JASON
It's midday when Jason finally allows himself to worry.
Piper's been freaking out ever since she woke up – after all, monster raids don't usually take this long. Usually demigods make it back by sunrise – delays usually mean deaths, and with someone like Annabeth on the line…well, everyone's a little on edge.
"Do you think Percy had something to do with it?" Travis asks doubtfully. "I mean, we don't know anything about him."
"He's not a traitor," Jason says tiredly – it feels like he's said the phrase over the past month more than he's used it his entire life. "Besides, you like Percy. Didn't he make Leo's crotch permanently wet or something?"
"Great, let's remind everyone about that again," Leo grumbles, shooting Jason a glare.
Travis holds up his arms defensively. "Hey, I don't want him to be a traitor – he seems like a good dude. I'm just saying, we should prepare for the worst, just in case."
"This is Annabeth we're talking about," Piper argues. "Even if Percy is a traitor and decided to turn on her – I'm not saying he is, Jason, gosh –" in response to Jason's look of betrayal – "she can take him no problem."
"That's some quality minotaur shit right there, Percy is stronger than Annabeth, Piper" Jason says with a slight smirk. It had been a running joke within the two of them that who was more powerful.
"Yeah Jason you seem really concerned now don't you?" Piper gives a sanctimonious laugh. Jason scowls and tries to elbow her, Piper darts out of the way and he misses his elbow hitting the air awkwardly. Jason feels himself getting red and changes the subject quickly before everybody start to laugh.
"Guys Percy has been nothing but helpful so far we have no reason to doubt him" the deep, calm voice of Beckendorf cuts through.
"Fair enough," Travis says, though he still looks worried. One look around them confirms that several others are also scared for their leader, and might possibly even share Travis's doubts about Percy.
Jason massages his temple – he hadn't slept well the night before, roused repeatedly by a vision of the Titan Krios laughing at him before disappearing into a fog so thick even Jason's wind powers did nothing to reveal what lay within.
Leo joins him by the firepit, looking similarly harrowed, and they both watch Piper pace at the entrance. Jason knows Annabeth had been the one to find Piper and Leo roaming the forests by the Grand Canyon when they both ran away together from their Wilderness School also Annabeth had been the one to teach Piper to fight with a knife.
"Couldn't sleep?" Leo asks finally, sticking his hand into the dim yellow flames and sighing as though it's brought relief. His hair has grown, dark and unruly, and it curls around a pair of sticking-out ears that should have been awkward, but were somehow charming instead.
When Jason looks up, already a little guarded, it is to find Leo looking at him with sad, wary eyes. He is still wearing the clothes from that morning, now dirty and smudged with grit and oil. Like this, Jason can see hints of the boy who had taken Jason under his wing, luring him in with bad humour and incredible tacos. Leo had been shorter back then, a gangly thing with a sharp frame and the kind of hair you could lose a set of keys in. He's filled out since then, grown into his bones and hardened in ways that Jason doesn't like all that much, as much as he knows that it's necessary for them, that it's a part of life.
He can't lie to Leo, even though he's been dreaming of Krios nonstop and it's terrifying him more than he will ever admit.
"No," Jason says. "Nightmare."
"You want to talk about it?"
"No," Jason says honestly, knowing Leo will drop the topic. This is why he appreciates Leo so much – he knows Jason inside and out, and he isn't the type to prod at him unnecessarily. Unlike Annabeth, who will appear to give up on a subject but secretly stew on it for days on end, Leo really will give Jason the time and space he needs, knowing full well he'll tell him when he's ready.
Leo nods, stretching. "Well, in that case, same. I keep getting this one recurring dream."
Jason frowns. "You know what that implies."
"Recurring dreams mean something," Leo nods. Then – "you know the blueprints I showed you once? Of the cannons – the plumbing system – the –"
"Dragon?" Jason guesses, lifting an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Leo says, leaning forward. His eyes are alight with the kind of excitement he usually gets when he talks about building something, or forging a new kind of weapon, or taking apart a gadget of some kind. "Jason – I saw it in my dreams. I've been seeing it for a while – but last night I felt like it was calling to me."
