Chapter 3: I Trip Up Some Giants

My bag was packed with everything I needed for camp. I waited on the front porch of my house, next to my dad and Janet, for my ride to show. They had insisted on seeing me off, although I'd told them (a little frostily in Janet's case) there was no need.

'I would've been happy to fly you over there, you know,' my dad said.

'I know, but you still have lectures tomorrow. Besides, Chiron already arranged everything.' I tried to sound confident, though I wasn't sure what transportation he'd organised. In our Iris-message several days ago, he had just said someone would pick me up. If I were to guess, I'd say he'd corralled some of his Party Pony relatives to gallop me cross-country. Centaurs travelled fast enough that they could manage the three-thousand-mile journey within a day.

The last person—or immortal—I expected to turn up was my mother.

She strolled right up California Street, dressed in a smart grey business suit that matched both our eyes. My dad's jaw dropped when he saw her. It was probably the first time they'd crossed paths since she'd left a baby on his doorstep fifteen years ago.

'A-Athena?'

'Frederick,' she said calmly.

Janet's eyes narrowed. Her fingers tightened around my dad's arm, as though she were worried Athena might suddenly snatch him away.

'Mom, what are you doing here?' I asked.

'Delivering you to camp, of course.'

'You're taking Annabeth to Long Island?' Janet's sceptical tone had an abrasiveness that she usually reserved for door-to-door salesmen.

I glared at her. Aside from the fact that this was my mother she was being rude to, Athena was a goddess. Immortals didn't tolerate disrespect well. I might not be too pleased with Janet at the moment, but I didn't want her turned into a Gorgon or a spider—both of which Athena was quite capable of.

'Yes.' A hint of a smile played on Athena's enigmatic face as she considered Janet. 'I will ensure she gets there safely, of course. I assume that is your primary concern.'

Janet's eyes darted to my father. When she saw the way he was looking at Athena, with a sort of wistful longing on his face, she stepped between them and crossed her arms. 'I must say—Athena, is it?'

'That's right.' Was that amusement I heard in my mother's voice?

'Well, I understand that your, er, worldview is somewhat different from ours,' Janet said, lifting her chin. 'But surely you realise the disruption this causes for Annabeth in terms of her academics?'

'Janet, stop!' I said. 'I'm going to camp, okay? Dad, tell her!'

My father scratched his ear. 'Um, we've been over this, dear,' he faltered.

Janet rounded on him. 'Frederick, at some point we need to put our feet down, as parents—'

'You're not—' I began hotly.

Athena held up a hand. 'Mrs Chase, I appreciate your concern for my daughter. And I thank you for having her best interests at heart. But she is a demigod. And I am afraid that there are other things she must worry about besides which high school she should go to next year. In fact, the fate of the world may one day rest upon her shoulders.'

Janet fell silent. I wasn't sure if Athena had literally stayed her tongue. She was glaring mutinously at Athena, though that could just be because my dad had taken my mom's side.

'I don't understand a lot of it,' he admitted, 'but I know Annabeth has to go.'

'Thanks, Dad.' I hugged him.

He squeezed me back. 'Don't forget to write.'

I picked up my duffel bag, ready to follow Athena. To my surprise, Janet grabbed my arm. Even more surprisingly, she leant in and kissed my cheek.

'Stay safe, Annabeth.'

I nodded. 'I—I really have to do this.'

She gave Athena another look full of misgivings, and sighed. 'We'll work something out.'

'Come,' Athena said. 'Walk with me.'

I followed her down the street towards the Golden Gate Park. 'How are we getting to camp?'

Athena didn't answer the question. 'She isn't a bad woman, your stepmother,' she mused. 'A little narrow-minded, perhaps, but then, mortals rarely have sufficient foresight to understand the big picture.'

'She said it wasn't wise for me to fight in a war.'

'From an individual standpoint, I concede the point,' Athena said. 'This war is dangerous for every demigod involved. Yourself, your friend Luke …' She looked at me sternly. I gulped, wondering if she knew about his last visit to me. 'And your friend Percy Jackson. I have not changed my counsel to my father Zeus about him, you know.'

An old flare of anger sparked inside me. Last winter, my mom had basically told the gods that it might be wiser to kill my best friend because a prophecy said he could destroy Olympus when he turned sixteen.

'You are still angry on his behalf,' Athena observed. 'Just as your stepmother is, on yours. Although I expect her jealousy doesn't help matters.'

I squirmed a little. The image of Janet and Athena fighting over my dad wasn't one I needed or wanted.

'Mortals,' Athena sighed. 'You live very much in the present. It was this way with my foster son, Erichthonius. I had every intention of making him a god, but his caretakers removed him from his confines, thinking to give him freedom in the present. Of course, that spoilt everything. But he did still have the godly gifts of his father, and my blessing, so his life wasn't entirely ruined, even if he could never enter Olympus. He fathered a long line of kings, all extraordinarily gifted. I quite enjoyed my time with each of them.' Her expression grew soft. 'I had many children in his line. Erechteus … Daedalus …'

My eyes widened. 'You mean—' I made a face. Athena, being a virgin goddess, didn't actually conceive children the normal way. That still didn't mean I wanted to imagine her with what was technically her grandson.

