A Fatal Flaw Has Nothing On A Broken Heart (Percy Jackson Fanfiction)

II Annabeth

Here's the update I promised! There'll be an A/N at the bottom. Enjoy!
Annabeth walked out of Percy's cabin with a worried look on her face. Walking across the hall, she opened the door to her room and sat down at her desk. Absentmindedly, she spun herself slowly on the chair, lost in thought. She was sacred for Percy honestly. He seemed to be taking Tartarus hard. Not that he shouldn't, they had been through literal hell and back. If that wasn't enough to shake someone up, then Annabeth didn't know what was. But still... He seemed different. Quicker to anger, easy to surprise, and he didn't joke around much anymore either. He was more reserved and serious. The part that scared her the most though, was a moment from Tartarus, and almost as if just thinking about the place brought her back, she plunged into a flashback.

"Poison," Percy said. "That's your specialty, right?" Annabeth watch horrified as the flood of venom rolled towards the goddess, the fumes making her cough. Then her eyes began to water. Akhyls gagged. "I-" The tide of venom reached her feet, sizzling like droplets on a hot iron. She wailed and stumbled back.

Annabeth finally found her voice and called out, "Percy!" She'd retreated to the edge of the cliff, even though the poison wasn't coming towards her. Annabeth knew she sounded terrified, but she couldn't help it. Percy was killing someone. In cold blood. He was drowning them, choking them, in their own bodily fluids. Percy was controlling poison. It was unnatural, wrong, and to see Percy almost enjoying it like this was awful to watch. "Stop..." She pleaded, her voice hoarse.

Annabeth didn't care how desperate she sounded anymore. Percy wasn't stopping. He just stood there, while behind him Misery was choking on her own tears. "Percy, please..." She tried again. Slowly, Annabeth saw the anger leave Percy's eyes. He turned to the goddess and willed the poison to recede, creating a small path of retreat along the edge of the cliff.

"Leave!" He bellowed. Akhyls scrambled back along the path, wailing as she went.

Annabeth snapped back to reality from an insistent knock on her door. She called a 'come in' and the door opened to reveal Jason and Percy. Jason stepped in hurriedly, Percy following a pace behind. She saw the worry lines etched onto Jason's face and immediately knew something was wrong.

"What is it?" She asked, and not a second after the words had left her mouth Jason replied,

"Percy. It's his eyes. We were talking-" he glanced back at Percy quickly and hesitated. "Well, I was talking, and he got mad. Really mad. He was yelling at me and his eyes turned red, and for a second..." He trailed off.

"What?" Annabeth insisted. "'For a second' what?" She was really starting to worry now. She didn't like the anxiousness reflected in Jason's eyes. He took a deep breath and continued.

"For a second, it was like he wanted to hurt me. I mean, I know we've had our quarrels in the past, but... This was different. He was staring at me with pure hatred. It was... Unnerving to say the least. I don't know." Jason sighed deeply. "I thought maybe you might know what was wrong. Something from... from Tartarus." The last two words came out as barely more than a whisper, yet hung over the three like a storm cloud. Cold, oppressive, and dark.

From behind Jason, Percy squirmed nervously. "Hey man, I'm sorry, again. I don't really know what happened, one second I was fine, the next I was just really really mad." Annabeth took a deep breath in and out, hoping to calm her nerves.

"Percy, I need you to tell me." Annabeth started slowly, "Did you feel anything just before you got mad?" She watched Percy's face scrunch up in concentration, before relaxing again.

"Yeah actually. It was like a sudden coldness sort of washed over me I guess. But it was only for about half a second,
another second later I got angry. But, I might've imagined it. I mean, it was gone so fast it might not have been real." Annabeth's heart dropped. It couldn't be eidolons... Could it? She addressed both of the boys now.

"You don't think... Eidolons, maybe?" Percy paled considerably.

"Oh heck no! I do not want to be possessed again!" He replied with some heat. Annabeth shook her head.

"The problem is that we already banished the three eidolons that were causing havoc. Plus, whenever you guys got possessed last time your eyes turned gold, not red."

Jason thought for a moment. "Maybe these eidolons are even stronger..." Then revised his sentence as he saw the pained look on Percy's face. "Or weaker than the other ones. They're probably weaker." Percy sighed.

"This is frustrating. Why can't Gaia just leave us alone!" At that moment Percy's eyes glowed red and an evil smile crept across his face. "Hello children." he spoke again. Although this time his voice was harsher. It was a slow rasp that gave her goosebumps. Annabeth and Jason both gasped and backed up. Annabeth was shaking her head. Nononononono! she thought What's happening!? Then Percy's eyes reverted back to their normal shade of green and he took a shaky breath. A horrified look came into his eyes and he stared down at his hands.

"What..." he mumbled to himself. Annabeth walked up to him and took his hands in her own.

"Percy... it's okay. Can you tell me what happened?" She asked softly. Percy lifted his face to meet her gaze and his eyes bored into hers. Eventually, he spoke.

"Annabeth... I-I could see it happening. I could see and feel and hear everything, but I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything. And... I could hear her in my mind Annabeth. Laughing. I could hear her." Annabeth swallowed back the lump in her throat.

"Who Percy?" she asked, although she was sure she already knew.

"It was her Annabeth. It was Gaia."

Heyo! *dodges tomatoes* Okay, okay, I know that was harsh, but it was necessary. Plus, it gets worse. *nervous laughter* yeah.... Well anyways, next update probably next week. The only problem is that I'm trying to get my portfolio together for OCSA for creative writing and that's pretty hard. It has to be my best work and I have to write a short story to a prompt and I've never been the best at prompts. I kinda just like writing whatever I think of, not what someone else thinks of (unless its fanfiction, but then I change the plot so yeah.) Anyways, BYEEEEE!!!!!

-RangerLizzyTreaty48