never thought i could get a chapter out this fast. let's keep our fingers crossed for speedy writing!

i hope you enjoy xxx

ANNABETH:

"If we keep following Caesar's map, we should be there in about thirty minutes!" Luke shouted. Miles of sand stretched out around us. We'd left the Nile hours ago. I tried my best to believe Caesar was honest.

"I still can't believe you can do that," Percy said from beside me. He was talking to Frank. "You can just. . .morph your body into anything you want?"

"Only animals," Frank said. "But yeah, any of them."

"That's so wicked," I said.

"What can I say, family genes," Frank shrugged. "Apparently I'm a legacy of Poseidon or whatever." Percy gasped.

"You mean we're like, related?"

"None of us are technically related," I corrected. He hushed me.

"But I can't shapeshift. Why is that? How come I got the shitty genes?" Frank and I stared at each other as he continued and we tried to stifle our laughter, but it didn't work. "Don't make fun of me."

"You can make tsunami's, Percy!" Frank yelled and I laughed harder. The group kept on like this for a long, long while. There was something about winning a fight that put half-bloods in the mood to bicker. Every now and again, I'd glance over at Luke, who still had the map held open. A pressure was increasing around my head the longer we walked, which was more comforting than it should've been. Something had been tugging at me the second we had stepped foot in the desert, but it wasn't easy to pinpoint, like a needle in a haystack.

I finally understood as we climbed to the apex of another sand dune. The sky, not too far on the horizon, shook like a bedsheet in the wind. It shimmered against the sun, mirage-like in nature, and as it fell away, a building was revealed. A massive building. It shifted every few moments, changing from one style to another as if it couldn't decide what it wanted to look like. I picked out a few. Traditional Grecian marble arches, Chinese timber and curved roof corners, Scottish stonework. A row of pillars flashed and even from here, the Egyptian ornamentation at their top and base were visible. It kept changing, but I forced myself to look elsewhere, at the parts that branched outwards, extending farther and farther; it was huge. This had to be it. "The Library of Alexandria."

"You're gawking," Percy said. I slapped at his arm. As the last of the group reached the summit, the ground started to shake. Weapons were drawn without instruction.

"Luke, is this what you meant when you said dangerous?" Thalia asked.

"Don't ask me that," He said. "I know it's dangerous, I don't know why." Ahead, the sand exploded upwards in two different places, blocking our view of the library and knocking us to our feet. From the explosions crawled two creatures, both made of stone. One resembled a jaguar, except the neck that connected it's head to its body was elongated, so long that it seemed like a snake. The other was a lion, except its head was that of a hawk's and not a jungle cats. I pointed to them.

"That's a serpopard and a hieracosphinx!" I yelled.

"Great! What does that mean?" Frank asked.

"They're Ancient Egyptian monsters!"

"Son of a bitch!" Thalia screamed. She notched an arrow and sent it flying. All it did was bounce off the serpopard's body and land in the sand. Zoë made a comment about the head; it was the only part of them not made of stone. Thalia caught on quick enough and notched another arrow. The hieracosphinx opened its beak and a roar hit us that sent everyone sliding backward.

"No one will be shooting us in the head!" The hieracosphinx cawed.

"First-time visitors," The serpopard growled. "You did not use the correct entran-csss." It was hissing now. Weapons were lowered. They towered over us, at least forty feet high, and I craned my neck up to look at them.

"We were following a map," Luke lifted the paper up. "Sorry."

"All registered first-time visito-rsss know to use the correct entran-csss. If you are not registered, you are a threat." Silena stepped forwards.

"No, we're not a threat," She smiled; her voice was too sweet. "We'd just like to check out a book. Please let us inside." The hieracosphinx was not impressed.

"The charmspeak makes you more suspicious, miss." It squawked and bent it's horribly disproportionate body over to look down at her. "But if you mean no harm, we do take last-minute registrations."

"Fantastic," She said, still using charmspeak. I wondered whether or not it was actually working. "You can use my name. Silena Beauregard. If you look me up at my local library, you'll see I've checked out just about every romance book. They're so invigorating."

