Death was simply a part of life. But it was even more so for a demigod. It just wasn't one that Annabeth truly worried about. Not for herself at least. For Seaweed brain and the others, sure. But herself? She never really considered even the possibility of her own death happening before the others. Leo had shown her just how quickly someone could be taken from her and since then, and even before, she had no intention of letting the ones he loved died. Which, in hindsight, might have led to her current situation.
Dying was not even as bad as she had always thought it would be. She would never have wanted to go through it again, obviously, but it was not nearly as scary as she had expected. It had been as simple as blinking. One moment she was at Camp Jupiter, the next moment the ferryman had taken her across the river. The judges had taken less than ten seconds before sending her to Elysium, something she had been proud of at the time. Her arrival had been an event tinged with both happiness and regret. Some of the friends she had lost over the years were there to meet her, including Zoe Nightshade. They had expressed their joy in seeing her and had abruptly offered their condolences soon after. Immediately Annabeth had questioned about reincarnation and the others simply shrugged helplessly. "Thanatos is in charge of that." Charles Beckendorf had told her after she informed him of Silena's situation and questioned him in return. "I've seen a couple people ask to be reincarnated and Thanatos is usually pretty on top of it. They just say his name and ask to be reincarnated and he shows up. He takes them aside and questions them a bit, and if they still want to go he takes their hand and they disappear. If not he just pats them on their back and leaves by himself. Lately though… he hasn't been showing up. Some of the other new arrivals have been giving us bits and pieces of what has been going on so I can sort of get that Thanatos is sort of busy."
"He certainly has a lot to do." Annabeth had sighed. She was curious about reincarnation more out of simply fascination than actual will to leave. She wanted to see Percy again, no matter how long it took. Besides, there was a lot to do in Elysium. Games were a regular occurrence and everyone was always laughing and smiling despite the fact that they were dead.
Annabeth's surprise when she was gazing out over the silver expanse that separated them from the mortals and saw the very person that killed her vault over the wall merged in the silvery outline of a deer could not be understated. She blinked several times as she watched the deer shimmer and fade away and Ryker slowly straightened from the crouch he had landed in. A wave of rage swept across her and had she been armed she would have drawn her weapon. Even the silver happy metal could not sweep aside her rage as she marched across the area to where Ryker stood. He was speaking in heated tones with someone on the wall that Annabeth did not bother to look at. The person on the wall evidently said something and Ryker turned around in surprise with just enough time for his head to be wrenched to the side at the force of the punch that Annabeth hit him with. He staggered away, a hand going to his jaw where she had hit him and an incredulous look on his face. "You have no idea how good that felt." Annabeth told him venomously, striding towards him and drawing her fist back for another blow.
Shadowy claws sprouted from Ryker's hands but he did not take a defensive stance. He ground his teeth together in frustration as Annabeth swung at him again, hitting him on the other side of his face this time. He didn't stagger away like he had the first time, but his head wrenched to the side from the sheer force. "You killed me!" Annabeth screeched, grabbing the front of his shirt and shaking him. "We trusted you! All of us! Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood! We even quested with you! Nico saved you! And you turn on us?! Just so that you can return to your stupid forest?! Are you that antisocial?!"
"I like her." A cheerful voice interjected, chuckling. "She has spunk… for a dead girl. And, bright side, you don't have to look for her! She found you!"
"You aren't helping!" Ryker snarled, banishing his claws. He grabbed Annabeth's hands as she continued to rant at him and shake him and removed them from his shirt. "Calm yourself!" he barked.
"Why should I?!" Annabeth screamed, thrashing and pulling away from him. "Do you know how many of my friends you killed? Do you even care?! They had families!"
"Nineteen." Ryker told her firmly. "I killed nineteen of your friends. And I am well aware that they had families."
"And you think you can just waltz in here?!" Annabeth hissed. "Like nothing ever happened?"
"Well, no." Ryker told her curtly. "Considering I couldn't even be here if I wasn't dead."
That gave Annabeth pause for a moment before her eyes widened and her face paled. "You are dead…? And the judges sent you here?! Where heroes go?! You are no-."
"The judges damned me to the River Acheron." Ryker growled, finally losing his patience. "Do not presume to understand what I endured to come here. And I most certainly did not come here for you to rant and scream at me like some wingless harpy!"
"Then why did you come?" Annabeth demanded, not backing down an inch. "I know you aren't here to apologize. And how did you die? Percy?"
"I'm sure he wishes he was the one who killed me, but no. That would be Orion." Ryker smirked at the confusion and surprise that flitted across Annabeth's face. He waited a moment before finishing. "As we planned."
