We Are Cursed (A Percy Jackson AU) || BOOK 2

Chapter 18 || Annabeth

When your heart is beating too fast, normally, you need to go see medical help.

Annabeth actually wished she was in a hospital right now and not on some risky quest with her seaweed brain dying on a ship she was about to be separated from. She walked into his room and stroked his hair, kissing him on the cheek. A nasty cut had appeared on his other cheek and it was oozing green pus.

"I love you, Seaweed Brain," she said, holding his hand. "I promise that I'll fix you. You don't deserve this."

"Annabeth! Are you ready to go?" Frank called.

"Coming!" Annabeth yelled, running out of the room, taking one last glance at Percy.

Nico was already waiting, playing silently with his fingers while his dark gaze wandered over to Percy's bedroom door. When he noticed that Annabeth was staring, he quickly turned away, his face turning slightly pink. She put a hand on his shoulder as if to say that she was sorry for him, but he shrugged it away easily, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Goodbye, guys," Leo said as they stopped the ship in the water. The water was sea-green, just like Percy's eyes... How she longed to see them again...

"Bye. Leo, remember what to do. When you're done, you should turn around to start collecting whoever's done first."

"Got it," Leo saluted.

Annabeth hopped off the ship, Frank following. Nico shadow-traveled to their side as the ship took off, officially leaving them in Lebanon.

"Hello, Beirut, Lebanon..." Annabeth sighed.

"Hydra flesh shouldn't be that hard to find," Nico said.

"Well, it's best if we don't cross one right away. If we can't find it, someone else would probably be able to find it. But let's not go scouting for hydras. I think the feathers are more important," Frank suggested.

"I agree," Annabeth said, almost feeling guilty when Nico's onyx black gaze traveled to the floor.

"Oh," he mumbled.

"It's okay." She tried to put her hand on his shoulder, but he angrily shrugged it away again, a few pieces of his hair falling in his eyes.

Deciding to leave it be, they continued walking through the streets of the town. In a way, it looked similar to New York, just less shiny and more countryside-styled materials and furniture. The way people crowded outside of cafes and dinner restaurants didn't change, though. That was for sure.

"Alright..." Annabeth sighed, looking around. "Keep an eye out for a castle."

She had her hand in her pocket, next to her dagger, which was hanging off of her belt. Frank's spear was concealed as a small tooth in his pocket, Nico's stygian iron sword in a small chain he had around his neck.

"We shouldn't split up," Frank advised. "The last group that tried that lost a member. If we stay in groups, there's less captures and kills."

"Got it," Annabeth whispered as they neared an alleyway.

Only the gods knew what lurked in them... Gangs, monsters, trash, rats... Annabeth had only been in an alleyway once and she had almost been killed. Ever since, she'd always stayed away from alleyways, or she'd amp up her senses so she could detect anything suspicious.

"If we can get to the top of that building--" Nico pointed up to a large tower. "--maybe we can see a view of the street. It'll be easier to find the castle."

"Great," Annabeth said, holding the door open for them.

The air conditioning hit them like a blast as they entered, the cool, tingly feeling spreading everywhere. Making sure nothing was suspicious, the group ran up to the elevator.

"Where's the top floor?" Annabeth asked, looking through the buttons. "I'm tempted to press 58, but then, I don't wanna skip anything."

"Just press the highest number." Nico shrugged. "If we need to, we can always climb stairs."

Pressing the button, they went soaring upwards and Annabeth had to grip the side bars to avoid herself from falling over. It'd been a while since she'd been in an elevator and she still wasn't used to high-acceleration, especially when she had just gotten off of a battleship. When they got off, Annabeth stared at the rooms before them. But they weren't on the rooftop like they wanted to be.

"Okay... let's try to find the stairwell..." Frank said, dashing off in one direction.

Nico disappeared in the shadows, leaving Annabeth to check the other side of the floor. She spotted clean, white, modern tables, and lovely blue flowers that she knew Percy would love.

"I found it!" Frank's voice came through. "It's behind the door that's marked 'STAFF ONLY'."

Annabeth raced down the hall before she burst through the door, jogging up the stairs. Climbing twisting stairs that were narrow and steep while running like you were in a cross country race wasn't smart. She should've known that before she almost fell down the whole flight of stairs, pointing out like death blocks. Opening the door, she found Frank and Nico standing on the rooftop, gazing out at the city.

"You know, it's beautiful out here," Frank commented. "Hazel always said how she wanted to New York to be a bit more peaceful like Paris, or more suburban."

"Yeah," Annabeth sighed. "Percy always said that you couldn't see the oceans from New York but you could from LA." He said it wasn't fair how they were next to the beach just like them, but the crystal blue waters were visible to the Californians.

"Whoa..." Nico breathed.

"What--whoa..." Annabeth trailed off.

In front of them--not very distinct at first glance--was a gleaming castle, its walls shining black with red and orange flags. A fire burned at the top, the shape of a bird shining up into the sky. Annabeth turned on the camera mode to her watch and took a picture of the route.

"Got it. So when we--" she started, but the door burst open.

"INTRUDERS!"

Guns were pointed. 

Accusations were fired. 

Nico held her hand. 

And the world zoomed away into a black blip.

Well, a black blip that made her want to barf.