A/N: So, the timing of this story is iffy, so just take it as it is. Around the time when Percy had the dream in SoN. Totally popped in my head after watching a Disney Movie. Enjoy. Review, all that jazz.
Disclaimer: I do not own PJO/HoO. GETTHEHELLOVERIT.
SIDENOTE: I'm a HUGE blink-182 fan, and I want to see if there are any others, I hid 8 blink-182 song titles in this story, all Enema of the State, The self-titled and Take off your pants and jacket. FIND THEM! :D
"A dream is a wish your heart makes."
Many times in Annabeth Chases' young life had she heard the quote; "A dream is a wish your heart makes." The remember able and enticing quote was derived from the lovely and sweet Disney movie, Cinderella. The quote and little song that went along with the quote soon became the tag line and symbol for many Disney related things, and it was quickly caught on by the public, who found it endearing, many of which were small girls dressed in costumes, still working on their own princess physique. Although being a princess wasn't on the young mind of Annabeth, the quote's addictive powers did not skip over the young demigod. She loved it, after first hearing it on a trip through the town with Thaila and Luke, she couldn't feel more like it described her life, her dreams of a family, a home, a dream of something of her own that she could share with someone who would never let her down. If a dream was a wish your heart made, Annabeth Chase would have hundreds of dreams a night. A solid, true family, a successful career...and so much more.
Although never would she in her life would she have thought she would have the dream she was having now.
When she entered the dream she found herself lying on a patch of dying grass in a murky forest. Trees of huge proportion towered her, their gray-brown branches and green leaves swaying over her. Leaves fell on her as she laid on the grass, still waiting for the energy to sit up and make sense of what was happening. Around her, the dark forest seemed to never end. Tangles of never ending tree and weeds centered around her and twisted in the endless natural maze. Light cast through spots in the branches and left large, patchy light spots scattered variously around her. Although sounds of wildlife cooed every now and again, no animal of bird was seen. The lack of life comforted Annabeth as she sat up, propping her back of with her elbows, she was glad no one was watching her. Annabeth has experienced many dreams in the same scenario as the one she was currently coming to odds with, and none of them had turned out well. She found herself risen to her feet, even though she had no memory of doing so. She brushed the dirt and leaf bits off of her shirt and shorts and reached for the dagger tucked away I the belt around her waist. When she reached for it, she found that there was no belt or dagger around her waist. Frantic, she looked around the ground to see if her weapon was hidden away as part of her dream or had fallen off of her when she stood.
Nothing was there.
The sense of vulnerability frightened Annabeth for a moment, as flashes of past battle failures skipped through her mind. She had seen many fallen warriors pass, and without a weapon, she worried her would follow them.
The daughter of Athena took a deep breath and picked up a stick from the ground. She gripped it and broke it in two, leaving the center of the stick sharp, jagged and uneven.
She examined the make-shift protection she had created and shrugged to herself, approving the replacement for her dagger.
Part of Annabeth did not want to be in this dream, who really would? The last time she had a dream similar to this, Hera tricked her into going to the Grand Canyon and finding Leo, Piper and Jason.
She clutched the stick tightly and many her way towards the woven wall of trees. Pushing back branches and leaves, she tried to make her way deeper into the forest. She questioned if she should call out or now. Although it could give her some guidance, it would be an extremely dangerous risk that could attract some unwanted guests. She worked to slow and coordinate her breaths, trying to steady them as slow as she could.
The branches were weaves together, small patches letting the sunlight that promised an end and escape peek through. The gray eyed girl followed the rays of light, hoping they would free her from the dark forest.
When she finally reached the last shell of branches, Annabeth was quick to break through them and escape into the outside, she was ready to figure out what this dream had waiting for her.
Finally stepping completely out of the woods, Annabeth looked to her surroundings. She was shocked to what she saw, a large field, bigger that Annabeth had ever seen in her life stretched out in front of her. The grass grew fresh and lush, small flowers and weeds popped up in various areas, sprinkling the ground with a rainbow of colors. Although the field seemed to go forever, placed far too it's north was a large set of rocks, they were all piled on one another, blocking the view behind them.
