The survivors of the Second Titan War stare at Annabeth with stunned expressions.
Many of them weren't very close to Percy, in fact very few had more than a handful of prolonged conversations with him, but he was generally well liked at the Camp. Even Clarisse can't bring herself to look at Annabeth, after the revelation has sunken in.
"So, what now?" Connor asks.
"We go back to Camp." Thalia answers.
"No, not you." Connor waves his hand dismissively. "Annabeth, how do we save him?"
Several other campers mutter their agreements, but they're cut off when Chiron says, "We can't." He's standing but is slightly injured, with several campers crowded around him to hide the fact that a centaur is walking around in the middle of downtown Manhattan. "I'm afraid the Gods were right; Percy is trapped in a realm beyond us. We can only hope that he finds his own way out, and that the curse of Achilles keeps him alive long enough to return him to us."
Annabeth clenches her jaw, and her hands ball into fists at her side. "Not you too." She says through grit teeth, though it's barely audible.
"Thalia's right." Clarisse speaks up, and everyone turns to her. "The Mist isn't going to keep the mortals attention off us forever. There are probably still some monsters skulking about, waiting to strike while our guard is down. We either put on a street display, or we salvage what we can and head back to Camp Half Blood."
"Hunters, we'll go to Camp as well and wait for Lady Artemis to recover her strength. Now, let's move!" Thalia's position as a daughter of Zeus and lieutenant of Artemis gives her the same authoritative aura as Chiron, and over the next few hours, the survivors return to camp.
Two days later, shrouds have been made and are being burned.
A few different people from her cabin as well as others have offered to help Annabeth make one for Percy, but the glare she sends their way scares them off. The whole situation is giving her deja vu; after Percy had made Mt. Saint Helens erupt, she'd spent a week in a half in denial, even when her dreams carried no news and Iris couldn't connect when she'd tried sending him messages. A small part of her thinks that maybe history will repeat itself, that maybe she'll give up hope again, make another shroud, and right when she's forced to give up on him, he'll casually walk back into her life like he did last time. But she pushes those thoughts away. Percy wasn't invulnerable last year, and this time, she knows exactly where he is.
In contrast to last year, however, Grover is with her this time, not lost in the Labyrinth. "I'll tell you if I feel something." He tells her, but hesitates and looks at the ground before continuing. "But it's like when he got blasted to Ogygia, you know?" He shudders as he remembers the way the bond between them had just vanished without any warning last year. It had happened again this time, but he was so weary from the previous battles he'd hardly noticed it. "It's like there's a wall between us now; I can't sense him anymore. Whatever magic that exists between Tartarus and the rest of the world is like a ward, not letting anything in between."
She wants to point out that Kronos spoke to Percy from the pit multiple times, but sighs instead. Kronos was a Titan that had nearly recovered to full power, and Grover was a Satyr with an emotional link to Percy. "Maybe it's... for the better that you're cut off from him." Annabeth says, and Grover turns and gives her a puzzled look. "I just mean... I want to know if he's okay too, but if Tartarus is dangerous as they say- His luck might not hold out before we get to him. If he gets hit in his mortal point, wouldn't you-" She stops as her voice catches in her throat, and Grover puts an arm around her shoulder.
"This goat isn't going anywhere." He promises.
She manages a smile at that, and afterwards the two go their separate ways for a while. Annabeth has spent all the free time she's had gather information on Tartarus, staying up late while scouring Daedalus' laptop for any information he might've gathered, which is frustratingly little. Aside from a few known entrances down to the realm directly from the Labyrinth, there is nothing except a note that reads, 'Anything thrown into the pit does not return. The old legend says it takes 9 days to reach Tartarus at terminal velocity, yet many unmanned devices with enough fuel to fly for a month have yet to return on their own, despite my multiple checks that they can descend and ascend from any height with ease. Perhaps it's for the best. I cannot imagine any reason to descend into that place of my own will. The Labyrinth hides me from him well enough, and I'm content to keep it that way."
On the third day, Thalia greets her at the Athena cabin. "We'll be leaving tomorrow. I've received word that Lady Artemis has mostly recovered, and is well enough to rejoin the hunt."
Their walk through camp leads them nowhere in particular, and on any other occasion, Annabeth might've been more than happy to spend time with her friend, but she can't stop feeling anxious. Every moment not spent gathering intel or preparing for the journey was another moment Percy might be in danger. "Did she say anything about their next move?" She asks, but Thalia turns towards her with a frown on her face.
