Chapter Text
The blast came from nowhere.
Well, not exactly nowhere.
Camp borders had been attacked — again — by members of Kronos' army. It wasn't as full-on an offensive as the Battle of the Labyrinth had been a few weeks ago, but it was hardly a border skirmish.
These were monsters Annabeth had never seen before other than in textbooks. Demons from the underworld, carrying cursed magic, appearing to be a strange mix between the Furies and harpies. They screeched every time they swooped down, talons outstretched and midnight-black wings fanned out.
A scene out of hell. Literally.
Between Annabeth slashing at one of the demons before it could claw the life out of Percy and him shielding her from another with a wave of water, Annabeth heard an ear-splitting shriek.
Some of the demigods around her instinctively dropped their weapons, hands slammed over their ears. Some dropped to the ground in agony.
Annabeth's head rang from the resounding noise. Beside her, Percy stumbled, forcing her to catch him.
"What in Hades?" she made out from the movement of his lips.
One of the demons — the one who had emitted the noise — was hurtling into the air, similar to a rocket thrusting into outer space.
Raising a hand to block out the sun, Annabeth squinted.
She watched, eyes glued to the fascinating sight as the demon, upon getting a few hundred feet into the atmosphere, exploded into bronze dust, like a monstrous bust of fireworks.
Annabeth didn't close her eyes in time as the demon's final scream released a blinding flash of white light, but Percy pulled her back into his arms, both of them hitting the ground as monster dust rained down around them.
<<< >>>
There was a ringing in Annabeth's ears. Black spots danced before her eyes as she furiously tried to blink them away.
A heavy weight pinned her down. Percy.
"Percy," Annabeth tried to say, but her throat was hoarse. The effects, as far as she could tell, were akin to those in the aftermath of a bomb. She couldn't hear her own voice, but the vibrations in her throat told her she was speaking.
As her vision jarred back into focus, Annabeth felt Percy roll off of her, still too disorientated to comprehend what had happened. "Percy," she tried again, and this time she heard her voice like she was underwater. "Percy."
Annabeth rolled onto her back, panting as she scanned the surroundings. A black circle with a radius of ten feet was scorched into the ground where the demon had taken off.
Not a single monster was in sight.
Three figures lay writhing in the scorched area, their skin blistered from the blast — Annabeth's vision tunnelled as she recognised one of them as Chiron.
"Chiron!" she yelled, scrambling to her feet and staggering ungracefully towards the centaur. "Chiron!"
To her overwhelming relief, Chiron was fine, save for a few burns on his arms.
"Chiron," Annabeth demanded, helping him onto his legs. "Are you—"
She didn't finish her sentence, as the centaur gripped her by the shoulders, his face ashen. "Dark magic," he said between hacking coughs. "Annabeth — there's magic. I can feel it in the air."
"Chiron," Annabeth insisted. "Everything's fine." She raised her left hand to brush him off. "Everything's..."
Annabeth broke off abruptly, staring at her left wrist. There were small black markings in a thin line encircling her wrist — scribbles, no, words.
"What the hell?" she murmured under her breath, removing her hand gingerly from Chiron's arm.
When she looked closer, she realised that her eyes were indeed telling the truth. She wasn't hallucinating from some kind of post-explosion stress.
what's going on?
As Annabeth watched with eyes splayed wide open, the three words erased themselves from her skin, only to be replaced by new markings.
where is everyone?
"Chiron," her voice was shakier than she liked. "What..." She looked up bewilderedly to see Chiron's grave expression.
"Black magic," he said, barely above a whisper. "Hecate's doing. She's imbued these creatures with magic."
Annabeth's heart thudded in her ears.
Chiron didn't elaborate, eyes glassy as he stared into space, mind working at a million miles an hour.
Annabeth turned back to the other two campers on the ground — one of them a son of Demeter and one of them Silena Beauregard from Aphrodite.
"Annabeth," Silena croaked, braced weakly on her elbows as she sat facing the sky. "What—what's happening? There are words—"
Annabeth's heart jumped with relief. It wasn't just her. "Is it a sentence? What does it say?" She knelt down next to the other girl. Silena twisted her right arm to show Annabeth the words written just above her elbow.
Silena? Is she okay?
The words disappeared. New ones appeared.
Silena, where are you? The explosion—the demons—ow, my throat—
Annabeth barely had time to finish reading before the script vanished, and was replaced by something else.
Silena. Silena. Silena.
"Silena!"
