Sometimes it was all too much. Sometimes he'd wake up with a gasp, shaking and covered in cold sweat, trying to erase from his mind the hellish images that replayed themselves every night in his dreams. The memories of despair, pain and fear seemed to be painted on the back of his eyelids, ready to taunt him as soon as he closed his eyes. The darkness of his cabin surrounded him, almost as if it was attempting to hold him in place and keep him there forever, to choke the life out of him-

Percy sprang out of bed and stumbled over to the door, flinging it open and taking big gulps of the fresh air that hit him almost immediately. Still shaking, he closed the door behind him and started walking. The soft thud of his footsteps reminded him of a beating heart, of his beating heart, no- of Annabeth's beating heart, and how it had been slowing down, weakening until Percy had been sure he'd lost her, that there wasn't anything he could do…

Faster. He had to walk faster, then. Fast enough to outrun the memories and leave them in the dust. Almost as fast as he'd been running down in Tartarus, where monsters bent on vengeance would never stop following his trail. Down there every step had counted, every hesitation had had its toll, and any breath could have been his last. Tartarus, he'd learnt, was an unforgiving hell, one that would not allow any lucky breaks.

When he finally looked up he saw his footsteps had led him to the stretch of beach that marked one end of Camp Half-Blood's borders. The salty tinge carried by the breeze ruffled his hair and calmed his nerves slightly- but not enough. Nothing was enough to relax him completely anymore. Percy walked down to the edge of the sea and sat down close enough so that his feet would get splashed by the lapping waves. Unfortunately even water had lost the effect it used to have on him. Ever since he had almost drowned in Tartarus –where his powers over water had been useless- he hadn't dared to go back into the sea, or any other large body of water. He knew the fear was irrational, and yet he couldn't get rid of it; water spooked him more than it helped him nowadays.

Percy shook his head in a futile effort to clear his mind. There seemed to be no escape from this torment of reliving the suffering he'd endured for years by Annabeth's side. He wanted to forget and yet all he could do was see Tartarus and its evil around every corner and in every shadow. As he stared out into the giant blackness that was the sea at night he wondered whether he would ever be the same again. It certainly didn't seem like it.

Everything had changed so much in the four years he and Annabeth had been trapped in Tartarus; everyone had grown older, old friends from camp had died and new campers had taken their place, his mom had had a baby with Paul, Gaea and her giants had been defeated. Everything had changed except them. Much like the Lotus Casino in Las Vegas, Tartarus held its prisoners in a state of limbo where time never passed. Sure, it had been great in some ways, like how they didn't need to worry about finding food to eat because they wouldn't starve, or how sleep –although much wanted- was unnecessary, but now that they were free Percy felt like they'd been left behind. The world had moved on, continued growing and changing and they were just the same sixteen-year-old kids they'd been four years ago. It stuck out to him as unfair, despite everything else they'd been through. Four years was such an awfully long time to be stuck in hell.

Taking a deep breath, Percy tried again to focus on something that wasn't Tartarus- he looked up at the constellations dotting the sky like precious jewels. Once he'd thought he'd never see them again. When he'd closed the Doors of Death he'd accepted that he was saying goodbye to many things aside from his freedom and well-being.

Stop, he told himself, tearing his eyes away from the night sky and resting his head on his knees. Quit thinking about it; just stop it already, you can't-

Someone sat down next to him on the sand, taking him by surprise. He looked up to find Annabeth by his side, her hair down and messy from sleep and wearing a blanket around her shoulders.

"I see I'm not the only one who couldn't sleep," she said as a greeting.

Three months. It had been three months since they'd escaped and he'd already lost count of how many times they'd sat through the night together to keep the monsters in their heads at bay. "Can't say I'm surprised to see you," he replied.

Their eyes met for a moment. Annabeth's stormy gray ones reflected everything Percy had bottled up inside of him; all the exhaustion, the confusion and the desperation to get away from what was behind them. And most of all the fear, because now that they'd seen the worst the world had to offer it seemed like there was nowhere to run that was far away enough. Then they broke eye contact because neither of them could bear to see that kind of pain in the other's eyes for too long.

"How're you holding up?" Percy asked half-heartedly, letting his eyes rest on the waves.

"Fine," she lied. "You?"

"Fine," he lied back, although he knew it was useless because they knew each other too well. "Honestly now?"

Annabeth sighed. "Honestly I feel like joining in the Apollo cabin's karaoke party and spending a wild night singing along to musical haikus, what do you think, Percy?"

