A year ago:
Annabeth
Annabeth began to open her draws and pull out clothes.
He was right.
He was right.
He was right.
With every shirt she put in a bag, Jason's words echoed in her head.
She turned the corner.
Percy was leaning against the cabin wall.
No.
You're loosing it Annabeth.
Percy is dead.
Wait, it wasn't Percy.
It was Leo, running across the lawn, new equipment to build the ship.
It can't be.
He was dead too.
Luke was practicing sword fighting.
No. It was Beckendorph in the armory.
Wait no. It was Silena picking strawberries.
This camp was filled with the dead.
And the living blamed her for it.
Shooting one last look at her home, she slung the bag over her shoulder and left.
Percy
Percy lay gasping as his capture had finally let him go. After closing the doors, he had immediately been picked up by an enemy. He had closed his eyes as he was dragged into a building far away, wondering how many heart beats and breaths he had left before he was no more. Unfortunately, his capture had no intention on killing him. At least not yet. He wanted to have his fun with him first, seeing how much Percy could withstand before he got on his knees and begged for death. But Percy had no yet reached that point. With every amount of pain inflicted on him, he imagined Annabeth. He saw her face and could hear her voice in his mind.
You're not giving up that easily, are you Seaweed Brain? Her voice invigorated him and continuously rose him from the floor. She got him through every round of pain his capture had in store for him. It had been a month since he had seen her last. He missed her. Those words seemed too simple for his feelings. He didn't just miss her, it was as if a limb had been cut off and he was getting Phantom Limb pains. It physically hurt him to not see her, more than anything his capture had done to him.
And it was with her face and her voice in mind that he finally managed to escape his capture. He barely escaped with his life as he ran desperately as far away from his capture as he could, only stopping when his legs collapsed from under him and he slipped into sweet nothingness. When he woke, he continued on his journey, not sure of his destination, but filled with the unrelenting desire to see his friends again.
When he finally arrived on a familiar location, he decided to relax for a while, rest his legs. In Dameson's now deserted hut, Percy laid on the enormous bed and began to talk to Annabeth. After a month of not seeing her, he liked to talk to her, even if he knew she would never hear. Pretending that she was responding was enough for him.
"I did it Wise Girl. I escaped. I'll find a way out soon, but I can't today. I'm so tired. I just want to sleep. Good night." He said to the empty pillow beside him where she had once slept. He could imagine her in this hut. The knowledge that her voice had once filled these walls was enough to get him the first good night of sleep he had in a while.
Four months ago
Annabeth
Annabeth was living in Seattle. She had found a roommate named Claire.
Claire thought her name was Silena, because Annabeth had told her it was.
Annabeth had run away from everything, including Annabeth Chase.
Annabeth, now Silena, had gotten a job as a waitress to keep up her rent.
With the extra money, she used it to forget.
Her apartment was right above a bar.
Every night, she would forget why she was lying about her name.
Silena didn't have any worries.
It was so much easier to be Silena in a bar drinking away the night.
So much easier than Annabeth running away from her problems and straight into alcoholism.
Claire would sometimes drink with her, but Silena would mostly go alone.
She should care that he was falling apart, but the weird thing was, she didn't.
She wasn't spiraling anymore. She had managed to pull herself together at least that much.
Anything that didn't hurt felt good now.
And she would take some good whenever she got it.
Percy
Percy was standing on the edge of a clearing, nervously tapping his foot. Riptide gleamed next to him, a lifeline and a friend at this point. It had been, by his estimates, eight months since he arrived at Dameson's hut, and the safety had proven to be a trap. Everyday, he mentally yelled at himself to leave the hut and try to find an exit, but everyday he found himself stopping at this clearing. It was as far as he could go before it would be too far to turn around.
"I know, Annabeth. I have the food, I have a weapon, I cannot be more prepared." He reasoned with imaginary Annabeth. "You don't understand." He muttered.
He could almost hear her voice, making fun of him for being scared. She would have left months ago. She was so smart that she would already be out by now. Gods he missed her. He missed her laugh and smile. After nearly five months since seeing her last, her features had begun to fade from his mind. He even had a clearer image of her when he had amnesia. So much dark landscape, it was hard to think of someone so beautiful.
"This is it. I'm doing it. I'm going to see you soon. Promise." He said aloud to himself and to Annabeth who was mentally walking with him and he took off. After nearly an hour of walking, his heart was beating out of his chest. Four months of hesitation and he finally did it. He was finally trying to get his life back.
He wondered how his mom was doing. He hoped she was still with Paul and his circumstance didn't ruin something so pure. His mother deserved everything good in this world, and Paul was good. He could imagine her in her kitchen making blue cookies when he comes strolling in through the door, surprising her.
