Camellia

3: "We'll bring Luke back."

In retrospect, jumping off a cliff after the girl he loved, may have been a bad idea. Pax knew he should have stayed with Thalia and Grover to protect the di Angelos, but everything was happening so fast and Pax moved before he could think. At first it seemed like he could reach Annabeth; she hadn't fallen far, and Pax hoped that the wing gliders his new half-brother Shane had made, would work. 

But unfortunately it seemed that although Shane had the right ideas, his contraptions needed just a little more testing before he decided to rent them out. Long story, short: the wing gliders failed, Pax crashed (badly) and the next thing he knew he had been tied to a wooden stake and Annabeth was holding up the sky. 

Luke forced the pair of them to take turns, which Pax didn't actually mind as it meant Annabeth got a break. He didn't know which pain hurt the most-the physical anguish of holding up the sky, or the emotional struggle of watching when it was Annabeth's turn.

Annabeth continuously went on and on about how Luke was actually on their side; the whole cruelty and holding-up-the-sky thing was a pretense and he was going to secretly free them any day now. Pax didn't buy it and though he appreciated that the mantra was helping Annabeth get through the torture, it only made him want to cry. To make matters worse, Artemis had turned up to rescue them, and for a brief moment, it looked as if they might be freed, but that hope had been short-lived; she got taken prisoner herself. 

And so the situation remained the same for the next few days: they were being held captive by Annabeth's long-time crush Luke Castellan, whilst being third-wheeled by the goddess of maidenhood. As far as prospective dates went, it wasn't good. 

And then the rescue party had shown up. Admittedly it was more than Pax hoped for, but he should have realised that when Artemis got involved, so did her Hunters. The one leading the mission was none other than Artemis' lieutenant:  Zoë Nightshade and she was with the best of the best: Thalia and Beckendorf. (Apparently Grover was with them too but was occupied elsewhere). 

 Pax was pleased to see them, but things went downhill almost immediately. Luke had re-appeared, immediately throwing Thalia off guard. He didn't listen to Annabeth's pleas for him to stop as he fought her, and Thalia, (having reached the same conclusion Pax had: Luke had been lost the moment he'd murdered Percy Jackson), had promptly shoved him off a cliff. 

Zoë Nightshade had died in Artemis' arms and thrown into the stars. And besides only really knowing her for all of a few minutes, Pax still mourned. 

But one of the scariest moments of Pax's life was yet to come. During their capture, Pax had never believed that Luke would really hurt Annabeth, despite him forcing her to hold up the sky. He had hoped that the young man who saw Annabeth as his younger sister was still in there, and out of the three of them, if Luke was to hurt anyone, Pax knew he would have been him. 

Except in the moments when it had been Atlas and not Luke who was around, Annabeth had never been in any danger. And even Atlas still gave her a wide berth, which had probably been on Luke's orders. It was only when they were summoned to Olympus, did Pax feel for a moment that he would lose Annabeth forever. 

Artemis had announced, in front of all the other gods and goddesses, that someone among the demigods wished to become a Huntress. And Pax had been utterly convinced that it was Annabeth. Other than her infatuation with Luke, Annabeth had never been interested in males. The only boys she tended to listen to were Malcolm, a half-brother of hers, and, occasionally, Pax. There was no reason for her to remain a camper: Malcolm was an excellent second-in-command and would make an amazing head counsellor. And there was no one-male or otherwise-to give her a reason not to become a Huntress. Or so Pax thought. 

Standing in the front of the gods, waiting for Annabeth to come forward and pledge herself to Artemis, Pax felt like his heart was about to be torn from his body. He had known that being in the friend-zone forever would have consequences. He had known that he was utterly in love with his best friend and there was nothing he could do about it. But he had hoped-he had foolish entertained the idea-that some day, she would love him back. And now that spark of hope was to be snatched from him. 

Pax's sight began to blur as he felt tears fill his eyes. Out of the corner of his vision, he saw a girl step forward. 

"No," he whispered. 

But it wasn't Annabeth; it was Thalia. And the relief was so great that he collapsed to his knees (much to the bemusement of all the gods and the other demigods). 

He loved Annabeth so much it hurt, and although Pax knew deep down that love would not be enough to stop him from losing her, he knew he would always love her. Even if she chose to be a Huntress some day.