This Dark Night ― Percy Jackson & Annabeth Chase¹

―xiv. annabeth has a very bad day

IT WAS OFFICIAL: this was the worst day of Annabeth Chase's life.

(Or was it the worst week? Time in the Labyrinth was a maze in and of itself).

Travis winced as Naomi's body hit the floor, too quickly for anyone to even think to catch, even if they weren't all sitting in stunned shock. "Oof. That's gonna hurt in the morning."

"Where—" Pollux from the Dionysus cabin looked from Chiron to Naomi's unconscious body. "I—look, I know my dad's the god of madness, but... I didn't just hallucinate her popping up out of nowhere, right? You all saw it?"

Annabeth jolted up and out of her chair with enough force to make it fall noisily to the ground. She ran to Naomi's side with Silena and Katie on her heels. 

"Naomi?" Annabeth asked desperately. Her eyes ached from crying, but fresh tears came anyway. She turned Naomi's head to see her face. Her eyes were closed, her expression soft with sleep.

"Lee!" Annabeth yelled.

"Yeah, yeah," Lee said, pushing past Silena and Katie. "Let the medic through, people!"

He knelt down next to Naomi's head, pressing his fingers to her neck. He frowned a little, which sent Annabeth into even more of a panic.

"What?" she demanded. "What's with that face? Is she okay?"

Lee leaned away from the storm Annabeth was rapidly becoming. "Well, she's alive, so there's that," he said. "Her heart rate's a little slow, but it's strong." He hovered his hand over her mouth, and visibly relaxed, if only a little. "And she's breathing. Hooray! We should get her to the infirmary so I can monitor her properly. Beckendorf, can you—"

"I've got her," Annabeth cut him off.

Lee raised an eyebrow at her in question.

From across the room, Chiron said gently, "Annabeth, you've been through a lot. Perhaps you should let—"

"I said I've got her," Annabeth repeated, her tone leaving no room for argument. Before anyone else could even try, she slipped her arms under Naomi's knees and back. She picked her up, and Naomi's head fell against Annabeth's shoulder, heavy enough to momentarily shake the terror that had taken hold of Annabeth.

She'd held the weight of the sky once. Somehow, this felt the same.

She headed to the infirmary, not waiting for anyone as she slipped out of the meeting room. She knew her quest report was incomplete, but she didn't—couldn't—care. Not when Naomi was hurt.

She wouldn't let anything else happen to her. Not after Percy...

Annabeth's throat threatened to close. It took every ounce of her willpower to rein her fear in.

When she reached the infirmary, she carefully laid Naomi down on the nearest empty cot. Lee went to work immediately. As he ran around gathering supplies, Annabeth found a chair and sat down at Naomi's bedside, not taking her eyes off the daughter of Persephone, afraid she might disappear again.

Silena wasn't even half a minute behind Lee. She rushed to Naomi's cot, her expression mournful. Annabeth loved Silena, but in that moment she wanted to take the grief in her eyes and crush it beneath her shoe so she would never have to see it again.

There was nothing to grieve. Naomi would be fine. Annabeth would do whatever it took, make whatever deal she had to make with Apollo or Asclepius or Death to make it so.

Chiron entered the infirmary as well, Katie hovering at the door so as not to crowd. Lee returned to Naomi's bedside, wisely stationing himself on the side of the cot Silena stood at, rather than Annabeth's.