Chapter 13- Golden Flames

The night was suspiciously calm for mid-December. The air was still and cold and the stars that shone bright enough to make it through the man-made pollution were illuminating the night sky with their glow. Without a wind to waft their scent towards the camp, it seemed unlikely that the monsters would detect an attack and hopefully their plan would go off without a hitch. A faint blue light was reflecting off the edge of Annabeth's new sword that Astrid had given her after finding out that Annabeth still possessed no weapon. The blade was blue and the hilt was light brown; both were made of materials that Annabeth was unfamiliar with and created a perfectly balanced weight so that all blows were stronger and faster than ever before.

"They've got sentries on their border," Sabine announced through a walkie-talkie. "They're all facing away from the mountain. If we can get close enough to the surface of it then we should be able to blend into it in the darkness."

"Won't their campfires reveal our presence?" Annabeth asked.

"I'll deal with the fires," said Astrid. "You just hug the wall and creep towards their camp as quietly as possible."

The connection between the walkie-talkies was broken and Annabeth stuffed it into her back pocket. Their plan, as of now, was to split up and get into the camp one by one so that their presence would not be concentrated and break the magic that hid them from the monsters. It was mainly Annabeth that was the problem as her demi-god scent was incredibly difficult to hide and Astrid was being forced to divide her concentration between shielding the presence of two deities and masking the scent of a demi-god. Both tasks were incredibly difficult on their own but together they were damn near impossible.

Annabeth slid down the hill she had been crouched on slowly so as not to send dirt and stones flying about that would surely attract the attention of the monsters' superior senses. The camp was barely twenty metres away and Annabeth crept towards the face of the mountain as she advanced; her dark shape merged with the uneven form of the mountain and she came to a stop just five metres from their border. A step further and the light of the fires would hit her and expose her for all the world to see; Annabeth did not plan on missing a golden opportunity because some monsters knew how to start a fire. Where was Astrid?

A club footed Cyclopes approached the biggest camp-fire with lumber in his hands. The other monsters took no notice of him and Annabeth suspected that he was of very low rank and probably got blamed for everything. He stopped inches from the flames and dropped his stack of lumber in all at once. In that instant, the flames shot high into the sky and blasted everything nearby back by almost three feet. Dirt went flying into the eyes of other monsters, smoke choked their lungs and the flames blinded their eyes. Annabeth launched herself forwards off the rocky cliff and hit the ground running. There was a hole in the mountain that had been hidden by the position of the monsters' tents; it appeared to have been carved and was only big enough for someone of human size to pass through.

Annabeth darted through the space and skidded to a stop on the other side as she took in her surroundings. There was one big tunnel leading up and into the centre of the mountain and the shoddiness of the carving meant that there were gaps and crevices in the sides of the tunnel that someone could hide in. Outside, the monsters had overcome their momentary confusion and were now wailing on the Cyclopes in question; Annabeth found herself feeling sorry for the guy. There was a sound like a brush on concrete and Sabine came sliding into the tunnel, closely followed by Astrid. No-one followed them and Annabeth had to really focus to see the detail on their faces.

"Nice," said Sabine. "Lots of space to hide."

"If all goes as planned we won't need to," Annabeth said, walking forwards. "That creature must be in here somewhere."

They advanced up the rocky tunnel for the next twenty minutes at a cautious pace, ready for anything to jump out at them, and stopped as they reached the entrance to a wider room, a large hearth in its centre and all variety of potions and ingredients stacked on shelves around it. A set of large armchairs were set up facing the entrance and, in one of them, sat a figure in a tattered black cloak. His malicious grin was visible through the gap his low-pulled hood had left and Annabeth felt her body start to tremble with fear at the sight of him. Behind them, a steel portcullis slammed shut and the three of them were shunted forwards slightly by it.

In this moment of pure tension and fear, Sabine reacted in the only way she could.

"Ha ha! We got you!" She pointed victoriously.

"Sabine I don't think this is the time…" Astrid whispered.

"Welcome," The figure said, red light reflecting off his teeth. "I am Sacerdos."

"Sacerdos." Annabeth tried the name on her tongue; it felt terrible to say.

"I believe you have something that was dropped by one of my comrades."

The stone felt like lead in Annabeth's pocket. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"The stone, dear girl," Sacerdos tutted. "I thought you were supposed to be intelligent. I'd heard so much about your brains during those fights with the Titans and Giants that I was expecting someone a little different, if I'm honest."

"I am different," said Annabeth. "So different to the person I was that the people I knew wouldn't recognise me."

"That's not just because of your personality, I'd wager. Your skin has taken on a darker tone since the incident and your face is sharper, more aware."

