Annabeth

Gods, I was happy.

I stared at Percy's sea green eyes as he sent a small wave at me, Piper and Thalia before turning and trotting after the group of Questers. I know I had a small smile stuck on my mouth, but I didn't care.

He came. He seems like he still cares for me. In a friendly way. But there were some moments where it seemed like there was something more than friendship between us.

The kiss was never brought up, so things hadn't become too awkward. I wanted to talk about it, though. I wanted to know if it was just a one time deal or... I don't know. I can see why we didn't talk about it now, for we hadn't seen each other in a while and I think it would be jumping into things too quickly. But I still found myself staring at Percy's lips sometimes when he was talking to someone, or remembering the feel of his gentle lips on mine, moving softly in delicate motion.

I shook the thoughts of that out of my mind. I didn't even know if he liked me in that way. I would have to draw up the tiny ounce of patience I have and attempt to use it to wait.

I realized I had been staring at the place where I had last seen Percy, and reluctantly yanked my gaze away. My gray orbs searched for my two best friends who were standing beside me. Thalia was eyeing a nymph walking by. More like she was eyeing the tray of food the nymph was carrying. Piper, however, was staring at the spot where the group had disappeared, a slightly dreamy look in her kaleidoscope eyes. I had noticed her and Jason frequently talking, and I suspected that Piper McLean, the daughter of Aphrodite who has never fallen for someone, has fallen hard. I smiled. Jason was a nice guy, and I believed he would be good for Piper. But I would still have to give him the "if you hurt my best friend, I will track you down and bring you your doom" lecture.

"Come on! Let's go get lunch, guys! I'm starving." Thalia's desperate and demanding plea jerked me out of my musing, and I remembered that we had met over lunchtime. I hadn't noticed, because before the meeting, I was too nervous to feel any of my physical needs, and during the meeting, I was too happy and giddy to even feel anything. Now that everything was over, though, I could hear my stomach begging for food.

I nodded, poking Piper's shoulder to get her attention, snapping her out of her daze. I smirked at her startled expression, then started following Thalia back to my room. We had thought ahead and asked the kitchen nymphs to bring food to my rooms so we could eat there. We wouldn't be dining with my mother or Drew today for the meeting had taken place during our usual mealtime with them.

Yes, I know. We had to eat lunch with Miss Snobby Drew as well as my uptight mother. My mom has invited her to lunch everyday, and everyday, Drew accepts the invitation. Athena is convinced that we are all the best of friends. She obviously doesn't see all the glares, pained looks, and scowls that went on between me and my best friends and Drew. I hated every minute of it, and I couldn't wait until the end of the Game, which would mean Drew's time at the temple would be over. Done. She'd be gone. Hopefully never to be seen again. It sounded like paradise.

But I didn't know what that meant for Percy. Was he just staying for the week? What was he doing after the Game? I shuddered inwardly at the thought of him leaving. Again.

Thinking of Percy made me think of the news that he had brought about this Luke character placing threats on me, the "Siren" (I had no idea why they called me that). It had also somehow transported me back into "life." I had spent most of my days saddened and groveling over the law that I had forgotten why we had the council in the first place. It was easy to forget, seeing as there has been nothing bad happening to me since the council. Well, that's if you don't count as being split from Percy bad. I certainly did. But the way I'm using "bad" means no more attempted assassinations on my life, or any other life threatening ordeals.

But the news that Percy brought made me cautious. When he had first said it, I wasn't fazed. I knew Athena was keeping a bigger watch on me ever since the assassination, and especially since she has heard Percy was in Athens. So I had no worries. But doubts had started to slip into my mind. Athens couldn't be totally guarded. Someone could probably sneak in, like Percy had said. Also, if the people threatening me were the ones who had broke into Mount Olympus before, then I bet breaking into Athens or even Athena's temple is a piece of cake for them compared to the home of the gods.

Then I started getting a little freaked out. Even just reviewing those thoughts, I felt like someone was watching me. I glanced back quickly, but of course, I found nothing. We were walking through a deserted hallway. A little shiver ran though me and I walked a little quicker, anxious to get back to my room.

