A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY PERCY! I think it's fitting to round off this fic on this special day, yes? :)
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Chapter 28: We Say Goodbye For Another Year
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After the attack on the Fleece, the atmosphere at camp seemed to get more serious. It turned out that Chiron's proposal for Mr D was to send the satyrs out on emergency overtime to scout for half-bloods across the country, both to recruit them to replace our depleted numbers as well as to find them before Kronos and Luke could get to them. Luke, Thalia reminded us, knew what it was like to be a half-blood on the run. He could be really persuasive to other lonely and unprotected demigods.
Even Grover was taking a rain check on his search for Pan in light of the dire circumstances. He'd gotten himself assigned to a school in Maine and planned to leave at the end of summer.
'Send us an Iris-message if you need help,' we told him. Chiron had asked the campers who would be going back to school if we would be willing to be back-up for the satyrs. As a result, even more of us were leaving at the end of summer session to attend school in the real world.
'Are you going back to your dad's then?' Percy asked me as we sat toasting marshmallows at the campfire one evening.
'Probably,' I said. I knew he wanted me home, but we hadn't figured out any exact details yet. I'd sent a letter to ask what his plans were. I was still waiting for him to write back.
'You went back home, then?' Thalia said, surprised. The only time we'd ever spoken of my family, I'd been vehemently opposed to returning to them.
'Last year. I was ... well, my stepmom doesn't like me much, but my dad isn't as bad as, you know, before. We're getting along.'
'Hm.' Thalia looked thoughtful.
'Did your mom find you a new school?' I asked Percy, remembering how we'd left his old one in flames. I wasn't an expert on school systems in New York, but I thought that was probably an expulsion offence.
'She's looking,' Percy said. 'Chiron actually cleared things up with Meriwether so they don't think I'm an arsonist any more, but they still don't want me back.'
'Percy lives in New York,' I told Thalia. 'So he won't be far.'
Thalia frowned. 'I'm not sure I want to stay here year-round.'
We stared at her. We'd all assumed that she would be staying after the summer. After Chiron's insistence that there was little time to train her properly, I didn't think he would be keen to have her leave. Since our conversation about the prophecy, Thalia had been getting private instruction from Chiron on top of the normal training activities at camp. Despite her limited formal training, she was already one of our best all-round fighters.
'I mean, I've spent enough time stuck here on that hill,' Thalia said. I guess being rooted to the earth was enough to give anyone a desire to travel.
'Would you go find your family?' Percy asked, clearly forgetting that Thalia had been a runaway like Luke and me. 'Where are you from, anyway?'
'Los Angeles,' Thalia said.
Percy, Grover, and I exchanged a look. We didn't have a great track record with L.A. It was where the entrance to the Underworld was, where we'd gone on our quest last year and nearly gotten dragged into Tartarus.
'Oh man,' Grover said. 'That place still gives me the creeps.'
Thalia looked a bit affronted. 'It's not that bad. I mean, sure, it's on the west coast, but it's not as bad as, say, Frisco.'
We explained about the Underworld entrance and how Kronos had tricked us last year into bringing Zeus's master bolt to Hades. I described how Percy had battled Ares on the beach of Santa Monica and Kronos had stopped time in one terrifying moment. Thalia looked impressed.
'You duelled a god,' she said with a low whistle. 'You must have really pissed him off.'
'Yeah,' Percy said. 'He's not my biggest fan.'
'You got that right,' Grover snorted. 'The whole Ares cabin has been after Percy's blood since.'
'Thanks for the reminder,' Percy said. 'So what's wrong with Frisco?'
'There's just something evil about the place.' Thalia's face got that closed-off look that I was starting to recognise as a bad memory she didn't like to relive.
I changed the subject quickly. 'Thalia, you can come home with me at the end of summer. We'll stick together, I promise.' I almost said, we're family, but I bit it back. That was the promise Luke had given me and look how that had turned out.
