Percy's POV
"Percy!" Annabeth cried out, reaching for me. The floor was shaking. The only light was the small dagger Annabeth held in her hand, which was glowing faintly. I don't know why the dagger was glowing, but I was glad it was. I stumbled over to Annabeth who grasped my hand. Together we backed away from a chasm opening before us.
"Daughter of Athena!"
Annabeth appeared to be trying not to cry. Her gaze roved the darkness; she swung her dagger all around trying to find who had spoken. I dodged getting speared on the end of her knife and asked, "What was that?"
"It's her," Annabeth grimaced, as if that's all the explanation I needed.
The cavern shook again, nearly knocking me over. I put a hand on the wall to regain my balance, but almost immediately drew it back. "Eughh!" The wall was covered in spiderwebs. "Annabeth, where are we?"
But Annabeth was gone. Her bronze dagger lay abandoned on the floor at my feet. I snatched it up and spun around. "Annabeth?"
My blood pounded in my ears. Where could she have gone? She was standing right next to me!
Trembling, I started forward, away from the crack in the ground, holding the dagger aloft. The cobwebs continued to cover the walls in thick layers. There were all sorts of dead beetles, and flies, and termites, and gods knew what else stuck in the webbing. My stomach clenched in disgust. As I walked, my pace hurried but cautious, the animals trapped in the webs gradually became bigger. I saw what appeared to be a half-eaten mole, several rats, a couple raccoons, a few squirrels, and then I was practically wading my way through spider webs.
"Annabeth!" I called out again.
This time my cry was answered by a shrill hiss, like several high voices laughing at once.
My heart pounded. "Annabeth!"
I fought my way through the webs, hacking at them with Annabeth's knife. Soon, the blade was covered and I had to shake off the strands to let the light shine again. Where was she?
There was a shape ahead, something in the webbing. Another animal? It was a large one. Perhaps a deer. Though I don't know what a deer would be doing in that horrible place. I drew closer. The shape now looked vaguely human. The whole body was covered in webs, swaddled like a mummy. It must have been recent.
A horrible twist in my gut told me I knew who it was, but I stretched out my hand anyway. I pulled away a handful of webs, revealing a blonde eyebrow and a slightly open hazy-gray eye.
Percy, this voice seemed to speak to my mind, Percy, you must wake up. Percy, remember--
I sat up, smacking my forehead on the bunk above me. "Ouch!" I rubbed my head, blinking in the light of the glow-in-the-dark water fountain. I glanced at the clock on my nightstand: 6:43. I groaned, sinking back into bed. It had been just a dream.
Still, I couldn't help glancing around to make sure there were no spider webs clinging to the walls of my cabin. My skin felt washed with ice. I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyes. That was a really weird dream. Not only had Annabeth, a girl I barely knew, become a spider's lunch, but my father's voice had randomly drifted in too.
I chuckled a little, Weird, and promptly rolled over and quickly drifted back to sleep.
The next morning, Chiron gave me some less than exciting news, "The new recruits have begun their training. I need you to teach them the water courses."
I swallowed, running a hand through my hair. "Sure, Chiron. Right after breakfast."
Naturally, I tried to make breakfast last as long as possible. Nearly everyone had gone by the time I'd finished eating (without the sling, finally.)
When I finished, I made my way down to the lake, not even worried that I was probably going to be the last one to arrive at my own lesson, despite that being the reason those kids didn't like me in the first place. It was a bit ironic, I guess.
My plan was to teach as if I'd never met these kids in my life. Just a normal lesson, no stumbling over words, no glaring at their backs. Besides, maybe I was worrying about nothing. Annabeth and I were on pretty good terms, maybe she'd talked to her friends.
That hope was dashed as soon as I cleared the trees looking out over the lake. All of them were there, standing in a clump. Some had their arms folded, others looked sulky. Annabeth herself was sitting on a rock, a little way off from her friends, sketching something in a notebook.
When she heard me approach, Annabeth looked up and smiled way too politely. "Hey Percy."
I glanced at her scowling friends behind her. "What's up?"
Annabeth's smile faded. She rolled her eyes. "They're just being....nevermind. They'll get over it eventually. Let's get started."
Basically, it was the most awkward lesson I've ever given. Annabeth was overly enthusiastic, as if to prove a point to the rest of the group. The others shot me glares or shot Annabeth glares. Thankfully they participated, but it was rather like pulling teeth.
