I was having another dream. Annabeth. She was crying. Her blond hair was tangled and matted against her beautiful face. I wanted so bad to walk up and hug her, to hold her in my arms and tell her it was ok. She was at a beach. The sky was grey and cloudy. Annabeth kept crying. It got foggy. When the fog cleared there was Luke. His evil smile and false welcoming. He walked right up to her and wrapped his arms around her. He was hugging Annabeth. My Annabeth. She stopped crying for a second to look up only to see his face. Her beautiful grey eyes were dark with sadness. Then she wrapped her arms around him and cried some more. Why was she doing this? Did she still like this traitor? He had betrayed us and then pretended to care. Was I angry? No. I was furious. Why was Luke doing this?
"Knock, knock mister sleepy head." It was Thalia. "Dreaming again I see."
"What do you want now?" I asked still angry and half asleep.
"Not me, Chiron. He wants to see you; Now."
"What time is it?" I asked to see how bad this was.
"The clock is ticking Percy. Chiron is worried. I think it's about Luke." That got me going. I jumped out of bed and ran past Thalia. Some of the other campers were awake and gave me funny looks as I ran past them in my pajamas. Once I got to the big house Mr. D was there talking to Chiron.
"Like the new style Mr. Johnson." He said.
"It's Jackson but I'll take that as a compliment today." Is Jackson that hard to remember?
"Percy," he took a deep breath. He was either trying to be dramatic or this was serious. "Thalia said you had another dream; about Annabeth."
"How'd she know?" I swear that girl has been spying on me.
"It might have been the part where you yelledAnnabeth no!" Mr. D said with amusement. I was ready to hit the guy.
"What did you dream Percy?" Chiron said finally getting to the point.
"Annabeth is sad and Luke..." I hated this fact. "Luke is back. Bad news: Annabeth trusts him."
"Well that's a news flash." Mr. D added sarcastically. "Anymore total surprises?"
"Yeah, your shirt's on backwards." I said. This was true.
"Ops, I guess I was lazy this morning." He said turning around toward the Big House. As he did the buttons on his Hawaiian shirt were clearly visibly.
"I guess so." I muttered under my breath. Even Chiron had to chuckle at that one.
"So are you going to go on a quest?" Chiron asked.
"I would but Grover's off finding more Half-Bloods, Annabeth is the one in trouble, gods only know where Nico is, and Tyson is in the forges."
"Well go see the Oracle and then you can choose."
"Ok." As I walked toward the big house I noticed that the sky was grey. It was probably raining somewhere. I should call mom and let her know that I am going on a quest. Here I am, going to save Annabeth; something I never thought would happen.
That Oracle is creepy. I think that this is going to be the worst quest ever. Why Annabeth? She's so…. Well beautiful; fine, I like Annabeth. I like her a lot. She has beautiful grey eyes and is smarter than my first grade teacher. Her long blond hair that framed her face perfectly. "What am I thinking!?" I whisper to myself.
I was here. The oracle sat there in the corner. "What should I do?" I asked out loud. The ancient mouth opened and the green mist rolled out.
"Save the one you treasure most,
Evil lingers throughout the coast,
Live and breathe in thin air,
And the ones you love shall be there,
One will make a difficult choice,
And you shall lose your right of voice." The oracle managed to croak.
What ever that means. Chiron was waiting for me. "What did she say?" he asked nervously.
I repeated what the oracle had said.
"Well, this sounds like it's going to get personal." Chiron sighed.
"Why would you think that?"
"Percy, who are you going to take with you?"
"Um...Thalia." I said. "Why is she here again; isn't she supposed to be with Artemis?"
"Anyone else?" Chiron asked changing the subject.
"Who else is there!?" I said feeling my temper rise.
"Take Rachel. She probably is waiting to hear from you."
"Ok, I will take Thalia and Rachel. When am I supposed to tell Rachel this?"
"Write a letter saying what you need to. Then have Hermes deliver it to her."
