Short AN this time: I don't want to bore you all.

Happy reading!

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

Chapter 4: Worry

*Percy POV*

Three of us. More than fifty of them.

"We're screwed," Nico said, his eyes scanning the dracaena, doing the mental math I had just done. "Nico!" Annabeth chastised, but she was scrutinising the dracaena as well, her eyes narrowed in worry.

"We have to evacuate them first," I said, noticing the chaos around us. Most of the students had fled, but some had their phones out, probably calling 911. I scanned the perimeter, stopping when I noticed Alice and Thomas. Tom looked like he was convincing Alice to go but she was looking at the dracaena in horror, and I realized that she knew what they were.

She wasn't fooled by the Mist.

Her eyes swept around to meet mine, but before I could do anything, Thomas tugged her out of sight.

"I can help."

All three of us swung around to see the girl Nico was talking to earlier. "Jaz, you?" Nico asked, surprised.

"I'm a demigod too, Nico," the girl, Jaz, said. "I can help you."

"But what will you-"

"MOVE!" I pushed Annabeth out of the way as the first dracaena charged. I swung Riptide towards her, and she impaled herself on it, unable to stop herself in time. She blinked in surprise before she disintegrated into dust.

The rest of the dracaena didn't seem to like the death of one of their brethren. They hissed angrily as they circled us, more angry now.

We didn't wait.

Annabeth drew out her bronze knife as the dracaena near her lunged. One quick swipe and she exploded into dust. Nico and I fought back to back, protecting each other.

The dracaena weren't like most other monsters. They were smart, and they didn't attack blindly. After the first few deaths, they pulled back, regrouping. Suddenly the brunette girl appeared at my side, her eyes closed in concentration.

She flung out her hands, her eyes opening suddenly and spoke. "σλεεπ."

My brain translated it almost instantly and I knew what it meant: sleep.

Almost instantly, the dracaena collapsed to the floor, and Nico stabbed his iron knife into the ground. A huge chasm opened up, swallowing the monsters whole, and then everything was still.

Beside me, the brunette swayed, and then her legs gave way. I caught her in my arms as she fell, and my fingers went immediately to her wrist, checking her pulse.

It was there. Faint, but there.

"Nico!" I yelled. "She needs medical help! We've got to get her to Apollo!"

Apollo would surely know what to do, and the Empire State Building wasn't far from here. We could get her there.

But it wasn't Nico who responded.

"Perseus Jackson."

The hissing voice was all too familiar. I looked up slowly, and the scene in front of me was from one of my worst nightmares.

Kelli stood in front of me, looking just like she had the day of my orientation in Goode. Her lips were curled in a smile of pure hatred and her hands were around Annabeth's neck, claws poised at her jugular nerve.

Annabeth's eyes were wide and terrified. Her bronze knife lay several metres to the left, useless now. Kelli threw her head back and laughed. "Well, well, fancy seeing you here, Percy."

"I don't think you quite remember the details of our last meeting, do you? After all, it was so long ago."

I managed to find my voice. "Let Annabeth go."

Kelli's eyes widened in fake hurt. "Why, we've just met and you don't want to talk to me? I'm terribly saddened, Percy."

Nico stepped forward. "Let her go, or I'll make you."

Kelli tilted her head in Nico's direction. "Oh, I don't think you want to do that. You see, you make one move towards me, and your friend gets to spend eternity in the Underworld. We wouldn't want that now, do we?"

"What do you want, Kelli?" I asked, my voice surprisingly steady.

"Why, I thought that would be obvious. I want you, of course."

This made no sense. "Me?"

"You see, when you brought down Kronos, you destroyed our leader. And how could I allow that to pass? You've made yourself many enemies, Jackson."

"Percy, NO! Don't you dare-" Annabeth screamed before Kelli seized her hair and yanked, hard. "Shut up!" she screeched. "Shut up or you die!"

Annabeth's mouth was covered by Kelli's hand, but her eyes conveyed the message she couldn't say.

But I had no choice.

I let Riptide fall to the floor and, leaving the unconscious girl on the floor, I took a step towards her, arms held up.

"Fine. But let Annabeth go."

Kelli smiled widely. "I knew you'd see sense! Smart choice, son of Posiedon."

But before I could say anything, the girl on the floor moved and stood up, facing Kelli. The dracaena's blood red eyes narrowed. "You!" Kelli screeched.

