Eyes Open
Annabeth POV
Everybody's waiting
Everybody's watching
Even when you're sleeping
Keep you ey-eyes open
I lay in my bed, resting my head on the soft, comfortable pillow.
I felt like the weight of the world was in my shoulders.
Everyone expected me to be the leader; to guide everyone and get them through safely in the end. I was the one expected to give orders, as everyone waited and watched; ready to do whatever I told them.
The truth was: I couldn't do that.
I was distraught. Percy was missing, and I still had no clue where he was. That Jason guy was meant to be my clue, my little nudge to find where Percy was, but what help was he? I felt like such an Aphrodite girl when I started talking about Percy, but I really didn't care in the end...
The tricky thing, is yesterday we were just children
Playing soldiers just pretending
Dreaming dreams with happy endings
I thought back to when Percy and I had met, back when we were twelve. It seemed like it was so long ago, yet, like it was only yesterday. Once I got past the hilarity of me spoon-feeding him and him drooling in his sleep, I reminisced on the first quest we'd ever gone on together. It was just him, me and Grover against the world. I tell you, those were the good times. Times when I didn't have to worry about Gaea taking over the world, or evil Titan lords trying to destroy Olympus...
In backyards, winning battles with our wooden swords
But now we've stepped into a cruel world
Where everybody stands and keeps score
I missed the days where we could actually act like kids. Now everyone was watching me, expecting me to perform a courageous act of bravery. The Gods, especially my mom, the other campers, Chiron; I just felt like all eyes are on me, waiting for me to do something that I knew I couldn't.
Keep your eyes open
Everybody's waiting, for you to break down
Everybody's watching, to see the fall out
Even when you're sleeping, sleep-i-ing
Keep your ey-eyes open
Keep your ey-eyes open
Keep your ey-eyes open
I'd had my fair share of heartbroken emotional breakdowns from this experience, and it was enough to last me a lifetime. But the advice I'd given myself was to keep moving forward, keep my eyes open, and that I'd find him soon, and it would all be okay.
So here you are; two steps ahead and staying on guard
Every lesson forms a new scar
They never thought you'd make it this far
I stopped thinking about Percy long enough to think about the time way back when I first came to Camp Half Blood. Now that I think about it, it was almost ten years ago; it felt a lot shorter than that.
I remembered the moment when Thalia had died, her cold-lifeless body lay on the grass; drowning in a pool of her own blood. I stood there, speechless. Back then, I'd never seen a dead body before, only on TV; but it's just not the same. I had zoned out, completely oblivious to all of the action happening around me. I snapped back to reality when Luke scooped me up and sprinted over the peak of Half Blood Hill. It was then I took in all my surroundings, and I started to scream.
I screamed as loud as I my little lungs would let me.
To block out all of the sounds of pain and crying.
Grover, followed closely but Luke and I, led us to what I later found out was the Big House: a massive four-storey, bright blue house, complete with a wrap-around porch. I was given a quick check-up by some children of Apollo, and then sent off on my way with Luke.
I held his hand as we walked though camp. I got a lot of stares, probably because I was so young. I heard the 'whis-whis-whis' of whispers, and even overheard a couple of the conversations.
'How much younger can you get?'
'She'll never be able to make it past twelve.'
'Stowaway much?'
But turn around, oh they've surrounded you it's a showdown
And nobody comes to save you now
But you've got something they don't
But you've got something they don't
Keep your eyes open
What was I going to do? The morning after Percy went missing was the worst out of them all, though. Word quickly spread around camp that he was MIA, and people quickly started to look to me for answers.
I thought about one girl, Jaquelle. She was only eight, from Chicago; she had long brown hair and the most beautiful dark blue eyes I'd ever seen. She was brought up in the same kind of conditions as I was: bad household, bad monsters, bad everything, until she finally decided to run away and escape it all. Only, she didn't find friends to journey with like I had. It wasn't until she'd reached somewhere near Rochester that a Satyr had finally caught sight of her and alerted the camp. She turned out to be a daughter of Athena as well, and it was probably those wits and smarts she'd gained that'd kept her alive.
She'd approached me while I was sitting on the beach, in a spot where Percy and I had sat and watched the stars countless times. She tapped me on the shoulder and when I turned around, she flinched slightly. She took and deep breath and brought up some confidence:
'Annabeth, are you okay?' she asked me. She was the first person to ask me how I was.
All morning I'd heard:
'Where's Percy?'
'What are we going to do without Percy?'
'Is Percy alright?'
But no one had stopped to ask me how I was. I felt my eyes grow damp, and I held my arms out, inviting Jaquelle into a hug. She held her arms out and came into my embrace, and I held her as I cried into her orange Camp Half Blood T-Shirt.
'I'm not okay, Jaq.' I sobbed, shaking my head.
After that, Jaquelle became the little sister I'd never had: the little sister I needed.
Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown
Everybody's watching to see the fallout
Even when you're sleeping, sleeping
Keep your ey-eyes open
Keep your ey-eyes open
Keep your ey-eyes
Keep your feet ready
Heartbeat steady
Keep your eyes open
Keep your aim locked
The night goes dark
Keep your eyes open
My watch beeped, signally that it was already midnight. Time went fast when I reminisced. I glanced mentally over my current situation:
- Percy gone.
- Camp in tatters.
- Demigods just keep coming and coming.
Oh gods, what was I to do.
I sat up in my bed, burying my face in my hands. I was never going to get past this, was I?
Keep your eyes open
Keep your eyes open
Keep your eyes open
Keep your eyes open
Everybody's waiting for you to breakdown
Everybody's watching to see the fallout
Even when you're sleeping, sleeping
Keep your ey-eyes open
Keep your ey-eyes open
Keep your ey-eyes open
Keep your ey-eyes open
Keep your ey-eyes open
All I knew was: I had to keep my eyes open.