Half-Bloods at Hogwarts

Chapter 25: Epilogue

I walked cautiously into my mom's apartment. It had been 2 months since the war at Hogwarts, and I had busied myself with rebuilding Camp Half-Blood thus not being able to visit my mom. I smiled slightly at the faint scent of my favorite food, blue chocolate chip cookies.

"Mom?" I asked, moving into the living room cautiously.

My mom waddle out of the family room, but something was off about her. She had a bump on her stomach! Mom teared up as soon as she saw me and waddleran towards me and hugged me.

"Percy... You came back!"

My eyes widened. "I never left you, mom. I'm never leaving you!"

"I just... Oh Percy... I thought you were gone! Dead! Blown up!" she wailed, soaking my shirt with her tears. I teared up too, hugging her close to me.

"I'm sorry mom... I'm sorry..."

"Honey?" my mom asked cautiously, letting me go. "Where's Annabeth?"

I sniffed a little and squeezed my eyes shut. "Mom... Annabeth... She... She..."

Tears started escaping my eyes and fell on my mom's head.

"Oh honey... I'm sorry..."

We just stood there, holding each other, crying with each other.

- 4 months later-

I stood in front of the Empire State Building, gathering up my courage to go inside and ask to see Annabeth for the last time. I inhaled deeply and walked in.

"Yes." the receptionist asked lazily, staring at his newspaper.

"I need to get to the 600th floor." I stated, crossing my arms.

"There is no 600th floor here." the receptionist said, looking up from his newspaper. "Holy cra- You're Percy Jackson! Like, the Percy Jackson! Here, here! Here's the key. Make sure no one's in the elevator with you."

I grabbed the key from the receptionist, mumbled my thank you, and went into the elevator.

About an excruciating 2 minutes later of horrible elevator music and my thinking, the elevator dinged open and I walked out.

Olympus was a mess. Some of the buildings had collapsed and gods were scattered everywhere. And by gods, I mean the minor gods. I cracked my jaw and walked into the god's meeting room confidently.

My presence was noticed immediately.

"Perseus Jackson!" Drama Queen boomed, making my wince. "How dare you enter our room without permission?"

"I thought you would have more respect for me ever since I saved all of your asses from getting kicked by Gaea. Twice!" I screamed back, equally frustrated.

Silence swept over the room.

"All I want is to see Annabeth once more before I let her go." I whispered sadly.

I could practically feel the gods softening up a bit, especially Athena.

"We should let my son have his wish." Dad suggested. "He has done well for Olympus. And for us."

"I second that!" Athena responded, but added, "I can't believe I agreed with Barnacle Breath." under her breath.

"If that kid's happy. Whatever." was all Ares put in, while Hermes replied with an enthusiastic "Hear Hear!"

Zeus surveyed the room before turning to Hades. "It is your choice, brother. You can either show Perseus Annabeth or you can decline this offer."

Hades studied me with interest before closing his eyes, probably searching for Annabeth.

"She is in Elysium as far as I can tell." Hades spoke softly. "I will summon her outside of this room."

"Thank you." I replied solemnly before making my way outside of the room. I closed the door behind me and opened my eyes. True to Hades's words, Annabeth stood there, probably wondering what was going on.

"Annabeth?" I asked gingerly, tearing up slightly.

"Percy..?" Annabeth asked, rushing over to me. "Did you get killed? How did you get killed? What stupid-"

She tried to grab my hand, but her ghostly hand just passed through my own.

"So you're not dead." Annabeth whispered, relieved. "Good."

"What do you mean?? I live everyday wanting to be next to you, I live everyday thinking I should have intercepted, that it was MY fault that you died! What is good for being alive when I just want to die... To be next to you?" I cried out, tears flooding down my cheeks.

"Percy... Seaweed Brain. Listen to me." Annabeth said softly, looking up at me. "You shouldn't be dwelling over the fact that I'm gone. You're just throwing your life away. You have a long life to live, and I'm not going to let you throw that away. You need to live your life like I'm next to you. Or even better. Like I was never there. You deserve so much more than grief and sorrow. You deserve to have a girl, to have everything that you've ever wanted in your life. I'm going to be here, forever, waiting for you to come. But please. Don't throw anything away for me, or through grief."

"But..." I started, only to be cut off directly by Annabeth.

"No buts, Percy. You deserve it. Just forget about me."

I felt my heart shattering with every word Annabeth spoke to me.

"Wise Girl, please!" I practically shouted. "You can't just leave me like this!"

"I'm sorry Percy."

And with that, she disappeared. I lunged at the space in front of me but fell down on my knees, trying to grasp onto Annabeth. Her last bits.

I sat there for a while before getting up and leaving. In some ways, Annabeth was right. I had to let go of the past. But somewhere in the corner of my mind, Annabeth would always be there, guiding my through tough times, helping me out in every way possible.

A/N: It's over. The long ride has finally come to an end. I started this book 2 years ago as a joke with my friends. But after about 6 months later after creating the first chapter, I got so much positive feedback I started writing more. I have to admit, I'm not the most scheduled writer in the world, neither do I have the most leisure time. I'm sorry for those who dropped out because of my unbalanced updates, or those who dropped out because my story couldn't grab their attention for too long. But I love all of you equally, and I am very happy to be able to finish this journey without a hitch. Hopefully my writing skills have improved over the journey, and I hope to see you all in my next book (if I make one). I love you! Business email (or whenever joo has a problem you wanna discuss with): percabethxmuffins@gmail.com