Annabeth: Facing Hyperion's trap and learning Allie's secret association

"For two thousand years, I have prepared for the day when I could at last see Saturn die for betraying Kronos. And it was for two thousand years that I watched as that poor soul realized his mistake in siding with the Olympians. Now Allie, do tell your friend of your true association in this war for your lord and master," Hyperion said. Allie woke up and looked like her memories came flooding back into her head the moment she heard Hyperion's voice speak of her treachery.

"I did not sign up for all of this out of hate for Saturn's Land or even hate for my family. Believe me Annabeth when I say I really like you!" she said. "Then why did you betray your own people and lead the Titans to where they could destroy them?" I asked. "I signed up for being their guide and the one who ultimately undid Saturn's Land out of fear and love," she answered.

I was baffled but I decided it was best to let her continue with it all. "Before he died, my brother Conan had been captured by the Titans and had been subjected to their torture for weeks. Hyperion and this big dude, Atlas I think he was called, negotiated that they would free my brother if I agreed to lead them to Saturn's Land. Hyperion even ordered Atlas to come with me and make sure that I wasn't leading them to the wrong place when I agreed to take them there," Allie explained.

"All of Saturn's Land destroyed simply out of love for a sibling. Such a shame that love is something so usable and is full of utilizations even to someone like myself," Hyperion mocked. "Atlas scared me more than Hyperion did since he was a snake even then and Atlas was a full-fledged god.

"Plus he did display all the powers of a god who could only be beaten on his terms by his master. To this day, Atlas holds me in an iron grip of fear and anguish even now that I have found out that my brother has been killed by the Titans," she said. Her eyes begged me to forgive her for her mistakes but something told me that this was a very cowardly girl who would never have understood when it was best to let go of something for the sake of saving something bigger. "Atlas is dead Allie, did you know that?" I asked her.

Her eyes widened with somewhat of a glimmer of hope in them. It was answer enough for me and proceeded to tell her that Atlas had been killed two weeks ago when he was thrown into the very core of Mount Orthys. The power of it was enough to vaporize his very essence but his power was also enough to destroy the core and bring about an end to Orthys. I ended it by telling her that it had been done by a child of Zeus named Thalia Grace who was also a lieutenant of Artemis and her Hunters.

"Thanks for picking to tell me when Hyperion is next to my foot and has enhanced the cobra venom so that if I betray him now, it could end my life in minutes! Any sooner could have helped me resist him but now I have to wait until I'm separated from him," Allie said. "If you are even allowed a chance that is and I am not going to willingly allow a chance for it to happen while you could still betray me," Hyperion assured her. "And if you're so certain we'll never make it out alive, how come we're not surrounded by your forces yet?" I asked.

"How I have already given Epimetheus a beacon of our location. You see, when I was checking Allie's pulse I was healing her to the best ability and simultaneously sending a beacon to any god nearby telling them where I am and who I am with," Hyperion answered. I realized what he meant: it was beacons like that that we're the reason why no demigod in their right mind carried cell phones lest we'd be ringing a dinner bell for the monsters we usually had to escape before reaching Camp Half-Blood and after leaving it. "Epimetheus always stalls like this and the reason is simple: he does not have the willpower of his brother and can only do one thing at a time, meaning that he is probably in the middle of some other tasks unless he sent out a taskforce before going to those other duties," Hyperion added.

"Speak of the devil, I see some soldiers off in the distance coming upriver and along the hill," Allie said. "Ah so Epimetheus was indeed busy in preparation for your demise and Gabriel's capture. Maybe that's what kept him busy for this long," Hyperion rhetorically stated. "Was this all part of your plan too or was it longer than you liked?" I taunted him.

"Careful who you insult young lady for this may not be a trap you can escape from. Surrender now and your life will be painlessly spared to see the reawakening of Saturn as well as his destruction by our hand," Hyperion told me. "If you think you can use me to barter with Gabriel, you're wrong," I said to him. "Young lady, I don't intend to use you as leverage against Gabriel; I have had him captured as well along with Brian," he calmly replied with a chuckle.

