Hah, you thought you'd get the others reactions to Bob! No suckers you get a Rachabeth reunion!
Replies:
Undeath9087: Yep, and ya gotta love Rachabeth.
thickneck: Awe, would I ever do that? Wait, no don't answer that.
Annabeth was stressed and angry, to say the least- and she personally felt that she had every right to be. Oh logically she knew that they weren't actually being that unfair to her- Luke and Thalia were right she was in no state to go into the House of Hades, not with how she was at the moment. Rachel leaving had been hard on her- and she was so stressed, so worried, with every day that Rachel was gone it got harder and harder- and the pressure, knowing that if she didn't get them to their destination- it had all been too much and she'd passed out like an idiot.
So she was stuck on the Argo II with Thalia, Luke and Coach Hedge.
They hadn't managed to force her to sleep- she wouldn't do that until Percy, Leo and Nico were back safely, but they had convinced her to eat, so she was feeling a little bit better now.
So she'd taken her place on the deck, staring out into the distance whilst Luke and Thalia discussed plans for the others return.
Annabeth wasn't sure how long she was sat there when she spotted them- in the distance in the sky above them- her breath caught. Four pegasi- she scrambled to her feet quickly.
One of the pegasi was struggling, the others were pressing in close around it- keeping it from collapsing mid fight- and slowly but surely they drew closer- and Annabeth's hand flew up and pressed to her mouth- she almost sobbed with relief.
It was them- she could see Rachel, perched proudly on Blackjack's back, and there was Ethan on her left, and Reyna was on Rachel's other side- it was her pegasi that was wounded- and Grover was the one flanking Reyna, he and Rachel looked to be the only things keeping the pegasi up.
They landed a few moments later- and Annabeth was there before Rachel was even fully off of her Pegasi, her arms wrapping tightly around the other girl.
"I missed you." her voice shook slightly as she hugged Rachel tightly- and Rachel hugged her back, "I missed you too." she pressed her lips to the top of Annabeth's head. "Where are the others?"
"They're on the rescue mission." Annabeth told Rachel quickly, "They uh- there was a limit on how many people could come."
"Annabeth-" that was Reyna, and Annabeth turned quickly to look at Reyna, who was pale, "You sent for me." she was stood by her pegasi- "It- it has not been an easy journey." she she was pale Annabeth realised- and her gaze shifted to the Pegasi- which Reyna was clutching at. There were claw marks on his flank- nasty claw marks- they looked infected or poisoned maybe. Annabeth flinched, swallowing hard. That wasn't good.
"I'm sorry. But I'm glad you're made it- Grover what's wrong" the Satyr was almost twitching, his nose scrunching up, his eyes closed, and when he opened his eyes he was pale.
"It's nothing." his voice was strained though-and Annabeth swallowed hard.
"Percy?" her voice was tight-and Rachel looked just as worried as Annabeth felt.
"She-" Grover winced, "I feel a lot of fear. It-I think they're closer to the doors or something I don't know. It feels
stronger now, the connection."
"She's afraid?" Rachel had a worried look on her face- and there was something about the way that she was looking at Grover that made her even more worried.
"I-" Grover winced, "It- it's hard."
"She'll be okay." was Ethan, who shoved his hands into his pockets, "Is anyone else-"
"Thalia and Luke are below deck." Annabeth told him quickly, "With Coach Hedge."
"I'll go let them know we're here." Ethan headed away- and Annabeth focused all of her attention on Grover and Rachel.
"What's going on here?" her brows furrowed. "I don't understand- Grover why are you and Rachel-"
"We- we'll talk about it later." Rachel shook her head, "I- we have to have faith in Percy, she's strong love- you know she is. Whatever she's scared of- she's going to make it out of there for Leo and Nico's sakes."
"Rachel's right Annabeth." Grover nodded, "As soon as I can feel her back on this side I'll let you guys know I-"
"Scipio!" that was Reyna's voice- and Annabeth turned her head as the pegasi's legs gave out- and Blackjack Porkpie and Guido cantered backwards to give the girl and her pegasi some space- and it didn't look very good, Annabeth could see that very quickly. And Grover was by the pegasi's side almost instantly, his hands gently resting on his flank- his breathing was labored- and after a moment he shook his head- his expression grave.
"I'm sorry- I'm so sorry Reyna he's dying."
"I-" Reyna let out a pained noise, shifting so that she could press her face into the pegasi's neck.
And Rachel was moving quickly, laying a gentle hand on Reyna's shoulder.
It was obvious that she cared about the pegasi a lot, and she could see from the way Reyna's shoulders were shaking that she was crying.
After a long moment Reyna lifted her head, her face streaked with tears, and she swallowed hard, "Thank you." that was directed at Rachel, who moved back slightly. And then Reyna pulled out a golden knife, gripping it tightly as she pressed her face into the pegasi's neck again-and she sliced the blade across the creatures throat- Annabeth forced herself not to look away as Scipio very quickly died, disintegrating into familiar dust, floating away in the slight breeze.