"How many of you have ever paddled a canoe before?" I asked, wading out into the lake with my jeans rolled up to my knees.
There were a couple of grunts of assent.
"Okay...how many of you haven't?"
Two girls raised their hands.
"Great. You guys can work with Annabeth. You've been canoeing before, right?"
Annabeth shrugged. "It's not hard."
"Well then, Wise-Girl, why don't you just teach them if it's so easy?"
She smirked and made her way over to the redheaded girl and the Aphrodite girl with dark hair.
"The rest of you," I said, tugging off my T-shirt, "swimming contest. If you can beat me to the other side of the lake, I'll give you my desserts for a week."
"What if multiple people beat you?" The tall blond one asked skeptically.
I grinned. "Well, you'll just have to make sure you get there first, right? Line up!"
"Wait," the Native-American girl protested, "Shouldn't we go change into swimming suits?"
"Well, I think that would take a long time, and would certainly make you lose, but if you want to, go ahead," I said seriously. Okay, this girl had been a bit of a jerk in History. I'll admit I was kind of taking advantage of the situation.
Clarisse, the one who'd tried to dunk my head in the toilet--not likely to forget her name--sniggered. After two seconds pause, Piper knelt and began untying her sneakers.
When everyone was ready, we lined up on the shore. I glanced at the canoe, already far into the lake; hopefully they would stay out of the way.
"On your marks," I bent my knees, ready to run into the water, "get set..."
"Go!" We plunged into the water.
Now, I don't want to brag, but I have won every swimming contest since I came to camp, (probably because until they had a kid in the Poseidon cabin, it wasn't a thing.) Unfortunately, as much as I liked these newbies, I couldn't actually risk my desserts for them.
It was a long swim. Long enough that you had to stop halfway, touch down at the bottom, and rest, before continuing. While I took my break, I looked back. The blond kid, Luke--I'm pretty sure--was pretty close, and showing no signs of stopping. I wasn't worried though. He'd get tired eventually, and then I could pass him again.
I waited until he swam passed me before sinking under the water again.
By the time everyone else reached the opposite bank, I was already shaking water out of my hair. Luke was first, after me, followed surprisingly by Piper, then Clarisse, and then Frank.
"Sorry guys," I shook my head apologetically, "No desserts for you."
Clarisse snarled, "Show-off."
I raised my eyebrows. "Now that's one nickname I haven't heard yet, but you're getting warmer."
Luke laughed, "Well played, Jackson, well played." He clapped me on the shoulder like we were long-time buddies. "So, are you going to make us swim all the way back too?"
I stepped away from him. "No," I said, raising a hand to signal Annabeth out on the lake. She was already making her way towards us from dropping the other girls off on the other side. "We'll take the canoe back in two loads."
It was several very awkward minutes of standing on the beach, shivering in our wet clothing, waiting for the canoe, and not talking.
Finally, Annabeth got near enough for me to wade out and tug the canoe to shore. "Luke, Clarisse, Piper, you go back first." I held the boat steady as the three of them climbed in.
"I am not rowing back across this thing," Annabeth stated, handing the paddle to Luke.
I pushed them off and watched Luke get them slowly into open water; four people was much heavier than one.
Behind me, Frank cleared his throat. I turned to look at him. I'd never considered the big guy before. He had always been a part of the group of kids that picked on me, but right now he seemed kind of shy.
He worked his mouth for a moment, wringing his hands. "Listen, Percy. I just wanted to say...well...I never really thought it was funny. All those names Clarisse made up. I just...they're my friends." He winced. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry I laughed. If we're going to be spending a lot of time at camp together, I'd prefer to be on better terms." He held out his hand.
I hesitated. But only for a moment. I grinned, clasping his hand. "It's cool. I don't blame you, really. Public school is a joke."
Frank cracked a smile. "Yeah it is. I didn't realize it was your first time."
I grimaced. "Yeah. Never trying that again."
"We're good?"
"We're good." I paused, "But, we can't make it official yet."
"Why not?" Frank's brow crinkled up and his eyes sharpened even more.
"Because, we have to be enemies until I beat the Ares cabin at capture the flag tomorrow."
Frank blinked and then smiled.