The Cost to Live

Percy could not see or feel anything, he had no feeling of the outside world, it was like his body was completely numb. Is this what its like to be dead? He thought. So he was finally dead. After all these years and adventures it only took two wars to finally finish him off. He was never really scared to die, he was surprised he lived for this long when he was expecting to die when he turned 16. He knew he could die happy because he at least got to save his friends and family by taking down Gaea with him. He was happy that he would soon get to see Annabeth.

Suddenly the nothingness was taken over by a surge of power that coursed through his body. And it burned. It felt like fire was being pumped into his veins. It was almost as bad as his swim in the river Styx, almost. He could not scream or wither in pain, he could only lay there unmoving as the pain racked throughout his body. Soon it stopped and the nothingness returned. Seconds later his first sign of life came to him.

"…re you sure it worked?" a voice said next to Percy. He could not make out who because it sound all distorted to him.

"I did all I could uncle its up to him now." Another voice responded.

Soon his sense of smell came back to him and the smell of ocean and medicine entered his noise. Next he could feel his legs and soon that sensation moved up his body to his hands. Finally he was able to open his eyes. Light flooded his vision as he had to squint to get accustomed to the sudden loss of darkness.

"Percy my son! Are you ok? How do you feel?" A blurry figure asked him. When Percy's eyes adjusted to the light he noticed he was in a bright room. It looked like a hospital room with gadgets all around and the white walls, the only strange thing was that he was in a glass case surrounded submerged in water. The water itself didn't seem to be normal as it had a golden hue to it.

So he wasn't dead, Percy didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing. He was alive and while that seemed like a plus Annabeth was still dead and there was nothing he could do about that. The girl that he loved was dead and it was his fault. He wanted to just close his eyes and hope this was all a horrible nightmare. That he would wake up and see Annabeth again. But he knew that would not happen.

He pushed up to the surface, hanging on the edge of the pool, and noticed the people around him. Apollo was off to the side checking what seemed to be his vitals, Poseidon also sat nearby looking guilty. The last person was surprisingly his mother sitting right next to Poseidon looking like she hasn't slept in days. Dark bags circled her bloodshot eyes making it look like she was crying.

"Where am I?" Percy asked, his voice sounded hoarse as if he hasn't used in while.

"Percy! My baby how are you feeling? Are you ok? Does anything hurt?" Sally asked in rapid fire.

"Mom I feel fine don't worry." He assured her.

"Well ok then." Suddenly she her eyes turned deadly. "PERSEUS JACKSON WHAT ON EARTH WHERE YOU THINKING!? DO YOU KNOW WHAT I HAD TO SIT HERE AND GO THROUGH?! YOU ALMOST DIED?!" Tears were running down her face and Percy felt horrible. He hated when he made his mom feel like this.

"Mom I'm sorry I lost control when I saw Annabeth die" He said sadly not looking his mother in the eyes. Sally's expression softened, she walked up to the tank which was taller than her and reached up for Percy's hand.

"I am so sorry baby" Percy wanted to cry right then and there but knew he shouldn't. He was a leader and had to stay strong. Taking in a deep breath he smiled down at his mom. His mom was always there for him. He remembered a time when he was little and had a pet goldfish he won at a fair. It didn't last very long but him being 5 years old he was devastated and cried for hours when it died. His mother just put him in her lap and hugged him. Percy knew his mother would be there for him and he loved her for it.

Shaking his head from his thoughts he turned to his dad who looked at the scene with a smile. Poseidon obviously still loved Sally and him. It was nice to know he still had a family.

"Where am I dad?" Percy asked.

"We are in Apollos temple, the hospital wing to be exact. Apollo took you here right after we found you in the ruble." He got a guilty look on his face, like he did something he shouldn't have. "you were hurt pretty bad Percy, you have been asleep for a week now. We almost lost you son."

Apollo decided to take over seeing as the Sea God started to get choked up. "Percy you broke almost every bone in your body, had punctured lung, and lost a lot of blood. If you did not have godly blood pumping through your veins you would have been dead." He looked down at his feet. "That being said I did all I could to save you and not burn your body up with godly energy at the same time." He pointed at the tank he was in. "That's a cool contraception I made just for you, a tank filled with water infused with nectar. It wasn't enough Percy you were going to die." Apollo said sadly.

"Then how am I here? Shouldn't I be dead?" Percy wondered.

Poseidon shuffled his feet. "Look Percy I love you very much and it would have devastated me and your mother if you died. We had to use every option in order to save you." Percy started to get worried. What did they do to him to save his life? Was he some sort of freak now? Was he different then before? He didn't know and wanted answers.

"What did you guys do to me?" Percy demanded.

"Percy know that we love you very much and we did it to save you"

Percy was starting to get angry. Whatever they did to him he knew it wasn't good and they did it without even asking him. "Dad tell me what you did to me right now." He said deadly quiet trying to control his anger.

His dad sighed, "Percy in order to save your life there was only one thing that we could have done in order to heal you fully. In order to stop you from burning up with all the godly energy Apollo was pumping into you." He looked into Percy's eyes. "Percy we had to make you immortal.

