Ugh, y'all, it's been AGES since I updated. Field hockey camp and preparing for high school drove EVERYTHING else out of my mind, but I'm back now with a brand new story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians, nor do I own any of the characters.
"Annabeth!" you call, groping in the never ending darkness. You cannot see anything.
A golden curl appears, sunlight against the night.
"Annabeth!" you call again, this time, with relief.
Her face appears in the darkness.
"Seaweed Brain." she says, rolling her eyes and smiling. Relief courses through your body, and you reach out to touch her shoulder.
But she is not there.
"Annabeth!" you yell, your voice cutting through the darkness like a knife, panicked now.
She appears again, a few feet away. You run towards her, grab for her hand.
It is not there.
She appears again, this time, behind you. Her fingers grab at your shoulder. They are ice cold. Brittle, like sticks. You whirl around.
"Annabeth?" you whisper. "What are you doing?"
She tilts her head to the side, a little smile curving across her face. Her mouth moves again, but no sound comes out.
"W-What's wrong?" you stutter.
She just widens her little smile. Her cold fingers squeeze your shoulder once. Then, as if it had been jerked backwards by someone, her hand falls limply to her side. Her eyes flicker with red light. For a moment, she seems oddly...suspended in the blackness. Then, suddenly, she falls soundlessly to the ground, splayed out against the rocky terrain, eyes closed and unconscious.
"Annabeth?" You can barely hear your own voice. Her face is turned away. You run to her and place your fingers to her neck, searching helplessly for a pulse.
There is nothing.
But you search more desperately, clawing at any shred of hope she might be alive, because she cannot be dead, she just cannot...
Suddenly, her body jerks like a puppet. You sigh in relief.
"Are you okay?" you ask.
Her body turns to face you, but her eyes are still closed. Then, her mouth moves. But it seems to be jerking around oddly, almost like a puppet.
Almost as if she is not in control of her own body.
"POOR, POOR PERCY." The words rasp out of her mouth.
You scramble away from her body. Her voice is not hers. It sounds ancient, evil.
Gaea's voice, you realize with a terrified jolt.
She speaks again.
"WATCH HER, HELPLESS. HELPLESS!"
And then Annabeth begins to twitch violently on the ground, thrashing and shaking and twisting in pain...
"Annabeth!" you yell desperately, trying to move towards her.
But for some reason, you cannot.
"What are you doing to her?" you scream.
Annabeth's mouth grins.
"An-" But you don't get anything else out before her body rises into the air. It droops in the air, almost as if it is hung from two strings. Then, as if someone cut the strings, her body slams onto the ground with a horrifying crunch. Something red starts to pour from her mouth.
Oh, gods, you realize with a sickening jolt. That-that's-oh gods, that's her blood!
The red fountain continues to pour from her mouth as she jerks on the ground like a broken marionette.
You just watch, horrified, as the waterfall ends and her pale body rolls over limply, curled away from you, frail and broken. You want to go towards her, to help her, to do anything, but the moment you get up a gust of air hits you like a fist and knocks you to the ground. For a second you cannot breathe and you gasp weakly.
Laughter bubbles from Annabeth's mouth.
The darkness lifts like a curtain, revealing a red, desolate landscape, a swirling body of death and anguish.
Your throat closes up.
Gaea speaks through Annabeth's mouth again.
"MY PAWNS. SEE YOUR HORROR, YOUR NIGHTMARE. SEE THE BODY OF MY HUSBAND!"
Tartarus. You are back in Tartarus.
You hear a scream, raw and terrified. You do not realize it's yours until your throat feels red and cracked. Still, the scream does not end.
Annabeth's body gets up. Her eyes look at you, her head lolling to the side. Her mouth gives you an insane grin, and her body turns around. The sight of her bloodless body moving is so sick you want to vomit. Her legs move her body to the side, and panic clogs your throat when you realize her legs are moving her towards a cliff.
You don't realize she is already gone, that this is just Gaea torturing you, animating her body until it drives you insane.
You run towards her, but not fast enough. Tartarus pushes against you so you cannot reach her.
Her body stops at the edge of the cliff, and for a second, relief fills you like a balloon. Maybe she will not jump.
Her mouth curves into a cruel smile once more. Then her legs turn her around and launch her over the cliff.
"ANNABETH!" you bellow. You run to the cliff. Nothing is pushing against you now.
Please, let me die with her, please let this end...
You slam against an invisible force field.
"No! NO!" You bang your fists against the barrier until your fists turn red with blood. Still, you keep trying.
Laughter echoes around you, rumbling out of the cliffs and the ground.
"POOR PERCY. ALONE AND FRIENDLESS. DEFEATED IN TARTARUS. WHAT WILL YOUR FRIENDS SAY WHEN YOU CLAW YOUR WAY OUT OF HERE AND YOU TELL THEM YOU LEFT ANNABETH TO DIE?"
