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Dream Annabeth wiped a tear from her eye. "Thalia died in battle trying to save us. As you know, she then got turned into a tree and used as an accessory, taken for granted for years to come."

Percy looked back at Thalia's dead, steaming body. He couldn't believe how brave she was at such as young age, but what he also couldn't believe was that this was all a result of Annabeth refusing to kill Thalia.

Dream Annabeth continued. "I found out that Arachne had contacted all three Furies and sent them to us. She sent the hellhounds as well. We didn't stand a chance of all of us surviving, especially since I had broken the oath. Thalia had surprised everybody with how much power she had inside of her, and she beat them at the cost of her own life. Her death broke me."

Percy listened as he watched rainbow-colored magic swirl around Thalia. A tree grew out of the ground and roots covered Thalia. Her face turned brown and green as she sunk partly into the ground and into the tree. Thalia's tree.

Dream Annabeth said, "And it was at that moment that I realized I could never truly escape Arachne. She was right when she had told me that if I said no to her, something worse would happen. All Thalia wanted was a safe place where she could cultivate her powers and escape the harmful figures in her past. Camp Half-Blood represented that for her, and she was probably the most determined out of all of us to make it there."

Percy thought about how Thalia's life would've been different if she had made it through Camp borders. He thought of her in an orange shirt, alone in the Zeus cabin, playing Capture the Flag, scaling the lava wall, meeting Percy in a much more normal setting, maybe dating Luke…he saw that vision and thought that it was no wonder Thalia was so driven to get there.

Dream Annabeth knelt next to Thalia's steaming body. "However, when the dust cleared, Thalia died alone on Half-Blood Hill, not allowed to make it to the demigod safe haven with the guy she loved."

The scene shifted to Camp Half-Blood, in the Athena cabin. Sunlight poured through the windows and refracted rainbow light through the room. Young Annabeth must have already been claimed by her mother since she was in the Athena cabin. Dream Annabeth looked at Malcolm sleeping in the bed next to her. "When I got to Camp Half-Blood, Athena claimed me almost immediately. It was almost like she was apologizing for not saving me from Arachne's torment all those months. I was torn; I wanted to escape this torture, but the more I learned about Greek mythology, the more I learned how dark this world can be. However, even behind Camp's borders, I knew that Arachne was still watching. Still waiting for me to refuse her so I can suffer more. This resulted into an intense fear of anything even resembling spiders. You know that I have problems with anything that even looks like them."

Percy thought back to the Lotus Hotel and Casino when he had to shake Annabeth out of a Sims game trance (to be fair, he agreed that the game is addicting) by saying the word, 'spider.' Percy didn't know the full history behind it at the time, but it had brought Annabeth out of her trance immediately. He nodded and Dream Annabeth bit her lip and nodded. "That's me. The champion of Arachne. She even gave me a few new powers; enhanced strength, senses, and the ability to create portals to different places. But those powers only worked as long as I was doing her will. And I told myself that I would never use them. But they came in handy when I had to lift the sky or when had matched sword strokes with Kronos."

Percy looked at her, but decided that she didn't look any different. She was still the same Annabeth, but with so much…pain. But he had so many more questions. Did Arachne tell her to kidnap Cyrene? For what purpose? Instead, Percy asked, "Wait, how involved has Arachne been in all of our adventures? And is she listening right now if she communicates through dreams mostly?"

Dream Annabeth shook her head. "Usually, I feel her presence, almost like a spider crawling on my neck that I can't kill. But since this dream is provided by Iris," The rainbow light in the cabin glowed brighter. "I am free for the first time in years."

Percy wished he could keep her here forever so she wouldn't continue to be tormented by the literal personification of her worst fear. Dream Annabeth looked to the wooden ceiling and took a deep breath. "Arachne was there. The whole time. Every single one of our adventures was shadowed by her."

Percy felt like someone had stabbed him in the heart. "What…"

She looked straight at him. "I put together what happens if I say no to Arachne. And so at her request, no, command, I gave Luke the scorpion that he used to try and kill you. Arachne had told me what Luke was going to use it for. I didn't have the strength to try and stop it, especially since I didn't know you that well and I passed by Thalia every single day."