We finally reached the door to my room, and I followed the other two girls in. Thalia made a beeline to the plates of food on a small portable table in the middle of the room. I was heading towards her when I felt Piper's soft hand on my shoulder, pausing me in my path to lunch. I looked at her curiously. She wore a questioning appearance, a tinge of concern also present in her eyes.

"Are you okay, Annabeth?" She asked. "You seem a little... jumpy."

I pondered quickly. Should I tell her what Percy told me? I probably should, and Percy wanted me too, but I didn't feel like repeating it all right now, so I thought of a cover up answer. "I'm just nervous about the Test tonight," I said, shrugging. It was true. I felt like my nerves were all partaking in a high-speed race whenever I thought about the Test. I had no idea what to expect in the Test, and being a child of Athena, I'm a planner. I don't rush into things with no sense of direction or guidance. I gathered information and sought to use it. I made a strategy, then went out into the problem, equipped with everything I'd need.

But I couldn't do that with this Test. I have no idea what's happening, therefore I can't make a strategy for it. I don't even know if it will be something violent, like slaying a ferocious monster, or something quiet, like taking a quiz about war strategies and whatnot.

So the uncertainty of the Test added a lot of weight to my nerves. I just tried to swallow it, and hopefully I could keep it in my stomach.

Piper released me, bobbing her head, looking partially convinced. She walked over to Thalia, who hadn't bothered to wait and was stuffing her face. I rolled my eyes at the ravenous hunter, then crossed the room to my plate, sitting beside my two friends.

"Annabeth! We've got to go!" Piper yelled.

I huffed as I shoved my foot into my leather boot. Hastily lacing it, I did the same to the other. I was running late because of Drew. She had sent a nymph to ask for my help. Well, demand more than ask. Unfortunately, I had to consent. The first and only time that I had refused, Athena herself had come storming into my room ten minutes later, yelling about how I was being a horrible host and that if I refused one more time to help our guest, I would be grounded for three months, forced to clean bathrooms, and a bunch of other things. I didn't really understand, because she had basically blown my eardrums out on the first sentence.

The gist of it was that I better not refuse Drew's demands if I wanted to live peacefully.

So I had to go, and Drew made my life a living hell. Today she was rambling about how she had heard Percy Jackson was competing in the Game, and that she was going to have a dinner with him sometime, an expensive and extravagant dinner because her "daddy" was going to set it up. I had to grit my teeth and glower at the wall the whole time that I was cleaning her bathroom and doing her laundry. She knew exactly where to hit me. Drew had knowledge that I couldn't see Percy, so she scheduled dinners that she would invite him to. I wanted to yell at her and tell her to stay away from Percy, but I couldn't risk getting into trouble. I was trying to stay in my mom's good books, trying to soften her hard outer shell. I couldn't make her mad at me again.

So I did my best to ignore Drew. I pictured my fist connecting with her pretty little face, and it made me satisfied for a bit before I wanted to do it again, but not just in my imagination this time.

Drew also knew the Test was to be taken at dusk, too. As a result, she kept finding small chores for me to do, smug smiles appearing on her face as she watched mine, which was struggling to keep a nonchalant expression. Drew kept me until ten minutes before dusk, exclaiming that she had forgotten about the Test, and was sorry she made me late. Yeah, right.

So I had to change and get my armor on super fast, sprinting around trying to find socks and my bracers.

Each contestant was only allowed to use a back plate, breast plate, greaves and bracers, and one choice weapon of celestial bronze for the Test. I strapped on my bracers while we jogged to the building where the Test would take place. Thalia and Piper were going to wait while I took the Test in the room.

Well, I'm guessing it was a room. I've never actually been in there, but I'm assuming that it is a room. There are thirty of those rooms at a building in Athens, and they were designed for the Test. There is one competitor per Testing room. Five doorways were stationed around the pentagon, brick building, and in each doorway there was a hallway with six doors, each leading to a Testing room.

