Words cannot describe how horrible and guilty I feel and how sorry I am.

I really don't know how I let myself even let three months pass by. It seriously feels like two weeks. And whenever I got all these PM's and reviews asking me where the heck I was and if I forgot about the story, my heart just broke. I would never forget about you guys. EVER. Because I love all of you. And I know that my lack of updates are getting really annoying. Trust me, I know. But keep in my mind that I'm only human, and I can't be perfect all the time. Now, I'm not making excuses here, because I know I'm an idiot. I'm not lazy; I just open Microsoft Word, get ready to type, and then my mind goes blank. I know what I want to write, I just…can't. Does that make any sense? I think some fanfic authors will know what I mean.

I reallyreallyreally hope you guys don't hate me. Seriously, I know I'm a stupid, idiotic person who rarely updates and all that crap, but I really hope you guys forgive me. I AM SO SORRY. I FREAKING HATE MYSELF NOW.

Anyway.

Just read the freaking chapter.

Enjoy! :D

(P.S. I was going to add a whole other part to this chapter, but that would have made it, like, 7,000 words, and I don't really think it fits well in this chapter. Plus, I kinda like the ending for this one.)

At first, all I can see is gray.

Thick, dark gray fog engulfs me, completely blocking my vision. Everything around me is eerily quiet, except for the howling of the wind and the sound of my heart beating furiously.

Something's wrong.

It's too calm, too...peaceful. And everybody knows that calm and peaceful places are usually not so great places in Greek Mythology.

I blink rapidly and squint, trying to see beyond the turbid fog, but it doesn't make much of a difference.

And the fact that its pitch black doesn't help, either. The only source of light comes from the jeweled sky and the bright moon. But when I look down at my freezing right hand, I notice that my ring is shining as well.

I walk further into the fog, hoping that it would clear enough for me to see where exactly I was standing. I see a dark silhouette of something in the distance. Something tall. Something...big. A tree, I soon realize.

Just as I had thought it would, the fog clears, and I can finally survey my surroundings. I seem to be standing in the middle of a green pasture, all by myself. It would have been relaxing and beautiful if everything wasn't so creepy and gloomy and dark. The whole place just seemed lifeless.

"Hello?" I call out, my voice echoing in my ears.

Nothing.

I furrow my eyebrows and try again. "Hello? Is anybody out there?"

No answer.

Goosebumps dot my skin as the wind moans once more. Every little sound makes my muscles tense and freeze in place. And then the thought that there could be a monster lurking in the shadows somewhere registers in my confused mind, and I begin to panic.

What if there are too many for me to handle? What if I get hurt? Do I even have my dagger?

I fumble around and stuff my hands into both of my pockets, frantically searching for my dagger. All I find is lint and a penny. I check my back pockets, but there's nothing there either. I look down at my freezing legs, but it's not strapped to calf or thigh like it usually is. As my breathing quickens, I find it getting harder and harder to breathe. My nostrils sting as I inhale the icy, bitter, thin air.

I nervously nibble my bottom lip as my eyes dart around the perimeter of the meadow, searching for any sign of life. But I knew there was no use in even looking. I was the only living thing there.

I sigh irritably and wrap my arms around myself as I stare off into the distance, the cold wind making my teeth chatter. I subconsciously wish I had a jacket of some sort, but I know that it wouldn't make a huge difference, anyway. For some reason, I'm dressed in the clothes that I wore the day the war ended- jean shorts splattered with blood and monster slime, and my old, torn Camp Half-Blood shirt. Well, what's left of it. The edges of the shirt are burnt to a crisp.

But, somehow, there's still a lingering smell of sea salt. I can't decide if it comforts me, or saddens me. Probably the latter.

My eyes dart around the enigmatic meadow, studying it more closely now that I am sure that I am completely alone. There are some flowers here and there, but they're all wilted. A willow tree stands not too far away from me, its branches twisted like distorted limbs. For some reason, I'm drawn to it, so I steadily walk towards the eerie willow. The wind whips the hair into my face, cutting my vision into strips, and I push it back behind my ear.

