Chapter 6

Annabeth

I rubbed my eyes and laid down on the deck of the ship. Only 5 and ½ hours to go until we made it around Florida and I might as well get a tan. For some reason it felt like my stomach was tied in knots and my head was pounding.
Piper called it something like 'nerves'. I mean sure, I'd been nervous before (like around spiders and stuff) but never like this. This was insane, gut-wrenching pain. Being seasick was adding to it, probably. Percy always did laugh at me for getting seasick. He couldn't picture a better way to spend the day then on a boat or in a canoe or swimming. Pretty much anything to do with water. I couldn't get far enough away from the stuff.

I slammed my hand against my face and shielded my eyes from the sun. I couldn't get Percy off my mind, and Drew was not helping. She'd made up a fun little song that she liked to sing repeatedly. I'm pretty sure she'd sung it almost 400 times in the last few hours.

We're off to rescue Percy Percy Percy!

We're off to rescue Percy

He's lost his memory!

He's lost his memory!

He's lost his memory!

We're off to rescue Percy cause he's lost his memory!

Whoo!

Repeat x400

You see? Horrible right? I was beginning to agree with Piper when she said that Drew was seriously evil. The moment I'd even mentioned to her I was worried that Percy wouldn't remember me she came up with that lovely thing to torture me with. Uggh! It echoed in the back of my brain like a broken record.

Meanwhile, Jason was sitting up in the crows' nest with Piper, but I couldn't help but think they weren't doing much looking at all. Half the time they couldn't take their eyes off each other. In fact, I'm pretty sure they talked nonstop up until the point I suggested they go take first watch.

Percy always used to take first watch so I could sleep. Yah, I know, crazy right? But I'm that far gone where I can say, "Oh yah? Well my boyfriend takes first watch! Burn." Except not like that. That would sound stupid to any normal mortal. If I told that to Thalia or even Drew though, I would bet ten bucks they would think it was adorable. Well, Thalia thinks our whole relationship is adorable anyway so you can't really judge it off her.

Enough reminiscing! I pulled myself up and stood next to the Captain's wheel, running my fingers over each bump. No one really had to drive the ship because, thanks to the Hephaestus cabin, it was motorized and had locked in coordinates, but it was fun to pretend you were doing something while no one else was doing anything.

Then I felt the wind change and smelled the saltiness of deep sea. Deep sea? What? I looked around and my breath caught in my throat. The water was a brilliant acid green. Oh my god! This could not be happening. Ahead I could see the twin cliffs. No… there was no mistaking it now. I screamed until I went hoarse and Leo ran out on deck, his head mussed up from sleep. Drew was right behind him and Jason and Piper climbed down from the Crow's Nest.

"Annabeth?" Leo yelled, grabbing my arm, "What's wrong?"

"Has anyone noticed where we are?"
"What?" Leo looked around him, "We're sailing around Florida?"
But Drew seen what I had and she sucked in a breath.

"Annabeth? But how?"
"I should have seen it before!" I kneaded my eyes with my palms, "Florida is the edge of the Bermuda triangle. And the Bermuda triangle is…"
Drew looked like she was about to cry, "The Sea of Monsters."
"The what?"
"Full throttle backwards, immediately please Leo. We're going back."
"Annabeth! We can't! We've covered so much ground already." Piper cried, "Why can't we keep going?"
"I said full backwards. I'm not going through it again."
I sat down on the steps next to the Captain's wheel while Leo went down to work the controls. Then, very slowly, I saw him walk back up the steps again.

"Um… Annabeth?"
"What now?"
"Something just shut us down. The whole ship's lost power and all our data is lost. Right now, we're being propelled by the wind."
I stared at him for several seconds, "I can't do this anymore."

"Look… I know Annabeth, but I think we should…"
"Shut up!" I screamed, "Shut up, shut up, shut up! Everyday it's always Annabeth this, Annabeth that. Annabeth will you give her a tour? Annabeth will you come for a meeting? Annabeth will you translate this for us? Well, I'm done helping. I want a normal life that normal people have. You guys can deal with this yourself. I'm going below deck."

And with that I ran down the stairs. I loved the hull of the ship. It was beautiful down there and so well equipped. The bunks were hollowed out pieces of the wall with bedspreads and portholes. I added the portholes of course. Nice touch, right?

I honestly was starting to consider Joanna's proposition of dating a mortal once Percy forgot about me. Living life like this was becoming impossible. And what about college? What about a job and a family? I'd known from the beginning that life as a demigod wasn't going to be easy, but I thought that after my childhood was over it would get better. I guess that was a pretty stupid assumption for a daughter of Athena though, because I was almost eighteen and involved in the next great prophecy. Who knew when it would be fulfilled?

Immersed in my thoughts I didn't even hear Leo yelling my name until he thundered below deck.

"Annabeth?"

