Face Their Fear [Percy]

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth was officially nervous. And that was saying something. For the first time since Daedalus’ Labyrinth, she was leading a quest. And considering that the last time she’d done so was, in her opinion, a complete wreck… between Rachel ending up leading it, Kronos rising, and so many lives being lost… Well, she was understandably somewhere between unnerved that it might happen again, and hoping she could prove herself worth something this time around. The prophecy Rachel had said kept playing through her mind… You seek to find the half of a whole… You must find the light and gain control… Brave the waters of Superior blue and clear… One will be forced to face their fear… You will find him there when darkness take… Bone, spirit, and faith will break…

Well, it sounded like Lake Superior would be the location of choice, so she’d be an idiot not to ask Percy to come. That, and she wouldn’t even think of going anywhere without him. Which was why she was looking for him right now. She’d checked the arena and the lake, the archery range and the amphitheater. Now she was walking through the long courtyard between the cabins, all the way up to the top of the U where Cabin 3 sat just to the side. Maybe he was in his cabin. She climbed the stairs to the Poseidon Cabin, “Percy?”

But something stopped her from taking another step, the color draining from her face. Percy’s words from the beginning of the summer came back all too clear. ‘I heard a voice and I’m pretty sure it was the same voice from in my dream. And it said ‘I know your fear.’ ’ That was right after he’d more or less freaked out under the lake… And the prophecy… it had said ‘One will be forced to face their fear…’ She swallowed. If she asked Percy to come… what if that was referring to him. What if he got hurt? And all because she’d asked him to come? Her stomach twisted. She wasn’t so sure asking him was such a good idea anymore…

[Ψ ADMIN SUSHI Ψ]

Percy was never really alone these days in Cabin Three. Tyson was no longer at camp and for a while it was nice to go back to having the place all to himself. It did get lonely after a while but as if answering the wish in the back of his mind Ellie came to camp. He had a sister now. And while he had been slightly put off at first with his dad for the whole deal he grew to like Ellie a whole bunch. Now he had to keep Cabin Three clean more than half the time. He was alone at this moment though.

He was glad that Ellie wasn’t in here. Percy had been having trouble sleeping lately. While he was curious about his dreams he didn’t want to have anymore to further worry Annabeth. Annabeth. Percy wanted to take her to the river Styx and just dunk her in. He hated worrying about her safety. He never worried so much before but now that they were together he was scared to let Annabeth go to training alone. It was stupid really.

”Percy?”

Percy sat up from his bed and looked to the door. He knew it was Annabeth before he saw her. By now Percy had her voice committed to memory. A smile formed on his face as he hopped up from the bed. He stopped and stared at her noticing the color vanish from her complexion. That wasn’t a good sign. Percy felt his stomach drop a little. He cautiously moved and took her hands in his.

“Annabeth, are you okay? What’s wrong? What happened? Are you hurt? Did someone else get hurt? Did Nico have a melt down again?”

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth could just hear the creak of someone moving on one of the beds and sincerely she hoped she hadn’t woken Percy or Ellie. And then she saw Percy lean to look out the wide open doorway and his usual big goofy smile spread on his face. He was so cute when he did that; it almost made her smile to see him hop from his bed all excited and everything. Almost. The words of the prophecy and the thought of him getting hurt kept the smile from being any more that the slightest flicker at the corner of her mouth.

He seemed to notice something was off too. And, of course, thus began the bombardment of questions. She didn’t roll her eyes or anything this time though. “Percy, no one’s hurt. Nico’s fine, that I know of… But… well, um, I was talking to Rachel and, well… I sort of have a quest now. I need your help, if you’ll agree to come. But there’s one thing. I’m really worried… The prophecy spoke of someone facing their greatest fear. That sounds an awful lot like what you were talking about at the beginning of summer. Do you think-… I mean-… well, if there’s someone or something after you like that, I’m not so sure you should come.” She squeezed his hands and spoke a little quieter. “Percy, what if whatever that was comes? I don’t want something to happen to you… But, of course, I leave the choice up to you.” She smiled slightly and added. “I can’t imagine a quest without you.” Or anything without you, she added silently. “But if something happens to you… I’d never forgive myself…”

[Ψ ADMIN SUSHI Ψ]

Percy had hoped that Annabeth just wanted to stop by and say hello or just see how was doing. That was too much wishful thinking though. He straightened up when Annabeth confirmed that no one was hurt. That was a good sign at least. Percy was afraid they found someone dead in the forest or something. Annabeth looked like she had just seen a ghost. Percy’s hands tightened around Annabeth’s. His eyes stayed on her face tracing each worry line studying her expression with every word she spoke.

