aaaa I AM SUCH A LAZY PROCRASTINATOR! THAT WAS SUCH A LONG WAIT FOR A CHAPTER I AM SO SORRY! ...to any of you readers that I have left DX
...er...enjoy?
and ughhhh I don't know what's wrong with my spacing lately when I've copied and pasted from the documents I typed the chapters in..T.T
Writerswand
Eternal Complications
Chapter 11
Memory Knocking Bumps and an epic win in Capture the Flag
My arms dropped to my sides as I sat up, pulling away from the one sided hug. I sat on my knees on Percy's infirmary bed, staring at him in utter shock.
"I'm Annabeth, Percy, Annabeth Chase! I used to be your girlfriend!" I cried.
Percy just stared at me. "I don't know you," he said bluntly.
Then I laughed. "Go ahead, say Belated April Fools, lightly punch my arm, and laugh at how I'm so gullible," I smiled.
He blinked.
"Perseus Jackson! Stop playing with me!" I snapped, harshly. A bit too harshly because Percy jumped.
"Annabeth…is it?" he asked, nervously.
My eyes widened. "You really don't remember anything do you?" I asked him softly.
"Well, I know Grover's actually half goat, I almost died in a battle with something called a Minotaur, my teacher's really a centaur named Chiron and he gave me a pen that turns into a sword, my mom is gone, and apparently my dad is a Greek God." Percy explained, a little confused.
"That was almost four years ago Percy," I pointed out.
Percy's green eyes widened. "And I still haven't found my mom! How long have I been asleep?"
"Percy, no, you've lost your memory, your fifteen almost sixteen and you know that. You slipped down a river bank and hit your head," I explained, avoiding including Luke in this.
"So my mom is fine?"
"Perfect…Gabe's not even with her anymore…I believe she's dating someone else now, you're principle or something, Blowfish or something you said over letters months ago," I told him.
Percy's eyebrows rose. "That's great! …Wait, is he nice?"
"By the way you described him he seemed fine, you said your mom was happy."
Percy's face broke into a smile and my heart melted. Then it hit him. "I-I lost my memory?"
"Since you were twelve it seems."
"How old am I now?"
"You're turning sixteen in August, which is a little more than a month away."
Percy nodded. "…Wait, didn't you say something about being my girlfriend?"
"I—" I began.
Percy smiled. "Did we kiss?"
I paused for a moment. "Yes, it was wonderful, all those underwater kisses we shared…"
Percy's eyes widened. "Underwater! How did we breathe?"
"You can control water as you are the son of a sea god, Poseidon's son—"
Percy's jaw dropped. "That's wicked!"
"As I was saying, Poseidon is an important God, one of the Big Three, you are a special half-blood."
Then Percy seemed to remember something. "Was our relationship good? Were we both happy?"
"…Yes, perfect…" I trailed, thinking of Luke.
I didn't really cheat on Percy did I? Besides, we put things on hold since last summer…didn't Percy go on a few dates with that Rachel girl anyways?
Before Percy could reply Thalia walked in followed by Chiron, Luke, and Clarisse.
Luke stood off in the shadows, avoiding Clarisse.
"Thalia! Percy's lost his memory!" I cried, not leaving his side.
"We know bird brain, why do you think we're here?" Clarisse asked.
Thalia sighed. "I know, when he didn't recognize me I wasn't purposely going to go find you but get Chiron but you just ran in…"
I nodded slowly.
Clarisse grinned down at Percy who looked up at her, wide eyed. "Look, the little shrimp's awake, and he has a big, memory knocking bump on his head."
"Stop scaring the newbie Clare," Luke sighed.
"He's no newbie!" Clarisse snapped.
"He's not much better than one in this condition," Luke pointed out.
"Who asked you, traitor?" Clarisse spat.
Chiron ignored this. "Come on kid; let's get you out of the infirmary and to the Big House to start explaining," he said walking over to Percy and hosting him up onto his back.
Percy yelped a little.
"Explain everything?" I squeaked.
Thalia eyed me. I remembered that only she knew everything everything.
