AN: Chapter 10 :D
I am revamping all previous chapters past 7 or so, because quite honestly I'm not happy with them. It will only make them better. Plot will stay the same, just Alec will be less OP as he learns and characters will stop being relevant for chapters at a time (No tyler or Louis, more Lacey i think her name is).
Anyways, hope you like. Like the cliffhanger? I'm kind of a jerk for not resolving the last one, but I couldn't resist (I needed to vary the PoV anyways). It's not that discreet, but hard to guess the finer details.
Chapter 10: Annabeth
She was standing in a throne room and the Gods looked very unsettled. Zeus looked murderous, Poseidon looked the same way but a little hesitantly so, and Hades looked a tiny bit sympathetic with the rest of his face showing stone cold resolve. Aphrodite, Demeter, Hera, and Hermes looked terrified. Ares looked unsettled, and a little embarrassed. Apollo, Hermes, and Hephaestus looked like they didn't want to be here, but wanted to know what happened. Artemis was giving a look somewhere between mild hate and grudging respect; it was clear she was looking at a male though.
They were looking at something next to her; but she was afraid to look at it as if looking at whatever they were would start something. Artemis looked at Zeus with a cautious expression, as if a single word will start a war. The violent tension in the room was overwhelming. The air seemed to cackle with electricity and Zeus himself was so tense it looked like he was being electrocuted.
"Lord Zeus…"
In an instant, Zeus grabbed his master bolt while both he, Hades, Poseidon, and Athena jumped out of their seats. The others sprinted towards her and Zeus unsheathed the bolt. Athena jumped at her, while Poseidon looked like he was going to tackle a sumo wrestler his arms were so wide. She saw the back of Hades when she looked to her left so she couldn't tell who was there.
The next instant was terrifying. A massive thunderclap rang through the throne room so loud, hearing it was like getting punched in the head. That was nothing to what followed. A flash of golden light emanated from the three gods as the air combusted. The explosion rocked the room before she could visually confirm that it was there.
She woke up in a cold sweat, and would've sprung forward if she wasn't being held down. She started to panic; was she dead? Was she laying on the throne room of Olympus, a charred corpse, waiting for Thanatos to reap her soul?
She heard someone else stirring behind her and looked at the sleepy face of Percy. He opened his eyes groggily and they immediately widened. He brought her closer to him and she turned towards him. She was doing her best to compose herself, but she wasn't doing that great of a job. He whispered that she was already and softly kisses her.
Percy hugged her tighter for a second before pulling apart. She was still trying to shake off the dream. She's had really bad dreams before, but the realism of the dream only made her more worried. She was there with someone she cared about, someone who she couldn't live without.
"Do you want to tell me about the dream?"
She nodded. "I was in the throne room on Olympus. Zeus was really angry and the gods seemed nervous. Some were furious; Hades looked sympathetic for the first time in his life, Artemis…" Thunder boomed outside after the Hade's comment, which sounded enough like the master bolt to make her scream. Percy rubbed circles on her back soothingly. "Artemis looked like she respected this person, but still hated him. It was clearly a male, but this was more than her I-don't-like-you-boy look. It was weird."
"Alright, what happened next?" Percy said softly, still massaging her lower back. She breathed shakily as she stared at his face. Moonlight fell on the right side of his face, providing an almost artistic contrast between the two sides. The sheets slightly reflected the light while the bedspread was dark. The strength and comfort of his embrace gave her the courage to continue.
"Zeus grabbed his bolt. Several of the gods ran towards me; our parents and the lord of the dead. They looked like they were protecting something, as they ran with their arms out like they were going to hug us…" Percy gave her a quizzical look.
"At least you know it's not a demigod dream. Hades wouldn't be caught dead hugging someone." More thunder, another yelp from Annabeth and a tighter Percy-hug ensued.
"Sorry." He said as she slapped his shoulder lightly. Deep down she knew that she appreciated his attempt to cheer her up.
"It's fine. But, as they grabbed us Zeus attacked with his master bolt." Percy's eyes grew wide. Not even they have seen it used, except for that two times. One against the giants, and another against Typhon. One was an iris message, and the other, Percy along with Jason didn't see it until it hit. "It felt so real, and I could tell my mother was trying to teleport us somewhere but I'm not sure it was in time."