CRACK. A giant crack appeared on the tank Percy was in and then it shattered. Water spilled out everywhere and Percy landed on his feet. "You what." Percy whispered while giving a deadly glare to his dad.

"Percy please understand I did it to save you, because I love you" His father tried to reason.

Percy felt a pit inside his stomach. They took her away from him. He was never going to be able to see Annabeth again. He was never going to die and had to stay on this earth forever without her. And that made him angry. He was pissed of that his father and Apollo did this without even asking him.

"Did you even think about if I wanted it or not? Did you even stop to think about me when you decided whether I could live or die? DID YOU EVEN THINK ABOUT IF I WANTED TO LIVE!?" He screamed at his father. His mother started to cry and buried her face in her hands not wanted to see her son like this. Apollo sat there looking just as guilty.

Tears were coming down his face now as he felt a whirlwind of emotions. "NOW I CAN NEVER SEE THE GIRL THAT I LOVE AGAIN!" He spat at Poseidon.

"Percy please, we only did it to sa-"

Percy cut him off, "No, you did It because you were selfish. You wanted me alive and nothing else mattered right? I was ready to die dad. I WANTED TO DIE!" Percy took a few deep breaths. "And now I can't, because of you." With that Percy pushed pass his father who had tears of his own running down his face. He walked up to his mom and took her hands into his. He knew it wasn't her fault so he didn't blame her at all. "Sorry you had to see that mom. Ill call you later ok?" Sally only nodded and hugged her son. With that Percy stormed out of the room leaving Poseidon there, with tears streaming down his face, wondering if he did the right thing or not.

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Percy burst through the doors of Apollos temple and onto the streets of Olympus. He was still sore from not moving for over a week and from healing his injuries but he was good enough to walk. He knew he would feel guilty later on for yelling at them for just trying to save him but right now he was just pissed off. He used to be happy in the fact that one day he would be able to join Annabeth in Elysium but now he knew he would never be able to.

Instead of wallowing in self pity he took the time to look around Olympus since it had been a while since he was last here. The buildings looked as Grand and beautiful as ever, each temple having its own distinct style for the god that housed them. In his view he could see the counsel room with doors standing at least 40ft high looking like it was made of solid gold, which they probably were. He could also see what looked Aphrodite's temple which seemed to be a barbie's dream house with pink and white bricks and doves flying all around. He knew he had to stay as far away as possible from there if he didn't want to leave with makeup all over his face.

Near it he saw what he assumed to be Hephaestus's temple as it wasn't really a temple, just a really big work shop. Smoke billowed out of the open roof while cyclopes move about carrying 2 ton blocks of celestial bronze like they were sponges. The sound of clanging metal echoed out of the palace.

He could not make out any more temples as other smaller building that housed the nymphs and minor gods blocked them but each looking just as beautiful and grand. Looking at how great Olympus looked just made him feel even worse, he knew Annabeth helped design and rebuild Olympus so, everything here was just one big reminder of her to Percy. He took looking down at the ground in front of him and made his way to the elevator. Nymphs, satyrs, and even some minor gods all tried to stop him to talk, thank, and even some wanted to thank him "Properly" as they put it. But, Percy just ignored them all and made his way to leave this place.

"And where do you think you are going Perseus?" A voice asked him. He looked up and to his surprise Artemis, the man hating goddess, was there leaning against a tree playing with a knife in her hand.

Percy bowed his head in respect, "I am just leaving here, My Lady. I just learned some information that made me very upset and this place just reminds me of…her" he said respectfully trying not to get turned into a rabbit. To his surprise Artemis looked as him with a hint of sadness and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Perseus, Annabeth was a great maiden and she died protecting Olympus. She will be honored by the gods and even her mother is making a statue to honor her. She died to while protecting the people she cared about." She explained.

"But I could have saved her. If I was just faster or stronger she would still be standing her and not in the underworld." He said sadly. Artemis's eyes suddenly got fierce making Percy take a step back.

"Don't you dare insult her death by blaming yourself, she died with honor and should be treated as such. You need to realize that she would not want you to be blaming yourself for her death and would want you to be happy you are alive to live your life. Don't dishonor her memory by making her death seem a fault. Honor her by continuing to honor her memory and move on with your life." Artemis said fiercely. Percy could only stare in shock as the man hating goddess was there trying to get him out of his self-pity. He only numbly nodded and continued to make his trek to the elevator. A pair of silver eyes watched him sadly not having any idea just how much her words would help the hero of Olympus.

A/N welp here's another chapter. My semester ended early so I'm hoping to be able to get more chapters out but it's totally depended on the feedback I get. The more reviews I get the more I want to write the less the less I want to write. So if you enjoy the story please leave a review it really does motivate me to right more. And about the pair I do want Percy to end up with Artemis and I have a idea how but how long that's takes is still being decided. Also writing longer chapters is something I want to learn on but its hard. Thanks for Reading!