"You heard my father as well as I did. You know the Gods aren't going after Percy." Her voice is harsh, and she evidently realizes this, relaxing her stance and placing one hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "You shouldn't either." Annabeth shoves Thalia's hand away and starts to leave, but the huntress reacts and grabs Annabeth by the arm. "Percy wasn't the only casualty in this war. You aren't the only one grieving. He wasn't the only to sacrifice himself so we, all of us, could have a better tomorrow. Don't throw away what everyone gave you."
"I'm not throwing anything away!" Annabeth turns around, yanking her arm free from Thalia and advances on her, forcing the huntress to backpedal as she continues. "Quit talking about him like he's dead, he's not! If he was, Grover would be dead too, or at the very least incapicated. Nico would tell us if he sensed Percy's soul crossing into Elysium. He's trapped, and I'm going to set him free. I'm not going to give up on him!"
"Like you didn't give up on Luke?" Thalia shoots back. "You spent so long convincing yourself he wasn't a bad guy, even when you were chained up on Mount Tam. 'It's just Kronos!' You said. 'We can stop Kronos and save Luke, and everything will work out!' You told me what your fatal flaw was when were in school together, Annabeth. Quit being prideful, quit acting like you can do what the Gods can't. You'll just get yourself killed." Electricity is arcing up and down Thalia's arms now that she's gotten worked up, though she doesn't seem to notice.
Annabeth scoffs, unafraid of the power radiating of Thalia. "Then I'm not letting Percy die alone." She says defiantly, without looking away. "I'm not going to spend the rest of my life filled with regret, knowing that I didn't do everything I could to save him when I had the chance. I'm not going to give up until I know for certain that he's gone." She straightens up to her full height, and by now she's grown taller than the daughter of Zeus. "I'm not turning my back on the people I care about. Have fun with Artemis. Enjoy eternity with the Hunters." The words hold a painful final weight to them as she turns to leave, but doesn't stop even when Thalia calls after her.
For a little while, she walks around aimlessly, until she ends up back at the cabins, where Malcolm approaches her. "We've been looking for you. Tyson was here earlier, he says it's for you." He pulls out a poorly wrapped box with her name written incorrectly across the top, and Annabeth can't help but smile. Tyson had promised to replace her lost dagger, and it seems like the time has finally come to see her new weapon. Malcolm helps her open the package, and they carefully lift Annabeth's new dagger out.
"It... looks kind of plain." Malcolm admits.
She can't help but agree with him; the blade is standard celestial bronze, but the hilt has a shielded guard with some artwork similar to Percy's shield, where her previous dagger did not. "At least my fingers will be protected." She mutters as she turns the weapon over, then turning away and taking a few practice swings.
"What's this?" Malcolm picks up a note out of the box. "Uh..." He has trouble discerning the sloppy handwriting through his dyslexia but after a moment of heavy squinting he manages to discern, "Aim away from self and press button can hold one thousand pounds. What button-" There's a loud bang! and the blade is suddenly fifty feet away, connected to the hilt by a thin metal wire. "Whoa!" Malcolm says, his brow arched in surprise.
"Whoa, indeed." Annabeth mutters. She presses the button at the top of the hilt above where her thumb would normally be, and the wire retracts so smoothly that her hand doesn't even shake as the blade locks back into place. Beneath the note is an elegant leather scabbard, and she fastens it to her jeans and sheathes the new dagger. "I'm sure that will come in handy."
"Hopefully not anytime soon." Malcolm says, regarding her carefully.
For a moment, Annabeth stares at him, then rolls her eyes and turns away. "Alright, I'm armed and ready. I'll get my quest and then-"
"You can't be serious." He cuts her off mid sentence.
She turns towards her younger brother, hand on her hip. "You know, you've supported me on all my previous quests to dangerous places up until now."
"One, you don't have a quest yet." He points out. "Two, I do support you. As a matter of fact, I'm the only one in our cabin who supports your relationship with Percy- unless you need to be reminded of how everyone treated you as the two of you spent more and more time together." A silence hangs in the air for a moment, bringing back the memories of summers past; how she'd found her bed and pillow filled with seashells one night, the insults using fish puns, and all the childish teasing that had come with being Percy's friend.
Some were like her, who assumed they shouldn't get along just because their parents didn't like each other, and some had judged Percy to be a poor character on their own, but Malcolm had stood by Annabeth and threatened all of his siblings if they kept acting up. She'd been grateful to him ever since, and thankfully the immature reactions to her relationship had died down, but the judgmental stares when she was with Percy and occasional sarcastic remark was a reminder that most of her siblings thought she could do better.
"And three, you need Chiron's permission to get a quest, and he isn't going to grant it." He reminds her. He pauses for a moment, searching her eyes, and the look he sees reminds him of how determined she'd been to find Percy after his disappearance last year. She'd nearly snuck into the Labyrinth alone before finally giving up hope.
"Then I'll convince him."
