Chapter 11: The Last Lines
-o-
I don't know what it was that woke me up: the light that came through the window, the parched mouth, or the heated discussion that was barely silenced by the walls of the infirmary. I could barely sit on the bed where I was, feeling a new level of pain in my aching body, but I endured it and cautiously put on my shoes before opening the door.
Entering the living room, I could feel the atmosphere was heavy while everyone was serious as they argued with each other around the huge table in the dining room. I could recognize most of them, like Annabeth, Percy, Chiron, Nico, Will, the girl from last night, Meg, and others who didn't, as a boy with dark curly hair and blue eyes.
Will was the first to notice me, leaving his place next to Nico and walking in my direction.
"Jack, you are awake." So he takes a small flashlight out of her pocket to turn it on and point it at my eyes, "Are you feeling okay? Dizziness? Pains?"
"Just a little sore."
"I'm glad. The tranquilizer in that dart really takes a long time to work on Legacies compared to demigods, but, adding fatigue, you did get down for quite a while."
"What time is it?"
"Past noon," Annabeth replied. Her gaze was tired and her eyes were red from lack of sleep. "I'm glad you're okay.
I looked away from her, feeling without the right to meet her eyes, "I'm sorry. Because of me, Thalia traded herself for me just to almost kill me."
"Don't think that. She must have had a good reason for it."
"Jack, we need you all to tell us what happened," Chiron asked me, pushing a chair for me to sit down.
I felt myself in an interrogation with everyone's gaze fixed on me, so I could only look towards the wood of the table, close my eyes and narrate what happened last night. I could feel everyone's unease as soon as I named Acrisius, as well as some murmurs from those present. My knuckles paled as I clenched my fist as I remembered how Thalia had offered herself in my place, only to be nearly killed later.
"So my namesake's grandfather is this month's big bad," Percy weighed in once I finished speaking.
"Thunderbreaker ..." Rachel repeated the name of the company that belonged to Acrisius. "Dad had talked about that company. He considered it his competition and difficult to win in various businesses."
"I will send recon teams to analyze the situation around the building. Perhaps we can enter in the same way as last year."
"I'll see if the troglodytes can get in through the subway and make sure there aren't any chemical vats that Nero has left behind," Nico reported, heading out the door along with Will.
"I'll go with Apollo to meet with Lugu and see if we can get into the building," the Meg girl said holding up the orange T-shirt from the dark haired boy from earlier. "Come on."
"Do I remind you again that I am no longer your servant?" the boy responded with annoyance.
"No, I already know that. Are we going or not?"
The boy rolled his eyes before he and the girl disappeared in a blinding flash.
"Now what?" I asked.
"For now we will wait for information," said a plump guy at one end of the table. His dark curly hair fell on either side of his plump face. He was dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts.
"Oh yeah. Jack, this is Dionysus, camp director, and the one who left with Meg was Apollo. Both are gods," Percy made the introductions, as if his years of experience took away the importance that I had been in the presence of two powerful deities and I hadn't realized it. "And as he said, for now we will wait until we have information about what to expect at the site. In the meantime, let Will finish checking you out."
It was a short time after Will gave me a check-up and made sure I was in good health, ignoring the muscle pain and some bruising from last night, before Nico came back and started giving his report.
Whoever those troglodytes were, they communicated to the son of Hades that it was impossible to access the underground level of the building, having been protected by steel and other ancient methods to prevent his intrusion.
Apollo arrived later with Meg and with more bad news: there was no entry either. The entrances were guarded and, apparently, there were anti-air measures in case someone dared to approach by air, either Pegasus or using a metal dragon. According to the now identified god, teleporting inside had also been impossible as it was protected by a barrier that prevented divine intrusion.
In the end, the reconnaissance teams arrived. They also found no entry. What's more, they couldn't get very close due to the presence of wolves a few blocks from the building, perhaps standing guard in case some demigods got close by chance.
In other words, we were screwed.
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"Give it a bite at least. Doctor's orders," Will pointed the food plate in front of me.
"I'm not hungry," I refused, even though my stomach began to object with a growl. "How can I eat at times like this?"
I didn't really feel like I could take a bite out of the tension that I felt right now, even if Annabeth had ordered me to rest until further notice. She even warned me against going to the tower alone, so the armory would be out of bounds for me.
I looked around me. Only Will, Nico and I were in the pavilion, plus some naiads who had left us some plates and glasses for our drinks. By comparison, the rest of the camp was on the move: some campers setting up the armory, Ares's cabin sharpening their spears, and Aphrodite's girls applying her war paint using a paintbrush and various shades of pink. Many seemed anxious, unable to stand still while the moment was still awaited to begin the siege of the tower of Acrisius, but there was nothing they could do until there was some breach in the high security reported thus far.