Annabeth blinked. She turned around to see Beckendorf racing towards them, fear in his features before he dropped down beside them.
The two of them embraced, and Annabeth averted her gaze awkwardly.
When they withdrew, Annabeth caught sight of writing on Beckendorf's finger, looking like ink tattooed into his skin.
"Beckendorf," she interrupted. "Wait, your-your hand."
The son of Hephaestus looked down confusedly. Annabeth could just make out the words.
Charlie, you're okay. Oh, thank the gods, don't let me go, stay here, hold my hand.
Where's Lacy? My siblings? Are they okay?
Annabeth sucked in a sharp breath.
Hoofbeats sounded as Chiron neared, cantering to a stop beside them.
"It's their thoughts," Annabeth realised, looking up at Chiron. "Silena has Beckendorf's. He has hers."
Silena frowned. On Beckendorf's finger, the curling words were 'Thoughts? What? What's Annabeth talking about?'
"The demon gave off magic, didn't it?" Silena said, warily looking up at Chiron.
Chiron nodded grimly. "The camp's magical borders kept it within here. But I think we can safely assume that everyone here was hit by the magic."
Beckendorf made the time-out sign. "I don't understand," he said, gaze flicking between the three of them.
"Was everyone bonded to someone?" Annabeth demanded, getting unsteadily to her feet. "I don't get it. Does the spell choose randomly?"
Silena snorted. "Spells don't work like that." She blushed. "I read up on magic, okay?" She grabbed Beckendorf's hand and held it next to her arm. "It's love. Isn't it obvious? I have Charlie's and he has mine. We're together."
She laid it out like it was the clearest thing in the world. Annabeth couldn't deny that, logically, it was the likely solution.
"Is she right?" Annabeth asked Chiron.
He frowned. "Even if she is, how would we know for sure?"
Annabeth suddenly noticed that he didn't have any ink anywhere on his skin. She looked down at her own wrist.
shit, get up
come on, man
don't do this to me
An idea popped into her head. Annabeth did a sweeping gaze of the field.
Too many things were happening. She couldn't think straight.
Travis passing Connor ambrosia; Will Solace checking into the injured; Percy helping Grover to his feet—
She needed to focus.
Annabeth's gaze snapped to the satyr.
"Grover!" she called, immediately taking off into a run, desperately trying not to trip over anyone as she hurried over to him. "Words! On your skin! Find them! What do they say?"
Grover bleated, "Words on my what?"
Impatiently, Annabeth flashed her wrist in his direction.
Percy's brow furrowed. "Did you get a tattoo?"
Annabeth shook her head. "Neither did you." She gestured to the words peeking out from just under the neck of his shirt, flowing over his collarbone.
Percy's words were different to the ones she'd seen. They were too faraway to read, but the black ink vanished, and proceeded to reappear, far too quickly to try to make out.
A jolt of curiosity begged Annabeth to step closer and read the words, but she forced herself to stay put.
"It's on your knee," Percy said suddenly, snapping her out of her reverie. "What's going on?"
"Testing a theory," Annabeth said vaguely. She knelt down, peering at Grover's words.
What was that?
Grover? He was in camp!
Is he okay?
I can't get far enough from my tree.
damn it.
"How much do you want to bet that that's Juniper's?" Annabeth muttered, mostly to herself.
"Juniper's?" Grover repeated.
"Thoughts," Annabeth answered. She stood up as Chiron approached her, Beckendorf and Silena hobbling behind him. "Whatever magic the demon released; I think it's bonded everyone to their...significant other."
"But..." Percy's gaze drifted down to his collarbone. The words were still flashing far too quickly. "I don't have a girlfriend." He waved at her wrist. "You don't...have a boyfriend."
Annabeth paused. Well, then.
"You don't have to be with someone to be meant for them," Silena said, breaking the silence. She glanced at Annabeth. "It's the thoughts of your soulmate."
<<< >>>
The whole idea of soulmates, in Annabeth's opinion, was utter nonsense.
It didn't make sense to say that there was one person out of four billion whom you were destined to be with.
What if your so-called soulmate lived across the globe? You'd never meet them.
And what if they died before you met? Or after? Were you destined for a life of solitude and sadness?
And what if you didn't have a soulmate? No, Annabeth had much more faith in the science of compatibility.
Unfortunately, most of camp disagreed with her.
From the moment Silena "figured out" the puzzle, word spread like wildfire, and soon everyone could focus on nothing except the words on their skin.
Annabeth thought it was extremely stupid to stake their lives on a couple of words that constantly appeared and disappeared.
