[A/N: Surprise! I want to make it up to you for making you wait last time, that's why I'm updating again. :D

PJOWisegirlandSeaweedBrain: You just have to wait how this story's going to turn out. Two more chapters and it's done. :D

schoolsucksass: I'm sorry for the jellybeans. As for Percy . . . just wait for it. :D

Juzko Disco: Oh, cool. And I've killed you twice? Man, I'm evil. :D

thggymnast998: And thank you for reading my story. Don't worry about long reviews. I love them! :D

ThreeBulletsAtTheDangerParad e: I do? Wow. That means a lot. Thank you. And I will try to listen to that band when I get the time, right now I'm focused on writing. And, okay, I'll PM you the URL for my Facebook address. :D

Mythomagic101: Yeah, everyone's been telling me I've been killing them with my chapters. I feel like a murderer. :D

readwritereview: I'll try and read that story. I'm guessing it's pretty awesome. And I'm happy you got your copies of the books. To tell you the truth, I got a hyper day also last Saturday, so I kind of had to use all my energy by walking in circles. (I slept dizzy, by the way.) :D

Love-Blue-Cupcakes: I changed that minor detail for this story. Thank you, by the way. :D

CimFan: Oh, wow. Didn't know I can do that. Thanks. And I also like what happened with Clarisse. I wanted to see how much she's changed since she started dating Chris which was why I brought her in here. And I'm glad you liked it. :D

Potterjay all the Way: Hey, don't do that. The story isn't done yet. :D

FoxyChick: What do you mean with the hair the other day? Do I know you personally? Are you messing with me? If so, please stop. I feel uncomfortable with your reviews and . . . whoa, what Percy and Annabeth did? I don't do that thing for fun. I'm don;t keep my head in my pants. If I'm going to do it, it's going to be with someone I love. And Gatorade? Seriously?

rhean: No. Drake's just my pen name.

I'm changing my picture. I don't want anymore weird reviews.

Anyway, two more chapters and this story will be finished. Tell me what you think about this chapter. Thank you. :D

Once again, I don't own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.


WISE GIRL'S SEAWEED BRAIN
Chapter 28: AS I LAY DYING

PERCY

I was inside a rectangular metal cell about half the size of my room. My back was against the wall and my right foot was chained. The chain was bolted on the floor. I leaned forward but quickly went back limply. Every part of my body hurts. It felt like my bones were crumbling to dust.

A movement from behind me made me turn. I waited in silence for someone to talk to me, to make their demands or tell me what they wanted from me. But instead of anger, the voice that spoke brought back pleasant memories. Fireworks at the beach, kissing underwater, holding hands at school. "Percy . . ." it said.

I knew who it was even when I couldn't see it. It was the voice that had become the symbol of hope and life for me. It was the voice whom I walked through the agony of River Styx for, the voice that gave me enough strength to survive the Titan war.

Annabeth.

"Hey," I said. "Still with me?"

I didn't know why I asked that, but I had enough brain cells to figure out that we were being held captive. Both of us.

"Yeah," she answered. Her voice was hoarse and raspy. I could hear her breathing. It was labored, like every breath hurt. "I'm okay."

"No you're not," I said. "I know you're not, Annabeth."

"I am, Seaweed Brain," she said. Even in the brink of death, she was still stubborn. "Because you're here. I can hear your voice. It's more than enough for me."

"Please don't say that," I said, my voice cracking. "Don't speak like I'm the best thing that has ever happened to you – "

"You are, Percy."

" – it's because of me why we're here, Annabeth," I insisted. "We're here because of what I did. And I'm so sorry."

"Don't be, Percy," Annabeth said. "You never did anything wrong. It was me. It was always me. I just never saw it. From the very beginning you were there for me." Annabeth took a deep breath and I could almost hear her lungs and heart struggling. I knew how each word was hurting her but I also knew that whenever Annabeth was talking, there's no stopping her. "When you met me I was a mess, Seaweed Brain. People don't see that. All they see was a strong, independent individual. They didn't know that I was dying inside, slowly and painfully. My family deserted me, I lost Thalia, then Luke. I swore I would never love again. And then . . . you came. You, of all people, see right through me. You saw who I really was – a broken girl, but unlike others who cringe at the sight of weakness, you stayed. You put me back into one piece even when you were hurting yourself in the process. I didn't see that before, but I do now."

Tears rolled down my cheeks. I wasn't used in crying. I was used in turning my expression into an undeterminable one because I knew how much people were looking up to me. To them, I was their leader. What they didn't know was how much I relied on Annabeth.

"You've hurt me, Percy," Annabeth told me. "First when I thought you died and were gone for two weeks, only to come back. Then with Rachel. During the war, I always live with the fear that you won't make it. I was again dying, along with all the Campers who were fighting. And then Samantha came. I have to admit, Seaweed Brain, the pain I felt because of you was worse than what I felt before. It was more intense."

