Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter.
Consul of the Underworld: Grinding Phase
Chapter Nineteen: National Half-Blood Vacation: Saving the Solstice
Beta: ShadowofAxios
Along the highway to Washington, D.C., an upmarket RV drove down the road just like any other vehicle. However, this RV was extraordinary as it was the mobile base for no less than a band of demigods out questing for the gods of Olympus. At the moment, the de facto leader of this band and the one responsible for renting the motorhome, Alkaid, was thoroughly enjoying her foresight as she lounged on the couch of the living room section of the vehicle.
Pyrrha was manning the wheel, and following the directions to where Alkaid's tracking and scrying spells had indicated the other group of questers were. That is to say, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
Perhaps Shadow Travelling to their destination would have been faster, but jumping to their destination like that with no intel on what to expect and possibly jumping right into a battle or worse a trap was just foolish. Besides that, there was also the issue of having no clue, so far at least, of where their final destination would be. Taking all that into account, she and Pyrrha decided a mobile base would be for the best.
"Uh, I think if we keep going down this road, we should make it to D.C. pretty quick." Percy said unhelpfully as he tried to play navigator with a map even while munching on some snacks he'd pulled out of the mini bar.
"No shit Sherlock," Pyrrha snorted. "I can read the road signs."
"Sorry," Percy said with a apologetic shrug. "I've never actually been on a road trip before. Hitch-hiked on quests sometimes, but never actually, you know, did any of the navigating. At least not on land."
"Some travelling will do ya some good. Quests sometimes bring you to some pretty sweet places. I mean you got to go to the Underworld without dying, right?" The redhead chuckled.
"Uh, yeah, don't remind me." Percy said shifting nervously in his seat. "Annabeth is still complaining about not getting a chance to play with Cerberus more."
"You just didn't go the tourist path. It's much nicer than what you saw, Percy." Pouting playfully, Alkaid retorted.
"Wait, there are tours?" Percy asked, turning around to look at her in surprise.
Alkaid snorted a giggle, "No."
Oh, he had such a cute pout.
"There goes my hopes for my afterlife." The son of Poseidon dryly commented.
"Seriously though," Pyrrha chimed in, giving him an out from his embarrassment. "You really should learn to properly read a map. It can be pretty damned useful on a quest at times."
"Your magic school taught astrology or something right?"
"Astronomy," Alkaid corrected in her teacher tone. "But that's besides the point."
"Which is?"
"That learning to navigate is a useful skill." Pyrrha repeated, as Alkaid nodded in agreement.
"Fine," Percy said with a resigned sigh. "I'll sign up for a course when we get back to Camp. The satyrs run a couple right?"
"They do," Alkaid confirmed. As the Assistant Activities Director it was her duty to know what activities Camp had on offer. "And I'll hold you to that promise."
"Yeah, yeah," Percy replied with a put upon expression.
"Cheer up, Percy." Alkaid told him with a glowing smile. "You should embrace the opportunity. After all, the power of learning will get you far."
"So can I learn some magic on the side too?" Percy asked her curiously, "I mean, what you do is pretty awesome."
"Every demigod has a chance to learn magic, but some simply show more aptitude than others."
Pyrrha barked out a laugh, "Yeah! Tomato, to-nuclear warhead."
"That joke, Pyrrha dear, is getting old." Alkaid hissed. Always getting compared to a nuclear weapon was getting on her nerves.
"Never!" The daughter of war chuckled, "Plus, I find it sexy."
"Oh really?" Alkaid asked warningly. "Then I'm sure you won't mind if I-"
"Okay, okay, I give." Pyrrha hastily cut in. "Sheesh, you're feeling prickly."
"You try hearing that joke at least a dozen times a day and tell me you don't get tired of it."
"Can you guys stop flirting? I'm trying to read the map here." Percy tutted at them while shaking the map in the air.
Both women shot him an irritated look, though Pyrrha's was mercifully brief for the boy. Alkaid's was scary enough, if the way he fidgeted was any indication.
"Anyways, so I don't have much of a chance with magic?" The son of the sea asked.
"Probably not," the sorceress admitted. "A non-Hecate demigod's magical potential is tied a lot to the strength of the godly powers they inherited. Your godly powers are insanely strong, as such correspondingly your magical potential is weak."
"Bummer." Percy bemoaned. "But what does that say about you? I mean you're no slouch in the powers department."
