Chapter 4
Questions Unanswered
(A/N: Apologies for the hiatus! College classes are a bit of a beast for the first few days. Due dates every single day. Plus, I had a lot of other stuff going on. Hope this long chap makes up for it.)
When Thalia found the Doctor again, he was firing arrows at one of the archery targets. She raised an eyebrow at him as she walked over. "Archery, huh? Never took you as the kind of person that did that."
He shrugged, let loose another arrow. "I loathe weapons, and I'd never use this on another person. So, yes, it is a bit odd. But there's something about trying to hit a target...it helps me focus. Makes my brain slow down a bit," he said, chuckling. Then he set down the bow and arrows and focused on her.
"So...clearly, a lot has happened since the last time I was here- and since I last saw you." Thalia nodded in agreement. "Yep. And, well, after all the things you and I went through when I was on the run with Luke and Annabeth, I think you deserve to know everything."
She told him the full story- their journey to Camp Half-Blood, getting turned into a pine tree. What she heard about Percy's arrival and his being claimed as a son of Poseidon. How he retrieved Zeus' stolen master bolt and, a year later, found the Golden Fleece and healed the tree that had been poisoned, returning her to her body in the process.
And, of course, Luke. She had to tell him that he was behind the theft of Zeus' bolt, as he tried to start a war among the gods. She told him he was the one who poisoned her in tree form, as he knew a hero would go after the Golden Fleece- he had wanted to find it so that he could restore the Titan he was taking orders from. Kronos.
When she spoke the Titan Lord's name, the Doctor suddenly grew very pale. He stayed that way until she was done telling him the story. Then he nodded numbly to show that he understood everything and excused himself.
Thalia was left standing in front of the archery range, drained and dazed. Without knowing why she walked over to the target he had previously been firing arrows at. She ran her fingers over the protruding arrows, smirking when she took note of where they had landed.
Perfect bulls-eyes. If he was a girl, and younger, the Hunters would want him in their ranks.
After Percy ended the message to his brother Tyson, he was alone again in his cabin, feeling lonelier than before. He let out a heavy sigh.
A moment later, though, there was a knock at his door, and he yelped, startled. Then came the voice- polite and apologetic.
"Percy! Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. It's, ah...it's me! The Doctor. Mind if I come in for a minute?"
Percy ran over to the door and opened it. "Uh...hi. You can come in, that's fine," he said awkwardly, backing away from the cabin door and opening it enough for him to enter. The Doctor gave him a friendly smile and stepped inside.
Once Percy had clicked the door shut behind them, the Doctor broke the silence. "I just wanted to apologize again," he said, sighing. "About Annabeth. Well, that, and...I talked to Thalia." He looked at the ground. "She told me about all of it. Well, what she knew, anyway. About Luke, in particular. What he did."
Percy's eyes widened. "So you did know Luke?"
The Doctor nodded. "Yep. I met Annabeth first, though. She was just seven years old when she took off on her own." He looked back up at Percy, a fond smile on his face. "She was one of the smartest people I ever met. I knew she was a half-blood because she told me, and while she did tell me who her mother was, I figured it out beforehand. She's...also the reason I'm indebted to the goddess Artemis."
Percy raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that Artemis saved the life of the girl I considered myself responsible for," the Doctor replied, his expression serious. "When I first met her, she was being chased by a monster. I got her to safety, and she was first found by Thalia and Luke when I was still with her. If it hadn't been for the fact that Annabeth wanted to stay with them so badly, I'd have looked after her myself. Even so, I..." he paused, sighing. "I kept track of them. I visited them, made sure they had whatever they needed. It was on one of these visits, when I was with Annabeth, that we would have been killed by a monster had Artemis and her Hunters not intervened and saved us."
"Oh," was all Percy could think to say. "That's how you know Artemis."
Much to Percy's surprise, the Doctor shook his head. "No, no. I met her long before that. I helped her with something a very long time ago, so now she considers me a sort of...ally, I suppose. Even though she doesn't really like me all that much." He sighed, put his hands in his pockets. "I'm telling you all this for a reason, Percy. Annabeth...she's almost like a daughter to me. And I promise you I'll stop at nothing to find her and bring her home safely. I just thought that you should know that."
Percy nodded in understanding. "All right. Um...thanks," he said, a small smile appearing on his face. "That...that helps." He paused for a brief moment. "How long are you staying here?"
"Long enough to get more information," he replied. "The more I know about what took Annabeth, the better. I should talk to the Hunters."
