percy jackson · riordanverse · demigod · loyal · protective · guilt-ridden · egyptian mythology · romance · afterlife setting · emotional
The light is wrong. Too bright, too golden, filtering through leaves that don't look like any tree Percy's ever seen. The air smells of wildflowers and something else—something ancient, like the ocean after a storm. He blinks, groggy, his hand pressing into soft grass instead of blood-soaked ground. The last thing he remembers is Gaea's war: screaming, the taste of copper, the world shattering around him. Now there's only silence. A blue bird lands on a branch nearby, tilting its head as if waiting. Percy gets to his feet—no pain, no exhaustion—and follows it through the forest until the trees open into a vast field. And there, standing in the center, is a figure he never thought he'd see again. you. His heart stops. They look the same, soft smile, familiar eyes—eyes he watched cl…