Forever

*AUTHOR NOTE*

Here I am again, dealing you a dose of monthly(or so)misery....

Enjoy ;)

X-X

I bent down on one knee, took out a ring from my back pocket and asked, "Annabeth Chase, will you do me the honor of letting me live the rest of my life with you and marry me?"
Today was THE DAY. The day I asked Annabeth to marry me.
Oh, how I feared this day. It could turn the exact opposite way than the way I had expected. Yet I also felt a rush of adrenaline course through me. This was Annabeth. If not her then who? If not her then no one.
With tears of joy leaking out of her eyes she said the best thing I had ever heard in my life, "Yes! Yes! A million yeses! Oh, my Gods Percy! Thank you! Thank you so much!
I slipped on her engagement ring and joined our lips in a sweet kiss.
"Why are you thanking me Annabeth? I should be thanking you! Now we have a forever together! You are my forever!" Our salty tears mixing when we kissed again.
I can't tell you how happy I was! She said YES! I was going to marry her! I was a fiancé now!
I couldn't wait for us to have a life together...
The Wedding Day
It was a beyond beautiful day, the day of our wedding. The sky was bright blue with not a cloud in sight, birds singing, the soft breeze making the leaves of trees rustle occasionally.
We decided to have our wedding near Camp Half-blood in the woods because it held such a special place in both our hearts. We met each other in camp half-blood. It was where we first became friends, went on quests together, had our first kiss, fell in love.
Everyone was invited. All the Gods, loved ones from both sides, our friends who had become more like family now, our teacher Chiron, Mrs O' Leary, Tyson and his cyclops army, Ella the Harpy, naiads and nature spirits alike and more. So yes, when I say everyone, I mean everyone.
The ground was littered with leaves in the shades of red, brown, orange and golden. The altar had a dark wood base and linen covering on top and wooden logs had been cut up to make benches. The altar and the benches were decorated with emerald green leaves, off-white lilies, tiny silver owls, seashells and gipsies. The entire area was enclosed with trees making it seem like our own little bubble kept away from the rest of the world.
My best man was Frank and Grover, Jason and Leo were my best men. Her maid of honour was Piper and her bridesmaids were Hazel, Rachel, Clarisse and Calypso. Funny how she was jealous of Rachel and Calypso at one point and now they're her maids of honour. Our flower girl was Estelle my half-sister from my mother's side. Another person I didn't see being there for my wedding or there in well, life, general! HA! Life sure is full of surprises!
And man was everyone dressed up for the occasion! Everyone wearing their tuxes and pretty dresses. Even Grover put some pants on! I was wearing a grey suit with a black tie and polished black shoes and mate was I nervous! It felt as though my heart wanted to break away from my ribcage and my stomach felt butterflies every time I tried to breathe.
However, everything changed when I heard the music starting to play and her walking down the aisle. She was wearing an off white wedding dress. Her hair was braided with green gemstones and laurel leaves. A short veil was neatly placed on her head to cover the backside of her dress till her waist. She had worn glass slippers which clinked whenever she walked.
The minute I made eye contact with her, the jitters disappeared and the only thing that mattered was us, her, her only and I was reminded why I was doing this in the first place. It's because I loved her! I love her! I WAS MARRYING ANNABETH FREAKING CHASE!
Athena was shining with pride and appreciation for her daughter. Even though Athena and I had a rocky past I couldn't help but feel glad that she was here. She had insisted to walk Annabeth down the aisle and even though she was glowing with that golden godly aura around her, my eyes were only on Annabeth, my Wise Girl.
We locked eyes. Her stormy grey eyes with my sea-green ones for a second before she blushed and looked down all flustered which made me smirk.
The minute she reached the altar and the music stopped we linked hands and looked at Apollo our priest. Don't look at me! I have no idea how that happened mate!
"We have gathered here today to honour the joining of two beautiful souls!" he smirked at both of us in turn. I do need to say he got the fanciness of it all on point.
And before we knew it we had to exchange vows.
"Would the bride and groom want to exchange vows?" he asked and we both nodded.
Annabeth was first.
"Seaweed Brain, I can't say I didn't have a teensy-weensy little crush on you since the day I met you but other than that my feeling for you were strictly platonic. After the whole Atlas fiasco though, not so much," laughter was heard "So I did end up telling you how I felt, then again I did kiss you while we were being attacked by an army of telkhines. Finally, we got together and then you had to disappear didn't you?" she giggled but then continued "Finally I found you again...only to be dropped into Tartarus... but we survived...the point of me saying this is Percy, you, we, we can't be planned and it's funny because after all the shit we've gone through I like it this way. Even when we're at our worst I promise I will stick by you as I have since the day I met you and I will love you for yourself, who you are and choose to be, your decisions even the stupid ones. You and I are a packaged deal Seaweed brain I hope you know that I love you, always!" Everyone in the audience cooed and we smiled at each other.
