Divergent Path

Twice As Many Funerals

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading my story, and I deeply appreciate every one of the comments I get on my chapters. Wanted to add a quick note to shout out for TrambakAcharyya for catching some the foreshadowing to Percy's sacrifice. I tried my best to not confirm it in my reply to your comment, but you got it haha. Hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 18: Twice As Many Funerals

Camp Half-Blood's reconstruction had been slow work. Even after a decisive victory over Darkness itself, joyless and dreary were the only words to describe the heavy atmosphere. The Big House stood as a shoddy structure, a fraction of the original size, populated only by a lone, despondent centaur. Many of the gods' cabins stalled under construction, having barely any work done after being destroyed by the battles.

This led to double bunking in the rest of the cabins. The Apollo cabin, rebuilt first, had also repurposed the medical tents into temporary living spaces. In one of the rooms, cordoned off by hanging sheets, Nico and Will stifled sobs as they held each other. It had been just over a week since Percy's death, and the couple could be found like this at least once a day. Will was saddened by the loss of his friend, but Nico was beyond devastated. The only person besides his sister to have accepted him from the beginning was gone. The son of Hades hadn't even tried to visit Percy in the Underworld yet; he wasn't ready to face him.

"Why did it always have to be him?" Nico whispered into Will's shoulder, a question he repeated every day.

"The Fates knew he was the only one that could," Will answered, rubbing Nico's back as he cried.

Percy's oldest friends at camp weren't in much better shape. Katie Gardener led the charge in trying to lift the campers' spirits. But any mention of Percy was always followed by a quivering voice and glassy eyes. The Stoll brothers' demeanor could not have been more different. They wore permanent stone expressions, had become disinterested in even their harmless day-to-day pranks, and spent most of their time in bed. Clarisse followed right behind Katie in trying to raise camp morale, but more aggressively. For most of the day she was vocal and angry, yelling at the campers for being lazy and spending their days unproductively. It was normally Clarisse that unwittingly made Katie cry, shouting that Percy would be embarrassed at how useless they were all being. When she wasn't yelling, she threw herself into work and was the one that had single-handedly set up many of the cabin frames. But her boyfriend, Chris Rodriguez, would find her crying quietly at night when nobody else was around.

Outside of fleeting glimpses at the dining hall and emotionless "mhm"s through a closed door, nobody had seen or heard from Annabeth. She had locked herself in her separate room in the rebuilt Athena cabin, only leaving to pick up her food before returning to eat alone. Annabeth sat at her desk, shaking as she slowly shuffled through pictures of her and Percy together. She smiled softly, holding a picture of them on the Argo 2. She was kissing his cheek and he was making bunny ears behind her head, which she had always hated. She flipped to the next picture. Percy was arm wrestling Jason right next to Annabeth arm wrestling Piper, all four of their faces strained. The next was Percy and Annabeth jumping and celebrating their dual victory. Annabeth dropped the stack of photos after the next one; a smiling Percy next to an unprepared Annabeth because he had whispered he loved her right before snapping the picture. She sullenly walked back to her bed and buried her face in her permanently tear-stained pillow.

The news had hit New Rome badly as well. Frank and Hazel, after having witnessed it, weren't in a state to deliver the news themselves to the waiting legion after their return from the battle. Reyna, shaken herself, had to solemnly announce that Percy Jackson was dead. All of the gathered soldiers had locked their shields and raised them overhead, thrusting them in the air and chanting "Vivat Praetor" until they were hoarse. Reyna, Hazel, and Frank all stood saluting through tears as the 12th Legion continued their 'long live' chant, pledging permanent remembrance of their former Praetor.