Hey, ya'll. This is the longest chapter yet. Only one more chapter after this one. Brace yourselves.
allen r : Technically this is less of them fighting.
BryanTheWriter: I'm glad you enjoy my stories. I wouldn't say I'm an incredible writer, but I know that I'm not a shit one. And that would be very cool if you did. Here's your update, dear!
Annabeth POV
"What are we gonna do?" I ask him.
"Well, we could-,"
"That will never work."
"You didn't even let me finish!" he says and I cross my arms and raise an eyebrow.
"Which one of us lead us into the Second Olympian War and lead us into victory?" he asks, trying to prove himself worthy of having an excellent plan.
"You act like you were some big hero, Percy. We both know that Luke was the true hero," I say, stepping closer to him, starting to get angry with him. He opens his mouth as if to say something, but thinks better of it.
"I know, Anna. All I'm saying is that occasionally I'm capable of having a good idea or two."
"All right. What's your ever so fantastic idea?" I say, sighing in defeat.
"Why don't we just call Apollo to help us melt Aphrodite free?"
"Do you think it would work?"
"We can at least try," he answers, being the optimist he is.
"Fine. You'll have to climb back down and go to that stream over there to Iris message him."
"You're not going to come with me?" he asks confused.
"You're the one that's having this wonderful idea. I'm not needed."
"Have it your way then," he tells me as he wills the water from the stream to float up to us, creating our own miniature stream in the air. Against the sun, a rainbow appears in the water and Percy asks Iris to connect us with Apollo. At first, we are both a little confused because we see Artemis. However, shortly after, Apollo comes into view and they seem to be arguing about something. That's when Thalia also comes into view.
"Tell me why I shouldn't kick her out of the Hunters, Brother!"
"Because she is your best Hunter."
"I can find others."
"None that match her."
"She disobeyed orders."
"She saved Annabeth's life. We both know that."
"A-hem," I clear my throat, getting their attention. They all turn their heads and look at us through the Iris message.
"Oh, hey, Annabeth. Percy," greets Apollo.
"Do you two need something?" Artemis asks.
"Um, yeah. Actually we do. Apollo, we need your help. You see, Khione has Aphrodite trapped in ice and we would really appreciate it if you would melt her free or something of the sorts," Percy says.
"Well, I can't help you directly right now, but I think there's something that will help you in a nearby tree at a farm that could help you. It's a miniature sun. All you have to do is throw it up in the air and this is where I'm gonna lose Annabeth… you'll have to sing in order for it to actually work. Use the prophecy in order to choose the right song," he says to me.
"Damn. I guess I have to, huh?"
"Don't worry, Annabeth. I watch over you, too. You'll be fine. Sometimes I wonder if you're actually one of my children," Apollo tells me.
"Mmm.. okay. And may I ask why Thalia may be getting kicked out of the Hunters?"
"Remember when I came to visit you, Annabeth?" Thalia pitches in.
"Yeah…"
"Well, I didn't exactly get permission. I kinda just went."
"Sometimes I swear you are the dumbest friend I have…" I say, face palming.
"If I hadn't been there when you had you episode, you'd probably be dead right now! You should be thanking me."
"Maybe if you had stayed, she wouldn't have had the episode in the first place!" Artemis yells.
"She would have had one no matter what," Percy chirps in, causing all of us to turn our heads and stare at him quizzically.
"How do you figure?" we ask in unison.
"Annabeth, face it. You probably would have sent yourself into one by thinking too much. Hades, you may have even done it on purpose in an effort to kill yourself."
I stare at him in disbelief. He raises an eyebrow as if daring me to prove him wrong, but I know that I can't. He knows that too, though. I can tell by the smirk on his face, but there's also a hint of concern knowing that what he said is true. He immediately snakes his arm around my waist protectively as if he is scared that he will lose me. I take advantage of the situation and rest my head on his chest.
"He's right," Apollo breaks the silence.
"Fine," Artemis says defeated. "Just don't let it happen again." And with that, she disappeared.
"What the fuck, Apollo? Who are you to just agree with what Percy said?"
"Your therapist and the one who told you to take the damn anti-depressants," he answers plainly. Just as I start to get angry he adds, "Hey, don't forget your coping mechanism: singing," just before he wipes the Iris message away.
"That dick!" I exclaim to no one in particular.
"Annabeth, he's just trying to help-," he starts, but stops as soon as he sees I put on my Yankees cap.
"What are you doing?" he asks.
"Some of us have suns to find," I whisper into his ear from behind him, making him jump.
"How are we gonna get it?"
"I have a plan, Percy. I always have a plan," I say from approximately fifty feet from him.
