Chapter 10: We all have a dream

[Annabeth's Pov]

I hate a lot of things.

I know; that makes me look grumpy, whiny, whatever.

The reason I'm bringing this up is, combine that with the fact that I'm a demigod (Our dreams are sometimes more than just dreams) and that my mother was Athena, so I have a lot held in my brain (Which also affects my dreams) and you'd see why cabin 6 has the highest amount of coffee consumption out of the entire camp.

Long story short, I had a nightmare.

And I really would've settled for the normal ones, like a giant acromantula chasing after me or something.

…

Ok, maybe not that, but my nightmare was worse than usual, is my point.

My vision was fixated on a hillside. Thick mist, both magical and meteorological, saturated the grounds and the sky wasn't really visible. Just close, heavy darkness similar to a cave.

I would've straight up believed this place was the underworld if I didn't already know this place.

Mount Tamalpais─or Mount Othrys. The stronghold of Titans. Their 'Olympus', so to say.

Even though it was only a dream, being at this place made me uncomfortable; it was where the Titans ruled, where their power was most strong, and the hatred─hatred towards the Olympians and their offspring was unimaginably powerful.

This place is the sole reason why I couldn't move to San Francisco. It was too close to this place, and the monsters would pick up my scent like Percy does his blue chocolate chip cookies.

I never really got how his mother makes blue cookies. It always goes astray when you bake it in the oven. It would've been a nice birthday gift for him too…

….

Not that I wanted to, uh, specifically give him my handmade cookies. It's just that I'm a daughter of Athena. We're supposed to be good at making stuff, and I think baking is not that far off from architecture anyway.

Why am I even explaining this; I just took interest in that one time. Bite me. It's not like─I, well…

It's not like I have, romantic feelings for him. He is a seaweed brain; I'd never─and my mother would never approve. We're friends. Close friends. But not close enough to…Argh!

Anyway, I saw someone was moving up the hill.

My heart instantly plummeted down straight to Tartarus.

It was Thalia. She was injured pretty badly in several places, some were new since the Westover Hall incident. But what made my heart twist in its place was that she was getting dragged up the hill by that Dr. Thorn creep. This tail firmly wrapped around her neck.

That was it.

I swear on my mother; I am gutting his throat out. Nobody drags Thalia on the ground like that. Nobody.

My vision followed them up the mountainside until we arrived at the top. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around. The ruins of Kronos's palace.

Zeus's master bolt has toppled the top of Othrys during the first Titanomachia, hurling Kronos out of his throne to his defeat shortly after. And now it was slowly rebuilding itself; not a good sign. Not at all.

Dr. Thorn thrust down Thalia against a set of black bricks. She crumpled against it, but in a true Thalia fashion, quickly got up and raised her fists ready to fight to the death.

"Ha! Be glad that your role in general's great plan is far from over, or you'd already been dead."

"Why don't you shut your smelly mouth and try out kitty?"

He snarled at Thalia's insult. He flicked his tail as if to fire spikes at any moment, but then he broke into a smile showing off his yucky yellow teeth. He pointed towards the heart of the ruins.

"Go inside, girl. You'd find someone you dearly miss."

"What?"

Thalia slightly lowered her arms, still keeping her guard up, but Thorn kept on ushering her to the inside of the ruins. I wanted to shout at her to don't follow, try to escape, so Percy and I could go rescue her. But no sound came out of my mouth.

Eventually, Thalia reluctantly turned her back and stumbled over sections of broken walls and littered bricks, and came to the crest of the hill.

She gasped. My heart did another 180˚ flip.

"Luke!

There was Luke. And he was in pain. A lot of pain.

He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around him, fog swirling hungrily. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat.

It wouldn't take a genius to deduce what he was holding up.

He was holding up the sky. The great Uranus himself.

Which also meant…

…Oh no.

Things were already much worse than I'd─anyone could, or would've guessed. Just under the sense, that the idea was too horrible to be true.

"Thalia!" Luke called out. I've never heard him sound so desperate. Not even seven years ago, when Thalia was making her last stand on top of Half-Blood Hill.

"Thalia! Help me! Please!"

She ran forward.

I wanted to cry out, tell her to stop.

Because he's a traitor. Not to be trusted. And Thalia knew it also.

But, at the same moment, I couldn't deny that…if I was in her place, I would've─

─would've done the same.

Thalia had tears in her eyes as she knelt next to Luke.

She reached down and gently touch Luke's face, which made my stomach tie into a million knots all tangled and piled upon each other.

I hated that. I hated I felt that because I knew what it was.

Jealousy.

"What happened?" Thalia asked. Her voice was shaking with emotions.

"They, left me, here," Luke groaned. "Please. It's killing me."

