Chapter 35

Natalie's P.O.V.

Ben. Ben. Ben. Ben. Ben. Ben.

For hours, Natalie had been repeating his name, lying on her bed in her cabin. She hadn't slept even a bit; she just kept twisting and turning as the night wore on, leading to the day that would probably be the end of her life.

She kept repeating his name like a prayer, a prayer that would protect her, encourage her, keep her going. A part of her wanted to run away and hide, away from all the responsibilities, from her destiny. But she knew she couldn't. There had never been a chance to step back; that option simply didn't exist for her. And for neither of the eight.

She could feel everybody, and she didn't need the ability to sense blood signatures to know that they were all going through the same thoughts that ran in her mind. Tomorrow, one way or another, everything will end. Either they would die, or live. Her mind played back the memories from the precious sixteen years of life she had gotten to live. Her mother, her step dad, Ben. Her time at camp, defeating Atlas, meeting Percy, their quest to Alaska, and then all that had happened.

You can do this, sweetheart, her mom would have said. In the back of her mind she could hear what her mother used to tell her when she was a kid.

You are brave and strong, just like your father. You have the unpredictability of the ocean, the sheer power of the waves, the beauty of the glimmer of sea, and the courage to do what is right. Your father's blood, the power of the sea flows into your veins, and our strength lives inside you. We live inside you.

The sea, she thought, and a cool sea breeze blew across her room, even though there was no way it could have entered her cabin. But she was a child of the sea, a manifestation of the power of the sea god, her father. And so was Percy. Her friends, all of them, represented the best qualities of their parents.

Everyone of them had been with her as a constant support. But, though she didn't mean to be biased, she could never repay Percy and Jason.

She was good friends with Frank, Hazel, Leo, Annabeth, Piper, everyone. But she wasn't connected to anybody as well as she was to the both of them, and, in some terms, more to Jason.

Jason had been the pillar of her time at Camp Jupiter. After Ben had fallen, there had been no one to share her guilt, her burden, her sadness. But Jason had been there. He had been there for years. They had shared so many laughs, smiles, tears and responsibilities. They had grown side by side, fought side by side, and won side by side. Even though Jason wasn't actually her brother, he didn't need a blood relation to be one.

She and Percy shared a part of their heritage, a part of their powers, a part of themselves within themselves. He had been there for her, understood her, protected her, consoled her, and even promised to Ben to keep her safe. And most of all, he had offered her a home. An actual family, with him and his parents. And she still hadn't decided if she would accept his offer or not, because whenever she thought about it, her brain always seemed to remind her that the probability of her getting killed was significantly more than the probability of her survival.

Reyna was probably somewhere in America, trying to get the Athena Parthenos to Camp Half-Blood and stop the Greeks and Romans from a war that would do neither of them good. Nico and Coach Hedge were fighting with her, trying their best to pull the two camps from the brink of battle. The legionnaires would be preparing for a siege tomorrow, and the campers of Half-Blood hill would be in an uneasy state of fear, confusion, and nervousness. Her friends, all of them, would be, like her, going through everything she thought in their own ways, in their own minds.

She remembered everything her friends had done for her, and was just a little grateful to the fates for that. And tomorrow, it was their big test. The big day of their destiny, which they all would face together.

"Whatever happens," she muttered. "Whether I die, or live, Gaea will not win tomorrow. I won't let her. We won't let her."

And with that defiant thought, she turned and tumbled off into the world of dreams, wondering if she would survive long enough to sleep another one and wake up the next morning.

"Natalie, wake up. We are going to reach Athens in two hours."

Natalie opened her eyes. Annabeth was shaking her, a strand of her hair out of her ponytail looming over her.

"What's the time?" she asked groggily.

"Past morning," Annabeth said. "Get ready and come to the mess hall. I'll go and wake the others."

"Yeah, okay," she nodded. Annabeth left to wake the others, while she got out of the bed and took a shower. She pulled on a fresh pair of Camp Jupiter t-shirt and black jeans, and braided her hair properly. She would hate it if they flew over her face or eyes while fighting.

As soon as she was ready, she made way to the mess hall. Only Jason and Frank were sitting there, so she sat beside Jason and waited.

"Had a good sleep?" Jason asked.

"You know what it's like. The last day before the climax is always dreamless, so the answer is yeah, I guess," she told him.

"Me too," Frank told her. "I didn't even accidentally turn into an iguana while sleeping."

"You turn into an iguana when you're sleeping?" Jason asked him. "Accidentally?"

Frank turned red. "Forget I said that."

"Well," Leo said, entering the hall. "It's a good thing you don't turn into something like an elephant or a dragon. Or I'll have to repair every hinge of your cabin."

"Good morning to you too," Frank huffed.

Soon enough, all of them were gathered at the dining table, having breakfast.

"So, what's the plan?" Piper asked.

"No plan," Annabeth said, raising a glass of orange juice.

"No plan," Natalie agreed, raising her own.

"So we march in there just like that?" Piper mused.

