Percy Jackson, Prince of the Universe *Discontinued*

Chapter 7 - Immortality Fatality

-Percy-

Pain. It was all I knew right now.

Somehow, I also knew I was in a deep coma. But at the same time, I felt like I broke every 206 bones in my body, and at the same time, I felt helpless and very weak.

Finally, I woke up after what felt like forever, and the pain subsided. My body ached, but it was very little. Opening my eyes, I found Annabeth, alive and well, sitting in a chair next to me, sleeping. I could tell it was nighttime through the window, and judging my surroundings, I knew I was in the infirmary of camp Half-Blood.

Quietly, I put away my covers and stepped out of bed. In my mind, I was groaning. I felt sluggish and out of exercise; I couldn't lift a finger without feeling the fatigue.

Suddenly, I remembered what had happened a while ago. My head shot behind me, and I relaxed, finding Annabeth breathing and calm.

But I also remembered that I had revived her from the dead. Chaos warned me of this power, and to conserve it until I really needed it. He said that healing someone like that...could lead to becoming mortal again. Not immortal, mortal.

With some strength left in me, I looked at the cup at my bedside and tried lifting the water inside of it. Good, I thought. I moved it around effortlessly.

So even though my immortality was gone, I still had my powers.

And I could still be with Annabeth, nagged a thought out of the back of my mind. I pushed it away.

"Percy?" said a voice. I turned my attention away from the water and let it drop into the cup. Looking at her again, I smiled, glad to see her alive. "PERCY!" she screamed, her eyes wide. She stood up and hugged me. "Percy, I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. I was so mindless."

"I'm just glad you're okay," I told her. I had to admit; she was mindless.

"But that's the last time I'm going to say sorry to you," she continued, lifting her head up to look at me in the eye, still in my arms. "Where. Have. You. Been? You left and never came back. This is the second time you've disappeared, and...and...I'm tired of it." She buried her face in my chest and I felt tears flow through my shirt.

Then I gently pushed her away. "Don't you remember? You left me. Left me broken. You kissed Simon Kristof right in front of me, and even told me that I wasn't worth your boyfriend anymore. Annabeth, I had the ring in my hand. I was about to propose. But you chose to move on to another person. Everyone else treated me like trash for no apparent reasons. I was shattered, so I ran away. I met Chaos, and found out that he was my real biological father. I became the Prince of the Universe, and saved countless planets. And I came here, again, to relive my pain. To see you. To see all the others. To see all who have betrayed me!" I must've looked frightening, because Annabeth gave me that look.

"I never did all that. They never did all that. We loved you, Percy Jackson. We got up every day, hoping that you would come back. What exactly happened..." Annabeth faltered. "Oh. Oh, I get it. I get the cruelness of it. Someone was controlling our minds!" she looked furious, but pleased that it finally all clicked into space. "Percy, the day you left, we blacked out. We woke up out of unconsciousness, all of us, to see you gone. What if it was that Primordial, Eternal? What if he got rid of you to overcome Earth?" she looked at me, hopeful.

But I just shook my head. "It doesn't matter what happened. The past is in the past, and I got over with it. I've moved on. I'm sorry, Annabeth. We can be friends, but not...but not..." I sighed. "I dream about that day over and over, and I still feel pain over it. I'm leaving Earth, now that you're all safe. Eternal's been defeated, and I completed my mission. I'll be off to home."

"But you are home, Percy. This place has always been your home!" Annabeth said, now pleading. Then she whispered, "I never would have left you. And you know that. Forever together, remember?"

I felt a burning sensation inside of me. I had a sudden urge to listen to her, to stay. To be together with her again. The thought of walking with her on the beach, kissing her...

No. I focused on what I had to say.

"I am never coming back, no matter what you say. Unless Earth is in danger. And do not call me Percy Jackson. I am Cosmos, son of Chaos, Prince of the Universe. Percy Jackson has been broken and faded away," I said, firmly. If not for my training to be a Prince, I would've sounded like a weak duckling. "Good-bye, daughter of Athena."

And I left Earth. I teleported myself to the planet Chaos, to my room, to find Chaos sitting on my bed.

When he looked up, I saw him smile. "I was so worried about you, Cosmos. Eternal is quite easy to defeat, unless you had to fight through his wisdom. How is it with your...friends?" his eyes calmed me, as usual, giving me a taste of the universe. Next to water, the sight of the planets, safe and sound, always made me relaxed.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said. But, looking at his expression, I groaned before continuing, "They missed me. Wanted me to stay. But I refused, because of what they have done to me that made me broken."

"And you gave up your immortality to save your friend."

"Father, I don't want to get into this."

"Go back to Earth," he insisted. "Rebuild your past. You must, Cosmos. You must. I can not tell you why. Stay there until you know why I ask you to do this."

I knew that voice. It was urgent, important, and something you could never say no to.

I grasped for any words to plead for him to let me go to other missions, but his expression was stern. But I tried anyway.

"What about missions to other planets?" I asked.

"I will take care of that," he replied, daring me to say anything else.

Before I teleported back, he put his hand on my forehead and closed his eyes. I felt my head feel clearer as his hand stayed.

All of a sudden, I was looking at a person I never seen before. The frightening man in front of me looked at me with sympathy, thinking hard. Then I felt like I was tossed into the sky...which felt like a familiar feeling.