And now the damned time came on me. Now I had to speak. Being a demigod my ADHD didn't help in the least.
"Annie, Wise Girl" I chuckled lightly "the minute I saw you I knew you were trouble. Yet I stuck by your side and you somehow stuck by mine. The minute you said 'you drool in your sleep' I knew that this girl, she's going to be a very important person in my life, I don't know how I knew, I just did. You intrigued me. Throughout everything we've been through my love, respect and passion towards you only went up. And when we became a thing on my birthday, despite everything that had happened, the deaths, the sadness, the loss, it was still the best birthday ever!!! Every birthday has been the best birthday with you Annabeth! And then I disappeared and I'm so so sorry I did," everyone looked at Hera and she just shrugged "But let me tell you, even though I had forgotten everything then, Gods! I forgot my own mother! I don't think I ever told you this but I remembered you, your name, your face, knew you were somebody to me." Silent gasps were heard all around. Such a thing was unheard of! "After the second war, when we went to college, I realised that I had the best time with you there! I've noticed that I always have the best time with you Annie! So I promise I won't let the good times stop even when the times get rough and I will love you forevermore Wise Girl because I can't live without you because my forever is with you, you are my forever!" She was crying and so was I. Everyone was crying in fact, even Aries and Zeus had shed a few tears. I thought this day would never come!
"You may exchange rings now."
"Piper gave Annabeth my ring which was a silver band with owls engraved on it and a greyish tinted diamond the colour of her eyes mounted upon it.
I on the other hand took my ring from Grover. It had a sea-green emerald on the centre and was mounted on a gold band with waves engraved on the side and slipped it onto her ring finger.
Little did anyone know there was something engraved on the inside as well and only if you took the ring out and tapped the emerald thrice would the engraved work be shown on the outside replacing the waves. No one but me and Hephaestus, who designed the ring himself, knew this. I really hope it held some meaning to her in the future.
"Do you Annabeth Chase take Percy Jackson as your lawfully wedded husband and promise to be true to him in good times and in bad in sickness and in health?" Apollo asked.
"I do!" she said and I almost cried.
Her reply made me the happiest demigod, no forget that, happiest male individual in the whole world!
"Do you Percy Jackson take Annabeth Chase as your lawfully wedded wife and promise to be true to her in good times and in bad in sickness and in health?"
"I do!" I replied without a doubt and she burst into tears again.
I know I've said this way too many times but oh my fucking God was I happy! We being demigods lessened the chance of us even being 18 and now! Now we were getting MARRIED! This was more than a dream coming true! It was like getting or doing something you never thought you were worthy of but you got it anyways! It's was something that I had fantasized about for years and it was finally happening! I was still in shock that I was engaged and now I was getting MARRIED! No. I was married! If you told me this last year I would have laughed in your face and said "Never gonna happen mate! You can dream!" but now!
"You may kiss the bride!" Apollo said looking pleased with himself and also a bit surprised he conducted this entire thing and, to be honest, I was too! But right now wasn't the time for all of that!
I closed all distances between Annabeth and I, cupped her neck and brought our lips together with all the passion, love and want I could possibly muster. Our lips moulded together like pieces of a puzzle, like we were made for each other. Perhaps we were. It was like breathing, feeling, tasting, seeing and hearing only the wonderful stardust and elements that made Annabeth, Annie, My Wise Girl.
She pulled away and pulled me into a bone-crushing hug but I was much too happy to tell her I was choking and to stop. Only at this moment did I hear the cheers, cheers that symbolized excitement, joy, happiness that two souls had found each other and fallen deeply in love. Two souls that now formed one now.
She cried into my hair, "Thank you, thank you for bringing my life purpose!"
And I replied barely loud enough to hear, "Thank you for being my purpose, my forever!"
And that night we cried and laughed and loved like there was no tomorrow because who know! There might not be!
3 Months Later
Annabeth and I had been living together way before we got married but now for some weird reason, it felt more wholesome.
We've been good! Really good! I never thought married life would suit me so much! If I would've known I'd have married her faster!
We have a daily routine. Surprising right! Me sticking to a routine! But anyway, since we both work and still make it a point to spend some time with each other we usually wake up by 7 and have breakfast together. Then come back home at 8 tell each other about each other's days and watch movies and eat dinner. On weekends we go out on dates like picnics or fancy restaurants or drive-in movies or even the nearby McDonald's, all that cliché stuff.
