started this close to a year ago, thought i'd finally finish it. listen, i understand everyone wants the happy ever after perkabeth but. . .gods and titans are petty and that's just isn't gonna happen
and the shallows trailer really had me thinking, wow that would be a horrible situation for annabeth chase, daughter of athena, to be in: [youtube] /EgdxIlSuB70?t=1m5s
The first thing she felt was the sun, hot and ferocious, beating down on her face, her arms, her legs; blinding the world from her as she woke. The second thing was pain, a sharp, persistent ache that stretched down her entire leg.
Reflexively, she glanced down and only one thought came to mind: she wish she had never woken up in the first place.
The memories, or rather lack thereof, hit her like a wave, just like the ones yesterday had. That's where it started: water. She had been surrounded by it—engulfed would be more correct, thrown into a whirlwind of saltwater. Her sense of direction had disappeared, the waves throwing her against rock after rock after rock. By the time she'd breach the surface, her lungs were aflame and her first inhale of oxygen was exhaled as a scream.
No one was there, wherever there was. All she had found was a small beach, a slopping landscape, and a wide expanse of sparkling ocean, the sun glinting off its surface. Panic had set her mind in a haze, but she'd still had enough sense to start swimming towards the beach. That plan, of course, had been interrupted by it.
She still wasn't sure what it was. A monster, no doubt, but it wasn't a monster she'd ever read about before, wasn't a monster who had the misfortune of crossing her path, wasn't even a monster she'd witnessed down in Tartarus. It was different, ancient and very, very large, with scales darker than obsidian, as if it had been birthed straight from the inky black of the ocean's depths. That's the idea she'd settled on, ever since she'd first laid eyes on it. It had yanked her under the water by her leg and the pain that had sprouted from its grip was enough for sun spots to dance across her vision, but once they'd cleared she had gotten a glimpse of the creature. It was easily four times her size, with two rows of spiked teeth and piercing yellow eyes. She'd scrambled to the surface, trailing blood behind her, and swam for the closest spot of land in sight, which wound up being a collection of rocks jutting out of the water, surrounded by corals and driftwood.
Annabeth had hauled herself onto it, biting back the pain of her wound, and watched in desperation, as the creature began to circle her. Over and over and over. That's where she had remained.
For hours.
And that's where she was, still.
The waves lapped gently against the rock, sometimes cresting over the top and soaking her legs; she bit her lip at the sting that the salt brought. With every wave, sea spray kissed her cheek, and she thought it a cruel irony. As they grew larger, faster, stronger, the spray grew consistently, to the point where it became a mist.
Then, in a manner so perfect she wondered if she was dreaming, a rainbow grew in front of her, strikingly bright. A cry escaped her lips, mingling with joy as a smile broke out on her face, but—as soon as the moment had come to her—it was ripped from her grasp as her mother's inheritance reminded her, there was no drachma. In a desperate attempt, she patted at the wetsuit she'd found herself wearing. It was to skin tight to hide anything, especially to someone who was wearing it. Yet as her hands grabbed at the material, they glided over something, just beneath her breast.
She shoved a hand down to grab it, caught right between skin and suit, and she pulled it out in front of her. Her mouth dropped. Shining bright in the sunlight, gripped between her shaking fingers, was a single golden drachma.
Wasting no time, she forced herself out of shock and flicked the coin through the rainbow, muttering the call, then her request, "Show me Percy Jackson."
An image shimmered to life in front of her, shaky but still visible. She could make out two men, one younger than the other, talking vigorously back and forth. One was in a wheelchair, the other had a sword strapped to his hip, and jet black hair, and green eyes. She screamed into the rainbow, "Percy! Chiron! Percy, please!"
Their heads whipped 'round and they rushed forwards, coming closer to the screen. Percy's eyes flitted around the frame, before focusing on her, "Annabeth, where are you?"
"I—"
"Annabeth!" Chiron's voice, filled with panic, interrupted her own. "Are you alright?"
"I'm okay. Well, I'm not okay. I'm alive, I don't know what happened, I can't remember anything. The only thing I recall is water, I just appeared in the ocean, I don't know what's going on. I don't know where I am but I'm stuck on this rock and," Annabeth's voice began to shake, tears stung at the rim of her eyelids. "Percy, something bit me. I don't know what it is, but…"
His eyes went wide, "But what? Annabeth, tell me."
