The Demigod Games- A Percy Jackson and Hunger Games Fan Fiction

Chapter 19

Falling, I'm falling. That's all I could think as the wind whipped around my body, cradling me, swirling my hair around my face. I didn't dare open my eyes, I couldn't face the ground coming up at me at a terrifying pace. And that's when all of a sudden I was drenched.

Confused, I opened my eyes and realized what was going on. I was being supported in midair by--water?

Water? How in hades? Oh my gods... Percy. Percy where is he? Where is he?!

I looked up excited, panicked, and nervous all at once. I was fearful of the face I would see, but there was a hope inside me that made me look up the hundreds of feet back to the ledge where I'd just been moments before. 

There he was, standing at the railing, eyes trained on me. His hair was whipping around his face, white knuckle holding onto the railing. I felt myself being raised up towards them. I could see the tears in Carrie's eyes once I got closer to them and before I knew it, her hands were wrapping around my forearms and pulling me onto solid ground. My legs failed and I collapsed onto the ground, motionless, shaking. 

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Percy dropped onto his knees next to me and put his hands on my shoulders. "Annabeth! What the hell?!"

I couldn't form a coherent sentence. I didn't know how to make him understand.

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest. I listened to his heartbeat as water dripped down my nose. It took me a while before I realized that some of the water rolling down my face were tears. 

"Gods Annabeth you -- I -- you rushed out of the room and I thought it was strange and I sat there for a second to think about it and then I got a bad feeling and I ran and got Percy and then we came out here and saw you letting go and --" Carrie was sobbing.

I can't believe I did this to them. I did this. I hurt them. But... what good is it anyway, I die or they do, some of us are going to hurt regardless, aren't we?

"I'm sorry..." I whispered. Those were the only words I could force out. "I'm so sorry..."

Percy wrapped his arms around my chest under my arms and helped me up. As soon as I was standing he hugged me tightly.

"Annabeth I'm never letting you go.. never. I'm so sorry if you thought -- what you thought -- I don't know. I don't know if I'm the reason or one of them but I'm so sorry.." He quickly whispered into my ear and kissed my forehead. 

They led me inside and took me back to my room. By this time, the boys were up, sitting on the edges of their bunks. When they saw me soaking wet and pale as a ghost, they jumped off their beds and grabbing blankets, threw them around my shoulders. 

Jax grabbed a chair for Percy as Nate helped me onto his bed. I sat down shivering, Percy right next to me. He held my hand tightly in his and I felt my body drying, the water evaporating as quickly as it had appeared on me when he summoned the river to obey his will. 

"What... what happened?" Nate's voice broke the silence. I couldn't meet anyone's eyes. I just stared at the floor. 

Percy squeezed my hand and I drew in a slow shaky breath. I knew I was going to have to explain at some point, I just didn't really want to ever have to explain. It wasn't like I really wanted to die all that much, it was more of me wanting to spare them the pain of it, or spare me the pain of living without more people I love. 

"I... okay, uhm, just give me a second. I don't know how to explain what was going through my head..." I began unsure. Taking another breath, I glanced at Percy, his green eyes peering into mine, and I could see the tears pooling in them. "I was just thinking... and I was thinking that maybe it'd be better for everyone if I just, died before the Games. Spare you the heartache of a gruesome death. Well, more gruesome. Or that if I was in the Games, how I just.. how I couldn't bear to lose any of you, how I don't want to live my life without you. Its guaranteed that only one lives... and if I don't live, then for a while or for life you all would have to deal with that, and if I lived, that would mean that you would all be dead, and I wouldn't want to live my life like that anyway, so I'd end up dead anyway."

My words hung eerily in the air. Everyone was silent. The only sounds were the sounds of breathing and the occasional sniffle. 

"No. No that's not true. That can't -- no. Annabeth no. No," Carrie knelt in front of me and put her hands on my knees. "You can't think like that."

Suddenly angry I exploded, "How can I not? It's not like that's not what's going to happen. We all know it, so why are we all so damn afraid to talk about it?" 

"Annabeth..." Percy's voice was calm and brought me back down to earth. I knew I was hurting them, but I couldn't understand why none of them had thought of this before. "It's not that we haven't thought about it, we have. Or at least I know I have. Why do you think I was being so distant? I was trying to shove those thoughts away. Do you think it's easy for me to think about the very real possibility of losing you? No. It's not. But have I? Yes. And it's terrifying. I wake up in the middle of the night because of nightmares of finding you dead on the ground, or of you dying in my arms and me not being able to do anything to save you, all because of some stupid game! We'd be lunatics to not think about that. But that doesn't mean that it's okay for you to decide that you'd rather not take the chance, the chance of living, the chance that you could live."

I met his eyes and my heart dropped into my toes. Balling up the covers of Nate's bed in my free hand I said, " It's not that I've decided I don't want that chance, it's that I've decided that it's not worth living without the people I love in my life. And if you can't understand that then I don't know what else to say."

Several minutes passed and it seemed like nobody dared to breathe. Silently, Carrie got up and went and sat on the edge of her bed. Jax climbed back into his, and Nate coughed softly. Percy helped me up and guided me to my bed. He helped me climb onto it and pulled me down next to him. As I settled down under the covers, body still shaking, I couldn't help but feel a mix of relief and gut wrenching sorrow as I slowly drifted off to the beating of his heart. Tomorrow would bring another day of uncertainty and dreading the few I had left with everyone I cared about, breathing and alive.