The sedative that they injected me the night before must have been a more powerful formula than the previous one, since, although it may have taken effect due to my legacy nature, it left me asleep all morning and after noon. The sunset in Manhattan began at 8 p.m. and I had woken up around 2 p.m., so we had less than 6 hours to find a way to enter the tower and rescue Thalia and the hunters.
"We do what we can," Nico assured me. "Last year we were able to take that tower because Nero was confident and hoped that we would do nothing with the threat of burning down the entire city unless Apollo turned himself in. This guy is different: he learns from past mistakes and gets stronger. He may not know that we know exactly where he is if he thinks you are dead and that we have had no warning from him not to interfere, but it does not mean he does not expect any attack from us. We have to move carefully."
"No fortress is impenetrable," Will mused. "Troy had the horse."
"Or the Death Star with that thermal exhaust port."
"Finally someone who speaks my language!" Will exclaimed euphorically.
"Kill your engines, Captain Kirk," Nico exhaled in exasperation. "I don't need another geek in this conversation."
"One: that's from Star Trek," I clarified that offense, "and two: I agree with Will. There must be a way for someone to get in undetected."
"But unless someone finds out, we're stuck," Will agreed.
That was true. There must be an entrance so that someone could enter that tower and warn the rest to initiate the attack, but he did not know how if a Greek demigod camp had not found any opening. So I thought that if we couldn't find out for ourselves, we would have to consult a source for guidance.
"Can I ask you a favor?" I asked the couple.
"What is it?"
"I need to go to the Grove. Maybe it will tell us something useful." They both looked at me in surprise for a moment before being reluctant to my request. "Please."
"Maybe I can teleport us directly with shadow travel," Nico proposed. "That way we wouldn't have to pass through the ants' nest."
"Fine, only if Jack finishes his plate," Will pushed the plate of food at me, causing me to give in and begin to devour its contents as fast as I could without choking. Doctor's orders.
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The shadow travel is the most disturbing experience I have ever had, and I say that although I have had the pleasure of taking a full Mexican bus in the center of a city in the middle of summer.. As soon as Nico put his hands on Will's and my shoulders, suddenly total darkness enveloped us in a cold blanket and for a moment I felt myself falling into an immense void before falling to the ground a few seconds later. But at least we got to the edge of the grove.
"We reached the Grove of Dodona," Nico announced.
"We should have gone for a rope," Will commented. "We don't know if the oracle is in a good mood today."
"We don't have time. The sooner I have the prophecy, the sooner we will know what to do," I said, starting to walk towards the trees.
"If you don't come out in 5 minutes, I'll go get help," Nico informed me.
For the third time that summer, the tops of the trees in that place hovered over me until they barely let a ray of sunlight pass through their leaves. I walked for a while longer before stopping and looking around.
"I have returned and ask for your help once more. Tell me what I must do to save Thalia Grace."
My words seemed to fall into the silence of the search, barely drowned between the sound of the insects and the distant song of the insects, until a breeze began to travel the branches and ringing the wind chimes and, with it, a voice began to recite in my ears.
Crossing through enemy gates with their own word,
the legacy of the owl must face the king maddened with revenge.
The blade will descend 4 times and they will hang over the world.
A decision has to be made and break a pledge.
The voice left again, leaving me in the silence of the forest, but this time I did not ask for more information, since I knew what I should do. However, I also understood something: the end of my path was in front of me.
The prediction of sacrifice would be fulfilled. That scared me, to be honest, but if that meant a chance to save Thalia, then I would.
Weighing and pondering the lines of the last prophecy, I understood what I had to do, but doing it would be difficult. So, before that, I went back to Will and Nico before they became alarmed at my absence.
"So? Did you get something?" Nico asked me.
I shook my head, "Nothing. Not a line. Not a word."
I had to lie. If I told them what I heard, they would have been on alert with me and they would have me under complete surveillance and I would not be able to put my plan into action.
Will seemed confused about it, "Are you sure? I could contact my dad and see if he can give us a clue."
I didn't know if the Apollo boy from before would be Will's dad, but I didn't want to have the attention of an Olympian god for what he had planned, "No. Okay. Maybe it's not time for a prophecy yet. Annabeth later, see if there's anything. Can we go back? "
"Okay, hold on," Nico motioned for us to hold onto his aviator jacket before heading back into the darkness. Even being surrounded by shadow, I could feel Will's suspicious gaze on me.