Since there are more than thirty people participating, groups went in at different times. Thirty of the competitors when in the morning for a specific amount of time, and when they were done, thirty more contestants took their turn. Depending on how many people signed up was how early the Testing started, and how late it went. I was scheduled to be in the last group, and there had been four other groups before me. That means at least one hundred and twenty people had signed up. That was a higher number than normal, so that makes the chances of getting into the Game lower.

I wondered which group Percy, Jason, and Nico had been in, or if they were in the same group as mine. It wouldn't matter, because I wasn't allowed to see Percy. I bet Athena has people stationed around Athens to alert her if we it wouldn't help that we would be seeing each other in the middle of Athens, for someone would be bound to see us. It seemed as if everybody in Athens knew who Percy was, and that we weren't supposed to see each other. Also, I could be sure that Athena would overlook the schedule and organization of the Testing, and had put Percy in a different group than mine. He would be with other competitors. None that we had met of course, because both of us didn't go meet the contestants.

Earlier in the day, there was a meeting time that you could go to the place where we had signed up and meet other competitors, mostly just to calculate how skilled of an opponent they would be. But I hadn't gone, because it had been during the meeting time, and there was no way in Hades I would rather meet fellow competitors instead of Percy. Also, if I became a Hero, I would just meet them all on the battlefield. You couldn't really calculate one hundred and twenty other contestants, and you had no way of knowing who would become Heroes. And if I didn't become a Hero, I would have nothing to worry about.

We stopped, panting, before the door of the big building. When I say big, I mean really big. After all, it did have to fit thirty probably fairly large rooms in it. It was solid brick, no windows or anything. Just the one door in front of me. Door number two. The door that led to my Testing room. Along the other walls of the building there were four other doors that held more Testing rooms. I didn't see any other competitors around, and I bet that I was the last one to enter, thanks to Drew.

"Well, good luck, Annabeth. Go kick some Test butt." Thalia gave me a high five. Piper wished me luck as well, giving me a hug. I put my hand on the doors, not knowing what to expect. Only the hosts and staff of the Game were allowed to go inside other than the competitors. The people that go in aren't allowed to tell others that haven't what it looks like, so all the information I get about it is from listening to bits of stories told by competitors to fellow competitors. You'll be surprised how much you can eavesdrop on a conversation before the people realize you're there and stop talking. But they don't go into great detail about the rooms, so I've only picked up that it is basically a small arena. I just had to wait and see for myself.

I took a deep breath and started forward. My friends gave me small smiles, trying to encourage me. I attempted to return them, but a grimace was the best I could put together.

I shoved open the doors and trudged in. The door shut behind me of it's own accord, and I looked ahead, doing my best to ignore my jitters. I was in a corridor that had six doors stationed on the walls. My door was number five. I walked past door number one, door number two, number three, and number four. My footsteps sounded like loud booms against the eerie silence. My hand was clenching the hilt of my dagger so tightly my knuckles had lost all of their blood. I tried to keep my breathing quiet and even as I studied the plaque that read "FIVE" above the fifth door. I stood for a moment, gathering my courage. Then I took a deep breath, opened the door, and stepped in as confidently as I could managed.

When I was in, I realized what I had heard was correct. It was like a small arena, except that all the arena equipment had been pushed up against the far wall, leaving the room mostly empty.

The only lighting in the dark room was a torch that was hanging from the ceiling. The greek fire cast an eerie green glow on the room, enabling me to see the center of the room, above which it was hanging, and barely the walls of the room. The floor was bare, just wood planking, and I saw nothing except for the arena objects on the side. It was silent and still in here too, and I wondered for the billionth time what the Test would be.

My ragged breaths sounded like horns blaring in my ears. I could basically hear my heartbeat thundering in my chest. I was confused. What's going on?

I probably jumped ten feet into the air and almost had a heart attack when a loud voice boomed through the air, slicing through the silence like a sharp, biting knife.

