Teacher, Not Hero (femPercy Jackson X YJ)

Two: Battle Won and Bodies Counted

Percy P.O.V:

I had managed to push my left hand up through the dirt, reaching, grasping for anything. As I slowly inched my way out, I felt someone grab onto my arm and yank me free of the earth. I came up, coughing, spitting blood and gravel, panting. I rolled on my side, and eventually my back, only to see the sky painted bright, horrific orange. I scrambled to my feet and continued to gape at the sky. I turned to my right and saw Jason, sitting on the ground, looking dead tired. I saw the pain on his face. The loss in his eyes. I looked back at the sky, pain clenching around my heart.

"Leo." I breathed, not wanting to believe it to be true. Jason nodded slowly, tears falling silently down his face. The realization of where I was truly struck me at that moment. I was home. That meant that Leo...Leo was gone. They had killed him. He was one of the first names I wrote and they killed him. One thing. ONE. I turned on my heal, towards the spot of the earth I had just crawled out of. I dove at the ground, almost sliding across the freshly overturned dirt.

"NO!" I screamed, pounding my fists at the ground, digging. "YOU PROMISED ME! YOU SAID YOU WOULD LEAVE THEM ALIVE, YOU BASTARD. TAKE ME BACK! TAKE ME BACK! YOU PROMISED ME! WE HAD A DEAL! WE HAD...We had. We had a deal...". My shouts and screams died down to a hushed sob as I mourned for my friend, my teammate. My fellow demigod. Leo Valdez.

I turned toward Jason and collapsed in his lap. I know I am supposed to be the leader. The strong and unbreakable Percy Jackson. The one that was the shoulder. I was supposed to weep silently and alone. Mourning the dead only when the battle was won and the bodies were counted. But I didn't care. Not anymore. So yes. I cried. I sobbed. I screamed. I was free from the eternity of torture I had assigned myself, and for that I was glad. But not like this. Not at the cost of another life. Not at the cost of one of my family member's life. Not at the cost of Leo. So for a moment, I let myself cry on someone else. Just this once. To be fair, I don't think Jason was even cognizant of what was even happening anymore. He was too spent.

Leo Valdez was one of the bravest people I had ever known and I never even told him. Building the Argo II all alone, months in solitude. Making jokes and keeping the mood light when everyone else was all too serious. With another goofball around, I didn't have to be the class clown as much as I normally did. I could sit back and laugh a little. Leo Valdez, who could come up with a plan on the fly using cheese puffs, toothpaste, and a 6000-year-old sphere. And most of all, Leo tried harder than anyone else. He worked his ass off every day. Not to be the best. Not to get the girl. Not for glory, fame or fortune. All he wanted was to be accepted. Leo Valdez did not deserve to die.

I heard a groan from behind us. I looked up and saw Piper, laying on the ground. She appeared to be coming out of her lack of consciousness. With another groan, she managed to sit up. Her eyes adjusted to the light and she looked toward the sky. Panic seized her facial features and she stumbled to her feet. I pulled myself together and rose as well. I could weep later. The battle was done, but we still had to count the bodies. I wouldn't be the only person who lost someone.

"Leo!" She called out, her hands extended to the sky that was now an ashen grey, dust falling down around us like snow, coating the battlefield. Piper fell into a fit of sobs, and let herself fall down into Jason's arms. Jason seemed too exhausted and shell shocked to even process what was happening any more. I didn't blame him.

I walked away from the scene. From a screaming Piper and from a numb and unresponsive Jason. I walked across the battlefield, and I found her. My wise girl. My beautiful Annabeth. The first name on my list. She was sitting on the Big House porch, Will Solace was tending to her. She was wrapped in a dark green blanket. I was about six feet away from her when I finally called her name.

"Annabeth," I said shakily, my voice sounded hoarse and wrong in my ears. Probably from screaming...I pushed the Pit from my mind as Annabeth looked up at me, her storm grey eyes blank. That was when I knew something was wrong. Will looked up at me with a series of emotions playing on his face. Shock, disbelief, joy, puzzlement, and then great sadness. He opened his mouth to say something, but Annabeth beat him to it.

"Yes," she said. Her voice light and airy. Free of worry and pain. Something was very wrong.

"It's me, Percy," I told her. Her eyes conveyed no recognition. I had a sinking feeling in my chest.

She looked at me with blank eyes, a placated smile on her face as she said one word that broke me. One word worse than any torture the beast in the Pit could ever have come up with. A word that would ruin the little bit of sanity I had left.

"Who?"