He imagined Tyson, his brother. One of the only people from his life he had seen in the past year. He had come and fought for Camp Jupiter, then left when Percy did. Percy didn't remember if he had said goodbye the last time he had seen him. Or when the last time Tyson hugged him was.
And Grover. His best friend in the entire world. It had been well over a year since seeing him last. He could still feel the empathy link Grover had created when they were thirteen. He used to be able to communicate with him, but after Hera erased his memory, it was so weak he could barely feel him anymore. But it was still there enough to drive Percy crazy. He doubted Grover could feel it at all. He would have no idea Percy was still alive.
Percy's thoughts were interrupted by a voice. "Percy Jackson." The voice ran out. Percy turned sharply to see a gang of monster coming up on him. A flash of regret crossed his mind before they pounced. The fight was quick and right before Percy's mind slipped into unconsciousness, he apologized to Annabeth.
A couple of days ago
Percy
After being periodically tortured by several different groups of monsters, all of whom hated him, Percy laid on a basement floor. His mind slipped in and out of sanity and reality, no longer sure if the voices he heard were his torturers or his loved ones urging him to continue on.
"Annabeth." He cried out, unable to speak above a whisper. But the voices were not Annabeth.
"I'm leaving soon. I can feel it." One of the monsters said.
"I can't handle the prisoner all by myself." The other one complained.
"Kill him. He's been here long enough." The first one said impatiently.
"Do it with me. I like it when he screams, I don't like it when he cries." The second muttered, and the first agreed.
"We have to make it quick though. I'm leaving in five minutes."
"Eat a donut for me when you get to the mortal world." Laughter, then light flooded the basement. Percy screwed his eyes shut, wanting it to be over. The two monsters stood over him. They were speaking, but Percy didn't care what they were saying. He heard them say they were going to kill him. For once in the past year, the voices of his loved ones in his head were silent. Percy had lost the will to conjure them. Just do it.
"Please." He made eye contact with the second monster and he hesitated.
"Don't tell me now you've grown a conscience." The first monster snarled.
"I-" The second one frowned.
"I'm about to go to the mortal world. Like now. My exile is finally over and I can finally return. If you are going to do it, do it now." The first monster started glowing. The unnatural blue-ish glow of the monster illuminated the room. He was traveling back to the mortal world. His time of waiting in Tartarus was over and he was to be reborn.
"Do it now!" He yelled as the second monster's sword was positioned directly over Percy's unprotected chest. With some inexplicable instinct, Percy reached out and grabbed the glowing monster's ankle. He looked down in confusion, then glowed brighter, and brighter still. Suddenly, with a pop, Percy's ear exploded with sound.
He felt the ankle in his grip start to pull away from him and with all his remaining strength, he gripped tighter. He opened his eyes to an explosion of fast moving color. His eyes widened with shock. In the blinding color, he saw shadows of other monsters, watching him, almost out of curiosity.
Another deafening sound and Percy was no longer traveling in the path of the colors, but was thrown through the wall. A loud ripping noise hit his ears and the ankle jerked out of his grip. While he lost the monster, the shadows seemed to follow him. He was spinning so incredibly fast that he closed his eyes out of dizziness.
He felt something hard underneath him, but he refused to open his eyes. He begged whatever god was listening to let him be dead. Let everything be over.
As he slowly peeled open his eyes, he saw trees looming overhead. He was still alive. He heard voices and footsteps and felt fear spike in him. He had to face more. He was so tired and just wanted to rest.
Annabeth was sitting next to him, her imaginary eyes watching him. She tilted her head in a way that Percy knew. He tried desperately to regain every last bit of energy he had to speak.
"Please." He croaked out. Imaginary Annabeth held his hand. He wanted it all over, but she wanted him to keep fighting. For Annabeth, he would do anything.
"Please state your purpose for being here." A voice called out. Percy's mind was so fuzzy that all he saw in his dying vision was Annabeth's grey eyes. He would die trying to fight for his life. For her he would try.
"Please don't kill me." He begged. But please do if it's that or torture.
"No please." The voice gasped. "If you come any closer, I'll kill you. I swear I'll do it." An empty bluff. He could not even lift an arm. He wasn't even sure if he had his sword anymore. But Annabeth was watching.
"In the name of Artemis and her hunters, please reveal yourself." The voice spoke again.
"Artemis?" Percy gasped, mind being diverted. He felt his body relaxing into the easiness of death. A second ago he would have gone almost willingly, but there was something about the voice.
The voice spoke again, and that's when Percy knew who it was. He said her name, then she saw her face. The fake Annabeth whose sole purpose was to keep him alive disappeared as a real Thalia ran up to him.
She was holding him, grabbing his hair, saying more things, but Percy's mind was slipping. The darkness called to him. He looked at Thalia and saw her blue eyes as he fell away. Was he about to die? Was any of this real? As Percy passed out, he only had one thought.
I'm not in Tartarus anymore.
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