I'm sorry, Annabeth

Percy XVIII

Percy scowled.

Gaea.

"Ahhh…" she smiled evilly. "Mr. Jackson." 

Her hand went to her black leather belt, and when Percy blinked, Gaea was crouching next to him, holding out a knife stained with dark blood, and closely examining the back of Percy's Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. 

"I wish I could do something to the smooth, young flesh." she said, licking her lips. Percy shuddered. 

"Young demigod…" she snarled. "Have you ever had a tattoo?" she was spinning her knife on her fingers.

"Uh… no? Except for the SPQR tattoo, with the trident of Poseidon, in Camp Jupiter." Percy was drowned in the memories. Now it seemed that the burning of the tattoo during his stay at Camp Jupiter didn't really hurt at all. 

"I wonder if I could…mark…your back…" she smirked.

Percy felt the knife dig into his back. He could feel that was she writing. Or drawing. Or… never mind. 

"I wonder… does it ever occur to you that you would turn evil? Young Jackson?" Gaea smirked.

"Never." Percy gasped. 

The knife moves to Percy's stomach, and it's cutting through his Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. It's slicing through…things… and it should have hurt to Percy. However, he couldn't feel it. He could smell the blood, his blood, dying his orange T-shirt to a blood red. Maybe it was because his thoughts were still dwelled in the death of his best friend…

Katie. 

What would Travis think now? Would he blame Percy for doing nothing? Percy couldn't face the truth of the death of Katie. He looked to the bloodstains on the wall. Her bloodstains. 

Then there was a snap of fingers. And Percy was pulled out of his trance. 

Then all the pain surged into Percy all at once. He shuddered in pain. 

Gaea and Kronos were laughing at Percy's cry in pure agony.

 
"Trying to put yourself in a trance to prevent feeling pain? You're smarter than you look. But then again, I learnt not to underestimate you after my downfall." Gaea's image flickered. She plunged the knife deeper into Percy's body, the tip showing in Percy's stomach. Percy winced. 

Kronos/Luke biit his lip. "Mother… maybe it's too much." 

"There's nothing as too much!" Gaea's hood fell off and her black silky hair was slithering in the air, like a snake. "HE CAUSED MY DOWNFALL!" Her imaged flickered again. "Avenge me, son!" She pulled out the knife forcefully, ginning in satisfaction at the sight of Percy's blood. Then she disappeared.

Kronos/Luke eyed Percy suspiciously and walked out of the room, slamming the door. 

Percy went limp and fell onto the ground, just when he was about to black out… he heard a gentle sound.

"Percy…Percy?" 

He forced his eyes open. 

"Wha-what?" 

There was a floating image of a girl in white clothes, brown hair, and with a…tiara like crown of the hunters…

"Bianca? Bianca di Angelo? What are you doing here?" 

Bianca di Angelo folded her arms. 

"That's not a very nice way to welcome me, Percy. If I were not a ghost I would have punched you in the gut."Then she looked guilty of saying that. She floated closer to Percy. 

"Are you alright?" 

Percy rolled his eyes. "Well, I got stabbed several times and a crazy woman just carved words on my back. Oh yeah, I'm perfectly fine." 

Bianca bit her lip. 

"I'll take that as a no." she silently examined Percy's wounds. "I wish I could help, but I can't do anything."

"Anyways," Percy groaned in pain, clutching his stomach, which even made it even more painful. "Why are you here?" 

Bianca laughed. 

"Well, what do you think? To humiliate you?" 

"It seems like it." 

Bianca rolled her eyes. 

"I asked my father for permission to speak to you. Who knew that you were chained up and like….this?" her brown eyes were filled with pity. 

"Well, why did you want to find me?"  Percy laughed, then he stopped. "Wait… didn't you… didn't you choose rebirth?" 

Bianca sighed. 

"That's one of the things that I want to tell you. I've… lied to Nico… I didn't choose rebirth." 

Percy slammed his fist to the ground. Bianca jumped.

"What? Nico was so worried about you and you just lied to him? Did you know he spent so much time to find you? Just to talk to you? And it's all my fault that you died…" Percy stopped and his eyes closed in guilt. 

Bianca placed a hand on Percy's shoulder, but Percy didn't feel anything. 

"Percy… I'm sorry about lying to him, but this is important. My father let me roam the human world since I didn't want to stay in the underworld. I didn't want to let Nico to keep on finding me, I don't want him to spend his lifetime trying to talk to me." 

Percy sighed. 

"So, Percy. Back to my point. While I was wandering around, I saw Gaea and Luke talking together. They… they were talk about… you." 

Percy's eyes widened. 

"Me?" 

"Yes, you." Bianca nodded sadly. 

"Was she talking about taking revenge?" Percy said in a bored tone. 

Bianca laughed. 

"Well, yes. But there's something more… they were planning to use you. To use you as a pawn. Gaea wants her power back and control the world, and Luke, or Kronos, just wants to finish you." 

"Did you catch how they wanted to use me?" Percy asked. 

"I don't really remember…" Bianca's eyes squinted in thought. "And they were talking about Annabeth too. They will use Annabeth, but kill the rest." 

"Kill the rest?" Percy's voice trembled. He's seen enough killing for a lifetime. But demigod lives were like that, right? If they can't escape, they die. 

"Percy… don't freak out… I still remember…"

"Well, well, well… Who's this lovely little girl?" The door opened and a blue-eyed Luke walked in, leaning on the door. 

Bianca gasped. 

"Find Nico, or Thalia, tell them." Percy desperately cried. "Tell them!" 

Bianca nodded and disappeared in a bright light. 

Luke raised an eyebrow. 

"What did she tell you, Mr Hero?" 

"Uh…" Percy looked around nervously for ideas. "She said she wanted to thank me for saving her river?" 

"She's a river nymph?" Luke asked. 

"Yeah!" Percy lied. "Totally." 

"Why does she look strangely familiar?" Luke pondered. Percy tensed. 

"Never mind. Must be some silly pest like that Katie girl." 

Percy's eyes narrowed. 

"Katie is not a silly pest!"

Percy expected Luke to argue, but he shook it off. 

"Jackson, now's not the time." he said. "Wouldn't you want to meet your dear lovely mother?"