Thalia smiled. 'Thanks. I might take you up on that.'
I didn't know what my dad would say (and I could imagine the look on my stepmother Janet's face if I brought another half-blood home with me), but I'd figure it out later. I wasn't going to abandon Thalia.
'If you came all the way here from L.A.,' Percy said, 'you must have seen lots of the country.'
Thalia crossed her arms over her head and leaned back, looking up at the stars. Capricornus, Pan's constellation, shone above us. 'In a way,' she said. 'I actually got a flight out of L.A. the night I ran away. I followed a magic goat.' She grinned at the memory, but didn't elaborate. 'I ended up in Charleston. I mostly travelled up and down the east coast after that.'
'I'd like to travel,' I said. 'I want to see all the famous landmarks. Not just in America, but all over the world.'
'Oh man, you should have seen last year,' Grover said. 'She dragged us allover the Gateway Arch in St Louis.'
'It's the world's tallest arch!' I protested. 'Six hundred and thirty feet, with a curved elevator. You have to admit that's cool.'
Percy shuddered. 'Six hundred feet in the air,' he said. 'Not exactly my idea of cool. Though maybe the daughter of Zeus here might go for it.'
'I think I'll pass,' Thalia said.
'Six hundred and thirty feet,' I corrected. 'And Percy here had to go skydiving off it.'
'Thanks to a chimera!' Percy said, but he was grinning. It had been a terrifying experience at the time—for him, certainly, but for us as well, thinking he'd been killed. Now, though, it just felt like an entertaining tale. We were really starting to be veterans at this quest business.
'Remember the talking poodle?' I said.
'And the water park in Denver?'
'Ugh, don't remind me.' That had involved spiders, and those would never not be terrifying.
'The zoo transport to Vegas.'
I smiled at that. We'd had our first real conversation then. I think it was the moment I realised Percy was really my friend and I'd stand by him no matter who his dad was. 'You know, we missed a great opportunity in Nevada.'
'What, another six-hundred-foot monument I could jump off?'
'You ought to appreciate this one, Seaweed Brain. Hoover Dam—it's over six hundred feet tall, but this one's right up your alley. It holds five million cubic acres of water. They built it in the 1930s, but until now, it's still the largest construction project in the United States.'
'Tell you what. If we ever get another quest going that way, I'll take you.'
'Are they always like this?' Thalia asked Grover. Their heads were turning back and forth between me and Percy as we talked.
Grover groaned. 'Try being on a quest with them. It's like being a third wheel.'
I blushed. 'Shut up, goat-boy.'
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Thalia managed to get her way about leaving Camp Half-Blood for the school term, but Chiron insisted that she stay close. They compromised on a boarding school in Brooklyn, near enough for Chiron to help if she ran into trouble. Having experienced first-hand just how fast Chiron could travel, I figured it'd take him less than five minutes to show up in Brooklyn. Chiron even managed to talk Mr D into letting him pay the fees with funds from the strawberry crop.
'He said the camp owed me for the magical protections the past six years,' Thalia said. 'The question now is, will your dad let you go to school with me?'
I wrote him another long, pleading letter, stressing how much Thalia had taken care of me when I was seven, and saved my life half a dozen times. I promised I'd at least be back for the last few weeks of summer. Remembering how Janet had backed me up when I'd left this summer when it meant having me out of the house, I took a chance and wrote her a letter as well. In it, I casually mentioned how much safer it would be for the twins if I were away at boarding school.
I'm not sure which of my letters was more convincing, but my dad gave in and agreed to enrol me in Brownsville Girls' Academy with Thalia.
Percy was excited when he learned that we'd be in New York for the year. 'My mom's set me up at MS-54 in Manhattan, maybe you guys could go there instead?' he said hopefully.
'That's not a boarding school, is it?' Thalia asked. 'Unless you've got room for us all at your house.'
