CHAPTER 3: ANNABETH

I'll regenerate one day! Keto's voice surrounded Annabeth. But with the last of my strength I will make sure that you, Annabeth Chase, will not.

The water was cold, impossibly cold. It was a shock to Annabeth's system, a punch to her gut. She held her breath, trying to move, but the current held her in it's grip, tossing her around. Panic flared up inside her. It didn't help that the water was so dark she honestly couldn't tell the difference between having her eyes open or closed.

Annabeth felt frustrated and helpless. Finally, she couldn't take it any longer. She had to take a breath - her lungs were about to explode. As icy water entered her body, Annabeth felt herself choking and losing consciousness...

Her last thoughts were of Grover and the other demigod… The one with the sea green eyes…

~x~

In her dreams, Annabeth was back in her cabin at Camp Half-Blood. It was empty, of both people and furniture. Except for a single basin in the middle of the room.

Annabeth walked towards it, her footsteps muffled. The basin was filled with water; Annabeth's own reflection stared back at her. Her blonde hair, her grey eyes, her lightly tanned skin. But as she watched, her reflection changed, altering in subtle ways. Then she blinked and suddenly in the water she saw Athena, her mother, in place of her own reflection.

Startled, Annabeth turned around. There was no one behind her. Annabeth glanced back at the water of the basin. Athena's face was serene, as it usually was. However her eyes were hard, unforgiving. Annabeth gulped, a sense of foreboding building up inside her.

"Annabeth." Athena's voice sounded in Annabeth's head. "I suggest you abandon this quest."

Now, Annabeth didn't know what she'd been expecting her mom to say, but she was hoping for something more along the lines of how are you dear? Haven't seen you in a while - would you like me to use my powers so you don't end up drowning and dying? "Um, what?"

"Abandon. This. Quest." Athena spoke curtly. Then, for a moment, her expression softened. "I… I think you've stumbled on something… unprecedented."

Annabeth pursed her lips. It wasn't unusual for her mother to offer her advice, but this felt different. Annabeth suspected that something was off about Athena's behaviour, but she couldn't put her finger on what. It would be best to tread carefully. "Why are you a reflection? Why aren't you here in my dream more substantially?" Personally, Annabeth was getting a little tired of water. Still, she made sure her tone was polite.

Athena narrowed her eyes, but her tone was kinder than before. "Annabeth, I'm trying to stay wise. I need to distance myself. I know war has many consequences, so I'm trying to give you some advice before I'm… that is to say, if I'm…" Athena shook her head.

Okay, now Annabeth was certain; something definitely was wrong. Her mom was never so confused or hesitant. Athena was meant to be composed and confident, not scattered like she was now.

"That demigod. Percy Jackson. Stay away from him. What you'll learn from him could alter me and… already I'm fighting the urge to…" Athena's image flickered and for a moment Annabeth saw a wilder, crazy eyed version of her mom. Lost, Annabeth thought, her heart sinking. She looks lost. What's going on? Then Athena's normal image returned. "Sometimes… saying goodbye to a friend is better than…" Athena's image glitched. Annabeth missed out on the rest of Athena's sentence.

"What?" Annabeth asked. She grabbed the side of the basin with her hands. "I can't hear you!"

"-as you might have, so I know you'll be partial to him. But fight it! Stay away from the boy. It's worth saying goodbye to a friend for. Do this for me. For your camp." Athena glared at Annabeth. "Understood?" But she didn't wait for an answer. Athena's image dissolved.

Water flooded out the basin, flowing into the cabin. Annabeth tried to run but she couldn't find the exit anymore. She flailed and kicked as the room filled with water and she drowned… When she closed her eyes, she saw Camp Half Blood burning.

~x~

"Oof," Annabeth heard a grunt. "Stop it! Stop it - you're safe. I've got you."

