A/N: Hey whoever's reading this, I just wanted to say I am SO DAM* GRATEFUL! (*get it? DAM? Hehe) This is my first fic so please only constructive criticism and no negative comments. Also, I know the title is kinda unoriginal, but I have a plan for that. I will most likely update twice a week, depending on school. If anyone is interested in being my beta please PM me. Once again, thanks SO MUCH for reading this, I just want to be recognised for my writing.

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, if I did, I wouldn't be writing on FanFiction. I'd be counting my money in the pool of my mansion. Or writing on my solid-gold laptop, hehe.

The Light at the End of the Darkest Road

By ThePeacefulTitaness

Chapter One-Children of Athena and Poseidon don't mix

Word count (including A/Ns): 2,325 | Pages on Word: 5 | Size: 11

~Percy~

How long had he been here? He couldn't even remember. It felt like centuries, centuries since it happened. Centuries since she came. Centuries since she left. Centuries since his whole world came crashing down, his life got twisted and turned repeatedly, he was grabbed from path to path, trying to find peace.

Peace. All he ever wanted. To live a normal life, not be chased by monsters, no to be looked at like he was a freakshow.

Pity. That's all they had seemed to look at him with, before he left. Pity and sympathy, like they could actually understand what he was going through. They couldn't. No-one ever could.

What had he done wrong? He thought everything was fine between them, that she was happy. He certainly was. He just didn't get it. He thought he was enough. But then again, when was he ever enough?

He should've seen it coming. After all, when did the Fates ever give him a break? Every time he thought he could finally have a rest, he could settle down, teach swordfighting at Camp Half-Blood, relax with his friends. He had, for a while. A year, after the Giant War when they decided to take a year off before college. And then it happened. He still remembered it like it was five minutes ago, as much as he tried to forget it.

*Flashback*

He stared at the paper in shock. He couldn't believe his eyes. But there, in heavenly small, typed letters, it said:

Perseus Achilles Jackson, we are pleased to announce that you have been accepted into New York University in the field of Marine Biology.

Snapping put of his shock, Percy quickly searched his pockets for a golden drachma. He quickly located one and threw it into the fountain in his cabin. "O Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering," he said while thinking he wanted to see Athena, to tell her he had gotten in. Finally! He did all of Hercules' tasks, and gotten into the same college as Annabeth! Now he can have Athena's blessing.

The air shimmered, and there were the gods and goddesses of Olympus, having their normal stupid and pointless arguments. Zeus, Poseidon and Hades were having the usual disagreements, "Mother Rhea always likes you best", "the sky is way better than the sea" and "Why did I have to get the underworld? Too much work. So unfair". Apollo and Artemis were arguing about who was older, and Ares and Hephaestus were fighting over Aphrodite, while she was sitting there batting her eyelashes and basking in the attention.

"Sorry, am I interrupting anything?" Percy asked politely, surprising most of them.

Poseidon's eyes twinkled merrily. "No, no, my son. What was it you wanted?"

"Oh so now I can only see you when I want something?" Percy asked teasingly. Poseidon chuckled.

"Well, Perseus, what is it?" The king of the gods asked impatiently. He hasn't changed a bit, Percy thought, inwardly snickering.

"I just wanted to inform Athena something."

"Ha! I knew it! You didn't get in! Oh, this is the best news I have heard in a long time," Athena said, almost jumping off her throne. Percy smirked. Boy, was she in for a surprise.

"What do you mean?" Poseidon asked confusedly. The other Olympians looked bemused.

"Athena made me do Hercules' trials to get her blessing to propose to Annabeth," Percy said.

The gods looked impressed and shocked. But then again, Perseus was the greatest hero in history.

"Yes, yes," Athena said, waving her hand dismissively. "I knew he would complete those. It's the next thing I knew he would never be able to do."

Ares, Dionysus and Artemis looked interested.

"I told him to do the impossible for a dyslexic sea spawn," Athena began, and paused for effect. "to get into the same college Annabeth is going to, New York University."

