A/N Okay… well, here we are at last, the final chapter. This one is dedicated to the ENIGMATIC PERSON who has been following this story for all the months I have taken to write it (as have a lot of you and I am so happy to have had you all) with extra-large cookies for:

BLACKPIGEON

BOOKDEVOURER52

ATHENA2000

HIBYE

TMELADYOFTARDIS

THEHUNTRESS101

CKIES

BOINGABOO

AJ GRACE

MINERVASTAR

ANGELSAPANSY

CSOUTHCBS0099

SOMEONE

I swear that you guys are eating me all out of cookies, but I will do a sequel soon, I promise!

Annabeth's PoV

Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

As I sit there, secluded in my mother's cabin once again, that is the only thought that keeps drifting through my mind, the only though that doesn't send pain shooting through the blank space of my heart once again.

Percy was innocent.

Percy was here.

And now he is gone, with no way for me to find him.

No one really knows what happened on the battlefield in the end. The gods had retreated to tend to the wounded, they were far too focused on maintaining the protective boundary of the camp to be able to watch the final battle after all. Still, it hurt not being able to understand what happened. All I knew was that, no one had seen Shade since the start of the fighting, or if they had, they were not talking about it. I would have asked Piper, but she had only stayed long enough to help me convince the gods of Percy's innocence before leaving for the void. It had broken Aphrodite's heart, but there had been no arguing the matter.

Not long after the fighting had finished, Ice and Karma had been found, buried underneath a cliff on the sea edge that had crumbled and crushed them. They were both still alive, no one knew how, but they were, and that was why Piper had had to return so soon. They needed care that could not be provided here, so she and Lily had dragged them home as soon as they possibly could.

Now all that was left was me. Back where it all started all those years ago. Hiding in the shadows. Only, this time, I had no one to blame, and that was one of the worst parts about it.

Gaia and Erebus were gone, according to Lily, they had been forced to fade with the metal of their blades being forced through their hearts. There was enough anger and rage flushing through me when I heard that, that I was glad that it sounded so painful, it was what they deserved, but Nyx had faded too, and she had never deserved that.

No one quite knew what to do now, with such powerful primordial gods out of the system, there was bound to be an imbalance, but the night only seemed to carry on as before, even if the temperatures had dropped well below what they should have been for this time of year. The frost on the grass and the lingering mist seemed as though the sky was crying for the loss of its queen whenever the sun went down. It was nice.

I was perfectly content to spend longer in this kind of self-pitying haze that had clouded my mind, and I fully intended to, but after a while, something changed. A deep fire began to burn in the empty space in my chest where there was only an icy mist before, and as it burned, it got brighter, and bigger, until I was filled with a great fury that made it impossible to stand still. Moving down to the arena in the dead of night, I slashed through everything I could find, screaming my hatred and anger at the world.

I hated the fates… why did they have to give me him back only to pull him away once again?

I despised Gaia… if it were not for her, Percy and I could have grown old and died together a millennium ago, like they had always dreamed of.

Most of all however, I hated myself. How could I have believed the lie about Percy until it was too late? Why had any of us believed it? His fatal flaw was LOYALTY for Zeus' sake, he couldn't have betrayed us if he wanted to! How could we believe it?

I didn't even realise that I was crying until I felt warm, strong arms wrap around my shoulders and I was pulled up into a hug. Nenyo. I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I hadn't even notice him and Taralan approach until they were right next to me. Thalia and Nico.

For a while, we stood there in silence, not really sure what to say to each other, but taking comfort from the company all the same, but, before the pause could stretch on for too long, the ghost king was clearing his throat, looking at me apologetically.

"Annie, you can't stay here. The gods have called a meeting, and they want you to be there. We came to fetch you."

It took a while for his words to register in my sluggish mind, but I soon nodded, and materialised my pass that allowed me to reach Olympus via teleporting instead of having to go through the empire state building. I turned to the others to go with them, but they were only giving me sad looks, neither of them had moved.

"Aren't you guys coming? You know it is unwise to ignore the call of the gods."

Linking hands, the two of them stepped back, shaking their heads sadly.

"They don't want us, only you. It's a meeting, about Percy and his… funeral. I think they want to make him a temple on the mountain and for that, well, they need their architect."