Jason drums his hands on his knee. "You think it's out there? I thought – with the plans we found – I thought you were meant to build it. At some point."
"I thought that too, but I always kinda wondered – where am I going to get that much Bronze from? Whatever we have goes into shoring up defenses and making weapons for all our Bunkers – it's not like we have a lot to spare, y'know? But what if it's already been built? What if it's out there somewhere?" He points at the Bunker doors. "If it's just repairing, I could do it, I could find the metals we need. An automaton like that, Jason – it could change our fortune entirely."
"That would be incredible," Jason admits. "Having a gigantic metal dragon on our side? Huge plus."
Leo leans back against his arms. "Maybe I'll ask for a Quest."
"Sounds worth it," Jason agrees. "I'll come with you."
"Thanks, man," Leo says. "I'll give you extra tacos next time I make 'em."
"You should've been giving me extras all along," Jason counters. "What kind of a best friend are you?"
"Best friend? Who said that?" Leo snickers.
"I hope the dragon sets fire to your ass," Jason replies.
Leo's answering retort is lost in the sound of the doors grinding open. Jason flies to his feet, Leo right behind him, as Percy and Annabeth emerge from the outside, hauling a thick Bronze mace and armor along with a Black haired emo dude. Leo whistles at the sight of the metal, waving for Beckendorf to join them, as Piper throws herself into Annabeth's arms.
Percy catches Jason's eye and nods – he looks exhausted, but there's no signs of wounds beyond a shallow cut on his arm. Around them, the rest of the demigods mill around Annabeth, inspecting her for injuries and peppering her with questions.
"Nothing out of the ordinary, then?" Travis says, with a sideways glance at Percy, who, luckily, is regaling Harley with tales of the battle and hasn't noticed. Jason flares up at once, but Annabeth, who seems to have understood Butch's meaning, smiles tiredly and announces, loud enough for even the kids outside on patrol to hear, "No, I was immobilized after the fight and so we rested for a few hours. Honestly, I wouldn't even be here if Percy hadn't saved my life – I really owe him one."
Only an idiot would dispute that, or even begin to mistake the underlying steel in her tone. Percy looks up at her and grins, saluting exaggeratedly and making Annabeth roll her eyes and shove at him lightly.
Piper's eyebrows rise to her hairline; Silena seems similarly interested. Annabeth looks in their general direction and blanches.
"I'm starving," she says loudly. "Leo, got any tacos?"
"I need a bath," Percy declares, heading off towards the tunnel and dragging Jason behind him, ruffling Harley's hair as he passes.
"Do you really think I have nothing better to do than watch you make ponies out of the bathwater?" Jason groans, even though they both know that Jason had been extremely entertained by the display the first time Percy had done it and had even demanded an encore.
"I'll make eagles this time," Percy says in an indulgent tone, throwing an arm around him and covering Jason in sweat and mud.
"There," he says. "now you need a bath too."
They're joined by a few others – Grover, Travis, Jake, and Butch, who probably feel a little guilty for doubting Percy so publicly. Percy scrubs the mud from his face and tells them about the cyclopes – they all wince when he tells them about Annabeth being almost squeezed to death.
"It was tough," Percy admits. "If I'd been alone, I probably would've run as fast as I could in the opposite direction."
"Annabeth doesn't like returning empty-handed," Grover informs him.
"Figured," says Percy dryly – and something about his quick response makes Jason suspect that Percy isn't telling him everything about the battle. Percy seems to notice - catching Jason's eye, he winks and changes the topic to "Who wants to see water eagles?"
It's an hour later they find another shocking development while chilling near the baths discussing ridiculous things Jason isn't sure how but the topic comes to the scar on his lips.
"Another one of Thalia's great achievement she stopped me from eating a stapler" replies Jason with some smugness (and no he doesn't know why he's smug).
