Olympus
"She won't help, Zeus. You know her." Athena sighs from the couch. She pinches the bridge of her nose, hoping to relieve the headache that's been paining her for hours. They haven't left the study since Zeus sent a message with Hermes down to camp. Even food and wine has been delivered on schedule to the three gods as they've tried to figure out who's behind the attacks. Athena had never been so hard on herself planning a strategy to keep her pregnant daughter alive and out of the wrong hands. It's driven her to near mental exhaustion.
"She has too. There is no other way." Poseidon mutters. He stands off the side,leaning up against the wall of bookshelves with his head lowered, half dosing. If Hera would help, their plans would go faster. But Hera,as beautiful as she may be, only helps herself.
"We'll ask once, and then tell her the truth." Zeus says glancing from Athena to Poseidon.
"What question and what truth?" Hera asks from the door way to the study. She sweeps into the room, scattering papers out of her way as she takes a seat on the edge of the giant oak desk.
"Say you'll help us and we'll tell you." Athena says coldly.
"Say you'll tell me and I'll think about helping you." She counters.
"Just help. That's all you have to do. One little thing and you can go back to- whatever the hell you were doing." Athena waves her hands about the air. Hera smiles.
"Oh, but why would I stop 'whatever the hell I'm doing' to help you? I've got some good stuff going." She laughs."Sorry,not interested."
"Oh, cut the horse-crap, Hera." Poseidon shouts. Hera jumps up off the desk in god has ever spoken to her like this, not even Zeus."This isn't a time for your games. We're all in danger." He takes a step, standing directly in front her, waves of anger radiating from him and crashing against her like waves against the shore.
"What do you mean?" she asks taking a step to the side.
"He means unless you help us, we all die." Zeus says, standing up from his chair. Hera swivels around to look at him, her calmness dissolving as she struggles to grasp exactly what is happening.
"What do you mean 'we all die'?" She asks, panic seeping into her voice. She points to herself. " We as in 'we'...as in 'gods' die?" Zeus nods his head, eyes locked on his wife. "What is this about? Why are 'we' going to die?" She asks looking to Athena, then to Poseidon.
"Well, look who's interested." Athena mumbles to herself. Hera shoots her a death look.
"It's the child." Zeus says, sitting back down. He rests his head against his hands and closes his eyes.
"The 'child' as in...Percy Jackson and Annebeth Chase's child? That child?" Hera asks. Zeus lets out an 'mh-hm'. "But the prophecy said only demigods would be destroyed, it said nothing about us." She snaps. She looks for reassuring looks from the three other gods in the room. They stare back with cold and knowing eyes.
"Part of the prophecy was set to change by our actions. If we did not come together, only demigods would perish. But we allied ourselves with our children and..." Athena's voice trails off as she looks at Hera.
"The prophecy changed and now we all go down...right." Hera says to herself. There was no way she going to die. She didn't care if she was the only god left, but she would not die. The only way to keep that from happening, would be to help those she swore never to help. People change when situations get tough. She nods, her tranquility returning. "What do I have to do?"
"Our information points to an attack on Camp Half-Blood." Zeus says lowering his hands. He looks at her in a way she hasn't seen since before they were married. Determination to live she thinks to herself. "We know you have eyes and ears everywhere. So-"
"So, you want me to find out." She nods. "I can do that. Just give me a second. I'll be right back." She glides out of room. Nervous glances flit around the room as she returns a few minutes later. "With in two days."
"And how do you know?" Athena asks, suspicion creeping into her voice.
"I have my resources." She says not even glancing at Athena.
"Then that settles that." Zeus says standing up.
"What do we do now?" Poseidon asks.
"Get Annabeth out of camp."
Annabeth
"What did Chiron say?" I ask opening up our cabin door. Percy hasn't said anything since he came back, so I know it's not good. I watch as he digs under the bed for our suit cases. "Are we going somewhere?"
Nothing. Not a word, not a sound.
Waddling over to the bed, I slowly sit down, letting out a grunt as I finally get seated. Percy unzips the bags in two quick motions, flipping them open. He grabs arms full of clothes and puts them in, not bothering to straighten the chaos. He disappears into the bathroom and re-emerges with all of my toiletry items. He stuffs them in and zips them shut. He grabs his suitcase and flings across the cabin, screaming.
"Percy! Percy! What the hell is going on?" I say grabbing his hand. "You need to talk to me. You can't just leave me out." He nods and sits down beside me, taking my hand in his. Lately, he's been so stressed about security. Doubling the patrols, putting the campers through more rigorous training. It's not good for him and it shows. He's lost weight, gained a little muscle, but lost way more weight than he's gained. He's paler and his hair has lost it's shine. I'm worried about him.
