Author's Note:
I'm so sorry for going MIA for so long! I could give a whole lot of reasons, but truth is, I'm lazy (and a big time procrastinator) and I did struggle a little with how I wanted this chapter to turn out. I didn't really get into it until I was on the 6th page or so at midnight one night and...yeah, you don't need to know that. I'm going to be trying to update every week, but no promises.
Thank you all for the reviews! Remember, if possible, to vote on Jason/Reyna or Jason/Piper if you have the time. The poll is on my page. Jasper seems to be the preferred option at the moment, though since the pairing won't appear for a while, you still have time to vote!
Because all of you (or most of you) are really interested in knowing what's happened to some of your favorite characters, I've included a little surprise for you at the end of this chapter. I won't tell you who it is, you'll have to guess.
He hated quests.
Quests were always three. And with three, there was always the third. And with the third, there was always one left out.
Of course, he was always the one left out. The backup. The engine. The little part that's kinda crucial to success that you never pay attention to.
That's what Leo felt when Annabeth picked him for the quest. He wanted to scream, No, not me! Look at everyone else! They're so much...so much...
Better. Everyone was better. The word was distasteful on Leo's lips, though he suppressed them every day. Those left in the Hephaestus cabin were stronger, better builders. Those in the Athena cabin were better planners, better fighters. Those in the Ares cabin were stronger, sometimes reckless, but they fit. Piper was beautiful, could charmspeak, and confident. Jason was strong, an amazingly talented fighter, and had control over the winds.
What did he have? A fire he was afraid of, because he knew it might run away from him. And the legacy of a broken warship and a destroyed dragon.
Okay, okay, so he was biased. He'd been on one quest. Just one. But he'd always felt...left behind. Jason and Piper. Jason and Piper. Always, always, Jason and Piper. The perfect power couple after Percy and Annabeth.
Quit thinking this way, Leo told himself. Just...just stop. You're fine. You're not great, but it doesn't mean you're...
Inferior? Oh yes, I am. I am inferior to everyone. Can't you tell?
Just shut up! And stop talking to me! Stop...wait. Gah. This...doesn't feel...
"Leo?" Leo blinked as he saw Annabeth peering at him. Her hair was messy and her steely gray eyes seemed to pierce him. "Are you alright?"
She's just asking that out of habit. Like anyone would care if you're alright.
Leo poked his head, then noticed that by doing so, he made himself seem even crazier. Annabeth's eyes narrowed. The feeling made Leo feel extraordinarily uncomfortable, as if he was being surveyed by a machine from the future. "Er...yes, of course," Leo replied.
Annabeth didn't seem satisfied but she nodded anyways. "You stopped. We're still heading towards your...project, right?"
Leo nodded fiercely. "Yes, er, this way."
Ever since Argo II had crashed, Leo had been pushed out of the way. He still cracked jokes. Still was sarcastic. Still was annoying. But it had dimmed. He was just background. Everyone was always rushing around, ignoring him. He was just another one of the kids who rigged traps just inside the magical barrier that the Hecate kids had put up as a defense. Annabeth was too busy, trying to find Percy and keep them alive, and Jason was always going on solo missions against Annabeth's words to find Piper. Leo felt like he wasn't a part of...a part of whatever it was.
As always.
"Shut up," Leo murmured. Annabeth and Jason both looked at him oddly. "Nothing!" Leo said quickly. "Nothing at all. Just, ah, talking to myself."
Annabeth glanced at him suspiciously and Jason's gaze seemed a little worried, but Leo continued walking, avoiding their looks.
Finally, Leo stopped. "We're here." Leo's voice cracked slightly and he cleared his throat. "We're here," he said once more, hoping he sounded just a tad bit more confident.
"I don't see anything," Annabeth murmured as she took a step forwards. "All there is here is a bunch of trees...and grass...and leaves...and..."
"Don't step there!" Leo cried, but Annabeth's foot sank through the ground and disappeared. She shrieked as she went under. Jason gripped his sword in his hand (how he'd gotten to it so quickly, Leo had no idea) and dove towards the place Annabeth had entered.
"Leo!" Jason yelled. "Don't just stand there! It must be a tra..."
