Work Text:
Percy's pov:
Annabeth and I have finally returned to the surface now that she stopped sobbing uncontrollably. She said she was fine now, but I know that's far from true. We might be in a huge ship, but she's not far, and I can still hear her quiet, muffled cries. I wanted to give her some space and try to talk about it tomorrow, but I can't. Not when she's miserable like that. I'm just sick and tired of fighting with her in the first place. Why can't things just go back to the way they were during our first summer? Why didn't she respond to my letter? What is she hiding from me? And, most importantly... How am I supposed to tell her that I saw what she saw, when I touched her to help her snap out of the siren's song? I sigh. I guess there is only one way to find out.
I look over at her, and she's still wrapped up in the blanket that I gave her. She looks so small like that. More like her age. For the first time ever, or maybe the second, I don't just see the insanely smart girl with answers for everything. I see someone my age. Much stronger, and fiercer than I could possibly be, but still a kid.
"Annabeth." I call out, softer than I've ever heard myself speaking before. I walk towards her slowly, and my hand hovers hesitantly over her shoulder. Somehow, I know she heard me call her. Yet, she's still staring at the emptiness in front of her, lost in thought, her eyebrows scrunched up. I feel like someone is physically clenching my heart inside of their fist. Despite that, I force myself to carry on. Even if she can't talk to me, I need to tell her the truth. "When, I- when I grabbed your ankle to try to catch up to you and break the spell I... saw everything." I admit, and I can't help that my voice trails off.
She abruptly turns her neck to look at me. Like, look at me, in the eye, for the first time ever since... the sirens. "Everything?" She asks with wide eyes, the scariest I've ever seen her. She looks embarassed, even. I feel my gaze soften almost instantly, but I fear that might've made things worse. Because, knowing Annabeth, she's probably forcing herself to believe that I pity her, which I don't. I just wish I could make things better. I just wish she would talk to me.
I nod, and she flinches, and turns back around, hugging her legs against her chest. I slowly make my way to the other side of the boat in order to be face to face with her. Then, I squat down in front of her, so she can still see me while as she stares at the ground. "Annabeth," I insist. "We need to talk." She turns her head to look at the starts in the sky, instead of me. But I'm not giving up. "Please." I plead, reaching out to place my hand on hers, to desperately try to get her attention.
For a second, it seems like she's not breathing. When she finally looks towards me, I see it. The wave of emotions overflowing in her eyes, begging to come out, all at once. The desperation, the vulnerability that she never allows anyone to see. I swallow hard, trying to find the right words. "What you saw out there..." I start tentatively, waiting for her to fill the agonizing silence.
"The sirens," She begins, her voice hoarse from crying. "They show you your biggest wish. The thing that you want the most." She explains shrugging, and inhaling a shaky breath.
I stay silent for a while, staring at her, trying my best to process everything, and put the pieces together. That makes sense. She saw two adults that seemed to be her father and her mother, and Luke. They were hanging out at a picnic in Central Park, almost as if they were all mortals. Annabeth, Athena, Frederick, and Luke were surronded by buildings with a modern arquitectural design mixed up with elements inspired by Ancient Greece, and Ancient Rome, presumably designed by Annabeth herself. They looked beautiful. And everyone looked happy. Then, I appeared there too. Briefly, but I was still there. I press my lips together as I come to a realization. If the sirens show people's biggest wish, and I was there too... It means that I'm as important to Annabeth as she is too me. And that she doesn't want to stop being friends. Maybe, things didn't change as much as they did. Or, maybe they did change, but not for the worse scenario that I had in mind. Sure, Luke betrayed us, and that was bad. Like, life-altering bad, but... Annabeth still wants to be friends with me. That's got to be a good thing, right? Then why is she hiding things from me? And why did she want to taking my chariot out, or stop me from coming on this quest?
"Percy." She whispers. For how long have I spaced out?
"These things... Do we see them only because it's what we want, or...?" I question, not even sure of what I'm trying to imply. Either way, I want to continue the conversation, so she won't budge or run away from me any time soon.
