Bye-Bye Annabeth (oneshot)

Goodbye

The earth was shaking. The sea was raging. Percy Jackson was kneeling over a body on the ground, screaming. No one dared to get close. They didn't recognize this person - so full of anger and darkness. Annabeth was dead, and the world was falling apart.

"I'll make you pay!" Percy's shout was hoarse and packed with fury. "I'll make you pay - all of you!" His voice cracked and he collapsed further down.

His sobs shook his whole body, and with every exhale of breath, the storms worsened. Campers struggled to stand. Chiron attempted to make it over to him, but to no avail. Percy's pain was too deep - too agonizing.

"Percy, please! Calm down!" Piper's voice, filled with desperation, was heard faintly over the winds, the sound pricking his ears.

And then he was standing. Risen to his feet, his eyes blazing, features standing out against the black clouds, Percy Jackson was a terrifying sight to behold. "Don't. Tell. Me. To. Calm. Down." Huge waves crashed against the sand to emphasize each word, sending large amounts of water into the camp. "Annabeth is dead, Piper, because I couldn't save her. There's no calming down from that." His voice cut into his friends. They hadn't been able to save Annabeth either. It was as much their fault as it was the monster's, her own, and Percy's.

Jason was suddenly next to his friend. He hovered just slightly off of the ground so that his eye level was even higher than it usually was to Percy's.

"Hey, bro. Annabeth fought hard - it was the Fates' fault, not hers, not anyone's, especially not yours." Percy was the only one who could hear these words, and the sobbing began again. "We'll make her a shroud; bury her with the honor she deserves." He reached his hand for Percy's, and the moment the action was reciprocated, the storms silenced and Jason landed.

As his words sank in, the raging weather began to soften. The dark clouds still remained, cloaking the camp in its black shadows, a representation of the grief shared by all the campers. The sea gradually calmed, and the winds lightened, whispering their - and Percy's - condolences.

Percy's sobs were quiet, but still unbearably heavy. He collapsed into Jason's shoulder, holding the taller boy's hand like a lifeline. If he let go, he worried that the rest of his world would slowly finish crumbling.

Leo stepped forward, his face a mixture of solemnity and grief. "We're not going to let her death be in vain," he declared. "We've faced so much - we can't let this break us." He drew a deep, shuddery breath, like he was holding back tears. "Annabeth wouldn't want this to break you, especially."

Fury flared in Percy's eyes for only a second, as if demanding how Leo could know what she would or would not have wanted - but going out as soon as he realized that was exactly what Annabeth would have hated - the absence of her constant support ruining everything they had created and experienced.

"We'll make her death right, Percy," Frank added. "It won't go unpunished."

Hazel rested her hand on his shoulder. "We'll make her a funeral pyre, worthy of the hero she was."

The promises of his friends slowly began to penetrate the cloud of grief that had enveloped Percy's heart. Their reminders and words, filled with their own love for Annabeth, began to pull him back from the edge of his pain. He knew that they were right, that he couldn't let his anger and sorrow consume him. Annabeth wouldn't want that.

Percy released his grip on Jason's hand, slowly transferring the support of his friend into the rest of his body. He stood upright, facing all the demigods, nymphs, and other spirits that had gathered closer, his eyes visibly red from tears. "You're right," he said, his voice still shaking, but steadier. "Annabeth wouldn't want us to fall apart. She-she'd want us to keep going, to keep living."