Disclaimer: All PJO characters belong to Rick Riordan.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Annabeth
"Every night, she lies awake, blaming insomnia. But it's her troubled thoughts that keep her restless, wondering if she will ever find peace with her mind."
(Unknown)
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Annabeth was getting better while getting worse. She wasn't entirely sure how that was possible, but it was happening to her. Her body was healing, her wounds quickly fading to only little scars. Her stab wound didn't quite hurt so badly anymore when she moved any which way. The black and blue bruises which had marred her body were all gone. The color was returning to her skin, thank the gods, so she no longer looked like a walking corpse.
Her mental health, however, was quickly deteriorating. Annabeth could feel it. It had only been about three weeks since she began giving her medicine to Macy, but already she was slipping comfortably into insanity. The visions came more frequently. Sometimes, she'd see something out of the corner of her eye. Other times, she'd feel something crawling up her back only to find nothing there. And a lot of the time, she'd blackout, retreating into the darkest depths of her mind, seeing horrors that seemed to come straight from the pits of the Underworld. Thankfully, she was alone most of the time when those struck. Piper was the only person who knew about her worsening illness. Piper was the one who would snap her out of her visions. Piper was the one who would run in and quiet her down when the nightmares struck.
The nightmares were the worst. Her worst fears came creeping up to her in the darkness of night. Every child's old fear of monsters came horribly to life. Giants with oily tufts of hair and matted beards would open their mouths and tentacles would spill out, reaching for her. Grown men coming up to her in a dark alley and transforming into beasts, eating her piece by piece. Some of her nightmares were more practical: the palace being invaded and her parents being killed; Annabeth torturing prisoners in the torture chambers (sometimes, she was the one being tortured); having to kill her family, stabbing them through the heart with a sword one by one. And she dreamed of Percy. Almost every night, she had the same dream over and over. She was back in the woods, walking to their cabin with fresh water from the pond. She would go inside and call his name, but he would never answer. Every dream ended with Annabeth finding his body in the bedroom, bloody and rotten with maggots and flies, as if he had been dead for days already. She would always wake up screaming and bawling her eyes out, because even though the dream had ended, the nightmare didn't because he was dead. He was dead.
She had woken up from that dream yet again, screaming and crying, with only Piper there to calm her down. The maid abandoned the dresses she had been hanging up and quickly ran to Annabeth's side, placing her hands firmly around her wrists to stop her wildly flying fists. She pushed them back to Annabeth's side and then brushed the hair out of her face. "It was just a dream, Annabeth," she said soothingly. Annabeth shook her head and the buried it in her pillows, unable to stop the deep sobs from escaping her lips. Piper patted her back affectionately while she sobbed, feeling so pathetically weak but not being able to stop it. Annabeth did this at least once a week since she had found out about Percy. The pain wouldn't go away.
"He's dead," she sobbed into her pillow. "He's dead."
Piper didn't say a word and for that, Annabeth was grateful. She didn't think she could take hearing about how this must be for the better and how she would find someone else, which is what Luke kept telling her every time the subject came up. She hated hearing that, because she knew that she would never find anyone else. Not like Percy.
Then, "Who's dead?" Piper's tone was confused. Annabeth's tears slowly subsided as the fact sunk in that Piper didn't know about her and Percy's relationship. Annabeth had never told her. And now Annabeth was crying over someone who had died and was probably confusing Piper. She rolled over and wiped her eyes. She gazed at her friend.
"No one," she lied. "It was just a dream, like you said."
Piper looked at her skeptically, but let it pass. Annabeth was grateful for that. She didn't have the strength to lie anymore right then. She sighed and gazed at the high, arched ceiling above her. "What time is it?" she asked.
"Almost ten." Piper gave her a sympathetic look as Annabeth shot her a fearful one. Her mother was going to kill her for missing breakfast again. She had just missed a couple days ago due to a particularly bad spell. Piper had made up something about having a horrible headache. Her mother had dismissed it, but no way was she going to dismiss her being sick again. Not with her upcoming wedding and coronation. The wedding was only three weeks away and her coronation would be a week after that. The queen was not going to let this one slide.
