A/N: I do tend to switch from 3rd person POV to 1st person POV rather randomly and I apologize for that. I'm trying it out for a couple of chapters to see how it looks and works. If it doesn't I'll stick to one POV in the future. :D
Nightmares were probably the least favorite thing that Annabeth liked. In fact, she absolutely hated them. They almost always, without fail, seem to be based about either spiders chasing her, eating her or just in her proximity. And although it always results in Annabeth waking up in cold sweats, they weren't as bad as the other kind of nightmares that she would rarely get. The ones involving loved ones.
Up until now, being at Camp Half-Blood for ten years, without fail, when she would have a nightmare about a loved one, it would always result with them being in danger, getting hurt or just straight up hurting her.
Tonight was one of those.
She was standing at the end of a long, narrow dark hallway. Torches lit the sides making it possible to see the other end. Percy was standing at the other end. They had an argument a couple of weeks ago. And up until now, no one knows where he's gone. Except for Chiron, which won't tell me no matter how much I beg and argue with him. Childish? Maybe. But I was getting worried.
Back to the dream. I ran towards Percy. Just him being in my dream alone, I knew something wasn't right. The closer I got to him, the more I slowed down, horrified. The look on his face was mortifying. I've never seen that face other than one-to-two other times, and it was when he was seriously pissed. Beyond pissed if I'm being honest. That was his rage stare, normally used when I'm in danger.
But now he was giving me the stare. It sent a quick chill down my spine.
"Percy?" I asked.
No response.
Every little move she would make, his eyes would follow, the same intensity, no comments.
"Percy, talk to me." Annabeth tried again. As expected, no response, however, he was mumbling something. Barely audible to the ear but she just caught it.
She got closer, pressing her hands against his chest. Normally it would be warm enough for her to press her head against and just drift into sleep, the hint of seawater making her feel at ease, relaxed. But not this time.
His chest was icy cold. In fact, his whole proximity was icy cold. Almost like being stuck inside a walk-in freezer. And the hint of seawater wasn't there either. More so, a hint of charcoal. Ashy if that was possible.
Before trying to get at him again, he reached outward and clasped his hand around her neck with such speed that Annabeth immediately starting coughing. This wasn't Percy, not at all. This was pure evil. Just looking at his eyes gave Annabeth enough proof. They weren't the usual sea green colored pair of eyes that she fell in love with all those years ago: they were in fact, pitch black. So dark and hollow that she got flashbacks of Tartarus and the hell that they both went through. It gave her the chills.
Annabeth tried shaking away from his grasp but it only seemed to get harder to do so. Crushing her esophagus by the second, making her cough and tear up at the sight of the one she loved most, Percy was killing her with no pity to be noticed.
Just when she started to feel her final breath, she jolted up awake.
5:15 A.M the clock read. She was sitting on her bunk bed, her shirt drenched in sweat. She was shaking violently, and a stream of tears fell from her face. So much so, that she had to cover her mouth with both of her hands in fear of waking up her siblings.
She muffled her crying long enough for her to lock herself in the cabin restroom. She turned on the faucets in the sink and let the tears fall.
She cried for what seemed like hours but in reality: 15 minutes. Despite that, she wanted to stop crying. She had to get the horrible thoughts of Percy being that demented away from her mind. The camp would be up in a couple of hours so she decided to occupy her mind with something productive.
For the next 45 minutes, Annabeth did intense running through the forest. She would usually run on the beach, but that would remind her too much of Percy, and that was the last thing she needed right now, especially after that dream, even though she missed him immensely.
By the time Annabeth had finished her run, did some sword practice down at the Arena, and showered, campers were already waking up. She passed Chiron during his morning walk, but she just avoided his gaze and even his Good morning Annabeth and continued walking. She wasn't in the mood to talk to him. Instead, she decided to absorb herself in her daily camp duties as a Camp Counselor.
She inspected all the cabins, skipping over a certain Cabin 3 (Poseidon Cabin). She taught the three classes she had today and by the time she knew it, it was lunch time. But she wasn't hungry so she skipped on that.
Regarding the rest of the day, it was horrible. Everything reminded her of Percy. Every single damned thing. They lived at camp full time so as you'd expect, they would do almost everything together. And when they didn't, he would normally be at a walks length so naturally she would look over at those parts of camp where he normally would be, just to not find him.
