So, you would think slipping into a world of unconsciousness after expending my remaining life energy after being bit by a chimera would be uneventful, but nooooo. No one thought to warn me beforehand how crazy my dreams would get. Nobody thought it a good idea to mention it to me.

Then again, I had only acknowledged that my world was, indeed, messed up with mythological gods from Ancient Greek times in the past couple hours or so. I guess it could be forgiven. I don’t really blame anyone. Again.

I first felt myself materialise when I realised I was looking at myself on a bed, a feverish layer of sweat covering every open space on my body. A cool cloth was placed on my forehead, for sure to try and keep my fever down, and a thin blanket was draped over my chest and below. My head shook and muttered incoherent things, and I thought I looked very disgusting.

What? They hadn’t washed me or anything, if you’re wondering. I was clearly dying, and it seemed I was only slowly growing better. Exponentially. Impossibly. Beside my prone body on a bed stand was a glass of a golden liquid, ready for immediate consumption and a nice cosy umbrella to top it off. I was dirty, dusty, quite a bit bloodied, and somewhat charred to look six shades darker. All in all, I was sure my appearance was one of the reasons that chimera had died. I was a nightmare.

That was when I noticed Percy standing a short distance away from me, worriedly eyeing my battered form. He was pacing and wincing, rubbing his temples as if he had a major headache. I suspected that swipe from the chimera did more than bat Percy away. He was muttering something quietly, something I couldn’t make it, when a girl about the same age as him rushed in, hugging Percy tightly.

The girl had blonde hair and piercing grey eyes, one’s that seemed to be able to cut something just from staring at it. She, like Percy, wore an orange Camp Half-Blood shirt, though hers was infinite times more clean than the latter, and she directed her gaze straight at Percy. “Percy!” she shouted, crushing him. Percy wheezed something, which made the girl let go promptly. She stepped away, clearing her throat before slapping him. “Don’t do something like that again! The last time you faced the chimera, you almost died!”

Percy pouted, wincing hard before rubbing his face. “Oww. That was six years ago, Annabeth. Plus, I had you with me.”

The girl named Annabeth harrumphed, glaring at Percy. “Yeah, I was definitely there to stop you from falling six-hundred feet.”

“Well, I’m still here,” he murmured, pulling Annabeth close for another hug before kissing her.

Yup, they were a couple. The kiss pretty much sealed the deal, but there were definitely some hints there that they were together. Like the fact that she mentioned he knew the time Percy was attacked by a Chimera. Six years is quite a long time to grow a relationship, and one so close to each other at that. I totally ship them. But there were more pressing matters I should be focusing on, like the fact that I was lying half-dead on a bed.

“It’s a good thing this girl here was there to save my life,” Percy said. His face then fell a bit, looking disappointed. “Even though I was the one saving hers.”

“You did the best you could,” Annabeth assured him, “You brought her here, didn’t you? She’s still alive, though barely, thanks to you.”

He shook his head and rubbed his face. “Doesn’t make it any less true, or terrible. We could’ve both died. I had promised her she would be safe with me. I failed that.”

Annabeth turned around to stare outside the door for a bit before facing Percy again. “Well, Chiron said she should be fine, but she’s sustained a lot of damage. He and Will had some trouble healing her, and Nico said she was on the verge of death a couple times, though none as close as when you brought her here. What even happened?”

Percy gave Annabeth a dark look and both their heads swivelled to look at me. Well, not real me, as I was basically standing right next to them, but they looked to my body on the table.

“It’s… I think we’ve got another thing coming, Annabeth. First Apollo, now this…”

“Can’t you tell me?”

Percy stood silently for a moment longer before closing his eyes. “I think it’s best I share this with Chiron and the councillors.”

Annabeth pursed her lips, her eyebrows furrowed together as her eyes flitted between Percy and me. “Then let’s go. There’s no time to waste.”

With that, they left the room I was in, the world shifted around me, a soft booming in the distance I hadn’t noticed before suddenly growing louder and louder. I looked around in the darkness of my dream, scrambling to find where it was coming from. The answer? Everywhere. I soon realised that it wasn’t a booming, but a group of voices, all whispers, but compounded together sounded like a roar.

I suddenly found myself cowering in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by trees and the clanging sound of chimes waving frantically.

Soon, they said. The pieces shall fall and the demon’s boon shall spread.

Their voices then began to swirl around me, my eyes shaking with every word. I clutched at my ears, screaming as the words began to tear into me.

Come to us!

Come to us!

Finally, I was relieved as the world twisted around me again, but this time, I felt a cold chill creep up my back. I shook from my other dream, but I would soon come to realise this was the worst one yet. I found myself in a dark shaded room, holes and crevices filling every spot in the room, be it the ceiling, floor or walls. At the end of the room sat a wicked throne, gnarled and curved with an odd mixture of what looked like obsidian and roots. A figure sat at the throne, eyes glinting maliciously as they stared down at a kneeling… thing in the middle of the room.

Her bone-chilling voice pierced the air, making me feel like I was inferior in every single way. Like my life had just been drained of all emotion, and all that was left was a husk. “Has it been done?” the person said.

“The chimera have been released, but, ah, a slight hiccup has placed us in a difficult position-”

The woman on the throne interrupted the thing in the middle of the floor, her voice dripping with anger and annoyance. “Perhaps if you had watched who you hired and been more responsible with our pets, they wouldn’t be in Tartarus right now!”

“Th-there’s still more news I h-have to give you, y-your highness.”

I could feel the woman’s snarl from where I hid. I didn’t trust my dream intangibility. I was sure she would still see me even in dream form. “You’d better hope this is good news then, because I was just about ready to send you down myself.”

The thing in the center of the room winced before nodding vigorously. “I-It is! Our agent has been placed, and she will be there shortly, ready to intercept the girl! They will be none the wiser.”

There was a tense silence as a faint buzzing I hadn’t acknowledged before came to a halt, as if the world were holding its breath. A few more moments of unbearable silence passed, and I almost wondered whether she had just fallen asleep in the dark.

“Very well. At least your miserable little suggestion has proven itself to be somewhat effective. For now. Why I even hired you in the first place, I do not remember anymore, but you best hope this works out, because if not…”

The thing in the room gulped. “Y-yes. I understand. Now, about the state of the-”

“Wait.”

I held my breath, suddenly sensing something in the air that electrified it. It made all the hairs on my skin stand, and I began to creep away, not knowing where I was going.

“She’s here. I know it.”

I blinked several times before I found the shadow of a tall being appear at the edge of the wall I had been listening from. At that moment, I was sure I was going to die, before I felt the vision collapsing around me. I ran for the edge of the world, where I saw the setting disappearing. I jumped straight into the void, and found myself finally drifting away, nothing holding me down anymore. Closing my dream eyes, I let my consciousness dissolve into a restless sleep.

Author's Note

Hey, look, a new PJO tag. Go tell everyone else who writes PJO here and shout at them to put the tag on.

Also, exposition!