"She didn't stop you fast enough, in my opinion," Piper grumbles.
"You're kidding, right?" Percy says incredulously. "All this time I thought it was a cool battle scar, or that maybe Piper had given it to you during one of your, uh, amorous moments–" he shields himself, cackling, as Piper aims her foot at his face.
Jason smiles, but it fades quickly. He thumbs at the scar. "I don't know if I'm allowed to think this, but sometimes…" he takes a deep, shuddering breath, smiling at Piper when she laces her fingers through his. "Sometimes I wish that the Prophecy didn't exist, you know? We'd all be much happier. Thalia might be alive."
"In a much happier place," Piper murmurs wistfully. "Did you know, there used to be a camp for Greek demigods on Long Island Sound? Like New Rome…but not as rigid – the Titans burned it to the ground when they started gaining power, supposedly killing Chiron, who trained all the demigods there. We've been living in the mortal world since till the final war happened."
"A beachside camp? Sounds amazing," Percy sighs. "I don't even know how long it's been since I've been to a beach."
"It all comes back to the Prophecy," Jason says. "If it weren't for the Prophecy, the Titans wouldn't be going around killing every demigod ever." He pauses, then says quickly, "I hate it."
"Nothing wrong with hating the Prophecy," Percy says easily, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning backward, the picture of a lazy college student avoiding a buttload of assignments. "Fuck the Prophecy."
"I know that prophecies are made for a reason, and this one is the most important one of our time, and foretells the rise of the gods and all that, but fuck the Prophecy," Jason agrees, sounding like a great burden's been lifted off his chest.
"No offense to your sister," Percy says with feeling, "but holy shit am I glad that it wasn't me that was the hero of the Prophecy. Can you imagine the pressure of it?"
"Thalia dealt with it well," Jason says, "but yeah, I get what you mean. I would've crumbled. I don't – I don't like to lead."
"Where'd you learn about the Prophecy, anyway?" Piper cuts in, looking at Percy curiously. "It passed through word of mouth around here – every demigod was told about it at some point, but you said you got to New Rome just in time for the War. Did Reyna or someone teach it to you?"
Jason recites in a monotone, "A half blood of the eldest gods, shall-"
"Shall come of age against all odds, and see the world in endless sleep, the hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap, a single choice shall end his days…I know it," Percy says offhandedly. "Lupa drilled that into my head.
He meets Jason and Piper's stricken gazes. "What?"
"You said come of age," Piper says slowly.
"Yes," Percy says, like it's the most obvious thing in the world, "because that's the line."
"Not the version we all know," Jason says, his eyes wide. "We all learned it like: Shall reach sixteen against all odds."
"Sixteen, come of age, does it make that big a difference?" Percy asks nonchalantly.
"We have to tell Annabeth," Piper hisses in a frenzy. "We've all been waiting for signs of a new Great Prophecy, but what if. What if the Prophecy was just – read wrong or something- oh my gods I sound insane -"
"Percy, other than Lupa, do you have any proof that it's come of age and not reach sixteen?" Jason sits forward, desperate.
"Uh, yeah." Percy quickly recounts a long-winded tale of meeting some kind of genius harpy in the Multnomah County Library. She'd memorized just about every book in there, but she'd also known several prophecies, old and new – "and she said the same lines I did," he finishes.
Jason and Piper stare.
Percy squirms as though readying himself to flee. "You guys are freaking me out."
"Lupa never told you this version?" Piper asks Jason in a low voice.
"I was five," Jason hisses back, "and I was with the wolves only for a couple of months before they took me to New Rome. Lupa taught me the basics of the gods and monsters, a bit of hand-to-hand, and that's it."
Piper's heart is racing. She meets Jason's eyes and sees her own disbelief written plainly across his face.
"Percy, if you're right…" Jason murmurs.
"Percy, if you're right…" Jason murmurs.
"It could mean everything," Piper says, leaning forward and placing her hand over Percy's. He looks at her like she's possessed. Piper feels like she's possessed – a conglomeration of complex feelings are rising in her chest, but she's in no state to pick them apart.
