Hah Hah! Didn't think I was coming back, did you! Well Happy Thanksgiving- Enjoy! :)

Annabeth-

After leaving Percy's cabin, I still couldn't get rid of the knot in my stomach. Even after I apologized I still felt guilty. It was something he said when we were argument.

"I thought you were my friend, but that apparently isn't good enough or you..."

was it good enough? Was that really what I wanted? To just be friends? And then I felt his arms around me again and his voice whispering in my ear. Could we stop fighting and being awkward long enough to realize what we mean to each other? My earlier relief wears off and I'm still stuck with my aching heart that wants him to hold me again.

I reach the Athena cabin's door and head inside to my bed, my eyes closing as soon as my head hits the pillow.

I am standing. Standing on the canoe lake pier. Waiting. Waiting for someone. Everything seems hazy, which is strange considering demigods have pretty vivid dreams. Then I look down into the clear blue water and the haze clears a little. Percy is suddenly in the water below, flailing his arms around. Drowning? Could he be drowning? Why would Percy be drowning? He must be playing around. I stand there watching for a minute, my limbs falling numb. Some of the cold water splashes onto my bare feet and I slowly bend down toward him.

"Hold on, Seaweed Brain," my voice sounds foreign to me, but comes out strong and clear. "You're not getting away from me that easily."

I reach my hand out to help him up, and can't help but laugh. Percy was gasping for air, struggling against some hidden current and I was laughing. This must be a dream.

"You are such an idiot sometimes." I smile. Why am I smiling? "Come on. Take my hand."

The second our hands touch, searing, hot pain shoots through my back and all haziness vanishes, replaced with the sharpest clarity and dream could possibly have. Suddenly I see everything. Percy following Nico to the underworld just minutes after I leave his cabin. He goes to see Hades and gets thrown into the dungeon because of Nico. Nico taking him to the River Styx where he is now, currently drowning. What the heck is going on?

I lose my balance on the pier and splash head first into the acid water. The hidden current I couldn't see before, sweeps me off my feet and I struggle to keep my head above the water. It feels like thousands of cables are attached to my back and the thickest, longest one is latched onto the small of my back, just opposite my navel.

"Percy! Percy!" I scream his name as I am now gasping for air. But he is gone and I am alone in the River Styx with his memories. Things I don't want to see. Percy walking slowly into the river, then falling in, face first. Arms and legs thrashing around. Nico watching helplessly from the sidelines. And me-watching from a dream.

The current gets stronger and I go completely under. Everything goes black.

"AHHH! PERCY! PERCY NO!" I jerk awake with the taste of salty acid water in my mouth and the image of Percy slashing through Hades army.

"AhhhhhhhHHHHHHH!" The groan that escapes me is inhuman. All of a sudden the sharp blazing pain returns, and creeps its way down my back to the small of it. The invisible bungee cords wrap around my torso in a wicked tight grip.

All of the kids in the cabin run over to me asking what's wrong. I don't really know how to explain my dream when I don't exactly understand it myself. But something happened last night-something happened with Percy, and it most definitely had something to do with me. He had some serious explaining to do.

Brief Author's Explanation:

"Imagine one spot of your body that will remain vulnerable. This is the point where your soul will anchor your body the world. It will be your greatest weakness, but also your only hope. No man may be completely invulnerable. Lose sight of what keeps you mortal, and the River Styx will burn you to ashes. You will cease to exist." (Achillies pg 86 The Last Olympian)

Percy was to choose one thing that really kept him anchored to this world. One thing that he could focus on in times of peril. His greatest weakness, but only hope.

"...Suddenly there was a tug in my lower back. The current pulled at me, but it wasn't carrying me anymore. I imagined the string in my back keeping me tied to the shore.

"Hold on, Seaweed Brain." It was Annabeth's voice, much clearer now. "You're not getting away from me that easily."

The cord strengthened. […..] Memories came flooding back to me—sharper and more colorful. I stopped dissolving. My name was Percy Jackson. I reached up and took Annabeth's hand. "

Percy didn't think about his mom. He did think about his father, Posiden. He didn't think about his best friend, Grover. And he most certainly did not think about Rachel.

Percy Jackson thought about Annabeth. Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. The one thing that keeps him anchored to the mortal world.

True Percabeth believers need no explaination. But here is to those none believers.

Thank you for giving me your time,

iamAnnabethJackson

(aka Clove is a Ninja)