PJO #4 : The Battle of the Labyrinth - MISSING SCENES

It's Been Two Weeks, Annabeth (Between Chapters 12 & 13)

"Annabeth" Chiron said gently as he entered the Athena cabin (he hated doors but this one was just big enough to fit him through), which was currently only occupied by the young blonde. She flinched slightly, startled by the sudden presence, but relaxed when she turned to see who it was. "Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you"

"It's alright" she assured him, though she still seemed a bit stressed. Percy's disappearance had really taken a toll on her, more so than the other campers. Chiron supposed it made sense. After all, she was probably his closest friend (alongside Grover and Tyson, but they were still somewhere in the Labyrinth). "Did you need something?"

"Yes" Chiron replied, and his facial expression seemed solemn. He didn't want to drop this on the poor girl, but he needed to. That didn't mean it was any less hard. "We're going to be holding a funeral for Percy down at the amphitheater"

...

"Why?"

"Annabeth, it's been two weeks" Chiron told her, his voice almost desperate as he saw the girl grow angry. "He's not dead" she told him, her voice colder than he had ever heard her direct towards him. "He... He can't be dead. He's not"

"Two weeks" Chiron told her again, cautiously inching forward. "If he were still alive, he probably would've shown up again. You said he was in the forge at Mount St. Helens, right? The whole place exploded, Annabeth. He's probably dead"

"BUT YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!" Annabeth shouted, standing up. Chiron swore he could see tears forming at the corners of her eyes and felt sympathy stir in his gut. "He can't be dead, Chiron" she continued, quieting herself a bit. "Because... Because if he's dead, then that means it's my fault and that- That I lost another- I-"

"It's not your fault, Annabeth" Chiron cut her off softly as she began to cry. He stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. Without another word, she silently hugged him, clinging onto him like her life depended on it. He knew this would be hard on her, but at this moment he realized that he hadn't truly known how hard it would be. Especially after everything with Thalia...

"He can't be dead, Chiron" she said quietly, her voice more broken than anything. She'd desperately been trying to avoid thinking about the realistic probability of Percy being alive still, and now it was crashing down around her. "Please... He can't"

"We're holding a funeral for him tomorrow" Chiron told her gently. "You don't have to come if you don't want to, but it may help you to... Move on..." he continued with a sigh. "I love you, Annabeth. And whatever happened to him is not your fault. He's been cheating death this whole time with all these quests he's been going on. We're honestly lucky he came back the other three times"

"The funeral is tomorrow?"

"Yes"

"...I'll be there"