The hieracosphinx twitched it's head, "Hello, Silena. My name is Larry. Yes, I do find the romance mysteries rather thorough, but that is not the type of registration we require last minute." Silena stopped smiling. Sand swirled around us once more, forcing everyone to gather close together. "We require three things for last minute visitors. A confession, a lie, and a secret."

"What does that mean?" Thalia asked.

"The Library of Alexandria did not gain its reputation as the greatest library from basic knowledge alone. Personal fact is just as important as academic fact. We require knowledge for entrance; tell us something we do not know."

"Strawberries have 200 seeds on them on average," Lee said.

Larry growled now, "That is the Snapple Fact #718 and it is an insufficient answer! We require new knowledge from yourself! A confession, a lie, and a secret!" The group fell into silence then. I picked at a lone hangnail. The creatures stared down at us, waiting. As the minutes passed, they barely moved; it had to help that they were stone. A confession, a lie, and a secret. There were plenty of things that these monsters didn't know about me, but they definitely weren't asking for the fact that I hated chocolate Lucky Charms. Frank must've had the same idea because he stepped forwards first.

"I have one," Frank raised his hand. "Haven't really told anyone this, except Hazel, and what I told her wasn't the truth." He fished a bundle of cloth out of his pocket and unraveled it, revealing a small, half burnt piece of firewood. "I told her I just carry this piece of wood as a charm. The truth is, if the rest of this wood gets burned, I die."

"What?" Hazel yelled.

"Frank is officially cooler than me," Leo said.

"Everyone's cooler than you," Beckendorf replied.

"Interesting," Larry said. "You'll have to tell us more. Now a confession, perhaps?"

Piper stepped forward, "I used Charmspeak to steal a bunch of luxury cars which landed me in a wilderness school."

"That's not a confession," The hieracosphinx said. "It must hold a level of guilt and importance." A few groans rang out. A memory floated to the forefront of my thoughts; it made my stomach roll.

"My mother threw me to the wolves because of my stepmother," Jason said.

"I shoved an arrow through a man's trachea," Zoe said.

"My brother Phobos scares the shit out of me," Clarisse said.

I raised my hand, "I almost joined the Titan army." Everyone froze. "Oh, that's what you all stop for?" Percy, Thalia, and Luke swiveled their bodies in my direction. "We're not talking about this. It was when Percy was missing and he was on Ogygia and I got a little dark, but we're not talking about it."

"That is a confession," Larry said. "And those little things you all shouted do count as secrets, so you are free to enter." Their bodies started to disintegrate. "Do not set the library on fire or you will be killed." With their bodies gone, the library was visible again. I started walking, making sure no one could see my face and the redness that had grown across it.

.

The closer we came to the library, the less it changed. I deduced it must've been alive, enough that it could sense it's visitors and select an appearance that would suit them. For us, it flashed back to Greek architecture, all columns and marble and a large, slanted archway. Yet, that only aided me in better calculating its size. This wasn't a Parthenon, nor was it an Olympian palace, this was. . . something else. I felt like an ant in comparison. It was so large, it seemed as if the tympanum carved into the arch held god-sized statues; in fact, the closer we came to the entrance, the surer I became. When we reached the stairs, others began to notice.

"This place seems to be doing pretty good," Nico said. "You know, with the fires and all."

The stairs were so wide, we had to take a few steps between each of them.

"I bet it would be impossible to tear this place down again," Percy said.

"I think that's their goal," I murmured. Then we reached the top of the stairs and I stopped.

A set of doors towered over us, like two wrought-iron giants with interwoven bronze vines reaching up and down. A safety precaution; it didn't match the exterior. We were stagnant outside it, completely immovable. Luke walked up to them first, then Beckendorf followed, and I found myself falling in close behind.

"I don't think they'll let us in," Luke said. "I bet they know who we are."

"The statues let us through," I said.

"But did they know who we were?" He asked. "I could pick the lock."

"That is not a lock for picking."

"I can try to break it down," Beckendorf said. "Or we can try a password."

"I'm just going to knock," I said. Tapping against the metal created a hollow ringing. There was a single beat of silence, then the doors groaned and ever so slowly, swung open. The overhang above us, combined with the stark, desert sunlight, caused the interior to be cast in a harsh shadow. The only light to be found was slanted against the floor and it didn't reach very far inside.

