(Wow, this is it. Thanks for reading, and keep an eye out for my follow up story. You don't want miss out on more angsty Alex, do you? anyway, have a fantastic day)
What do you do when your girlfriend is pissed off at you to the point she not only hit you so hard you fall out of a chair, she breaks your nose helping you up? Whatever she damn well says, that's what.
"You stupid, selfish, annoying, piece of shit." She began, and I tensed up, ready for her to hit me again.
"Chiron told me what you did, bathing in the River Styx, rescuing Luke and the others, what you said to the other councilors... I don't know if I can keep doing this. I can't be the only voice of reason in your head. I-I love you, but it seems like you don't even love yourself, and I'm sick of being the responsible one in this relationship. This should be the last time I ever have to talk to you about this because I love the fun, silly, immature you, and I've seen you grow so much. But you need to grow up a little more and realize the world isn't just black and white, good and bad. The world doesn't revolve around you." She told me, leaning into me now, holding me. I wondered if this was the last time she'd be holding me like this.
"I need you to promise me, no more outbursts, no more using me like I'm a tool in arguments, and no more of this anger. It's scary watching you get mad, even if I know you wouldn't hit me. It's scary loving you because you do stupid shit I shouldn't have to worry about." She continued, crying now. I wasn't sure if she wanted me to hold her back, but I did. I love her, I do. I'd never thought about my actions actually hurting anyone, but here she was, crying into my chest because I chose to be a bastard.
I never knew the love of another could make me want to be better. That I'd want to share my burdens because i knew for them that they weren't burdens, just helping someone who they loved.
"Annabeth, I swear on the Styx, the skies and the seas, on the ability to ever love again, you will never cry because of me again." I told her, meaning every word, and the thunder in the distance sealed the deal. My promise was made.
"I'll get the help I need, I'll grow up, I'll stop doing idiotic things and making you worry. Just please, don't waste your tears on me." I begged her, holding her so close to me, like I was afraid she'd disappear on me.
"This is it. You know that, don't you? If you can't fix yourself, I'm not going to stay and watch you get worse." She told me the two of us just standing there, and I knew she wasn't lying. She never lied. Not to me.
"I know, gods, I know." I mumbled, trying to keep my breathing steady, but I couldn't help the tears falling. I was so close to losing the one person I trusted with wholly with all of me.
"When I was in the styx, you were who I thought of, my mortal lifeline."
I put her hand on my heart, telling her quietly what it was.
"My weak spot. My anchor. My heart. And only you know." I told her, my biggest secret, my only weakness, and only she knew.
We didn't move for a long time, just lost in our embrace, tears still falling from both of us, until finally she got ahold of herself, and I followed her lead. There was too much to do to stand there forever, and she kissed my cheek.
"Go get that nose looked at." She told me, and now that my world wasn't ending, I could feel the pain that had been hiding just behind my emotions.
I could go see the Apollo kids, but I couldn't see Lee, not with the flurry of emotions inside me, so I did the smart thing and just flopped into the lake, submerging and handling my big boy emotions by hiding at the bottom, the water healing my nose was just a bonus for my solitude.
I kept my promise, going to therapy twice a week, talking to someone about the weight on my chest, the anger I was trying so hard to keep down, and my problem with my own pride.
When Percy got back, the camps spirit rose considerably, Thalia nearly tackling him in a hug and smothering him with kisses, crying into his chest for a few minutes. His absence had been felt than I could have ever thought. But that was why he was our leader.
Luke almost lost his head when they met and would have if he wasn't invincible before we could explain what was going on, Percy looking at him before they laughed like old friends.
The next day, he and Annabeth left, their quest not over yet, but as they left I prayed to the two deities I knew who would listen to such a prayer, begging Athena and Aphrodite to keep her her safe.
Two days later, they arrived back, with Grover and Tyson with them, telling us that Kronos had risen in the body of Ethan Nakamura, Quintus was actually Daedalus, Chiron not surprised in the slightest, while that damn satyr, Silenus, screamed at Grover and called him a liar about Pan. Like that mattered right now. We were preparing for a battle, and now it was up to us to defend our camp, and everyone found something to do. Me? I had my place in the Athena tent, kissing Annabeth and telling her I was going to leave after just one more kiss, until I finally had to leave, Luke coming to grab me so we could wait with Percy, Thalia, and Nico, who were all standing by Chiron, the five of us waiting until the fighting start to split up and tackle the biggest threats, moving from group to group, but never doing enough to completely make things even, to level the playing field, like the army of Kronos was endless.
Something smashed into the Athena tent, but I could see Annabeth. She was with Percy. She'd be fine.