"Well, you won't get to tonight," Percy said, smirking. "Everyone will be preoccupied."
The Doctor nodded and let out a resigned sigh. "Yeah, I know. I'll just find something to do. And if anyone needs me, tell them I'll either be in the Big House or at the archery range."
Despite the promise the Doctor had made to him, Percy was fairly miserable at dinner that night. He was alone at his table- much like Thalia. Due to camp rules, they couldn't sit together.
The only group of people that even seemed to be having a good time were the Hunters. They ate and drank and laughed like a carefree family. Zoe was seated at the head of the table as if she was their mother. She didn't laugh as much as the others, but she did smile from time to time.
She looks nicer when she smiles, Percy mused.
Bianca looked as if she was having the time of her life- she laughed as loudly as the rest of them. Percy watched as she tried to learn how to arm wrestle from a big girl who'd picked a fight with an Ares kid on the basketball court. The bigger girl beat her every time, but Bianca didn't seem to mind.
When they had all finished eating, Chiron made the customary toast to the gods and formally welcomed the Hunters of Artemis. The clapping was fairly halfhearted. Then he announced the "goodwill" capture-the-flag game for tomorrow night, which got a much better reception. Every few minutes, Percy looked around for any sign of the Doctor, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Afterward, everyone trailed back to their cabins for early lights out. Percy was exhausted, which meant he fell asleep easily. That was the good part.
The not-so-good part: He had a terrible nightmare- even by his standards.
Annabeth was on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. To him, it almost seemed like the Underworld, because he immediately felt claustrophobic and couldn't see the sky above- just a close, heavy darkness, as if he were in a cave.
Annabeth struggled up the hill. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted a huge building to ruins.
"Thorn!" Annabeth cried. "Where are you? Why did you bring me here?" She scrambled over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill.
She gasped.
There was Luke. And he was in pain.
He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around him, fog swirling hungrily. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat,
"Annabeth!" he called. "Help me! Please!"
She ran forward.
Percy tried to cry out, He's a traitor! Don't trust him! But his voice wouldn't work in the dream.
Annabeth had tears in her eyes. She reached down, as if she intended to touch Luke's face, hesitated at the last moment.
"What happened?" she asked.
"They left me here," Luke groaned. "Please. It's killing me."
Percy had no idea what was wrong with him- he wasn't wounded. The only thing he could see was that he seemed to be struggling against an invisible force or curse. Almost as if the fog was suffocating him.
"Why should I trust you?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was filled with hurt.
"You shouldn't," Luke said. "I've been terrible to you. But if you don't help me, I'll die."
Let him die, Percy wanted to scream. Luke had tried to kill them both in cold blood too many times. He didn't deserve anything from Annabeth.
Then the darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held onto it somehow- tons of rock. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke just with her own strength. That's impossible, Percy thought. She shouldn't be able to do that.
Luke rolled free, gasping. "Thanks," he managed.
"Help me hold it," Annabeth groaned.
Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily.
"I knew I could count on you." He began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush Annabeth.
"HELP ME!" she pleaded.
"Oh, don't worry," Luke said, chuckling. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the meantime, try not to die."
The ceiling of darkness began to crumble again, pushing Annabeth against the ground.
The next thing Percy knew, he was sitting bolt upright in bed, clawing at the sheets. There was no sound in his cabin except the gurgle of the saltwater spring. The clock on the nightstand read just after midnight.
It had only been a dream, but he was sure of two things: Annabeth was in terrible danger. And Luke was responsible.
After breakfast the next morning, he told Grover about his dream while they were seated in the meadow watching the satyrs chase the wood nymphs through the snow. The nymphs had promised to kiss the satyrs if they got caught, but they hardly ever did. Usually, the nymph would let the satyr get up a full head of steam, then she'd turn into a snow-covered tree and the satyr would slam into it headfirst and get a pile of snow dumped on him.
When Percy was done telling the story of his nightmare, Grover started twirling his finger in his shaggy leg fur.
"A cave ceiling collapsed on her?" he asked.
Percy nodded. "Yeah. What the heck does that mean?"
Grover shook his head. "I don't know. But after what Zoe dreamed-"
Percy cut him off midsentence, exclaiming, "Wait, what do you mean...Zoe had a dream like that?"
Grover sighed. "I… I don't know, exactly. About three in the morning she came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron. She looked really panicked."
