Percabeth

'''Warning! This article contains spoilers for The Hidden Oracle.'''

Percabeth is a het ship between Annabeth Chase and Percy Jackson from the Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Heroes of Olympus and mentioned in the Trials of Apollo fandom. It is, according to Lauren Shippen (According To Tumblr), "the OTP of the fandom". As Shippen said, it is easily the greatest ship in the Riordan universe, and of all time, everywhere.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief
When Percy wakes up, he describes Annabeth as a "pretty girl, with blonde hair curled like a princess". After he faints, she nurses him back to health. When he wakes up for a few minutes, she feeds him ambrosia, food of the gods, to help heal him. Though this action was kind, she also tells him that he drools in his sleep. During Annabeth, Percy, and Grover's quest to find Zeus' lightning bolt, Annabeth feels awkward at stepping into the Tunnel of Love with Percy to get Ares's shield. They eventually go in, which leads to Percy saving Annabeth from the spiders that are part of the trap designed by Hephaestus to catch Ares and Aphrodite together. Later, with the help of Ares, the three hop on a truck heading west, and Annabeth and Percy talk about the possibility of war between the gods while Grover sleeps. They briefly touch on their personal backgrounds (mainly of their godly parents), and Percy asks her whether—if the gods do go to war—Poseidon and Athena be on opposite sides like they were during the Trojan War. Annabeth admits that she doesn't know, but would fight alongside Percy regardless since they are friends. However, she quickly follows this question by asking if he has any more stupid questions.

While traveling through Underworld on the boat, Annabeth takes hold of Percy's hand to make sure she's not the only one alive. Percy says he normally would've been embarrassed, but he isn't this time.

Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters
Annabeth begins to show slight feelings for Percy, and Percy also starts to have feelings for Annabeth. However, his are not quite as strong. On Circe's island, Percy is shocked when he sees Annabeth with makeup, and thinks he would be tongue-tied if he wasn't a guinea pig at the moment. She hugs him when he changes back into a human, and later cries on his shoulder while hugging him underwater (after he saves her from the Sirens). At the end of the book, she kisses him on the cheek following their success in the chariot race.

Percy Jackson and the Titan's Curse
Percy and Annabeth dance in the beginning after Percy was jokingly punched by Annabeth, after asking who he should dance with. While dancing, Percy was nervous and "tried to focus on little things--the streamers, the punch bowl--anything but the fact that Annabeth is taller than me, my hands are probably sweaty and gross, and I'm stepping on her toes". After slow-dancing with her, Percy found out that Annabeth almost became a Hunter at one point, and that the option is still open. Percy is terrified that Annabeth would leave him. When Percy meets Aphrodite, she forces Percy to reveal aloud that the reason for going on the quest was mostly about saving Annabeth from Luke. Annabeth wanted to go back to holding the sky so Artemis could fight, but Percy took the weight. Later, while she seemed grateful to all of the people who rescued her, she expressed her gratitude mostly to Percy. At the end during the Olympian party Percy suggests they finish their dance and she smiles, takes his hand, and they dance. Percy hears a slow song and wonders what other music everyone else hears.

Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth
During breakfast one day, Annabeth broke the rules and sat at Percy's table (close to him) to talk about their upcoming quest, which Percy really liked. Before the quest, Annabeth and Percy hugged. Annabeth got extremely jealous and moody every time Percy mentioned Rachel Elizabeth Dare. When they found the Labyrinth, Annabeth held Percy's hands which to Percy if it was public, he would have been embarrassed, but it was dark and they were together. Then, when Percy walks into the Athena Cabin to talk to Annabeth, he asks her what the last part of the prophecy was about. In response, she tears up and holds out her hands, and Percy walks over and hugs her. They are later interrupted by Malcolm, and awkwardly say they were preparing for the quest. In Mt. St. Helens, when Percy risked his life so Annabeth could get to safety, she kissed him and disappeared, putting on her magic Yankees cap. She and the rest of camp presumed he was dead, as he was stuck on Ogygia for two weeks. When he returns, Annabeth hugs him fiercely until she realized she was making a scene. She was furious at Percy for being gone so long, and when she figures out where he has been marooned to (and had been with Atlas's daughter, Calypso), she gets even angrier with extreme jealousy. When they return to Camp Half-Blood, and when Percy is about to go, their relationship is slightly shaky.

Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian
As Percy and Annabeth are inspecting the cabins at camp and arrive at Athena's, Annabeth begins to say something about her feelings for Percy, but is interrupted by the arrival of Annabeth's second-in-command Malcolm. Percy finds this awkward and nervous as the rules were that demigods of the opposite gender were not allowed to be in one cabin alone if they are not siblings and changes the subject.

While Percy was bathing in the River Styx, he had to choose one thing to think of to keep him anchored to the mortal world. He imagined Annabeth pulling him out of a Camp Half-Blood lake, saying "Hold on, Seaweed Brain, you're not getting away from me that easily," causing the imaginary "cord" connected to his lower back to strengthen and eventually pull him out of the river.

During Camp Half Blood's war preparations, or during the war itself, every time a difficult task was at hand, Percy would volunteer either to protect Annabeth, or to ask for her help. When Percy was about to get stabbed at his one weak point during a battle, which would have caused his immediate death, Annabeth intercepted the blow even though Percy never told her where his Achilles spot was. Percy immediately became very defensive of her, making sure no one touched her. Kronos found this interesting. Later, as Annabeth was healing, she and Percy were immersed in a conversation that was quickly escalating into a romantic moment, but Connor interrupted and stated that Grover had arrived.

On the way to Mount Olympus, they cross the dangerously crumbling bridge. Everyone gets to the other side safely except Annabeth. She almost falls, but Percy saves her with the help of his friends. As Percy pulls her back up, they realize that their arms around each other and awkwardly untangle themselves.

Soon, Kronos/Luke finally comes to Olympus and Annabeth, Percy, Thalia, and Grover are the only ones there to protect the ancient city. A statue falls over Thalia, and she urges them to go on. Grover gets knocked out almost immediately. Kronos strikes at Percy and paralyzes him. Then Kronos attacks Annabeth and wounds her badly. Luke regains control of himself, and stabs himself to kill Kronos once and for all. As he lay dying, he asked Annabeth if she ever loved him. She replied that she thought of him as a brother.

Near the end, as Percy is being offered immortality and life in Olympus, Annabeth appears to be terrified that Percy will leave her, similar to the way Percy felt when she almost became a Hunter. He turns down the offer, primarily because of Annabeth, and she cries in relief. Back at camp, Annabeth holds a private birthday party for Percy, with a homemade cupcake. Percy confesses his vision in the River Styx. He tries to tell her how he feels about her, but Annabeth simply smiles at him, as if she was trying to hold in her laughter. Percy complains that she isn't making things easy for him, to which Annabeth replies by putting her arms around his neck and saying that she would never make things easy for him. She kisses him, while Percy states that he felt like his brain was melting right through his body, and that he could stay like that forever.

However, the campers, lead by Clarisse La Rue, interrupt and pick them both up, but allow them to be close enough to hold hands. They dump Percy and Annabeth into the lake, expecting them to resurface. But because Percy is a son of Poseidon, he creates an air bubble around the two of them, not unlike the one in the Bay of The Sirens in The Sea of Monsters, and they share what Percy describes as "the best underwater kiss of all time." They officially start their relationship, and when Annabeth says she wants to be an architect to make something permanent, Percy says that they were "off to a great start." Grover remarks that he is still Percy's best friend and that nothing has changed, except for Annabeth. Percy replies by saying "That's different," to which Grover agrees. As they leave Camp Half-Blood for the year, as they race down the hill, Percy states that for the first time, he "didn't look back".

The Lost Hero
It is stated that Percy is Annabeth's boyfriend, showing they are still in a relationship. Annabeth meets Jason, Leo, and Piper when she and Butch arrive to take them to camp. They later find out she really came because she had been receiving visions from Hera that a hero with one shoe (apparently Jason) would know where Percy is. Also, she goes looking for Percy again the same day Jason, Piper, and Leo depart for their quest. Annabeth was really worried about Percy and wishes to find him as soon as possible.

