Demigods: In Paris (a Miraculous Ladybug and Percy Jackson crossover)

How to say goodbye (I apologise in advance)

The room was brightly lit, and in the centre was a large glass coffin. Inside it was the body of Emilie Agreste, carefully preserved and surrounding by flowering vines that gave off a light perfume. Cocoons hung from the plants and a few stray butterflies flitted peacefully between he pale flowers. After the chaos of the fight they'd had just a few metres away, the serenity of the scene - however morbid - seemed perverse.

They lingered in the shadows near the edges of the room as Chat walked slowly forwards. His baton fell to the ground with a metallic clatter, and he pulled off his ring as he stood before his dead mother, letting it fall to the ground too.

"Adrien-" Rena Rouge started, but was silenced by a blow to the black of her head. She fell to the ground, stunned. Nathalie gave a feeble cough, then hefted the stone bust again and swung it at Chloé, who was too busy staring at the coffin in quiet horror to stop it before she crumpled too, unconscious.

Carapace braced himself as the assistant swung the statue at him, raising his shield to block the blow. He grunted under the surprising force of it, and readied himself for another swing that never came. Peering over his shield, he saw that Annabeth had an arm outstretched, and was in an invisible tug-of-war game with Nathalie over the statue. The secretary clung to it with vigour, but Annabeth's power prevailed and she smashed it against a wall. Seemingly entranced by the glass coffin, Adrien didn't even flinch at the noise. 

Nathalie didn't hesitate in her attack as she grabbed another item from a pile of weaponisable objects and swung it at Ladybug. Annabeth froze it in mid-air before it smashed into her jaw. Ladybug gingerly took a step back, and the older girl confiscated the object. Nathalie snatched a shard of glass from the piled and lunged unforgivingly at Annabeth's neck. Her hands flew up and the shard froze millimetres form her neck. Nathalie's muscles strained, and the intensity in Annabeth's eyes showed how much concentration it was taking to stop the glass from slicing into her neck. 

Percy's miraculous began to beep rapidly.

"Oh gods," Percy swore quietly, too afraid to do anything to help in case it broke his girlfriend's concentration. From the absolute stillness of his companions, he knew they were thinking the same thing. There was nothing he could do. As soon as the transformation ran out and Annabeth lost her power, the glass would cut her neck and she would die within moments. There was no time to do anything.

The last beep sounded and a purple flash of light surrounded Percy. He felt the slight coolness of his mask fade, and he lunged towards Nathalie immediately, in the vain hope of knocking her off-balance before she could cut Annabeth's throat.

"Wait-" Carapace caught Percy around the waist as he leapt, and Percy screamed. 

"No!" He struggled frantically, but even he knew that it was hopeless. He wouldn't have gotten there in time anyway. If he'd truly wanted to break out of Carapace's grip, he knew he would have done, so he just sagged, not daring to look up to where Annabeth and Nathalie had been as the love of his life let out a soft gasp.

His fault.

Percy kept his eyes down, feeling the tears prick.

They had fought wars side by side. They had survived Tartarus together. They had faced unspeakable evils and triumphed. They faced monsters and immortals every day and had never once lost, and now a mortal blinded by power had killed Annabeth. Percy struggled to keep the rage at bay, swallowing down his hatred. He wished it had been a monster. A god. Something he could scream at, something he could curse and hate and unleash his fury on. Something he could kill very, very slowly.

But a mortal...

It was his fault.

Percy took juddering breaths, not caring for the passage of time or the voices he heard calling his name.

His life was over. Maybe he could go to Hades and beg to exchange his soul for hers. Maybe he should follow the path of the previous Hawkmoth and take the miraculous of creation and destruction, and wish his Annabeth back to life. 

Percy's fingers curled slowly around Riptide in his pocket.

It would be easy enough to do it. He knew their names, their identities, where they lived. They were just children. 

They were calling him. His name. There were hands on his shoulders, shaking him, but he didn't care. 

Her death was his fault.

Then the voices stopped, the hands retreated. A warm palm cupped his cheek, and Percy raised his wet eyes and his heart stopped dead in his chest. Her grey eyes stared fiercely back, and her voice pierced the veil that had seemed to shroud him.

"I'm alive, Seaweed Brain. It's okay. I'm here."

Sound and colour and light came flooding back, and Percy couldn't blink back a fresh wave of tears. Annabeth kissed him, and Percy held her tightly, one hand coming up to brush her hair behind her ear.

Percy pulled away. "What?" His hand still in her hair, he fingered the streak of grey and alongside it, a streak of purple. Annabeth gave a slight smile, and held out a hand. That glass shard floated into the air beside her, and in it Percy saw his reflection - saw the matching purple streak still in his hair. "I don't understand," he murmured.

Annabeth just shook her head silently.

Percy looked up, finally registering his surroundings again. Nathalie was gone, and Carapace and a recovered Rena Rouge were in the process of carrying Chloé back through to the other room. Adrien was still stood by his mother's body, and Ladybug was making her way over to stand by his side, even as her miraculous beeped its final warning.

Percy took a deep breath, and wiped away his tears.

"Come on," Annabeth slipped her hand into his. "Let's go home."