I was in San Fransisco Mountain range. I walked upward, hoping to find something, but the truth was, I was just trying to escape the cursed camp. I looked at my phone, and then I remembered that Magnus called and left a voicemail. I sat down on a rock and set the backpack down. Then I started dialing him.
"Hey, this is Magnus Chase. I might be alive, maybe I'm not, but, leave a message and I'll see what I can't do." the custom-made response said. Beep.
"Hi, Magnus. It's me, Annabeth. A lot has happened within the last three days. I don't even know where to start... Well, I suppose I should start from the beginning. Three days ago, my mother accused Percy of a crime he never committed. He was accused of molesting me, but you and I both know this is not true at all. She challenged him to a duel the following day. However, several hours prior to the duel, Peleus was killed, the Golden Fleece was stolen, and now Camp Half Blood is constantly under attack from monsters because of the lack of protective borders around the camp. The duel between Athena and Percy ultimately ended in a draw, and Mars took her away to prevent another unnecessary battle.
"Before he dragged her away, we learned that Athena has been corrupted. The following day, we went to Russia, as we thought Khione was responsible for both the theft of the fleece and Athena's corruption, but we were wrong. She nearly killed us, but we defeated her. Afterwards, we learned why Khione now lives in Russia. Long story. And we learned that one of her bothers, Calais, was killed during his time as a human. Also long story. Shortly after we got back to Camp Half Blood via Hazel using shadow travel, we were dragged to Camp Jupiter. But a lot has happened in the last two years.
"Two years ago, on the Feast of Fortuna, malevolent spirits got loose and attacked the camp. No one could stop them and Camp Jupiter was cursed. Dakota was banished from Camp Jupiter forever and the curse caused all kinds of chaos. Eventually, Jason and Piper decided to leave because Piper had fallen into a depression and tried to kill herself. The following year, Frank and Reyna got into a big argument, which not only caused the curse to continue, but Frank left Reyna behind, taking his girlfriend Hazel as well. When we arrived at Camp Jupiter, Reyna was terribly sick and on the verge of death. Calypso fell ill with tuberculosis, left to interrogate Dakota, and is who knows where. Nathan, corrupted by the same force that mind controlled Athena, tried to kill Frank and now he's locked up. Now... Reyna is dead. Gwen is trying to cover up everything. So much has happened in only a short amount of time. Also, I'm pregnant with Percy's child, I almost forgot to mention. We're out of leads, and I have no idea what to do. If you have any helpful advice or just want to speak me, don't hesitate to call. For the first time in who knows how long, I don't know what to do. Stay safe, Magnus."
Okay, you're probably wondering why I'm referring to Magnus as a dead relative. Well, here's the thing. To me, he's not really dead. Maybe half-dead, but not like a ghost or a zombie. You see, several years ago, he faced an evil Norse mythology fire giant (I forgot his name) and he was killed in the process. He was found by a Valkyrie named Samirah al-Abbas (aka Sam) and he became an einherji. Einherjar are great heroes who died a brave death and are soldiers in Odin's eternal army who prepare for Ragnarok. They live in Hotel Valhalla, and if they are killed there, they will be resurrected within a certain period of time. If they die outside of Valhalla, they're dead and gone for good.
After I hung up, I felt so sad. I felt lost. I felt hopeless. I felt... powerless. Feeling powerless was a terrible feeling. I must have been insane. I soon came upon the ruins of Mount Othyrs, currently located in Mount Tamalpais. The Romans had destroyed this area, and if I looked hard enough, I'd find Atlas here, on the Mountain of Despair, forced to hold the weight of the sky for eternity. I found a lock of black hair and picked it up. It wasn't much, but it was something. I put it into a bag and put it into my backpack. Then I heard a faint groaning sound. I listened deeper. The moaning was in agony, and it sounded too familiar.
"Artemis!" I exclaimed. I started running and very quickly found the goddess chained to the rock. Again! "Artemis, what happened?!" I suddenly started crying.
The goddess looked at me. "Annabeth, what are you doing here?"
"It's.. it's a long story on that." I answered. "There's been so much chaos happening in the world, and we're out of suspects on who did the crimes."