"Yes," Chiron nodded. "And it's going to take a while. I hope you don't have any plans for the rest of the day. If you hope to get done before Capture the Flag tonight I suggest you start explaining as we walk," Chiron explained, exiting the infirmary.
.
"The first thing you need to know, punk, is to not get in my way or you're going to get stepped on—" Clarisse began.
"Literally," Luke mumbled.
"Shut it before I flatten your pretty little face Kronos lover!" she snapped.
"I am not a Kronos lover."
"Guys! Must we? Really?" Thalia asked.
She stood on Chiron's left side, I on his right. Luke walked behind us, Clarisse in front of us, she had turned to talk to Luke. Clarisse turned back to continue walking.
She spoke to Percy again. "And that the Ares Cabin rules camp and if you don't like it you better develop a taste for toilet water," she finished. "Know that and how to fend off monsters and you'll survive…most likely." She added.
"Clarisse," Chiron said sternly.
"What?"
"I think your cabin might be getting a little rowdy."
"They're eating dinner in the Pavilion."
"Go Clarisse."
She nodded and walked away, muttering to herself.
Thalia and I exchanged glances over Chiron's back.
"…That girl…does she not like me or something?" Percy asked.
"I wouldn't say that," I began.
"She despises you," Thalia finished for me.
"Girls," Chiron said, looking forward as we continue walking.
"You two haven't had the greatest of relationships, but don't linger on about it. We're explain more about your life since you were twelve when we get to the Big House," I told Percy.
Thalia nodded, then seemed to remember something. "Damn it," she swore. "Does this mean we'll have to retrain Percy with his sword too?"
My eyes widened. "Do you really think he has forgotten how to fight?" I ended the question with a gasp. "With an upcoming war only a bit more than a month away…"
"We'll just have to see," Luke said, lightly brushing by me. He grabbed Percy by the orange collar of his camp T-shirt and whipped him off Chiron's back, flinging him down on the ground, his sword, Backbiter, already pointed at him.
They let him keep his sword? No one took it away from him?
"Luke! What in the name of my dad are you doing?" Thalia shrieked, her electric blue eyes flashing.
I looked over at Chiron and just saw him standing behind us, watching. I turned my head to Percy. He was down, his hands on the ground underneath him, holding himself up, his green eyes wide, scared.
"Draw your sword Jackson!" Luke shouted his sword at Percy's chin.
As Percy fumbled around in his pockets for his ballpoint pen I ran over to Luke and grabbed the arm that wasn't holding Backbiter. "Luke! Stop this! I—"
He gently pushed me off of him, holding his hand up, keeping me away. His blue eyes flickered over to me for a moment, sincere. I wasn't sure, but I didn't do anything. I took a step back and watched the scene.
Thalia was furious, she had her shield out and was about to go over to Percy when his pen clicked and the celestial bronze of Riptide glowed in the summer sun.
Percy jumped up so quickly my heart nearly skipped a beat. Soon enough Luke and Percy's blades were locked in combat. They fought for a bit without injuring each other—except for a tear in Luke's jeans—until Luke pulled back and sheathed his sword, sweating slightly.
Percy's breath came a little heavy but besides that he was fine. He stared at Luke, holding his sword out still, confused. It turned back into a pen and he put it in his pocket.
"Lucas Castellan! What on earth was that?" Thalia asked, putting her shield away, and stomping over to Luke, getting in his face, their noses inches apart.
"It seems that even if Percy's memory is gone, his body still maintains the skill and training he worked so hard these past four summers to obtain," Chiron explained. "I would also like to thank Luke for being so gentle with Percy as he tested him."
Luke nodded as Thalia took a step back, breathing a sigh of relief. "Good, I thought we lost you there for a moment Luke."
"All right, let's continue on our way then," Chiron said, picking Percy up and placing him on his horse back once again.
Luke, Thalia, and I walked behind them. Thalia draped her arms around our shoulders, smiling. "I know the situation with Percy is bleak, but I just can't help but to feel happy being back with my older brother and little sister, and to know that they're both all right."
Chiron was already many paces ahead of us.
I smiled back. "Yeah, it's nice, isn't it? It's been a long time," I sighed.
"It has, since we were all together…" Luke trailed.
