Yippee! It's finally been a year since the war with the Titans and I was happy to be spending some time with Annabeth. My mom had brought along Annabeth to Montauk, and I was pretty happy about it, even though my mom only did it because she thought it was a date. But the word date terrifies me so that'll be our little secret.
Still, the stress from the prophecy kept coming over and over. Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. Well for once, Annabeth and I wouldn't be going. We'd be spending our own happy time here at Montauk. The stupid prophecy prevented us from going back to camp. To storm or fire the world must fall. Well, storm would be Zeus and I guess fire would be Hephaestus and world must fall would be Atlas. What the heck? An oath to keep with a final breath. There was the possibility of the oath to claim all children by the age of thirteen. And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death. That line really confused me since Hades had just been welcomed to Olympus extremely nicely, but the prophecy made it sound as though he were going to betray us.
I shook myself out of the world of frightening prophecies and betrayals then began to focus on the main focus of my life: Annabeth. Her long hair flowed perfectly in the wind as she studied blueprints for something that looked suspiciously like a maze or labyrinth. Then I stretched like a cat and fell asleep.
I was in the deep, dark pits of Tartarus where I recognized the ancient voice of Kronos.
"Father!" he cried,"aid me. Heal me. Help me to relive!" His cold laughter echoed through my dream.
A voice more ancient than Kronos's suddenly spoke. "Very well. You know this is your last chance to capture the girl. If we can get her to spill the guts about Jackson's weak point, we can overcome all the Olympians. You failed because of that wretched boy and the prophecy."
His smile glinted until my eyes threatened to pop. I shuddered as he spoke of a spell or blessing that sounded so ancient only Ouranos could have known it. An eerie screech exploded from somewhere off to my right. Kronos and Ouranos laughed in unison.
I woke to the sound of clashing swords behind me. Slowly, I turned around. My heart skipped a beat as I noticed that Annabeth's towel didn't have the most beautiful girl in the world was not lying on it. As I turned some more, I saw that Annabeth was fighting a person-probably a demigod.
I sprinted over to help her, but I was too slow. The next thing I knew, Annabeth's knife was split in half and sent spiraling a few feet away. I watched helplessly as the demigod pinned her to the ground and severed a deep gash into her stomach. I felt a surge of anger burst through me as I dashed towards Annabeth. With an inhuman-like cry, I drew Riptide and scuttled. The demigod raised his head as though noticing me for the first time. His bright yellow eyes were charged with fear, but at the same time, they filled with excitement.
Yet in all of his excitement, he got up and with a mocking wave, sprinted towards the woods. His final glance back filled the air with an I'll-be-back feeling. He threw back a metallic square and watched as it flew through the air and landed a couple of yards from Annabeth.
I dropped down next to the girl I loved and muttered, "Just a sec, Annabeth. I'll be back soon; I promise." The cold metal of the object felt good against my sweaty hands, but the cold was not a good cold, yet it wasn't an evil cold. It was like I knew the thing would help me, but since it had been given to me by a person that stabbed my girlfriend in the stomach, I didn't really trust it that much. I flipped it over and realized it was one of those fifteen puzzles: the thing with all the numbers from one to fifteen and one gap and only people like Annabeth could solve it.
I had no choice but to pocket the strange item as I jogged toward Annabeth. She looked terrible. Her shirt was soaked with blood, and I winced not daring to find out what lay under it. Her breath came out in short gasps and she looked like she was using all of her energy just to stay conscious.
Suddenly, I hesitated. How would I get Annabeth back up on her feet again? I could go to hospital. Where the heck was a hospital when you need one? My mind was so jumbled up in the past events that I couldn't even make a mental map. The only place I could think of was Camp Half-Blood. As much as Annabeth had warned me not to go back to camp, I had the excuse of saving her life.
I left a note to my mom saying that Annabeth had been attacked by an enemy demigod and that I needed to get her to camp right away or else she'd die blah blah blah. Then I whistled for Blackjack and realized that I was going to Camp Half-Blood, the place that I thought as home, whether anyone wanted me to or not.
