Annabeth

Classes on monday mornings weren't usually that awful; except the night before, Annabeth had woken up repeatedly after having nightmares about losing Percy. She had barely slept at all.

She stumbled into her first class (which was at 7 in the morning-who holds a class that early on a monday?) and sat down heavily. Her professor eyed her warily, perhaps thinking she had partied too much last night and was going to throw up everywhere. Annabeth gave her a weak smile. She nodded and turned back to her desk as other students came in and sat down.

"Today, as you all know class, begins your last formal assessment of the year," she said. Annabeth sat bolt upright. She had completely forgotten that today was the start of finals week-oh gods, she hadn't studied at all! She grabbed her notebook and textbook and began frantically flipping through both, scanning both texts in a sort of last minute scramble for knowledge. She doubted that with everything going on, though, that she would be able to remember any of it for the test.

She groaned and put her head in her hands, blocking out the teacher's words. She shouldn't even have come to class today. She should have called a sick day. But Annabeth knew that she never could have backed out of class; it's not something she would do. It wasn't in her nature.

Even if it meant failing her final.

The test was brutal; Annabeth couldn't focus or recall any of the lessons she had learned, and she could tell the teacher was watching her. Annabeth had always been a star student, and more than anything she was upset that her teacher probably thought she was hungover.

When the end of class finally arrived, Annabeth practically threw her test at the professor and hurried out of the room before the teacher could comment on her performance.

Her next class was a Greek Literature studies class that she had taken just for fun this semester, as a way of giving herself a break from the tough curriculum. Plus, it was always interesting to hear the viewpoints of mortals on Greek myths. Many discussions revolved around, "Why was this myth created? What meaning does it have?"

Annabeth found it quite amusing sometimes, a little bit insulting other times.

She decided to skip class.

It took a tremendous amount of effort to not walk through the classroom door and sit down anyway, but Annabeth just turned and went back to her dorm.

Students all over campus were studying, noses crammed in books, notecards everywhere. Annabeth breezed by all of them and only thought of her bed, a nap, just a few seconds to relax and wind down. She just wanted to sleep peacefully.

She reached her room and was about to crash on her bed when she saw the girl standing in the corner.

Annabeth covered her mouth so she wouldn't scream and notify the whole dormitory of the intruder. After a panicked moment, she realized it was Thalia Grace.

"Oh my gods, Thalia!" Annabeth said, rushing over and hugging her. "I didn't… what are you doing here? In my room?" Thalia sat down heavily in a chair.

"I've been having these weird dreams," she said. "And I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to upset the other hunters, so I told them I had a hunt to do alone and left them to come find you." She took a breath. "It's about Percy."

Annabeth stumbled back and sat on her bed. "I've been having dreams about him too," she said. "I guess we both just miss him."

"No, it's more than that," Thalia insisted, following Annabeth over to the bed. "It's like…" She hesitated. "It's like he's still alive and trying to talk to us. Or something. I don't know." She sighed and sat down. "I know it's dumb to have hope, because it'll just get crushed anyways, but I can't shake this feeling that he's trying to talk to us, somehow."

Annabeth closed her eyes. "I used to think he would come back. I used to be so hopeful, so sure of it, and it made it ten times worse when I realized the truth, Thalia. I trust you and your instincts, but I just don't see how it's possible. I can't let myself believe in something that I'm still trying to give up on."

There was silence between the two as they sat on the bed.

"I just wanna get some sleep," Annabeth said, eyes still closed. "You're welcome to stay, though."

She heard rustling and felt movement as Thalia stood up. "Thanks, Annabeth, but I have the hunters to think of. If you- no, when you change your mind about the dreams and what they mean, just send me an IM. And don't forget to have a little faith."

Annabeth kept her eyes closed and mouth shut, because she didn't want to say or do anything she would regret. She heard the sound of the window sliding open and shut, and then silence.

Nico

The son of Hades couldn't sleep in his cabin at Camp Half-Blood. He kept thinking of Jason, and how it was unfair for Nico to have just left him. He'd been in camp for a few days now, so Jason had definitely noticed his absence. Nico sighed and buried his head in his pillow.

He stared up at the dark ceiling and wished to be anywhere else. Of course, that was the problem with Nico; he never knew where he wanted to be. He'd travelled the world and seen so many places, but he never stayed in one place too long. Neither of the camps felt like home, but he didn't know where else to go. He just wanted to be somewhere.

Or with someone.

He couldn't help thinking that it should have been him that fell, not Percy. Of course, he had never been as brave as Percy, but Nico was a child of the Underworld. He stood a better chance of surviving. Why had he let Percy go through with that stupid plan anyway?

There was a quiet tapping on his door.

Nico sat up slowly, listening for other sounds. Maybe he had imagined it.

The tapping came again, more like a knock.

Nico slowly went to the door. It couldn't be a monster, because they couldn't get in the camp. So who was it? Hazel, maybe?

He opened the door to see two bright blue eyes staring at him above a smile that he had forgotten how much he loved.

"Jason?" he asked, shocked. Before he could say anything else, the other demigod was inside the cabin and giving Nico a kiss.

"I had to come," he said breathlessly, sounding like he had run all the way from California. "For you, but also because of this dream I had. It was so… intense, it had to be real. So vivid. I knew I had to follow you here. Is that why you came, too?"

Nico was incredibly confused. "I came here with Hazel because she wanted to visit," he said. "What dream are you talking about?"

"The one from Percy!" Jason said, his voice hushed but excited. "In my dream, he came to me and said I had to help him. So I came here. This is his home, after all."

"A dream," Nico said slowly. "From… Percy. How would he come to you in a dream?" Jason shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I just know that I have to help him, and I want you with me. And I want to save him, because he saved all of us. We owe him that much."

For a minute, Nico was sure that he himself was dreaming. Jason, here at Camp Half-Blood, telling Nico that Percy was still alive and needed saving?

He almost went back to his bed and laid down again.

"Jason... you probably just had a bad dream, a nightmare. A normal one. That happens to demigods, you know. We can have normal dream, just like mortals. We can miss our lost friends, just like mortals."

Jason shook his head fervently and grabbed Nico by the shoulders. "I know it was real, and it was him. And we have to help him." He turned and headed back out the door, turning to face Nico in the entryway.

"I'll do it with or without you, Nico, but I want you by my side. Please."

Nico didn't say anything.

"If you change your mind, I'm sure you'll be able to find me," Jason said, sounding somewhat bitter. "I care about him, Nico, and I know you do too. I just don't know why you're so afraid to admit it."