Annabeth Chase and the Titan's Curse

Chapter 12 - Why can't I dream about puppies?

Sometimes I really hated being a demigod. And it wasn't because of the likeliness of dying or the monster attacks or even the weirdness. It was because of the dreams.

As soon as I lost consciousness, I found myself in a dream. Even worse, it was a familiar dream.

I was in the throne room of the gods and it was destroyed like the other dreams I'd had. But I could make out more details in this dream. Poseidon's chair was smoking. Ares' had an arm loped off. Dionysus's vines were writhing in agony. My mother's was on fire. Hermes's had been shattered to pieces.

The fire in the hearth was low, a bare flicker. I knew that if it went out, it would mean that the gods were to be destroyed, but I couldn't move to rekindle it. I was frozen, watching the two boys in horror.

They were in the middle of the room fighting furiously with swords. They were what was destroying the room, smashing into the gods's and goddesses's chairs, hacking at each other so wildly they were in danger of hitting themselves. Watching them I could see they were both skilled fighters, attacking and defending faster than I could blink.

One of them I recognized immediately. Percy's black hair and orange shirt was distinctive, no matter how dark the room was or how fast he was moving. Riptide in his hands was a blur of bronze, whirling and howling through the air. I ached to rush to help him, but I couldn't move, no matter how much I wanted to.

The other boy seemed familiar, but he didn't stay still long enough for me to recognize him. All I could see was that he looked older than Percy, broader in the shoulders and with paler hair. His sword looked to be a mixture of silver and black, but as I watched, it seemed to blur from a sword to a scythe until I didn't know which weapon he was fighting with.

I watched helplessly as they crashed their way through more of the gods chairs, slicing Apollo's in half and tearing open the cushions on Hera's. I thought that they would fight for ever as they seemed so even in skills, when the unknown boy suddenly flicked his wrist and sent Riptide soaring out of Percy's hand. He held his scythe/sword to my friend's throat, who now stood defenseless before him.

"Watch as I kill him, Annabeth," the boy said. "Think of how you could have saved him. He would still be alive if you had joined me. His death is on you."

"NO!" I screamed, finding my voice at last.

I desperately tried to move forward, but I couldn't. I could only watch helplessly as the boy brought his sword back and thrust it forward, right through Percy's chest. The son of Poseidon eyes widened and he slumped forward, collapsing into the other boy's arms. The boy dragged his sword out and Percy fell, landing heavily on his side and not moving.

I fell to my knees, overcome with horror and pain. I stared at Percy's body, expecting him to get up at any moment, to laugh at me and the tears that were spilling out of my eyes. But he didn't. And it broke me.

The boy was also staring at Percy, but with disdain and contempt. Then he turned to me, his sword still red with my friend's blood. He strode purposely towards me, but I couldn't move. I didn't want to.

I raised my head to stare at him as he approached, not ashamed of the tears on my face. I tried to see his face but there was too much shadow for me to discern anything. The only thing highlighted was the blood on his sword as he pressed it to my neck.

"It is a shame you won't be around to see the new world, Annabeth," the boy said, his voice achingly familiar but still I couldn't place it to a face. "It will be beautiful. I will rebuild it better than before. A perfect world. I'm sorry that you won't be around to see it." He sounded regretful.

"It couldn't be perfect without Percy," I gasped, finding my voice.

The boy seemed to stiffen. His mouth worked like he wanted to say something, but then he gave up, defeated. I stared at him, tears still streaming down my face. He stared back at me, the. His face hardened.

"Goodbye, Annabeth," he said and raised his sword.

I closed my eyes and bowed my head, preparing for the blow to come. When it didn't, I opened my eyes to find myself awake and in a different room. It was fortunate that I had awoken in various places over the last few days so that this didn't surprise me.

I was pretty sure that I was awake. Then again, I had been mistaken before.

The room was bare other than the wooden creaky bed I was in and a small table and two chairs in the centre of the room. The bed had only a thin ragged sheet and a lumpy pillow, which my head was on. The room was painted a dull grey and had a door and a window facing each other from across the room. The window had bars on it and I guessed that the door would be locked if I could get up to check. The only other thing I noticed was the constant movement, a rising and falling sensation which made me assume I was aboard a ship. Most likely the Princess Andromeda.

I went to raise my head to sit up but pain hit me as soon as I moved a centimeter. It racked my entire body, reminding me of how broken I was. It would take me weeks to get back my strength, maybe months. I couldn't even move my hand without pain.

Yep, definitely awake. Dreams were never this painful physically. Only nightmarish.

I sighed as I closed my eyes again. There was nothing else I could do but sleep despite how much I didn't want to dream anymore. I just hate to wait to be rescued like the damsels in distress I'd always hated.