The Death of Her

Annabeth Chase was dead.

The remaining crew on the Argo II was well aware of that. They saw her body hit the ground, limp and lifeless, her face pale and cheeks gaunt, her stormy grey eyes staring without seeing at the wild blue yonder. They watched, helpless, as the spear entered her body. They stared as she fell. They all knew.

All of them, except Percy. None of the others, courageous and mighty as they were, had the heart to tell him. So when he came bounding up the stairs, a goofy grin plastered on his face and his green eyes twinkling with excitement, they all attempted a smile and tried to look victorious despite the loss of their comrade.

"Done," Percy exclaimed, sticking his nose up in pride. "Those sea urchins will never bother us again."

Jason stepped forward, resting his hand on Percy's shoulder. It felt strange to him to touch him, the boy who, sooner or later, would realize his girlfriend is dead. The boy who would be crushed by grief when that happened.

"You did good," Jason praised, struggling to keep his voice from quavering. The rest of the crew watched them warily, studying their expressions, tensing and un-tensing their bodies. Hazel turned away, unable to gaze at Percy for so long, and inconspicuously wiped a tear from her cheek. Frank perched himself on top the rail, sitting on the very edge like a bird ready to take off at any moment. Leo–for the first time in months–wore a serious expression of sympathy, staring at Percy so intently, it's a shock he didn't notice. Piper, unable to control her emotions, let out a sob, then quickly covered it up with a cough.

Percy raised an eyebrow. "You okay, Pipes?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Piper's charmspeak usually worked wonders on Percy; once, she even got him to let her practice her makeup skills on him. But now, with such a thick cloud of sorrow suspended over them, and the guilt of knowing–and not knowing–how Percy would react, there was only so much she could do. Percy didn't ask any more questions, but he knew something was wrong–Piper didn't even scold him for calling her "Pipes."

Dinner was a silent nightmare for everyone. Jason suddenly got interested in his feet, staring at them under the table, while Piper and Hazel exchanged sad looks. Frank, who was typically the first to finish eating, spooned his food around apathetically. Leo's normally busy hands stayed quiet in his lap. Percy twiddled his thumbs, glancing out the door occasionally then looking away in disappointment.

"That's weird," he said, slightly curling his lip. "Annabeth should've been back by now."

The name rattled through the others' ears, sending jolts of electricity up their spines.

"It shouldn't take so long to take down one minor monster," Percy continued. He fixed his gaze on Jason, who wouldn't meet his eyes. "Do you guys know where she went?"

They all glanced at each other for a half-second, and a collective sigh sailed through the air. Percy couldn't stay oblivious forever. One of them would have to tell him. One of them would have to release the tons of grief suspended over his head by a string. One of them, but who?

"Guys? Where's Annabeth?" Percy stood, scanning the room with eyes wide like a curious puppy, his face tight with concern.

"Percy," Piper cooed, keeping her head low. Percy ignored her.

"Where–is–she?" he demanded, clenching his hands into fists.

Finally, Jason looked up, standing so quickly, Leo fell out of his seat. The son of Jupiter made his way over to Percy, coming to a halt between him and Piper.

"Percy," Jason said calmly. "What I'm about to tell you–you have to promise me you won't freak out. Promise?"

"You know how dangerous promises are, Grace," Percy responded wryly.

Jason pursed his lips. "Right." Then, after a moment's hesitation, "Annabeth finished her mission a little early. She came to help us, when we encountered this giant, and– and she didn't make it, Percy. She's gone. I'm so sorry we couldn't save her. She– she was speared."

With each word, Percy's body went slack. His shoulders sagged, his face drooped. Before Jason finished, he collapsed all-together, crumpling to the wooden deck of the Argo II like a rag-doll. The crew rushed over to him, screaming his name and pulling him to his feet, but the words and actions were muffled, as if he tumbled into a pit of tar. Annabeth–his Wise Girl–was dead. Gone from this world forever, roaming the depths of the Underworld as a lonely, miserable spirit. He still remembered her when they first met–her long, wispy blond hair framing her face, her lips pressed together in a firm line and eyebrows knit, a pair of striking grey eyes studying him like an interesting science experiment. Her passion of architecture made her even more stunning–she would never stop rambling about the buildings and structures of the places they visited, and Percy loved that rambling. She was so smart. She was so beautiful.

The others comforted him, but they were also lost in grief. None of the words they said made sense to one-another, yet they tried–they tried helping each other find a way out of this darkness that has suffocated them. Until they stopped trying, and the tears flowed in silence.

Then, Frank gazed up, his vision misty, and spotted a figure in the doorway–a lean girl resting her shoulder against doorway, wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt and jeans and twirling a sword in her hand. He gasped, staggering backward in shock. The others looked up from their anguish and gasped as well, staring in disbelief at the girl.

All of them, except Percy.

He stood and walked calmly to the girl, his expression blank. She smiled, her grey eyes twinkling, and pulled him into a kiss. All at once, the sadness was lifted from Percy's shoulders, and he embraced her, wrapping his arms around her and curling his fingers through her soft hair. When they broke apart, Annabeth smirked.

"Now you know how I felt after Mount Saint Helens, Seaweed Brain."

Notes

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this particularly tragic Heroes of Olympus fan fiction. Please note - I only spent about an hour writing this, and fifteen minutes editing. It may not be my best work, but I tried my hardest. Please disregard any found errors such as grammar mistakes and misspellings. Thanks for reading! :)