While He was With Calypso...

A/N- So this is a little something I put together for a different website so... yeah now it's here too! Enjoy!

*Disclaimer I do NOT own Percy Jackson or anything like that (thought that would be awesome!), all rights go to Rick Riordan this is fan fiction purely made for entertainment not for monetary gain!*

"Get out!"

"What? No! I'm not leaving you."

"I've got a plan. I'll distract them. You can use the metal spider- maybe it'll lead you back to Hephaestus. You have to tell him what's going on."

"But you'll be killed!"

"I'll be fine. Besides, we've got no choice..." 

As much as it pains me to say it, he was right. I hated the fact that he was right, I hated the fact that he was just going to go and die on me... 

He looked at me, with those sea-green eyes of his. Something... I'm still not sure what, but something compelled me forward. 

And I kissed him. 

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain." Was the last thing I said to him. I ran out of there, not daring to look back at Percy.

The spider clicked its way back to Hephaestus, like he'd said. 

"You need to hurry! The forge has been taken over by Telkhines! Percy's..." I trailed off when I saw what Hephaestus was doing. He was intently watching a device that looked like a television. Smoke rose from the depths of the mountain on the screen, and as we watched, the entire mountain ripped itself apart so violently that the walls of the cave shook, and bits of the ceiling fell and smashed the little contraptions scattered on the tables.

I'm a daughter of Athena, the goddess of wisdom. Children of Athena do not get confused; but in that one moment, I couldn't quite process what was happening. 

"But... Percy... Percy was... he..." I stuttered. Hephaestus turned back to me with a somewhat solemn look on his face. 

"Not anymore." I just shook my head.

"No, Percy had a plan, he's still in there! He's still alive." I said stubbornly. If he were dead, I would know it. Of course I'd know it...

"You saw that explosion, I wouldn't get your hopes up." Hephaestus grumbled as he messed with a piece of scrap metal. I shook my head. 

"You have to take me back there, we have to find him he could be hurt!" I insisted. He grumbled something to himself. 

"I can't." he said, "But I can send you back to camp, where you'll be safe."

"But Percy..." 

"Is in a better place now." An intense burst of emotion boiled up in the pit of my stomach: hate, anger, fear, despair, pain. 

The world spun around me... no literally. Hephaestus transported me back to camp, right next to Chiron and Mr. D's game of Pinchole. They didn't look surprised. 

"Oh dear, another lost camper I see." Mr. D sighed. I held in a sob, and a punch. Chiron set down his cards, a winning play. 

"I assume you know about the explosion." He said. I nodded.

"Chiron, is he..." I couldn't bring myself to say it. Chiron grimaced.

"I don't know, but we must pray that he is not." 

So that's what I did. That night at dinner, I threw a bushel of grapes into the pyre and prayed. To all of them, even Mr. D. 

Please, let him have lived. Please, bring him back 

Every day I did that. Every day I got nothing. Everyone kept trying to give me their condolences, but each time I told them Don't even try, he's alive. He'll be back. I don't really remember when I first began to doubt it myself. 

I waited for more than a week, I prayed, and begged, and hoped. 

It was sunset, most cabins were finishing up dinner. I sat on the beach with my knees pressed underneath my chin, staring out at Long Island Sound. Percy always loved it here, he loved the water. Loves I told myself, present tense, he LOVES the water . I stood, and stepped into the surf. 

"Poseidon," I prayed out loud, "Give me a sign..." I took a deep breath, "Is Percy still out there? Is he alive?" My eyes closed, and I focused. 

Nothing. Not a peep. I grit my teeth and squeezed my eyes tighter than I thought was possible. 

And lose a love to worse than death. The prophecy had come true. 

Percy was gone. 

And for the first time, I let the tears fall and mix with the water. 

"Annabeth?" One of my siblings whispered. I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling, "Annabeth, Chiron wants to talk to you." Like a zombie, I shuffled up to the porch of the Big House where Chiron sat in his wheelchair. He patted one of the chairs for me to sit. 

"I'm sorry, but we have heard nothing." He said, "We can't put it off forever." For the past few days everyone had tried to convince me that it was time. A week and a half of silence. 

"I don't think I can do it." I whispered hoarsely. My voice was strained from sobbing. I couldn't put the final nail in his coffin. 

"My dear, it's time." Chiron said wisely. My face fell into my hands. Warm, salty water slipped down my wrists. 

"Give me a few more days to... to make the shroud." I whimpered. He said nothing. 

I chose green silk. Green, like his eyes. Each stitch was perfect, I checked and double checked each and every bit of that trident to make it perfect for him. With each stitch, I let another tear fall. This was it. Percy Jackson- the camp hero, the child of the prophecy, my best friend who might have turned out to be more- was dead. 

Exactly two weeks after the explosion, we held the ceremony. The flames of the fire were low, and black. Nobody spoke a single word, not even Clarisse. Even the nymphs who usually skipped the burning of the shrouds were peering out from around corners.

"We have been forced to assume he is dead," Chiron said, "After so long a silence, it is unlikely out prayers will be answered. I have asked his best surviving friend to do the final honors." That was my cue. I stood, and unfolded the shroud I had made, and set it gently on the fire. Goodbye Percy, I thought. I turned to face the rest of the camp.

"He was probably the bravest friend I ever had. He..." I looked up at the faces of the mourners, and saw only one that didn't look sad. Those eyes... they had the same look in them after I kissed him. 

"He's right there!" 

And the rest is history...