Tether // percabeth

chapter twenty-three: search

Three months later

Annabeth's pov:

   I have to admit, this whole thing has begun to be slightly ridiculous. Sometimes I hate being so stubborn, but the idea of leaving Percy behind trump's my hatred.

  One step, just one more forward.

  Another, and another, another step toward nothing.

  No. they had to be for something.

  " Annabeth!" Will scrambled to me when he had heard the crunch of the snow under my knees.

  "Are you alright?" His hands held me up by my shoulders. "Is it the baby?"

    I shook my head, "I'm fine! Leave me alone!" I had to admit, there was a pressure in my stomach. Just enough to take the breath from my lungs. But I wasn't going to tell them that. They would send me on a one way trip on blackjack.

  Nico stood before me, his face stretched out in concern, "Annabeth-"

  "I said to leave me alone!" I could feel my patience straining and I took a deep breath to calm down.

  Will tried to push me to my feet gently, "Come on, we need to keep moving."

   I closed my eyes, taking more deep breaths," ... Okay. Just give me a moment."

  "You look a little peaked." Nico kneeled to be level with me.

  "I'm just a little dizzy, is all." It wasn't the whole truth, but it was all I was willing to say

  "let me help you." He moved to lift me, but at that moment, Will reached out and grasped Nico's arm.

  " Did you hear that?"

  "Hear what?"

  " There it is again. It sounds like footsteps." I could tell me and Will were thinking the same thing.

   Nico must have seen the hope in our eyes,"There are several. Listen."

  "Wait, their coming this way!" The boys took protective positions in front of me as the pounding got closer.

  A pack of scraggly boys crashed through the trees, stopping when they saw us.

  They all looked worn and rabid. But the boy at the head of the group got over his shock quickly, finding a lousy fighting stance. His arms were too low, and legs too close together. But when we locked eyes he dropped his fists.

  He muttered a word so quietly I almost didn't hear. Almost to himself.

  "Annabeth?"

  Deven's pov:

  It was the eyes. They're what made me pause.

  And the protruding stomach.

  Everything, all of it was just as Percy had described her to be.

  I had no doubt, it was Annabeth. I had heard of so many of her adventures with Percy, had thrived off of them. I felt as though I already knew her. Yet, even though I knew, I still had to ask.

  "Annabeth?"

  The boy with the undeniable aura of death, he must be Nico, held a sword that hadn't been there before.

  " Stay back!" He swung his blade in a wide arch, pushing us further back.

  "You should take her home." I warned as I took a cautious step forward. She didn't look to be doing very well.

  "I told you to stay back!" He swung another time, but I didn't back away.

  "You won't find Percy. Just go home." The mention of Percy made Nico falter.

  "Just g- ? What are you talking about? What did you do to him?" He shouted.

  "Nico..." The blond behind him began before I interrupted him by falling to my knees, nose buried into the snow. The others behind me followed.

  "Please, forgive us. We let Percy down. We were too weak and lost."

  I risked a glance up, and saw the confusion on their faces.

  The blond one was the first to speak.

  "Why won't we find him?"

   Having to tell them sent my heart into my throat. But Percy never would have forgiven me if I let Annabeth go on with false hope of him being alive. So I attempted to swallow down my emotions before I opened my mouth.

  "He's dead."

        ********************

  We had wandered our way back to the castle almost a month ago. Looking for any sign of Percy, and had found a valley bathed in blood. Every monster I had seen during my stay in the dungeons had lifeless corpses on the ground. In the center of it all, a mound protruded from the ground, sparkling in the mid-day sun. As our group inched closer, what we found was enough to make all of them tremble.

*******************

  The three in front of me trembled as well when I told them about it later that night around a fire. But I could see that raging storm in Annabeth's eyes that Percy had spoken so fondly of. And I knew she had made up her mind to see for herself.

A/N

Omg you guys!!! We made it to 1k!!!!!!! Thank you all sososososo much!!!!! I'm sorry for this being la te as always but I'm really running out of ideas here. If you would like to suggest something you would like to see, just let me know, I would like to see your ideas!!!!

- livinginvibes

Word count: 844