Annabeth was still kicking and flailing. She was hitting something fleshy and warm; skin. There was an iron hold around her arms and waist. Someone was holding her. She quickly opened her eyes, getting ready to kick out again. Sea green eyes were glaring at her. But the expression on his face was concerned. "Geez, hold still already. Relax."

To her own surprise, Annabeth listened. The panic slowly flowed out of her. She was no longer underwater. They were floating in a sea.

She took a deep breath. Air, invigorating air. She couldn't gulp it down fast enough. She closed her eyes and just focused on breathing again. She focused on the fact that she was now out of immediate danger. Slowly, her muscles went slack. Annabeth relaxed and let him be responsible for holding her afloat. Which he did with surprising ease.

"Percy... Jackson?" The name from her dream was still fresh in her mind. Her voice was a croak. (That's not embarrassing at all, oh noooo...)

He nodded. "Heard of me, huh? I'd ask how, but maybe now's not the time." He was bruised and bleeding from cuts on his face. Annabeth noted his left bicep still looked red and sore; she felt a twinge of guilt. The guy must've been in a lot of pain, but his eyes were still bright. "Are you okay now?" Again, just like in the aquarium, he seemed to be searching her face for something. It unnerved Annabeth.

Was she okay? Her throat felt torn apart. Her body was aching and sore. "Um," She coughed, "I… I was drowning? And now I'm not. What…?"

Percy frowned. "Yeah, Keto used her dying strength to send a bunch of Shrimpzilla's after us."

"Send what?"

"Never mind." He shook his head. "Look, I got the water out of your lungs. I seriously thought that you were going to… well, um, you made it! You're alive. That's what matters."

Alarm bells rang in Annabeth's head. She had almost died! There had been shrimpzilla things surrounding them (whatever those were)! And how the heck had Percy removed water from her lungs? "You mean CPR? Mouth to mouth? In the middle of the ocean?" She was impressed (though of course she didn't let it show); that was some serious first aid skill. She didn't realize how it sounded until the words were already out of her mouth.

Percy grinned this wide grin. Annabeth decided it was annoying. "You wish. Nah, I can control water."

"Huh. Even body fluids?"

He shrugged uncomfortably. "Look, I'm going to try get us to that island over there. If you feel your energy coming back, try to kick and help me. Just to clarify, no more kicking at me though. I'm pretty much dead on my feet right now." He gestured to the west, were a small landmass was close by.

Percy might say he was dead on his feet, but Annabeth still sensed a lot of energy in his tone and movements. She narrowed her eyes. Either Percy was lying about just being a demigod or he was one super powerful demigod…

Annabeth nodded. "Let's go." She clung to the guy and tried paddling (it was totally awkward and she felt ridiculous doing it.) He controlled the water and eventually they washed up on the island.

~x~

The island seemed deserted and was really quite tiny. Annabeth guessed you'd be able to walk around it's perimeter in about two hours. She and Percy dragged themselves further ashore and lay down.

Annabeth sighed. The sun was nice and warm on her skin. She looked to her left, where Percy was sprawled. She noticed his clothes were completely drenched. His wet hair was dripping. After a few minutes, when she'd regained some energy, she spoke. "You can control the sea but your clothes still get wet?" She raised an eyebrow.

Percy glanced at himself. "I have to concentrate to keep my clothes dry." On land, he looked more exhausted. He shook his hair, kinda like a dog; water went flying in Annabeth's face. She scowled. "Oh. Sorry," he grinned that annoying grin in apology.

Annabeth stared at him. She started listing things. Purple shirt. Black hair. Green eyes (her favourite type of green too, but that's beside the point). A strong aura. Smells like the sea. But the biggest thing that stuck out about him was that, disturbingly, every time she looked at him she felt a strong urge to attack. Annabeth frowned. Never before had she felt this way around a demigod that genuinely appeared to be on her side.

Athena had warned her about this guy. Her instincts told her to be careful too. But then again… He'd saved her. She wondered if she'd have done the same for him. She remembered raising her dagger in the aquarium tunnel and suddenly felt ashamed.

