In Tartarus. Saddish... Well, it is sad at first but then it's happier.

Percy took ragged breaths, his lungs burning from the rancid air of Tartarus. Everything hurt, really. His legs were sore from traveling, he had a sword wound in his gut, and even moving his eyes was exhausting as he scoured in the dark for Annabeth.

She wasn't that far away, laying on her side with her face towards him. She wasn't any better off than he was, her ankle had been broken again, she had several cuts down her face, and she too had a wound on her stomach. Percy doubted they'd live much longer, he didn't think they'd make it out of Tartarus anyway, but it still hurt him to see Annabeth in pain.

He dragged himself a few inches towards her, his shirt become even warmer as his blood soaked into it, but he didn't care. He was going to die anyway. Annabeth looked towards him when he finally collapsed just a foot or so away from her, and pulled herself to his side. Her ankle burned, but she ignored it.

The monsters that had left them like this were gone, probably thinking that their prey was dead, but more would come. For once, Annabeth was praying to every deity that they'd die quickly, and not succumb to being eaten whole by a monster.

Tears were rolling down Percy's face now, turning red as they picked up traces of his blood. The salt got in his wounds and stung, but that was the least of the pain he was going through.

"I'm sorry..." Annabeth said quietly, taking one of her last deep breaths before coughing. Percy didn't think he could respond, but managed to croak out: "Why?"

"It's my fault. If you had just let me go-"

"You know I could never do that..." Percy was forcing his eyes open, the feeling of exhaustion overtaking him. Annabeth stayed silent, looking at him with grief in her grey eyes. He knew she thought that if he hadn't fallen into Tartarus with her, he'd be alive right now. But she'd be dead, since she couldn't have survived the fall, and Percy knew he wouldn't be able to handle that.

They didn't speak any longer, maybe for the fear that a monster would come and gobble them up immediately, or maybe because their voices had simply stopped working. But eventually, Percy could feel it was a matter of seconds. Annabeth was already on the verge of dying, and she had more wounds than he did. With his remaining strength, Percy wrapped his arm around her and pulled her to him, kissing her forehead as the numbness overtook his body. Annabeth went limp first, her last breath rattling out of her chest, and Percy followed soon after.

***

Percy had imagined how it felt to die, but never did he see it like this. He'd thought about it several times before, but always seen it as being full of pain and misery as he left the mortal world. But no, not this time. This time, he knew Annabeth would be waiting for him, and a sense of finality secured itself in his chest. Finally, he was through with helping the gods on their little quests, he could be with Annabeth forever.

He knew it was selfish, but he was glad that he'd died. Even if it meant that the rest of the seven would have to journey alone. To be honest, he was just tired. Tired of the wars he'd been through, tired of how many times he'd almost died, and above all; tired of every single second of his life, things trying to rip Annabeth away from him.

He got a 'Skip the Line' pass to the judges, which he associated with his saving Olympus many times. The judges barely glanced over his past before ruling him worthy of Elysium or Rebirth, something he was glad of. One of them mentioned something like: "Matter of minutes apart, those two. They're the special ones Lord Hades told us about." Which reassured him. It must have meant Annabeth had already been judged, and he had no doubt that she was in Elysium right now. She could have chosen Rebirth, he was sure, but he doubted she would have. He turned down the offer straight away.

She was, as soon as he stepped into Elysium, he saw her sitting with some friends he was glad to see. Silena and Beckandorf waved at him, their white tee shirts and jeans out of place amongst some of the older people's togas. He wore the same thing, and immediately went to sit beside Annabeth. He'd only seen her less than thirty minutes before, but to see her covered in bruises and other wounds was much different to seeing her smiling and talking with their friends. Everyone in Elysium had a glow to them, but to Percy, Annabeth's was the brightest.

***

Nico felt their death immediately, stopping in the middle of his sentence as the feeling rocked through him. Tears almost came to his eyes, and he sought out Hazel who was looking at him in confusion. She'd felt it, but it wasn't as strong as it was for him.

"Nico? Is everything alright?" Jason asked, leaning back in his chair. They were still talking about plans, not that they'd need it very much now. Nico, swallowed.

"Annabeth," He said, watching as Hazel suddenly looked stricken. He wasn't sure how he knew, but had a feeling that he'd be able to distinguish her death from Percy's immediately. The others looked confused.

"What about her? Did you remember something?" Piper asked, cocking her head to the side. Hazel was trying to hold back her tears, failing miserably.

"She's... dead." Nico elaborated morosely, running his fingers through his hair, "I just felt it. She's gone." Everyone was silent.

"She..." Piper shook her head, "Are you sure?"

"Positive." Nico nodded, looking out over the water. Leo met his eyes before looking down at the table when Piper suddenly stood and walked away. She didn't want them to see her cry. Jason followed, his steps tired and sluggish.

"Percy... He won't be able to..." Frank buried his face into Hazel's mane of hair as he held her. Nico knew he was right, and chose to ignore the fact that the boy was holding his sister. Leo swallowed several times, looking out over the water.

"We have to get them." He decided. Nico glanced over at him, his fingers drumming on the table.

