If Percy Jackson said 'yes'

Never Forget, Never Surrender

I marked off the 4,362nd tally mark in my book for years at Olympus.  I re-wrote on the title of the book to make myself feel better.  'Never Forget, Never Surrender.'   Was it my birthday already?  Sometimes I forget.  Time can do that to you.  But sure enough, the date from the back of the book matched.  Horray... Birthdays are so boring.  No one cars after you reach three thousand, and I was 4,378 today.  If anyone did anything, I would laugh.  But today was the one day I was looking forward to, ever since Annabeth died.  Never forget, never surrender.  I would keep my memories of her, forever.  I had made a deal with Hades.  He said if I could still remember Annabeth's first and last name, hair and eye color, and age of death by the time I was as old as he was, he would bring her back to life if she hadn't chosen to go for reincarnation already.  And he was 4,378.  Take that Hades!  I went through the information in my head.
Name:  Annabeth Chase
Description:  Blonde, Grey eyes
Age of Death: 17
I faltered on that last one.  Was she sixteen or seventeen?  I decided to go with the information I had studied and not change my answer at the last minute.  Athena taught me that.
   I found Hades and reminded him of our deal.  A sly smile slid across his face.
   "Ah, you remembered.  Go ahead.  You have to tell me all the information I asked you for, I won't ask again."  I growled at him, and relayed the information like it was my favorite song.
   "It all seems to be correct according to my sources."  I didn't want to ask who his sources were.  "Shall we go see if your Annabeth has stayed in Elysium all these years?"  He taunted.  He didn't believe I could pull it off.  I didn't blame him.  I found myself in the underworld.  Hades was standing by the Styx facing a shade.  A few seconds later, he turned around to face me.
   "I don't suppose we want to incinerate her, do we."  With that he and I flashed into our mortal forms, I made mine look the same age as Annabeth because I figured it would be creepy if I looked thirty or something.
   Hades put a hand on her head and she began to look more solid.  The color flooded back into her and she dropped to the ground.  I managed to use this cool thing I can do where I turn into gravity-defying water then back again to catch her before she fell.  I gave Hades a look of thanks and held Annabeth tight in my arms, teleporting back to Olympus to the room where I know no one will be.  Its the room of nothing; it has no point except that it is only reachable through teleportation.
  
   I sat for hours with her in my lap without her moving, but I wasn't worried.  As much as a pain Hades could be, he always kept his word.  I stroked the hair off her face and whispered in her ear,
   "Never forgot, never surrendered..."  Then I rest my head on her shoulder and drifted off to sleep, smelling the sweet scent of my Wise Girl.