"I think that we really need to find something better to do than just sitting around with nothing else to think about all day."

"We haven't been sitting around, we've been helping the new campers with their training." She shifted so she was facing him instead of the sea.

"I know, but… I don't know, it doesn't seem enough." He struggled to find the right words. "It feels like everyone treats us differently now, you know? Like they're always being careful about what to say around us and making sure we don't break."

He knew if someone would understand what he was trying to say, that would be Annabeth. She only nodded in response, urging him to go on.

"I think what I'm trying to say is that by treating us like we're made of glass they're only reminding us more and more about what we left behind. And when the only thing we do is train, we're constantly surrounded by all these people who look at us like we're some sort of circus freaks but are too scared to talk to us just in case we have a breakdown or something."

He dug his fingers in the cold sand, waiting for Annabeth's response.

"Yeah, you'd think they'd be used to weird stuff, being demigods and all," she muttered. "But you have to admit, four years in Tartarus… Percy that's a lot, even for demigods."

"You think I don't know that?" he snapped. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. "Sorry, it's just-"

"I know," Annabeth said. "Me too."

They were silent for a while, taking comfort in each other's company and watching the sea twist and churn, endlessly shifting and changing just like the rest of the world around them. Percy fell into a sort of trance watching it, and let the shape of the waves as they rose and crashed soothe the last of the dark memories from his mind.

He didn't know how much time had passed when Annabeth spoke again. "So what you are suggesting is that it's about time to leave camp?"

The question caught him off guard. "Wait, what?"

"You said that we need to find something better to do, and that people here remind you of Tartarus. Does that mean you want to leave?"

Annabeth's eyes were dead serious when he met them. He considered the question. What Annabeth said was true, but the fact also stood that they hadn't left camp since Nico had brought them here straight after pulling them out of Tartarus. Both Percy's mom and Annabeth's dad had come over and stayed with them for a few weeks until they had needed to go home –camp was, after all, a place for half-bloods and not mortals- but they hadn't left the safety of Camp Half-Blood's borders themselves in three months. He didn't really know why, probably because after such a long and hard fight they had wanted to rest and feel safe for a while. Percy wasn't sure they'd accomplished the latter; he doubted they ever would again.

Were they really ready to leave camp and be thrust out into the world to fight off monsters again? Did he even want to? He looked at Annabeth- her eyes serious but at the same time defiant and determined, ready to face whatever was thrust at her. He thought of them down in Tartarus, back to back with their weapons in their hands, breathing hard, sweaty and bloody and dirty but still standing up, still fighting no matter what. He thought of how far they'd come from the two kids they'd been when they'd first met, of every battle they'd fought, every monster defeated and every fight they'd survived. And he made his mind up.

Because no matter where they went or how much trouble they got themselves into, he knew that together they'd be able to turn any situation around and fix whatever problem they were faced with. They were a team -Percy and Annabeth, Annabeth and Percy- and together they could do anything. If they'd survived hell they could surely beat anything that was roaming the mortal world, as long as they were together.

"Come with me," he said. "We could travel for a while."

Now it was Annabeth's turn to be confused. "Travel? Percy what-"

"Why not?" he asked, turning to face her as his mind raced. "There's Blackjack, he would take us anywhere within reasonable distance if I asked."

She blinked in surprise. "I thought you meant leaving camp as in going home, with your mom."

"It won't be permanent; I'll still go back to her, just like I'm not planning on leaving camp forever. But I do think we've been stuck in places for too long, and there's too much to see out there that we've been missing." He was grinning now, for the first time in what felt like ages. "We've seen the worst this world has to offer but I'm sure there are plenty of great things out there too, and I say it's about time to balance the bad stuff out with all the best things we can find."

Annabeth's lips started pulling up in a little smile now, and Percy could tell she was trying to hold herself back. "What about school, though? It's been four years, don't you think we should adjust back to a regular, normal life?"

He stared at her. "Annabeth, when have we ever had a normal life?"

She kissed him then, and in that moment all traces of painful memories disappeared, all his messy thoughts dissolved into a single word: Annabeth. That was what they did to each other; why together they were stronger than they'd ever be apart. As long as they were together they'd be able to keep each other going, to pull each other out of the darkness of their haunted minds and give each other reasons to stay strong and fight. They were broken, yes, and it would undoubtedly be a long time before they stopped waking up with nightmares and drawing their weapons instinctively at the slightest unexpected sound, but they were broken together and so, they would become strong again together too.

Because that's what they did, Wise Girl and Seaweed Brain, as long as they were together.