"Incident?"

"When we blew up your cabin, girl," Sacerdos got to his feet, hands clasped behind his back. "Not that it was supposed to be of that magnitude, of course. You can't get blood from a charred corpse."

Annabeth stared for a moment, blinking twice. "Wait… you blew up the cabin?!"

"Indeed," Sacerdos was still grinning. "Although I cannot take all the credit. The bomb was orchestrated by some of my fellows and I must say they did a rather good job of it."

"So it's you then," Annabeth felt her voice threaten to crack. "You're the ones who've been after my blood this whole time. You killed my siblings."

"Well, not all of your siblings as I'm sure you can see," He nodded at Sabine. "But yes. We have been after your blood for quite some time. Ever since it was used to raise Gaia, in fact. However, and I must commend you for this, we believed you were dead until quite recently. That fight with Perseus gave you away instantly."

"Wait," Astrid spoke up. "You said you wanted her blood. Why? And if you wanted the Blood of Olympus then why not take it from Percy Jackson?"

"We tried," Sacerdos admitted. "Unfortunately it takes the blood of the person that hit the ground first to activate our device."

"The blood stone you mean." Annabeth spat bitterly.

Sacerdos stiffened, his smile dropping. "How do you know about that?" His voice was cold and accusing, all crazy playfulness vanishing on the spot.

"None of your business," said Sabine. "Why do you want my sister's blood?"

"None of your business," Sacerdos retorted. "It matters not that I tell you for you'll never be seen outside these walls again. I've had a little surprise incorporated into my domain ever since I discovered the half-blood was travelling with two immortals." He snapped his fingers.

In the centre of the room, where the hearth lay, a large hole began to open up and the stone around the room dropped down all at once to leave a huge tunnel leading straight down further than anything Annabeth had witnessed before. Actually, there was one tunnel that went as deep as this one.

"Tartarus?" Annabeth snorted. "They're gods. They'll just teleport out."

Sacerdos gave a cruel smile. "Not Tartarus, little demi-god. Chaos."

"Chaos?" Astrid repeated, voice slightly higher than normal. "I don't believe you."

"Feel free to look for yourself," Sacerdos reached for a spot on his side where a sword lay hidden beneath the folds of his cloak. "You'll see I speak the truth soon enough."

Then, several things happened at once. Sacerdos unsheathed his sword, doors churned open at the sides of the room and hundreds of monsters poured out, an explosion rocked the mountain and vials of Greek fire were thrown into the air. Annabeth drew her sword and charged Sacerdos.

Blue clashed with silver and sparks flew as the blades of their swords met and parted before meeting again. The rest of the room was alive with the sounds of fighting and carnage. Thirty dracaenae were blasted to pieces by a bomb and another hundred were set alight by scorching orange flames. Annabeth locked swords with Sacerdos just as another explosion made the ground rumble and tore away the balances of everyone in the room.

"What is going on out there?" She heard Sacerdos mutter under his breath before he got to his feet and lunged for her.

Annabeth had never been more grateful for the training and support her peers had given her in her life. She managed to meet his every blow and throw back some of her own but Annabeth was soon being pressed back and had to fall into a purely defensive fighting style. It was becoming more and more obvious to her that Sacerdos had godly strength and she silently prayed that he did not; if he did have it that meant he was immortal. How was she supposed to kill him then?

Another wave of flames filled the room and every monster within was charred beyond recognition and crumpled to the floor in piles of dust. More spilled out from the holes in the walls to fill their ranks and attempted to box the two goddesses in and force them over the edge into the abyss. Fortunately, it took a very powerful monster to outfox a god and the ranks of creatures were continually burned, blown up, doused in potions from the shelves or turned to dust at the wave of a hand. There were more explosions coming from outside now and lots of screaming. Monsters were wailing so loudly their cries reverberated off the stone walls and both into and out of the mountain stronghold. Now, with her mind racing, Annabeth began to wonder what exactly was going on outside. Sacerdos didn't seem to know and the only people with her were Astrid and Sabine.

Annabeth almost paid for these thoughts when the blade of her enemy passed so close to her face that she felt the air sliding around it and pulled back immediately to avoid losing any blood. The instant this creature landed a hit on Annabeth it was only a matter of time before he used her blood to raise his master. Again, Sacerdos managed to lock blades with her and began pushing down with all of his strength to force Annabeth down. Her legs trembled as she bent her knees to resist but his strength far outmatched hers and she slowly began to slip further and further towards the ground. Just as the blades came right up to her skin, a blast of fire lit the head of Sacerdos' cloak on fire and his concentration was broken. Annabeth pushed up and shunted him backwards as she stumbled away and tried to regain her balance.

