Harry

The silence was only broken by Thalia's crying. Percy was silent on the chair. He was staring at Annabeth. A single tear rolled down his cheek followed by another, then another. Soon, he too had tears dripping down his cheeks. Hermione and Ginny had their hands over their mouths, eyes welling with tears. Ron and I had our arms around them for comfort. Professor McGonagall had left the hospital wing a while ago leaving us with some privacy.

Thalia finally managed to bring her sobs under control and faced us. "Come on guys, let's- let's give h-him some space." We all knew that by him she meant Percy.

We nodded numbly and followed her outside. As she was closing the door behind us, I saw Percy rake Annabeth's limp hand in his and whisper something to her, knowing that she won't be able to hear him.

***

It was quiet. The silence was anything but comforting. It was an uncomfortable and depressed silence.

We were sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room before bed as usual. It was empty and no one else was there. Everyone else was in bed. Unlike other days where we would sit in a circle and crack stupid jokes or have small arguments, today, we were sitting there not knowing what to do, making small talk occasionally.

We talked a bit about classes, potions, Herbology. Anything but what had happened today.

We laughed occasionally because of things Ron might say but our hearts weren't in it.

Percy was the one who was affected the most. He just stared off into space. He hadn't opened his mouth once since we sat down.

"Guys, we- we need to tell you something." Thalia said, breaking the ice. She nudged Percy, softer than her usual standards, causing him to turn around to face her warily.

"You were right. About us being demigods." She said. "I'm a daughter of Zeus. Percy's a son of Poseidon and..." She glanced at Percy worriedly before continuing. "And Annabeth was a daughter of-"

"Athena." Percy finished.

Then Thalia launched into a story. Of how she, a guy named Luke and Annabeth had been runaways and found Grover the Satyr. How they found Camp Half Blood and how she turned into a tree.

Percy took it from there unwillingly. He explained what happened when he was twelve. His voice cracked when he reached the part where he met Annabeth for the first time. How she had said "You drool when you sleep" before running off. He explained how when he was thirteen, he got the Golden Fleece and resurrected Thalia from her tree state. Then Thalia explained how they had to go on a quest. How two girls, Zoë and Bianca had died on that quest. How she had taken up the offer of being a Huntress of Artemis. They told us about the battle of the Labyrinth. How Percy was stranded in an island with a girl named Calypso, about Didaelous and the labyrinth and a muggle girl named Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Then they told us about the battle of Manhattan. The second Titan War. Luke's sacrifice, Percy refusing immortality and how Percy and Annabeth finally got together. As Thalia talked about this, Percy's face remained blank but a tear slid down his cheek. Noticing this, Thalia hurried on.

She talked about the Giant War which was even worse than the Titan War. The seven of the prophecy: Percy, Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, Leo, Jason and Piper. Percy's disappearance. Gaia. Tartarus. Bob and Damasen. The doors of Death. The final Battle.

"...and that's it. End of our story," Thalia concluded. An awed silence followed her words.

There's only so much a person can take and by what I had just heard, these teenagers had crossed the line.

"How did- how did you- how did you go through all that?" Hermione stammered. "I mean, we've been on our fair share of adventures but what you've done is- it's just..." It was rare for Hermione to be left tongue tied.

Percy laughed humourlessly. "We're just the gods' pawns. There's nothing special about us." He paused. "The fates are cruel. After all that...when I finally thought it was going to be okay. No more wars, just living a normal life...then they just had to take her away from me." He whispered bitterly.

After a moment of silence, he got up. "I'm going to bed." He announced before going up the boys dormitory.

"That's why they have PTSD. Because of Tartarus." Thalia said. "And now that Annabeth's gone, I don't know how...he...Percy...it's..." Thalia started sobbing uncontrollably again.

Hermione and Ginny left their seats and sat on either side of her.

"Hey, it's alright." Ginny said in comfort.

"She's not gone you know. There's still a chance for her to survive." Hermione added.

Thalia raised her tear streaked face. "When you live in my world for a while, you'd stop believing in chances and luck. Heroes never have happy endings. That's the way it was since the ancient times. We'll never have our happily ever after."

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