A few weeks later, Grover informed them that was their last night on the run. They were on a beach, in a small, wooden cabin they'd broken into. Annabeth wouldn't enter, because of spiders, so they had to sweep the entire cabin with a broken mop in the middle of a small kitchen, stocked with moldy biscuits and crackers. I mean, take what you get, right?

Looking around, Percy realized that this little cabin was inhabited by someone, someone not very rich. Some knots tightened in her stomach as she realized why Luke looked so skittish around staying here. But they didn't have a choice, Grover saying that this was the closest area to Camp Half-Blood.

And Percy was so excited to be there, she couldn't sleep that night. Even though it wasn't her chance to keep watch. It was Luke's.

So, she opened the squeaky door without waking up Lisabelle, or Annabeth (which wasn't hard because of Grover's snores) and went out onto the beach. This had been her second time on a proper one, the first being the time she escaped, and she did not want to talk about that. Oh, how she'd missed the feeling of the powder sticking to her feet, the sounds of the waves roaring like a tiger against the shore.

She went and sat next to the little figure on the windswept beach. The atmosphere was surprisingly calm.

Luke greeted her without even looking at who she was – he'd learned all her stealthy ways.

"Finally care to join me?" he said, and Percy felt that all those times she'd insulted him for insulting her barely once, she might have been a bit too harsh. Okay, she was stupid and full of hormones. She admits it.

"Look, I don't know where we went wrong. Maybe it was that day. We were best friends, Percy, what happened to us?" Luke started, apparently trying to keep a cold demeanor - and failing miserably at it.

Percy snorted. "Yeah, we were a lot of things," she muttered under her breath before realizing Luke could hear her, and they were having a heart-to-heart, intimate moment.

She looked down, ashamed - ashamed of the barrier she'd created between herself and her first-ever friend. "Sorry, I'm sorry, Luke. I know you didn't mean it. Well, you kind of told me you did right now, and, uh, not that I blame you, but still, I apologize for being an – a not very pleasing person."

Luke sighed, running his hand through his sandy blonde hair – a habit of his. He looked almost done with her now. "Percy, I don't – "

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do it! I was just stressed, and, and, I was too stupid and I basically ignored you for so long and I – " Percy suddenly started yelling, almost, but was cut off by Luke placing his hand on her shoulder.

"I know, Percy," Luke started, and Percy couldn't help but feel that pang of regret realizing he didn't call her 'Sephie' anymore like he used to. She'd ruined everything, hadn't she?

"Percy, maybe, – I think you understand now – you just need time. We both need time. I don't want to keep grudges, but I think it's evident you need to focus on yourself first. When we get to Camp, maybe you'll feel better enough to talk about your trauma.

"What you did wasn't wrong, considering the amount of stress you were under – both emotional and physical, but it wasn't right either. I've already forgiven you, Percy. You just need time."

Percy couldn't understand anything, still. The only thing she understood from the monologue was that Luke had forgiven her – and that she'd ruined their entire relationship.

Still, she pushed herself onto Luke's chest, and he, sighing, instinctively put his arm around her shoulders, caressing her hair.

And she fell into a deep sleep.

She was woken up by Luke shaking her vigorously. After groggily getting her mind back to her surroundings, a sense of elatedness filled her up to the brim, knowing this was the day. This was the day she'd finally get to Camp Half-Blood. This emotion, this elation – it took away the worry from last night's dream too – her dream about the silhouette of the girl falling among the monsters. She had a feeling this was true, that it was something related to that day. She shook that feeling away.

But it was too easy. No, the Fates should have something planned, she couldn't get in without a fight. And she knew something was coming – her forehead hurt in throbbing stabs. Usually, when that happened, it meant something big was happening – something huge.

And, seeing Luke's crestfallen face, she knew that the 'big thing' she was dreading was here. Over his shoulder, she could spot a million dots, almost unintelligible, but still there.

Her throat went dry. So, that's where all the monsters from the last few weeks had gone to. But… maybe they weren't. Maybe they were just stars that… fell from Artemis' wrath, right? Right?

But one look in Luke's eye told her that her perfectly reasonable theory was wrong. And she got up and joined Grover, Annabeth, and Lisabelle, who were already running very fast towards another dot. She still couldn't register everything. It felt so surreal.

Grover, being half-goat, could run fast enough. But since he was holding little Lissie, he was being weighed down. Annabeth too. Despite being fast and nimble at most times, she was quite literally starving at this point, and she didn't work well with sand and beaches. All in all, they were running at the speed of a sloth. And there was no way they could reach the border in time, with that other¸ not-very-nice dots following them.