Though she had a very good idea to why hid behind the rocks, the smell of salt brushed the air leaving Annabeth with a strong feeling of sadness.
Finally, the girl decided to follow the rocks and smell of salt and made her what to the possible sea. She needed to face this dream sooner than later.
As the rocks came closer to her sight, Annabeth could hear yelling in the distance. The voice seemed strained and lost, trying to make sense of where it was. The gender of the voice could not be made out, but Annabeth hurried to run to it, in hope of finding escape or progression of this dream.
The shouts grew louder as Annabeth ran towards the sea. Her blonde curls, which were out of her normal ponytail, waved and flailed in the wind behind her. The length of her hair had grown an extreme amount and rimmed the top of her waistline. She never got around to cutting it in the past few months, the less important task of cutting it had been pushed back farther and farther until she no longer cared.
When the daughter of Athena met the rocks, she was awestruck at the ocean that lay beneath her. The sand was a warm, soft white that stretched against the murky blue green water. The salt water let off a foggy mist that was sent off in whisks around the water and sand. It was the most beautiful ocean Annabeth had ever seen.
But when her eyes found the shouting voice, Annabeth's legs almost fell from beneath her. It was a tall, muscular, lean figure. It stood at the shore of the beach, pacing and yelling. It didn't want to be here anymore, but Annabeth couldn't be more glad that it was there.
She climbed down the rocks until she finally dropped to the sand. The figure was still too far away, and caught up in what it was doing to notice Annabeth's progression towards it.
"Wh-who's there?" Annabeth shouted towards the person. Although she tried to make it sound as strong as she could, her words stumbled and shook.
The figure froze, looked
towards Annabeth and straightened up. He reached for his pocket, pulling out something small that quickly grew, now to a large, long sword. He turned around and looked to Annabeth. She gasped, the stick fell to the ground as she quivered from underneath herself. Unwanted tears began to brim her gray eyes.
It was him.
Annabeth began to make her way towards her lost boyfriend, but the cold stare and fighting stance never left him. Her heart shattered when she realized, Percy didn't recognize her. Her wasn't seeing his blonde girlfriend her had lost for the past 8 months, he only saw an enemy.
He would fight an enemy.
This, in fact scared Annabeth more than she would like to admit. Although she had beaten Percy many times in training at camp, she always knew he never truly fought her the way he fought monsters. He held back. He held back because he knew his own strength, because he had taken down Titans, because he never would want to harm his girlfriend. He held back to protect her.
But now he wouldn't.
Annabeth had never noticed the chilling fear of having a boyfriend that, with all the power he had used to his highest potential, could kill you. In the past, he had always used the power to protect Annabeth, and with all the chaos in the young girls life, it was nice to have but now, now Percy didn't see his girlfriend, he didn't want to protect her and he had no reason to hold back.
He charged towards her, sword ready to swing and attack at any given moment. She trembled, maybe if she had had her knife she would be fine, but she didn't. All she had was the broken stick she had dropped.
She ran back, trying to climb the group of rocks behind her, she refused to be afraid of we boyfriend.
"P-percy!" she shouted, trying to stop the black haired demigod.
"How do you know my name!" he growled at her, she had seen then look in his eyes before. It was saved for when Percy felt he was in the most danger, and without a memory and lost in dream that didn't belong to him, Percy felt he was in danger.
"Percy, stop!" Annabeth shouted. She was standing, back against a rock and feet on the one holding it up. Pebbles crumbled as she tried to find her footing. "It's me, Annabeth."
Percy paused and stared at Annabeth. He looked for *all the small things* he remembered in the girl he vaguely remembered. The blonde curls and gray eyes sent sparks through his memory-and heart- but he knew to trust no one. This could easily be a monster, trying to trick Percy as had happened so many other times.
"Don't lie to me!" Percy snarled.