"They're not that impressive either," Alkaid countered. "Not for a child of the Big Three. Plus when I do use them, I augment them a lot with my magic. Toss me at an average monster. I can slay them with those alone. Against a true threat? I'm be hard pressed to win without a solid strategy or advantage."
"Admitting weakness, 'Kaidy? You must really like Percy."
Huffing, the sorceress turned her nose, "I trust my darling cousin. No need to be jealous, love."
For some reason, this exchange seemed to send Percy into a panic of sorts and he scrambled to find something to say. "U-Uh, so~, do you guys always quest in style like this? I mean if this is the kinda transport you guys use regularly, I want to quest with you two all the time."
"Welcome to the big leagues kid. Where we've got enough of a budget for creature comforts." Pyrrha told him with a grin.
"Budget? I thought it was because Alkaid was rich?"
Alkaid had the grace to blush, even as Pyrrha cheekily replied. "That too."
Shaking her head at the inane direction that the conversation the two were having was taking, the daughter of Hades decided she wanted nothing to do with it and turned back to what she was working on before she'd been dragged into it.
In her hands was a notepad where she'd been writing up some notes on how to help her siblings further develop their abilities based on what she observed about their performances during the recent CTF game.
While Nico had showed off a decent grasp of his inherited abilities, he needed a good reprimand for his power trip.
He needs to learn how to actually help his team and not just show off how great his powers are.
That and work on his CQC skill. He was insistent on being an alt tank and rely on his sword as much as he did his minions, so he needed to learn how to properly fight like one.
Gotta schedule some time with Pyrrha. She'll whip him into shape in no time.
Beyond that, he was off to a decent start so far. In contrast, Alkaid was a little worried about Bianca. She knew that her sister wasn't all too sold on being a hero in the first place, but she needed to learn how to fight and use her powers regardless or she'd suffer a grim fate.
Maybe a few cautionary tales would help to convince her? It couldn't hurt at least. Alkaid mused as she considered which tales in particular to use for the next bedtime story she told the di Angelos.
Maybe Daniel Boone? He was a son of Pheme who died after a run in with a Nosoi. Or maybe one of the old legends instead? Hmm…. I can decide later, for now settling on what to teach her is more important. Alkaid realized after a moment. While her initial idea for using her knack for umbrakinesis for stealth has merit, it still needs a lot of work. Considering she doesn't show much talent for stealth otherwise, it might not be the best combat style for her.
She'd previously expressed interest in magic hadn't she? Maybe combine her stealth with some shadow based magic? Quite a few styles of shadow magic revolve around using them as conduits for curses, so maybe one of those? It would fit in with Bianca's general aversion to direct combat.
With this in mind, Alkaid noted down several schools of shadow magic to run by Bianca when she got back. She was just finishing up her list when the whole RV shook like they had hit a major bump in the road.
"Pyrrha, please tell me that was a speed bump!" Alkaid called out, already knowing the answer.
"Sorry 'Kaidy, no can do." Pyrrha shouted back while glancing out the rearview mirror. "It's a monster."
"What kind?"
"I'm not sure, Percy's checking the description in the bestiary."
"How can you two be so calm about all this!?" The son of Poseidon asked as he flipped through the encyclopedia of monsters that Alkaid had stashed in her gear for the rainy day when she ran into something she couldn't recognize.
"Experience." The two replied in synch.
"Gods, I get staying calm when a monster attacks, but acting like it's nothing is just crazy!"
"I prefer highly functional sociopath." Alkaid jested as she got to her feet, ready to face the threat. "Now what are we up against?"
The motorhome jerked to the right violently and Alkaid barely stayed standing as Pyrrha shouted back irritably, "'Kaidy stop joking around! Help Percy figure it out. The damned thing is some kind of Frankenstein wyvern thing. It's got a horse-like head, leathery bat-like wings, horns, small arms with clawed hands, cloven hooves and a forked tail. Oh, and it spits fire!"
Alkaid blinked at that description. "That's not a Greek monster. It's the Jersey Devil."
"What!?" Percy shouted in shock. "What's the Devil attacking us for?"
Alkaid couldn't help it. She chuckled at the way that Percy wasn't even questioning that the Devil was real. Had his horizons been so greatly broadened by his entry into the Greek Mythological World or was he naturally so gull- ahem, open minded?
"The Titans are hiring mercenaries."
"Monsters too apparently." Percy stated angrily.