"We've got word from Olympus that we need to get you out of here." He mutters. His eyes stay locked on our hands.
"But that's good, right? They warned us. Then it will be me and you and a few others." I say smiling trying to get him to at least look at me. His eyes stay lowered and he plays with my hand, turning it over and tracing the palm. And then I see why he's so angry. "You're not coming, are you?" My voice lowers to a whisper. I can't go with him. Where he goes, I go. "What happened to 'you jump, I jump'?"
"Chiron said that who ever is doing this knows I won't leave your side. This way, you can stay hidden with out the strong smell of a son of the big three attracting more monsters." He mumbles. "Piper and Leo will take you when the alarm sounds." He stands up, moving out on to the deck.
I shake my head. "No. I'm not leaving without you. It's not happening." I know it sounds clichéd, but I honestly cannot function without Percy. I just can't. I think about him, if he's okay or hurt, is he happy or mad or sad. I just can't be without Percy Jackson.
"Yes, you are. If it means keeping you safe and our baby, then you will go." He says in a tone I've never seen. He comes back in and kneels down in front of me, looking into my eyes. Their cold. Loving, but cold. A look of such poison it could kill anything.
"I wish you would stop trying to tell me what to do and start listening to me. You've been overly protective, I can't even put my shoes on without you trying to help. Over the past two weeks, you've done nothing but train and push all the campers to their breaking points, you're having angry outbursts, you're cold and distant and you're not Percy Jackson. You're just some kid who looks like him." I say. I take a deep breath and let it out, trying to lower my blood pressure. When you get angry when you're pregnant, man it goes through the roof and quick, too. Tears form in my eyes and I can't hold them back. They spill freely down my cheeks and his eyes soften. Percy Jackson's back.
"I'm sorry Annabeth. I just want you to be safe. I'm scared all of the time for you two and I can barely sleep. " He says, wiping away my tear. "I want to protect you and I feel like I can't sometimes. I'm just paranoid."
I nod."So, if you're not coming with, where are you going? You've packed a suitcase." I say changing the subject.
"I'm going the opposite way you go. You are headed towards California, and I'm headed towards florida. That's all I can tell you. But it's only for a little while, and only when the attack comes. Okay." He says wiping his eyes. "Let's not worry about it now."
Just as he pulls me into a hug, the door to the cabin slams open, pictures crashing to ground. Piper stands in the door way, panic in her eyes as she glances back over her shoulder.
"They're here." She says grabbing my suitcase. The conch sounds it's battle cry and I feel Percy pull me up from the bed. "Come on. We don't have time. We have to get her out of here. Percy, come on." She yells.
Outside, campers run in all directions, bows and swords readied. Hazel sits on top of Arion, the sun glinting off of her helmet as she rides towards the borders. Piper leads us to the entrance to camp where Leo waits with a cab, two suitcases, and a bag of snacks in each hand.
"What?" He shrugs holding them up."In case Annalise gets hungry." Screams and wails float from the direction of camp and I can see Percy wanting to come with us.
"You guys go ahead. I'll only be a few seconds." I say waving them on. I watch Piper and Leo load into the cab before I turn to Percy. His eyes say everything. "I know, I know I want you to come, but you can't." I say wiping my eyes. "Just promise me something."
"Anything." He says taking my hand to his heart.
"When this is all over, you and me and Annalise, we'll go somewhere and just be a family." I say. "No running, no fighting, just us three, together."
"I promise."
"And you." I say pulling him into me, choking back a sob."Don't do anything stupid, Sea weed brain." I pull free after a few seconds, willing myself to be strong, for Percy's sake, and I climb into the back of the cab. We pull onto the road, and my will breaks. Piper pulls me close as I cry out for Percy.
Percy
It takes every ounce of will-power not to stop the cab from driving away. My whole life is in the back seat.
I turn away as it rounds the corner and disappears from view, wiping my eyes. Who says men never cry? It's the one's who cry who can be called men.
Riptide ready, I walk cautiously back into camp. Monsters of all shapes and sizes have broken through the barriers.I look around and see some campers fighting them off, others being over taken. I slash and roll to the side as a minotaur blows by me. A mutant giant takes its place, swinging its club at me. I dive between it's legs, jumping to a boulder to get eye level with it, where I blind it, blood spraying all over me. It falls to the ground, wailing in pain and holding it's eyes as I finish it off, Riptide piercing it's chest. It erupts in a cloud of yellow dust and I move on to help a camper who's almost overtaken with three huge black spiders. We managed to kill one with a blade to the thorax, but its siblings reach out and grab the camper and pull it into it's pincers.
