Chapter 5: Στρατόπεδο Ημίαιμο
Annabeth
-Earlier inside Chase Manor-
"Well, how are they doing?" Her brown eyes radiating with that familial warmth was waiting in the eastern stairwell one flight below the third floor.
She seemed to be waiting for someone.
As expected, another woman with long blonde hair showed up around the hallway. Smiles decorated her lips as she descended the steps with mirth giggles. It was Athena, the single mother of Annabeth Chase, as she met up with Sally Jackson, the loving and doting mother who raised Percy into the well-mannered boy he was today.
"Anything interesting?" Sally was already smiling at Athena's reaction.
Unbeknownst to either of them, a sneaky figure clad in a flowy nightgown had been tailing the unsuspecting woman with blonde hair. Her goal was simple: to catch up and set the record straight about a misunderstanding that took place in her room.
But it was too late.
Not being able to catch up in time, the girl couldn't do much now but sneak closer to the stairwell and eavesdrop on their conversation.
"I found Annabeth laying on top of Percy when I walked in, so there is that…"
The girl gritted her teeth in annoyance.
"Ooh? That's a lot more interesting than I thought!" Sally giggled at the misunderstanding too, "I guess they really can't keep their hands off each other, can't they?"
Ahhh! That's not what happened, Sally! Ugh! Why do they keep thinking about us like that?! We are not some horny rabbits who can't control ourselves.
Spawning headaches for the girl since she was caught red-handed, a random curse left her lips. Their comments alone were more than enough reasons for her to jump up from her hiding spot- right behind the marble pillars that kept the stairs safe- and deny their interpretation of what they thought happened.
But she didn't.
Hidden so perfectly, she didn't want to get caught listening in on their conversation.
"No surprise there," Athena's reply was sharp and filled with amusement, "Well, it's only expected. I've been letting Percy stay here for the past three months. Somethings is bound to happen between them sooner or later."
A hopeless scowl went over the girl's face when the women shared a funny laugh.
"Honestly, they are so shy about it. Can you really believe they are not dating?"
"Yes. It is quite difficult to believe they are not… I mean, they can hardly separate from each other when left alone. I am pretty sure Annabeth is already romantically in love with Percy."
"I know, right? I can tell how much Percy is in love with Annabeth too."
The two women shared an agreeable nod and plenty of mirth smiles.
"Well, I guess it's only a matter of time." Sally grinned, "And if we could somehow forget about the whole prophecy and the destruction of the world thing, I am sure they'd make a great couple."
A pair of grey eyes blinked.
"I agreed. They would have developed a great relationship without our interference." Athena concurred without hesitation, "But we were hoping that would be the case, so I guess we could rest easy knowing that their lives have been intertwined by the fates."
The mirth happiness in her voice faded.
"It won't be long now…"
Sally nodded and took on a pensive look as well, "… before they are awakened, right?"
Athena shared her nod, "Yes. Owlfred have been helping me monitor their changing genetic code. I suspect it won't take another year before they are fully awakened."
All aspects of their amused and overjoy conversation disappeared. A deep and serious atmosphere replaced it instead, and it took the girl hiding behind the marble pillar by surprise.
"But let's discuss this somewhere private. We can use the library in my study."
Sally agreed, "Yes, let's do that."
They descended the steps together and left unsuspecting of someone who had been eavesdropping on their conversation.
Prophecy? Genetic code? Destruction of the world?
Burning with curiosity, the questions running through the girl's mind was driving her mad, enough to make a conscious choice and follow after them. Eventually, she ended up in a similar hallway on the first floor. The double entryway was shut all the way this time, thus providing no opportunity to eavesdrop anymore.
But that didn't stop her from taking a huge risk.
Careful to avoid any unwanted creaking, she pushed open the door slightly and opened a tiny gap, but it left her surprised.
There was no sound…
Not once did she hear their voices in the room…
A minute passed and she wondered why there was no one in Athena's study. A careful peek through a wider gap between the doors showed that she was right. The two women who certainly entered this room were nowhere to be seen.
It was very unusual.
But it also allowed her the opportunity to take a look around her study without being caught. It was too good of a chance to pass up. As morally wrong as it might be, all she really wanted was to know what it all meant, what they were hiding from her, the things that she wasn't supposed to know.
A risk she was willing to take, it ended up being a huge disappointment because there was nothing memorable about Athena's study. Just a long office desk, a wall-to-wall shelf with plenty of books, and a spinning globe placed next to the windows. There certainly was no library here.
After a period of fruitless searching, the girl readily plopped on the grey leather office chair and sighed in exhaustion. It was entirely pointless to search for something when she didn't know what to look for. To give up was the only possible choice.
And that's when she found something…
A faint yellow glow blinking underneath a stack of paper almost skipped her awareness. It seemed to be overlaid by a bunch of paperwork documents for Athena's architectural company; it was only now that she discovered what the company name was called: Olympus Architectural Design.
After shoving the papers away, she saw a holographic circular ring at the bottom of the desk. It would glow bright yellow in an interval of every two seconds.
Owlfred? But it couldn't be…
As soon as she tapped the holographic icon, the yellow ring promptly phased into a straight line along with a computerized chime, then it expanded outward into a rectangular shape, vibrant colors filling the empty space as her vision blurred for a second.
When she was able to see again, the entirety of Athena's study was suddenly filled with a floating hologram just an inch above the actual desk. There seemed to be a grid… no, rather, a map of some kind.
A topography map?
Given latitude and longitude coordinates along with real-time information display, it quickly became clear that this wasn't just a regular map. It was a surveillance map!
Stunned, she couldn't move from the chair and could only stare at it with a wide-open mouth. The most surprising part…? It was a map of the entire mansion! There were plenty of little blimps decorated all over, inside the building as well as outside the courtyards, and everything moved almost like it's happening in real-time.
Holy shit! Can I move this?
Intrigued, she reached out and try to swipe along the holographic display. As expected, it moved with her downward stroke flawlessly and now displayed the southern part of their huge mansion area.
It works!
There were no blimps here, so she try to zoom out and take a bird's-eye view of the surrounding area. It was then she noticed another interesting detail. There were names on the map, location names. The long garden behind the mansion which led to their breathtaking beachfront was called Plain of Remembrance.
She swiped back to the mansion, not surprised to see that it was called The Chase manor. Zooming in closely, she could see one orange dot all alone on the east side of the building. There was a name accompanying this blimp.
Annabeth Chase.
A gulp passed through her throat as she wasn't sure how to feel about that revelation. It made her a little wary. Quickly, she zoomed in on another target. With a little more precise pinching, she located another blimp in the center of the mansion. A pop-up display box revealed that this person was on the third floor, and his name was Percy Jackson.
Her eyes widen.
Grappling with what this all meant, she tried to study everything as fast as she could, burning every bit of information and a full-size map of their entire mansion property into her memory. Before long, she remembered all the places with their location names.
But one such place caught her interest the most.
It was deep inside the woods west of the mansion. A lone windy path seemed to be the only way to get there without getting lost, at least according to the map. What's more, there were more than a few hundred blimps inside a large open field, almost like someone unnaturally carved out a piece of land right next to the chase manor.
This place?
It was called Camp Half-Blood.