That was when Percy raised an eyebrow and tilted his head. "Wait, how do you know this?"
Grover blushed. "I was sort of camped outside the Artemis cabin."
"What for?"
"Just to be, you know, near them," he said, still looking embarrassed. Percy, in turn, scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"You're a stalker with hooves."
"I am not!" Grover shot back, an offended look on his face. "Anyway, I followed her to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing. She got real upset when Argus wouldn't let her in. It was kind of a dangerous scene."
Percy tried to imagine that. Argus was the head of security for camp- a large, muscular blond man with eyes all over his body. He rarely showed himself unless something serious was going on. A fight between him and Zoe Nightshade was definitely something he wouldn't want to see.
"Well, what did she say?" he asked.
Grover grimaced. "Well, she starts talking really old-fashioned when she gets upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. But something about Artemis being in trouble and needing the Hunters. And then she called Argus a boil-brained lout… I think that's a bad thing. And then he called her-"
Percy cut him off. "-Whoa, wait. How could Artemis be in trouble?"
"I… well, finally Chiron came out in his pajamas and his horse tail in curlers and-"
"He wears curlers in his tail?"
Grover covered his mouth.
"Sorry," Percy said. "Go on."
"Well, Zoe said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. Chiron refused. He reminded Zoe that the Hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from Artemis. And she said…" Grover gulped. "She said 'How are we to get orders from Artemis if Artemis is lost?'"
"What do you mean lost? Like she needs directions?" Percy asked impatiently.
"No. I think she meant gone. Taken. Kidnapped."
"Kidnapped?" he repeated, incredulous. "How would you kidnap an immortal goddess? Is that even possible?"
Grover nodded slowly. "Well, yeah. I mean, it happened to Persephone."
Percy sighed in frustration. "Yeah, but, she was like, the goddess of flowers." Grover looked offended at that statement. "Springtime," he corrected, and Percy rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, whatever. But my point is, Artemis is a lot more powerful than that. Who could kidnap her? And why?"
Grover shook his head miserably. "I don't know. Kronos?"
But he can't be that powerful already," Percy reasoned. Then, in a lower, more worried voice, he asked, "Can he?"
In Percy's mind, it was unlikely- the last time he and Grover had seen Kronos- well, the last time they'd seen Luke claiming he was pulling the Titan out of Tartarus bit by bit- he'd been in tiny pieces. He knew Kronos could influence people in their dreams and trick them but didn't see how he could physically overcome Artemis if he was still pretty much a pile of...evil bark mulch.
"I don't know," Grover said, breaking Percy from his thoughts. "I think somebody would know if Kronos had re-formed. The gods would be more nervous, that's for sure. But still, it's weird, you having a nightmare the same night as Zoe. It's almost like-"
"-They're connected," Percy finished for him.
He thought about Zoe's nightmare, which she'd had only a few hours after his.
"I've got to talk to Zoe," he said firmly.
Grover nodded, but then spoke up. "Um...before you do..." Suddenly he looked very sheepish. "I think they may have been scouting us. I found something in Annabeth's backpack, and..." He paused, sighing. "Well, it seems to me that maybe Annabeth had been thinking about joining them."
Needless to say, Percy didn't handle that news very well. While he did his best to stay calm, he fought very hard to keep his urge to strangle the Hunters one at a time in check.
He tried to keep busy but was driven distracted due to being worried sick about Annabeth. He needed some sort of help or advice. He knew Chiron was probably the best person to talk to, but something held Percy back. He had a nagging feeling Chiron would try to protect him, the way he always did. He might not tell Percy everything he knew.
And then he remembered- no one would be in the Big House. There was someone else...or rather, something else he could ask for guidance.
When he reached the front door to the Big House, he found that there was the sound of chaos coming from the right side. Loud thuds and even louder voices- well, one loud voice, anyway. The other voice was quieter but firm- they seemed to be trying to calm the yelling person.
Percy peeked around the corner and saw the Doctor and Thalia. He knew it was them from their voices, but what surprised him was what he saw happening.
The Doctor appeared to be kicking the side wall of the house in frustration. "I knew it! I bloody knew this was going to happen! And no one's doing anything! I would, but I have no idea where Artemis might be!"
"Doctor, listen, you have to calm down," Thalia said, laying one hand on his arm. "Relax." He inhaled deeply and grew quiet, while Thalia smiled.
"There. Now, stop beating up on the Big House and try to think of a plan. Remember, you're good at making plans."