"Tarp," a voice corrected. "Stupid tarp."
An arm appeared on the edge and Annabeth hoisted herself up so they could just about see her face. Her blond hair held bits of dust and rock in it, though she looked pretty much the same. "Leo..." she muttered threateningly under her breath.
Leo blinked and took a breath, not knowing before then that he had been holding his breath. "Um...sorry?"
Annabeth shook her head, still a little annoyed, but seemingly too tired to deal with her emotions. "So, care to explain why such a well hidden tarp is located in the middle of the forest about half a mile away from where we're hiding out?"
Leo rubbed his hands nervously. "You see...I had to keep my...er, experiment somewhere, and this was the closest place I could find."
Jason sighed and put his sword away. "At least tell us something before we launch into attack mode. Annabeth, are you ever going to come up?"
"Not until you two start coming down," she said matter-of-factly. "I think I have an idea what Leo's 'experiment' is, and the only way either of you are going to use it is if you come on down."
"So...this is your idea?"
Jason's doubtful tone made Leo feel almost angry. "Got a problem?" he asked defensively. "It's the best thing we've got right now."
The other boy turned, a little surprised. "Whoa, Leo, what's with the attitude?"
Leo resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Like Jason wasn't one of those people who were high and mighty and the perfect hero in all of those books.*
"Nothing," he said instead. Grabbing the edge of the tarp that hadn't been covered, Leo flung it away. Leaves and branches flew off and Annabeth, who was down at the bottom of a large hole revealed by the tarp, shielded herself with her arm.
"Sorry," Leo muttered. He looked at Jason, who still looked wary. "Coming? Or are you going to stand there all day?"
Not waiting for an answer, Leo jumped and slid down the dirt slope, landing next to Annabeth. The daughter of Athena scouted the area.
"Not bad," she murmured, which was probably the most praise that Leo was ever going to get from her. "This just might work. We'll keep off the ground and we won't have to use Jason's wind powers."
Behind them, Jason tumbled down the slope, cursing slightly as he stood up. "So..."
"Pegasuses," Annabeth said. For a moment, her voice seemed to tremble, though later Leo wondered if he had imagined it. "Robotic pegasuses. Not my first option, but definitely the only one we can really rely on at this point." She glanced at Leo. "You sure they work?"
Leo blinked, but he looked into Annabeth's eyes steadily. "Yeah, they do."
Ooh...lying now, aren't we? You haven't even tested this batch.
Shut up! This is our only way!
So you're going to put your entire team in danger for a little success?
...Are you arguing the good side now?
Does it matter?
Leo shook his head. "Anyways, they work pretty well and need minimum oil." He patted the nose of a pure black pegasus that stood stationary. "They'll respond to danger like any other pegasus and have cameras in their eyes that distinguish what to do. They also respond to voice signals. To activate them...just sit on them or hold their reins. They should work."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "Should? But you just said they would."
Leo opened his mouth in an angry retort when Annabeth shoved both of them apart. "What's wrong with you two?" she asked coldly, looking from Jason to Leo. Both of the boys suddenly felt uncomfortable, Leo staring at his shoes and Jason looking at the sky. "Don't you know how important this is? We have to make sure we get this right...or else everything is gone. Pull yourselves together. You two are best friends."
She straightened, an aura of confidence and discipline seemingly radiating from her. "Each of you, get on a pegasus. We don't know if these will work, so Jason, we'll be relying on you as backup, at least to get us safely to the ground if these things crash. Leo, we need you to be there to try to fix these pegasuses if they break down. I'll act as guide. We need to start working together, or we're all going down."
Annabeth grabbed the reins of the pegasus that Leo had patted. Without looking at either of the boys, she stalked past them, mounted her pegasus, and took off into the air.
Jason looked like he wanted to say something, but Leo wasn't in the mood to hear him. Instead, he mounted another pegasus, a creamy palomino, and clucked his tongue twice, taking off after Annabeth.
For some reason, when Leo looked back to see Jason's shocked and somewhat hurt face, he felt good.
The air blew through Jason's hair and gradually, his irritated thoughts faded. The wind felt good against his skin and while the pegasus below him did not whinny or do really much of anything that a normal pegasus would do, it felt comfortable.
