Annabeth's POV (again)
I run through the darkness, half hoping that someone kills me. That way Percy will win. But no one does. I run safely through the night.
I see a small campfire and I follow the light. Two shapes are next to the fire, a boy and a girl.
"I don't know, Luke. Maybe we should just give up, find everyone and kill them. That's the whole point."
"I'm not going to be a pawn in their games, Thalia. I'm going to do the opposite. We will win, I promise."
I accidentally step on a twig, causing both of them to turn around. Before I can run away, the boy calls out to me.
"Annabeth? Is that you?"
I step near the fire where the light reaches me.
"Annabeth, it's me," the boy says with hope in his voice.
It's the boy in my dreams, the boy who said he loved me. The boy who promised me family.
"Luke."
"It's me."
"It's me too, if any one was wondering," Thalia cuts in.
"Thalia, Luke. I..."
"I've missed you too. But it can be the way it was at the beginning. Just us three, fighting the world. We can win this, I know we can. We're the strongest demigods."
An image of Percy flashes in my mind. I try to make it go away, but it burns on my eyelids. I choke back a sob and nod at Luke.
His eyes light up with excitement. Luke's arm is around Thalia's shoulders and he holds his hand out. I take it and he hugs me tight.
"My family," he whispers to both of us. "My only family. I love you both. Don't ever forget that."
I nod into his shoulder. Eventually sleep takes me, pulling me into a world of nightmares of leaving Percy.
When I wake up, Thalia is gone. Luke is standing near the fire. His jacket is draped over me like a blanket.
"Good morning, Annie. Get up, breakfast is ready."
I stumble over, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. He hands me a handful of berries and nuts. I take it and eat them all.
Thalia comes back with a squirrel in her hands.
"Hungry for seconds?"
I nod and Luke laughs. We roast the squirrel. When it's done, we rip it apart and eat it still hot.
When we're done, I lean back, satisfied. I'm happy. Almost as happy that I was when I was with Percy.
Stop, I chide myself. You can't think about him. You did what was needed. He needs to survive and you don't. He can't get attached to me.
"Ready to go?" Luke asks me. I nod and he helps me to my feet.
"Let's go!" Thalia shouts. Luke and I holler and we follow her.
Before long we run into a giant lake that I didn't know existed before now.
"Wanna go for a swim?" Luke asks us.
"Sure. I could use a bath," Thalia days with a grin. We take off our jackets and shoes and run into the water, splashing as we go.
We spend a good part of the day playing in the water as if we're little kids. I love being with Thalia and Luke. They always feel like my family.
We dry off around mid-afternoon. We lay in the sun for a while.
"I'm going to go find some food, 'kay? I'll just be a few minutes," says Luke, already walking away. Thalia and I lay in the sun.
About 20 minutes later, Luke comes back over, empty-handed.
"Where's the food?" Thalia asks.
Luke's hands are shaking.
"Something...something stung me. Probably nothing big, but I just want to rest."
"Let's get back," I say.
Thalia and I help Luke back to camp. When we get there, he starts yelling at hallucinations, telling someone named Ethan to stop. There's nothing Thalia and I can do but hold his hand and stay with him.
YOU ARE READING
A Game of Promises
Fanfiction" But a game of promises is a difficult game to play. Especially when there's so much to loose " A Heroes of Olympus dystopian in which... ~Gaea was never defeated ~Leo Valdez was never killed ~The gods never won the war, and Gaea did The Demigod Ga...
