"Hazel. Hazel, wake up."
"AH! Oh, Leo, it's just you."
Leo looked down at her weirdly. "Oh, but Hazel! It's never 'just me'! Don't tell me you're already getting tired of Team Leo!"
Hazel just laughed. She then glanced over at the clock that Leo INSISTED on being installed in the lamp of every cabin. "Leo, it's two o'clock in the morning! Why did you wake me up?"
Leo's expression grew serious. "Well, I think you should see this. I could use a little help."
"Leo? What happened?" Hazel was becoming more worried by the second.
"Just… follow me."
Leo led Hazel down the hall to a certain son of Poseidon's room. He slowly opened the door.
Percy was rolling around on his bed, tangled up in the royal blue sheets. The pictures on his nightstand, mostly of him and Annabeth or him and his mum, were knocked over, and some had fallen on the floor. He was sweating, and making strangled cries.
"Nightmare?" Hazel asked Leo.
"I'm pretty sure. Tar… you-know-where couldn't have been very nice to him.
As he said that, Percy began screaming. At first, his cries had been unintelligible. Now, they were as clear as Hazel's diamonds.
"No! Annabeth! No! NO! BOB! HELP!"
A few seconds later, Jason, Piper, and Frank were at the door, looking alarmed.
"What in Hades…" Jason started. "Oh."
"What should we do?" Piper asked worriedly.
"Here, I'll try to wake him up."
Leo walked over to Percy's bed and shook his shoulder. "Percy. Percy, dude, wake up man."
He tried for what seemed like hours, but, really, it was only a few minutes.
"Leo, just stop," Jason said. "It's pointless. He's not going to wake up when we try to wake him."
Suddenly, Percy stopped yelling. He stopped thrashing around, too. He began to shiver. He started mumbling," Pointless. Pointless…" his breaths became shorter and weaker. He looked as if he was dying.
"Oh my gods!" Frank whispered." He's like, dying."
"Leo." Piper ordered. "Go get Annabeth. Now."
Leo sprinted to Annabeth's cabin. He ran over to her bed and shook her awake. "Annabeth, wake up. Percy needs help."
Annabeth jumped off her mattress. At that moment, Leo discovered that she slept in only a bra and night shorts. His faced turned red.
"Oh, come on Leo. Grow up," Annabeth exclaimed, noticing his color.
They both bolted out the door and back over to Percy's room.
Percy looked even worse, if possible. He was pale and unmoving on the bed and still mumbling the same word over and over again. "Pointless, pointless…"
Unlike Percy, Jason, Frank, and Leo now all had red faces, now noticing Annabeth's nighttime attire.
Annabeth calmly walked over to Percy's bed, got under the covers, and held him, looking as if she perfectly understood the situation.
She kissed him on the lips. "Tell me about New Rome," she demanded. "What were your plans for us?'
"New Rome… For us…" he whispered. He began to look a bit better.
Yeah, Seaweed Brain. You said we could have a future there! Tell me!"
"Architecture," Percy murmured. He started to wake up. "Thought you'd like the houses the parks. There's this one street with all these cool fountains."
Percy was fully awake now. The others could tell they were just continuing for fun.
College," Annabeth smiled. "Could we go there together?"
"Yeah."
"What would you study, Percy?"
"Dunno."
"Marine Science," she suggested. "Oceanography?"
"Surfing?"
Annabeth smiled and hugged him. They both started tearing up. Percy buried his head in her shoulder. Only she could hear him crying.
"Whoa," Leo stated. "What just happened?"
"Percy was having a nightmare about… there, and I thought that if we carried out the event until we got past the bad part and it was over, he would be okay," Annabeth explained. "And it worked."
"Wait," Jason told her. "So, along with being utterly terrifying, Tartarus is… depressing?"
"I don't think now is the best time to talk about it," Percy mumbled, his voice muffled by Annabeth's hair. "We'll talk about it sometime, but… not so soon. Please, not so soon." His voice cracked at 'please'.
The demigods were surprised. Percy sounded so… scared. Terrified, even. Their carefree leader, the glue that held them together, afraid?
Piper looked sympathetic. "And that's totally fine," she assured him. "You guys can talk about it when you're ready, not any sooner."
Annabeth smiled a thank you, then lay down next to Percy.
"Guys," Frank murmured. "I think that's our cue."
The crew looked at the couple one last time, then Hazel gently closed the door, giving them some space.
"Okay, new rule," Leo said. "When Percy is having a nightmare, get Annabeth."
"And vice versa," Piper added.
"Come on, guys," frank said. "It's already three, let's get some more sleep."
They all agreed and tip-toed to their various cabins, wondering how long Percy and Annabeth would be plagued with nightmares from the most feared place in the world.