Annabeth

The familiar pine tree appeared on the hill, and Annabeth's stomach did a flip flop. She gave her dad, who had driven her there, a kiss, and walked towards the camp. She didn't know why she was so nervous to return to her childhood home; Camp Half-Blood had been a safe haven for her for so long, the only one true place she ever felt accepted.

So why did she have so many qualms about returning?

Summer was about to begin, in just a few weeks, and Chiron had wanted her to visit before things got too crazy at camp with all the new demigods coming in.

She got to the top of the hill and stopped, taking in the camp.

Her breath caught and she choked back tears when she saw the ocean glittering in the distance. She hadn't been to the beach ever since….

No. She wouldn't do it. She wouldn't go there.

She started down the hill into the camp, seeing the Stoll brothers, Clarisse, and the other campers who stayed year round. They could go to school, but most of them preferred to stay at camp, since it was safer, and the only real home that many of them had.

She waved at a few she saw, hugged some old friends, but made a beeline for the Big House. She wanted to make this visit as quick as possible, maybe just go to the Athena cabin and talk to the kids there, but mostly stay out of everyone's way. She didn't want any attention.

"Chiron?" she called, peering into the cabin. She heard the squeaking sound of Chiron's wheelchair rolling down the hallway, and smiled when he came into view. "Annabeth!" he said, grinning from ear to ear. "My girl! How are you?" She smiled and gave him a hug. "Pretty good. Glad to be back here, at camp." Lie.

"I'm glad to see you too." he said. His voice was calm and reassuring, which helped to ease Annabeth's nerves a little bit. "Have you talked to many of the other campers yet?" he asked. Annabeth felt like he already knew the answer. "They've missed you." She shook her head and looked away. "I, ah, have a lot of work to do while I'm gone from college," she said. "Not much time to socialize. I just wanted to visit, you know?" Chiron nodded solemnly.

"How is college , by the way? A nice change, I would imagine?" Annabeth nodded. "It's wonderful. My architecture courses are fascinating, and I've made a lot of new friends." That wasn't really true. There were people that Annabeth knew and talked to sometimes, but she hadn't made any new friends at college, not really. She told herself it was because she wanted to focus on her studies, but she knew it was really because she was afraid to get close to anyone. "So yeah, really great," she said.

"Will you be staying in the Athena cabin?" Chiron asked. Annabeth shrugged. "I guess. Always willing to meet more Athena kids." He nodded, and she turned to walk out.

"Annabeth," he called after her. "We all miss him, you know. We all lost him, and every day we feel the pain of that loss. You don't have to do this alone, my dear."

Annabeth stopped, about to leave, feeling the tears build up in her eyes. "I know," she said. That was all she could manage without breaking down. And with that, she was gone.

She went down to the Athena cabin and dropped off her bag, loaded down with books and very few personal belongings. Not knowing what else to do now, she began wandering, and suddenly found herself almost to the beach.

The waves were rolling onto the sand and receding gently, the sun lowering on the horizon, turning the water a million different beautiful colors. Her heart stopped, then began to beat rapidly.

I shouldn't be here, she thought. Only bad can come from this.

But she went down to the water anyway.

It was chilly, but not too much that she couldn't walk in the surf. The air smelled of salt, and she felt the tears begin to roll down her face. Everything reminded her of him.

It had been over a year. And every time she thought she had a handle on her emotions, thought she was okay, she'd find herself completely wrong.

She remembered the moment with excruciating detail, and now, standing here in the water, smelling the ocean air, she couldn't help but flashback to those awful last minutes.

"We can't hold them back!" Hazel shouted. Her horse, Arion, zipped around in a frenzy. There were at least three giants they were all fighting at once, and more coming in the distance. The seven of the prophecy, along with Nico, who still was hardly recovered, were the last line of defence, holding back the giants from taking Greece, and therefore, the gods. They were fighting in the center of Athens.

Jason summoned a lightning strike and blasted one giant, but all the giant did was stumble and get back up.
"We need a god!" Frank yelled, right before changing into a dragon and blasting one of the giants in the face. "He's right," Percy said to Annabeth, as they fought back to back. "We're going to lose. It's impossible for us to defeat them."

