LEO
Something was ripping his arm off.
Leo's eyes flashed open and he shot up, knocking heads on something hard which yelped and falling back down again.
"Agh, what?"
"Sorry, Leo," Annabeth said, rubbing her forehead. She looked awful. "Can we talk?"
"Well I mean you've already tried to give me a concussion so why not?" She didn't smile. "What's up?" he tried again, a little more softly.
"I had a dream," she said, looking him straight in the eyes.
He shifted. "What about?" He was afraid of what she'd say.
"It was the three of us - You, me, and Percy, I mean. We were on an island, Oceanus came up out of the water - I don't know how he did it, but suddenly he was there before us and - "
"And he separated us and was about to kill Percy?" Leo finished, no longer able to look at her. "Yeah, I had it too."
Annabeth was silent for what seemed like forever. "Ha - I had almost convinced myself it was just a stupid dream. But if we both had the same," she said, letting her voice drag off, not finishing her sentence.
"I'm thinking it's probably pretty important."
"We're going to find him, aren't we, Leo?" she whispered, her eyes now trained on her shoes. Her voice was calm and quiet, but Leo had the feeling if he could see her face, she'd be on the verge of tears.
"Of course we will," he said, letting a tiny flame dance on the tip of his finger between them. The light shimmered on her face and she rubbed impatiently at her eyes with her sleeve. "It's okay, you know. Being scared for him. But he'll find us, don't you worry."
"You believe that?"
"Course I do! Besides, his wisdom still has to be forged, doesn't it? And I'm the forger and I say he'll be back soon."
Annabeth smiled and gave a small, tear-choked laugh. "Thanks, Leo."
"Hey, no problem. I'm here for the comic relief after all aren't I?"
"Ha, that does help, but that's not what I was talking about." She placed a firm, kind hand on his arm. "That's not the only thing you're good for, Leo. Just remember that."
She stood and slipped out of the tent again, letting in a little sliver of hazy light as the sun crept up with the dawn.
The canvas flapped back down and his little flame flickered out. Leo sat in the darkness and smiled, not quite sure why he suddenly felt so happy but glad that he did. Happy beat scared any day, and after last night, he could do with a little change in pace.