Could it really be true? Could the answer have been right in front of them all this time? Could they have lost the War – attacked too early, just because of a misinterpretation?
"Wake Annabeth," she instructs Jason in a daze. "And get…get Leo, Silena, Beckendorf, and Travis, too. We've got a lot to talk about.
They end up talking about it while Percy's doing the laundry.
Some genius had figured out that hey, since they had a demigod with water powers now, he should, in theory, be able to wash all their clothes faster. It had turned out to be true – during those first few days at the Bunker, Percy had been embarrassingly eager to prove his worth as a member of their camp, and he'd done a stellar job with the clothes, lifting the entirety of them in a giant sphere of water and proceeding to swirl them inside it, kinda like a no-machine washing machine, as Leo had dubbed it.
This act of benevolence had landed him on permanent laundry duty.
Annabeth paces right under the globe of clothes, ignoring the drops that pelt down onto her hair, biting her lip and wringing her hands together – Percy hadn't known people actually did that. The rest of them are gathered around them in a haphazard circle, watching Percy jiggle the clothes around in an effort to mix the soap in.
"And you're sure about this," Annabeth says for the millionth time.
"Yes," Percy stresses, his eyes still on the churning ball of water he's holding midair. He twirls his free hand, gathering up the soapy water and extracting it from the bigger sphere and dropping it into a bucket. He rinses the clothes in the clean, de-soaped water for a minute, and then he separates the rest of the water from the clothes, which drop to the grass in a heap. Percy gathers whatever water he can from the pile, drying them instantly, before pushing the watercloud right over the crops the Demeter kids are planting – at their signal, he spreads the water into a thin sheet and dumps it unceremoniously over their heads.
Billie spits out a mouthful. "Thanks, Percy!" Percy gives him a thumbs up.
"Lupa told you," Annabeth says tersely.
"Lupa told me," Percy confirms. "It was literally the first thing she taught me, right after the whole orientation-to-being-a-demigod thing."
Annabeth raises an eyebrow at him; he mirrors the motion. He wants to take offense at the interrogation, but he can't complain, though, not really. Since their raid together, things between them have improved significantly. Apparently, Percy's act of stepping in to fight that last cyclops had led Annabeth to the decision that this made him worthy of her friendship. She'd started ordering Percy around the Bunker and even inviting him to spar, often offering him tips during their matches.
At first, Percy had been confused by the sudden turnaround, but Piper had set him straight.
"It was bound to happen at some point," had been her reply, watching as Jason led the younger demigods through drills.
"Huh?" he'd asked, glancing at her warily. He liked Piper, of course, but the way her mind worked was frightening.
"Annabeth really does care about what people think of her, despite how cool she acts otherwise," she'd explained. "She's self-aware, but a lot of the time her pride gets in the way. You called her out for being a dick to you, and it got her attention." She'd smiled. "Maybe she saw that everyone around her liked you, and decided that maybe she was the problem, not you."
Being an A-grade idiot, Percy had believed it at the time. He regrets it now; Annabeth's staring at him like she wants to extract his brain and study it herself.
"Demigod orientation," she says sweetly, her lips stretched in a sarcastic smile now. "That's nice. Was there a short PowerPoint presentation? Is it PG-13?"
"Oh shut up" grumbles Percy
Travis raises his hand and nods at Percy. "Okay, question. You fought on the Roman front, right? Didn't you hear the Prophecy from them at some point? Wouldn't you have realized something was wrong?"
"When we – uh, I got to New Rome," Percy says, coughing quickly to conceal his slip-up – though, by the shadowy look that passes over Annabeth's expression, it hadn't gone unnoticed – "they were already preparing for the War. The most I got out of anyone was that there was a daughter of Zeus who had turned sixteen and that the time for the fulfilment for the Prophecy was here. I didn't ask questions…" He bows his head a little sheepishly. "I was just glad it wasn't me."