"That too. But we also see them- I saw those things because... deep down, I believe that I could accomplish that future." She explains, fidgeting with her fingers. "Rationally, it might sound a little stupid, but... the truth is, the sirens also show us our fatal flaw." She meets my eyes again, and I realize that she's holding back tears. I silently ask with my eyes, which she catches almost immediately. "Hubris." She says.
"Like, that gross thing people put on food?" I reply, genuinely confused.
She rolls her eyes at me. "That's hummus, Seaweed Brain. Hubris is excessive pride - it makes you think you can do anything better than anyone. Even the gods." she confesses quietly, almost as if she feared that Zeus might strike us down himself. We stay silent for a while, just to be sure. Nothing happens. Apparently the God of the Sky isn't feeling up to kill us just yet, which I'm secretly grateful for.
"It wasn't stupid," I say, breaking the silence. "What you saw... the wish, I mean. It wasn't stupid. I'm just surprised that I was in it." I admit with a shrug. "I mean, after everything that happened before we left camp. And, the fact that you didn't respond to my letter all year, or didn't even attempt to Iris Message me, even though you had at least two drachmas with you-"
"I'm sorry, okay?! Can you just not throw it all at my face right now?" She snaps, standing up abruptly, and walking away, leaving me kneeling on the ground of the ship.
"Annabeth, wait! I'm not mad, or anything. And I'm certainly not trying to throw things at your face, believe me! I'm just... I wish you just talked to me, and told me what's going on."
She turns around to face me. "I..." a flicker of hesitation lingers in her eyes. I hold my breath in antecipation. Her expression closes off again, practical and collected. "...can't."
I exhale and my shoulders fall in defeat. Then, slowly, I nod. "I just want you to know that... I'll be here when you're ready."
With my hands on my knees, I push myself up to stand on my feet. And, as I begin to walk in the opposite direction to hers... "Percy." Annabeth calls out. I freeze. When I finally look back over my shoulder, I notice that she's crying again. My heart skips a beat. "Wait... please." She pleads under her breath, almost inaudibly.
This is bad. Annabeth never says please. This must be why she told me that things would get scarier if she talked about them. Now, she's sitting on the floor with her back against a wooden box. Quickly, I make my way towards her, and sitting down with my back leaning against the box opposite to hers. We're face to face now, but none of us dared to break the silence yet.
Annabeth takes a deep breath. "Remember the Prophecy that Luke told you about when you got to camp?" she asks.
I find myself biting down my tongue to resist the urge to scoff at the mention of Luke. Then, I force myself to relive one of the first conversations that we had, before I got claimed, and the taste of betrayal comes back and tastes bitter in my mouth. "The one that said that, one day, a kid would come, and take you on your first quest? And that kid was 'the one' that you were constantly looking for?"
"Yes." She confirms, nodding. But gaze seems to be somewhere else, very far from here. "That kid- you," she swallows hard, finally meeting my eyes. "The Great Prophecy says that... you'll die."
"Yeah, well-" I start, but she cuts me off.
"Not to some extent, Percy. Soon." She clarifies, her lip quivering and her eyes watering.
"Oh." I reply bluntly. I almost let the "okay" slip out of my mouth, but I hold it back at the last second. This isn't the time to be selfish, or to cover everything up with dark humor. Annabeth needs reassurance. I need to stay. For her, for my mom, for Grover, and for... Tyson. My little brother with whom I barely had time to spend.
She sigh in a mix of frustration and resignation. "I've been mourning your death for years before I met you, Percy! I was ready. I was ready to go on that quest without getting attached to you, but still keep you alive. I promised myself that I would not get close to you, that I would remain closed up behind the walls that I spent so long building." She stops for a second, trying to hold back a heart-wrenching sob, and catch her breath. "Then, we became friends, and everything seemed to be alright. I nearly forgot about the Prophecy, to be honest. I let my guard down. I should've never done that. Maybe if I kept my distance I would've noticed that Luke..." her voice trails off.
"No." I reply certainly. "That wasn't your fault, Annabeth." She shakes her head. "It wasn't." I insist.
"I've known Luke since I was seven. From the moment he came back from his first quest, unsuccessful, I knew that his behavior was different. He had all this hate towards the gods, all the signs were there. If only I had noticed, if only I payed more attention-" She rambled, clearly stuck in a self-hatred thought spiral.
