XXIX - Percy

You know that feeling you get when you haven't seen someone in a long time and then you see them again and it's the best feeling ever? That's exactly how I felt at the lake this evening when Annabeth ran up to me and tackled me to the ground, wrapping her arms around my neck, squeezing the life out of me. I tried to get her to come off of me, but all that came out was choking noises that sounded kind of like a demon trying to escape out of Hades.

She quickly jumped off and blushed. "Sorry, Percy. I'm just really glad you're okay. When Hermes was taking us back to the camp, he told us you had some pretty frightening dreams while you were in that coma."

I shrugged, leading Annabeth to tilt her head in confusion. "To be honest, most of it's fading now. I can't really remember what I dreamed around." That was mostly true, but there were a few things I just couldn't unsee. Stabbing my father was at the top of the list. While most of the images I couldn't remember, the feelings they left me were far from gone.

"Percy," Annabeth reached out for my hand. "Be honest with me, are you really okay?" I looked into my Wise Girl's stormy gray eyes and I knew I couldn't lie to her. I was a terrible liar. She would know and then she would be worried, not to mention furious that I had lied to her.

"I guess, I mean, better than before." Annabeth sighed, knowing that I was trying to dance my way around the question. "Look, it's nothing to worry about. You found his name, right? What is it?" I asked her, trying to take her mind off of the whole "me being insane and mentally cracking" thing. That and I wanted to satisfy my own curiosity.

Annabeth pulled out a letter and showed it to me. I glanced at who it was addressed to, taking it from Annabeth's hand, watching me as I went to say the name, but I couldn't. "Lo-," I couldn't find my voice after the first syllable. The more I tried to read the name, the worse it got for me. Soon the words jumped off the page like they did when I tried to read English.

"Are they dancing around the paper for you too?" Annabeth asked, as if this had happened to her before. I slowly nodded. "Yeah, his old wife, she was a mortal, she's dead now, said that there's a taboo or curse on his name. You can't say it out loud, but you can still read it."

"How did that happen? Names have power. If you cut off someone's name like that, does that cut off their power?" I asked Annabeth, wondering if that was why the Titan drove me insane and his two forms were battling each other in his head. Had the loss of his name weakened his Greek Form so much that it was disappearing and his Roman Form was taking over? Maybe his powers were falling apart and he can't control them anymore.

Annabeth nodded, "In theory. The more a deity or person's name is known, the stronger they become, but if you just silence their name altogether, then they would only be a shadow of their former self, unable to do anything. Maybe his powers are just falling apart. I don't know why he hasn't faded yet."

"Don't you need to have a reason for living to not fade?" I asked Annabeth, wanting to find out as much as I can about this mysterious Titan, just in case we need to fight him.

"Yes, you do. If you just lose the will to live, then you disappear into nothing, evaporate." Annabeth then explained, "But he has the will to live. He wants revenge."

Annabeth sat down, staring off at the lake. She was quiet for a long time, silent and unmoving. The silence that had descended upon us was deafening and made me shift on my feet. I didn't know if I was glad or sad that the uneasy silence was soon broken. "We're mortal, Percy. We can't understand the pain he's gone through. He's got to be older than any of the Olympians and he's lost his son and wife, his domain, everything he cherished on this world."

I sat down beside Annabeth, taking her into my arms and giving her a hug. She leaned against me, sighing. I couldn't really do much other than just be there for her. "What are you really thinking about?" I asked her, looking right at her eyes to search for the truth. "You can't be feeling sorry for someone who did all those things to me. You have to be feeling something else."

She was quiet for a moment. Then, she spoke, "Percy, I've been alive for eighteen years, so have you. When I lost you for an entire summer when we were trying to defeat Gaea, I could barely function properly. I didn't eat, sleep, or drink until you were back to me." I nodded, knowing that Annabeth wouldn't have stopped until she found me. "You were still alive, I clung to that hope. What if I lose you forever? Who do I get mad at? Who do I fight? What do I even do? I can't just move on, Percy. You mean too much to me."

I gave Annabeth a small smile, "Hey, I'm never leaving you. I will fight my way out of any prison to get back by your side and no person, immortal or not will keep me from loving you." I gave her a peck on the forehead and held her as the cool breeze blew over us.

It was a nice moment until we heard a scream from the camp. Immediately we were on our toes, running back to the camp. Athena, Hermes, and Apollo, along with the heads of the cabins ran to the source of the scream with us. "What was that?" Athena asked.

Hermes looked as pale as a ghost, "That was Connor." I blinked. The fastest way to get a god to his knees was through his children. Once we got to the Hermes Cabin, the whole thing was in a sheet of ice with Children of Hermes shuddering outside, desperately trying to get warmer. Hermes ran over to them and helped them out of the cabin and we soon followed suit. Helping them over to a newly lit campfire, they leaned closer, rubbing their frigid hands together.

Once the Hermes campers were gathered around the fire, Hermes counted them all. "I'm missing three kids. Connor, Travis, and Christopher." What ensued next was Hermes's panic attack. "Not another child, please, not another child." Hermes had a rocky relationship with his kids, but he still loved them dearly. His voice was pained and panicked. What he was saying made me think about Luke. Did he still regret everything that happened?

Athena frowned. "We must remain calm. This Titan would not just take your children without giving us a clue as to where they would be." She went into the Hermes Cabin and searched around. Hermes continued to freak out despite his remaining kids trying to calm him down. When Athena emerged from the cabin, the look on her face grim.

"Don't tell me they're dead," Hermes gripped his chest. She gestured for us to follow and we did. Luckily, Apollo was in there otherwise, we would have been freezing our butts off. The outside looked like it was frosted in ice, the inside, that was a different story. It looked like the Ice Age all over again. Resting in the middle of the floor was a mirror. Written around it was Greek, but we could all read it clearly.

Come alone. You know who you are. Bring allies and your children will suffer a fate worse than death.


Sorry for the long wait guys. I've been meaning to update for a while now, but time got away from me. Though, we're coming close to the climactic conclusion of the story, so I hope you got your socks on because I'm about to knock them right off. Hopefully.