I ducked my head and balled my hands into fists, leaning my forehead against them. The tears fell into my shirt, leaving it with dark, wet spots. "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, Annabeth. All I ever want is to love you."

"Don't apologize, Seaweed Brain," said Annabeth. "You may have hurt me but having you love me . . . it's worth all those pain." Annabeth paused and coughed. I wanted to be beside her and put my arms around her and tell her it's going to be okay, but for the moment, I was stuck. "You know why, Percy? Because I love you."

I held my hand against the cold metal wall, imagining Annabeth doing the same. For a moment, I could almost feel her hand at the other side of the structure separating us. Then reality set in. We were apart. And Annabeth was dying.

"I love you so much," I managed to croak out.

"Do you even know why I didn't come with Luke when he came to see me and asked me to go with him?" Annabeth asked. I knew what she was talking about. Annabeth had told me that before Luke took a bath in the River Styx, he came to visit her and asked for her help, but she didn't do anything for him. "I did it because of you. Luke promised that I would be safe. I wouldn't be hurt. I knew how uncertain my future is with the war coming but I wasn't even tempted to accept. And guess why. Because I knew I would be with you. I didn't choose the war, Percy. I picked you. I went to the war for you. And no matter what happens now, choosing you is the best choice I've ever made."

I couldn't stop crying. Right there, I didn't care about what people say about crying making someone less of a man because as far as I was concern, it wasn't true. The love of my life was dying. She was a only few feet away from me, all that separated us was a metal wall. And I couldn't do anything to help her. I'd never felt more helpless. I felt like my heart was slowly dying with her.

"Gods, it sucks that I can't see you right now," Annabeth said. Her voice was growing weaker each passing second.

"I'm smiling," I lied, my face streaked with tears. "Big, goofy grin with all my teeth showing."

Annabeth laughed weakly from the other side. "Me, too," she told me.

We both knew we were both lying, but we didn't say anything about it. We needed to be strong for each other.

Sounds from the outside made my head turn. The door of my cell opened and two masked buff dudes went inside and dragged me to the opposite side of the holding cell. They pinned me against the wall. The one in the middle groaned and moved sideways, revealing a very battered Annabeth. Her clothes were torn. There was a bloody wound on her shoulder. Her once shiny blonde hair was now almost gray. Her eyes that were always sparkling with power and life were now dulled to almost nothingness.

She smiled. "Percy . . . I missed you."

Two masked guys were holding her arms behind her. One more appeared, holding a whip and a knife on his hand. My eyes widened as understanding dawned in my brain. The man raised his whip and struck. The cry that escaped my lips couldn't rival against the whip hitting flesh and Annabeth's cry of pain.

The man raised the whip to strike again. "No!" I yelled. "Please, don't hurt her! Torture me instead. Just don't do anything to hurt her, please!"

He looked at me. "She knows you can stand physical pain. If we can't break you by hurting you, we'll do it by hurting the girl you love," he said. The weird thing was, the voice sounded familiar.

Annabeth looked at me. "Just close your eyes, Percy," she said, smiling. There was blood running down her lips. "You don't have to see this. You're going to be okay. Just remember that I love you. Hold on to that, Seaweed Brain. Never let that go." Another strike hit her and I fell to my knees, looking at her broken form helplessly.

The man tossed the bloody whip to the side and exchanged it for his knife. While he was doing this, I made my move. I stood up, and grabbed the mask of the guy holding me to my right and threw it to the one holding the knife. The mask was heavy enough and I had threw it with enough force that when it hit him in the forehead, he fell to the floor, groaning. His mask had been knocked off.

I head butted the guy to my right. Without his mask, my thick forehead made him serious damage. I ducked as I heard the one to my left lunging towards me. I drove my elbow to his side as I dodged, knocking the wind out of him. When he was down, I dove forward to where Annabeth was but doing so, I felt my left leg give up under my weight.

That's when I realized it was broken.

Only then did I notice the blood on my stomach. My shirt was torn and there was a deep wound visible underneath. My chest was also hurting badly, so was my head.

The two remaining guards sauntered to where I was and removed their mask. I blinked twice to believe what I was seeing.

They looked identical. Messy black hair, sea-green eyes and tanned skin.

They had my face.

I looked around and saw that the three guards I'd knocked out all looked like me. I didn't know what was happening.

"You're the one who's always hurting her," said the one to my right.

"From the very beginning you have done nothing but hurt the girl," said the one to my left.

They even had my voice.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"It would be better if you just stay here," said the first. "Where you can't hurt her anymore."