But a lot of the evidence supported Silena's assumption. People who had tattoes of each other — Silena and Beckendorf, Travis and Katie. Both pairs were couples.
Grover, upon finding Juniper, had tested it, and even though Juniper had been in the woods and hadn't been affected by the magic, her thoughts were displayed on Grover's knee, clear as crystal.
"It's romantic, isn't it?" Annabeth heard Dionysus' son say to his friend in the hospital bed beside hers. "This whole deal about soulmates."
Annabeth refrained from looking too closely at her own words. Odds were that she hadn't met her "soulmate" yet, and she wouldn't for a few more years. Hell, she was 15. No one met who they would end up with at that age.
"Surprised to see you here," Will said, eyebrows raised as he walked up to her with a roll of bandages.
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "I'm fine," she insisted. "I took nectar. Silena made me come anyway."
"One of them got you," Will pointed out the slashes in the side of her t-shirt.
"It's nothing."
Will started to bandage up her torn skin, and Annabeth winced at the rough cloth. She caught a glimpse of words on his palm, and made a face.
Following her gaze, Will grinned. "So you don't believe in Silena's theory?"
Annabeth crossed her arms with a snort. "It's dumb. Soulmates don't exist. This was some dark magic. And we'd be stupid to treat it as anything less than dangerous."
"Well, I don't know if I believe her," Will said with a shrug. "And if I did, I'd have some reservations about this person apparently being the love of my life."
He turned his palm up, and Annabeth peered at the words.
Fuck!
If I have to see China
one more goddamn time—
Annabeth couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up in the back of her throat.
Will chuckled. "Yeah, it doesn't make much sense. A lot of angry swearing. Possibly a little racist?"
"A perfect fit for you," Annabeth deadpanned.
"I think it's a mortal," Will mused. "It's not anyone at camp. And if it's one of Luke's demigods, then I'll be having a word with Aphrodite." He patted Annabeth on the back good-naturedly before he moved on to the next patient.
Annabeth stared at her wrist. Will's mention of Luke left a cold feeling in the pit of her stomach.
Oh gods, what if her soulmate was Luke? She traced out the words gently with her right hand.
wanna take a nap
so much stuff to do, urgh
Annabeth sighed, looking away from her wrist. "Lose a love to worse than death". Those had been the exact words of her prophecy. If it a higher power confirming that he was a "love" wasn't enough to tell her that she was hopelessly crushing on someone who should be her enemy, then what was?
Then again, she hadn't needed any kind of otherworldly sign to kiss Percy.
She couldn't help the reddening of her cheeks at the thought. That was probably one of the most embarrassing moments of her life.
She'd done it in the heat of the moment, but in hindsight, Annabeth knew she'd probably do it again. Gods, when had she decided that kissing Percy was a good thing?
Annabeth shoved those thoughts out of her head. In the back of her mind, she wondered if her soulmate was someone already at camp. They'd see her thoughts on their skin, maybe wonder who the hell they'd gotten stuck with.
At least if she got Luke, she could maybe get some insight into his battle plans from his thoughts. Think about Kronos, she implored Luke, staring at her wrist again.
oh, gross, PDA
please stop making out in front of me
man i'm hungry
i should call my mum
wonder what she's doing
Annabeth blanched. His mum? That could be Luke, right? Though she didn't think Luke's thoughts were so scattered.
Maybe her soulmate was a mortal. Somehow, Annabeth couldn't bring herself to believe that.
who's my soulmate
gods, i feel bad for her
The sentences on Annabeth's wrist were broken. They were in lower case, never with any punctuation.
—put up with me
—what a chore
maybe...no, no
don't be stupid
now that would be a miracle
Annabeth forced her gaze away from her wrist again. Maybe she should invest in a bracelet to cover it up.
Romanticising dark magic was definitely a mistake the demigods were making. Annabeth couldn't count how many times she had heard someone in passing say "I can't wait to find my soulmate!"
She'd rolled her eyes enough to make herself unbearably dizzy.
<<< >>>
The next thing they realised about the soul marks was something bad. Annabeth took it as solid, hard evidence that she was always right.
It happened in a sparring match. Percy versus Beckendorf.
Annabeth lazed in the stands, her feet resting on Grover's lap as she flicked through a book on Aphrodite. If she was going to get to the bottom of this soulmates' thing, she needed to do her research.
"Ow!" Beckendorf's shout jarred her from her thoughts. Annabeth glanced up to see a gash on his right bicep, which the son of Hephaestus regarded with a shudder.