Annabeth stumbled back. "Percy, stop! I'm not lying to you," Annabeth gray eyes sat firm on the boy. She was too strong to be afraid. "It's me, Annabeth Chase."
"Why should I believe you?" Percy snapped at her, though he dropped his sword to his side and stood straighter up.
"Because I am!" Annabeth said, a slight annoyance sharpened her voice. "We met at 12. We fought a war together...we've been dating..." Annabeth blushed and trailed off, a sickening feeling swallowed in her stomach. Never would she have thought she would feel weird telling Percy about their lost relationship. "Percy stop! I am Annabeth!"
Percy's stance took a unbelievable change, he was no longer trying to hurt the girl, but now trying to figure of the confusing story he was being told. He wanted to believe this was Annabeth, that this was the girl he was dating, that somehow he got her. She was brave, bold and beautiful, and he had a feeling, just a small one in the back of his mind, she was his.
"Annabeth?" he mumbled to himself. Flashes of blurred memory shot back at him. A lightning bolt, a blonde girl, much like the one in front of him, a unnatural gray streak in both of their hair. He reached his hand up to his scalp. His large callused fingers found the gray streak in his hair right away. When he looked at the girl, he noticed a similar gray streak hidden behind her ear. No monster would have known to recreated that. It was her.
"Annabeth," he said again, but
this time he smiled. "I've missed you, I think."
Relief swept over Annabeth's face and she quickly wrapped her arms around Percy's neck. He stiffened, before wrapping his arms around his girlfriend, Riptide dropped to the rocks.
"I miss you," Annabeth mumbled into his shirt.
No reply came from the tall black haired boy. He held on to the girl that was saying he was his girlfriend. He untangled his arms from around the girl's waist and looked Annabeth's watery gray eyes. Small flashes of memory pieced in Percy's brain. A friendly faun, a sad-looking boy, an oversized underwater bubble, and the foggy scene of the camp he hadn't been able to remember for so long.
"Let's go over to the shore," Percy grabbed Annabeth's hand and lead her down from the rock pile. Annabeth followed him, careful not to fall but still hold on to Percy's hand. Having him with her, it was something she had craving, waiting for, and now here he was, right in front of her.
When they reached the shore, they both took a seat on the warm white sand. They sat apart from one another, facing so they could see each other's faces. Percy avoided eye contact with Annabeth, his eyes found his sneakers to focus on instead.
"Where have you been, Percy?" Annabeth asked quietly.
"Camp Legion," Percy answered. "A camp for Roman demigods."
A cold shiver ran through Annabeth. She felt relived partly, he was where she thought and was at a safe place for demigods but it wasn't the right one. Percy wasn't a Roman. Percy was a Greek. He didn't belong at Camp Legion.
"Percy..." Annabeth said coldly. "You aren't a Roman. You're-"
"Greek, yeah, I think I know that," Percy said. He had memory of being at a different camp and the way he felt so out of place he knew in part of him he belonged somewhere else. "Found that out already."
Annabeth sighed in relief. The last thing she wanted was for Percy to forget who he was and what made him, him.
"Percy, what's wrong?" Annabeth asked, leaning in to the boy.
"I can't remember," Percy mumbled. "I just barely remember you."
And that was true, foggy pictures and scenes floated through Percy's mind, but they were all too blurry to remember. The beautiful gray eyed and blonde haired girl was the only thing that has a clear view in his mind, but still even small memories and her face was clear. Being around her helped spark a few memories, but most was still blurry.
"I thought that would happen," Annabeth sighed. "All of this..." she paused and let out a dry laugh, "We are really bad at being lucky, huh?"
Percy laughed dryly. The statement was so true, it wasn't even funny. "Tell me about it...Hazel and Frank are-" the boy caught his words. He felt uncomfortable telling the girl of his friends at Camp.
Annabeth straightened up. Mentioning the people that have taken Percy sent a chill down her back. She didn't want to accept Percy had someone people at his new home. "Frank and...Hazel? Are those Roman campers?"