However a week or two ago my head started getting dizzy once or twice a day, now increased to six times which makes it extremely difficult for me to concentrate on anything. I started coughing a lot, with blood making a guest appearance quite regularly now and on the stomach cramps! I feel bad for all the girls and women out there who have to deal with periods! And yeah yesterday I vomited twice at work and once today morning before Annabeth woke up. I didn't want to make her worried unnecessarily. You know Annabeth, she can get uh... how do you say this in the politest way possible...paranoid at times.
So like the sensible demigod I am, I didn't go to a doctor because I know that this problem would most likely be connected to the crazy god side of my life. So instead I went to get myself checked in Camp Half-blood.
I walked past the barrier where our fellow dragon Peleus was curled around the Golden Fleece and was snoring peacefully and walked to the infirmary.
I was met with a familiar mop of dirty blond hair. Will Solace, son of Apollo, cabin leader of the Apollo cabin, the best healer in Camp Half-blood. What! I have to give the kid some credit!
"Hey Perce, what are you doing here?" he asked shocked by my sudden visit.
I told him about the problems that I had been having and he nodded at me after hearing everything carefully. With a serious look on his face, he started taking blood samples, crushing different magical herbs with nectar and ambrosia and all of that shit and stuffing it in my mouth, wrapping certain parts of my body with bandages that smelt like a good mixture of lime and eucalyptus, which was soothing to the touch.
With what seemed like hours he told me, "Just wait here for a sec Percy, I need to go get Chiron real quick." He rushed off before I could even reply leaving me curious. Very curious.
He came back trailing behind a white stallion's arse which could only belong to Chiron. Both with troubled faces which made me even more worried.
"Percy, can you come to the side with me?" Chiron asked his voice grimmer than in war, his eyes holding dark truth.
"Um ok?" I returned, not sure about what was happening.
I followed Chiron to the far end of the room where the other patients, though there were barely any, couldn't hear us. I was obviously not nervous. OBviuSLy not! I'd have to be a sissy to be nervous! Me nervous! Nevah!
Yea, no I was pissing my pants.
"Percy, I am sorry to be the person to tell you this," he started tearing up. And listen I've been under Chiron's wing for the entirety of my teenage life and I have never seen him cry about something like this. And this is Camp Half-blood! People have medical issues every skip day!
"It's about the poison river you wielded in Tartarus... some of it managed to get into your system and there is no doubt in the fact that you have become stronger since Tartarus, but great power comes with certain downfalls and in this case, your downfall is your health. Your immunity levels are decreasing and the poison has started affecting your system. I suspected a thing like this would happen but was doubtful. However, the test that Will ran has made it clear that your immunity system is not accepting the poison and therefore the cells are being destroyed by the poison..."
"Well then cure it! Fix me! Give me some ambrosia or nectar or something!" I said hurriedly. What is happening to me?!
"I'm afraid that no amount of ambrosia or nectar or any other antidote that can cure this, they will only hasten the process."
"What process?" I asked dumbfounded.
"Death." He replied as though it was simple. As though it was easy. As though someone close to him happened to die every day. But for fucks sake I will not die every day. I have this one life that I can remember and then after some time it will be gone and I will be reduced to nothingness. A mere ghost floating around in the underworld who might choose rebirth or might stay there for eternity.
I have never actually thought about this. Never actually thought about how delicate one's life is. One minute it's there the next not. And all that will be left of you is a memory that also, will slowly disappear. One day, no one will know who Percy Jackson is. It might take a year or two or ten but it will happen one day. And I will be no one to anyone. Just another stranger they didn't meet and who died in some way.
The funny thing was, I was not scared. No. Not scared at all. I kind of thought it was better this way. I always wanted to lose myself before I lost people who loved me. It's a weird way to think I know, but I also know that I wouldn't be able to live my life the same way if my mom or Grover or Frank or Annabeth died. In brief, I would never be able to live the same way if someone close to me died because I have an attachment problem. And I don't like change. And the thought of not being able to see them, talk to them just be in their very presence because they aren't there anymore drove me up the wall.
It's also sad that I'm a demigod and know exactly what happens after one dies. And it's so sad that even after death you will be able to remember everyone who was someone to you in your life, you would remember the memories, the little things people did to you that made you feel happy, the things you used to clutch to your chest when you had nightmares, your mother's touch, your best friend's encouraging words, the sadness in the eyes of your loved ones you breathed your dying breath. The sad thing is even if I burned the photos of the people I loved, how could I delete their faces, the memories we had together and their voices. You had to exist with these thoughts and decide if you wanted to hold onto them or let everything go. Let your previous life, everything that meant anything and everything to you, go.
