AN: Hey guys! I'm really happy to have reached 50 reviews as of 5/31/09! If you can't stand reading Greek, just read the translations.
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I should have it running faster now, now that it's SUMMER BREAK!!!! WOOHOOO!
~Thalia, Daughter of Zeus
Promise Me
Annabeth's PoV:
"Annabeth-promise me- promise me you'll stay out of trouble. Promise me you won't do anything stupid. Promise me you get hurt. Please, Annabeth! I love you!"
I was shaken awake by Thalia that morning. I'm not really sure if it counts as morning, because she woke me up a one a.m!!!
"Annabeth! Wake up! The Titan Army is approaching!" she hissed. That really woke me up. I jumped out of bed and slid into jeans, a white t-shirt, and my celestial bronze armor. We ran towards the commanding tent, where Luke and Tementate were talking, both with their eyebrows furrowed. All of a sudden, an Iris-Message shimmered into view across from me.
Percy.
He looked really bad. He was wearing a black cloak and a black bodysuit from what I could see. I looked closer.
His eyes were tinted yellow, I mean, yellow. They weren't gold, oh no. They were freakin' yellow. There were tear tracks on his face, and I saw a purple bruise on the side of his face, along with two new scars.
"Lord Kronos wishes to meet your forces at the Valley of Furies, where we shall fight," said Percy, his voice breaking. He continued, glancing at me quickly. In the message, he looked cautiously behind him, looking to see if anyone was there. "There will be two attacks. One to wear you out, wear your forces out, wipe most of them out, and the second one will to be to finish you off. I'm not supposed to tell you, though. Luke- your promise," he whispered, his voice breaking even more.
Luke bowed his head. "They'll be safe with me, Perce. If they die, they will die heroes," said Luke. Percy nodded. "Good luck, and may the Gods be with you," said Percy, saluting, and waved off the Iris-Message.
Tementate got out from under the table, which then I didn't understand why he was down there anyways. Luke also looked curious, then Tementate explained. "I didn't want him to know that you have more help. Oh, and Thalia, I got some help from some other people. They will help us greatly with our plan. But now, we have to set it up," said Tementate. Luke nodded. "Good idea. Let's explain to the rest of them. Tementate- the people you invited...are they here?" asked Luke.
I heard a conch horn blow in the distance. Tementate nodded. "They just arrived."
It was 2 a.m in the morning.
All of the campers were surrounding a fire, a low buzz of conversation interrupted the silence, as they all wondered why they were here.
We soon found out what Tementate's reinforcements looked like. 50% were human. 50% percent were automations. They had been developed by the greatest builders and sons of Hephaestus ever. Though they were automations, they were difficult to defeat, but not impossible to kill. And by the look of Kronos's Army, they looked like they could take down a few automations.
Soon, all of the Hunters, Hercules's Sons (Tementate's little group of boys), and the Greek Builders (the name of Tementate's friends) joined the campers, and our army was complete. Luke, Thalia, Tementate, Christopher (the commander of the Greek Builders), and I were in front of the army.
Luke spoke up.
"Now, you may be wondering why our little army is gathered here at," Luke checked his watch, "2:30 in the morning. The Titan Army is approaching, friends. And we must be ready to face them. Tementate, explain your plan for the first bit."
Tementate stepped forward.
"For the first battle, most of the Greek Builder's automations will be joined by forty of our warriors, to make it look like that is all we have. They will fight off the first wave of the army. Thanks to an anonymous person, we have learned that 2,000 out of 8,000 warriors of the Titan Army will be fighting in the first battle. While the first battle is going on, we will be hiding on the cliffs above the Valley of Furies. A lookout has reported that the cliffs have a slope leading down to the valley. When the second battle begins, our archers, including some of the automations that have been programmed to shoot arrows, will stay on the cliffs, firing at the enemy from above, while we spill out into the valley, surprising the enemy by our new numbers."
"The people fighting the first battle will need to make sure there is a good amount of people that stay alive, so that it looks like there is enough to fight off the second wave," added Christopher. Tementate nodded. "After our forces spill out into the valley, the fighters in the first battle will have enough time to either join us or recover, then join us. But then here comes the next problem, who will fight in the first battle?"
There was silence.
Then, forty quivering hands rose up, at once, their owners whispering, "I will."
