/Author's Note - Merry Christmas! Thank you to everyone who's read my stories this past year. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday!
Chapter 32 - If Percy and I Become Gaea-zombies, You Have Permission to Kill Us
We got aboard the ship and everyone got everything as ready as we could. The fire in the hull had damaged the entire bottom level of the ship - the engine, stables, and sick bay were destroyed. Jason came with me to salvage what we could. A couple pieces of ambrosia, two bottles of nectar -
"Annabeth, I need to ask for another favor." Jason said behind me, as we picked through the rubble as fast as we could. The gods were finalizing discussions of what to do, how to clean the Parthenon and how to get us back to Camp. We only had a few minutes before we'd need to be secured and ready to be slapped back to Long Island. I did not like the idea of being slapped back to Long Island, but since I had survived my part of the prophecy, I didn't feel like I should argue. I was just lucky to be alive.
"What is it?" I asked him, but I thought I had a good idea.
"I'd like to make sure you'll take care of Piper. I'm going to make sure -" I heard him take a deep breath. "I'm going to make sure I'm the one in the prophecy. Not Leo. I can't let him take that kind of -"
I held up a hand. "Don't try to fight prophecy, Jason."
He looked confused. "But I'm one of the ones named, so couldn't I -"
I sighed and sat on the ruined remains of the floor. I hadn't found anything else salvageable.
"Jason, prophecies are hard to control. Percy and I didn't think there was a chance we were making it back to Camp. We both thought for sure that our blood being spilled meant that both of us would die. Probably in painful, horrible ways. We walked to the Acropolis without a doubt in our minds that we were dying today. We're alive." I shook my head, still not entirely believing it. "Jason, I've been part of two Great Prophecies now. And neither one turned out like we expected. Try not to think too much about it, ok?"
He stared at me. "I thought you always had a plan, and a back-up plan and -"
"And I thought they were giving me some amount of control. Sometimes, Jason, plans work. But Piper showed me that that isn't always the case. And I don't think it is in this case. So, whatever happens, I'll try to be there. For Piper, for the crew. But for now, I don't think we can plan. Heck, we don't even know what we're facing back at Camp. So for now? Let's go grab whatever gear we can salvage and get ready for another fight."
He looked troubled, but nodded. I grabbed the ambrosia, Jason grabbed the nectar, and we headed up a floor. Our cabins were a mess from the explosion. I found Piper in her cabin, trying to gather what few belongings she had left.
"Hey. Any chance you can store these as well?" I handed her the ambrosia and nectar. "Jason, can you see if the letters are still in the mess hall?" He nodded and went to grab them.
"My backpack is somewhere in Tartarus." I explained with a smile. She returned the smile and stored the supplies in her bag.
"Any chance you can take some of my other stuff, too?" I asked hopefully.
She nodded and I ran to my cabin. I fished my teddy bear and journal out from under my bed, then grabbed what few pictures I had in the cabin. I took my last nice shirt from my closet and took the items to Piper. She gave me an ironic smile when she saw the teddy bear but thankfully didn't say anything. She quickly stored all the items in her bag.
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
Jason appeared, holding the letter box. "What should I -"
"If you or Leo has room, take them. My backpack's gone, so I can't."
Jason nodded and stored the letters in his backpack. Then he surprised me and handed the backpack to me with raised eyebrows. Despite our discussion, Jason was still trying to tell me that he would make sure he was the one killed. I took the bag.
I went to find Percy in his cabin. He looked up at me.
"I don't have much." He muttered. "Didn't pack before coming."
I helped him gather what he did have, most of it was stuff I'd packed for him from Camp. "Most of my stuff's in Tartarus."
He grinned. "Sorry, I'm imagining some dracanae finding your backpack and thinking they won the lottery."
I laughed. "I'm not about to go back there to fight them over it."
He turned somber. "I'm sorry you lost the knife. And the laptop. I know how much they meant -"
I held up a hand. "Both were useful tools. But, Percy, we're alive." I gave him a foolish grin which he returned at once. "I can't believe it, but we are actually alive."
