Heroes of Olympus: The Aftermath of War

PERCY

*Rick Riordan owns all of the characters*

PERCY HAD TROUBLE maintaining his calm while Annabeth finished the rest of her story. For once in his life, he'd want to punch and smack the Maiden Artemis in the godly face. Or release his confusion upon Apollo. That guy was obviously a boy, after all. Percy hated hitting girls, however annoying they seemed. Maybe he could traumatize the god of prophecies with awfully made haikus. It would surely get into his nerves.

He was currently looking at the wooden ceiling with disdain, his eyes a little heavy, his face flushed in anger, and his mouth in a mourning state of itself, turning into a frown or a moan every two seconds or so.

"And, oh, by the way," Annabeth continued, "She said it wasn't a quest. We'd basically just babysit Apollo 'till his father slaps him into Manhattan or something."

"Still a quest, though." Leo pointed out, shoving another sprinkled doughnut into his mouth. "Anything from the gods is a quest, you know."

"I know. That's why I wanted to refuse the offer," she sighed, taking a sip of her now cold coffee. "But Artemis disappeared. Poof. Then I saw the moon and woke up."

"Oh, how lovely." Leo said sarcastically. "I really do love moons, being Artemis's symbol and all."

"She didn't want you to say no," Percy realized, glaring at Leo's remark. "The goddess was desperate. I've never seen a goddess in that state. And my memory was erased by Hera."

Annabeth squeezed his hand, an apologetic look upon her sad and hopeless face. Percy rarely saw her like this, since she was frequently the strong, tough, and determined type that everybody looked up to or shared their doubts with, a characteristic which he loved so much. He knew that Annabeth had once again put the blame upon herself, like it was her fault. But the thing is, Leo, Calypso, and he knew that it wasn't. It never has been, really. Judging from Artemis's sudden departure, this responsibility was theirs to take, whether they even accepted it or not. There wasn't much of a choice.

"Hey," he said, managing a smile. "Don't blame yourself. You didn't even want it in the first place. When I see her twin, I'm going to make a poem so terrible that he'll faint to death. Apollo's had a soft spot for that."

"And I'm going to sing." Leo announced. Percy tilted his head in confusion. "What? I'm terrible at singing."

"Yeah, except for that Breaking Free ballad," Calypso noted, nodding.

Leo grinned. His relationship with Calypso seemed to be growing at each passing second, Percy observed. They do make a cute couple, not that he was an Eros guy or something. He just knew. They fit one another perfectly, like gloves or a puzzle or those other corny lines in which the mortals used to describe it. He was happy that the immortal goddess had finally found someone at last after thousands of years. She was free.

Percy wished they were free from quests. Nobody heard his desire. He could've shouted at the top of his lungs and still get nothing.

"I thought we could finally live in peace." Annabeth managed, choking down something between a laugh and a sob. "I allowed myself to think so after the Titan War, and now, after Gaea..." she confessed, forcing tears away, "I thought it was all done. Really, definitely, surely finished."

Percy felt the same way, and he was truly happy when Annabeth had said yes to a perfectly normal life involving Senior Year, College, and New Rome back at Camp Half Blood, where he'd ask her. He envisioned him growing old with her then, still beautiful in spite of her age, telling wonderful stories to their children, their children's children, and so on until he muttered a last "I love you." and welcomed Death, the real 'death', with open arms alongside her. Together in Elysium for eternity. Loved and remembered by their descendants, who succeeded to achieve such normal lives.

He put Annabeth in his arms and let her cry softly and stain his shirt with her tears. Percy didn't mind holding her like this, as if he could lend her all his strength just to make her happy again. Leo and Calypso tried comforting and reassuring Annabeth with soothing voices, but he also knew that she hated being weak. She hated crying. She hated being treated as a child. She wanted to be strong for everyone. She hated to be comforted, knowing that others had to be. They knew all of this as Annabeth buried herself further into Percy's shirt, crying about confusion, anger, and letting out her heavily packed emotions throughout the years.

However, she did feel a little better with Percy's warm embrace and Leo and Calypso's reassuring tones. When she slowly broke away from him, she had puffy, red eyes and was able to stifle a tiny laugh and a smile. Percy kissed her forehead in relief, prepared to be always strong for her in any situation. Leo and Calypso heaved greatful sighs too, and before they knew it, Festus's wings flapped outside, ready to leave.

To avoid accidents and promote a new 'healthy living' lifestyle world, Leo dropped Percy and Annabeth in front of the University Dorm building, not in another window, which they'd thanked him for and had been truly grateful of, especially the latter, who decided on keeping death stunts to a minimum amount. Clearly, nobody wanted someone to jump again. Festus said something in Morse Code which Annabeth had translated as a simple "You're welcome." before it went flying off again.

"See you tomorrow!" Leo and Calypso shouted from the sky, their voices barely audible compared to the regular street noise.

Yes, Percy thought, tomorrow would just be 'wonderful'.