Look at that, nothing for a year and then two in the same day. I still don't own these characters, and this chapter mentions suicide briefly. Still, if that makes you uncomfortable then it's only a paragraph or so towards the end. Enjoy, and please leave a review!
Annabeth's eyes flew open, everything blurring as her brain fought its way out of the fear and frenzy of the nightmare and back into her body. Her throat was raw from screaming, and her face was wet from tears. The nightmares took hold of her every night, breaking her a little more each time.
She glanced around. Where was Percy? It was pretty early; she doubted he was already at breakfast. That's it, he was at the lake! He loved a bit of surfing at sunrise. She smiled lightly to herself; stepping into the shower and feeling the water wash away the terrors of he night. She stepped out and threw on her camp t-shirt and a pair of shorts, her bead necklace still on from the day before. She briefly wondered why Percy had let her go to sleep with it on, he always joked that he 'didn't survive all this with you to have you strangled at night by a dam necklace'. He must have forgotten to remind her. Just as she was stepping out she picked up a thick book on English medieval architecture. They had to go to England sometime, there was so much history there. She'd get a bit of light reading at the lake, or even while swimming. Her seaweed brain would keep the book from getting wet. His powers sure were handy sometimes.
She all but skipped towards the lake, hardly passing any campers. It was earlier than she thought. Then the lake was in front of her, sapphire blue and sparkling in the sun that was just peeking from behind Zeus's cabin. The beauty of it nearly brought a tear to her eyes. The camp was so beautiful. She wished she could tell herself as a scared, proud twelve year old that in a couple of years she would be in a beautiful place surrounded with beautiful people who loved and appreciated her. She could just imagine the look on her past self's face if she could tell her that t was Percy Jackson who stole her heart in the end.
Speaking of which, she couldn't see Percy anywhere. The whole world seemed to slow down, the sound becoming quieter and more muffled until she was surrounded by nothing more than white noise. Then her world shattered, each sharp piece embedding itself into her heart. It ripped apart the meticulous stitching that held her together.
He wasn't here.
He wasn't here.
He wasn't here.
She sank down to her knees, the book tumbling out of her hand and falling onto the sand. The yellow sand underneath her face was turning darker, drops of salt water streaming out of her eyes and falling onto the ground. Who knew that tear ducts could produce so much salt water, you'd think they'd run out after one hundred years of pain.
Percy wasn't here. He was getting tortured, hidden somewhere even the gods couldn't find him.
She was on her own.
When Piper found her a couple of hours later, she was curled up in the foetal position in the sand, rocking slowly in time with the waves. The daughter of Aphrodite held her as great rasping sobs tore across her body, gently wiping the tears from her eyes before they got the chance to fall. Piper felt tears coming to her own eyes, looking at her once happy friend. Seeing someone so brave, powerful, intelligent, beautiful crying with such despair in their eyes broke something inside of her.
"I brought something to eat from breakfast."
Annabeth shook her head, glancing up at the muffin being held out to her. The sight of it only pulled back down to e despair that she was drowning in.
The muffin was blue. Just like all the food now, to honour Percy Jackson's sacrifice. To stop people from forgetting him, apparently. But nobody forgot him. The new campers sang songs of him, telling stories of how he saved the world at just twelve years old, how he was one of the seven who defended the world from Gaia herself, of how he was the one men who earned Artemis's trust. The asked Annabeth too, looked up to her. Looked at her with awe in their eyes. But they were wrong. She couldn't even figure out a way to save the person she loved most in the world.
"So, that's good, isn't it?" Annabeth looked up at her friend, disentangling herself from her.
"Sorry?" She sounded strong, certain of herself. She sounded like her whole world wasn't going down in flames before her eyes.
"I didn't think you were listening." Piper smiled in a way that was meant to look reassuring, but ended up looking like she was holding back tears. "I said Grover's coming back to Camp."
Annabeth nodded, forcing her lips into smile. She really was relieved. When Percy had been taken prisoner her and Grover had grown closer together than ever before. They shared their grief, and had both spent the majority of the last century looking for their best friend. Together they had searched high and low, upturned every rock and talked to anyone who even looked like they might know something. Grover had set off on an expedition to talk to some squirrels who knew of a legend passed down by their squirrel grandfathers. They truly were getting desperate.
Annabeth needed her satyr best friend now more than ever.
"That's really good."
"He said he wouldn't be back for a couple of weeks. It might be good news." The daughter of Athena knew her friend was trying to help, but she'd given up hope of finding Percy long ago. She's never stop looking, but couldn't help feeling if he was going to be found they'd have found him by now.
