Percabeth One Shots (Collection 1) {Complete}

#28

In Tartarus. Saddish... Well, it is sad at first but then it's happier.

Percy took ragged breaths, his lungs burning from the rancid air of Tartarus. Everything hurt, really. His legs were sore from traveling, he had a sword wound in his gut, and even moving his eyes was exhausting as he scoured in the dark for Annabeth.

She wasn't that far away, laying on her side with her face towards him. She wasn't any better off than he was, her ankle had been broken again, she had several cuts down her face, and she too had a wound on her stomach. Percy doubted they'd live much longer, he didn't think they'd make it out of Tartarus anyway, but it still hurt him to see Annabeth in pain.

He dragged himself a few inches towards her, his shirt become even warmer as his blood soaked into it, but he didn't care. He was going to die anyway. Annabeth looked towards him when he finally collapsed just a foot or so away from her, and pulled herself to his side. Her ankle burned, but she ignored it.

The monsters that had left them like this were gone, probably thinking that their prey was dead, but more would come. For once, Annabeth was praying to every deity that they'd die quickly, and not succumb to being eaten whole by a monster.

Tears were rolling down Percy's face now, turning red as they picked up traces of his blood. The salt got in his wounds and stung, but that was the least of the pain he was going through.

"I'm sorry..." Annabeth said quietly, taking one of her last deep breaths before coughing. Percy didn't think he could respond, but managed to croak out: "Why?"

"It's my fault. If you had just let me go-"

"You know I could never do that..." Percy was forcing his eyes open, the feeling of exhaustion overtaking him. Annabeth stayed silent, looking at him with grief in her grey eyes. He knew she thought that if he hadn't fallen into Tartarus with her, he'd be alive right now. But she'd be dead, since she couldn't have survived the fall, and Percy knew he wouldn't be able to handle that.

They didn't speak any longer, maybe for the fear that a monster would come and gobble them up immediately, or maybe because their voices had simply stopped working. But eventually, Percy could feel it was a matter of seconds. Annabeth was already on the verge of dying, and she had more wounds than he did. With his remaining strength, Percy wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to him, kissing her forehead as the numbness overtook his body. Annabeth went limp first, her last breath rattling out of her chest, and Percy followed soon after.

***

Percy had imagined how it felt to die, but never did he see it like this. He'd thought about it several times before, but always seen it as being full of pain and misery as he left the mortal world. But no, not this time. This time, he knew Annabeth would be waiting for him, and a sense of finality secured itself in his chest. Finally, he was through with helping the gods on their little quests, he could be with Annabeth forever.

He knew it was selfish, but he was glad that he'd died. Even if it meant that the rest of the seven would have to journey alone. To be honest, he was just tired. Tired of the wars he'd been through, tired of how many times he'd almost died, and above all; tired of every single second of his life, things trying to rip Annabeth away from him.

He got a 'Skip the Line' pass to the judges, which he associated with his saving Olympus many times. The judges barely glanced over his past before ruling him worthy of Elysium or Rebirth, something he was glad of. One of them mentioned something like: "Matter of minutes apart, those two. They're the special ones Lord Hades told us about." Which reassured him. It must have meant Annabeth had already been judged, and he had no doubt that she was in Elysium right now. She could have chosen Rebirth, he was sure, but he doubted she would have. He turned down the offer straight away.