I appeared at this huge glittering mansion that seemed to be made of crystals. Whoa. It was so sparkly! The crystal seemed to have been cut in a certain pattern so it reflected away some heat but brought in the light. What if I could design something like that? Then—

I shook my head. Now's not the time to get lost in architectural thoughts. I decided to go up to the people living in the mansion and ask for directions, but as soon as I propped myself up, I began to feel faint and immediately fell back down. Luckily, I spotted Riptide a couple feet away, and carefully scooting closer, I grasped the pen in my hand. I took off the lid, and Riptide sprang to life. I stuck the tip in the ground, making sure it was steady before using it to get up. I was leaning on it so much I was worried the blade would snap. But if it could cut through monsters, it could probably support a faint 17-year-old.

A couple yards away, Percy appeared. Immediately, he fell down. When I walked closer, I could see that Percy's skin was taking on a grayish tint, almost like the color was fading from him. I looked at my own skin, noticing that the color was fading from it as well.

Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion knocked me backward, making me almost lose my grip on Riptide. I steadied myself, then held out a hand to Percy. "Here. Come on." I was surprised at how raspy my voice sounded.

Percy gripped my hand tightly, then pulled himself up. He put his arms around my shoulders to steady himself, and I leaned on him for support. Together, we limped towards the huge mansion.

Just then, two people appeared near the door. I squinted at them, then realized it was Sophie and Keefe from earlier.

"Hey!" I called out. The two turned around and looked at me in surprise.

"Percy? Annabeth?" Sophie said questioningly. Keefe looked just as curious as her.

Suddenly Sophie gasped. "That crystal!" she exclaimed, pointing to Percy's hand. "Where'd you find it?"

Percy rasped, "Well, me and Annabeth—"

I cut him off. "Annabeth and I," I corrected.

Percy shook his head at me. "Sheesh, Wise Girl. Anyways, as I was saying, Annabeth and I were just walking towards town when I found this on the ground. I picked it up to see it closer, then I dropped Riptide—" Percy pointed to his sword, making Sophie and Keefe gasp, "—through this beam it created. Then Annabeth fell through, so of course I had to go after her." Percy smiled at me.

"Love you too, Seaweed Brain." I snuggled against his shoulder.

Sophie gasped again. "Your skin!" I looked down and realized the gray was super visible now. "Quick, inside," Sophie said, and opened the door so Percy and I could go in.

The inside seemed even more majestic than the outside. The internal structure of the house was all crystal as well, and everything was bright inside. There was a huge delicate chandelier hanging from the ceiling.

Suddenly, another wave of exhaustion pushed into me, and I lost my grip on Riptide. Percy tried to keep me up, but with nothing to keep his balance, he fell along with me. I distantly heard Riptide clattering to the ground. There was a pull of energy tugging at my body, and I was tempted to let it carry me away. But I fought back. For myself. For my friends at Camp Half-Blood. For Percy. I heard voices swimming in and out of earshot, and two strong arms pulling me up. Then everything faded to black.

sorry i haven't been updating! i haven't had any classes this week bc of winter break, so i couldn't pretend to be in class and do wp instead. i still had school this week though. we have a potluck tomorrow at school and i'm so excited! i'm also going to great wolf lodge, and that's also exciting! hopefully yall like this. plz vote, comment, and follow me! happy holidays!

–*ೃ༄ 𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓃𝓎𝓂𝑜𝓊𝓈𝒹𝑜𝓁𝓅𝒽𝒾𝓃˚◞♡ ⃗