They say there were once stars up high in the sky, twinkling like diamonds

The book in Annabeth's hands was worn and ancient, its pages crinkled beneath her palms. She was afraid if she turned one page just a sliver too wrong then the whole book would crumble into ashes and dust. There were pictures and drawings in it of tiny white dots. They formed patterns and shapes in the inky blue night sky.

Stars.

That's what they were called on the yellowing pages in the faded black print. The word felt foreign on her tongue. She had never heard of stars. They seemed magical, like a fairy tale in one of her younger brothers' books.

Stars.

It was such a whimsical word.

She looked up into her own dark sky. It was blank, nothing but an empty abyss with a slight shimmer of silver from the crescent moon. The moon was the only beacon in the sky, stealing the spotlight from any others. There were no such thing as stars.

She felt the cool, dewy night grass on the back of her bare legs. She laid down in it, soaking in the earthen smells of soil and freshness. Her yellow ringlets curled around her frame, waving out and in from her body in an angelic halo.

She hugged the book to her chest, the blue, old leather cracked and soft. She had stumbled across the book in a restricted section of the local library, where the books from the other times were located. Where the books meant only for government officials were kept. At the moment Annabeth didn't have a care about all the trouble she could get in for harboring the forgotten treasure. She had learned of stars that flooded the skies in blazes of light and eternalness during the other times.

A blissful smile danced across her face. A smooth summer's breeze flowed across her cotton pajamas, through every pore of her body whistling in her being. She yearned to see the stars in her lifetime. They were one of her last great desires. She wanted to show the world the beauty of them. Show every last person what they were missing from this world, show them how the ancient people hid away diamonds in their sky.

She couldn't wait to tell Percy about them in the morning. He'd keep her secret. He'd awe at them. He'd see how they were the most vital thing they'd never have. He'd see how she would die without witnessing their miracle and would go to heaven itself to bring her them. Percy would bring her the stars.

They never moved and never failed to shine, the cloudiest of nights couldn't resist their penetration

Her and Percy sat in a field of drying hay, all color drained from everything. The ground was dead. The sky was dead. The trees and water were dead. Sadness captured everything in her net of sorrow and refused without mercy to release her prisoners.

Not a single soul was around them for miles. The vast space made the setting almost intimate.

Annabeth's leg brushed his, a touch as light as the flutter of a butterfly's wings. He looked over at her, staring at her gray eyes alight with energy, bursting to share something unknown to him.

"What's up?" He asked in the voice reserved only for her, his best friend. It pained him that she wasn't more. A dull ache that never ebbed away made permanent residence in his heart, constricting all his muscles when he looked at her, when he thought of her. The slope of her nose was perfect, the pinkish rouge of her lips was perfect, the way she opened her mouth when in deep thought was perfect. She was perfect.

She looked at him, biting back a smile.

"I have to show you something." The way she said it made it seem like something dangerous and wonderful, meant only for him. Only for her. Only for them.

She pulled her canvas bag so it laid in between the two. It was the same canvas bag he had gotten her years ago for a birthday. It was nothing special, practically everyone had a canvas bag these days, it was essential to everyday life. But hers was different than the rest. Hers had her name embroidered in dainty silver thread along the handle. An owl winked up at them on the side, patterned in paisley.

Out of the old thing, she pulled an even older thing. It was a book, a big heavy, navy blue bound book. The cover was engraved with swirls and twirls of gone away gold. Her delicate fingers ran their way along the cover, gently feeling it beneath her skin.

The brush of her fingers over the book was equivalent to that of feeling a heartbeat. There was something so powerful in the moment, a force at play that couldn't be fathomed by the human mind.

Percy took it into his own, much larger and calloused hands.

"What is it?" He whispered. The moment felt too fragile to use a voice any louder.

"It's a book." Annabeth said, serious as ever.

Percy chuckled, still quiet, not breaking the aura around them.

"I got that, Chase. I meant, what's in it?" He looked at her again and she brought herself closer to him, finding comfort in his warmth despite the heat of the July day. Her head rested on his shoulder, blonde hair falling over his back. Percy sighed contently.

"Open it." She whispered through a gleeful, childlike smile.

He cautiously opened the book. His brow furrowed in confusion. He couldn't make any sense of the pictures in the book, of the dots and the lines, of the diagrams and graphs.

"What is it?" His voice was louder now, if only by a fraction.

"Constellations." She looked at him, expectant, as if the unfamiliar word cleared everything up.

"Constellations?"

She nodded giddily. She was sharing the secret with him. She was sharing the secret with the most important person in her life.

"They're made up of stars. Stars, Percy."

"What are stars?"

Annabeth went into a happy ramble about the objects that once shone in the night sky during the other times. She told him of the stories behind them and the studies that went into them. She told of how they were thousands and millions miles away, yet could still be seen from this little point on Earth.

