Percy's POV

The few days after the final battle were the most peaceful the camp had ever been, even better than the months after the Titan War.

Well, the months before Hera decided to play Switcheroo.

The aftermath of the battle was not easy to clean up. Half-Blood Hill was a messy patchwork of black splotches of burnt grass. Random holes and big craters dotted the landscape, signs of the places where monsters and demigods dug themselves out of the ground and the occasional explosive-induced craters.

The remaining golden dust of the monster army that hadn't been scattered by the wind had to be sucked up by some mega vacuum cleaner looking machine made by the Hephaestus campers. The holes all around the outside of the magical barrier had to be manually refilled and evened out as best as possible. The process took the whole day but at the end of it, camp was more or less back to looking like the natural paradise it used to be.

The Hunters of Artemis arrived at camp two days after the Battle of Half-Blood Hill (real original, I know) from San Juan, Puerto Rico. When they appeared at the base of Half-Blood Hill, I was shocked at how low their numbers were. A year ago after the Titan War, the Hunters had about 23 people, after losing about five or six to the war. There was no doubt that they would have gained some girls willing to join their ranks. Now, I could only count 17 Hunters.

The moment I saw Thalia, I knew something really bad had happened. She had bags under her eyes and her eyes were red, most likely from crying. She never cried openly. I quickly looked around the Hunters' ranks and saw that everyone mirrored Thalia's expression.

I made a split-second decision and stepped back before I could get castrated. Even though I was on relatively good terms with the Hunters, I could tell they were not in the mood to talk to anyone. Talking to Thalia could wait.

I couldn't even imagine how Thalia would react to Annabeth's death.

Not long after, lunch arrived and everyone filed into the dining pavilion, including the Hunters. As soon as everyone sat down on their respective tables, Chiron stood up to address everyone since Mr D was still on Olympus.

'We welcome the Hunters back to camp for the first time in a while,' Chiron stood tall and confident but I could tell he is still mourning the deaths of many of his students 'Campers, I recommend you all give the Hunters some space for a few days. I will let the Hunters decide if they wish to tell you what happened, though I do not recommend it.'

I saw Thalia and most of the Hunters give Chiron looks of gratitude from the Artemis table. I could tell nobody would get answers anytime soon. I could only wonder what happened in San Juan to deplete the number of Hunters like that.

'Normally, we would have a friendly game of Capture the Flag,' Chiron continued 'But I assume nobody is in the mood as of now.'

Murmurs of agreement arose from the crowd. Everyone was tired from the war. I was surprised that the Hunters passed down a chance to beat us up. Despite their low numbers, they could have still beaten us easily.

'Very well,' Chiron said breaking the silence 'Hunters, I hope you have a good stay for however long you wish.'

Chiron walked off the stage and nymphs strolled into the pavilion to serve lunch. I picked up my plate of roast beef brisket and walked up to follow the others to the sacrificial flame.

I scraped in the juiciest part of the meat and muttered a prayer, 'To Poseidon. Thank you, for everything.'

The smoke from the burning meat suddenly shifted to the smell of the sea breeze, letting me know that my dad was listening.

The night after the war ended, I had trouble sleeping. Images from...the pit haunted my nightmares. Whenever I fell asleep, I would see the barren landscape of the hellhole. I would see the primordial god himself, Bob and Damasen fighting him off so we could escape. I would see Annabeth in there, injuries littering her body and the Arai swooping in for the kill.

I would always wake up in cold sweat on my bed, occasionally on the floor with a bruised body part. One night, Poseidon appeared in my dreams and blessed me with dreamless sleep so I was able to rest, not before telling me how he was sorry and how proud he was.

Not that there is anything to be proud of anyway.

Before I knew it, lunch was over and the campers and Hunters went off to do their own things. Since camp activities had been suspended for the time being, I thought that I should talk with Thalia.

I walked over to the Artemis cabin in hopes that Thalia was in the mood to have a talk. I've never paid much attention to the Artemis cabin before and I wish I did. The Artemis cabin is similar to the Apollo cabin, just less gold, a lot less bright and a lot less painful for the eyes to look at. The cabin gives off a soft silver glow, even more so during the night seeing how Artemis is the Goddess of the Moon.