"I told you to leave me alone."
I thought he would have learned his lesson not to mess with me after the scene in Bunker 9, but I was obviously wrong. Again. Did I mention, I hate being wrong?

"I know, but it's just…"

"Spit it out, Leo!"

"Drew said you're the only one who knows how to get past the cliffs."

I stared at him, an eyebrow raised, "Drew told you that?"
"Yah."
I flipped the covers off and scowled, "Well, I'm not certain, but I can try."
When I made my way out on deck I was surprised by the temperature. It had dropped several degrees in a few minutes and the lack of the typical mist made me anxious.

Drew was staring up at the black cliffs as we maintained a steady pace towards them. The water below them was strangely calm.

"Annabeth… it doesn't look as if they're there."
I shook my head, "They have to be."

We made our way slowly closer.

"Thirty seconds till in range," Leo shouted from the crow's nest.

Leo had been the only one that Drew and I had told about the cliffs and Jason and Piper were still staring at us like we were crazy.

"In range of what?" Piper yelled, bewildered.

"Annabeth, dude, wait a second… why can't we just sail around them?"
I stared at him repulsed, "One, I am not dude, and two, the cliffs will move in front of us. We'll have to sail through them. No matter where we turn, they'll be there."

Leo shrugged, "'Kay, twenty seconds till in range."

"In range of what?" Piper yelled, melodramatic as ever.

Drew rolled her eyes, "God! Why do you have to be such an idiot, McClean?"
"Drew!" I warned.
She rolled her eyes, but stopped talking.
Meanwhile I was shivering. The last time I'd been here, well, it hadn't been too pleasant. There'd definitely been a lot of undead casualties and two very unhappy monsters. This time we weren't even armed with a canister of wind. Not that Hermes would've given me another one if I asked. I'm pretty sure he still hated me.

"Five seconds till in range!" Leo yelled, "Annabeth, what now?"

I was standing frozen. What was I supposed to do? If Percy were there he'd make some impulsive decision that would probably save our lives, but Percy was gone along with his impulsiveness, and right now it was just Annabeth, the girl who wasn't supposed to be out of camp, and needed a moment to think. I was starting to think Chiron was right when he told me not to go. In fact, he definitely was.

Lost in thought, I barely heard Leo scream, frantically, "We're too close to the rocks. Jason… turn it! Go go go go go! Annabeth, move!"
But I was too slow and the railing I was holding on to slammed into the black rocks, catapulted me into the air, and threw me down into the acid green water. I sunk into the darkness of my brain.

Well, I guess you won't be eaten now, someone said, scaring me out of hibernation. He sounded bored.

"Of course I'll be eaten," I frowned. I didn't even think to ask who he was. "I fell below Scylla's cliffs and you know what that means."

Scylla wasn't there. She was recruited for the army.

"The army?"
Haha! You didn't know? The boy laughed, Well, wrong again I'm afraid, huh, Annabeth? But, if it makes you feel any better, you still will die!

"That doesn't make me feel any better."
Oops. He laughed again, You still searching for me Wise Girl?

"I died, remember? And I don't know who you are. So what about an army?"

Oh, poop, I forgot you were dead.

He wouldn't answer my question. Stupid kid. He thought for a moment, How about we forget you're dead and you keep searching for me? That sound good to you?
"I don't even know who you are!"

All of a sudden my vision went clear and I was sitting next to a boy on a bench. His eyes were a vivid green and his hair was a perfect black.

"Percy!" I screamed, but he covered my mouth with his hand.

"Shhh, I'm trying to keep a low profile."

I nodded. "Percy, I've been searching for you everywhere."

"I know," he put his arms around me, "I've missed you."
"Me too."

But all of a sudden he wasn't looking my direction. He was looking off into the woods behind us. He stood up, the bench vanished and I fell to the ground. In front of him, two pretty girls came running out of the woods. Darkness had fallen, and a full moon was out, illuminating their figures.

"Have you guys found anything?" he asked, he looked worried.
"No," said the blonde-haired gray-eyed girl, "But twenty rumors of a potential attack on camp couldn't all be wrong… could they?"
"I heard," and Percy lowered his voice to whisper in her ear, "That it was Greeks."
"Well…" the girl on the right stifled a laugh behind her hand, "We know that ones not true."
"Gwen, come on!" the blonde girl said, "It could be."
"Uggh! I hope they don't pay you to be a daughter of Athena. The Greeks were annihilated years ago. Their civilization never lived."
"Oh," Percy looked down at the ground, "Well, let's just keep looking."
Gwen shrugged and they followed Percy back into the woods.

The next thing I knew someone was dabbing my forehead with a wet cloth. I opened my eyes to Piper. She looked anxious.

"Annabeth?"

I sucked in a breath and started to cry. Life sucks.

A/N

To stop confusion: The part where Annabeth talks to Percy is when she's dreaming.

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