Hi all, and welcome to the next chapter! This chapter might be an anti-depressant, as the title suggests; I tried, people! Behold the next chapter, which is a Thalia/Annabeth POV.
I don't know how long I sat in the forest, crying and crying and crying…well you get the idea. The sounds of battle faded around me, but the tears just kept falling. A disembodied sword had killed Percy. He had prayed for Athena, my mother, to kill him with it. She did.
My tears soaked the ground. Every time I opened my eyes I would see blood on the owl-emblazoned sword, and a fresh wave of tears would close my eyes again. Soon, the forest was silent, devoid of any movement. I didn't really notice.
I sat kneeling over Percy's body for what seemed hours. His head was still barely connected to his neck, but I couldn't bear to look at it. I felt like I'd be here forever, mourning Percy. I wonder if he felt like this when I died.
A soft patter of footsteps interrupted my grief. I turned to see Thalia, staring in absolute shock at Percy's corpse. "You killed him?" she asked, still shocked (no pun intended).
"No," I said, choking down a sob. "He prayed for Athena to, and she did." I pointed to the bloodstained sword. Thalia examined it carefully.
"It says something on it," Thalia said, still looking at the sword. "It is 'Do not despair. Remember what happened to you, and let it give you hope.' Do you think that refers to you dying?"
"Maybe," I said, wiping my eyes. "Chiron will never let me go, though." The thought saddened me once more, and a couple of tears leaked out.
"Annabeth," Thalia said, a puzzled expression on her face. "Why did he pray for Athena to kill him?"
"He was begging me to kill him," I said. "I refused."
"But why?" Thalia asked.
A strange expression twisted my face and I lied, "I don't know. He became good again, for some reason."
Thalia was eyeing my like she was sure that I was lying. She didn't say anything, though. She then changed the subject. "We defeated the monstrous army, but barely. The second front is approaching, and Chiron has sounded the retreat. We have to flee to Olympus."
The first thing I felt when she said this was surprise. How could the campers have defeated that HUGE monstrous army? The next thing I felt was hopelessness. If there was a second front, we had no chance. We had to go to the gods for help, which struck me as cowardly.
"Come on, let's go," Thalia said, grabbing my wrist.
She led me out of the forest, until I remembered. "Stop." I said. "We need to get Percy."
"Just leave him there," Thalia said dismissively. "He betrayed us, remember?"
"No!" I cried, reflexively. Thalia frowned at me. "He came back. He deserves our gratitude. He was fighting Kronos' power."
"All right," Thalia said, disgruntled. I don't think she believed me about Percy becoming good again. I didn't say anything.
We picked his body up carefully. Thalia and I carried it out of the forest, where Chiron greeted us. "What the fruitcake?" he exclaimed. "You killed him?" he stared in amazement at us.
"No," I said. "I'll explain later, after we get to Olympus."
Thalia's POV
Chiron looked troubled. Well, then again, he almost always looked troubled these days. He beckoned us off to our cabins, and bade us to pack. We laid Percy on his bed in the Poseidon cabin, until there could be a proper place prepared. I opened the door to leave, but I heard a sniffle behind me and I turned.
Annabeth was crying. I would've comforted her, or told her to snap out of it, but something told me not to move from my spot. Annabeth didn't know I was standing just outside the door, peeking through a crack between the door and the wall. What she did next surprised me so much that I almost gave myself away.
She kissed him on the forehead, and reached for her pocket. She retrieved something from her pocket, something greenish. A seaweed chain. She tucked it around his neck and murmured something inaudible. She turned toward the door, her expression hardening. She must have seen me.
I tried to close the door, but she burst through it, fuming. "What did you see?" she hissed. She looked murderous.
"N-nothing," I stammered. I had never seen her this angry.
Her anger waned as quickly as it had come up. "Don't tell anyone," she said. "If you do, I will kill you."
I didn't need any further incentive. I had a sneaking suspicion about why Percy may have come back, but if I ran it by Annabeth, she'd probably try to strangle me. I kept silent, and went to pack.
I packed my stuff, and left my cabin with a light backpack. Annabeth did the same. A booming voice echoed through the camp. "All campers to the Big House for emergency transportation!" It was Chiron, announcing that we were leaving to Olympus. I wondered how we would get there.
It became obvious after we filed into the Big House. We would have to be in contact with Mr. D as he transported himself to Olympus. I didn't like it, and neither did Mr. D. I could hear him complaining to Chiron, like the brat he was. I still didn't see how we would fit the whole camp all touching Mr. D.
Chiron made that clear. "We will be moving in groups. The Hermes, Apollo, Demeter, Zeus, and Athena cabins will be going first.
We all tentatively walked toward Mr. D, who was not looking happy. Mr. D readied his fingers for snapping, and then Connor Stoll got a brilliant idea.
"Hog pile!"
We all tackled Mr. D as we were transported to Olympus. He was NOT happy. Still, Chiron must have forbidden him from punishing us, because he just walked off grumbling and cursing.
I saw Hades appear a few seconds afterward, along with a couple of ghoul bodyguards. There was one person, however, that wasn't a ghoul. Or a god. One person.
…
I decided to try this. I don't know how effective it really is in terms of cliffies, but I just was trying something new. I want reviews before I post the next chapter, remember. Reviews! It might be fairly obvious who this "person" is, but oh well.