Okay, I've made serious changes to this chapter. Thank you for waiting. I'm sorry for...whatever happened last time.

Enjoy!

Chapter 37

Percy

Percy woke up with a serious headache. He groaned and opened his eyes, and saw all his friends' worried faces looming above him.

Annabeth was missing, but otherwise, everyone was there.

"Percy, are you okay?" Grover asked. "What happened?"

"Oh, he went swimming with Annabeth in the sea off-shore," Thalia replied. "Annabeth's still in her cabin, crying about it."

"No," Percy said. "I was on an island, and I was fighting a shark."

"I'll take you to see her, Percy," Juniper piped up.

They all sat him up, and then stood him up. He leaned on Juniper for support, and they walked him down from the beach at camp, toward the Athena cabin.

How is this possible? Percy thought. I was just on an island, on a quest, actually, and all of a sudden, I'm back at camp. Maybe I drifted all the way down here when I got hit, and Annabeth swam after me. Or maybe she got an Iris message, and she made it here somehow?

Probably the first one, Percy decided, since they thought we went swimming together.

Leo had brought back everyone: Annabeth, Frank, Hazel, and Reyna, and they carried the three motionless bodies from the deck, and over to Reyna's old tree.

"They have pulses, but they aren't breathing," Leo muttered.

Annabeth went straight to CPR on Percy.

Thalia opened the door, and Juniper pushed him inside, and closed the door after him.

Percy suddenly felt strong again, and he called for Annabeth. "Annabeth?" when there was no reply, he called again. "Annabeth?"

Suddenly, Annabeth was on him, her lips pressed to his. She nearly knocked him off balance, but he steadied himself and wrapped his arms around her waist.

She pulled back and smiled. "You're okay."

"Of course I am," Percy smiled at her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, and then her expression turned serious. "Don't ever scare me like that again, Seaweed Brain."

"I promise. I'm sorry," he replied.

In response, she kissed him again.

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hazel asked.

"I certainly hope not," Leo replied anxiously.

"And your probably not thinking what I'm thinking," Annabeth said before going back to Percy.

"But I think I know what she's thinking," Reyna said. "And she's probably right."

Reyna is so hot, Leo thought.

"Well, don't leave us hanging," Annabeth said, and pressed her lips to Percy's again.

"I'm pretty sure they're being kept in a coma by Gaea," Hazel said.

Annabeth stood up. "Well that's pointless, then."

"What do you mean?" Leo asked.

"Well, Gaea can get in our heads and make tell us stuff, right? Who says she can't also mess with our consciousness?" Hazel asked.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL US THIS SOONER?!" Annabeth yelled.

"I'm sorry, I just…" Hazel whimpered, but Leo jumped in and yelled, "CUT IT OUT, ANNABETH! We're making a very bad impression of ourselves in front of our guest!" He gestured to Reyna.

Percy played with some of the sand on the beach idly as he stared at Annabeth.

"Why are you always staring at me now?" she asked, and she smiled. "It's not like you haven't seen me before."

"I don't know…there's just something about you…it almost seems…unreal," Percy smiled at her.

Annabeth looked out over the ocean.

"Annabeth?" Percy asked.

She got up and ran away.

"ANNABETH!" Percy shouted after, and got up to run, but she was gone.

He sank back down in the sand and ran a hand through his hair in frustration, adding sand to the mixture of hair and seawater that was his hair.

"Are you a monster, too?" a small voice squeaked behind him.

He looked back in surprise. A little girl, maybe seven, with a hammer in one hand, wearing flannel pajamas, was staring slightly past him, her gray eyes fixed on the water, and her blonde hair slightly dirty.

"No, we're just like you. Monster fighters," someone said, and Percy looked at the ocean as well. It had to be Luke. He looked a little younger, but it had to be. The same eyes, the same hair, all of it.

And it was like neither of them knew he was there.

Percy jumped up and ran off the beach, shouting, "Annabeth! Something's wrong! I think we might be on some strange island or something, but this isn't camp! ANNABETH!"

He made it to the forest, and he saw Annabeth, standing in the middle of a clearing, staring back at him.

"Annabeth, we have to go," Percy started moving toward her, but then Annabeth opened her mouth, and a loud, female voice thundered through the sky, using Annabeth to speak. "Well done, Mr. Jackson."

He stopped dead in his tracks. "Annabeth?"

Suddenly, Annabeth's shape started to twist and change, until she was someone else entirely. She also seemed to be rooted to the ground, like she was part of it.

"Gaea," Percy hissed. "What the hell is going on?"

"You've figured it out. It's not really an island, more like your subconscious." Percy could hear the amusement in her voice.

"What do you want from me?!" Percy demanded.

"As long as you are here, and not in the real world, then you can't stop me, and I win. The end, Mr. Jackson."

"You won't get away with this, Gaea!"

I sound like I'm in one of those bad superhero movies.

"Oh, but I will. Have a nice time, Mr. Jackson, exploring your worst fears." And she was gone.

"Okay, here's what I'm planning," Leo said.

"Oh no, everyone prepare for explosions," Annabeth said.

"Shut up," Leo murmured.

Leo started talking, "We need to get these guys out of their comas, so I was thinking at maybe we could try to talk to them or something. Tell them they're dreaming?"

"What if they can't hear us?" Annabeth asked.

"Then, I don't know what we'll do, but we have to try," Leo said defiantly.

They all gathered around the three unconscious members of their small group and started talking to them.

"Piper, you're dreaming. You have to wake up, or you're going to die, because YOU'RE NOT BREATHING!" Reyna freaked out.

"Reyna, Reyna, chill out, okay. We have to be calm, or else crazy stuff might happen, and I can't have that. Okay? Everything is gonna be okay." Leo coaxed gently.

Jason's eyes suddenly flew open and he shouted, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY'RE NOT BREATHING?!"

Percy tried to run out of the forest, but he ended up back in that clearing. He started walking through the forest, just to look around, and then he saw Annabeth.

I thought it was supposed to be my greatest fears.

"Percy, do you love me?" Annabeth asked.

"Of course," Percy replied, and took a step toward me.

She took a step back. "I HATE YOU! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" She screamed and ran off into the forest, crying.

"Annabeth, wait!" Percy cried after her.

But, just like before, she was gone.

"Jason!" Reyna literally threw herself at him, and wrapped her arms around him. "You're okay!"

Leo stared at them, and Hazel giggled.

Reyna suddenly pushed herself off him, and backed up. "That didn't happen," she mumbled.

"What happened?" Jason asked. "How come they aren't breathing?"

So Leo explained everything.

"This is all your fault!" Jason yelled at him.

"ME?!" Leo cried. "How is this my fault?"

"YOU PUSHED US INTO THE WATER! YOU SET UP THIS WHOLE PRANK THING, AND NOW MY GIRLFRIEND MIGHT DIE!" Jason screamed.

He ran up and held Piper's head in his lap and stroked her hair and started to cry.

Leo looked away. "Just keep talking, guys," but Leo sounded very deflated. "We have to keep trying."

Suddenly Jason screamed.

They rushed over to him.

"I-I," he croaked.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"I can't feel her pulse anymore!" Jason screamed. He ran over and held his hand to Percy's neck.

He screamed again.

"T-They're gone…" he croaked helplessly. "They're both gone."

YAY, DRAMATIC DEATHS!

Okay, so this was similar to my last chapter, for those of you who read it. But, key differences man. KEY DIFFERNCES!

Thanks for Reading!