Authors Notes

Heya Guys! So here it is, the long awaited (seriously, it's been so long since I updated I've completely lost track of time), greatly anticipate follow up to chapter 3. That's right, fanboys and fangirls: CHAPTER 4 IS UP! ("Yeeaah!" "Wahoo!" "Right on girl!")

I'm so sorry for the long wait for this chapter, but things haven't been easy for me lately and I've had really bad writers block on top of a fair few other issues. A lot of the information in this chapter was reviewed, re-thought and re-written so many times, and the editing process took ages! But, seriously, thank you. Thank you so much for staying loyal to me and 'Saving Annabeth', you have no clue how happy it makes me when I receive an email saying I have new story favourites and followers or reviews! It makes me smile like a lunatic!

Speaking of reviews, I would like to apologise now for lack of personal response to any you have left. As aforementioned, I've been struggling with a lot recently so my main priority was getting this chapter finished, edited and published. I just want you all to know that your reviews are all read and taken into account.

Also, I would just like to give a happy, little shout out to author: ilovepjoandhooforever for helping me pull my ideas together for this chapter. Seriously, without your help, ideas, encouragement and reassurance, this chapter would still be in the 'In Progress' file on my laptop (I have a thing about organising my writing). Love you long time, Wise Guy! X

Now that all that is said and done, there's only one thing left to say: Loyal followers, please, put your cup of tea down for a brief moment to put your hands together for the next instalment of 'Saving Annabeth'! Chapter 4 is go!

Hattie x

The tension in the council room was so thick you couldn't even cut it with a knife. All of the head councillors were crammed in around the long, mahogany table and yet none said a word; scared to breathe too loudly or say the wrong thing for fear of any sudden explosions from the nearby toilets. Everybody watched in stunned silence as the head of cabin three paced the room and delivered the most passive aggressive rant (or 'pep talk' as Percy liked to call it) as he waved his arms about him theatrically, nearly taking out a few heads in the process. Many of the head councillors, particularly the newer ones, believed that technically, as Percy had left his residence at Camp Half Blood, he had no right to call himself 'head councillor' of anything. This idea was voiced only once by the new head of the Ares cabin before being shot down spectacularly by Percy himself. Those who heard of this magnificent event would tell you that the sass unleashed was like a hurricane destroying the East Coast of America. Those who were actually present will tell you that Percy literally turned to face the culprit, his face completely serious, and threw him into the canoe lake. How? He's the son of Poseidon; how do you think?

"How? How; is it even possible to lose an inanimate object that literally spends its idle time hanging from a tree branch?! Especially when it's being guarded by a gigantic dragon?!" Percy raged, the tone of disbelieve extremely prominent in his voice, which was steadily increasing in volume as he spoke. A few of the demigods, nervous under his piercing stare, coughed and shrugged, suddenly finding a rather intense interest in their clothing. The final straw for the son of Poseidon was when the head councillor of the Demeter cabin spoke up, providing him a reasonably plausible explanation, that naturally, Percy took entirely the wrong way.

"Technically, Peleus wasn't actually guarding the fleece at the time it would have been stolen, as he was kicking some serious monster ass in battle in order to protect his home, in order to protect Camp, so…?" He trailed off as the muscles in Percy's shoulders visibly tensed, causing the poor kid to shrink back in fear, remembering what had happened to the Ares chief at the very beginning of the meeting and instantly regretting the patronising tone he had used. Everyone held their breaths for a good half a minute, watching anxiously as Percy, clenched and unclenched his fists.

"YOU GINORMOUS SCRUBS!" Percy exploded suddenly, making everyone jump in surprise by whirling round and slamming his hands down on the mahogany table top, "WHO DOES THAT?! AND YES I AM AWARE THAT 'GINORMOUS' IS NOT ACTUALLY A WORD!" The head of the Athena cabin quickly shut her mouth and let the hand she had been holding up fall back into her lap dejectedly. Percy's eyes suddenly became dull, as if he were lost, and though they had previously been void of all personal emotion, his shining, sea-green orbs flooded with sadness. Staring at the grooves in the wooden surface, he whispered, "Annabeth points that out to me every time."

