Zero to Hero (Percy Jackson Fanfic)

Chapter Fifteen-Nightmares

Percy's POV

"Percy!" Annabeth cried out, reaching for me. The floor was shaking. The only light was the small dagger Annabeth held in her hand, which was glowing faintly. I don't know why the dagger was glowing, but I was glad it was. I stumbled over to Annabeth who grasped my hand. Together we backed away from a chasm opening before us. 

"Daughter of Athena!"

Annabeth appeared to be trying not to cry. Her gaze roved the darkness; she swung her dagger all around trying to find who had spoken. I dodged getting speared on the end of her knife and asked, "What was that?"

"It's her,"  Annabeth grimaced, as if that's all the explanation I needed. 

The cavern shook again, nearly knocking me over. I put a hand on the wall to regain my balance, but almost immediately drew it back. "Eughh!" The wall was covered in spiderwebs. "Annabeth, where are we?"

But Annabeth was gone. Her bronze dagger lay abandoned on the floor at my feet. I snatched it up and spun around. "Annabeth?" 

My blood pounded in my ears. Where could she have gone? She was standing right next to me!

Trembling, I started forward, away from the crack in the ground, holding the dagger aloft. The cobwebs continued to cover the walls in thick layers. There were all sorts of dead beetles, and flies, and termites, and gods knew what else stuck in the webbing. My stomach clenched in disgust. As I walked, my pace hurried but cautious, the animals trapped in the webs gradually became bigger. I saw what appeared to be a half-eaten mole, several rats, a couple raccoons, a few squirrels, and then I was practically wading my way through spider webs. 

"Annabeth!" I called out again. 

This time my cry was answered by a shrill hiss, like several high voices laughing at once. 

My heart pounded. "Annabeth!" 

I fought my way through the webs, hacking at them with Annabeth's knife. Soon, the blade was covered and I had to shake off the strands to let the light shine again. Where was she? 

There was a shape ahead, something in the webbing. Another animal? It was a large one. Perhaps a deer. Though I don't know what a deer would be doing in that horrible place. I drew closer. The shape now looked vaguely human. The whole body was covered in webs, swaddled like a mummy. It must have been recent. 

A horrible twist in my gut told me I knew who it was, but I stretched out my hand anyway. I pulled away a handful of webs, revealing a blonde eyebrow and a slightly open hazy-gray eye.

Percy, this voice seemed to speak to my mind, Percy, you must wake up. Percy, remember--

I sat up, smacking my forehead on the bunk above me. "Ouch!" I rubbed my head, blinking in the light of the glow-in-the-dark water fountain. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand: 6:43. I groaned, sinking back into bed. It had been just a dream. 

Still, I couldn't help glancing around to make sure there were no spider webs clinging to the walls of my cabin. My skin felt washed with ice. I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyes. That was a really weird dream. Not only had Annabeth, a girl I barely knew, become a spider's lunch, but my father's voice had randomly drifted in too. 

I chuckled a little, Weird, and promptly rolled over and quickly drifted back to sleep. 

The next morning, Chiron gave me some less than exciting news, "The new recruits have begun their training. I need you to teach them the water courses."