"What did you tell my mother?" she asked frantically. She tried to sit up to get ready, but Piper pushed her back down.
"Relax, Annabeth," she reassured her, her voce rich and soothing. Piper always had a way with words. She was always able to calm her down when they were growing up. Piper was always able to calm anyone down. Annabeth visibly relaxed into her bed. "I told her the truth. You had a long day yesterday and are very tired, so you were going to take the morning off."
Annabeth nodded. That seemed like a plausible excuse. Annabeth, in fact, actually did have a long day yesterday. She had accompanied her mother to the town, making her first public appearance since she had returned from her abduction. Thankfully, an episode hadn't occurred; she'd been much too busy to even think about the things that scared her. Swarms of people were coming up left and right to the carriage, asking how she was doing and if she was recovering well. She would always reply with a smile, say she was recovering well and she was ever so grateful for their concern.
There were other questions she did her best to avoid. Questions of Percy Jackson, if he was really as bitter and evil as they thought, if he was the one who had beaten her, if he was truly dead and how she felt about it. Her mother forced her to answer the last question and, with tears in her eyes, she had forced herself to say that she was so relieved that a villain like him was gone and she couldn't be happier about it. She prayed that the people thought her tears were due to the amount of pain and trauma he had caused her.
"Thank you," she whispered to Piper, curling back into the silk sheets. She figured Piper would go back to her work and let Annabeth be, but no such luck. The maid hesitated and then said, "Annabeth? Can I ask . . . why don't you just tell your mother about the little girl in the village? Then we could just get double the doses and you wouldn't be this sick."
Piper sounded so hopeful, Annabeth felt bad for having to shoot her down. "My mother is a good queen," she started quietly, as if the queen could hear her through the thick stone walls, "but she doesn't believe in helping her people individually. She doesn't want to waste expenses for one little girl when she could be using that money to help the people as a whole. She believes in union, how to better the entire country, instead of how to save one person."
Piper just looked horrified. "But, the girl is so little . . ."
Annabeth nodded, swallowing tears. "Which is why I have to do this. Because I believe in union and helping individuals. The people come first."
Piper nodded solemnly and Annabeth felt terrible for giving her such a horrible image of her mother. But she couldn't help it. It was the truth and a lot of the time, the truth isn't pretty.
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Thankfully, the royal family didn't eat lunch together, so Annabeth didn't have to face her parents until dinner. Chiron gave her the day off of her studies, so Annabeth quickly dressed up in her comabt clothes, went to the kitchen to grab and sandwich (and another plate of cookies because the cooks love her), and then made her way to the arena.
Shooting arrows was risky business with Annabeth's disease. Most of the time, the targets became living people. But today, Annabeth was willing to take the risk. She shot arrow after arrow at the targets, each one hitting just shy of the center. Annabeth scowled in frustration. She used to be able to hit the center, then shoot another arrow that would pierce the first arrow in half. Now she couldn't even hit the middle.
"Hey."
Annabeth jumped, completely startled. The arrow she had just been about to shoot went flying away from the target, burying itself in the stands behind it. Annabeth scowled again and whirled around, facing Luke Castellan. "What do you want?" she demanded viciously.
Luke just chuckled and smirked at her. Annabeth hadn't talked to him since the day in the library, when he broke the news to her of Percy's death and told her that she would have to suck up her grief and disgust at him because they were getting married no matter what. That was the day Annabeth had officially come to the conclusion that she hated his guts.
He looked good, which just fueled Annabeth's hate. He wore a traditional gentleman's outfit, and his hair was perfect, not a strand out of place. He stood with a regalness, as if he were already king. His only flaw was the scar across his face and somehow, that just made him more handsome. Annabeth hated him for it.
"I noticed you weren't at breakfast this morning," Luke answered, gazing at her underneath his lashes.
Annabeth looked away. "I was very worn out from yesterday."
"Well, I'm glad you are feeling yourself again." Annabeth could feel his gaze on her body and she was so disgusted by it. She placed an arrow in her bow and drew back the string, then let go, letting her arrow fly. As usual, it hit just outside of the center. Annabeth glared at it.
