She was falling. Falling into a black hole. Falling into nothingness. No noise, no movement. She was just falling.

Then it all came into focus. The battle raging all around her. The bodies on the ground, lying in pools of blood. The noise of swords clinking against swords. The flashes of light reflecting off battle armor. The cries of her friends, wounded by the enemy.

This is where she was. Lying in her own pool of blood, the pain in her side making her want to fade back to unconsciousness. The pain was like someone stabbing you, again and again. It was like being thrown into a fire, your whole body burning, just waiting for someone to come and put it out. The blood was still flowing, but her heartbeat was slowing.

Then she saw him.

He was making his way towards her, a sorrowful, shocked expression on his face. And then she heard his voice.

“NO!!! NO, THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING!!! NOOOO!!!” Then he was beside her, pulling her into his arms.

“No! I’m going to save you, I promise!” He said, tears running down his face, she could hear it in his voice.

That’s when she knew she was dying. Too much blood had been lost, and there was much more that was still flowing out of her, staining her clothes. Staining his clothes.

He looked down at her unfocused eyes, seeing that she was still alive. “You can’t leave me, not now.” He said. He held her close to his body.

Then he picked her up and started running. He ran and ran, dodging all the swords, and the monsters, and all the battles raging around them, until he was at the ocean, carefully laying her in the shallow water at the edge of the beach. Concentrating, he willed the water to flow through him, to the girl, healing her.

And yet, it wasn’t enough. Her heartbeat was still slowing, and her eyes were fluttering closed, leaving him to scream and yell and cry until that one moment. That one moment where she tried to keep her eyes open, to get one last look at him before she went to wherever she was going.

“I love you Seaweed Brain.” She said, her eyes fluttering closed, her last breath escaping her body, her heart stopping in its ongoing rhythm, one silent tear running down her cheek.

“I love you too Wise Girl.” Percy said, tears running down his face, never stopping. “I love you too Annabeth.”