"I've been living under a rock, as you mortals say, for six months, so I have no idea what's happening." Artemis said.
I gave her a brief summary of terrible events.
"This does not sound good at all." she said.
"Artemis, how did you get into this mess?" I asked.
"It's a long story. I saw a young maiden forced into holding the burden of the sky. How she got into it I don't know. She begged me for help, and I took the burden from her. Mere seconds later, Atlas came out of his hiding place. I learned that I had been tricked. The girl had been working with Atlas. Then both of us learned that the young girl was an immortal hunter of Artemis. She looked familiar but I couldn't recognize her." she answered.
"This girl. What did she look like?" I asked.
"She wore a black cloak with her hood down. She had black hair tied into a ponytail and light blue eyes. Her face radiated beauty, but she was truly wicked."
I looked at her sadly. "I hate to leave you like this..."
"You don't have a choice. You're in no condition to take on the burden of the sky." she said. "Not with you being pregnant with Percy's child."
"You know? Oh wait, of course you'd know." I said. "You're a patron of pregnant women and young children."
Artemis briefly smiled. "You're smart Wise Girl. Several people think Hera's the only one who deals with that, but she isn't."
Suddenly a rainbow formed, showing Percy. "Annabeth?" he asked. "Where have you been?!"
"I felt depressed with everything happening, so I left the camp, hoping to find something." I answered.
"And, the results?" he asked nervously.
"Look right in front of you." I answered.
He looked closer and then gasped. "Artemis is stuck holding the burden of the sky?! Again?!"
"Unfortunately." we answered in unison.
"How did this happen?" Percy asked.
I explained to him what Artemis told me. Percy had a grim look on his face. "I see. I'll tell the others. Stay there, I'll send someone to come and get you." He waved his hand through the connection, cutting it off. I took off my backpack and sat down. A few moments of silence (except for Artemis's groans in agony) passed by.
"Artemis, how long have you been stuck there?" I asked.
"Two days. I was watching the live broadcast of Athena's duel with Percy. I had bet 25 golden drachmas that Percy was going to win. I was scarred out of my mind when I saw you jump right in front of the lightning. Then I heard a voice from afar. The voice of the evil maiden. She said, "Artemis, please, help me. I've been tricked into holding the burden of the sky. I don't know how much longer I can take this. You won't let the sky fall... Please... Help me." I looked from afar and found the maiden chained to a rock. Atlas was nowhere to be found. I teleported to the Mountain of Despair, and took the maiden's place." Artemis said. "I wish I had known it was a trap. Who knows what Atlas is doing now?"
Hazel then appeared. "Your carriage awaits, your highness." she said to me. She saw Artemis. "Oh Diana, I feel very bad for you."
Artemis shifted into her Roman form of Diana. "This is all my fault. When this happened the first time eight years ago, I knew it was a trap, but I feared Annabeth would die under the strain, so I took the burden from her. This time, I had no idea that the young maiden was an evil immortal mastermind."
"Come Annabeth. We must get back to the accursed camp." Hazel said.
I took her hand and we shadow-traveled to Camp Jupiter. Hazel took us to the Garden of Bacchus, where the other five demigods and Gwen had been waiting for us. Hazel dropped to her knees and put her hands onto the ground.
"Hazel, are you okay?" I asked.
"She's trying to prevent herself from fainting." Frank explained.
"I'm surprised she didn't fall unconscious." I remarked.
"Well, the probability of fainting depends on three factors; how much experience you have, how far you're traveling, and who or what you are trying to transport. It's a lot easier to teleport only the two of us to a nearby place as opposed to transporting eight of us to Russia and back." Hazel answered. "Anyway, back on topic. We now have a lead on who corrupted Athena."
"But all we know is that the evil maiden tricked Artemis." Jason said. "She may not have taken the Golden Fleece or corrupted Athena or any other of the victims."
"Are you so sure? All of these events, these tragedies, they seem to be linked together. It's like this really big web of chaos and the corrupted victims are the flies caught in this web." I said.
"Honestly Annabeth, you're crazy." Frank said.
"Why do you not believe me?!" I yelled.
"Annabeth's not crazy. She's right."