Percy,
"So, are you going to tell her?"
I stared at Nico for a long time.
Should I tell Annabeth that it had happened? Should I tell her about my dream, where I lost her forever?
It'd earn me a good punch, but she would then now how I feel. And she could maybe even feel the same way.
But what if she didn't?
I would lose her forever in much worse way. If she were to marry Luke, I could see her every year or so and maybe more as Luke lessened his grip on Annabeth. But, if I were to tell her that I loved her and she were to tell me the opposite, she wouldn't see me anymore. I would be without Annabeth forever.
"I don't know," I finally shrugged, and Nico looked out to the sky one more time. I knew that Zee and Jason would be mad that we had both wondered off, but I didn't much care.
"So, why were you kissing her in her sleep? That's just weird!"
"I did not kiss her in her sleep really! It's not as creepy as it sounds. I kissed her cheek like twice, okay. Then, maybe for a millisecond, her lips. So, calm down," I picked up a nearby rock and threw it off in the distance.
"Hey, that's more of a kiss than I've got with Thalia. Not judging," Nico raised his hands in surrender, and I decided to look away from him and to leave the matter alone for now.
After a long while, Nico spoke up.
"What do you think her dream meant?"
"What are you talking about?"
"The one with you and her. Where she was married to you, and you had the twins. Elpida and Philia. Where she said she felt so happy. What do you think it meant?" Nico asked.
I let myself think it over.
We were demigods, and we could see the future sometimes. Could this be one of those times? Showing her the life she could live for whatever choice she could make? Or was it just a dream for cold feet?
I knew exactly what my dream meant, but Annabeth had always been more complicated than me. Her dreams had some deep special meaning that only Annabeth could understand, or Azabella. But I didn't want to test the waters with Azabella. The backstory alone could anger her, much less the second dream where I actually did kiss Annabeth.
"I don't know."
"Didn't you say you had a dream like it?"
"Sort of. I mean, it was a different dream. But the same sort of things happened," I shrugged, not sure why I didn't want to tell Nico. I had already told him so many worse things, but somehow, this felt so personal. It was something I would only tell Annabeth, but I couldn't do that. And I needed someone to tell.
"What happened?"
"I was at a wedding, being the groom. And the bride came into the room, about to walk down the aisle," I began.
"Annabeth?" Nico questioned, and I nodded yes.
"She was coming down the aisle, and she had this smile. Like she was happy to be marrying me, like she loved me too. Then her father took his seat down, and Annabeth came to stand in front of me. And it faded."
"It faded?"
"The groom became Luke, and I was sitting in the pews. And I felt so sick. As the wedding continued, I saw our entire friendship. I saw every moment where I could of told Annabeth how I felt but didn't have the nerve. And the dream ended when they said 'I do'," I told him as I continued to stare at the sun.
It was such a beautiful day, but I couldn't seem to enjoy it anymore. Not after hearing what Annabeth had to say.
"Don't you think it's weird? That you both basically had the same dream? The same night? Do you think it's a sign?"
"What do you mean? A sign?"
Nico pointed towards the sky, and I immediately understood.
"I've never quite been in their favor. I'm not sure they'd take the time to do this. Especially since this seems like it'd come from Athena. And Athena hates me," I explained as I thought about how scared I got when I saw an owl.
"But Athena loves her daughter. And maybe she thinks she'd be happy with you, no matter who your father is."
I stared at Nico for a long time.
"Was it just me, Nico, or did you just make sense?"
"Shut up."
Annabeth,
I tried not to stare, but it was becoming almost impossible with every passing second.
And it wasn't helping any that he was staring at me.
I knew I shouldn't be wasting any of my fleeting time with Percy, dream or no dream. But it was so hard to be next to him while I still thought of that dream. I had tried and tried to be around him. But then I'd look at him, with that handsome face of his, and I'd remember how much elation I had felt when I saw him in that dream. And I couldn't seem to talk to him the way I used to. I just seemed cold and distant.
It was better to just stay away than to disrespect our age old friendship like that.
Finally the end of dinner came, and I silently sighed with relief.
Finally!
My father excused us all, asking for a private audience with Olivia, which meant something was wrong. And we quickly scattered.