Even if most of Greek mythology was much more incestuous.

Athena saw the look on my face. 'Olympus, child, hasn't your father told you how you were conceived?'

'Mom, gross!'

'I hardly think so,' Athena said, a little huffily. 'You know the story of my own conception, don't you?'

Of course I did. Everyone knew that she'd sprung from Zeus's head, fully-formed, after he had swallowed her mom. 'Do you mean—'

'You are quite literally a brain child, my dear.' She smiled. 'That is your legacy.'

My hand drifted to my stomach, where I could feel the little indent of my bellybutton. I'd never really thought much about the circumstances of my birth before. I knew I'd been delivered by Zephyros, the West Wind, to my father's doorstep in a golden cradle, but I just assumed I'd been born the usual way.

Had my umbilical cord been attached to my mom's brain?

This was getting really weird. I was glad when we reached the park, where a chariot was waiting, hitched to a team of solemn owls. I'd heard of my mom's owl-drawn chariot before, but this was my first time seeing it in person.

'They will take you to camp,' Athena said. 'And you will bring Chiron a message from me.'

'You're not coming?'

Athena shook her head. 'My duties lie elsewhere. You must tell Chiron this: the Titans are operating underground. Without the help of my uncle, Hades, we will have little success in monitoring their movements.'

My heart dropped into my stomach. 'Has Hades joined the Titans, then?' I knew some of the minor gods had already defected. If the Lord of the Underworld had turned against Olympus, too …

'I do not believe so. He appears to have holed himself up in Erebus, walled away from the threat of war. Perhaps he is sulking because his brothers betrayed their oaths and he is now the only one of the three without a demigod child. He was always touchy about being left out.'

I fingered the beads on my camp necklace nervously. I knew for a fact that Hades did have a demigod kid. He'd actually had two, except his daughter Bianca had died last winter. Nobody but Percy, me, and our friend Grover knew that her surviving brother, Nico di Angelo, was a child of the Underworld. Percy had made me promise not to tell anyone. He was afraid it would draw Kronos's attention to Nico if word of his parentage got out.

'At any rate,' Athena continued, 'Kronos's army is assembling quickly. A new Titan rises from Tartarus every other week. Aigaios and Oceanus are already stirring up trouble in the seas; my uncle Poseidon has been occupied for months. The ancient sea demons he once drowned with freshwater have returned to plague us, and I fear even more are on the loose. They will march on Long Island soon. Tell Chiron he must be prepared for war.'

My fingers tightened around the college ring on my necklace. It had been my father's—a graduation gift from my mother. She looked down at it.

'My child,' she said. 'There is much else I cannot say. But be warned. This summer will not be kind to my children in particular.'

My mouth went dry. 'What—what do you mean?' I twisted the ring. 'You said—you said something earlier, about the fate of the world …'

Athena touched the crown of my head. 'May wisdom be with you,' she said. 'You will need it to face the choices that lie ahead.'

I thought of two diverging paths in the darkness. Of Luke, standing on my doorstep, accusing me …'You're choosing him,' he'd said.

If Athena sensed what I was thinking, she didn't comment on it. 'Go now,' she said, 'and remember my message.'

She glowed at the edges. I averted my eyes, knowing she was about to take her divine form. The next second, she vanished in a supernova, leaving me alone with the owl-drawn chariot.

It was a long flight to Long Island. I'd ridden godly chariots before; most recently it had been the Maserati sun chariot of Apollo, and before that, Artemis's moon chariot. My mother's ride was slower but steadier than both of those. We flew above the clouds to avoid being spotted by mortals, which meant I didn't have much of a view. I occupied myself looking for patterns in the clouds and drawing blueprints in my sketchbook.

It was nearly sunset when the familiar rise of Half-Blood Hill came into view. The tall pine tree that used to be Thalia was silhouetted against the sky. Slumbering at its foot was a large dragon with purple scales. Chiron had procured him to guard the Golden Fleece that hung from the boughs of the tree, keeping it vitalised and strengthening the magical camp borders. The last time I'd seen Peleus, he'd been half-grown. In the last month or two, he'd blossomed into a twelve-foot-long reptile.

A scream rent the air. My head turned immediately towards the sound, coming from the woods east of the property line. A trio of kids were running for the hill, chased by a pair of giants. From the hobbling gait of one of them, I guessed he was a satyr, escorting two new half-bloods to camp.

Trying to escort his charges to camp.

The giants had thick, hairy legs, beefy arms, and the ferocious heads of lions. Their strides were so long, they covered ten feet with each step. They were gaining on the half-bloods and their satyr. At this rate, they'd be on the kids a hundred yards before they got to the foot of Half-Blood Hill.