"Traps," Luke said.

"Yeah, yeah," I said and made a forwards motion with my hand. The rest of the group shuffled closer. "Let's go." Together, we walked into the library, and after a good ten feet, the doors shut behind us. Without the contrast, our eyes adjusted. Well, they adjusted the best they could. Our surroundings were spacious, but everything was cast in shadow.

"Why's it so gods' damn dark?" Lee asked. Someone must have heard him. All at once, everything erupted. Skylights opened above our heads, the stone slabs grinding as they slid back, and hundreds of clattering sounds surrounded us. Lights flickered on, coming from the ceiling and the sides of bookshelves—all of which were about twenty shelves tall. I walked over to one and saw a glass case slide shut, then it's front shimmered to a dark blue; the rest of the bookshelf already had the same exact cover. I reached a hand out to touch it, too mesmerized to think of the consequences, and a voice came from the ceiling. It was an intercom.

"Don't touch that," It buzzed. It was a woman's voice. "That's a protective covering from the light. I see all of you on camera. Front desk please."

"Where's the front desk?" Lee asked, much to at ease.

"Keep walking straight," The woman said, then the intercom cut out.

"Lee, sometimes I wonder how you're still alive," Zoë sighed.

We walked down an aisle, surrounded by shelves, until the area opened up into a large circle with a ceiling that curled into a dome high above us. Pillars were placed on the outskirts of the circle, but they were all different things—wood, stone, marble. The one closest to us was wide, made of wood, and had several faces carved into it, stacked on top of each other. This one was a totem pole. The others filed out around the circle, pushing me forwards. In the middle of the circle, was a circular desk, tall and grand like everything else. The closer I came, the easier it was to see the person sitting behind it.

She had an umber complexion and dark curls that were pulled into a ponytail at the top of her head. She was wearing a loose, pink chiton that cinched at the waist and was sitting in front of a, extremely thin computer, that was also transparent. When I reached the desk, she stopped typing on her keyboard—that I'm sure was made of glass—and turned her eyes on me.

"Hi, I'm looking for—"

"Name and registration number?" She asked.

"Oh, no, we registered last minute," I gestured behind. "With the serpopard and the hieracosphinx." That made her pause, then squint her eyes past me.

"You got to the guards?"

"Yes."

"So you missed the quicksand fields? The minefields? The sinkholes, the jaguar dens, the moat infested with sea creatures?"

I glanced back towards Luke, who was staring at one of the bookshelves. As if he felt my gaze, he looked up. What is it?

I turned back to the desk, "We followed a map."

The woman groaned, "Caesar's map? Give it to me, please. He always has the safest route memorized." Luke came up to the desk and she took it from his hands than ripped it in half. I gasped; Luke took that as a cue to back away.

"I could have put that in the camp archives!"

"That man can't leave this place alone. Did he send you?"

"No, he just helped us," I said. "We're looking for something."

The woman gestured around, "Everyone always is, but alright. If you hold no connection to Caesar," she smiled, "Welcome to the Library of Alexandria. Knowledge awaits you. My name is Nia, come to me with any questions." Her smile was infectious and sincere, I smiled back. "Give me a name so I can put it in the system and you'll be set."

"Annabeth Chase."

Her smile disappeared, "You're the Athena girl." The chatter that had grown behind me stopped short. "That means you're all—"

"Please don't say anything," I said. "We just want to look, we won't break anything." A sensation grew in my stomach, it was anxiousness and it wasn't mine. I steeled myself, "Listen, we don't want to hurt anyone but we need to find something and we're not leaving without it."

Nia's face contorted in confusion, then smoothed out into thoughtfulness, "I can't do anything to you or your friends, Annabeth." The anxiousness dispersed from my stomach.

"Then how did you know about us? Did anyone contact the library?"

Nia laughed, "Hardly. We have to send requests for immortals to share their new knowledge with us, but when one of them puts a bounty on someone, word spreads quickly."

"A bounty—no, forget it," I centered myself. "We need to look through some archives. Please point us in the right direction."

