Warning, chapter may have some intense moments

Disclaimer, I don't own Percy Jackosn, all rights belong to Rick Riordan

Percy wasn't a stranger to strange dreams. Even before he found out he was a demigod, Percy had always been haunted by nightmares. This one, was probably one of the worst he's had so far. It started out average and not terrifying at first. He saw Grover and Annabeth were frantically running down a brightly lit street. Traffic blared by them in a fury of angry honking and the sound of screeching tires. Everyone was in a hurry to get somewhere it seemed.

"We're getting close." Grover told Annabeth, his nose twitching as he searched for a sent. As an after thought, the satyr added "I think."

"Like we were back at that theater?" The daughter of Athena dead panned. "The cops almost recognized us, Percy wasn't there at all."

Percy could only watch as Grover stopped suddenly.

The goat gave a frown. "His sent is becoming too clouded with the stench of exhaust."

"So we've lost him again." The blond kicked aside a discarded can, Percy could hear it clank against a darkened office building. "This girl just paid her cronies to take him to be her date for a premier. Who does that?"

Hopeless looks came to both of his friend's faces. Percy could tell that they hadn't had much rest. They were both irritable and desperate to find him. He didn't know if this was actually happening or if it was just a dream. It felt the same as it had when he dreamt about his mom. The teen tried to reach out and touch Annabeth's shoulder. She ran her hand over her shoulder, pausing when her fingers seemingly merged with his. There was a spark that raced up his arm so he jumped back.

Annabeth frowned and continued to rub her arm where he had touched her.

Grover pressed his back to a building they were in front of and slid down in defeat. It didn't take too long before Annabeth did the same thing. She rested her head on the satyr's shoulder tiredly, but Grover didn't seem to mind. The son of Poseidon hoped they didn't decide to fall asleep in the street.

"Familiar, isn't it." Grover sighed, he didn't look at Annabeth as he spoke. "I remember you doing this when you were seven and exhausted from a day of walking. Thalia would have my head if she saw you looking this tired."

"We really swam in the Styx this time, didn't we Grover?" Annabeth sighed as she wrapped her arms around her knees. "First Thalia, now Percy. I shouldn't have helped him leave Olympus and go on this quest. I thought he was the one...I wanted so desperately to escape, and now he's only the gods know where."

Grover gently tapped his curly head of hair on the window of the building, "No, Annie, it was my job to protect him. I've failed at every turn. I'm the worst protector there has ever been."

Percy wanted to tell them that he was fine and they needed to stop blaming themselves, but his voice was never heard. Both her and Grover stared listlessly out at the roaring traffic without a shred of emotion on their faces. For half a moment, Annabeth seemed to be looking directly at him. His hopes of being seen were dashed when the girl shook her head and rubbed her eyes tiredly.

"I'm going crazy, Grover." she pressed her face into her hands. "I'm seeing him everywhere. It feels like he's here, like I don't know what I'm even trying to say. I wish there was an easier way to track him than by sight and sniff."

Grover's eyes suddenly lit up, the pupils shrinking and looking more goat-like than usual. "There is."

Annabeth sprang up so fast she hit her head on the glass window of the building. "How? And why are you just now thinking about it?"

"Because it is very dangerous, Annie." Grover went pale as he chewed on his shirt sleeve. "Both Percy and I could get killed. I don't know if you can tell this, but I'm not the most adept at magic."

"Grover." The daughter of Athena pulled his hands away from his mouth. Her grey eyes looking more determined than they had moments ago. "If we don't find him, Luke will find him and take him back to Kronos. We'll lose him for real. I need you to be brave, I know that you are."

The satyr closed his eyes tightly as he mouthed something, a prayer maybe. Percy didn't know what Grover had in mind, but he could tell it terrified him. The duo eased themselves onto their feet, Grover nodding as he stood.

"We need to find a park or somewhere it's easier for me to concentrate. Somewhere with a bit more nature."

Annabeth gave a relieved chuckle, "Of course you do goat boy."