"On the same side that is," Thalia pointed out.
I laughed, and Luke gave us a sad smile.
"It's okay Lukey, you just fell off path, were blinded by the fog, but it's all right now," Thalia said, reaching up to pat his silvery-blond hair, much like Draco Malfoy from Harry Potter, just thicker. Now that I think about it, Luke and Draco actually are a lot like, and not just physically either. They were both misled and worked for the enemy even if they weren't necessarily evil themselves. The only real difference are their parents, right? I shook my head, pushing sandy blond hair that fell in my face behind my ear.
"Yes," I smiled. "Like Draco Malfoy."
Thalia laughed loudly as we walked, her arms falling off our shoulders. Luke's blue eyes sparkled with laughter.
"I love you guys," Thalia said happily.
"Yeah." I said. "It just feels so normal to be with both of you, so relaxing, so reassuring."
"I feel like I can do anything," Luke said simply.
"What?" Thalia and I asked in unison.
"When I'm with you guys it makes me feel, think, as I can do anything, accomplish whatever, because I know I have you two," Luke explained.
I smiled and Thalia grinned as she pushed her black hair off her shoulders. "We tend to do that to people," she joked, winking.
"Totally," I agreed.
Luke rolled his eyes, smiling.
Soon enough we reached the brick pathway that led up to the Big House. Chiron had walked up the stairs and now waited for us on the porch. Percy sat on top of his horse body, looking around, taking in the scene. We quickened our pace and Luke stepped forward, opening the door.
Thalia walked in, grinning. "Thank you kind sir," she said in a British accent.
"Just for you my lady," Luke said, copying her accent, bowing and closing the door after Chiron and I walked in.
I smiled. Thalia brought in the old Luke, the funny, kind, fun loving Luke.
"Let's stop this tom foolery at once and get to business," Chiron said, now picking up the accent as well, but his sounded less posh and more real than Luke and Thalia's.
We laughed and followed him out to the kitchen…where Grover sat in a chair, his hooves up on the table, as he munched on a tin can. When he saw us he jumped and swallowed the rest of his can whole.
"Grover…don't put your hooves on the table again," Chiron said softly.
"All right…but let me tell you, I clean them every day!" he exclaimed.
I looked down and saw my tiny reflection in them.
"They are shiny," Thalia said, reaching over to ruffle Grover's curly, reddish brown hair.
Percy jumped off of Chiron and ran over to the satyr, hugging him. "Grover!"
Grover looked at us over Percy's shoulder as he hugged him. "Is it true? He really lost his memory?"
I nodded. "Yeah,"
Grover gulped. "So—"
Chiron shook his head. "Strangely he remembers how to fight, he's as skilled as always, he just doesn't remember anything since that minotaur attack four years ago."
Grover's eyes widened. "Ah, well, that does make sense. Procedural memory is different than Episodic and Semantic memory."
We all just stared at him.
"What! I'm a satyr! I pick up on things I learn from schools when I pick up half-bloods!"
I sighed and changed the topic back to what it was before. "So, we have to work on explaining everything to him."
"For four years?"
"As best as we can."
Chiron nodded. "I'm sorry to leave you but there are things that need my care. I assume you can handle this though?"
Thalia nodded. "Of course Chiron."
He nodded and exited the room, when we heard a door slam we knew he left the house.
"OK, so where to begin?" I asked the group.
.
I sat in a chair by the table as I explained what happened in the Labyrinth last summer to Percy, who sat across from me, green eyes wide. Luke sat in another chair; legs spread apart, hands on his knees, as he listened grimly. Grover sat in the last chair, munching on tin cans and adding comments whenever he deemed it necessary. Thalia sat on the edge of the table, her legs dangling, as she examined her nails, which were painted so dark blue, they were literally black, but she claimed they were blue.
My mouth was dry; I had explained most of everything, with Grover helping. Thalia explained that December before she joined the Hunters when I was…absent, captured. Luke spoke little, no one blamed him. When I was finished I took in a large gulp of air.
Percy leaned forward…he probably had a lot of questions and comments as whenever he tried to say something while I was talking I always shushed him…which was most of the time.