It went very quiet for a couple of minutes; without Percy's constant ranting, the silence in the room was now completely deafening. All eyes were cautiously lingering on the crumbling demigod, almost every one of them unsure on how to respond to such an abrupt outburst. It was only when they saw the shimmering hint of tears fall onto the table top, like the beginning drops of rain on the ground, did anyone truly react. The younger head councillors who didn't know Percy on such a personal level as their predecessors, shuffled uncomfortably amongst themselves, slightly shocked to see the strong, heroic son of Poseidon, of whom they had seen in action on the battlefield from a distance, falling apart before their very eyes. Those who had known Percy longest, and knew him as though he were a brother -Grover, Piper and Leo- knew that this was the call for help that Percy had been unable to give beforehand. His anger had had such a strong grasp over his emotions that he couldn't see any other way to express his desperation other than blame everyone else. In reality, they knew that he was so torn up with guilt inside, that if he didn't at least share the reins on this one, he was going to tumble into a never ending pit of despair and hysteria.

"Percy, it's okay, it's all going to be okay." The soothing tones of Piper McLean filled the brittle air, enveloping everyone in a sense of calm and reassurance. She stood from her assigned seat at the table and glided over to Percy, whose arms were now shaking violently from gripping the edges of the table so hard. "Nobody is blaming you for what happened to Annabeth, it wasn't your fault, okay?" She soothed, slipping a sisterly arm around his shoulders, giving him the support he needed, allowing him to collapse into her. Stroking his hair like she had seen Sally do the time when she and Jason visited them during one of Percy's stronger PTSD triggered panic attacks, just before he and Annabeth had moved in together. They all suffered them, but of all of the Seven, Percy suffered the most, having stronger and more frequent attacks than any of them.

Glancing around the room, she could see the obvious discomfort of some of the councillors and decided that it was best to postpone the meeting until tomorrow. Still reassuring Percy, she locked eyes with Leo and the two had a brief, silent conversation of facial expressions. Suddenly Leo rose from his chair, clapping his hands together loudly, instantly gathering the attention of all in the room.

"Alright you guys, I think it's time we draw this thing to a temporary close!" He shouted, and a huge sigh of relief swept through the room, like an eagle's wing beat during take off. Taking on the role of what can only be assumed as an air hostess, in an obvious attempt to break the tension in the room, Leo swung his arm in an exaggerated circle and pointed to the door, "If you would all like to make your way towards the only exit located in this room, or if you're really desperate to leave you can use the window, that would be greatly appreciated. This meeting will be postponed until tomorrow morning when my good friend, Percy here, has decided to stop being angry at everyone and everything that breathes. Thank you! I hope you enjoyed your stay, although I sincerely doubt it. Please come again! Thank you! Yes, on your way now!" Piper chuckled and shook her head lightly at her friend's antics, but internally praised his efforts as soon the place was empty apart from herself, Percy, Leo and Grover.

"That was only, you know, slightly awkward, wasn't it?" Grover bleated, stepping forward and slumping down into one of the high backed chairs next to Piper, who had managed to coax Percy into sitting down, rather than continuously pacing about.

"And the Captain Obvious award, ladies and gentlemen, goes to: Grover Underwood." Leo announced, dramatically flopping into the seat opposite the satyr, winking and flashing him a cheeky grin to show he was teasing. Grover responded by raising an eyebrow that said 'Wow. Seriously?' before brushing him off and turning towards his oldest friend.

"Percy? Man, come on! This isn't you. The Percy I know would have to be physically restrained to stop him from ripping down the gates of Olympus with his bare hands! The Percy I know would want to personally punish the Gods for letting this happen to Annabeth." He stressed, leaning towards his friend, his face a mixture of concern, desperation and the general sheepish look all satyrs had about them. When they we younger, Percy took great joy in this characteristic, teasing Grover about it relentlessly.

Percy, who had been gently bumping and rocking his forehead from side to side on the table, looked up slowly. He looked so tired and run down, like some of the liveliness had been sucked out of him. He raised a sceptical eyebrow at Grover before groaning pathetically and slamming his head back down with a disturbingly loud thud.

