Chapter 1
This was it. The final battle of good vs. evil. The seven marched into battle, flanked by the fourteen gods of Olympus. Together, we would face one of the greatest threats to humanity, Gaea, the mother of monsters, as twisted and cruel as her husband, Tartarus. Behind us, the Mediterranean, in front of us, her troops of dracaena, cyclopes, giants, and hell-hounds. It was 23 of the most powerful gods, goddesses, and demigods in existence against thousands of monsters from the darkest depths of the pits. Percy and I had witnessed their gathering first hand in our exclusive stay in Tartarus. I can still feel the acrid smell of rusty tortured devices in my lungs. I knew seeing him tormented would have been the worst punishment of all, so I had taken Percy's tortures. Every time he would scream my name in protest, but I wouldn't let him stop me. The day before we escaped, Tartarus had come in for my daily session. He announced that he had brought a surprise guest, then smiled cruelly with his pointed teeth. I looked in his eyes, and knew exactly who was this monster was. She was the one that had gotten Percy and me in this mess in the first place. Arachne's putrid face appeared in the doorway. It was a ghastly sight, with massive pinchers protruding from her deformed face. In her hand was my dagger, the one I thought I had lost in the river. Percy, who was chained to the wall in the corner, screamed and pulled at his bonds. "No! Stop! Let me take her torture!" he cried.
"I'm afraid that this punishment is for her only." She cackled. With my knife in one hand, she crept closer and closer until her face was an inch from mine. "You never do escape your worst nightmares. Isn't that right, foolish demigod?" Arachne removed my torn shirt and took the dagger to my chest. She wrote her name in Ancient Greek, so I could never forget. Then, she moved to my chest and Tartarus' name. They continued with this all over my chest and back. Once, the final word was written they left, but left the door open so Percy and I could see their army. Probably so we would lose hope, the one thing their tortures couldn't take away. We had escaped, but at a great mental cost. By the time we had gotten back, it was time for the final battle. We didn't even have enough time to change into less tattered clothing.
Percy turned to me. "Annabeth, if I don't make it, I want you to have this." He handed me a ring. On it was a gray diamond, surrounded by sea green jewels. I looked at him. He nodded. "When this is all over, I want to make it official."
"Percy, I-" When I was about to answer, the battle horn sounded. Percy turned to face the coming monsters, and I slipped the ring on my finger.
"Gaea. This is your last chance. Stand down or face the wrath of the most powerful beings on this planet!" Zeus thundered.
"Never, foolish immortals! I shall kill every last one of you, then plunge this world into eternal darkness. No one can stop me!" Gaea snarled. She lifted her arms and signaled the army to move forward into battle. Zeus raised his lightning bolt in the sky. Storm clouds swirled around him in the sky and electricity arched downward to the monsters, sending a few hundred back to Tartarus. Poseidon walked casually to the front twirling his trident. He thrusted it forward, causing thousands of tons of water to crash down on Gaea's troops. The rest of us swarmed forward. Percy and I went back to back. It was our natural instinct. Together, we were unstoppable. It looked as if there was no hope left for Gaea, but that is where everything went wrong.
I had just downed a hell-hound with my drakon-bone dagger. I turned around only to see Piper beheaded by a dracaena, her severed head landing at Jason's feet. I heard him scream in outrage. Then, he summoned hundreds of volts of lightning, burning the dracaena to a crisp. Winds surrounded him, and he stood in the middle of a F5 tornado, destroying everything in his path, but it wasn't enough. Leo rushed forward, his hands ablaze, to take on Gaea. He sent fireballs at her, but she just laughed. The earth around her catapulted Leo into the ocean with enough force to kill him. Hazel and Arion stopped fighting for a moment to see him fall to his death, and in her moment of distraction, an arrow impaled her stomach. I turned to Percy. The look in his eyes was pure fury. A hurricane formed around his feet, and he took an offensive stance. To most he would be terrifying, but Gaea only smirked. She drew a dagger from the ground. She threw the knife, and I watched as the it pierced his heart. Percy collapsed. I ran to him and cradled him in my arms. "Annabeth, you are the storm. You are the one to kill Gaea. Not me, not Jason, not Leo. You."
"Please, Percy. Don't go. Apollo can heal you," I cried.
"Annabeth, I want this. I'll be you again soon. I'll wait for you to join me in Elysium, but until then, promise me something. Do something important with your life because it won't last. Use the time you are given on this earth to be the change you want to see in the world. Be someone's hero. Take this. I hope it will protect you against every evil you will face in life." He handed me Riptide. I pulled him into one final, passionate kiss before the heat faded from his lips.