Percy backed up from her. The rainbow light shifted colors. "You tried to kill me."

Dream Annabeth kept her gaze as if she was challenging Percy to get angry. "I knew that if I refused, events would occur that resulted in both you and Luke dying, or something worse. But you survived…and I was glad. I was not penalized simply because I had done what Arachne told me to do. She never told me to kill you, she told me to give Luke the scorpion. It probably resulted in him thinking I was going to be on Kronos' side during the war, which is why he tried so hard to get me to join."

"When you and Tyson were in the gym playing dodgeball that next year," Dream Annabeth continued. The scene changed to Percy's middle school gym. "Arachne told me sneak poison into Luke's room; she enjoyed having Luke do her dirty work because it kept me out in the clear. She wanted to divert attention from myself, so I could continue being her sleeper agent unnoticed. Once I snuck the poison into Luke's room, she told me to go to the Labyrinth and release the Colchis Bulls. Once I had done that, she told me to go to your school. All of this transpired before I met up with you, so when we got to Camp, the tree was poisoned and the bulls were raging. Luke confessing that he had poisoned it fell in line with right what Arachne wanted. I was under orders to keep you in the dark, so I did what I could to try to maintain my image as your best friend. I helped her lure Grover to Polyphemus, where we rescued him years ago. I'm not sure why she had me do things that I would end up stopping, but she said that she was on a higher level of cognition that I could never get on."

Percy couldn't believe this. She…almost killed Grover. She gave Luke the scorpion? She gave Luke the poison? She released the Bulls onto Camp? Campers died that day, trying to fight the burning hot monsters. It seemed like she was manipulating everyone. "Annabeth…that's not you. You're a fighter. You don't give up even if the situation seems hopeless."

Dream Annabeth continued breaking his heart. "One day, she told me to do something I didn't believe I could do. Arachne told me to kill Luke. He was getting too unstable, too proud, and he was getting too close to me. I had a gun in my pants that day on the Princess Andromeda. I had a shot when you two were fighting, to just shoot him in the head or neck. But I couldn't. I watched as he almost took your life and injured your leg."

Percy looked at Younger Annabeth on the ship. "How…how could you do this?"

Dream Annabeth shook her head. "At that point, I knew that me refusing to kill him was me breaking the oath once more. Arachne called me a fool in my dreams, and told me I'd pay for that. She continued to torment me every single time I went to sleep. It was nothing out of the ordinary though, so I dared to hope that I was off the hook with the River Styx. But then she turned her attention onto you."

The scene shifted to them fighting the manticore. "Arachne noticed that you had survived all the attempts to kill you that she and others had tried. She wanted to see how dedicated you were to me, so she told me to fall off the cliff at Nico and Bianca's school."

Percy saw her tumble off the cliff with the manticore and heard his scream. Dream Annabeth looked on stoically. "Your screams broke my heart. I fell and fell. The manticore was heavier than me, so he fell a lot further and a lot faster. Me? I fell into a huge web, cornered by Arachne. She told me that I was going to be used as bait…for you. She sent me to release the Nemean Lion. I used a piece of the dress shirt I tore off you while we were dancing to give the Lion your scent. It hunted you down, but you killed it, which surprised Arachne even more. She then sent me straight to Luke, who I still held out as possibly someone who could destroy Arachne. He could maybe even use Kronos to do so. But once you took the sky for me, she saw you with a newfound interest, the same interest she saw in Luke; the potential to be manipulated."

Percy did feel pretty manipulated; he literally had gone to hell and back for her.

Dream Annabeth furiously wiped tears from her eyes. "Ah, damn it. I hoped I wouldn't have to explain this to you, ever. I prayed that she would be killed and I would be free. I just wanted to be free. The worst part about all of it was that I loved Camp Half-Blood. I loved everybody there, and I wanted to save Luke and stop Kronos like everyone else there. What was weird was that for the most part, she allowed me to do so. It was just a few things here and there that she would tell me to do in that rasping voice of hers, and I felt like I had no choice. If I didn't do it, something worse would happen. And the logical side of me would not have tolerated me refusing something due to blind emotion."

