Hey guys!

Here's the next chapter! I hope you like it (it's kinda long…)!

Enjoy

This is becoming depressing, you know."

I peered over my shoulder to see Lyra swimming up beside me. She plopped down beside me and we watched the peaceful ocean kingdom.

Schools of fish swan past us; Lyra giggled as a few nibbled at her toes. Some nyaids waved at me from a clump of seaweed, but I didn't have the heart to wave back. Usually I was mesmerized by the ocean, teeming with life. The beautiful colours of the seabed rocks were usually much more enthralling.

Today everything looked grey.

"She's going to be alright, you know." Lyra smiled sympathetically up at me.

Lyra was small for her age and usually looked about nine or ten, despite her being twelve. She'd also missed out a lot of her childhood due to this Greek stuff, so it was only fair if she got to act like a kid sometimes.

Yet, it was times like this when I saw she was really much older then she made out to be. There was that knowing glint in her eyes, the one that made you feel small. And all the pain and suffering she'd ever seen reflected onto her heart shaped face. It was times like this when I wondered if maybe she should have been the big sister.

"Everyone keeps saying that." I muttered sulkily, staring at a group of hippocampi twisting in the water.

She smiled.

"That's because you won't believe us."

I sighed. Even though I knew she was right, it still annoyed me.

"You need to get out more." She sighed, leaning into me. "You should come to camp, at least for the rest of the week. Everyone misses you..." She trailed off.

I didn't reply for a moment, instead I kept gazing out into the depths of the ocean. I watched a school of tiny grey fish slither about happily in the water. How peaceful it would be to be a fish? No immortality. No cars. No almost brain dead friends. Just water.

Deep in the vain little corner of my mind, I secretly wished I'd been made a God of something a little more important then 'minor god of the sea'. I mean, sure I loved the sea but, well, it would have been nice to have been made something a little more important.

"Don't go joining Kronos' side will you?"

Alarmed, I turned to glare at Lyra. An evil grin was spread across her face.

Crap, we were in water. She knew what I was thinking. Oh gods, I'd probably sounded really big headed. I was immortal, for crying out loud! Some people would give an arm and a leg for that kind of privilege!

"You did." Lyra smiled, answering my thoughts, "But it's okay, I forgive you."

I snickered.

It was strange. She could always tell exactly what I was thinking, yet I could only hear what she wanted me to know. Eh, my head's full of kelp.

"You're right on that one. It is." She said matter of factly.

I gaped at her.

"I hate you." I muttered.

She snickered.

"But you know, if you want to help Annabeth get better, it might help if you stopped avoiding her."

I gave her a look that said 'Eh? What you talkin' 'bout sista?'

"Things happen for a reason. This isn't just an insane freak accident. This is the fates giving you another chance!"

I rolled my eyes at her. Only Lyra would be insane enough to suggest that theory.

"Don't you go all moody and psychic on me. That's Rachel's job."

It was her turn to roll your eyes at me.

"Don't be stupid." She glared at me.

"You seem to make out that that isn't possible for me. According to you I'm always stupid."

"Stop interrupting!" She yelled. But she muttered something else under her breath that I swear sounded a lot like 'fair point'.

I pretended to zip my lips, earning another eye roll. No, that worked on four year olds and Annabeth. I would never get a giggle out of Lyra when she was in this sort of mood.

"This is the fates giving you another chance with Annabeth! You can make it right! But look at you! Hiding away from the truth! She's not going to wake up 'til things change, Percy. However much you pray or sacrifice, it's not going to work." Angry tears started to pool in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, hey. You don't need to get angry! I'm listening!" I hurriedly tried to calm my little sister.

Her hands flew above her head in exasperation.

"I'm not angry!" She yelled.

I raised my eyebrows.

"I'm just upset. Upset about Annabeth, upset about the deaths at camp. But most of all, I'm upset about you. I'm upset that I know exactly how to fix this and you seem to be doing everything the opposite to what you should be doing! It's infuriating!"

I had to resist the sudden impulse to laugh.

"If being immortal would help you wake her up, she wouldn't still be in a coma! This is your job to fix." She yelled, angrily stabbing my chest with her finger.

"You want to see Annabeth again? You work things out. 'Cause she's not gonna open her eyes 'til you do!" She finished, out of breath.

I gaped at her. That was the longest speech I'd ever heard her make. She turned on her heel sharply before flicking her hair Aphrodite style and starting to swim away.