I battled my way to get close to help them, before a hellhound slammed into the monster above them, and giant with so many arms and hands that I couldn't count them all came fought his way out of the Labyrinth, Daedalus right there with him.
I managed to make it to Percy and Annabeth, helping them to their feet.
The giant and inventor used their size and skill to help us, Percy yelled no at something and then I heard a noise like a million garbage trucks fucking each other, and the army of Kronos ran. It should have been a victory, but I didn't see the stray arrow coming towards me. Annabeth did, standing in front of me, blocking the arrow from reaching my heart, falling backward into me, lifting her head and looking at me, a weak smile on her face before she closed her eyes.
I handed her to Percy, flying off towards where the arrow had flown from and finding only one archer still running, tackling him into the ground and cracking his bow before dragging him back, ignoring his screaming and kicking.
I dragged him to her, making him look at Annabeth before continuing to drag him to the lake.
"Get in the water." I commanded, and there were no other enemies left in camp. Just a half-blood who'd chosen the wrong side, the wrong person to hit with their arrow.
"W-What?" They asked, and I tossed them where the sands met the water.
"Get in the water." I repeated, fear in his eyes. He hadn't been afraid when he had killed her. When he took my life from me.
"Please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to shoot, but that noise happened, and I just let go." He begged, and now those closest were watching as I dragged him under the waves, holding him down there until he stopped struggling, and then a little longer, before I let him go, his body floating upside down as I walked out of the water, no longer a boy, but a man who understand the pain of war.
That night, we burned a few burial shrouds, six deaths. Six people lost to us. Six too many. I closed my eyes, and i could see them. Malcolm, Lee, Nicolas, Nevaeh, Melina, and Samuel. All of them gave their life for us. For people who would honor their sacrifice.
I sat next to Annabeth, my shirt sleeve stained with her tears over her brother. She'd had been on the verge of being one of the dead, but Nico had saved her, I still don't understand how, but Daedalus had gone missing at the same time, and i suspected that it was Nicos' doing, some sort of deal. She'd been shot in the heart. She should be dead, but I wrapped my arm around her and held her close.
Four days later and we watched the fireworks on the beach, the two of quiet, holding hands as we looked to the sky before sharing a simple kiss.
A week and one day later, Annabeth turned fifteen, but we didn't celebrate. She didn't feel right celebrating so soon after losing her brother.
The rest of the summer crawled on, double dates with Percy and Thalia, who were much more open with their feelings now, with Tyson fifth wheeling, but we loved him, he was welcome with us.
My therapy sessions were cut to once a week. I wasn't the only one who needed them anymore. My sword and shield stayed with Annabeth now at all times. I couldn't touch them without feeling sick, remembering that I'd killed, that I'd drowned a person in cold blood. We still hadn't talked about that, and i didn't want to.
The days got easier, Percy and Thalia went to visit his mom, Grover went to spread the word of Pan, Tyson went to help in forge again. But Annabeth and I stayed at camp, nearly inseparable, but that was mostly on my end. I kept having panic attacks when I was away from her for too long, so I stayed by her side with whatever she was doing.
She wasn't wasting the opportunity, though, teaching me about whatever project she was working on, how schematics or strategies worked, and I loved her a little more for it, watching her eyes light up as she told me about the things she was doing, and sometimes she'd touch my nose, just to see if it was still broken, even though she knew it wasn't. I'd lean into her hand, and the world was so loud, my heartbeat didn't deafen me, and I could close my eyes and pretend that my home, my people, weren't at war.
Then I was summoned to Olympus before the entirety of the Olympian council, and I knew something was wrong as soon as I looked at their faces.
"Alexander Dion Grace. You have done well, but the army of Kronos grows larger, and war is upon us soon. The council has made a decision, one we have acted on already. The Ophiotaurus has been slain, its intestines sacrificed. We have gone back on our word, and as such, you are entitled to-"
I cut off the king of the gods. "Financial compensation? Women? Power? Nah, I'm entitled to my symbol of power back, as simple as that. We had a deal. You didn't keep your half." I told him, holding out my hand and summoning what was mine, the scythe appearing in my hand.
"Besides, we'll need the extra power on both sides of this war soon enough." I told the Olympians, who half looked ready to kill me, the other half thoroughly engrossed in this.
"You dare?!" Asked Zeus, and I felt my blood boil with rage.
"I do! I do dare! For all the pain and misery and heartbreak you give us, i dare!" I was pushing it now because I could see Zeus ready to blast me, only the whispers of his wife calming him
"Go. But know this hero. One day, you will not be invincible, and Olympus will be watching and waiting until then." He boomed, sending me back to camp, a shiny gold watch on my wrist, and a spring in my step as I saw my friends, calling to them and running their direction, the late fall winds blowing cold, as a Titan was reborn.