Annabeth tried to smile again, laying a steady hand on Piper's shoulder. "Thank you for being there for me. I can't tell you how grateful I am for you sticking by me." Piper looked at the ground, smiling sadly.
"Don't worry about it."
The two friends set off towards the entrance to the camp. Annabeth noticed Piper was fidgeting with excitement. She kept opening her mouth to say something and then deciding against it. Annabeth made herself seem relaxed, painting an easy smile on her face. At the start it had been hard, pretending that everything was fine. But acting was easier now.
"What's up with you? You seem awfully happy this morning."
A giant smile stretched over the daughter of Aphrodite's face, her eyes alive with joy.
"HeproposedfinallyandIsaidyesI'msoexcited!" She yelled, her hand clamped over her mouth. Annabeth raised her eyebrows at Piper. The fact that she was too excited to use words meant that something big had happened.
"Come again?"
"HE PROPOSED!" She physically tried to cam herself down. "He proposed. Jason proposed last night in the woods. We were just dancing, and then he got down on one knee and said the sweetest things ever, and then he asked me to be his wife."
Annabeth smiled at her friend, even though her heart was breaking. "When do you think the wedding's going to be?"
"I don't know. But I can't wait. Everyone's going to be there."
Looking back, Annabeth had no right to say what she did. She should have just kept her mouth shut, and kept nodding away at her friend rambling on. But she had to say it.
"Everyone won't be there."
"Annabeth, I…"
"Percy won't be there. Percy'll be getting tortured somewhere on the other side of the world, so no, everyone won't be there."
"You have to move on. You can't stop living just because he's not around anymore."
"Don't say that! Don't you dare act like he's dead. He isn't gone. My seaweed brain isn't gone. And I'm not going to move on and abandon him. I love him Piper."
The blonde strode away before she gave her friend the chance to answer. She went to the only place she knew she could be alone. She turned the lock of the little house she had been given, slumping down onto the bed as tears rolled down her cheeks. One hundred years. One hundred years was such a long time. One hundred years. If she hadn't been made immortal she would most likely have died by now, six feet underground and finally at peace. The thought of it seemed so attractive, the thought of the weight on her shoulders that was heavier than the sky itself being lifted.
She might have considered it if it wasn't for the camp. She might have considered just taking a few too many sleeping pills and drifting off to sleep, if she hadn't had so many people relying on her. Chiron had passed away a couple of years ago, and now the camp looked up to her. Maybe that was why everything had suddenly become so difficult, like how it had at the start when Percy first got captured. Because it felt so wrong, leading a camp that had come to represent happiness and home to her without the person who she had shared it with.
There was a knock on the door, and she breathed in and out, straightening her t-shirt and trying to compose herself. When the door swung open her apology was already on her lips. "I'm so sorry I…" Her words died as noticed who it was. "Grover? You usually spend an hour or so with Juniper before we talk." She noticed the satyr opposite her for the first time. His face and shirt were streaked with mud, but his face was alive for one of the first times in a century. She couldn't help but mirror his smile as he bounced on his toes in excitement.
"Annabeth, Annabeth, Annabeth! You better sit down." When she had, he continued. "I was in the mountains, trying to track down a certain beaver who apparently saw something to do with Percy. When suddenly, I felt this pain in my side. And it was the connection, the connection between me and Percy. Before I thought I felt something but I just assumed it was imagination, but this is unmistakable. Annabeth, he's alive. He's alive, and he's fighting!" Without knowing it she had raised to her feet, grinning from ear to ear. Every single part of her body felt alive and full of energy, and before she knew it she had unrolled one of the maps that she kept around the room.
"Can you point out where he is?"
"Yeah! As I climbed the mountain the pain just got stronger, but then it died away again. It felt the most intense here." He pointed to the summit of a large snow capped mountain not too far from camp, maybe a couple of hours Pegasus ride away.
"We can get him back!" Grover's bleating became unintelligible as they ran outside the cabin, dancing round and jumping up and down. Annabeth squealed, caught herself, realized that she didn't care one bit what anybody thought of her and squealed again.
The campers gathered around the ecstatic pair in amazement, not quite sure what to make of one of the camp leaders and the Lord of the Wild dancing around and squealing. Piper fought her way to the front, grinning from ear to ear as she saw her friend.
Once the pair had finally calmed down Annabeth ran back inside and got the map. She addressed the crowd. "Everyone who is battle ready is to get their weapons and armour and meet in their cabins, all cabin leaders are to meet me in the Big House as soon as possible."
As everyone dispersed, she murdered into the wind, "I'm coming to get you, seaweed brain."