Luke cleared his throat. "Draw your shoulders back more," he suggested.
Annabeth directed her glare to him. "Go away," she instructed but, of course, he didn't listen, so she followed his instructions and pushed her shoulders back. The arrow hit the center.
Gods, she hated that he was right.
"Good job," Luke said and he seemed genuinely proud of her. It confused Annabeth. He was acting different right then. He sounded different. It was almost like he was more comfortable than he was at meals or parties. It made Annabeth uncomfortable. It made it harder to hate him, because she was starting to see a real person and not a mannequin of a perfect prince. "But lower your arms some more. You look like you're a hunchback."
Annabeth didn't want to, but she followed his instruction. It had worked the last time, anyway. But she immediately regretted it when she heard Luke grumble, "No, you're doing it wrong," and then she felt his hands on her skin and he was touching her and her skin burned like his hands were poison and she was so so so disgusted. She tore away from his grip, whirled around to face him, and pointed the arrow at the spot between his eyes. A fierce glare was on her face. "Do. Not. Touch. Me," she threatened.
Luke threw his hands up in a sign of surrender. Annabeth's arms were shaking and Luke was gazing down at her with a weird expression on his face. Annabeth tried to read it. It looked vaguely familiar, as if she had seen it on another person, with the small twist on his lips, not like he was plotting something evil, but like he was laughing, and the strange glint in his blue eyes.
And then, suddenly, it hit her. And she felt like throwing up.
"You're in love with me," she said and Luke swallowed. Annabeth dropped the bow and arrow, shocked that he didn't try to deny it. The expression on his face only confirmed Annabeth's fears. She took a step away from him. "Oh gods, you're in love with me."
"Why does that surprise you?" Luke asked and it almost hurt Annabeth to hear the pain in his voice. Almost.
She ignored his question because, truth was, she knew it all along. "That's why you acted so happy that Percy was dead. Because you were jealous of him. Because I loved him and not you." Luke's face contorted, like he was being stabbed or whipped. "And that's why you've been trying so hard to win my affection. Because you love me and you want me to love you back." Annabeth couldn't keep it in. She laughed and Luke reeled back, like it was a slap to the face. "Wow. I can't believe this. This is rich."
Luke scowled at her. Annabeth knew she was being mean, but she didn't really care. This man had caused her too much pain. "Is that what you think, Annabeth?" he demanded. "That I'm here to win you heart and rule by your side? That I'm some heartsick fool who doesn't know how to express his feelings? Well, guess what? I'm here for more than you know. You were just an unexpected plot twist."
Annabeth's gut twisted at his words. She took a few steps until she was right in front of him and grabbed his shirt collar, pulling him down until he was eye-level with her. "You know what I think?" she whispered. "I don't believe you're a duke. In fact, I don't think you're even of royal blood. I don't know what you're up to, but I know that you're a fake and a monster and even though I don't know what your plan is, you bet on your life that I will find out."
Luke sneered at her. Apparently, her words had hit a sore spot. "Can't you see, Annabeth?" he snarled. "I've already won. I brought you home so your parents love me. No one has any clue that I'm not royalty. We're getting married in three weeks. And your precious Percy Jackson is dead. There's no one left to love you, to kiss your fears away, to kill people who try to hurt you. There's nothing you can do about it, Annabeth. Face it. If you want to be queen and please your parents, I'm your only option."
Tears burned behind Annabeth's eyelids and her entire body shook, but she refused to cry in front of him. She refused to give him that satisfaction. Instead, she tore away from him and walked out of the arena, starting to run when she was out of his sight. She ran straight to her room, slamming the door closed and collapsed into her bed. Then she let the tears fall, slowly and quietly.
She wouldn't marry that man. She wouldn't. She hated him. She detested him. He was horrible, awful, an abomination. She would not give herself over to him. She might be forced to marry him, but she would never be his wife.
"Annabeth?" Piper's voice came softly from the door. Annabeth sat up and wiped away her tears, ready to tell her that she didn't want to talk when she saw that the "her" was in fact a "them". Two boys accompanied her, both of them Annabeth's age. They were dressed as the servants at the castle, but that didn't fool Annabeth. She knew exactly who they were.
