Every Story Has a Beginning (Annabeth)

[PERCY JACKSON]

annabeth chase

Percy Jackson was not one to complain about his situation. Though if he were he would have plenty to complain about. For example, right now he was walking through a magical tunnel that was trying to kill him with a girl who might just kill him first if he made another sound. But he had finished the last of the snacks last night and his stomach was rumbling.

"If we pop up for just a moment, stop at a micky D's, and then come back down we will lose what? 10 minutes, tops? Come on Annabeth, It is just one McGriddle!" he pleaded even as he continued to walk, knowing that there was almost nothing to convince her to change her mind once she had made it up.

Hopefully they would find the center of his maze, and their friends again soon. Grover would have let him stop for a meal.

[annabeth chase]

"Percy, we don't even know what's above us. It could be Africa. There aren't any micky D's there," she snapped at him. It wasn't just his grumbling and eating all the snacks that had her annoyed at the moment. It was also the fact that she had recently realized how tall he'd gotten, when did that happen? Not too mention that they were trapped and could die at any second so that was a fun little addition. Plus, she had kissed a skeleton Percy yesterday, saw images of her and Percy together in some creepy rubies, and had nightmares about... well, just bad nightmares. Leave it at that.

PERCY JACKSON

[PERCY JACKSON]

annabeth chase

Percy groaned and dragged his feet for just a moment. "But we could check, how are we supposed to know we are in Africa if we don't check!" he said to her. She was walking in front of him her blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail which caused all of her curls to bunch together. A few of them were caught on her shoulder, but the rest hung down her back. He watched the way she walked in front of him and was suddenly mesmerized by the way she moved. It was like she was gliding across the water, tha twas how smooth her movements were. She was perf--- wow. He must be more hungry than he thought, he was starting to hallucinate or something.

[annabeth chase]

Annabeth sighed and groaned, exasperated. She spun around to face him after a moment, her eyes narrowed. "Maybe if you had tried to ration then we wouldn't be dealing with this," she pointed at him and took a step forward, then realized how scary she must have looked. She gave a little smile, "we're not going above. Not yet. I think there's a place we can check in about twenty feet. K?" her tone was still snarky but her face had softened a little. She was hungry too, and slightly emotional about this entire situation. Being trapped here with Percy, being separate from the group... she looked down and sighed, shoulders slouching forward.

PERCY JACKSON

[PERCY JACKSON]

annabeth chase

Percy backed away from her for just a moment at her outburst. She could be terrifying, he marked that down for future reference. But 20 feet was good, that was close. Even as he walked forward he realized he was being just a bit childish.

"annabeth, I'm sorry. I really am. We don't have to stop now, we can keep going." he said that but he wasn't sure what they were going to find, they had been walking for hours. The next turn could reveal a new danger, or just another hallway, but he had no reason to believe that it would show the way out, or even the center. He had no idea how they were going to find out how to get out of here. And if he was going to be stuck down here with Annabeth, he was going to make sure she was at least semi-happy.

[annabeth chase]

Annabeth turned forward again as they started walking and almost just ignored his next question all together. Instead she mentally chastised herself for being so ornery and slowed to walk beside him. "No, we should get some fresh air. If it's there, that is... we should see a dark red door around this next bend," she explained, "but I don't actually know where it leads," she confessed. The back of her hand kept brushing against the back of his, but she chose to not comment on that.

PERCY JACKSON

[PERCY JACKSON]

annabeth chase

Percy was glad whens he slowed to walk next to him, it was nice not to walk alone. Though he was momentarily confused by their hands brushing, he figured it must have been a mistake, though he wasn't about to pull his hand away first. Annabeth was his best friend, maybe he thought of as more than that... but that didn't matter right now. Right now they needed to get to that red door and get out.

"How did you know it was going to be red?" he asked as they rounded a corner and came across a circular red door with a handle in the middle. Before they could walk any farther Percy grabbed her hand to stop her. "Cause that door looks really happy and that kinda makes me scared."

