Heroes of Olympus. Five Years After the War with Gaea.

Heroes of Olympus. Five Years After the War eith Gaea.

Annabeth: Short Story

The young woman walked slowly and calmly, following the winding park track.

Her curly blonde hair was tied back in a loose ponytail, darkened slightly by the mottled shade cast by the trees bordering the path. Her usual stern grey eyes were soft and light, staring wistfully off into the distance. Her tall, slim figure was tucked into a pair of dark jeans and a loose white blouse. The only jewelry that adorned her was a pair of silver owl earring and a bead necklace, threaded with strange-looking beads. Her hands were sunk deep in her pockets as she walked, her beautiful face for once clear of the usual lines of concern and worry that creased it.

There was a group of young men watching her, thunderstruck by her beauty, some drooling a little as they stared in awe. But Annabeth didn't even notice them. She was too wrapped up in her own thoughts. If she had noticed them, she wouldn't have paid them any attention. She'd never been able to look at boys the same way after Percy died.

She could still remember the day. It was during the war with Gaea. They'd been fighting side by side, all of the Seven together along with all the campers from Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter. Both camps united for the first time.

The battle was hectic. A tornado swirled around them, Percy calling upon his powers to protect them. Lightning flashed around, striking the army of monsters. Leo blasted fire in every direction, carried around by the wind called up by Jason. Hazel used her new found magical abilities to twist the monsters around while Piper charm spoke them into attacking each other. Frank wrecked havoc by changing into animals every few moments while Nico directed an army of undead. All the injured were led away to Calypso, who sung them back to health, her calming, gentle voice carrying over the. sounds of battle.

Annabeth hadn't even been aware that she was in danger. One moment she was swinging her bone sword at every monster that came near, the next she heard a strangled gasp and the tornado swirling around her disappeared. She turned to see Percy at her back, shielding her with his own body. His hands were clutched at his stomach, blood beginning to trickle around his fingers. She remembered a time when she'd intercepted a blade with her own body. Now, he'd done the same for her.

She remembered crying out his name and catching him as he fell. The battle raged on around them but she no longer noticed. All that she could think of was Percy, lying dying in her arms. He whispered her name, strangely audible over the din of battle. She'd cried and screamed, begging him to heal himself with water. But even she knew he was too injured for anything to save him.

His face blurred from the tears in her eyes, and he weakly reached up to wipe them away. He kept whispering her name, as if it was his lifeline.

She just held him, his head in her lap as the life slowly trickled out of his sea green eyes. The mischievous smile she'd loved so much remained on his lips as he died.

She hardly remembered what happened after that. The rest of the Seven must have protected her and Percy's body because no monster even came close to them. At the time she didn't even know how they'd won the war. She was too numb, unable to move or think. She felt as if her soul had died alongside Percy.

Afterwards she found out that with Percy's death, Gaea had risen, taking human form once more. Only then had the gods appeared, all of them arrayed against their mother. She had been returned to the earth, hopefully never to regain full consciousness. But for Annabeth, the price had been too much.

For weeks afterwards she was wrapped up on her own world, lost to her friends. Nothing they said or did could break the shields she'd built up around herself. The only one who understood her pain was Sally Jackson. They spent hours together, crying as they tried to comfort each other. Annabeth could see the same blank, hopelessness on Sally's face that she could feel in herself. There was no way either of them would ever recover. But at least Sally had Paul to help her. Annabeth was all alone.

At least she felt that way. She felt like she had been left all alone, abandoned in her time of greatest need. The time when she most needed Percy, he wasn't there for her. Even the comfort and support of her friends couldn't help her. She wanted to die, because she knew that only then would she ever be with Percy again.

The excited cry of a child broke Annabeth out of her thoughts. She turned around to see a little girl racing towards her, blonde hair flying out behind her.

"Mommy Mommy!" She yelled, her face bright with excitement. "Look what I found!"

Reaching Annabeth, she held out her hand to reveal a pearl, perfect and white. It was still wet.

"Where'd you get this, darling?" Annabeth asked curiously, looking at her daughter.

"Those ladies gave it to me," the girl answered.

"What ladies?"

"The ones at the bottom of the pond. They were nice."

Annabeth studied her daughter. She didn't look wet, but she was Percy's daughter after all.

She remembered when she first realized she was pregnant. It was several months after Percy's death, when she was still wrapped up in her depression. Under other circumstances she would have realized earlier, but she was too numb to notice the changes. For weeks after his death she had been losing weight until she was barely more than skin and bone, but then she'd noticed that she'd started regaining weight, especially at her stomach. She'd thought that it was a new stage of depression until she felt the kicks. The doctor confirmed it.

She was pregnant.

The baby managed to pull her out of her depression. No more thoughts of suicide entered her brain. Nothing was more important to her than the birth of her child. Percy's child. It was all that was left of him, and she was going to give him up that easily.

Now, she smiled as she looked down at her child. Her daughter was already quite tall for her age and slim. She was dressed in jeans and a familiar orange t-shirt. Her hair was blonde and curly, just like Annabeth's. She was cute now, but she'd be a real beauty, Aphrodite-worthy, when she grew up.

But the part about her that Annabeth couldn't help but love, was her eyes. Those beautiful sea-green eyes, that lite up with all the mischievousness of her father. You could almost see Percy in them, smiling and laughing.

Annabeth smiled, tears in her eyes and took her daughters hand.

"Come on Bianca," she whispered. "Let's go get some ice cream."

"Can we get blue ice cream!" Bianca exclaimed, jumping up and down in her excitement, eyes bright.

"Yes, we can get blue."