"A plan," he repeated, looking over at her. Then he smiled. "Make a plan. Right, I can do that."
Thalia chuckled. "Come on, pretty boy. Let's go inside." She grabbed his hand and started to lead him in the direction where Percy was standing. The Doctor, in turn, chuckled and said, "You know, the 'pretty boy' nickname is getting a bit old. Maybe think of something else?"
Thalia's eyes darted up and down like she was studying him for a moment, then she shook her head. "Nah," she replied, smirking.
He laughed at that, then kept walking.
Before Percy could turn around and avoid their line of sight, Thalia called out, "I see you over there, Jackson."
He slowly turned around, sure there was a sheepish look on his face. "Hi, Thalia. Doctor."
The Doctor let out a quiet laugh. "What brings you over here?"
"Um..." Percy said nothing, trying to think up a good lie. He didn't necessarily want them knowing what he was up to.
Thalia let out a huff. "Well, if you're gonna just stand there all day, I'd better go in." She turned to the left, then stormed up the steps to the Big House, slamming the door behind her. Percy winced at the loud sound.
The Doctor gave him an easy half-smile. "Fine, don't tell me. I can figure it out easily enough. Oh, and, ah...be careful with that Oracle, would you?" He winked, then headed towards the Big House's front door himself. Percy tilted his head in confusion, then shrugged and followed him.
His blood was humming in his ears as Percy ran into the house and up the stairs. He'd only done this once before, and still had nightmares about it. He opened the trap door and stepped into the attic.
The room was dark and dusty and cluttered with junk, just like Percy remembered. There were shields with monster teeth marks in them, swords bent in the shapes of daemon heads, and a bunch of taxidermied creatures, like a stuffed harpy and a bright orange python.
Over by the window, sitting on a three-legged stool, was the shriveled-up mummy of an old lady in a tie-dyed dress. The Oracle. Percy gulped at the sight of her, his heart picking up its pace.
He made himself walk toward her. Percy waited for green mist to billow from the mummy's mouth like it had before, but nothing happened.
"Hi," he said awkwardly. "Uh, what's up?" He asked, then winced at how stupid that sounded. There could never be a good answer to that question when it was asked to someone who was dead and stuck in an attic. But even so, Percy knew the spirit of the Oracle was in there somewhere. He could feel a cold presence in the room, like a coiled sleeping snake.
"I have a question," he said, a little louder. "I need to know about Annabeth. How can I save her?"
There was no answer. The sun slanted through the dirty attic window, lighting the dust motes dancing in the air.
He waited longer.
Then Percy began to grow angry- he was being given the silent treatment by a corpse.
"All right," he snapped. "Fine. I'll figure it out myself."
Percy turned and bumped into a big table full of souvenirs. It seemed more cluttered than the last time he was there. Heroes stored all kinds of stuff in the attic: quest trophies they no longer wanted to keep in their cabins or stuff that held painful memories. He knew Luke had stored a dragon claw somewhere up there- the one that had scarred his face.
There was a broken sword hilt labeled: This broke and Leroy got killed. 1999.
Then Percy noticed a pink silk scarf with a label attached to it. Picking up the tag, he tried to read it.
SCARF OF THE GODDESS APHRODITE
RECOVERED AT WATERLAND, DENVER, CO.,
BY ANNABETH CHASE AND PERCY JACKSON
Percy stared, dumbstruck, at the scarf. He'd completely forgotten about it. Two years ago, when he found it at an abandoned water park, Annabeth had ripped it from his grasp and said something along the lines of, Oh, no. No love magic for you!
He'd always assumed she'd simply thrown it out. And yet...there it was. She'd kept it all this time? And why had she stashed it in the attic?
Percy glanced over at the mummy that held the Oracle. She hadn't moved, but the shadows across her face made it look like she was smiling gruesomely.
He dropped the scarf and tried not to run toward the exit.
(A/N: I said before that I'd be squeezing 3 books into one fic. Well, that's changing. I'm turning this into a sort of trilogy: One fic rewriting The Titan's Curse, the next one rewriting Battle of the Labyrinth, and the third one rewriting The Last Olympian. I don't wanna spoil it for you, but I still think it's necessary to say that there will be plenty of mentions of Rose- and possibly a cameo or two- in this fic, but she won't truly return till Battle of the Labyrinth. Sorry if that disappoints anyone, but it gives plenty of opportunity for angst. [Should I apologize for that too?])