Piper's face swims into view before you. "You failed her." Her voice is low and cruel. She turns away from you and her face morphs into Jason's.
"You said you would bring her back. You said you both would meet us!" His voice grinds at your insides.
Hazel. Frank. Leo. Nico. Their faces swim in front of you, their words harsh and cutting.
Grover's face appears.
"Please, Grover...don't…" you whisper, utterly broken inside.
His eyes are cold, unlike anything you've even seen. "And you think you love her?"
You scream, clawing at your head, wishing this nightmare to end, wishing for something, anything, to bring you salvation. Riptide appears in your hand and you slash through Grover's image. His face wavers and disappears.
The ground shakes beneath you. You slash repeatedly at the ground, screaming and cursing, wishing you could take Gaea's face and rip it in half. But how can you kill someone who is literally the embodiment of the earth itself?
Her laughter shakes the ground, jeering at your grief and despair and helplessness.
"POOR, POOR PERCY JACKSON."
Riptide glints in your hand, and you look over at the cliff that Annabeth jumped over.
An oath to keep with a final breath.
"See you in the Underworld, Annabeth." Your voice does not sound like your own.
Riptide plummets towards your heart-
"Percy! Percy!" Someone is shaking you. Your heart clenches in fear for a moment. Where am I? You look up to see panic-struck grey eyes looking at you. Her hands grip your shoulder as she shakes you gently.
Annabeth.
"What-what happened?" Your voice is scratchy and hoarse. The memories of the nightmare come flooding back and you bury your face in her shoulder. She puts her arms around you, and for a second you are able to relax, breathing in her lemon-shampoo scent. You can feel yourself trembling.
"A nightmare." Her eyes are also watery. "Percy, I woke up to you screaming, and I couldn't get you awake-" Her voice breaks. "That was probably the worst nightmare you've had in weeks."
You don't respond immediately. You are suddenly embarrassed at how wet her shirt is, but she doesn't seem to mind. She just pulls you closer and lets you cry, and you are so, so grateful for her.
"I'm-I'm sorry…" you mutter once your tears stop flowing, feeling guilty for waking her up.
"Percy." She pushes back from you and looks you straight in the eye. "Why are you sorry? You know I don't care if you wake me up. And if you're feeling guilty for what happened down-down there, believe me, please, that none of it is your fault." Pain is etched into her face when she looks at you. She puts her arms around you again and holds you close. You can feel her pulse beneath your fingers-unlike your dream. The image of her bloodless body leering at you comes back, and tears spill out of your eyes again.
"Shhh...I'm here. I love you." She brushes a tear off your cheek. "Are you okay?"
You shake your head. You are anything but okay.
"I'm here." she says again into your ear. You feel yourself relaxing as she holds you. She kisses you, once, twice, softly, gently.
"Can you...tell me what happened in your dream?" Her voice is hesitant, like you are a piece of glass she is afraid will crack at any moment.
You shake your head again. The onslaught of images you get when you think of what you saw in your dream is too much to bear.
She doesn't say anything, just continues to hold you close.
"Whenever you're ready." Her voice is calm, reassuring, home. "Whenever you can."
Your breath chokes, but you know you have to tell her. Closing your eyes, you whisper weakly, "You, I...you died...Gaea k-killed you...she made you...throw yourself...off of a cliff..." Your voice chokes, and you bury your face in her shoulder, not wanting to see her eyes as you tell her. "And...and Gaea...I was back there…" You break off with a strangled sob.
She doesn't say anything for a few moments, but you still hear her sharp intake of breath when you are talking about your dream, you feel her shake a little when you finish.
"Look at me." she says gently, putting a hand under your chin and lifting your face up. Her voice is surprisingly even, even though you can see the pain on her face. "We're not in Tartarus anymore." Her voice is firm, almost a command, telling you to believe her. "We're out. We're home. We're together, and we will always be, no matter what happens."
How do you know? you want to ask, but she seems to get it anyways.
"And I know that, Seaweed Brain, because you told me yourself. Remember? 'You're not getting away from me. Never again.' And you'd better keep your promise, because I really don't like it when people break their promises." Her threatening words are cancelled out by the fierce glimmer behind her eyes. "I love you, Percy." she promises fiercely. "And we'll be okay. One day, I swear, we will."
The last remnants of the dark terror bleed away. Her words wash over you like the tide, calm and forever. Because she is your forever. And maybe for the first time, you let yourself believe it.
"Thank you, Annabeth." you choke out. "I love you, Wise Girl. Forever."
And that's it! Hope you enjoyed! On a side note, is anyone else obsessed with Sour by Olivia Rodrigo? Sorry, I'm really tired right now, so I'm basically just rambling.
Please review, and see ya next time!