Hey, sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been really busy. I'll try not to let as much time pass between updates but no promises!

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Disclaimer: All rights belong to Rick Riordan.

Annabeth

Annabeth lay with her head on Percy's chest, fast asleep. Percy, also asleep, sat with his back against the wall and one hand over Annabeth's shoulder. The other hand held one of Annabeth's.

Annabeth's dream was dark and misty, Faces and shapes drifted in out of focus. All her friends, her family, and everyone and everything she cared about seemed to be getting farther and farther away. She chased after them, but they just seemed to drift away faster. She caught her father's hand, pleaded for him to stay, to not leave her alone, but he gave her a disappointed look before his hand evaporated and then the rest of him dissipated into smoke as well. Annabeth cried out, calling after him, after everyone, but it seemed that no one heard her and no one listened. They gave her scathing looks as they raced past her, whispering things like, "You're a failure," and "Who are you to anyone? What have you to be proud of?" Annabeth couldn't find an answer. Her head throbbed and she didn't want to listen to them anymore. She grabbed her head and sank to the ground, whimpering and screaming and crying. But then suddenly, everything was quiet.

Annabeth woke up, gasping and shaking, her head still throbbing. Percy was still asleep. Annabeth's head rose and fell in time with his breathing, calming her a little. Eventually she sat up, immediately feeling dizzy, and leaned back on the wall next to Percy.

Of course the room was still pitch black, except for Riptide, which lay on Percy's other side. Annabeth didn't need it, though. She was trying to think through her dream, what it all meant.

The dream hadn't been a vision of anything to come like demigod dreams often were. But might it have been a metaphor of sorts? Was she really going to fail so badly that everyone and everything she loved would leave her?

Somehow Annabeth doubted she could mess up that badly. That might be her pride, her fatal flaw speaking, but still, she felt that it was true. She suspected that if she wasn't in Tartarus she might not have had this dream, which meant that it was either Gaea or Tartarus induced.

Gaea seemed a likely option, but somehow Annabeth didn't think it possible for Gaea to get that deep inside her, show her things she had previously thought she could live without. So that just left the magic of Tartarus.

Tartarus was an enchanted place, full of dark magic and spirits and all those sorts of things. Tartarus was, like many other things, also a spirit in itself. Annabeth wouldn't be surprised if that spirit could get inside a person, see and feed off their deepest fears, their deepest desires, their flaws and their talents, and then use those things to destroy the person, terrify them, drive them insane. Annabeth remembered Nico and his broken, thousand year-old eyes, and wondered suddenly if that was what had happened to him. He had only been in Tartarus for a few days. Annabeth had no idea how long she and Percy had been here, and how much longer they would have to stay, if not forever. She shuddered as she imagined herself and Percy ending up like Nico, probably a lot worse.

That was when Gaea's voice spoke in her head.

I see you are awake, my child, she said gleefully. Do not despair; you will not be trapped here much longer. Soon you and your precious boyfriend will be sacrifices for my noble cause!

Annabeth jumped. She hadn't been expecting Gaea's voice. But she gathered her courage and exclaimed, "Noble?! You're going to destroy the world, kill millions, probably billions of people, wipe out everything good in the world, and that's noble? And for what? To rule over who? There won't be anyone left but a few giants and monsters here and there. You won't matter. Nothing will matter in the end!"

Gaea laughed. You are too young, child, too naïve to truly understand my motives and incentives. I dare not bore you with them. She laughed again and was gone.

Annabeth sighed and closed her eyes. She was getting tired of this routine. Sleep, talk to Gaea, talk to Percy, repeat. Right on cue, Annabeth heard Percy begin to stir next to her.

Something was wrong, though. Annabeth knew he was waking up because his breathing changed, but the scary part was how it changed. His breaths became fast and shallow and loud, as if he was in pain and it was difficult to breathe. Annabeth grabbed his hand and he squeezed it hard. Even in the dim light, Annabeth could see his sweaty face and pained expression.

"Percy," Annabeth said, shaking him. "Percy, come on, wake up. It's only a dream." But his breathing just got even louder and faster, and he started jerking a little. It was almost as if he was trying to get out of the dream but couldn't. Annabeth forced herself to stay calm; he was only dreaming, after all.

Suddenly Percy cried out, then sat straight up, breathing hard, eyes wide open in fear. Annabeth leaned forward, watching his face, heart beating so fast she thought she might burst. "Percy?" she whispered.

He slowly turned his head to face her. Annabeth gulped, suddenly even more scared because Percy's eyes looked wild and full of fear and pain. She didn't want to even think about what might have caused him to be like this.

"Hey," she said gently, rubbing his hand. "Come on, Seaweed Brain. It's ok. You're ok. I'm here. Talk to me." she tried to say it lightly, but the butterflies in her stomach were not helping.

Percy's eyes finally focused on her. For a moment he looked confused, and it seemed to take him a minute to remember where he was, and then another to relax and little and lean back against the wall again.

Neither of them said anything for a little while. Percy sat and stared straight ahead as Annabeth rubbed his shoulder, trying to relax him. She let him calm down and get ready to speak, but she kept seeing those wild, terrified eyes in the back of her mind. What could have made him so scared? Annabeth almost didn't want to find out.

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