thickskinned,˚⟡˖ perseus jackson.

eleven, faith in me.

THICKSKINNED.
' faith in me.'
CHAPTER ELEVEN.

MY EYES FLUTTERED open, quicker than they ever had. As if they were scared something was in front of them.

A sharp pain found itself present in my chest, the suffocating sensation grew the more I stepped forwards towards the dark hallway in front of me.

As I walked through the darkness, I felt a fabric press against my face. I pushed it away as best as I could, but as soon as I raised my hand — the darkness found itself around it like a silk ribbon.

The stabbing pain filled my throat, and nausea washed over me. A cold feeling slowly began to cover my bare arms and legs, as if I was drowning.

"Hello?" I finally managed to croak out. The simplest acts were draining all of my energy. I felt around me, hoping to find something to hold so I could sit down.

But there was nothing, nothing for me to hold, to see, to sit on. My voice wouldn't even pass through the vacuum of my surroundings.

"Ilaria?" A voice called out to me, from behind. I turned around, my eyes looking out for whoever was asking for me.

"Ilaria." The voice was more audible this time, and I recognised it more clearly.

"Luke?" I whispered back out, talking to nothing but the darkness that surrounded me.

"It'll be over for them, soon. All of them." He informed me, his face becoming more visible, the more he spoke. I stepped closer to him, as if he was leading me out of the darkness.

"Who, Luke?" I began chasing after him, but he ran even faster. As if he was avoiding talking to me.

"Luke?" I repeated, slowly feeling my eyes begin to close. My breathing increased rapidly, fatigue diminishing my energy.

"LUKE?" I MUMBLED, waking up from my nightmare. Sweet droplets made themselves present on my forehead as I sat up, examining the condition my face was in through my pocket mirror.

I brushed my hair out of my face and then leaned against the wall to take a breather. Everything hurt, my eyes were squeezed shut as I tried to get back my energy.

I was still so drained, the same way I was in that nightmare, but I thought it would be over by now.
The light peaked through the window, and I decided to get on with my day.

⊹ ࣪ ˖୨ৎ‧₊˚ ⋅

"THE ORACLE HAS confirmed what we had expected." Chiron cleared his throat, standing at the front of the pavilion.

Some children of Camp were gathered around, a select few that were seen as the most likely to succeed at a quest. I stood next to Chris and Luke, surprised that I had been chosen for this.

"This quest will proceed towards the Underworld." He didn't seem as confident as he previously was when he said this, but continued anyway. "Where you will confront the God who has rebelled against his brothers."

I looked over at Annabeth and I spotted that she had her fingers crossed behind her back. I hoped Percy would keep his promise to me, but he didn't seem like the type to break a promise.

I didn't care about myself all that much, but Annabeth deserved this chance.

"Hades." Chiron stated, nervously. He glanced around, meeting eyes with the students lined up in front of him.

"The entrance to Hades' domain lies under the city of Los Angeles." I looked over at Chris, and I finally saw him smile for a split second.

When we were younger, our mother would always take us on road trips to Los Angeles to see our Stepfather who was a neurologist.

We hadn't spoken to our mum, or been to California ever since he passed, but the memories were always there.

"I have selected our most compelling candidates." Chiron declared, I had zoned out and missed what he was previously talking about. But Luke squeezing my hand is what brought me back to the present.

"You will choose three to join you on this quest, and ensure that we succeed—"

"Ilaria." Percy stated, before Chiron could even properly finish his sentence. His beautiful blue eyes met with mine, and I couldn't help but smile.

I noticed Luke and Chris' uneasy expressions, but I just shrug them off. Everything would be okay.

"Customarily, one waits to at least hear a name or two before choosing." Chiron diverts his focus onto Percy, and then me. He faintly chuckles and then sighs, nodding his head.

"Ilaria Jade Rodriguez." Chiron smiles, looking over at me. "Experienced in archery, splendid. You have discussed who else you would like to accompany you, but one choice remains—."

"Annabeth." He quickly says again, and Chiron just gives up.

"Annabeth Chase, yes." He chuckles lightly. Annabeth glances over at me, shock written all over her face. I clap excitedly for her, without any noise. And she looks like she could sob.

"This thing, Zeus' master bolt." Percy begins, clearing his throat. "We need to get it back, right?" He looks up at Chiron.

"Yes—."

"And it's gonna be hard to get, yes?" He continues.

"Extraordinarily."

"And if the mission required someone who cared for me so much, she almost risked her life for me in a Camp Challenge, cried when I got hit, and only knew me for a few days at this point.." Percy breathed.

"And if it required someone to push me down a flight of stairs for it to succeed, you'd want two people who don't hesitate when they do it." He stated.

Chiron's eyes glistened for a second, before he announced our names. "Ilaria Jade Rodriguez, and Annabeth Chase. The two first quest-mates!" He yelled out, his voice heard across the whole pavilion.

CHARMING SPEAKS.
I love my babies so much, they would do anything for each other. GUYS STOP!!!! I need the new season now, Clarisse's book is next and it is my life. Aryan I know you will rock that wedding gown, my king. I'm so excited! Thank you so much for reading this my loves, I love you all!!!

THICKSKINNED.
# Pjo fanfiction.
✐ WRITTEN BY @ Charmingwp.