Her best friends have been trying to cheer her up ever since the fight too. Piper and Hazel were great. Despite not making any progress, they wouldn't give up. Leo would try to make small little robots from spare parts, with signs above their heads that read, "Keep your head up," in attempts to lighten the mood, but to no avail. They were cute, sure, but they didn't make her feel any different. Jason was the more reaffirming one from the bunch. He would simply say, "Don't sweat it. Percy will come back. He wouldn't abandon the camp. Especially not you. He loves you. You know that just as much as we all do. Don't let go of that." And although she felt like crap, she held on to that hope.
Dinner time eventually came when the conch shell blew at 7:30 P.M. Everyone was exiting their cabins when Annabeth heard a psst from the side of her cabin. Intrigued, she followed the sound, hand next to her blade attached to her belt. There was nobody there, but she heard another psst behind a tree this time.
"Who's there?" Annabeth asked. Monsters couldn't get passed the barrier surrounding the camp. And the monsters that already infested the forest, shouldn't have the vocal cords to mimic a human psst. Luckily for her, it was only Nico.
Nico hardly stopped by at the camp. He spent most of his time either wandering the country through the shadows, or looking over the Underworld while his father had stuff to attend to up in Mount Olympus. But when he did stop by, it usually wasn't to chat over a cup of coffee.
"Nico, what are you doing here? I mean… What's up?" Annabeth asked, lowering her guard.
"Hey. I just dropped by to talk to you."
"I don't have the time, Nico. You can stop by for dinner, that's where I'm headed to right now. We can talk afterwards."
"Think I'll pass. We can save the Percy talk for another time." Nico started turning around but Annabeth didn't let him take another step. She immediately had her hands locked on his shoulders.
"Percy? What about Percy? Do you know something about his whereabouts?" Annabeth asked frantically.
"Thought that'd change your mind." Nico rested against a tree. "I saw him. A couple of days ago."
"Where?"
"Underworld. The Fields of Asphodel to be more precise. Just past the Main Gate. I tried calling out to him but he seemed to be on a mission."
"Then what?!"
"I just continued doing what I was doing."
"And you didn't approach him?! Nico!"
"I'm sorry okay! I thought he was on a quest. This was literally right before I found out about you fight. If I would have known, I would stop him. But he looked dead serious about something."
"Do you know where he is now?!"
Nico stared at the ground.
Annabeth's heart sank. This close to find out where he was, and now nothing.
"I can tell you this though. He isn't in the Underworld anymore. He hasn't been for the past five days, minimum. He wasn't in the Judgement Pavilion or in the Fields of Punishment, so it's safe to say that he's still alive. I just wanted to let you know to ease your nerves a tad bit."
"Yeah… That only leaves the rest of the world." Annabeth did a fake laugh, not fooling anybody.
"Sorry Annabeth. I know I fucked up. I'll still keep a look out if for some reason he goes back."
"No… You didn't do anything wrong. But thanks. We just need to wait, I guess. Chiron knows something but he won't tell me. I'm losing my mind because it's been almost a month. A month Nico."
Nico gave some sort of comforting smile. "Well, I should get going. Dad left for Olympus and he left me stacks of paperwork."
"Paperwork? In the Underworld?" Annabeth asked.
"Tell me about it. I had the same thought. Regardless, I have a strange feeling about this camp, but I'm sure it's nothing." With that, the ground opened up and swallowed Nico.
Annabeth gaped. "You can't say something like that and just disappear Nico!"
Although annoyed at the audacity Nico dared to show, that feeling subsided when she heard her name being shouted.
"I'm over here!" She called out. What was going on now? She thought.
Only took a couple of seconds for her brother, Malcolm, to reach her.
"Annabeth, about time I found you. Everyone is going crazy at the dining hall, where were you?"
"I've been here. Whys everyone freaking out? Because I didn't attend dinner?"
"Quite the opposite!" He fidgeted his fingers like he was trying to process if it was worth telling her whatever it was he was hiding.
"Spill it Malcolm." Annabeth said annoyed and worried at the same time.
"Percy… he's um… returned. He's sitting with Chiron at the Dining Hall."
Everything else that Malcolm said was a blur. She had tunnel vision, and it was leading her to the Dining Hall. She's been so lost without him, and now he was only 200 feet away from where she was standing.
She ran. No, she sprinted. Malcolm right on her tail telling her to stop. She didn't care what Malcolm had to say. She had to see him with her own eyes to make sure this wasn't another one of her horrid dreams.
Annabeth could hear the constant chatter the closer she got to the Dining Hall. That was immediately cut off when her heavy breaths were caught by the attention of every camper.
Every camper was looking right at her but her sight was set on the back of the head of the guy she loved. He was the only one who wasn't looking back at her. He was twirling his fork gathering as much pasta as possible before taking a bite.
