𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐬'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 • 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘫𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘴𝘰𝘯

Dreams

Y/n Pov:

I gained consciousness when my face was filled with an icy breeze. I looked around and realized I was flying. Well, being carried away. I was flying over San Francisco. I looked to my left, where Annabeth was watching the roads under us, with fear in her eyes.

Suddenly, we were dropped.

We were on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. It almost seemed like the Underworld, because I immediately felt claustrophobic, and I couldn't see the sky above—just close, heavy darkness, as if I were in a cave. 

Annabeth and I struggled up the hill. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted an immense building to rums. 

"Thorn!" I cried. "Where are you? Why did you bring us here?" We scrambled over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill. 

Then, Annabeth gasped. I looked over to where she was looking, and I gasped too.

There was Luke. And he was in pain while holding up the sky. 

He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat. 

"Annabeth! Y/n!" he called. "Help me! Please!" 

Annabeth ran forward.

"Annabeth!" I screamed, running after her. 

Annabeth had tears in her eyes. She reached down like she wanted to touch Luke's face, but at the last second, she hesitated. 

"What happened?" she asked. 

"They left me here," Luke groaned. "Please. It's killing me." 

The sky's weight was too much for him, and he seemed to arch lower by the second.

"Why should I trust you?" I asked. 

"You shouldn't," Luke said. "I've been terrible to you. But if you don't help me, I'll die."

Then the sky above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow—tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke, just with her own strength. It was impossible. She shouldn't have been able to do that. 

Luke rolled free, gasping. "Thanks," he managed. 

"Help me hold it," Annabeth groaned. 

I ran to her aid, pushing her out to hold it myself.  For a moment, Annabeth and I bore the weight together. It was the heaviest thing I'd ever felt as if I were being crushed under a thousand trucks. I wanted to blackout from the pain, but I breathed deeply. 

I can do this.

"We're doing this together," she said.

"Ah, no no no no no!" I exclaimed. "Annabeth Chase, you let me hold this alone or else you'll get crushed!"

Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily. 

"I knew I could count on you two." He began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush Annabeth and me. 

"HELP US!" Annabeth pleaded.

"Oh, don't worry," Luke said. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die." 

I hit Annabeth with my hip, and she rolled next to me. 

Afterwards, I tried many times to explain what it felt like. I couldn't.