Silena looks up as Annabeth resumes her pacing, muttering something about stupid sons of Poseidon and their brains made of seaweed.
"But didn't you figure something was wrong when some of the lines of the prophecy didn't add up?" she questions. "Like seeing the world in endless sleep, and the hero's cursed blade-"
Percy shrugs. "We were all kinda hoping that stuff was happening on your end," he admits. "You guys were where the fighting was hardest – I mean, Kronos wasn't defending Othrys, he was attacking Olympus." He pauses. "Actually, shouldn't you have noticed if something was amiss?"
Annabeth stops pacing, and she exchanges a frantic look with Piper. "We did notice," she says in a low, disturbed voice.
Leo grimaces. "A lot of things weren't adding up. The whole and see the world in endless sleep bit – the monsters were going around killing demigods as well as mortals. The streets were full of the fallen. We lost nearly 65 percent of our people – we kind of took the endless sleep to just mean…death."
Annabeth looks like something inside her is breaking. "I guess we were – trying to make our circumstances fit the Prophecy when they really didn't."
Jason looks like he's at war with himself. "And we took the cursed blade to mean Kronos' scythe – oh gods -"
"Annabeth," Beckendorf rumbles, in that low, deep voice of his, "the hero of the prophecy is always referred to as a he."
Annabeth looks sickened. "But that – that's the only part of the prophecy that does fit. Thalia lost the battle –"
"Doesn't necessarily make it a choice," Jason points out.
"And that meant the end of her days," Annabeth ploughs on. "And Olympus was razed after."
"I don't know," Beckendorf mutters. "I'm just saying, the hero is always called he, and that maybe just is a general term that encompasses, uh, both genders, but-"
Annabeth's eyes cloud over and she leans heavily against a tree.
"I know," she says, defeated. "I know."
Piper runs a hand through her hair. "I get how we could've fit some things into the Prophecy that didn't really work, but how could we have stood by? Kronos had come back. Othrys was rising. Thalia had turned sixteen. We couldn't have delayed it any longer. We shouldn't be beating ourselves up about this – we didn't have a choice."
"Which brings us back to our original theory," Annabeth replies. A thick lock of blonde hair falls into her face and she blows it out of the way, annoyed. "Things were destined to happen this way. We were meant to lose that fight. The only thing that changes, if Percy's really right, is that instead of getting a new prophecy, we have to let the old one play out, for real this time."
Several moments hang heavy and silent above them following this announcement, broken only when Jason wobbles to his feet.
"I'm really tired," he murmurs. "I'm gonna-" He jabs a thumb towards the tunnel entrance and walks off toward it before bothering to finish the sentence.
Piper grabs her pile of clothes and follows him. "Percy told us the story, let me know what you decide," she says, and hurries to catch up with her boyfriend.
Annabeth looks at Jason with something like protectiveness in her gaze. For a second, Percy wonders if she's going to go after him, but she only sighs and watches him go.
"What do you think?" Silena asks finally, directing her words at Annabeth. "Do you think we misinterpreted the Prophecy all along?"
"I have a theory," Annabeth says mysteriously.
"Care to share?" Leo raises an eyebrow.
"No," she says shortly. "I don't want to spread any rumours, cause mass panic – or, even worse, get people's hopes up. If I'm wrong, this'll be hard to bounce back from. You all know what it was like after the War."
Travis, Leo, Beckendorf, and Silena exchange forlorn looks. Percy tries to imagine fighting to his last breath, watching his friends and comrades die around him, all the while hoping and praying that their hero would pull through. He tries to imagine watching Olympus fall, being chased from New York, and coming to terms with the fact that they would be living in hiding with the last of their kind – possibly for the rest of their lives.
"We should call for a Council meeting," Leo says.
"We'll do that once we confirm that we're right about this, also we already have a meeting for the supplies of this month and stuff," Annabeth responds. "Percy – you talked about the harpy? In the library?"
