6: The Search

Percy POV (in Annabeth's body)

I had a little panic attack when I first realized what happened. My train of thought went haywire as I stared at Annabeth's face even though I (Percy Jackson) was looking into the mirror.

Then, I realized that this had to be some stupid dream, so I slapped my cheek hard.

OW. GOD DAM IT.

I stared at the red mark on Annabeth's (well, now my) face. Despite Annabeth's face getting slapped, I was the one who felt the pain.

Annabeth didn't have an alarm, so I was late waking up. While I didn't understand what was going on, I knew that I had to find Annabeth, who was probably in my body. I had to get to school as soon as possible.

However, it was difficult because I had to pee so badly. I've seen girls cross their legs when they try to hold in their pee.

It didn't seem right to see Annabeth's naked.

I spent ten minutes trying to hold my pee in, but I knew that I'd spill soon. I tried distracting myself by looking around Annabeth's room. It was a simple room with the bare minimum inside. The only distinguishing factor was the fully-stocked bookshelf.

My mouth let out a whimper as my legs shook. Dam it.

I quickly ran towards Annabeth's bathroom that was fortunately in her bedroom. I quickly dropped my pants and started to pee in front of the toilet.

However, I totally forgot that girls had to sit on the toilet. After some pee splatter and lots of cursing, I sat on the toilet bowl. Gods, now, I had to shower as well.

Annabeth probably wouldn't appreciate it if her body walked into school smelling like pee.

To be honest, Annabeth had a very attractive body. She had golden blonde princess curls and a slim, fit figure. Annabeth was also taller than the average woman, but she still had curves. I couldn't deny that I took in Annabeth's hot physical appearance while cleaning up.

Despite the freaky situation, I didn't completely hate it ;)

However, once I got dressed in jeans and a red t-shirt, I decided to find Annabeth (ie find my own body).

Gods, I missed myself so much, I thought as I stared at Annabeth in the mirror.

This was totally bizarre, and I didn't understand it at all.

I realized that I didn't want to interact with Annabeth's family because they'd immediately know that something was wrong. As such, I ran out of Annabeth's home.

I completely ignored her mom yelling behind me.

It was a good thing that I ran out because the bus just started pulling onto Annabeth's street. A few seconds later, and I would've missed my ride to school.

Considering I've never seen Annabeth drive a car, I was certain that Annabeth rode the bus. My assumption was confirmed when the bus stopped in front of me at the neighborhood intersection.

I, as Percy, haven't ridden the bus in years.

Regardless, I sat in the first empty seat and prayed that no one would interact with me. Luckily, the bus was fairly empty, and the ride to school was quick.

However, Thalia met me as soon as I walked into Goode High's main hallway.

I was always told that the hallways were too crowded in the morning, but I didn't realize it till now. Usually, I was always late to homeroom due to swimming, so I never walked in the busy morning hallways.

"Annie," Thalia screamed as she approached.

"I, um, hello Thalia," I replied.

I felt like that was a safe response, but apparently, I was wrong. Thalia stared at me in surprise as her eyes scanned my face.

"What?" I asked self-cautiously.

I wondered if there was anything on my face. As far as I knew, Annabeth didn't wear makeup that much, so I didn't even bother with any.

"You always fight me when I call you Annie. I didn't realize that the nickname was growing on you," Thalia said with a smirk.

I hope that my face didn't look as confused or panicked as I was feeling.

"No, I still hate the nickname," I said responded safely. We both started walking through the hall, but I wasn't sure where we were going.

"Anyway, Thalia, I really have to meet up with someone before the first period."

I really didn't want to interact with Thalia because she clearly knew Annabeth way too much. She was definitely going to figure stuff out.

"I'll come with you to your locker," Thalia said.

After a few minutes of walking, I saw myself several yards in front of me. It was so freaking weird to see my body outside of me. This was so bizarre.

"Why is Percy at your locker?" Thalia asked quietly.

I didn't know what to say. Clearly, Annabeth (who was in my body) had come to her own locker probably by instinct. Immediately, Percy (ie Annabeth) turned towards me.

I knew that we both were thinking the same thing. We had to figure out what the hell was happening.

