Chapter 8: Annabeth Finds Herself in Many Different Kinds of Rooms with Walls

Annabeth was hastily awakened to one of her younger sisters, Ariadne, shaking her awake, looking very pale and frightened.

"Arry are you ok? Did you have nightmare?" Annabeth asked as she blearily looked at her alarm clock, which stated 6AM.

"Annie, there is a very large spider in the corner of the cabin. Over my bunk. It may be pregnant." Ariadne's voice shook as she tried to explain. Annabeth was wide-awake now. She new very well that there was one thing everyone in her cabin was afraid of due to a feud their mother had had with a spider queen. Annabeth and Arry were trying not to panic and wake up everyone else, but weren't doing such a good job when Annabeth shined her flashlight on the eight legged culprit. The wolf spider was about four inches from leg to leg, with a fat, round, hairy body sitting on top of what looked to be an egg sack. Annabeth had to stifle a whimper of sheer terror as she stared at it, and Ariadne had almost climbed onto Annabeth's back. Annabeth regained control of her body long enough to turn around and look Ariadne in the eye.

"Stay here, or on the porch, whatever. Just don't wake anyone, and I'll be right back with someone who can get rid of- OH SHIT IT MOVED." Annabeth almost yelled through her hushed tone.

"Go get Nico, I bet he can handle this." Ariadne said into Annabeth's ear. Annabeth nodded, threw on her hoodie, and ran out the door.

No sooner had she departed, she felt like she was being watched again. She heard the sound of someone dropping down from a rooftop behind her, and turned around.

"What are you doing up so early?" Nico asked, his black hood pulled over part of his face making him look like he could be Batman's son.

"Nico! Thank the Gods! Please come to my cabin and get rid of the demonic hell spawn of a spider we have in our cabin! It's pregnant!" Annabeth begged as she tried to tug him back to her cabin.

"Alright fine! But why can't you guys do it yourselves?" He asked, wondering why Annabeth was freaking out over something so ordinary as a spider, even if it was pregnant.

"Long story involving Athena and a spider lady. Enough talk, more exterminating!" The two ran back towards Athena's cabin. As they entered the door, Ariadne was huddled on Malcom's bed, the latter of which was wide-awake and shaking as badly as his sisters.

"Nico thank the Gods you're here! Kill it with fire!" Malcom hissed through his teeth, pointing towards the black mass of spider sitting on the wall. Nico walked up to it and examined it closely.

"Looks like just a normal wolf spider with a young egg sack. I'll take car of this." The three siblings almost fainted when Nico scooped the spider, eggs and all, up into his hands and carried it outside into the bushes. "It's all good. Wolf Spiders do bite if provoked a lot, but they're barely harmful to humans. If it happens again, come find me." Nico said as began to close the door behind him.

"Like I needed a lesson in the thing I hate most in the world." Malcom said as he rolled over onto his side and went back to sleep.

"Ugh. Spiders are awful. Wake me up when the horn blows." Ariadne said as she slumped back into her bed. Annabeth was still pretty buzzed after the whole ordeal, and she had to be up in half an hour anyways. She knew that Thalia was probably up and on her iPhone, and decided to see if she wanted to chat.

*ChaseMe has logged in*

ChaseMe: I can't sleep, are you awake?

TallyboBally: Yeh. Wats keeping u up?

ChaseMe: Big spider in my cabin. It's all good now, Nico to the rescue

TallyboBally: Haha that kids not afraid of NEthing

ChaseMe: Tell me about it. He picked it up with his hands and carried it out.

TallyboBally: Damn. Kids got mad skillz. Any whoozle, how goes things?

ChaseMe: How goes things? You looking for anything specific?

TallyboBally: Is Percy goin back 2 Jupiter NEtime soon?

ChaseMe: Unfortunately yes.