"I know. I'm so pitiful and useless." He mumbled into the hard surface, bringing his hands up from his lap to press into his temples.

"I'm not surprised to be honest. What with how many times you've purposefully smacked your head on the desk. Seriously bro, what did the table ever do to you?" Leo tutted in mock disapproval, shaking his head for added dramatic flair. Once again, Percy lifted his head up slowly, looking pointedly at the son of Hephaestus and, in a deadly serious tone, said,

"Valdez, dude, not helping." Leo laughed and rocked back so his chair was only resting on two legs.

"You appreciate me really, Jackson." He quipped, winking playfully. Percy sighed and pushed himself up so he was sitting straight, ruffling his hair and dragging his hands down his face, muttering,

"Whatever, Firecracker."

"Lo and behold! The offensive nicknames have returned!" Leo expressed jokingly, throwing his arms over his head happily. He had, however, overlooked a slightly major detail in this idea, as the moment he released his hold on the table, he and his chair wobbled precariously before toppling over backwards with a resounding crack. "Holy Hera!"

Unable to not laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation, Piper snorted very loudly into her hand, in turn setting of Grover, and miraculously, Percy until they were all in hysterics.

"That's what you get for trying to be funny, Flame Boy!" Piper snickered, as the immature demigod reappeared, nursing the back of his head carefully.

"Hey, that hurts!" He protested to his giggling friends, "Physically and emotionally." Up righting his seat once again, he sat down, this time keeping all four legs firmly on the floor. When Piper, Grover and Percy still wouldn't stop laughing, no matter how many times Leo glared at them or threatened to set their hair on fire, he let out a defeated sigh. "Well, at least nobody's moping around feeling sorry for themselves anymore." He admitted.

And it was true. Percy could feel it in himself; he had a new found energy coursing through his veins, he felt lighter, happier. He tried to put his finger on exactly how he felt, but the only word that came to mind was 'relieved'. Relieved that his friends were there for him, to help him. Not only that, but they were there for Annabeth and to help her too.

"You got that one right, Valdez." Percy breathed, pulling the scrawny boy to his side in a tight, one-armed hug. Soon he pulled Grover and Piper into the embrace, forcing Leo into the centre and, accidently of course, creating a 'Leo sandwich'.

"Thanks Guys." Came the squished demigod's muffled voice, "Now, as much as I'm loving this do you think you could maybe let go? I'm kind of being crushed here by your ridiculously muscular bodies. I mean come on! How come you guys got all the brawny and I got all the scrawny?" The group disbanded laughing once again, releasing their smiling friend from their grasp.

"Luck of the draw, my dear step-brother." Piper chirped cheerily, capturing Leo in a headlock and giving him an affectionate knuckle sandwich.

"Oh yeah, that's right, bully the smaller one why don't you?" Leo complained, throwing his hands up in mock despair as the foursome made their way out of the council room and followed the gravelled path down towards the cabins. As they laughed and joked with one another, they created a much lighter atmosphere, and each councillor they passed became slack jawed with disbelief at the miraculous change in Poseidon's son.

Despite feeling better and less likely to maim anything or anyone that breathed incorrectly at him, Percy's tactical mind was whirring, trying to come up with a plan to get this quest he was supposed to be organising on a role. Shaking himself out of his imaginary strategic bubble as they neared Cabin 3, he noticed the familiar frizzy, red hair of the Camp Oracle: Rachel Elizabeth Dare, complete with paint stained dungarees and arms full of bangles. She was perched regally on the steps of his old home, and upon hearing their approaching footsteps looked up from where she had been drawing in the dirt, a beaming smile on her face.

"Percy!" she exclaimed, "Piper, Leo, Grover." She followed up, as if only just noticing the others for the first time.

"Rachel! Hi!" Percy's mind was whirring again. Rachel never came to camp anymore unless there was something important going on, or she had received a prophecy, and she had received a prophecy; a prophecy for him. Seeing her sitting outside, not just any cabin, but his cabin; that could only mean one thing…

"Yes Percy," she said smiling warmly at him, "I'm going to tell you the prophecy."

