the weight of the world [a pjo fanfic]

chapter twenty-five.

It should've been today. Annabeth paced around the room, fixated on the scroll in sitting menacingly on the table front of her. It should've been today, and it wasn't. It was currently 11:59pm.

"Dammit." She slammed a hand down the table and Chiron glanced over.

"Annabeth."

"I'm sorry, Chiron, I just– she was supposed to attack today, and she hasn't and we just have no idea what's going on in Gaia's head! It's like we're in the dark, just waiting to die."

"I know." He sighed and slowly walked over. She looked at him and he saw a piece of the little girl in her grey eyes. The same one so many years ago, when he first found her. The white hair stood out against her pale blonde hair, and the bags under her eyes were as dark as ink.

"You miss him, don't you?" She was silent.

"Who?"

He didn't answer. They looked at each other knowingly, and she accepted the defeat. Looking away, she pursed her lips.

"I hate him. I hate him, Chiron. Why did he just... leave?" Her voice wavered and she took a deep breath.

The centaur slowly made his way out the door, and motioned for Annabeth to follow with a tilt of his head. Their footsteps made soft pfwt pfwt pfwt sounds on the grass. Annabeth questioningly looked at him, but Chiron simply looked up into the sky.

"Ch–"

"Shh." They gazed at the stars, tracing constellations with their eyes, tired yet restless.

"Annabeth." She turned to look at her mentor's sparkling eyes, reflected by the moonlight.

"Have you ever seen Percy cry?"

She struggled to remember. Perhaps it was the side effects of the potion; either way, it was quite a shame she couldn't recall a moment.

"Not that I remember of, no."

Annabeth looked at Chiron. She wasn't stupid. "So? Are you going to tell me or not?"

He nearly looked surprised. "Tell you what?"

"The time he did cry."

"You've seen him cry?"

"No, Chiron." She sighed in frustration. "You know what I'm talking about."

He looked down at his hands. "I haven't seen him cry before. But there was one time, where I almost thought I did." Annabeth reeled in shock. "You're lying."

"No. It was after–" He paused, studying the daughter of Athena's face. "It was after his 'betrayal'."

"...That's stupid."

"Why?"

"He had no reason to cry." She grit her teeth. "He tried to kill us, Chiron."

"Did he really, Annabeth? I recall hearing him alone, crying to himself because he was the one who felt betrayed."

"But he betrayed us!"

"Did he really, now? Or were you all just too naive?" Chiron raised a thick brow. The silence was deadly; the tension was deadlier.

"What are you trying to say?" Annabeth growled.

Chiron just looked at her, and he turned away, calmly walking away. Annabeth didn't peel her eyes away from him, not even one moment, until he disappeared from sight.

--

Chiron's frustration was killing him. He could only think of the dark-skinned, blue-eyed young man who stood in front of him that day. He had gotten away, barely; a little more of a stutter, and he would've given away the fact that he did recognize him. Ukulwa. Ukulwa. Ukulwa.

"I've failed." He said out loud, looking into the sky. "I've failed. Oh, gods. I've failed."

Perhaps it was the guilt of seeing Ukulwa; perhaps he had simply came to a realization: but whatever it was, it couldn't erase what he had done. Chiron discarded his 'champions' like the mortals did straws– promising them a life of comfort, love, loyalty, happiness and security. The only thing he had really given them was a false sense of hope. And now, everything was crashing down.

Haha. I knew you would come to your senses someday, Cenataur.

I still wouldn't join you, even if it meant sacrificing my life.

I find it offensive that you assume I want you. Gaia chortled gleefully. Oh dear. You are quite the basket case. Are you going to cry?

...No.

Hmm. How could you not find this interesting? You certainly expected that one of your... "champions" would have turned against you. Who would have predicted this outcome?

Placing these half-mortals on a pedestal appeared to be a triple-edged sword. You thought you were safe, did you not? You thought you were clever for playing to his fatal flaw? Gaia laughed again, though it sounded more like a guffaw. HAHA! You moron!

Chiron fully understood what she was saying, and his face burned with shame; it was all true. He had thought that he was safe, because Percy would never have abandoned him. But he really, never thought that the other campers were a threat.

It was his fault, and that was precisely why he needed to fix it. And to fix it, he had to start with what caused the problem— Jason Grace.

--

Jason was training his overworked campers like dogs, when Chiron galloped over.

"Grace."

"Chiron." He bowed respectfully, looking away. They hadn't talked in forever, or so it seemed.

"I need to talk to you." Jason's heart leapt into his throat. Talk about what? What did he know? What does he want to know? His mind was all over the place, bouncing off of every corner of his brain. When they finally reached his cabin, Chiron walked in and surveyed the place. Nodding his head in quiet approval, he slowly walked in, hands behind his back.

"What?" Jason followed him in, closing the door behind him.

"Don't be impatient. Sit down."

He hastily took a seat, and Chiron gave him a knowing look.

"I am well aware of what happened. Jason felt his heart drop. The world zoomed out, or maybe it was his eyes?

"And now you owe us favour."

"Who's us? And w-why do I owe any of you a favour? I never did anything!" He tried to attempt convincingly.

"I'm sure. Jason, listen— I have no time for all your meaningless words." He snapped. 'We need Percy, whether you want to admit it or not. We need him. That means we need to get him back, and you're the only person who could do it."

"How?""Why not start off by telling everybody what you did."

i've started my second book~ unfortunately, it's on a second account, because i want to keep separate fanfics on that account! it's a dreamnotfound fanfic (dreamwastaken) x (georgenotfound) and you should def check it out! even if you arent in the dreamteam fandom, i'd appreciate it if you could boost it, even a tiny bit!

@skinny-lovee check it out! it's called feel my hand.