Annabeth was staring off into the distance, as she had been ever since they had taken to air. She wore a brooding, yet somewhat wistful look. Jason knew that, without a doubt, she was thinking of Percy.
He did not look at Leo, who rode behind all of them. Jason stared pointedly ahead, refusing to turn his head and look at the person he used to call his best friend. He didn't know what had gone wrong between the two of them, but ever since they'd started running from Gaea, Leo had changed. At times, he was still like the guy Jason had known since he'd woken up on the bus without his memories, but some times, he was...odd. Angry. Bitter. But at the same time, unsure. Unconfident.
Piper would've called them out on it, just like Annabeth had. He wished that she would, that he'd turn around and she'd be riding on a pegasus, her choppy uneven hair blowing in the wind, a somewhat disapproving smirk on her face. But...
He had to snap out of it.
Jason was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice what was happening until suddenly, it felt like his robot pegasus dropped out from underneath him. Not having enough time to react or use his wind powers, he did the only manly thing left to do.
He screamed.
"Holy Zeu—Jason!" Leo yelled as his best friend plummeted. His heart pounded. Had his pegasus malfunctioned? He had a feeling it had, and that he was about to let down the entire team again.
Annabeth spun around, her eyes widening. "Leo, behind you!" she shouted.
Leo instinctively ducked and his hands grasped the reins, not a moment too soon. His pegasus took a nosedive and Leo felt his mouth being forced open. "Not coooooooool!" he screamed, grabbing onto the pegasus' neck, fearing for his life.
Leo was sure he was going to die—whether by plummeting to the ground or falling off from fear, he didn't know. But the pegasus' nosedive ended just as abruptly as it had started. Cold sweat trickled down the back of Leo's neck. He put one hand to his chest. "Gods," he murmured, his eyes half closed, "I think I nearly died."
"Yeah, you did." Leo's eyes snapped open to see Jason looking at him. He didn't look well either, and Leo could tell he was still recovering from the nosedive. The look in his eyes seemed uncertain, as if he wasn't sure what to say, or to feel.
"Your pegasuses seem to be good at reacting from what they perceive as danger," Jason murmured. "Unfortunately, they decided that we needed to drop halfway to the ground to get out of it."
"Not always a bad idea," Leo muttered. "At least we're out of range of most things." He glanced around. "Where's Annabeth?"
"She..." Both of the boys looked up.
"Oh Styx."
Annabeth swung around as she heard Jason scream. She didn't have time to look before something, a dark shape that Annabeth couldn't quite make out, swooped behind Leo.
"Leo, behind you!" she yelled. She watched as the boy dove for the reins and plunged into a nosedive.
She stiffened as she faced what must've been one of the largest animal-like monsters she had ever faced. It was even larger than a hellhound. It's bronze wings spread out like an eagle and an ugly cry erupted from its mouth. It was a mix of an eagle and a horse, with its wings and mouth being an eagle and the rest of its body a dark ebony horse—a hippogriff.
"Gods," Annabeth murmured. She gripped the reins.
Emergency response, the pegasus beneath her seemed to say.
"Terminate," Annabeth said aloud. She blinked. The pegasus was silent and did not plunge as Jason and Leo had. Annabeth didn't know what had happened to them and she wasn't sure if she wanted to find out. Luckily, the pegasus appeared to operate by standard rules of thumb and awaited her orders.
"Attack mode," Annabeth grimaced. She had never fought in the air before, and for some reason, Annabeth didn't imagine that the creature would appreciate landing much.
The hippogriff swung a claw at Annabeth and she dodged, whipping her dagger out and driving it into the hippogriff's shoulder. The hippogriff shook her angrily and before Annabeth knew it, she was dangling from her knife, thousands of feet into the air. Frozen in fear, Annabeth couldn't even scream for help.
Instinct kicked in and her ADHD began to take effect. Annabeth scrambled onto the back of the hippogriff. She gripped the shiny feathers and kicked the eagle-horse.
