Author's notes: Written for the prompt, "found the dark in you," at 31_days on LJ.

Disclaimers: I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, nor the Heroes of Olympus.

Painful Vigils Kept

In the dead of night and quiet dark of camp, the inside of Cabin Three is frightening, even after Annabeth's eyes adjust and she lights the little lone candle in her hand. The shadows cast on the walls and floor are menacing and cruel, a subtle reminder that daughters of Athena should not be welcome across the cabin's threshold.

"Percy?" she whispers to the darkness, unable to help herself.

She feels ridiculous after his name comes tumbling off her lips. It's become habit more than anything, but Percy's been gone for weeks now. She's got to stop hoping he'll appear whenever she calls his name; it's irrational and silly, and it makes the deep weight of disappointment in her chest ache ever the more fiercely when it doesn't happen.

Annabeth sighs, losing the battle to fight her melancholy, and shuts the door quietly behind her.

Her steady breathing, the sputter of the flame of her candle, and the steady drip of water from the broken fountain in the corner are the only sounds in the cabin. It doesn't feel right without him here - it doesn't feel right without him anywhere, but especially here, where he should be waiting for her on the corner of his bed with a smile and arms ready for a hug.

She knows where he is now, but that doesn't make anything better. She can't do anything with that knowledge and that works against everything she's been taught, everything she is.

Annabeth feels like a failure. She didn't find him, she didn't bring him back like she promised she would. At least Percy's not lost any more - well, not really anyway, the other campers say, but he's as good as lost to her. His absence still hurts like a raw, aching wound and the hurt reminds her why she never gets attached to people.

A trickle of wax slides down the side of the candle and dribbles onto her finger, burning her.

Annabeth gasps, pulling her hand away, and putting her finger in her mouth to soothe the burn. She can't help the tears of pain and frustration the spring to her eyes, and she sits on the edge of Percy's bed, the spot where he should be waiting for her.

She sits in the silence of Cabin Three, unhappy tears dribbling down her cheeks, until the candle goes out.