"It's alright. Your mother is too stubborn to let you die." Annabeth laughed softly while Percy looked nervously at the ceiling hoping Athena didn't hear him. An owl pecked on the window making them both Jump. He hugged Annabeth as he pretended to hide behind her; well, Annabeth knew he was scared and only half-pretending to use her as a shield.
She rolled her eyes at the owl before turning back to Percy. The sat side-by-side as he hugged her sideways, staring at the door.
"Nice to know you were there to protect me."
"I thought you didn't want to be protected."
Annabeth stuck her tongue out at him as they both laughed. She leaned her head on her husband's biceps.
"The scariest part of the dream was the emotions. I felt like I was there to protect someone; like I would feel if you or the kids were there." Percy tensed, knowing the very possibly prophetic property of this dream.
"It'll be fine. I wasn't kidding about your mother. If she made it to you you'll be fine, and anyone else you care about. She cares too much about you to let even the king of the heavens do something like that to you." Percy said encouragingly, massaging her side.
"Thanks, Seaweed brain."
"Anytime, Wise girl." Percy said, before grinning mischievously. "Wait a minute, all this comforting and I get insulted for it?! I'm going to get you for this…"
He rolled over so that he was on top of her and leaned his forehead against hers. "What are you going to do?"
He gave her that bad-boy smirk that brought back memories of their teenage years. "I think you know."
She smiled widely at that and kissed him. She could feel the pure love in the kiss, and she felt like she was 20 again. At that moment she almost forgot about the nightmare. It definitely was not the first thing on her mind.
An hour after breakfast, her and Percy were sitting in Rachel's cave. Rachel called it her "Woman-cave". Percy seemed really uncomfortable with the nick name which Annabeth thought was funny.
"That doesn't sound good at all."
"Not that I mind, but it does seem weird that the lord of the dead was rushing over to us." Annabeth said. Rachel nodded in agreement but Percy shook his head.
"What if Nico was next to you?"
"Touché."
"Ooh, did I just best the Annabeth Chase?!" He teased. She promptly punched him in the shoulder, and he flinched.
"Not so tough without Achilles' curse, are you now?" Rachel said through a bout of snickering. After about 14 years, he was just getting used to the absence of Achilles' curse.
"Shut up." He mumbled, wrapping an arm around Annabeth's shoulders. They pondered the dream.
"What about Jason and Piper?"
"They should be in a couple days. They are stopping by Camp Jupiter before coming back."
"We should visit Reyna sometime." Percy said to Annabeth, to which she nodded in agreement. It was funny, both of the girls who tried to go after Percy wound up being really good friends. She and Reyna got along really well; after the whole Leo-blowing-up-New-Rome fiasco. "On a more serious note, we could always Iris message them."
Annabeth's eyes got big as she remembered who else was in New Rome. Percy gave her a weird look, as did Rachel. Annabeth looked at them both before responding.
"Who else is New Rome, right about now?"
The other's eyes got big as they started arguing about what to do. Annabeth eventually silence them, since no one could hear what any of the others were saying.
"We're going to Iris message them." Annabeth said firmly.
"When?" Rachel asked.
"Now."
"One second, you know what we have to say. We can't give that information through an Iris message. She's a goddess!" Percy said.
Annabeth sighed. "She'll protect him if we ask. She might even be able to shield us from them so they don't listen to our conversation."
"We wouldn't want that now, would we?" Percy said with a smirk. Annabeth raised her eyebrows at that, but Percy gave her a go-along-with-it look.
"No, no we wouldn't."
"Especially if they were named Theseus." Percy coughed when he said Theseus and Annabeth grinned. Lupa had heightened Percy's senses a lot, and it took serious skill to sneak up on him.
Percy got up and threw open the doorway curtains calmly. In front of him was a very scared and guilty looking Theseus. Percy smirked.
"And to what do we owe the pleasure of your eavesdropping?" Theseus bit his lip nervously and relaxed a little bit when Annabeth came besides Percy.
"Come on; give him a break, Percy." Annabeth said, before giving Theseus a hard stare. She didn't like him that much, being a daughter of Athena and all, but out of his lot she like him best. She could tell that Percy was somewhat oblivious to how much he was scaring the poor kid. "I'll fill you in later, ok? Now, go on."
