"This is going to be annoying." Annabeth mumbled as she massaged her head slowly. The headache woke her up from the deep sleep she truly needed, and in her opinion, absolutely deserved. She had a long day of training ahead of her and she needed every ounce of energy she can get to be able to put up with Percy's… act of being Percy.
She yawned, stood up and stretched. In the dim light the curtains filtered in, she could barely see the clock next to her bed. It was eight o'clock in the morning.
"Oh no, no no no." Annabeth repeated in a panicked manner as she jumped up onto her legs. The cabin was completely empty; the training started an hour earlier. She started changing into more suitable outfit, her head throbbing with pain.
In five minutes time, she was ready. She hurried out of the cabin. After years of not being late and endless lectures about being punctual, her downfall finally arrives. "I'm not getting lectured by…" she skids to a halt. "…anyone." She finished the sentence, blinking.
The red, unearthly glow that filled the air seemed to finally register in her brain. Annabeth slowly tilted her head back to the sky, and her heart almost leaped out of her chest. In addition to the fact that the thick, sinister clouds seemed a lot lower than they should be, they were the source of the hellish glow the place was casted in.
"Okay." Annabeth mumbled. She swallowed her panic down, slowly backtracking to the cabin. Her eyes scanned the area, noticing how almost every building in the Camp has been stacked on either side of her, forming a path. It ended in what she assumed in a thick forest. "I'm not freaking out, not at all."
She almost tripped on the steps leading to the door. Once inside, Annabeth locked the door, and took a moment to breathe. This was… not expected. She let herself slip down against the door, and sighed. What the bleeding hell just happened?
Annabeth was pretty sure it's a dream. Even with everything she had been in, this apocalyptic version of reality was too crazy. This didn't calm her though. Dreams were equally dangerous.
She made sure she had her dagger, took a deep breath, and started looking for anything useful in the cabin. She grabbed her backpack, and filled it with anything that might come in handy; extra weapons, a flashlight, a note pad, a pencil and what little rope she found lying around.
Once feeling ready enough, Annabeth unlocked the door and stepped outside, the red glow greeting her eyes again.
"All I want is some sleep. Is that so much to ask for?" She mumbled to herself, walking down the path carefully. With her dagger unsheathed, she inspected the buildings. They were utterly abandoned.
A few minutes later, she finally arrived to the other end of the path, which ended with an arched gateway of complete blackness. A thick, impenetrable wall of vegetation stretched on either way of the gateway. As she got closer, she heard a familiar noise that sent chills down her spine; the sound of miniature legs scrapping against wood, of pincers clicking.
Tens, if not hundreds of spiders crawled on the frame of the gateway, threading more and more webs. They froze as Annabeth got closer, and watched her. She watched back, stopping a few feet away. Of course it had to be spiders. It's always spiders.
She sat down, facing the entrance. She wasn't doing this any time soon. No can do. She continued staring at the spiders, which resumed their crawling.
Maybe if she sat here long enough, she'll wake up. She's bound to wake up sooner or later, anyway. Annabeth knew it was a lie, though. A demigod's dream doesn't work that way. And there is always the possibility that this is not a dream, and something had gone terribly wrong. She sighed, and started digging her dagger into the ground.
After a few minutes, Annabeth grunted. This was stupid. She couldn't sit around, doing nothing, with these spiders mocking her. Even if she'll have to feel the spiders crawl all over her, nibbling her skin and getting stuck in her hair and… and- She shuddered. Her heart rate seemed to be elevated just from the thought of it. She preferred getting stabbed to getting a single spider on her. But she had to do it nonetheless.
Grunting once more, Annabeth got to her feet and started walking towards the spider-coated gateway. The spiders froze again as she approached. "Leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone." Annabeth repeated again and again, as she inched her way towards her possible doom. She braced herself and- Annabeth yelped, and took a hurried step back as the crawling noise assaulted her ears. But rather than move towards her, the spiders parted, sticking to the frame and clearing the entrance itself.
Shaken, Annabeth approached the entrance again, carefully cutting the webs off with her dagger. Other than the occasional hissing, the spiders don't move. Annabeth finally walked past the entrance, and at once, the spiders started stirring. In a matter of seconds the entrance was blocked with a thick layer of webs that blocked what little light Annabeth had, and darkness enveloped her.
"Alright." Annabeth took a shaky breath. "Here goes nothing."