Chapter Eleven

ANNABETH POV

Why do people state the obvious? I mean, I know I do sometimes, but why? If it's obvious, why bother? Anyway, with that out of the way, here's the obvious: this wasn't good. This smoke was different. Out should have brawn green, since she was the Oracle, but this was brown. I backed up, and even the monsters looked nervous. The voice of Gaea rang out.

"Ah, Annabeth Jackson. It's only a matter of minutes now. I am rising."

Normally, I wouldn't have been surprised that Gaea was speaking to me. The earthen goddess was always about gloating and trying to bluff. But, this time, Gaea's voice was speaking through Rachel. I could only stare as Gaea began to possess our Oracle.

PERCY POV

"It's Gaea, Chiron! Remember when we thought she had freed herself from being possessed years ago?"

He frowned, as if he already knew what I was getting at.

"She never left. Her spirit has been in Rachel' mind, battling the Spirit of Delphi! But Gaea is winning. Delphi is a strong spirit, but not a fighting one. Remember how she's been remembering Prophecies? She never does that immediately! We should have seen it"

"Percy, if what you're saying is true..." His face aged, or at least it looked that way, and he spoke grimly. "Then by the gods, we're in for a lot of trouble."

And suddenly, I had a terrible feeling about the 3rd Great Prophecy.

ANNABETH POV

"Ah, Annabeth, always believing in what you can see, and the logical. While, all the Time, skipping over the illogical. But sometimes, that's what makes the most sense."

Gaea laughed, tormenting me further. I've had many different personalities through the years, as different stages of life will do to you, but perfection was always a topic that haunted me. It was attached to my hubris. If I failed, I let it get the best of me. Gaea suddenly cackled.

"Yes! The Oracle of Delphi is defeated! I can use this Mortal body to rise. As for you, Annabeth Jackson, I still need you and your family for leverage."

She descended upon me in Rachel's form. I drew my knife to fight, and Andrea uncapped Twilight. Lucas stepped defensively in front, but we were powerless. Gaea disarmed us with a few mere flicks of her wrist.

Mother Earth cackled.

"Kronos had nothing on me! Don't worry, Annabeth dear, I will tell you my plan, and how I pulled it off. You see, when I possessed your friend, I knew how to fake a prophecy: Say something dark, and add a glimmer of hope at the end. That's what you humans live for. Hope. Percy should have released her when he had the chance. Did that Prophecy really sound real?"

Gaea sneered. I felt like I had been slapped. Something had brawn wrong with the prophecy! Why couldn't I see it? I was so stupid. Ugh, there's my hubris again.

"I think," Gaea continued, "Hope will be what I take first. You know, if I recall, Perseus had the chance to release her from the pithos. But of course, sacrifices would have been greater than he could handle."

"Why don't you just kill us? Right now?" I challenged. "You obviously don't need sacrifices anymore."

"Oh, child, you know how this works. I can't manipulate my enemies without certain persuasion."

The hostage route. The most used, and most successful, scheme used by criminals. I cursed, fed up with everything that had ever happened to me.

"You've melted in our lives long enough, Gaea. Taking Percy..."

My voice wavered, the confidence leaving. Pull yourself together, Annabeth!

"But Annabeth, that was your mother. Athena has already confessed to this. Even the Olympians are no better than me"

I hung my had, and for the first time, truly believed Gaea might be right.

LEO POV

Holy Hephaestus, I wasn't ready for what I saw. My friend and half her family tied up in a cave, and the other half of my friend all preparing for another war with Gaea. That's what you get for completely losing contact with your friends for over 20 years. I started into the images projecting from the device I had built so many years ago while trying to save the world from Gaea. This scroll showed me anything I wanted it to. Sometimes, I'll admit it, I used it to spy on my friends. This time, it really paid off. So, uh, anyway, I'm Leo, Former Supreme Commander of the Argo II. I had been having a Hades of a good life until now. Words returned to my head: You'll never find a place among your brethren. I had accepted that. I found a life with someone else. That was part of my reasoning for staying out of touch. But why did I feel so guilty? A delicate hand landed on my shoulder, making me jump momentarily, forgetting my daze.

"You should go, Leo. They need you. That is Gaea!" My wife said, starting into my eyes.

"I know, Sunshine, but what if they don't even remember me? What if they don't care about me? What if-"

Calypso cut me off with a kiss- something she did frequently.

"We're coming with you, Fire Boy. I wouldn't dare try to stay here without you."

She shuddered. We were on Ogygia, an island she had once been cursed to stay on forever, and a place she had sworn to never return to. However, Valdez Jr. had asked to see the island, so "family vacation." It gave both Calypso and me a weird sense of nostalgia. Okay, so first off, you're probably thinking "Leo has kids?!" No, I have one kid. Second, Calypso wouldn't let me name him Jr. I just call him that to make me feel better. Leo hardly ever gets what he wats. She claimed she didn't want two of us freaks running around (which I took as a secret "I love that name")

"Buy what if it's a trick? We scattered Gaea's essence waaaaay too thin for her to ever wake again without some major help." I gesticulated. Calypso snorted for a moment, but quickly grew pale.

"What's wrong?" I frowned, "I know that look."

She stammered, "W-what if she had help...Di immortales! It can't be! The one threat we never thought could happen. Even the gods wouldn't see it coming-and still don't!"

She grew panicky, her sleeveless gown turning into battle gear. Her time had me frightened now.

"Quit speaking in code! What is wrong?" I demanded.

"Think, Leo! What is the one threat, the one force, we have never faced. The one god that is powerful enough to piece further another goddess?"

My mind flashed back to Percy and Annabeth falling into a large pit. It was an awful time.

"Oh gods... Gaea is just the warmup act this time..."

I looked into her eyes, and I knew I had guessed right.

"Festus! We're leaving! Calypso, grab Sammy, my old friends needed some help.

PERCY POV

Oh gods, was I really seeing this? Campers membered as the large shape came closer. A Bronze Dragon, toting three persons on its back. It landed and I rushed forward to see if my suspicions were correct. Holy Styx. A Tiny Hispanic slipped off and helped of a young woman down. Oh gods, and her.

"Hey guys, miss me?"

Leo Valdez spread his arms wide giving his signature grin. The woman surveyed the crowd until her eye landed on me. Calypso marched up and slapped me in the face.