It's bare of its leaves, which just adds to the spookiness of it all. The tree looms over me, and the gnarled branches move in such a way that it seems as if they're reaching for me, begging me to come closer. It feels like the Sirens all over again.

Suddenly, I hear a snap, like someone stepped on a twig or something. And then I hear footsteps, slow and steady. I gasp and whip around, my heart thumping. But there's still nothing there.

"H-hello? I k-know you're out there!" I shout, my voice cracking. "This isn't funny!"

Complete and utter silence.

I gulp, trying to swallow away my fear. Daughters of Athena are not supposed to feel fear. And even though I haven't exactly acted like a daughter of Athena lately, a small part of me knows that I'm still supposed to at least act like one. I inhale and exhale slowly, trying to calm myself down and steady my heart rate.

I take a deep breath again and try to remember what I was thinking before I heard the snap and the footsteps. The willow tree.

I wipe my sweaty palms on my shorts and clench and unclench my hands into fists, trying to stop them from shaking. When I'm convinced I no longer feel afraid, I take three tentative steps towards the willow, my shoes making a loud crunching sound as I step on the withered leaves. I look down at my sneakers, just to make sure that I'm the one making the sounds.

I tilt my head up to examine the tree once more, but freeze when I hear a horrible creaking sound. My heart rate, normal just a second before, picks up again. My eyes shift to the right, and I find myself a mere foot away from a humungous, contorted tree branch, and I start backing away from the tree.

I don't dare take my eyes off of the willow as I shy away from it. I soon realize that this is a mistake, because I trip over something, probably a tree root, and it sends me stumbling backwards. But as I try to regain my balance, familiar, strong arms catch me.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up straight as the person leans forward, their lips only centimeters away from my ear. My breathing quickens and my heart beats so fast that I feel like it's going to explode.

"Relax. Don't you remember me?" the mystery guy whispers, his breath tickling my ear.

I freeze at the sound of his voice. It's achingly familiar, but it can't possibly be him.

I swallow the lump in my throat and slowly turn around, my eyes snapped shut. I'm too afraid to open them and be disappointed when he's not there. Mystery Person slides his calloused hand down my arm until he reaches my hand, which is clenched into a tight fist. I know I should be afraid of him, but the way he touches me sends sparks flying down my spine, and I somehow want to just sink into his arms.

"Why are you so tense? Just relax and calm down, Annabeth. It's just me," he says quietly, attempting to pry my fingers open. There it is again, the voice. But I still don't want to believe it's him. It can't be. It can't be.

I take a shuddering breath and unfurl my fingers, allowing him to slip his warm hand in mine. I still refuse to open my eyes, though.

I resist the urge to immediately back away when I feel his face get closer to mine. As soon as Mystery Person lightly pecks the corner of my lips, I clamp my mouth shut, refusing to let him kiss me. I can practically imagine him pouting in that adorable way of his. I pretzel my arms across my chest triumphantly, a smirk tugging at the corner of my lips.

"If you're playing hard to get, it's not working." I know he's grinning now.

"Who said I was?" I ask teasingly, speaking for the first time. I curse myself for letting the words slip out of my mouth so easily.

He doesn't answer, and instead lifts his hand and strokes my cheek with his thumb. I still don't open my eyes.

"You look…different. What happened to you?" he asks worriedly.

I take a shaky breath. "You know what happened to me."

"No, actually, I don't. I don't see why you're acting all wei-"

"Shut up," I hiss. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about."

"Do you even know who you're talking to?"

I freeze. He's right. For all I know, I could be talking to a Cyclops. But I doubt a Cyclops would make me tremble just by simply touching me.

We stand in silence for a few seconds, though it feels like hours to me. His thumb still absentmindedly brushes my cheek, and I don't protest.

But then he breaks the silence and whispers, "Are you going to open your eyes anytime soon, Wise Girl?"

The sound of my nickname makes my gray eyes crack open involuntary.

