A Crown of Golden Leaves: A Percy Jackson Fanfiction

Caput LIV: Nothing Gold Can Stay

"What a treacherous thing, to believe that a person is more than a person." - John Green

Caput LIV: Nothing Gold Can Stay

"MIND if I sit here?" asked Annabeth, gesturing to the empty seat beside Thalia with both of her hands. It was quiet tonight—quiet and cold, the nippy winds of winter arriving with the frost that crept against the ground in spider-like webs. Thalia shrugged, so she sat down and pressed her body close to preserve the heat.

They would need heavier cloaks soon, one way or another. It was almost bitterly cold; by the time the twelfth month arrived, the full thrall of winter would grip them in its unforgiving folds.

"This cold weather is worrying," Thalia commented, knuckles turning white as she tightened her hands into fists. The firelight reflected in her eyes. "I'm due soon."

"I know." She rested her hand on Thalia's shoulder. "I'll bring it up with Percy. We're not going to survive the winter if we don't find shelter soon."

"Is there anywhere in the world that's safe enough to hide us?"

"No, probably not." She said calmly. Thalia looked at her with wide eyes, head moving so fast it might have snapped off, and Annabeth leaned forward. "You, Nico, and I are demigods. Percy is the heir of Rome, he'll always be hunted by Nox until he is dead. Demetria is... someone we must protect, too. She's so young. So, no. There is nowhere in the world that safe enough to hide us all. We can't go back to Athens, we can't escape to Gauls..."

Thalia took a deep breath, as if she was trying to steady herself, but her hands were trembling as she carded them through her hair. "There's nowhere for us to go."

"Nowhere but forward," Annabeth agreed. "But it's impossible to take back Rome without an army and we don't have that."

"We're all going to die." Thalia sounded like she was on the edge of tears. She pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes and her back shuddered as she gasped. "Annabeth, I can't—I don't—I'm going to have a child, I can't let him die and I can't die either—if I die, he dies too— this child is all I have left of Luke, we wanted a baby for so long—"

"Thalia!" Annabeth interrupted, before the woman could continue panicking. She moved and knelt in front of her friend, taking her hands and pulling them away from her face. Tears clung to her eyelashes, her eyes were glossy, but there were no tracks staining her porcelain cheeks. "You are not going to die and neither will your baby, all right? I order it so. You can't disobey a direct order, right?"

Thalia laughed. It sounded rather hysterical, but that was better than crying. Annabeth knocked her forehead against hers and smiled to hide the fear that tightened around her chest in a vice grip. Someone had to be strong, and it was her duty to be strong—just like how it was Percy's duty to be strong as well.

"You can't order away death."

"Watch me." Annabeth replied, half serious, half joking. "None of us are going to die, least of all your child."

"Promise me, if something happens, that you'll take him in." There was a crazed light in her eyes. "Take Percy and just... settle somewhere. Leave all of this behind, and just... be happy? Raise a family with him."

Annabeth swallowed. She'd barely allowed herself to even consider the idea of having children with him since all of this began, even though she wanted that so badly sometimes, even if she hadn't wanted that at first... "Thalia, you're not going to die—"

"Promise me."

"Listen to me," she hissed, and she cupped Thalia's cheek to force her to meet her eyes. "You are not going to die because I forbid it and because we will find a way to take back Rome, and so help me, but I will march down to the Underworld and I will pull your ass out of Hell if you give up on us before that happens. Percy and I aren't meant to be farmers or seamstresses or carpenters. You know that."