"It's still here. I can't swim to shore." She waited for a reply, an answer, anything to ease her nerves, but nothing came. "Please, Percy you have to find me. I don't know where I am. Athena has no power in the water."
He was silent for a moment, then his throat constricted violently, as if he was trying to keep himself from crying. His words were strangled. "I can't."
She had herself firmly planted on the rock, but it felt as if the world had been pulled out from under her, "What? What do you mean you can't?"
Chiron answered, "When you hadn't made it to your date, Percy came here after he was unable to contact you. Then, halfway through the night we received a message. Annabeth. . .someone has captured you. . .and they want you dead." Her mouth, already dehydrated, somehow grew dryer.
"I don't understand, this doesn't make any sense, I've always done as they asked. I'm their architect. Why would they try to hurt me?"
A spark flashed in Chiron's eyes, igniting a sliver of hope in her heart; if only she'd known the glint was simply in reaction to her words, another piece in the puzzle found. "Annabeth, how are you contacting us?" Percy glanced towards Chiron, then her, stunned at the question.
"A drachma, I found it in my wetsuit. I didn't have it yesterday, but this morning—"
"It just appeared? Out of thin air?" Percy asked.
"Maybe I hadn't noticed it."
"Annabeth, you notice everything," His eyes searched the area around her once more. "You're in the ocean, right? Where are you?"
Her patience broke and she yelled out in frustration, "Percy, I told you I don't know! Can't you sense me?"
"I can't!"
"What do you mean you can't?"
"I can't find you! You're cut off! From me, from your mother, from everyone!"
"And yet someone still gave you a drachma," Chiron muttered as horror etched its way across his face. "They knew you'd call him, they knew you'd call Perseus." Suddenly, the wind picked up and she glanced overhead to see clouds rolling in. Her chest grew tight, the message would disappear without sunlight.
"I don't have much time, so what if they knew I'd call Percy? Aren't they trying to kill me?"
"Yes," Chiron had one elbow propped up on the arm of his chair, and two fingers tapping against his temple. "But I don't think they're just trying to hurt you. You're a pawn in their game, they want you dead, but who they're really trying to hurt is—"
"Me," Percy's voice was gravely. "They're using you, to get to me. This isn't an Olympian."
"No," Chiron said, as unease spread through his features. "I don't believe it is."
"Is it a god at all?"
"I couldn't say, I'd need more information."
A breeze skidded across the surface, dispersing the mist for a moment and she screamed. Their image glitched liked the screen of a television, once, twice, before flicking back into focus. She heaved and bit back tears, isolation clung to her edges and she didn't welcome it. She didn't want to be alone.
"Annabeth," Percy pushed himself closer still, his face taking up majority of the screen. "I'm going to find you I promise. I won't stop, I won't sleep, until I find you." She laughed and smiled, despite the fresh wave of fear she felt as their words finally registered with her. They're using you, to get to me.
"Looks like you're the one who's going to have to go on a wild goose chase for the lost demigod now, huh?"
He grinned right back at her, though his eyes were red rimmed. "Guess so. Don't quit on me, Wise Girl."
"Never."
Percy nodded and took a step back, mouthing I love you as he did; she repeated the motion. Chiron started off on theories, assuring her they'd be there soon, and she could hear yelling from behind them, shuffling in the background—signs of action. From the corner of her vision, a dark line swooped across the landscape, a storm rolling. With a brave face, she let the clouds take the sun and with it, the iris message. The water grew choppy, waves crashing against the rock and dousing her completely.
They're using you, to get to me.
Anger ignited in her bones, spread through her and seated itself in her chest. That wasn't happening. If they wanted someone to get hurt, it definetely wouldn't be her. On shaky legs, Annabeth stood, bracing for the surge of pain. It came and she cried through her teeth and spit out the salty taste that had gathered in her mouth like it didn't bother her, because this wasn't happening. A droplet hit her cheek, then another, then many, and then it was pouring. And she, she was screaming. Sending curse after curse into the storm, at whoever might be listening, all of them getting lost in the roar of rain against wave. It didn't matter though, because this wasn't happening.
She wasn't going to play Andromeda, not in a million years.
thanks for reading! hope you enjoyed!
reviews are always highly appreciated xxx