When I'm met with unmistakably green eyes, I let out a peculiar sound that somewhat sounds like a mix between a gasp and strangled scream. I scramble backwards until my back slams against the willow tree, but I barely feel pain. I watch him with wide eyes as he steps closer to me.

It's him. Oh gods, it's him. It really is him. Percy.

As soon as I attempt to choke out something, he silences me with a kiss. A jolt of electricity shoots down my spine, leaving me slightly trembling. I don't know if it's from the lack of oxygen or the dizziness I feel when his lips move in sync with mine. His lips are warm and comforting, unlike the cold, howling wind. Jumbled thoughts flood my mind.

He's alive!

He's not dead!

He's here, kissing me!

He's not missing anymore!

Percy smiles, still kissing me, as if he can read my mind. We're pressed so tightly against each other that I can feel his heartbeat, the warmness that practically radiates off him, every single movement. As the cold wind tickles my cheeks, my arms reach up to wrap around his neck, but as soon as my numb fingers touch his skin, he immediately pulls away, like I'm completely disgusting. My eyebrows furrow in confusion, and just as I'm about to ask him why the Hades he ruined the perfect moment, his body flickers back and forth between numerous people.

Athena, shaking her head at me. Chiron, looking sympathetic and pitying. The gorgons, each cackling like hyenas. Hera, smirking at me, and yelling something incoherent. Thalia, biting her lip and giving me a worried look. Luke, smiling at me, his eyes switching between blue and gold. Gaea, laughing like a madwoman and screaming something about me dying soon.

And then, she dissolves and slips away, leaving me standing there, dumbfounded and heartbroken.

My throat feels tight and dry, like it's closing up on me. But then I realize that the branches of the willow tree have somehow wrapped around my neck, strangling me. As a bolt of lightning erupts in the sky above me, thick sheets of icy water pour down, pelting my skin. I try to cry out, but I know there's no point in even trying. I kick and flail around, tears springing from my eyes. My face must be a disturbing shade of blue now. My throat burns, and it almost feels like it's bleeding.

I paw at the branches, attempting to untangle them from my neck, but they remain firm around my neck.

I gasp for air. I can practically feel myself dying, slowly.

I take one last, shuddering breath before my body goes limp, and my vision goes black.

I bolted upright in my bed, panting heavily. My hair was matted to my forehead, for I had broken out into a cold sweat. My trembling fingers reached up to cup my throat. Even though it was just a stupid nightmare, I still had felt like I was being strangled to death. I could hardly breathe.

I let my face fall into my hands and slid my fingers back into my damp hair. I didn't know if it was wet from the shower I took the night before, or just sweat. I swallowed hard as I thought about the nightmare. This one was different from the others. Yes, most of them usually involved Percy, but not like this.

Because instead of watching him die or scream at me to leave him the Hades alone like most of the nightmares I had had before, we were actually having a good time in this one. For a very, very short time, but it was good, nonetheless. Okay, we didn't really talk, but I kissed him. And that was something I hadn't done in what, two months?

I had a horrible feeling that there were many more months to come.

My body still shaking slightly, I swung my legs over the side of my bed and stood up. My room was still dark, and there was no sunlight peeking out behind my curtains, so I assumed that it was still night time. Slowly, I twisted the sliver doorknob of my bedroom door and slipped out into the dark hallway, making sure to make as little noise as possible.

Quiet as a mouse, I tiptoed down the stairs. I flicked on the lights in the kitchen, grabbed a glass from the cupboard, and filled it to the brim with ice cold water from the filter in the refrigerator. As soon as the top of the glass touched my dry lips, a voice from behind me spoke up.

"What are you doing up so late? Can't sleep?"

I jumped and almost dropped my glass, until it registered in my mind that it was my father, not some monster. I let out a breath I didn't know I had been holding and turned around to face him, still cupping the glass of water.

"Gods, dad, you scared me half to death," I muttered.

He chuckled and sat down on one of the chairs that surrounded the kitchen table, motioning for me to do the same. I hesitated for a moment, but obliged and slipped into the chair across from him when I realized that there was no way for me to escape. I secretly hoped that he didn't want to have a little "father-daughter discussion" again, like the last time we were alone. (Which had probably been about a year ago.)

