Ugh, this chapter was really difficult to write.
Well, I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Disclaimer's the same as the past sixty-two chapters.
Let's see if we can get to 230 reviews ;)
Chapter sixty-three: Over Athens
~Annabeth's POV~
Descending upon Athens was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time.
The vast city spread beneath them, glittering in the morning sun light, its many houses and streets full of life and the buzz of a metropolis.
Annabeth's breath sped up at the sight of so much architecture and she itched to get her notepad out
and start sketching, as ideas flooded her brain. But she put them aside for the time being, hoping
that she would one day get the chance to make them real.
At first, Annabeth couldn't see why Frank had said the city it looking good. The sight was stunning after all. But then her gaze wandered to the prominent mountain rising out of the midsts of the city,
topped with the breathtaking Acropolis: Climbing up the mountain, their horrible appearances
making her want to gag, were eight giants.
"Oh no" Annabeth could hear Piper, who had come up as well, mutter beside her.
"How on earth are we going to get past that lot?" Jason asked, his arm protectively around his girlfriend.
"We fight." a familiar voice said, and Annabeth spun round to see Percy joining them on deck. It was so good to see him outside his cabin, she went over to him and gave him a hug, trying to put a lot of unsaid things into it, hoping he would understand.
"Percy's right." Frank said, and his voice sounded confident, like a true son of Ares, or Mars.
"We have to get to the Pantheon, I'd bet anything that that's where Gaia wants to rise."
"But how are we supposed to stop her? If we go, wouldn't that kinda increase the risk of Gaia getting to one of us and using his or her blood?" Piper said desperately.
"We need a plan." her own voice was steadier than Annabeth expected it to be. Even though they
were facing greater danger than ever before, she was oddly collected. At least the ordeal would be over, for better or worse.
"Let's think about the prophecy again." She told the others, and they listened intently.
"The line we should concentrate on is the one about the world falling to either storm or fire. That could have several meanings."
"Yeah, if Gaia is the world, as in earth" Hazel said "then it could mean that either Percy, Jason or" here she faltered, and there was an awkward and sad silence. Nobody wanted to voice the fact that the world could no longer fall to fire. Fire was gone. "I mean, Percy or Jason will defeat Gaia. Or both of you together." Hazel finished quietly, before hurriedly wiping her eye.
Annabeth nodded. "Yes. But if the world doesn't mean Gaia, then we have a bit of a problem, because then it sounds more like the apocalypse than anything else."
"Maybe Piper can coax her back to sleep again." Jason commented
Everybody looked at the daughter of Aphrodite, who shrugged. "I can try" she said, looking doubtful.
Annabeth shared her reserve. "I honestly don't think we can lull Gaia back to sleep without fighting her. She's too powerful, we need to weaken her first."
Suddenly, the ship tipped to the side, and Annabeth had to cling to Percy who was leaning against the railing, to stop herself from toppling over.
A cold voice filled their heads, and in horror Annabeth saw the side of the Acropolis mountain form into a face, a face which haunted her nightmares.
You are right, Annabeth Chase. I am already powerful enough. You are too late.
Gaia's cold laugh rang through the air, spread out by the wind. All of them stared in horror at the Acropolis, where a dark cloud had started to form overhead, and rumbles seemed to shake the whole mountain.
"What's happening?!" Hazel yelled over the sudden loud rumbling.
"She's awake!" Jason called back, gripping the side of the ship to keep from falling as strong winds started to buffer them around.
"But..that's impossible!" Piper cried, her hair flying wildly around her face. "Pen and Leo-"
"She must have become stronger than they thought" Annabeth's voice was only just contained.
She was so full of anger and pain that her friends' death had apparently been in vain, it was difficult to keep a cool head.
"But if she's risen, why isn't the world already falling apart?" Frank asked, holding Hazel to him.
It was Percy who gave the answer, to Annabeth's slight surprise.
"The giants. Every time one joins her, she gets more powerful. When all of them are here, that's when she's truly risen."
"How do you know that?" Annabeth asked, incredulous.
Percy's eyes met hers for a second, before looking away. "Dream." he muttered, and she felt kind of hurt that he hadn't told her about this before. It was pretty important, after all.
"Then we have to stop them from reaching her!" Jason called, simultaneously trying to control the air around them, so that the Argo II could fly steadier.
He succeeded, and started to aim towards the mountain.
"I say we split up in teams of two. And then we kick some serious giant behind." Jason continued, and everyone nodded their okay.
"Let's do this." Percy said, as they flew ever closer to a plain on the mountain, extremely near the giants making their slow progress up the slope. Annabeth looked at her boyfriend and saw his eyes flashing, something they hadn't done since before the two of them had fallen into that terrible pit.
Her heart filled with a will to fight as the ship landed with a hard bump, and she clung tightly to her new sword.
Gaia was going down.