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Gabby (and all): " our heros are on the argo2 they got knocked out by tony and some other jerks piper has been talking with Percy about annabeth . Hazel and frank were going over what happened when Rachel Elizabeth Dare showed up." Basically, and I never said anyting about it being Rachel... The bad guys hijacked their ship and stuff.

Chapter twenty five: Annabeth

Annabeth woke up cold. She was curled in a ball in the middle of the bed with no blanket. She was about to sit up when she felt something being placed over her. She sat up instantly. She couldn't see anything. It was dark. She didn't like the dark. She backed up towards the headboard and pulled her knees to her chin. She heard something rattling that she recognized as someone fumbling for a light switch. Light flooded the room and she was met with the presence of Percy Jackson standing over her bed. She scooted a little bit further away, but she didn't leave his eyes.

He looked worried, but Annabeth didn't buy it. He'd tricked her too many times with his worried look.

"I'm not going to hurt you," He murmured. He knelt by the bed and, very gently, took her hand in his. "I promise."

Annabeth didn't know why she didn't pull away. She let him hold her hand. She let him look into her eyes and stroke her cheek. She let herself believe him.

Percy dropped her hand. Panic started to bubble in her chest. The hallucinations started again. Someone was smiling at her at the end of her bed. There was a weird look dog looking at her like it wanted to eat her. There was a shadow of someone who wasn't there on the wall. Annabeth didn't notice before, but those things had gone when he was holding her hand. She reached for Percy, startling him. He seemed confused when Annabeth pulled him towards the bed.

Annabeth wasn't really sure what she was doing. She had gotten very good at not giving into him, but this time he seemed different.

"I don't understand," Percy mumbled, sitting down on the bed, taking her hand. Annabeth exhaled a shaky breath and looked around the room. The man in the corner was still there and so was the hell hound and the shadow, but they didn't seem as scary then when she was alone. They started to fade. Annabeth waited until they were gone until she looked back at Percy. He was watching her with worried eyes.

"What do you see, Annabeth?" He asked her. She pulled him down next to her in the bed. She lied on her side while he was on his back. He held her hand in hers without complaint. His gaze never left her. Even when she looked down, she could feel his eyes on her. Why was he taking such an interest in her? She realized that she never answered him.

"Nothing," She whispered to him. She settled into the pillow. She felt a small smile creep onto her face. It felt foreign. Something told her she hadn't smiled in a long time. Why didn't she? Annabeth couldn't remember at the moment, so she just smiled at Percy some more. A tentative smile showed on his face. Annabeth liked his eyes when he smiled. Actually, she just liked his eyes in general. They were a very pretty green. She found comfort in them. Especially when they crinkled at the corners when he smiled.

Percy outstretched his arm and tentatively put it around Annabeth. He pulled her gently towards him. She happily obliged and very slowly laid her head on his chest. He smelled like the sea. Annabeth relaxed when she smelled him. She didn't know why, but she felt safe. Even if he felt weird. His skin was very hard, almost like iron. But, strangely, she took comfort in that too. She closed her eyes and didn't object when he shut off the light.

Maybe he wasn't so bad.

Percy

Percy woke with a neck cramp. He was sitting at Annabeth's desk and had fallen asleep with his head in his hand. He remembered that he was watching her shake, wishing he could just make all her troubles disappear with the snap of his fingers.

She was still shaking, but this one was different. The blanket had fallen on the floor, so she was cold. Percy got up, stretched, and walked over to the fallen blanket. Before he covered her, he took the site of her in.

Her hair was loose and splayed all over. She had bandages over various parts of her body. Percy lightly touched the one on her nose. Her eyelids started to flutter open, so he quickly, but gently, put the blanket over her. She sat up instantly. She squinted in the darkness all over the room. She started to tremble again. Percy fumbled for the light switch and turned it on. She was sitting up against the headboard with her knees pulled up to her chest. She was regarding him with a wary expression.

"I'm not going to hurt you,," He told her sincerely. He knelt down on his knees and reached for her hand. He took it in his and held it gently. "I promise."

Her eyes darted all over him, but kept coming back to his eyes. She kept glancing at their entwined hands and then around the room. He dropped it and looked down at the floor. He didn't want to scare her. He just wanted her to trust him again.

Then, she did something he didn't suspect; she reached for him and pulled him towards the bed. She looked scared. Percy got up and perched himself on the edge of the bed. She took his hand in hers again. He could feel how cold she was. He squeezed it lightly, just to see what would happen, but she didn't do anything. So either she didn't notice or she didn't care.