"Why aren't we climbing back down the face of the cliff like we did to climb up?"
"There's an easier way down."
I stand there for a second trying to remember where exactly the hill is that we could simply slide down. I recall that it's on the other side of the cave, but I don't know how to get passed the cave without being spotted by Khione. While contemplating this, Percy bumps into me, causing my cap to fall off my head.
"Sorry, Annabeth."
"No, Percy. Don't be sorry. You're a genius. Well, technically I'm the genius but you helped me get there."
"What's the plan, Wise Girl?"
"The hill is on the other side of the cave. I'll go past the cave first and then toss you the hat so you can cross without being spotted. With our luck, she's probably waiting for us."
"All right then. Go ahead."
I pick up the hat and start to make my way towards the cave. Right as I get to the edge of the cave, I put on the hat and sneak safely past the opening. I throw a rainbow to Percy with the hat hoping that he can catch. Though, he was probably just hoping I could throw since he's, you know, Percy. Thankfully he catches it and passes by without a hitch.
"Okay, give me my cap back," I command.
"Make me," he murmurs in my ear.
And I, being the obedient person I am, do indeed make him. If he won't give it back willingly, I'll simply take it from him. I close my eyes and take deep, steady breaths to become more aware of my surroundings. No, not just more aware, hyperaware. I take another moment and finally open my eyes. One minute later, I reached out to my left and got my hat back.
"Hey, how'd you do that?" he asks.
"Extreme skill. Skill you do not nor will you ever possess."
"Fair enough, I guess. I don't like the answer, but it's honest."
"Perce, how good are your baseball skills?"
"Never played. Why?"
"Watch and learn," I say as we draw nearer to the hill.
When we're about ten feet away from the hill, I ask him if he's ready. He nods in confusion as I tell him to stay and copy exactly what I do. I sprint full speed ahead towards the hill and where it starts to decline is when I kick out my left foot, putting my right one behind me. That's right, guys. I, Annabeth Chase, just literally slid down a hill like I was stealing home plate. When I get to the bottom, I motion for Percy to follow. He stands there for a second and stares at me like I've lost my mind.
"Come on, Percy. We don't have all day!"
"But why-," he starts.
"Don't be such a sissy bitch, Jackson!"
With that comment, he immediately does exactly what I had done not even one minute prior. The sight lain before my eyes right now has to be the most hilarious thing ever. This is how I know that the only physical exercising he has ever done is sword fighting. His version of sliding is starting the motion then doing it wrong and rolling down the hill like an idiot. If he hadn't gone in the River Styx, odds are he'd be at least seriously injured right now. When he's done with his failed attempt at sliding and he's standing back up at the bottom of the hill, I burst out laughing.
"What?" he asks with that goofy lopsided grin that I love, but it only makes me laugh harder.
"That…Was…You…Sliding?" I manage to get out in between laughs.
"Ha-ha. Laugh it up, Chase. Just know that when we get back to camp, you are so getting thrown in the lake. See who's laughing then," he says, and with that my laughing ceases.
"You wouldn't."
"Wanna test that?"
"Yeah, not really."
"Didn't think so," he says as we walk towards the Brills'.
As we draw nearer and nearer to the farm, I ask, "You were joking just then, right?"
"Why on Earth would you think that?" he asks smirking.
"I'm so fucked."
"Maybe later."
"Promise?" I ask half joking, half serious.
"Pinky promise on the River Styx," he says, holding out his pinky finger which I take and put with mine while I roll my eyes.
I put on my Yankees hat as we proceed towards the farm. I have a feeling that I know exactly which tree Apollo was talking about. The oak tree in their side yard, which is easily accessible off the main road. It just has to be. Otherwise I would have to check over one hundred other trees, which I am so not doing. I mean, really Apollo, you hide a sun in a tree on a farm that is fully dedicated to trees. I kind of hate him so much right now. We stop a few yards away from the tree and I reveal to him my plan.
"Okay, Percy. You see that large oak over there with the swing?"
"Mhmm."
"I'm gonna go over there, grab the bag out of the hole on the other side facing the farm, and then I need you to walk past and catch it when I throw it to you."
"You think it's going to work?"
"Not at all," I admit. "But, we gotta try something," I say as I turn around to walk over to the tree.
I get to the edge of the Brill's property and check to see if anyone is outside or at least near where I had to be. Granted, I do have on my Yankees cap, but you can never be too safe. I don't see anyone around so I presume it's safe to check the tree. I slowly make my way over to the tree that held the most memories on the whole entire farm. I remember the time when we all decided to swing and see who could jump the highest. Of course, Michael won, but not without almost breaking his arm. I think that's a guy trait. While looking back upon the memories and good times, I forget what I'm supposed to be doing and run into the tree. I circle the tree and find the hole, reaching in and I feel a piece of fabric. I reach in further until I can get a steady, tight grasp on the velvet bag and take it out. As Percy walks by the farm, I toss the bag to him not even thinking to look and make sure nobody is around. Let me just say this: oops. I start running to catch up with Percy.
