Chapter 7

Percy groaned when his alarm blared, pulling him from a fitful sleep, at 2 o'clock in the morning. Sighing, Percy pulled himself from the bed, and shuffled over to the bathroom, quickly stripping down, and climbing into the shower, turning the water on as hot as it would go, and letting himself get wet. He stood in there for at least half an hour, before remembering that Reyna had advised he leave at three on the dot, exactly. Taking a shuddering breath, Percy turned off the water, and quickly dried himself off, before stepping out of the shower, and getting dressed, brushing his hair and teeth faster than should have been possible. He then left the bathroom, and headed over to his bed, grabbing his backpack, and Riptide. He then walked over to the door, and grabbed the handle. Just before he left, he turned around, and gazed at his empty cabin.

"Wish me luck," Percy whispered, before internally slapping himself for talking to a building of all things. "It's one thing to talk to inanimate objects," Percy muttered, as he trekked across camp, on his way towards Half-Blood Hill, where he had instructed Blackjack to wait for him. "It's another thing completely to talk to buildings."

Shuddering from the morning air, Percy finally made it up to Thalia's pine. He smiled at the golden fleece, which glistened in the light of the moon, before looking around for Blackjack, and glancing at his watch. Percy sighed.

"He's lucky I'm dyslexic, and can't read my watch," Percy muttered, just as the pegasus landed next to him. "Why do I even have a watch?"

Hey boss! Blackjack said cheerfully, unaware of Percy's internal and external turmoil. Percy smiled at the pegasus, walking over, and climbing on his back.

"Hey, Blackjack," he whispered. He glanced back towards Camp, and all was silent, until Blackjack spoke.

Are you sure you want to do this? He asked softly. Percy sighed, and ran a hand through his already tangled hair.

"I have to," he said, trying not to think about how he hadn't been able to say goodbye to Annabeth. "If I want to live, I have to."

Alrighty boss. Blackjack agreed, spreading his wings, and taking off at Percy's order. If you're sure.

"Percy, you can fight this!" Reyna screamed, her hands on Percy's shoulders, as he spasmed on the tile floor. He let out an animalistic scream, hands yanking at his hair.

"I can't!" he screamed back, his voice filled with raw fear.

"Yes, you can!" Reyna yelled, hauling him up by his purple Camp Jupiter shirt, and slamming him into the nearby wall. "Fight this, Perseus Jackson."

Percy shuddered, eyes rolling up in his head, before his body went limp in Reyna's grasp. Reyna gasped in fear, dropping him to the ground, and backing away. After a few seconds, Percy's body started trembling, not with chills, but with laughter. He stood slowly, chin still dipped towards his chin, as he slowly advanced on Reyna. The female Praetor swallowed thickly, and tried to keep her voice steady. "Perseus? Can you hear me?"

Percy laughed again, before lifting his head slowly. The greens of his eyes had been overtaken by black, so that he resembled a tan version of Nico.

"Perseus can't hear you. Not anymore." Percy's body said darkly, just before he lunged, hands outstretched towards Reyna's throat.

Annabeth sat up with a shout of fear, knife clutched tightly in her hand. She blinked rapidly, as a light was turned on, and she realized she wasn't at Camp Jupiter, but in the Athena Cabin of Camp Half-Blood. She looked up, as her older brother Malcolm approached her slowly.

"Annabeth?" he asked slowly, placing a warm hand on her shuddering shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Her gray eyes locked on Malcolm's with a fierce intensity, and she spoke in a dark voice.

"I need to talk to Chiron. Now."

Slightly terrified by the fact she was still holding her knife, only this time a few inches away from his face, Malcolm nodded, handing Annabeth her sneakers, when she refused his help to get out of bed. A few seconds later, both of Wisdom's children were making their swift way across the Camp grounds, towards the Big House. Despite it being a clear night, Annabeth had an uneasy feeling that something dark, and sinister was about to rear its ugly head.

She stomped up the stairs, and pounded her fist against the Big House door, not stopping, until Chiron finally answered, two minutes later.

"Annabeth," he said, fighting back exhaustion. "And Malcolm. What's going on?"