10 campers, 15 Greek Builders, and 15 Hercules's Sons. They wouldn't let any Hunters go, because we'd need them on the second battle.
I recognized one of my siblings, Malcolm, who'd volunteered. His hands were shaking as he nervously slipped on his armor. I walked up to him, smiling weakly at him.
"Are you okay, Malc?" I asked, hugging him. Malcolm shivered. "I'm....I'm not sure...but- Annabeth- I'm afraid! What if I die?" he asked, panicked. I frowned at him. "Don't say that, Malc. Don't say that. You will make it. Just put your heart into it," I said, holding his hand. I saw tears forming at the corner of his eyes. "Oh, Malc," I sighed, hugging him. "I don't want to die, Annabeth...I don't want to die," he croaked. I hugged him tighter. "Malc, if you fight your best, and put your heart into it, I promise you, you will make it," I whispered, looking him straight in the eye. Malcolm nodded weakly, and attempted to smile.
"That's the spirit, Malc. Now get ready. We're going to be leaving soon," I said, standing. "Um....Annabeth?" asked Malcolm. He looked determined. He looked me straight in the eye. "If I don't make it- can you promise me that you'll take care of my sister?" he croaked. I nodded. "Of course. Heidi will be safe with me."
Malcolm nodded, and a conch horn blew in the distance. He paled. "I'd better get going," he croaked.
He ran ahead of me, grabbing his sword and shield.
Luke was dressed in his battle armor, standing with Tementate.
"Change of plans. As soon as we realize that the Titan Army is charging, we're going to have a 40-person shield line. Now- the Ares cabin- you are the most reliable defense group we have, but there's only 20 of you. We need 20 more," he said. Christopher stood forward. "My men can help. They've been trained as a defense line. I can supply the other 20 men," said Christopher.
Luke and Tementate nodded.
"Then it's settled. The first group of fighters, come to the front!" yelled Luke, and he marched towards the front of camp. We grabbed our stuff and followed Tementate, who was taking us a different route up onto the cliffs. After an hour, we had built a wall at the cliff edges. The archers stood behind it, their arrows nocked in their bows. A conch horn blew at the bottom of the valley- our signal to get down.
We watched as the two armies marched closer in the valley from little holes in our wall. I could feel Thalia trembling next to me, watching as Luke bravely led the first group of warriors. Tementate was cross legged on the ground, praying. Christopher was on the other cliff, and we saw a thumbs-up on the other side. Luke and his men got into a horizontal line, swords held out in front of them. It was a clever move. The first line of the Titan Army ran into the swords, dead.
I noticed a pale figure running through the chaos. Ethan Nakamura. What did he want? Then it suddenly dawned upon me.
"Brandon!" I hissed. Where was he?!
My eyes passed the battlefield, then snapped back. Brandon Nakamura was fighting, fighting for his life on the battlefield. He was getting clobbered by a Lastrygonian giant. Ethan jumped when he saw Brandon fall, and the Lastrygonian raised his club over Brandon's head. "NO!" I could hear him bellow.
Ethan dived in front of Brandon, right before the giant swung his club down. The giant paused, and frowned. "Brother?" asked Brandon. Ethan nodded, hugging Brandon quickly, then he scooped him up in his arms and ran. Brandon looked at me, his eyes wide. I nodded grimly, and Brandon turned back to his brother. Two demigods materialized behind them, and they jumped on Ethan and Brandon, pinning their hands to their backs. I wanted to scream out, put Thalia clamped her hand on top of my mouth, and the scream was muffled. It sounded kinda like- "EBAN! BANBOM!" Thalia shook her head at me. "You fatal flaw might not be hubris anymore, Annie," she said, and turned back to the fight.
I put my head in my hands, sighing. I couldn't help them. I felt helpless.
The two demigods snapped their fingers, and Brandon and Ethan were gone.
Percy's PoV:
I was watching the battle from a nearby hill. I saw Ethan Nakamura's failed attempt to save his brother. And for some reason, I didn't really care. Was I turning into a compassionless freak?
I walked back to the ship, where my grandfather was waiting for me, and I knelt in front of him.
