Icarus - Annabeth Chase

chapter thirteen.

trigger warnings; mentions of sh, smoking, mentions of death, sh

"I believe we haven't met. I'm Akira." The taller girl held her hand out with a smile but it didn't quite reach her eyes. She lost her girl like a day ago and just lost her friend trying to save the girl, she went through immense physical pain for her so she has to at least know her name.

"Annabeth," She scanned the girl only to see she wasn't wearing a shirt, "Where's your shirt?"

Akira glanced down at her self and groaned in annoyance, the gauze had ripped when she was holding up the sky so she was now shirtless, again.

"Stupid fucking sky, stupid skeletons, stupid giant boar, stupid Talos. Why did they all have to hit me? Why couldn't they have hit Percy or something."

"Hey!"

"Shut it, Dory! I got shot for you!" Annabeth eyes widened, she got shot and got hit by Talos and a giant boar and after that she held up the sky? How the fuck did she manage to do all that, injured? 

"No you didn't, dumbass. You got pissed so you killed all the skeletons and got shot in the process."

"Protecting you! Pretty girl would've killed me if a stranger was the only one to survive a skeleton army and not her friends. So I took bullets for you. Five! You try getting shot five times at once and then another two times and then get run over by a thirty foot tall wild boar and then getting kicked by Talos and breaking your ribs. And then I held up the sky so any of you didn't have to!"

Now that Percy thought about it, the girl went through so much physical pain she was bound to be dead. But she wasn't. Clearly.

"You would've died from all that. How are you still alive?" Akira's mouth shut instantly. She looked away from them and sighed.

"And you never told me what happened to your face."

"What happened to her face?"

"It was perfectly fine, no scratch marks or anything. Next thing we know she's covered in blood." Akira's hands clenched, she wanted to do it again. She really did because she was supposed to protect them, supposed to keep them all alive and yet two of them were gone. The two she cared for and was starting to see as friends were gone. 

"I.. We hadn't found Annabeth and there was a couple days left to the winter solstice and we were getting helpless. I was tired and it was pathetic really but I sat in that car and scratched my face until there was so much blood I couldn't even recognise myself. I don't deserve to live. I don't deserve to sit here and tell you this while Bianca and Zoe are gone. I was supposed to protect them. Me. And I failed them. I failed you all."

Before Percy could speak she started again.

"As for why I'm not dead yet. I am. I died a hundred and three years ago on nineteen ten in France. We were murdered by a man that I had rejected the day before. He got angry. Next thing I know my family was killed and I had my throat slit. Persephone was there when I died. I ended up with her blessing, with immortality. I didn't ask for it. I didn't want it. I don't want it but the gods are selfish they want me to be their soldier but I owe them nothing, I will disobey them hoping my punishment is death. That is what I deserve. Death is all I wish for."

They both gaped at her. Is that why she always put herself in danger for them, went in blind rage during battle. Because she didn't care about the pain? Because she wished she did die?

"Don't. No. You can't die. Please. Not you too." Percy was so close to jumping from Blackjack and onto their pegasus just to keep Akira from probably throwing herself off. She smiled at him and it looked so broken, it looked unnatural on her and she looked pained, as if it hurt to smile.