His brow knitted together. She was going way to too fast, it was hard for Percy to keep up with her. Then again, he had a hard time keeping up with Annabeth on a daily basis. “Whoa. Whoa. Hold on, Rachel’s here?” He hadn’t seen her come to camp or noticed her around. For this he felt a little guilty for being ignorant of a friend. “And what do you mean you have a quest? A prophecy has to be given in order for you to get a quest.”

Percy paused for a second realizing what he had just said. His eyes closed shut for a moment trying to get his thoughts straight. For a moment he almost forgot about Rachel being the Oracle. He was still used to the rotted mummy even after two years of a fresh fully living human being. He opened his eyes and took Annabeth’s face in his hands. He looked her dead in the eyes.

Percy spoke slowly and calmly, “Annabeth. Calm down okay? Just take a deep breath, you’ve been on plenty of quests before.” His hands slid off her face and dropped to his side. Percy gave her a look of slight disbelief, but there was amusement in his eyes.

“You may be the daughter of the Goddess of Wisdom, but sometimes I think you’re denser than I am. Where ever you go. I go. End of story, we’re in this together. If a prophecy is made to you it might as well be made to be too. Back up for a second, you said something about, facing your fear. Or someone’s fear.”

There was a lump in Percy’s throat. He swallowed hard and his eyes glazed over as he recalled the events of the three days prior. The voice said, I know your fear and Percy felt the strangest feeling of fear whenever he dreamed. Naturally everything was connected. He was just worried about allowing the connection to expand. He drew in a breath and let it out.

“Annabeth, can you tell me exactly what Rachel said. Don’t leave anything out, or change anything this time. We both know the wording is key.” He took Annabeth’s hand and began to lead her to the bed.

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth had to roll her eyes. “Oh course she’s here, Percy. She’s here every summer?” Gods, he could be thick sometimes. And then on about there having to be a prophecy. She just gave him her best raised-eyebrow ‘well duh’ look. Sometimes she wondered if he played stupid just to annoy her. She was about to say something when Percy came to his senses; she could almost see the little light bulb come on. She smiled when he spoke again though, relief flooding through her, even though she’d had a pretty good feeling he’d agree to come. Though when he decided to go on, she pursed her lips in mock annoyance. “Denser than you? Percy Jackson, I don’t think I’ve ever been more insulted in my life. Thanks though. For the coming along part, not the insult part.”

And then he finally seemed to notice what she’d said; being in the water so much must have cause the gears in his head to rust or something, the delay they sometimes had. She followed him to his bed and sat down on the edge. With a deep breath, she closed her eyes and recited the prophecy Rachel had given her. “You seek to find the half of a whole; You must find the light and gain control; Brave the waters of Superior blue and clear; One will be forced to face their fear; You will find him there when darkness take,” she said, then paused, taking a deep breath, “Bone, spirit, and faith will break…”

After a minute she opened her eyes, not even realizing that she’d started fidgeting with the college ring on her camp necklace again. The last line of that prophecy was less than comforting. “I just hope I can do it…” she said quietly, more to herself than anything. “My last quest didn’t go so well…” She pulled her necklace away from her neck so she could just see the clay beads, twisting one of them so the little labyrinth design on it showed. She’d waited seven years for that bead. But it didn’t seem like much of a good thing to waste seven years waiting for.

[Ψ ADMIN SUSHI Ψ]

Percy nodded his head and rolled his eyes in response to Annabeth’s eye roll. He knew that Rachel showed up here each summer, the fact of the matter was that he didn’t know she had arrived yet. He ignored it for the most part though and chose to respond to it. No point in trying to pick a fight with Annabeth (ever). He sighed and shook his head.