"I need to talk to you," Annabeth demanded. She shot her brother a glance, and narrowed her eyes. "Alone."

Chiron nodded, and motioned to Malcolm that everything was okay, and he could go back to bed. Taking a shaky breath, Malcolm sent Annabeth a discreet glance, before turning around, and heading back to the Athena cabin. As soon as they were in the Big House, sitting down, Chiron spoke.

"What do you need to talk about?" He asked Annabeth softly. He knew of her and Percy's trip through Tartarus, and so he assumed that was what she wanted to talk about. Oh how wrong he was.

"I had a dream," Annabeth said, getting straight to the point. "More like a nightmare. It was Percy and Reyna, and Percy looked like...like he was in pain. Reyna kept screaming at him to 'fight it' and he kept saying he couldn't."

"Alright," Chiron mused, nodding. "Perhaps it's in relation to what's been causing Perseus's sleep complications. Was there anything else?"

"At the end, his eyes turned...well, black," Annabeth said slowly. "Then he said, and I quote, 'Perseus can't hear you. Not anymore'."

"What happened after that?" Chiron asked, fear for the son of Poseidon, growing rapidly in his stomach. Annabeth took a shuddering breath, before shaking her head.

"He threw himself at Reyna, his hands going for her throat."

"And then?" Chiron pressured, already pulling a drachma out of his pocket, so he could contact the Praetor of Camp Jupiter. Annabeth shook her head.

"Nothing," she said quietly. "I woke up."

"I see," Chiron said, nodding. "Perhaps we should-"

"Wait, what time is it!?" Annabeth cried. Chiron tilted his head slightly.

"It's a little after three in the morning. Why?"

Annabeth dropped her head into her hands, trying to choke back a sob.

"Percy left already, didn't he?"

Chiron sighed. "Most likely."

"He left thinking I hated him," Annabeth whispered.

"You don't know that-" Chiron started, only to be cut off by an angry daughter of Athena.

"Yes, I do!" she shouted, getting hastily to her feet. "I've ignored him ever since I found out that Reyna knew about his nightmares before I did. I thought-" Annabeth cut herself off with a choked sob, and dropped down onto the couch. Chiron waited until it was obvious that she wasn't going to go on, to prompt her.

"You thought what?" he asked softly. Annabeth shook her head, wiping tears from her eyes, as she spoke in a quiet voice.

"I thought he was cheating on me with Reyna."

"I see," Chiron said, nodding. "Should we contact Reyna?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No, let's wait until tomorrow. When we know Percy will be there."

"Alright," Chiron agreed. "Perhaps you should try and go back to sleep. You're welcome to stay here if you'd like."

"Can I?" Annabeth asked, fighting back more tears. Chiron gave her a soft smile.

"Of course dear."

Boss, are you alright? Blackjack asked, when he felt Percy stir slightly. Percy sighed, sitting up and stretching his arms over his head.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Percy answered, looking up at the sky, and sighing. "Just tired."

Weren't you just sleeping? Blackjack asked. Percy yawned, and ran his hands through his hair.

"Yeah, but my nightmares…"

They came back. Blackjack concluded. Percy nodded.

"They're getting worse," he said quietly. "I'm starting to wake up...out of breath."

What do you mean?

"It's like I'm running," Percy explained softly. "Or drowning. Mostly a mixture of both. When I wake up, I'm soaked in sweat, and gasping for air, and my heart is pounding so much that it hurts my chest."

What do you think is wrong with you, boss? Blackjack asked, worry evident in his voice.

"I don't know," Percy said quietly. "I just hope Reyna has the answer."

And if she doesn't? Blackjack questioned softly.

"I don't know."

So, so sorry it took me so long to update. I've been working on it every day, but I've been sick since Sunday, and am actually still sick, but am suffering through school anyway. :/

I also have dress rehearsal (AKA Hell week) all week. I was at school until 9:40 last night, and was home sick the other two nights so I have not had any time to update. Hopefully I'll have time starting Monday, so look forward to more frequent updates.

Thanks so much for reading, please leave reviews because they make me so happy, and I often go back and look at them when I'm having a bad day because they lift me up!