Here's Annabeth's POV. Rick Riordan owns the characters.
I hadn't seen Seaweed Brain for hours now, and I was nervous. This wasn't right at all. He said he'd meet up with me after we attacked the mountain… but he wasn't there. There are so many things that can go wrong with a demigod. I didn't really want to think about it, but I had to consider it. It wouldn't be the first time we had a death. Or, at least not the first time I'd seen death in my youth.
As I ran for my life from the water demons, I began to realize that I needed to get out of that area and fast. I didn't think I wanted to return to Mount Saint Helen's for a very, very long time. The demons began to run faster, which wasn't all that surprising, since they telkhines did have a bit of dog in them. Gosh, they were ugly. The telkhines had the face of a dog and the body of some sort of water creature, like something out of a bad B-rated movie my dad would make me watch. I mean they were nothing that was too weird in the world I live in, but it wasn't great, that's for sure. I was just happy it didn't have a spider body. I would've died. I HATE spiders. Thanks a lot, Arachne. You had to get in an argument with my mother.
The telkhines slithered quickly behind me as I had to multitask using my feet, head and hands. By now, I was used to running and fending off monsters. It's a specialty. But, having to run from telkhines is hard work, even from a demigod's opinion. They're fast, like unbelievably fast, so running down a mountain without tumbling is fairly hard, but they're also extremely slippery. (Believe me, it's disgusting. I felt much more telkhine than what I should've felt.) Having a body like that meant it was harder to penetrate a knife into their hide while in motion.
"You stupid creature! Why am I always stuck with stuff like you?!" I whispered to myself, trying my best not to curse my mother's name, or my grandfather. I already knew the power of using a name badly. Percy showed me that too many times for my liking in the past four years.
"That's not nicccccce." One of the more fit telkhines hissed at me, waving around his weapon at me. The sound of the slurping disgusted me. I had enough of it.
I was about to just give up with running until it hit me, thank Athena. I remembered there was a small opening at the bottom corner of the mountain, fairly small, but enough to hold me and my fit and petite fifteen year old body. If I could use some of the strength I had left, I could run faster than the telkhines, take a quick turn, mush myself in between the rock beds, and wait. That sounds good, I thought to myself in fear.
I began to take my plan into effect, rushing ahead with all my might. My legs felt like they were going to buckle behind me and make me land face first into the ground as I urged my body to work them, pushing them faster and faster until I reached it. With a spin of my ankle, I lunged into the crack and inhaled as much air as I could to squeeze in.
I didn't know how long I was in there, but it took a while before I heard the slippery run of the dog demons. They paused questionably right in front of my crack and proceeded to look around, gazing near the crack as well as on the cliff nearby and the way further down, where I could see tour guides and young families, who once were calm, but suddenly grew fearful and began to run. The telkhines ran away too, so I thought the coast was clear.
I was wrong.
I crept one shoulder out, followed by the rest of my body, to reveal a large cloud of smoke and ash piling down on me. Whatever it caused the beginning of an eruption didn't matter at the moment (Seaweed Brain). The thing I had to focus on was running away from this eruption of Mount Saint Helen's. Even though I'm demigod and I'm used to this type of scenario by now, this was difficult.
"Oh Zeus!" I screamed as pieces of scalding hot ash parachuted down onto my shoulders, beginning to burn through my shirt. It hurt, but I knew the consequences of not being fast enough. It was either my life or the volcano's victory.
It wasn't going to be that day.
It was a tough call for what I was going to do next, but I needed to do it. I pulled a Seaweed Head move and leaped in the most ungraceful way off the side of the volcano's side. As I looked behind me, I realized how stupid, naïve, and pathetic my decision was. It was a free-fall into the tree tops about fifty feet from where I was last standing. Knowing myself, I was too proud to pray to my mother or relatives and too scared to scream for help. Besides, who would've heard me in a forest that was being attacked by volcanic ash? So I did what I did best: prepare for death. I never had thought it would come that way.
