Prince beyond the Stars (Percy Jackson/Son of Chaos Fan-Fiction)

Chapter XIX

-Luke-

I didn't know what was worse. Bleeding to death with a half cut off wing, or watching how Percy had been forced into being the monster he now was. I swallowed and tried not to fall over from the pain when someone grasped my wing from behind. I gasped, almost feeling a hundred knifes in my back, when the pain suddenly disappeared. It was replaced with a warm, tingling feeling, which I embraced whole heartedly. Somehow, the person behind me managed to cut of the bloodstream and stitch the wound up. I knew I wouldn't be able to fly anymore. I turned my head to see Apollo standing beside me. He smiled sadly and took a step back. The pain was gone, but it had left an empty feeling inside me. I forced myself to look away, and look at something else instead.

I wished I hadn't.

Annabeth stumbled forward at the sight of Percy, barely managing to stay up. I could hear the quiver in her voice when she spoke.
'Oh Gods, Percy... What's happening to you?'
Percy didn't answer. He didn't even look at her as she asked him.
End laughed again. 'Isn't it great? He's so broken, he's not able to function normally. He's not there anymore, sweetheart,' he said, as Annabeth took a step back, horrified at his words.
'What do you mean?' she asked.
'I had my work cut out for me. It was wonderful! All of you have destroyed him to the very last part of his soul. It's no wonder he has no mind of his own anymore. There's nothing left of him. All that has remained after I gave him the final blow, is a shell you would call a body. Although I'm not sure if it will function this good in the future.'
The lump started to form in my throat again. The tears were already streaming from Annabeth's eyes. I was about to give up hope, when someone tugged on my uninjured wing.
I looked to my left, to find Ayme standing next to me. 'You have the power of Changing, right?'
I nodded.
'Then look into his mind,' she said.
Confused I knelt down to meet her at the same level. 'What are you talking about?'
Ayme desperately clutched herself onto her doll.
'Please, I'm begging you,' she whispered. 'Look into his mind, and tell me it hasn't changed. Tell me it's not gone yet.'
I swallowed as forced my energy to get into Percy's mind.
It didn't take me long, but what I found, made me almost faint in terror.

Inside was a whole different world going on. I saw Percy, the real one, lying on. the ground in the middle of what looked like a room. Only the walls weren't walls. They looked like memories, I thought. A cold chill went down my spine as I realized. It were memories. I swallowed, watching each of them. None of them were good.
The memories showed the worst things happening in Percy's life. Over and over again.
They showed Percy being in Camp Jupiter, when he had woken up with Amnesia, only this time, he didn't remember Annabeth.
They showed the day he was rejected by Annabeth, Poseidon, Chiron and almost the entire camp.
It showed the moment when Sigma was killed, when he had taken the bullet to protect Percy, and Percy was forced to become the Prince beyond the Stars. 
But worst of all, it showed the day that had just happened recently, when not only the entire camp but also we, his friends, rejected him. 
I tore my gaze away from them, not being able to look any longer. I saw Percy lying on the ground, and I believed him to be sleeping at first.
I was wrong.
I walked around him. Percy was curled up in a ball, rocking himself slightly. He had his hands over his ears and his eyes squeezed shut. He was whispering, so I had to lean forward to be able to hear him.
'Make it stop,' he whispered. 'Please make it stop.'
Over and over those words were repeated. I couldn't stand it any longer and managed myself out of Percy's mind.

'What did you see?' Ayme asked when she saw me looking at her again.
'He's not gone yet,' I said. 'But we have to be quick, or he will be.'
Ayme swallowed and turned to look at Percy.
I glanced at him, and then at Annabeth, when an idea came to my mind.
'Annabeth, talk to him,' I said.
She turned around to face me. 'What?' she asked.
'Trust me,' I said.
Annabeth looked at me, then at Ayme, and at Percy.
A determined look appeared in her eyes, and I knew she would do it, no matter the outcome.
She had nothing to lose.

End laughed as Annabeth walked through the border. 'Are you willing to risk your life, when you know he's not coming back?'
Annabeth took a deep breath and closed her eyes. 'I'm willing to risk it, if I know it will be worth it,' she whispered.
'Oh, how I would love to see this!' End exclaimed, and he motioned for Percy to move forward.
It didn't take long before they stood eye to eye, but it only looked like Annabeth was really seeing it. Percy didn't see the world for how it really was.
Nothing happened for a long time.
'What are you waiting for, daughter of Athena?'
Annabeth stood up a little straighter, and I was proud to hear that there wasn't a single quiver in her voice when she spoke. 'Percy.'

I fell down on my knees, feeling the beads of sweat appear on my forehead as I managed to show what was going on in Percy's mind as a shimmering Iris Message. From the corner of my eyes I saw many campers grab their heads, trying to shut out the sounds, and closing their eyes, not wanting to see the passing moments, because the guilt was eating them alive. They knew they were the cause for the state Percy was in right now. I breathed heavily as I tried to hold on to the image. I looked up, and saw Percy tilting his head a little, as if he hadn't really heard what Annabeth had said.

'Percy, I need you to listen to me. I know what I have done, five hundred years ago. What we all did. And I know that it will probably never get better, and that you will never forgive us. But I really need you to be.. you again.' The tears were streaming down her cheeks.
'Percy, I know... I know it was me who cheated on you. I know it was your father, who disowned you. I know.. it were the campers, that hated you. I know it was us, that ruined your life. But none of that was real. Your father still loves you, Percy. The campers still adore you.'

Annabeth didn't speak for a long time. When she spoke again, her voice had broken, carrying all of the pain she had suffered.

'Percy,' she said. 'I still love you. I still need you. Those five hundred years when you were gone, I haven't lived. I haven't stopped looking for you, ever since the day I found out where it went wrong. I need you Percy. I need you to come back to me. Please come back to me..'

We had heard her, and as she was speaking we saw the change in Percy's mind.

Something had changed when Annabeth had started speaking. Percy no longer had his hands clamped over his ears, or his eyes squeezed shut. Instead he looked up, as he was listening to Annabeths voice. 'Annabeth,' he whispered. 'I want this out..,' he said. 'Get out!' he screamed.

The Iris Message I had been trying to hold on to broke into a thousand splinters as Percy's mind seemed to have set free. I swallowed hard, trying to breath normally again, when a blinding light came from in front of the border at the same time the Iris Message had been broken. Everyone had to cover their eyes, and someone screamed Annabeths name from behind me. I looked over my shoulder, watching Athena come forward, her face twisted in fear and concern for her daughter. When the light had finally died, I could see Annabeth still standing, unharmed, but she didn't move. She seemed to be staring at the person right in front of her.

Because Percy's dark eyes had changed, into a beautiful seagreen again. His wings, although it were still the dangerous demon wings, moved slightly upwards. But it was his expression that made us all keep looking. It was an expression of wonder. 'Wise girl?' he whispered, as his eyes focused on Annabeth. Annabeths hands flew to her mouth and she cried silently. 'Annabeth,' Percy said. He rushed toward her, stumbling and a little slower than usual, but he embraced her tightly, as if he was never going to let her go again.

At the enemy's side, End had begun to glow, his face contorted in anger. Percy immediately turned around, pushing Annabeth behind his back. He had one arm around Annabeth while the other held his sword.
'Don't even think about it, End,' he snarled at him.
End looked angry. 'I believed you didn't have the energy to fight anymore.'
Percy smirked. 'Then you haven't seen me at my best.'
End held up his hand, and a black sword appeared in it. 'Then I will have the honor to battle the great Percy Jackson. And let this battle become the first victory of many.'

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I have some wicked plot twisters coming up