The scene shifted to them by Zeus' Fist, watching a younger Percy and a younger Annabeth facing three huge scorpions. Percy looked miserably at Annabeth. "These scorpions were you as well?"

Dream Annabeth made a face. "No, those were created by Arachne to push us towards the Labyrinth. Both Arachne and I wanted to stop Luke from invading the camp, which was the scariest thing. I even thought that she maybe had some disgusting little children out there that she wanted to train at Camp Half-Blood. Regardless of the reason, I hated it when her and I's interests lined up with one another; it made me feel like a reflection of her. When you had spotted the Labyrinth entrance, you jumped in and I hesitated; I had been in the Labyrinth before to bring out the Colchis Bulls. It was a scary and dangerous place, and has been known to break people's psyches. But I jumped in after you to save you so you wouldn't lose your sanity. And then, our quest took us down in the Labyrinth together."

The scene shifted to them hiding by from the telkhines of Hephaestus' forges. Percy saw himself tell a younger Annabeth to report back to Hephaestus. They both watched Younger Annabeth kiss him by the forges, then put on her hat and disappear. Percy kept his eyes on his younger self, stunned and caught off guard. "Arachne tell you to do that too?"

Dream Annabeth pursed her lips. "No, that wasn't part of the plan. However, instead of going off to Hephaestus, Arachne told me to meet with her. She told me to gain your trust and keep you alive because you could prove to be an interesting pawn. It wasn't hard for me to do so, because…well, I cared about you."

Percy had trouble believing that.

The scene changed to Olympus, with Percy standing over Luke with a knife in his hand. Percy watched intently as his old self gave Luke the knife; the choice that the prophecy had led to. Dream Annabeth looked at her younger self on the ground when a flash of golden light erupted; Luke and Kronos was dead.

"At this point, I realized the consequence of me refusing to kill Luke. I violated the oath on the River Styx. As a result, instead of him dying painlessly by a bullet, he had gotten taken over by Kronos, engineered unspeakable crimes, then committed suicide. It was all my fault…again. Once you made your big choice, Arachne uncharacteristically allowed me to have some peace. She didn't even appear in my dreams anymore when you and I started dating. I was happy…but I should've known that it wasn't going to last."

The scene shifted to the Athena cabin at Camp Half-Blood, with Younger Annabeth sleeping. She sat up in her bed, with wild eyes and screaming. Her siblings stirred, but Younger Annabeth took off out the door and towards the beach. The scene shifted so they were next to Younger Annabeth. She screamed at the waves and fell to her knees, sobbing.

Dream Annabeth looked on. "Arachne had told me to kill you."

Percy's entire body froze. He turned towards Dream Annabeth stiffly. "What?"

Dream Annabeth nodded. "She thought you were getting too powerful, and getting too close to finding out the truth about me. She saw that I cared about you too, but told me to do the same thing she had told the other two people I truly cared about…she told me to kill you. I was distraught."

Percy turned to Younger Annabeth screaming and pounding the ground; she looked possessed. After about twenty minutes of her doing that, she had curled into a ball, shaking on the beach. She pulled out a picture of Luke and Thalia and whispered, "I'm sorry, Percy." She pulled out her knife and began to walk.

Percy looked at Dream Annabeth and he felt like he was being choked. "You were going to kill me."

Dream Annabeth nodded. "Emotions don't work the same for me as they do for other people. Even though I cared for you, I felt like I had to do it…it was the logical choice lest something even worse happen to you or someone else."

They watched on as Younger Annabeth skulked towards the Poseidon cabin. Even though Percy was right there watching, he felt like he was watching the scene of his own murder. The scene shifted to inside the cabin, and they saw Younger Annabeth tear open the door to see…no one there. Percy put two and two together. "This was when Hera took me."

Dream Annabeth watched herself tear up the bed and the room searching for her boyfriend. "Another time when Arachne and I's desires happened to line up; she told me to find you at all costs. I wanted to find you at all costs, partly because I was worried about you, partly because I needed to kill you to prevent something worse happening. The whole thing with Jason, Piper, and Leo happened, and Arachne was relatively quiet. She just continuously told me to find you; you were her priority. I summoned her in my dream the night before I arrived at Camp Jupiter and told her that Gaea was rising. Just as I planned, Gaea was as much of a threat to Arachne as she was to us. She rescinded her previous order for me to kill you and told me to do whatever was necessary to defeat Gaea and restore balance. And when I found you…"

The scene shifted to Percy and a younger Annabeth hugging and kissing on the Camp Jupiter grounds as Reyna and others looked on.