The hippogriff reared and Annabeth thrust her knife into its back to keep herself from falling. A horrifying thought struck her. What if she defeated the monster and fell? There was no one to catch her and nowhere to fall to.
A yell came from below her, though Annabeth couldn't seem to react to it. For some reason, her brain had turned completely to jello and her reaction had slowed. She had no idea what had happened to her pegasus, but it wasn't real and...there was no chance of it saving her.
"Percy."
The one word seemed like the only thing that she could think of. "Gods, Percy..." she muttered. Despite everything that was happening around her, a tear trickled down her cheek. Annabeth was terrified. She couldn't do this. Through everything, absolutely everything she had done since he had walked into camp, it had always been the two of them. Side by side. Retrieving the bolt, saving Grover, maneuvering the Labyrinth, toppling Kronos...he had always been there. There for her to lean on. It was like the wall she had depended on for these years had just crumbled.
Where was he when she needed him?
Too late, Annabeth realized she was falling, and falling, and falling. Her mouth was open, but not in a scream. She watched as the blue sky seemed to grow farther and farther, before finally closing her eyes.
Percy.
"Hey. Annabeth. Wake up."
Annabeth jolted awake. For a moment, she felt she was still falling and flinched. A cool towel was on her forehead and two faces peered into hers, looking anxious. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light. They were in a forest of some sort and leaves crunched as Annabeth moved jerkily to shield her eyes.
Leo wiped his forehead. "Gods, Annabeth, don't do that to us again." He gave a weak smile to Annabeth as he said that, but his hands were clammy and he looked relieved.
The same expression was on Jason's face. "We thought we lost you," the son of Zeus murmured. He looked a little awkward. "You might've twisted your wrist during the fall somehow, but you're lucky that's all it was. That creature..." He trailed off, looking awkward and staring to the side.
Twisted her wrist...that wasn't that bad, compared to being stabbed and holding up the sky. Annabeth winced at the soreness in her wrist, rubbing it gently as she sat up.
"Mind filling me in?" she grunted. Out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth noticed that there were only two pegasuses, Jason's and Leo's. Her heart sank slightly. Despite herself, she had gotten somewhat attached to her robotic pegasus and was disappointed to see that it had not made it back.
Leo rubbed his hands. "Well, um..." he hesitated, then rubbed his head. "You know what, Jason, do you want to explain?"
Jason shook his head. "You can do it. I'm gonna go get some more firewood." He stood up without another word and walked off.
Annabeth raised an eyebrow. The two were acting odd...as if something bad had happened. Now that she dwelled on it, she did feel something was off. The problem was, she couldn't pinpoint it.
Leo cleared his throat. "Well, um, the basics are that Jason and I...our horses launched into emergency response mode and took us maybe two hundred or three hundred feet below you. I dunno what creature we were fighting, but you started attacking it and started to ride on it. Your pegasus seemed unsure of what to do, I might not have programmed that into it, so it flew off and probably landed somewhere, though where I'm not sure of. And, um, well, you kinda seemed to freeze on the hippogriff for a moment just as Jason and I were making our way up. He kinda yelled at you though you might not have heard thanks to the wind.
"You started falling and Jason manipulated the winds to catch you as you came down. We landed here about an hour ago and...yeah."
Annabeth could tell there was something he wasn't telling her. She pursed her lips and stood, brushing a few leaves off of herself. "Alright," she said, her voice still tinted with disbelief. "Are you sure that's the whole story?"
Leo nodded eagerly, though his eyes darted back and forth slightly. Luckily for him, Jason chose this moment to come back with a load of firewood. There was a small fireplace that the two must've set up while Annabeth was unconscious. Small stones lined it and Jason placed the sticks in an orderly fashion while Leo and Annabeth watched.
The blonde looked at Leo. "Would you mind?" The son of Hephaestus shook his head and with a snap, lit the fire. The warmth thrust Jason back a little, but Leo remained where he was.
Annabeth took a deep breath, staying back and not joining the boys. Now that she had recovered from her initial shock and gratitude, she had to admit that she was...embarrassed. For so long, she had been a leader. To freeze up and fall like that, not to mention go unconscious...it was a bit of a wake up call.