I avoided his eyes and instead watched the tiny water droplets slide down the glass. I could practically feel him staring at me, but I ignored him and continued staring at the oh-so fascinating water.

"So, is there a reason why you're up this late?" he asked, lightly tapping his fingers on the edge of the table. He usually would have just left me alone and decided that I just wanted something to drink, but he obviously knew something was up with me.

I paused, trying to think of a somewhat decent answer-slash-lie. I absolutely refused to tell anyone anything these days, let alone my dreams and nightmares, so I had no idea why he would think that I'd actually consider telling him about my dream. Especially since our relationship isn't that great.

But then I thought about how distant and impassive I'd been acting lately, and I felt a little pang of guilt. Here he was, trying to talk to me, and I was completely ignoring him.

He cleared his throat, and I realized that I had been sitting there with a blank look on my face for god knows how long.

"Oh, sorry," I said softly. "I got a bit distracted there for a second."

"It's all right. Now, are you going to tell me exactly why you're up at two in the morning?"

My mind instantly thought up of a bunch of excuses I could use. I'm jetlagged. I'm not used to sleeping here. The bed isn't as comfortable as the one in my dorm. The twins are snoring too loudly. There was a monster, and I had to kill it.

I thought back to what Chiron had told me two days before I left to San Francisco. Don't block out everyone, Annabeth. It's not going to make everything any better.

I finally caved in and sighed, my eyes still cast downwards. "I had a dream."

"A nightmare?" he asked.

No, I had a wonderful dream about unicorns and rainbows, that's why I'm so amazingly happy right now, I thought sarcastically.

I slid my hands under my thighs to keep myself from fidgeting and allowed myself to finally meet his eyes. "Yeah, it was a nightmare," I replied quietly.

"Care to share?" he asked, grinning at his little rhyme.

I cocked an eyebrow. For a split second, I actually considered telling him. But then I realized that the thought of telling my dad all about my nightmare was absolutely ridiculous, so I completely erased the thought from my mind. Just telling him that I had a dream took me forever, and it was going to take even longer to explain to him what it was about.

"Um…I don't really feel like talking about it, Dad," I said apprehensively, tucking an errant curl that had slipped out of my loose ponytail behind my earring-less ear.

"Are you sure?" he asked, looking a bit disappointed.

I nodded my head quickly, widening my eyes for emphasis.

He furrowed his eyebrows and studied my face for a moment. "Annabeth, has something been…bothering you lately?"

I bit the inside of my cheek, my hands subconsciously reaching up to finger my Camp Half-Blood necklace.

Yes! I'm going crazy! My boyfriend, who just might be dead, is missing. And we have to save the world for the second time. Oh, and there's a pretty good chance that I might die. Life is just wonderfully perfect right now! I wanted to shout. But I didn't. As usual, I kept everything to myself and tried to look as normal as possible.

"Nothing at all!" I lied swiftly. "Why do you ask? Do I…look like something might be bothering me?"

"No, I just- never mind," he sighed. "I'm just a bit tired; I must be imagining things."

"Well, that must be it, because I'm fine, really. Except for that my little… predicament, everything has been just swell, actually. No need to wor-"

"Annabeth, you're a terrible liar," Dad interrupted.

My cheeks burned in embarrassment. I mentally cursed myself for being so obvious as he looked at me expectantly, waiting for the truth.

I hated that look. The "I'm disappointed in you" look. It always made me feel like I was a bad person or something. Which I wasn't. Lying doesn't necessarily make me a bad person. Right?

I took a deep breath. Don't block out everyone.

"I know I've been acting a little strange, and I'm pretty sure you know why," I said quietly, looking at my hands. I paused for a minute, allowing my words to sink in. "But I don't want any of you to worry, because I really am fine. A little stressed, but fine."

I didn't think he knew that I was not only trying to convince him, but convince myself as well. Because I didn't feel fine. All I felt was misery. But it's kind of hard for someone not to feel miserable when you feel like your heart has been ripped out of your chest and shredded into a million little pieces, and you know that the only person who could tape all the tiny pieces back together was missing, and possibly dead.