"Welcome to the Annual War Game. I am Phobos, god of terror and fear. I know your worst nightmares and your deepest horrors." His voice was like a snake, slithering and sending shivers up my spine. I had no doubt that the god of fears did know my fears. I suppressed the urge to cringe and curl up into a tight ball. Instead, I stood upright, shoulders back. I had to clench my fists to stop them from trembling.

"This years Test consists of a Test of bravery. I have summoned one of your physical fears, and they will come to you. Your job is to overcome and defeat the fear. You might permanently overcome the fear, or it may stay. But for now, you will just have to vanquish it. The competitors with the fastest time of conquering their fears will become Heroes. Good luck, and may bravery stand by your side."

The voice faded off, and I still had no idea where it had come from. It seemed to have been produced by the walls surrounding me themselves. The remainder of the last sentence bounced off the walls, coming back to my ears.

"May bravery stand by your side."

My breaths were now loud and ragged, and I didn't try to quiet them. I had so many fears, everybody does. One of them being that I wouldn't live up to my mother's standard, or that loved ones around me will die. But I guess those aren't necessarily "physical" fears. I mean, how could Phobos make those fears real and bring them to me without my mother showing up or killing one of my friends? They wouldn't do those fears. They better not.

But my number one physical fear... I now what it would be. I would rather face the minotaur instead of those things. They are most definitely my worst physical fear. They were-

My thinking cut off abruptly. I just heard something. So quiet it might've been my imagination. Nevertheless, I tried to still my loud inhales and exhales, straining for a sign. I waited, my head jerking around to try and spot something- anything- to kill this creepy stillness. I felt as if my heart would pound its way out of my throat, which was where it was currently residing.

For about ten seconds, I was left to be tormented by the eerie tranquility. Just when I thought I would die of it, I heard something again.

A small scuttle coming from my right. My head whipped around, searching in the limited light for the fear that was crawling towards me.

A hushed hiss from my left tore my head to that side of the room. I couldn't breathe.

Not this fear. Please not this fear.

Unfortunately, the Fates were not lenient. As I thought those pleas, there was a visible movement on the left-hand side of the room.

A furry black spider, roughly the size of one of my wide eyes, stepped into the light. I backed up so fast I'm surprised I didn't trip over my own feet in the process. My dagger was in my palm before I even knew it, but it didn't give me the sense of security it usually did. I felt nothing but unease.

Something tickled my arm where it was unprotected by my sleeve. Without thinking, I shrieked loudly, swinging my arm around and around to try and dislodge whatever it was. The "something" flew up into the air and landed at my feet, which scrambled back once more as fast as they could move. I looked down and saw a hairy spider twice as big as the first.

That was on my arm. I shuddered, my whole body shaking. I couldn't even bring myself to go and step on it I was so scared.

The spider hissed and scampered toward me. I flipped out, running backwards. As I did so, I caught a glimpse of a brown spider on my dark grey boots. Yelping, I kicked out my leg, throwing it off and backing up more.

All of a sudden there were tens of spiders as large as my hand on the floor of the Testing room. They all moved as one big, hairy mass in the direction of me. I'm pretty sure I screamed, but I couldn't hear anything over the thumping in my ears. I wanted to keep moving backwards, but my limbs were frozen. I can't do this. I can't do it.

More spiders were joining the first group as they advanced on me. It was hopeless. I couldn't do anything. Panic overtook my body. My brain was overloaded with fear. I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I forced my legs to move more, but I was stopped by the wall, the door behind me. I tried to wrench it open, but it wouldn't budge. My hands yanked again and again with all the strength I could muster, but to no avail. I yelled in frustration, turning and flattening myself against the door, chest rising and falling rapidly with my breaths. The eight-legged arachnids had reached my legs, and no matter how much I screamed and shoved and kicked, more just replaced the ones I had succeeded in removing.

I hated feeling their legs crawling up mine. I hated this Test. I hated the War Games. I hated spiders. I hated stupid Phobos, god of stupid fears. I hated his slimy face even though I had never seen him. I hated his voice that explained the Test.