Thalia looked up at the 'sky' crushing Luke, then looked down at him with a pained expression.

"You betrayed us. You betrayed Annabeth. You tried to kill her."

Luke didn't say a word. He hung his head, and I wanted to believe it was out of his guilt.

Thalia was now crying silently. Streaks of tears wiping away dirt smudged on her face.

"How can I trust you now?"

She asked in a trembling voice.

"You shouldn't," Luke said. "I've been terrible to you, Annabeth─everyone. But if you don't help me, I'll die."

"Then maybe you should."

Thalia almost hissed at him. She looked away as if to walk away from him…

…but then, she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and quickly ducked under the ceiling next to Luke, and held her arms above.

They held the 'sky' together, just briefly, before Luke rolled out from under it. The 'sky' crushed down on Thalia and she groaned out.

"Luke…"

She barely gasped out his name. But Luke didn't answer.

Then a pale, ghostly girl that I've never seen came out from the shadows. She was holding a glass of Nectar on a tray plate.

"Young master."

She handed Luke the glass. He drained it and stretched out his arms one or twice.

"Thanks, Thals. I knew I could count on you."

"…You…tricked…"

Luke turned away from Thalia. I couldn't see his face, but his legs were still weak. The ghostly girl quickly caught his arm and supported his steps. My stomach made a few more knots inside.

"LUKE!"

Thalia called out at the top of her voice. That made him stop in his tracks, and for a millisecond I thought he would run to her aid.

"Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die."

Then, Luke turned around. His face was now mostly under a shadow, but I could see his eyes twinkling, wavering slightly.

"I know you won't, Thalia. That's why I asked for you instead of Annabeth."

And then I woke up.

I hate admitting it, but I wanted to cry.

I'm not even sure why; the fact that Thalia was in grave danger, that Luke was still evil, that he tricked Thalia of all people…

…that I was neglected by him…

Everything was just horrible. I didn't want to go back to sleep, but I didn't want to do anything productive at the moment.

I wanted to cry. As much as I hated to admit it.

We were not allowed to go out of the camp after curfew. It used to be just one of those 'please-don't-do-it' rules that had no drawbacks from breaking it, until last summer when a shmuck named Tantalus became the activities director and enforced that law by bringing in Harpies as night patrol.

Harpies were…well, borrowing Percy's words (just because it was more on-the-nose, not because it was better) they were a bunch of the worst lunch ladies in the world with wings and claws.

They were supposed to be fired when Tantalus was, but Mr. D thought it would be useful to keep them as night patrol, so since then no one was leaving their cabins at night, apart from the more daring campers.

I put on my baseball cap and snuck out of cabin 6. I wasn't going to find a place to cry or something, that'll be embarrassing. I planned to sit by at a lake. Maybe go on canoeing, if I could pull it off.

Weirdly enough, after sailing through Sea of Monsters, being near water, or being on a gentle canoe calmed me down more efficiently than I thought it would. I'd usually take Percy along when I felt like it─

─because he was a son of Poseidon. Water-based activities were his thing. Not because I particularly enjoyed his company.

I quietly strolled over to the lake. My jacket was not thick enough for the temperature, but I didn't want to risk going back to my cabin just to grab a thicker one.

My eyes drifted over to Cabin 3. It was shimmering in a dreamlike sensation; like the ocean under a beautiful night sky, reflecting the sky filled with stars on its surface.

I wondered if Percy was sleeping, and was about to consider waking him up to bring him along, then I realized the situation would be…quite weird.

Now I felt hot. Especially around my cheeks and neck.

Again, I didn't have any romantic feelings for him. Yet. No, not yet! I mean like, we weren't that close, I think. I hope not? No, no, I liked─

─used to, like Luke.

…

My hands clutched around my arms. His last words in my dream rang in my cold ears.

{"I know you won't, Thalia. That's why I asked for you instead of Annabeth."}

I didn't feel good about that, and I didn't like how I felt bad it that either.

Luke's 'plan' would be in line with Kronos's scheme. It'll be best for it to not succeed, or even be executed in the first place if we could help it. I can't wish that I was…

It was stupid. I was being stupid. I hate admitting I was being so, but I knew I was.

…gods, I'm a mess.

But then, a commotion happened. A bloodcurdling scream came from somewhere, making me jump in my feet and nearly drop my invisibility cap. The scream came out from Cabin 8.

Two harpies had huddled around there, confused about the scream as well when someone darted out of the cabin like a gazelle.

They screeched at her, flapped their wings, but the hunter pulled out her bow and shot them down with an arrow each. The harpies exploded into gold dust with a wail. The hunter had slowed down to catch her breath, and I got a chance to see who she was.

"Zoë Nightshade?"

