I Could've Saved Her

I could've saved her.

I could've kept her from falling down and out of my reach.

I could've helped her as she wandered alone.

But I didn't. My beloved Wise Girl had fallen into Tartarus alone. She had to walk through the home of the monsters to find the Doors of Death by herself. She would face many creatures even unbeknownst to me. How she found the strength to do so makes me love her almost even more than I already do.

I remember I had reached my hand out, trying to grab her as she fell into the depths in the chamber of Arachne. Our fingers met, and I tried to hold on. But her hand slipped before we could hold on. She yelled my name as she fell, and then the rest of the Seven turned their heads and rushed over. It was too late - Annabeth was down there without a weapon. I searched the area quickly, hoping to find something I could throw down to help her, but I had nothing.

"Annabeth!" I called out, reaching out my arm and hand. She clung onto a ledge with the tips of her right fingers, lifting her other hand to try to reach me. I pulled myself closer to the edge, and brushing my fingers against hers.

Annabeth tried to hold on, but her right hand slipped off the ledge, sending her plummeting downward. "Percy!" she yelled, her once fierce gray eyes now in panic.

I realized that she didn't have any weapon. I turned my head around frantically just as Jason and Piper rushed over. There were worn weapons, useless ones against the many monsters she may face in Tartarus. "Throw her a sword or dagger!" I ordered, my command in a high and strained voice.

Frank blinked. "Percy, we need our weapons too - "

"My Wise Girl is falling into hell!" I interrupted. "Help her!"

Jason lowered his gaze, running a hand through his blonde hair. "Percy, I don't think we can save her at this rate. She's gone. She'll wander through Tartarus alone."

Desperate, I ran to the edge, almost jumping over to join her, but Nico held me back. "You're a part of the Seven, Percy. We need you here." The pale-skinned boy's eyes were filled with apology and sympathy, but I didn't need that. I needed Annabeth back.

"She's a part of the Seven too! We need her - "

"She has her own part to fulfill," Nico murmured. "She is going to take the Doors of Death for us."

That night, I let myself cry with tears streaming down my face until there were no more for me to let out. Then I cried more, this time with my voice with yells of anguish and distress. No one could sleep that night with a pained and crying member, and I do take fault in that. Piper and Hazel had to come in, Hazel trying her best to assure me. When I continued to cry, Piper had to charmspeak me into falling into the realm of sleep.

I dreamed of Annabeth, tackling the giant spider that was her mother's enemy by herself, and then charging off with the speed of lightning. She soon found empousai, the literal female vampires I had met before. She followed them sneakily, and then they found her. Wise Girl had a plan though, and tricked them into keeping her alive. But now, they were going to use her for Gaea's plan.

Before I could find more about how my girlfriend was doing, my eyes blinked open to sunlight.

I could've saved her.

I could've kept her from falling down and out of my reach.

I could've helped her as she wandered alone.

But I didn't. My beloved Wise Girl had fallen into Tartarus alone.

The journey on the Argo II continued, and then we reached the other side of the Doors of Death. I had high hopes - that Annabeth would finally come back. But instead of seeing her, I saw a Titan with the name-tag reading "Bob". I quickly recalled I had erased a Titan's memory and renamed him.

"Where's Annabeth?" I pleaded. "I need to see her, Bob. Please, tell me that she's alive."

The Titan blinked as he turned his head to the sky. "Percy, friend of Percy has... she is... I don't know what has exactly happened to her."

I balled my fists as tears started to burn at the edges of my eyes. "What do you mean that you don't know?" I asked. "She must have survived, she must have!"

Bob shook his head. "She was fighting Tartarus - an embodiment of the primordial - with Damasen. She told me to go and tell you that she loves you and wants you to move on, to save the world."

I blinked, a tear rolling down my right cheek. "No, she's not dead. She's going to come back any moment - "

"Say hello to the sun, stars, skies, and seas for her, she said," he murmured. "Because she'll never get to see any of them again."

Annabeth Chase had died a hero - that much we knew. She sacrificed herself to let a friendly Titan come as another ally and may not have even made her way to Eslysium. I swore on River Styx that I will never love another the way I loved her - and I still keep by it.

We had managed to save the world, but Annabeth wasn't there with me as we rejoiced the defeat of Gaea. She wasn't there to finish school or attend college.

I could've saved her.

I could've kept her from falling down and out of my reach.

I could've helped her as she wandered alone.

But I didn't. My beloved Wise Girl had fallen into Tartarus alone.

Two months after her death, I visited Camp Half-Blood and asked Chiron if I could make a memorial for the hero we never heard the last words from. He agreed, leaving the task to the children of Athena. I asked the cabin to make some gravestone, probably with an owl. They did so, and later that day presenting a tablet about the size of my torso with the words engraved:

Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena

Sacrificed herself to open the Doors of Death

Beloved by many

Rest in Eslysium

There was also an owl carved at the top with some fancy swirls, and I placed it nearby the lake, where we had our underwater kiss. Now all would remember the sacrifice she made.

But I could've saved her.

I could've kept her from falling down and out of my reach.

I could've helped her as she wandered alone.

But I didn't. My beloved Wise Girl had fallen into Tartarus alone.

Eight years have passed since she had died alone in the depths of Tartarus. I still held onto what I remembered of her, yet I couldn't remember the smallest details about her - the exact shade of her hair or her gray eyes, the sound of her laugh. I couldn't remember the things I took for granted.

And then was the day I decided to visit Camp Half-Blood again to visit our memorial for her - a gray stone with the carving of an owl. I missed her terribly.

"What's that?" the voice of a young girl came from behind me, and I turned around. She had blonde hair and gray eyes, the same facial expression that Annabeth had whenever she had a question to be answered. She was roughly seven years old, I think, probably a new member to camp.

"This is the gravestone of my... girlfriend," I replied, feeling the tears coming back. "She died alone where only one other saw her. I could've saved her; I could've kept her from falling down and out of my reach; I could've helped her as she wandered alone. But I didn't. My beloved Wise Girl had fallen into Tartarus alone."

The blonde girl blinked her eyes at me, and I almost thought I saw Annabeth again. "I... I don't know much about what it's like," she admitted, and I didn't think she would know. She was a young girl, after all. "But... she must have loved you and wanted you to move on. She probably wanted you to say hello to the sun, stars, skies, and seas for her when she can never see them again."

I tried to figure out why that sounded so familiar, and then I realized those were the exact words Bob had told me. "What's your name?" I asked the blonde.

She quickly answered, "I'm Annabelle Chadwick, and I'm eight years old."

Eight years had passed since Annabeth had died in the depths of Tartarus. Annabelle's name was too close to Wise Girl's, but could it be that she is back?

"I'm Percy Jackson," I introduced.

I could've saved Annabeth.

I could've kept her from falling down and out of my reach.

I could've helped her as she wandered alone.

But I didn't. My beloved Wise Girl had fallen into Tartarus alone - but there was still a piece of her left inside of Annabelle Chadwick.

Prompt: A Tragic Parting

Word Count: 1,582 words

A/N: Yes, I get that the constant lines may sound like an excuse to up the word count, but it's also to show that Percy is blaming himself over and over for Annabeth's death. And for those thinking he sounds out of character, think about how his fatal flaw is personal loyalty. He's bound to be sort of clingy. And, that's all I have left to say.

Signing out,

~Lauren