"Crap, sorry," Percy said sheepishly, taking a step forward.
Something like a tingle down Annabeth's spine made her whip her head up, her gaze scouring the crowd until she caught sight of what had caught her attention in her peripheral vision.
Silena Beauregard, pulling her hand back from her own arm, frowning down at the blood dripping from her fingers as her faces twisted in pain.
Annabeth's heart nearly stopped.
Silena looked up and met her gaze, both of them staring wide-eyed at each other.
"Stop!" Annabeth's voice rang out, wavering slightly.
She vaulted over the seats until she got to Silena. Beckendorf was already by her side, Percy at his heels.
"What the hell?" Beckendorf muttered, inspecting her wound. "Did you cut yourself?"
Silena swallowed. "No, I didn't."
Percy looked up at Annabeth, his eyes clouded. The words on his collarbone flashed again. When he realised she was looking, Percy blushed and pulled his shirt up to cover it.
Annabeth tore her gaze away from him, her eyes momentarily flickering down to her own wrist.
oh no
Specific, she thought to herself.
"Go to the infirmary," Annabeth told Silena and Beckendorf. "Percy and I'll go tell Chiron."
"Tell him what?" Percy asked as the couple hurried off together.
Annabeth bit her lip. "That we know why this happened."
She explained just as much to Chiron. The magic had bound soulmate pairs together. Thoughts from your soulmate inscribed themselves in temporary tattoos on your skin, but injuries and wounds also went both ways.
"They've done it so they can take us down more quickly," Percy realised. He scowled. "This has to be Luke."
Annabeth felt something cold ripple down her spine at the look on his face. Percy had good reason to dislike Luke, given that he'd made a very personal betrayal, but how much Percy actually hated him was...disturbing.
When Chiron dismissed them, Annabeth pulled Percy aside.
"What's up with you?" she whispered to him.
"What do you mean?" Percy's eyes drifted down to her wrist before snapping back up to her face. He eased his hand out of her grip, and it made Annabeth recoil like she'd been slapped.
"Whatever you have against Luke."
Percy gave her an incredulous look. "You're kidding, right? You can't possibly be defending him right now." He paused in the middle of the grass, whirling around to face her.
"I'm not defending him," she argued. "I'm saying that there's no point in getting angry. That's what Kronos wants."
"Don't turn this on me—"
"I'm not trying to!" she snapped. "Why are you attacking me?"
"Because you're comparing me to Luke," Percy hissed.
"I don't want you to be like him!" Annabeth cried.
A mixture of emotions crossed his face.
Annabeth saw the words on Percy's collarbone flash.
annoying
The words disappeared and reappeared faster than she could read.
can't believe how ridiculous
son of a
A hot bolt of jealousy struck her. Even when they were alone, Percy's soulmate was still with them.
She already had to share him with Calypso and Rachel, but now some random girl too? Annabeth gritted her teeth. "You know what? Forget it. I was trying to be a good friend, maybe check up on you. But I forgot what a massive jerk you were."
With that, she stalked off, furious and practically steaming at her so-called best friend.
When she was sure she was out of his sight, Annabeth looked down at her wrist.
what the hell—
decide—so difficult to read
i'll never understand
Despite all logic, Annabeth felt her anger somewhat quench at the thought of someone out there being destined for her. If she was starting to believe what Silena had been spouting for days...well, no one had to know.
Word spread quickly through camp. By the time Chiron made his official announcement at dinner, everyone already knew what Annabeth had discovered earlier in the day.
That they were twice as susceptible to attack as they had been before. Great for the middle of a war.
As the chatter resumed, Annabeth poked at her food. She was miserable without Percy. They always did this, always had fights. But eventually, one of them would crack; Annabeth would knock on his door and ask to spar or Percy would show up at her door with a book he apparently "wanted to read".
Thinking back, Annabeth recalled the resolution of their last two fights. Both times, Percy had asked her to accompany him up the lava climbing wall.
Damn it, she thought to herself as she got up from her bench, plate in hand, ignoring the looks of her siblings as she crossed with pavilion with purposeful strides and sat down next to Percy.
Percy's eyes widened with panic — which she found hilarious — and even Grover looked surreptitiously from side to side.
The tattoo on her wrist rewrote itself.
she's crazy—
she's actually crazy
Part of her brain grappled confusedly with the words. But Percy was giving her an expectant look, and she still hadn't said anything yet.