"How did you…?" Percy began, realising halfway through his question that Rachel is a reader, and his facial expressions pretty much made him an open book. "You know what? Never mind. Everyone go inside, I want you all to be there when I hear this." He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "I have a feeling I'm going to need some emotional support again."

Percy was confused. Admittedly, he was normally always confused, but something about this prophecy didn't make any sense. Not that a prophecy is supposed to make any form of sense, but this one was just completely bizarre.

"Right, okay. Say it again for me? Please?"

"Percy, this is the 9th gods damned time already!" Piper huffed, from where she was slouched over in the blue armchair exasperatedly. "Surely you've got to have that thing drilled into your thick skull by now?"

"Alright, Beauty Queen!" Percy yelled frustratedly, pointing an accusing finger at Piper. "I have less than 5 days to figure out what the hell this stupid prophecy means, find the goddamned fleece and get the hell back to New York to save not only my, but your best friend! I don't want to start a fight-"

"Who said anything about fighting?!" Piper shouted back over Percy's threat.

"-you don't shut up and let me concentrate I swear to Hades I will kick your ass into the dam canoe lake!"

"GUYS!" Grover bellowed, silencing the arguing demigods instantly, "Chill. Piper, let Percy hear that awfully boring prophecy, that we've now heard countless times, again." He ordered, shooting Percy a pointed glare, continuing, "And Percy, we're here to help you, so throwing any of us into the canoe lake isn't going to make us inclined to assist eagerly. Even if Annabeth's life is at stake." He added as Percy opened his mouth to protest.

"Okay, yeah, I guess you're right." Percy sighed apologetically, "Sorry Pipes, I promise I won't throw you in the canoe lake." He said sincerely, Piper nodded in acceptance of his apology. "Yet." He added under his breath, turning back to Rachel. "Now, hit me." His request was met with three fists punching him in various places on his upper body. "Ouch…" he grumbled, folding his arms defensively over his chest like a naughty child. Smirking happily, Piper gestured to Rachel to recite the prophecy, again. Taking a breath, she began to speak, as though in a trance.

"A solo demigod shall travel far, protected not alone,

"Find the one who might recall, where memories are not known.

"Search for the beacon living lost, upon the fall of earth,

"A son of bone in solitude, will find to prove his friendship's worth.

"The works of the clock will start slow, to open or close the gate,

"Silver orbs will shine or fade, a heart beats time won't wait."

Silence washed over the cabin like a wave on the shore, and Percy stared at his hands, his leg bouncing up and down in agitation, his eyebrows furrowed deep in thought. What did it mean? He kept asking himself as he racked his brains over and over. What in Zeus' name did it mean?

Around him, the others were also thinking hard, attempting themselves to decipher the words. Rachel, sensing that things were about to become very tense, decided that she best leave them alone to ponder across the meaning of the prophecy and departed after a quick goodbye and good luck. Grover followed shortly after, claiming he was hungry and late for his date with Juniper.

Hours passed, yet not a word had been spoken by the three heroes and it was getting late; already the sun was at its lowest, casting an eerie light across the camp. It wasn't long before Leo released a huge, bear like yawn and Piper admitted that she was struggling to keep her eyes open. The two bid Percy goodnight and trudged out of the door towards their respective cabins, and more importantly, respective beds.

Groaning, the tired demigod flopped back onto the old bed and rubbed his eyes slowly. He tried in vain to continue his attempt at figuring out the prophecy, but quickly decided that he'd done enough thinking for anybody, let alone a Greek demigod with ADHD, for one day. Kicking off his shoes and socks, wiggling out of his jeans and yanking his t-shirt over his head, Percy rummaged around blindly in the dark for a pair of pyjamas. When he couldn't find any trace of pyjamas, he opted to just sleep in his boxers and promptly face planted his pillow as he collapsed, exhausted, onto the mattress.

As his mind slowly succumbed to sleep, Percy promised himself that he would think more on the pressing matter in the morning. 'But for now;' he thought to himself, 'Sleep.'

Author's Note

Wow! Okay, that was actually much longer than I previously anticipated. Or noticed, come to think of it. Sorry about that guys! Never the less, I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks again! As always, reviews are greatly appreciated.

Hattie x