"What?" He asked, "They're as good as dead, we can't-"

"Their bodies." Leo responded, turning his eyes towards Nico. Nico didn't think he'd ever seen the son of Hephaestus look so sad, "We have to bring their bodies back. Back to their family."

A wave crashed over Nico at the moment Leo said 'bodies'. Percy was gone too. At the moment, he felt like curling into a ball and sobbing his eyes out, but didn't. He stayed strong and silent.

"How can we? It's impossible." Nico reminded him, "I'm not going back into that place anytime soon."

Leo pursed his lips, then squeezed his eyes shut in a grimace, "I don't know, Nico!" He said through gritted teeth, "Get your dad! I'll freaking dive into the pit myself! We just have to!" Leo insisted. Nico knew that Leo was quite found of Annabeth behind the fact that he was slightly scared of her. The two were the only ones one deck who could comprehend the workings of the Argo II, they were bound to become friends at some point with all the hours spent together working on the ship. And he also knew that Leo and Percy were like two peas in a pod. They pretty much hit it off immediately after Percy got over the whole 'bombing New Rome' thing.

And he was willing to bet Leo felt guilty as well. He hadn't been there to guide the ship for a long time, maybe if he'd come aback quicker... Maybe they'd have time to save Percy and Annabeth. Nico felt the need to reassure him.

"We'll figure something out. My dad... Well, he'd never admit it, but he respected Percy. Percy has saved Olympus so many times... I'm sure he'll retrieve their bodies. It wouldn't be hard, if he could snap back into himself for a few minutes. All he'd have to do is snap his fingers..."

Leo nodded, standing. His eyes looked over the sea again, "So Percy is dead too?" He said for clarification. Nico almost winced, but hid it with a nod. Leo rubbed his eyes, stalking off towards where Jason and Piper had disappeared to.

***

The Seven got special permission to say goodbye to their friends. They'd saved the world, after all. It was the very least the gods could do. After a Titan had promised Percy he'd snap the chains holding the doors, the Seven had been able to fix the whole 'Doors of Death' thing easily.

Every god/goddess in the throne room had agreed to rest of the Seven seeing their friends. Especially Athena and Poseidon, who both looked awful. Athena's eyes were filled with guilt, while Posiedon's irises that were the same color green of Percy's were devoid. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked a hundred years older than usual. Athena, who looked so much like her daughter, would not meet the gazes of anyone in the rest of the Seven.

***

When everyone filed into the room in Olympus that was used to set up this little meeting, Piper and Hazel almost immediately sunk to the floor. They were no doubt thinking of how the god of the sea and the goddess of wisdom were so alike to their children. Leo felt like sinking to his knees as well, but stood tall while they waited.

Ten minutes later, long after Piper and Hazel had stood with their eyes rimmed in red, Percy and Annabeth appeared in front of them. They both wore white tee shirts and jeans, their faces clean of exhaustion and pain, and their eyes bright. Percy's hands were in his pockets, his lopsided grin firm on his face, while Annabeth stood with her arms crossed and her small smile clearing over her features.

"Hey guys." Percy said, looking around the group, "You look awful." There were some dispersed chuckles as Annabeth smacked his arm, "Ouch! I'm dead and your punch still hurts!"

Leo laughed, trying to hide the fact that he was about to cry. "You should remember that too!" Annabeth raised her eyebrows at her boyfriend. He grinned.

"It's so good to see you two again." Jason said tearfully, shaking his head. Percy put his hand on his chest, pretending that he was touched.

"I knew you loved me, Grace." He said, fanning his face. Jason laughed, giving the two a tight smile.

Piper had tears rolling down her cheeks, "We miss you..." She closed her eyes, her voice cracking, "It was hard to win against Gaea without our best strategist and our water expert."

"That's touching, but you guys held your own awfully well." Annabeth pointed out.

"Because we found some of your old plans..." Leo muttered, but Annabeth didn't seem to hear him, or she chose to ignore that statement.

"I'm glad we haven't seen any of you guys here yet." Percy pointed to each of them, "And we better not anytime soon. Even though it's a blast here, you guys deserve long lives."

"So do you two." Frank frowned and Percy looked at him sadly.

"We've been through a lot... It was actually kind of nice to die..." Percy shrugged, "I still wish that we'd have lived longer, though. Don't take life for granted." Leo noticed how Percy said 'we'd love longer' instead of 'I', like it was crazy to think of him living without Annabeth.

Their forms flickered, and Hazel and Nico, the only ones to have remained silent through this, spoke over each other in their hurry.

"We lo-"

"I was glad to-"

They paused, looking at each other, and Percy and Annabeth laughed.

"I was glad to have met you two." Nico nodded, looking at them both. His gaze soon went back to the floor, however, "You bodies... They were retrieved and sent back to Camp. Your funeral is tomorrow." Everything Percy and Annabeth did they did it together, so their funerals were even merged.

"We love you." Hazel said, leaning into Frank's side. Percy and Annabeth barely had time to say goodbye before they disappeared.

Leo was glad they'd seen the two happy and together, otherwise, he wasn't sure the crew could get out of the mood they'd been in. Now, hopefully things would be as normal as it could be without the two best friends anyone could ever ask for.

But even then, Leo knew, they'd all remember Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase for as long as they lived, and even after.