Annabeth sat there in silence for about three seconds before she said, "Mr D wants to assign the mission to another one of Luke's old bases to someone. I said I'd do it." She paused her lips. The question was the hardest to get out, but Annabeth swallowed her pride and managed, "Will you come with me?"
Fortunately, following a wait with bated breath, Percy nodded. Apology accepted. Inwardly, Annabeth felt a small spark of relief.
Grover leaned back in his seat. "Wow, I've never felt so unwanted."
Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Don't be dramatic. I know you've got plans with the Council tomorrow."
Knowing that Chiron was about to come over and tell her off, Annabeth cleared her throat and got up. "See you tomorrow."
Percy offered her a half-smile, which she returned, before she turned her back and walked back to her cabin.
<<< >>>
Their mission itself was off to an uneventful start. Argus dropped them off in the forest on Staten Island. Chris Rodriguez mentioned that one of Luke's old bases was situated there, and Chiron was hoping that it hadn't yet been completely cleared.
Percy uselessly kicked a rock by his foot as Argus drove off, all his eyes pointing forward, except for one at the back that winked at Annabeth for reasons unknown to her.
"What exactly are we looking for here?" Percy said.
Annabeth rolled her eyes, shoving the map into his hands. "Read it. I wrote notes." She strode forward, examining their surroundings.
The forest was large and this section was quiet and completely mortal-free. They were essentially in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but Argus' tire marks on the ground.
"Yeah," Percy dragged out the syllable. "But it would be so much easier if you just explained it to me."
Annabeth shot him a glare, but she was relieved that they had fallen back into their usual rhythm.
"Chris said this was one of their old bases. Housed their harpies and giants." At her words, Percy sneaked a nervous glance to either side of him.
"It's likely cleared out," she told him. "Relax."
"I'm pretty sure the last time you said that we got attacked by a hydra," he pointed out.
"Pessimist," she said airily. Her gaze roved over the forest floor. The leaves were spread out everywhere...almost too perfectly.
"Look for tracks," she instructed, kneeling down beside a tree despite how reluctant she was to get on her hands and knees as she started pushing leaves aside.
Behind her, Percy made a gagging sound at the thought of getting down in the mud, but he joined her, exploring the other side of the clearing.
"Wait," he called out mere moments later. "There's tracks here." Annabeth hurried over to his side as he continued, "Huge footprints." He looked up at her. "Guess you were right about the giants."
The angle he was at made his hair fall against his eyes — Percy was in dire need of a haircut — and brush against his eyelashes. They fluttered as he blinked, green flickering in and out of sight.
Annabeth's breath caught in her throat, and she felt her cheeks warm when she remembered that they were alone for miles out.
For a moment, Annabeth allowed herself to consider actually doing something about this ridiculous crush of hers. So they had soulmates...did it matter? It didn't change her feelings for Percy, did it? She didn't feel anymore connected to the stranger she was magically bound to than she was to her best friend of four years.
She risked another glance at Percy. She never let herself think about him; it was too painful, knowing how unlikely it was that he felt the same way she did. And that was before Luke, Rachel, a supernatural war, and new soulmate tattoos came into play.
Annabeth cleared her throat. "This way then." Delving forward so he wouldn't see her momentary lapse in judgement, Annabeth kicked aside the leaves as they progressed.
Percy traced out their path on the map with a pencil as they trekked through the seemingly never-ending greenery, making sure they weren't going in circles.
"You're doing it wrong," Annabeth complained as she saw him noting down the wrong coordinates. "We're here, not by that hill." She gestured to the hill on their right as they walked past it, promptly snatching the pencil and map out of his hands to correct his mistake.
"Then why did you give me the map?" Percy protested, struggling to keep up as she quickened her pace.
"Sorry if I thought you could do something competently," Annabeth said sarcastically, tracing out their actual path.
"Annabeth."
"My mistake," she continued. "Forgot that—"
"No, Annabeth, look."
She glanced up impatiently, only to see Percy screeching to a halt. Ahead of them, overgrown and clearly abandoned was a shoddy cabin made of wood.
"No way," Annabeth said, astonished. "Luke was dumb enough not to clean up after himself."
Percy sent her a sideway glance. "So you think Luke is dumb, huh?" He was grinning unabashedly in a way that made butterflies jitter in her stomach.
Annabeth elbowed him playfully. "Shut up, Seaweed Brain."
For once, the mention of the L-word hadn't led to a ridiculous argument. Their spirits lifted at the hope of finding something that would give them a leg up over Kronos and his forces.
