Fallen Guardian

Chapter One

Piper stuck her tongue out at him and he stuck his out right back. They were in the dining pavilion on the Argo II, and they were the last ones up. She grabbed a plate and summoned some food, picking up a roll and chucking it at his face. It hit him smack in the nose, and he rose both eyebrows at her and grabbed a plate as well. Piper was to busy laughing to see a glob of mashed potato fly at her, splattering all over her hair. His eyes widened and he doubled over in laughter while she started to scream inaudible things at him. He just continued to laugh silently, like the Fates were taunting her, not allowing her to hear his laugh one last time.

Annabeth and Piper were dragging him into the Aphrodite cabin while he attempted to dig his feet into the ground. Jason mouthed 'good luck' to him and he sighed while her and Annabeth laughed silently. They slammed the door behind them, her and Annabeth wrestled him into a chair, Leo grinning and handcuffing his hands to the armrests. Annabeth stood in front of him with a playful glint in her eyes, then held her hand out to Piper with a serious expression, like she was about to operate surgery. Piper handed her a case of makeup and his eyes widened, starting to thrash around with a wild grin he was struggling to hide.

The scenes faded, leaving Piper staring back at the empty, black mirror of silver reflections.

Percy was gone, and he wasn't coming back.

I'm so sorry Percy.

-

Hazel fingered a large ruby that had appeared on the floor of the Pluto cabin. It glinted and glimmered under the dim light. She sighed quietly as another tear cascaded down her face. It slowly fell down onto her chin, hanging there for a moment. When it fell, landing on the flat surface of the ruby, the red colors seemed to shift, liquefied ruby rippling, like a fish just bellow the surface of the water, swirling and thrashing like something was trying to surface.

The three of them were laughing- Hazel, Frank and him. They were sitting on the back of the chariot they'd taken from the Amazons, laughing about something he had just said. There was no sound, but she longed to hear his laugh again. Frank spoke up and they all laughed even harder, though still soundlessly. Arion was no where to be seen as they relaxed in the back of the Chariot. A soft snow began to fall and they all looked up, grinning slightly. Hazel cuddled into Frank's side and Percy looked over at the empty seat besides him with a slight frown. Then he looked over at them and started smiling again, looking up at the elegant grey skies, polka dotted with soft white flakes.

The two of them leaned against the rails going around the Argo II. The wind blew both of their hair around and the ocean mimicked the vibrant colors of the sunset they were sailing towards. Hazel glanced over and saw Frank talking with Jason. She didn't look away for a while until Percy nudged her in the ribs, nodding his head in their direction. He said something to her with a mischievous glint in his eyes, a smirk playing at his lips. Hazel's face went bright red and she shook her head violently. He went to take a step towards the two boys but she grabbed his arm and tugged him back, making him stumble. He almost fell over the edge but he caught himself. Hazel's face was horrified and she started to talk really fast, but he started laughing. Her face was confused for a second, then she started laughing too. And they couldn't stop.

Hazel smiled sadly into the now-inanimate ruby and pressed it right over her heart, clenching it tightly.

She'll never forget his laugh.

We'll never forget your laugh.

-

Leo hovered over his forge, staring into the flames. He was trying to make a sword- The camp half-blood weapons were severely out of shape and needed extreme updates, but he couldn't focus. Not after that nightmare. Leo had accepted that Percy's fate was a result of him fucking up, and the guilt weighed on him every day. Some days were worse than others- like tonight.