"So, I'm pretty famous around here you would say?" he asked.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I said.
"Do you have any questions or anything?" Thalia asked.
Percy shook his head, running his hand through his black hair, which was much like Harry Potter's. You know, if you think about it, they look a lot alike. Put glasses and a lighting shaped scar on Percy and you have Potter! Man…what's up with me and all these Harry Potter references today? I shook my head, but when Percy speaks I look up at him.
"Nah, I think I'm good, you all did an awesome job explaining…" he trailed off. "Though, it's all still kind of fuzzy…" he added, scratching the back of his neck.
I leaned forward and ruffled his already messy black hair. "Of course! That is to be expected seaweed brain," I laughed, sticking my tongue out at him playfully.
Percy laughed in reply, and everything seemed normal, if for a moment, perfect even. Though, I knew it wasn't, Percy may know what we told him, but his memory is still gone, there's still threats facing camp, and who knows what Percy will do when he recovers his memory, if he does, and meets up with Luke…I shook my head, ridding my mind from these thoughts.
"Is something wrong Ani?" Luke asked me, using a nickname him and Thalia used when I was little. I hated it, wanting to be called by my first name…but the way he said it made my heart flutter…and the way Thalia said it sounded cute, ha-ha.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I assured him.
He nodded, not completely convinced, but he didn't say anything else.
Grover yawned and stretched, looking over to the clock timer on the stove. His eyes widened as he jumped to his feet. "Holy Zeus! It's already eight PM!"
The five of us exchanged glances before scrambling to our feet and rushing to the campfire.
.
On our way we stopped by the Pavilion and grabbed something to eat as we ran, and managed to get to the campfire at 8:15, when it was half over, we had missed all the songs and now Chiron was speaking.
Luke took his place at the back of the crowd of Hermes kids, who stared at him wearily. I took my place at the log at the head of the Athena cabin as Thalia led Percy to the Big Three area.
Chiron's eyes flickered over to them, then to Luke, then finally to me. I nodded to him, silently telling him that it was all good. He nodded and continued to speak.
"Aha, our very own Percy Jackson finally arrives, a little mentally wounded, but altogether fine nonetheless!" he exclaimed.
The whole camp broke into loud cheers except the Ares cabin. I swear Percy blushed a little. Thalia said something to him and he laughed and grinned.
"Though, just because this misfortunate event happened, doesn't mean we're going to stop preparing for the war. It is full on…" Chiron trailed off and the entire area went silent. "However, even heroes need a break sometimes, so tonight we're going to have our first, and perhaps only, Capture the Flag game this summer!"
The camp cheered and roared, hands clapping and feet stomping.
"Gather your weapons, flags, teams, alliances, whatever you need, and let the games begin!"
.
The camp exploded into chaos after that. Apparently Percy and Thalia must've made a Zeus-Poseidon alliance or something because they immediately ran for the woods with their flags.
Cami walked over to me, her guitar-bow on her back, Luke behind her. "Apollo and Hermes have an alliance, Travis and Conner would like to know if Athena would ally with us as well," she told me, not making direct eye contact.
"Why aren't they asking me?" I asked her.
Cami shrugged. "They're off doing one thing or another, will you or won't you?"
I sighed. "All right."
Cami whipped her hair tie out of her hair and one of her throwing knives materialized. She pointed it at Luke and directed him toward me. "The Hermes kids would rather he were with you," she snarled, looking at him.
Luke sighed. "Thanks for escorting me little girl."
"Ha!" Cami spun around on her heels and marched toward her siblings. "Go have fun cheating on your boyfriend!"
I felt my stomach drop but Luke just laughed. "Ignore her Ani; she doesn't know what she's talking about…does she?" Luke raised an eyebrow.
"No…" I trailed, shaking my head.
Luke nodded, as one of my cabin mates, Mitchell, approached me, eyeing Luke cautiously. "Hey, Annabeth, do you want to be offense or defense?"
I looked at Luke for a moment. "We'll be offense; you have the defense plan set?"
"We'll?"
"Hermes alliance," I said simply.
Mitchell nodded grimly. "The defense strategy is set; the flag will be a base location #7."
