Annabeth's POV

Looking down at the unconscious wolf, I whispered, "I'll save you, Percy."

Percy's POV (Flashback!)

It took me longer than I'd like to admit to jog through New York and get to Long Island. I obviously wasn't as healed as I thought I was. By the time I had reached Long Island, I was panting. My heart was racing. But I could make it. I had to make it.

That was the mantra going through my mind. I have to make it. I have to make it. I have to make it.

My mantra stopped dead in its tracks when, just a mile from Camp Half Blood, I came across a monster. It was a hell hound, black fur nearly camouflaging it within the shadows. It was bigger than Mrs. O'Leary, bigger than a dump truck, and almost the size of am eighteen-wheeler you'd see plowing down the highway. It was massive.

And it was just my luck to run across this thing when I could barely stand without tipping over.

Maybe it doesn't see me, a small voice in my head whispered hopefully. That voice was being naive, because as soon as it murmured that thought, the hell hound's elephant-sized head swung over to glare at me. I knew it was looking at me and not something behind me because every few seconds, it's head would drift slightly to the side, the same direction I was subconsciously swaying in.

The monstrous hound snarled at me, drops of spittle flying everywhere. Some particles flew into my fur, which was disgusting and unsettling, especially since the hell hound was over two hundred feet away from me. Or, it was, until it decided I looked like a tasty little snack and rushed towards me.

Internally, I crushed the fates for my rotten luck. All I wanted to do was get back to Annabeth, alive and human. What had I ever done to deserve this shit? No one had ever told me, but I figured I had to have been someone as malicious as Hitler to have gotten this terrible a life.

Either that, or the fates just really enjoyed screwing with me.

With immortal deities, one could never be sure.

Within two smooth leaps, the hell hound was in front of me. I was too slow to dodge it's flying paw as it swiped at me. Therefore, when I was roughly smacked into a tree, I shouldn't have been surprised. Maybe if I wasn't so goddamn tired I could've worked up the urge to get angry at this beast and get my revenge. But my eyes just wanted to droop closed. My head was pounding, and I must've broken at least one rib from that sudden crushing embrace from the tree.

And Grover says everyone should be tree huggers. Look where that got me!

The hell hound lumbered towards me, sniffing the ground and the air. Once it reached me, it sniffed my form briefly before opening up its mouth. I stared in dim shock at it's sharp, dagger-like teeth that were easily the size of me. Vaguely, my mind contemplated how ironic this must be. A demigod with a pet hell hound dies as a wolf by the hand of a different hell hound. This would make the front page of whatever newspaper Olympus has. It'd definitely be the top story on the news. I can see it now. "Hero of Olympus, Perseus Jackson, fails his quest to regain humanity and is killed by a hell hound a mere mile from salvation."

Oh yes, they'd have a field day with this story.

The hell hound was coming in for the kill (which would've just been to grind my bones to dust in its mouth, since it was too large to tear out my throat) as I fantasized about what death must be like. Would Hades be happy to see me? Or would he be indifferent? Maybe he'd be angry, only because of overcrowding issues in the Underworld.

Nico would be pissed to find me as a shade. But he'd be able to get over it, just like he overcame the depression that settled in him after Bianca's untimely death. Would he tell anyone about what happened to me? He'd have to. They wouldn't know otherwise, since no one else is around to watch me die. That'd be hard on the little goth, but he has friends now to help him. He was Will.

My thoughts were about to stray to Annabeth for the last time when suddenly, the hell hound disappeared. Blinking sluggishly into the empty space, feeling golden dust settle in my fur, I wondered what the hell could've done that. Carefully positioning myself until I was mostly in an upright position, I glanced around at the night forest.

There, in a pile of golden dust that had yet to get blown away, was a silver arrow glowing in the moonlight. I sent a brief prayer to Artemis, thanking her yet again for saving my life. My body glowed silver for a second, alleviating the pain for a moment as I struggled to my feet.

Once standing, the pain returned, but the lapse gave me enough strength to shuffle on the for next mile. I could make it. I had to make it.

I barely made it. That single mile seemed to stretch on forever. I was stuck in limbo, never getting any closer to my destination. Everything was blurring together, my fuzzy eyesight mixing with the excruciating pain throbbing through my body.

I thought I would never make it to Camp Half Blood. Until, suddenly, I was there.

I had been limping through the underbrush for what felt like hours before my ears began to pick up on a muffled sound. Was that... someone crying? A nagging feeling in the back of my head told me I should know who it was that was making those sounds of utter distress, but the pain overwhelmed every thought process.

Blinking slowly, I looked around. There, slightly to my left, was a giant pine tree stretching into the darkened sky. Thalia's Pine Tree. I had made it to camp? I had made it to camp!

Taking a moment to silently cheer at my victory, I then saw a curled up form at the base of the tall tree. Blonde, curly hair masked the facial features of this person that was shaking violently as they tried to suppress sobs. Even with her face hidden, it immediately clicked in my mind that this was Annabeth.

Carefully, I limped towards her. She must've sensed my presence because a moment later, she bolted upright and wildly looked around. The redness around her eyes made me stop in my tracks. When the beautiful daughter of Athena didn't see me, I continued forwards. A twig snapped under one of my paws, causing Annabeth's head to whip around and stare at me. I kept limping forwards.

I could tell the exact moment when she recognized me. Her eyes widened a millisecond before she sprang up from the base of the tree. Opening her mouth, she started screaming at me, though I couldn't decipher the words through the buzzing in my ears. I kept getting closer.

Annabeth must've realized something was wrong, because she stopped mid-rant to stare at me. Her mouth formed my name, though I still couldn't hear her. My eyes flickered up to look into her gray ones, searching for at least a shred of love. What I had done to her in the past three weeks was unforgivable. I couldn't ask her to still care about me.

Miraculously, as I gazed into her eyes filled with concern and a dimming anger, I could sense a shard of love buried within. She still cared for me. It wasn't the right time to ask why, though.

Still limping, I moved forwards until I was just barely standing outside the borders of Camp Half Blood. I wasn't sure if I would be able to pass, due to my being a monster. Annabeth's mouth formed my name again. I desperately wished I could respond to her, reassure her that I was all right, but the darkness threatening to envelope my vision argued otherwise.

I looked again into Annabeth's eyes, my vision narrowing to a tunnel that was focused only on the beautiful pools of gray staring down at me in worry. I blinked once, and when my eyes snapped open again, the darkness didn't recede. Vaguely aware that I was falling, my mind surrendered to the unending darkness, confident that I would be safe. Annabeth still loved me, however much minimally. She wouldn't let me die.

My ears cleared enough to hear her whispered words before I fell completely limp in two arms. "I'll save you, Percy."

Notes