"Ella," Percy specifies. "She memorized some ancient book, apparently –"
"Gods," Annabeth murmurs, crossing her arms. "If I'm right about this, you guys, it could mean everything." She pauses. "Where was the library?"
"Portland," Percy says.
"And this harpy will recognize you?" Annabeth says doubtfully.
"I mean, if she can recite ancient prophecies from long-destroyed books…"
"Point taken," Annabeth says. "Just making sure."
"A working Oracle would be real handy right about now," Leo grunts.
"We don't even know if the spirit even exists anymore," Silena says, frowning.
Annabeth scowls. "I might have an idea about that, too."
PERCY
Percy's shook, his brain just has reached it capacity to take shocking information in a day. He feels like his head is going to explode with thinking, one thought just keeps surfacing back.
The people who died in the siege of Othrys died for nothing, absolutely nothing. Percy yells in anger and punches the door which bruises his fist and wakes up Nico who was so tired when he arrived he passed out instantly, Percy convinced Annabeth not to interrogate the poor kid as soon as he woke up so she reluctantly left him.
"Oh hi," Percy says shoving his fists into his jeans to cover the bruises "Slept well?" he asks trying to dissipate the tension. "Yeah" Nico says. Annabeth still doesn't know about Nico being son of Hades, Percy was going to tell her but KA – BLAM new prophecy, possible Quest, another War.
"Hi" Nico replies a little confused and wary, "Are you alright?" he asks again. "Yeah I am just heard some news nothing that bad" oh except the world altering prophecy and Jason, Nico's or my death his brain helpfully supplies.
"Hey cuz," Percy said "do me a favor and don't tell anyone about your heritage till we get back alright, we may have a quest soon."
"Alright" he says, Percy strides out of the room and finds Beckendorf and says "Beckendorf listen please the new guy he's important but I can't tell you right now or that would cause panic, so if I'm selected on the quest don't let anyone question him or anything". Beckendorf seems a little weirded out but the son of Hephaestus nods his head.
Next stop: War Council. By the time Percy and Beckendorf arrive quite a few people are already there talking in hushed tones as the gossip that the leaders were talking about something important near the fire pit has spread quickly through the sectors.
When everyone is there Annabeth clears her throat and looks at everyone sternly. "We have a problem" Annabeth starts off with the most obvious thing. "Hear,Hear" says Travis his inner Hermes unable to contain the remark. Annabeth glares at him, and Travis seems to shrink under her gaze.
Everyone grins and some people exchange looks also Percy is pretty sure he sees money passing through hands.
But when Annabeth is done with the explanation no one is grinning or even has a hint of a smile on their face.
Grim silence reigns, "Ok so who's going on the quest?" asks Connor. "Already planned that" Annabeth replies "I will go along with Grover, Percy and Piper if they are willing" continues Annabeth with a hint of trepidation.
"Not that they aren't capable but why them?" Silena questions, "Well Grover will need to guide us through the Labyrinth with his tracking spells, Percy because he may have the location to get the complete prophecy for our first actual quest in years as Rachel is…. Unavailable, Piper because she knows the mortal world the best and me because – " Annabeth pauses.
"Because we need a strategy" interrupts Percy loudly, Annabeth shoots him a grateful look, "Also the location is Multinomah library where when I was on the run I found a harpy who memorized old prophecies, so if potentially we reach there I don't know maybe we could bring her back or get more prophecies." Percy finishes a little lamely.
"Alright then it's decided I'm going" says Piper "Grover?" she asks, the satyr nods his head and says "I'll pack my tin cans".
"Piper are you sure" asks Jason his hands shaking a little, "Yeah I'll be fine Jason and anyway don't you and Leo want to find the location of the dragon?" asks Piper softly taking Jason's hand in hers.
"Ahem" Leo clears his throat "War Council here" he says grinning cheekily. Piper and Jason blush and let go.
"Alright then we leave at dawn" decides Annabeth.
X
Percy's running through the woods he's been separated from the rest of the legion for a good month or so now, he sees a dented board NEW YORK 1 MILE and starts running a little faster.
