"How could I forget something like this?" Annabeth demanded angrily. Dionysus' eyes lazily followed her pacing as he took a sip from his coke. The leopard head on the wall whined lowly as if sensing the distress and frustration from the demigod girl.

"Oh stop that," Dionysus snapped at the leopard. "What would you know about regret?" the leopard whined again. "Oh - well, I suppose your head is on a mantle. But that was completely your fault." the leopard yowled in solemn agreement.

Chiron spared the god an exasperated glance as he wheeled up to Annabeth in his wheelchair. "I'm sure there is a reasonable explanation." he insisted. "In your dream, you said you heard a spell?"

Annabel nodded, "Yeah - yeah, I didn't hear that much of it, but it was definitely a spell." she tapped her chin thoughtfully, "What I don't get is who would do this. I mean, yeah Percy and have our fair share of enemies, but who of them can set a spell powerful enough to erase something as important as a warning from the Grey Sisters?" her lips pursed, "Hera." she decided. "It was Hera."

"Let's not point fingers just yet," Chiron suggested with a soft pat on her arm. "What's done is done. The only thing we can do right now is to try and reverse whatever has been put on Percy."

"Yeah," Annabeth sighed. She folded her arms across her chest, her eye lit with frustration, "Wouldn't even have had to reverse it if it had never happened." she muttered regretfully to herself.

Chiron's eyes softened, "There was nothing you could've done Annabeth. If this adversary is strong then it would've been a matter of time before it happened." Annabeth tried not to think about the fact that Chiron just told her, her boyfriend was doomed to get fatally ill from the start. Cause that would be a bummer. "Besides," Chiron continued, unfazed by her grim look, "you did buy us more time. If we had continued giving him water, as we would anyone, then he would be far worse off."

"Gee, thanks."

"What I'm trying to say is that you did well to trust your gut. You may have well given us more time to save Percy, and sometimes that is all you need." he smiled gently at her. Then to himself, he muttered, "You'd think after all these years I'd be better at giving a pep-talk."

After that, Annabeth couldn't refrain a smile, however small and frail it was. "Thank you Chiron," she told him, bending down to give him a hug. "I'm going to go visit Rachel to see if she's seeing anything. I'll be back with any news soon."

"Before you go," Chiron said, stopping her before she could take more than two steps. "Percy has been requesting to see you."

Annabeth's eyes bulged. "Why didn't you tell me!" she demanded, already sprinting for the stairs.

"Because you came here and started screeching about spells and evil water." Dionysus drawled after her, even though she was already up the stairs and out of earshot. "Demigods." the god sighed, shaking his head in an annoyed huff.

Annabeth raced to Percy's room, not bothering to knock before she came in. She slowed her pace once inside and gently closed the door. She approached the bed quietly, coming to kneel at the bedside. Percy didn't look better, though she supposed he didn't look as bad either. His hair was wet from sweat and clung to his face, his skin held only the smallest pigment of his ocean tan, and he lips were cracked and dry. Behind closed eyelids she could tell his eyes were moving, trembling under the faint whispers of sleep. He was shivering, but when she touched his forehead he felt feverishly hot. A jell-ice pack was stuck between his shoulder and the blankets, probably due to it falling from its place on his head. She grabbed it, flipped it to the colder side, and repositioned it on his forehead. His grimaced face seemed to relax just a fraction, but that was it.

Slowly, his eyes cracked open. Upon first glance, the green of his eyes look dull and low, but once he made eye-contact, Annabeth noticed how they seemed to light up. "Hey Wisegirl." he rasped. "'Was wondering when you'd stop by."

"Chiron said you wanted to talk to me." Annabeth reminded him gently.

Percy grinned wryly, though it strained his sore lips leaving him with more of a wince. "I just wanna see my beautiful girlfriend again." he croaked, "You were gone for so long."

Annabeth rolled her eyes affectionately. "I was gone for one-night Seaweed Brain." she scoffed lightly.

"One night too long for my taste."

She laughed gently and took his hand in her's. He smiled and reached up to cup her face. "I hope this isn't too chick-flick for you," he whispered. "But I really did miss you. There's just something about laying in bed all day that gives you time to think."

"You've been thinking." Annabeth gasped. "Well, that's not good."

He stuck his tongue out at her. They both laughed, feeling at home with each other's familiar presence. Until Percy suddenly broke out into a violent coughing fit that left his whole body heaving. The atmosphere of the room sobered out. Annabeth shot up to help him, softly pushing him back down into the bed so he wouldn't exert himself. Once it passed, Percy seemed to sink lower into the blankets looking depleted of whatever energy he had. It amazed her how something like coughing managed to tire him out so quickly.

"Ugh," Percy groaned miserably, "I feel like an old man."

Annabeth grimaced, "Well, as for right now, you're gonna have to act as such. A very frail old man. If I hear from Will that you're trying to get out of bed, it will not look good for you Jackson."

"M'not frail." came her stubborn response.

She sighed and retook his hand. "I had a dream last," she told him. "It revealed a few things. At least I know why we knew water wasn't good for you." she went ahead and retold the events of last night's dream. Once finished, Percy was looking up at the ceiling in thought.

"Well, at least we know little of what's going on," he mumbled,

"I'm going to go talk to Rachel right now," Annabeth added. "Just to see if she's seeing anything."

"As long as it's not another prophecy." Percy wheezed weakly. "I think we've had enough of those."

"Agreed."

They fell back into silence. Annabeth gently lay her head by their clasped hands, letting the coolness of the sheets and the heat of Percy's hand run through her mind. He was weaker, but he still had that fire in his eyes. As long as he remained her Percy, then she knew it wasn't too late. When she lifted her head back up Percy had fallen back into another troubled sleep. She could see it in the shuddering of his body and grimace in his features.

She got up. She made sure the jell-pack wouldn't fall off soon and positioned the blankets to make him more comfortable. "I'll be back soon," she whispered to his sleeping form and placed a soft his on his forehead. With one last worrying glance, she turned and left the room. She ran down the stairs, through the room where Chiron and Mr.D were talking, and jumped off the porch, never stopping her sprint till Rachel's cave came into view.

"Rachel?" Annabeth called, running up to the entrance. "Rachel you home?"

Something lurched out of the curtain of beads that stood as the door. "Annabeth!" Rachel exclaimed, almost knocking into the child of Athena. She looked slightly panicked and flustered "Oh thank Apollo! I was just about to come look for you. Look, I've been getting this weird visions and-" that was as far as she got before she doubled over.

Annabeth lurched forward to help her. "Rachel, what's wrong?"

Rachel suddenly bolted upright, her back standing as straight as a board. Her eyes glowed a mystic green and smoke started to pour from her mouth.

So much for no prophecies. Annabeth vaguely wondered how she was going to break the news to Percy before the Spirit of Delphi began to speak.

And cliffhanger! *disappears in a puff of smoke*