The other gods nodded. Ares said, "Yes, the pathetic punk might know how to fight, but when it comes to brains, he is-"

Artemis finished for him. "As brain-dead as you."

"Yeah," Ares began, then paused as his brain slowly processed what the moon goddess said. "Hold on-" Ever the slow one.

Poseidon cut him off. "Well, son? Did you make it?" but even he knew the answer was no.

"Of course not! I practically set him up to fail!" Athena exclaimed. But all Percy was doing was smirking.

"How could you, Athena!" Aphrodite practically screamed, nearly crying. "They were the best couple! It took me ages to get them together. I will NOT stand for this!"

Hermes, however could sense that Percy was hiding something, being the god of trickery, and decided to play along. "Percy hasn't even spoken! He is too heartbroken. Isn't that right Perce?"

Percy saw the glint in his eye, and knew what to do. "Actually, I'm feeling pretty good about myself."

Some of the gods were beginning to figure it out. "Really Percy, and why is that?" Poseidon asked with mock interest, smirking.

"BECAUSE I GOT IN!" Percy blurted, his ADHD getting the better of him.

There was a stunned silence, only broken by Athena's screech. "WHAT?"

Poseidon, Apollo and Hermes were rolling around on the floor in laughter. The look on Athena's face was priceless. All of the gods were trying not to crack up, after the shock wore off, failing miserably. Poseidon, Apollo, Hermes, Hestia and Aphrodite cheered and congratulated Percy.

"I'm proud of you Percy," Poseidon said warmly, "What field are you in?"

"Marine Biology."

Once Athena got over her shock at being outsmarted, sighed in defeat. "Alright, you have my blessing."

Apollo gave Percy a high five.

Athena continued, "But only because you have proven yourself in loyalty, when you fell in Tartarus with her; your love, when you completed Hercules' twelve tasks; and your brains, when you were accepted into NYU. I expect you to treat her well and if you even think of breaking her heart, you will have me to deal with."

Percy nodded vigorously, and was about to swipe his hand to sever the connection, Aphrodite called back to him.

"Oh Perseus!" Aphrodite said sweetly, using the tone she reserved for when she wanted something.

"Yes?"

"Would it be alright if we watched you propose?"

He was confused. "You mean like an Iris Message?"

"No, you wouldn't be able to talk to us through it, or hear us, or see us for that matter, but we could see what was going on."

Percy shrugged. "Alright." Then he swiped his hand through the mist, severing the connection.

At Camp Half-Blood

The Olympians watched excitedly as Percy ran up to the beach to look for Annabeth. He had asked everyone, but no-one had seen her and the Athena cabin was acting strangely, avoiding eye contact and looking at him with what he was able to somewhat recognise as pity. Percy had no idea why, but little did he know he was about to find out.

Percy reached the sand, and kicked his shoes off to feel the warm sand curling between his toes. He stretched, then scanned the beach looking for Annabeth. He couldn't see her, but he saw what he thought was the back of a random blonde's head, and a guy behind him, probably a random Athena girl out on a date. Percy felt something in his gut telling him to go see who the blonde was. He brushed it off, but the weird feeling only got worse, twisting his stomach and churning his insides.

He decided to go investigate. After all, what's the worst that could happen?

Back on Olympus, the gods watched with interest.

Percy snuck up behind the blonde, and eavesdropped on their conversation. Percy recognised the boy as Ryan, an arrogant son of Apollo with huge hair and an even bigger ego.

"-can do better than him!" he was saying.

The blonde sighed. "But he's a great person, and I would hate to break is heart." Her voice sounded familiar, but Percy didn't think much of it.

"Who cares about that stupid sea spawn! I am much better than the likes of him, Annabeth. You of all people should know that. After all, didn't you say I was a better kisser than him?" Ryan said, puffing his chest up and capturing the Annabeth's lips in a searing kiss.

Percy froze. The gods froze. It seemed everything around them had frozen too, as if Kronos had decided this was the time to use his powers.

