Nico was pressed against the trunk of the tree. Another, much larger man had him held down. The sounds had come from Nico. I realized with a loud squeak what exactly I had walked in on.

Nico's eyes widened as he recognized my presence and struggled underneath the man. He somehow managed to push him off and jumped away from the man as though he was the plague.

I cleared my throat as Nico hurriedly patted down his hair and straightened his clothing. I glanced at the other man before realizing with a startle that it was Will.

"Urgent business, huh?" I teased Nico who's face had turned a bright red.

"I-uh-I-we," Nico stuttered, turning more red than I thought was humanly possible.

"It's fine, Nico. You might want to be a little quieter, though. I could hear you from the camp," I laughed as Will blushed as well. "Well, back at it, you two. Do try to get some sleep, though. We have a big day tomorrow. Don't stay up all night doing 'urgent business'."

Nico groaned and Will laughed and I decided to quit my teasing and leave them alone.

The Next Day

"Jason! We get it already. We've gone over this plan fifty times. If we don't attack soon, this will have all been for naught. Let's go!" Hazel scolded, directing everyone to their position. Jason opened his mouth to argue, but obediently followed Hazel's orders.

I mounted my horse and found my troops lining up behind me. I saw the three flashes of light from my right, the signal to charge, and rode straight into the middle of the camp. My troops began setting things on fire and battling the enemy soldiers, who had been unprepared for an attack but quickly geared up.

I headed straight for the captain's tent. It was located at the far end of the camp, in an empty clearing. I slid off my horse and patted her on the head. The tent flap opened and an unfortunately familiar man stepped through.

"Ethan," I whispered. He grinned at me.

"Annabeth, what a pleasure to see you again, milady," he snarked, adding the extra milady to mock me.

"Get out of my way, Ethan. This doesn't concern you," I demanded, taking a step forward. He copied my action, reaching behind his back to place a hand on the hilt of his sword.

"Any matter concerning my captain concerns me, milady." I drew my sword as he drew his.

"If a fight is what you want, then that is what you shall get," I warned. He merely grinned and winked at me.

I lunged forward nicked his wrist, causing him to drop his sword. In an instant, I flipped him around and had my sword pressed against his neck. He stepped on my foot with the pointed heel of his shoe, forcing me to gasp in pain and weaken my hold. He slipped out with ease and grabbed his sword from the dirt. Just as he leapt up to lunge for me, he fell to the side and blood began to pool around his middle. I stared at him and noticed an arrow protruding from his chest.

"He's dead," I heard from my left. Frank stood next to me with a bow in his hands, staring at Ethan's body. I placed my hand on his shoulder. We'd both been hoping to minimize casualties.

"You did the right thing. Go, now. And be careful, Frank," I urged. He nodded at me and ran in the opposite direction to rejoin the fight.

I brushed the dirt from my trousers and stepped towards the tent. With a deep breath, I pushed open the tent flap. Luke was hunched over a desk, scribbling messy words down onto a piece of old parchment. He looked up as I entered.

"Annabeth?" he whispered. He had changed from the young man I'd remembered him as. The clean shaven, spoilt brat I'd known who'd tortured me to no end was not the person sitting in front of me. This Luke was tired. He had a thick layer of stubble coating his face and his hair had grown out long.

"That's right," I said. He stood up in a hurry and I flinched at the sudden movement. He noticed.

"Annabeth, please. I didn't want this. I never wanted this. I was wrong. I know that now. I was wrong," he pleaded. I lowered my sword, but kept it tight in my grip.

"You were wrong?" I asked, incredulous. "That's all you have to say for yourself? You suffocated me! You trapped me in your little controlling sphere and I had no way of getting out of it. Your lies, the things you did to me, I still have nightmares about it!"

His expression changed. Eyes lowered, head tilted to the side, mouth curved into a rueful smile. I'd seen that expression so many times before. I'd worn it myself. He pitied me. Fury bubbled up inside me, but I pressed it down.

"We can't change the past, Annabeth. But that doesn't mean it has to affect our future. Come closer. Please. I was forced into it by my adoptive father. Kronos made me do those things to you. That's not who I-" he never got to finish his words as blood gurgled out of his mouth. We looked down at the same time at the dagger stabbed through his middle. The weapon was quickly removed and he fell to floor, bleeding out freely. Behind him stood an old man. Kronos.

"Always too talkative that one. He really did like you. Shame. He would have been a great king. Before you ask, yes it's true. Everything he said. You would be the perfect prize. Perhaps I'll take you as my wife. Should I do that before or after I slaughter your soldiers?" he asked, stepping closer to me. I stood frozen in my place as he approached. "So young and beautiful. Perfect," he said, reaching out his hand to stroke my cheek.

The second his skin touched mine, the trance broke and I jumped away, swinging my sword up. Kronos chuckled darkly. "A fight for your affection, then?" he asked, laughing without an ounce of mirth, raising his dagger.

"I." A stab. A dodge. "Hate." Another stab. Another dodge. "You." A final swing, one too fast for him to avoid. One that sliced him in two almost clean pieces. I stuck my sword in the soil and pulled it out, the dirt wiping my blade clean of blood. "And you're dead to me." I spat upon his body and exited the tent.

"Kronos and Luke are dead!" I announced at the top of my lungs. The sounds of battle died down as those closest to me absorbed the information. Looking around, most of the enemy army was dead or dying. My own soldiers were tired and bleeding, but definitely more alive. Silently, I mounted a horse and rode back to the town, tears filling my vision as the emotional burden of the day overcame me.

….

7 years later

I swung the door open as a blur of energy pounced upon me. I stumbled a few steps back, almost falling off the porch. "Mommy! You're home! I missed you so so much. Daddy can't cook like you. I had to pretend to like his food, but don't tell him that," my daughter loudly whispered to me. I looked up with raised eyebrows at Percy who stood leaned against the doorframe. He shrugged with a smirk and opened his arms for a hug.

I put down the five year old and embraced my husband. He pressed a short kiss to my lips, to which the little girl squealed about cooties. "Emily and I missed you," he said.

"I missed you, too," I said, slipping my left hand into his right and holding onto Emily with my free hand. We entered the house together. We'd lived happily in peace ever since that fateful day. I'd suffered nightmares for a year following, but through support and counseling, I was living my best and happiest life. The kingdoms had made peace and I'd chosen to live in my paradise.

Emily bounced off to her room to find some art project she wanted to show me as Percy and I sat down on the couch. Percy lifted my feet onto his lap and rubbed them.

"How was your trip?" he asked.

"Pretty good. The construction is coming along as planned. I wasn't really needed, but they wanted me to stay in case any problems arose," I told him of my business trip to the new part of the town. Emily came back, curly black pigtails literally bouncing as she excitedly handed her painting to me.

I took it from her and smiled. In messy finger paint was a picture of me, Percy, and Emily, happily dancing in a meadow. I looked at my family sitting before me and sighed with contentment. After all that had happened, there was only one way to describe life. Perfect, just as it had always been meant to be.