"Hey, stop!" they yell at us (well, Percy, but I was there too, they just didn't know.) Percy and I keep running and despite how fast the two of us are, one of them caught up to us: Grace. Sarah and Mikey soon join. Percy and I accept our fate and stop running.
"How did you get that?" asks Grace. She looks exactly the same. Tall and lean with sun kissed skin and blonde hair stopping at her ears.
"I had it the whole time," answers Percy.
"No. No you didn't. The bag literally flew through the air to you from our yard, our tree. It was on our property, so clearly it's ours. Give it back," commands Sarah. She, just like Mike has changed. Her hair was now black and she wore heavy black eyeliner and mascara. She vaguely reminded me of Thalia in that respect.
"It's not yours. This is mine," Percy says calmly.
"Give it back!" Sarah says pulling on the bag so hard that I swear the bag would rip if I don't do something. So I do.
"Guys, stop!" I yell, taking off my cap.
"Annabeth?!" they all exclaim in unison, running to hug me, but backing away slowly as they come to reality. "Annabeth…?" they ask, now confused and unsure if what they're seeing is for real or not.
"Yeah," I sigh.
"I knew it wasn't just a hallucination that I saw!" Michael says, picking me up in a hug. At this, Percy growls protectively.
"Who the hell is this guy?" Michael asks, growing angry.
"That guy is Percy, my boyfriend," I say as Percy puts his arm around my waist, protectively.
"Settled, did you Annabeth?" he asked.
"Absolutely not. I did not 'settle' on Percy. If anything, he settled on me."
"So doesn't that mean that you're not perfect for each other? We could have been perfect, Annabeth. And trust me, it's you that settled for him. If you had just stayed and not up and left out of the blue, we could've had something, Annie!"
"What did you just call me?" I ask slowly, angrily.
"I called you Annie. I always used to call you Annie. What, now that he's in your life you're all of a sudden too good to be called Annie?" Michael accuses.
"Bro, fuck off," Percy chimes in before I can do serious damage to Mike.
"Dude, make me."
Big mistake, Michael, I thought to myself. Now, don't get me wrong, Michael was muscular, but Percy was stronger, taller, and had more practice in fighting. If I had all the money in the world, I would bet it all on Perce. None of us wanted to stop them right away so Sarah, Grace, and I backed away slowly watching them circle one another waiting for the perfect time to launch at the other. Just when we thought that they weren't gonna fight, which I really should've known better, Michael lunges towards Percy. Percy easily steps to the left and dodges his sloppy punch. However, Percy manages to catch Mike's arm and twists it behind his back causing him to grunt in pain. Before any of us can do anything, Percy has Mikey pinned down to the ground with his knee on his chest and his forearm placed firmly on his neck, nearly killing him. He presses down his arm even harder.
"Talk to her like that one more time…" he warns.
"Percy, get off of him. Come on. You're gonna kill him," I beg of him.
"Maybe I should. He has no right to talk to you like that," he says almost completely killing off Michael's oxygen.
"Percy, look at me," I tell him, touching his Achilles Heel. He shudders and whips his head towards me. I swear to gods I could literally see his eyes turning red from the anger.
"Percy," I say, looking him directly in his eyes, "look. I'm not hurt. I'm fine. You're right; he has no right to speak to me and of me like that. However, he does have the right to free speech hence he is allowed to say such things despite what others think. Now, please, stop hurting him.
We need to get going anyways. Aphrodite can't free herself."
"You're right."
"I know I am, Seaweed Brain. Now get up so I can erase their memory of ever seeing us."
"So, you're just gonna leave again? Just like that?" Sarah asks in dismay.
"I'm not the town's most famous disappearance for nothing."
"How are we gonna wipe their memories, Wise Girl?"
"Easy."
I punch Sarah and Grace as hard as I can in their faces and render them unconscious. Please don't let them remember that I was here. Hades, don't even let them remember Percy. Just please don't let them remember today's events, I pray to the gods. I would have done the same to Michael, but Percy already made him unconscious during the fight. He and I walk away and head back towards the hill, instead of climbing up the rocks.
"Percy, you almost killed him. Do you know that?" I ask, avoiding eye contact with him.
"Yeah, I know. Annabeth, I am so sorry. I… I don't know what happened. He started talking to you like that and I just got so angry. It was like I was seeing red. I just couldn't help it."
