Sorry this took a while to update. On the plus side (for me at least), there's, like, almost two feet of snow outside. We already made a snowman.


XIII ANNABETH

"MOUNT OLYMPUS, YOU SAY?" said Frank, scratching the back of his head. "So, like, the original Olympus, or just the mountain, or…?"

"The place," Annabeth declared, nodding firmly. She was certain of it. "The castle of Olympus was built on the mountain of Olympus. We need to go there."

"Yeah, but that'll be a major-devious detour we're talking here," said Leo, and she could already see him performing calculations and estimates in his head. "It'll set us back a day or two."

Piper came to help her out. "If all our crazy dreams and psychic conversations are true, then we're going to need to detour anyway," she said.

Leo shrugged. "Alright. I'm cool with it. But, uh, does anyone know what we're going to be doing on Olympus anyway?"

"There should be a temple," Annabeth started. She never liked pulling facts from a hat, but somehow she knew this was right. It made sense, at least. "That's where we'll get our answers."

Jason raised his hand. "But, uh, aren't we not supposed to go near the mountains? It's one of the reasons why we decided to go under Greece and not through or over it. We can't fly to Olympus, much less stop, let a few demigods out to search for an hour or two, and leave without some internal organs missing."

Annabeth hated it, but he was right. "Then maybe it isn't Olympus," she said, furiously trying to think of something else.

Piper spoke out next. "But if Olympus is our only option, I say we go there," she decided. There seemed to be something else on her mind, the way her eyes drifted upwards as if trying to remember something.

Before Annabeth could ponder it, Leo said, "Well, that's awesome. I'll just let Festus know of the plans…" He strolled casually toward the helm of the ship, whistling a few notes of Imagine Dragons.

Annabeth stared out at sea, her hands clutching the railing. "I just hope I'm not wrong," she said.

"Hey, if it's anyone's fault that we're going to the wrong place, it's mine," said Piper. "After all, it was my mom who told us about all this through a magic letter that self-destructed by bursting into flames after her other personality got in the way." She sighed, looking down at her feet. "I hate being a demigod."

Percy glanced over at Annabeth and grinned. "Tell me about it," he said.

-o-O-o-

"Large rock ahead!" Leo screamed through the intercom some hours later. Annabeth was so startled she nearly slipped down the staircase and got a concussion. (Imagine all she had managed to get through to be bested by a flight of stairs. Yeah. She was upset too.) Annabeth stormed back to the upper deck, ready to give Leo a nice verbal smack-down, when she saw the mountain.

Extending on the horizon, Olympus was so large she was surprised its snow-capped peaks didn't slip right off. Clouds literally gathered at its summits, and the mountain overlooked several tiny villages in a multitude of directions.

The rest of the crew gathered on the deck. "Whoa," Piper breathed. "No wonder the Greeks thought that this was where the gods lived."

"In mythology, it was said that the mountain formed itself after the Olympians defeated the Titans for the first time," Annabeth started. "Which means we're flying over the battle site of a godly war."

"Well, millions of people live in New York, and that place is technically a battle site of a godly war," Percy added. "Do they care? Nope."

Annabeth decided to ignore him. "Now the problem is how we're going to get there without alerting any ourae," she said, pointing up at the mountain's summit.

"Well, in the immortal words of Coach Hedge, we could just soar up there ballistae screaming and blazing," Frank offered.

"I could use the Mist to shield us from view," Hazel suggested instead. "At least, to get us there. I won't be able to keep the cloak on for more than half an hour. I'll get tired, and the magic will begin to dissipate."

"And I can set up the recently-fixed-literally-thirty-minutes-ago smokescreen to hide us once we're there," offered Leo. "Plus, the last time we tried navigating the mountains we had the Athena Parthenos, which is basically a magical beacon for all mythological creatures within a five-mile radius. We have a better chance of survival now."

"It'll have to do," Annabeth decided. "But we need to decide who'll go. No more than three, or else we'll alert the mountain gods."

"I can go," Jason offered, "because this is a high-up mountain, and my dad is the god of high-up places."

"I can go too," said Piper. "It was my mom who told us to come here, after all." She still seemed as if trying to remember something. Annabeth really hoped it was just a grocery list or something.

But instead of pressing for matters she nodded. "I'll be the third member of the party," Annabeth decided. The mountain was approaching, and she could see the lazy figure of a giant sleeping god. Leo rushed off to activate the smokescreen, and Hazel to start bending the Mist. Annabeth began to feel really hopeful about their mission, which was her first mistake.

-o-O-o-

Five minutes later Piper, Jason and Annabeth were on the mountain. They had decided to avoid the snow-capped peaks, deciding on stopping somewhere near the center of the mountain.

"Dang it, it's freezing up here," said Piper, shivering. "Isn't it supposed to be summer?"

"Mountains are cold," Annabeth simply replied as they trekked. (She, of course, was wearing a sweater.) "Now, just over half an hour is our time limit. We need to find this giver of life and whatever, and keep going."

They marched on in silence for a couple of other minutes.

"How big is this mountain?" Jason wondered. "We could walk around for days and still not find this place."

Annabeth stopped and pointed at something ahead of them. "There," she announced. There was a small decaying building, perhaps the size of her home in California. Made of crumbling marble, it looked abandoned. The half-bloods rushed over.

It was an open-spaced area, so they walked right in. The floor was cracked and uneven. The crumbling marble podiums protected the room from most of the chilling breeze.

"Hello?" Annabeth called. "Anyone in here?"

No reply, except for the cold whistling wind.

"I don't like this," Piper decided, hugging herself.

Jason rushed forward. At first Annabeth didn't see what he saw, until he stopped beside a small flickering fire in the center of the temple. Its warmth emitted through the vast but empty room, though Annabeth didn't see any smoke. Piper walked over and held her hands over the fire, warming her cold fingers.

"This was where the original Olympus once stood," Annabeth spoke. "Now the gods have moved on, leaving just this."

"But no one's here," Jason commented. "Not even someone to light the fire. How are we supposed to get help if we can't find it?"

Piper suddenly turned pale. "Oh, no," she muttered.

"Oh no?" Annabeth reached for her dagger from the Argo II armoury. "Uh oh, what?"

"I just remembered something," she said. "My mom mentioned it, but I was in such panic I completely forgot all about it." She ran her cold fingers through her hair in dread. "Homeric hymn. Number twenty-four."

"What is it?" Jason asked.

Piper tried to remember. "It was this thing I read at camp. My mom must have known somehow… it's about Hestia, the Greek counterpart of Vesta. I haven't recited it to memory, but it was a prayer to her of some sorts. 'Hestia, you who tend the holy home of Apollo, come into this house and be at peace with Zeus; draw near, and grant peace upon my prayer.'"

"I know that one," Annabeth said. "Well, I mean I've read it before. It doesn't refer to the first home of the Olympians, Mount Olympus. It refers to Delphi, which is on the southern end of Greece."

Piper broke. She looked completely horrified with herself. "This is all my fault," she started. "We came to the wrong place because I led us here. I should have remembered before."

"It isn't your fault," Jason comforted, grabbing her hand. "We should have realized this anyway."

"And now really isn't the time to feel bad for ourselves," Annabeth added, even though she couldn't see how it was not Piper's fault. "We need to get out of here and to Delphi, and soon."

Oh, Rachel would be so jealous.


Yes, she would be, Annabeth.

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