I shook my head. "No, that's one of the bases in which Percy Jackson beat us at."
"But his memory is gone!"
"I know, but just to be safe, try base location #9."
Mitchell bit his lip, looking around. "If you're sure…"
"I am."
Mitchell nodded affirmatively and walked off.
"Base location #9?" Luke asked me. "Gods, Athena really takes these games seriously."
"Here, I'll show you," I told him, walking off into the woods.
.
We walked through the woods, I held my celestial bronze knife Luke had given me all those years ago loosely by my side. Luke's hand rested on his sword's hilt, ready to draw it if need be. I still can't believe camp let him play tonight…Chiron must've helped them consider it or something.
We reached a bank of the creek without any campers jumping out at us. We walked along the soft soil of the bank, the water gently flowing to the right of us. Obviously Percy wasn't nearby. I hoped he was okay…but then I remembered; he was with Thalia. He was fine.
Suddenly, we were rained upon by arrows from the slope above us. Luke pushed me down to the ground and stood above me, deflecting the arrows with his sword.
From my position on my knees I screamed up at them. "You idiots! Both Hermes and Athena are alliances with Apollo!"
The arrows stopped flying and there was silence for a moment. "Sorry Annabeth! We didn't realized it was you!" someone called down, it was Cami. …If she was there she obviously knew it was us…The Apollo cabin leader, I forget his name now, shouted something, I couldn't make it out, but he sound angry, like someone had defied his orders…ha!
Luke turned back to me, rolling his eyes, and helped me up. "Shall we continue onward?" Luke asked, pointing his sword in the direction we were headed.
I laughed. "Let's," I said as we linked arms and continued walking.
.
We reached a small cave opening in the cliff banking the creek.
"Is this it?" Luke asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah," I said.
"Is that smart? Being that close to a Poseidon kid's domain?"
"It's reverse psychology, it would be silly, so people would doubt anyone's flag being here, much less Athena's."
"Ah."
"Never doubt the strategy of a daughter of Athena," I winked at him.
Luke laughed, letting his arm drop from mine. I fell to my knees and began crawling through the little opening, followed by Luke. As we were crawling me poked my stomach, being silly, causing me to giggle.
Soon enough we emerged in a small cavern, dimly lit by torches on the wall, Greek fire torches, so naturally the flame was green, giving the cavern and eerie feel to it. I looked high up on the wall before us, and saw a small statue of an owl on a high ledge. The flags would be inside the owl, it opened up.
No one was in here except us. I figured any campers that were placed on defense patrolled the ground above us, not wanting to give away too much suspicion.
Before I could say anything I felt Luke's arms around my waist, and I laughed. "What's this?"
Luke rested his chin against my shoulder and whispered in my ear. "Just realized how pretty you look in this lightning…not that you didn't already."
I blushed furiously, thankfully he couldn't see it.
Luke turned me around in his arms to face him as he held me. "I—I love you Annabeth Chase." He whispered.
I didn't respond. What do you say to something like that?
Luke leaned in closer to me, and I swear, the flames of the torches flickered. He lightly presses his lips to mine, his arms around my waist. I wrapped my arms around his neck as I kissed him back. His hands moved up to my back, as he rubbed me through my orange camp tee, whilst kissing me.
Together we moved to the wall, he pressed me against it, as we kissed, his hands now running through my hair. My fingers became tangled in his silvery blond hair as we continued to make out. We kissed harder and more passionately now, not as gentle or sweet as before, or any of the other times we've kissed.
My hands fumbled until they found the bottom hem of his camp t-shirt and pulled it off, dropping it to the ground next to us. I brushed my fingers along his bare torso, chest, and arms lightly as we continued to kiss. I totally forgot about everything; Capture the Flag, the war, Thalia, Percy…all I cared about was Luke and how happy I felt right now.
Luke had managed to get my own shirt off and his lips moved down to my neck, as he kissed me there. His hands explored my body, gently brushing along the bare skin up and down my torso. His lips moved down to my shoulder, down my side, to my naval, and then back to my lips where he continued to kiss me there.