She unsheathed her dagger and stuffed the map back into Percy's rucksack.
He glanced at her. "Planning to attack the moss?"
"Giants, remember?" Annabeth said sternly.
"We would've heard them by now. They aren't exactly the most nimble," Percy said. "They're basically the Stolls of mythological monsters."
"I'll tell Connor and Travis you said that."
"Please, don't. I want to see their faces when I tell them myself."
Annabeth prodded front door tentatively.
"Boom," Percy said.
She shot him a withering glare. "Why do you have to have the maturity of a five-year-old?"
"Comedic relief. Our quests would get so boring without me."
"Or maybe they'd be successful for once?"
"Hey, our quests are successful!" he protested.
"Yeah, it was real fun when the Sirens almost ate us," Annabeth snorted. "Or what about the time Antaeus almost killed you? Or—"
"Okay, you can stop now," Percy said loudly.
Annabeth gave him a triumphant grin before she pushed the door with more force. The lock practically crumbled to dust as it swung inwards.
The interior of the cabin was mostly dust and wood that hadn't been touched for months.
"Don't know what I was expecting," Annabeth mused.
Percy pulled a face. "Still creepy."
"Good. You're going first."
"No," Percy whined. "Why is it always me?"
"Because you're the Chosen One," she quipped.
He made a face at her. "Don't even."
Annabeth snickered as he stepped in first, holding Riptide out for illumination and for pre-emptive defence.
"So what do you think about this whole soulmates business?" Percy's voice echoed between the walls.
Annabeth grimaced. Why did he have to bring this up? At least he was facing forwards, unable to see her very telling reaction to the subject matter. "We don't have to make small talk."
"Not small talk," Percy said, but she couldn't place his tone. "I was just curious. You usually feel quite strongly about things like this."
Annabeth shrugged. "Don't really have any prevailing thoughts in this case."
A pause. "Any ideas who yours could be?"
The L-word hung between them. This time, it held much more weight.
"No," Annabeth lied through her teeth. She didn't want to face the possibility that her soulmate might be Luke.
Sneaking a glance at Percy, Annabeth caught him staring back at her. Both of them glanced away immediately.
"You?" she asked, trying to sound as off-handed as possible as she inspected a cabinet. Annabeth pulled open the doors, disappointedly looking at the empty interior.
Rachel.
"No," he said, equally as unconvincing as she had been.
Good to know that they were both bad liars.
Annabeth wondered if he was thinking of the same person as she was. His t-shirt was covering up his collarbone, and Annabeth couldn't find a discreet way to look at her own 'soulmark'.
"I'm gonna check the rest of the rooms here," Percy said, quickly changing the subject. "You take upstairs?"
Annabeth nodded. "See you in a bit." Eager for the escape route, Annabeth made her way to the stairs. Once she was out of sight, her shoulders sagged from their previous rigid posture.
Pressing a hand to her forehead, Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut until stars danced in her vision. How was it that despite Percy being one of the people she trusted most in this world, they could barely even be in the same room for over a minute?
For once, Annabeth just wanted things to be easy with them.
Then again, nothing had never been easy when it came to Percy.
Annabeth stepped from the landing into the first of the three doors. It creaked open and hit the wall with a shudder, releasing a suspension of dust. She swatted the dirt away as she peered inside; nothing but a rickety bed and a table covered in cobwebs.
She backtracked and checked the other rooms — nothing. Honestly, she hadn't been expecting much. Luke was smart, he wasn't going to leave anything behind.
A loud crash from downstairs nabbed her attention and Annabeth's head snapped up, her dagger poised at the ready.
"Percy!" she yelled, feet flying as she raced down the stairs.
Annabeth's jaw dropped when she saw the giant towering over Percy, standing at nearly ten feet tall with broad shoulders and fists the size of boulders. The giant beat Riptide away like it was a toothpick, roaring as he backed Percy up against a wall.
"I could really use some help!" Percy yelped.
Annabeth was jarred back to reality. "Duck and roll!" she urged.
Percy obliged, tumbling out from between the giant's legs just as the monster's fist rammed a hole in the wall where Percy's head had been.
Annabeth made a beeline for Percy, but a deafening crash tore at her eardrums as the front door to the house splintered into a million pieces. Another giant, the spitting image of Percy's opponent, stood in the doorway, casting an ominous shadow on the wooden floor.
"Where are they coming from?" Annabeth shouted, recovering quickly as she staggered backwards, momentarily off-balance. Her hand flew out to grab Percy by the arm and yank him towards her body, both of them stumbling into what she assumed was the kitchen.
