The Beginnings of an Olympian

3 | If I Die Young

And so, in a brilliant flash of blinding light, too much of you asked Percy, all the Olympian gods arrived at the hearth in Camp Half-Blood. But to their surprise, no one was around. They quickly realized that everyone else was gathered at the hill near Thalia's pine tree.

1st Person | Percy's POV
(Italics within the text below are thoughts not spoken out loud)
1039 words

I looked around and saw no one. The strawberry fields were abandoned, the dining pavilion was empty, no one was in their cabins, and I couldn't hear any laughter around. Not even the arena had campers.

Where is everyone?

I faintly heard sobbing in the distance. It sounded like it was coming from the hill with Thalia's pine tree. I rushed over there, and it seemed that the other Olympians had similar thoughts. I had this nagging feeling in my stomach that something bad just happened and that it would only get worse.

I looked over to my left to see my father keeping pace with me. He looked a little frantic, but I couldn't tell why. Then I saw what they gathered around, or rather who they gathered around. My heart dropped to the floor in front of me. Right there, on the red-stained grass, was my Wise Girl, Annabeth.

No. No. No, no, no, no... NOOOO!!! ANNABETH!!

My head was pounding. I couldn't believe it. She was dead. Her body lying still right in front of me, a large stab wound on her side. I kneeled next to her and held her gently in my arms. Silent tears streamed down my face. I couldn't think, I couldn't breathe, my whole world came crashing down in a matter of seconds.

What happened? How is she dead? Why is this happening?!

But as much as I wanted to do something, to bring her back, I knew there was nothing I could do. Her eyes were devoid of life. I couldn't bear the sight, so I gently closed them. She was gone, at peace in Elysium, and I would never see her again.

Damn the gods and damn the fates and damn my life!

I felt empty at the loss of my love, my whole heart. That's when I saw it. A bull horn off in the grass to her left. It was almost identical to the one sitting on my dresser in the Poseidon cabin. Rage took over my mind. I knew who had killed my other half, my Annabeth. The Minotaur.

I'm not really sure what happened after that. I remember the ground shaking and Hestia touching my shoulder and calming me down. I remember the grief-stricken faces of my friends. I vaguely remember her body being taken away and Will Solace leading me to a bed in the infirmary. I think I blacked out after that because the next thing I knew it was dark outside when it was previously midday.

I sat up slowly looking around to get my bearings. Will saw me stirring and rushed over to check on me. "I'll get you some water. Just wait here," he said. A few seconds later, he was holding a large glass of water out to me. I took it gratefully and downed it in one go. I noticed he kept glancing up at me nervously from the clipboard he was scribbling on, but he never met my eyes.

"Will, what's wrong? You keep looking at me like I'm going to explode." I tried to smile, but it was half-hearted.

"Sorry," he said, "I didn' mean to stare. It's just... well... it's just..." he stumbled over his words, a little rushed to explain himself. He's never like this, we've been friends since forever it seems and I've never seen him so apprehensive around me before. He took a shaky breath before continuing, "Apollo told me what happened... on Olympus... after ya know... everyone else had gone and left and the broadcast was over and everyone came back here and you were there and..." He suddenly stopped his increasingly frantic speech when I started laughing.

"So you know," I stated more than asked after calming down from laughter. He just kept his head down. I didn't want it to be like this. We were still friends and it hurt to see him almost scared of me. "Hey," he looked up now on the verge of tears, "it's ok. I'm still the same guy I was before. No need to be cautious around me. Please, I don't want to lose friends. I don't want to lose anyone else." I spoke the last part to myself, but he heard me and the tears came down. He hugged me and I hugged him back finding comfort in the embrace of a good friend.

When we pulled apart, I noticed something on his neck. A wide grin covered my face. I must have looked like I'd gone mad because he regarded me strangely. I just smirked and said, "Looks like you've found someone then?" pointing to the obvious hickey. He blushed a deep red at that, and I started laughing so hard I fell off the bed. He tried to help me up, but I was literally rolling on the floor laughing. Eventually, he started laughing too and all my sorrow went away at that moment. But of course, as soon as I started to feel like things were going to be ok, someone walked into the room.

"Son, the funeral rights are starting if you're up to joining us," my father said slowly and somberly. I looked up at him and simply nodded. He turned and left me sitting there on the floor.

"Can you..." I started asking Will, "not tell anyone about... you know... me being a god. I just can't handle the looks people will give me if they knew. It's bad enough they'll be staring at me tonight." He smiled at that, knowing I hated being in the spotlight.

"Sure thin'. I'm here for ya you know. Anything ya need." I gave him a genuine thanks and we left the infirmary together.

Will and I walked silently side by side all the way down to the amphitheater where everyone had gathered. The campers parted for me as I made my way to the stage. All eyes were blurry and red from tears. Annabeth was loved by pretty much everyone at the camp. She was the most seasoned camper, so most people knew her well. I stood next to the pyre, took a sharp intake of breath, steeled myself, and then turned to face the crowd.