There were no monsters left in the room now and Astrid and Sabine were completely unscathed and ready to fight some more. Annabeth turned her head back to Sacerdos and levelled her sword.

"It's over." She announced.

Sacerdos chuckled. "Not yet."

He threw up both hands and a blast of energy caught Annabeth in the chest so hard that she went flying across the room and collided with an empty shelf before slumping to the floor, groaning in pain. Another wave of energy caught Sabine but she shrugged it off to the side where it destroyed part of the wall and shot Sacerdos in the chest. Unfazed by this, the creature slashed with his sword and sent the two goddesses tumbling out of the way. Astrid landed right on the edge of the hole leading down to Chaos and scrambled to her feet, ducking out of the way of another attack. The fight got faster, with godly speed and agility being thrown into the mix, and Annabeth could not keep track of things through her watering eyes.

There were a few tense moments as the three were locked in combat before Sabine managed to get a lucky shot off and caught Sacerdos in the head this time. He bellowed in pain and the force of his shout sent his two opponents flying where their heads collided harshly with a stone wall and they dropped to the floor. Neither one was moving.

Sacerdos shuddered for a moment in pain before rising to his full height, shrugging and moving his shoulders to get back into his fighting style and turning to Annabeth. Her sword was still in her hand but her back hurt so much that she could barely move. With great effort, Annabeth began to lift her sword as Sacerdos raised his own with the intent of ending her life once and for all. Annabeth could hear her own heart beating in her chest as the blow came down-

But then something else happened. Both Sacerdos and his sword were blasted to the side as the most vibrant gold flames crashed into him, his form vanishing beneath their light. They were so bright that Annabeth dropped her sword and used the hand to shield her eyes as she watched the black, charred for of a monster that had almost ruined her life be thrown across the floor, up to the edge of the hole, and fall straight down it and into the nothingness that lay far, far below. The stream of flames continued for a moment before halting and a blast of sparks and dust flew up from the whole that Sacerdos had fallen down, all that remained of him now, before falling back down into the darkness once again to be completely obliterated.

Annabeth briefly noted Astrid's outstretched hand dropping to the floor before she laid her head down against the floor and tried to catch her breath. For a minute, there was silence in the room other than Annabeth's heavy breathing and the sounds of the hole closing back up at the death of its maker. There was a heaviness in her limbs that made Annabeth cringe and, once her breath was back, she shifted about slightly and felt a satisfying crack from her back as it mended itself. Groaning, Annabeth forced herself into a sitting position and leaned back against the crumbling remains of the shelf she had smashed into. There was a strange emptiness to the room that made itself known now its occupants were dead. All except three.

"Oww…" Sabine groaned as she pushed herself onto her knees. "My head…"

"Oh you've got problems." Astrid grumbled as she lifted her head from the floor, ichor dripping down from above her hairline.

"Blimey," Annabeth scooted over to the two. "Can you still see?"

"Yeah," Astrid groaned in pain and clutched her temples. "But it hurts like hell. Oww…"

There were footsteps coming up the corridor that led into the room now. The portcullis lifted up and a tall, beefy boy came rushing in with his bow at the ready; he paused when he saw Annabeth and Annabeth went deadly still at the sight of him.

"Annabeth?" Frank Zhang gaped like a fish; he probably knew how to do that from turning into one so often. "You're… you're here! How… what-?"

"Not now Frank," Annabeth struggled to her feet. "Help me with Astrid."

"Astrid?" Frank's eyes caught onto the two girls still slumped on the floor. "Who are they? Is that… is that ichor?"

"Yes now help me!"

Frank jumped slightly at the outburst before hesitantly lowering his bow. "O-okay… how did this happen?"

"She got thrown into a wall," Annabeth grunted as both she and Frank lifted Astrid to a standing position and supported her as she tried to walk. "Forgot to dodge a blow."

"You'll dodge my blow in a minute," Astrid mumbled, half-conscious. "You got thrown into a wall first."

"It was a shelf," Annabeth reminded her. "Do you feel any better?"

"No, I hit the wall less than five minutes ago so I am definitely not okay."

"Can't you use your magic to heal yourself?" asked Frank. "Goddesses can do that, right?"

"Under normal circumstances? Yes. When we've hit our heads and can barely make out how many Annabeth's there are? No. We're concussed, demi-god, give us a break." said Sabine.

"Be nice," Annabeth chided. "He's my friend."

"A little more focused on the half-dead girl please." Astrid winced.