“Come on Annabeth, you know—“ He cut himself off and held strong to his no fighting pact he made with himself just moments before. “Nevermind.” Percy hoped Annabeth would drop the topic but didn’t press his luck. He was prepared to come back if she were to take him on. He turned toward her on the bed and listened to the prophecy. “Waters” that was a good word to hear. It meant he had that part of the quest covered.

With experience from every other quest Percy had been on in his life, just because water was involved didn’t mean it would easy. Look at their journey to find Grover. That almost ended in disaster at least a dozen or so times. He was turned into a guinea pig for Zeus sake. Percy still couldn’t get rid of the urge to nibble on little food pellets now and then.

“Well, that doesn’t sound…too bad.” Percy said trying to keep the worry off his face. “I mean. If you forget about the last line, it doesn’t sound too bad. How hard can it be facing your greatest fear?” Percy swallowed knowing exactly how hard it was those years ago when he met with Phobos and Deimos. Percy blinked and his head jerked to Annabeth. He sat there trying to fully connect everything together before he spoke. There was excitement in his eyes.

“Of course.” He murmured to himself before he turned to Annabeth. “Of course! I think I know whom I’ve been hearing in my dreams, and who I heard in the lake the other day. Phobos, God of Fear.” Percy smacked his forehead and got to his feet. He began to pace back and forth. “Why didn’t I see it before? It’s painfully obvious who it was. I’ve met him before. It’s weird though. He’s not exactly a Godly mastermind. At least I didn’t get that vibe from him. He was more insane than anything.”

Percy stopped in his nervous pacing and looked down to Annabeth. She was playing with her beaded necklace. His eyes locked on the labyrinth bead in her fingers. He sighed and knelt down in front of her. He lifted her chin with his hand. “Hey.” he said softly looking her dead in the eyes. “No quest goes well. Come on, you’ve seen me on my quest, or on any quest. I get people trapped in hotels, I drag people to islands where men are turned to guinea pigs, I get people killed.”

Percy thought to Bianca. He closed his eyes for a second and opened them again. “You did perfectly fine down there. And besides, we don’t have to go underground again. At least I hope not.” He took her hands, “You know I would follow you anywhere. I trust you, and I know that you are more than capable of leading this.” He reached up and touched the gray streak that ran through her hair. “I won’t let you down again.” He promised.

Percy hated being reminded of Annabeth having to hold the weight of world—literally—on her shoulders. She did so often in a more metaphorical sense. Then again, so did Percy. He blamed himself in a way for Annabeth getting captured. That was source of his promise. He held her hands and stared down at the floor. He hadn’t been on a quest in some time. He prayed to his father that all would go well.

Percy thought back to the prophecy Annabeth recited. He was sure about two things. One: They would be heading to Lake Superior. That was almost too easy. And two: They would more than likely encounter Phobos. It didn’t seem like a hard task. He was no Kronos, and Percy had fought of Phobos in the past. He couldn’t have gotten stronger, or smarter in the time since their last meeting. Could he?

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth smiled slightly when Percy wisely followed one of the most important rules of battle strategy: pick your battles; don’t fight them all. That is to say, don’t bother trying to argue with her. Glad he’d learned something. She let him go off into his thoughts and contemplate what she’d told him, occupying herself by taking his hand in hers and running her thumb across the back of it. When he spoke again, she looked back up, raising an eyebrow. “Not too bad? Yeah, only problem is you can’t just leave out the last line, as much as I’d like too.”

She paused to think about his question though. How hard can it be facing your greatest fear? She’d faced a lot of things that had come pretty darn close. Spiders. Luke turning into Kronos. Luke stabbing himself on Olympus. And Percy… Clarisse’s boat exploding and not knowing if Percy was even alive. The countless other times they’d both nearly died. And Mt. St. Helens… that had to be one of the worst times, being completely convinced he was dead. Though it didn’t improve much when she’d learned where he’d been, but at least he was alive. Even if she never saw him again, as long as he was safe; not saying that would be a very pleasant choice (miserable, actually), but that’s what it boiled down to.