I hesitated when I reached the door of the cabin. I thought of knocking then diving out of the way to avoid arrows but thought better of it and just knocked. And prayed to not get hit by silver arrows.

The door swung open and I was met by a hunter I didn't recognize, so I assumed it was a new recruit. I couldn't see into the cabin (which was probably a good thing) because the door was only half open and the hunter was blocking my view.

When the girl saw me, I saw her hand reach down to her waist where her hunting knife was.

'What do you want, boy?' she sneered at me.

I gulped as I prepared to defend myself from an incoming attack. 'Uh...I was wondering if I can talk to your lieutenant?'

Before she could say anything and/or cut me up into tiny pieces, the door swung fully open to reveal Thalia. I breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as the knife was drawn to show the gleaming Celestial Bronze blade, Thalia grabbed the hunter's wrist to stop her.

'Don't worry, Jen,' Thalia said as she released her hold on Jen's wrist 'This is my cousin. Can't have you gut him, can I?'

Jen's eyes widened. 'Your cousin? As in Percy Jackson?'

The way she said my name made me shift uncomfortably. 'Um, yeah.'

Thalia ignored Jen and stepped outside her cabin. 'So you wanted to talk, right?'

'Yeah, but maybe somewhere more private?' I said looking at a gaping Jen standing in the doorway.

'Okay sure,' Thalia turned to Jen 'Tell the others. I'll be back soon.'

Jen just nodded.

We ended up walking silently all the way to the lake. We sat down on the pier with our legs dangling over the edge, just skimming the surface of the water.

I was about to say something to break the silence but Thalia beat me to it.

'Jason told me you refused partial immortality.'

It wasn't a question. I looked into her eyes and I saw the pain and betrayal in them, the betrayal of me not accepting partial immortality like the rest of my friends and the pain of the possibility of losing me long before she and the rest of my friends meet their end.

In moments like this, I realize who Thalia really is. Sure, she should be about 23 years old if she hadn't been turned into a tree or joined the Hunters but in reality, she is an almost sixteen-year-old teenager and always will be, no matter how long she lives. Thinking about it, I realized how she felt. She and everyone else that accepted partial immortality would always be in their teenage years but I would age normally and outgrow everyone. Even if I managed to live to be in my sixties, Thalia would still be a fifteen-year-old girl. (Since she didn't actually turn sixteen, even if she is just a few hours away from turning sixteen, I like to tease her about it)

'Thalia...' I started but was interrupted by her.

'Why?'

I could hear her voice breaking and could see tears threatening to fall from her electric-blue eyes. I have never seen her so vulnerable, not even when she had to fight Luke. The sight broke me even more as I thought about how I should tell her my reason.

I kept my eyes on the glittering water of the lake as I spoke, 'Thalia, I couldn't. I can't.'

Despite her sadness, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion, 'And why can't you?'

I took a deep breath and decided to just drop the bomb, 'If I did, I won't be able to see Annabeth.'

Thalia looked at me in confusion, 'What do you mean you can't see Annabeth? Surely she would...'

She trailed off when she saw my expression. I looked up from the water and watched as realisation set in for her. Her expression of confusion replaced by one of extreme shock and sadness.

'No...' Thalia's shoulders slumped and she brought her hands to her face 'No, no, no, no. She can't be. Sh-she...no.'

I scooted closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Thalia buried her face into my shoulder and cried to her heart's content. I struggled to hold in my tears as I held my cousin. I could understand how she felt. Thalia had known Annabeth five years before I did and immediately took her in when she and Luke were on the streets. Annabeth had been the little sister she never had. Annabeth was Thalia's sister in all but blood and they had been through a lot together.

It was a few minutes before Thalia stopped crying. When she finally gathered herself, she removed her face from my damp shirt.

'Why didn't you just accept?'

Seeing my look of confusion, Thalia continued. 'She would want you to move on. I lost most of the hunters and now I just found out I lost Annabeth. I don't want to lose you too.'