"What?" Percy sounded a little flustered. Annabeth realized she was staring. She pointed at his left arm.

"I'm sorry about that." She paused, and met his gaze. "Thank you for what you did… back there."

"Oh, hey, don't worry about it," Percy shrugged. "Normally water heals my cuts, so it should be fine soon."

"Yeah, but you also saved me. And I'm thanking you for that too-"

"Yeah, and I'm trying to say you don't need to." Percy was smiling, but his eyes were serious. "It's what we do. We're demigods. It's us-" he pointed at her, them himself, "-against them, right?"

Us against them. Annabeth tilted her head. She couldn't figure this guy out. Did he not sense that she was an enemy (the way she felt about him)? Was she the only one struggling with this uneasy feeling?

Instead of answering him, she dug in her backpack, which was soggy but still on her back. "Tell me what happened."

"A hell of a lot. Keto somehow used magic to banish us to this weird sea; we're actually quite a long way away from Atlanta now, by the way. Then you were drowning. She seemed really angry at you. Probably because you held her down and made sure she died. At least," his eyebrows knit together, "I think it was you. Can you…"

"Turn invisible?" Annabeth showed him her baseball cap that she'd stuffed back in her bag. "Yeah, it's a gift from my mom."

He didn't speak for a moment. Then - "Your mom's a goddess?"

"Yes."

"This gift… She didn't give it to you in person?"

"Um, yeah."

Percy blinked. He seemed to have trouble comprehending her words. "You've met your mom?"

There was a silence and she could see thoughts whirring behind his eyes. He definitely wasn't from Camp Half Blood, Annabeth decided. Nor had he ever been part of Camp Half Blood. She studied him again and noticed a tattoo on his forearm; the letters SPQR, a trident and lines… "Yeah," she said gently. "Haven't you? Met your godly parent, that is..." His expression, a mixture of surprise, confusion, hurt and a little bit of hope, told her the answer. She'd seen that expression before, far too many times.

She suddenly felt a surge of pity for Percy and looked away. He'd probably see it in her eyes and wouldn't appreciate it. Being a demigod… it actually did mean something to interact with your godly parent, try as hard as you might to pretend it didn't. It was tough being a demigod (understatement of the century) and Annabeth tried to imagine how much harder it would be without ever really talking to your godly parent.

"Anyway," Percy's voice was a bit more subdued. "You were drowning, so I grabbed you. Then the shrimp monsters surrounded us and I honestly thought we were dead. I was trying to hold them off but they secreted this poison… it stopped the water from energising me." He shook his head. "Then, these merpeople came. Apparently they were undersea heroes… they'd heard about me saving the sea creatures in Atlanta. I guess maybe the water nymphs told them. They distracted the monsters so we could escape."

"Where's Grover?"

Percy's shoulders slumped. "I don't know. Back at Atlanta?"

Annabeth frowned. Grover had made it out of the tunnel. Now that he wasn't captured, she hoped he'd done the sensible thing and gone back to camp. She was worried out of her mind about the satyr, had been for days. Well, be logical, she reminded herself. First get off this island. Then find out where Grover ended up. Which would likely and hopefully be at Camp Half Blood.

Annabeth took a deep breath. This next part would be more difficult. "So, you were on your own quest?" Annabeth asked carefully. "What's that badge on your shirt mean?"

Percy glanced down. "Oh, this? It means I'm a Centurion, a…" He stilled. They locked eyes. Annabeth knew what he was thinking. She was thinking the same thing: Can I trust him/her? They weren't facing a sea monster, they were facing each other now. There was no immediate danger. Did they trust each other enough to be more than friends-in-life-or-death-situations?

Annabeth straightened up. Her mom had warned her to not trust Percy Jackson.

She removed her dagger from her bag. She was a child of Athena; meaning she was smart. She followed reasonable advice.