Jason leaned forward. "We don't have a plan because we don't know anything about what's happening in Athens. We don't know how well defended it is, we don't know what sorts of things Gaea has set in store for us."

"So we do what we do best," Leo grinned. "We improvise, Leo-style."

"No," Annabeth told him. "We improvise in a normal style. The Leo-style involves a lot of blowing up, fire and destruction, which would be good, but at the Acropolis."

Leo shrugged as if saying, well, what can you do? If you fail, it's not on me. I told you we'd better go with the Leo-style improvising.

Hazel spoke up, "Once we dock at Athena we'll scout out the defenses, infiltrate the Acropolis and stop whatever ritual they're trying to do."

"And what do we do after that?" Leo asked.

"Well, Lady Artemis did say she would try to convince the gods to help us. If they don't, we'll have to hope there's a random god roaming around Athens who will help us kill the giants."

"But the important thing," Annabeth said, tapping the table. "Is that we have to make sure that we can't bleed. Not a single drop of blood should fall from any of us."

"Well that really makes things easier," Percy remarked. "Don't bleed, don't die. But kill the giants and stop Gaea from rising. Totally easy."

Buford the wonder table whirred into the room and clicked something in what Leo called 'the Leo language'. So, naturally, only Leo understood what he said.

"PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!" Buford yelled, before whirring out of the room rapidly.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, if you will follow me," Leo said, standing up. "We have our first visual of Athens, Greece."

"It's beautiful," Piper whispered as they stood on the deck, watching Athens draw nearer and nearer.

"Put on your gear, everyone," Jason said. "We don't know what might be waiting out there."

Natalie put on her armour. Just as she was putting on her vambraces, Annabeth spoke, "Why is the city empty?"

She went near the railing. Annabeth was correct. The city was empty, no sign of a living person.

"Where do you think the residents are? They couldn't have killed everyone, could they?" Percy asked.

"No, or else they would have stuck up the bodies to show us," Jason said. "They probably had the city vacated, or, much easier, they might have put up a curfew."

"It's easy to trick mortals into that," Annabeth sighed, as the Argo II slowly docked near the harbour.

"Well, I suppose we won't have any mortal interference then," Hazel commented.

The ship lurched to a halt by the docks. As soon as she saw what was waiting for them, she literally cursed her luck.

"Oh, great," Percy said. "Lady Dirt Face has sent a welcome party."

The others peered over to investigate the party. They were men, or, to be more precise, half-men. And where there should have been legs, instead there was a snake trunk. The one in the middle seemed to be the leader, the other two his guards; both of them holding trays covered with a thin cotton cloth.

"Are those Dracanae?" Frank asked.

"No," Annabeth replied. "Dracanae have two snake trunks. These guys have only one."

"Ouch," the leader said, glaring at them.

"Apparently, they can hear pretty well too," Annabeth mused.

The leader snake guy looked at Annabeth and gave a quizzical luck. They probably had been under the impression that demigods would fear them, so naturally they were disappointed. Demigods faced worse than snake men with trays.

"Permission to come aboard?" their leader asked.

"What do you say?" Leo asked Annabeth.

"I say we should let them come aboard."

"Will it be safe?" Hazel asked.

"I'm with Annabeth. They're three, we're eight. Besides, what will they fight with, those trays?" Natalie said.

"You may come abroad, sir," Jason yelled to the snake-men, which was a little stupid, as they'd just seen those guys had excellent hearing.

"You're too polite," Percy told Jason, who shrugged.

Natalie watched as the guards put down their trays, then went to a warehouse nearby and brought out a wooden plank. They laid it against the hull of the ship, and slithered above, although almost tripped while getting over the railing. They led them into the dining hall, which had been cleaned completely in just a few minutes' time by Buford. So half their time went in thanking the table who kept whirring and yelling, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!

"Please sit," Jason offered.

The two guards hesitated. Their leader looked down at his snake trunk, then muttered, "I don't think sitting is a good option."

"Please remain standing," Leo said in a very polite impression of Jason, smirking at him. Jason gave him an eye roll.

"So, getting to the point," Percy said. "Mr. – uh?"

"Kekrops."

"Mr. Kekrops," Percy continued. "How can we help you?"

Kekrops raised an eyebrow. "I think you should ask it the other way round, Perseus Jackson."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked him.

"I mean," Kekrops said in a strangely calm voice. "You should ask how we can help you."

Leo tapped his fingers on the dining table impatiently. "The first question I want to ask is what exactly are you?"

Kekrops' nostrils flared. He gave Leo a scathing look. His guards' gave Leo death glares that looked dead serious (horrible pun, sorry). Leo, however, being Leo, looked as nonchalant as always.

"We are the Gemini. And I am Kekrops, the first king of Athens."

"Gemini?" Percy asked. "Like your zodiac sign. I'm a Leo."

"No stupid," Leo told him. "I'm a Leo. You're a Percy."

"Guys," Hazel said exasperatedly. "Stop it. Kekrops, we were not aware of any of you sort ruling Athens."

Kekrops settled his eyes on Hazel. "We were the first people of Athens before mortals came around. Before I was replaced as the king by a mere mortal."

