

He pauses and lifts his eyes to meet Annabeth's, and he can see that she understands his meaning, "You know? But then, the more I think about it, the more I've begun to actually understand what Leo had meant, and -"

She cuts off his sentence and kisses him - long, slow, delicate.

His eyes close and he holds her tight against his chest. Her hair still smells like lemons and strawberries and the areas where he can feel her bare skin against his send goosebumps through his body. His hands drift down to her waist and pulls her into him, closing his eyes as he tries to ingrain this one moment forever into his head.

He gasps when he feels her warm, calloused hands trace up his stomach and pull off his shirt, smiling gently as he kisses the top of her head and pulls the covers over both of them.

"I'm not leaving you, Seaweed Brain, ever."

"I know, Annabeth."

As his eyes close and his thoughts begin to drift toward his dreams, he hears her whisper three words so quietly he can barely hear them.

"I love you."

I love you too.

They fall asleep in each others arms beneath the watch of the stars, and in that one moment, the war, the pressure of the world - it all disappears.

Please review! It really helps!