He flopped down on his bed and laughed. "We're going home."
"We're going home." I agreed. I flopped onto the bed next to him and stared at each other in awe for a moment. I helped him store his few belongings into his backpack, then we met the others in the hallway.
"Good sailing with you." Frank told us.
"See you in New York." Hazel said. She looked sick just at the thought of what was to come. I wrapped an arm around her.
"Are you ready?" Zeus bellowed to us.
"Hang on!" Leo yelled back. Before he could run, I pulled everyone into a quick group hug. Then I gathered some rope and went to tie everyone down in the mess hall.
Piper and Percy ran up on deck with Leo and Jason to tie them to the mast. I headed to the mess hall with Frank and Hazel. I tied Hazel to her chair first, making sure she was as secure as possible, then showing her how to free herself if we couldn't. I tied Frank down next, making sure that he and Hazel could still hold hands during our flight. Or slap. Or whatever was about to happen. Percy and Piper ran in. I pointed Piper to the chair on the other side of Hazel. Percy tied a rope he had brought down the hall to the table.
"Guide rope." He explained to the others. "If we're upside-down or anything, this is tied to the mast. We can follow it out."
We all nodded to him. Hazel looked ready to puke just at the thought. I tossed her a magic bowl just in case.
I finished tying Piper down, then I pointed Percy to the next chair.
"Nuh-uh." He told me. "You next." I rolled my eyes.
"I'm not dying because we fight over who gets tied to a chair. Sit down."
"I can tie seamen's knots -"
"I know weaving so -"
"Stop!" Piper commanded in charmspeak. "Percy, sit down."
I love charmspeak. I quickly tied Percy down before he could protest, then did the same for me.
Buford ran into the room. "Put some clothes on!"
"We're ready, Buford!" I told him.
"Hold on!" I heard Zeus bellow. I can not explain what happened next. It felt like being on the fastest rollercoaster you've ever been on, while spinning, while passing out. After a few seconds, I realized we were heading downwards.
"Everyone, up to the deck!" I ordered, yanking my own ropes off. I didn't have charmspeak, but my orders must still carry some weight, because everyone did as I asked. I helped Frank and Hazel's hands find the guide rope. I sent Piper, then Percy in front of me. I kept one hand on the rope, one on Percy's back, to assure myself that he was still there. The room was spinning like crazy. I could barely focus my eyes on anything.
We got to the top deck and I realized we really were spinning - the ship was spinning in circles as it plummeted. It was a pretty terrifying sight.
"Go! Go go GO!" Leo was yelling at us. I realized he had lashed himself to the control panel again. This time, at least, it wasn't with bungee cords.
We had discussed the evacuation plan before boarding the ship, but it was hard to think straight when you're falling to the earth. Buford the table ended up saving us all. He clattered around the deck yelling,
"Let's go! Move it! Cut that out!" In Coach Hedge's voice. His table top split into helicopter blades and he made his escape.
Frank changed form in front of me and I stumbled towards him, towing Percy. Frank was now a grey dragon, but still looked pretty dizzy. Hazel climbed onto his neck. I grabbed Frank's hand and felt his claws circle one around me, one around Percy. We took off into the air. Once we were airborne, it became a little better. We weren't spinning as much. As we flew down I saw the battle beneath us. It was chaos.
There was a sea of monsters - so many monsters it reminded me of the Doors of Death in Tartarus. I glanced at Percy and he nodded. He was thinking the same thing. In the middle of the ocean of monsters, two tiny groups of demigods. One was on Half-Blood Hill - the same hill Thalia had died on the first time. That group was most of my friends, most of Camp Half-Blood, along with a group of the Romans surrounding their Eagle standard. Several hundred yards from them, down in the valley, were the rest of the Romans in a clear defensive formation. I didn't know Roman warfare as well as Jason and Frank, but I could tell they were doing their best and still having a hard time holding their own.
I looked to my side and saw Jason flying with Piper wrapped in his grip. Where was Leo? My heart sank as I looked back to see the Argo II, still plummeting.