I stared at her sadly, 'Thalia if I chose partial immortality, you know I wouldn't be able to die unless I kill myself or let myself be killed. I don't want that. Nobody would let me do either. I would never be able to see her again.'

I looked down and saw Thalia with a look of defeat on her face.

'Thalia don't worry. I won't be dying anytime soon. If we are lucky, I would have about forty years of life left. If my time comes to an end, I will accept it and I need you to accept it too.'

I felt her nod with her head still on my shoulder and we just sat there for a while, looking over the lake and enjoying each other's company.

'Thalia.'

Thalia hummed in response with her head still on my shoulder and I decided she deserved the truth of what caused Annabeth's death.

'Thalia it was...it was me. It was-it was me that killed her.'

I felt Thalia tense in my grip.

'I couldn't...I wish I could have just stopped myself but I couldn't.'

My tears were now flowing freely down my face. In the past two days, I had always thought about what I did. Despite being controlled by an eidolon, her blood was on my hands.

Thalia slowly and cautiously removed herself from me, probably thinking I brought her out here to kill her. To be honest, I would too.

Thalia looked at me warily, 'What do you mean you killed her?'

Before I could answer, another voice called out from behind us, 'He means he wasn't in control.'

Both Thalia and I turned to the shore end of the pier and found Frank without his crutches. His leg that was impaled by my sword must have finally healed enough for him to walk. He slowly limped towards us and sat down on my other side.

'He was being possessed by an eidolon. It was the eidolon that killed Annabeth, not Percy.'

I just sat there in silence. Despite whatever anyone says, I would always see her death as being my fault. It was just like the time where another eidolon possessed me and tried to make me kill Jason in Kansas. If Piper hadn't stopped the eidolon, Jason's death would have been caused by me. If I had been strong enough to refuse control to the eidolon...

I was brought out of my thoughts when Thalia crashed into me in a fierce hug.

'Oh, Percy...'

'It's okay, Thals,' I tried for a reassuring smile 'There was nothing you can do to change what happened.'

Thalia pulled back and smiled at me before she looked over my shoulder to talk to Frank.

'You need anything?'

Frank cleared his throat and stood up, Thalia and I doing the same before we began walking back to camp.

'Just wanted to tell you we're returning to Camp Jupiter now.' Frank said as he broke the silence 'Everyone's almost ready. Wanted to say goodbye.'

Looking at Frank, I couldn't help but notice how much he has changed. When I first arrived at Camp Jupiter, he had been the chubby and clumsy Asian kid that had no idea what he was doing. After Venice, he had changed, and for the better. He was heaps taller and his pudginess was replaced with muscle, although his frame was still massive. Frank now had a confident aura around him and looked every part the praetor he is.

'Thank you, Frank,' I said as I held out my hand 'It's been a good time. I'll stop by Camp Jupiter some time.'

Frank took my hand and shook it firmly. 'You too, Percy,' he seemed to hesitate for a while before speaking again 'Don't beat yourself up, Percy. It wasn't your fault. Try and believe that.'

I watched as Frank turned around and slowly walked back to Half-Blood Hill where all the Roman legionnaires were waiting for their praetor.

'Sooooo,' Thalia said, drawing out the word 'I'm still here, you know.'

I laughed for the first time since the battle. It felt good.

'Thanks for that,' I said before turning my expression serious 'Thalia, know that whatever happens, it isn't your fault. Don't worry about me, okay?'

Thalia looked confused but nodded.

'I need you to promise me.'

'I promise.'

I smiled, 'Good, you should probably head back to the hunters before they think I kidnapped you.'

Thalia was a few feet away when I remembered what I had wanted to ask her in the first place.

'Thalia, wait.'

She stopped abruptly and turned to look at me questioningly.

'What happened...in San Juan?'

I regretted the question immediately when I saw her face turn stormy.

'Sorry, I just...'

'It's okay,' Thalia interrupted 'Orion happened. He broke into the Amazon's headquarters in San Juan and...he...'

I gulped. 'How many?'

Thalia turned to look at the ground as I prepared myself for the worst.

'31 hunters and 57 Amazons.'

