Dearest Readers,

I hope you all enjoy this next installment, and for those of you celebrating the 4th of July, make sure to stay safe and keep fireworks out of your hair. Also, if you light sparklers, do NOT put them into a fire. They will shoot out at you and maybe go up your shorts, which is not fun.

Let me know what you think, as always, and if you haven't make sure to give me a follow to stay up to date on all the updates!

XOXO Ally Layne.

Holy Water

Chapter 34: The Fall into the Dreamscape

After two and a half weeks of being without Dean, Persie was having enough of this whole "space" idea.

Bobby had brought her on a hunt to Pittsburgh, where there was a doctor, seemingly healthy, who fell asleep and never woke back up again.

And now… falling asleep, she wished she wasn't feeling so alone.

What she wouldn't give just to have Dean holding her in his arms again.

But according to the oldest Winchester, three weeks equaled enough space for him. So she was going to give that to him, no matter what.

When she closed her eyes, she saw his face, his smile… his eyes.

Then everything changed.

"Her ankle! Cut it! Cut it!"

Annabeth was yanked backward and dragged toward the edge. Toward the pit. Persie dove forward, catching her friend's arm, but the momentum carried her with as well.

"Help them!" Someone above cried out.

Annabeth sobbed as she hit the edge of the pit, and Persie's grip on her friend's arm tightened. "No… my sword…"

Persie wouldn't be able to reach Riptide without letting go of Annabeth's arm, and Annabeth's strength was gone. She slipped over the edge. Persie fell with her.

Their bodies slammed into something, and Persie cursed as she fought against the pain, grappling with one hand on some edge partway into the abyss.

Nico was above them.

Persie looked up, seeing him thrust out his hand, yelling for them to hold on, to stay put- but he was too far away to help.

"Persie, let me go," Annabeth croaked. "You can't pull me up."

She felt tears sting her eyes as she looked down at her friend who was being pulled down into the darkness. She shook her head. "Never." Persie looked up at Nico. "The other side, Nico! We'll see you there. Understand?"

His eyes widened. "But-"

"Lead them there!" She shouted. "Promise me!"

"I… I will."

Persie tightened her grip on Annabeth's wrist. She saw how gaunt her friend looked, how pale her face was, and how bludgeoned their path so far had made her.

Annabeth looked up at Persie with knowing eyes.

"We're staying together," Persie promised. "You're my sister, Annie. You won't be getting away from me this easily."

A one way trip.

A very hard fall.

"As long as we're together, Seaweed Brain."

Persie heard Nico and Hazel still screaming for help.

She saw the sunlight far, far above.

And then she let go of the edge.

.

.

.

Annabeth was not pleased.

She promised Persie she would make sure the Winchesters didn't go off and get themselves killed, which so far they haven't, but Sam was being stubborn as a mule and still not being honest with her.

Dean was also trying to keep his space, which annoyed Annabeth. She wasn't Persie. She had little to do with their relationship, and that wouldn't change.

But ever since they found out that she had basically trekked through the deepest pit of Hell itself, they were treating her like she was breakable. Which was something she also didn't care much for.

Yes, Persie and Annabeth fell into Tartarus.

Yes, they were traumatized.

But they were still living. Still moving forward. And their past wasn't going to hold them back from their futures.

So why did Sam Winchester seem to think she was only as good as her past?

Why did Dean still go out of his way to avoid Persie's phone calls?

She sighed.

Men.

When Dean broke a three-day long hiatus of not speaking a word to her by telling her that Sam was missing, she nearly flew off the handle. "Oh, so you do not talk to Sam either? I thought that treatment was just reserved for me and Persie."

He narrowed his eyes. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Annabeth raised her brows. "You've been ignoring her calls, Dean. What else would it mean?"

"She ran away."

She shook her head. "Uh, no. She left to give you the space that you asked for. You asked for three weeks, Dean. It's been two and a half."

He scowled. "But she…" Whatever fog that was clouding his eyes seemed to clear briefly. "You mean she's gonna come back with us?"

Annabeth snorted. "Well, I certainly wouldn't if I were her, with how you and Sam have been acting."

"Then why are you still here?"

"Persie made me promise to make sure the two of you stayed safe," she told him. "So hop off your high-horse, Dean. She cares about you, and you've been treating her like shit. And she's my best friend, so if she didn't make me promise to make sure you and Sam stayed alive you both probably would be in a world of hurt right now."

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "You gotta point."

She nodded slowly. "So what about Sam, now?"

"What about him?"

"He's missing, according to you."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, but I am pretty sure I know where he is. Care to come along for the ride?"

Annabeth blinked. "Dean… he avoids me too, you know."

