The Ancient Games

Dreams of Drowning

Percy gasped for air, trying to ignore the cold icy fist that had closed around his lungs. Coughs racked his frame, and he felt his mind fog over with the lack of oxygen. Which was why a minute later, he was shaking uncontrollably due to both laughter and fear. Because really, a son of Poseidon having nightmares about drowning? That must be some kind of dark irony sent from the heavens. He couldn't drown even if he wanted to.

The dream was covered in hazy mist now, the memory trickling out of his hands like sand. Percy suspected that in a few minutes, he would hardly be able to remember the details at all. It was only the familiarity of the dream that allowed him to relive the reoccurring nightmare.

For weeks now, every time he closed his eyes, the same dream chained him to unconsciousness, forcing him to endure it, until he woke up violently coughing phantom water out his lungs. He was haunted by a dark smirk that looked like it was painted with shadows. Not to mention an agonising pain in his arm, and flashes of colour like golden hair, dark red stains, and the clouded blue of the water he was drowning in. In the dream, the white-hot pain always blanked out his mind for a moment before he realised he was drowning. Then the water would fill his lungs, clog his mind, and with his heart pounding in his chest, fists clenched so hard his knuckles were white, Percy would wrench himself out of his dream, sobbing for air.

This time was no different. His breaths came out in quick, hot pants, and Percy could visibly see himself shaking. It was pathetic, and he was just glad that no one else was here to see it.

After a few minutes he still found it hard to inhale evenly. It was just a dream Percy chanted like a nursery rhyme, like a fairy tale, because that was all those words meant to him. They were hopeful, but he was too old for them to be true now. Percy's dreams almost always meant something, he found that out a long time ago. And like every other time, all he could do was fiercely hope that the scenes never came true.

Glancing up, only now did he noticed that the ocean waves were crashing into one another deafeningly around him. He realised that the water must have responded to his agitation. Grey waves smashed into each other flinging up enough spray to douse Percy if he could get wet. Dangerous currents spun at high speeds right under the water, and the Pax was practically floating in the eye of a hurricane.

Out of the corner of his eye, Percy saw lightening streak the clouds in a golden flash. The next flash of light was closer. Percy stretched out a hand and closed his eyes, concentrating on calming his thoughts down until the tugging in his gut gradually released.

"There was really no need for you to join in Zeus, though I really appreciate your continuous attempts to murder me." He shouted at the sky, which thankfully did not reply.

Slumping back down and turning his head to see the sun, he saw that it was almost morning as the sky was filled with fiery reds and softer oranges, the sun just over the horizon. Percy could swear that he had just fallen asleep a few minutes ago. Sometimes, he wondered if Kronos was messing with him, or if it was just his ADHD acting up again.

He could imagine Kronos's mocking laugh if he was late to the Reaping. Not that it was going to happen, being late to the Reaping was unheard of and was probably punishable by death. Death seemed like Panem's go-to punishment because the Peacekeepers were not the greatest creative thinkers of the century. Then again, were the Peacekeepers good at anything? Oh right, killing people. As soon as he got the chance, he would drown all the watches in District 4, just to show Kronos who he was messing with.

Sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Percy gently willed the boat to make its way back to shore, and when he got there, he tied the boat down, his hands working like they had been doing this for his whole life. A voice suddenly broke through the peaceful silence of the early morning, the voice worryingly close to his head.

"Where have you been? The Reaping is this afternoon, and you haven't been home at all this night. Did you think you could just miss the Reaping and get away with it? You're a son of Poseidon, Percy, that doesn't mean you're invincible."

Percy rolled his eyes as he tilted his head back so that he could still tie the knots while talking. A close-up of Annabeth's upside down face glared at him. Her blonde princess curls tickled his nose.

Annabeth had intimidating grey eyes that looked as hard as stone sometimes and as soft as water other times. She also had a golden tan from spending hours every day out in boats and the relentless sun with Percy. He and Annabeth were about the same height too (He would never admit that he was still shorter). He tried to protest against it, but Annabeth would not rest until she succeeded in humiliating him.

All in all, Annabeth was as pretty as summer, something that she didn't seem to know herself, and if Percy told her, she would probably either start giving him a lecture on genetics, or her intense soul-searching look that always had Percy burning up from the inside.

Annabeth was his best friend, and she had a secret that she couldn't tell anyone, a secret that only he knew about. A secret that was exchanged in the middle of the ocean, a hundred miles away from shore so that there was no one- not even President Snow and his tendency to know everything- could overhear.