"Wait, he can deliver to mortals?"
"On rare occasions, yes." Chiron said impatiently. "Now hurry."
I walked back to my cabin thinking about what to write. 'What am I suppose to write?' I asked myself. I went inside my cabin and grabbed a pencil and paper.
Rachel,
I'm going on another quest and wondered if you wanted to come. It's totally up to you. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning. Please write back, fast.
Percy
That will have to do. I closed the envelope with Rachel's name on it and set it on the table. Poof! It was gone.
XXX
Things had been going pretty well. No monsters anyway. Just reading a great book; Greek mythology if you're wondering. Poof! There was an envelope with my name on it. I set my book down and picked the letter up. Inside it said that Percy was going on another one of his quests. Yeah and it's just like him to leave tomorrow. I wrote: yeah, I'll go but are you going to pick me up? I can't go to Camp, remember?
Then crossed out Rachel and wrote Percy. Poof! The letter disappeared. "Neat." I whispered to myself. What am I suppose to bring? Probably an extra shirt and shorts. My hairbrush that saved us last year. Who else was he taking? Probably that Annabeth. He liked her no doubt. It's not that I don't exactly like her, but I don't hate her either. She's pretty smart. And yet she calls him Seaweed Brain. Why would he like someone who calls him seaweed brain? I ponder on the thought.
It's raining and I stand by my window staring out into space. A quest. I could get myself killed. So dangerous. Yet I love the rush. Love the danger. Love the adventure. The rain is making a pit pat, pit pat, song. The gray sky seems to illuminate everything. So beautiful. So very beautiful. My eyes are heavy and failing to stay open. I slip into sleep, a dream.
I am at a place up high. The sky is swirling and lightning strikes. I am not afraid. I am Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I am not afraid. I live for the rush. The breeze is warm. It is raining here. Cold bitter rain. I shiver in the warm wind and cold rain. Percy is standing next to me. I stare at him. His black hair and sea green eyes. On his arm is a cut, bleeding red liquid. It runs down his arm to his tattered shirt. He looks worn down, tired yet so strong. Like he ready to collapse but is up and ready to fight. His sea green eyes, his black hair.
The cold bitter rain.
The sky.
The lightning.
His sea green eyes.
I am stunned at the sight of Percy Jackson. I do not love people. I do not. I am Rachel Elizabeth Dare and she does not love Percy Jackson.
His sea green eyes.
His black hair.
I am stunned by the sight of him. He's handsome. I do not love him. I do not. I must not. Pain. That's it. I love him. I don't. So confused.
It's dark. I can still here the rain. I roll over to look at my clock. Four o'clock in the morning. I do not feel like getting up. I wish to roll over and sleep. But I get up and take a shower. And think.
The warm water feels comforting as it trickles down my back. I decide to sort my thoughts. What do I like about Percy?
He is outgoing, he loves adventure, he loves danger, and he likes the rush.
What don't I like about Percy?
His temper, his…..um. I don't know. I am stuck. I can't like Percy. He is Annabeth's. Annabeth is his. I push the thought aside.
I put on my favorite blue jeans and an orange shirt. I made myself a piece of toast and was ready by five. I am glad my parents are away on one of my dad's meetings. They would never believe all of this Greek stuff. I can't imagine having to explain that to him.
I sit down on the chair. I think. I think of a little beach house on the shore. The waves as they roll in and out. The soft tan sand. The warm breeze. The bright sun shining. The birds singing. It's so peaceful. So relaxing. I find my eyes getting heavy once again.
I am in a dark place. I can't see very well. There are shadows everywhere. One is walking toward me.
"Rachel Elizabeth Dare; isn't that a surprise." It's a deep and dark voice. A cold hand grabs my arm. I do not scream. He takes me to a place where there is light. I see his face. He has olive colored skin and black hair. His eyes are the darkest black I've ever seen; as if they go on forever. Who is he?