He reaches the city limits and is horrified to find dozens of monsters causally whipping mortals, The Greeks lost he realizes with a terrifying certainity.
He ducks around groups of monsters and heads towards the Empire State building which's top is now gold and black the entrance is blocked by huge black doors guarded by dozens of laistrygonians.
Percy then makes his way to his mom's apartment, a horrible rotting smell reaching his nose he sees his mom with a omega shaped axe in her chest, the Minotaur's he recognizes the axe that tried to kill him on the way to New Rome, Percy gives a gasp and cradles his mom sobbing into her cold and lifeless body.
He gives a huge roar of agony and then runs as fast as he can out of the apartment, out of New York out of grief and anger.
Percy wakes with a yell his brain fuzzy he lets the tears fall he remembers what happened next. If he wanted to he could have found the hidden legion and settled there but he wanted vengeance and searched for the Minotaur for months passing out from exhaustion at one point due to lack of food and water and then waking up at the bunkers.
He twists the necklace around his neck, a sea green pendant his mom used to wear. Percy closes his eyes and takes a deep breath and snatches up the backpack laying besides his bedstand and heads towards the doors ready to go on the quest.
ANNABETH
They set at dawn. Percy is still yawning, and Grover is testing out his reed pipes. Piper waves goodbye to Jason – Annabeth knows her friend is loathe to leave him behind, but Annabeth needs her to determine if May Castellan is telling the truth, or possibly charmspeak a prediction out of her if it comes to that. Annabeth would bring Jason along as well, but having two Big Three children in one place had seemed like a horrible idea, and besides, Leo had requested Jason to accompany him on his Quest to find the Bronze Dragon.
Annabeth exhales and massages the bridge of her nose with her fingers, tossing Percy an apple as she passes him by. Percy fumbles with it, but manages to hold on. He takes a bite, shooting her a grateful little smile.
Grover plays a lilting tune on his pipes. The four acorns he'd set on the ground shudder violently, then begin to roll down a tunnel to their right. Grover pockets his pipes, looking pleased. "That way."
Still fuzzy from the lack of sleep and all the information she's been forced to process over the past couple of days, Annabeth is in a foul mood, and her headache isn't helping matters. She's tempted to snap back with something rude about Grover's poor directional skills, but she holds her tongue. Grover's grown a lot since the time he'd first found them, she reminds herself. He's become a respected member of their alliance and one of their most adept at using nature magic – he won't lead them down the wrong path this time.
Their send-off is brief and unspectacular. Not many of their campers are awake – Silena and Leo had taken the night shift and are still in bed, but Beckendorf and Travis join Jason in saying goodbye and good luck.
"Keep practicing," Annabeth tells Jason when he comes to hug her. She glares halfheartedly at Travis. "And don't let Travis steal too much on supply runs."
Jason chuckles and Travis places a hand over his heart. "Would I ever."
"You would," Annabeth grumbles. "And don't forget, in two days or so –"
"Supply Run," Travis completes, saluting smartly and making Percy smirk. "Gotcha."
"Stay safe," Beckendorf rumbles.
"Come back alive," Jason jokes, but there's real worry in his eyes. Piper leans over for one last kiss, and she whispers something in his ear that makes him sigh and smile.
As they turn towards the Labyrinth, following Grover's enchanted acorns, Percy asks, "You think we'll only be gone a week? Portland is on the other side of the country."
Grover runs a hand over the walls. "The Labyrinth is…strange with time."
"Used to be a nightmare to navigate," Piper adds. "Used to lead us all over the fuckin' place before we had Ariadne's string – we'd be trying to get to Cali and end up in Dallas. We had to get to other locations overland most of the time, too, and we wasted so much time on the journey."
Annabeth exchanges a look with Grover, remembering the Quest to get the string – the first one she'd led, their first successful Quest in years. The race to get to Daedalus and retrieve the string had been one of the most stressful experiences of her life, and she briefs Percy about the Quest, feeling proud and warm at the impressed look he shoots in her direction when she describes Daedalus' workshop.