TallyboBally: Ugh. Sux 4 u

ChaseMe: I never thought I could dislike my own sibling

TallyboBally: Well shes only a half sibling, and Athena turned into a bitch in Rome. Reyna seems to have gottn that down

ChaseMe: LOL

*PiedPiper has requested to join the group*

ChaseMe: That's Piper. Say yes?

TallyboBally: Sure

*Request granted*

PiedPiper: What'r you guys doin up so early?

ChaseMe: Discussing a certain head of the Roman camp that isn't Jason

PiedPiper: That bitch almost took my man!

ChaseMe: That's what I'm afraid of now

TallyboBally: I c we hav turned into a Reyna hate club

ChaseMe: Whatever, I'm set in my opinion

PiedPiper: I take it Percy's making another trip?

ChaseMe: Yep.

PiedPiper: Oh, bummer. How come u arent going?

ChaseMe: I have you all to take care of, and I went the last time

TallyboBally: Dont worry about us, we will live

ChaseMe: Well there's the horn. See you all at breakfast

As Annabeth made her way to breakfast, a set of hands grabbed her hips and pulled her in for a hug from behind.

"When are you leaving?" Annabeth asked, the scent of ocean breeze giving away Percy's identity.

"Not until noon. You've still got some time to chew me out about the whole thing." He said as he let go of her. She turned around to do just that, but couldn't bring herself to complain. His face was genuinely sorry.

"I hate that you pull that look off so well." Annabeth sad, genuinely frustrated.

"You're probably going to hate me for the next few days regardless." Percy smiled and continued to walk towards the dining pavilion. "What're you going to do while I'm away?"

"Pretend that I don't care your gone and sulk probably." Annabeth answered truthfully. She had gotten better at letting Percy know how she felt instead of being cold and bitter if she was upset with him.

"Well that's good because that's probably what I'm going to do while I'm there." Percy smiled, and Annabeth almost melted.

"Keep your head strait. I don't want you getting off track and concentrating only on Poseidon's sector. The other Gods matter too." Annabeth teased, knowing he would play favorites.

"Don't you mean Neptune?" Percy joked. Annabeth had still not gotten used to using the Roman names, and probably never would.

"No, I don't. It's the Greek sector remember?" Annabeth loved giving him a hard time just as much as he liked giving her one.

"Oh fine. Anyways, I will see you before I leave." Percy said as he made his way to his own table. Annabeth didn't feel as bad about him leaving as she watched him go.

Unfortunately, Annabeth didn't take Percy's departure as well as she thought she would. Being separated from Percy had become incredibly hard ever since Hera had taken him away for eight months last summer. All she could do during her free period was lay on her bunk and look up at the ceiling, and try not to break down. Suddenly, the door swung open.

"Annabeth Chase, this is your rescue team. Prepare to laugh your ass off and forget about your pity party that no one else is invited to!" Thalia said as she led Piper, Katie, Drew, Nyssa, and Clarisse into the cabin. Annabeth rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face into her pillow.

"Let me sulk is peace." She mumbled through the fabric. As she went back to feeling sorry for herself, a large set of hands swept her off the bed and threw her over their owners shoulder.

"No can do. You're coming with us even if you hate us for it." Clarisse said as she carried her out the door. Rather than protest, Annabeth hung limp and let them take her wherever, knowing it would be better than anything she could think of.

"Fine. It's probably better for me anyways, even if you all are going to ritualistically sacrifice me." Annabeth quipped.

"Damn, you're an angsty bitch when Percy's not around." Thalia said as she chuckled at her friend's demeanor. They made their way to cabin number 9, where they settled into the hidden bunker. Clarisse placed Annabeth in one of the Lazy Boy recliners, and Annabeth proceeded to slump down into the chair. Thalia grabbed a DVD off the top of the TV, and stood in front of everyone.