Percy was either too slow or too exhausted to respond, but his eyes widened. The biggest strength Annabeth had was being logical.

Annabeth threw the dagger with force. Percy didn't even flinch as it buried hilt deep… in the sand, five feet away from them.

Percy whistled. "Quite a gesture. So, no weapons?"

"No weapons. We just talk."

He removed a pen from his pocket. He uncapped it; it turned into a sword. He chucked the sword into the sea. "Okay. Let's chat."

Annabeth looked surprised. "You didn't need to-"

"Don't worry. It'll turn up in my pocket again." Percy gave her a lopsided smile. "In a while, anyway."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So, I'm Annabeth Chase."

He held out his hand; they shook. "Percy Jackson."

Annabeth resisted the urge to say I know. "I'm from a camp called Camp Half Blood. It's a place where demigods go to train and learn to fight. Obviously, you must know about the Greek gods and goddesses. We just fought one."

Percy looked startled that she was giving up all this information so easily. But Annabeth knew someone would have to take a chance and show some faith. Percy had helped save her and Grover in the aquarium. In hindsight, he had probably been the one to release Grover. He had saved her again just now. Logically, he'd done nothing to deserve her mistrust, so she shoved the feeling inside her that screamed die enemy! away. She chose, in that moment, to trust the seaweed brain. And just like that, the uneasiness in her, the idea that she was not safe here with him, disappeared.

"Our camp heard that Grover was captured when he went looking for some missing water nymphs," Annabeth continued. "He was concerned about the sea creatures-he's big on nature. He's my friend, so I went looking for him. I brought two friends with me, but we decided it would be best if I scouted out the aquarium first, seeing as I can turn invisible. I wasn't supposed to actually act, but I was scouting out the tunnels when I saw you and Grover. And, well… here we are." Silence settled on them.

Percy's eyes grew stormy, like the sea, although he nodded and smiled. "Um, my story is a bit more complicated." He fidgeted. "I think we should get off this island first. I don't think we can risk staying here too long before some sort of monster finds us. Then," he took a deep breath. "Then I'll fill you in." He sounded like he was trying to convince himself.

Annabeth nodded. She'd put some trust in Percy and she wouldn't doubt her decision. Not yet, anyway. "Fine. I actually know a way we can get off this island."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

It was then that the weirdest thought popped in Annabeth's head: gods, he's cute. His expression, his slight smirk, his hair blowing in the wind… It was weirdly sweet.

She mentally shook herself. "Yeah. Can you help me make a rainbow?"

~x~

It didn't take them long to form a rainbow and Annabeth quickly chucked in a golden drachma. "Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow, please accept my offering." She and Percy were both standing now.

Percy scoffed, which he then disguised as a cough. Annabeth glared at him. "I'm sorry," he held his hands up, "but what is the goddess of rainbows going to-"

He stopped talking as an image appeared. It was of a boy who was pale and grinning widely. He had black hair that was a little curly. His eyes were dark and amused, as they always seemed to be. He wore a black tank and dark beach shorts. He was only sixteen, but he already had some decent muscle. He was lounging on a grey chair, sunglasses propped up on his head.

Annabeth was shocked. "Are you sunbathing?!"

The boy jumped up and looked sheepish when he saw Annabeth. "Hey." He ruffled his hair nervously. "No, I'm not sunbathing. I have a tank on, okay? I'm simply relaxing. I was sunbathing about half an hour ago." He rushed on after catching Annabeth's expression. "Look, it was so sunny and you know how I've always wanted a tan! I'm really way too pale; genetics huh?"

"Genetics? I'm here trying to find Grover and you're worried about your skin tone?"

"Err, can I just say I am so confused," Percy put in.

"Percy," Annabeth sighed. "This is Nico. Nico Di Angelo. Nico, Percy. Nico is usually really helpful," Annabeth added to Percy.