Ignoring the weak smiles they were sending to try and comfort me, I turned away trying to hide my expression even though it felt like someone had just poured lead into my stomach and replaced my lungs with stones for all the help they were giving me with breathing. Not wanting to say anything else, and only wishing to get it over with, I clicked my fingers.

The next time my eyes opened, I was standing in the middle of the throne room, but all of the seats were empty. No, not all of them…

Over in the corner, by the door, my mother was standing with Aphrodite, Artemis and Poseidon, both of them looking as bad as I felt. They seemed to be having some sort of whispered conversation, but when they noticed me arrive, they beckoned me over looking more than a little confused.

"Is there something you wanted Annabeth? We did not expect company on Olympus now."

I blinked a few times in shock, they were staring at me as though they had no idea of what was going on, but… hadn't they called for me?

"I thought to wanted me here, I got a message…"

I trailed off, noting the slight widening of the 4 Olympians' eyes, okay, so they hadn't summoned me, but then, who did? Or was this just some trick of Thalia's to get me to talk to my mother again, something I hadn't done since the last battle. Poseidon looked as though he was about to say something, but he was cut off by a clear, familiar voice coming from the centre of the room, drawing our attention to the small portal that had just opened up in the room.

"It's not a trick Annabeth. They may not have called you here, but I did. I called you all here."

Stepping out of the portal, Piper sent us all a slightly nervous smile, but it was a genuine one none the less. At the sight of her daughter appearing once again, Aphrodite beamed, but, before she could rush forwards and embrace the girl, something changed. Piper's red robes flickered, a deep brown flickering through the material, her eyes settled on a soft green, and the air around her crackled with a strange kind of energy. When she smiled once again, this one was brighter, and more gentle.

"I really need to talk to you 5 about some things that are really important."

Still surprised by the aura of power we could feel traveling through her, we all just nodded and gathered around, like small children waiting to be told a story to pass the time. After taking a deep breath, Piper began speaking again, her voice soft, and her words carefully measured.

"We thought that you might want to hear the outcome of the war, seeing as though, well you know."

All of us nodded once again, but my mother's eyes narrowed as she looked my friend up and down once again.

"What do you mean we and why is your aura so different? The colours keep shifting."

There was an awkward moment when Piper began staring holes in the floor before seemingly coming up with enough courage to answer, or finally deciding what she wanted to say.

"Well… that's a little complicated, but I will tell you soon. First, one of the issues that is less important I suppose you could call it. About Ice and Karma?"

We all nodded, not wanting to speak, but not really knowing what we would say anyway.

"They are both fine, they woke up an hour ago, and they made their decisions. Ice, as punishment, will be policing the doors of death on the Tartarus side for the rest of his life. He has agreed to that, and he will make a good watchman. Karma on the other had well…"

She trailed off and looked over her shoulder, drawing our attention to the daughter of Chronos who had just stepped out of the portal behind her, the assassin's melodic voice picking up right where her friend had left off.

"If it is okay with the Lady Artemis, then I would like to swear myself to the hunt. I have lost my heart once before, and have no desire to do so again."

As she spoke, she knelt at the feet of the dumbstruck goddess. For a moment or two, the silence stretched on before Artemis seemed to regain composure and smiled down at the girl at her feet.

"Of course, you are welcomed with us in the future Karma."

A slight giggle from the assassin made the goddess' cheeks flush with either anger or embarrassment, but she was soon waved off as the girl rose to her feet beaming.

"Karma is my code name. My real name is Celeste, and it will be a pleasure to serve you my lady!"

Shaking her head slightly, Piper began speaking again, drawing our attention away from the soon to be huntress and back onto her.

"So, there was that issue, but you must also be aware that, with 3 of the stronger Primordial gods gone, there is an imbalance in power, and that is the second reason why I am here. For now, I have taken the position that Gaia occupied, the power of the earth flows through my veins, which is why my aura has change. Master Chaos was the one to suggest I take the spot. When I said 'we' earlier, I was referring to myself and the others."

She paused there for us to ogle at her, but pressed on quickly, blushing furiously as though she hated having to reveal that fact. Though, after the shock had faded, I couldn't think of a better person for the job. Piper was honest and just, she did not desire power, but was a good leader all the same. It was the right choice.

