Chapter V: We Will Never be the Same

We're in the heat of battle. I see Thanos lead a charge of his soldiers into the empousai guarding the Door. "Nico! Look out!" Hazel shouts at me. I turn and stab my Styngian sword into a monster without bothering to figure out what it is. I continue working my way towards the Door. I finally reach it and don't like what I see. Percy and Annabeth are definitely there. But Percy is covered with blood and supporting Annabeth who has a stomach wound. There's also someone else there taking out monsters like a madman. The others have finally reached the door. "Oh my gods!" exclaims Piper. "Come on! We need to help them" yells Jason. But we don't get the chance. Percy swings through the final dracaenae and runs up to the Door. He hands Annabeth to Frank and pulls the inner door closed just after the dude comes behind. Thanos and Jason quickly shut the outer door and set the lock in place.

I turn to see Percy and that dude sitting next to Annabeth. "Don't worry, Wise girl, Carter will fix you up." The dude, Carter, gave a serum to Annabeth then spoke a word with a flash of light. Annabeth instantly looks better. Percy, however, looks like death. He has no shirt on and 90% of his body is covered in blood and the other part is covered with slash marks, cuts, and bruises. He looks up at me and I see that look in his eyes. The same look I see in mine when I look in the mirror. Tartarus has left its mark on him, something that he will never be able to shake. "Thanks for coming guys. We wouldn't have made it out without you." He looks to Carter. "And you too, Carter. If you ever need my help for anything, I will gladly give it." Carter nods. "I'm glad I could help. You seem like a good person, Percy. But I have problems of my own I need to attend to at the moment. Will I see you again?"

"Yes, definitely!" Percy says, "Catch you later, Carter!" Carter smiles and waves and then slips into a rift in the universe that seems similar shadow travel. Though I doubt anyone else noticed this. Percy looked towards Thanos and the Spartans. "Who are these guys?"

Thanos stepped forward, "I am Thanos, King of Sparta, and these are my soldiers."

Percy nods in acknowledgement. "Thanks for saving us. This is Annabeth, daughter of Athena, and I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

"I have heard of you, Hero of Olympus," I see Percy flinch at this title and a shadow cross his face. "You are welcome in Sparta. As well as you, Annabeth, daughter of Athena, patron of Sparta."

We piled everyone back on board the Argo II and returned to Sparta. Percy, Annabeth, and some of Thanos's soldiers were taken to the infirmary. During dinner I visited Percy and Annabeth. I looked into their room and saw that Annabeth was sleeping. Percy motioned me to come in. I got straight to the point, "You were tortured weren't you." Percy's face fell and darkened like I just told him he was dead. "I thought so," I said. "Are you going to be okay?" Percy stared at me, like he was looking straight into my soul. "I don't know. I feel like a part of me has been taken away. A part of me that I will never get back."

I nodded. I felt the same way. "You feel like you've been exposed; like you will never have the strength you once had."

"Yes." He sighed sadly looking down at Annabeth, "I'm worried about our future. I thought after the Titan War, Annabeth and I could have peace. But now, I don't think we'll ever be able to escape." He bent down and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"Guys?" I turned to see Leo standing in the door, "There's an Iris-message from Chiron, I think Camp is about to be invaded."

Yep. That's right. This is the ending.

For now.