When Swords Meet Wands

Hyperactive Latino Elves And Curtains On Fire.

Annabeth

Annabeth fell asleep immediately. She'd tried to stay awake as much as possible, but she couldn't fight her exhaustion.

Her time in Tartarus played out like a movie. Every night she had nightmares, but not as vividly as tonight. She relived the time when she felt the tug in her ankle. She remembered Percy letting go of the ledge and falling in with her. She remembered the pain of drinking firewater from the Phlegethon. She remembered being blind and not being able to find Percy. She remembered how helpless she had felt when she faced Tartarus. She remembered Bob and Small Bob and Damasen. She remembered the way Percy had looked like with the Death Mist covering him. The last one was enough for her to wake up screaming.

Piper immediately woke up and crawled over to her bed, and whispered, "Annabeth, it's okay, it's okay, you're not there anymore. You're fine, Percy's fine." She continued murmuring to her, but Annabeth was still panicking. She felt tears roll down her cheeks. She needed Percy, now.

As if hearing her thoughts, Percy burst into the room, followed by Jason. He enveloped her into a big hug, whispering things into her ear. Annabeth melted into his embrace and slowly relaxed. "Was it... that place again?" Annabeth nodded. He hugged her even tighter. "You woke me up from an almost nightmare. Thank you for saving me." Annabeth felt almost happy. She had prevented Percy from reliving literal hell, even though it meant she had to experience it herself.

She had woken up the wizards too. Hermione and Harry stood at the entrance of the room. Ron must be a deep sleeper. They stared, wide-eyed. "Um, sorry, I... had a nightmare." Annabeth didn't like saying she was sorry. It wasn't her fault she and Percy had fallen into Tartarus. Then again, she was sorry she had fallen into Tartarus. They just nodded and left.

"Don't leave me," she whispered to Percy. "Never." Piper went to Jason's room and Percy lay in Piper's single bed. The beds were close enough so that they could hold hands. Annabeth didn't have any more nightmares.

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When she woke up next morning, Percy was still sleeping. She was still holding his hand. She gently eased her hand from his and stood up and stretched. She tried to wake Percy up, failed and called Jason to come help. They stripped the blankets away, still Percy kept sleeping. They shouted in his ear, poured ice cold water over his head, nothing worked.

"If it's going to be this hard to wake him up everyday at Hogwarts too, I'm not coming," said Annabeth, exasperated. "WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE!" She shouted in his ear. Nothing. "GIANTS ARE COMING! GAIA IS AWAKE! WAKE UPPPP!!" Still nothing. "NO MORE BLUE FOOD EVER!" Percy jolted awake. "Whassappenin? Nomoblufoo?" He garbled.

Of all the things Annabeth said, that's what woke him up? Annabeth facepalmed herself and dragged Percy out of his bed.

They quickly got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. The wizards were already there, eating toast, sausage, bacon and eggs. The demigods joined them. They ate quickly, because they were already running late. Apparently they were late all the time, because Mrs Weasley had come prepared. She placed a speaker in the middle of the dining table and switched it on. Her voice blared out in full sound, "UP, UP, UP! RON PACK YOUR BAGS! ARTHUR START THE CAR! HARRY PICK UP YOUR SOCKS! CHOP CHOP!" Everyone clapped their hands over their ears, wincing.

  Annabeth smiled in amusement. Mrs Weasley looked to her and said, "Easier than shouting dear. It's a Muggle device, but they work very well. Arthur brought it home from work last year and has been fiddling with it for the longest time. It finally came to some use!" She smiled smugly, watching everyone scurrying around, packing, getting ready. In three minutes, everyone was ready to go. "It got the job done pretty well, Mrs Weasley," Annabeth remarked. She and the other demigods had already packed the night before, and they were watching the wizards run around in amusement.