Heroes of Olympus - The Blood of Olympus (Discontinued)

Chapter 16 - Annabeth

Chapter 16 - Annabeth

"So what happens after?" Annabeth asked.

Percy tilted his head up, staring at the ceiling of Annabeth's room. They lay side by side on her bed, listening to the gentle creaking of the hull as it drifted through the sea. The light from the window began to grow dim as the the sun set slowly behind the endless waves. "Dunno..." he murmured. "I guess we wait for something to happen... like Leo setting off a freak explosion that throws us back to Italy. Or maybe go hang with Frank and Hazel before-"

"No," Annabeth said. "I mean, what happens after?"

Percy looked at her. His green eyes were emerald pools of troubled thought and sadness. Annabeth knew that look. She saw it every time she saw herself during the eight months Percy was missing. They gazed at each other for a moment before Percy's gaze dropped. "We either win or lose..." his voice drifted off. "We either live through this war, or die at the hands of Gaea. I don't know what else to say."

Annabeth lay still, listening to his words, his steady breathing. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "But we won't die, remember, Seaweed Brain? Never separated again."

Percy smiled contentedly, and closed his eyes, nodding slowly. "As long as we're together, right?"

"Right," Annabeth whispered.

Percy shifted slightly, and turned over onto his side, resting his head on the palm of his hand. "Annabeth..." he began. "I know that the promises we made to each other will always remain with me, but... we are... just demigods. Gaea is one the oldest gods on the Earth. She is the Earth. It keeps running through my mind. What if we don't defeat her? How can just the seven of us overcome someone such as her? With all her giants re-risen? All that work we did to eliminate them? Jason, Piper and Leo to save Hera. Frank, Hazel and me to rescue Thanatos. It took months to fulfill those quests."

"Percy-" Annabeth began.

"All those giants we'd defeated," Percy continued. "Enceladus, Porphyrion, Alcyoneus, Polybotes, Ephialtes, and Otis.... They're all back! It's as if we didn't even do anything! Was it all in vain?"

"Hey," Annabeth soothed, rolling onto her side and stroking his hair, brushing it back. "It wasn't in vain, remember? We saved Thanatos. We saved Hera - as much as I hate that backstabbing loose cannon, she's on our side."

Percy said nothing, but kept his eyes on the bed sheets.

"Those quests were meant to join us, and help us recognize who we are as allies. Had it not been for these quests we still probably wouldn't even know Jason, Hazel, Frank - and the entire rest of Camp Jupiter," Annabeth continued. "We'd still be separated, we wouldn't be united on this quest to Greece. It all meant something for other reasons, not just to kill giants."

Percy stayed silent.

"Sure the giants are back, but we can defeat them again. We've done it before divided. We can do it again united. Plus Percy, you're like the most powerful demigod in existence, so..."

Percy snorted and lowered his head further, scratching his scalp. "I don't know about most powerful, but I guess I have done some crazy things in my life, huh?"

"It seriously took you this long to realize that?" Annabeth grinned.

Percy's laughed lightly, but after a moment, his smile wavered, and his shoulders slumped again. "But Annabeth. When the final battle comes..." he finally turned his green eyes back up to her again. "If anything should happen - anything to me, anything to anyone." He paused. "Anything to you... you and I both know I would risk everything to save you. You know my fatal flaw. And should anything happen to me, if it's gonna be decision to either save me or save yourself, I want you to promise me Annabeth, that you will save yourself."