Percy Jackson, Son of Olympus, The Titan's Curse

| Chapter XII || Demigod Dreams Suck |

*December 16 XXXX*

*Percy's Point of View*

***

Annabeth stood, surrounded by a suffocating fog on the side of a dark hill. The scenery reminded me of the Underworld, because of the heaviness of the darkness around me, like I was deep in a cave, only there was no ceiling and no walls.

Annabeth was struggling to climb the hill. Scattered around her were old, broken Greek columns that, despite their age, were made of obsidian and gleamed like the night sky. They almost seemed to have been blasted apart, as pieces were lying all about in the ruins of what must have once been a huge building.

"Mormo!" Annabeth cried out. Her voice was hoarse, so I knew that she must've shouted before. "Where are you? Why did you bring me here?"

She scrambled over a section of rock as she approached the crest of the hill. I couldn't move as she reached the peak and could only wait as the darkness fell away and my consciousness was drawn forward. Annabeth gasped.

There, ahead in the swirl of shadows, was Luke. He was in pain, crumpled on the rocky ground and straining as if trying to rise. Around him, the darkness was thicker than ever, and the fog melded together with it in a dance of death. I'd never been here before, but I'd heard the stories; I knew exactly where we were, and I knew that Luke had no chance of escape on his own. He was trapped, his clothes in tatters and his face scratched and slippery with sweat.

"Annabeth!" he called. "Help me! Please!"

She – most likely unbeknownst of where she really was – ran forward with tears running down her cheeks. She wanted to help him; I could see that. I wanted to shout to her, to warn her: He's a traitor! He's trying to use you! Unfortunately, I was in a dream; this was a vision, so I could see her, but she couldn't see me. For all I knew, this had already happened, and Annabeth was either already trapped or had gotten away. I hoped and prayed to every god who was listening that it was the latter.

Annabeth knelt before him, reaching out cautiously as if to touch his face, but at the last second, a spark of hesitation stayed her hand. "What happened?" she asked.

"They left me here, trapped me." Luke groaned, squeezing his eyes tightly shut for a whole three seconds. "Please. It's killing me." His knees were buckling beneath him, and the fog pressed down, squeezing the life from him.

"Why should I trust you?" Annabeth asked.

I smiled. Yes! She'll leave him there; she knows what he's trying to do! As a daughter of Athena, she would surely be able to separate her logical thinking from the dark cloud of her conflicted emotions.

"You shouldn't," Luke admitted, being surprisingly truthful. "I've been terrible to you, but if you don't help me, I'll die."

What was he planning? Was he just trying to get her to take the sky, or was there something more to it?

I wanted to scream for her to just leave him, to let him die, but I had no voice. I knew she couldn't do it – Annabeth, no matter who much she tried to deny it (or not), couldn't leave Luke to die; she cared about him far too much. I was starting to think that maybe capturing Annabeth had been the plan all along because none of the rest of us would've saved him – probably. He'd tried to kill us in cold blood far too many times, and I could only hope that Thalia would see sense if she was put in this same situation.

Just then, the darkness above Luke began to crumble. His arms were quaking, and I knew that he was about to fall. His body was failing him, and huge chunks fell away, crashing to the ground around them. Annabeth, against her better judgement, rushing in just as a crack appeared to catch the sky as it dropped. For a second, I wondered what would happen if the one holding the sky actually died. No one could willingly give it up, but what would happen if they could no longer hold it? Would the sky finally meet the earth again?