"Hazel!" I heard Jason yell to us. "Those three cohorts are in trouble. If they don't merge with the rest of the demigods -"
"On it!" Hazel yelled from somewhere above me.
Frank veered to the left, heading to rescue their friends.
"Let's get 'em!" I screamed. Now that my mom's healing had time to work, I was ready to join the fight to defend my home. I'd survived this far. I was home. After months away, I was heading back to defend my home.
Percy kept yelling, "I hate flying!" next to me, which wasn't as helpful as you might think. I saw Jason head to the Athena Parthenos and felt a twinge of guilt. I should've been going that way, towards all the orange shirts. To my friends who I had fought beside for years. Instead, I was heading to save the Romans.
"We're all demigods." I reminded myself. "We all need a chance."
Frank dropped Percy and me in front of the Roman defensive formation. I rolled as I landed. Percy wasn't so lucky and I had to pull him up.
"Who - what -" I heard someone stammer behind me.
"Reinforcements straight from Athens!" I called back, running into the fray.
A group of wolf-headed men faced me. They looked more like something from Egyptian mythology, not Greek or Roman. But they turned to dust just the same. My drakon sword flashed in an arc, dissipating the ones right in front of me. Percy and I were together, fighting side by side again. Where we belonged. After all these years, we could anticipate each other's attacks. I stabbed at one pudgy-baby-looking monster while Percy took out the one next to it.
"What are these things?" I yelled to him.
"Karpoi. Grain spirits. They don't like shisct."
"They don't like what?" As I stabbed one and it turned into flax.
"Kind of rock. Hazel can -"
A rock lanced through the one next to me and it dissipated into corn.
"Ah. Shist. Got it."
Percy flashed me a grin and ran an ogre through. I'm telling you, he's romantic that way.
"What's the plan?" I heard one of the Roman demigods call out behind me.
"Frank's the praetor!" I yelled to them. "I don't know what commands -"
"I got this!" Frank assured me. I turned long enough to see that he was back to human form and ready to fight. His dad had re-supplied him with arrows before we left Greece. Hazel was back on Arion.
"Where'd Arion come from? How'd he get here from Greece?" I called to Hazel. Before she could reply, Percy flinched and yelled,
"He says he ran, and then a lot of choice words that I will never, ever call you!" He informed me.
I grinned and we ran to attack one of the bigger ogres together.
"Repellere equites!" Frank commanded the Legion behind me. The Romans leveled their spears and slammed into the enemy at Frank's orders. Percy and I finished off the ogre.
I grabbed Percy's hand and we ran to Hazel's side. "Tell us where to fight that we won't get gutted by Romans." I told her.
"Just kill any monsters that try to attack the Legion. We're trying to get to the others." She pointed to Half-Blood Hill where I could see Reyna commanding the other Romans. I also saw Nico and Will Solace, running off somewhere. Piper was at Reyna's side, and Jason was just behind them. We fought and slashed until we were close together.
"Ave, Praetor Zhang!" I heard Reyna call to Frank. There was pride, and maybe some relief in her voice.
"Ave, Praetor Ramirez-Arellano!" Frank replied. "Let's do this! Legion, close ranks!" The Legion formed into its full force - a brilliant killing machine, ready to take down our enemies. A cheer went up from the Legion.
I grabbed Percy's hand. "Let's go!" I yelled, pulling him towards our friends. Lightning flashed above my head from the Eagle standard, lancing through hundreds of enemies and turning them into ash. I heard Reyna call out a command behind me, but didn't hear any more because the Greeks saw us. There was a moment of complete shock as they realized we were well and truly there, no longer in Tartarus.
"Annabeth!? Percy!?" Then lots of screaming as we ran to our friends.
"Miss us?" Percy called to them.
"What, you didn't think even Tartarus could keep us for long, did you?" I called out to them.
"Can't believe you two had the nerve to show up." Clarisse bellowed, but she was grinning. I ran to her and pulled her into a quick hug.
"Greeks!" Percy commanded. "Let's, um, fight stuff!"