Greatest fear… perhaps that was it then. She’d never really analyzed it much before, but her greatest fear was… losing him. She swallowed. How hard can it be facing your greatest fear? How about really, really, really hard. Well, she’d just go to extra lengths to make sure nothing happened to him.

And then Percy, completely out of the blue, yanked her from her thoughts in his own sudden revelation. It took Annabeth a moment to digest everything he was saying, especially at the rate he was saying it! “Wait, wait, wait. Percy, calm down. You mean to say we’re up against a god. Well, again. And you’re… happy about this?” At least he looked happy. Or he had when he’d turned to her. Either that or insane. She opted for the later. “Hold on a minute… Phobos… Phobos… I remember reading about him ages ago… The old stories say he always accompanied his father, Ares, into battle, along with his brother Deimos. But that’s about all they say. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of him away from Ares or Deimos. And that’s only in battles. But you say you’ve met him? Percy, what exactly happened?”

Yes, Percy was the perfect example of how all demigods had ADHD, as he seemed to keep his attention span cranked all the way to ‘absolute minimum’ most of the time. As was shown when he suddenly changed topics. Again. Case and point. She smiled slightly at his attempt to cheer her up. He really was sweet. “Yeah, I guess so…” And then a slightly pained look crossed his face. She thought back through the quests they’d been on together… as far as she could remember, he’d only ever saved people, not killed them. But there was the quest he’d gone on without her. She’d seen herself when Zoe had died. And she’d heard that it was during that quest that Nico’s sister had died, though she didn’t know the specifics. “Percy… none of that’s your fault. Not the hotel, or Circe’s island, or anything. Okay?”

She decided, since she was not going to let him argue, that it would be sort of hypocritical to argue that she’d done horrible in her own mission, so she nodded half-heartedly at his words. She didn’t really believe it though. Meeting countless monsters, angering Hera, taking any number of wrong turns, running into some weird ranch, losing Tyson and Grover, nearly getting Percy killed in a volcano, Rachel having to lead the rest of the quest to finish it for her, freezing up when they ran into Kronos, and in the end not doing anything to stop the army that caused so many deaths at Camp Half-Blood… not exactly what she called success by any stretch of the imagination.

Annabeth smiled slightly when he took her hands. “I’d follow you to the edge of Tartarus and back, Percy. …Again,” she added with a laugh. “Thanks.” She mirrored his movement and reached out to run her fingers along the thin gray streak in his hair that matched hers, souvenir of their time on Mount Tamalpais with Atlas. “I won’t let you down either. Promise.”

Still, he seemed so down, staring at the floor. She put a couple fingers under his chin and raised it so she could see into his crystalline green eyes, then leaned forward and kissed him briefly. “Cheer up. Everything’s going to be fine. Another big adventure, right?” she added with a smile, trying to up his mood. Seeing him depressed was really… well, depressing.

[Ψ ADMIN SUSHI Ψ]

He didn’t look convinced when Annabeth tried to tell him that all of the past events were not his fault. Percy still wasn’t so sure. He forced a smile though and nodded in agreement with her. He kept held of her hands. His eyes closed momentarily as Annabeth ran her fingers through his own streak of grey. Percy made a comment once that the two of them were like Rouge from X-men, except their powers didn’t kill by touching someone else. Percy was dead thankful for that. Not being able to hold Annabeth, or have Annabeth hold him would be torture.

The next action from Annabeth brought Percy out of his wandering thoughts. He blinked taken a back by the sudden kiss. Not that it was unwelcomed. Annabeth’s lips were always welcomed guests on his. He couldn’t help but smile. Annabeth always knew how to cheer him up, even if only for a moment.

“Was that my kiss for good luck? Cause I think it came a little too early. I’m just saying because you may have to do that again in the near future.” Percy gave her one of his classic ‘I’m-such-a-smartass’ grins. He thought about what Annabeth had said. It troubled him because Percy knew that their big adventures were never anything to be cheerful about. Percy couldn’t remember ever being truly cheerful on one of the quests. He did recall doubting everything would be fine when he started out on each quest. But Annabeth was only trying to help.