"Monsters can be mercenaries too," Alkaid told him, "All you need to do is call them up using the Monster Yellow Pages."
"Why would the Jersey Devil be in the Monster Yellow Pages!?" Percy cried out incredulously as the RV swerved once more, though he demonstrated remarkable balance and easily swayed with the motion.
"He probably isn't," Pyrrha told him, sounding annoyed with the way he was getting hung up on the small stuff. "Kaidy was using it to make her point! Now could you kill the damned monster? I dunno? Before it roasts us alive?"
"How do we kill it? I mean, can it be killed?" Percy asked, looking towards Alkaid while sounding chastised.
"Rule number one: if it bleeds, it can probably die."
"Probably?" Percy asked worriedly, as he pulled out Riptide and uncapped it to transform it into its true form.
"There are exceptions to everything." The sorceress said distractedly, as with a gesture she opened the sun roof and using a magical platform floated both of them up to the roof of their vehicle.
"Okay, so we need to ground it." Percy muttered, looking around to see what they could use.
Alkaid looked to the son of Poseidon with exasperation. For all that he was shaping up into a great hero, it seemed he could still make rookie mistakes. Such as wanting the glory of the kill so much that he forgot that others could handle things better than he could. Or maybe he was just being a teenage boy and after all the teasing earlier was now desperately trying to reassert his manliness by killing the monster. Whatever the case, Percy was fresh out of luck.
"επικαλούνται: σκορπιός βέλος (Invoke: Scorpion Arrow)!" Alkaid incanted and sent a single silver shooting star flying through the air at the Devil.
To Alkaid's surprise, the monster actually mostly managed to evade the spell which only managed to tear a chunk out of its membranous wings and caused it to let loose a blood curdling scream. This, somehow, didn't affect its flight in the slightest and the creature kept up its pursuit even pressing the attack by breathing a torrent of flame in their direction
"Incantare: Testudo (Tortoise)!" The sorceress shouted, throwing up a wall of overlapping rectangular shields that shielded them from the Devil's demonic flames.
"This thing seems to like to play with fire." Alkaid mused. "You know what that means?"
"What?" Percy replied, looking adorably confused.
"Let's help it cool down. Frost Bolt!"
At her invocation, a bolt of frost shot forth from a magical circle in front of her shields and flew through the Devil's flaming breath, freezing it as it passed, and right down the monster's very gullet.
The monster let out another blood curdling scream and pulling away from the chase, began scratching at its long neck in distress even as ice spread out from it to slowly encase its body. Probably deciding that dealing with its sudden case of being frozen was more important than doing its job, the Devil landed and ran off on foot, scratching at its neck all the while.
"Alkaid, no offense but this has gotta be said."
"What does, Percy?"
"Magic is bullshit!" The son of Poseidon said passionately.
The child of Hades just smiled at him proudly. "Good to hear that you're learning!"
Percy sighed and hung his head. "Let's head back inside."
Alkaid happily nodded, and lowered them back into the trailer.
"We're at least a couple hours out." Pyrrha shouted without prompting from the driver seat.
"Thanks Py," Alkaid said as she went back to her notes. "Let me know when we enter city limits or if another monster attacks."
"Will do."
Percy meanwhile shook his head in exasperated resignation.
The poor boy still doesn't seem to get that this is a normal day at work for us. What does he think we do as Olympus' diplomats? Making nice with other gods' almost always means helping them kill something or the other. That or trying to avoid getting killed by something. Come to think of it… gods are a violent bunch aren't they?
Setting these thoughts aside, Alkaid returned to her work. She had a list of magical schools to narrow down before she presented them to her sister.
A few hours later found Pyrrha, Alkaid and Percy walking through the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian. They were surrounded by examples of the heights of America's aerospace achievements, though they paid it little to no mind. Instead, as the well trained heroes they were, they remained focused on their mission.
"'Kaidy, you sure the questers were here?" Pyrrha asked gestured at the pristine displays.
"I'm ninety percent sure." Alkaid replied confidently. "The Mist probably fixed whatever damage they caused."
"How can you guys be sure there was a fight here?" Percy asked curiously.
"Monsters simply love ambushing half-bloods at historic and iconic locations," 'Kaidy said while she waved her hands and worked some spell or other to help them track the other questers. "Besides, the Mist is strong here. Too strong for it to be normal."
"So should we expect to be ambushed too?"