"Thanks," Percy said sarcastically. He had a hard time thanking someone that he loved who was just as ready to kiss him as they were to kill him.

The scene shifted to them on Camp Half-Blood's beach. Dream Annabeth sat down on the sand and watched the waves as Percy continued to stand. "…I was overcome with happiness. I didn't have to kill you and I was reunited with the one person who made me feel like I was free. On my way to retrieve the Athena Parthenos, I realized that the statue was kept in Arachne's chamber. She was my final obstacle in retrieving the Athena Parthenos. It scared me because I hadn't seen Arachne in person since she murdered and ate my sister. However, I was following the Mark of Athena, and my mother had sent me on this quest. I figured that she would watch over me as I forged into Arachne's lair."

Dream Annabeth nodded as she went on. "When I saw her that day; my breath had caught in my throat. She had woven tapestries that were the most beautiful I'd ever seen, and one of them depicted our first underwater kiss. It was at that point I realized that she had been watching me the whole time. I had a chance then; a chance to beat the force that had been tormenting me for the majority of my life. When Arachne came into view, she told me she knew I'd come. She was bigger and even more disgusting than how she had appeared in my bedroom years ago. She had made up her mind that she was going to kill me that day. I was getting too unpredictable, and powerful, especially with the Mark of Athena. She reminded me that Athena casts aside even her own daughter. I realized that I couldn't fight her, so I tricked her into making these huge monster-sized Chinese spider cuffs. She had never ordered me to not to fight or trick her. I used her pride to trick her into cuffing herself, trapping her. I was ecstatic. I thought I had beaten her and escaped her influence."

Percy knew how this story ended. He couldn't believe Annabeth's tormenter was right there and he didn't know. He finished the story. "And you taunted her, which prompted her to bring down the chamber, opening a pit to Tartarus which you and I fell in."

Dream Annabeth sighed, keeping her eyes on the waves. "Yeah, but I realized in Tartarus that it was her plan. She knew I wouldn't just be able to walk away. She knew I had to taunt her, displaying my fatal flaw. She used my pride to try to destroy me with one last gesture. And yeah, we all fell into Tartarus."

Percy shuddered at the thought of it. "I remember she was sneaking up on you and almost killed you down there; you froze up. I had to save you, but what happened?"

Dream Annabeth cracked her dream neck. "I was frozen because I smelled a familiar scent."

Percy nodded. "Yeah, the smell Arachne gives off before she kills her victims."

Dream Annabeth shook her head. "No, the smell of my stepmother."

The beach seemed to turn upside down. Percy was having a hard time processing this; this was a lot of information, and now he didn't know what this meant. Dream Annabeth looked at him for a second, then back to the sea. "It was the same sweet smell that my stepmother had. At that point, I put together that my stepmother was the personification of Arachne."

Percy had to sit down. He remembered back when he had visited Annabeth's home, looking for help, and her stepmother asked Percy to tell Annabeth that she always had a home with them. That seemed to be pretty cool at the time, but now it was cold, hostile, and manipulative. He has had more encounters with Arachne than he realized.

Dream Annabeth materialized pictures of Matthew and Bobby. "I realized that my brothers and Jessica may be the children of Arachne. Or that Arachne had killed the real woman who attracted my father and took her place. I'm not sure."

Percy couldn't believe Dream Annabeth had just cracked a joke, but saw on her face that she was deadly serious. Percy thought about Cyrene. "Well, what is going on now, then? What's going on with Cyrene?"

Dream Annabeth evaporated the pictures of Matthew and Bobby and materialized Cyrene in her arms. She handed Dream Cyrene to Percy, who took her gingerly. She smelled just like Cinnamon rolls. Tears came down Percy's eyes as Dream Cyrene smiled at him. He sniffed. "Hi, Cy."

