Title: Now or never part 1
synopsis/summary: today we fight against kronos and his army tomorrow we will save or destroy the world yesterday we have to stop this altogether. Join me, Annabeth, Thalia, Nico, Grover, Katie, Travis, conner and many others as we fight to save Olympus and the world!
Chapter 1: you better save her
"Percy!" Jake Mason clapped me on the shoulder. "We're getting reports-"
"Later," I said. "Where's Annabeth?"
"The terrace. She's alive, man, but . . ."
I pushed past him. Under different circumstances I would've loved the view from the terrace. It looked straight down onto Central Park. The morning was clear and bright. Perfect for a picnic or a hike, or pretty much anything except fighting monsters.
Annabeth lay on a lounge chair. Her face was pale and beaded with sweat. Even though she was covered in blankets, she shivered. Silena Beauregard was wiping her forehead with a cool cloth. Will and I pushed through a crowd of Athena kids. Will unwrapped Annabeth's bandages to examine the wound and I wanted to faint. The bleeding had stopped but the gash looked deep. The skin around the cut was a horrible shade of green
"Annabeth . . ." I choked up. She'd taken that knife for me. How could I have let that happen?
"Poison on the dagger," she mumbled. "Pretty stupid of me, huh?" Will Solace exhaled with relief. "It's not so bad, Annabeth. A few more minutes and we would've been in trouble, but the venom hasn't gotten past the shoulder yet. Just lie still. Somebody hand me some nectar."
I grabbed a canteen. Will cleaned out the wound with the godly drink while I held Annabeth's hand.
"Ow,"she said. "Ow, ow!" She gripped my fingers so tight they turned purple, but she stayed still, like Will asked. Silena muttered words of encouragement. Will put some silver paste over the wound and hummed words in Ancient Greek-a hymn to Apollo. Then he applied fresh bandages and stood up shakily.
The healing must've taken a lot of his energy. He looked almost as pale as Annabeth.
"That should do it," he said. "But we're going to need some mortal supplies.
He grabbed a piece of hotel stationery, jotted down some notes, and handed it to one of the Athena guys. "There's a Duane Reade on Fifth. Normally I would never steal-"
"I would," Travis volunteered
Will glared at him. "Leave cash or drachmas to pay, whatever you've got, but this is an emergency. I've got a feeling we're going to have a lot more people to treat."
Nobody disagreed. There was hardly a single demigod who hadn't already been wounded . . . except me.
"Come on, guys," Travis Stoll said. "Let's give Annabeth some space. We've got a drug store to raid . . . I mean, visit." The demigods shuffled back inside
Jake Mason grabbed my shoulder as he was leaving. "We'll talk later, but it's under control. I'm using Annabeth's shield to keep an eye on things. The
enemy withdrew at sunrise; not sure why. We've got a lookout at each bridge and tunnel.
"Thanks, man," I said.
He nodded. "Just take your time."
He closed the terrace doors behind him, leaving Silena, Annabeth, and me alone Silena pressed a cool cloth to Annabeth's forehead. "This is all my fault.
"No," Annabeth said weakly. "Silena, how is it your fault?
"I've never been any good at camp," she murmured. "Not like you or Percy. If I was a better fighter . . ."
Her mouth trembled. Ever since Beckendorf died she'd been getting worse, and every time I looked at her, it made me angry about his death all over again. Her expression reminded me of glass-like she might break any minute. I swore to myself that if I ever found the spy who'd cost her boyfriend his life. I would give him to Mrs. O'Leary as a chew toy.
"You're a great camper," I told Silena. "You're the best pegasus rider we have. And you get along with people. Believe me, anyone who can make friend with Clarisse has talent.
She stared at me like I'd just given her an idea. "That's it! We need the Ares cabin. I can talk to Clarisse. I know I can convince her to help us.
"Whoa, Silena. Even if you could get off the island, Clarisse is pretty stubborn. Once she gets angry-"
"Please," Silena said. "I can take a pegasus. I know I can make it back to camp. Let me try."
I exchanged looks with Annabeth. She nodded slightly. I didn't like the idea. I didn't think Silena stood a chance of convincing Clarisse to fight. On the other hand, Silena was so distracted right now that she would just get herself hurt in battle. Maybe sending her back to camp would give her something else to focus on.
"All right," I told her. "I can't think of anybody better to try." Silena threw her arms around me. Then she pushed back awkwardly, glancing at Annabeth. "Um, sorry. Thank you, Percy! I won't let you down!"
Once she was gone, I knelt next to Annabeth and felt her forehead. She was still burning up.
"You're cute when you're worried," she muttered. "Your eyebrows get all scrunched together."
"You are not going to die while I owe you a favor," I said. "Why did you take that knife?"
"You would've done the same for me."
It was true. I guess we both knew it. Still, I felt like somebody was poking my heart with a cold metal rod.
"How did you know?"
"Know what?"
I looked around to make sure we were alone. Then I leaned in close and whispered:
"My Achilles spot. If you hadn't taken that knife, I would've died."