"Well, I'm not giving up!" Annabeth yelled, stabbing the giant they were fighting and retreating before it could smash her. "I'll go down fighting before surrendering to them."

"And so will I," Percy said, holding out his hand and exploding a fountain. The water enveloped the giant and pushed him back, but it only bought them seconds. "But we need a solution. A real solution. We have to stop them, or the whole world is done for."

They backed up further, running out of options. Percy was glancing around, looking for anything to help them; perhaps a friendly neighborhood god, but every mortal, god, or creature had fled long ago.

Annabeth, out of desperation, threw her sword and hit the giant in the eye. It just roared and promised to make their death painful.

Suddenly, the ground began to shake and shift, buildings toppling and rubble falling. Hazel cried out as one of Arion's legs got hit and he went out from under her.

Leo grabbed Piper and pulled her away from the center of the square as the ground began to literally split in two. A horrible laughing came from the ground, a sound that the demigods all knew.

"No," Annabeth whispered, knowing full well who was below. "No, this can't be happening." She turned to grab Percy's hand, but he wasn't by her side. Panicking, she turned in a circle, dodging falling debris, screaming his name. She finally spotted him across the square, talking to Jason, pointing at the pit, shouting. Jason shook his head fervently, his face shocked.

What could they possibly be talking about?

Annabeth started toward them just as Jason flew to the other demigods, shouting something, and simultaneously, they began pushing the giants towards the pit, changing direction, trying to back them up. What was going on?

She followed their lead and began fighting back against the giant, grabbing rocks and throwing them, then grabbing her sword that had fallen to the ground and thrusting towards him.

Slowly but surely, with new determination, she backed him up to the edge of the pit. All of the demigods had done so, and for some reason, they were all looking at Percy. It suddenly became deadly quiet, all noise cut off.

"Gaea," Percy said, approaching the edge of the chasm. Annabeth made to move forward, but Nico was suddenly there, holding her back.

"You can't win," Percy said. "The gods are on their way. They'll be here any second now, and you and your giants won't stand a chance. So surrender now, and we'll lay down our arms."

Annabeth was shocked. Either the gods were actually coming, or Percy had an excellent bluff.

Nice try, little demigod, Gaea said. There are no gods coming. You are utterly alone.

"I propose a trade then," Percy said. "I have an offer."

Silence. Percy took it as consent to continue, and spoke: "Your giants will surrender. We will stop fighting. The war will be over, neither side wins. And in return…" He hesitated for a fraction of a second. "You can have me."

Annabeth couldn't speak. She was frozen, her heart forgetting how to beat, her body numb.

"I'll give myself over," he said. "But the war ends."

Annabeth found her voice, finally. "Percy!" she screamed. "No!" He didn't look over, waiting.

Your offer is certainly enticing, Percy Jackson, Gaea said. No more harm comes to my armies, and I get to take the demigods' leader, their hero… Their spirits will be broken.

Another pause.

We have a deal.

"PERCY! DON'T!" Annabeth screamed, her voice broken. "You can't do this!"

The giants were laying down their weapons, and then, as one, they turned and left.

Percy was left standing alone, so close to the edge. He looked over at Annabeth. "I love you," he said. "I always have and I always will. I'll never stop loving you till the day I die."

And the ground went out from under his feet.

Someone was screaming. Someone was crying. Annabeth realized it was her, realized that she was on the ground, collapsed, all the life gone out of her.

Someone took her arm, tried to help her, tried to support her. She couldn't move. She couldn't think.

He was gone.

Tears rolled freely down Annabeth's face as she stood there on the beach, watching the moon rise and the sun descend. Her heart felt like it had been torn in two all over again.

She looked out over the water and thought about Percy.

"Miss you, Seaweed Brain," she said. "Why can't you be here? Just.." She wiped her nose. "Stop being so stupid like you always are and get your ass back here, okay?"

And with that, she turned and walked back to the camp.