When Jason is given his quest to rescue Hera from the capture of Porphyrion the giant king, Annabeth refuses to accompany the quest group, partly because the prophecy states that children of Hephaestus, Jupiter/Zeus, and Aphrodite will go instead, and partly out of her own distaste for Hera. Instead, she uses the time they are gone to continue her search for Percy.

After the quest group returns and relates their findings — the rise of the giants, the attempted return of Gaea, and the fact that Jason was "exchanged" to the Greek Camp Half-Blood — Annabeth puts everything together and realizes, as Jason has, that Percy has been taken to the Roman Camp called Camp Jupiter as the corresponding half of the exchange. She vows to accompany Jason, Piper, and Leo when they journey there to retrieve him.

The Son of Neptune
It is confirmed in the first chapter that besides Percy's own name and heritage as a demigod, Annabeth is the only aspect of his life that he can recall to any extent at that point. Not long after, Percy has a dream in which Annabeth, as well as Grover, appears telling him to "stay put". Percy has some internal conflict about leaving camp due to her warning, wanting desperately to see her, but ultimately leaves camp to complete the quest after making a promise to her that he would return. During the quest, Percy recognizes that though he wants very much to protect Camp Jupiter as well as his new friends Frank and Hazel, his drive for completing the mission relies heavily on Annabeth; he says his greatest fear is not the loss of his life, but that he might forget Annabeth's face as they get closer to Alaska. When returning to Camp Jupiter with his memory fully intact, Percy is worried about his friends' safety at Camp Half-Blood. When Juno tells him that Annabeth would be an obstacle in the coming quest, Percy gets worried for her, as well as furious at Juno for taking eight months of his life with Annabeth and his other friends. As the Argo II finally arrives, Percy realizes Annabeth must be on the boat and thinks that, despite his lost time, it would be the greatest day of his life.

Throughout the book, Percy consistently refers to Annabeth as his girlfriend, even turning down blatant courtship from the Amazon Kinzie (as well as another insinuated courtship from Reyna) by saying he's already romantically involved. He also mentions many instances of past kissing, as well as stating that the two months he'd been dating Annabeth had been fantastic. Humorously, Percy mentions a down-side to dating the smartest girl at Camp Half-Blood: he actually learns things.

The Mark of Athena
Annabeth mentions that she had had a crush on him since she was 12, and that her feelings for him grew exponentially once he disappeared. Percy's love also grew exponentially to the point where he liked certain aspects of Camp Jupiter because he was thinking of their future. He mentions this to her towards the beginning of the book, and it is a major point of re-connection between the two. In this book it is also when Percy and Annabeth reunite.

There are many instances throughout the book where Annabeth is stuck thinking about the amount of pain she experienced during the 6 months that Percy was missing. Especially at the beginning, it seems as if her experiences during this time would end up harming their relationship, simply due to the level of hurt and loss that she experienced. While this does not entirely disappear through the middle and end of the book, it is clear by the end that their positive feelings for each other have overcome any previous pain that they have been through.

There are also moments throughout the book where it is evident that Percy and Annabeth are growing closer, and falling in love. At the beginning, Annabeth realizes that Reyna had made a move on Percy, and that he rejected Reyna for Annabeth. Annabeth promptly silently forgives her boyfriend for everything he's ever done wrong because of that. On the ship one night, Annabeth wakes Percy from his nightmare and takes him down to the ship's stables. She says she likes the stables for a reason, and after he looked around, Percy realized that she liked it because of a memory they both share. It reminds both of them of the time when they first actually talked on their first quest riding in the back of an animal transport truck.

