Heroes of Olympus Series. Annabeth Chase X Male Reader Story

Regaining The Will To Live

(Y/N)'s POV

They all stood there, in that dreadful silence, unsure of what they could do, (Y/N) stared into the eyes of his father, not angry or desperate, but hopeful. "He still has time, I'm not letting you take him."

He looked around, expecting a chorus of similar statements, and for Thanatos to be pelted with fireballs and jewels while a honey badger chewed his ankles, but found nothing.

His friends all sat, the same sorrowful look on their expressions, as Hazel held Nico in her arms, unmoving. It seemed to occur to Thanatos too, "Well, that's new." The spectre of death said, before slamming the end of his scythe on the ground, causing a shockwave to pass through the air.

Sudden weakness overtook (Y/N) and Nico's sword fell from his hand. Thanatos leaned on his scythe as if (Y/N) hadn't just pushed him away and stopped him from killing his friends. He looked at the Stygian iron sword.

"Odd. That weapon, it was used as bait for his sister, the last I saw it was in the workshop of the inventor to lure Hazel from the boy's trail, and yet, here it is to stop me. Looks like you aren't the only one aiming to twist the boy's fate."

(Y/N) suddenly thought about the god that sent him on the mission to save Nico, and to the titan that bore him. (Y/N) looked at his father in the face, finally, the two were of comparable heights when Thanatos appeared in his more human form.

He hadn't noticed that before, not until he stepped towards Thanatos, squaring up, and his father stopped leaning idly, "You won't stop me. There's no way I'll let you, you want him you go through me." (Y/N) frowned.

Thanatos looked sorrowful, a small smile on his face, "I will take him, if I must. You will not stop me from my duties. Just as you could not before." His eyes trailed down to (Y/N)'s wrist, to the patch of dead skin.

It may have sounded harsh and cold to anyone else, as if Thanatos was threatening Nico, but (Y/N) knew his father better, the fact that he hadn't just 'taken' Nico meant he was truly hoping that (Y/N) could make the most of that time he was given.

It was a warning between the two of them, less of a threat, more like 'look kid, I'm just doing my job, if you can't stop this from happening, neither can I.' They both stared at each other for a moment.

It was a simple irony that (Y/N) understood the message behind his fathers words now, and not back then, but he pushed the thoughts of his past failures to one side for a moment. "How long?" "A few seconds. Six, to be exact." Thanatos sighed.

"I can do a lot with six seconds, ask Annabeth." (Y/N) joked, Thanatos' lip curled, "I would rather not." (Y/N) chuckled, "I was kidding anyway. I'd rather you not be here, you make me nervous." He sad pleadingly to his father, who went invisible, still present, but no longer looming.

Not that it mattered, because the moment he did the world seemed to spin again. (Y/N) had six seconds. The first two seconds, he wasted. Like an idiot, he just blinked, taking in the feeling that passed through him and realizing that his friends truly hadn't seen his father so close to their sides.

He pushed past Frank and Leo towards Hazel and gripped Nico by the hand, doing the only thing he could think to do, healing him, trying his best to give Nico some strength, it was a much simpler task after he had just absorbed a stadium of ghosts.

It didn't help much, what power (Y/N) gave Nico was escaping his form just as fast, he didn't understand why, Nico wasn't injured, just tired. He should have recovered from this alone but he didn't. His body looked stronger, his eyes brightened and his skin regained some colour, but catching a breath seemed like an impossibility for him.