"First one was hiding out in the living room," Percy panted. "The second one must've been waiting outside." He glanced at her. "Not to state the obvious, but I'm pretty sure this was supposed to be an ambush."
"Well, you're not wrong." Annabeth gripped her dagger. "We can't take both of them at once. We have to separate them and then attack each one together."
"What, so I lure one out while you lock the other one in?"
Annabeth paused. "I—yeah, actually."
Percy nudged her. "See? I do more than comedy."
Annabeth rolled her eyes, but before she could retort, one of the giants lumbered into the room, bashing through the wooden archway above his head.
They rushed forward in unison. Percy slid past the giant, narrowly avoiding being grabbed up. Annabeth slashed across the giant's kneecap, keeping his attention on her.
It worked. The giant snarled at her, and Annabeth could hear the other monster being led out of the house.
But she had this giant in front of her right now, and Percy waiting on her outside. The giant took a step forward, and the ground's shaking became equivalent to the epicentre of an earthquake.
Annabeth wobbled but didn't fall, stabbing the giant in the thigh. "No!" the giant roared, hands going towards her.
With both hands on the hilt, Annabeth twisted her dagger further into the giant's flesh, gooey, dark, black blood running down his skin like a scene out of her worst nightmares.
Annabeth bounded out through the other exit, racing towards the front door before slamming it shut behind her.
Panting, Annabeth scanned the clearing around the house — the door wasn't going to hold that giant for a second.
She spotted Percy defending himself with slashes and parries just a few yards away from her. Annabeth cursed herself for not carrying another weapon, but she couldn't get her dagger back until they fought off the second giant.
Annabeth took off in a sprint toward Percy, scooping up a fallen branch, about as thick as her wrist. "Hey!" she yelled as she approached the fight. The giant whirled around to face her, baring his ugly set of teeth.
She screeched to a halt, fixing her palms on either end of the branch before snapping the wood cleanly in half over her knee, leaving her with a stake in each hand.
Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth saw words flash on her wrist.
wow
that was—
hot.
Annabeth suppressed the urge to laugh at her soulmate. They're timing could not be worse right now. Some part of her imagined a mortal boy staring dreamily at some girl on the streets. She hoped whoever it was was enjoying some normalcy.
"Percy!" Annabeth snapped, seeing him stationary behind the giant. Were his...eyes glazed over? What was he doing? "Percy! Now is not the time for your minimal attention span!"
Percy blinked. "Sorry!" he almost squeaked.
Annabeth gave him a weird look, but quickly focused her attention back on the monster about to charge her. She ducked the first swinging fist and, with all her might, jammed her right stake into the giant's calf.
It earned her a furious roar, but Annabeth was already bounding out of the way, Percy leaping in behind her for another attack. As the giant turned to face Percy, Annabeth linked a hand through the strap of his tunic, pulling herself up.
It's just like rock-climbing, she told herself dizzily, desperately trying not to get thrown off as Percy slashed at the giant's arms. Before she could hesitate or brace herself in the goriness of the upcoming scene, Annabeth staked the giant right through the side of his throat, shutting herself and pulling away as a spray of blood spattered her t-shirt.
Almost immediately, the giant exploded into bronze dust, and Annabeth was free-falling through the air. She landed on her left foot, hissing as a bolt of pain coursed through her ankle.
Percy's hands grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her. "You okay?" he asked, eyeing her ankle worriedly. "It's not broken, is it?"
Annabeth tested her weight on her left foot gingerly. Her ankle throbbed but she could walk, which was all that mattered at the moment.
The second giant was already hurtling out of the cottage and towards them, hungry for vengeance.
"No time," she rushed, pointing to the approaching monster.
Percy's head whipped around to stare at the monster. "You wait here," he said breathlessly before taking off in a sprint towards the monster.
Annabeth braced herself against a tree, scowling at his retreating figure. Had he learnt nothing about her after five years?
Sunlight glinted off her dagger, still buried nearly hilt-deep in the giant's thigh, evidently slowing him down and giving Percy a slight advantage.
Annabeth shook her foot out, biting down on her lip and forcing herself to ignore the pain. She had scaled the rock-climbing wall with burn blisters before. "This is nothing," she muttered as a reminder.
Annabeth started forward. Percy caught sight of her, and exasperation flickered across his face — a swapping of roles for them — but he didn't seem fazed by her decision not to listen to him — as her decision always was.
With the giant's back was to Annabeth, she took the opportunity to get her hands around the handle of her knife—
And wham!
