Annabeth

Annabeth flopped down on her bed in her college dorm, exhausted from her trip, both emotionally and physically. She wanted to finish her reading assigned to her, but she was so tired, she just couldn't. Without even meaning to, Annabeth closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, shoes still on, bag in hand.

Her dreams were, of course, mostly nightmares and hardly normal. All demigod dreams just had to be different, didn't they?

It started out in her college dorm. She was walking down the hallway to her design class when there was a commotion in the cafeteria. Looking in, she saw no one in there. Not a soul.

Except for the lone young man sitting at a table on the other side of the room, looking out the window. Annabeth crossed over quickly to him. "What's going on?" she started to ask, but he turned his head and she gasped, tripping backwards.

It was Percy.

"You have to help me," he pleaded. "Please. You have to save me. How could you let me die?" Annabeth tried to move, tried to speak, but she was frozen. She couldn't do anything.

"Thanks for the help," Percy said, his voice sounding sarcastic, and evil, and not like Percy at all. Then the floor opened up beneath Annabeth and she fell, fell for days. Like Tartarus all over again.

When she landed, she didn't so much as hit the ground as much as just appear on the ground. The landscape was barren, hot wind blew. It was dark and smelled awful. Annabeth knew exactly where she was.

There was a groan nearby. Annabeth ran toward the sound, not thinking.

Percy lay on the ground next to the River of Fire, eyes closed, unmoving. "No!" Annabeth cried, running towards him. Just as she reached him, his eyes opened. They were his usual startling green, shining like beacons in this hopeless wasteland.

"You have to help me," he choked out. "I can't do it. I can't. Help me." The river suddenly rushed up towards them, a wall of lava approaching fast. Annabeth screamed and shut her eyes, reaching for Percy, but when nothing happened and she opened them, she was alone on the beach at camp.

She turned in a circle, looking around. The moon was high and full overhead, the waves lapping softly at the sand, a stillness in the air like a calm before the storm.

"Hello?" Annabeth called timidly. No one answered her.

She wandered down the beach, looking for anyone, but she was completely alone. She started to turn to go back to camp when a splash sounded from the water.

Turning quickly, Annabeth saw someone walking out of the waves, but perfectly dry even though they had been in water. She gasped and started running toward him, but he didn't appear any closer. No matter how hard she ran, he was still just a figure standing in the surf, no closer, no farther. She could see a sword in his hand at his side, glowing softly in the night. She knew it was him.

Pumping her legs faster and faster, Annabeth finally reached him. But just as his face came into view, she stopped and half screamed. She was so out of breath from running, she could hardly do anything.

His eyes were pure gold.

"Don't be stupid," he said in a voice that was not his, before swinging the sword towards her head in a deadly arc.

Annabeth woke up with a start, tears in her eyes and a scream in her throat, but she stopped herself.

It was just a dream. Just a dumb, meaningless dream, she told herself. But she couldn't shake the feeling it had left her with.

"Deep breaths," she told herself, trying to calm down. She grabbed a random book from her shelf and started reading it, but her mind was somewhere else. It did help to calm her down, though.

"Think logically about this," she whispered to herself. It was a good thing her roommate wasn't here. "Calm down. It was just a dream. A nightmare. It's okay." She took a few more deep breaths and tried not to cry, thinking of Percy.

Annabeth leaned back on her bed, Gods, she missed him. More than anything. What wouldn't she give to have him here right now?

All she had was an empty dorm and homework awaiting her. She got out her notebook instead, though, and began to sketch. She drew buildings schematics that she dreamed of towering in New York someday, or San Francisco, or some other big city. She would build monuments to last ages, and in the future, she would be remembered for her architecture, her beautiful work.

Setting goals like that, thinking about the future, it helped Annabeth to focus and think more clearly.

With visions of towers and skyscrapers, Annabeth slowly fell back into a mercifully dreamless sleep.