We wanted our bodies back.

***

"You're the smart one. What did you do to us?" I asked again.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" Annabeth snapped through my mouth. Everything sounded like me as it came out.

After all, Annabeth's words were coming out of my mouth through my voice.

I stared at myself from Annabeth's eyes. My body (ie Percy) was a few inches taller than Annabeth (who I was residing in at the moment).

"I don't understand," I said quietly.

"Can you please stop saying that?" Percy (I mean, Annabeth) said.

"What? It's the truth," I replied.

"Well, I know that it's the truth, but I don't like seeing my face and body expressing the fact that I don't know or understand something. So, just stop," Annabeth said boldly.

My deep voice vibrated with power and intelligence. My voice never sounded that commanding when I was controlling it.

I decided to give Annabeth time to think.

"Okay, here's what we know," Percy (ie Annabeth) started. "In reality, we switched bodies. We received each other's physical attributes. However, our mental and psychological characteristics are still intact."

I made sure to listen to his (actually, her) voice intently.

Surprisingly, my voice was deeper and more appealing than I thought it was. It was weird to see myself from another person's perspective.

"So, how did this happen?" I asked from Annabeth's body.

It was a weird situation.

In real life, Annabeth would never ask me about what was going on. She was too intelligent and prideful for that.

Yet, here we were creating a situation that would never happen.

Percy shrugged as Annabeth seemed to get lost in thought. Clearly, she was trying to remember anything that would help us.

Suddenly, I started to make a realization.

I watched as my face also seemed to remember something. Clearly, Annabeth and I both thought of something at the same.

"The Ancient Artifacts Museum," we both said simultaneously.

"Wise Girl, something definitely happened there in front of that Janes statue," I said in confusion.

"You idiot, it was the statue of Janus," Percy said matter-of-factly. "Err, I said stupidly to you, Percy, not my body."

"Yeah, I figured," I muttered

"Wise Girl, we need more information on Janus, and we need to figure out how to reverse this spell," I said.

"Yeah, no dip," Annabeth said as he took out my phone. "Percy, you need to give me the password to your phone."

"1818, and we don't have each other's numbers as well. Also, Wise Girl, why do you have such an old phone," I said as I pulled out her blackberry flip phone.

"I don't get a lot of money," she said quietly.

I decided not to say anything as we quickly exchanged passcodes and phone numbers. Something told me that we'd have to see each other a lot.

Technically, we had to see ourselves a lot.

While I still had my actual iPhone, I looked up information on Janus and the Ancient Artifacts Museum. "Wise Girl, maybe, we could reverse this thing if we go back to the artifact," I suggested.

"Well, it seems that the museum is closed till Monday. Gods, I'll have to stay in this body for another few days," she said unhappily.

"Maybe, the spell will reverse after a day," I suggested hopefully.

Percy looked at me like I was an idiot. My face looked weird with that expression. Clearly, it didn't suit who I was.

However, Annabeth looked at me like I was an idiot all the time.

"Ugh," Annabeth said. I immediately looked at my body to see what was wrong. My face showed a lot of discomfort on it.

"What's wrong with my body?" I asked with concern.

I realized that Annabeth's voice softened when she was worried. Her body became calm and collected even though I was freaking out on the inside.

"You just have to pee," Annabeth said.

"So, go pee," I said matter-of-factly. My mind reeled back to this morning when I peed and showered in Annabeth's body.

"I don't want to see you naked."

"If we're gonna be stuck in our bodies, we're gonna have to. Besides, I already saw you naked," I commented.

Percy stared at me in disbelief before moving towards the door. However, Annabeth stopped my body before it could leave.

I realized that we were already late to the first period. We'd probably have to go soon.

"Wait here. I'm gonna do your business. Then, we'll have to give each other a rundown of our lives so that we can live in each other's bodies," she said smartly.

"Right, I was thinking too," I lied.

"Don't lie using my mouth," Percy (ie Annabeth) said before leaving me alone.

I stared at Annabeth's blackberry phone. Gods, living in Annabeth's body was going to be so different and torturous. I didn't know what to expect.