She caught herself saying "Perce" under her breath, then the realization of what was happening settled in. She was staring at Chiron's table, staring at Percy and everybody could tell. The news that her and Percy got in a fight spread pretty quickly so everyone knew what was going on. If it wasn't for Drew calling out to her saying, "What's wrong Annie? The food won't go anywhere", and a couple of laughs emerging from the other tables, she might have stayed standing there.
She wanted to rush over to Percy and wrap her arms around him, but she knew she couldn't. It was her fault that they got in a fight in the first place. She was wrong, she knew that, but her pride was too much for her to apologize. She snapped out of her daze and walked over to her table and sat down.
She ate quietly-after giving the offering to her mother and Zeus, and stole multiple glances at Percy as much as possible.
And that's how the whole dinner time went. Afterwards, we had the campfire. Normally, I have been skipping it ever since Percy disappeared, but now that he was back, I decided to go.
The campfire was more cheerful than usual. People were singing a lot more, chatting and just having a good time overall. Soon enough, Chiron stood up to make an announcement. His hooves stomped on the ground, gathering the attention of all of us.
"As you all know, tonight was a success. One of the veterans of Camp Half-Blood returned after a long journey intended not for the faint of heart. After constant struggle, from what I've heard, the fact that he made it back in one piece proves he's a worthy member of our camp. For that, we celebrate. Tomorrow, all classes are postponed and a Capture the Flag game will take place instead."
All the campers cheered, even those from the Aphrodite cabin.
That was pretty much all I heard. Percy had been looking around the stone steps when his eyes met mine. Time froze. His gorgeous sea green eyes glistening by the reflection caused by the flame. He gave her a gentle smile, filled with sadness.
That broke her heart. All she wanted to do was run over and comfort him but she couldn't. Was putting her pride aside really that difficult for her to do? It shouldn't be. She was on the verge of possibly losing her boyfriend because of it. She only managed to give him a weak wave before he turned around.
The time couldn't pass fast enough. Soon enough, the campfire ended and the curfew was in session. All the campers started going back to their cabins. Annabeth quickly showered and got into her pjs. Gray baggy sweatpants and a white tank top. She kept pacing back and forth her cabin. Thinking of all the possibilities that could happen if she would go to his cabin right now. She could get caught by the harpies, or even Chiron himself, that'd be fun. Not. She kept calculating the different choices of dialogue she could say when Malcolm spoke up.
"Are you alright sis?" Malcolm asked from a bunk bed nearby.
Annabeth sighed heavily. "I need advice."
Malcolm sat upright and patted the empty space next to him. Annabeth sat there.
"Hypothetically, if someone were to be in the wrong… and they knew that they were in the wrong… but for whatever reason, they can't seem to apologize, what should they do?" Annabeth said as confidently as possible. "Asking for a friend." She added.
She knew Malcolm could see through her lies, but he didn't press her about it, which she silently thanked him for.
"Well," Malcolm started, "I would tell them that if they really were in the wrong, that they should put aside their differences of whatever means, and be the bigger person. No matter what's preventing them from doing so. Taking the first step in the right direction tends to lead to better and greater things. But that's just my opinion."
Annabeth contemplated her options. She could head over to her bunk bed, sleep and pray that Percy would just talk to her tomorrow, or, she could go right now, risk getting caught, and apologize to him. Frustrated. Annabeth stood up with her fists closed.
"Was that the advice you needed?" Malcolm asked.
"We'll have to see," Annabeth replied. "Cover for me?"
"Where ya headed to?"
"Where else? Cabin three. I can't take this anymore. I have to make it right with Percy."
Malcolm simply nodded, smiling. His older sister was growing up. Who would have thought: a kid of Athena putting their pride aside for somebody else.
The harpies were out on guard but thanks to Annabeth's Yankee baseball hat, she walked right by them without getting caught. A once thought of issue solved with a simple trick.
This was it. She was standing in front of his cabin. He would be inside there, hopefully still awake. It wasn't too late, maybe 10 o'clock, so she had a good chance of catching him awake.
She knocked on the door when the harpies weren't close enough to hear her. Now she waited. She heard footsteps approaching and her heartbeat increased substantially. What was she going to say? How was she going to apologize? All she came prepared with was an "I'm sorry", hoping that he would accept it and they could kiss and everything would be fine with the world.
The door opened. Percy stood there. Wearing dolphin patterned sweat pants and no shirt. He still wore the necklace Annabeth had bought for him for his 17 birthday. That made her feel somewhat at ease.
"Um… H-Hey," Annabeth stammered.
"Annabeth… Hey." his raspy voice said back.
"Can I come in?"