Annabeth was a runaway from District 3. The details weren't very clear even to Percy, but he knew it had something to do with her parents. She had made her way across the border when she was 4, and Percy had found her half drowned on the beach while he was exploring the coastline. Arrangements had been made, and Annabeth had hacked herself into the system, so everyone thought that she had just been here her entire life. Their plan to keep Annabeth's history as unnoticeable as possible was pretty much completely ruined by her fierce intelligence and her absolute genius mind. You just didn't get people as smart as that in District 4- Percy liked to use himself as Exhibit A.

"It's still morning, Annabeth, most normal people aren't even up yet." Percy stood up, and examined Annabeth. She look like she was ready for the reaping already, her hair combed and clean. A hand-me-down dress from when Percy's mom was a kid was a little loose on her, but other than that she looked like…Annabeth. Like she was ready to take on the world and win. Not that she was entered in the reaping since she wasn't a demigod, but mortals had to dress up too, they couldn't exactly hang around the town centre in rags in front of cameras. The government would hate it if District 4 looked like how it really was on every other day of the year, being a career district.

And Percy looked like he had been sleeping in the middle of the ocean, which was exactly what he had been doing. His hair was sticking up all over the place, sea salt making it stiff, giving him perpetually messy hair. His casual clothes were rumpled and if his eyes were as tired as he felt, they would probably be half closed too. He needed to get home to get ready for the reaping.

"You look great Annabeth," Percy gave her a quick hug and took advantage of the fact that she temporarily couldn't see his face to yawn widely. If he had to sit through another lecture about all the damage sleep deficiency could cause, he thought that it was genuinely a possibility that he would fall asleep standing.

Annabeth squinted at him suspiciously.

"You know," she started hesitantly, "There was a pretty big storm out there just now, I heard the guys talking about how fast they had to row back to avoid being ripped to pieces."

Percy's throat tightened. Sure, he couldn't be killed by the ocean, but it didn't grant that courtesy to everyone else. There could have been blood on this hands today.

Annabeth noticed the sudden slip of Percy's smile, and the slumping of his shoulders in that familiar set of guilt.

"Oh Percy." She sighed.

"Don't worry about me Wise Girl," Percy tried to make his voice lighter than it felt. "Worry about yourself. I'm just a tad dangerous around this time of the year. I have to go get ready though, so I'll see you at breakfast."

Percy set off for the direction of his house before remembering something he had forgotten and whirling around to see Annabeth gazing into the ocean with a look of concentration and anxiousness. Probably calculating the percentage of Percy getting reaped into the games.

"Happy Ancient Games Annabeth!" Percy exclaimed with as much enthusiasm as he could manage doing his best not to show the troubled feeling creeping up his spine. The sea was slightly churning and moving a bit more than usual, and Percy tried to calm his nerves down, hoping Annabeth wouldn't notice. Annabeth smiled sadly at him with a nostalgic expression on her face. She looked like she had just seen his thread of fate being cut, and Percy almost glanced around for old ladies knitting giant socks. She stared straight into Percy's eyes her face displaying hope and despair and the same time. Percy resisted the urge to turn away so that he wouldn't have to see her expression.

"And may the gods be ever in you favour Percy."

Percy rushed home taking a shortcut through the fish market, so that his mom wouldn't realise that he had been sleeping out in the ocean again. He just hoped that he didn't smell like rotting fish now, but his mom probably wouldn't notice since he always smelled like the sea. He didn't sleep on a boat all the time, it was just that sometimes, his nightmares kept him awake, and the sea always calmed him down.

Silently slipping back into his bedroom that he shared with Tyson, he studied his brother's sleeping face. Well Tyson wasn't Percy's actual brother, they were half-brothers, but Percy had never figured out who Tyson's parents were. They looked completely different with Percy having sea green eyes and hair as black as ink. He was a natural born rebel, and completely unpredictable which were character traits for the dead in Panem. Tyson on the other hand, had soft brown eyes and hair. His smile showed his slightly crooked teeth, but it was a warm and infectious one. Percy found himself grinning every time Tyson smiled. Tyson was naïve and just a cute little brother who caught insects with his hands and let them outside the house before Smelly Gabe found them. In which case, they would already be dead within 10 feet of him because of the stink. But two years ago, Smelly Gabe had finally disappeared from Percy's family's life, which was a huge relief for everyone.