The second picked up the fallen knife and walked back to where Annabeth was. "No," I said, trying to stand up and failing miserably. All I could do was watch as he aimed the knife to Annabeth's heart. She looked me in the eyes and mouthed the words I love you while the other guard walked to where I was.

As the knife hit her, I felt a strong kick hitting my face.

And everything went black.

"Child," I heard a voice saying.

I sat upright, looking for Annabeth. She wasn't anywhere to be seen. Gods, no ,I thought, Please don't let her be dead. I looked around for any sign of her, but couldn't find any. Then I noticed I wasn't in my holding cell anymore.

I looked up to see a strange-looking woman. The right side of her body was pale while the left one was black. She was in a golden dress with matching golden shawl. I could see through her body and I immediately thought that she was some sort of a spirit. Then I realized that she looked vaguely familiar.

"Have we met?" I asked.

"Yes, child," she said. "The last time you were here, you were with two other half-bloods. A daughter of Zeus and a son of Hades."

Then I remembered. I met her first when I was here with Thalia and Nico, trying to catch Ethan Nakamura, a son of Nemesis, who stole Hades's sword. "Melinoe, goddess of ghosts," I said. A lump formed in my throat as everything came rushing back in. My fight with Annabeth, my trying to catch up to her. The black dog and then the car crash. "Does this mean I'm dead?" I asked. I also realized that what I saw were mere hallucinations. Annabeth was safe. She wasn't dying. It was me who was dead.

"Not yet," she said.

"Then why are you talking to me?" I asked.

She didn't look offended. "To give you a message."

"What message?"

"By this point, you must've guessed that someone is trying to kill you – "

"The story of my life," I interrupted.

" – but you must know that you haven't faced the greatest threat yet. The one whose magic is trying to eliminate you is by far the most powerful – "

"Naturally," I interfered again. "My enemies get more powerful." Melinoe glared at me. "Sorry," I apologized.

The goddess of ghosts recomposed herself. "As I was saying, your enemy now is ancient, older than the gods and even the Titans themselves, that also means that the power at play is greater and much more dangerous."

"And . . .?"

"It's powerful enough to even mess with the Fates," Melinoe said.

"What? Who can mess with those things?" I asked.

"I would not speak about them that way about them, child," Melinoe scolded. "If it was up to them, this isn't your time yet – "

"Great. Can I now please come back? I need to make things right with Annabeth," I said.

"Weren't you listening?" Melinoe asked in annoyance. "An ancient power is blocking you. It has severed your connection to your mortal body, which is why you cannot return. Which is why you're stuck in here."

"Like forever?" I asked, shocked.

Melinoe nodded. "Unless you fight, or someone powerful interferes."

"Oh, perfect," I murmured. "So now I just have to find my way back on my own?"

"No," said Melinoe. "Someone will provide you the way."

"Who is this someone?"

"The same one trying to kill you."

I frowned. "Dang, that's confusing," I complained. "So you're telling me that the one who wants me dead will also provide me the way if I want to live again?"

Melinoe nodded approvingly. "That's exactly what I'm saying to you."

"That you for that crystal clear message," I grumbled.

"You would be of use to her either way. Dead or alive, she would be able to use you for her own gain," Melinoe informed me.

"She?" I asked. "The enemy's a she?"

"Yes," Melinoe answered, "unless you're from a different part of the universe where you use she to refer to men."

"Hilarious," I said.

"The thing, child, is that if you choose to live again, your must know that the life ahead of you is filled with tragedy, losses, and sacrifices. The path ahead of you will make the Titan war look like a child's play." Melinoe looked at me. "Now make your choice, Perseus Jackson. Live or die."

I was about to open my mouth to ask questions as she wasn't making any sense but she suddenly stiffened. "What is it?" I asked.

Melinoe looked at me like she was trying to decide what color of flowers would be used in my funeral. "Someone has already made your choice for you," she said.


ANNABETH

I didn't know who caught me when I fell.

All I could remember was crying. The person holding me was also sobbing. I looked up to see the face of Samantha looking at me. I tried to push her away but she held my arm firmly. "Please, listen to me," she pleaded.

"No," I said stubbornly. "I won't. I know lies will come out of your mouth if I listen."

"For Percy, please," Samantha said.

"Don't talk about him like that. You have no right!" I yelled at her.

"Annabeth, listen to her, please," Paul said, holding a crying Sally. Nico was standing at the side looking uncomfortable.

I looked back at Samantha. I wanted to throttle her and feed her to Thalia's wolves but I couldn't because I knew that it wasn't her fault alone.

"Nothing happened between us, Annabeth," she said in a quiet voice.

I stared at her. "What?" I asked.

Then she told me. With every word she said, my heart dropped lower and my blood grew colder. How was I so fast in judging Percy? Why didn't I just listen to him when he was trying to explain? All of these could have been avoided!

