A.N. Did I mention I'm changing to third person?

Annabeth Chase
Chapter 19

Despite poisoned blood running through her veins, Annabeth made it to the pegasi stables in record time and before anyone else, actually.

When she got there, however, she was not prepared to see the same Sun Chariot that had taken them to the South be in the pegasi stables at camp, and apparently, the pegasi were even as confused as she was. They were flying around in circles constantly looking to land, but then they would change their minds and stay airborne as if they were afraid that the heat from the Sun Chariot would turn them into some kind of KFC for the gods.

Chiron was there also, but even he got there after Annabeth. With him, however, was the group of teens Annabeth had technically brought back to Camp Half-Blood. Chiron noticed Annabeth, opening his mouth to speak, but decided against it, as he knew he couldn't make her move an inch from where she was at that point. It was already too late; even had he intercepted her on her way there, she would have still found a way to reach the accident. The two exchanged silent worried glances as more spectators began to appear from different corners of the camp.

Once most of the smoke cleared and most of the camp had shown up, the full image of the Greyhound could be seen. Not that it wasn't clearly visible beforehand, but now, there wasn't anything to blame if something unexpected happened and no one had an explanation. In this line of work, though, there was hardly anything that hadn't been seen at least once before.

As the thoughts of what she might see began forming in her mind, the thought of Grover and Percy exiting the bus became clear in her mind. Had they given up and decided to return without saving the demigods? If they had, in a say, that would mean Annabeth had won, and in another way, that meant that there was a group of possibly dead half-bloods somewhere because in most cases, once a satyr finds them, it won't be long until some kind of monster finds them looking for a snack. Just like Dr. Thorn, the manticore, when Thalia, Percy, and Grover found Bianca and Nico di Angelo.

The different possibilities of what could have possibly happened ran through her head in the seconds before she, without thinking, shouted, "Percy?!" No one made a move towards the bus, and seemingly, no one was making a move from the bus, that is, until the doors opened up to release even more smoke. Sure enough, a body came through the now open doors, but it didn't seem to do this intentionally as he/she just fell flat on their face, steam rising from the ground as soon as the body hit.

Again, no one made a single move and no one spoke, but everyone did examine the body as steam curled off of it. From the body shape, Annabeth could see that it was male with milk chocolate brown skin and dark black hair. He was possibly 6' even and maybe weighed 165 lbs, and from all of this, Annabeth could at least roughly estimate that he was 16 or 17, about the same age as Percy. He looked familiar also; almost as if she had just seen him somewhere...? She couldn't pin point anything meaningful.

His most notable characteristic was the steaming-hot golden arrow that pierced his back, likely his heart.

A collective gasp rang through the entire camp besides Clarisse La Rue's clear interest in the entire situation as she muttered, "Cool..." Annabeth and another ten to fifteen campers looked at her as if she was crazy-which wasn't exactly unbelievable. All Clarisse did was snarl back at everyone like they were crazy.

In any case, the body was a deceased one at that, that is, until his head began to slowly rise with a definite groan. His head rose to the point where his eyes were parallel with the ground, and then, suddenly, they shot up and met with Mackenzie Dirau, who was standing next to Annabeth. The normal person couldn't detect something like that, but Annabeth had at least two crushes under her belt; the eyes that came with it were an unfortunate side-effect.

Then, he spoke to her loud enough for everyone else to hear, "Did...you shoot this arrow?" At this point, he coughed which was completely understandable. Annabeth was amazed at the fact that he was alive let alone the fact that he was speaking with an arrow piercing his chest.

Mackenzie coughed to clear her throat, "No...why...would you think that?"

Annabeth saw a slight smirk appear on his face, but quickly fade away, "...Because I think I'm in love with you." At this, the Aphrodite cabin mates almost fainted right then and there while the Ares cabin collectively made sounds of them throwing up; whether they actually were throwing up or not, Annabeth wouldn't have known because she was too busy laughing at how cheesy the entire situation was. The Hermes cabin all stole whatever they could while everyone was pre-occupied with their reactions to the very effective pick-up line. Soon enough, however, Chiron stomped his hoof to the ground, letting out a loud clap and silencing everyone.

Trying to hide his slight smile, he spoke, "Yes, very sweet indeed, but your pick-up lines fail to explain why you seemed to appear from oblivion in a searing hot and shining Greyhound."

The stranger struggled to look behind him, just as confused as the rest of the camp. He found the bus behind him and gaped at it's presence, "That's a very very good point, and my explanation is that I have no explanation, if you could believe it. " Oh! Annabeth had neglected to tell Chiron her report about the quest which coincidentally played a big part as to why this guy was here in the first place.

She walked up to Chiron and began to explain, "Chiron, I-"

"Can explain everything." Percy's voice interrupted Annabeth's as he stepped off of Sun Chariot, steam already rising from the clear temperature difference.

