Let Her Go (PJO Oneshot)

(WARNING: Mark of Athena spoilers ahead.)

“Percy!”

Annabeth shouted, her voice infused with pure shock and terror.   

A grumbling, incoherent laughter filled the chasm, ethereal and imminent, growing in volume and threatening to steal their sanity.

He’d turned around in an instant.

It was just like the muskeg, only this time it was Annabeth drowning… and somehow that made it a thousand times more painful.

The ground had turned to sheer liquid beneath her feet, just as Percy had turned to grab her backpack, which they had left behind. He’d immediately tried to go back and save her, running straight into the molten earth, but it solidified around his feet and disallowed him from moving. He reached out; able to grab her around the waist, but it was no use. On instinct, Percy pulled Annabeth up under her arms with all of the strength he could muster, but when she suddenly let out a horrible shriek of pain he knew he had made a mistake. She collapsed against him, sobs overtaking her body as she sunk deeper into the earth, almost up to her calves now in mud.

“Broken… again,” she managed through her tears. Percy understood immediately and scolded himself, swearing under his breath. How could he have been so stupid? His hands stiffened around her protectively as she tried to pull herself together, to no avail.

“I’m going to get you out, okay?” he tried to reassure her, or really himself, but they were both aware that wasn’t going to happen. Their only supplies were back 200 feet away, and the only object of any use they had at their immediate availability was Percy’s sword, Riptide… and that wasn’t going to help much. Percy took Annabeth’s hand in his, the tears he’d been trying so hard to restrain for her slowly spilling down his cheeks.

“Don’t let me go,” Annabeth pleaded, her hand gripping his in a vise. She remembered that moment when they were falling into Tartarus, when she urged him to do the exact opposite. This time was different. Then, there was some flicker of hope that if they were together, that they might be okay, that they would get out of the hellhole and back to the others.

It seemed like they’d been wrong about that, now. This time, there was nothing to hope for, besides maybe a miracle.

Annabeth knew that she was being selfish, and that Percy would have to let go, and that it would kill him to have to do that, and that she was probably going to die at some point in the next few hours and so was Percy, and that their deaths were only going to help Gaea…

“I will never let you go, Annabeth Chase,” Percy replied grimly, a dark humor lacing his tone. “Haven’t you learned that by now?”

He threaded his fingers through hers carefully, and the two just looked at each other, conveying everything that couldn’t be spoken in just one look.

The sound of Gaea’s laughter penetrated the air, a deep rumbling all around them.

“It’s time, daughter of Athena,” she spoke, her voice distorted, horrifyingly deep and harrowing and inescapable.

“You have delivered yourself to me, with the help of poor Arachne and that lovely boyfriend of yours, Percy. How convenient, to have the two of you right here within me! Now my plan is right back on track, so long as…”  The goddess paused. Anger and frustration welled up within the two of them. The ground had ceased pulling on Annabeth for the moment and Percy tried to haul her up again, more carefully this time, but failed.

Annabeth met his eyes once more, trying not to allow him to see her horror in its entirety, which she failed miserably at. He reached up with his free hand, futilely brushing away the tears that stained her cheeks with his thumb.

Gaea’s condescending laughter welled up again, louder this time, and they both cringed. “Anyway, let’s get along with this, shall we?” She proposed, pausing again, and it was almost as if she was mocking them, drawing this out as long as possible for her entertainment. All at once the ground was pulling on Annabeth again, stronger this time. Annabeth’s eyes widened, filled with panic, as if she were just realizing what was about to happen. Up to her thighs in mud now, she had to tilt her head up to see Percy. Noticing this, he hastily knelt down in front of her, not caring that his knees also became stuck in the mud.

Annabeth suppressed her terror with trouble, and spoke to Percy with measured words. Her eyes bore into his, trying to put as much meaning into what she was about to say as possible.

“Percy… if you get out of here, make sure you defeat her. Save the world, Seaweed Brain, because we both know that you’re capable of doing it. Try to move on without me, please, because I couldn’t stand it if-” Annabeth struggled, the tears pouring down her cheeks, partly because she honestly couldn’t stand the idea of Percy being with anyone else and partly because she knew that he would never be able to- she definitely wouldn’t be- and partly because she knew that he wasn’t going to make it out and that he was going to die and so was she unless some sort of miracle happened in the next few moments.

“I love you,” she stated plainly, her voice lilting a little in her emotion. In that moment, the proclamation didn’t seem a good enough conveyance of her feelings. She searched his eyes, and it killed her because they were so mirrored with the pain and desperation that must have been shown in her own.

But then he was kissing her, and nothing else mattered for that brief second or two because even though they were about to die, they loved each other and they were together after being separated for so long and something deep within them knew that this wasn’t the end, not completely.

At least, it was okay until they needed to pull apart because Annabeth needed to breathe, and suddenly their situation was horrifyingly clear once again. She was buried up to her waist, now, and she struggled to take in a full breath. One arm was fully submerged in the mud, but she held the other up, her hand still clasped tightly in Percy’s.

“Come to me, daughter of Athena,” Gaea chanted, a sickening anticipation wrought in her voice. Her laughter grew to an uncontrollable volume, nearly deafening, and Percy’s hand tightened around Annabeth’s.

“You can’t leave me!” he shouted in a fleeting moment of desperation, and Annabeth let out a sob. Percy tried to pull on her arm, but he knew it was pointless.

Buried up to her shoulders and struggling to breathe, Annabeth knew that she didn’t have much time. 

“I’ll see you, Percy,” she managed, the ground pressing on her chest, so softly that Percy could barely make it out.