"Jasmine!" Nico cried, trying to grab her and pull her back, but she yanked her arm out of his grasp. "Yes, me," she replied, her jaw set, stance defiant. "Let Annabeth go now."

Kelli hissed at Jasmine. "Who said I would do that?"

"You know quite well what I can do to you, Kelli. Would you like to experience that again?"

"You interfering little bitch!" Kelli spat at Jasmine. "I should have done away with you long ago!"

And then she moved, faster than I thought possible. She turned on her heel and vanished in a cloud of red smoke. Annabeth fell to the floor, the imprint of the dracaena's claws clearly visible in the deep tear on her neck.

*Annabeth POV*

I screamed.

I could feel the deep rupture in my jugular vein, but this was something else entirely, something foreign to me. I had never experienced pain of this level before.

Liquid fire swept through my veins, burning me up from the inside. It felt like my blood itself was boiling in my system.

I felt a shadow fall over me, and I opened my eyes, although it hurt to do so. It was Percy, scooping me up in his arms like I weighed nothing.

"Percy," I gasped and I barely recognized my own voice. It sounded so tortured, so pained. Percy winced, and looked at me, his sea green eyes torn with pain and despair. "Percy, it hurts."

"I know," he murmured. "I know. Annabeth, please just hold on. You'll get help very soon, I promise."

"Percy," I begged, almost sobbing, "please make it go away. It hurts so badly. Please, Percy."

Percy flinched and something glittered in his eyes, something very akin to tears. "Annabeth, love, please stay with me. I know you can do it. I love you. Please hold on for me. I don't know what I'll do if I lose you."

I could hear the raw emotion in his voice, the tears he was just barely holding back, but I couldn't stay with him.

The fire inside me was burning brighter and hotter than ever, and I needed to escape.

"I can't Percy," I sobbed. "I can't s-stay with you. I'm s-so sorry."

His voice sounded further and further away, like it was coming from the end of a very long tunnel. "No, no, no. Annabeth, please, I'm begging you. NICO! NICO!"

I felt something drip on my face, and I knew that he was crying now. Despite the pain, I reached my hand up and touched his cheek. He grabbed my hand and placed a kiss on my knuckles.

"No, Wise Girl, I'm not letting you go that easily. I'm going to fight for you, and I'm never going to give up."

I smiled slightly, and the pain seemed to dim for just a minute. "That's the Seaweed Brain I know. I love you, Percy."

And then the dark abyss swallowed me whole.

I opened my eyes to see what looked like white fog, all around me. It swirled all around me, but when I put my fingers out to touch it, it sank right through. I looked down to get the biggest shock of my life.

I was in a hospital room, looking down at myself.

I saw Apollo and Artemis standing at the foot of my bed, Percy on one side of me, Thalia the other. Both of them were faced away from me, questioning Apollo furiously.

I couldn't hear anything, but just as I thought that I suddenly felt like something was compressing in on me. My eyes closed of their own accord and all of a sudden, I was in my own body.

I could hear everything. It was faint, but I could understand.

"What the hell do you mean? You're a god! You can save her!"

"I may be a god, Percy, but there are things even I do not know. This poison is something I have never seen before, not in all my eons of medicine."

"Lady Artemis, please-" This had to be Thalia, and her voice was pleading, nearly begging.

Artemis's voice was despairing. "I am sorry, Thalia. I know of nothing that could help her. Annabeth is a brave maiden, and I would do anything it requires to save her. But this is beyond even my power."

"You're the Olympians! You HAVE to know!"

"Thalia, this poison matches with nothing that I have ever seen before. It has traces of Chimera poison in it, but Chimera poison does not involve shutting the organs down. And I can detect Hydra as well, but Hydra poison does not cause the scorching of blood in the veins. Quite frankly, I have absolutely no idea as to what is in her system right now."

"You must be able to do something, numb the pain at least." It was Thalia who was speaking, but I knew she was asking as a last ditch effort.

"Numbing the pain will do nothing to stop the long term effect."

"And what is that?"

There was a pregnant pause.

"Death."

Whew! This chapter just poured out and I've been typing nearly non-stop for the past one hour.

I've realized that I've never actually described Jasmine, so I decided to change her slightly. Jasmine is a brunette with wavy waist length brown hair and green eyes.

There we go.

I also have some bad news for you lovelies. My dad has completely blocked me from , and I can't post any chapters till July 7th. I'm updating this from my iPad, but I won't be able to do so for Chapter 24.

I hope you understand the problem, and I'm sorry for not updating.

Till next time, take care!