Annabeth could tell that Percy hesitated for a moment but he nodded and moved aside to let her through, closing the door behind him.
She made her way through his room, sitting at the edge of his bed.
"Want something to drink?" Percy asked. He was walking over to a mini fridge that he managed to snuck in and was taking a bottle of water out for himself.
"I'm okay," Annabeth replied.
Percy cracked open the bottled water and chugged it down. A couple of drips slipped past his mouth and made their way down his neck, down his body. That pulled on Annabeth's urges. She cursed herself mentally. This wasn't the time to be thinking of such thoughts. She had to apologize. He turned a chair around and straddled it, his hands clutching the back as if it were a horse's mane. "So, what's up?"
"That's it? What's up? You've been gone for almost a month and all you say is what's up? I've been worried sick Percy!" Annabeth's temper was getting the better of her. She did miss him, but that didn't excuse him from basically running away without a word to anyone.
"What's there to be worried about? I can handle myself Annabeth," Percy said, in a relaxed, distracted voice.
"That's… That's not the point Perce… If something were to happen to you… What would I tell your mom? Paul? What-" Tears began to fill her eyes. Every possibility she ran through her head didn't have a positive ending. "What would I do if something happened to you? I couldn't live with myself."
Percy stayed silent. He observed her. That made Annabeth shiver. His gaze was intense. Everyone would react the same way.
"Look, I know I screwed up okay? I know I was in the wrong. You know I was wrong, too. You also know my pride is such a flaw of mine but I'm here, trying to improve on that." Streams of tears were falling at this point. She couldn't hold it in anymore. Percy still hadn't said anything. He continued staring at her.
The worst came to mind for Annabeth. Was this it? Was he going to break up with me? The fight wasn't even that bad to begin with, but Percy could be unpredictable with things like this.
"Say something Percy…" She managed to say before fully crying.
He still wasn't saying anything and she was already preparing for the words, "I break up with you," or whatever kids our age said when they broke it off with each other.
Instead, she felt a pair of strong arms wrapping over her. His warmth made every insecurity she had melt away.
"A daughter of Athena, apologizing. Never thought I'd see the day." Percy said sarcastically, hiding a smile in her hair.
"Don't push it," Annabeth warned under her breath. Her tears of sadness had turned to tears of joy almost immediately.
Percy rubbed her arm, mumbling into her hair. "Want me to tell you where I've been?"
She shook her head in denial. "Not tonight." She didn't care about details. All she wanted to do was be with him right now.
Annabeth spent the rest of the night in Percy's bed. No, we didn't do anything. Not anything crazy anyways. They talked a bit about how much they missed each other. They kissed, some tongue, but nothing past that. Actually, Annabeth fell asleep rather quickly once they began to cuddle in bed. His muscular arms holding her tight made her feel at piece. And to her surprise, she didn't have a single nightmare that night either. If she knew this earlier, she would do this every single night.
She woke up the following morning alone in bed. She immediately started getting a small panic attack at the thought of Percy leaving her again. Luckily, he was walking through the door, a bagel and a cup of something in his hands.
"Morning," he said. He was shirtless and he looked damn good, Annabeth thought. He walked towards her taking a bite out of the bagel before handing it over to Annabeth.
She sat upright on the bed covering her chest. Despite what I said, things might have gotten slightly out of hand. But can you really blame me? A girl has needs. And besides, I haven't seen my boyfriend in almost a month, sue me.
Annabeth took the bagel and the coffee offered. "Morning," she said. Her hair was in a mess and her voice must have sounded horrible but she didn't care at the slightest, she felt happy and that's all that mattered to her.
She smiled at Percy who kept staring at her.
"What?" She felt a slight blush happen as she kept eye contact with him, taking a bite from the bagel.
"You're so beautiful. You know that?" Percy said. He climbed up on the bed and sat beside her, resting against the headboard.
"Am not" Annabeth replied, her blush getting more red. She rested her head on his shoulder. His head on hers.
"We have to get up soon." Percy said.
Annabeth groaned, mouthful of bagel. "Do we have to? Can't we just stay here… in bed… all day…?"
"We'd get in trouble if that was the case. I'm sure your siblings already know where you're at. If Chiron gets ear of it, we'll be scrubbing toilets for a month."
"Ugh… Guess you're right." Annabeth finished her bagel and coffee and got out of bed. However, Percy grabbed the hem of her underwear and held it.
"What?" She asked, smacking away his hand.
"I didn't say now. Common." Percy patted the empty spot next to him.
Annabeth smiled and climbed back into bed.
A/N: Still don't know what I'm going to make of this story so be gentle lol. Any feedback is more than welcomed. :)