"Leo?" she asked, shocked. "Jason?"
Both boys grinned and a smile spread across Annabeth's lips. She stood and wiped her eyes again, trying to get rid of any evidence that she had been crying. "What are you two doing here?"
Leo grinned wickedly. Annabeth was shocked at how much she had missed talking to him. She barely knew him, yet he already had a special place in her heart, no matter how annoying and obnoxious he could be. "We're here on a secret mission," he stage-whispered. As much as Annabeth was happy to see him, she ignored his joking tone and focused on the words. She wasn't in the mood to joke around anymore these days.
"For what?" she demanded. Both boys looked nervously at Piper, who quickly shut the door and ushered them farther into the room. Annabeth gestured for them to sit on the small couch by the balcony while she stood in front of them.
After getting situated, Jason spoke. "My sister, Thalia, told us to find you," he said."We've been trying to get into the castle, but with recent events, that's proven to be difficult."
His voice trailed off at the end and Annabeth swallowed down tears. "So I've assumed you've heard about Percy," she said, her voice cracking at his name.
Jason looked at her with a sympathetic look on his face. It was strange, looking upon someone and seeing sympathy instead of joy. Most people in the palace were happy that Percy was dead. It was horrible having to walk around everyday and pretend that you weren't in agony.
"Annabeth," Jason said softly, leaning forward to rest his forearms on his knees, "that's what Thalia wanted us to tell you." He paused. "Percy's alive."
Annabeth thought they were joking. She stared at both Leo and Jason, searching for some kind of sign that would tell her that this was all some joke and Percy really was dead and she shouldn't get her hopes up. But she found nothing. It seemed like the two boys were really telling the truth.
Annabeth's head was spinning. Her mind screamed with the effort of processing these news. Her heart was beating out of her chest. Percy was alive. Percy was alive. He was living and breathing and he might even be thinking of her at that very moment. She thought of him, of his defined jawline and slightly crooked teeth. She thought of his shaggy hair and green eyes that could be stormy at times and light and joking the next. She thought of his smooth skin and big build. She thought of his lips, so full and soft, and how she might be able to kiss them again if she played her cards right.
Oh gods. Percy was alive.
You don't know what kind of condition he's in, her mind taunted her. She pushed that thought away. It didn't matter. He was alive.
"Oh my gods," she breathed. "Oh my gods."
Leo reached out and squeezed her hand. Annabeth barely felt it. She was swimming in an ocean of relief and the unknown. Where was he? Was he alright? Was he in danger? How much longer was he going to be alive?
"He's in Atlantis with Thalia and Grover," Jason told her, his tone gentle. "He's safe. Someone beat him up pretty badly. Thals told me he had some broken and bruised ribs and a fractured arm. Other than that, he's fine. They're laying low and will sneak back into Olympia when things settle down here."
Annabeth knew what that meant. He wouldn't be back for a long, long time. Annabeth will be married before he returns, because that's the only way things will settle down; if she carries on with her normal life, than the kingdom will too. If she acts like nothing's wrong, than the kingdom will also.
If she forgets about Percy Jackson, so will the kingdom.
The whole situation was so pathetically sad, it was almost funny.
"Okay," was her only response. She focused on keeping back her tears. Gods, she had cried so much in the last couple of months. Really, it was quite embarrassing.
"Um, Annabeth?" Leo asked. Then his face turned red. "Or, Your Highness, or whatever. Uh-"
"Just Annabeth is fine," she corrected with a gentle smile.
Leo blushed, then continued. "Well, Annabeth, we also have other news. Bad news."
Annabeth's heart plummeted, but she nodded, urging him to go on. "Well, Jason and I were in the tavern a few weeks ago," he said nervously. "We saw Luke there also. With two large, burly men."
Jason took over. "They were talking about how that plan was almost complete and that pretty soon the king and queen would be gone and he could take over as king."
Annabeth scowled at the ground. She knew it. She knew it. She knew that Luke was no-good and that he was up to something. She almost wanted to laugh because it was so far-fetched, she almost hadn't believed herself, but she was right.