They shut the curtains and sat back down. After arguing over who had to pay the drachma, Rachel gave in. All three of them were very stubborn, and sometimes that led to some very length arguments over menial tasks.
"We could always use Fleecy." Annabeth suggested.
"Is that any more secure than an iris message?" Rachel asked. Annabeth nodded, claiming that because she's a nymph, not a goddess, and that she likes Percy that she'll keep it secret. Rachel muttered in disagreement, "Cloud nymphs are pretty convincible…"
"Ok. Let's do it." Percy said, focusing hard to create a faint mist in the air. As he's reached adulthood, his powers have peaked allowing him to do some really incredible things. Annabeth almost giggles out loud at that thought. Finally, there is enough mist for a rainbow. "Oh, fleecy, do me a solid. Show me Jason Grace."
Jason's face appeared in the mist, and Percy made sure to put enough mist in the air for an hour or so. Jason was reading a book on an airplane with Piper on her phone next to him.
"Wow, Jason, I didn't you could read!" Percy teased making them both jump. After all these years, people still couldn't tell when there was an iris message going on.
"Shut up, Percy." Jason muttered after they calmed down. "What are you guys IMing for?"
"Wow," Percy said, acting hurt. "Do you hate us that much?"
"Pretty much." Jason teased back, Annabeth mentally complaining to her for marrying someone so immature.
"Ok, boys, we have stuff we have to talk about."
"agelades," Percy cursed. "I still have to pray to Iris to tell Fleecy."
Annabeth slapped him on the back of the head lightly. "Then do it, we don't have all day."
"And why is all this so important as to make sure Fleecy keeps it secret?" Jason asked, genuinely interested. Annabeth sighed. "I mean, no one goes to Fleecy for information. No offense."
"People who know the works of the communication world will, and it is that important."
Percy finished making a prayer to Iris, and Annabeth really hoped she would listen. Annabeth didn't like the idea of telling Jason because he was the one who followed rules, especially from the gods. Jason had his moments of rebellion, but she's not sure this would be one of them.
"Jason, when you get to Camp Jupiter, you will find a quest from Camp Half-Blood led by a demigod named Alec." Annabeth said cautiously.
"Ok, what's the problem?" Jason asked.
"Well, if you can restrain using names for the rest of this conversation, that'd be great." Jason's eyes widened as he knew that meant they were hiding something from the gods. Jason hated hiding things from the gods, being a son of Jupiter and all. "Alec is a son of the Titan Lord."
"What?! Why is this secret?" Jason almost shouted, but Piper still woke up. "He's dangerous, and we have no idea where his loyalties lie."
"Actually, we were thinking the opposite. We think his mother resents the Titan Lord for his abandonment."
"So? It's not the mother I'm worried about." Jason hissed. "It's the fact that there's a demigod who could have the power to rival the big three!"
"Yes, he very possibly could." Percy said.
"However, his mother raised him without telling him who his father was. She taught him Greek mythology, and taught him to hate the Titan Lord." Annabeth said.
"How did she do that?" Jason asked incredulously.
"Demigods have a hard enough time liking their parent's as it is; also, the Titan Lord isn't very likable. He probably grew thinking the Titan Lord was evil and then hated him even more when he found out that he was his father." Annabeth explained. "Some of this is speculation, but we've talked to him enough to know that he very much dislikes his father."
"His mother sounds very smart." Jason added, before joking. "She was probably a child of Athena."
"Actually, that's very possible." Annabeth said. "I didn't think of that."
"We have to turn him in anyways." Jason said.
"NO!" Percy and Annabeth shouted.
"Shhh!" Piper said. "We're not alone you know. Anyways, why are you so anxious to protect him?"
"Because he's a strong demigod, and we need all the strength we can get." Annabeth said.
"Why's that? The third great prophecy hasn't even started in the past 14 years; he will probably be dead by the time it passes." Jason said.
"You don't know that." Rachel pointed out. "Even if it took decades for the first great prophecy to come true, it only took 2 years for the second one."
"And this is a powerful one." Annabeth said confidently, and Rachel nodded in agreement.
"How do you know that?" Percy asked in wonder.
"Think about it; there are three great prophecies, spoken by three oracles with a god giving the third one." Annabeth explained in a matter-of-fact tone. "It's the prophecy of three, and it involves three sets of immortal rulers."