But they managed to reach it in time. Even if the monsters chopped off Percy's Ava Max-like hair, almost ripped Luke and Annabeth's shirt to shreds, and gave Grover a much-needed back leg shave.

But just as they were about to enter the Camp's border, Percy realized something. Something that made her headache worsen.

The Camp didn't have any borders. They just had border patrol, which was completely people, from what Percy knew. And Percy was the one attracting these monsters. So, if she just stayed, and held back those monsters, maybe Luke, Lissie, and Annie could get there in time. Maybe they would survive, and Grover would get his searcher's license. Percy didn't want to do it – she didn't want to die, but it was because of her that they were facing problems.

Percy knew it was a suicide mission, considering how weak she was alone, and how even weaker she was when she didn't have her food. They were on a beach, so, maybe, that had to help, right? She couldn't convince herself. So, she muttered a quick prayer to her dad, Poseidon, and stood up straight, ignoring the pain in her heart at her imagined life being such an intangible reality, turned around, and started slashing at the monsters. It worked, but she got more and more exhausted by the second.

She heard Luke and Grover calling for her, Annabeth just trying to calm down her sister, Lisabelle, who was crying.

"Go!" she screamed, tripping over some rock and accidentally stabbing some monster in the back. "Go! Save yourself! I'll be back!" she screamed and tried not to think about the lie she just told – the weight lying heavy on her heart. She knew she would never survive this whole ordeal; she would never see the light of day again (not that she wanted to feast her eyes on Apollo's not-at-all-pleasing appearance).

Soon enough, she realized that she could pull the water from the beach and douse the monsters so hard that they died from the impact. It was a literal bloodbath. Well, a yellow dust bath. But it reduced her energy more than killing the monsters manually. She hoped this would get over soon; she felt like she'd been run over by a bus twenty times, made to climb a mountain and get down in the same day. Her legs burned like the Phlegethon itself was flowing through them. She fell to the ground, bleeding from various cuts when her legs finally gave out, wailing loudly like a feral cat.

But then arrived those foul creatures of unhappiness – The Furies. Accompanied by those evil pigeons, they were unstoppable. Annabeth screamed to her from behind, that the Furies had fury whips. Sluggishly, she knew that the Furies had fury whips, they were Furies, weren't they?

But she understood immediately when those Hades-spawn took out lighted strings and started beating her with them. And those strings were made of hellfire. And it burned her so badly, the pain was stuck between dissipating completely and eating out her nerves. It should have burned her completely but being a daughter of Poseidon had its perks. And its curses. Curling up in a fetal position, she tried to fight back, but she couldn't even raise her arm.

The pain was too much. It was confusing. It was unbearable – one moment it was there in full force, and the next, gone. It was indescribable. And she could feel nothing but pain, feeling like her cells were being ripped apart one by one by a rabid Attila the Hun who didn't have his cheesecake for a week. Or like her fingers were cut off, boiling alcohol poured all over them.

All she could think about now was Luke, Annabeth, Grover, and Lisabelle. As long as they were safe, she was okay with dying, screaming like a headless chicken in pain.

Sometime in the middle though, her pain dulled. Her eyes closed, and her sword slipped from her slick, bloody hand – she didn't even realize she had it till the pressure changed. A tear traversed down her burnt, gaunt, dirty face. It all felt so weird now – she knew there was pain, but she couldn't feel it. She felt like she was seeing her own body, ripped to bloody shreds by the monsters on top of her.

But then it came – those visions. She hated them. It showed Luke, his neck broken at an odd angle, blood surrounding him. It showed Annabeth, a dagger sticking out of her gut, her face forever frozen in fear and betrayal. It showed Calypso, her face just before she died. And so many more – so many more. People said she would see her life passing before her eyes – but even in her last moments, the gods cursed her to see the deaths of the people she loved the most. What had she ever done to them?

And then it went – with a wash of ocean spray, the last thing she could think was, 'I'm dead' before she could feel no more. Couldn't feel, hear, see, or anything.

And she was gone. Gone forever, with the setting sun, gone – just in the memories of those who remembered her now.

-X-

Hey guys! How was the chapter? If you didn't notice, I just freaking killed off Percy. Also, don't worry, Luke has a completely different backstory from canon (spoiler). Anyway, thanks s much for reading!

AarBeaZ, out!