Percabeth

"The world was collapsing and the only thing that mattered was that she was alive"

- Percy on Annabeth

Percabeth is the het ship between Annabeth and Percy from the Camp Half-Blood Chronicles fandoms.

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, the 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 about 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 Hephaestus's trap to catch Ares and Aphrodite together.

Later, with the help of Ares, the three hop on a truck heading west, during which 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 will be on opposite sides like they were during the Trojan War. Annabeth admits that she doesn't know, but she 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 the 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.

The Sea of Monsters
Annabeth begins to show slight feelings for Percy, and Percy also starts to have feelings for Annabeth. He also states that he felt (sort of) jealous when she talked about Luke. 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). Following their win in the chariot race at the end of the book, she kisses him on the cheek.

The Titan's Curse
After she jokingly punches him, Percy and Annabeth dance. Nervous, Percy tries to focus on anything but the fact that Annabeth is taller, that his hands are — in his mind — sweaty and gross, and that he is probably stepping on her toes. After slow-dancing with her, Percy finds out that Annabeth had almost become a Hunter at one point, and that the option remains open. Percy is terrified that Annabeth could leave him.

When Percy meets Aphrodite, she forces him to reveal aloud that his reason for going on the quest was mostly about saving Annabeth from Luke. He misses Annabeth at the Hoover Dam, thinking that she would love that place if she were there.

While being attacked by Atlas, Annabeth wants to go back to holding the sky so Artemis can fight, but Percy takes the weight instead. Later, while she seems grateful to everyone who rescued her, she expresses her gratitude mostly to Percy.

While Artemis is asking Zeus if someone could join the Hunt, Percy thinks it is going to be Annabeth and he proceeds to beg Annabeth not to join the Hunt. Percy figures out that it wasn’t Annabeth that was going to join the Hunt, and he feels relieved.

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 music everyone else hears.

The Battle of the Labyrinth
During breakfast one day, Annabeth breaks the rules and sits at Percy's table to talk about their upcoming quest. Before they embark on the quest, Annabeth and Percy hug. Annabeth becomes extremely jealous and moody every time Percy mentions Rachel Elizabeth Dare. When they find the Labyrinth, Annabeth holds Percy's hands. To Percy, if it was public, he would have been embarrassed, but it is dark and only them.

Later, 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 to hug her. However, they are interrupted by Malcolm, to whom they awkwardly say they were preparing for the quest.

In Mount St. Helens, Percy risks his life so Annabeth can escape to safety, and she kisses him before putting on her magic Yankees cap and disappearing. She and the rest of camp presume he is dead, completely unaware that he has been stuck on Ogygia with Calypso for two weeks. At Sally's place, Percy sees Annabeth smile for the first time in days and states that "it was so good to see". When he returns, Annabeth hugs him fiercely until she realizes she is making a scene. She is furious at Percy for being gone so long, and when she figures out where he was marooned, she gets even angrier. When they return to Camp Half-Blood, their relationship remains slightly shaky; partially due to Annabeth's feelings for Luke, which annoyed Percy.

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 they are interrupted by Annabeth's second-in-command Malcolm. Percy finds this awkward and nerve-wracking, since the rules are that demigods of the opposite gender are not allowed to be in one cabin alone unless they are siblings.

While Percy is bathing in the River Styx, he has to choose one thing to think of in order to keep him anchored to the mortal world. He imagines Annabeth pulling him out of the Camp Half-Blood lake, saying "Hold on, Seaweed Brain, you're not getting away from me that easily." This causes 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 is at hand, Percy volunteers either to protect Annabeth, or to ask for her help. During a battle, Percy is about to get stabbed at his one weak point, which would have caused his immediate death. However, Annabeth intercepts the blow, even though Percy had never told her the location of his Achilles spot. Percy immediately becomes very defensive of her, making sure no one touches her. Later, as Annabeth is healing, she and Percy are immersed in a romantic moment, but Connor interrupts and states that Grover has arrived.

On the way to Mount Olympus, they cross a dangerously crumbling bridge. Everyone gets to the other side safely except for 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 are around each other and awkwardly untangle themselves.

Soon, Kronos and Luke reach 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 lays dying, he asks Annabeth if she ever loved him. She replies 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, they race down the hill, and 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 wished 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. This is 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 appears along with Grover, telling him to "stay put". Percy has some internal conflict about leaving camp due to her warning, wanting desperately to see her, but ultimately, he 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. This book 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 8 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 but 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 about 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 she 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 reach a level that even they have never experienced before, as they 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 accept that it is part 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.

Fanon
Percabeth is one of the most popular Percy Jackson ships, and arguably could be considered the most popular. In the "Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan" tag on AO3, Annabeth/Percy has the most fics, with Solangelo in second.

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 * Percy/Annabeth on FanFiction.Net

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Notes and references
Percabeth