That left me confused and wondering one thing: if Gabriel was already captured alongside Brian, then why was I being taken alive? Then I realized that he probably wanted me to see how Saturn would be awakened with the aid of Brian and Gabriel. They would also want me to see them fulfill their vengeance on Saturn before slitting my throat or worse. But I was not about to make my capture easy as I knew Gabriel and Brian certainly didn't.

So I started fighting back and even killed a few of the soldiers before one of them tripped me and made me hit my face in the sand. "I admire your passion Annabeth Chase but I am afraid it will not save you this time. You may have gotten away with having the very blade used to kill Kronos but you will not go unpunished for much longer," Hyperion said to me. At that moment, I knew he had it out for me because of Kronos' death but I wondered how he knew about my blade being the one that killed him.

"Hey Hyperion, how did you know it was my blade that killed Kronos?" I asked. "When his essence was destroyed, we Titans took the moment in like a computer takes in information and we knew everything instantaneously. But in my case, word came to me from my daughter Selene who got it from your mother," Hyperion answered. As I was carried away by one of skeleton soldiers, I began to wonder to myself if there had really been anything in it for me and if I should have stayed with Percy back at Camp.

Do not give up yet my daughter, you are closer to victory than you think my mom told me telepathically. Kind of hard to see how that's possible when I have been captured and now I'm being dragged to see the rebirth and death of a Roman god I replied. This is all part of the prophecy that the Fates of yielded in the life of Gabriel and Brian. You will be witness to something greater than you will have ever known in your entire life and that girl Allie will be of help in it my mother told me.

Point of order Mom, she has already compromised the rest of the group to Hyperion and Epimetheus. I don't see how she's going to be part of something heroic anymore than I can see how I shouldn't be humiliated about being captured by a punch of skeletons with ease I snapped. Trust me my daughter, it will not be as bad as you think it will be she said to me. Mom, don't you care that I have been captured by the Titans and am being taken to watch the death of a god? I asked.

Of course I care, which is why intervention on the part of Allie will be my doing. She only wanted to save her brother from the Titans and her attachment was too strong for her. Now that Atlas is dead and Hyperion is broken down to the form of a snake, hope remains for her my mother answered. How is that possible; I cannot defeat them if Gabriel cannot I told her.

Victory favors you my daughter, you just don't see it yet Athena replied. I didn't try to argue anymore at that point and just simply thanked her for attempting to cheer me up. This battle is just the beginning of something even greater than you could possibly know. Only by surviving to that something will you prevail in this war against the Titans my mother said before departing from my mind.

We had a long walk to go but I made sure to look around and see the foundations of several places that had once been homes, departments of government, a couple schools, and one sewage plant that didn't reek nearly as bad as a sewage plant in New York or Los Angeles. Either they had really good treatment methods that I didn't even know about or it was just that it was overpowered by the smoke and the fire that still continued to burn at what remained of what was probably a glorious city. The part I hated about the Titans was that they were so destructive in their quest for revenge against the Olympians but any time gods warred with each other, mortals were always at risk especially if they were powerful gods like Zeus and his brothers. And now, I was being taken to see a fight aimed specifically at destroying a god for reasons as petty as any that a mortal could think of.

They were destroying Saturn out of revenge and the guy had no means of defending himself against a fellow Titan. We arrived at the location of the statue shortly after climbing all the way back up the hill and walking a ways past the drain that had been my entrance into this hellhole. I was hauled past dead bodies of men, women, and children burned to a crisp by the power of the Titans or brought down by the blades of their soldiers after escaping the blast. Many times, I past by houses with families burned where they last were whether it be in bed with their loved ones or eating and possibly having wonderful times.

Sometimes, I saw women clutching their children around them just before the blast came upon them while their man was away and probably watching in horror before being struck down by these worthless minions that now carried me to my impending doom. Meanwhile, Hyperion was simply biding his time on a pillow that Allie carried near her face as per his orders in case she tried to betray him even now. Suddenly I was thrown off the shoulder of the soldiers carrying me and landed right next to Gabriel and Brian although I don't think I would have said I was happy until I saw them. Brian had already figured out that Allie was the traitor and Gabriel was trying to calm him down and keep him from losing it to the point of trying to murder her.

As for me, all I could really think about was how Percy was doing. There was no way that I could have put myself on the line if I had known this would happen. Now more than ever, I was wishing that Seaweed Brian was here beside me. It would let me be at peace.