"They were the most beautiful things to ever exist, Percy. Nothing could trump the stars." She sighed closing her eyes, trying to create an image of what it would look like at midnight during the other times. It would look glorious, she decided.

"I'm not so sure about the most beautiful." Percy said to himself, eyeing his best friend out of the corner of his eyes. Nothing could be more beautiful than Annabeth Chase. Not even the stars.

The stars were a legend, a puzzle for the human mind to never solve

Annabeth was sobbing. Percy held her not sure what the cause of her pain was, her cries made her speech incoherent. He rubbed soothing circles into her back as she soaked his shirt in salty trails.

"Shh, Annabeth. Just breath and tell me what happened." He kept his voice low and soft in an attempt to comfort her further.

She took in a sharp breath, pulling slightly away from his tight grip. She looked at him with watery eyes that were lined with bright red.

A moment of silence passed between the duo.

"They took the book." Her haunted whisper was so quiet, Percy barely managed to hear it.

"Oh, Annabeth." He pulled her back into a hug, resting his chin on her head as she cried further. He felt her heart ache in his own chest with the grievance of a lost loved one. That book had been her sun for the past weeks. It was bound at her hip and as much apart of her as her stunning gray eyes.

She pulled away for a second time, wiping furiously at her eyes. Even her voice was watery when she spoke.

"Government officials came to my house and confiscated the book. I didn't get in trouble, but they warned me not to share the information in it with anyone. I told them about you, they were really nice about everything. But I loved that book, Percy. I loved it so much." She cried again.

Percy held her there for a time he couldn't count. It felt like an eternity of agony. He stayed there with her until dusk had fallen and Annabeth had to return home.

And one day they disappeared into oblivion, the dawn of a new age arising with their fall

It was a week since the book was taken away. A week since Annabeth fell into a pit of misery. The light had been taken out of her eyes just like the stars had been from the sky.

Percy had her on the phone and although she tried to fake cheerfulness, it was all too clear to hear the lingering of heartbreak in her hoarse voice.

"Hey, Annabeth." Percy's voice sounded tentative, like he was on the verge of something big.

"Yea, Percy?" Her voice was the meadow on a lovely spring day. Percy could never get tired of her voice.

"Can you come over? I have something to show you."

A pause and a breath.

"I'll be there in ten." She breathed out as a click of the phone followed.

A knock on the wooden door brought Percy to his feet. He opened it to see Annabeth standing there in a yellow sundress. It fell just above her knee and was covered in intricate embroidery. Percy saw flowers and leaves, trees and spirals sewed into the flattering fabric.

He blocked her view into the house.

"Hi." A grin spread across his face.

"Hi?" She laughed, wondering what he was so happy about.

"I have a surprise. But you need to close our eyes." The goofy grin never left his face.

She gave him a weird look, but agreed anyways.

He lead her into his house and through the rooms while holding her hand. Her eyes were squinted tight, ensuring she didn't see a thing. They stumbled as they made their way to Percy's surprise and laughed at their missteps.

Suddenly, they came to a halt. Annabeth tripped forward a little, but Percy quickly caught her. Her eyes still remained closed.

"Okay, now open." Percy whispered right into her ear, his breath tickling her skin.

She obeyed and what she saw made her gasp in awe.

Hanging from the ceiling were stars made of mirrors, reflecting the golden morning light in a perfect vision. She felt her breath taken away by the beauty. The room was empty, leaving only the stars to make a statement.

They were strung from all different lengths, spinning in slow circles in their own secret dance. She reached out and touched one, feeling the cool glass between her fingertips.

She turned around to see Percy, waiting anxiously for her response. She tackled him into a hug, warm tears running down her cheeks.

"Thank you." She said into his chest.

"You don't even know the best part."

Annabeth looked up at him, "What?"

"Go look at them again. Look into them." He nudged her forward, with a small smile on his lips.

She did what she was told, but didn't understand.

"I just see me, Percy. They're made of mirrors." Her confusion wavered in her words.

He came up behind her, wrapping her into a hug.

"You once told me the stars were the most beautiful things ever to exist, but I disagree."

"Percy…" She was hesitant, pretending not to know where this was going.

"I think you're the most beautiful thing ever, Annabeth. The only way the stars could compete would be if they held your image." He looked at her with a seriousness Annabeth had never seen before.

She turned around to fully face him.

"Percy." She sighed before bringing them into a kiss.

It was slow and deep, every ounce riddled with the love of a lifetime upon a lifetime.

Percy had brought her the stars, just like she said he would. He had brought her the love of a thousand bright night skies. And in return she had brought him her own love. A love that was the strength of a million suns and a billion stars.