I finally met his eyes and gave him a small, weak smile. He smiled back, and I could tell it was genuine because his warm brown eyes shone, unlike mine.

"I'll try to worry less from now on, since you're so sure that you're completely fine," he said, chuckling softly, "but I want you to remember that you can tell me anything. If you ever need to talk, I'll always be here."

Trying to swallow away the guilt that was creeping inside me, I forced a smile again and nodded.

His chair screeched as he scooted it back, stood up, and silently planted a kiss on my forehead. He went and turned to leave, until his eyes drifted down to my hoodie.

"By the way, nice hoodie." He smiled.

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked down at my hoodie. I hadn't even noticed I was wearing it. It was plain white, with the words "I LOVE NY" in bold, black lettering, but with a bright red heart instead of the words "love." Percy had bought it for me one day, when we were roaming around the streets after coming back from the movies.

"Oh, yeah-" I stopped when I looked up and realized that my father had already ascended up the stairs, leaving me sitting there alone. I sighed and slouched in my chair, propping my elbow on the table and resting my chin in my palm. A shiver ran down my spine when I thought about the nightmare, which I couldn't seem to forget about.

Maybe it's the way, somehow, I could feel my lips still tingling, which was ridiculous considering I had only kissed him in my dream. But I could still feel his soft lips against mine, the way I shivered when he touched me, his-

I'm going delusional, I decided. No normal person feels those things after a dream.

I let out a frustrated sigh/groan when a tiny voice in the back of my head reminds me that I myself am not normal. No normal teenage girl has to worry about her missing boyfriend. No normal teenage girl has to fear for her life. No normal teenage girl has to save the world. Again.

Pushing those pessimistic thoughts out of mind, I slipped out of my chair and lazily stumbled up the stairs and into my barely lit room. I'm about to flop on the bed and attempt to sleep, until I see a tiny white light peeking out under the clutter on my desk. My laptop.

I subconsciously walked over to it, opened it, and continued where I left off the night before- an article about the Greeks and Romans' relationship with each other. They couldn't possibly hate each other that much…right? Maybe, just maybe, they wouldn't kill someone if they accidently stumbled into their territory, if it wasn't their fault. They would be reasonable, right?

Somewhere, deep in the back of my mind, I know that all of this was wrong. I knew I was just torturing myself, with all this research and studying. I was worrying myself too much.

But I had to keep trying.

*sigh* I just love writing awkward moments with Annabeth and her dad. Awkward bonding times are the best.

So, what'd ya think? Good? Bad? Horrifying?

QUESTION OF THE DAY: PLEASE ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS:

One: What presents should Annabeth get on Christmas? (This question is very important! PLEASE ANSWER IT!)

Two: Have you ever been San Francisco/Do you live in San Francisco? If so, please tell me everything you can about it. I've never been there, so I can't describe the city and all that stuff.

Three: Do you have an idea of what Annabeth should do? Who she should meet? (Sorry folks, she can't magically see Percy!) Where she should go? (Nope, she can't go to Camp Jupiter, either.) So, basically, do you have idea for a chapter? I'm just curious to see if I can combine my idea and your idea and make an amazing chapter or something like that.

OMGEE, I'M READING DIVERGENT. EEP! BUT NO SPOILERS PLEASE! I'M ONLY ON PAGE 378.

AND ABSOLUTELY NO SPOILERS FOR THE DEMIGOD DIARIES! I HAVEN'T READ IT YET! D:

In the next chapter, Annabeth goes on a little trip with Susan, and receives an awkward Iris Message…You excited yet? Yes? No? Okay.

Okay, I have to go take a shower now. And do my French homework. CRAP.

BYE! SEE YOU SOON! HOPEFULLY! I WUV YOU ALL! (P.S. Sorry for the extremely long AN.)

200th reviewer gets a special shout out! Do you guys think we can make it to 250 reviews? I mean, we DO have 123 followers for this story…can you all please review?