They managed to shuffle Astrid down the tunnel bit-by-bit and she slowly regained the use of her legs as they went. Sabine was stumbling along behind them but her stride got steadier as the walk continued and when one of them complained that they needed a break because their vision was filling with pale dots they all sat down and waited a moment for them to get better. It took a long time, long enough for Annabeth's adrenaline to wear off so that she could feel how awkward it was to have Frank keep glancing at her, but they made it back outside. The monster camp was now a burning husk and there were a dozen demi-gods wandering around, picking up loot and conversing with each other. When they saw Annabeth coming, they froze.

"Uh…" Annabeth noted that she had just stumbled into almost every one of her closest friends at camp and then some. "This… isn't what it looks like."

"It looks like you're not dead." said Jason with a blank expression.

Annabeth faltered for a moment. "Yeah… it's exactly what it looks like."

Silence for another moment and then cheering filled the air. Annabeth was rugby tackled to the floor by a grinning Piper who squeezed her so tightly she thought her lungs were going to burst. Jason grinned and clapped her on the shoulder, Hazel burst into tears, Lou Ellen dropped the monster-turned-rabbit she was holding and fell into the waiting arms of Katie Gardner, who didn't seem able to keep the look of shock off her face. Annabeth was completely winded by the end of it.

"You're alive!"

"You escaped the fire!"

"Where have you been?"

"What were you doing?"

"Guys! Guys! Can you let up, please, my friend is injured!" Annabeth cried as several people tried to swat her for making them worry.

"Friend?" Jason asked before looking up and noticing both Astrid and Sabine standing near Frank. "Dude, who are they?"

"Dunno, they were all in this big chamber inside the mountain," Frank explained, gently setting Astrid down on the ground. "Annabeth said they hit a wall."

"A wall?" Katie frowned. "Were they in a fight?"

"Fight or no fight," Connor Stoll took a cautious step backwards. "Unless I'm going colour-blind then that is ichor dripping down her face."

The group of half-bloods shifted backwards in surprise.

"Annabeth… you were fighting a god?" Piper asked.

"No… well, yes I was fighting a god but it wasn't Astrid," Annabeth got to her feet. "Astrid got rid of him for me. Sent him right down a hole and into Chaos."

"Chaos? There aren't any ways to get from the upper world into Chaos, Annabeth." said Katie.

"There is when a god opens them."

"Oww," Astrid whimpered. "Do you hear thudding?"

"Thudding?" asked Sabine. "What have you lost your mind as well as your blood now?"

"I hear thudding, okay!"

"I'm back!" A voice called into the group. Annabeth went still. "What are you all gathered up for? Did you find the creature or…"

The voice of Percy Jackson trailed off as people moved out of the way to let him see. Annabeth stared into his eyes and was reminded eerily of the moment she had plunged a rod into his chest and let him fall into the lava beneath them.

"Holy Styx," He cursed. "… Annabeth?!"

Annabeth stared at him, unsure of what to do.

"You're alive!"

"So are you," Annabeth eyed him warily. "I thought I killed you?"

Percy's rapidly spreading grin faltered. "What?"

"I killed you, remember? Or at least, someone who looked exactly like you."

Now it was Percy's turn to stare at her.

"The imposter." Hazel muttered.

"What?"

"That was an imposter you killed," Hazel explained. "I never realised it was you… Chiron said they were searching for a great hero's soul but I never thought…"

"Imposter?" asked Annabeth. "That doesn't make any sense."

"Yeah that's what we said," Travis Stoll spoke up. "But we aren't getting any answers and we were tracking this cloaked guy and heard he'd passed through here so-"

"We already killed him," said Sabine. "Nothing left for you to do."

"You killed him?" Percy asked incredulously. "But we were going to ask him questions! Annabeth, this guy was part of a group responsible for blowing up your cabin and-"

"I already know that." Annabeth sighed.

"And she knows why they did it, too," Sabine added. "I wonder if mum knew people would want to get the blood of Olympus?"

"I doubt it."

"Mum?" Piper asked. "Wait… you have the same mother? You survived the explosion as well?"

"No, I'm a goddess," Sabine said. "First immortal child of Athena and all that."

"And yet still younger than me." Annabeth added.

"Stop advertising that!"

Thunder boomed overhead and Annabeth flinched at the sound. It was louder than anything she'd heard before and came from a spot directly above them which was unnatural for gods to do when they were angry.

"Sabine, did you have to do that?"

"That… wasn't me," Sabine looked paler than usual and slightly afraid. "That was a summons."

"A summons? To what?" asked Jason.

"Olympus," said Astrid glumly. "Hold my hand, Sabine. Our parents have found us."