Chapter 1: Nightmares
Disclaimer: All characters belong to rick riordan
Annabeth POV
The air was so hot that blisters popped up on my skin. I couldn't walk without feeling the pieces of glass dig into my skin, but that wasn't the worst part of it all. In front of me was the pit himself looking straight into my eyes letting me know I was going to suffer the same horrible fate as Bob. A gust of wind started pulling me towards Tartarus. Then I woke up.
I was breathing heavily and sweat trickled down my skin. I saw a mop of unruly black hair resting on my stomach. Percy. We were currently in the Poseidon cabin sleeping together to reduce the nightmares. As if. They had been less traumatizing the last few months, but there was still 1 thing keeping me from getting rid of them. I slowly got off the bed careful to not wake Percy up and stealthily headed towards my cabin. I was determine of getting rid of the nightmares for good, and nothing was going to stop me.
Percy POV
It was thankfully a dreamless or should I say nightmareless night, but when I woke I realized something was missing too. Annabeth. I normally would wake up with her in my arms, but I probably had slept in and she didn't want to wake me. The thought made me smile remembering how caring and wonderful my girlfriend could be.
It was weird waking up without bags in my eyes and be able to enjoy the morning, but today it was happening. I had missed breakfast ( which I was not happy about ), but the rest of the morning had been great. I had loved my swordfighting lesson with the Ares cabin. It's always fun to be able to tell them that I was better and rubbing it in (that almost earned me a mouthful of toilet water though). After that I had Pegasus riding and canoeing which was awesome.
The only thing I found odd was that instead of sitting with me at lunch Annabeth was chatting and smiling with some Aphrodite girls that I'd never seen her hang out with before. I then realized that it was probably because of the date we had in the evening. Let's just say that after the last one ended with us being drenched in sewer water we needed a nice quiet and calm one for once.
The rest of the day passed in a flash and soon I found myself in front of the mirror straightening my khakis and thinking wether or not to tuck in my shirt. I gave up since I new Annabeth wouldn't care and set way to the beach to prepare everything. I waited anxiously in the blanket I'd put over the sand for our picnic and smiled when I saw her coming toward me, but I didn't like the look she had on her face.
Annabeth POV
I walked towards the silhouette sitting in the beach until I was close enough to recognize the unruly black hair and sea-green that I loved. I felt trees prickle at my eyes as I tried to get the words out. "Percy...I"I hesitated, I couldn't really do it, and maybe there was another way. "No stop Annabeth, there's no other way" I sad under my breath. Percy was the only thing standing between me and a normal life. The nightmares needed to stop no matter the cost .I looked back at him and looking at those eyes made me realize that I couldn't say it. I reached out gripped the front of the shirt of a new Apollo kid, I looked back at Percy one last time hoping he could see the sorrow in my eyes before pulling the shirt and kissing the kid on the lips.
I forced myself to make the kiss genuine, so Percy wouldn't come back to me. I felt the wind pick up and heard the waves smash loudly against the shore as if a storm was coming. I knew it was Percy. I couldn't bear to see the probably hurt look in his eyes, so I kept kissing the kid until I heard my loves (Percy) footsteps speeding away from me. As soon as I stopped hearing them I shrank into a ball in the middle of the sand and started crying my heart out.
Little did I know that the nightmares wouldn't stop, they would become the worst. The ones from Tartarus were more realistic and horrific. But those weren't the worst ones. The worst ones where when I saw Percy on the beach with an expression of pure heartbreak.
Percy POV
He ran. He ran deep into the forest. He was lonely, heartbroken, and a mess. His shirt was torn from the branches, and his heart ached so much. He was being ripped apart. Not in a physical way. No, but in an emotional way. He wondered if a thing such as love existed. He thought he had experienced it, but maybe love didn't exist at all. Maybe it was just a saying that you fancied someone, but had anyone ever experienced true love. He doubted it. He had gone through hell and killed hundreds of monsters for her. If that wasn't true love he didn't know what was. Or maybe it was a one sided kind of love. Maybe love wasn't beautiful and magical. Maybe it was greedy and sinister. Maybe one person thought they were in love while the other one was just using them. Had Annabeth used him. Or had he messed up. He pondered over the dilemma in his head while he ran into the night and tried to stop the sobs that were building up in his body.