My siblings quickly went towards the corridor that lead to their rooms, I'm guessing taking Percy with them, but I went to the other door. I went to the door that led to the Ocean.
I used to be afraid of the water. It was only natural because of who my mother was, but Poseidon seems to have forgiven me for who my mother is, which is more than I can say for Athena. Basically the only reason I haven't gone mad is that son of Poseidon I love so, but my mother still hates him.
When I got deeper into the garden, I kicked off my shoes and just walked around for what could have been either hours or only minutes. I was too distracted to think of the time. Time was exactly what I hated.
It was time that was working against me. Time had taken me and made me grow u. With each inch I grew and each night Azabella read me a bedtime story, I was getting closer and closer to Luke, to the sad life I was going to have to live. The life where I would lose everything I held dear, my kingdom, my family, my friends….Percy.
I began to wonder what it had been that had made Percy and Luke hate each other for so long.
Until last year, I was not allowed to bring up Prince Lucas to Percy, and Luke freaked out if I brought up Percy around him. No one would ever explain it to me. Rebecca, who seemed to know, told me that basically it was the same as they had always had been, trying to beat out the other. When I asked what they were fighting for, Rebecca simply shrugged as if it didn't matter.
I unbraided my hair and went to the old wall, blocking the ocean from the castle, where I used to come with Percy.
Thanks to the recent practice Percy had put me through, I climbed the call with ease, and I was about to get down from the wall and go to the water when I saw something that made me freeze.
"Percy."
He threw a nearby rock into the placid ocean and watched as it disappeared into a breaking wave. His pants had been rolled up, with his feet soaking wet and covered in sand. And he didn't seem to notice me.
Yet.
I was mentally screaming at myself to move, to get off the wall and go back to the Castle.
But I couldn't move.
I was frozen sitting on the wall, knowing that I was about to be spotted.
And then he turned away from the water to go back to the Castle.
He seemed just as shocked as me, maybe more, when he saw me sitting up on the wall.
For a long time, an unbearably long time, we stared at each other. It felt like hours until Percy finally waved awkwardly.
I felt like an idiot, but I waved the same rigid wave that Percy had done.
Then another awkward silence.
After probably contemplating whether turning around and running away would work out or not, Percy finally decided to come to the wall. I'd be lying if I said I didn't think about jumping down and running back to my room, where I'd lock every door to stop any chance of having to see Percy soon. But I stood my ground.
Well, I couldn't move even if I wanted to.
But some could call that standing my ground.
When Percy got to the wall, we still kept staring at each other.
Then he climbed up on the wall, where he sat less than two centimeters away from me, but we still continued to sit in silence.
I had been through a lot of pain in my life.
But nothing seemed to compare to just sitting there. It felt like disrespecting our life together, our friendship. These two centimeters that used to be too much space for us was just even more of a reminder. It hurt the memories of who we used to be, who we had been just a short time ago.
It made my stomach feel hollow, and I suddenly wanted to hug him.
"I don't know why you're mad."
I could tell from his voice that he was lying about that part.
"But can we get over it?"
The urge to hug him became stronger.
"Yeah," I nodded, blocking that dream from my memories.
Percy smiled, and I savored the moment where the fog lifted. Where the small space between us become too much. Where I could suddenly talk to him. And I didn't even get mad at myself when I blushed as Percy's fingers brushed over mine.
I thought about Luke, oh so far away. And I wanted to scream as I thought about Katarina.
Day by day, I had felt anger build for Katarina until I had full-force hatred for the beautiful girl.
"How much time do we have left? Until you have to leave? And we have to get married," I crossed my arms and squeezed my eyes closed.
"Not long enough," Percy decidedly didn't look at me.
"A month, right?"
"Yeah, I think so."
I waited before talking again.
"So, we're wasting time?"
I had two meanings for that.
The first was the one I accepted, silently daring him to jump in the ocean.
The second was the one I would never accept, the one I would lie about, silently daring him to kiss me.
He hesitated, as if thinking about taking up on the second offer, but then he decided against it.
"Ocean?"
"Last one has to tell Jason that Reyna is at dinner with a boy from town?"
He didn't even have to confirm it.
Percy jumped off the wall, and we both took off to the ocean.