"And if he won't listen, are you going to run off like you did to find Grover when he was trapped in the Sea of Monsters?" Malcolm asks pointedly. "You got off easy because you saved your friend and helped Clarisse, but Mr. D won't let you get away with it again. He'll turn you insane, or into a dolphin, or worse, he might actually let you go."
Annabeth doesn't answer, her face hard and unreadable. "You wouldn't understand. And I couldn't make you." Her voice is quiet, and she shakes her head before turning and trudging up to the big house. Malcolm sighs before turning and going back inside the Athena cabin.
Chiron is sitting down on the floor, the injuries on his horse body fully healed, looking into the fireplace with a solemn expression on his face. It's isn't hard to figure out what's on his mind; he'd tried to busy himself with overseeing the healing of the campers and doing inventory on what weapons and armor had made it back, as well as contacting the families of the fallen, but it wasn't enough to keep him completely busy. "Ah, Annabeth." He turns to face her as she enters, the screen door slowly creaking shut behind her. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" He asks.
"I've come for my quest to save Percy." She doesn't waste any time getting right to the point.
The flames dance slowly, casting shadows across Chiron's face. "I'm afraid not." He replies sternly.
Annabeth's hand trembles, but she keeps her voice level. "Percy saved the world. We can't let him remain trapped in Tartarus."
"I train heroes to the best of my ability so they are prepared for the challenges they must face. I do not train heroes to rush off, ill prepared, towards certain death. You could spend several lifetimes planning a way to save him from his fate, and it would all be naught."
"I won't let this be his fate." An angry edge as creeped into her voice as she squares her shoulders and takes a step toward Chiron. "He's alive, and in danger, and the Oracle can show me how to save him."
For a moment, the room is silent and Chiron is deathly still. Then he turns away from Annabeth, back towards the fire, a mournful look on his face. "Poseidon brought a terrible fate on Percy when he broke his oath made on the river Styx." He says at last. "He would have suffered regardless, as a child with such an important prophecy looming over him, but..." He pauses, as though the next words are painful to get out. "Thalia was hunted down and killed by monsters nearly a decade ago, and she was not even whom the prophecy was about."
"And then she came back!" Annabeth argues. "She came back, and now she's immortal, and gets to spend eternity with a new family. Why are you giving up on Percy-"
"That's enough, child!" Chiron yells, something he almost never does, and Annabeth takes a step back. "We cannot save him. We will speak of this no more. Do not attempt to consult the Oracle. If you return home to your family, then live a fulfilling life. Realize your dream of becoming an architect, but don't-" There's a sorrowful look in his eyes, and his voice drops to barely above a whisper. "Don't throw your life away out of despair. I've seen it happen too many times."
She storms out the door, intent on coming back when Chiron isn't here and consulting the Oracle anyways.
There's still some time left before dinner, and she plans on spending it preparing for the trip to Los Angeles but is greeted by Grover halfway back to her cabin. "There's something we need to talk about." He says, gesturing for her to follow him.
"About what?" She asks, fear welling up in her chest.
"Tyson. Poseidon wants him to return to the forges of the Cyclops."
Her fear turns to despair as they make their way towards the beach, where Tyson is sitting with his knees pulled up to his chest. "Tyson!" Annabeth calls out as they get closer. He looks up and stands when they approach him, dusting the sand off his clothes. "What's going on?"
"Daddy says it is time to come home. Home was destroyed, and Daddy needs help rebuilding after the mean ocean Titan attacked." He says sniffling, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand. "I don't want to go." His voice is trembling, and tears well up in his eye. "I t-tried to tell Daddy that we will save Percy, but he won't listen."
Annabeth and Grover exchange looks, and neither of them are sure what they should say. It was clear he was conflicted; he couldn't ignore his father calling him home, but he also wanted to join them on the quest to save his brother.
Annabeth turned her gaze towards the sea; for the past few days whenever she'd look at Long Island Sound, the waves had been choppy and violent, the color a dark gray as the wind and waves pounded the beach. She thought about how distraught Poseidon had looked at the council of the Gods, and wondered how long the ocean would remain like this.
"It's okay Tyson." She finally says quietly, walking up and giving him a hug. "Go back and help Poseidon. We'll find Percy and bring him back." Tyson gives her a bone crushing, but she doesn't make any attempt to struggle out of his grasp.
"I believe you. Annabeth and Goat Boy have always helped Percy. I believe you will save him from Tartarus."
He lets her go, and gives Grover a wave, then turns and disappears beneath the water.
The horn signaling dinnertime rang out across the valley. Together, Annabeth and Grover made their way back, while Grover asked if Annabeth had gotten a quest. "After Tyson said he had to leave, I went to the Athena cabin looking for you." He explained. "Did you get permission?"