"HELP ME!" She shouts and I finally register who it is. Annabeth's little sister, Lulabelle. WHAT THE HELL IS SHE STILL DOING HERE? I scream to myself. My anger takes over and in no time, the other two spiders have dissolved into yellow dust. Lulabelle lies on the ground, her pig-tails laid out behind her as she screams in pain. Her neck is crimson and I know I have to get her out of here. I pick her up and cradle her to my chest as I run for the border. I look back for a second to see the entire camp in ruins. Fire's rage out of control and monster's roam as the camper's scatter and run.
"Percy?" Lulabelle manages to gasp through the screams.
"I'm here. Don't worry, you're going to be fine." I say heading off in the direction of the nearest hospital. If only I had ambrosia, but that's in my suitcase that I threw out of my cabin. I run with her in my arms, careful not to jostle her around to much. I can't let her die. She's only still a baby. A little farther and she stops screaming.
"Stop...I can't."She whispers. Laying her on the ground, I finally see the extent of her injuries. Two deep punctures, red and swelled, spilling a mixture of poison and blood on the left side of her neck. There's no ambrosia or medicine strong enough to heal this without killing her. I glance into her eyes and I see the pain she's in as she struggles to breath. Each breath comes out shallower and more labored. Cutting my shirt tail off, I wrap it around to try and stop the bleeding as much as I can but I know my efforts are in vain. "Annabeth..." she says, taking in a huge breath. "Is... she..."
"She's fine. She got away. Don't worry about that, okay." I tell her. Her eyes close and she manages a small smile. I've only ever seen the wild seven year old Lulabelle, never this calm child. But maybe it's because she know's she's dying. She's seven. She shouldn't be dying. She should be climbing trees, scraping her knees, making mud pies, and giggling. Not laid out in the middle of a forest, being poisoned and bleeding out from a gigantic spider bite.
"Percy...will you...hold me?" She asks, tears streaming from her eyes. I move her onto my lap, laying her head on my chest and wrapping my arms around her. I rock her gently back and forth like my mother used to do when I was sick or scared. "Sing... over the ...rainbow?" she breathes out. I don't know the exact words, but I try.
"Somewhere over the rainbow way up high-" I croak, tears welling up. She takes a shallow breath and I know she's almost gone."-there's a land that I heard of once in a lullaby." I hear her soft voice singing with mine, barely audible but breathy and apparent."Someday, I'll wish upon a star, And wake up where the clouds-". Lulabelle stops. I take a deep breath and I keep going, finishing for her." -are far-behind me...where troubles melt like lemon drops, high above the chimney tops...that's where you'll find me."My throat closes up, and struggle to get the last lines out." birds fly over the rainbow. Why then, oh, why can't I?"
My sobs echo through the forest as I grip her tighter. I let her down. I killed her. I got so wrapped up in the fight, I let this happen, I kick myself. Grief turns to anger in seconds and it overflows. I let out a raging scream and I go back to crying softly.
Branches shake and twigs snap as Athena appears in the clearing. Her hand flies to her mouth as she sees me holding little Lulabelle, her youngest daughter.
"Is she...alive?" she dares herself to say. I can't bring myself to tell her. But when I fail to respond, she falls to her knees clutching her chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
"Athena." I say, wiping my eyes. "This isn't helping. I've cried for the both of us. It didn't bring her back." She manages to stop after a few seconds and nods.
"You're right." She says. Something about her seems off. " You are absolutely right, Percy. Now is not the time. You need to find Annabeth." She tells me moving closer. Her arms reach out for her daughter, and reluctantly, I give her to her. Quickly I get to my feet and move to the opposite side of the clearing.
"Why do I need to find her?" I ask.
"She's in danger. They knew you were moving her so they set up an ambush. If you don't hurry, they'll capture her." She says, her eyes transfixed on her daughters face. She sets her daughters corpse on the ground, leaning up against the tree as if she were sleeping. She turns to me. "Find my daughter." She says. "I need to take care of Lolabelle."
She's being nice to me, I think to myself. This woman is never nice to me. Maybe it's grief.
I nod and take off to find the main road. I have to get to Annabeth.
Sorry for not updating! Things have been hectic with softball. Plus writers block doesn't help.
R&R
with love
~j