Percy wanted to follow them, the ground beneath his feet gave way when he took his first step. It seemed that whatever control he had over his dream had been ripped away. He was falling, the wind rushing through his hair and forcing his eyes to remain open. For the longest time, there was nothing but darkness and screaming. Percy couldn't tell if it was his own or if he were falling into a literal pit to Hell. The wind yanking his breath from his lungs made him think that the screaming was coming from someone else.

"So, yet another broken promise." A voice grumbled, the screaming around Percy began to sound even more desperate. It felt as if Percy were surrounded by the souls of the dammed. "Poseidon, you disappoint me. Between the two of you, I had hoped you would have kept your promise."

Percy felt as if the rushing wind had become thicker, wrapping him in its coils as if to suffocate him. The air stopped moving, it became heavy around him. It was then Percy realized that the air hadn't stopped moving. He was trapped in the grasp of a massive hand. A hand that was tightening and threatening to squeeze the life out of him.

"W...Who are you?" Percy gasped when the hand squeezed him as a punishment for speaking.

"Silence, Sea spawn." he was ordered. "You are being judged for your crimes, just like the other one."

"Let me have him, master." The second voice was so familiar, Percy had almost been ricochet back into his sixth grade math class. A clawed hand wacked at the back of his head. "I've been wanting to have my fun with this one for years."

It may have been pitch black around him, but Percy would be able to recognize Mrs. Dodd's voice anywhere. He could almost imagine her giving him that cold, disapproving glare. She had hated him from the get-go, but entering his dreams brought her creepiness to a new level. The clawed hand came at him again and sliced into his cheek. Percy didn't know if he was actually bleeding, it sure felt like it.

"You'll have your fun with him. Once I've had mine."

Blue torches flared to life around them. At first Percy was blinded by the sheer brightness of them. The hand that hat been wrapped around let him fall once again. Percy screamed as he crash landed on a stone thrown in the center of the torches. Metal snakes slithered from the darkness and coiled eagerly around him. Their red eyes watched him keenly as they did so.

Satisfied with their work the snakes binding his arms rested their heads on his hands without a care in the world. He felt the ones wrapping his chest resting their heads on his shoulder. They acted like normal snakes, their metal tongs raked along his face whenever they flicked them. It felt like he was swaddled in a lizard blanket of death.

"It's remarkable, how much you look like him." his captor appraised. Percy took note of the hooded figure that was towering over him. It was hard to make out more than a giant humanoid figure. Percy felt his blood turn to ice. Every so often tiny arms could be seen reaching out from the giant's cloak, but their efforts to escape were unfulfilled. Somehow, Percy knew the giant's clothing was made out of souls.

"Who are you?" Percy asked again. As soon as the words left his mouth it felt as if acid had been poured down his throat. He coughed and wheezed, but wasn't given any relief.

"You also have a lack of respect like the daughter of Zeus." The figure noted dimly. "Haven't you figured out who I am yet?"

"Lord Hades." The teen rasped through the pain. Normally he wouldn't be so formal to someone who was torturing him, however, he had a feeling Hades was a god he didn't want to tick off.

"Ah, there is a polite little boy under all of that attitude." Hades sounded amused. "You know, I might have just liked you, if it weren't for the fact you shouldn't have been born."

"What do you want?" Percy demanded indignantly, his throat still felt like it was on fire. "To kill me."

"Obviously, Jackson." Mrs. Dodds chimed in. "You have a debt to be paid."

The teen searched around for the little old math teacher. Her ugly form shouldn't be that hard to find. There was the sound of leathery wings beating above his head and a twisted, depraved laugh digging into his ear. Percy's heart was racing in his chest, he felt as if it was about to stall out of pure fear.

"I've done nothing to you."

"That is where you are wrong!" Hades growled, his cloaked figure leaned down close to the teen. A wave of hot air and hopelessness washed over Percy. "You're very existence is a crime. I'll make sure you suffer for it like I did the other one. My brothers stole my helm, stole my children, stole the woman I love. As if that weren't enough, they broke the oath they forced me to take."

Percy bit his lip as the snakes tightened their hold on him.

"Do not fear, sea spawn." the king of the underworld added with a detached disinterest in the teen's pain. "I technically can't kill you in a dream, but you're time will come. For now...I want to make you suffer."