When the gods and goddesses of Olympus saw the look on Percy's face, their hearts broke a little for him. Even Ares and Dionysus, even though they would never admit it. Hestia, Aphrodite and Demeter had tears in their eyes, and Artemis and Hera had pity shining in theirs, the former because this was everything her hunt was against, and the latter had plenty of experience with cheating partners. Athena was in deep shock, and all the others felt so bad for the two-time saviour of Olympus. Poseidon was literally about to explode in anger, all of it directed to a certain daughter of Athena.

"No…" Percy muttered, "it can't be true. She wouldn't do that.." he looked so lost and broken that the gods just wanted to comfort him, tell him it would be okay, filling the void inside him with empty words, when they all knew it wasn't true, it wouldn't be okay and he would most likely never be the same.

The small velvet box which contained the engagement ring which would have been Annabeth's dropped out of Percy's hand and dropped to the sand with a small thud.

Annabeth's neck audibly cracked, she turned so fast. Ryan was smirking when he saw Percy standing there, tears streaming down his face, and is eyes, which had once sparkled and been filled with mirth and joy, were dull, broken and lost all their sparkle.

"P-Percy… It isn't what it looks like," Annabeth said, tears gathering at her eyes, getting up and brushing herself off.

"No, Annabeth. I think it's exactly what it looks like. How long?"

"Uh-um-erm, I-well," Annabeth stuttered.

"HOW LONG?" Percy screamed, and the sea exploded. Literally. The ocean around them erupted, spilled around the group. "TELL ME ANNABETH? HOW LONG HAS THIS BEEN GOING ON?"

The water swirled around Percy, making a mini hurricane, with him at the top. Storm clouds began gathering around the camp, and by then all then campers were crowded around the beach, watching as the drama unfold.

Back on Olympus, the gods were watching in horror as Percy created his own storm, shocking them into silence.

"WASN'T I ENOUGH FOR YOU? I GAVE YOU EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING I HAD TO OFFER. I PLACED MY LIFE IN DANGER FOR YOU, MORE TIMES THAN I CAN NAME, AND THIS IS WHAT I GET? I HELD UP THE SKY FOR YOU. I FELL INTO TARTARUS FOR YOU. I STUDIED HARDED THAN I EVER HAVE, GIVEN UP ALMOST ALL OF MY FREE TIME, TO GET ATHENA'S BLESSING SO I COULD PROPOSE! I RISKED MY LIFE DOING HERCULES' TWELVE TASKS. I GAVE EVERYTHING, PUT EVERYTHING IHAD INTO US," he yelled, tears dripping down his cheeks.

"But that wasn't enough, was it, Annabeth?" he continued in a small, pained and heartbroken voice. "I guess you were right. Children of Athena and Poseidon don't mix after all." And with that last line, the storm died down and Perseus Jackson, the greatest demigod in history, turned on his heel and walked back to his cabin, shoulders slumped, body shaking.

Annabeth dropped to her knees and shakily opened the velvet box that Percy dropped, and gasped when she saw what was inside. A ring of pure gold, with a large dark grey diamond in the middle, surrounded by sea-green emeralds.

And it was then, that Annabeth Chase realised what a terrible mistake she'd made.

Dun dun duuun! Hehe, I know what you're gonna say, "It's too cliché, blah blah blah. But I'm going to try and make it more original, so please don't give up on the story (I've got a LOT of plot twists in mind! Muwahah)! I will try update at least once a week, depending on school, and I will also try make every chapter around 2k+ words. And I'm going to put in a few more flashbacks, sorry if that annoys you but only the first few chapters will be like this, so you know what has happened in Percy's tragic life (don't worry, it's going to be REALLY tragic! Hehe, sorry Percy!). Well, bye, I'm so tired and it's 11pm. I've been writing this for AGES, editing, re-editing, upleveling and planning the rest of the story.

This is ThePeacefulTitaness sighing off for now!