--Inspired by Breakeven by The Script
--I wrote this a long time ago, before Blood of Olympus came out.
Percy:
The war was going horribly. Gaea and her sons were just too strong and even with the help of the gods we were outmatched. I cut into the skin of Porphyrion, the giant king, but he was immediately healed by Gaea and I was reminded of my half brother in the Labyrinth. I just needed to get this guy off of the ground and up too high for Gaea to reach him. I signaled to Jason to come over to me so I could tell him my plan. That's when everything started to go wrong.
Frank:
I heard a cry of sheer terror escape from someone behind me and turned around to see Hazel laying on the ground with Alcyoneus pointing his spear at her. I was frozen as I watched him laugh and say something about puny demigods. No one was near enough to even have a remote chance of helping her except for Annabeth and she was busy with her own giant, not even noticing the danger Hazel was in. The spear tip started its deadly arc and everything seemed to be going in slow motion when Annabeth shoved Hazel out of the way. She was not fast enough, however, to evade the point. The spear pierced her chest and she fell to the ground.
Hazel:
What just happened? Did Annabeth really just do that? I lay in shock, staring at her, but the amount of blood startled me back into reality. I then heard a sound so frightening it could only come from a person who was dying. But the noise wasn't coming from Annabeth. I looked around and saw Percy running over and comprehension flooded into my eyes. I crawled next to the prone figure lying on the ground and examined the wound. I was speechless and as Percy ran up to his girlfriend. I knew I didn't have to tell him the outcome of this situation. He already knew as he took in the mass amounts of blood. The giants had stopped fighting for the moment and were laughing at the first casualty. All of the sudden this inexplicable rage overtook me. Annabeth had given her life for me and they had the nerve to laugh? I ran towards Alcyoneus.
Percy:
I looked at Hazel and her eyes were filled with dread, then hate, not towards me, but towards the giant who had stabbed Annabeth. But Hazel didn't hold my attention for long because as I got closer I could see a pool of blood getting larger by the second. Annabeth was on the ground; I kneeled down next to her and brushed her hair, sticky with sweat, away from her face with my hand. Her eyes were as stormy as ever, but they were losing some of their focus and I didn't know how much time I had left.
"Annabeth?"
Her smile was more of a grimace. I couldn't help it, I broke down into tears.
"Seaweed Brain, I will always be with you. No matter what. Defeat the giants, win and make sure there are no more that die and that includes you. Don't let my sacrifice be in vain." She trailed off, her eyes getting more unfocused.
"Annabeth! Please, don't leave me! I won't know what to do without you! Who will keep me from doing stupid stuff that will probably get me in trouble? Who will bail me out when I do it anyway?"
Annabeth laughed but it was strained.
"I have a feeling you will find a way to continue without me."
The eyes that had caught my attention on my very first day at Camp dimmed even more.
"Please don't go, I love you Annabeth. Stay with me. " I pleaded as tears streamed down my face.
"I will never leave you. Never. Just remember me and be happy."
"Never." I whispered.
I watched as she gave into the darkness. Kissing her forehead, I said my final goodbyes. I held the love of my life in my hands and cried, my chest heaving. I did so until the clamor of battle finally caught my attention. My friends were risking their lives and I was sitting here crying. I soon came to the conclusion that Annabeth would want me to fight so I took a deep breath. Not even wiping the tears away, I gently laid Annabeth on the ground and looked into her eyes. The darkness that now filled them filled me too, but not with death, or thoughts of it, with a determination and sorrow so strong I knew it would always be there; or at least a part of it. I would fulfill Annabeth's dying wish and kill the giants myself.
Piper:
I had heard Hazel's cry and turned to see Annabeth get stabbed in her place. I looked on in awe and horror at Annabeth's sacrifice while Percy screamed and ran over. Hazel got up and immediately ran towards Alcyoneus. I knew she would need help. I told Jason, Frank, and Leo to keep the others busy and I charged towards Hazel and her hopeless one-on-one battle with a giant. She was actually doing pretty good considering that she was fighting a giant. I tried not to look at Annabeth but I couldn't help but glance her way as I heard Percy sobbing uncontrollably holding her to his chest. And in that moment I knew. Annabeth was dead. Tears made their way down my face and I attacked Alcyoneus with a ferocity that surprised me. He never stood a chance against us, and of course Aphrodite herself. She smiled a sweet smile at the giant and he stood there, dumbfounded, as we sliced him to bits. At first Gaea tried to heal him, but she soon realized it was hopeless. The combined rage of Hazel and I; for I realized that was what led her to challenge the giant, made it an easy kill, and with the help of a goddess we were unbeatable. I relished the moment Alcyoneus crumbled to dust. I then noticed Percy was standing and he looked different. Any traces of the old Percy that had led demigods into the Battle of Manhattan were gone, replaced by a cold, unforgiving husk.
Jason:
I watched as Percy laid Annabeth on the ground and stood up straight. Even from across the field I could see that he was different, more hardened, not as easygoing as he used to be. Percy looked towards the pile of clay that used to be Alcyoneus and nodded his thanks towards Hazel and Piper. But when he looked at Aphrodite he flinched and started tearing up again. As soon as he had composed himself, Percy turned towards Porphyrion and charged. I had never seen such rage. We all stared in awe as he hacked and sliced and dodged like a man who had nothing to lose. It was amazing yet horrifying to watch. Percy was a true hero, untouchable as a mini hurricane surrounded him. Then a flash of gray came down from the sky. I was afraid it was another giant or another monster sent from Gaia, but it wasn't. It was the goddess of wisdom and battle, Athena. She fought alongside the son of Poseidon without a trace of distaste, at least not towards Percy. Within minutes the giant king was reduced to a puny pile of sand, thanks to Percy holding the giant suspended in water. I couldn't believe how fast the two comrades had killed the king of the giants; he was supposed to be nearly impossible to beat! But then I looked towards where Annabeth was and I realized why Athena, of all the gods and goddesses, had come down to fight alongside Percy.
Leo:
From the looks on everyone's faces I put two and two together. I charged the giant close to me and told myself not to think about it. Hephaestus came down and helped me defeat the looming mountain in front of me, but I just moved on to help defeat the next giant and didn't stop to congratulate myself. Everyone fought like a demon, slashing and hacking with a vengeance, because we all had a reason now.
AFTER THE WAR
The six demigods huddled together around a bonfire. But one black haired, green eyed demigod stood alone on the edge of the fire. The other demigods had looks of sympathy and sorrow within their eyes but the child of Poseidon just looked away, not wanting their condolences. He had tears in his eyes as a grey eyed goddess came up to him and hugged him. They cried into each other's shoulders until the lord of the sea came up behind them and cleared his throat.
"Percy," the man said softly. "I have the item you wanted."
The young boy released his anchor and reached, palm up, for his father's hand. A small object dropped down, but was quickly hidden from view. Percy then reached up to his camp necklace and removed it, careful to not open his right hand. At this point, the other demigods had noticed Poseidon and were looking on inquiringly as Percy slid something onto the necklace string. As the demigods saw what was sitting alongside the many beads that Percy had acquired they sobbed even harder. Dangling from the string, a silver band with a small pearl stood out; a reminder of what could have been.