"As-as you planned?" Annabeth repeated confusedly. "You planned on dying?"
"I was never going to walk out of that camp alive. But, then again, neither were you. We knew that they would discover my presence the moment I stepped into Camp Jupiter. My death, and yours, needed to come to pass." Ryker thoroughly enjoyed watching the medley of emotions that flashed across Annabeth's face. Even Erebus chuckled several times and shook his head where he sat on top of the wall.
"Why?" Annabeth asked simply once she had found her voice again. "Why would you plan on dying? And why kill me?"
"Because I need someone who can lead the army of demigods back from the dead." Ryker said, before pausing and amending the statement. "Actually, Orion does. This was his plan. The choice of who I would send to the Underworld to meet was up to me. With your eye for strategy and your connection with many of the demigods, you were the most sensible target."
"Lead them back from the… dead." Annabeth repeated, fury again overtaking her features. "Are you that stupid? You threw your life away and killed me just because Orion told you to? We are DEAD! There is no coming back! That's why it's called DEATH!"
"Actually, Nico proved that to be false." Ryker disagreed, crossing his arms. "So long as Thanatos is not governing the souls of Elysium nothing can stop them from escaping to the surface and reclaiming their former lives."
"So what?" Annabeth demanded. "Did you kill us just to resurrect us?"
"Something like that." Ryker answered, shocking Annabeth once more. "My targets were always ones given to me by Orion. My targets were always influential demigods. Ones that were strong, strong enough to cause trouble should they become like Gina. That's why Orion only took demigods that were well-known but not particularly strong. I hardly think that a son of the wine god would prove a very effective weapon. Gina was an example of that. But if one of the children of the more powerful gods that would cause much bigger problems. No one, not even Orion, knows how Tartarus managed to corrupt and turn Gina into… whatever that thing was. But we do know why. When I met Rhea she told me that-."
"That Tartarus had already procured the weapon that was able to kill even the gods." Annabeth finished, her rage having finally slightly abated. She put one hand on her hip and jerked a thumb back towards the main area of Elysium. "Come on, the others you killed will want to hear this too."
"Bad idea." Erebus advised cheerfully. "My son Thanatos has a truly lovely knack for knowing when an unwelcome soul is among those that he governs. Hecate probably told him you escaped the river as well. He will be searching for you, and a battle here against him would be sheer suicide. And those who die in the Underworld truly cease to exist, soul and all. But, that's just my opinion. If you are dead set on visiting with your friends I look forward to seeing you fight Thanatos. It should prove to be a lovely spectacle."
"For someone who claims that he doesn't want to help, you do a lot of talking." Ryker remarked, scowling. Erebus merely smiled in response.
"So, why did Orion have the sudden change of heart?" Annabeth asked suspiciously. "Why does he want to help the gods?"
"We don't." Ryker answered simply. "We simply don't want Tartarus to win."
"So, let me rephrase, why did you have the sudden change of heart?"
Frowning, Ryker blew out a sigh. He knew that Annabeth had zero intention of helping him unless he convinced her well and truly that they were no longer enemies. "Because Tartarus's goal is to wipe out all life on the planet. Plants, trees, beasts, humans, monsters. Everything. All gone." His expression grew dark. "As much as I resent the gods for dragging me into this, I will not stand idly by and watch as my forest is destroyed and all the creatures of the world along with it. The gods might toy with their children like a game, but they do not believe in rampant destruction."
The three fell into silence while Annabeth stared deeply into Ryker's eyes, searching for something. Eventually she gave a small nod as though she saw something in their forest green depths. "Fine. I'll speak to the others." She gave Ryker one last hard look. "But even if I can put together an army, it doesn't mean anything if we can't leave here. And Thanatos won't let that happen no matter what. You will have to do something about that."
"Don't you worry about that." Ryker told her. "Thanatos will be dealt with. You only have a few days, so make sure that you hurry and gather them."
"While I am doing that, what are you going to do?" Annabeth asked, catching the separation.
Ryker glanced over to Erebus and the primordial god smiled knowingly and disappeared once again. "I'm going to Tartarus to free the taken demigods. One way or the other. Orion says that they are still alive, or they were the last time that he was there. So long as there is a chance, I have to try."
"Why the sudden compassion?" Annabeth asked again, her voice soft. "They… they haven't come here so they must be alive. How will you save them? How will you find them?"
"I'm a hunter, Annabeth." Ryker said with a sly grin. "Tracking is just one of my many talents."
