Percy Jackson and the Avengers

Chapter 9

POV: Percy

          He couldn't do it. He couldn't bring himself to say goodbye to Frank and Hazel yet. Reyna had assured them that Frank wasn't needed for a couple more days and so the remaining members of the seven decided to get away from camp for a couple days. They could all use a break from the rebuilding efforts anyways. He lay on his back, listening to the soft breathing of his friends. At least he hadn't failed them. Those words were a constant mantra in his head, helping him keep a tight hold on his fracturing sanity.

          Percy didn't dare close his eyes. He knew as soon as he did, all he would see was her. Her eyes, her hair, the bright smile she had when he did something stupid that made her laugh, her laugh. The dreamy look in her eyes when she talked about architecture. Those were good things. But then he'd seen her go over the cliff at Westover hall, seeing her under the sky on Mt. Othrys, pale and straining. He'd see her terrified and resigned before they fell into Tartarus together. He'd watch her stumble around too close to the cliff's edge, blind from the arai. He relive her being attacked and stabbed and poisoned a thousand different ways over the years. And finally he'd be frozen, trapped in the thickening mud as she sacrificed herself in the battle against Gaea.

          Percy quietly got up. He pulled on a sweatshirt before he made his way to the fire escape. Sliding up the window he stepped outside. The moonlace plant Calypso had given him glowed brightly in the moonlight. He carefully dug up the original flower, the one the rest had eventually sprouted from. He cupped the small plant in his hands as he made his way down to the street. He walked to a small cemetery near his house. At the entrance he fished out a single gold drachma.

          *"Η θεά μου δίνει τη μετάβαση στην κοιλάδα των Ηρώων." Percy muttered the gates glowed briefly and Percy stepped through into a beautiful garden.

          The Valley of Heroes was a hidden graveyard of fallen demigods, where the souls who rested in Elysian got a small memorial so that for as long at their headstones were visited they would never fade. All uninvited mortals could see the specific headstones being visited but not the garden itself. One of the very few godly places that some mortals were permitted to enter.

          Scattered beneath the night sky were many intricate marble headstones. Percy made his way to the center, where the newest stones appear. Walking by he would stop to touch the headstones with names he recognized; Silena Beauregard, Michael Yew, Bianca Di' Angelo and so many more of his friends. Finally he reached one near the very center of the garden, made from white marble, silver vein running through the smooth stone. He ran his fingers over the words engraved in both ancient greek and english.

Annabeth Chase

July 12 1993 - August 1 2012

Hero of Olympus

She never took the easy answer, even if it got her in serious trouble

          Resting on the tombstone was a replica of her favorite dagger, the Mark of Athena coin and several photographs of her with various camp friends. Percy noticed her father's Harvard ring as well. Her mortal family must have visited the enchanted graveyard. Percy dug a small hole in front of the headstone, carefully planting the silver flower. He poured a little nectar over the plant and watched as it perked up, the silver glow casting small shadows on the tombstone. He rested his forehead against the cold stone; allowing the tears he'd held back all day to fall down his cheeks. In the empty cemetery, surrounded by only the dead, the greatest hero of the age allowed his defences to fall.

*Goddess grant me passage to the Valley of Heroes