"We were just in time, too. The enemy killed Daedalus when they realized he didn't have the string," she explains, "but with his death, the Labyrinth lost most of its, uh, more malicious nature. It doesn't shift around anymore – if you learn the paths, as we've done, you should be able to get from A to B pretty safely, although it still is confusing if you don't know the way. My siblings in Athena and the demigods in Hermes don't even need the string anymore. But the warpy time stuff is still a thing – we should get to Portland in a few hours through the Labyrinth, but much more time would've passed in the overworld."
"If there are so many routes to the overworld, what's stopping the monsters from getting in here?" Percy grips his sword tightly as though readying himself for a fight.
"I told you, all the paths leading to and from the Bunkers are shielded by magic," Annabeth says. "The Hecate kids piled upon layers of diversion spells, so monsters won't even come close, but even if they do, they won't be able to pass the barrier – they'll need a password, and our Hecate half-bloods reset it fairly often."
"We should be nearing the borders to the outside world soon," Piper agrees. "You'll see then."
Percy hums, still chewing on the apple she'd given him before. He glances at Grover. "So how are you navigating through the maze if we don't have the string – and wait, where is it now, anyway?"
"Sector Eleven. Hermes has some of our best runners," Grover responds, his eyes on the acorns rolling steadily ahead of them. "
"Hermes, the messenger god, the god of speed goddammit Travis " Percy says, looking enlightened. "So that's why Travis is so fast."
"I told you not to challenge him to a footrace," Piper grins.
"You're an idiot," Annabeth deadpans. Percy colors.
"Anyway, I'm using a simple tracking spell to get us to Portland," Grover continues. "I anchor my magic to the nature magic from the destination, and so the acorns are pulled in that direction."
Percy whistles under his breath. "You can sense it all the way from here?"
Grover nods. "It's taking all my concentration, though. Nature magic used to be stronger before," he says, and his lips tighten.
Annabeth recalls the years before the War – where they used to have hundreds upon hundreds of nature spirits on their side. Satyrs and dryads and naiads and aurae that had been driven to near-extinction by the Titans and their allies since the battle. The aurae were banished to the higher, colder skies, unable to come down to earth – the naiads were confined only to their respective waterbodies, and the dryads were all but lost. The Titans couldn't wipe out every tree in the continent, of course, instead choosing to administer a poison – possibly through the air - that would keep the tree alive, physically, but immobilize the dyad within. They haven't seen a single dryad since the War – and Annabeth knows how hard Grover's taken the blow. Besides the severe dip in his nature magic, his girlfriend Juniper had been one of the victims.
Annabeth had liked Juniper, a spunky nymph with pale green skin and fiery hair, and she'd felt her loss, but more than ever, though, she felt sorry for Grover, who had dedicated his life to Pan and the god's mission of restoring wildlife, and again she curses the Titans for the corruption they've brought to the world during their reign. She can't imagine what it must feel like to be a satyr - their source of strength comes from flora and fauna in and of itself, and to have it cut off must be terrifying. The forests around Bunker Nine, which had once seemed vibrant with life, have now faded into something that even Annabeth can tell holds a darkness within that wasn't there before – Grover had told her that it felt like the earth's heart had stopped beating.
A couple of minutes pass in total silence, during which Annabeth forces her mind to focus on the task at hand.
They reach the Labyrinth entrance Annabeth makes a small cut on her palm and presses it against the blue delta and says 'Thalia' the password.
And they descend into the Labyrinth.
YAY big chap
Guys Fallen King will be updated on the 17th I just gotta do some editing also I changed chapter 5 and 3 so please read that again if you have any confusion in this chapter that doesn't add up with before.
Also I need 10 reviews before the 21st of April 14, 2021 aight it gives me motivation. Please review, fav and follow.
Biggest Chap Yet
Chapter Length – 6335 words
Peace,
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