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Basically, I didn't lie to Will and Nico when I told him I wanted to go back to cabin 6 and think for a bit, since that's what I did: I sat on my bed and thought about what I would do. I reflected on all the information that I had so far, what I needed, what I was missing.
I looked at my watch again. There was less than 4 hours left. I had to start moving and started looking for my bag and taking out the keys to my apartment. Next would be to look for Leo and for this I left the cabin to cross the entire camp looking for the bunker where the son of Hephaestus should be.
There was great movement on the grounds. Several readied their leather armor. Others sharpened their weapons. The Ares cabin was already armed to the teeth like Rambo, a savage grin on their faces at the promise of battle. I kept my distance from the armory, as the boy in front was staring at me, probably watching that I wouldn't dare to take a weapon and go face Acrisius on my own as Annabeth must have alerted him. However, I had other plans.
It took a bit of work, but I found the bunker and luckily it was open and I was able to get place still smelled of oil and metal like the other time he had gone, and in the background was Leo with the bronze dragon Festus.
"Stay still," the boy told the dragon as he manipulated the mechanism inside the neck. "Now then. You don't have a problem with the flamethrower anymore?"
In response, the dragon opened its jaws and launched a huge blaze on his owner, engulfing him in flames completely. I was already preparing to find a charred body when the only thing I saw was Leo half naked except for some duckling boxers.
"You just had to nod." It is then that he noticed my presence, "Hey, Jack. How do you feel?"
"Fine, thanks, Leo. Do you have time?"
"Well, we can't do anything until we know how to get into the tower of Acrisius, so all I can do is get this bad boy ready. I couldn't be last year when Apollo did so I won't waste this opportunity to show off. "
"Actually, I know how to get in and I will need your help. I had this prophecy-"
"So there was a prophecy?" a voice answered behind us. Entering the bunker were Annabeth and Percy.
"What are you doing here?" I was surprised by his presence in the place.
"Some little birds told me that you went to see the grove and that supposedly you didn't have any prophecy, but my surprise was great when I found out that you did have one."
"Annabeth, let me explain-" I tried to dialogue with my relative when she grabbed my wrist.
"I'll take you to the cabin and you will stay there until further notice."
I struggled with her grip but it was too strong. However, someone stopped her by standing in front of her.
"Percy, step aside."
"Annabeth, listen to him. He has good reason for doing this."
"I'm not interested. I just want to protect him. Just like I couldn't with Bianca, with Jason, and now with Thalia. I can't afford to lose anyone else."
"You will lose Thalia if you don't listen to me!" I exclaimed pulling back, freeing myself with the grip mark on my wrist. "After hearing the last few lines, I know what I must do now. I have survived everything I have been through right now. If I am to lay down my life for Thalia, I will."
"But why you? Why not anyone else?"
"Because I..." I took a deep breath and thought.
Why would I be willing to give my life? The question would have made me dread and run out of the camp, which I did the first time I got there, but now I felt different compared to then. After those days at Camp Half-Blood meeting everyone there. After discovering what I can really do. After meeting Thalia and what we went through together. I already had my answer.
Looking Annabeth in the eye, I said with determination, "Because I love Thalia."
I only said those words and there were many reactions among those present. Annabeth's eyes widened like gray plates. Percy had that proud smile. Leo's mouth was wide open. And Festus opened his mouth like his owner and, somehow, from his jaws began to sound "Love Is In The Air" by John Paul Young. No one said anything for a few long seconds before the dragon closed its mouth and the music died.
"Jack, I-"
"I only ask that you trust me. I feel like there is an opportunity to save everyone."
"But then you-"
"I will have had the best summer I have ever had in my life... with all of you and Thalia."
Annabeth's face began to fill with reluctance and indecision. Obviously she was debating whether she should follow logic or let my hunch decide everyone's fate.
She was about to object again when Percy took her hand.
"Let's trust him."
"Percy?"
"Do you remember when you were kidnapped by that manticore and they forbade me to join your rescue?"
"Yes."
"And what did I do?"
"You took Blackjack and went anyway."
"What I felt at that moment now is the same as Jack. That feeling of emptiness when someone important to you is gone. I'm afraid of what might happen to him, but we all know that no matter what we do, he will go anyway. All we can do is be ready when he needs us."
Annabeth must have felt like a rock and a hard place right now. I understood how she must feel, wanting to keep everyone safe, but at the same time feeling helpless knowing that Thalia could die that very night. With a sigh, I knew she gave up.
"Okay. What do you need us to do?"
"First thing's first." I turned to Leo, "I need a weapon."