We went back to the entrance where most of the fighting took place. I saw Will bent over working on someone familiar. I rushed to them to see my mother, bloodied and broken. A large lump formed in my throat.

“Mom,” my voice cracked. “Mom, I’m so sorry. I never meant for you to get hurt.” I put my hand over the blood soaked bandage on her chest. I lowered my head and started to cry.

She put a hand on my cheek, then she said quietly, “Percy, don’t cry. I don’t want you to beat yourself up over this.”

“But it’s my fault, if it wasn’t for me-”

She stopped my talking by placing a finger over my lips. “Percy, I will never regret anything involving you. You are the greatest gift that I could have ever received.” Her eyes were filling up with tears and her lips were trembling. “Don’t you dare beat yourself up over me Percy, otherwise I will find you in my next life and I will ground you.” She had a smile now.

I smiled too, but the smile only made the tears come harder. I tried to wipe the tears away, but it was like using paper towels to clean up a flood.

My mom turned to face Annabeth, “Come here dear.” Annabeth kneeled down on the other side of her. My mom held her hand, then she put Annabeth’s hand in mine. Without breaking eye contact with Annabeth, “Look out for my boy, I will rest easy knowing you will be here with him.”

Annabeth looked up at me and we locked eyes. We looked at each other for at least a minute, then she nodded. Looking down to my mother with tears in her eyes, “I swear, on my soul, Sally that I will look after Percy.”

My mom nodded, “Thank you,” then she turned to me. “Percy, it’s about my time. Maybe I’ll see your father soon. But before I go, I want to tell you one last time. I love you, and you were the greatest thing to ever happen to me.”

And with that, my mother closed her eyes for the last time. She exhaled for the last time, and I kissed her head, for the last time.

≈

Our group gathered up a bunch of wood from around the mansion and the grounds nearby. While they did that, Annabeth and I wrapped my mother in a white blanket. I cried a little bit, but I had to stay strong for a little longer.

Once all of the wood had been gathered, we went out into the court yard to build her funeral pyre. We arranged a tall tower for her. Once it was constructed, we all gathered around the pyre to show our final respects.

The fire was big and bright. As I looked at my friends, they all had tears in their eyes. I felt someone grab my hand. I looked to my left and I saw Annabeth. She was trying to hold her tears back, but failing.

Suddenly, the light around the fire got a lot brighter. Only, this was a white, pure light coming from the sky. When we looked up, we saw a group of people floating down.
“An honor guard,” I heard Annabeth whisper. The group got closer to the ground surrounding the pyre, and Annabeth lead me towards them. The lead angel was a tall blonde woman with sharp gray eyes, similar to Annabeth’s. She had an aura that commanded such authority that I felt myself cower away from her a little bit.

Annabeth bowed, “My Lady Athena, it’s an honor to receive you.”

The angel, Athena, dipped her head in acknowledgment. “We have a few reasons to come here.” She went closer to the pyre, “The passing of Sally Jackson is a sad event. Her soul was so pure and good that we saw fit to bring an honor guard to escort her soul to Heaven.”

Hearing that brought a few tears to my eyes. My mother was going to Heaven, even with all the trouble I brought into her life, she finally gets to live in peace.

“I don’t mean to rude, but what is the other reason my lady?” I heard Annabeth ask.

Athena looked at us, “I also came here to congratulate you all for succeeding in your mission.” The tone of her voice sounded like that was only half of the truth. She looked down, towards our intertwined hands, with the same look one would have toward garbage. “I want all you angels to report to Heaven first thing tomorrow. Rest tonight, you’ve earned a break.”

She turned back to the pyre and reached into the flames. She pulled out a shining orb. It seemed like she was holding pure light.

“Is that…?” I asked, whispering to Annabeth.

“That’s your mother’s soul,” she said. “I’ve never seen on so pure,” she said with awe.

The honor guard of angels gathered in a circle, my mom’s soul in the center. Then they started to ascend toward the sky. Taking my mother’s beautiful soul to Heaven.

≈

When we got back to Hazel’s home, we told Rachel the story of the fight. It was hard hearing Annabeth describe how dark I went. I had never wanted that to happen. But what really scared me was knowing that the darkness was still in my heart.

I could feel it, churning around inside of me. I kept feeling it grow stronger, willing me to destroy everything around me. But then, it would shrink away. I never let go of Annabeth’s hand. She was the only thing keeping me grounded.

Once we had finished the story, Rachel looked at us in awe. “You guys had quite a day,” she said with a slight laugh. “You guys go get cleaned up and I’ll make some dinner. You need a night off.”

We all split up to go shower and change. When we got near my room, I held onto Annabeth’s hand, “Hold up a minute.”

The rest of the group went on into the rooms. I pulled Annabeth into my room and as soon as I shut the door I pulled her into a hug. That was when all of the tears that I had been holding back came forth. They flowed like a river, I couldn’t stop them. We stayed like that for a while not saying anything, just holding each other. The only sound in the room was my crying, and shortly, Annabeth joined me.

After we cried all that we could, we pulled away from each other a bit, “Percy, I’m not sure-” but I had to talk to her first. I had to tell her what was on my mind before I lost my nerve.

“Hold on Annabeth, I need to say something first.” She looked confused but she nodded for me to continue. “I need to say all of this, so let me get it out, then you can talk, kay?”

She smiled and made a motion of locking her mouth and handing me the key.

After a small laugh, I took the key and put it in my pocket. I took a deep breath to gather my thoughts, “Annabeth, first, I want to apologize for turning into that monster.”

She started to say something but I stopped her, “Ah! I have the key remember?”

She crossed her arms and gave me a dirty look, but she motioned for me to continue.

“I know you are going to tell me that it wasn’t my fault, but that isn’t the total truth. I could have fought harder against the darkness. I could have fought harder against the darkness. But that isn’t where I’m going with this. What I’m really trying to say is, thank you.”

Annabeth’s face turned to a mixture of shock and confusion. “Thank me? For what?”

I smiled and lowered my head. “For being the only light in my darkness. You are what brought me back from Hell. I don’t think anyone else could have saved me.” I put my arms around her and brought her into another hug. “I heard everything you said to bring me back.”

I pulled back and saw her face flush. “Everything?” she asked shyly.

I grinned, “Yes Annabeth, everything.

She pulled away, and looked away embarrassed. “I get it if you don’t feel the same way about me. I just, I don’t want you to feel awkward or-”

I stopped her mid-sentence by pressing a kiss to her lips. It felt so right, almost like her lips were made to fit mine. When I pulled away, she looked like her brain had short circuited. “I love you too Annabeth.”

Slowly, she came back to her senses. A smile grew and she pulled my face back to hers. I’m not sure how long we kissed but I could have stayed like that forever.

Finally, we pulled away and Annabeth let out a sigh, “I should go get cleaned up.”

I nodded with a smile, “Yeah, same here.”

She walked to the door, and before she left, she came back and gave me another smaller kiss. She quickly left my room with a big smile.

I flopped down on my bed and relaxed, grinning from ear to ear. I finally felt happy.

However, I never could have guessed how short lived that happiness would be.

Notes