"Welcome to Annabeth's pity party. I'm your host, Thalia. What we have here is terrifying, hilarious, and stupid, all unintentionally so. This movie is the worst movie ever made, and that is not an overstatement or a joke. I found this online in one of my many late night internet adventures back at camp Jupiter with Jason. Ladies, I present to you, The Room." Thalia popped the DVD into the player and pressed play.

"Trust me Annabeth, if you don't leave feeling something other than sadness, you have no soul." Piper said as she sat on the couch with a bowl of popcorn. The DVD started up, and the opening began. At first, Annabeth thought they were making her watch a sappy romantic comedy, which made her feel worse. Then, the dialog started. This movie was not anything that needed to be created. It was awful, with no redeeming qualities other than to be so bad it was good. There was hardly a plot, no character depth, and the dialog was so atrocious, it made everyone cringe.

"You are tearing me apart, Lisa!" Johnny, the so-called main character screamed in anguish. Annabeth cracked up at how bad and out of context the line reading was. As they continued on, things only got worse.

"Oh my gods what the hell is wrong with that girls neck?" Katie asked when one of the characters on screen's neck bulged from some sort of growth.

"I have no idea, but it may hatch." Clarisse said, laughing between mouthfuls of popcorn. Annabeth felt like she was watching the horrible sequel to Rocky Horror.

"Oh hi, Mark." Johnny was starting to turn into a surrealist figment of a man and less of an actual character as it continued.

"Can that be a thing now? Oh hi, Thalia. Oh hi, Chiron. Oh hi grass, Oh hi sword, Oh hi monsters." Piper said, and Annabeth nodded in agreement through tears of mirth.

"Oh hi Reyna! I did not hit her! I didn't!" Annabeth joked, and Thalia cracked up along with her. "This is probably the most horrifying thing I've ever seen."

"True that, but it's so good at the same time!" Thalia responded. Indeed, it was fantastic in it's own way.

After the movie had ended, Thalia and Annabeth headed towards the dining hall for dinner.

"Are you going to stalk her facebook?" Thalia asked as they walked along.

"Whose?" Annabeth gave Thalia a confused look, unsure of what her friend was getting at.

"Reyna. Apparently, Roman's can have computer access while attending college like she is. I bet she's updating progress both in camp and outside of camp." Thalia mentioned, cocking an eyebrow. Annabeth gave Thalia a mischievous half smile.

"Remind me to thank you later. I think I need to pay my computer a visit after dinner." Annabeth said, almost skipping with glee to her table.

"Ok, her profile is actually pretty clean. Let's check pictures." Thalia said. She had taken over Annabeth's computer, and was typing in names and stalking walls with a vengeance.

"Every single one of them is probably her posing with those two stupid dogs of hers." Annabeth griped. Truth by told, she was actually kind of jealous that she didn't have a cool pet. Reyna had Skippy and the grey hounds, Percy had Blackjack and Ms. O'Leary, and she was stuck with seven younger siblings to watch after.

"Nope, actually it's all the progress they've been making at Jupiter." Thalia remarked. They scrolled through some construction pictures, some other pictures of various campers, and then they came across something else entirely.

"Whoa, check out that statue dedicated to the Greeks! And hey, you're tagged in it!" Thalia exclaimed as she clicked on a picture of a large bronze statue that depicted all twelve Olympians in their Greek form standing in an outward facing circle, their respective Greek names written underneath them in the Ancient Greek text. Annabeth almost shed a tear when she saw it.

"I designed that." She half whispered, trying not to get emotional. It was very clear to her that Reyna had not only taken her half sister's designs into consideration, but had also credited Annabeth with the work. Suddenly, Annabeth's instant messenger popped open.

*Request for Conversation from ReynaofRome*

ReynaofRome: Did you see the picture?

Annabeth shoved Thalia aside, taking over as head typist.

ChaseMe: Yes! It's fantastic! Thank you so much for taking that into account!

ReynaofRome: I know we don't always see eye to eye, but I hope we can set aside our differences, and help create New Greece with the respect it deserves.