"Oh, gods," I sobbed. "It's because of me. Percy's dying because of me."

I felt Samantha hugging me again and this time, I hugged her back, drawing strength from the girl who loved Percy as much as I did. "Don't say that," she whispered. "You didn't know what was going to happen."

"If I just listened to him, he wouldn't be here."

Samantha was about to reply when someone called my name. I looked up to see Clarisse, Chris, Katie, Travis and Connor, Drew, Will, Jake and Grover running to where we were. As soon as I saw Grover, I broke down again. He hugged me and rubbed my back.

"How's he?" he asked.

"He's dying, Grover," I said between sobs. "It's my entire fault."

"That's not true," Samantha said.

Clarisse stepped forward. "So you're the Samantha girl. You're lucky I'm in no mood to smash some face right now, otherwise . . ."

"It wasn't her, Clarisse," I told her. "It was Amber."

"It doesn't matter," I said. I broke away from Grover and took Will's arm. He winced. "Can you do anything to heal him? Please Will, say you can."

Will shook his head sadly. "All I can treat are minor wounds. This is beyond my abilities. I'm sorry, Annabeth."

I looked around helplessly, asking. Jake held up his hands. "Don't look at me; Percy's not a machine."

"He's not a plant," said Katie.

"What about ambrosia and nectar?" asked Drew. I was too much of a mess to even scold her for letting Samantha hear her speak.

"No," said Nico. Everyone looked at him. "The amount of ambrosia and nectar required to fully heal Percy will be too much for his body. It will only burn him up. And he will die if we try. Right now, there's nothing we can do. Unless . . ." he trailed off.

"Unless what?" I asked. Nico looked uncertain. I must've looked desperate for he told me. When he was done, I asked, "Do you think they'll help?"

"I doubt that," he said. "You know they don't interfere with our lives."

"But we have to try, right?" I asked. "If this is Percy's only hope, we have to try."

Nobody answered. Then Thalia stepped forward and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Of course we will."

"You have to go now if you are to save Percy," said Chris.

"He's right," said Nico. "Percy's life force is too weak. It's either the Fates are cutting his life or someone powerful is blocking him."

I nodded, not even bothering to ask who was powerful enough to block someone's spirit from a son of the Underworld. "I just need to see him first," I said.

"I'll come with you," said Grover.

I took his hand and we went inside Percy's room. We didn't have to worry about anyone seeing us as there was no one around except our group.

As soon as I saw Percy, my breath got caught in my throat. He looked terrible. There bruises on his face. His head was bandaged. His left leg was on a cast. His tan skin that was always glowing with health was now pale. An oxygen mask was on his mouth and nose.

I kneeled beside his bed and took his wounded hand. "Percy . . ." I whispered. There were tears threatening to escape my eyes but I forced them back. Percy needed me to be strong, now of all times. "Hang on in there, okay? I'm not giving up on you so please don't give up. Fight, Percy. For me. And for everyone loving you." I kissed his hand. "You're going to be okay," I said, pressing his palm to my lips. "Just remember that I love you. Hold on to that, Seaweed Brain. Never let that go."

I kissed his forehead. "Promise you'll be here when I get back. Please be here when I get back. I need you in my life." I kissed his closed eyelids. "I love you so, so much, Percy." One last kiss on his forehead. "I need to go now."

I turned and went out of the room. I didn't trust myself enough to stay in there longer than I needed to. I might end up not leaving.

When we were back in the corridor, I saw a familiar face. A face that provoked anger and resentment inside me. Before I knew it, I was rushing forward to her. Samantha tried to block me but I pushed her aside.

Amber opened her mouth to speak but I pushed her against the wall and pressed my forearm against her throat firmly, cutting off her air. "You female dog," I hissed. "If you come anywhere near Percy again, I swear to all the gods, I will kill you." Then I pushed her to the floor. I fell on her butt, catching her breath and looking up at me in horror.

"Um, Annabeth isn't serious, right?" I heard Samantha asking behind me.

Nobody answered. "Leave. Now," I said, "before I rip your head off."

Thalia shook her head and offered a hand to Amber. I glared at her but she just looked at me blankly. Amber took her hand, only to fall back on the floor again, massaging her hand. Some of the hair on her head was standing up and she looked like she was being electrocuted.

Of course, that's what Thalia did. I smiled despite of myself. "Now girly," said Thalia. "Stay away from my cousin or that's not going to be the only pain you'll feel."

Amber looked like she was trying hard not to cry. She stood up and scrambled to where the exit was, only to fall on her face, thanks to her high heels.

I shook my head and looked at Nico. "Come on," I said. "We need to go now."


[Next - Chapter 29: OPEN UP YOUR EYES]