The older Winchester looked at her thoughtfully before nodding. "Yeah, he does, doesn't he? And that's gotta stop. So we should go stage an intervention."

He nodded for her to follow him out, and she quickly grabbed her bag and hurried out the door of the motel room. She silently cursed how quickly the Winchesters walked as she struggled to keep up.

"An intervention?"

Dean nodded. "If he's where I think he is, trust me Blondie, he's gonna need one."

After a silent ride in the Impala, Annabeth followed Dean into the local bar. It didn't look like much on the outside, and she had to take a deep breath before she walked in.

The last thing she needed to do was turn into a rage monster.

"He'll be fine, Blondie. You'll see," Dean told her.

She looked at him curiously. "Sure, whatever you say, Dean."

They saw Sam as soon as they entered. He was sitting alone at the bar, nursing an amber drink.

Annabeth let Dean take the lead as she walked up toward his brother. "There you are," Dean spoke, sitting down next to him. "What are you doing?"

She quickly took a seat on Sam's other side, giving him a tight smile when he rolled his head over to look at her drunkenly.

Sam looked back to his brother. "Having a drink," he slurred.

"Sam… it's two in the afternoon," Annabeth said, fighting against the urge to rest a hand on his arm in comfort. "And you're drinking whiskey. Are you okay?"

He looked down at the glass then back at her with narrowed eyes. "I drink whiskey all the time," he mumbled.

"No, you don't," Dean countered.

"What's the big deal?" Sam asked, his voice starting to get louder as his anger increased. "YOu get sloppy in bars. You hit on chicks all the time. Why can't I?"

Dean and Annabeth looked around, only seeing an older woman in a far off corner. Annabeth noted she definitely did not look like either of the Winchester's types.

"It does have slim pickings around her," Dean said, before looking back at Sam in worry. "What is going on with you?"

Sam just shook his head, not speaking as a look of loss and grief took over his face. "I tried, Dean."

"Tried to do what?" Annabeth asked.

Sam huffed. "To save him."

Dean sighed, before looking over at the bartender. "Could I get a whiskey, double, neat?"

Sam shook his head as his brother sat back down next to him. "I'm serious, Dean."

"No, you're drunk," Annabeth commented.

"I mean… where' you're going, what you're going to become," he continued, and Annabeth's fury melted into heartbreak at the sight of the tears in his eyes. "I can't stop it. I'm starting to think maybe even Ruby can't stop it. But really… the thing is… no one can save you."

"That's what I've been telling you." Dean rolled his eyes.

Annabeth sighed. "Will the two of you cut it out? If Persie and I can escape Tartarus, there's a way he can get out of his deal."

Sam shook his head. "No, no, that's not what I mean," he said. "I mean, no one can save you because you don't wanna be saved." He looked at his brother in hopelessness. "I mean, how can you care so little about yourself?"

Dean scoffed.

Sam was having none of it. "What's wrong with you?"

Annabeth watched as Dean opened his mouth to answer, only to be cut off by the shrill ringing of her phone.

She frowned, looking down to see the name, Sally Blofis, popping up on the screen of her flip phone. "What the… Hello? Sally?"

A sob echoed on the other end.

"Sally… what is it?"

Dean looked at her warily. "Sally… is that Seph's-"

"Annabeth," Sally's voice croaked. "I'm so glad you answered."

"What happened?"

Another answering sob made Annabeth's blood run cold.

Dean was practically leaning across Sam at this point to try to listen to what was being said.

"It's… dear gods, Annabeth. I got a call from some hospital in Pittsburgh last night. It's Persie and Bobby. They're not waking up."

Annabeth's mouth dropped open. "What do you mean?"

"I'll text you the address. Whatever this is… you need to be here," she said. "The doctors don't… they don't know what to do."

She bit back a curse. "Of course. Of course, I'll be there. Pittsburgh, you said?"

Dean was already grabbing his keys as Sam dropped a few twenties to cover the tab.

"Yeah… and please hurry. It's not looking good."

Sally cut the conversation short after those words, leaving Annabeth with the dial tone. She snapped the phone shut with a curse.

"We need to go," she told them.

"Was that Persie's mom?" Sam asked before looking over at Dean warily, sounding slightly more sober than he did before.

She nodded.

"Let's go," Dean spoke, not giving them any time before he stormed out of the bar. "You're going to tell me what you know on the way."

Annabeth bit her lip as they got into the Impala. "Look, I don't know how to say this any other way but bluntly, but it's not just Persie that Sally called about."

Sam's eyes went hazy as Dean let out a long string of curses.

"We need to go, now."

.

.

.

The arai kept coming. For every one she cut down, six more seemed to appear.

