My story | PJO x male reader

Chapter 4: If the arms of time could change

Annabeth POV:

Y/N...

I had nightmares about him. There was one where he fell into lakes of acids, eating at his flesh while his screams resounded in my head. Then another where he was surrounded by skeletons, forms of shadows, and every titan imaginable.

But the worst ones would be while I was awake. The events would replay in my head like a VCR and go through everything I could've done.

"You weren't fast enough" I would tell myself. "First James and Thalia. Now this? Maybe you're better all alone."

The fact that he was gone hadn't hit me until now. The few days before this were spent trying to find a logical way of getting him back but I knew it wasn't going to happen.

Now, I just felt...guilty. I couldn't save him.

I felt my eyes start to water. This was the third time today.

I kept spiraling down the rabbit hole.

I... I should've told him the prophecy. Maybe nothing would've happened if I did.

I kept trying to forget about him but I didn't want to either. It was like different sides of my brain playing tug of war, I just couldn't... I didn't even... It doesn't matter.

I looked over the lake of Camp Half-Blood, feet dangling off the dock. The place, however, felt empty. It was colorless, silent, and void of warmth. A cold chill would rush my back and filter through my clothes.

If only he was here. He should've been. When we returned the bolt, the gods didn't even seem to care that he was gone. Zeus just scolded us. Ares had tried to kill Percy. Poseidon and Athena congratulated us. No signs of empathy, no condolences.

The only one who might've cared was Artemis herself. She was absent. Just gone. Was she going through what I felt? Worse?

I'd read that Artemis' mood could affect the night. They must've been lying.

The night sky brimmed with life. Every star seemed perfect but they were nothing compared to the moon.

I just stared at it. Anytime I saw it, I swear I could see his face. The craters were his eyes...the light was his smile...

Why? Why does everything bring me back to him?

I felt a tap on my shoulder quickly followed by my brother's voice.

"Earth to Annabeth," Malcolm said.

"What?" I said a little too harshly.

"Easy, easy." He said holding his hands up in surrender. In his right hand, he held a paper that flapped in the wind. "I, uh, just got the schedule and, uh," He sat down on the dock next to me. "Did you forget to put archery down for our activities? We only have it once every two weeks."

I grabbed the paper and looked at it. After the quest, I was now cabin leader, which meant that the schedule was my obligation.

"Oh," I tried to keep my voice level. "I thought we could spend it on other, more important, things."

"Annabeth, half of our day is free time. Is something-?"

"I'm fine."

"Annabeth—"

"I'm fine."

An uncomfortable silence took over. Silence has a way of being the loudest thing you'll ever hear.

"You miss him don't you?"

"Miss who?" In my mind, I was pleading he didn't dig deeper.

"You do know you talk in your sleep, right?"

Oh, no.

"Look," He sighed and looked out over the lake.
"I didn't even know him that well. I only saw him once or twice. During Capture the Flag he was awesome."

I went to speak, but my voice shattered.

"Then there was that archery contest...I'll never forget how he looked at me." he laughed in a brief burst. "And I'll never forget how mad you were at me.

"The truth is Annabeth: Everyone misses him. The best we can do is to look forward and keep moving.

As much as I didn't want to agree with him, deep down I knew he was right.

I brought my attention back to the sky.

"I'm sorry,"

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AN: Short chapter because this was actually supposed to go with the previous chapter. I don't know how I did it. I'll merge these two in a week.

Look forward to longer chapters in the future.

The chapters you typically get are 1000 words. I'm going to start doubling it.

Stay tuned.