Pyrrha and Alkaid both shot the boy a glare at that. He had totally just jinxed them!
"Aw man, I jinxed us didn't I?" Percy grimaced.
Suddenly, as if summoned by Percy's words, a bestial growl emanated from behind the three demigods
"This is totally your fault, Percy!" Pyrrha accused, even as she summoned her labrys and turned around with the others to face the latest monster.
Stalking towards them through the displays was a creature the size of a large lion. It mostly looked liked a cougar but its back was covered in razor sharp spines, had deer antlers, a very long prehensile tail made of copper, and a pair of draconic wings. All while leaving a trail of water behind in its wake as it moved with feline grace.
"Okay, what the heck is that?" Percy asked, sounding lost.
"Water Panther." Alkaid said as the magical circle for the spell she used to identify the monster visibly faded. "It's a underwater dragon."
"Okay, that's a new one. What myth?"
"American Indian. Algonquian specifically."
"...Other myths are real. Okay."
The water panther roared at them, its voice was like thunder causing the walls and exhibits to shake violently as a result.
"Percy," Alkaid said with an exasperated sigh. "We just fought the Jersey Devil earlier. Are you slow? Or are you simply being annoying?"
"Is it wrong to wish the world was a little less crazy?" He asked her dryly.
"Ah, self-delusional then."
The water panther roared again, this time unleashing a tidal wave alongside it that filled the exhibition hall out of nowhere and came crashing down on them.
Percy leapt forward and swung Riptide while calling on his powers, he cut the wave in half sending torrents of water to either side thus leaving a nice little dry spot for the three of them. Everything else? No so much.
That didn't satisfy the monster though and the water panther let out a thunderous roar of displeasure before charging at them. Its agitation was clear even as it sprinted at them, with its tail whipping about like a blade as its claws tore up the carpeting.
Pyrrha deflected a strike of the beast's tail that swung so fast it was practically invisible as it came just inches from taking Percy's head off. At the same time, Percy swung his sword to block a strike from its claws that tried to rend the boy. He unfortunately forgot about the monster's mouth and the thing breathed a bolt of lightning right into the son of the seas' face. Lucky for him, 'Kaidy was on the ball and a magical barrier popped into being a hair's breadth in front of his nose that deflected the bolt
"Get off him!" Pyrrha hollered, shoulder checking the felinoid dragon off and forcing it back.
Stepping between the monster and Percy, she swung her labrys down with all her might only to have it deflected by one of the dragon's wings. At the same time, its tail lashed out at her once more only to bounce off one of 'Kaidy's barriers. Undeterred, Pyrrha kicked the damned thing in the chin. Her blow had the thing smarting in pain as it forced its jaws shut hard, probably chipping a few of its teeth.
"Pyrrha, I've got its water locked down." Percy shouted sounding strained. "But it's strong. I don't know how long I can keep it up. Kill it! Quickly!"
"Working on that!" Pyrrha shouted back as she swung her labrys down on the kitty dragon that was too busy hissing in pain from its bruised jaw to react. Or at least that seemed to be the case until its tail deflected her blow but the daughter of war was prepared for that too.
"Eat some fire, kitty." Pyrrha said as she leveled Miló at the monster and bathed it in flames.
The beast howled in agony and jumped back, rolling around on the ground in a bid to smother the fire burning in its fur. Pyrrha wouldn't let it though and kept her flamethrower firmly aimed at the beast. The creature's tail kept lashing out though and the ring of it smacking against 'Kaidy's barriers was almost deafening. But for all the water panther's struggles it couldn't break through them and hurt the daughter of Ares they protected. Even then, it took a full five minutes of being subjected to the magical flames of Miló before the Native American spirit succumbed and collapsed into a pile of water that quickly boiled away.
"Huh? It left a spoil?" Pyrrha blinked in surprise as she cut off the flames. "A gem? What kind of spoil is that?"
"Looks like a enchanted jewel," 'Kaidy said thoughtfully as she walked over supporting a drained looking Percy. "Judging by its size and shape its supposed to be socketed into your labrys."
"Huh?"
Alkaid sighed and gestured for the weapon. Once Pyrrha obliged, she added, "Now pass me the gem."
Taking the aquamarine, the sorceress pushed Percy over to Pyrrha so both her arms were free before proceeding to finagle with the headpiece of the daughter of Ares' weapon for a bit before somehow fitting the thing into it. The moment this was done, the whole weapon took on a faint blue aura.
