Percabeth One-Shots

39. Storm of Storms

Lightening appeared like flashes of daylight outside. Thunder slammed against the house, shaking the windows in their frames. Hail and rain beat against the roof and outside walls.

Annabeth made her way around the living room, lighting candles to bring visibility back into the house.

"You should rest." Percy told her, taking the lighter from her hands.

Annabeth nodded, taking a seat on the couch and watching the flames on the candles. The dark circles under her eyes seemed to weigh her face down. Her hands lay limp at her sides, her body exhausted but sleep evading her.

Percy finished lighting the candles in the room and took a seat on the couch beside her. Annabeth shifted to lean against him as he draped an arm over her.

"When do you think they'll stop?" Percy asked after a moment.

Annabeth shrugged. "I don't think they ever will. With the camp shut down and the demigods on the run, there's no one to settle their arguments for them. The gods will fight until they kill each other. And then..." she trailed off.

Three weeks this storm had lasted. The one before lasted twice that long. The only pause was a single day where the sky was full of clouds and lightning, where wind ripped across the landscape, but there was no rain.

Percy's chest fell. He hadn't thought of the camp in a while, choosing to focus on the constant storms instead. The camp. Now lay deserted on Long Island. He wondered where they would have ended up if it never fell. For one thing, they wouldn't be living in a house in the middle of a landlocked state right now.

Truthfully, they didn't want to be there. But since the camp fell, they had been traveling to Camp Jupiter, the only remaining safe haven. But the storms had cornered them between the two camps. Having no choice they settled for this house, placed exactly between the two camps. Exactly to the inch.

Annabeth had driven herself nearly insane with the sleepless nights, pouring over maps of the geography, old tunnel cave and mine systems, and radar monitoring of the storm, trying in vain to find a way out.

Percy also showed the effects of exhaustion, but for a different reason. He had been sleeping fine, but the separation from the ocean, or any water really, had taken its toll on him. While the rain outside had flooded almost everything, it didn't make a difference to the demigod who craved salty air and ocean waves. He was thankful that at least his was a calm exhaustion, Annabeth's burned with a fire.

She sat next to him now, or maybe on him was more accurate. Percy basically supported her completely. Her eyes started to drift closed and he smiled, relieved, until an especially loud clap of thunder startled her awake. He stifled a sigh as she shifted and sat up next to him. "I should...I should go over the maps again." She said, standing up only to fall back onto the couch again.

"Annabeth, you can't stand up." Percy told her. "Please sleep. Even children of Athena need rest."

Annabeth nodded dimly and curled back into Percy's side. This time she drifted asleep before the next crash outside and slept through it.

Percy didn't dare move. He wasn't scared of the wrath of his wife, more so that she would hurt herself if she woke and refused to sleep. Truthfully, there was no wrath to fear, the sleepless nights had left Annabeth with no fight in her. His greatest fear at this point was if they were discovered, if monsters came after them now, Annabeth wouldn't fight back. He knew she would give in. If monsters came for them now, Annabeth would die. Percy feared that he wouldn't be able to prevent that.

So he let her sleep. Soon he fell asleep next to her.

The hours passed, then the day. Percy woke first, Annabeth had positioned herself to lay on the couch, freeing Percy from being her pillow. He stood slowly and snuck off to the bathroom. On the way back, he paused by the window, hearing a strange sound from it. Silence.

How long had it been since silence filled the world outside? Percy had lost track. He darted to the window and thrust it open, as quietly as possible. He reached out, nothing fell on his hand. No rain, no hail, no snow. The wind didn't even brush against it.

For a while, the gods had paused in their fights. This was the chance they had been waiting for. Percy rushed back to Annabeth. "Wake up! The storm's gone." He exclaimed.

Annabeth startled awake, and Percy felt a pang of guilt but it quickly passed once realization crossed her face. "It's quiet." She breathed.

Percy nodded. They stayed there for a while, Percy stood frozen next to the window, Annabeth sat stunned on the couch. Then they both acted. Annabeth leapt to her feet and grabbed their bags from another room, already packed to leave. Percy lunged for the car keys and weapons. They were in the car in under a minute.

Percy tore out of the driveway, from the moment they started to drive towards Camp Jupiter, therefore closer to the coast, he felt his strength returning.

The storm had passed over the mountains to the north. Water from them was flowing down into the town and onto the roads like rivers. More than once, Percy had to detour to roads a little higher up to avoid the flooding.

Annabeth had her window down, taking some comfort in the warm air that flowed in. A distant roar made her close it, the air suddenly feeling heavy and foreboding.

Birds had begun to fly again, using the time they had to fly in search of food. However, the pair noticed that most of them seemed to be vultures. And it seemed as though they followed their car. Percy began to drive faster.

There were no other cars on the road, flooding had basically stranded everyone inside.

Another storm rolled over them, hitting hard. Hail pounded the car, denting the top and cracking the windshield and windows. Percy had trouble keeping the car on the road. The rain was sapping the little strength he had regained, like Zeus wanted him to be weak again. His vision began dotting with black and Percy wondered if it was because of the pounding in his head or the clouds above them.

Annabeth screamed as the car ran into a ditch. Her window shattered with hail and she was pinned for a moment as the airbag inflated.

Percy's head rested on the steering wheel, his body limp. Annabeth reaches over and shook his shoulder, straining against the pain of her broken collarbone.

"Percy, wake up." She yelled after a moment.

He slowly picked himself up. "Annabeth?" His voice was dim and groggy.

The ditch they landed in was overflowing with water, half the windshield was already under and even more was pouring in through the broken window. They were both drenched. But the water from the gods' storm sapped the strength from Percy. His head lulled back onto the steering wheel as his hands pushed himself back into his seat.

"We need to get out of here." Annabeth grunted as she tried to move. She fell back against her seat, gasping in pain.

Percy looked over at her in concern and reached for his door handle. The water pushing against it prevented him from opening it. Annabeth reached for hers, but cried out in pain as she shifted her left arm.

"We're trapped." Percy said dimly.

Annabeth turned her head and looked at him. "I love you." She said.

The water was up to their chests now. Once it reached their chins, Percy felt panic course through him as he realized he couldn't breathe it. He realized his fear had been misplaced. It should have been fear for the end of both of them. In the most hopeless, godless way, they would die here. Percy should be in his element, but the war raging above them have isolated him, allowing him the ability to die in a watery grave. There was no hope left for them, even if they could get out, the storm would keep them pinned and eventually catch them if the monsters from the mountains didn't first, so he leaned towards Annabeth and kissed her. They remained like that until the water flooded over their heads.