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431Chapter 1

Note- This is my first attempt at a multi-chapter fan-fiction. I intend to update as often as I am able but I don't know how often that will be. But I can promise at least two chapters a week. Hopefully I will be able to update faster than that but I don't want to promise something I can't deliver on.

Important thing to note... This will be yaio (boy-boy) eventually. Don't like? You do not have to read.

Disclaimer- I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes Of Olympus series. (One can dream though) All rights go to the proper parties.

Percy POV

"I love you Percy, I always will. I swear on the river Styx I will come back when I can." Annabeth gave me a sad smile as thunder crashed across the sky, sealing her oath. She had tears streaming down her face as she walked away into the morning sun. Away from Camp Half Blood, away from the Gods, away from me.

Watching her walk down Half-Blood Hill alone, it felt as though I had a hole in my chest. I could never have imagined I'd see the day that Annabeth needed to go where I could not follow. I had followed her to the Underworld, into the labyrinth, even into Tartarus itself. I had come to believe that there was nothing that would ever separate us again. I should have known better.

Aphrodite had promised to make my love life interesting. I guess surviving countless quests, two wars, and a trip though the darkest pit of Hell hadn't been enough yet.

Annabeth needed space. She needed time to heal her soul. And she couldn't do it here, with me. There were too many memories around us. For nearly every painful experience in her life, I had been at her side. To help her, support her, to love her. But The Second Giant War had caused a rift that was just too deep.

Flashback

Nico, Rayna, and Coach Hedge had arrived with the Athena Parthenos in time to stop the camps from destroying each other and Rayna had managed to get the Romans to back down.

They were just in time too. While we were busy fighting the giants in Greece, Gaia had sent an army of monsters to attack Camp Half-Blood. The two armies combined their might and destroyed the invading forces.

But the death toll had been high, very high. The loss of Malcolm and Rayna had left both camps reeling. But the death of Leo left the biggest hole in the heart of the seven of us.

Leo had given his life to stop Gaia from rising. He had used every last particle of strength in his body in order to bring Porphyrion to his knees. Hades had delivered the killing blow to the giant king but not before Porphyrion had gotten his revenge. His spear had pierced through the chest of the son of Hephaestus.

With Leo's final breath he requested that the remaining seven free Calypso. He entrusted his astrolabe to Jason.

Chiron had already authorized the quest, but had requested that we wait. He needed our help rebuilding the camps.

The younger demigods looked up to us. And with so many dead, they needed all the help they could get. And so Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank, and I agreed to wait a little longer. I hadn't noticed at the time that Annabeth had remained silent.

ΩΩΩ

I felt restless. I had abandoned Calypso once; I didn't like making her wait longer than she already had. When she had cursed me, I realized just how terribly I had treated her. She had saved my life and I had left her. Sure, I had asked that she be freed but I had never made sure that the gods had kept their promise.

So I put all of my effort into helping to rebuild the camp. The sooner we finished the sooner we could go save one of the friends I had let down. I had thought everything was going well.

I failed to notice when Annabeth started to pull away from everyone.

I knew that she had been more introverted since Tartarus, but I didn't think to say anything. I knew that I had been doing the same thing. I tried to be open and trusting like I used to, but I had seen too much. I still woke up in a cold sweat most night. Dreams for demigods were never good, but I would gladly trade my memories of that place for the confusing nerve racking glimpses of the future I used to see.

We still spoke but it was different. It was casual. We stopped talking about the future, about things that matter to us. Eventually we only really spoke about how the re-construction was going. Even then, where she once would have been going on about architecture, she was strangely quiet.

It had been about a month after the final battle before Annabeth came to talk to me. I was in my cabin just getting ready to collapse into bed when I heard a knock on the door.

I opened to door to reveal the girl I loved, leaning against the door jam. I looked at her and couldn't help but notice that she didn't look very good. Her blond hair was a mess but it was her eyes that caught my attention. Her beautiful gray eyes that I've always loved so much were bloodshot and filled with tears. I immediately felt more awake.

"Hey seaweed brain," Annabeth said with a weak smile. "Can I talk to you?"

"Of course, come on in." I stepped aside and closed the door behind her. She seemed nervous and unsure. Annabeth was always so strong and determined in everything. She glanced at me and started pacing around the room.

After a few minutes of watching her, waiting for her to say something, I stepped into her path and she looked up at me with broken eyes. The next thing I knew I had wrapped her in my arms.

Silent sobs were shaking her shoulders. I sat down on my bed and pulled her into my lap. She balled her hands into my t-shirt, pulling strength from my presence. I held her close to me and rubbed my hands in comforting circles on her back. After a while she calmed down but she didn't pull away.

We sat together in silence as I waited for her to find the words she needed. After a long time she finally spoke. "I'm... I'm leaving Percy, I can't stay here. I... I need to go away for a while."

I was surprised to say the least but I knew that like everything the beautiful daughter of Athena did, she would have her reasons. She was my opposite in so many ways. Whereas I was impulsive and did things without thinking of the consequences, Annabeth thought through everything. It was why I would, and had, followed her through everything. "Ok," She looked at me with surprise in her eyes, "where are we going?"

She flinched and pulled away from me. I frowned in confusion as I waited for her to go on. She fiddled with her fingers, avoiding eye contact with me. "You... you don't understand Percy. I have to leave and... And I am going alone."

I sat there, trying to figure out what she meant. We had been through hell and back together, literally. Why would she think that when she left I would not be with her? It didn't make any sense. "What do you mean Wise-Girl? Of course I will come with you. We're a team. Whatever you need to do, I will be there to help you."

Her tears started to fall again. "Percy. I... I know that you will always be there when I need you..." I didn't like the sound of that. I reached out to hold her hand but she pulled it away before I could. My heart started to constrict. "I need to leave, and I need you to stay here." She looked at me and I felt the air rush out of my lungs.

"Annabeth what... what are you talking about?"

"I can't stay here Percy. There are too many reminders. I can't stand to be here anymore. If I don't leave soon I'm going to lose it completely. I can't deal with all of this anymore. If I'm going to heal, I need to leave this world behind for a while. I... We need a break."

I looked into her eyes and I could see that it was true. The eyes that had always been filled with such determination and strength were broken. We had all seen so much, too much in fact. But her eyes bore the signs of one who could no longer survive with what she had seen.

I knew in my heart that I should have seen this sooner. I had been so busy rebuilding and trying to survive the after effects of the war, I had failed to see that the one I loved needed me.

My thought must have been clear on my face. Annabeth grabbed my hand, "Percy, this is not your fault. It has nothing to do with you."

I felt my heart break as my own tears began to fall. "Please Annabeth, don't go."

"I... I just need to escape; I need to be away from everything. I need to go somewhere where the memories of blood and death don't haunt my every thought." She looked at me with desperation in her eyes, begging me to understand.

I could hardly stand the pain. I had seen and done so many impossible things, been through so much, survived so many monster attacks, but nothing had ever hurt me the way that this did. But when I looked into her eyes I knew that this was the only choice she had. I felt as though I ripped out my own heart as I nodded.

I pulled her back to my and held onto her as tightly as I could. Tears streamed down my face as she whispered in my ear. "I promise I will come back. I love you so much."

I struggled to find my voice. "When will you leave?"

"I already talked to Chiron, I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

I looked into her eyes and pulled her in for a kiss, knowing in my heart that this would be the last time I would hold the one I loved for a long time.