"There, it should have an aura that gives it some water element damage in addition to its physical damage now. Won't do much against most things except give it a little extra kick but against a fire elemental, it should cause it hell."
"Huh, cool." Percy noted tiredly. "That's such a thoughtful spoil. Why can't Greek monsters give things as nice as that when they die? I'm jealous."
"Ask the Monster Union," Alkaid said with a shrug. "They pretty much determine the spoils."
"You're kidding me, right? The monsters have a union?"
'Kaidy simply offered the kid an enigmatic smile and Pyrrha grinned as she took back her weapon. Putting it away, she offered him a bone. "Ask Chiron when you get back to Camp. In the meantime, let's get going. 'Kaidy, where to next?"
"Give me a minute to work my magic and I'll tell you."
It took almost two full days of driving from Washington, but finally the Potters and Percy had caught up to the other group of Questers. At least that's what Alkaid's spells were telling them. Though why they would be in some place like this was beyond him.
"What is this place?" Percy asked as they walked between huge piles of garbage of all kinds. "And are you sure the questers are here?"
"Yes, they're here and this is the Junkyard of the Gods," Alkaid informed him. "Don't touch anything."
"Why not?"
"Or the gods will claim you're stealing and send something to ruin our day." Pyrrha said sounding exasperated.
"For stealing their junk?"
"Godly junk, Percy." Alkaid reminded him sternly. "Imagine what that could do in the wrong hands."
"Oh," the son of Poseidon said as he puzzled over that idea. He hadn't even thought about it but Alkaid had a point. To someone smart enough to use it, godly junk could easily be a goldmine.
Even as the idea crossed his mind, a sudden chill fell across the whole area and both women turned to glare at Percy.
"It wasn't me! I didn't touch anything!" He said, waving his empty hands in front of him to prove his innocence.
They didn't look like they believed him which was baloney if you asked him, he wasn't always the one causing trouble. Thankfully, their inquisition was interrupted by something like a wolf's howl but one which had been run through some kind of voice modulator to come out sounding tinny and mechanical.
"You dare steal from the gods?" A voice like a erupting volcano shouted.
"Lord Hephaestus, I'm not stealing!" Annabeth's voice shouted from a short distance away. "These don't belong here. They're Luke's, I'm just recovering them."
"Excuses! If it's here then it belongs to the gods. Punish the impudent mortal, my hounds." The god's booming voice replied before it was replaced by a sweet sounding feminine voice. "This has been a prerecorded greeting from your host and presented to you by the Philophrosyne Greeters Company, serving you warm greetings since the Heroic Age."
"Lord Hephaestus is totally ruining Lady Philophrosyne's rep here," Pyrrha opined with a chuckle as they all broke into a run towards where the other questers were.
"Fathers can be embarrassing like that sometimes," Alkaid said with a wistful shrug.
"Tell me about it," Pyrrha replied with a snort.
"Um, guys, killer godly hounds after our friends?" Percy said, pointing at a horse sized automation that looked like some kinda malformed wolf with a hunched back and an oversized eyeless head.
"Relax a little Percy," Alkaid told him even as she reduced the robot to scrap with a casual shadowbolt. "If you tense up at every monster fight, you'll die of a heart attack before you're thirty. Also, robotic, not godly. If so we'd be in actual trouble."
Angry howls came from all around them even as the scrap from Alkaid's kill rained down the mounds of junk that littered the surroundings.
"See? A walk in the park! Axel Shooter!" Alkaid said casting a spell that sent green bullets flying off in all directions and presumably killed more of Lord Hephaestus' hounds off in the distance.
"Exactly Percy." Pyrrha said as she casually chopped the head off another hound that leapt at them as they ran around a hill. "These things aren't even all that dangerous."
"What did you say, you bitch!?" The enraged voice of Thalia said as she sent one of the automatons flying towards Pyrrha on a bolt of lightning. "They aren't dangerous!?"
A barrier blocked the wrecked hound effortlessly.
"Grace," Alkaid said sharply, "Watch friendly fire. Or someone with superior firepower might not be so gentle to you next time."
Percy took a good look at Thalia and immediately figured out why she was so angry. She was littered in cuts all along her hands, legs and a single deep gash on her forehead bled freely, presumably from fighting the hounds though her upper body was strangely unscathed. Which wasn't much of a surprise, there were a lot of the hounds over here. There were easily over a hundred of them viciously attacking the other questers. One of which, looked to be down.