Tiredness clouded Percy's thoughts since his restless nightmare filled sleep hadn't exactly done him much good. Slipping back under the covers of his bed besides Tyson, Percy sighed and closed his eyes again. Maybe a little nap wouldn't hurt…

Sally Jackson stood in front of her sons' bedroom biting her lip. Today was the reaping, and this was the first time that Percy and Tyson would both be in it. She was incredibly anxious about both her sons. Softly opening the creaking door and peering in, she saw Percy sleeping soundly drooling slightly on his pillow, a relaxed and peaceful expression on his face. He looked about 7 years old right now, and a bit of Sally loosened inside. She knew that Percy had been having nightmares almost every night and he would sit at the breakfast table rubbing the dark circles under his eyes. She felt so helpless because there was nothing she could do except sit next to him and stroke his hair.

Tyson lay snoring lightly beside Percy, and Sally stifled a laugh at his adorable face. She loved both of them so much, and at this moment, she tried something she hadn't done before. Poseidon, if you hear this, please make sure our sons stay safe and come back home, she prayed silently. Swallowing a lump of anxiety, she gently shook Percy and whispered in his ear, the phrase that had been his alarm clock since he had made the discovery of waffles. "Breakfast's on the table."

Percy sat at the breakfast table emptying the syrup bottle onto his plate. Annabeth was at Percy's house as they always went to the reaping together- it was a tradition. She looked slightly disgusted. "Percy, you're drowning your waffles in syrup."

"I'm a son of Poseidon, I can't drown and my waffles can't either." Percy replied through a mouthful of blue food. Annabeth didn't look particularly impressed with his eating etiquette.

Blue food had always been a thing in Percy's household. It was like, if waffles can be blue, Percy can make it past the Reaping. Swallowing hastily, Percy noticed Annabeth glancing at the time. It was an hour to the Reaping, and they had better start making their way down to the town centre. Percy had taken a luke-warm bath and was currently wearing a white shirt and some trousers that weren't jeans. Tyson was wearing one of Percy's old shirts that were in better condition, and they just about fit him. He looked nervous and kept fiddling with the frayed end of the shirt, eyes darting around the room every few moments. Percy could understand, his own knee was jerking up and down. Percy gently tucked Tyson's shirt in and stood up suddenly feeling younger. He was like this on his first reaping as well.

"Mom, we should probably get going."

"Yes, Percy and Annabeth dear, make sure that you look after Tyson, I'll be where I always am, and I'll pick you all up after the Reaping." Percy's mom replied hesitating when she said that she would pick them all up. A faltering smile was stuck on her face. Percy's throat tightened, and he hugged his mom before lightly guiding Tyson out the door. He really didn't want to think about the fact that she might not be able to pick all of them up.

Effie Trinket, the District 4 escort stood on the podium in all her sparkly glory. Percy would never understand the Capital and their trends. It was just barely above Hades's fashion sense, and that was because Percy didn't really approve of the whole tortured souls being sown into cloth idea, but maybe that was just him. Effie was almost bouncing with excitement, her heavy white wig adorned with ornaments went springing with her. Percy was in the 14 year old demigod section, and he could see Tyson's curly brown hair in the 12 year old demigod section, since Tyson was tall. Annabeth was lost in the enormous crowd of shifting colours of the mortals, and Percy wished that Tyson could be standing beside her, instead of being a possible reaping. Demigods were obviously the minority here, and as Annabeth always reminded him, the less demigods there were, the greater the probability of him getting picked. There had been a brief shameful moment of his life when he felt glad that the gods were inherently polyamorous cheaters in the first place, before he remember all the pain of a single parent his mom had to go through.

With his ADHD brain, Percy managed to zone out of everything that Effie had said and the Mayor's opening speech. He focused on Effie's wig that had been knocked slightly crooked when a former victor Dakota had hugged her through his drunken state before he had thrown up. Percy absent-mindedly wondered whether that would be cut from the official clips.

By the time it was finally time for the reaping Percy's foot had bored a shallow hole in the ground, his fingers tapping at his sides, and he felt like he had just eaten a double sized pack of super sugared cappuccino-flavoured jelly beans and was about to be sick. Effie, walked towards the boys bowl. Percy held his breath. It was usually girls' first but apparently, that was too mainstream for Effie. Her manicured hand stirred the boy papers around and Percy's breathing quickened. He prayed to every single god he could name that the piece of paper in Effie's hand didn't have his family's name in it. Time was painstakingly slow as she lifted the elegant piece of paper up and unfolded it before reading off the name. A name that made Percy's legs freeze and his blood turn cold.

"And our boy tribute is Tyson Jackson!"

I don't know as much about the Hunger Games as PJO, so tell me if I've made any mistakes.