"That's a lot of threes." Percy mused, causing Annabeth to roll her eyes.
"Three is a very powerful number, especially when combined with powerful entities." Rachel said.
"You mean like prophecies and pantheons?" Jason said dryly.
"Yes, like prophecies and councils of divine beings." Annabeth said.
"Alright, well nice talking to you guys." Jason said, half-sincerely.
"See you later. Please, do keep his identity a secret. Trust me, you won't regret it." Percy said, and Jason grudgingly nodded. Piper waved through the connection and the three of them sighed.
"Come one, we don't have much time before our next activities." Annabeth stood up and offered Percy her hand. Percy took it, and after saying goodbye, left to teach their activities.
Percy and Annabeth were walking through the forest, acting as medics with Chiron for capture the flag. A kid got an arrow in his side, and another got a cut across his forehead; other than that, they didn't have much to do.
As the game was nearing a close, Annabeth changed topics. With her children gone, she couldn't go very long without worrying about them. They had been on quests before, but two legacies of an eldest Olympian and a goddess fated to be more powerful than Zeus attract a lot of monsters. Not to mention that they're traveling with a son of Kronos.
"Percy, what do you think the king of the heavens will do?"
Percy sighed in sadness and disdain, as epithets were now almost exclusively used for this topic and she knew he didn't like talking about it. "I think he will do everything to kill him. He wanted to kill me just because I was too powerful. That was when I had just stopped a war, saved and resurrected his only daughter in centuries, and freed Artemis from Atlas. Alec's father is an eons long enemy of Olympus, has the chance of being as powerful as anyone of the big three, and this will be after he finishes a quest assisted by some fairly respected heroes."
"That sounds grim." Annabeth noted glumly. It pains her to think that Zeus could be so blinded by hate as to kill his own half-brother out of fear."
"Yeah, but it's the truth."
"Maybe, if we're there for him we can use the half-brother reasoning." Annabeth said, and continued when Percy just raised his eyebrows. "What if we go with them to Olympus after their quest? Then we they vote on whether or not to kill him, we vouch for him. We could try pointing out that if their king would not hesitate to kill a mortal half-brother who has the possibility of obtaining power equal to his own, that what's to stop him from attacking his real brothers?"
"You really are a wise girl." Percy said, wrapping his arms around her waist. She loved the feeling of his embrace; it never lost its charm.
"I like it when you hold me like this," Annabeth said. "It makes me feel young again."
Percy chuckled and was about to respond when the conch horn that signaled the end of the game interrupted their thoughts. They walked over to Chiron where the campers were converging, arguing over fairness, teasing, congratulating etcetera.
All of a sudden, a lightning bolt struck a child of Ares and all heads turned towards the fuming son of Zeus. Annabeth was about to rush towards him, but Chiron was already there. One of the kid's siblings turned around.
"What was that for?" The child of Ares spat.
"I was putting him in his place," The son of Zeus said, hissing in anger. "Back off before I put you in yours."
An older daughter of Athena stepped forward and snapped at him. "You're walking on thin ice. Just because you're a prince of the gods, doesn't mean you get to do whatever you want. You're just a prince who shall never become king, someone who is given a title and never has to earn it. At least we, have something to work towards."
The other children of Zeus dragged him away, glaring at the others. Annabeth was about to turn to Percy when she realized what her sibling said. Her blood ran cold and she put a hand on Percy's shoulder.
"Percy, did you catch that?" Annabeth said, her mind racing at a million miles a minute.
"No, Annabeth, because I can tell that your thinking of things beyond my capabilities." Percy said in a bored tone, so Annabeth just took a deep breath to calm her nerves.
"Jason was wrong."
"About what?"
"Percy, what do you call the son of a lord or king?" Percy thought for a minute.
"I think the term would be prince, why?"
Annabeth stared at him for a minute, waiting for him to put two and two together. His eyes widened and he spoke softly.
"You don't think…"
AN: You don't think WHAT? TELL ME! oh wait... I wrote it :P
This feels like a filler chapter, but it's not. This is the start of a parallel plot line.
Please review, it will help me make the story better :) I have the coolest ending for this series planned, but I cannot decide how many books to write.
THANKS to all you folks who kept reading my story when the beginning sucked XD You are the best.
- The Leonhardest of all the Eulers