"Did you hear anything else?" she asked. "Maybe a reason why he was wanting to take over?"
Leo nodded. "He said something about how Eden would finally have its revenge? Whatever that means."
Annabeth's mind was reeling. That sounded familiar. She knew she'd never heard the name Eden before, but somehow, it struck a bell in her head. She remembered something Luke had told her earlier that day, in the arena.
And your precious Percy Jackson is dead. There's no one left to love you, to kiss your fears away, to kill people who try to hurt you.
To kill people who try to hurt her? There was only one situation where that had happened, but that had been weeks ago, when she was with Percy at that village. Unless that village wasn't just a village.
Luke had told her that he wasn't of royal blood. He had told her that he was there for more than just winning her heart. In fact, he had told her that he hadn't expected to actually fall in love with her. There were other reasons that he was there.
All of it suddenly added up in Annabeth's head. "That village," she murmured. "Eden. I've been there."
Jason, Leo, and Piper (who Annabeth had forgotten was there, to be honest) all stared at her. She began to explain, "While Percy and I were at the cabin, he . . . he took me there. It wasn't that small, maybe only slightly smaller than Olympia, and they seemed to be thriving. They didn't have any type of royal family or even a kind of government really, not that I could see, but they were doing just fine without one."
"Do you think they know that Luke is doing this?" Piper asked. Her voice was small and Annabeth heard the unspoken question.
Is Eden going to try to take over Olympia?
The thing was, Annabeth was pretty sure that they were. She'd always had a knack for battle strategy. Her father would sometimes ask her questions about his battle plans and take her advice. This was an old strategy that almost everyone knew and almost everyone was fooled by. Luke was going to fake being a royal and marry into the throne. If she had to guess, he was going to murder her parents, or at least get rid of them. Then he was going to let Eden invade Olympia. And there was nothing she could do to stop it because he would be king and, in reality, the king has more power than the queen.
It was a horrible thing, but Annabeth was as sure of it as she was sure of her hair color. The only thing that confused her is what he would do with her. Would he kill her? Would he spare her?
"I need to talk to Chiron," she said and gestured for the other three to follow her. They quickly hurried down the hall and entered the library. Chiron sat at the table, surrounded by books and paper. He looked up when he heard them arrive.
"Annabeth," he greeted. "Can't stay away from your books for too long, can you?"
Annabeth ignored his joke. She gestured towards the two boys behind her. "Chiron, this is Jason and Leo. We need your help."
Chiron leaned forward, his worry lines deepening on his face as he fixed her with a curious look. "What is it?"
Quickly, Annabeth explained, Leo, Jason, and Piper adding in snippets here and there. As she got to the topic of what Luke planned to do to her parents, Annabeth's voice shook with anger and oncoming tears. Gods, she hated that Luke Castellan. He was the rottenest, most cunning fleabag she had ever met.
Once she finished her story, Chiron leaned back and looked up at the ceiling, his eyes distant and lost. "Oh dear," he sighed, and Annabeth couldn't help but snort out a half-hearted laugh. That was an understatement.
"What do we do?" Piper asked in a small voice. Annabeth looked back at her and saw Jason give her a small, worried glance.
Chiron ran a hand through his thinning hair. "I guess all we can do is wait it out and watch him closely."
"Why can't we just tell somebody?" Leo asked. "I mean, why not go straight to the king and queen, tell them, 'Hey, your future son-in-law is actually a pyscho murderer intent on killing you,' and then bring out the big swords and whip his sorry butt?"
Annabeth couldn't help but crack a smile at Leo's choice of wording. If she thought about it, that really was the situation they were in.
Jason answered his friend's question with an eyeroll and a smirk. "Luke is smart, Leo. If we tell the king and queen, then Luke will just deny it and twist the situation to make it look like we're the ones at fault. We can't risk that."
"Why can't Annabeth tell them? Won't they believe their own daughter?"
Annbeth shook her head. "If I tell them, they'll just think I made it up because I don't want to marry Luke."
"And she's made that quite clear." Annabeth narrowed her eyes and glared at Piper, who just smiled innocently.
