A/N: This takes place after the events of "House of Hades".

Written for the Capture the Flag Competition.

Round Five

Word Count (Excluding Title and A/Ns): 699 Words


Scarlet and Gold

It was dark. Pitch black. There was nothing to be seen. Nothing that could be seen.

There were some sounds. A churning. But where was it? It couldn't really be known. The echo of the turn was everywhere.

There was a feel to it. Heavy. That's what it was. As if the scene was about to collapse upon itself.

It made Annabeth nervous. Not that she was afraid of the lack of light. No. She feared what could be in the inky veil. Anything could be in here. It could be right now roaming, practically invisible with all the shadows. If something attacked her, here and now…

Annabeth reached for her dagger but she grasped nothing. Then she remembered. She lost it. Down the hole into Tartarus. She cursed, reprimanding herself for her stupidity as the demigod's unease grew even more.

Now what was she going to do? She had no real way to defend herself. Well, she could always try to kick and scream if there need be. But would that be any of a real stand?

"Annabeth?" A voice, like the churning, was bouncing off whatever surfaces it could touch.

Something about it was familiar.

It took only a moment for the daughter of Athena to figure it out.

"Luke?" As she asked, she could somehow see the son of Hermes walking toward her.

She had to blink. To make sure she wasn't hallucinating. To check if this was something out of her imagination. To see if it wasn't made by her fear- driven mind.

He was still there, in perfect condition. A completely healthy young man. But there was something about his eyes. A glassy gaze. As he took a step forward, the noise of the water crashing grew louder. But Annabeth paid no heed to that.

"But how?" This shouldn't be possible. He died. Annabeth saw him died. But yet he was here. In the complete flesh and blood.

The demigod ignored her question. "I thought you love me."

What? The girl felt her face growing hot at the thought.

"But you didn't save me."

"I-" she started but he cut her off.

"You killed me, Annabeth."

Something ached. As if her heart was about to shatter.

"Luke, if I could-"

"You killed me, Annabeth." He continued walking. As he said those words, she saw a bleeding spot under his left arm. "You killed me, Annabeth." The area grew, taking over the limb. The adolescent saw how the blood was changing colors between scarlet and gold. The colors for a mortal and an immortal. By the sounds of it, a turning liquid grew both louder and faster.

She took a step backward but was stopped by something.

"You killed me, Annabeth."

She whipped around to see Luke, the bodily fluid now covering the majority of his midsection.

"You killed me, Annabeth." A voice behind her said. She turned her head to see the son of Hermes. How did he get there so fast? Her gaze flickered between, to see there was not one but two Lukes, both of their upper bodies covered in blood. The churning grew louder.

"You killed me, Annabeth." A third Luke appeared out of nowhere. The Lukes' right legs were now dripping red and yellow as the noise of crashing water was in her ears.

"You killed me, Annabeth." A fourth Luke stepped out, nearly all limbs coated with gore. They were all surrounding her now, with no way out.

"You killed me, Annabeth." They all said, synchronized, bloody from head to toe. The churning was so loud now, she could barely hear their words.

It was then they burst into an ocean of scarlet and gold, sweeping her of her feet, filling her vision and her lungs with blood.


Annabeth woke up, gasping for breath. Sweat poured from her pores. Her eyes darting all around.

But she only saw that she was in her room, at the Argo II, in bed.

No sounds of churning.

No vital fluids.

No Luke.

It took moments for her breathing to slow down. When it did, she could only think of the dream she just had.

"So," she murmured. "None of it was real."


A/N: Erro everyone. I'm alive. So yeah…

If you can, please review.