ChaseMe: I whole-heartedly agree! I'm glad we can finally start anew.

ReynaofRome: As glad I am, don't think this means I'm giving up on Percy.

ChaseMe: Pardon?

ReynaofRome: It's clear who the obvious choice here is.

ChaseMe: You touch him, I light you on fire.

ReynaofRome: Such harsh words from someone whose supposed to think things through.

ChaseMe: I mean it. I swear to the Gods I will come after you with a can of hairspray and a lighter.

ReynaofRome: We'll let him make his final choice. I'll see you in Jupiter in a few weeks. Until then, good night.

*ReynaofRome has Logged off*

"That horrible bitch!" Thalia squealed, reading over Annabeth's shoulder.

"I will cut her." Annabeth growled, now in an even worse mood than she ever was before. She was about to post horrible things about her on facebook when another window popped up.

AquaLad: Hey you, how goes things?

"Thalia, out. Now." Annabeth said over her shoulder. Thalia was not about to get in the way of this conversation and promptly got off the bed.

"Have fun, and don't go to bed angry. Also, if you want I can post a rumor that her father was Osama bin Laden." Thalia said as she received a pillow to the face. "Ok Ok I get it, I won't post anything. I'm out. Night!" Thalia swept out the door, closing it behind her.

ChaseMe: Things were going ok. Thalia introduced me to the best/worst movie ever called The Room.

AquaLad: and then wat happened?

ChaseMe: Then Reyna messaged saying that she's still going to fight me for you

AquaLad: WAT? Thats awful. I will talk with her about that

ChaseMe: The statue looks great though

AquaLad: It took some shoving on my part for them to build it.

ChaseMe: Figures

AquaLad: U kno Im yours forever right?

ChaseMe: Yes, but it doesn't make her any less of a bitch

AquaLad: She's not so bad to me, then again its a different story

ChaseMe: Come home soon ok?

AquaLad: 2 mor days and I'm there. I love you

ChaseMe: I love you too

AquaLad: I have to go, but tell everyone that everything is great here

ChaseMe: I will, and tell everyone hi for me.

Aqualad: Of course! Night!

ChaseMe: Goodnight, Percy

*AquaLad has logged off*

Annabeth shut down her computer and lay down on her back, looking up at the ceiling. It had been a long and emotional rollercoaster of a day, not helped by the fact that she knew she would have to return to New Rome soon and face Reyna. As she drifted off to sleep, the sound of her phone going off snapped her out of it. She picked up her phone to check the text message; unable to sleep without knowing who it was from. To her surprise, it was from Nico.

*Message from Nico*

2morrow, u me, Piper and Leo r goin 2 New Rome. Things r not goin as planned.

Annabeth was confused as to what it meant, and texted him back.

What does Hazel have to say?

*Message from Nico*

Reyna has the Roman's around her finger. No 1 is listening to Percy

"Damn! I knew something was up. Reyna is not going to live this down." Annabeth huffed. She shut her phone, and turned off the lights. She would need her sleep for the ass kicking she was about to dish out tomorrow.


AN: I am so so so so so sorry for how long a gap this took, but let me explain. This is my senior year in high school, and I've been absolutely swamped with college apps, two thesis papers, and three major tests back to back to back. So, as you can see I've been very busy with not a lot of time to write. With all that being said, I will probably not update again until the end of November. There is good news that, and that is that I've already got most of the next few chapters planned out and one written, so all I have to do is fill in the gaps before I can post them. Another thing of awesome news: I've got my biggest fanfiction project yet in the works. I've been writing all my life as more than a hobby, but fanfiction is my chance to be creative as an artist with things familiar to me, and boy did I go over board. It takes place in the Percy Jackson universe at the same time as this story, but with three OC's that I've worked hard on making sure they're likable and most certainly not mary sues. That fic will be posted around early December. Before any of that happens, this fanfic is going to see some serious shit go down. Stay tuned!