She got a faraway look in her eyes. Her breath smelled of grapes, maybe from the nectar.
"I don't know, Percy. I just had this feeling you were in danger. Where . . . where is the spot?" I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. But this was Annabeth. If I couldn't trust her, I couldn't trust anyone.
"The small of my back."
She lifted her hand. "Where? Here?"
She put her hand on my spine, and my skin tingled. I moved her fingers to the one spot that grounded me to my mortal life. A thousand volts of electricity seemed to arc through my body.
"You saved me," I said. "Thanks."
She removed her hand, but I kept holding it.
"So you owe me," she said weakly. "What else is new?"
We watched the sun come up over the city. The traffic should've been heavy by now, but there were no cars honking, no crowds bustling along the side walks. Suddenly there was a flash of light and the three fates appeared in front of me and Annabeth.
"Perseus Jackson, Annabeth Chase," the Fates said in unison.
"Yep that's us."
"Shut it Seaweed Brain."
Me being as childish as I am, I stuck my tongue out at her.
"we know you need help so we have found a way to help you stop this war take this box in it you will find five books and a list of names locate these people and then come back here we will be waiting"
There was another flash of light and the Fates disappeared again.
"So open the box Seaweed Brain."
"Alright, Wise Girl."
I opened the box like an excited child on Christmas. Inside like the Fates had said was a piece of paper and five books. I got out the paper and me and Annabeth looked at it.
"Alright so we need to find me, you, Thalia, Nico, Grover, Katie, Travis, Conner, Silena and Clarisse but at the bottom it says more people will join you while you are on your journey"
"How are we going to get these people."
"I could help," Nico said on his way out the shadows.
"What are you doing here!"
"Well I hear you have to find some people and as Annabeth is not well enough to leave I thought I could go and find the people on your list."
"Ok, please bring them back here to us"
"Yeah, sure I'll be back soon."
Not long after Nico had left I realised I was still holding Annabeth's hand and still was when Nico returned with everyone on the list.
"Alright then you two why did you call us here," Thalia asked.
"Three...Two...One...Here comes the answer"
Just as Annabeth finished her sentence the Fates appeared again but this time without the big flash.
"I see you succeeded with finding your friends but now I need the rest of you to follow in the example of these two and hold hands."
"awkward."
"Shut it Pinecone face!"
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT KELP HEAD"
"AND I TOLD YOU HOW I FELT ABOUT THINGS AND THEN YOU JOINED THE HUNTERS SO I HAVE NO HELP OR SUPPORT AT ALL!"
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW YOU FELT," Annabeth shouted joining in.
"Look I'm sorry Thalia I shouldn't have called you Pinecone Face"
"I'm sorry too Perce I shouldn't have left you not after what you told me."
"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THESE TWO MEAN ABOUT HOW PERCY FEELS!"
"Annabeth calm down"
"No I wont let you take Percy away from me not now not ever, you know I love him yet you let him declare his love to you" Annabeth covered her mouth after realizing she still had an audience and she just told us all she was in love with me.
"Alright you have an hour before you will need to be holding hands an alarm will go off 5 minutes before so you can all hold hands good luck demigods."
The fates left again so we carried on our argument.
"WISE GIRL, THALS CAN YOU PLEASE JUST SHUT UP," the girls suddenly froze to look at me on top of a table next to them.
"WHAT PERCY"
"JUST LISTEN TO ME THALIA IS NOT TRYING TO TAKE ME AWAY I TOLD HER ABOUT HOW I FELT ABOUT YOU WHEN SHE HAD JUST WOKEN UP FROM BEING A TREE, YOU PROBABLY KNOW WHAT I TOLD HER AND NICO CAN SHOW YOU HE LIKES TO EAVES DROP"
Nico's eavesdropping
"Thals I don't know what to do I love her but she loves luke and I don't know what to say around her"
"Perce I love you I mean your my best friend but Annabeth I won't let her get hurt which is why I'm telling you this now... I'm leaving I'm going to let Artemis and her hunters find us and I'm going to join her"
"Why tell me and not her?"
"Because she will need a shoulder to cry on when I do tell her I want you to be there for she might look it but she is not as strong as you think"
" I love her Thals and I promise I will never ever hurt her I love her to much"
"Perce it's all right I believe you"
"Thals you are amazing I love you as my best friend of course"
"Love you too P love you too"
End of Nico's eavesdropping
"You love me," Annabeth whispered.
"Yeah Wise Girl I do" to prove it I walked straight up to her and kissed her. However I did notice that Thalia went from her normally straight face to a look of is that jealousy. Thalia jealous? I knew I was over thinking all of this but I couldn't resist I pulled away from Annabeth and told her I was just going to speak to Thalia.
"Hey T are you Ok?"
"Sure P why wouldn't I be"
"Um I don't know, are you okay with me being with Annabeth"
"P I love you no I'm in love with you"
ok so this is my first go at a story on here and this chapter took up sixteen pages so now im a little tired thanks guys please read and review