Had it been anyone else, they would have long regretted interrupting Annabeth, but luckily for Percy, he was one of the 4 people she'd allow such a thing from. She ran up to him and embraced him in a tight hug which lasted for what seemed like an eternity. He was so warm; almost like a heated pillow but the fact that he was toned after years of being a demigod dampened that idea. Him being on the Sun Chariot must have given him that effect. She could feel herself sinking deeper and deeper into Percy's existence, letting her past worries and doubts wash away like a wave in the ocean. That is, until Clarisse la Rue ruined it with her incessant, unwelcome sounds of faking a regurgitation. What an unruly girl, indeed.

Once Annabeth had released her boyfriend, she had almost wanted to share a brief moment looking into each other's eyes, but Percy obviously had other ideas and Annabeth honestly wasn't the one to be sharing such a moment right now with the poisoned blood and all. Even standing up was leaving beads of sweat on her forehead, and she'd rest later. Right now, she had to play control center. The Sun Chariot that was carrying Percy, Cupid's little victim, and presumably others had just crashed into their pegasi stables and Annabeth was absolutely sure there were some who were freaking out. As a veteran of the camp, it was her shared job to get everything in order. She made eye contact with Chiron and he nodded.

He stomped his foot on the ground, silencing any talking that could have possibly been going on, "All campers to the Mess Hall for lunch! Cabin leaders, however, are to meet at the Big House!" The crowd slowly but surely dispersed. Chiron looked down at the other new group of campers, "That also includes you all. If you have any questions, please ask another camper. Preferably, an Athena cabin mate. They are less likely to mislead you in any way." Annabeth saw how Mackenzie and Chiron exchanged a hesitant glance until she and her friends all left for lunch. None spoke a word.

"Percy!" the guy with a golden arrow through his heart shouted, "Help me out; I can't move!"

"Scott?!" Percy looked down and Annabeth saw the color drain from his face, "Why is there...how did...just...what even happened?!" He knelt down to touch the arrow protruding from Scott's back only to rip his hand away from the heat it emitted, "And what kind of arrow even is this?!"

"And here I thought you knew everything, "Scott joked.
"I'm sorry, but that's my job, "Annabeth retorted quickly; only she could make a sly comment that Percy was stupid.

Chiron shouted, "Enough! Would someone please pick this child up off the ground?! I can't take anything he says seriously if his face is buried in the dirt! Connor and Travis, follow me and carry him to the Big House. Other cabin leaders, also follow me, but Will Solace, I ask that you examine Mr. Scott...last name?, "

Scott grunted, "Arminlo. Wait, are you a horse man?! A centaur, I mean?!"

"I ask that you examine Mr. Scott Arminlo once we get there. I wish to know whatever you can gather from it, " Chiron turned around and trotted off the Big House while Connor and Travis scrapped Scott off the ground as he shouted in pain and aggrivation at the fact Chiron never answered his before question.

Just before he was out of ear shot Annabeth heard Scott shout, "Percy! The others!" Before Annabeth could turn around and ask what his shouting meant, Percy had already disappeared back onto the bus.

Not too long afterwards, though, he re-emerged carrying Grover on his back, then he set him down to go back inside the Sun Chariot. Grover! How could she have forgotten Grover?! Along with being ashamed at herself, she felt worried for his safety, but he seemed to be breathing normally and peacefully, "Annabeth, I'll need your help." Annabeth snapped out of her euphoria and looked at Percy who was waiting on her at the entrance of the bus, "Are you coming or not? I can't carry all of them by myself."

"All of them?" She ran inside the bus after him and immediately felt the temperature rise almost ten fold. She had actually expected such a change, but to expect something and to experience it are two completely different monsters. Annabeth counted four in total: one female and three males. They were all sweating out of their clothes but still unconscious. The inside of the bus was fire red so she couldn't make out definitive features so details as obvious as those were not hard to miss. However, Annabeth could see that the girl was bleeding from the back of her head and the rest of the boys were badly bruised, "Percy! The girl!" She pointed to the teen that was sprawled in the floor and he immediately understood, running over to scoop her up.

Annabeth then stepped on something really...soft. She looked down and found an older satyr laid out on the floor, snoring with his mouth wide open.

"You callin' me old?!" The satyr shot up like a rocket to attack Annabeth, but Percy grabbed a hold of him and tried to calm him down.
"Cleveland! Calm down! It's me, Percy! And that's Annabeth! We're back in Camp Half-Blood, " Percy tried shaking him with his free arm to snap him out of whatever dream he was having, and it worked.

He seemed to come to, "...Percy...? What happened?" He began rubbing his hair with a confused look on his face.

"I don't have time to explain. We need to get the rest of these guys off the bus. Can you help me?"

Cleveland smiled, "Well, what else would I be here to do?" He flexed and Annabeth realized just how ripped that old satyr was, "And you!" He pointed a finger at Annabeth, "Quit callin' me old!" Annabeth had forgotten Cleveland even existed let alone the fact that he could read minds within a certain range. She had also forgotten the fact that anyone who is old hates being called old. A fake foot hit her squarely in the forehead, "Keep it up, missy, and I'll be dragging you outta here by your hair! Now move it; we've got campers to welcome."

A.N. Okay. This chapter down, more to go.

So...
Kawind OUT!