I gripped my knife as Gaea approached me.
"You will be nothing but a pawn to them, Annabeth Chase, just like your little boyfriend. The key to victory. Nothing else." her sleepy voice whispered.
"N-no! Where's Percy? Where is he?"
"Off fighting with the other Romans. He will exchange you for them later on, my dear. What will you do if that happened?"
That's...suspicious. Gaea manipulates minds, not fortify. Why am I feeling stronger all of a sudden. My shirt was soaked through with blood, some mine, some from my dead friends.
"I am trying to help you. Being Athena's favorite daughter, I thought you would understand that by now." she insisted.
"I don't believe you." I said clearly. Inside, I feel like uncertain stuffing.
"I have been seen in a bad light. I only seem as I am to innocent children. They are the only ones who can see the world as it is."
"Tha-that's what the Mist is for. Keeping out mortals."
"Ah, but not all demigod children are tainted with their godly heritage. There are tainted with their experiences, their sufferings. Reality is cruel to us. Nothing will ever seem as it is as you learn from your mistakes. You can never forget completely."
Now she was talking sense.
"You're safe, Annabeth. You will never, ever fall for the ruses they plan for you. I wish not to destroy human civilisation, but to improve it and help you settle. I am a mother, dear, I know uncertainty when I see it. There's only one person you can trust, the one who knows you best." Her voice was relaxing.
"Who is it?" I asked her weakly.
Gaea chuckled. I just woke up after some Laistrygonian clubbed me over the head, and I was lying in a bed. That I just realized. She must be a just a vision, she must be.
"Oh no, I am here with you. It's just that you're rejecting me."
"Who is it?" I asked, a bit more strength in my voice.
"As I told you, he's somebody who knows you best. Somebody who knew the troubles of being framed for a crime he did not commit."
I could barely think. She keeps saying that she's here to help us. The reasonable part of me wanted to strike her down at this moment. My intuition wants me to believe her. The boy she was talking about wasn't part of this matter. I know it's Percy. Gaea might be saying the truth. Maybe not.
I don't know what to do. My heart and mind are two different things. My decisions are most essential when I'm not capable of making split-second decisions.
Gods help me with what I'm doing.