((Author's note: hey guys! So this chapter is actually the I first chapter that I wrote so.. It was originally gonna be the first chapter, but I wanted stuff before it, so I tweeked it a bit and now it's chapter 3! Hope you enjoy it:) this is a shorter chapter, just cus i felt like i ended it at a good place and didnt wanna add.. oh and the first half is kinda the more important here, the second half is more kinda showing her friends concerns. Yeah yeah whatever Kara youre rambling again. So anyways... Chapter three!))
Annabeth was standing in a dark field, back in Tartarus by the looks of it. Suddenly, she heard a cry out for help.
"Annabeth!" Percy's voice called out from the distance. Annabeth looked around in the darkness, but couldn't see him anywhere. "Help me! Agh, Annabeth where are you?" He cried with intense pain in his voice.
"Where are you? Percy!" She cried back, tears now flowing down her cheeks.
Suddenly, a figure appeared in the distance. It was definitely him. He was writhing on the ground as if being whipped or beaten, but there was no attacker.
Annabeth tried to run to him, to help him, but as she got closer, he began to sink into the ground. "Percy no! Percy, please be okay," she pleaded, still trying to run to him. She was so close.
"Go Annabeth! You can't save me... Please, go! Agh!" He pleaded at her with incredible pain. She didn't want to leave him. She dove for him and grabbed his hand, but it was too late, he was sinking, and she would follow.
"I love you," he said weakly, his head barely sticking out of the dark earth.
"I love you too," she replied, sobbing. She reached her head down to kiss him, but at that moment, his head sunk below the ground, and he was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it.
Annabeth woke suddenly, tears streaming down her face. That was the 4th nightmare this week. She curled into a ball and tried to relax, but her tears wouldn't stop. She couldn't bear one more nightmare. It would just be too much.
A knock on the door interrupted her self pity party. Oh no, someone had heard her. Annabeth swiftly grabbed a sweatshirt and pulled it over her tee, concealing her scars. "Who is it?" She said, trying to sound like she hasn't just been bawling.
"Uh.. It's me," Frank's voice spoke through the door. "I heard you crying from my room, I knew I may get it trouble for coming to check, but I didn't want to leave you alone. Are you alright?" He said drowsily.
"Oh, yeah.. I just had a bad dream is all. It was.." She paused, "it was about Percy."
"Oh. I've been having nightmares too..." He stopped himself. "But, thats not important." He had been having nightmares too? Annabeth wondered if those were about Percy, or maybe what they had faced when Percy and her had been in Tartarus. "Was this a regular nightmare, or a... Well.. Demigod nightmare?" He continued, still on the other end of the door.
Annabeth had almost forgotten about the fact that many demigod dreams weren't dreams at all, but instead visions. Maybe Frank was hoping that this dream had revealed something about Percy's location.
"Just a regular nightmare actually," she said, still holding back the tears that had been flowing.
"Oh... Well, do you want to talk about it?" Frank asked softly.
"Maybe in the morning," she said quickly. Maybe by morning he will have forgotten. She doubted that, but it was better then nothing. "It's uh... not very wise of either of us to chat in my room in the middle of the night. Hedge will beat us with his baseball bat if he finds us." She stated simply, trying to give him an excuse of why she didn't want to talk.
"That's true," Frank yawned on the other side of the door, "I guess I'll see you in the morning... Oh, and Annabeth? I know it's hard, but we'll find him. I know it. And you know, you don't have to act strong all of the time, we all care about each other no matter what..." He paused.
"Uh.. Thanks Frank," Annabeth was stunned at his sudden shift to concern. then again, Frank had a tendency to surprise her. "I'm okay though, really." She felt bad for lying to him when he had obviously realized that she wasn't okay, but it was easier for them to think she was fine.
"Well okay then. Just remember, it's okay to not be okay every now and again. It happens. Night Annabeth," and with that, she heard Frank's footsteps walk back to his room.
