Broken || A Riordan Universe Story

Annabeth POV~ "What A Dumb Idea. Let's Do It."

What really annoyed me was the fact that I didn't know what to do.

Really Annabeth, you read about the deathly affects of Wolfsbane, but never read about an antidote?

"We should find a water source." Said Reyna.

"Good thinking. Water should somewhat help with the poison." I agreed. "Percy, are you feeling dizzy, or nauseous? Are you in-"

"-I'm fine Wise Girl." He finished with a smile.

"Are you sure?" I stared him down.

"Yup." He laughed.

"Fine, you're in the clear. Let's go." I sighed.

"Wait," Nico started. "We should take some of this stuff."

"Why in the world would we do that?" Percy asked.

"It's Wolfsbane, and right now we're trying to capture a Fox, which can still be wounded with Wolfsbane, while trying not to get ourselves killed." Nico said nonchalantly.

"He has a point." Reyna confessed.

"The only problem is transporting it without it killing us." I stated.

"Problem solved." Nico shrugged off his Aviator jacket.

"Huh." Percy said, "that works."

"Are you sure you wanna use that Nico?" Asked Reyna.

     "Don't worry, I have a ton of these back home." Nico reassured as he knelt down to collect the Wolfsbane.

     "Home." Sighed Percy. "Who knows when we'll see that place again."

     Everyone stayed silent at the comment.

     Home. I missed every bit of it. The food, the people, my books. And most importantly, my bed. My back and my shoulders haven't been doing too good with all the sleeping on the ground.

     "Stop turning the air depressing." Nico broke the silence. "Jeez, it's like I'm in the Feilds of Punishment."

     "Let's get a move on." I said, changing the subject.

     "Where to?" Asked Percy.

     "I can't hear any water, so I guess we could just walk in a random direction until we find something." Said Nico.

     "What a dumb idea. Let's do it." Percy said.

     "Well, there's nothing else to do at the moment, so-" It hurt me to agree to this. "-I guess we can do what Nico suggested.

     We started walking in a random direction that felt like west, because of the sun's position. Then again, this island had no ties to reality.

     "Do you hear that?" Asked Percy after a solid hour of walking.

     "I swear Percy if this is another Bee or a bunch of leaves rustling I will punch you." I stated.

     "This time, I'm sure it's water." He urged.

     "Fine, lead the way Kelp Head." Nico groaned.

     I started after Percy; I was checking out my surroundings every step of the way. We didn't need another Wolfsbane incident. It started getting hotter as we inched forward.

     "That's some type of water alright." Nico groaned. "I hate this island."

     I looked out from behind Percy and saw a familiar sight. One that struck a wave of bad memories and feelings.

     I remembered my skin feeling so raw that when my nails grazed it, it would start bleeding profusely. There were painful cuts all over my body. The soles of my shoes were worn out so bad that I could feel the heat underneath me beating on my skin. My hair was matted with dried up blood, and dirt. My mouth was as dried up as a flower that's been sitting in the searing rays of the sun for years. Every inch of of my body was aching. Next to me limped Percy, who looked as worn out as an old rag. Our only salvation for days was the fiery water of River Phlegethon. It burned in our throats, but we needed it, for without it we'd be dead.

     I looked into Percy's eyes. His gaze held the thing that I felt inside. Broken. Broken at the memory of the part of my life where I felt so close to lifelessness. Where I felt so helpless, and where the smallest step felt like I was pushing a mountain.

     Percy sensed it, he was too good at reading me. He enveloped me in a hug, and stroked my hair soothingly.

     Only three out of four in the group experienced the terrible memories that this River gave us. And I wasn't excited at all to be seeing it again.