'We have to help them,' I told the owls. They descended obediently, heading straight for the lion-headed giants. I sized up the situation quickly. With two giants, it'd be useless to go after just one. I needed to take them both out with one shot.

I cast around for anything I could use. My knife wouldn't be enough. My Yankees cap could make me invisible, but that was pointless since nothing was after me. Short of ploughing my chariot straight into the giants, I had no other weapons. I tugged on the reins in frustration.

The reins.

'Over there!' I urged the owls to a spot where two thick trees would obscure us from immediate view. I held the owls in check, hovering just above the trees until the kids and their satyr stumbled past.

'Now!' I loosened the reins as we dove so that they formed a long line across the pair of tree trunks. The owls twisted their ends around the far tree; I jumped from the chariot and grabbed a thick branch, looping my end of the reins around it.

The giants barrelled through the trees, straight into the trip line I'd formed. They fell flat on their lionish faces.

I let go of my lines and hit the ground running. The half-bloods and satyr, hearing the thud, looked over their shoulders in amazement.

'Keep running!' I yelled at them.

Together, we made it halfway up the hill by the time the lion-headed giants got back on their feet. Their roars were deafening. One of the half-bloods screamed and tripped. I caught her around the shoulder and chivvied her on.

'Almost there,' I promised.

The satyr reached the crest of Half-Blood Hill first and turned back to us. It gave me a striking sense of déjà-vu watching him dance nervously from hoof to hoof, urging us to hurry.

'Mitchell!' The girl I was practically dragging up the hill cried out. Her companion had fallen behind. The giants were gaining on him. I cursed and pushed her across the property line, then turned back for him.

A burst of fire erupted in the air in front of me. Peleus the dragon had gotten up. He spread his wings and took flight, spewing flames at the advancing giants. I dashed to Mitchell and pulled him forward. Together, we got over the property line, to the safety of the magical barrier.

One of the giants howled. His mane was on fire. He dropped to his knees and rolled all the way down to the bottom of the hill in an attempt to extinguish it. Peleus swooped after him.

The other giant ran up against the property line. The demigod girl screamed again, but the magical barrier held. The giant ran into the invisible wall and fell back. He swore so colourfully, I was tempted to cover the kids' ears with my hands. Though I guess if they spent any time around Ares cabin, they'd hear much worse by the end of summer.

The giant locked eyes on me. Recognition lit up his lionish face, even though I'd never seen him before. 'Curse you to Tartarus, daughter of Athena,' he spat. 'You got away this time, but we'll be back. Just you wait—by the end of summer, your pretty little camp will be crushed.'

'Dream on,' I told him. 'You'll never get past these barriers.'

'That's what you think,' the giant sneered. 'The pieces are almost in place. All we need is the final offering, and it will be the strongest of all. Tell your great hero Percy Jackson: Kronos is coming for him.'

With a final leer, he turned and lumbered off after his friend. Peleus came back and settled himself back at the foot of Thalia's tree. He gave a little snort, like, all in a day's work, and went back to sleep.

I turned back to the satyr and the two half-bloods, trying to look less shaken than I felt. The satyr—I think his name was Woodrow—looked grateful. The boy and girl were staring at me in an almost worshipful manner.

'Are you okay?' I asked them.

'You—you saved us!' Mitchell squeaked.

'This is Annabeth,' Woodrow said. 'She's one of the camp counsellors. Annabeth, this is Mitchell and Lacy.'

I nodded to them. 'I guess you've had a rough journey here.'

Lacy gave a high, breathy laugh. 'You could say that.'

'You're safe now,' I promised.

'What did that lion-guy mean, they'll be back? How could they couldn't get to us now?' Mitchell asked.

I explained about the camp boundaries and the magical barrier that was maintained by the combined power of Thalia's pine and the Golden Fleece. Mitchell and Lacy listened in awe. They looked highly comforted to know that we had an anti-monster security system. It was a relief that the barriers still held against Kronos's minions, but the giant's parting words had me worried. It sounded as though they had an alternative plan.

I shivered. We had an inkling of what that plan might be, but we'd searched all spring for proof of it. There was still no indication that it was even possible.

What did the giant mean, the pieces are almost in place? What was the final offering? And his threat—tell Percy Jackson—it reminded me of something Luke had said to me when he'd sought me out last week: 'Percy Jackson keeps ruining his plans, but he won't stop until he gets what he wants.'

I needed to talk to Chiron right away.

OoOoOoOoOoO

A/N: Did you never wonder how Annabeth found out how she was 'born'? Somehow I don't think Frederick told her …

Thanks to Hello, Thunderwolf7226, JustADerangedFanGirl, CQ816, SG2000, Athenachild101, and OverLordRevan for your comments last chapter. I get really encouraged by your enthusiasm for this story!

And just a heads up—I'm going to be travelling for the next two weeks, one week for work (two conference presentations, oh woe) and one week for a long-awaited holiday. You guys know how committed I am to my posting schedule, so never fear, a chapter will arrive next weekend (barring any emergencies), but I just can't be certain if it's going to be Saturday or Sunday.