The only thoughts I could hear from her were: Stupid boy. Stupid, unhelpful boy.

"Hey! Wait!" I yelled, watching her swim to a stop.

She didn't turn around but I continued anyway.

"What do I do? How do I fix things?"

"That's for you to find out." Her voice drifted to me from where she was standing about 50 feet away.

The answer made my blood boil. Why? Why couldn't she help me?

"But if I were you, I would start by talking to her first." She turned to face me and I saw an evil grin spread across her face, "Oh, and try not to do anything stupid. I know that'll be hard for you, but things are going to get tougher before they get easier. We don't need you blowing up the place as you do it."

And with that Lyra swam away, leaving me to think.

I watched the endless ocean drift by, my mind in another world. In some ways, Lyra's speech had made no sense. I mean, how could she know what would save Annabeth?

But, in other ways, I did understand where she was coming from. I should go talk to her. It had been too painful to be near her for very long, but too painful to be very far away either.

So, I'd just stuck to being in the middle. I wasn't going to completely distance myself, but I wouldn't get too close. It hurt too much to see her lying there, connected to various bleeping machines.

But now, now I was decided.

I turned on the spot, appearing in Annabeth's room in a cloud of green mist, much to the nurses' surprise.

I flinched away from Annabeth when I saw her. It wasn't that I didn't like her, I just didn't really like hospitals, even Olympus ones.

Ask my Mom, she'll tell you how I used to keep any injuries a secret, in case they meant I had to go to the hospital. I once kept a broken arm hidden for three hours!

The doctor wasn't very happy. He kept muttering about how my Mom should keep a better eye on me and how irresponsible it was. I'd bitten him at that. No one's mean to my Mom.

I stared at Annabeth, lying there on the dazzlingly white sheets.

Her beautiful golden curls lay strewn across the pillow, her eyes delicately closed. There were a few grazes on her chin, but most of them had healed. Various tubes and wires connected to her arms, each feeding different things into her.

One took her heart rate, the other her blood pressure. A big grey wire connecting to a machine with a big hospital screen was monitoring her brain activity.

I looked up at it.

The line wasn't moving very much.

We could either go with the more likely theory and assume it was because she was in a coma. Or we could go with Lyra's theory and assume she was bored. I decided to test it.

"Annabeth? Can you hear me?" I murmured sheepishly to the unresponsive girl on the hospital bed.

As soon as I spoke, the little green needle on the brain activity machine shot up, jumping about manically.

I smiled to myself. She could hear me.

Suddenly the activity dropped, and I suddenly felt like I was being raised my eyebrows at.

I remembered with a pang what I'd just said.

"Stupid question." I muttered to myself.

I could just picture her smirking gleefully at me.

"So, if you can hear me, I uh..." I trailed off, trying to find the right words, "I'm sorry."

I took a deep shaky breath, wishing this was easier. But it wouldn't be. Like Lyra had said, Things were going to get tougher before they get easier.

"I'm sorry for everything. Sorry that you're in a coma; sorry that I stood there dumbstruck when I could have saved you..." I paused, searching for the right words, "And, well I just thought you should know that. That I'm sorry. Really, really sorry."

"Percy?" I looked up to see a tall Apollo camper, standing fully armored in the doorway. "A message from your father. He says he needs your help down at his palace. Urgently. Oh, and uh, sorry about Annabeth."

The boy sighed, gesturing to Annabeth. I nodded my thanks and watched the kid go.

"Uh, Annabeth? I've got to go now, sorry. There's some sort of problem down in my Dad's kingdom so I better go help." I sighed, stroking her fragile hand one last time before getting up to leave.

"So, uh, bye then."

As I walked through the large marble hallways, I wondered if I'd done any good.

It had hurt me to see Annabeth like that, so delicate, so fragile. Like, one bad fall and she'd have shattered the bones on both her arms.

Yet, I was happy I'd come. It had looked like she could hear me, and that she was actually happy to see me. Maybe Lyra's plan might actually work.

And as I turned on the spot, I realized one thing.

I'd found a piece of my safety net.

Woo! Chapter 6 is done! Things are starting to fall into place (though we've still got a long way to go 'til the end).

Should Annabeth wake from her coma or not? I already know what's going to happen, but I just had a sudden thought…

Anyway, thanks sooo much for all the reviews and Story Alerts. I know everyone probably says this but when you get an email saying someone has reviewed you feel all warm and fuzzy (or in my case scream until your parents threaten to take away the PC.)

So… please review!

Purpleblob :D