Tangled Legacies: A KOTLC and PJO Crossover Story

Nobody Tells Me Anything. It Hurts: Chapter Seventeen: Annabeth's POV

{{Heyy, quick announcement: My 8yo brother is writing a story called Creepy Island. You will be able to find it on my profile since he asked me to type it. I'll let you know when it's available. (Note: the story has me and my brothers in it, so names have been altered.)}}

I woke up in a strange, sparkling room with a weird man hanging over me. He was wearing goggles that bugged out over his eyes. He had wild dark brown hair and he was wearing a tunic that had some sort of animal printed all over it. My vision was too blurry to see what it was. The man snapped his fingers and a ball of brightly colored, multilayered light flashed around my head.

"I can't figure it out," the man complained. "She's faded, but there's also something... else going on here." Faded? What in Hades was that supposed to mean? I tried to leap out of the bed, but my arms and legs felt like they were made of lead. I recalled the beam of light that had somehow teleported me here, wherever here was.

"Who are you? And where's Percy!" I interrupted.

The man with the wild hair was talking to a woman with glitter brushed across her dark skin and colorful beads hanging from the ends of her many braids. He turned around when he heard my voice.

"Name's Elwin!" he said. His voice was big and booming, not at all matching his skinny frame.

"And you're an elf." I clarified. He nodded.

"I'm Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena. Now that we've properly introduced ourselves, I'll ask this again: Where. Is. My. BOYFRIEND?!"

"Listen. I don't know what's going on, only that you're human. I'm not qualified for this type of explanation. I've already called Sophie and she can have this talk. Livvy and I are going to be in here." And with that, he strode off into the next room.

Seconds later, Sophie and Fitz burst into the room.

"What did you do?" Fitz demanded, running his hands through his hair.

"I have no clue!" I replied. My brain was still spinning. "I touched the beam of light from the crystal and I ended up here!"

"Oh, no, this is bad." Sophie mumbled. She tugged at her eyelashes. "You light leaped. I guess it's a good thing you survived, but how?" She seemed to be mostly talking to herself by now.

"Why isn't anyone telling me anything?" I was used to being the one that people came to for advice and answers. I'd known about Roman mythology when we found out about Camp Jupiter. I'd known some Egyptian stories when we met Carter and Sadie Kane. But this was all new to me. I've never been one to read stories about elves and unicorns or fairies and gnomes. I needed to know what was happening, why I was here, where exactly here was. Who these people were. Percy had told me the basics, but he hadn't mentioned the specifics. My head was spinning, my body was numb. I felt a wave of nausea and closed my eyes, waiting for it to go away. But this time, it didn't. It kept getting worse. I was drenched in sweat, and my head felt like it was going to split open. A pained groan escaped my lips. I felt like I was dying.

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Voices floated through my head. I caught snippets of conversation: Faded. Bullhorn. Asleep. But what I heard most often was: Is she going to be okay? I heard many voices that I knew: Sophie. Fitz. Elwin. Livvy. And Percy. Always Percy. I wasn't sure if they were figments of my imagination or if they were real. I wanted to wake up, to know what was happening, but I didn't want to go back to the pain. The numbness. So I drifted into dreams again.

I regretted it as soon as I did it. My dreams were what they always were: Current events. Past events. And the future. I'd never had a dream that either hadn't happened, wasn't happening, or wouldn't happen in the future. So, naturally, I panicked when was saw the scene unfold in my mind: Flashes of fire. Friends lying on the street, bloody and battered. And one image that would haunt me for life: One of us, pale and lifeless. Dead. the face was blurred. But... What if it was Percy? I couldn't live with myself if that happened. We'd already lost Jason. We couldn't lose anybody else. Not Percy. Not Piper. Not Hazel, Frank, Leo, or even Nico di Angelo. We couldn't.