[annabeth chase]

She was embarrassed to answer his question but she looked over at him anyway, "because we actually already came this way about an hour ago. I must have made a wrong turn... anyway, I saw it then," she didn't bother to hide that she was embarrassed by that. she was too tired to play it cool.

She nodded, turning toward the door. "It's like we're in Hobbiton or something. You know, Lord Of The Rings," she moved forward, toward the door, "can't trust things that look happy, right?"

PERCY JACKSON

[PERCY JACKSON]

annabeth chase

It would make sense that she remembered things like that. He never did. He only remembered things that were important, like people who tried to kill him, the names of his mom's book characters, and Annabeth's favorite color. No need to remember hobbit doors that they passed in a scary tunnel.

He pulled Annabeth back to him. "Just cause it looks like Lord of the Rings doesn't mean we should touch it. Besides, we don't need a ring to mess up our lives, and we would probably end up in New Zealand." he said then started to blush aware of how close he had pulled her to him. Pretty close.

[annabeth chase]

Annabeth felt herself being pulled back and gasped slightly in surprise, slightly in annoyance and slightly in something else. She turned to look at him, close enough to see his cheeks turning read. "You're the one who wanted to go up, Percy," she said, her eyes narrowing agin. "Plus New Zealand is probably lovely," and awesome. She raised an eyebrow at him, "it's your call," now taht was rare.

PERCY JACKSON

[PERCY JACKSON]

annabeth chase

Percy sared down a her. She was letting him choose? Wow.... well if she didn't have a strong opinion on it, why not go through the hobbit door? Monsters, donuts, evil mermaids, and bottomless pits that was why. But he was really hungry and Annabeth was really close so he wasn't thinking so well.

"Uh... we should. We should go through the door I guess. Hobbits are nice." he said with only one break in his voice.

[annabeth chase]

Annabeth nodded firmly, "done," she said. She was feeling suddenly reckless, as if all that blood pumping in her ears now was driving her forward. She stepped back from him, took his hand, and headed back toward the door. She didn't miss that crack in his voice or the way he's breathing changed when she stepped back. "Lead the way," she said finally, stopping in front of the door to raise an eyebrow at him.

[PERCY JACKSON]

annabeth chase

He wasn't sure why he had to be the one to lead the way, but he didn't want to seem weak or undecicive in front of Annabeth. So he grabbed the doorknob and turned it. It spilled light out onto the floor, a warm golden light, but one that blinded them after so long in the dark tunnels. There was no way they could see what was on the other side, so he squeezed Annabeth's hand and stepped through.

Past eh light there was... green. Everywhere was green and there were huge hills that rolled around them. Percy looked back at Annabeth with a worried look. Anywhere this gorgeous had to be evil.

[annabeth chase]

The light caused Annabeth to wince, gripping Percy's hand tightly. Once they adjusted and had stepped through, the sight was enough to make Annabeth sigh, and then scowl in concern. She nodded at Percy's worried face. "Yeah, we should go ba-" and of, course the door shut behind them. She sighed, stepping up even with Percy, "will we ever learn?" she glanced around, trying to determine where they were... She had no memory of this place in books or anything.

(hahhah "I have no memory of this place" hahha)

[PERCY JACKSON]

annabeth chase

"Probably not, we have been doing this for years and we still let the doors shut behind us." he said with a sigh. But he still turned away from the door. "Now we are stuck here.... so what do we do?" he looked to Annabeth, brushing off the urge to hold her hand. A small child ran in front of them and handed Annabeth a small flower then ran away again. there was no way this place was as good as it seemed.

Percy walked forward a few steps, just enough so he could peek out the side of a hill. The green stretched for miles, and so did the hills. And there were tons of people walking around everywhere. That was the first strange thing. There were enough people walking around to fit in a small city, but this place couldn't have enough resources to support a small town, let alone a city.