'Er, I don't think so. Or I could see about going to your school …'
'Unless there's something you haven't told us, Seaweed Brain, that's not happening,' I said. 'It's an all-girls' school.'
'Oh.' Percy's ears turned pink. He looked crestfallen. I was touched at how much he wanted to stay in contact with us.
'Hey.' I bumped his shoulder. 'We'll be lots closer anyway. I bet we'll get to see each other at some point. And we can come back to camp for winter break.'
He cheered up at that prospect.
All too soon, the last night of camp arrived. At the final campfire, we gave out the summer's bead, painted with a Golden Fleece that shone just like the actual thing. I strung it onto my necklace, which was getting pretty crowded now with seven beads.
Percy looked extremely pleased to get his second bead. Thalia rubbed her finger over the single bead on her new necklace, which looked very lonely all by itself. She should have had at least as many as me. I hoped she would have plenty more chances in the coming years. She deserved it.
'I need to tell you something,' Thalia said at the end of the campfire, before we split up to our respective cabins. Since her cabin was a lot more private than mine, we went there to talk.
Thalia had carved out a small sleeping space for herself in an alcove that had previously held a bronze eagle. She'd swept out the empty space and squeezed in her bedroll. Most of the gear that we'd gotten for her from the camp store was packed up in her backpack, ready for our departure tomorrow. But she'd left a crumpled piece of paper tacked to the wall next to her sleeping space.
'I've been thinking …' she said. 'Well, I might not go back with you to Virginia after all.'
I stared at her. We'd had to beg Chiron to approve our plan for her to spend the remainder of the summer vacation, before school started, with me and my family. He'd only reluctantly agreed to the two weeks. After all that, why would Thalia change her mind?
'It's not that I don't want to go with you,' Thalia added quickly, seeing the look on my face. 'There's just something I realised I need to …' She fiddled with Aegis, in bracelet form, on her wrist. 'That guy I told you about, Hal Green—he didn't just predict that I'd sacrifice myself and turn into a tree. He also told me I'd find my family again. I don't know what happened to …' She hesitated and I got the feeling that she was still considering whether to tell me. 'My mom,' she said at last.
'Oh.'
'I haven't seen her in, what, seven years? I ran away when I was ten. I guess … well, you went back to your dad in the end. Maybe I should … I dunno, make an effort.'
I knew what Percy would say to that. He was the one who had encouraged me to reach out to my dad. He had a very optimistic view about family. I guess he wasn't always wrong. My dad had turned out to be okay, when I stopped holding a grudge against him for marrying Janet.
Maybe it would work out for Thalia, too.
'I thought you said she lived in L.A.?'
'Yeah.'
'Chiron's not going to be happy with that.'
Thalia grimaced. 'I don't even know why I need his approval in the first place.'
'He's just looking out for you, Thalia.'
'I can take care of myself.'
She was probably right about that. She'd gotten herself all the way from L.A. to the east coast at ten years old, and survived another two years on her own with Luke. Few demigods had as much practical survival experience as Thalia. But Chiron's worry wasn't just about random monsters. He knew Kronos was out there and would be after Thalia's allegiance, if not her life.
Still, Thalia deserved a chance to find her family, too.
'I could come with you,' I offered, although I didn't think my dad would like it much. I was surprised as well to realise that I was torn about the prospect, too. Part of me was actually looking forward to spending some time with him.
'No—go home with your dad. I … this is something I kind of have to do alone.'
Her eyes got a bit distant, but I could see the determination shining behind them. I wondered what the real story was with her mother. Thalia had never told me, though perhaps that was because I'd been only seven when we'd met. I wondered if Luke knew.
My eyes drifted back to the single piece of paper taped to Thalia's wall. It was a smoothed-out photograph of three kids. Crinkled lines ran down their faces from where the picture had been crumpled up, but I recognised them immediately: Luke, Thalia, and me.