"Rise, Starkiller. Has the first attack been a success?" he asked. I nodded. "So far, so good, m'lord. The demigods are falling. And- do you have any idea where General Nakamura is?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. "Yes. Why?" "I saw his disappear with a little boy, around the age of seven. Is he under our watch?" I asked. Kronos nodded. "General Nakamura has been demoted to Major," he said, coldly. My jaw almost dropped. He fell six ranks! Six ranks, just to save his brother.
"Major, m'lord? Couldn't he just be demoted to oh, I don't know- Lieutenant General?" I asked, trying to save Nakamura's butt. "No. He betrayed us, and he shall be punished greatly for that. There is no other way," he said, and he led me to the planning table.
"There will be one new attack scheduled. Tell the Colonel to get his troops ready. We shall unleash the second attack," he said, grinning evilly. I bowed, saluting, "Χαλάζι Κρόνος!" (which was Greek for "Hail Kronos", an honor-type thing to show our support for Kronos).
I walked down a hall towards the main galley where Colonel Jvustav was waiting.
One problem about this Colonel:
He can only speak and understand Greek.
I had to learn alot of Greek just to communicate with this dude! Gods, every night, I would have Greek buzzing in my head!
He saluted me, saying, "Χαλάζι Κρόνος!" I did the same, and walked towards the battle plans.
"Συνταγματάρχη, θα έχουμε μια δεύτερη επίθεση. Get your ανδρών και καταπολέμηση έτοιμη τώρα. Επίθεση ενώ είναι έξαλλος. Μπορώ να σας άνδρες που χειρίζονται?" I said, my mind hurting from memorizing the Greek language.
(Translation: Colonel, we will have a second attack. Get your men ready and fight right now. Attack while they are distracted. Can your men handle that?)
Jvustav scowled at me, yelling at me in Greek.
"Φυσικά, Γενικός! Οι άνδρες μου να είναι καλά εκπαιδευμένοι, και δεν θα επιστρέψει κάτω μέχρι να καταστρέψει τους βούληση για την καταπολέμηση! Εμείς δεν είμαστε σαν αυτές ανόητο άνθρωπο!" he snapped. I tried not to laugh, for some reason it was funny.
(Translation: Of course, General! My men are well trained, and will not back down until we destroy their will to fight! We are not like those idiotic humans!)
"Εντάξει, εντάξει! Ηρεμήστε, συνταγματάρχη. Ξέρω πως οι άνθρωποι είναι ισχυρή. Τώρα, ας δούμε αν είναι ισχυρή στη μάχη," I said, smiling sarcastically.
(Translation: Okay, okay! Calm down, Colonel. I know your men are strong. Now let's see if they are strong in battle.)
Jvustav frowned at me, and nodded. "Θα το κεφάλι κάτω στο πεδίο της μάχης αμέσως. Δεν θα επιστρέψει κάτω, Γενική. Οι άνθρωποι δεν αντέχουν την ευκαιρία, κύριε," he said, and saluted.
(Translation:We will head down onto the battlefield immediately. We will not back down, General. The humans don't stand a chance, sir.)
"Χαλάζι Κρόνος!"
I left, frowning.
Hopefully the half-bloods were prepared.
Annabeth's PoV:
I needed to rescue him. Brandon was now my first priority. I didn't care what Thalia said. I was going to save him, no matter what.
I snuck onto the ship, praying that none of Kronos's Army would spot me. Greek. I heard Greek in the next room. I peered my head through the archway, and I saw Percy, and felt something like a needle poke my heart. He looked the same in the Iris-Message, except a tiny bit different.
His eyes were tinted yellow, but now on the yellow/brown side, and the wounds on his face were still there, along with another scar and bruise. His lip was cut. He was wearing full black body armor, a black cloak, and a sword and its sheath on his back. His black hair was messy, as if he didn't feel like brushing it, or never got a chance to. He was talking in Greek to another man, with completely black eyes, red hair, and a patch of stubble on his chin. I couldn't look any longer. The sight of seeing him hurt- was unbearable.
Where was the prison hall? I ran towards a directory (I wondered why they had that). Prison Chamber- Level 9. I was on level 5. I ran down the stairs. 8 flights of stairs. It was dark, but I managed to see Ethan and Brandon. Now just to get the key...
Percy's PoV:
I ran down the the prison chamber, searching for the Nakamuras. There was sobbing in a corner, followed by a soft whisper.