The snakes resting on his wrist gave angry hisses before they reared up and sank their fangs into Percy's flesh. Pain exploded all over the teen's body. It was intense and fiery, as if he were caught in the center of a nova. After that, their was only pain and screaming.

…...

Percy would like to say that he woke up on his own, that he was able to will himself away from the nightmare. It wasn't from his own strength that he was able to pull himself from what ever chaos the gods sent into his mind. No, Percy awoke being showered in black glass from the limo window. He reacted before he actually understood what was happening, throwing himself over Piper to shield her from the glass raining down upon them.

The girl screamed, her face pressed into his chest as they waited for the hailing of glass to end. When the last of the glass hit the floor Percy looked up at the offending window. There was a shadow hovering just outside the door. With the sun beaming in from behind them Percy couldn't make out who the person was. Had Luke found him again? He felt all the hair on his arm rise on end when a hand reached in to unlock the door. Piper scrambled to the opposite door and frantically tried to get it opened.

Not wanting to hesitate and give whoever it was a chance to grab him or Piper, Percy pulled out Riptide. The person jumped back with a yelp.

"P...P...Perce, it's us." Grover's nervous voice was like music to his ears. Percy quickly recapped the pen hoping that Piper had been too preoccupied to notice.

Percy gave a big grin, "Dude, you don't know how glad I am to see you."

It was a relief to see Grover's scruffy face when his eyes adjusted. Apparently, both of his friends had taken it upon themselves to find him. He felt glad that he wouldn't have to spend a whole day dragging Piper around, she'd already been through enough as it was. Grover opened the limo door, looking grateful to not have a sword waved in his face. Just beyond the limo, Percy could see Annabeth standing with her arms crossed and a practiced sour look on her face.

She was not happy.

"Percy? He's not one of the crazy people from that gang?" Piper asked, she grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him towards her. "Just say the word and we can make a run for it."

"They're safe."

Piper released him and gave Grover a skeptical look. Goat boy, always being the peacemaker, gently beckoned her to the open door. She gave Percy a skeptical look before she got out of the car. The son of Poseidon soon followed. The air outside was a bit brisk, but that was to be expected from early morning, even in sunny California.

"We've been looking everywhere for you, Seaweedbrain." Annabeth huffed, she still looked incredibly annoyed for someone who had found a missing friend. Her curly hair was a mess and she looked like she hadn't slept. Percy didn't miss the sharpness that came to her eyes when she looked at Piper. "What did you do? Fall in love with your kidnapper?"

Piper seemed a little perplexed by Annabeth's glare. "Wow, you're intense. Though I guess being hunted by Luke and his gang would make you a bit on edge."

"You told her about us? About Luke?"

"What was I supposed to do, Wisegirl? Luke came after me."

"You can't just go around telling anyone about us."

The son of Poseidon gave an exasperated sigh, "Annabeth, Grover, Can I talk to you two for a minute?"

Both obliged; Grover looking less furious about it than Annabeth. Percy led them a bit away from Piper, he was still trying to think of a way to fully introduce her to the mythology world without the mundane training wheels to cover it up. Apparently, the limo driver hadn't had the heart to wake Percy or Piper up, even after he had long finished his shift. He left the two teens in the limo and safely stowed away at the limo lot. Poor guy was going to regret it when he saw the broken window.

Percy could see that the dew was still sparkling on the other limos, so it was fairly early in the morning. Well, earlier than the teen was used to waking up on non-school days. Looking back at his friend's tired faces, he wondered if they had spent the day and night before searching for him. Then came the question of how they even found him in the first place.

"Who is that girl?" Annabeth demanded. "Why did you decide to tell a mortal about demigods?"

"She's not a mortal." Percy and Grover answered at the same time.

The daughter of Athena blinked in surprise and nodded to where Piper was shuffling on her feet, "You're telling me that Bedazzled over there is a demigod?"

"Daughter of Aphrodite." He assured her. "She doesn't know it, but she uses charmspeak. That's gotten her into a lot of trouble. Piper even used it on me."

"Is that how she got you to do what she wanted?"