"It's okay, Perce. You're still the only one who can get away with calling me Annie. And you know what; he USED to call me that. He can't anymore. You know why? Because of you. You're the only one I want calling me that. You shouldn't have felt threatened by him. He is a thing of the past Percy. Talking about him is like talking about Luke. I love you, Percy. Nobody else, just you."
"I know. I'm just really sorry. I shouldn't have lost control. Annabeth-," he starts to say but I cut him off by kissing him. His arms find their way around my hips as my hands entangle through his hair. His tongue gives up the fight for dominance and mine explore his mouth. I pull away from him and look into his eyes that have gone back to normal.
"Better?" I ask him.
"Much." He says as we continue our way to the cliff. When we arrive at the cliff, we reluctantly and tiredly make our way up the hill which is quicker and a lot easier than climbing up the face of the cliff. Ten minutes late, we find ourselves standing near the opening of the cave. We look at each other and prepare to go in and fight. We run in there, Percy with his sword drawn ready to have my back since I had to free Lady Aphrodite. When we get in there, all we see is Aphrodite's trapped body, with Khione nowhere in sight. I take the bag and open it, dumping the contents: a yellow sphere. The mini sun that Apollo was talking about. It wasn't hot to the touch or blinding though which made me question whether or not it was Apollo's gift. However, after turning it over I know it is as it has his name etched into it.
"You ready?" asks Percy.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I respond.
"Then I guess you'll never be ready," says an icy voice from out of virtually nowhere.
"Khione," Percy and I say simultaneously.
"Very good, my dears. I'm afraid that I'm not gonna be able to let you take her back. I may even have to kill you."
"Then come out here and fight," Percy counters firmly.
"All right," she says, the cave dropping thirty degrees I swear.
She appears right in front of Percy who immediately starts to fight her. As I start to reach for my dagger, Percy looks at me.
"No, Annabeth. Now. Do it now!"
I follow his instructions and toss the sun into the air and begin.
"I'm bullet proof,
Nothing to lose
Fire away, fire away
Ricochet, you take your aim
Fire away, fire away
You shoot me down
But I won't fall
I am titanium
You shoot me down
But I won't fall
I am titanium
I am titanium
I am titanium
Stone hard, machine gun
Firing at the ones who run
Stone hard, those bullet proof guns," I finish and there is an explosion of light right about the frozen goddess. Much to my surprise, though it shouldn't be, Percy had already beaten Khione. Within a matter of seconds, the love goddess emerges from the ice.
"Thank you, my little doves."
"No. I'm not playing this game with you right now. I want answers. Now," I demand.
"Annabeth, dear. No need to get all worked up. This is about the Rachel thing and the fight in the woods, isn't it?"
"Nooo, it's about bunnies and unicorns. OF COURSE IT'S ABOUT THAT!" I scream at her. Percy tries to grab my hand and calm me down, but I refuse.
"Relax, Annabeth. It's quite simple, actually. You see, I moved my energy to Rachel to try to start some ruckus so maybe you'd figure out that there's something wrong since I would NEVER split up the best couple I've paired since… well, no couple even begins to compare to you guys. Anyways, I thought that maybe you'd pick up on that she's the oracle and actually can't do anything, but you were too stupid for even that. So, when that didn't work, I transferred my energy to the woods that night which triggered all the events after."
"Why didn't you just transfer your energy to wherever we were and just tell us you were trapped and needed help?"
"That wouldn't have been as much fun, now would it?"
Percy POV
"You bitch!" she says taking out her dagger. As soon as she does this, Aphrodite manages to muster up a sword. Huh, who knew? Anyways, her sword makes contact with Annabeth's dagger and they start battling. I let them go for a little while so they can both blow off some steam. I thought that's what they were trying to do, but boy was I wrong. They are fighting to kill. Aphrodite kept coming closer and closer to actually having her sword make contact with Annabeth, however she hangs in there. Once I deem that they had fought for long enough, I go in there and try to pull Annabeth away and get the fighting to stop. I grab her arms and start dragging her backwards with me. That proved to be possibly the biggest mistake ever. Aphrodite, already having the swing of her sword in motion, can't stop it. She stabs Annabeth in the stomach. I hear a blood curdling scream from Annabeth.
"Oops," Aphrodite manages, then disappears into a cloud of pink dust.
Annabeth loses consciousness in my arms as I hurry to think of a way to heal her. I know what you're thinking: why not just give her some nectar and ambrosia? Well, that would be because I forgot to pack any and I know she didn't pack any since we had made a deal that I would bring it. I need to get her somewhere and fast. She was losing too much blood. Then it hit me: take her to Dani's.