"I swear on the River Styx I will not let my life go to waste. I love you, Percy." Thunder rumbled in the distance. I looked at Gaea, who was laughing at my misfortune. "You threw that dagger. YOU killed him. YOU WILL PAY," I said. With each word, I found a strength I'd never felt before. My eyes started to glow, and my feet left the ground. As I raised my arms, swords of the dead lifted from the ground and sent the remaining army to Tartarus. I pointed my hand at Gaea. She lifted from the ground, and I shoved Riptide straight through her heart in the same spot as Percy.
"You know, it was your dagger," Gaea muttered before she exploded into a million pieces. I collapsed to the ground, tears streaking down my face. The gods and the remaining seven rushed over to me.
"What was that?" I asked looking Athena straight in the eye.
"That, my daughter, is something only the strongest of my children can do. Your brain power is so strong that you can actually use it to manipulate items like we just saw. If I'm right, which I always am, you also possess the power of telekinesis. I've never actually had a child with your strength, so I am not sure what other powers you could accumulate," Athena answered. Jason and Frank pulled me up from the ground and pulled me into a hug. We cried into each other shoulders, mourning the loss of so many of our friends. I thought of the ring Percy had given me. I guess it would never be.
Three Months Later
"Welcome back, Annabeth. I'm glad that you were able to make it," a cold, hard voice cooed. I opened my eyes and found myself in the Tartarus' torture room. It was covered in blood stains and rusty medieval torture devices. Tartarus, the god of the pit, emerged from the shadows with a knife in his hand. "I really do enjoy our little 'talks'."
He took the blade to me and started carving my bare back. I bit back screams of agony because if I didn't, he would do it for longer. Once he finished, he stepped on my leg and broke it. "Foolish demigod, you never really escape the pit."
I woke up with a start. My sheets were stained with my blood and my leg was bent at an awkward angle. As I sat up, I grabbed the ambrosia from my bedside table and ate it. The cuts faded, my leg straightened, only leaving scars and painful memories. My nightmares were getting worse; I hadn't slept peacefully ever since the incident. I got up and wandered to my desk. It was covered in pictures of Camp and Per- no. I can't think of him right now. I have a new school and a new life, I wasn't about to ruin my chance for normality. My alarm clock beeped, signaling that I needed to get ready for my first day at Midtown High. It wasn't the best school in the area, but it was close to my apartment, Mount Olympus, and the cemetery. I couldn't ignore an opportunity like that. I put on a gray sweater, sea green skinny jeans, gray converse, and my ring before grabbing my school supplies and heading out the door. I was excited for my new life, but I'm not 100% I'm ready to leave my old one behind.
I looked at my new school. It was huge with beautiful architecture and brick work. In front was a wrought-iron fence. Students stared at me with curiosity as I walked inside and down the halls. I kept my head down, not wanting the attention, but something caught my eye. Through the chaos, I saw a bulky blonde jock shoving another teenager in a locker. I made me mad; I hate bullies. I snuck up behind him and tapped his shoulder. He whipped around to face me. "What do you want, pipsqueak? If it's not a date, then go away."
"Uh no, I would never date the likes of you. I want you to leave him alone." I pointed at the innocent kid in the locker.
"Yeah, who's going to stop me?" he smirked, thinking that I was just another dumb blonde.
"I am," I replied coolly.
"I doubt that." He swung his fist at me and easily dodged it. He tried again, but he couldn't touch me. Compared to what I had fought in the Giant War, this guy was like a cuddly panda pillow pet. He swung at me once more, but I caught it mid-blow. I twisted it behind his back and pushed him onto a locker.
"If you ever, and I mean ever, touch this kid again, I will personally see to it that you are stuffed into a locker upside down with no pants. Got it?" I let him go and he walked off, probably to find someone else to pick on. I turned to the guy who had been shoved in the locker. He was tall, lanky, and had messy brown hair. He looked at me with amazement just like every other person in the hallway by now.
"How did you do that?" he asked.
"Do what?"
"Dodge his fists, then actually catch one," he said like it was obvious.
"Oh. Spider-Man isn't the only one in the city who can fight petty bullies. My name is Annabeth. I'm new here." I extended my hand; he shook it.
"Cool. My name's Peter Parker. Do you know where your new classes are?"
"I actually need to know where the advanced science classroom is. Can you take me?"
"Sure. Anything for the person that just saved my butt. Plus, it's my next class. Follow me." He weaved through the crowded halls and actually helped my get to class on time. "You can sit by me and Ava." He pointed to the girl with dark hair and Latino skin in the front row who waved and pointed to the two seats beside her.