"How much time do I have?" I asked calmly as though I had not just heard that I was dying.
"3 days" Chiron answered with tears spilling out of his eyes.
I appreciated his tears. It meant that he cared about me, that he would not forget me, that he would remember me for eternity and keep me alive in his mind till he perished as he did for all of his students. I would miss Chiron too. He had been not just a teacher he had been the person I went to advice for, a friend when I needed it, a warrior in arms during war, a type of a father figure.
3 days.
72 hours. 72 hours to live the rest of my life.
That was when it struck me. Annabeth. How would I tell her! How could I tell her! How would she react! Why did I propose! Why did we get married! I ruined everything, her only chance to live a peaceful life! Why didn't I think things through! I was a demigod for Gods sake!
I pushed past Chiron and Will not paying heed to anything else they were saying and hurried back home letting the tears spill out of my eyes, staining my cheeks and dripping down onto my clothes.
I waited for Annabeth to come back home and busied myself on the couch watching the telly. The last days of my life and this is how I used it. Ha!
Not long after the doorbell rang and I went to open the door. Standing there was the most beautiful woman the entire world, the woman with whom I fell in love with more every day, my Annabeth.
There was a massive grin on her face, excitement sparkling in her eyes and energy coursing through her veins as soon as she rushed into our tiny flat.
"I've got news!!!" she said happily. Then she noticed the tear stains on my face and the grin disappeared from her face as though it was never there. I hated to have taken her happiness away. "What happened Percy?" she asked concerned.
"I have news too." I replied sadly. But like the dutiful husband I was I continued, "But you seemed very happy about what you had to say so you can go first!"
"No. You." She replied stubbornly.
"Ok you'll have to sit down for this."
She slowly sat down on the couch and I put a box of tissue papers in her hands.
"Annabeth, I- I'm dying!"
In a split second her face went through so many changes. From worry to disbelief to sadness to fear. She was afraid. Afraid of me. Afraid of what I had done to her.
She started crying immediately, "No! NO! Percy you're not dying! You can't be dying! You're perfectly fine! Stop pranking me Percy! This isn't a joke! You can't joke like this! You can't do this to me! You can't die!" she started screaming and crying.
"I- I am Annabeth, the p -poison from T-Tartarus has started affecting m-me." I was crying as well.
"How? Why? Why didn't you tell me you were sick! I could've helped you!"
"Nothing can help this! Nothing can cure it! I asked Chiron!"
"How- How m-much t-time d-do yo-you have l-left?" she asked stuttering and hiccupping, scared for about the answer.
"3 days."
What I was expecting her to do is start crying even more which she did.
What I didn't expect her to do is fling the tissue paper box out of the window and start hitting me and kissing and hugging me, trying to get enough of me as she could in that much time. Trying to process the fact that after 3 days I would be gone. I wouldn't be there anymore.
Every day my condition got worse. I couldn't work, I couldn't walk I couldn't do anything. People came to say goodbye to me every day. Some people visited me every day. The worst of it was when everyone from the Argo II came to visit me along with Nico. These people were my family, my real family. It didn't matter that we didn't share blood or DNA I knew long after I was gone they would remember me, hold my memory fresh in their mind, that I'd often be the topic of their conversation when they were together.
The thing is I never feared death, I feared the hurt the people who cared about me would feel when I died. In this world not many people know me. Out of maybe the 1000 people who have heard my name. 500 would come to know I was dead. 250 would give a shit I'd died. 100 would come to my funeral. 50 would cry about me being dead but 25, 25 people would beat themselves up about my death every day. Remembering is hard, forgetting is easy. Yet they would never forget me. They would mourn my death till the day they died. So that's a reason I regret getting to close to people.
However if given the chance I would do it all over again. Every single second of my fucked up life was perfect to me. And every second held some meaning to my heart. It doesn't matter if I was sad or happy or depressed or on a high, I would do it all over again.
I'm like a star, distant and dying.
That last night in bed she told me with tears glistening in her eyes, "you know the irony of it all is the 3 is supposed to be the holy number for us demigods, it has been for us many times before yet just 3 months after our wedding I come to know you're dying, that you're disappearing and every second you're getting weaker. And another thing I find funny is that I'm having trouble believing the fact that you won't be here after tomorrow. The worst part is I know, I know you're dying and I can't do anything about it! That the once great Percy Jackson will be non-existent in just a matter of hours. I know I should accept that things end by now but I can't. I always feel like this when an author ends a book. When the say THE END. It means there will be no new book, no next chapter, not even another word. It's just the end. There will be no more. And the minute I open my eyes to the truth my heart will break. So I prefer wandering around in the empty dark, blinded, to save myself from the heartbreak because no amount of words can express how broken I feel right now. It's funny, tomorrow you won't be here and the birds will sing and the trees will sway and the sun will shine as though nothing happened. It will seem as though nothing has changed but everything has changed! I'm too soft! I'm not strong enough! I'm not good enough! No matter how hard I try I can do NOTHING about this! NOTHING! And maybe things won't get better like in movies! Maybe they can never really get better!" she was crying as hard as she could now. Every tear that fell on the bedsheets and stained her clothes made her words weigh down on me. She was sad because of me. This is exactly what I hated. I needed to make her feel better.
"Shhh Annabeth, it ok" I said soothingly "We had a good run didn't we! Be thankful for all the memories we've had! Shush luv it's gonna be ok! So what if I'll be gone! Forget about me! You've got the rest of your beautiful life ahead of you! Go live it love! If I used the last few days of my life crying I would've missed out on meeting the people I loved for the last time! You get one life that you remember Annabeth, make the most of it and live it to the fullest! Remember I love you and I will love you forever! Just because I screwed your life over that doesn't mean you can't find another person who'll love you as much as I did or even more, another person who you fit with so well that you won't remember me because your so in love with that person. You deserve someone who never stops trying to show how much you mean to them. Swear on the river Styx Annie that you will try to begin again."
"N-No P-Percy."
"PROMISE Annabeth!" I replied back putting emphasis on the promise.
"I-I sw-swear on the R-River S-Styx that-that I will try t-to b-begin a-again." There it was done. Now I could die in peace without the feeling that I had left her to deal with her own misery.
I nodded to her, tears leaking out of my eyes as well and used all the energy I had left to pull her close to me. She buried her head into my chest and I kissed her blonde hair and said, "thank you for being the best thing that ever happened to me Wise Girl. Thank you for being my best friend, my girlfriend, my counsellor, my wife, my love, my life and my forever. Now go find someone who will be yours." And those were my last words to her. With those words we both fell off to sleep. Her to a new kind of awakening and me to death.
Annabeth's POV
I woke up with him still asleep. He looked so peaceful. I knew he was gone. The only thing left of him was his dead body and his memory.
I couldn't contain my tears. They started falling out of my eyes as soon as I looked at him. I hugged him close to me, hugged him till I couldn't feel my arms, my promise to him still fresh in my head. My last promise to him. To forget him.
I wanted to ask him how I could forget him. Some people don't stay in your life forever, they aren't meant too, but that didn't mean that he couldn't stay in my heart. How could I forget him if every living breathe I breathed I thought about him. How could I forget him if all I could do was hope that this was all a lie, an illusion and he would come walking through the door with that cheeky grin of his and a box of blue cookies for us to share.
But no he wouldn't. He couldn't because he was in this room, with me shielding him with my body on top of him as though I was trying to stop death from taking him, but he was already taken. He was here with a pale body and lifeless, cold eyes so unlike the ones that I fell in love with, the ones which always had a sparkle to them.
How the heck could I live with this? He was my purpose and now it was as though my life didn't have purpose anymore.
A wave of loneliness swept through me. If I didn't exist it felt as though no one would actually care. I wish I could just wave a wand and disappear into thin air, but it's not as easy as that.
I started whispering to him, even though he couldn't hear me, " why did you meet me, how did you come to know me, why did I open up to you, why did I trust you, why did I fall in love with you! Why you!" a tiny sliver of my mind hoping that he'd come back to life and give me an answer.
"No one will ever understand how much I am hurting. I feel hopeless and nothing can save me." I recall Rihanna once said this. I never found comfort in music and now I was quoting a world famous artist. Oh how shit changes.
My force caused him to shift and I realised there was a note under his pillow. Now I understand why he went to the side with his mother the other day. It seemed as though he was making her write something on a piece of paper. I guess this was it.
This was what was written:
"Dear Annabeth,
Please tell everyone that I will miss them and tell them not to beat themselves up about me dying because it was not their fault. I have had the most wonderful life with you all. The best one I possibly could. Tomorrow when you have to bury me, I'm begging you, please bury me in the ocean. As in just drop my body there. This might sound silly but, I thought that when and if I died I would want my last resting place to be in the place I felt most alive!
I love you all. Thank you! Thank you so much for...everything!
Yours forever,
Percy."