The world was finally at peace; after the long and intense struggles within both the demigod and mortal worlds, the heroes of both thought they could finally take a break. But, this was the calm before the storm. Both worlds were about to get more than either of them could have ever envisioned.
"Are you going?" Frank asked, as he watched Jason, who had been staring at cabin three. Many of the campers were worried that they hadn't seen the face of one of their leaders since the fighting had stopped. Most understood the reason and kept their distance. Others said nothing out of fear of his wrath.
Jason just nodded and walked silently to the mostly intact cabin, his heart heavy in his chest. He knocked on the door, but there was no answer. After knocking again with no response, he slowly opened the door. The place was a mess; things lay thrown about the cabin or in broken heaps on the floor.
"Percy?" he called into the musty room. Light coming from the window was reflected like water onto the ceiling. "Percy?" he called again, still not getting a response. He made his way through the wreckage until he found Percy on the balcony, his back to him. The son of Poseidon looked out to the sea.
"Percy, you have been locked in here since the end of the war; you need to eat." Jason said, but Percy didn't move or acknowledge his presence. "Percy it was been a week-"
Percy whispered an inaudible response.
"What? I can't hear you."
"I miss her." Percy said a little louder.
"I know you do ,we all do but-"
"You don't understand, she was my everything. She was what grounded me and held me together all these years…" Percy's voice sounded so broken, so lost, that Jason couldn't find the words to console his friend. "You know when Hera took my memories, the 8 months I was gone, there was only one name I remembered besides my own…"
"Annabeth…" Jason breathed. Percy gave a little nod, but still didn't turn away from the sea.
"I was afraid to tell anyone what I remembered about her, I feared that it would slip away and I would have nothing to hold on to… her name kept me going. I thought that if I just made it to Camp Jupiter, if I did everything that was asked of me I could... could see her again…" Percy's voice faltered. Jason stayed silent as he finally made it to Percy and sat down beside him.
"When we were 13, she got captured by a manticore, and I went on a quest to save her. On the way, I met Aphrodite and she told me I was her favorite… since I was going on this quest to save Annabeth, and not the goddess Artemis who was also captured… At that time I realized I loved her, and Aphrodite told me that it had been ages since she had a good tragic love story," Percy paused. His words were coming faster now, more bitter. "I didn't know at the time, but I guess this is what she meant. I can't decide if she predicted this was going to happen, or if she orchestrated it." He choked on the last word.
"What do you mean?" Jason asked. Percy stayed silent for a few minutes.
"I held up the sky for her, I gave up immortality for her, I traveled through the depths of Tartarus for her, I gave up everything, and still, I wasn't strong enough to save her." Percy's voice cracked as fresh tears welled up in his eyes. It was at this moment that Jason realized just how much Annabeth meant to Percy, how much he loved her, only for her to die in his arms.
"Percy…Annabeth was a strong warrior, one of the strongest I have ever seen, and as an amazing leader, she sacrificed herself to save us all, so that you could live. What would she say if she saw you like this?" he asked. Percy took several minutes to respond.
"She… She would probably punch me into next week and call me an idiot, or ignore me until I snapped out of it." Percy mumbled softly.
"So, you can't go on like this. You need to start moving on. I know it has been only a week, but in reality, if you continue on like this, without eating, you are not going to last much longer." Jason spoke softly but in a demanding voice. Percy finally turned to face him and Jason had to stifle a gasp. Percy looked horrible. If he wasn't talking or moving, Jason would think that he was dead; he had deep black bags under sunken red eyes, his skin was ghostly pale and gave off a sickly green glow; tear streaks ran down his hollow cheeks and he smelled like death warmed over. Jason knew some of it was still from his trip down in the pit since he hadn't really had time to recover from that, but it still didn't take away from the fact that Percy looked dead.
Jason realized he was staring and neither of them had spoken. Jason reached out a hand and placed it on Percy's thin shoulder to steady himself and to make sure Percy was there. "Percy, please you need to eat, and get some sleep, and start taking care of yourself again…" Percy looked away. "There was nothing you could've done to save her, so you need to stop blaming yourself. It wasn't your fault." Percy didn't say anything. He waited for Percy to scream or to cry, but nothing happened. He just stared blankly at the water.
"It is my fault if-"
"Don't, Percy. Just stop. Don't degrade her memory like that, she died a hero. She died saving everyone, so that we could win, she died so you could live." Percy snapped his up head to face Jason, his sea-green eyes dull and unfocused, filling with pain, sadness, and anger.
"Is that what we are? Just soldiers, weapons, and our highest honor is dying? Is that all heroes are good for!?" Percy croaked. His tone had a bitter edge to it that boarded on something deeper.
"That is not what I meant and you know it…" Jason sighed "I know you are hurting-"
"No - right now I- I just feel numb," Percy whispered, turning back to the sea. The earlier flash of anger vanished as his body deflated. "I- I don't know how I am going to live without her." Percy whispered. Jason grabbed Percy's shoulders and turned him so they faced each other.