Nico looked Percy up and down. It was an appraising look. He met his eyes last. "I'd shake your hand but… " He shrugged and smiled a crooked grin. "Are you from Camp Half Blood? I really hope so."

"Oh, no," Percy answered amiably. "I've actually got a complicated story…"

Nico laughed, "So what else is new? I've yet to meet a demigod who doesn't." Nico looked thoughtful. "Well, maybe Bianca doesn't. Our dad isn't too popular, but other than that she's got it pretty good." Annabeth decided not to bring up the whole, but-weren't-you-both-taken-away-from-your-time point. If that didn't make someone's story complicated, Annabeth wasn't sure what did.

"Where is Bianca?" Annabeth asked. She was the third member of the Let's-Get-Grover expedition.

"She went to buy some supplies from a hunting store. She's getting some more arrows and stuff." Nico frowned. He was a pretty happy (and also wild) guy, but Annabeth knew he really hated it that Bianca loved bows… She was amazing with one and the Hunters of Artemis had noted. For a number of years, they'd kept their eye on her.

"Well, Nico, could you and Bianca shadow travel? Follow my energy and find us?" Annabeth asked. "I'm not too sure where we actually are."

"Sure, I'll call her after this. But where to after that? Did you find Grover?" Nico kept glancing admiringly at Percy. Annabeth noted that Percy was oblivious to this.

"No, but I think he should be safe. I guess we'll have to re-group. Go back to New York and ask Rachel. Or hopefully find Grover there waiting for us."

"New York?" Percy clutched Annabeth's arm. His eyes lit up. "I'm coming with, right?"

"Well, sure. I mean, you did say you'd explain your side of the story… But, there might not be anywhere for you to stay." Annabeth spoke uncomfortably. She needed to hear his story before she invited him to camp. She shot Nico a look to play along. He completely ignored her.

"What d'ya mean Annabeth? He can stay at camp with us!" Nico spread his hands. His silver skull ring glinted. "So it's settled. I'll be there in a few. Might take a while to track your energy." He paused and looked serious for a moment. He stared at Percy weirdly, then shook his head. "Nah, must be some monsters or something…"

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"Oh, nothing. There's a little trace of the Underworld on you both. Well, Percy in particular." Percy started looking pretty much everywhere but at Annabeth or Nico. "You guys must have been fighting monsters or something."

"Yeah, we were." Percy looked down. "Oh hey, is that sand?"

Traces of the Underworld? Annabeth was pretty sure regular monster fighting didn't result in that, but she decided not to push it. Still, she wondered about Percy Jackson and how he'd survived so long without Camp Half Blood. Who was this guy?

Nico laughed and waved his hand. "Be there in five." The message disappeared.

Annabeth and Percy stood awkwardly in silence. Four minutes passed… No Nico yet.

"Look," Percy said, finally meeting her gaze again. "I understand there's a lot we don't know about each other." He smiled, a little wistfully. "I don't need to stay at your camp. There's, err... some place I can go." He was still smiling, so was she imagining the little hint of sadness in his tone?

"Let's take it one step at a time. First, um, New York. A cafe. Lots of food. A change of clothes." She collapsed on the sand again and stretched. "Checking in on Grover. And of course hearing your story."

A laugh escaped Percy. "And what was that you were saying about taking it one step at a time…?"

She shoved his shoulder, as he sat down too. "Shut up." But she said it teasingly.

They sat together, staring at the blue sea, both of them churning over the other person. Well, Annabeth thought, my mother better not smite me for not keeping my distance from this guy.

Hi! ; ) Okay, I just wanted say another few things.

1. This chapter was the longest so far. But hopefully you enjoyed it. *fingers crossed*

2. Um, that wasn't a cliff hanger ending right? Right?! Honestly, i tried my best!

3. I just really wanted to write a happy Nico. But will he stay happy? *cue dramatic music*

4. Changed the title back. ; P thought of an idea where there is a stolen hero, of sorts.

Anyway, thanks for reading and cheers! : D