'Oh my gods,' I muttered 'I'm sorry.'

Thalia put on a smile but I could tell it was forced. 'It's okay, Kelp Head.'

I remained standing there while Thalia made her way back to her cabin. I thought about what she had said. 31 hunters. I wondered how many of the hunters I had actually known. With a start, I realized I hadn't seen either Pheobe, Naomi or Celyn when they had arrived earlier in the day. I had become rather good friends with them and most of the older hunters after they found out what I did for Zoë and also after the Battle of Manhattan.

I sighed and decided it was time to visit my mum.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

I ended up staying for dinner.

I got Blackjack to give me a lift to my mum's apartment after the talk with Thalia after I told Chiron I was going to be gone for a while. As my apartment came into view, I was hit by a wave of nostalgia.

It has been way too long since I came here.

After promising Blackjack more donuts, I made my way to my mum's floor and to her apartment door.

After being greeted by my mum and Paul at the door (and possibly breaking more bones from the literal bone-crushing hugs), I explained everything from my disappearance ten months ago to the end of the war with Gaia. When I reached Annabeth's death...well let's just say that several boxes of tissue were used.

The story took a while so by the time I finished, it was almost time for dinner and my mum insisted ('You've been gone for ten months, Percy. You're not getting away from me that easily.' she had said) that I stay for dinner. Dinner was full of small talk and the familial laughter of the
Jackson-Blofis household that I hadn't realised I had missed.

It took me a while to convince my mum that I needed to get back to camp and that Chiron had expected me four hours ago. I promised I would visit again and took the Blackjack Express back to camp. By the time I reached camp, it was already curfew and I had to be extra careful to avoid the cleaning harpies.

The next few days at camp, everyone was finally starting to get back to normal, or whatever normal was. Since the war just recently ended, most of the demigods decided to spend year-round at camp. The camp activities resumed after a week and I was finally reintroduced to the tiring work of teaching and training swordsmanship to the senior campers. Sure, it was always fun teaching things that I like to other people but when my students/friends demanded a twenty-on-one 'friendly' match, it could get painful.

The Hunters ended up staying at camp for far longer than anybody had thought. They had been staying at camp since they arrived and had challenged us to a game of Capture the Flag as soon as camp activities were announced to be resumed. Long story short, the campers had finally won their first game against the hunters ever and broke their 61 win streak. Not without a lot of arrow wounds.

The days flew by with me just repeating the same activities every day. Wake up, eat breakfast, spar with some of the Hunters (read: get used as a punching bag/target practice), eat lunch, teach/train the senior campers, get challenged to a twenty-on-one (they still hadn't managed to beat me yet), eat dinner, go to the campfire for a singalong, go to sleep.

As my birthday got closer, I reminded myself that I had survived being a demigod of one of the Big Three for another year, making it seventeen years of being alive. Five years of surviving as a demigod. Three years since I witnessed my first friend fall in battle. A year since the Titan War was fought and won, and my father convincing Zeus to offer me godhood. All the things that happened in my years of life but I could only focus on one thing.

It was almost one whole year since Annabeth and I started dating. It had been the night of my birthday that Annabeth had approached me in the dining pavilion. It had been that night that she arrived with a homebaked blue cupcake and the same night that we had finally admitted our feelings for one another. It had been the night where we spent way too long in an air bubble at the bottom of the lake.

If she was still alive, we would have had our one-year anniversary, a milestone for couples all over the world and possibly one of the biggest achievements of being a demigod couple. I had always thought we would spend our anniversary somewhere special, maybe not Paris again but something along the lines of that.

I just hope that Annabeth had found peace in Elysium and was happy. I could almost hear her telling me to move on, to live my life in peace since the war was finally over.

But what was life without Annabeth in it?

A/N: Okay finally finished this chapter. This is the longest chapter I wrote so far. Let me know if you guys like longer or shorter chapters, or any feedback or comment you wish to write to me. I will read all of them.

So the more or less 'boring' chapters of the book is finally over. I promise some action in the next chapters. I swear it on the River Styx.

I will try not to do too many A/N's so may the gods be with you and have a lovely day.

~Sacai2005