Percy Jackson: Trouble In The Land Beyond The Gods

"Lightning Shock"

Annabeth's POV

We had barely just cleared away the last of the debris when the first boom of thunder sounded. I jumped, yelping and slipping on the wet and almost charred deck beneath my feet. It was clear I wasn't the only one who felt this way when I looked around from my position on the floor; Thalia and Piper were stood side-by-side, their eyes wide with shock; and Leo and Hedge were both on the ground, Gleeson looking as though he had fallen and Leo sat cross-legged fiddling with some metal pieces.

I pushed myself back onto my feet, the world spinning for a brief moment and flashing white like the lightning had turned it a few mere moments ago. I gasped, pushing my hands out beside me to break my fall – a fall that thankfully didn't come.

I barely managed to steady myself, my vision flashing white again when I blinked. I rested a hand against the wooden mast towering above me, relying on its sturdiness to keep me upright.

Thalia looked my way, worry filling her face. She ran over to where I stood, giving me her shoulder to lean on.

"Are you alright, Annabeth?" she asked me, her concern overpowering her voice.

Weakly, I nodded. Then the pain hit and I pushed my hands against my head to save my throbbing skull from exploding. I sunk down to my knees, gravity weighing down on me like the sky. A groan escaped my lips, pushing every over thought away from me.

"No..." I mumbled numbly, "Not so good..."

Thalia crouched down beside me, placing her hand on my back. Her voice was calm and comforting, "What's going on in there?"

I blinked as my eyes began to water, pain rushing across my eyelids as white seared my vision. I winced, "It hurts when I close my eyes – and there's, like, a flash of light behind my eyelids... a bit like lightning, I guess."

Thalia cursed.

My feet slipped from underneath me, the deck still slippery from when we'd doused all of the small fires Percy had caused with his explosion. A grunt escaped me – I was already numb and had a throbbing headache building between my eyes where the pain seemed to be accumulating, a tiny fall wasn't exactly about to make it any worse.

"–abeth! Annabeth!" Thalia shouted next to me, her voice garbled like it was coming out of a telephone, "Annabeth!"

I gave her a thumbs up to show I'd heard her, everything else hurt too much to move.

"I'm going to need you to trust me," she continued. "You've got a pretty bad case of  Lightning Shock, something me and Jason managed to figure out a couple of winters ago; I'm sure he's accidentally caught you with it, that's why this is happening. So, I need you to close your eyes – and keep them shut, no matter what happens – until I tell you to open them. But you can't open your eyes... got it?"

I gave her another thumbs up.

"Right," Thalia pressed on. "Close them."

I did as she asked, I promise. But when the blackness closed in on me and I was powerless against it, I cannot be held accountable for my actions – especially when I can't remember them.

All I know is that now I'm staring up at the grey clouds thundering across the sky, blonde locks of hair strewn across my face, and that I can still hear the sound of Percy and Jason fighting.

Or... I did, until a second ago, when I heard Thalia yell out in fury.