Last year, when Luke had left camp, he'd left this very photo behind in his cabin. I had no idea how Thalia had found it.
An uneasy idea crept into my head about just what Thalia might not be telling me.
'Thalia … are you going to try and find Luke?'
'What?' Thalia blinked in confusion. 'No, I hadn't thought of that.'
'Oh.' I guessed Luke wouldn't be in L.A. anyway. His ship, the Princess Andromeda, was travelling along the Atlantic, and although I knew how fast it could sail, I couldn't think of any particular reason why he would be drawn to L.A. Thalia looked as if she was considering the idea now that I had brought it up, though, so I said quickly, 'Thalia, promise me you won't go searching for Luke, okay? Not—not without me.'
'Afraid I'll join him?'
'No! I mean …' I bit my lip.
Thalia looked at the picture tacked to her wall. 'I still don't know what to think. I … well, I have to think about it more. And until I've worked it out, it's probably better I don't see him yet. Anyway, this trip isn't about Luke. But next summer …'
'We'll find him together,' I promised. This reminded me of another pact I'd made last year, with Percy, when, angry at Luke's betrayal, I'd vowed to hunt him down and get answers from him. We'd ended up doing it after all, but it had only raised more questions for me. Would it be any different next year?
Thalia nodded. 'Together,' she agreed. She picked up her backpack. 'I'll see you at the start of school.'
'You're leaving now?'
'It's a long way,' Thalia said. 'Besides, my guide is waiting.' She pointed out the window. In the bushes, I saw the head of a goat with silver horns like curlicues. 'Amaltheia,' Thalia explained. 'She—she's my dad's sacred animal. She comes to me as a guide when there's something I'm meant to find.'
I didn't know what to make of this—the goat had certainly never shown up when I'd been with Thalia and Luke—but we all had our own signs from our godly parents. Athena had guided me to them through dreams and whispers. If Thalia was still willing to trust a sign from Zeus, that was probably a good thing.
'Good luck,' I said. 'See you at school.'
I hugged her and she slipped away after Amaltheia the goat into the darkness.
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My family had to make a seven-hour drive from Richmond (probably longer with two kindergarteners in the car) so I wasn't expecting them until the evening. I spent the morning sword-training with Percy, who wanted to get one more sparring session in before he left on the afternoon bus for Manhattan with the other campers. After, I walked with him to Half-Blood Hill, where Peleus the dragon circled Thalia's tree, keeping a lazy eye on the campers that passed by. Argus had the camp van pulled up at the base of the hill. With so many campers heading out into the world this year, he was making trips back and forth to the city all day.
Clarisse came up and bumped her shoulder hard against Percy. 'Just wait until next summer, Prissy,' she told him. 'I'll pulverise you then.'
Neither of us took her seriously. Argus had already taken all the Ares group into the city on an earlier run. As Clarisse was staying at camp, there wasn't any other reason for her to come up here except to see him off.
'I'll miss you, too, Clarisse,' Percy said. Clarisse grinned and slapped our shoulders.
'See you soon, Percy.' Beckendorf came up to say goodbye as well. He was also one of the few campers staying on, along with Silena, who had apparently walked up the hill with him. 'Say hi to Tyson for me if you see him.'
Percy looked a little wistful at the mention of Tyson, but he nodded and shook Beckendorf's hand. Silena smiled at him and said, 'I'll look after your Pegasus while you're gone.'
'Your Pegasus?' I asked.
'Blackjack—you know, the one on Luke's ship? He seems to have adopted me. Probably since I can speak to him.' To Silena and Beckendorf, he said, 'You guys will hold the fort down here, won't you? Don't let Clarisse have it all her way.'
'Of course.' Silena looped her arm through Beckendorf's. 'Send us all the new recruits you find. Charlie and I will take care of them.'
Charlie? I mouthed at Beckendorf. He tried to scowl, but he couldn't shake off the pleased look on his face. I hoped he'd gotten the courage to ask Silena out at last.
