Chapter 1

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"...yeah, Percy's so different.."

"...he's been so snappy lately..."

"...I heard he left her in Tartarus..."

"...I hate him so much now..."

I didn't understand their logic. Did they think that I couldn't hear what they were whispering? Or were they just purposefully trying to hurt me?

It had been two weeks since I got back to camp. For the first week, I had been in the infirmary, recovering. By the time that I had gotten out, the rumours and the whispering had started. I would see people in groups, talking, but when I got close enough, they would scatter. My friends could never look me in the eye. Even Chiron didn't like talking to me.

And to add on to that, the whole Athena cabin was pretending I didn't exist, and were staying as far away from me as possible. They blamed me about Annabeth being trapped in Tartarus, and weren't trying to be subtle about it.

Could they not tell I felt bad enough? That I would give anything to go back and stop her from falling? If I wanted to leave in Tartarus, I never would have jumped after her in the first place.Now I had no friends, no one to talk to, and the one person I wanted most in the world, I would never see again.

It probably didn't help that I had a newly found half-brother, Hayden. He was the most annoying person on earth: he was ignorant, had huge ego, and he was a devil. Unfortunately because he only showed me this side of him, everyone else at camp loved him. And the only person who would actually believe me about him is in Tartarus. Damn it, Percy! Stop thinking about her!

Life without Annabeth was the most painful thing I had ever experienced. I kept seeing her face, as she fell back into Tartarus. Love. Hate. Devastation. Horror. All these emotions wrapped up in one facial expression. That is a face that I will never forget.

***

"Hello Percy." I easily recognized Nico's voice without turning around.

"What do you want?" I asked coolly. Nico, just like everyone else, hadn't been talking to me since I had gotten back to camp.

"Just wanted to see how you were doing," he said, sitting beside me on the sand.

"So you suddenly care enough to actually talk to me, now?" I asked. I didn't bother looking at him. I just stared out at the sea and the waves that were crashing in.

"I felt bad for you," he said simply.

"I don't need your pity."

"You're all alone," Nico said quietly.

"You just noticed?"

"I know you've been alone since you got back, but-"

"Since I got to camp?" I asked, and shook my head. "Nico, I've been alone for so much longer than that. Even since before Annabeth fell out of that elevator. I've felt like a piece of me has been missing since I was 11 and my mom disappeared on just before I came to camp for the first time."

"You got your mom back," Nico argued.

"But ever since then, I've been losing people," I said, digging my hands into the sand. "This is the second I've lost Annabeth. I lost Bianca. I lost everyone who died in the Titan War. I lost everything, including my memory, when I was taken to the Roman Camp. And even when I met someone who actually knew me, he pretended like we had never met."

"I'm sorry about that Percy..."

"Sorry doesn't fix everything in the world!" I yelled. I was annoyed with everyone assuming that apologizing was the answer to everything. "Sorry doesn't bring all those innocent people back to life! Sorry doesn't get Annabeth out of Tartarus! Sorry is nothing but some stupid, empty word!"

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