He decided to go back to the questions Annabeth had about Phobos. Percy stood up and started back at his pacing. “I wasn’t happy that it was Phobos. And you would be correct in the whole story of Phobos and Deimos. I met him too by the way. They’re both just as pleasant as their dear old father.”

Percy went over to the window and stared out at the camp. “Don’t worry about the meeting. It was a couple years ago, me and Clarisse we—“ He stopped and looked back at Annabeth. He promised Clarisse he wouldn’t speak a word of certain events that took place during that encounter. And instead of accidentally letting something slip Percy thought it would be best to not say anything more. Percy’s lips drew tight. “Just forget it. The point is that I’m having a hard time believing that Phobos would be working alone. I’m thinking maybe his dad has something to do with this. Just maybe.”

He scratched his head continuing to stare out the window. Percy just arrived here and he wasn’t sure if he was ready to leave just yet. But it looked like they would have to. He turned around fully to face Annabeth. “Have you chosen someone else to go on the quest with us?”

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth rolled her eyes and gave him one of her ‘gods,-you’re-such-a-smartass’ looks, though keeping the smile from breaking through was difficult. She had to admit, if anyone could put a cute twist on making her want to hit them, it was him. He may be a smartass, but he was her smartass. Still didn’t keep her from hitting him though; she shoved him away jokingly. “Don’t push your luck, Seaweed Brain.” She smiled, but it didn’t last long. Mostly because he looked so troubled almost immediately. Gods! Why couldn’t they have just a little time together to actually just be together without worrying about this or that? These days, that seemed impossible though. It was like her mom was cursing them just for being together, which wouldn’t be all that surprising, considering.

She let out a heavy sigh and listened to what he was talking about, forcing herself to focus back on the matter at hand: the new possible enemy, and the quest that may or may not involve him. It wasn’t easy. For one of those few times, hew heart just didn’t feel in it, like she actually wanted nothing to do with strategizing and plotting now. Just a break, a chance to be a normal person. Yeah right. Welcome to the world of a demigod. Annabeth gave herself a strong mental strike. Focus!

Percy’s words didn’t help much though. The fact that he’d met Phobos, and Deimos apparently, was bad enough. But also that he didn’t want to tell her the details. She tried to convince herself that he was being protective like he usually seemed to be, but it just didn’t feel right. He was hiding something, which felt about as pleasant as, well, a poisoned dagger to the arm. She nodded absently. “Alright… I trust you. You know what we’re up against better than I do.”

She stared at the floor, pondering what to do. Yes, thinking of a strategy would take her mind off things. Well, at least she had some idea of a location and one obstacle. She started tracing nonexistent lines on the floor, making a map in her mind. They’d need a route, and a secure method of transportation, though the first would likely rely on the latter. And when they got to Lake Superior… then what? It was the largest freshwater lake in the world, for Olympus’ sake! How could they search something that massive? There had to be a clue in the prophecy. She started reciting it in her head again. But before she even got through the second line, Percy’s voice cut through the silence.

Annabeth jumped, having successfully absorbed herself in planning to the point where she’d near completely forgotten where she was entirely. She thought about his question a moment. “I don’t really know for sure yet…” she said hesitantly, hating that she hadn’t come up with that part yet. “I’ve thought about it, yes, but no names have really jumped out at me right off the bat.” She had a few ideas of who she wanted to come, but she had yet to narrow it down to one. There was so much to think about, so much to consider, and now the news that Phobos might be involved. She rested her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. “I’m still working on it…” She took a deep breath and let it out. Finally, she looked up again. “I guess I’d best let you get ready.” She stood up. “I’ll let you know as soon as I figure something out, okay?”



((We certainly don’t have to end the thread with that, that’s just what my little Annabeth muse told me to put, lol))

[Ψ ADMIN SUSHI Ψ]

Percy watched Annabeth for a few seconds. Sure he knew who they were up against but it still didn’t mean he knew Phobos all too well. It was one God that Percy didn’t want to get to know better. He thought back to his encounter with the two sons of Ares and a shiver ran down his spine. It wasn’t a pleasant meeting at all. Percy could still vividly feel and see what he feared most. He shook the image from his head.