Persie's arms grew tired. Her body ached, her vision blurred. She tried to make her way toward Annabeth, but her friend was just out of reach, calling her name as she wandered amongst the demons.

As she stumbled toward her, a demon leapt through her defenses and sank its teeth into her thigh.

Persie screamed.

She sliced the demon to dust, but immediately fell to her knees.

Her mouth burned worse than when she had swallowed the firewater of the Phlegethon. She doubled over, shuddering and retching as a dozen fiery snakes seemed to work their way down her esophagus.

You have chosen, said the voice of the arai, the curse of Phineas… an excellent painful death.

Persie tried to speak. Her tongue felt like it was being broiled, as she remembered the old blind king who had chased harpies through Portland with a WeedWacker. She had challenged him to a contest, and the loser had drunk a deadly vial of gorgon's blood.

She didn't remember the man muttering a final curse, but as Phineas dissolved and returned to the Underworld, he probably hadn't wished her a long and happy life.

After Persie's victory then, Gaea had warned her: Do not press your luck. When your death comes, I promise it will be much more painful than gorgon's blood.

Now, she was in Tartarus, dying from gorgon's blood plus a dozen other agonzing curses, while she watched her best friend stumble around, helpless and blind and believing she'd abandoned her.

She clutched her sword.

Her knuckles started to steam.

She won't die like this.

She can't.

When she started to be dragged into the darkness, where whispers lingered and screams sounded… she knew she couldn't give in.

But when she started to feel what the demons were doing to her in that darkness, what they were taking from her…

She screamed.

"Persie? Where are you! Where'd you go?"

And screamed.

"Bob… please, I need you."

And screamed.

"Please! Help me!"

.

.

They drove all night.

Annabeth explained what she had been told by Sally nearly a dozen times by the time they pulled into the hospital's parking lot. Dean had insisted on driving, and knocked a few hours off their ETA with how fast he drove.

When they found themselves in the hospital room, Annabeth nearly broke down at the sight of her best friend lying motionless on the bed in front of her.

"Annabeth, you're here," Sally spoke, her blue eyes widening as she saw the two Winchesters that stood behind her as well. "You're all here."

Dean rubbed a hand down his face as he looked at Seph in the hospital bed. "How bad is it?" he asked, before slowly walking up to her side and taking one of her limp hands into his own. "Did the doc say anything?"

Sally sighed as she sat back down in between the two beds, and grabbed her daughter's other hand. "Nothing. They don't know what's wrong with either of them."

Sam's eyebrows were furrowed as he looked between Bobby and the girl his brother had feelings for.

The girl who he had treated like shit before she left.

He shook his head.

When the doctor walked in, Dean immediately looked up at him in worry. "What's the diagnosis, doc?"

"As I've said to Mrs. Blofis… we've tested them for everything we can think to test," the doctor sighed, flipping through his papers. "They both seem perfectly healthy."

"Except that they're comatose," Annabeth deadpanned.

"Mrs. Blofis says you have been traveling with them recently?" The doctor asked them, and they quickly nodded. "Have you run into anything that you think might explain such an episode?"

Annabeth let out a huff of air as she shook her head. "I can't think of anything."

"No, nothing," Dean agreed, looking back down at Persie, and carefully tucked a few loose strands of her hair behind her ear. "Is… is there anything you can do?"

Sally let out a sigh at the pain in the young man's voice. She placed a kiss on her daughter's hand, and closed her eyes.

"Look, I'm sorry, but we don't know what's causing it… so we don't know how to treat it," the doctor informed them. "They just, well, went to sleep, and didn't wake up."

Annabeth pursed her lips.

The doctor explained a few other items regarding their vitals, and pointed out how stable they seemed, before promising to re-run a few tests as he left.

"Thank you, doctor," Sam spoke. "We know you're doing what you can."

The doctor nodded absently, but both their eyes were on Dean, who was whispering something into Persie's ear and running a hand through her hair.

He let out a cough. "I will keep you all updated on the progress of the tests," he spoke, and walked out the door.

Sally let out another sigh. "It's the same thing every time."

Dean sat back down on the chair behind him, before looking over at Persie's mom. "Do you know why they were here?"

She shook her head. "Bobby told me he brought her on a job… but that's it." She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as if she was trying to gain control over her emotions. "And now… they both of them are… are…"

Annabeth placed a hand on Sally's shoulder. "We'll save them, Sally. You know we will."

She looked up at her daughter's friend. "It's why I called you, dear. You always seem to have a plan."

Annabeth let out a choked laugh and squeezed her shoulder, before looking over at Sam. "Do you have any ideas? Anything that might have enough power to do this?"

