Avengers and Percy

Prologue

—- Percy —-

I wish I could say I was a nobody. But because the Fates are so cruel, I'm not. They made me a Somebody and because of that, I'm the Somebody that got everyone killed.

She's gone...she's gone and the rest of the seven went with her.

The battle with Gaea, that's where it all happened. Where I completely and utterly failed. We were doing so well. And then Hazel was struck from behind by a monster. Then Jason was struck by a boulder flying from a catapult from the Roman side, the remains of which fell right on top of Piper. Then Leo grabbed Gaea with Festus and flew her into the sky, giving his life in a fiery explosion. I didn't find out until later that Frank burned up due to several of the pieces falling onto Hazel, who still had possession of his firewood. Even the fireproof fabric gifted by Calypso couldn't stand against that much heat.

The great goddess of the earth rained down from the heavens in pieces. I remember Annabeth and I looking at each other, grief-stricken, but relieved that the other was still alive.

We thought too soon.

Too late, we realized that Gaea's giant hand was falling out of the sky...and was headed right toward us. We tried running - but it was moving too fast and we were both injured and exhausted. Annabeth looked at me, obviously having come to the same conclusion. Then she pulled me roughly by the front of (what was left of) my shirt and kissed me. I remember thinking, This is it. No more pain. No more suffering. No more battles or wars to win; just peace and happiness in Elysium with all my friends and the girl I love.

She murmured against my lips. "I'll see you in Elysium, Seaweed Brain."

And then she pushed me.

I don't mean she pushed me a couple of feet. No, she spent all of her remaining strength ensuring I was clear of the impact. I could do nothing in the final two seconds of her life but stare in shock as the girl I love was literally crushed by the hand of Queen Dirt Face herself.

I noted Nico coming up to me at some point. I guess he said something. I don't remember. But somewhere in that time, I realized I had something clutched in my hand. It was a sterling silver necklace with an owl pendant inlaid with two sea-green pearls in the place of the eyes. My last gift to Annabeth. I must have accidentally pulled it off her neck when she pushed me away.

Tears streamed down my face as the shock began to wear off. I couldn't think and I could barely breathe. I guess I eventually passed out because I woke up in the infirmary in the Big House. It was dark out by this time and there weren't any doctors present.

I jumped at an intake of breath to my side and didn't see anything until I realized that it was Nico who was laying there in all of his dark clothes on the hospital bed next to mine. He was asleep but his breathing and moving around told me he was having a nightmare. I knew what it was. Tartarus.

I quickly shook his shoulder. "Nico."

He woke up in a flash, immediately grabbing my arm and spinning me into a headlock.

"Nico. Nico! It's okay, you're not there anymore." I gasped in a harsh whisper.

"...Percy?"

"Yeah," I croaked, my emotions from before choosing this moment to strike once again for some reason, as he let go of me. I turned around.

He sat there for a minute and I could see him battling with something. Then he abruptly stood up and walked out of the infirmary.

Suddenly, it was just me again. Left to my own thoughts. Going over every battle, every plan, every little move. I finally decided that there was more I could have done. I could have been faster and could have destroyed the catapults with water from the ocean before they even had a chance to fire. I could have taken Leo's place. I could have taken the firewood off of Hazel's body when I saw her go down, I could have paid more attention, pushed Annabeth out of the way, even frickin' forced her to let me stay with her so we could go to Elysium together.

I suddenly realized how hollow camp felt without her. I never really got to experience Camp Half-Blood with the rest of the seven. But, it still felt...wrong. Incomplete. Defeated.

Because of me. I thought. All of this suffering is because of me. My stupidity. My mistakes. My stupid nosebleed.

I don't belong here. Not anymore.

I wanted my mom. I wanted to see Paul. I wanted to go home.

So, under the cover of Nyx, I left Camp and made my way to our apartment in Manhattan.

I knocked first. No answer. I knocked again. No answer.

Finally, I just picked the lock. Leo taught me how to do that on the Argo II in one of our bouts of boredom. The Stolls had tried to teach me at some point, but it just never clicked. Then Leo showed me - and I mean he actually showed me the inside of a lock and how to get it to work, the descriptions of each part paired with a joke of some kind to help me remember, and I finally understood.

Man, I miss that guy.

My vision began to darken around the edges as some of the emotions and memories of battle came back. My face was grim as I opened my door; I wasn't focused and I wasn't prepared for anything, let alone what I saw.

The place was in shambles. The lights weren't even on, yet I could tell a couch had been flipped over, most of Mom's china had been broken, and the TV was broken on the ground, but was somehow still on. Papers and books were scattered everywhere and the walls looked as if someone had decided to splatter paint it.

That's when I saw it: Γ (gamma - the Greek letter 'G') painted on the wall.

My breathing quickened as I finally turned on the lights. I regretted it immediately. As soon as the lights were on, I knew that it wasn't paint, it was blood. I had unconsciously stepped forward, my vision having tunneled in on that single letter. Then I felt the sticky squelch of some kind of liquid beneath my feet and looked down.

I was standing on the edge of a pool of blood. And laying in the middle of it...was my mother.

I stumbled back, immediately tripping over something. I was sent crashing into more wet stickiness. My head spun as I sat up to find what I had tripped over.

Paul.

I scrambled to my feet, which were still covered in my mom's blood, my hands now sticky with Paul's. I moved back and forth a couple of times, part of me wanting to try and save my mother, but the other knew that her skin would already be cold as ice. I started panicking and hyperventilating. I whimpered and spun in place several times looking for something, anything, to help, to ground me, to make any sort of sense as to what was happening and just what I should do.

I never found it.

In the end, I screamed and just ran, sobbing to myself as I ran down random streets and alleyways. I was empty, a shell. I wanted to die and I tried to, multiple times, pulling out all the stops. But no matter how hard I pushed, the blade would just not puncture the skin. No. NO! I tried again and again, even getting creative at times, but no matter what I did, I physically could not get hurt.

It only made the thin string on my will to live that much thinner.

After a month, I decided to go back to school. Why? Because, first of all, I knew that both Annabeth and my parents would want me to continue with my education. And second, it's not like I had anything left to do.

I got contacts, dyed my hair, and changed my name. I didn't want anyone to know I was alive, especially the gods. I didn't want anything to do with that world, not anymore. I used my parents' money. It took me a while to finally admit that I would need it and - the most painful part - that they didn't; not anymore. They were gone.

They were all ... gone.