When his fingers brushed along the back of my bra and it nearly unhitched itself he froze. I opened my eyes and saw that his blue ones were wide. He pulled his lips from mine and slid to the ground, face in his hands, our shirts a crumpled pile of orange next to him.
I fell down on my knees next to him. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"This…This all feels wrong…" Luke trailed.
I sat on my knees, just watching, listening to him.
"You're like a little sister to me Ani, both you and Thalia, but I love you, more than family, more than I should, I have these feelings for you that I shouldn't…"
I crawled closer to Luke. "I love you too, I mean, it's a little weird, as I still see you as an elder brother sometimes, even more so as Thalia's here…but I love you…a lot…"
"Oh Gods," Luke gasped, his voice cracking. "I…I feel like I'm taking advantage of you…and I don't want to…I don't want to hurt you Annabeth…" he broke off.
I reached out and brought Luke's hands down from his face. "Luke…I'm not a little girl anymore. Look at me. I'm nearly a woman. I can take care of myself fine thank you very much…" I trailed off, smirking a little. "And really? Take advantage of me? Of Annabeth Chase? Of a daughter of Athena? Ha!"
Luke smiled a little. "I guess I was just being silly."
"Yeah."
Luke laughed and pulled me closer to him, sitting me between his legs, his arms wrapped around me. "I love you Annabeth Chase."
"I love you Luke Castellan."
.
After a little bit I pulled away from him. "We should probably get going and actually help capture flags now…besides, we don't want anyone stumbling in and seeing this now do we?" I asked, picking up my shirt and pulling it on over my head.
Luke nodded. "I suppose…" he trailed, putting his own shirt on and standing up.
I turned to leave when Luke gently grabbed my shoulder. "Annabeth?"
I turned my head slightly over my shoulder to look at him.
"I know you're probably going to be busy every moment of the day with Percy, and with the war inching closer, and with you just being you…" he trailed off.
"Yes?"
"Maybe we can meet here each night? Around nine/ten ish?"
I turned around to face him completely. "And miss curfew?"
"Yeah, but not stay here all night…"
"But what about the Harpies?"
Luke laughed. "Don't tell me you're actually scared of them."
I just gave him a blank stare.
"You are!"
I didn't respond.
"There are harpies patrolling the borders of camp, but the rumor, myth, that they eat campers that miss curfew is, well, a myth, something we tell the newbies to make sure they stay in their cabins at night—and within good reasons too. Yet, you're a cabin leader, and me a late one, I think we know what we're doing, no?"
I nodded slowly, smiling. "I guess so."
"So are we set then?" Luke asked.
"Sure," I said, leaning forward on my tippy toes to lightly kiss him on the lips before spinning around and dropping on my hands and knees to exit.
.
We found a not-so-steep part of the bank to climb up—just to be ambushed by Ares campers when we reached the top. Clarisse's electric spear nearly jabbed me in the ribs but I jumped back and would have fallen backwards down the slope into the river if Luke hadn't caught me.
"Hey, bird brain," Clarisse scowled, ignoring Luke. "Having fun yet?"
I shook my head. "Not just yet, but I'm planning on it," I said before taking Luke's hand and running at top speed, half of the Ares cabin hot on our trail.
We reached the part of the river where a tree had fallen, making a doable bridge to the opposite bank. I jumped on it, and Luke and I quickly, and cautiously, made it to the other side before jumping off and turning around to watch the Ares campers.
Being strong, heavy, and rather stupid they all charged—minus Clarisse, who was a bit brighter than the rest of her siblings, abruptly came to a halt and watched as the tree broke under the weight of her siblings and they went falling to the river below, washing downstream to the spring where we would be headed as I assumed where Percy and Thalia had made their base.
Clarisse raged at us from her side of the bank, her arms up in the air.
I bent down, picked up a small rock, and threw it at her.
Clarisse sidestepped it—but tripped and went sprawling into the river.
I laughed. "Yes, Clarisse, now I'm having a lot of fun! Are you?" I called down to her, as Luke just stood next to me, shaking his head and smiling.
.
Luke and I followed the stream to the spring, where, exactly as I thought, Percy stood, making whirlpools in the spring, plunking Ares campers out of the water and onto the ground around the spring, either unconscious or groaning.
