#that dialogue at the end is percy trying to help annabeth while she panics btw

[stanning-reyna]

This is Annabeth's pov during the scene on Mount Othrys in ttc. Not exactly canon-compliant because I don't actually remember what happened that well lmao

. . .

Arms wrapped around her, constraining her body. She tried to break away, desperate to reach Luke. If she could just get over there, she could convince Thalia to let him go. Then everything would be ok.

“Luke!” she screamed, her voice raw and scratchy. Thalia turned her head to the noise. Annabeth could see the storm gathering in her eyes, dark and thrashing, twisting through the rest of her body.

Annabeth knew who the burning rage was directed at.

Luke was on his knees, the palms of his hands pressed into the dirt of the ground as he knelt. She saw the dread on his face, so palpable that her face began to mimic his; eyes scrunched in fear, mouth drawn tense. Seeing him like this felt like a gun was aimed at her head. Someone was ready to take her out in a moment’s notice, ready to wreck Luke without so much as a warning.

Annabeth lunged forward again, her hands tearing at the arms around her body. It was no use, they stayed glued to her like an adhesive.

“It’s going to be ok,” he whispered into her ear. It was Percy’s voice beside her. His words seemed to cover her ear like honey, part of her wanting to scrape it away with her hand, the other part desperate to let it flow over the rest of her. His presence was soft. She knew she could relax into his arms right now and let her surroundings fade away. He’d let her do that, he’d hold her and whisper calming things into her ear and not care that she had just been fighting him off or that she had been trying to stop Thalia from killing the enemy.

But Luke was still kneeling across the mountaintop from them, his tired form knowingly at the mercy of Thalia. The storm in her hadn’t ceased. If anything it was picking up speed, waves radiating off her, each one resulting in Luke lowering his face farther towards the ground. Annabeth saw everything in him; the fear, the dread, the agony. She couldn’t sit here and let him go through that, no matter what he had done to her. He was her family.

The past few days, being around Luke again, eating meals with him and just being with him and doing all the things they used to do together, it reminded Annabeth that he still mattered to her. That she couldn’t give up on him just because he had made mistakes. Things could still go back to the ways they used to be, she just needed to reach Thalia and stop her from ruining any chance of that.

But first she had to get out of Percy’s grasp. He hadn’t budged the entire time she spent resisting him earlier, likely because her body was still weakened from holding up the sky and he outmatched her in strength at the moment. But surely he’d let her go if she’d calmed down, right? Percy wasn’t going to hold her here all night. It was worth a shot.

Annabeth tried her best to relax her muscles, which were corded like rope under her skin, but the adrenaline coursing through her veins wouldn’t let it happen. In defeat she shifted her body in Percy’s grasp, turning to face him. His eyes were glued to where she’d been looking just moments earlier, at Luke, but his face gave away nothing about what may be happening behind her. Annabeth didn’t have the time to turn back and look if she wanted to keep Luke safe.

She focused on Percy’s eyes, the same sea green resembling a soft ocean breeze as always, knowing it would calm her. It did. Between the strong, secure arms wrapped around her and the familiar face, her muscles let themselves loosen ever so slightly. She tried her best to steady her breathing too. Luke will be fine, she assured herself. Thalia will let him go and then everything will be fine.

She called out his name. Percy didn’t hear her over the shouting that was now coming from behind. Annabeth could make out Luke’s voice, finally yelling back at a raging Thalia. It made her yearn to get free from Percy and throw herself into the situation. She had to intercept Thalia.

“Percy,” she tried again, tugging on his arm.

Now he noticed, looking down at her with wide eyes.

“I’m good now,” she spoke, trying to untangle herself from him.

He loosened his grip, letting her do what she wanted. She went to step away from him, but he wouldn't move the last arm wrapped firmly around her waist, despite her attempts to shimmy out of it.

"Grover's waiting down the mountain. We should go find him," Percy said.

He kept his tone perfectly even, but she could see his eyes flicking between her and the scene of Luke. He knew Annabeth too well. He'd already guessed that her next move was to run to the two demigods, and he wouldn't be letting that happen.

Percy didn't understand the situation like she did. Even though he seemed more tame than Thalia at the moment, Annabeth knew he wouldn't hesitate to hold Luke at his mercy exactly like the daughter of Zeus was doing right now. Neither of them understood. They couldn't see beyond Luke as their enemy, couldn't see that they didn't need to kill him. That they could save him instead.

A hand cupped her cheek. Percy's. Once more the option of his comfort was laid before her, highlighted by his soft eyes and strong arm that held her steady as winds hurled at them from where Thalia stood, summoning a storm. Her legs threatened to give out just for the sake of knowing Percy would catch her if they did. Her head wanted to loll to the side just to feel him hold it in his palm. Before she knew it her body was doing exactly that, Percy holding her exhausted form that leaned against him.

"We're gonna go find Grover," he said into her ear as he began moving them away from Luke and Thalia and off the mountaintop, practically carrying half of Annabeth's body weight. No! she wanted to scream. But someone beat her to it.

She used all of her remaining strength to turn her body to face where Luke's voice had rung out from. Her eyes found the man just as he stumbled off the edge of the mountaintop, his balance stolen by a blow from Thalia's sword. The daughter of Zeus stood watching as his figure disappeared below.

Someone had gutted Annabeth with a kitchen knife, letting her organs inch out of her body into a bloody and gory heap on the dirt ground. That's how she felt.

"Are you alright?"

Luke, the person who took care of her when she was a sick little kid, when she was injured by a monster, when she cried about Thalia or her dad or anything, was gone. Dead or fatally injured. She hadn't been able to save him.

"Hey, look at me."

She had been so close. She'd been only feet away from where Thalia did it. She should have ran for it, should have yelled at them, should have overpowered Percy to get there. If she'd have been using her brains more today, if she'd have just done better, he'd still be here.

"Deep breathes, okay?"

Now what was she going to do? She'd been counting on Luke coming back, repenting of what he'd done and returning to Camp. It's the thing that had kept her going on days when she couldn't get the image of her father's perfect family, the one without her, out of her mind. The nights when she was the only one in her cabin because everyone else had homes to go back to and she felt so alone. She'd been trusting in Luke to save her from that.

"Please look at me Beth."

Now what was she going to do.