Percy also mentions to Annabeth that back in New Rome, demigods could grow up and have families, indirectly implying that they may be able to do the same. Annabeth finds that to be very sweet, but says that they probably ruined any chance of cooperation with the Romans and it probably was not possible. Percy gets shy and tells her that he would think that to give him hope that he would be reunited with her. They stay down there, talking for a bit, before falling asleep in each other's arms. In the morning, Frank finds them, and to their humiliation, Coach Hedge grounds them both in front of the other passengers. Piper then thinks to herself, jealous of Percy and Annabeth's relationships, wondering why her and Jason could not do anything romantic like that. Later in the book, after Percy rescuing Annabeth, Hazel, and Piper from Octavian and two others, Annabeth throws her arms around Percy and says, "I love you!", though this was probably said in the heat of the moment.

Whenever Annabeth or Percy gets in danger the other always is off to the rescue and is worried sick. After being apart for so long, a separation is almost unbearable. Percy finds himself wanting to make up for lost time, but also realizes that he can only imagine to a small extent what it must have been like for Annabeth, to endure for 8 months, not knowing where he was or if he was even alive. This mutual realization and subsequent sharing of the strength of their feelings for each other eventually leads to the promises that they make never to leave one another. This culminates in their final scene of the book, where Annabeth is about to be dragged into Tartarus by her entanglement in Arachne's webs. While they are both hanging off the edge of the chasm, with Percy holding on to her, they both realize that they are beyond the help of the other demigods. Percy demands that Nico promise to lead the others to the side of the Doors of Death which exists in the land of the living. Percy asserts to Annabeth that everything will be alright as long as they are together, and she understands the choice he is about to make. He lets go and they both fall into dark that leads to Tartarus. Nico later states that Percy is the most powerful demigod he has ever met, and if anyone were to survive Tartarus, it would be him.

There is a profoundly tragic element to their relationship, which appears in a more complex and troubling manner than the general personal tragedies of the first series of books. After all they had been through together in the first five books, they had finally overcome their own personal issues and reached a point where they could be happy together. In this new series, they can both barely comprehend the cruelty of their situation, in that they were separated when they had finally found an instance of peace together. Even in this book, they were hard put to understand the implications of their separation, but were eventually able to overcome the tragedy of their separation. Despite this, their hardships as a couple will undoubtedly reach a level that even they have never experienced before, as they will both have to struggle to make their way out of the darkest, most painful situation they have ever experienced - Tartarus itself. However, both of them seem to accept that it is because of being demigods.

The House of Hades
While still falling in Tartarus, Annabeth tells Percy "I love you," thinking that if she dies, those should be her last words. Throughout the book, it is mentioned several times that Annabeth is deeply in love with Percy and that she cannot live without him. She also thinks about their future at Camp Jupiter, which Percy mentioned before, and she states that she would like to die peacefully, after spending a long life with Percy. Percy meanwhile, returns her feelings, and it is mentioned that he had nightmares of Annabeth's death, something which frightened him.

Percy cares for her a lot, but he constantly thinks of sacrificing his life to save her, whereas Annabeth wants Percy to be alive, so that she can live with him. Towards the end, Annabeth kisses him, saying that she would tell Percy what she had in her mind about their future, after defeating Gaea.

The Blood of Olympus
Percy kisses Annabeth for a long time and then proceeds to tell Annabeth he loves her. They will be attending the same high school for senior year and will then go onto University in New Rome.

The Hidden Oracle
Percy mentions that Annabeth is at Boston for a family emergency. Apollo asks if Annabeth was the "scary, blond one" and Percy says yes. He says that he had to promise Annabeth he won't kill himself while she's gone.

Trivia
• In the Lightning Thief, Percy said that there was a pretty blonde girl watching over him
 * Many fans write fanfiction about Percy and Annabeth on the popular site, Fanfiction.com
 * Many fans feel that Percabeth is much better than other HoO ships, such as Jasper, Frazel, and Caleo. However, it was less often checked in 2016, instead being replaced with Solangelo.
 * In the Lightning Thief, Annabeth felt that she and Percy's parentage would stop them from even getting along. (Athena and Poseidon have and age-old rivalry.)

Headcannons
4/10 of the first headcanons, from the web source Google, when searched 'Percy Jackson Headcanons', are about percabeth, implying it is a very popular ship among the fandom.

Gallery
Percabeth