Percy nodded. "Yeah, I met them when I got there, they're great. A lot nicer that Oct-some other people."
Annabeth shook her head in understanding. "Do you know who Jason Grace is?" she asked.
Percy sighed and nodded. "Yeah, the dude who went missing. Everyone's freaking out trying to find out where he went."
"He's at our camp, Camp Half-Blood," Annabeth put emphasis on the word 'our', because it's wasn't Annabeth's camp, it was Annabeth and Percy's. "He's just like you, he couldn't remember anything at all."
"Oh," Percy looked down. "Is he nice?" He couldn't help but feel resentment towards his replacement.
"Yeah, but he's too...Roman. He doesn't really get how to be Greek yet," Annabeth explained, and it was completely true. Jason still had trouble understanding why we had 'Arts and Crafts' instead of working over strategies.
"Reyna's just like that," Percy laughed. "She's the praetor, and all she does is work, work work. She was the one who thought I should be praetor with her."
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "She wanted you to be praetor with her? Oh, that's...lovely," she grumbled. Still to this day , her jealously could get the best of her. The idea of some ROMAN wanted to get closer to Percy, sent back the flare of anger she got back when she was still 15 and dealing with Rachel. "What is she like?"
Percy smirked. Even without the memory of the girl, he still found it easy to read her. "Bossy, rash, and strict. Pretty, I guess. Long brown hair, dark eyes. She runs camp, and she has a lot of stress-"
"Is that why she wanted you to lead with her?" Annabeth asked quickly.
Percy didn't know what to say, he didn't want to worry Annabeth, but he couldn't lie to her. "Partly, but don't worry, I have this little thing for girls with curls."
Annabeth blushed at looked away. "Shut up..."
"Just telling the truth," Percy said bashfully. "Blondes are the best."
Annabeth sighed. "Percy, give me one good reason why I shouldn't leave for that cheesiness."
"'Cause, I'm Percy Jackson. I'm pretty cool," Percy said, shrugging.
Annabeth laughed. She laughed for what felt like the first time in ten years. She laughed from the one person that could always make her laugh. The person that had stopped her laughing for months.
"Always," Annabeth said, shaking her head.
Percy laughed along with her. Hearing her laugh made him feel amazing. He paused for a moment and looked down at the girl. He took a breath and reached out his hand, talking her small hand in his large calloused one. The gesture turned the girls tanned cheeks a rosy red and lit up her stormy gray eyes. She lightly squeezed his hand and scooted closer to him.
"Please take me home," Percy whispered, his breath ragged.
"I wish I could, Percy," Annabeth choked out, tears gleaming on her cheeks. "I miss you so, so much."
Percy smiled and wiped the tears from her face. "Please don't cry over me, Annabeth."
Annabeth gave a sad smile and looked at her boyfriend. "The day you went missing, it was the scariest thing in the world to me. I thought you just left. I kept searching camp saying 'Don't leave me, don't leave me' but you were nowhere. Just a huge mess in your cabin. I looked everywhere? I called your mom, I called Tyson, i just couldn't get my mind around the fact that you were gone. I thought I'd never see you again, after being so sure you were the one who was going to stay constant in my life."
"I am, Annabeth," Percy pleaded. "This is just a little bump in the road. We'll be together again soon. Promise."
"People really miss you. Tyson, Grover, Thaila. Even the camp's bully Clarisse does, even if she won't admit it," Annabeth smiled.
Percy nodded. He couldn't tell her, but he had no idea who those people were. All just names to the foggy pictures that danced around him.
"Your mom is worried sick about you, Percy," Annabeth looked straight into his sea-like eyes.
"Oh, gods, I didn't even think about that..." Percy smacked his forehead in frustration.
"I'll tell her you are okay, don't worry," Annabeth laid her hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks, Annabeth," Percy said without looking at her.
Annabeth smiled again. "We have a ship, one to get to our camp. Leo's been building it. He's one of the new campers. He came with Jason. You'd like him, Leo I mean."