Standing over the girl was Zoë Nightshade and she was defending the wounded girl, her fellow Hunter it seemed, with her daggers. They moved like silvery blurs as she hacked and slashed at the baying mobs of automatons.
"'Kaidy, help the Hunter. She looks bad." Pyrrha shouted as she charged into the swarm of robots and hacked away at them with her labrys like a woman possessed.
Pyrrha's statement was an understatement, Percy didn't manage to get a good look but the Hunter looked like half her body had been mummified.
"Axel Shooter!" Alkaid cast with a grimace as she cleared a path through the mob of monsters to the Hunter. "She's dying, fast. She has little time left."
Percy followed his older cousin as she sprinted through the opening she'd made in the horde's ranks, slicing apart any robot that thought to attack her from behind. Next to him Thalia did the same, though she didn't look happy about it. Bringing up their rear was Pyrrha.
"Sorceress," Zoë pleaded as they reached her side even as she took out yet another hound.
"This is beyond me." Alkaid frowned after one look at the downed hunter. "It looks like an accelerated aging effect. I'm not a temporal mage nor do I specialize in healing. I apologize, Nightshade, but I can't do anything for her."
"Try something!" Zoë insisted, getting up into Alkaid's face.
"I'll do my best," Alkaid replied, ignoring the Hunter's belligerence. "Incantare: Tiber Benedictiones (Tiber Blessings)."
A blue glow surrounded Phoebe's -That was the Hunter's name, right?- body for a moment but quickly faded having seemingly done nothing.
"I'm sorry Phoebe. I tried." Alkaid said, offering the girl an apologetic bow. "I will make sure you reach Elysium as soon as the quest is over."
"Th-Thank you." The muscular hunter rasped. She let out a cough, releasing a cloud of red and orange dust. At the same time, the rest of her body mummified right in front of their eyes before crumbling into dust.
"Phoebe!" Zoë hissed in a furious growl before throwing herself into the still numerous pack of automatons and attacking them with a vengeance. She moved so quickly that she looked like a shooting star as her silver blades danced and her long raven hair trailed behind her like a tail.
"Guys, we took out the last smoke- Percy!? What are you doing here?" Grover said as he trotted over, with Annabeth in tow.
"We need to leave." Alkaid said, giving Annabeth a cold, accusing glare. "Drop the item so we aren't followed. We don't need more pointless deaths thanks to you."
"No, these are Luke's! I can-" Annabeth began before Pyrrha gut punched her and she dropped to her knees wheezing in pain. As she did, a pair of familiar sneakers that Percy had thought lost in Tartarus fell out of her pack and landed next to her.
With a snap of her fingers, Alkaid vaporized them with a shadowbolt. Immediately, the hounds froze where they stood for a moment before turning around and bounding away.
"Let's go." Alkaid tersely announced, looking over to Zoë who was standing at the centre of a pile of automaton carcasses and glaring at the retreating pack. "Nightshade! We're moving out! Come on!"
The Hunter nodded and turning a furious glare at Annabeth, walked towards them, tucking her blades away with deliberate slowness. Percy didn't know about Annabeth, but the display left him mightily intimidated and he gulped nervously.
"Yes, let's leave this place." Zoë said, her voice as cold as the Arctic Circle. "Lead the way, sorceress."
Done and done! Thanks to the team of Nameless and Axios as always.
Ah, RV travel. Truly is there no better way to go save the world? Now if only it came with a GPS, lolz!
Nameless: So Percy has learned that other mythologies exist, will that have an impact on the story in the future? Well, wait and see. We honestly haven't decided yet, so even we don't know.
So we had a lot of minor fights in this chapter, but what's a quest without being pestered by monsters on the trip?
Nameless: Hopefully they were fun to read. We certainly had fun writing them up.
Now, some might call foul with Annie taking something from the gods, but remember, when Luke's involved her IQ drops. Plus, hubris. Fatal Flaws be called fatal for a reason!
Nameless: Puberty hormones makes fools out of all of us. Annabeth is no exception. Her crush on Luke stirs up the full hormonal reaction, combine that with her hubris like E4E points out… Well the end result, is her doing stupid things and then legitimately thinking she's in the right.
You know what to do! Smash that review button and tell us what you loved! No flames and peace out my peeps!