Percy blushed at the tone in Annabeth's voice. He didn't really know why it made him so embarrassed, or why Annabeth's interrogation was making him feel like this. Did she really want to hear him say nothing he did was of his own free will? Would that make her lose the scowl on her face? This was a side of Annabeth he hadn't seen since she found out who his dad was. Actually, Percy thought back to the spar he had with her in the arena. Annabeth wasn't as grouchy then.

The son of Poseidon looked to Grover for answers. Ever the helpful one, Goat boy gave a coy smile and shrugged at the teen.

"No, Annabeth." Percy admitted. "Her charmspeak only worked for half a second, I chose to help her."

It seemed that made Annabeth even more flustered. "So you just resisted her magic, but you helped her anyway?"

"If you must know, she can help us find Nereus." Percy shot back, he was beginning to feel a bit annoyed with Annabeth now. "She promised to help me find him and you."

Annabeth huffed and marched back to Piper, he could hear her muttering something about seaweed and boys being stupid. Maybe she was just worried about him and didn't know how to show how relieved she was that he was alright? Percy stayed where he was, still trying to process all of Annabeth's outburst. His goat friend gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"Annabeth is very territorial over her friends." Grover explained to him. "Give her some time, she'll cool off."

The son of Poseidon didn't know what Grover meant. He couldn't understand how Annabeth could get so defensive towards a girl she knew nothing about. Grover chuckled at Percy and shook his head. Clearly, he found some humor in the predicament. Percy sighed and wiped his hands over his eyes. His dream was awful and waking up to an angry demigoddess wasn't exactly an upgrade.

"I haven't told Piper she's a demigoddess." Percy told the satyr. "I don't think we should until after the quest is over. It'll be a lot to process and we don't have time to really explain it to her."

Grover gave a nod in Piper's direction, "I can come back for her. Y...you know, when this is all over."

"If we manage not to get killed."

"Yeah."

Percy heard Piper call his name. She looked uncomfortable with Annabeth, who was an inch or two taller, standing next to her with a scowl on her face. It was clear that the tan girl could feel the daughter of Athena's malice. With a sigh, Percy decided he should try and be a buffer between the two girls.

"Percy?" Grover grabbed the teen's arm. "Are you okay?"

The memory of the dream he had bubbled in his brain like acid, phantom pain from the snake bites throbbed on his wrist. "I'm fine Grover, we better get to the girls."

….

It wasn't fun to climb up the fence of the limo lot, especially when they had to climb back down. Percy thought back to when he carried Annabeth down the spider web during the war game. Only this time at least he wasn't carrying a demigoddess on his back. The group did their best to get as far from the limo lot as they could. Piper stuck close to Percy. She still didn't seem to fully trust Grover and Annabeth.

"Percy." Piper tugged on his sleeve. "I need to find out what happened to my dad."

Percy felt guilty when he remembered they had left Piper's dad at the party. He knew how worried Piper must have been. Unfortunately for her, Grover freaked when she had pulled out her phone, he chucked it into the street before she could even unlock the screen. It was pretty hard to explain why the satyr destroyed it. Grover stumbled out an answer about Luke tracking them. Percy didn't buy it, but Piper seemed to believe it.

"We'll find a payphone." He assured, her at least that way Grover couldn't destroy it. Percy could hear Annabeth huff in annoyance.

Piper pulled away from Percy and ran her hands through her knotted brown hair. She looked tired. Sleeping on the floor of a limo, even a luxury one, wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep. Percy wondered if the kink in his own neck was from the stress of his dream or from the floor of the limo its self. He really missed the silky sheets on his bed back on Olympus. Heck, he missed the ratty old mattress back at Gabe's apartment.

"So, do you really think you can help us, Piper?" Annabeth spoke up suddenly, she pushed herself between the two teens. She's territorial, Grover's voice echoed in his head. "Aren't you missing a after party or something?"

"I don't know if you forgot, but the after party was crashed last night." Piper turned and scowled. "And I can get you to the homeless shelters to find the guy you're looking for. There isn't much money can't do, but I want to make sure my dad is okay. Wouldn't you want to do the same if it were your dad?"

A dangerous look came to Annabeth's face, her hand shot to the ring on her necklace. "I'd let him rot."