"Annabeth." I call, attempting to catch her attention.
"I just don't want you to die. There must be something I can do. Anything, I-" She abruptly stops talking and starts sobbing once again. But this time it's worse. Almost as if we were underwater again. Then, she tries desperately to take a deep breath, which only leads to her hiccuping, shaking and coughing. My instantly reach out to her, placing my hands on her shoulders. When she looks at me, my chest physically hurts. "Percy... You're the only one I have left." She says so quietly, so fragily, that I suddenly feel the urge to cry with her. But I can't. I have to be strong, I have to reassure her.
Everything makes sense now. Annabeth has been suffering so much with the loss of Thalia, then Luke, now Grover. She told me the reason why she feared Tyson, and I admired her even more. If I was in her place I wouldn't even be able to be in the same place as a Cyclops ever again. But she knows that Tyson's different, and so do I. The thing is, her relationship with her dad clearly didn't get good enough for her to feel like she could stay, and I fear that must've been because of her stepmother in some way. Just the thought of Annabeth being mistreated makes my blood boil. Athena hasn't exactly been the best mother either, considering that she was clearly ready to leave Annabeth to die last year. You're the only one I have left. Those words are repeatedly ringing in my ears, almost making me get lost in a spiral of thoughts. They hurt. Those words hurt more than anything else in the whole wide world. They make me nauseous. I just wish I could take away her pain.
"Everyone in my life leaves at some point." She states matter-of-factly, nodding to herself. "It's just a matter of time until you do too, which is why I had to push you away." She explains, staring at the distance. "I had to stop you from coming on this quest, I wanted you to stay at camp because I convinced myself that, there, you would be safe. That you couldn't... get killed." She struggles to catch her breath again. "You can't die. You can't die because, then, I'll be alone. And I know that being alone in this world is probably my Fate, but I just... I can't seem to let you go. I... I care about you, Percy. More than I care about myself, and that is genuinely terrifying. Because I'm fully aware that I'd be willing to die, any moment now, so that you'd live."
"I'd be willing to die to save you too, Annabeth." I reply quietly, but certainly.
"I know," She says. "And that's what frustrates me the most. You nearly got yourself killed twice in a day to save me, even if you knew me for less than a week. You made me believe that... that maybe I belonged somewhere, and that I could actually be a kid. Meeting you last year- It was like being trapped in a stupid, childish fairytale where everyone gets their happy ending! I mean, sure, it also felt like a horror movie, but it was still nice. Then, by the end of the summer I returned to real life, and I realized that, no matter how hard I try, I will forever be an outcast who doesn't belong in my own family." She continues, fidgeting with her fingers on her lap.
My fingers trail down her arms, and I take her hands in mine. "Annabeth, listen. No offense to your dad, or his wife, or their kids. But, sometimes, family is not just about blood. And I know you know that, so I'm not even going to attempt to make any promises, but... if it's any consolation, you can consider me your family. And Grover, and Thalia too, of course. Whoever you want actually. I don't know about others, but I'll be here for you as long as I can. You don't even need to ask, honestly, since I don't plan on leaving like, ever."
"But, Percy-" Annabeth interrupts.
"The Great Prophecy, I know," I cut her off as I stand up. "Listen, Annabeth. I know that this prophecy sounds way more serious, scary, and inevitable than the others, but last year, against all odds, we managed to retrieve the Bolt, alright? I know it's not exactly the same thing, but our chances were also slim to none, so the two situations could be comparable- My point is... The Great Prophecy might be dangerous, and it might happen sooner than we imagine, but that doesn't mean we can't try to change it. You said that thinking about the lines of a prophecy too much can drive you insane, right? So, let's not think about it, and enjoy the time we have left to try and make up a survival plan. The first step being to retrieve the Golden Fleece. We can do this, I know we can." I tell her with newfound confidence.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try." She replies with a small smile. I consider that a victory already because, even if the smile was small, it was there. And she's not actively crying anymore, which is good too.
I sigh, relieved. Then, I hold out my hand to help her up, like she did with me a couple of times. "Come on, Wise Girl. Let's go do the impossible."