“I think one of us is going to have to face Phobos. One will be forced to face their fear. I’ve faced mine before and let me tell you it’s not a warm experience. He can show you your greatest fear, but only through direct eye contact. And it’s practically impossible to break from it. I had some help from my aquatic friends thankfully. We’re going to have to be on our toes. I could be wrong about the meaning though. We could face a fear without Phobos even being there.” Percy stopped and studied Annabeth.

He saw how troubled she was with this whole quest deal. He hated seeing her like this; he wished that she wasn’t there to hear the quest. He rather it had been some other camper. But that was selfish; he shouldn’t want to wish this on anybody. He wished Grover were here. Mr. Lord of the Wild himself would have been a great comfort. It would have been no contest had he been at camp. Percy couldn’t shake the feeling of foreboding. He had a bad feeling about this quest. He straightened up and walked back over to Annabeth. He wrapped his arms around her in a hug. He held for a minute and ran his hand through her hair.

“Would you mind staying here a little longer?” He squeezed her a little tighter. “Maybe we can rack our brains to think of a third party, someone who would be fit for this quest, someone who can hold their own.”

[Annabeth Chase]

Annabeth nodded. While facing Phobos wasn’t exactly high on her to-do list, it did seem very likely in the near future for someone on this quest. The old stories never gave him much of a description, so, unfortunately, her imagination took the reins, which didn’t make for an encouraging thought. And Percy’s words… if this guy was enough to scare Percy, who stood up to Ares himself (which was, for the record, really stupid), then that was bad news. She nodded absently. Sure, it was always possible to misinterpret prophecies. In fact, it happened more often than it didn’t. But this… this just seemed a little too close. After the voice Percy had heard in the lake. And now the prophecy. Could it really be coincidence that Percy was the only one of the two of them that had ever had anything to do with the god of fear, and he had also been the only one to hear that voice? It seemed a little too ironic. Was it possible this Phobos guy was actually targeting Percy or something? He never left his dad’s side in the stories, yet he did to meet Percy. Then he spoke in the lake… A chill ran down her spine. If she was right… Well, suffice to say, for the first time, she dearly wished she was wrong.

Her thoughts were cut short when Percy’s arms wrapped securely around her. She’d been so lost in her thoughts of Phobos and the quest and trying to pick another person she hadn’t even register him moving from the window. Not that she complained. Annabeth always felt safe here in his arms. A smile came to her face as she circled her arms around him and closed her eyes. “I suppose…” she said quietly. To be honest, she could stay here forever.

But he was right, of course - odd as it felt to admit that. They needed to figure out a third person, and the sooner the better so whoever ended up coming with them would have time to get ready too. She thought over what Percy said. As usual, a few names came to mind. She decided to try the first one that did, it seemed to make a lot of sense. Even if it might make for an interesting trip, if old biases still held true. "What about... Nick? I mean, I don't really know how you and Nick get along or anything... but you don't think it would be a problem, I imagine he would make a great asset to the team."

[Ψ ADMIN SUSHI Ψ]

Percy noticed that his talk about Phobos had caused Annabeth to become uneasy. He could see it in her face and in her eyes. Percy wondered what her worst fear would be. It could have been anything, he remembered what she had seen when they approached the sirens and worried what she would see if Phobos ever got to her. Percy was sure his fear would have changed slightly. He did fear letting all of his friends down, but most of all he had the nagging fear of losing Annabeth.

He broke from his thoughts and looked down to Annabeth as she said the name Nick. Nick was another child of the Big Three. It annoyed Percy that they kept these others children hidden within the wood works. He was angry with his dad for the not claiming his sister sooner. But that was tiny grudge best saved for a later time.

“A child or Poseidon and a child of Zeus on another quest together.” Percy chuckled a little rolled his eyes to Annabeth. He thought about the last time he went on a quest with the Daughter of Zeus, Thalia. She was more annoying than Percy could really explain, mostly because the two of them fought to lead. They were so much a like it was scary. “It would be interesting.” he said finally after a few long moments of silence. “No, not a problem. Whoever you think would be the best. I trust you.”

(sry its real short)