Annabeth shook her head. "Chiron wouldn't let me, then he tried to push the blame for what's happened to Percy on Poseidon, because he broke the Big Three Pact. Can you believe that? After everything Percy's done, Chiron is ready to just give up on him." Her voice is bitter, and her hands unconsciously ball into fists. "We're leaving tomorrow, one way or the other. We've already spent too much time here."
"Have you found any important information on Tartarus?" Grover asks after a moments consideration.
She shakes her head again. "Ironically, Poseidon's warning back on Olympus was the most straightforward information I've gotten so far. Unless we consult a monster who's been there after being destroyed, I'm probably not going to find anything else. It's all 'dangerous place' this and that, if it's mentioned at all in any of the texts I can find."
"Well, at least when we get back, we'll have something useful to share." He says it with such confidence that he gets a short laugh out of Annabeth.
"I'll see you later, Grover." She waves him goodbye, joining her siblings and going to the dining pavilion.
As she eats, most of the conversations around her are about the most recent battle. A lot of the talk is turning upbeat, with the campers focused on exaggerating how heroic they'd actually been. ("Dude, I totally killed three giants on my own." "My sword broke in half and I still took down that pack of hellhounds!") But every now and then, someone mentions Percy's name and she can feel a few sympathetic glances shot her way, but she ignores them.
As soon as she's done eating, Annabeth returns to her cabin and finishes packing her belongings.
That night, her dreams finally bring her news of Percy.
His armor has fallen off at some point, and his clothes beneath are little more than scraps hanging from his body. He doesn't seem to notice or care as his swivels around, a crazed look in his eyes as he continues sprinting up, Riptide in his right hand and Annabeth's dagger in his left. She tries to call out to him, but as always, her voice does not work in her dreams.
The stone steps don't appear to be a part of any temple, and she cannot see any other buildings as she follows after Percy. The surrounding landscape isn't lit by anything, but she somehow she can still make out the lines of hills and mountains. In the distance, a massive column of flame taller than the Empire State building erupts in the sky, briefly illuminating Typhon's constantly shifting face as he roars. Then, darkness settles on the realm once more.
Suddenly, something dives on Percy from above. She had no idea it was there, but Percy swipes above himself like he's used to it, and the monster tumbles down the steps behind him. The ground is shaking in sequence, as though some large monster is nearby, and the flapping of wings and wailing of nearby monsters is maddening.
Percy rolls as a dracanae emerges from the darkness and swings, and as he stands he cuts through it.
His breathing is laboured and heavy, and Annabeth realizes he probably hasn't stopped running since he got here.
Three Telekhine appear on either side of Percy, and he throws Annabeth's dagger into one on his left, rolling to his right and taking out all three with swipe, even cutting through the shaft of ones spear. The remaining two drop their weapons and flee, and Percy picks up the dagger and continues running up the stone stairs.
After half a minute, he finally reaches the top of wherever the stairs lead and doubles over, resting his hands on his knees. He takes a few stumbling steps forward, and slowly straightens up. Maybe she can't see what Tartarus really looks like, or maybe Percy's eyes have adapted to the unending darkness there, but tears fall from his cheeks as he looks out over the landscape.
"There you are." A voice calls out, and suddenly a spike has embedded itself in Percy's mortal weak point.
Annabeth screams and cries as Percy falls down, clutching at his back and weakly pulling the spike out with a pained cry. He manages to roll over onto his back, and although his lips move, she cannot hear what he's saying.
"None of that now." The voice says again. It's like trying to discern a single whisper in a room full of screaming monsters have a battle royale; it seems impossible that she can even understand it. "There is much I am curious about regarding you."
Percy sits upright, and though it shouldn't be possible, the wound on his back has closed.
"Now that your little trick is gone, I can finish my analysis. I don't have mortals down here very often, you know, so you'll just have to live while I study you. When my work is done, I'll let you die. But not before. Not before."
"What do you want from me?" He asks, weakly raising his sword in defense.
There's a loud banging on the cabin door and Annabeth snaps out of her dream.
"Annabeth! Annabeth! Wake up, please, wake up!"
She flies to the door and finds Juniper standing there, looking distraught, fresh tears running down her face. "What is it!?"
"It's Grover!" She cries, and Annabeth places her hands on the nymph's shoulders to keep her steady. "He just collapsed suddenly a few moments ago. Gods, he was screaming Annabeth, and then he- he just collapsed, like he went into a coma!"
"Then it's true... But he said he was blocked off from Percy..." Annabeth mutters, pulling Juniper into a hug.
She tries to stop her own tears from falling, telling her cabin mates to go back to bed, but there's only one thing on her mind.
What was happening to Percy?