The Heroes' Down Fall

Chapter 2

**Annabeth's POV**

I walked up to Percy's cabin, knocking quietly. He had missed breakfast, which was extremely unlike him. When he didn't answer, I slowly opened his door, hoping that he hadn't been kidnapped by another goddess. When I saw him on his bed, I sighed with relief, walking over to him.

"Percy? Are okay? You didn't come to breakfast." I said, hopefully not waking him up if he was sleeping. He turned to face me, and the sight of him made my heart break.

His face was covered in both wet, and dry tears, and there were bags under his sea green eyes. His eyes were no longer a beautiful shade of sea green. They were more of a forest green, and they had almost no shine.

He sighed. "I wasn't hungry..." His voice, sounded almost, depressed. He looked liked he was trying to avoid my, "Are you okay?"

I sat down on his bed next to him, lifting him off of his bed gently, and placing him into my arms, making him lean into my side. He placed his head on my shoulder, and then leaned his forehead on it, beginning to cry. I kissed his hair, looking at him concerned.

"Percy? What happened? You weren't like this at all last night."

--Flashback--

"Percy! Quit it!" I yelled, while laughing. He continued to tickle my sides, and I kicked him in the ribs, accidentally. I continued to laugh, until I began to cough. The acidic air that Percy and I had been forced to breathe in Tartarus, finally taking control.

Percy quit tickling me, and he waited patiently for the coughing to subside, and until I was breathing normally again. He kissed me gently, and smiled his adorable lopsided grin at me. I smiled back, giving him a gentle peck on the cheek.

"I love you, Annabeth," he said. The way he said it, made it sound like he wanted something. He held out each word for a little while longer than needed.

"Love you, too. What do you want?" I replied, trying to hide a smile. He looked at me, and opened his mouth in mock surprise.

"Now why would I want anything other than you?" He replied, taking my hand and kissing it.

"So, now your a romantic Seaweed Brain?" I said, laughing. He rolled his eyes playfully, watching me carefully, making sure I wasn't going to cough again. I smiled at him, kissing him again, as the conch horn blew for curfew.

"You better go, Wise Girl. I don't want my girlfriend to be harpy food." He spoke, then kissed me again, as I ran out of his cabin, and into my own.

--Present Time--

"I-I don't know..." He said, while wiping tears from his face.

"Did you have a nightmare?" I asked. Hopefully, if this were the case, it wasn't a Tartarus nightmare. To my surprise, he shook his head. I was now extremely confused. I placed a hand on his forehead, checking for a fever, which would be my only good idea as to what could be the problem, but once again, that idea was declined. Percy wasn't warm at all.

"No fever?" He asked. I shook my head, sighing worriedly. Percy yawned, and I kissed his forehead.

"Sleep?" I asked him. He shook his head. "Please. For me?" I stuck my lower lip out, and pretended to pout. He sighed.

"Fine. For you." He sounded annoyed, which clashed with the sound of depression, making his voice sound different than normal. I kissed him again, before laying him down, and walking out of his cabin. I closed the cabin door behind me, almost running into Piper and Jason in the process.

I smiled at them, and they ushered for me to come with them. We walked down to the dining pavilion, and sat at Jason's table.

"Percy was in his cabin, right? He didn't get kidnapped again, did he?" Piper asked.

I shook my head. "He was in his cabin. He just seemed.. I don't know. Off."

"Off? What do you mean?" Jason asked, probably worried about his, "bro".

"I don't know. I guess, just depressed." I replied.

"He seemed fine, yesterday.." Piper said, and I nodded.

"It's not normal for someone to get that visibly depressed, overnight." I added, and Jason and Piper nodded in agreement. This definitely wasn't normal, and I was going to get to the bottom of this.

**Piper's POV**

Annabeth was right. It isn't normal for someone to randomly gain depression overnight. Especially Percy. He is almost always happy, especially when he's with the rest of the seven, or with Annabeth. I looked at Annabeth.

"We could ask Poseidon or Apollo if they know what's going on. They may know something." I say, and Annabeth's ponders the idea. After a few seconds, she nods.

"You thought of a plan, before I could, Beauty Queen." She says, smiling. Jason is holding back a laugh, knowing that I will lash out at her, because she called me Beauty Queen.

"Don't call me, Beauty Queen.." I say, slightly annoyed, yet slightly proud that I thought of something quicker than a daughter of Athena.

She smiles at me, and then ushers us to the beach, where a small fountain is being made in the water. Me and Jason follow her, and watch as a drachma is thrown into the water, and she says the usual words that are said. Poseidon and Apollo appeared in the message.

"What can we do for you, lovely ladies?" Apollo said, checking to see of Jason or Percy were there.

Annabeth scowled, then replied. "We think something is wrong with Percy."

Poseidon's attention became full. "What do you mean?" He actually looked worried. I didn't know that was an emotion that the gods could portray.

"First, I think I know the answer to this, but is it normal for someone to become depressed overnight?" Annabeth asked, looking at Apollo. He shook his head.

"Yeah, well, that happened to Percy." I said. Apollo and Poseidon swept the message closed, and teleported to us. Apollo looked really worried.

"Show me to Percy." He said. We walked him over to the Poseidon cabin. Apollo knocked lightly, but once again, no answer. Poseidon opened the door.

"Son? Are you alright?" He asked. Percy had his back facing away from us, and was curled into a small ball. I saw his hands wipe away what I was guessing were tears, and then slowly turn toward us. Percy just shook his head.

Apollo went to work. He took out all kinds of doctor-y items, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. When he came up, he looked both concerned, and confused. He looked at us, and then to Percy.

"I don't know what's wrong."