"Of course. I'm assuming, the Greek wing," Nia said and placed a map on the counter, then traced a line and circled a wing. "You'll find everything you need there. Library rules require that I encourage you not to get discouraged. The library is ancient and alive, there are secret passages even I don't have a key too." She slid the map over to me, returned to her seat, and continued to tap against her transparent keyboard.

"Thank you," I stared at her. The blue light of the computer reflected against her brown eyes. "You're not. . .going to do anything, are you?"

"Knowledge is everyone's right. The library is open to anyone."

"But you're not going to tell our parents." Her hands stopped typing again and she pursed her lips, then turned to me.

"First off, this place is shielded, hidden. You can call them the Olympians, they can't sense you. And second, this building has been targeted by many people over the eons. It has transformed over the centuries. It's a place suspended yet connected, where everyone can share what they learn. I do not trust you, but no person looking to do harm has ever knocked on the doors in order to enter." She waved her hand, in a shoo motion. "Go on, I hope you find what you're looking for."

.

Once when I was young, my father had taken me to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. as an adventure, since we couldn't go to Parthenon. I'd gotten lost, more on purpose than he'd care to believe. It's hard to remember how long I'd been wandering around, but ever since then, I could still recall the feeling of wonderment that place had given me.

The Library of Alexandria made me experience it all over again.

Pathways ran through rooms which merged into halls that ran through gardens. It should have been confusing, it shouldn't have worked, but everything fit together seamlessly as if designed by magic; at the back of my head, a voice confirmed it.

We followed Nia's map, beige brick and tile making up our route. Every so often, the walls would open into archways and fountains would gurgle on either side of us, surrounded by foliage. On the way, we passed by two wings for other countries and a spacious study area; visitors sat here and there, surrounded by books. As we reached the Greek wing, the beige stone transferred to limestone and marble. Two pillars sat on either side of the entrance which rose high above us and perched atop it, 'Greece' was carved into the stone. Crossing the threshold, with our footsteps echoing, we found ourselves in a circular front room. Against the back wall, there was a statue, dressed in ancient robes and holding a scroll. To either side of it, there were doorways, just as large as the entrance, leading further into the wing.

Jason walked up to the statue, "That's not him."

"Agreed," Thalia said.

"Why would you assume it's Zeus?" Nico asked. I walked towards one of the doorways, the others close behind, and glanced at the statue myself. It wasn't Zeus, it wasn't any of the Olympians. Or maybe it could've been, the features were not easily identified.

"If there's only room for one of them, he prefers it to be him," Jason shrugged. "That's all." Nico punched Jason, who laughed. I kept walking, through the doorway and into the room behind it. After a few feet, we stopped. Someone let out a low whistle behind me.

"This might take awhile," Leo said.

The room extended out, a bit farther than I could see, but at the very back, there were smaller doorways leading to other rooms. The ceiling stretched higher than the entrance and shelves lined the walls, all of them filled to the brim with books. Between them, there were crisscrossed, wooden shelves that held bunches of scrolls; these had covers on them, similar to the ones in the front hall. Tapestries decorated the spaces that lacked shelves, and the room was filled with tables, some of them just to sit, others covered with transparent computers. Fresh air blew through the area, from yet another garden. I couldn't see it, but the chirping of birds let me know it must've been nearby.

"Let's get to it," I said.

We split into groups and looked up a map of the Greek wing through the computers. The library was a conundrum, I didn't let it affect me. Everyone took sections, some went to Curses & Hexes, some went to Hidden History, and some went to Olympus, which was larger than the others. The library ran on a strange version of the Dewey Decimal System. We didn't bother figuring it out. My group simply went to the area labeled "L." After an hour or two, it was obvious the goddess, Tyche, was not on our side—just like everyone else.

"We're never going to find this thing!" Clarisse yelled and flung a book away. It hit a bookshelf before thunking to the floor; nothing happened. It was clearly a new book, I assumed that's why the library did not react.

"We have to keep trying," Pollux said.

"Correct," I said.

Clarisse gestured at the shelves, "Look at these things! Some of them are new, some of them are old, some of them are like really old, but none of them look old enough to hold an ancient curse."

"Looks can be deceiving," I said.

"Clarisse has got a point," Leo said. He was on a ladder, dangerously high, scanning the books at the top of the shelf. "I doubt Aphrodite's 1001 Ways to Be Worshipped has what we're looking for." As if realizing it's mistake, Aphrodite's book flew off the shelf and started floating away to put itself back in the right place. I shrugged and place my hands on my hips.

"I don't know what to do then. I'm sensing a ton of stuff, I'm sure it's here. Maybe it's hidden," I turned and started to wander towards the back of our section. Their voices faded behind me. Up against the back wall, there were cases with weapons and pottery, and papers secured expertly to the stone. I let my fingers graze over the edges of an old map of ancient Greece. It was different than others I had seen, an original perhaps. Percy's words from our spar came back to me, Listen to what your mind is telling you. A thrumming started in my fingertips. I planted my feet there and closed my eyes. There wasn't anything special about the map, but I could almost feel the ridges of the ink on the paper. A few feet away, I could feel the smoothness of the ceramics. Behind, the books felt like blocks, singular and enhanced.

Everything was humming, a gaggle of spirits struggling to speak.

A secret, a map, a path, a code, a fake.

I ran back to the others and kept running past them even when they called my name. I ran all the way to the main room of the Greek wing and went straight to the statue. Along the floor, tiles surrounded it in a semi-circle. There was a reason the person was unrecognizable.

"It's a false!" I said and spun around. Everyone had run from their sections to gather behind me. I was grateful, it would have been awkward screaming at nothing. They looked expectant. "It's not supposed to be anyone." I turned back to the statue and gestured wide, to the curved walls. "This doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't?" Percy asked.

"The statue and the walls and the sections," I said. "Why have this circular entrance and then have a bunch of rooms behind it. It's so odd. Why not break the wall down and place a statue in the middle of the room? With all the Olympians? Or a scholar? The entrance would be used more effectively. It's clunky, it doesn't make sense for a library this pretty."

"I thought the Greek wing was nice," Silena said.

"Same here," Zoë said.

"No, that's not the point," I waved my hands to bring them closer. "Look at these markings on the floor, get inside the semi-circle." Everyone shuffled together and I stared up at the statue. The scale it held was perfectly balanced. "Jason, fly up there and put your sword in either side. It needs to be weighed down." He did exactly as I said and the second the scale tipped down, the stone around us began to turn. The walls cracked in a straight vertical line on either side and the tile on the floor slide, following in the same direction.

"This is just going to take us behind the wall," Thalia said. "Right?"

"Nope," I couldn't help smiling. "It's a secret room." Slowly we turned, the wall revealing bits and pieces of what lay behind it, until the section came to a halt and the statue stood tall over an entirely different room. For once, I was not the only one to gasp at papers.

The room was just as large and held books and scrolls, but the shelves were thinner and scarce. Scrolls hung from walls that were cast in shadow, sunlight filtered in through skylights. I watched the dust as it spun through the sun rays. We filtered through the room, floating around tables with tops made from large slabs of polished, yet unshaped wood. On one, loose papers were spread out and at the edge, there was an open journal. The chair there was pulled out, someone had been sitting in it. I checked the papers, they were filled with sketches, mathematical equations, and ancient scrawl.

"Do you like them?" A voice said from behind.

I spun to find a woman.

She had pale skin, like paper, but if I looked at her from a certain angle I could see right through it as if it was translucent. If I looked a different way, the sunlight reflected against it and made her glow. Both her hair and eyes were brown. The hair, loose and wavy around her face. The eyes, sweet. I'd seen her face in one of Chiron's books. Facts were tripping over each other in my head.

"Do you see her or is it just me?" Nico said, voice close.

"No, I see her," Katie replied. "Annabeth?"

"Hypatia," I shook my head. "This is. . ."

"Surprising?" She offered, then smiled. "It's rather surprising to me. I don't see many people in here. Smart of you to figure it out."

"Thank you," I said. "We're just looking for something."

"Do you need any help? I'm eternally tied to this entire library. It has expanded since my original time, but I've had eons to read everything." She walked up to the table and gathered her papers together. "What do you say?" Behind her, everyone sobered up once more, much like they had with Nia. Hypatia's smile felt familiar. Trust me.

"We're looking for something called Lethafora Anathema. It's a curse and its ancient."

Hypatia pursed her lips in thought, "I'm familiar with the name, but I've only read it once or twice and never has anyone asked me about it. Why do you need to find something so obscure?"

"We—" I saw Percy step forward. He extended a hand, a plea more than a demand. I shook my head. "We've been cursed with it. We're half-bloods and the Olympians are hunting us, but we don't want to usurp them, this was forced on us. Please believe us. My name is Annabeth Chase, I'm a Daughter of Athena," I removed the Mist from my skin to reveal the mark. "We need the information on that curse." Hypatia stared at the owl, then slowly glanced around the room. She gripped her papers, jaw slack.

"If what you say is true, it would be hard for me not to believe you," She looked me in the eyes; hers had grown sad. "You see, from what I've read, that curse is not something to be considered lightly. If you're here, then you must be incredibly lost."

.

Hypatia showed us everything on Lethafora Anathema.

There wasn't much at all. Two scrolls and a stone slab inscription. They were very old, the parchment cracked at the edges and the words faded. She reassured us everything in the museum was infused with a magical no-break policy, but every time I touched it, it felt like it would crumble to dust.

Despite our efforts to find it, demigods were hard to keep focused. At first, everyone crowded around the table, then after five minutes, a few left. Another five minutes, another few. After twenty minutes, it was just Thalia, Percy, and I. . .and I couldn't take it any longer.

"This doesn't make any sense!" I slammed my hands on the table.

"Oh please do tell," Thalia said.

"Our theory doesn't pan out," I gestured to the scroll. "There's no point for our parents to have hidden this here, there's nothing here to put them in danger." I translated the words aloud, "Lethafora Anathema grants its user with unlimited power, mimicking that of the paired immortal. To gain this power, one must cast it on themselves. Feelings of euphoria are signs of a successful process." My eyes traveled to the bottom of the page. "The strongest among us, no matter how invincible, may always require assistance."

"There has to be more than that. The scroll is pretty big," Thalia said.

"There is but it's basics. It's stuff that the six of you have already figured out." I threw my hands up. "It never actually tells you how to do it. There's no instructions. It's not like this scroll is screaming 'Try me.' I might as well be reading a medicine bottle without the instructions. Useless." Percy leaned forward to place his hand on mine.

"It's alright," He said. "This was never a definite answer. At least we found what we came here for."

"You're just trying to make me feel better."

He shrugged in reply. I laughed.

"Okay, maybe we should get going then." I looked around the room. At the scrolls and the models hanging from the ceiling, at the statues and the tablets secured to the walls. "It's safer to be on the island."

"Oh wait," Hypatia came running from the back, a bundle of scrolls cradled in her arms. "Come with me." She took my hand, dragged me over to a case, and lifted the glass off. Inside were five scrolls, all rolled up and in a line. "Take these with you, if you wouldn't mind."

I reached in and gathered them in my arms; with patience, I mimicked her stance. "What are they?"

"They're the layout for the original Library of Alexandria." Her eyes gleamed against the rays from skylights. "The library received some prints quite a few months ago, from Athena. They were your plans for the new Olympus, she wanted us to catalog them." My breath caught in my throat. Before I could say something, she continued. "I wanted to ask if you would recreate the original library at Camp Half-Blood, maybe on a smaller scale. I saw your designs, there is no one better for the job. And—" Her smile grew wider. "I would be able to visit."

I could feel myself nodding, though the rest of me was still catching up. "Yes. Of course, I will. I promise, I promise."

Hypatia hugged me, which caught me off guard. "Thank you," She pulled away and pointed to two scrolls. "Now, these two are charmed with Mist. You'll just have to solve a riddle, it'll be no match for you—" I almost dropped the scrolls.

"Oh my gods," I said and ran back to the table, with Hypatia close behind.

"What is it?" She asked.

Percy stood up, "What's going on?" I handed him the designs.

"They're covered in Mist!" The scroll was still spread out on the table. "That has to be it." Like before, I pressed my hand to the paper and waited for a humming or a whisper. Warmth spread across my palm; no words came forth. "If the gods' wanted this hidden. . ." I splayed both hands out across it. A heavy pressure set in my chest. The mark on my arm started to glow.

"Are you breaking an Olympian firewall or something?" Thalia asked, taking a step back. The writing on the scroll retraced itself, this time in gold ink, but it didn't change. I channeled more energy into the paper, or at least, I hope I did.

"I don't know how you dealt with this when we were twelve," I mumbled. "Swords give much more concrete results." The pressure had grown into bitter steel in my mouth. The golden ink started to seep across the entire scroll. It resembled gold foil. My mark started to burn. Nothing else happened.

Then a brilliant, white light started to emanate from the scroll. Everyone shielded their eyes.

"That seems like a barrier!" Hypatia cried and ducked beneath the table, her form shuddering.

Thalia and Percy cried in protest, but I kept my hands on the scroll.

Everything was on fire—my mark, my chest, the light. A thought came to me and I focused on the burning. It was like burning coals, but it hardly hurt. I willed it to spread through my body. The light burned through my eyelids. I pictured myself being enveloped by it.

A breeze hit the base of my neck. I was weightless. There was nothing around me, only vast emptiness, or was there everything. I dared not open my eyes. Someone was screaming my name, though it was distant.

Worry hit me. Something was wrong. I wouldn't last.

I thought of my mother. Athena—graceful, all-knowing. She would know where I was. An Olympian, power stretching across the vastness, reaching to every corner. Product of the heavens, body unbreakable. Holy. . .

Stone cracked, wind hit my face, I was falling.

Percy caught me by the wrist mid-fall and my eyes shot open. Then I breathed.

"Gods," I gasped, sucking in gulps of air. "What's going on?" He was pale. So was Thalia.

"Annabeth, you were, you weren't—"

"You lit up!" Thalia exclaimed. "Like a Christmas tree! All white light like the scroll!"

"What?" I asked, then stepped back up to the table. The stone slab was cracked down the middle, letters gone. The second scroll had turned to dust. The other—the one I'd touched—had ditched the gold foil. Only the golden scrawl remained and a simple, constant glow.

"Reminds me of the fleece," Thalia said.

I traced my hands across it, nothing had changed besides the color. "I don't understand." Then my hand hit the bottom. At its base, the scroll felt thicker than before. I rolled it out, but the wooden rod refused to catch on the end of the paper. It kept going, revealing more writing. "Percy, take the top." I handed him one side and proceeded to keep pulling. Soon, we were ten feet apart the scroll still wouldn't end. Across the paper, gold writing glimmered at us and it was different. "Oh my gods, this is it."

"Annabeth, you're the coolest best friend any girl could ask for," Thalia said, smile huge. "How did you do it?"

I shook my head, "I don't know. I was focusing on the paper and this burning and—"

"You had light coming from you," Percy said. He looked at Thalia. "We didn't know what to do." I stared at them, then at Hypatia, who was watching me. Her eyes were knowing. As exhilarating as I felt, the heavy truth set itself down in my stomach.

Hypatia spoke, "An Olympian made sure no one but another god could access this."

"I don't think there was a light coming from me." Both of them tilted their heads. "I think I was the light." I hadn't known then, but the moments after this would be etched into my memory for the rest of my life.

All around us, the library gave a horrid, gut-wrenching groan. If buildings could speak, it must have been screaming. Scrolls fell from shelves, statues shook on their pedestals, and dust dropped down from the ceiling as bricks shifted helplessly against one another. Trying to fix something, trying to hide. An explosion boomed from somewhere in the library, making everything shake even worse. The birds that had become a constant from anywhere in the library cried out, squawking and flapping out of the skylights or deeper into the building still. The four of us tried to keep our footing as the building rumbled and when it finally calmed, screams and crashes could be heard from the other side of the fake wall.

"Oh no," Hypatia said, clutching her scrolls. Her eyes were far away, looking at the past. Her body started to fade. "It's happening again."

oh yes, that cliffhanger is strategically placed. we are about to reach an apex and it is going to be, real bad. any feedback?

thank you so much for reading! reviews are absolutely treasured 3