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Annabeth.
For some reason, she couldn’t open her eyes. Annabeth was stuck in literal darkness, and she could feel the coldness of the stranger’s voice. It was deep, raspy, and cruel. She knew she fell asleep, since her and Grover took their turns to sleep while Percy was on scout duty. This had to have been a dream, but it felt real. TOO real.
Annabeth.
The voice murmured again in its callous tone. It seemed ancient, and it was trying to taunt her as best it could, making her feel vulnerable and uncomfortable. Annabeth tried to open her eyes, but to no avail. She could only feel the cold, but not her own body. She felt like nothing.
In an instant, she could see. She didn’t know how. It was like a light switch had just turned on in a very, very dark room. She could finally feel her body again. She found herself on the ground… somewhere. The floor was unpleasantly rocky, and she flipped over her left hand to see light-gray pebbles scattered on her palm. She managed to lift herself off the ground, and moved her hair to the side as she tried to gather her surroundings. She only grew more confused.
“Where am I?”
It was still quite dark, but it seemed she was still having a vision, but one in a place that she had never been before. It was a large cave where the ceiling extended almost infinitely, and in the middle of the cave lay a chasm far larger than a city block. She felt the chill of the chasm itself. Without thinking, she walked closer to the hole in the floor. The cold grew stronger.
Annabeth, child, are you not tired?
Before she knew it, she stood at the chasm’s edge. Its pull reached out to her like a loving embrace, tempting her to jump in. She looked into the darkness. She saw nothing, but maybe it was a comforting sort of nothing. After all, she was on this quest to prove herself. But to whom? Her mother, the all-wise Athena? Her father? Herself? Would it not be easier to leave it all behind, and rest forever?
The Olympians give you nothing. I can give you everything.
Yes, everything. I can have everything. I can be given everything. I don’t want to be abandoned. I don’t want to feel like a failure. I don’t want to let anyone down. I just want to be free and happy. He will give me everything I need to be happy. He will not let me down. Not like them. All I have to do is…
“Annabeth?”
She turned away from the chasm, and into the tunnel behind. She saw a bright, warm light emanating from it. She heard a voice, a familiar one. One that belonged to a nervous satyr with small horns that peeked out from his growing black hair. She heard his anxious smile, and remembered the music he would always play on his reed pipes. A slow smile creeped onto her face, and she felt happy to hear the voice.
“What’s wrong, Grover? Is she waking up?”
Another voice, except this one, made her angry. She remembered the blonde-haired boy that belonged to the voice. She disliked his snarkiness, but it was comforting all the while. She thought he was strange, and maybe he was. She felt a warm feeling inside her chest, because she remembered the jokes he would make, and she couldn’t help but hide her laughter.
“Yup, she’s out like a light.”
“Percy! Maybe she’s just tired. Wake up, Annabeth!”
Annabeth. Yes, that was her name. She knew that girl, how broken she was and upset she was at the world for hurting her. She saw that little girl again, running away from home with nothing but the clothes she wore and a half-empty backpack. She saw a scared little girl, who had found and lost her new family in such a short while. But, she saw herself now. She saw an older girl. She fidgeted with one of her braids as she always did when she was thinking. Her bead necklace hung lightly at her neck. Her eyes sparkled with pride and conviction. She could fight and survive on her own. She dreamed of being an architect and seeing the world. She desired a way to make something permanent for herself. Annabeth Chase didn’t want to give it all up. She wanted an opportunity to make something of herself.
The pull of the chasm grew stronger, and her foot almost slipped in. However, it was no match for her, and she managed to leopard-crawl away from it. She pulled herself back off, and mustered the rest of her strength to rush towards that bright light and away from that cold cavern.
She finally woke up.
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She didn’t tell anyone about that dream. Not even when they reached that waterpark, and had gotten tricked by Ares. Not even when they were all in the back of that dinghy vehicle, surrounded by ill-maintained animals. Not even when Percy had admitted to having a vision of that same chasm. And not even when they found themselves there together, falling down, down, down.
It was a dream she intended on keeping a secret.