Dream Cyrene thrashed her arms and legs, got tired after a few seconds, yawned, then went to sleep. Dream Annabeth watched the two of them and gave a tearful smile, started to cry, then stopped herself. "She's still in Tartarus, but she's also still in my head. She's been there ever since my childhood. Every time I went to sleep, it was like she came back to life. She was angry that I had escaped Tartarus and she was still there. Since she never ordered me to not kill her or to not leave Tartarus, I was off the hook with the River Styx. But she would whisper and tell me numerous different ways of how I was going to die and how many ways you were going to die. She wanted you to pay for attacking her in Tartarus. When your mother had given birth, Arachne had a terrible idea. She was going to ask for your soul, but in that horrible, raspy voice, she told me, 'Bring me the newborn girl. She will be my tether to the world of the living.'"

The wind grew cold. The sky seemed darker and Percy felt like he had ingested a vial of Gorgon Blood. He couldn't see any rainbow anywhere anymore; it's like the color had been drained out of everything. He looked down at Cyrene, who slowly evaporated into the wind. "That's why…you…you were…"

Dream Annabeth's tears had dried into two lines of dust on her face. "I said no, at first. She told me that I would be violating my oath and I told her I didn't care. I was not going to be the one responsible for your sister's death. She told me she expected me to say no; every time she tells me to take someone's life, I always break my oath on the River Styx and say no. I just took whatever consequences occurred. However, she had planned for this. She had another threat, one that was much more direct. She still has control over spiders in this world, even in Tartarus. She told me that she has shrunken Funnel-web spiders in Matthew and Bobby's bodies. Funnel web spiders are special arachnids with deadly venom. If I didn't bring Cyrene to the Asopio Pool in Hades, which is a sacrificial pool that is connected straight to Tartarus, she would will the spiders to bite my brothers' hearts. It would instantly kill them since it would have been injected straight into the organ. She's using them to control my actions, just like the old days. She swore on the River Styx that if I brought Cyrene to the Asopio Pool and brought her back to life, she would release all control over my family and she would dissolve my bond with her. She was forcing me to make a choice between my family and yours. My thirteen-year old brothers…or your newborn sister."

Percy felt the Wolf come up again. "No…you won't," He growled.

Dream Annabeth met Percy's stare. "I'm doing this for my family too. I contacted Sadie to put some Egyptian spells on the hat and the bracelets. I left the note to distract you and to take you away from suspecting me. I killed Iris and Fleecy to stop you from seeing what I was going to do; I wanted to do this covertly. I wanted to cover all my bases. I kidnapped Nico because he is my entrance to the Asopio Pool."

Percy bared his teeth. "You need to let Nico and Cyrene go, now."

Dream Annabeth continued. "I had gone to the Parthenon in Tennessee partly because I wanted to and partly because I planned for you to have a precognitive dream that showed you where I was. I expected you to fly from California to Tennessee via pegasus, and I was going to gone by the time you got there. I sent Leo the notification of the Greek fire ahead of time so he could evacuate Camp. Once Camp was evacuated, I blew it up and brought the monsters in to delay you. You could never walk away from Camp Half-Blood for something personal, even if it was an emergency. I was going to keep creating big distractions for you so I could complete my mission undisturbed. You were never going to know until it was too late. But I didn't plan for those teleportation rings, nor did I plan for you to kill my Flame Panther that Arachne gave me. You almost caught up to me. You kept getting in my way and we kept running into each other, and I had to improvise. But I want you to know one thing: I am going to sacrifice Cyrene to bring Arachne back. She will then leave my family alone forever. It's the death of one to save two. It's the logical choice."

Percy uncapped Riptide. "Stop thinking about what's the logical choice and think about what's the RIGHT choice. Annabeth, you can't. You wouldn't."

Dream Annabeth stood. "What's the 'right' choice is subjective. All ideas of right and wrong are purely philosophical. I thought out of all people, you would understand my decision the best. You suffer from excessive personal loyalty, Percy. You would give up the WORLD to save a friend. Put yourself in my shoes, Percy. To save Cyrene, would you kill Matthew?"