"Thanks, Peter."
First period passed. As it turns out, Peter and Ava are nerds, too. Finally, someone that can understand me when I talk using 'big' words. I had third and second with them as well. In the blink of my eye, it was time for lunch. I walked over to a vacant table in the lunchroom and unpacked my lunch. A peanut butter sandwich, water bottle, and blue cookies. Courtesy of Sally, Percy's mom. Percy. A single tear slid down my face and landed on the table. I missed him so much. Everything reminded me of him. The cookies, Peter, my dyslexia. A few more tears splashed onto the table. "Hey are you okay?" I looked up. I hadn't noticed that Peter, Ava, and three other people had sat down at my table. I wiped my eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, Peter. Who are they?" I gestured to the three new people.
"This is Luke, Danny, and Sam. You already know Ava." Luke was big and burly enough to be a football player, but his eyes were soft and full of kindness like Beckendorf's. Danny had longish blonde hair and a calm expression as if he meditates daily. Sam was interesting. He was wild, hyper, and always talking. He reminded me of Leo. "Guys, this is Annabeth. She's is the girl who saved me from Flash."
"Your kindness is a sign of someone who is destined to do great things," Danny said. Yep. Definitely meditates. He looked into my eyes and frowned, but quickly hid it.
"What's with the blue cookies?" Sam asked.
"It's sort of a tradition that my friend's family started. You can have one if you want. They are the best in the world." They all took one. Their faces were priceless; I wish that I could have taken a photo of them. Peter's eyes bugged out (A/N: Puns!), Sam fell back in his chair, and Ava just stared at me with her mouth open. Once they got over the initial shock, they all reached for more.
"God, these are better than Aunt May's! What's your friend's name? Does he go here? I need more! I'll buy them if I have to!" Peter cried, his mouth full of cookie.
"He, uh, hisnamewasPercyandhekindofdiedamonthago." I said and quickly looked away.
"What?"
"His name was Percy. He was my boyfriend before he died a month ago." They lost their happy smiles and looked down. Instead of saying 'You have my condolences.' or 'I'm sorry for your loss.', Peter asked something totally different.
"How did he die?"
"He was stabbed in the heart when a mugging went wrong." I looked down. Okay, not the whole truth, but he was stabbed. Peter grimaced. He seemed to be guilty, like he could have stopped it. "It's okay. He is in a better place now." I gave him a small smile and ate the rest of my lunch in silence.
I walked home to my apartment after school. It had been a gift from my mom as a way to help me recuperate. It was on the tenth floor with a balcony facing the Empire State Building. In addition to having a large modern kitchen, it had a fireplace for sacrifices, six bedrooms, three baths, a study, and a secret training room with weapons. Everything a demigod needs. I turned the key in door's lock, but it was already unlocked. I could hear my music playing inside. I hadn't even turned it on today. Something was wrong. I cautiously opened the door. The music seemed to be coming from my study. I peered around the door and found my mother, Athena, sitting in my desk looking at some of my architecture ideas for Mount Olympus. "You know Annabeth, you're almost as good as me." She turned.
"Mother? Why are you here?" I asked.
"Dear daughter, terrible things are coming. The fates have allowed me to help you out, so I have brought a gift." She waved her hands, and the most beautiful piece of armor I had ever seen appeared on my desk. "I am sorry, dear, for you're soon to be in the middle of another war. Do you remember Percy's last words? Be someone's hero. It's time you lived up to your promise. I cannot help you anymore. Don't forget, you were born to do great things. Until next time, my favorite daughter." With that, Athena disappeared in a flash.
I turned to the armor. It was a silver chest plate, probably enchanted and forged by Hephaestus himself. I set down my backpack and strapped the chest plate on. Suddenly, mist swirled around me, and my clothes transformed. I turned to look at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a Greek-Style battle armor. It was silver and gray, with a white accents. On my chest, all the shades of grey swirled around like a storm. The helmet I wore had a white plume. My golden curls tumbled out the back. In my hand, there was a silver shield with the same grey swirling pattern as on the chest plate. It was missing something. I remembered Riptide. I took it out, uncapped it, and instead of turning into a bronze sword, it became a dagger!
What had Athena meant when she said I should fulfil my promise? As if Athena herself had sensed my confusion, my television suddenly flickered to life. On it was a breaking news story from the Daily Bugle. The city was being attacked by DoomBots! I realized what I had to do. I had to be the change I wanted to see in the world. I had to be a hero. A superhero.