When that task was done Percy did not even get a moment to breathe because arrows started to rain down on him. I looked around, and spotted about a dozen Apollo campers in the trees around the spring. Damn. Looks like they got here first. Obviously I wasn't the only one with this idea. Sure Apollo was one of our allies…but still.
I turned to Luke. "I'm going to dive underwater, I'm sure that's where his flag is, can you go help the Apollo campers distract Percy?"
Luke nodded, drawing Backbiter, and turned to approach Percy.
"Oh, and Luke?"
He turned his head back slightly.
"Try not to get hit by those arrows too much…or take one to the knee."
Luke grinned and nodded, before crouching to sneak up on the son of the sea god.
I crept my way over to the spring. I slipped off my shoes and stepped in, biting my lip to keep from making any noise as the water was cold. I, as silently as I could, swam to the center of the spring, took a deep breath in, and dived underwater. I let myself sink to the bottom and opened my eyes, wide. The water was extremely clean, clear, and pure here. Could it just be because there was no pollution, or because of Percy? I smiled at the thought.
Then I glimpsed the flags. They were tied to a rock. I swam to it and began untying it. There was Poseidon's flag, Zeus's—Thalia and Percy were allies, Thalia's probably on the offense—Demeter's, and Aphrodite's. I winced at the thought of Thalia getting the Demeter Cabin's flag. That's horribly difficult, with thorny vines wrapping around your ankles and tripping you up as you try to move as they shoot seeds, thorns, and other things at you, not fun. You also may need to hold your breath if they released something toxic…that reminds me. I was going to need to breathe soon.
Clutching the four flags, I kicked and sped upwards, breaking the surface with a loud splash, gasping for air. I looked around and spotted Luke and Percy sword fighting—equally matched as always. I started swimming to where my shoes were, when I was nearly out of the spring my head slipped underwater. I kicked and returned above surface, but it was hard. I was trapped in a whirlpool. Percy must've noticed me. I screamed just as my head disappeared underwater for a moment. Then it stopped. I took the opportunity to jump out of the spring, and slip on my shoes, soaking wet, dripping and gasping for air. I turned and saw that Luke had tackled Percy and was now wrestling him on the ground.
"Annabeth! Get to the base!" Luke called.
I spun around and took off running, breathing heavily. When I finally reached our base—shared with Apollo and Hermes—I came face-to-face with Thalia, who was just about to leave with our three flags—no, more than three. Damn, my cabin and alliances must've been busy! If my calculations were correct, only Hephaestus was left. My eyes widened. Ares was taking down? Then I smiled. We probably did help a tad. I was broken out of my thoughts when Thalia spoke.
"Oh, hey Ani," Thalia smiled. "Do you mind moving just a little so I can make my daring escape?"
I shook my head. "No thanks," I said before ripping our flags from her hand and clipped them and mine to my belt. In a flash I drew my knife and rolled between her legs so now she was on front of the exit. "You may leave now if you wish," I smiled.
Thalia laughed. "I don't think so," she lunged for my belt but I blocked her, and pushed her toward the exit with the hilt of my knife. Together we moved out of the base and to the river.
Knowing I had no hope of defeating Thalia I spun around and scrambled up the bank.
Thalia followed me, and at higher ground she drew her shield…her heavy shield. Dude. Thalia must be tired and not thinking straight.
I leaned forward and poked her, hard. Electric blue eyes wide, she fell backwards down the slope and into the river, to be rushed downstream and to the spring.
"Ha! Don't worry! Maybe together you and Percy can beat Luke! Not that it'll do you much good!" I called after her. Damn was I competitive.
I laughed silently to myself; this river was really helping me today. Then I turned around, and my laughter was cut short.
Travis and Conner Stoll were running toward me, holding the Hephaestus flag…but they were being pursued by a twenty foot tall, celestial bronze, automaton with glowing red eyes and wielding a wicked sharp, jagged, long piece of metal that appeared to be going to college to be a sword.
The twins ran past me screaming and I decided that was smart.
So I spun around and ran after them, screaming.