The waves were now crashing onto the beach, the water residue rushing over Dream Annabeth and Percy's ankles. The wind picked up, blowing so violently that they had to yell to hear each other. Percy shook his head, he couldn't believe this is happening. He couldn't even think clearly. "I wouldn't…I wouldn't kill anybody," Percy lied.

Percy knew which option he would've picked, and it scared him to his core. But he figured that Annabeth didn't need to hear him agree with her decision. Instead, he decided to tell her what he wished he would be able to do in the situation. "I would find a way to save both of them, or die trying."

Dream Annabeth got in his face like they were at the tetherball court again. She yelled, "BUT EVEN IF YOU DIE TRYING, YOUR FAMILY STILL DIES."

Percy was at a loss for words. Dream Annabeth was seething, staring into his face. Her voice was softer now, more broken. "I can't afford to die. It's my family, Percy."

Percy stared her down. She composed her breathing. "I'm not going to let Matthew and Bobby miss out on their lives. Just as you would be willing to do anything to save Cyrene, I'm willing to do anything to save my brothers. During my life, I threw away logic whenever Arachne would tell me to kill someone. I went with my emotions, and someone else paid for it. But my family was never brought into this. Until now. I will not throw away logic now."

Percy shook his head, tears in his eyes. "Did you ever love me?"

Dream Annabeth clenched her jaw. "Yes."

Percy almost wished she would've said no. It would've made this easier. "Don't do this."

Dream Annabeth backed up from him. "I will. It's for my family, Percy."

Percy watched her back up. He felt her slipping through his fingers. "Do you remember the question I asked you years ago. I asked you, 'Will things line up the way they did with the Trojan War? Will it be Athena vs. Poseidon?' Do you remember that?

Dream Annabeth kept her eyes on him as she kept backing up. "I do. I know I told you that I would fight next to you. Because you were my friend."

Percy felt like running after her. Annabeth had done so much for him, but was just a victim of an age-old grudge between Athena and Arachne. The old Annabeth was still in there somewhere. The Annabeth he knew, who would come up with a strategy worthy of the gods, had to be there somewhere. He put his hand out to her; one last offer. "Then fight next to me. We can stop Arachne and save your family. Together. Like Athena and Poseidon did with the chariot."

Dream Annabeth looked at his hand for a few seconds, then put her chin up and shook her head. "I can't."

Percy put his hand down. He had expected it. "I will stop you."

Dream Annabeth turned from him so her back was facing him. "I hope you do, Percy. I hope you do your thing and find some way to fix it all. If you have an opportunity to save my family and Cyrene, but it means killing me, will you do it?"

Percy felt the Wolf stir. "I will do whatever I need to do to save my sister."

Dream Annabeth turned slightly so Percy could see a fraction of her face. "There's my Percy."

She turned and jogged away. Percy watched her run away. Questions swirled through his head. The Annabeth he knew seemed to not be in there anymore. She claimed that none of the feelings she had were made up, she had acquired them as she was following Arachne's orders to follow him. But did she really love him if she was ready to kill him, and has tried multiple times? Juniper and Calypso would have said no. Piper was right though, that there was more going on than meets the eye. Conversely, Annabeth held a view closer to Jason, though, that Percy needed to be ready to kill her if necessary. But Grover was right; Annabeth wasn't a monster that was just going to burst into dust.

Was she guilty for her actions? Should she be held accountable if she had sworn an oath on the Styx when she was younger? Should she just continue to break the oath and watch the people around her suffer? Should she just let her brothers die? And then possibly her father? And then possibly her cousin? But then if she's not accountable, then was every single bad thing she did in Arachne's name not her fault?

He walked into the water. Was Annabeth a good person? Leo said that he'd never met a bad person who spoke Morse Code, but Annabeth's actions pointed to her being manipulative and slightly murderous. But her other actions showed that she does have a heroic side. Does it really matter what's on the inside, or do actions truly speak louder?

Whatever the answers were, she planned on killing his sister to save her brothers. He needed to stop her, whatever it takes.

Percy winked and some water from the beach surrounded him in a cyclone. The water turned into mist and bubbles, and brought Percy back into the sky with Iris. His last Iris-Message was over.