"It's going to be okay, Brandon. I swear, nothing will happen to you," said the whisperer. I ran towards the sound's direction. "Ethan!" I gasped, relieved.
"Percy! It's you! Gods, I thought we were never going to be saved!" smiled Ethan. Brandon was staring at me, quivering. "You....are Perseus Jackson?" he asked in wonder, pointing at me. I smiled at the little boy. "Yes. You must be Brandon, yes?" I asked.
He nodded. I looked around for the guard. Lucky for me, the guard was asleep. I tiptoed over to the guard, slowly removing the key from his belt. The guard shifted, and I cursed something like, "Άδη της Εσώρουχα!" (Which I think meant Hades's Underwear...)
I moved his arm, trying to grab the key, but I saw another hand reach out to grab it. Annabeth.
"No!" I hissed. Annabeth looked frightened. I pushed myself away from the guard and Annabeth, looking at her in horror. "You promised me," I croaked.
Annabeth's PoV:
I froze. It suddenly dawned upon me that my dream- wasn't a dream. It was a vision.
"Percy-" I started, reaching out towards him. He shook his head violently. "Don't....please-you promised!" he croaked again. "You're not going to hurt me," I cried, crawling towards him. He shook his head more, faster. "Don't do this, Annabeth! Please don't do this!" he said, pushing himself against a wall. I crawled closer to him, grabbing the collar of his shirt. "I love you," I breathed, and kissed him. He didn't fight back. But he didn't go deeper. His lips froze, but I didn't care. All that mattered was that he was okay, and with me.
He pushed me onto the wall, a wild look in his eyes. "I love you too. So much," he said, and kissed me on the cheek. I put my hands on his cheeks, and looked him in the eyes. "You're back," I sighed. He shook his head. "Not for long." His eyes were sad, depressed. "Keep your promise," he whispered, holding my hand. His was warm, and strong. I could feel the tightness in his hand, from all of the training. I nodded, tears forming at the corner of my eyes. He touched the tears that were about to leak out, and they stuck to his finger. "Don't cry, love," he whispered. I put my head on his chest.
"What if something happens to you? You know I would never be able to live with myself," I cried. "It doesn't matter. As long as you're alive, I'll know that I didn't die in vain," he whispered, hugging me. "Promise me you'll try hard not to die. Promise me, Percy," I said desperately.
"Go. Tell the others that not all is lost, and that if they die, they die as heroes," he said, and saluted me. I nodded, and blew a kiss at him. He "caught" it, and put his hand to his heart. He unlocked Ethan and Brandon, setting them free.
He paused Ethan, putting his hand on his shoulder, whispering something in his ear. Ethan nodded, and saluted Percy. Percy nodded, and he ran off, into the darkness.
We ran back to camp, and Ethan told Tementate something. Tementate nodded, frowning. "Send fifteen of the archers down there," he said, and Thalia rushed off to collect archers.
3- Person PoV:
Thalia ran onto the battlefield. Luke saw her, and yelled, "NO! Get down, Thalia!" He pushed her down, the arrow aimed at her scraping against his shoulder. "Luke!" cried Thalia. She dragged him to a spot off the battlefield. Luke panted. "Thanks."
Thalia hugged him. "Why did you do that?" she cried. Luke smiled. "Because you're a friend."
They stared at each other for a moment.
Luke shifted uncomfortably, and watching the battle. "It's so confusing, now. The war is taking everything away from us." Thalia looked at him, confused. He shook his head. "Have you ever wondered what our lives would be like without this war?" he asked, looking her in the eyes.
Thalia shifted her eyes, and frowned, nodding. "It would be nice. Things would be normal, and everyone would just have a nice, long chance to be happy and laid back. I miss the old days," she said wistfully. Luke nodded. "I do too," he said, scooting closer to Thalia.
Their faces were around three inches away from each other, their gazes' locked. Luke leaned over, and kissed Thalia softly on the lips. They closed their eyes, and after a while, slowly broke apart. "I love you," Thalia whispered. "So do I."
AN: Anndddd Chapter 25 ends there! Special thanks to user:
nobodylikesme
for the wonderful idea!
Keep reading, and have a wonderful summer!
~Thalia, Daughter of Zeus