A/N: I didn't update in about two weeks D: sorry guys. But I made this chapter extra long(: enjoy!
I have to admit, agreeing with Percy's idea to "have fun" now seemed like a bad idea. Seriously, what was I thinking? Athena kids do not have fun. They are supposed to study, read, and learn new things. I thought about my mom, and how she might be looking over us right now. *shudder* And plus, what if we were behind the other groups on the race? I really want to get first place.
"Jeez, relax, Annabeth," Percy said. "Everybody needs to have fun. And besides, I bet the other groups are still stuck in piles of cereal at the cereal factory." I guess that was true. Two days, two challenges.
"So, where are we going?" I asked. We never even stopped, and Percy seemed to know exactly where to go.
Percy smiled his lopsided smile, the one that always made my heart stop, and winked. "You'll see."
I must've fallen asleep in the car, because when I woke up, we were already at the "destination". Percy grinned down at me.
"Now will you tell me where we are?" I asked.
"Manila Bay Amusement park, Florida," Percy said. (A/N I made that up :/)
I gulped. Amusement parks and I did not mix. After spiders, my next fear is roller coasters and other scary rides. The last time I rode a roller coaster, which was also the first time, I was 6. Sure, I was really little, but I remember that day very clearly. My dad had brought me to Disneyland, and he decided to ride a kid roller coaster with me. When I got off the ride, I was pretty much sick the rest of the day. Even though that was a long time ago, that fear still stayed with me. I remember back when Percy and I were 11, we had to go retrieve a shield for Ares at the abandoned water park. We accidentally rode a water ride, which had spiders and steep slopes. It was pretty much the worst experience I've ever had. Imagine: two of the things you fear the most, combined! Obviously, Percy had thought I was just screaming because of the spiders.
I don't know how I'd react to a roller coaster now, but I really didn't want to try. You're scared? Really? The Annabeth Chase who has been fighting monsters since the age of seven, scared of roller coasters? You really need to get rid of that fear.
Hey! We all have different fears! And besides, nobody is supposed to know about that.
The perks of being able to listen to other's thoughts. Don't worry, I won't tell, but only if you ride a roller coaster with me. It'll be exciting.
The thought of riding a roller coaster with Percy exhilarated me, but also made me nervous. What if I threw up into his lap? Then I'll clean it up...duh.
I glared at him, but then, resignedly, sighed. He wasn't going to let me out of this.
Percy led me to a kiddie roller coaster that had little slopes. Phew. Maybe I'll survive it. No! Not that one! Check out the roller coaster next to it. That's the one we are going on. I stared at the next roller coaster, and a wave of nausea washed over me. Just looking at it made me dizzy. The roller coaster had gigantic slopes, about 50 feet tall, at a huge loop in the middle. I clung on to Percy's arm.
"I-I can't ride that." I said.
Smirking, he dragged me to the line instead of answering. Oh gods.
As we were nearing the front, I was hyperventilating. This was not happening. No. I was not going to ride that roller coaster. Yes you are.
Finally, we reached the front of the line. "Percy!" I begged. "Can I NOT ride this?"
"Ooh, Annabeth begging. That's new. But no! We waited in line for so long. And plus, that little girl behind us wants to ride it too."
Oh. That was true. I looked away to hide my embarrassment.
"Percy..." I started. I was never going to say it, but, "please can we go on another ride?"
Percy smirked again. "You can hold my hand," he said, wiggling his eyebrows. Why did he have to make those irresistible offers?
The roller coaster came to a stop in front of us, and Percy got in first while I followed. I pulled the safety bar down, with my arms shaking. After that, I grabbed his hand.
The countdown for the ride started. 3...2...1... GO!
The roller coaster car shot upward. My screaming was so high-pitched I couldn't even hear it. My grip tightened of Percy's hand. "Percy! I'll kill you!" I screamed, but I came out as a squeak. Beside me, Percy was laughing and having the time of his life. How was that even possible?
Then came the loop. I thought I was going to faint right there. Surprisingly, I didn't. Going upside down on the loop felt just like being right side up. Cool.
The biggest slope in the roller coaster was coming up now. Stay calm, Annabeth. Stay calm. For some reason, my pep talks didn't work right now. I was shaking and squirming in my seat. And the fall came.
My stomach felt like it rose to my throat. My eyes were squeezed shut, and I screamed the loudest I've ever screamed. Even Percy momentarily took his hand away from mine to cover his ears.
There was a snap! and a flash, and the ride was over.
I stumbled out of the cart, using Percy to prop me up. At least I didn't throw up. "That wasn't that bad, was it?" Percy said.
"Yeah, I had so much fun," I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. But actually, when I think about it, it was, well, interesting.
"You just don't want to admit it," Percy said smugly.
It turns out, the ride took pictures of us. Uh-oh. In the picture, Percy was grinning and looking good like his usual self, while I was- no. My hair was all over the place and my face was all scrunched up. Yep, I was a mess.
"Beautiful," someone murmured. Percy was looking away, so I must've imagined it,
"Come on, there's this other ride I want to show you," Percy suddenly said.
At the other side of the park, there was one of those rides where it swings really high, and then into a full rotation, with the riders up-side down at one point. I didn't really like those either, and it happened to be the ride Percy wanted to show me. Just great. Percy practically had to drag me on the ride.
We sat facing each other, and the ride started. Somehow, looking into his eyes made the ride less scary. I noticed that Percy was also smiling, a sincere one, not a smirk, as he stared at me as well. I felt myself lean forward, and I noticed he was as well. I closed my eyes...
