Here it is! Chapter 4 in Annabeth's POV!
Chapter 4
Annabeth's POV
Finn grabs Amanda's arm and they stand up.
"What's a matter? It's just a cast member." Jason says.
"That ain't no cast member." Maybeck says standing up.
"Huh?" Piper says.
"On the count of three, everyone go the castle. You guys, just follow us." Everyone nods. I could tell that Finn was the natural leader of them. But it seems as if that kid Philby is trying to be the leader too. We all stand up with our stuff.
"One… Two… THREE!" We sprint from the shop. Percy grabs my hand as we run. I can't help but admire the castle. Since, well, I'm into architecture. The castle was magnificent. It took my breath away.
"Keep running!" Finn said.
"Finn! We have 3 pirates and 2 CTDs." Willa yells.
"Once we get in I'll distract them. Amanda, can you buy us some time?" Finn asks. She nods and slows down. I look back and see her stretch her arms out. The pirates and other thingies go flying. She runs back up to Finn.
"Follow me you guys. And listen carefully to anything I say. You don't want to end up in the moat." Finn yells.
We run through some doors and end up in this weird room. There are stairs upside down and lots of mirrors.
"Where are we?" Percy asks.
"Welcome to Escher's Keep." Jess says.
"Stay on the blue tiles ONLY!" Finn yells hopping awkwardly from tile to tile. It seems like they have all done it a few times already. I follow them as quickly as possible.
"Finn! Pirates!" Jess yells.
"Philby. Take them up. I'm going to distract them like I did at the parade." Finn says. I look over to Philby. He nods.
"We'll wait at the elevator." Philby says.
"If I'm not back in 5 minutes-"
"Finn." Amanda says.
"If I am, don't wait." He says. I watch as he closes his eyes. Then he starts to glow!
"What the heck! Dude! You're glowing!" Leo says. Finn opens his eyes and smiles. I see the other Kingdom Keepers smile too.
"We're back in business baby!" Maybeck says. Then Finn runs off the side. I continue following Philby.
"Whoa. He just ran through those pirates." Jason says.
"We got to go. Come on." Percy says. Philby leads us up some stairs until we stop at a door.
"Why aren't we going in?" Hazel asks.
"This is the elevator." Willa says. That's when we hear 3 splashes. The kids start laughing.
"What?" Frank asks. We all look at them with blank faces.
"And that would be the moat." Amanda says.
We hear footsteps. I can hear Amanda saying "Please be Finn." Over and over. Finally, the footsteps are heard on the last staircase. Sure enough, there's Finn. But he's not glowing anymore and has a pirate sword.
"Nice sword." Maybeck says. Finn looks at the sword and throws it to the side.
"Why are you throwing a perfectly good sword away?" Leo asks.
"Why do we need it?" he asks. He's got a point.
"Let's just keep moving." I say.
Finn nods and Philby opens the door. We step into a room that goes on forever. I look up and see stars.
"Hold on." Philby says.
"To what?" Jason asks.
Then all of a sudden, we are rising up through the air.
"It's an elevator!" Piper exclaimed.
"Whoa." I said. I was speechless. We rose to the top and I looked at the constellations. I tapped Percy's shoulder. "Look." I pointed to Zoe's constellation. Zoe Nightshade was part of Artemis's Hunters but died in battle with Percy and me. I tried not to get teary. Finn finally pushed the Big Dipper and it lead into an apartment.
"Welcome to Walt Disney's Secret Apartment. We should be safe in here." Finn said. The apartment was amazing. It had pastel colors and one window with a hole in it to look out. I walk towards the window and look out.
"Whoa!" I say. "We are like at the top of Cinderella's Castle." I exclaim.
"We are at the top of Cinderella's Castle." Maybeck says. We all take turns to see the view.
"Okay, so we got to discuss this more. And now that we are in private, we can get into details." Percy said.
"So first, let's talk about the note, then the dreams." Finn says. We all nod.
"So we know light is us and demigods are them. So find the pen. Any ideas?" Willa says.
"My pen, Riptide." Percy says. He pulls out a ballpoint pen.
"What's a pen going to-" Maybeck gets cut off by a Percy pulling off his pen's cap and it turning into a sword. "Whoa. Never mind."
"Maybe you should put that away." Jess suggests. She looks extremely nervous.
"Don't worry, it won't harm mortals." I say. I pull out my dagger. Then everyone shows them their weapons and we all put them away.
"So we have Riptide. What about Walt's?" Amanda says. The Kingdom Keepers faces all light up.
"That's brilliant Amanda!" Philby says.
"Ya, it is. But what did Wayne do with it?" Willa asks.