"I think we should do what Chiron said," Jason said. "We'll watch him closely and if we see anything suspicious, we'll pounce."
"He most likely knows we're on his trail already," Chiron said glumly. "All four of you need to be careful."
It was silent for a three-count. All five of them sat there, basking in the fear that had invaded their minds and hearts. Annabeth didn't know how they were going to do it. She had no idea how she was going to take down an evil, cunning, masochistic villain who was going after the people she loved, while fighting against a growing tumor in the darkest depths of her mind and the insanity that was threatening to take over.
She thought of the news Jason and Leo had brought her: Percy was alive. That thought alone brought her the tiniest shred of peace. He was alive, and he would make everything go away. She knew it. He had done it before, back in the forest, when her nightmares and fears would take over. He'd always be there, holding her in his arms, like a barrier to all the bad things. She had to fight through the darkness that was threatening to take over her for him, just like she had to fight against Luke for her parents.
"Leo and I are staying," Jason announced, pulling Annabeth out of her thoughts.
Piper choked. "W-what?"
Jason turned to look at Piper and Annabeth saw his gaze soften just the tiniest bit. "Leo and I. We're going to stay at the palace. I don't know how, but we are. We aren't going to leave knowing our king and queen and maybe even princess are in danger." He looked at Annabeth as he said that and her stomach dropped.
Chiron cleared his throat. "I think it's a good idea," he said. "We can't tell anyone else about the plan, so I think it'd be a good idea to have you two on staff in case something happens."
Then the two boys began to discuss the details of their plan, such as how they were going to get hired and how Chiron could contact them if something happened. Piper moved over to Annabeth. Annabeth glanced at her friend, who's eyes were elsewhere, and a sly smile crept over her lips.
"So," she said in a low voice, "Jason, huh?"
Piper's face turned red and she ripped her eyes away from Jason's form to meet Annabeth's. "Oh, shut up."
"Hey, it's fine. He's a good guy, minus the fact that he was in on the kidnapping."
"I doubt that he actually agreed to the whole thing when it was being planned."
"You can ahve your opinions, but I think the beating he gave me during those first days says otherwise."
Piper's face drained of any color and Annabeth almost felt bad for teasing her. Almost. "Are you being serious?" Piper gasped. "Oh, Annabeth, I'm so sorry! I had no idea that he-"
Annabeth burst into a fit of giggles, which effectively quieted Piper. "Relax, Pipes. I'm totally kidding. I don't think I even spoke one word to him."
The color returned to Piper's face. She blushed. "Oh. Okay. Good."
Annabeth laughed once more and shoved her friend playfully. Then she froze. She could feel it. The tingling in her toes, quickly rising to spread across the rest of her body. She pressed her lips together and shut her eyes tightly, fighting against the fear that was trying to take over. Her arms and legs shook. She could feel Piper's small hand on her shoulder, her worried and slightly scared voice asking if she was alright.
She was alright. She was fine. She just couldn't open her mouth to say that because if she did, then a cry or a scream would escape and she would most definitely not be alright.
She was shaking from the effort of maintaining control, and she could feel herself slipping away.
She was in the tree. The wolf was right below her, moving slowly, hunting for food. Her hands shook with fear. She could hear Percy's ragged breaths next to her. He was afraid also.
The wolf froze and her limbs turned to jelly. She has a hard time holding on. Her foot slipped and she couldn't catch herself. She fell slowly, tumbling through the air, her screams ripping through her vocal chords. She desperately reached for Percy, but when she looked he wasn't there. The tree was completely empty.
She continued falling, straight into the waiting jaws of the wolf.
A throaty scream ripped out of Annabeth's mouth. She could feel her legs weakening and she grabbed the table in front of her before she fell. Slowly, she sank to the floor, her hands still gripping the sides of the table like she would be swept away in a roaring river if she didn't. Piper's arms had snaked underneath her arms and the servant was now helping cushion Annabeth's descent to the floor.
Tears leaked out of her eyes. She knew she was making a scene, that everyone in the room was probably staring at her with bewildered and maybe even sympathetic eyes. The only noise in the room was her strange wailing mixed with gasps for air.