But suddenly, my body was pushed against something stiff, but sticky and soft. It reminded me of my little brothers' baby blankets, which were always covered with drool and food when they were younger. Too bad they reminded me of my stepmother. We were slowly getting on a better page, but there was just something about her at times. The bouncing slowly swaddled around me like a layer of bubble wrap until I slowly fell to the ground. I quickly jumped up (probably from reflexes) and began to examine myself for little lacerations or bruises or anything badly injured.
"Well, at least you got the job done." I heard a voice behind me. I turned around with a silent gasp to find Hephaestus standing behind me, casually tinkering with a piece of gear. His beard lit up with occasional sparks, but I was used to it by now, so it didn't really bother me.
"Got the job done?! The workshop is exploding!" I yelled back matter-of-factly. He stared at me sternly, as if in a way saying "I need to be more polite to my elders". I gulped and backed away. "Hephaestus, I mean-"
"Child I know what you mean. You cleared the creatures out for now, but your little boyfriend awoke a Titan." I gasped. I knew something bad probably happened, but another Titan?! Then it hit me.
"He's not my boyfriend." I stared back at him with annoyed eyes. Hephaestus chuckled and reached out his hand.
"Whatever you choose to think, Miss Chase. Do you care to head to camp? I'll take you myself." I knew he meant well, especially for a god to offer anything, but there was that one thought prodding me in the back of my mind.
"But what about Percy? I can't leave him! What if he's still there, waiting for me?! What if he's dying?!" I screamed out loud as I turned to see the volcano imploding and exploding onto the ground. I tried to contain the tears that desperately wanted to escape. Hephaestus put his tinkered gear into a pocket in his blacksmith apron and kneeled down next to me. It made me feel younger than what I should've felt.
"He's a big boy. I'll watch out for him and let you know. Please come. For your sake." His voice was calming, and eventually I nodded, grasped his hand, and closed my eyes. There was a bright flash of light and a tugging sensation in my abdomen until I realized we made it to our destination.
Hephaestus landed in the strawberry crop, which explained the terrified looks on the satyrs and nymphs. Immediately after the god led me to the picnic table where Chiron and Mr. D sat, the group in the fields shouted out healing blessings and chants to heal the damaged crops, bringing even more tears to Grover's girlfriend, Juniper. She was such a wreck lately and right at that moment when I thought of Percy being in danger or even dead, I connected to her like a magnet.
Chiron looked absolutely startled to see my presence.
"Annabeth, Lord Hephaestus, what are you doing at camp?" I sort of wandered away from the scene as Hephaestus began to tell the story of our quest as of that moment, including the fact that my Percy was MIA and possibly even dead. I could see Chiron's eyes bulge and dilate when Hephaestus mentioned Percy being… dead. At that point I couldn't stand it anymore.
I ran to my cabin, and despite having one of my brothers in there, I grabbed architecture book, climbed the ten feet to my bunk, clutched it tight to me, and sobbed. Loudly and heartfelt. I didn't care anymore. The boy I was beginning to love, whether I wanted to admit it or not, could be lost from me forever. I rocked back and forth on my bed and wept.
"Percyyy… Percy!" I moaned in sorrow, curling my lips as the words emitted my mouth. "Don't leave me! I need you here! Percy. Oh Percy. SEAWEED BRAIN!" I blasted out, curling in a ball on my bed and clutching the beads on my necklace. I rubbed my thumb over the past three beads, each summer I spent with him. My half-brother, Liam, climbed up and hugged me until I calmed down.
How was I going to tell Sally? Oh Sally. She would be so hurt if she would hear that her son could be dead, especially now that she has Paul in her life. Maybe Chiron would help me find a way to tell her. I couldn't let him tell her.
I slowly decided a couple days later when everyone calmed down to ask Chiron for permission to visit her. Of course, he nodded in approval, and I was driven to Sally Jackson's home. When I watched her happily open her apartment door, I knew this was going to be hell.