'Well,' Percy said, turning to me. 'I guess …' His voice trailed off as he noticed something at the base of the hill. 'No way,' he said suddenly. 'Mom?'
I turned to look. A little purple Mazda was parked behind the camp bus. A woman with wavy brown hair had just gotten out and was making her way up the hill.
'Mom!' Percy dropped his duffel bag and ran down to meet her. She opened her arms and he ran straight into her embrace. 'You didn't tell me you were coming!'
Percy's mother ruffled his hair fondly. I didn't hear what she said to him. Percy took her hand and led her towards me.
'Mom, this is Annabeth,' he said.
I'd only met Sally Jackson once before—if you could call it meeting when she was encased in a golden sphere as an unconscious, frozen prisoner of Hades. All I really knew about her beyond that was that Percy adored her and would do just about anything for her.
She had the look of a lady who had seen hard years, but the wrinkles of her face fell in smile lines about her eyes and mouth. Her gaze was warm and inviting and her smile was like sunshine in fall: that golden warmth that chased away the chill. I knew immediately why Percy loved her so much.
'I'm so pleased to meet you, Annabeth,' she said. 'Percy's told me so much about you, I feel like I know you already.'
'Has he?' I felt a little shy.
'Yes … what was it, now, Percy—"the smartest, prettiest girl at camp"? I think I can see why.'
I blushed. Percy turned red. 'Mom!' he complained.
Sally laughed and smoothed the hair on the top of his head. He ducked away, a little embarrassed. 'Thank you for looking after Percy,' she said to me. 'I hear you're responsible for getting him out of quite a few scrapes.'
'Um, we look out for each other,' I said. 'We're friends.'
'I'm glad he's found such good friends here. I worry so much about him. He has this knack for finding trouble. Why, every school year, he'll find something to blow up. I used to say, with him, the year's not over until he's caused world war two in the back yard.'
This was such an apt description of my two summers with Percy, I couldn't help giggling. Percy made a face at me.
'She's kind of right,' I said. 'How many things have you blown up this summer?'
'I think you have me confused with Clarisse,' he retorted.
'Clarisse had nothing to do with you blowing up your school when I came to find you at the start of summer.'
'That was the Last—Les—uh, Canadians.'
'Percy!' Sally said, horrified. 'That's not nice!'
'It's okay, ma'am, he just means northern giants.'
'Oh, call me Sally, dear,' she said.
Percy changed the subject. 'Mom, not that I'm not glad to see you, but how come you're not at work?'
'Well, I sold a piece to the New Yorker,' Sally said. 'So I thought I could afford some time off, and I thought I'd give myself a treat and come up and surprise you. Besides,' she held up a wicker basket, 'I brought these. As a thank-you to Chiron and your friends for looking after you all summer.' She uncovered the top. The basket was chock-full of blue cupcakes.
'Score!' Percy's hand darted out for one, but Sally smacked it away.
'These are for your friends,' she scolded. 'Go on, Annabeth dear.'
I took one and bit into it. Underneath the blue icing, it was chocolatey and delicious.
'Thank you,' I said as soon as my mouth was no longer full from the first, heavenly bite. 'These are amazing.'
'Mom makes the best cupcakes in the world,' Percy said proudly. 'Also, they're blue.'
'It's a tradition we have,' Sally explained. 'Blue food for special occasions.'
'Blue … like the sea?'
Sally and Percy exchanged a look. 'I hadn't thought of that,' Sally admitted. 'It was really just because blue is a very special colour for food. But yes, that seems appropriate.'
'Told you she was smart,' Percy muttered, then he added quickly, 'for a girl.'
'You wish you were as smart as me, Seaweed Brain,' I told him.
Sally laughed again. 'I see you have him well in hand,' she said. 'So Annabeth, are you going home for the school year, too? I understand you live in Virginia?'
