Multifandom Oneshots

percy jackson ~ exhaustion ~ thalia & percy & annabeth & zoë & artemis

A/N : Takes place during book 3 in between chapters 17 and 18

Everyone was both physically and emotionally exhausted as they sat together in the sleigh, flying away from the mountain. Percy, Annabeth, and Artemis were all still recovering from the physical strain of holding up the sky, Zoë was on death's doorstep due to the dragon's poison, and Thalia was still trying to process the fact that she had thrown Luke off that cliff, presumably to his death.

It was a lot.

Annabeth found herself curled against Percy, who held her close to him and allowed her to rest. He couldn't get over the grey streak that now ran through her hair, caused by the insane amount of stress from holding up the sky for so long. Percy silently wondered if he too had the streak, or if he had been lucky enough to escape it due to only holding up the sky for a short amount of time. Either way, he supposed it didn't really matter at that moment.

"You okay, Thalia?" Annabeth asked quietly, looking over at the older girl sitting next to her. She looked so tense and on edge, and there were still faint tear streaks visible from when she had cried earlier. "I killed him" she replied solemnly, and that was enough to answer the younger's question. Annabeth shakily held out a hand, arm burning as she did so. Thalia gave a small smile and took it, glad to have her friend back. "You did good back there, Annabeth" she said, and Annabeth managed a tired yet genuine smile in response.

In the front, Artemis held Zoë close to her, stressed as she tried to make sure the Hunter didn't die in her arms. "Just hold on, Zoë" she said softly, her voice more fragile than Percy had thought possible for a goddess. "We'll get you taken care of, okay? I'm not gonna let you die. Not on my watch. You just gotta hang on while we fly, okay?"

Zoë was too weak to say anything in response but she managed a small nod. Artemis smiled, holding onto hope that maybe her best Hunter wasn't done for.

Everyone was tired, but they all had each other, so maybe they weren't completely hopeless.