RIPTIDE - Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus, Pirate AU fanfic

Epilogue - The End

The water washes above its head but it does not move with the internal waves of the ocean. It lies cold, it's hard outer shell resting eight hundred and seventy two feet below the surface. Light does not reach it.

The steal lid is cracked and broken, revealing the round and pale shape of her face. Her hair drifts lovingly in the tide and little fish come to nestle within her clothes. She rests among the lost things, sunken ships and lockets that belonged to lovers.

He has come to see her, finally.

He drifts, bloodied clothes attracting more than one curious creature. She hasn't seen him in so long, little Nico. His eyes are closed and a smile tugs at the end of his mouth.

It's as if he reaches for her, one lifeless hand extended to take another. Softly his body connects with the ocean floor and sand puffs away in gentle clouds.

Nico lays beside Bianca. They are finally together again.

🔱

The sky is dusted in scarlet and a mournful red sun peaks over the horizon. The day is breaking and slowly the survivors gather together.

The first to arrive is a man with a limp. His gate is slow and uneven, the cane he leans on helping only sparingly.

The second to arrive is a beautiful woman with a wearied face. She keeps her arms crossed, fighting off the morning chill.

The third and forth come as a pair, the fifth alone, and the last two as the gravesite begins to warm.

Annabeth leans against Percy, her arm wrapped in his. She sways slightly but stays upright.

The preacher begins with a prayer, a poem of peace for the family left behind.

Annabeth wonders if Jason had any family, she had asked Frank earlier but all he did was shrug. She turns her face to Percy as the preacher drones.

His jaw is set tight and his eyes are bloodshot, the result of an all-nighter.

He hasn't forgiven himself, and no matter how much Annabeth has tried to console him, she doubts he ever will.

Leo is relaxed she notices. His shoulders slump not so much out of laziness but apathy. There is far less childlike joy in his demeanor. Annabeth starts to realize things have changed, and that what once was is no longer.

Jason is being lowered into the ground. A detailed coffin constructed of mahogany and gold filagree holds his body.

Piper and Frank had divvied out a portion of Nico's remaining treasury for Jason's casket. A final show of respect from the dissipated crew of the Hellsing.

"Would anyone like to say a few words?" The preachers voice rings in the empty graveyard.

For a few sufferable minutes no one stirs, the silence piercing your skin until Octavian hobbles over with his cane.

"Jason was... well... I wouldn't say an honorable man, but a scary one at best. And good at his job. I didn't really know him but I liked him well enough, if well enough meant I avoided him at all costs." Octavian giggled to himself, somehow finding humor when no one else could. "But in all honesty I wish I could've seen what he was like with us... with the Argo II and without a looming past to follow him around." Octavian turns to the dirt, the muscles around his face starting to quiver. "You are one of many lives lost. I wish you peace and a final release from pain." As quickly as the words came, the quicker everything fell back into silence.