You're Not Getting Away From Me

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: And It Begins

Annabeth's POV

"Percy?" I shook his leg gently. We were on the subway, and he had fallen asleep on my shoulder.

"What's wrong?" he mumbled into my shirt.

"Does something seem wrong or weird to you about this whole situation?"

"Like what? Wrong that we were supposed to have a relaxing summer and get married and live in peace but instead we have to take down a union of all of our oldest enemies and someone is supposed to die? Yeah, seems a little wrong to me," he replied, his voice brittle with anger. Apparently he also spoke a little too loudly because several people whipped their heads around and gave us crazy looks. But the great thing about New York is that the residents have heard plenty of bizarre things, and pretty soon everyone ignored us again.

"Way to go Seaweed Brain. Might as well shout it to the whole world," I told him jokingly.

"Sorry," he whispered. His eyes still had a dangerous look to them, though, from his outburst. The normal bright, sea green color was a few shades darker. It almost made me wish I hadn't woke him up. But not quite. He was too comforting, no matter his mood.

"It's fine. How much did you sleep last night? You seem awful tired." I hadn't slept much myself, but that wasn't unusual this summer. Nightmares were as prominent as ever, especially with no Percy beside me to ward them off.

"As much as I typically do," he answered. So not a lot. "What about you?"

I just shrugged in response. He looked at me concernedly. "You can take a nap now, if you want," he offered.

"No, we need to talk about this. Anyway, I woke you up."

"Alright. What do we need to talk about?"

"Doesn't it seem a little strange neither of us have had any dreams yet? Well, I guess I haven't, but I never asked you. I just assumed you'd tell me if you did." I looked him right in the eye when I said this because I wanted to be sure he wasn't keeping any disturbing information from me. With his best intentions, of course, but still a very Percy thing to do.

"No, I haven't had any dreams about this. I didn't think about it, but it is weird."

"Yeah." I decided that he was being honest. "It's all very sketchy. It's really worrying me, Perce."

"But isn't the fewer nightmares, the better?"

"Well better for our sleep, but that's how we always know what's going on in the wars. It's almost like someone or something is keeping information from us. I hate it."

"I know you do." Then he gave me a lopsided smile. "Remember in high school when our math teacher wouldn't give us the answer and you-"

"Yes, I remember. Thanks for reminding me." I shot him a dirty look. But he kept going.

"And you spent hours trying to figure it out-"

"Percy, I got it!"

"That was great," he laughed.

"So great," I grumbled.

"Ok, but seriously. There's nothing we can do about it, so don't worry."

"Oh yes, I won't worry. We're just going on a dangerous mission with practically no information and a prophecy we can't decipher. Absolutely not a call for panic mode," I shot back.

"Oh-kay," he said, raising his eyebrows. "Somebody needs to sleep for a few more hours before high amounts of bitter sarcasm cause her to combust."

"You're a good one to talk, mister."

"Sheesh!" Percy then proceeded to push my head onto his chest and wrap his arms around my shoulders. "Sleep," he commanded.

"Fine." I shifted around for a little bit. My brain didn't want to sleep. It was running around in circles, but not about anything helpful. I looked down at my left hand where the beautiful ring from Percy sat on my finger. I started to twirl it around on my finger absentmindedly.

"What's wrong?" Percy abruptly asked me. Was that fear in his voice?

"Huh?"

"You're messing with the ring. What's wrong?" Yup, that was definitely fear.

"Nothing's wrong," I told him, laughing. "Relax. I'm not taking it off anytime soon. Or ever. I'm just worried it'll get lost in a fight or something." I didn't even realize I was worried about this until I said it. But it was the truth.

"Oh, don't worry about it so much. If it gets lost, I can get another." He smiled at me warmly.

"But I like this one! Plus, another engagement ring is not a simple matter."

"I'm sure there's other nice gems at the bottom of the ocean."

"Oh... so it's a sea jewel?"

"Yeah! Wait, doyounotlikeit?" he stammered in a rush.

"No, Seaweed Brain! I love it even more! It's much more special. It also makes a lot more sense. I was struggling to picture you in a jewelry shop."

He laughed. "That's a crazy thought."

He pulled me into him closer. He was so warm, and he smelled like the sea. The steady rise and fall of his chest was soothing. He had his arms around me tight. I felt myself falling asleep when he kissed my head and whispered something to me. I just missed what he said before conking out.

  

"What do we do now?" a voice hissed.

"Nothing. We wait. They are coming just fine on their own. If they start to struggle with their journey, we will give them a little, ah, incentive. But all is fine, for now," another voice growled.

"But what if they do not-"

"I SAID IT WAS FINE!" the second voice screamed at the first. Grunting and heavy breathing was present not too far from the arguing pair.

"Alright, no need to get upssset," the first voice purred. "I just want to make sure they don't have a way to know our plans."

"They don't; we've cut off the typical way vital information leaks." This voice was losing its patience.

"And that isss?"

"Dreams, you foolish... what do they call you, cheerleader?" A noise that sounded like a hoof stamp followed this statement. The second voice boomed with acidic laughter. Furious huffs started from the third something.

"What is it, you stupid cow?" The second voice demanded.

"I wouldn't be sssoo sure about the dreamssss..." the first voice translated.

"What do you - oh... NO!" These voices faded and were replaced by a blurry face.

"I can't do this too often, especially now that they're onto me!" the face said urgently. "I know you guys can do it! Good luck!"

My eyes snapped open and I shot straight up in my chair. I startled Percy who immediately grabbed my hands, trying to calm me down.

"Percy, I think I had the first dream."