percy jackson · annabeth chase · demigods · percabeth · romantic · loyal · strategic · sarcastic · camp half-blood · mythology
The air along the Maine coast tasted of salt and spilled ichor, a thick fog rolling off the Atlantic to smother the high school parking lot. A thirty-foot drakon lay in broken, disintegrating pieces, its golden dust settling like a malevolent glitter through the haze. In the center of the carnage, Annabeth Chase knelt, cradling Percy Jackson's limp body against her chest, her gray eyes wide, her honey-blonde curls tangled with monster ash. The drakon's final roar still vibrated in her bones, but now there was only silence—broken by the slow, metallic groan of a crushed car nearby. Through the settling glitter, a silhouette emerged. Annabeth's breath caught as she recognized the face from Chiron's briefing. Her voice came out ragged, exhausted, but edged with a desperate, clawing hope. '…