Memories (Percy Jackson)

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

I pretended to sink back into the scenery, meaning the disgusting mud.  It was pretty cold where we were, even if the sun was brutal. The voices kept talking in what sounded like Chinese, and walked away.  I heard the rumbles of concrete being put on concrete, like a construction site.  

As soon as we could confirm that the coast was most likely clear, we stepped out into the brutal sun.  The longer I stood in the pit, the longer the buzzing in my ears remained. 

 Nico wrinkled his nose. “Can’t you feel it?” 

 I was puzzled.  “Feel what?”  

“The dead.  Someone’s body is right under us.” 

Suddenly, I didn’t like standing there basking in the sun. 

“Is that the buzzing in my ears?”  He nodded.  

That literally explains so much.  When I was little, I was sitting at school and my ears started buzzing.  It got to the point of where it was distracting, and, just then my teacher handed me the class phone.  It was my mother, saying my grandfather had just died.  

There were a couple other incidents like that throughout my childhood, little things that made me question my sanity. Now I didn’t have to feel like I was going absolutely insane.  

Nico then decided for himself that we were not going to wait in this gods-forsaken hole forever, so he started sculpting a staircase out of the dirt.  

After a total of an hour or less, as the sun got higher in the sky, we made our way out of the hole, and were amazed by what we saw.  

Fortunately, I had been there before, back when I was an awkward thirteen year old.  We were on Paradise Island, in the Bahamas.  

Specifically?  Atlantis.  

Nico groaned.  “Isn’t this where all the college kids come on spring break?”  

Percy grinned, obviously recovered from his little episode.  “Let’s get our party on!”  He whooped, running for the outer fence to find a way in without having to pay a lot.  

Annabeth protested the entire way in.  “Aren’t we supposed to be shadow traveling to Africa right now?  Seriously, why are we- Percy put that down!”  

She ran for her boyfriend, who was in the midst of picking up a snapping turtle that was hanging out on the edge of the grass.  

We walked around the docks for a couple hours, just to relax our minds and distract them from the fact that we were on a dangerous quest that could potentially get us killed.  

We snuck in to the actual resort and managed to crash in a room for the night, which I will admit was pretty freaking awesome.  It had a view of the ocean, and the towers that the resort was famous for.  

“If we do end up staying here for a couple of days on some downtime, we definitely have to check out their aquarium, because they say it’s just like the real Atlantis.”  Annabeth explained.  

Then she scoffed.  “Yeah, the real Atlantis.  Don’t they know that’s still a thriving culture that the mortals just can’t see?  I’ve met the queen!”  

I stared at her in awe.  “You mean to tell me,  Atlantis is an actual place with an actual queen and you’ve been there?”  

Annabeth nodded thoughtfully.  “Yeah.  Kida’s a pretty cool person.  Very intelligent.”  

We decided to crash that night instead of hitting the casino, which only two of us-cough, cough, Percy and Annabeth- could go into anyways.  

I took my own bed, while Percy shared with Annabeth, and Leo and Nico decided to share.  Nico didn’t look very happy about it, but I figured he probably didn’t sleep anyway, so what’s the point of a bed?  

I fell asleep right away.  After a day of shadow traveling and being stuck in ditches, I was exhausted.  Don’t ask me how.  It was a pleasant dream at first, before the nightmares started.  

I was standing in a crowded room, which was completely full of monsters.  My mom was chained up in front of me.  One by one, they began hitting my mom, asking where I was.  Every time she said ‘I don’t know,’ they just hit her harder.  I began to scream and sob, begging them to stop.  It just got worse and worse.  

I felt two arms wrap around me, enveloping me in their warmth.  I found myself still in my hotel room bed, covered in tears, with Leo wrapped around me, attempting to calm me down.  When I finally did, I just lay my head on his chest.  

And this time, I actually slept.  When I awoke, Leo and I were still laying on the bed in the same hotel room.  It was nice, being curled up right next to him.  But then I noticed something that made me blush-or should I say, someone.  

Annabeth was sitting there watching us as she braided her hair, smirking.  I shot up.  

“Nothing- I mean, n-nothing was going I just had a nightmare and-”  

She laughed, got up, and winked at me as she walked into the bathroom door.  When she came out, she just put her hand on my shoulder.  

“It’s okay.  I completely understand. We all know what those nightmares are like. You’re new to them.”  

I glanced back at Leo, who was still fast asleep under the covers.  

“Nico went down to get breakfast.  Percy and I are going to hit the pool.”  

Then she skipped out of the room.  I sighed and got dressed, figuring it could be cool to hit the beach, seeing I’d only been there a couple of times in my whole life.  

I put on my bikini which somehow magically appeared where Percy and Annabeth had been sleeping.  I figured Annabeth had probably picked one up for me.  

I left a note for Leo, just in case he wanted to join me or something.  Then I walked out of the hotel room and went to get a good, solid tan.

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I'm really seriously sorry that I haven't been updating.  I just finished being a lead in the school play so I had no time between sports and drama and school to write it.  

I don't know if you caught it, but I slipped a little reference to the Disney movie Atlantis in this chapter.  I mean, if anywhere, why not there?

If you don't know what the Atlantis resort is in the bahamas, I suggest you look it up.  I actually have been there, and it's freaking amazinngggggg!

Thank you so much for 500 reads! That's so awesome! 

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