Percy Jackson, ladies and gentlemen. Strategist extraordinaire. Everyone screamed like banshees and charged down the hill. As we ran, the ground beneath us shook. Monsters face planted into the ground. I yanked my sister Maya back as her feet slid out from under her.
"Thanks." She muttered. I wrapped her in a quick hug, thankful to be back, and let her go as we heard -
"Awake." Boomed a loud, sleepy woman's voice.
Clarisse looked around wildly, "What the he-"
"Gaea's awake." I informed her and the others. "Percy and I had our blood spilled on the Parthenon - long story, we're fine, Gaea's awake. Oh, and I'm not sure how Percy and I being tied into this mess is going to affect anything, so if we turn possessed by Gaea or anything, you have my permission to kill us."
The others looked at us in horror. Suddenly, pain lanced through my leg. Percy caught me as I fell.
"Annabeth, what -"
I pointed to the top of the next hill. Grass, dirt and plants swirled up until they formed the figure of a woman. The pain in my leg throbbed as each limb was added, like Gaea was pulling the strength from me. About twenty feet tall, she looked small next to the Giants. But I knew she was far more deadly. I looked at Percy and saw his nose was bleeding again. I looked back at Gaea. Her dress formed of the grass, her skin of the quartz in the ground, her hair was formed of the tree roots. As each part was added, more pain shot through my leg. Blood was coming from the pores on my leg, soaking into the ground in a steady stream. The wound its self wasn't present anymore, but Gaea didn't seem to need that. She had some kind of control over my blood, and was pulling it straight from my body. I was the thing keeping Gaea alive and in her form.
"Yeah." I muttered. "I've figured out how we're tied to this mess."
Percy brushed a hand across his nose, realizing what I meant.
"Ugh." He muttered.
"Little fools." Gaea boomed. She was as terrifying as Tartarus, in her own way. She opened her eyes, pure green. A stone? Grass, in a concentrated form? I wasn't sure.
"The paltry magic of your statue can not contain me." She continued. I glanced at the statue. Maybe it had actually been worth it, if the statue was why it had taken this long for Gaea to rise. It may have given us the time to get back to Camp. It may have saved the other demigods who had been here, fighting to defend themselves.
Fear washed over us. But this time, I was ready. I knew what was coming. I had felt this fear when I saw Tartarus. And again, when the memories swamped me in Sparta.
"Demigods, hold fast!" Piper commanded. I glanced at her and gave her an approving nod. She looked terrified. I realized something - Piper was right. While in that cave, we had faced our worst memories. But mine were far, far worse. Piper had never seen something like Gaea. She wasn't prepared. But she had felt fear, and could work with it instead of against it. She was relying on that.
"Greeks and Romans - we can fight her together." Piper called through her charmspeak. While I saw the effects ripple across the troops, I also knew Piper was wrong. Gaea was just as powerful as Tartarus. Every bit of soil was her body. We couldn't face that. We had to let the prophecy be completed - storm or fire.
Gaea laughed. She raised her arms and the very ground bent towards her. Trees tilted. I wondered what was happening to the dryads and nature spirits during this upheaval. The dirt began to make waves as strong as the ocean. Worst, Percy and I were thrown to the ground. Pain lanced through me. I heard Percy scream. I could feel Gaea's power try to overwhelm my mind, command me to give up and sink into the ground. Spot danced in my eyes. In front of me I saw monsters and demigods alike, being pulled into Gaea's earth. I saw one of the onagers pulled straight into the hill. Someone, maybe Maya, had wrapped their arms around me, trying to yank me back up.
"The whole earth is my body! How would you fight the goddess of -"
And I saw one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen. Leo, aboard a fully re-made Festus. Festus grabbed Gaea and yanked her into the air, spewing fire in triumph. The pain in my leg subsided immediately. I could breathe. I looked up in time to see Clarisse help yank Percy from the ground. Maya and Reyna did the same for me.
"Pipes! Jason! You coming? The fight's up here!" Leo called down as he flew by. Leo gave me a sad smile. I nodded to him.
"Love you." I mouthed to him, and I hoped he understood.