'Richmond,' I nodded. 'And just for the rest of the vacation.' I told her about going to school in Brooklyn, and soon we were chatting like old friends. I learnt that she was an aspiring writer, but she'd had to drop out of college and she hadn't had the chance to go back until after Percy had come to camp. She'd been taking night classes all through summer while Percy was away. She asked me about what I liked to do in my free time and I ended up telling her about planning the new arts and crafts cabin, and how I'd study architectural design if I ever got to go to college. Sally nodded appreciatively.
'It's great that you know what you want to do, Annabeth. I've no idea what Percy imagines for his future—'
Percy rolled his eyes. 'Staying alive would be good.'
Sally tousled his hair. He'd managed to sneak a cupcake from the basket while we were talking, and his mouth was ringed with blue icing.
'Unless it's to be a food taster,' Sally joked. 'Given how much he eats.'
We laughed. Then Argus honked from the camp bus. They were loaded up and ready to leave and the campers were waving goodbye from the windows. The bus trundled down the road, leaving Sally's little purple car alone at the foot of the hill.
'I guess we'd better be on our way, too,' Sally said.
'Yeah,' Percy said. He hefted his duffel bag onto his shoulder. I swallowed hard as our eyes met in farewell. I was definitely going to miss him this year.
'Well, it was lovely to meet you at last, Annabeth.' Sally kissed my cheek and pulled me into a hug. She smelled faintly of peppermint and fresh coffee and her arms fit around me like I'd always known her. She pressed the cupcake basket into my arms. 'Share those around with your friends. And you know, whenever you're in New York, you're very welcome to visit.'
Sally put an arm around Percy as they walked down the hill. He ducked out from under it, giving me an embarrassed look, like mothers, seriously, but I felt jealous. I had a sudden, disloyal wish that she was my mom. Or at least my stepmom. I knew now why Percy was so trusting, with such unwavering faith in family. Like many other mortal parents of demigods, Sally Jackson had been abandoned by a god once—probably messing up her life in the process, if I read between the lines of her story—yet unlike a lot of the others, she had no bitterness in her about it. She acted like Percy was the best part of her life, no matter what sacrifices she had to make for him.
He was so lucky.
Watching Sally and Percy made me think of the image the Sirens had shown me on their island: a united family who wanted and accepted me unconditionally. Was it just hubris to think that I could make it possible? I'd already achieved the part of that vision that I'd thought the most impossible. Retrieving the Fleece had gotten us Thalia back. I'd regained one old friend. Next summer, who knew? Maybe the other one wasn't as lost as he seemed.
I pictured Luke the way he looked in the crumpled photograph Thalia had found, standing with his arm around Thalia as she punched him jokingly in the arm. I saw them again as they had appeared in my Siren-induced vision, next to my father and Athena in the gorgeous park I had designed. I saw Percy grinning at me as though I hung the world and I realised I hadn't just seen that expression in my vision. He'd looked exactly like that when I'd kissed his cheek after the chariot races.
The unattainability of the Siren's vision had filled me with anguish right after I'd left their island, but maybe it wasn't an impossible future.
You could make it real …
I already had Thalia. And as for Percy and me, well …
Percy reached the bottom of the hill. He turned back to wave at me before he got into the car with his mom. Something stirred deep in my chest as I waved back: a feeling of promise, of possibility.
As I watched Sally's little purple car drive away, I felt a surge of hope. This year, I'd have Thalia with me at school, and we would all be in New York. Maybe I'd even get to see Percy before next summer rolled round.
Yes, it was going to be a good term. And on that happy thought, I went to finish packing my bags for the year ahead.
THE END
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A/N: I realised this chapter RR's math is a little off. It should have been 9 years that Thalia hadn't seen her mother … but I'm just going to chalk it down Thalia not calculating so well given all her lost years as a tree.
Anyhoo … that's it for this fic! Thanks for sticking with Annabeth all the way.