"I'm glad to hear that, I can't wait to see you in real life," Percy joked.
"Percy, I'm sorry for not being there that morning you were taken. I know you asked to come early, but I overslept. If I had, I could have helped you," Annabeth admitted.
Percy took her into a hug. His large arms holding on to her petite torso. "Hey," he said soothingly. "It's alright. Don't blame yourself. Nothing could've stopped Ju- Hera."
"I know, but I'm still sorry," Annabeth said, looking straight into Percy's eyes.
Percy smiled and leaned in, kissing her lightly on the lips. She wrapped her arms around his back and deepened the kiss.
When they broke apart. Percy felt as if his lips were burning. "Wow," he mumbled.
Annabeth laughed and hugged Percy. "Come back soon, Seaweed Brain."
Suddenly wisps of fog began to circle them. The sand began to shift and the sky seemed to bleach out to a pale white.
Annabeth gasped and grabbed Percy by the arm.
"What's going on?" she asked, frantic.
Percy gapped, he seemed at a loss for words. "We're waking up," he said finally.
"But-no..." Annabeth whispered.
Percy hugged Annabeth as tightly as he could. This was the last time he'd see her in who knows how long. "Be safe," Percy mumbled in her hair. "I'm waiting for you."
"Be careful, Percy," Annabeth replied. "You need to be alive when I get there."
The two demigods began to fade from each other's sight, the ground and sky doing the same as well. The looked at each other one last time until everything went dark.
Percy Jackson woke up with a start. He sat up in his bed and ran his fingers through his shaggy black hair. He squeezed his eyes shut, working to see the dream he had just had, but he saw nothing. It was gone, Annabeth was gone. Seeing her was the greatest thing that Percy could have ever asked
for. He had seen his blonde-haired girlfriend, he had held her, kissed her. She wasn't just some possibility at the Greek camp. She was a real person, a person that Percy would give the world for.
And they were coming. She had mentioned that ship, they were coming to get him, coming to return that Jason guy and put everything back in it's place.
Percy swung his feet over the edge of his bed and got dressed. His purple shirt still dirty for last night's activity. He needed to find Reyna, he needed to tell her more about the Greeks.
He ran out of his room and made his way toward Reyna's housing. He pushed passed people trying to talk to him. He needed to talk to her as soon as possible.
He ended up meeting the Roman demigod halfway, toppling her, making them both fall to the ground.
"Ugh, what do you want, Percy?" Reyna snapped, standing up and brushing dirt off of her robes. "I have things to do, you know."
"Reyna, I had a dream last night," Percy worked to explain.
"Yeah? So? So did I, please stop wasting my time," Reyna rolled her eyes at the boy and began to walk away.
"Wait!" Percy grabbed her arm and turned her back around. Pictures of Annabeth rushed crammed in his mind. Pictures of his home. " I have a lot of news to tell you."
Annabeth Chase woke up in a state of shock. When she opened her eyes from her slumber, she found that she was already sitting up in her bed. Her blonde hair was sprawled around her in tangled ringlets. She couldn't believe what had just happened to her. She had seen him, seen him again after thinking she had lost him for good. She has not been as happy as she is since he was taken. She rushed out of bed and ran to the Big House, not caring that she was still in her pajamas. She ran out of her cabin, rocks and gravel threatening the break her bare feet, but she didn't care, she found him.
Although she never said anything, a small warmth filled Annabeth when Percy said he only remembered her. Not even Hera could make him forget her totally.
She burst through the door of the big house and ran into Chiron's office.
"Chiron!" she shouted, swinging his door open.
The centaur was startled as the demigod rushed into his office. He grabbed her arms and calmed her down. "What is it, Child?" he asked.
"I-I found him," Annabeth panted.
Chiron caught his breath. "What? Wait? Annabeth, tell me what happened."
Annabeth smiled and looked into her teacher's eyes. "I had a dream, he's at the Roman camp, we were right, Jason was right. We're going to find him."