Something was missing. Annabeth looked around uneasily. It was like piece of a puzzle was gone. A crucial piece. Instinctively, her hand moved towards her sleeve.
Her eyes widened. It wasn't there. She whipped around and ran towards the fire where Leo and Jason were sitting, warming themselves up quietly.
"Where's my dagger?" In the fire, her eyes must've looked almost insane. Annabeth faced Leo, who seemed to shrink slightly. "Did you see it? I don't think I lost grip of it, but it's not here and neither of you seem to have it."
Jason seemed nervous. "Um, well, Annabeth, you see..." he began to explain. He shifted from foot to foot. "We couldn't find it."
The words felt like a hollow pang in Annabeth's chest. She had never been weaponless. Even when she first set off into the world alone, she had always had something to protect her. Now, without her dagger, Annabeth felt vulnerable.
"Are you sure?" she asked.
Jason looked away. "I mean, it's probably in the forest somewhere. That's probably how you twisted your wrist. You held onto it while you were falling and it fell out of your hand somewhere. But we don't have time to search for it." He looked at Annabeth, his blue eyes serious. "You know, right?"
Annabeth swallowed. That knife was the last piece of Luke that Annabeth still had and she had clung onto it fiercely ever since he gave it to her and even more so recently. She felt like breaking down again, her emotions welling up, breaking through the walls she had put up to keep them from overflowing. "Yeah," she muttered. "I know."
Later that night, when Leo and Jason were snoring away, Annabeth was a little aways from the two, thinking. She'd lost so much so quickly. It felt like all the walls were crumbling, the ones she'd built to protect herself, the ones that she relied on to keep from falling. They were all turning to dust.
Quietly, Annabeth snuck over next to Leo. A faded tool belt sat next to him as he snored loudly. Annabeth reached in quietly. "Swiss army knife," she murmured, praying it would work.
A few minutes later, Annabeth had a knife and several long sticks in her hand, as well as a few smoother, flatter ones. She began to work the knife, clumsily at first, though she got quicker and sharper as the night bore on. No matter what happened, Annabeth would not be a burden, not to Leo, not to Jason, and certainly not to Percy. He'd saved her before. This time it was her turn to save the stupid Seaweed Brain.
Around midnight, Annabeth remembered that it was Leo's shift. She glance at the boy, then decided not to wake him up. He needed rest. It had been a stressful day for him as well. Instead, she continued to work steadily at her project, ignoring the yawns and thoughts of sleep that plagued her.
By the time it was dawn, Annabeth could barely keep her eyes open. She stumbled over to Jason and Leo, kicked them with her boot, muttered the word, "Shift," and collapsed. She was asleep before either of the boys had realized what she meant.
Footsteps pounding.
Her head hurt.
Screams. Footsteps pounding.
Her headache was getting worse by the second. Gods.
Blood. Screams. Footsteps pounding.
Faces flashed before her, but they faded before she could remember who they were.
Suddenly, she woke up. Her body was partially covered with leaves and her hand went up to her head. Her hallucination had been bad. But not as bad as it had before.
She brushed her dark hair away from her face. Where was she again? Yes, heading east. That was the only way she would have a chance of finding everyone again.
She picked up her weapons carefully and examined them for any signs of wear. It wouldn't do for them to weaken, especially now. Her senses were heightened more than ever, thanks to training and her natural ADHD. She drank a little water from a nearby spring, ate a few berries from a nearby bush, and began to walk.
An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. Something was wrong. Something bad was about to happen. Her footsteps quickened.
She had to find a way to stop it.
*Notes
I've been messing around with the Big Damn Hero trope recently, which you should check out at tvtropes .org. Just make sure you don't spend too long on the website. It's really, really easy to.
Author's Note:
So, who is this mysterious demigod near the end? I assure you, she is canonical, though it is your decision on who she could be.
So, if you bother to read this footnote, I'm going to be making two new Percy Jackson fanfics. One is Forever Young, which you'll hopefully see around sometime soon. The other one is an alternate ending of Darkness Comes Before the Dawn, meaning you won't be reading it soon. Apologies for that.
Oh! And assuming I finish writing Darkness Comes Before the Dawn, there will be a sequel.