“I love you,” he whispered hopelessly, aware that she probably hadn’t heard him. The ground pulled her under completely, and the laughter died, fading to a low murmur. All that was left of Annabeth was her hand in his.

It slackened, no longer gripping his as it had before, and Percy stared at it for a moment in disbelief. With the knowledge that she was gone, and that he wasn’t going to get her back, he released it, it too descending into the mud with a sickening gurgle.

And Percy let her go.

__________________________________________________________

“Percy!” 

Annabeth shouted, her voice infused with pure concern and horror.

Tartarus was eerily silent as usual, save for whatever noises they or the occasional half-formed monster emitted and the air carried a brisk chill that never faltered. 

His eyes flipped open in an instant.

Annabeth hovered over him, her hands braced on his shoulders, and his body tensed.

“Annabeth?” he asked uncertainly, confused. 

“I’m here,” she replied softly, her brow creasing with worry. “Are you okay? You started yelling things in your sleep, and I couldn’t wake you up-”

She stopped speaking abruptly when Percy reached his hand up, grazing her cheek with his fingertips. He almost seemed surprised as he touched her skin, as if he thought she was going to disappear or something. Annabeth blushed slightly as she removed her hands from his shoulders, grabbing Percy’s hand that hovered near her face and taking it in hers. 

It took a minute or two, but Percy sat up, leaning against the stone wall. As much as she was tempted to, Annabeth didn’t pry, because she knew that he would talk when he wanted to. Instead, she gave him a few minutes to think. They sat there next to each other, Percy’s hand in Annabeth’s.

“S-she took you away from me,” he whispered eventually, after what seemed like an eternity. “She took you into the ground, and it turned into mud and you were sinking, and I couldn’t get you out and I had to let her take you and I had to let you go and-” Percy’s voice rose as he spoke, fighting back hysteria. Annabeth watched him measuredly, trying not to betray her own emotions so as not to upset him further.

“I had to let you die,” he spoke affirmedly, louder this time. His voice broke mid-sentence, and it was only a matter of seconds before he couldn’t take it anymore and he went into hysterics. Sobs wracked his frame, and Annabeth’s stomach twisted. It was rare to see him in such a damaged state… in fact; she didn’t think she had ever seen him like this. He always had such a great control over his emotions, and he rarely, if ever, let someone see him cry. It frightened Annabeth, to see him this way, and she ached for him because she couldn’t do anything about it but try and comfort him in some way. A few tears of her own escaped her eyes, but she managed them. Tentatively, she wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him to her carefully and keeping hold of his hand. 

“I’m here,” she whispered into his ear as he leaned against her, tears streaming endlessly down his face as he trembled. “I won’t leave your side, and I’m not going to let her take me,” she continued, though her voice wavered because she truly didn’t know what was going to happen in the next few days. It was certainly a possibility, being that they were literally trapped inside of Gaea that something would happen to her or the both of them. Her free hand traced Percy’s shoulder gently, making nonsense patterns with her fingers on his skin. Eventually his arms wound around her too, and their embrace reminded Percy that she was there and real and unmoving. She decided that maybe it was better if she didn’t speak so much, though she still murmured sweet nothings into his ear from time to time. His cries subsided after a while, but their arms remained unmoving about each other.

“I’m sorry,” he spoke after a few moments, moving his hand to wipe his eyes. “I didn’t mean to…” 

Percy didn’t meet Annabeth’s eyes. Cautiously, she brought her hand to his cheek, forcing him to look at her. 

“It’s okay, Percy,” she whispered, leaning up and planting a soft kiss on his cheek. “I’m here, and it’s alright, and we’re together.”

He nodded, their gazes locking for a moment, and somehow, it was okay. 

Eventually, deciding that they needed to keep moving, they got up and continued walking. Well, Annabeth mostly limped because of her broken ankle, but she refused to let Percy carry her. It was mostly healed, after re-breaking when they landed in Tartarus and days of excruciating pain, but it didn’t seem to have set properly and she had no idea what would happen with it if they got out of there.

They walked for what seemed like hours, Percy carrying Annabeth’s backpack and what supplies they had left over his shoulder. They spoke infrequently as they went, occasionally providing each other with half-hearted stories or sarcastic remarks to try and lighten the atmosphere, but what they said only really made their situation seem bleaker. 

And then, out of the blue, Percy froze, his eyes widening as Annabeth moved forward unknowingly.

“Annabeth!” he called, grabbing her wrist and pulling her backwards. She twisted her bad ankle and swore in pain.

"What the hell was that for?” she asked him brashly as her ankle throbbed. His grip tightened around her wrist and she gaped at him.

“This is it,” he whispered, in disbelief.

A vast opening in the chasm spread in front of them, an endless range of hard, packed dirt.

He met Annabeth’s eyes, and they both knew. She shifted the hand that he had encircled with his fingers, moving it so it was holding his instead.

“What do we do?” he asked her, and before she could utter a word, the laughter from his dream was back, encompassing their beings in a spell of chaotic hysteria.

“Come to me, daughter of Athena,”Gaea called menacingly, and Annabeth’s blood curdled. She shoved away her inhibitions, forcing herself to be strong.

“Never,” she spoke, the fear on her face glazed over with stoicity and resentment towards the earth goddess.

Percy was suddenly hyperaware of her hand in his, their fingers laced together in an impenetrable lock, and he gazed at them for a few seconds. He and Annabeth were together, and they were alive, and even though they had no idea how they were going to get out of there, he knew that they would, one way or another. His hand gripped hers firmly and he met her terrified eyes.

And this time, Percy wasn’t about to let her go.