Annabeth went flying backwards, the giant having backhanded her entire body hard enough that her brain slammed into her skull and gave her what was going to be a nasty concussion.
She hit the ground, spraying up dirt in every direction, her dagger falling out of her hand as she tumbled to a stop like a rag doll.
"Annabeth!" came Percy's distant yell.
"I'm fine," she groaned, getting onto her knees and picking up her knife with two fingers. Her head was pounding now but she couldn't exactly leave Percy to fend for himself.
Annabeth forced her head up, her vision blurring in and out of focus. But she could just make out Percy staring, alarmed, at her, starting forward as if to rush to her aid.
Except he'd forgotten about the giant, who took the opportunity of Percy's distraction to grab Riptide by the blade, the monster's hands slippery with dark blood, and rip it out of the demigod's hands.
"No!" Annabeth growled as Percy stood before the now armed giant empty-handed. His attention had left her and gone to the monster, his face pale with the realisation that he was so, so screwed.
She saw his mouth form the shape of a string of curses that would've made Sally frown.
Before she even knew what she was doing, Annabeth was on her feet, her dagger in hand as she sprinted forward, feet propelling her forward in a half-stagger half-run towards Percy.
Just a few more steps...
The giant raised Riptide at the same time Annabeth drew her arm back and flung her knife with all her might, praying to every single Olympian that all her practice with throwing stars weren't about to go to waste.
The knife hurtled through the air, whistling as it spun on an axis, an unchangeable trajectory tracing out a path straight for the back of the monster's head.
Except.
One second too late.
The giant thrust with Riptide and the celestial bronze blade ripped clean through Percy's abdomen with a horrifying squelch.
Annabeth's knife slammed into the back of the giant's skull, disintegrating the monster into a rainstorm of dust.
"No!" the raw scream tore from Annabeth's lips.
Percy teetered on the spot. His chin dropped and his eyes grew unfocused, as if he couldn't believe the sight of his own sword sticking grotesquely out of his gut, a red stain spreading rapidly through the orange of his shirt.
He wavered in the air, meeting her eyes from across the clearing. His face twisted into an expression of pain. "Annabeth?" the word fell like a whisper from his lips before Percy crumpled to his knees, keeling over on the ground.
Annabeth collapsed to the ground in front of him. Too many words were about to escape her, and her mind was spinning like a tornado, because — this wasn't happening. This wasn't—this was Percy.
Percy didn't die. Percy couldn't die. He was Percy.
But before she could voice anything, even the softest of croaks, a searing pain spread through her stomach.
Annabeth cried out, hands instinctively going to her stomach. It felt like it was on fire. Skin splitting, blood spilling, a knife in her gut—
What?
A wound was opening up under her fingers, her skin ripping inexplicably and tearing a hole right through her. She could feel it, and a tortured cry escaped her.
"What the hell?" Percy's voice trembled, as he stared at the spreading bloodstain on her own shirt, matching his own like a long-lost twin.
The sky spun and Annabeth fell over, hands grasping at Percy's shoulders as they curled into each other. His hand found hers, and Annabeth gripped it tightly, struggling to bring her own wrist up into her eyeline.
get up, Annabeth
don't do this to me
The tattoo flickered and this time Annabeth wanted to scream for an entirely different reason.
i would give up everything i have
for this to not be true
"I wasn't stabbed," Annabeth murmured, her vision darkened. Shadows closed in on her. "I wasn't..." She tilted her head up weakly, and Percy was gazing down at her with enough regret to sink the Titanic.
"Please, don't," Percy whispered. "Don't be hurt. Don't be hurt because—"
Annabeth gripped his hand as Percy's eyelids fluttered, and he went slack in her arms, head hitting the ground with a thud of finality.
She was too weak to fight anymore. She couldn't...
Annabeth hit the ground, head lolled to the side as she fought to keep her eyes open, Percy staring back at her.
The grass was red. His blood stained her fingernails and mixed with her own. They lay there in the middle of the clearing, bleeding out, surrounded by a silent forest.
Percy didn't let go of her hand.
"Fuck," Percy murmured.
Annabeth released a half-sob. "Right."
Percy's grip weakened and his eyes went glassy, and Annabeth couldn't stop the tear that rolled down her cheek.
This couldn't be it. It wasn't supposed to end like this. They weren't supposed to—
His fingers were still curled around hers. The sky went dark and Annabeth closed her eyes, falling asleep for what she knew was going to be the last time.