It was a mercy kill- things like that were always painful to watch, necessary but painful.
They were silent for several minutes- Annabeth noticed Blackjack nudging Porkpie and Guido away- clearly aware that it might be better for them to give Reyna some space, and she watched Reyna as the Roman mourned for several minutes before visibly pulled herself together, straightening up slightly.
Then her gaze focused on Annabeth. "Tell me everything. Rachel told me what she could but I assume much has happened since I let you and Percy go." she paused, "Did- did you save Bianca?"
"Yes." Annabeth nodded, "Yeah, she's with the others." Annabeth told her "She was... weak but she's recovered well." and she remembered how Percy had mentioned Bianca specifically during their last run in with Reyna- clearly there was some sort of friendship there at the very least because Reyna looked incredibly relieved at her words.
"Thank you." she took a deep breath, "Now talk to me."
And so Annabeth did- she told Reyna what had happened since Rachel had left, grabbing her girlfriends hand tightly, and Reyna listened carefully, nodding as the daughter of Athena spoke.
When she finished Reyna turned her gaze towards the ruins in the distance.
"I will do what I can- I will take this Parthenos to your camp. But- I want to see the others first. I want to see Bianca, to see Frank, Hazel, Jason and Percy. Before I leave."
"Of course." Annabeth nodded.
"And-" Reyna's gaze shifted to Rachel, "When this is over I think perhaps you should come to Camp Jupiter again."
"I-" Rachel shifted slightly, "Is this about- about what happened-"
"What happened?" Annabeth frowned, "Rache?"
"When- Octavian was accusing me of lying about having prophetic abilities and uh-"
"Apollo... claimed her." Grover paused, "Well- that's probably the best way to explain it." he said.
"But-" Annabeth frowned, "I don't understand, you're not a demigod-"
"I do not think it's a coincidence that Lord Apollo timed his blessing when he did." Reyna told them, "You may not be a demigod Rachel, but given your gift- I think you may be a legacy- most likely a Roman one since you Greeks don't seem to have legacies as we do. Probably distant since you were so unaware-"
"I-" Rachel blinked "That- I guess it does make sense." she said slowly, "Though I dunno if either of my parents could have any god in them." she grimaced before groaning, "Would that mean I'm related to Octavian?"
And Reyna laughed- it was a damp little noise- she was still upset from having to kill Scipio but she was smiling. "Very distantly."
"We'll deal with that after this is over." Annabeth squeezed Rachel's hand- mostly because her girlfriend was looking rather stressed out, to say the least.
"Of course." Reyna nodded before- "Ah, it seemed your friends are here." and Annabeth turned her head, Luke, Thalia and Ethan were making their way up from below deck, Luke making a beeline for Grover.
"Grover- dude is there any sign of-"
"I'll tell you what I've told Annabeth." Grover held up his hands, "As soon as I get anything more solid from her I'll let you know. I can tell that she's still in the pit right now, like I told Annabeth I think she's near the doors because... I mean while it's still faint it's stronger than it has been since she first fell. Not strong enough that I could talk to her but it's there. And- and-" he paused, his brows furrowing as he focused, "The fear- it's not as strong- there's relief I think- she's still scared but she's relieved about something too." he paused "I'm not sure what."
"That-" Luke was incredibly pale, "She's still alive- and- and if there's no anger than she probably has Nico and Leo with her."
"I hope so." Grover nodded, "I really, really hope so."
"It's Percy." Thalia was grabbing Luke's hand tightly, and she squeezed it, "Grover says he thinks she's near the Doors of Death so hopefully she'll be able to come up and meet the others and she'll have the boys with her-"
"She's afraid." Luke swallowed hard, "They- they probably have a damned army guarding the Doors of Death."
"Yeah?" Thalia asked, "Well I'd like to see the army than could stop Percy fucking Jackson from getting her baby brothers home."
"I-" Annabeth let a weak laugh. "You're not actually wrong." she remarked, shaking her head, "I've seen her take on armies one on one before- and- and I know they'll want to get her home too- they jumped into the fucking pit for her."
The only reason she hadn't was the fact that Percy had made it very clear that she'd never forgive her if she did. But- as selfish as it was Annabeth had almost been glad that they'd jumped in with her. Sure the idea of Nico and Leo in the pit was horrifying- but- she was achingly, painfully relieved that Percy wasn't down there alone. And she did hate herself for that a little bit. But not enough.
"I may not know Percy as well as you do." Reyna said after a moment, "But if anyone can escape the pit I have no doubt that it's her."
And Annabeth turned away, staring over towards the ruins again- and she felt Rachel's shoulder brushing against her own.
"Soon." Rachel whispered the word, "Soon Annabeth. They'll be home soon. I can feel it." and Annabeth shifted, her head resting on the other girls shoulder.
They stood like that for what felt like a lifetime before Grover sucked in a sharp breath. "I just felt a rush of relief- it's still-" there's still a sort of distance to it but-but I think- wherever she is she's on our way back you guys. They're on their way home the empathy link is getting stronger every second."