Then, a minute later, after she had calmed down a bit, Chiron said, "Can you give us a moment, please."
Murmurs of consent, the sound of hurried feet walking away, and then her and Chiron were alone.
The old tutor wheeled his wheelchair over to where Annabeth was collapsed against the table. The man was silent as Annabeth collected herself.
"Why haven't you been taking your medicine?"
Annabeth wiped her eyes and looked up at him. Sometimes, she wished he wasn't so smart. Of course, the dumbest person in Olympia could have figured out that Annabeth wasn't taking her medicine based off of the little scene she'd just created.
"Percy's little sister," she said quietly, staring at her lap. "She's sick too, and she's only three. She needs it more than I do."
"Why would you do that?"
Annabeth didn't answer. She knew that Chiron already knew why. He just wanted to hear it from her, and she was not giving him that satisfaction. Thankfully, Chiron didn't press.
"Well," he said. "You seemed to have gotten yourself into quite a predicament."
Annabeth snorted and looked up at him. His dark eyes swirled with age and love, as if he had seen thousands of years of people in hopeless situations and none of them hurt him as much as hers did. She loved him for caring so much about her. "What do I do?" she asked. "I mean, I'm going to die if we don't figure something out."
"Why don't you just tell your parents?"
Annabeth fixed him with a look. "You know that they wouldn't spend that much money for a peasant. The medicine is expensive and the country's economy is still suffering from trying to raise the ransom money."
Chiron was quiet, which Annabeth was thankful for. She didn't feel like talking all that much. She just wanted to go back to her bedroom and crawl into her bed and bask in her misery.
She missed Percy. She needed him here, telling her that she was strong and he loved her no matter what. She remembered the days before the two of them had fallen in love, when they hated each other. She had to suppress a smile when she remembered how much she had hated him. She was certain she had never detested another person more. Now, she thinks back to that and laughs. How ironic fate was.
"Why don't you go back to your room and rest a while?" Chiron suggested. "You think that staying busy and doing things would help you, but sometimes lying there and doing nothing would help your mind more than you think."
Annabeth didn't think that was true, but she agreed anyway and kissed Chiron on the cheek. Muttering a thanks, she quickly hurried out of the library. Piper was waiting for her in the hallway.
"Where did Jason and Leo go?" she asked, walking towards her bedroom.
"They went back to their house in the village. Chiron is supposed to contact them when he's able to get them jobs here. Are you alright?"
Annabeth nodded. "I'm fine."
"Are you sure? Because you still look a little pale and your hands are shaking."
Annabeth waved her hand in the air. "Seriously, Pipes, I'm fine. Stop pestering me."
Piper threw her hands up in surrender. "Just checking." They walked in silence for a minute before Piper asked, "Can I ask you something?"
Annabeth shot her a curious look, but nodded. "Go right ahead."
"What happened between you and Percy while you were kidnapped?"
Annabeth looked over at her friend and couldn't stop herself from telling her everything, from them hating each other to their shaky friendship to them falling in love. Piper grinned and giggled, "I knew it!" while clapping her hands together. "That is so cute! I bet he misses you right now."
"He better be."
"I bet you're all he thinks about."
"I doubt I'm all he thinks about, but if he doesn't think about me sometimes, then he and I are going to have a very serious discussion."
Piper laughed and Annabeth couldn't help but smile. It was kind of a cute love story, she had to admit. It seemed like it was the kind of story that belonged on paper, in a library, not a real thing that was happening to her.
They arrived at her room, Piper still gushing about how cute they were and wanting to know every solitary detail of their time together at the cabin. Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"A lady never tells," she teased, using an eloquent tone that the noblewomen use when gossiping. Piper laughed and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, but you're not really a lady," she retorted. Annabeth tried to act offended by that, but it didn't last long. Soon, she was laughing along with her friend.
Then, it hit her out of nowhere. The vision was of spiders, all crawling over her, overwhelming her. Annabeth didn't try to hold in her screams and cries. She sank to the floor and curled up in a ball and sobbed, only faintly aware of Piper calling for help.
Sorry for taking so long to update. Please review!