And I couldn't lean anymore. I tried forcing myself forward, but found I couldn't move that far. What?! Oh. Shoot. It was the bar that held me in place that prevented me from leaning far enough to kiss Percy. So what if I fell without it? Who cares? . .
Percy's thoughts went something along these lines: Oh gods oh gods what was I trying to do oh gods.
Talk about more than awkward. I was probably as red as a tomato throughout the rest of the ride. I tried looking anywhere but his eyes. I pretended to be scared, but honestly, the ride wasn't really scary anymore, given the fact that my brain was preoccupied with our embarrassing moment.
When we got off the ride, Percy asked, "Do you want to...uh...go down to the beach?"
"Sure," I agreed.
We walked down the pier all the way to the beach. It was pretty relaxing, listening to the gulls, smelling the salty water, and looking at the blue sky and cotton-candy clouds. I almost forgot about the embarrassing ride.
It was a really nice day out. We sat down on the sand, watching the little children playing with sand castles. You can say this is one of those rare moments.
After a while, Percy said, "Do you ever feel like the world expects so much out of you?"
I was a little startled by the question, but I answered, "I guess, sometimes. Honestly, being the architect of Olympus is hard. Everyone is giving their own opinion about everything, and it's just hard to build something that everybody would be pleased about."
Percy nodded. "Ever since I've been the 'Savior of Olympus', I feel like people expect me to do great things. They think I'd be going on quests and killing monsters for fun, but that's just not what I do. Apparently, I just don't live up to their expectations anymore. I mean, I just want to be a normal guy. Not someone who shows off their talents and heroism."
"It's ok, Percy, you live up to my expectations, and even more," I said without thinking. I blushed and looked away.
I could feel Percy smile, without looking at his face. "Thanks, Annabeth." He took my hand. My heart was beating so loudly, I bet Percy could hear it.
"Uh...d-do you want something to eat?" I asked. Real smooth.
"Sure," Percy said grinning. I reluctantly let go of his hand and went to the nearest food booth. The line was really long, but finally it was my turn to order.I got two hot dogs, fries, and two cokes.
When I got back from getting the food, I realized something was very wrong. Mortals were running around, screaming, and Percy was not where I'd left him. Really, did he need someone to look after him 24/7?
"Percy?" I screamed, a bit TOO frantically.
No reply. "Percy!" I yelled again. My eyes scanned the area. There he was, or at least, someone who looked like Percy. He was battling something. I couldn't see it very well.
"IT'S A ROGUE ZEBRA!" someone shouted. The thing has got to be a monster. I'm pretty sure there wouldn't be a zebra on the beaches of Florida. It was most likely the mist working its magic again.
Zebra or not, I had to help Percy. It looked like he was having a hard time. I forgot how to defeat this thing!
Even in my mind, Percy sounded out of breath and tired. Coming.
I sprinted to Percy and that thing, and when I got close enough, I realized it was a hydra. If there was a monster that Percy couldn't deal with, it would be the Hydra. His gut instinct would be to cut off its heads, just like what he'd do to any regular monster. PERCY! I mentally shouted. YOU FREAKING FOUGHT THIS BEFORE, AND YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO DEFEAT IT?! By now, the hydra had 20 heads. One of the heads struck at Percy, and he sliced it off. The stump regrew into two more heads. PERSEUS JACKSON!
He winced. Ok ok, a little help?
I groaned and dug into a little backpack I kept with me at all times. It contained food and survival supplies. Finally, after rummaging through granola bars, water, ambrosia, nectar, and cash, I finally found what I was looking for: matches.
I shook the box, and all the matches came flying out. Oops. I grabbed one, struck it, and it lit. "Percy! Chop off the head!" I yelled.
I seriously wondered what the mortals were seeing now.
Percy chopped off a head, and I threw a match at the stump. It caught on fire, and burned away. The remaining 21 heads were screeching.
I whipped out my dagger, and proceeded to chopping off the heads myself. Eighteen more to go. We were making good progress. I haven't had a fight like this for a long time, and so far, I was enjoying it.
The hydra was spitting poison everywhere, but I dodged. One of the heads snapped at me, but I quickly took it out with a slash of my dagger, and burned it. Six more heads left.
Slash and burn. Slash and burn. Two more heads. However, one of the heads was smarter than its friends. Or was it family? It was one body though. Ok, never mind that. When I went to tackle the less smart head, the smart one decided to sneak behind me and spray poison onto my back.
The effect was immediate. The burning of the poison spread quickly, to my neck as well. I screamed, even louder than I did on the roller coaster. Then I fell in a crumpled heap at the foot of the monster. I saw Percy rush forward, chop off both heads, and burn them. The hydra disintegrated.
"Annabeth!" Percy yelled, running towards me. "What happened?"
"Hydra poison, what else?" I replied weakly, trying to smile. It came out as a grimace.
"Where?" he asked, frantic.
"My back."
Percy's eyes widened when he saw the wound. He grabbed the nectar from my pack and dripped 3 drops on the burned area. I heard a sizzle, and the pain receded. "Ah. Much better." There was still pain, but it was far more bearable.
"Can you walk?"
I tried getting up, but fell back down, feeling extremely dizzy.
"Then, I guess you'll have to carry me," I said.
Percy grinned. "Of course, my lady," he said. And I blushed for the third time today.
A/N: I wrote a one-shot called "Twilight Breaking Dawn: The Real Ending", so if you haven't already, be sure to check it out and review/favorite! Anyway, please remember to review for this story too! (: