Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer:

TheWorldBookGirl: Where does Rick Riordan live?

Me: Why do you want to know?

TheWorldBookGirl: I'm going to ask him whether he will sign over the Percy Jackson series to me.

Me: *scoffs* Yeah, like that's ever going to happen.

TheWorldBookGirl: Why not?

Me: He can't sign over his books to you because he wrote them, not you.

TheWorldBookGirl: Oh …

Harvard –

Annabeth and Faith were walking towards their dormitory when the school's emergency alarm bell rang. The two girls shot each other questioning glances, but then followed school procedure; they walked to the Gym and stood in a straight line behind their house teachers.

Annabeth turned to the closest student next to her and asked, "Do you know why the emergency alarm bell went off? There was no drill scheduled today, right?"

The student just shook her head and then turned away. Why would they not tell us about this drill? Annabeth thought. Unless it isn't a drill … But just at that moment the school principal came through the doors and everyone went quiet.

The principal was holding a microphone in his hand and said "Dear students. I know you are wondering why you were not informed of this drill. That is because this is not a drill. We are under attack."

At this he paused to let everybody calm down again. Then he continued.

"We are all going to evacuate the school from the Gym's back doors. After everybody has made it outside you will follow your house teachers to the buses. Those buses will take you to a hotel that is far away from the school. Until this attack has ceased the entire school will remain there. Does anybody have any more questions?"

A single hand went up in the back. Annabeth turned to try and identify the speaker, and saw that it was none other than Faith herself. She cocked her head to one side and raised her eyebrows, but Faith paid no attention to her.

"Where is this army from, and why are they attacking Harvard?" she asked.

The principal was silent for a moment, but then he replied. "None of us are sure where the army is from. They don't exactly look like us, so we think that they are from some distant culture. Their weapons are a lot different from ours as well, which is giving the U.S. military a hard time. But I'm sure that they'll figure it out."

When there were no more questions everyone filed out of the Gym and followed their house teachers to the buses. While she was walking, Annabeth's head was spinning. Could it be, she thought, that the army is full of mythical creatures that ordinary mortals cannot see? Could it be that the Mist is obscuring their visions to a degree? If this is true then I must get to the army. I could help fight them! All these thoughts were running through her mind while Faith walked next to her to the buses. During the half an hour bus ride to the hotel no one said a single word. The silence was so thick that it was even hard to breathe.

When they finally arrived at the hotel the teachers told everyone to find a partner and then they would be assigned a room. Annabeth and Faith partnered up and were assigned room number 2001, one of the highest in the hotel. They had a breath-taking view from up there, but neither one of them felt like doing anything except sleep. So they lay down on their separate beds, but it took them a long time to fall asleep.

The next morning a letter arrived for Faith. It was addressed from Isabella Swan. "She's a childhood friend of mine." Faith had replied when Annabeth asked her who she was.

After everyone had eaten breakfast and gone back to their rooms, the silence was too big for Faith. "So," she said to break the silence "do you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes." Annabeth replied. "He's the best. His name is Percy. I wish he was here right now."

After she had said that there was a long silence. Finally Faith said, "My friend Isabella is dating a guy named Percy as well. He has unruly black hair and green eyes, and …"

She broke off when she noticed Annabeth staring at her in shock. "What's wrong?" she asked, thinking that she had done something.

"It's nothing." Annabeth replied. "Just that the description you just gave me sounds just like my Percy."

Faith was silent until she realized that Annabeth wanted to be alone right now. The wheels in Annabeth's head were spinning. Percy would never cheat on me. Or would he? Maybe that Isabella girl is a lot hotter than me. I have to go check if she is dating my Percy. But I can't leave. This city needs me to defend them. I'm the only one who can see through the Mist. I have to help defeat the army. With that thought in mind she turned to Faith.

"Could you please tell me where Isabella lives? I have to send her a letter."

Faith nodded and told her the address. Then Annabeth turned to the desk in their room and took out an envelope and a pen. She quickly wrote a letter, telling Isabella to send a picture of Percy. Then I'll see if he's cheating on me or not she thought. When the letter was done she went downstairs and asked one of the teachers if they could send this letter for her. After that was done she got out another piece of paper and started to draft how she would solve the problem of the army attacking Harvard.

This is what I'll do she thought. The army is supposed to be in the area around Harvard, but I need to find out its exact location. Then I will go there and ask to speak with their leader. I hope that it won't come to fighting. Just me against a whole army would be suicide. I would tell the U.S. army, but they wouldn't believe me that the army is full of mythical creatures.

Then she thought about when she should leave and how. She couldn't just leave via the front door. There were security guards posted there, so she would have to sneak into the kitchen and use the back door there. She figured that she should leave tonight, since it was always better to do things sooner than later. With that plan in mind she switched on the TV and watched the news channel. When the clock struck eleven o'clock in the night she got up and carefully walked out of the door so that she didn't wake Faith up. Her knife was strapped to her hip, and she held a flashlight in her right hand. It was silent inside of the hotel, except for the muffled sound of her footsteps on the thick carpet that covered the entire hotel floor. She door to the kitchen was unlocked, and she found the back door without any problems. She had not been able to find the exact location of the army, but she had a sense of where they would be.

Once she was out on the street she took out a street map that she had found lying around in the Hotel and checked where she was using the light that the flashlight gave off. When she had pinpointed where she was and where she thought the army would be she set off in that direction. After walking for about an hour she arrived at the camp the army had set up. One of the sentries guarding the camp saw her approach and sounded the alarm. Immediately everybody dropped what they were doing and created a protective wall around the camp with their bodies. To Annabeth it looked very well rehearsed, for soldiers. She calmly approached the wall, not even glancing in the direction of her knife. The wall of soldiers shifted uneasily as she approached, as she showed no signs of slowing down. Annabeth came to a halt just in front of the wall, looking the soldiers over. They all looked as though they would give their lives willingly to defend their country (if they were even fighting for a country). Looking around she found a high-ranking soldier.

She walked over to him and asked, "Where is your general or commander?"

He stared speechlessly at her for a few moments; it was unheard of that a woman spoke like that to a soldier of high rank. Wordlessly he pointed into the direction of the general's tent. Annabeth walked brusquely past him, and into the general's tent.

"I need your help." She told him immediately. "There is an army full of mythical creatures that want to attack Harvard."

The general looked up at her, shock on his face. "How would you know this?" he asked her.

Annabeth told him her plan of a surprise attack on the army. She told him about the demigods and mythical creatures that she could ask to help them as well.

"I do not wish to see Harvard destroyed. They have an excellent architecture program, and they have done nothing to deserve this. I will fight alongside you, if you will have me. And I can beat most of your people, probably even all. I would be very valuable to you, since my mother is Athena, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy." Annabeth said.

What am I doing? She thought. But I have to. It's the only way to save Harvard.

"I will help you." The general said. "But you have to help me in return. I want to know everything about these mythical creatures. Do we have a deal?"

"We have a deal." Annabeth said, and they shook hands.