"Annabeth! What a surprise! Come on in." She cheerily commented, still having her blue apron on from work. All it did was remind me of Percy and his love of blue food instead of what it normally did: make me feel hungry.
"Thanks, Ms. Jackson." I said in a melancholy tone. She looked at me in confusion, but didn't say something until we sat down on her couch.
"Blue lemonade, Annabeth?" She said, holding out a tall, curvy glass full of the crimson colored liquid surrounded by thick lemon slices and ice. At that point, I couldn't contain my emotions anymore. I placed my elbows on my knees and put my face in my palms. When I began to weep, Sally moved next to me and rubbed my back in the maternally way she did things.
"Oh, dear. Shh. Shh. It's okay." She soothingly said, stroking my hair until I jerked back and faced her irritated.
"No it's not, Sally!" I snapped, quickly apologizing for my attitude. "I just… I don't know how to tell you this." Sally singled me out with her stern but calm eyes and wrapped her arm around me.
"It's okay. Go on, tell me. What's wrong? Whatever it is, it really has you worked up."
I cleared my throat and looked at her straight in the eyes, trying not to work up a tear.
"Um… Sally. Percy might be dead, and he most likely is…" I started to cry again. "I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!" I wailed.
For a while, Sally just sat in complete shock, occasionally leaning back against the couch until she looked back at me.
"You aren't joking, are you, Annabeth?" She said quietly. I nodded, wiping a tear from my eye. She stared at me in complete shock until she broke down and collapsed into my shoulder. She convulsed with each breath and sobbing shake, which caused me to lean against her in a big crying festival. We just sat there for a while, crying whole-hearted into each other's shoulders and laps until we realized we had to control our emotions to keep ourselves stable.
From then on, I decided to visit her every day (with Chiron's permission) to at least attempt to keep ourselves sane. I continued to visit her, barely keeping myself dry when I left, for two weeks. It was the one piece of safe haven where I could be with Percy's essence.
Even at camp, nothing was the same. Chiron was always worrying about the fate of the camp with Luke and all, not to mention the fate of one of his beloved pupils. Mr. D was about the same, grumpy, judgmental, and finding extraordinary ways to say campers' name's wrong. The only way I found out he was emotionally scarred and scared was one night, I could see him at night walking around the cabins holding one of his oldest and most prized possessions: a two hundred year old bottle of dry Merlot that he told all the campers about every day.
It didn't seem like much, but everyone knew when Mr. D was sad. He'd grab the bottle and cry in a fake drunken rage. It made me a little sad and scared whenever he did that, but if he was crying over Percy, at least I could sympathize with him.
Even the Stoll twins weren't their own selves. They didn't prank the shop owners by putting itching powder or poison in t-shirts and they didn't be their competitive selves at the arena. Nobody had the courage or energy to admit there was a death in the camp or that we had the possibility of losing a vital part of our army.
With the constant threat of attack, I never was able to think about anything except Percy and war. It was monotonous and it made me just want to get up, take my chances, and run away from camp. But, I knew running away from my problems wouldn't do anything. So, I dealt with the anguish and pain of loss and stress.
Soon, two weeks had passed (which I, sadly, couldn't believe), and Chiron had to make an important decision. If a soldier or camper wasn't back within that time period, he or she would be classified as dead. I regretted every day that I might have to be dragged into his office and told the truth. When I saw the ancient centaur approach me during archery lessons, I knew it was time to face my fears. His eyes looked like they were crying as he led me to the head house, but I didn't want to make any comment. It would embarrass him in front of the campers, and that would be bad.
With a shaky gesture, he sat me down and he walked behind his desk.
"A-Annabeth. We need to think of the truth. Percy Jackson hasn't come back to camp in two weeks. That's a long-"
"But can't we wait a little longer!? I-I mean what if he does come back? He has to come back. He has to, Chiron!" I yelled, soon regretting I did. It made my tired, tear-stained cheeks blush a faint cherry-red color.
"I know, Annabeth. I've dealt with grief before."