"I don't understand," He mumbled, mainly to himself. She started to pull him again so he was lying down next to her. He did, but he kept his eyes on her. He didn't want to do something that would freak her out. He really didn't want to freak her out.

He watched her as her eyes skimmed the room. She still seemed a bit startled when she saw certain spots, but she didn't keep her gaze on them. She had her concentrating face on. Well, a little bit of it, not full on. Percy remembered that Piper said that she had hallucinations. He wanted to see how much she trusted him, if she would confide in him.

"What do you see, Annabeth?" He asked her. She averted her satisfied gaze from the walls to him. She looked into his eyes and a hint of a smile played on her lips.

"Nothing." Percy didn't understand at first. It took him a minute to process what was going on. But, when it clicked, he smiled as well. He was making the hallucinations go away. She felt safe with him. Percy tested this by slowly putting his arm around her and pulling her closer to him. She obliged and laid her head on his chest. He turned off the light and she closed her eyes. He watched her sleep for a bit. He hand curled around his shirt and she burrowed her face in his chest. Her mouth was slightly open and she was breathing evenly and deeply. She wasn't shaking at all.

With a satisfied smile, Percy closed his eyes and drifted to sleep as well.

To say Percy was surprised to see some random woman standing over him would be an understatement. He nearly jumped to the ceiling, waking Annabeth up in the process. Her eyes shot open and she sat up. Percy was already standing up on the bed, holding his sword out. He pained when he saw her wince, but it was better to have some form of defense.

"Did it work?" The woman asked excitedly.

"Yeah, hi, nice to meet you…?" Percy said. The woman stood gasped and smiled.

"I'm so sorry, I forgot my manners! My name is Epione and you are Annabeth and Percy."

"Sorry, that didn't really clear anything up," Percy told her. He was vaguely aware of Annabeth standing up out of bed.

"She's the goddess of the soothing of pain," Annabeth mumbled. Percy lowered his sword some and got down from the bed.

"You know her?" Percy asked, bewildered. Annabeth nodded.

"She was the mother of…Panecea and Hygieia, I think. Right?" She said, looking at Epione for clarification.

"Yup," She said with a smile. Percy lowered his sword.

"Why are you here?" Annabeth asked her, coming up next to Percy and gripping his forearm with her hands.

"Well, I figured you guys weren't going to get anywhere with you being all psychotic-"

"I'm not psychotic. Why does everybody keep saying that?" Annabeth mumbled. Percy smirked and put his arm around her.

"-so, I made it so Percy could soothe your pain!" She told them excitedly. Annabeth smiled a bit, but Percy didn't buy it. Gods and goddesses don''t just randomly go out and do people favors.

"What's the catch?" Percy asked. Annabeth looked at him with wide eyes, as if she couldn't believe he had such bad manners.

"I borrowed Aphrodite's white shoes and I may have spilled wine on them, so this was me making it up to her!" She said.

"How does it work?" Annabeth asked her quietly, fiddling with her necklace. Percy recognized it as the coral necklace he gave her, which made him smile.

"Well, as long as you're touching him, your hallucinations will go away. So, yeah. That's about it," She said. She clapped her hands together and disappeared in a puff of light blue smoke. Percy turned to her.

"So…" He said, playing with her fingers. She smiled at him and looked at the wall. She squinted and suddenly Piper appeared. She looked at Percy and Annabeth and squealed. Percy rolled his eyes. Aphrodite girls. Piper rushed towards them and gave them a hug and then composed herself.

"Okay, so that's settled. Now, I have good news!" She said.

"What?" Percy asked her, smoothing his hair down since it is most likely sticking up all over the place.

"Well, Jason and I may have figured out a way to get out of here."

"How?" Annabeth asked her. She had an unsure look on her face.

"There's a ventilation system on the ship," Piper told them. Percy didn't understand what that meant, but Annabeth did. Her face lit up like Christmas.

"So, how big are the vents?"

"Well, there are two systems. One leads directly from room to room. Frank can change shape-"

"He can?" Annabeth said, bewildered. Percy just stared at her.

"She really doesn't remember anything, does she?" Percy asked Piper.

"No, she doesn't." Annabeth narrowed her eyes at them.

"Anyways, what do we do?" Annabeth asked her. Piper eyes her carefully.

"The vent is just big enough or someone very small and skinny to crawl through…" Piper said. Percy understood what she meant, but it took Annabeth a minute. Her face paled and she shook her head.

"Annabeth, it'll be okay. We'll be right here," Piper told her. Percy rubbed her back. Annabeth eyed them. She slumped her shoulders.

"Fine. What do I do?"

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