"As for Nyx, she chose her replacement for herself and transferred her power to him on the battlefield, to Percy."

Her voice caught on the name and, although I felt my heart lift at the thought that her was alive, it soon fell much further If he was a Primordial now, there was no way for us to be together. He would have to live in the void, and I would have to stay on earth and the way her voice shook when she mentioned him…

"What is it, what's wrong with him?"

The words were barely spoken above a whisper, but everyone heard them. For a moment, seeing the pained look in Piper's eyes, I was sure that I didn't want to hear the answer to my question. But this was something I had to hear. Instead of turning away as I so desperately longed to do, I stared back at her, trying to make my gaze firm and not at all like I was on the edge of tears.

"He got the powers through the rite of passing, I watched, it means that he was able to use the powers more easily than I can, but, Erebus managed to summon one of his poisoned blades before Percy managed to kill him. When he fell forwards, the blade struck the ground… right into the heart of Percy's shadow… it was completely destroyed. I'm sorry Annie."

For a second, everything swam before my eyes and I felt the world tilt as I fell into my mother's waiting eyes. To my right, I heard Poseidon sob openly, but I couldn't concentrate on that at the moment. A shadow may not seem much to a mortal, but to us, it was everything. Your shadow was everything you are, and everything you have ever been. Your memories, your strength, everything. To lose your shadow was to lose yourself, most people died from the shock of it, and the loss of their life force, but, with the primordial power from Nyx, it wouldn't have killed him, not literally anyway.

"How bad?"

"The worst he could be. He's still in a coma, probably will be until we can find someone to take the place of his shadow…"

"I'll do it, please, just let me do it!"

The words were out of my mouth before I even thought about it. To be a person's shadow was to be bonded to them for life, or so the legends say, once you take up the role, you can never be apart. It is as though you become one entity, but with Percy, that was fine. Living the rest of my life with him was what I had planned anyway. So what if it was a more binding oath than the one I had dreamed about when I was younger, and watching the fireworks from the safety of his arms? If it was Percy, then it was fine.

"Annabeth… think this through. He's lost all of his memories, he won't even know you. It will be like meeting him for the first time again. Would you really be able to do that?"

Mother was looking down at me with her gaze soft and searching, the pain in her voice palpable, but there was nothing that she could say to talk me out of this, not now. It was fine. If I could stay with Percy, then we could start again. We could recreate all the memories, after all, it wasn't as though he was a different person just because he lost his memories. His personality would still be the same.

Seeing the determination in my eyes, my mother only sighed and nodded her consent, pushing me forwards to stand beside Piper. When I met her sad eyes, it was actually surprising how calm I was feeling. It was like all my emotions had drained away leaving only resignation. But this is what I wanted to do, I was sure of it.

"Is that why I was called here? Because you knew I would want to do this?"

For a second, a proud light glinted in Piper's eyes and she smiled brightly once again, offering me her hand.

"No actually, that was the Master's idea. After all, there is one other position that needs to be filled to maintain the balance, and there is no other person that the council could find that they thought deserved the place more than you."

Shifting slightly so that she was kneeling before me, grasping my had in both of hers as she gazed up into my eyes, a slight smirk playing with her lips as she saw my panicked expression, rubbing circles in my skin to try to sooth me.

"Annabeth Chase, demigod daughter of the Goddess Athena, Saviour and Architect of Olympus, war hero, one of the 4 gods of heroes, in the name of the Council of the beginning, I offer you the position of guardian of the shadows and all things there in, Ruler of the twilight and companion to the night. Do you accept?"

Looking around to take in the expressions of those around me, all of whom were staring at me with looks of wide eyed wonder, and pride, I let the words fall from my startled tongue, sealing my fate from now until the end of time.

"I do."

A/N: Done, finally. Expect the start of the sequel tomorrow at the latest, it will be called 'in plain sight' and it will be about, well, read and find out :P Oh, and, just if you were wondering,

The one who was taken: Karma was taken by the hunt

The one who died: Gypsy

The one who Betrayed: Ice

The one who is lost: Percy lost everything along with his shadow

The one to wander until the end of time: Piper, and that plays a major part in the sequel, so I'm saying no more!

Sara: Don't really know what to say here, but I guess I will see you all with the new story... Stay in touch and thanks for reading :)