Her face look paled, her face beaded with sweat, but I knew a short run would've have made a hunter sweat that much. She had a nightmare.

She scanned the area as if to look for more harpies, and when she deduced she was clear, she swiftly ran to the Big House. I followed her the best I could but still ended up falling behind. Hunters had a swift leg, and Zoë was undoubtedly one of the best of the hunters.

I knew that very well; thanks to all the time she dominated us in capturing the flag.

When I arrived at the foot of the Big House, Zoë was arguing furiously with Argus, which was an interesting sight, mostly because Argus never talked. He was frantically moving his hands in various hand languages. His many eyes were all frowning at Zoë.

Zoë was...speaking in an odd mixture of language. Some I understood─those was mostly ancient Greek, but then things like Old English language and something similar to Latin to German…? She switched languages a lot when she was upset.

Then Chiron came out. He had his pajamas on, and his horsetail in curlers. Didn't expect to see that.

"What is the problem?"

Zoë turned to Chiron, her breathing fast from all the previous rants she was on.

"I need permission to leave camp immediately."

Chiron raised his eyebrow. I crept closer, and for a second his eyes darted over to where I was standing.

"I'm afraid I can't give you that."

Zoë's face contorted with anger, but Chiron had a firm look on his face.

"I must remind you, the hunters were supposed to stay here until they receive orders from Artemis. If something were to happen─"

"Something did happen!"

Zoë screeched out. She slammed down her fist onto her chest out of frustration. Chiron only raised his eyebrow higher.

"And what, may I ask, did happen?"

"Lady Artemis!" She shirked out. "She has been captured!"

Dead silence fell upon the hill.

Well, until extra harpies screeched out in glee from afar. Zoë notched her bow with arrows as two more landed at the porch of the Big House, but Chiron gestured at her to lower her bow.

"Escapers! Rule Breakers! We feast on fresh half-blood meat tonight!"

Both harpies cackled in laughter, and then I realized they were carrying someone by their waist, holding them tightly against their body.

One was the new Ares kid, David or whatever, and the other was…

"Percy?"

"Hi. Chiron."

"Wait, erm, Chiron, Sir! I have a perfectly good reason for being out of curfew?"

The Ares kid didn't even sound sure himself as he pleaded for his case.

He went on to explain that he only came out of his cabin because, he was first woken up by Clarisse as she left for a quest (When was she assigned for a quest?) then heard a harpy screech, and thought someone was in trouble. Henceforth, he stepped out to help only to get captured himself.

"A just cause, Mr. Lee. I'll excuse you from further punishment. Also, I'd like it better if you don't address me as 'sir'."

"Sure thing, Mr. Chiron!"

The kid was unwillingly dropped onto the ground, but he seemed just happy enough to see Chiron again.

Zoë rolled her eyes. And I'll admit, I rolled mine too.

I thought 'Seaweed Brain' would be the lowest bar possible at idiocy, but this kid was seriously pushing the limits.

Chiron sighed himself before turning to Percy.

"And why did you leave your cabin, Percy?"

"I, had a dream? About Thalia─"

My heart tumbled over, but Zoë scoffed in a disgusted manner before anyone else spoke.

"Typical man. None of us is interested in thy 'rut', boy."

Percy's face flushed over. He was cute─err, laughable when he did that.

"Hey, it wasn't like that! Chiron, she is in danger! Luke tricked her into hold up, like a cave ceiling or something!"

"A cave ceiling?"

There was no reason to doubt; he had the same dream I had. I took off my cap.

"It's the sky, Chiron."

Everyone jumped except for Chiron, Zoë, and Argus.

Zoë's face paled at my words and muttered "Impossible." under her breath. Chiron took a glance at her; his expression was alarmed as well. Of course, the two boys over there had no idea and were exchanging puzzled looks.

"Annabeth, are you sure─"

"Yes, I am. I think I had a similar dream with Percy. Perhaps the same one. Luke…"

A lump welled up in my throat, but I wolfed it down. I couldn't show emotions about him in front of Chiron, or Percy. Especially Percy.

Instead, I focused my brain on coming up with a convincing enough theory of Luke's plan. As gloomy as the theory would be.

"…he trapped Thalia under the sky. He said help for her would arrive soon. And I'm not sure, but if what Zoë saw was true as well, the help would be…"

"No…"

Zoë's face paled further. Now she looked like she'll faint any moment, and stumbled in her steps.

Chiron was also looking more alarmed; if I hadn't known him better, I might've even said he was frightened by the idea.

"Of course. I doubt the goddess of the maiden would hesitate if…"

I stepped up; this was a chance. A golden ticket.

"Chiron, we need a quest."

Oh, boy. Annabeth's Pov. I hope to gods that this came out well and didn't, you know, completely ruin her personality and charm as a character.