Sam's brows were furrowed as his face was locked into a firm pout, which Annabeth quickly learned after meeting him that was his thinking face. "No, I can't think of something off my head. We'll have to look into what Bobby and Persie were hunting… and then go from there."

Dean looked over at Sally. "Do you know where they were staying?"

She nodded quickly, giving them the name of the motel. "It's where they were found… the maid couldn't wake them."

He nodded solemnly, and ran his thumb on the sleeping woman's cheek, feeling stinging in the back of his eyes.

He wasn't there for her… and this is what happens.

He didn't protect her, he forced her away from him…

"Dean," Annabeth said softly, drawing his focus back to her gray eyes. "Don't."

A wry smile crossed his lips. "What is it with you demigods and knowing what I think all the time?"

Annabeth snorted. "It's not that difficult."

Sally grinned at them. "I can stay here with them while you go… do your search."

"Perfect," Annabeth said, before looking between the Winchesters. "Let's go hunting, boys."

Soon after leaving the hospital, the three entered the motel room where Bobby and Persie had been staying and began their search.

"So, what were they doing in Pittsburgh?" Sam asked aloud.

"Well, hopefully he didn't drag Seph on a super lame vacation," Dean said, shutting the door behind them.

"Sally said Bobby told her this was a job. So something must've drawn them here," Annabeth pointed out. "Which is odd, considering Persie didn't share that little fact with me, either."

"She probably didn't want you to go running after her," Dean said, looking down at her knowingly. "Seph knows you'd come after her with only one word."

"Or none, actually," Annabeth said, before joining Sam in looking around the room.

"You'd think there'd be some sort of sign of something, you know?" Dean commented as he and Sam were looking in the dressers, trying to find something that didn't include Bobby's shirts or his girlfriend's panties. "Research, news clippings… or a friggin' pizza box or beer can."

Annabeth walked over to the closet, which she noted had not been opened. She quickly pulled the doors to reveal clothes- some of Persie's clothes, hanging there.

But why would Persie take the time to hang anything? The slob hardly hung anything in her home let alone-

Oh.

"Well, how about this, boys?"

She pushed the clothes out of the way to reveal news clippings, maps, pictures, and notes taped and stuck to the wall behind it. She saw that there were pictures of various types of roots, seeds, mushrooms, and a map of Pittsburgh. Various post-it's contained addresses, numbers, and notes about plants.

Dean huffed out a laugh. "Seems like Bobby was teaching Seph how to cover their tracks."

Annabeth nodded. "She's always been act first, think later."

He chuckled. "I've noticed."

Sam looked over their shoulders at the wall. "You make any heads or tails about any of this?"

Annabeth looked at one of the notes. "Silene Capensis," she read aloud. "Huh. African Dream Root."

Sam looked at her carefully. "African Dream Root?"

She nodded. "I remember reading up on it once while I got lost in a google rabbit hole. But I can tell you right now that this is not something that should be messed with."

"Obits," Dean spoke, pulling out a clipping from the wall. "Dr. Walter Gregg, 64. University Neurologist."

Annabeth's eyebrows raised. "How'd he die?"

Dean's eyes narrowed as he read the obituary closely. "Uh, actually, looks like they don't know. It says here he just… he, uh, just went to sleep and didn't wake up."

Sam grabbed the clipping from his brother's hand. "Well, that certainly sounds familiar."

Dean nodded.

"So, let's say Bobby and Persie were looking into the Doctor's death. You know, they were hunting after something-"

"That started hunting them?" Dean finished, eying her closely.

She nodded. "That's what this is looking like, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Sam agreed.

"Alright," Dean said, "Sammy, stay here with Annabeth. See if you guys can put this stuff together and whatever that African Dream Root crap is."

Annabeth looked at the older Winchester with calculating eyes. "What are you going to do?"

"Look into the good doctor myself," he said with a smirk, before walking toward the door.

She gaped. "Uh, no. Yeah, definitely not."

Sam looked between the two oddly, but watched as Annabeth laid into Dean, "I'm going with you. I promised Persie I'd watch your asses, and you can't go off and do stupid shit alone."

Dean looked over at Sam with wide eyes. "Did she just swear twice?"

Sam rolled his eyes.

Annabeth placed her hands on her hips, whirling on the oldest brother. "That's not the point, Winchester. I promised Persie I'd keep you from doing dumb stuff, and going off alone when Bobby and Persie were already attacked is pretty dumb."

He pursed his lips.

But this wasn't just some sort of ego trip, he realized. He might need her help. And if having her with him would help save Seph and Bobby… then who was he to stop her?

"Fine," he said. "Just keep up, Blondie."