I've mentioned before that it will be a while before I can share the next fic in the DoW series. I don't know when it'll be ready, as I've only just started to write it. My working title at the moment is The Necklace of Harmonia, and I know it's going to start almost right where this story leaves off and I intend to take it all the way to just before BotL begins. So it should cover way more than the canon events in TC (which after all doesn't lend much material for a full Annabeth-PoV fic!) That's the plan, anyway. In the meantime, I should start posting my PJOHOO Big Bang fic here in a week or two—it's called The Curse of Lethe and it features Annabeth and Percy (of course!) and the rest of the HoO cast in a post-canon adventure. I hope some of you might find that enjoyable!
I'd like to once again thank my reviewers on the last chapter: Nuada Silverhand, CupcakeQueen816, keelsxoxo, strawberrygirl2000, and Livvi May. Your comments brighten my day!
Special thanks to strawberrygirl2000, CupcakeQueen816, xSkiesOfBlue11, and Livvi May—your reviews every chapter have been incredibly encouraging. And you guys make me think deeper about the characters and their motivations in canon. I truly appreciate all the time you've taken to leave a comment; every one of them makes sharing this story worthwhile! Thank you for being so willing to engage in this conversation that is fic-sharing!
And a special A/N for CupcakeQueen816 beceause I haven't been able to reply to you directly: I love your thoughtful commentary and insights about the stuff I've put in! And I'm really glad you brought up the point about what might be in Annabeth's head. I think the whole idea that your best friends are going to die is a lot to take in, whether it was Percy (who is actually more important to her than Thalia at this point, although she won't admit it even to herself) or Thalia. And when we come up against things that are too overwhelming, we have a tendency to push it aside and pretend it doesn't exist. I think Annabeth may well be an avoider/pretender, especially if it's a problem she can't solve. It's how she dealt with her family issues (by running back to camp and pretending her family just doesn't want her, when there are clearly two sides to the story), and she seems to deal with her feelings for Percy in the same way. We get a bit about how she wants to build something permanent at the end of TLO and that suggests to me that she sees everything in her life as temporary. And when you feel like everything in your life is just temporary, you tend to live a lot in the moment, especially if you're a 14-year-old kid. (I mean, we aren't the most forward-thinking at that age!) So I figure that Annabeth just went, Thalia's back now, I'm going to enjoy having her here and we'll deal with the prophecy when it throws us a problem in the present I can actually work out a solution to. The other thing is that she actually believes prophecies are set in stone-trying to work around them As far as I know, I don't think she actually went searching for a loophole for Percy? In fact, she seems to have tried to distance herself from him between BotL and TLO, almost as though it finally hit her that this boy is going to die and she's going to be badly hurt emotionally. (And what's Annabeth's default solution? Running away.)
About the male/female thing (which was in Quest, I think? I have to note that my fic outside of this series may not really fit with DoW and TGF in terms of continuity!), I was trying to reconcile why exactly the characters seemed to have such a fixed idea about the prophecy applying all to one person. But another thing I guess we have to remember is that we get to look back on the series with the benefit of hindsight, so it makes sense that all the lines refer to separate events and people. Starting from the beginning and not knowing what's coming next, we as humans have a tendency to chunk things and build a coherent narrative, and once we (or someone) form a single interpretation of a mystery we latch on to it and it gets hard to see it any other way and we'll actually keep forming reasons that support that explanation. Hello confirmation bias!
Whoa. And you thought you were looking into this too much. :P
Okay, I'll wrap up, but just to clarify about Peleus vs the dragon in Demigod Files, Peleus is the live dragon Chiron got to guard the Fleece; the bronze dragon in Demigod Files was an old automaton that used to guard the camp before Thalia's tree existed, but disappeared into the forest several years before Annabeth/Thalia/Luke's arrival. In that short story, Percy and co found it during the game and later on in TLH Leo found it and reactivated it and named it Festus.