"You know why I'm like this, Chiron. Don't lie to me, either." I calmly said, staring out the window at Percy's lakeside cabin. The seashell siding looked gray and lifeless without him there. I could've pictured him there right then, sitting with his feet dangling over the edge to touch the water as the sun set. I've done in plenty of times with him in the evening to know so. It made me lose my pep and I turned into the creation I had been for the past two weeks: dull, lifeless, depressed Annabeth.
"I'm not trying to. I feel the same way as you. He was a great guy."
"Well he was more of a great guy. He was kind, gentle, funny, and perfect."
I let my cover blow for a short second, but Chiron had probably known how long I liked Percy for a while now. He just chuckled beneath his sorrow and came around to wrap an arm around my shoulders.
"We need to face the facts, Annabeth. Do you know what I mean?" It took a lot of effort for me to admit to him that my love was dead, but with a hesitant second, I nodded. Quickly thereafter, I turned to Chiron and buried my face into his chest and cried. He rubbed my back and calmed me down for a while until I was able to go to my cabin.
The next day, it was time to produce the funeral pyre. Mr. D and the cleaning harpies brought his supplies to the amphitheater and placed it next to the pyre while Chiron vainly attempted to compose himself. The other campers, my friends, stared at the ground in a depressed fashion, trying not to think of Percy being… dead.
Even Clarisse, which surprised me fairly well, managed to show a bit of respect towards me and the loss of Percy. It was kind of nice to have someone who hates you twenty-four/seven be nice to you, but I really wished it was for different circumstances.
Realizing this was really happening was hard for me. It brought on all the memories I had had of him and I, from the beginning to the most recent. It made me miss him even more, and made me regret that we couldn't have been a couple sooner. My love for him at this point was unending, and to have to end it with this funeral speech broke me.
I held back the flow of tears from my eyes as I stepped up in Chiron and Mr. D's place. With a sigh, I cleared my throat and began to speak, scared as hell to face the campers. They had pity on me, and I despised it.
"There was no one that was as great a person as Percy. He was kind and showed a great sense of dedication to the camp and… and…" I looked up and I couldn't believe it.
It was Percy.
"Percy." I whispered underneath my breath.
He was alive! As quick as I could, I ran towards him and stopped right in front of him before I was about to hug him and smiled, trying to make sure no one else could see. Percy had a bright white t-shirt and something glowing in his shirt pocket right above his nipple, but at this point, I didn't care. He was here. With me. Alive. I loved it with all my heart.
"You're alive." I said, holding back my happiness.
"I'm alive. I'm back, Annabeth." He didn't seem all that happy to see me, in fact, he seemed a little dissatisfied to see me, but I didn't care. I reached up and hugged him tightly in front of everyone to see.
With a little bit of time as we hugged, he let out the chuckle Percy always did and he tightened his grip and placed his head on my shoulder, caressing my curly blonde hair with his left hand as he repositioned his hands.
"I'm back, Smart Girl." He whispered with a large grin on his face. "I'm back."
"It's good to have you back, Seaweed Brain." With a monstrous grin on his face, he pulled me in and kissed me. I placed my hands around his neck to feel the familiar strands of soft, raven colored hair in my fingered and pulled him closer.
"Don't leave me again. Please. I died without you with me." I begged. He wiped a falling tear from my eye and looked in my gray eyes.
"You've cried too much, Annabeth. I can't stand it when you cry." I giggled, quickly turning around to give the birdie to Collin Stoll.
"Don't leave me."
"Never." He looked like I wasn't good anymore. But then again, it might've been paranoia on my part.
"I'm not your second girl now… are I?" I asked quietly, watching the rest of the group that were watching us fade away.
"You will never be my second girl. You're my first and my only. You aren't even my biggest 'what if'. You're my one and only." With that moment we walked to his cabin with our hands interlocked, facing the sunset, and keeping the moments we treasured for us to keep and love. Together.
Okay guys, this is probably it, unless you want other POVs, but I don't know if there are any more I can do. But like always, R&R please!