"This has to be the pen you guys. It says "Find the Pen and you shall win", and we have to find Walt's pen. Plus, we are facing OTs." Jess says. We all nod.
"What are OTs?" Jason asks.
"Short for Overtakers. Oh also, if you see ANYone with unnatural green eyes, they are OTKs or OTAs. That stands for Overtaker Kids and Overtaker Adults. The Overtakers can turn anyone into their minions. Of course, they are all under spells so they only know to kill us." Finn says. He smiles for a second.
"So, Walt's Pen. That must be Walt Disney right?" Hazel asks.
"Yes. Walt's first pen. It can severely hurt the Overtakers. That means the characters only. Also, in case of any confusion, we are here to protect the parks a lock-up the Overtakers. We do not kill." Philby says. I hear Leo sigh. I look over and give him a death stare. Then turn back to the keepers.
"So next is But also a shield will be needed that day, And to get it you must go away, To a camp of godlings, you must go, They will be friends, not foes. Any ideas on what shield they might be talking about?" Jess asks.
"No. Didn't it say it was made of old bones?" I asked.
"Ya, it says Find the magic concealed inside, And the shield you will be able to find, It will not be made of metal or stone, But made from old bones." Jess says.
"Willa, can you look up anything on shields, old bones and Greek mythology that have things in common?" Philby asks.
"Sure." She starts Googling on her phone.
"Jess, read the rest of the note." Amanda says.
"Okay. The magic will lead you on, To fight or Disney will be gone. So in the end, we will have to fight." We sit there quietly. Until Percy gasped.
"Percy?" I look at him. His eyes are rolled to the back of his head. "PERCY!" I yell. He's in a trance.
"What's a matter with Percy?" Piper says. She starts freaking out. Jason is trying to calm her down. Hazel and Nico are silent while me, Leo and Frank are trying to wake him up. I jump off the couch and lay him down. After a minute Percy shoots straight up, gasping for air.
"What… happened…?" Percy asks, breathing heavily. I make him lay back down on the couch.
"You went into some sort of trance." I say to him.
In some sort of trance indeed, that was odd for him I think. What the Hades? Why am I thinking in a rhyme?
"I saw something! It was the Evil Queen. But she was in the old lady form." Percy exclaims.
"Did she say anything?" Maybeck asks.
"Ya. It was weird. She said:
Danger Awaits you Perseus Jackson,
It has only begun,
If you ever want your friends to be safe,
Meet us here tomorrow before there's no sun.
You shall lead our army,
To face the Kingdom Keepers,
But if you are not here before sundown tomorrow night,
Everyone you know will become a deep sleeper.
What do you guys think?" Percy asks. Everyone is pale.
"I think we are all being threaten." Maybeck says. That's when I hear white noise.
"Look! The T.V.'s on!" Piper says, pointing towards an old TV in the corner of the room that had to of been at least 20 years old. Jason goes towards the TV.
"Umm… you guys?" He said, staring behind the TV.
"What's up Jason?" Nico asks.
"The TV isn't plugged in." Jason says, revealing the chord.
"Everyone plug your ears and close your eyes!" Finn yells. We all follow. After at least 10 minutes, Finn opens his eyes. He looks at the TV. It is shut off. Then he unplugs his ears.
"All clear." He said. The keepers laugh.
"That's a fantas'mic' joke Finn." Philby says. They all start to laugh harder.
"Sorry, just some cheap Disney jokes." Jess says. Those jokes are really cheap, like my new t-shirt I got for free, Now I feel sad about my appearance because it was a hand-me-down from a friend who got it on clearance. Again with the rhyming. I mental face palmed.
"So we never looked at your drawing Jess." Amanda says.
"Oh ya." She puts the drawing on the coffee table. We all look at.
"It's an alarm clock." Willa say.
"I had no clue." Maybeck says sarcastically.
"Oh shut up Maybeck." Amanda says. He does. I think he's afraid of her.
"It says midnight in about 2 months away." Philby says.
"That must be it!" Frank says.
"What?" Percy asks.
"The day. The clock will strike at twelve on a very dark night. The clock is at midnight." Frank says.
I studied the clock and date for a moment. "Willa, can I borrow your phone?" I ask
"Sure." She hands it to me.
I had a theory, and I needed to check and see if it was correct. "I was right!" I exclaimed. "That date on the clock is a New Moon! So a very dark night because of there being no moonlight!" I exclaim. Very smart, yes I am, I deserve a trophy for remembering so well. "Ugh." Why did I say that out loud? Maybe I shouldn't have been so proud. Stop it brain!
"What's a matter Wise Girl?" Percy asks me.
"When I think I keep rhyming. It's getting annoying and I can't seem to stop."
"Oh no."
So which pen do you think it is? R & R!