After a brief pause, he continued. "But the point is that we have come to help you."

He gestured to his guards, who came forward and laid their trays on the table. They removed the covers to reveal an assortment of bundt cakes. Leo tried to take one, but Hazel slapped his hand.

"Classic question," Natalie told me. "Why should we believe you? We know the giants are gathered here. We know they're in control. Then why would we take help from anyone who comes from the city?"

"Because you don't have a choice?"

Ugh, that same logical question over and over.

"But what's in it for you? You won't help us if you don't get a reward from it?" Annabeth asked him.

"And that is why I'm helping you. Once the giants are gone, I can finally rule over the city that is rightfully mine," he said proudly.

Natalie was unconvinced. Something in the back of her mind told her it could very well be a trap. And if it was, that would be exactly what Kekrops would tell them.

Gaea wouldn't care about Athens once she rose. She would readily have promised it to the gemini in exchange for the eight. But if she said that aloud, Kekrops would hear them.

She calculated the possibility of a fight, in case one broke down right here in the mess hall. They were eight, the gemini were three. They were armed with an assortment of weapons from hunting knives to spears. They were equipped with every swift fighting gear from vambraces to combat boots. The gemini had nothing, but she wasn't fool enough to underestimate them.

Before she could decide anything, Piper started singing. At first she was startled by the sudden outburst of a song, but later she understood. Piper sang beautifully, her voice echoed off the walls of the dining hall. Kekrops' eyes glazed over; the gemini began swaying to the tune of her song. It was the most beautiful voice Natalie had heard, so she wasn't surprised to see the gemini's reactions.

Piper stopped singing, but the snake men still appeared entranced.

"What are your true intentions?" Piper asked them.

"To offer you to Gaea," Kekrops said in a monotonous voice that resembled the voice of someone who had been hypnotized.

"Guys, you heard that?" Piper said. Then she snapped her fingers. "Guys!"

Natalie snapped out of her stupor. She had been so taken away by Piper's song she realized she had been staring at her. Then she looked around. Everyone had the same looks.

"Man, that's some strong singing," Leo said. "You sure you didn't drug your voice, Pipes?"

Piper rolled her eyes. Annabeth sighed.

"So what do we do now?"

"Kill them?" Frank offered.

"No, wait," Piper said. "Tell us about the preparations for the ceremony. About what's happening in Athens."

Kekrops gazed at her. "A curfew has been imposed. The giants are all gathered at Acropolis. The structure is guarded by onagers and hundreds and hundreds of monsters from all the sides. All the giants are inside, preparing for the rise of the Earth mother."

"Then we need to go and stop the ritual," Natalie said. "If Gaea doesn't get us she'll simply get another demigod so we have to get there and stop whatever rituals are happening."

"How do we get there, though?" Hazel asked. "If it's guarded by hundreds of monsters what will the eight of us do?"

"We sneak in," Annabeth said. "A small party sneaks in and causes a distraction. As soon as all the attention is inside, the remaining attack the structure with the Argo II. We blow it all up."

"Blowing," Leo said, grinning. "I like the sound of that."

"Yeah, but how do we sneak in?" Hazel asked.

"Is there a way we can get there without noticing?" Piper asked Kekrops, who swayed before answering, "Yes. Through the tunnels."

"Can you lead us?"

"Yes."

"Brilliant," Jason said. "Who should go?"

"Well, we shouldn't send more than three people or monsters will detect the scent," Natalie said as-a-matter-of-factly. "Piper should obviously go to control Kekrops. And Annabeth, and either me or Percy, since Athens has a history with these two gods. There are many ancient shrines of Athena and Poseidon in Athens, a part of their spirit lives here. So our scent will be easy to mask, and we'll be able to sneak in easily."

Silence followed her words. Everyone stared at her.

"What?" she asked. "I know stuff. And I'm good at strategy."

Leo stared at her for one more second, then nodded. She felt better now. Now that they were starting to get definite about what to do, now that it seemed like they had a real plan, adrenaline was starting to course through her. She wanted to fight.

"I'll go then," Percy said. "Me, Annabeth and Piper."

"I think I should go," Natalie said slowly. "I mean, Gaea wants the blood of a male and a female demigod. So even if we get caught, we'll be three girls only. Sending you would be a risk, no offence."

"None taken," Percy told her. "But I think I should go. I feel like I should go."

"But we can't rely on feelings right now," Natalie said. It's not like she was craving for adventure, but her going just made sense. They'd be at lower risk if she went with them.

Percy looked at Jason, who seemed to be in a conflict within himself. The others were watching them carefully.

"Yeah I know, but most of the time instincts are what save us demigods, right. Mine tell me that I should go," he told her.

"But–,"

"I think Percy should go," Jason interrupted her. She stared at him.

"Alright."

Something felt a bit off. Jason never behaved like that.

"Well, if we've decided that much," Piper said. "Best be off before Queen Dirt Face herself comes to welcome us. Today we make sure she regrets she ever struck up a grudge with us."