The Next Great Prophecy

ANNABETH XLII

            The second she opened her eyes, Annabeth was on her feet. Percy was gone. Again.

In seconds, she stood next to his bed, and her eyes fell on a note left n his pillow. Hands trembling, she picked it up and read:

Hey, guys,

Percy and I stepped out for a bit. He needed some air. Not sure when we will be back; there's something wrong. Give us a while, I'm going to see if I can get him to talk. Hopefully I'm just overreacting. Sorry I didn't wake you, I figured it might be best to let you sleep while we sorted him out.

-Jason

Annabeth set the note down as the others began to wake up. It had been an exhausting few weeks, and they all agreed to take turns watching over Percy while the others slept. With so many demigods, the naps were long, but it was rare for any of them to wake up before they were needed.

"Where's Percy?" asked Nico, looking around in alarm.

"He and Jason went on a walk, I guess," she answered, handing him the note. Nico read it aloud for the others, and Annabeth saw the concern on their faces. They were all hoping Jason was overreacting.

"Any idea when they left?" asked Piper.

"No idea," said Annabeth, glancing out the window to the night sky. At least a couple hours, Jason was supposed to wake me ups for my turn at eight."

"Think we should go look for him?" asked Frank.

"Probably. Shall we?" Without waiting for a response, Annabeth walked out the front door, heading toward the beach. She didn't have to look back to know the others were following.

Walking in, she immediately made her way to the dark lump on the ground several yards away. Once she got closer, she realized it was Jason and Percy, the latter asleep in the sand. Jason held a finger to his lips, rose, and walked away toward the ocean, Annabeth and the others not far behind.

He turned and faced the group. "I was right; there's something wrong," his whispered.

Annabeth felt the blood drain from her face. "What?"

Jason told the others about the conversation he and Percy had on the beach. With each passing sentence, the group looked more and more distraught. It was all Annabeth could do not to sob. Reaching the end of his story, Jason whispered, "He fell asleep about fifteen minutes ago. I was trying to decide if I should come get you, but..." He trailed off, leaving the end of the sentence to be finished by Piper.

"You didn't want him to be alone, even for that long. We don't know what he might do," she finished.

That was what broke the dam holding back Annabeth's tears. She didn't know how to handle this. Somehow, knowing he was kidnapped and being tortured was easier; she knew how to save him from that. But how do you save someone from himself?

"We can help him, Annabeth. We can get Chiron to help us, he'll know what to do. It'll be fine," said Nico, placing a hand on her shoulder.

By the time Annabeth and the others calmed down, it was close to midnight. The boys carried Percy to his cabin, taking great care not to rouse the surely-exhausted demigod, and placed him back into bed. The demigods filed out slowly, eyes lingering on their sleeping friend. Annabeth was the last.

Taking a step over to her boyfriend, she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "I love you, Seaweed Brain. I love you so much." Half- asleep, Percy grabbed her hand, pulling her into the bed with him.

"I love you more, Wise Girl," he mumbled, words slurring. "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" she asked.

"That you're stuck with me."

"Percy, I would rather go back to Tartarus than be without you. I feel stuck when I'm without you."

She waited for a response, but Percy had fallen silent. He had fallen back asleep, and Annabeth could only hope he didn't have any nightmares. Maybe his dreams could bring him happiness for once, since she was unable to.

All right, this is my last "official" chapter. We now have two options.

I could do an epilogue, and tie up my loose ends. It would take place later in my timeline, with the final result of the thoughts Percy has been having. Does he get "better," or do his thoughts worsen? This is option A.

Or, I could do a sequel. It would be shorter than this fic. It would also tie up loose ends, but would continue the story to tell how that final result is reached. It would pick up a few days after the end of this chapter. This is option B.

So, please, let me know which you would prefer. This fic does leave some things unanswered (I never did do anything with Nico's crush on Percy, and I really wanted to) that I feel need go somewhere. Either way, loose ends will no longer be loose, but the route can either be long or short. It is up to you, so please, comment.

Thank you all so much for reading. It means a lot that you would actually take the time to view this. I hope it wasn't too torturous. 

Comment, vote, follow, and I will see you soon. The decision will be made in a week based on your votes. 

All my love, 

T