Another work week had passed. It was January 20th. Gwen had only one day left to save Reyna. My visions didn't show Gwen saving her. Why hadn't she been able to cure her? I heard news that the president and vice-president had been killed at 12:30 this afternoon. What was happening? I tried to shove that thought aside. I deposited my check at the bank and waited for Hazel. I saw yet another vision. Horatia had been restored to life, but she was much older now. She appeared to be about 19-22 years old. The scene switched. Sandya was kneeling before Artemis. Zoe, Phoebe and many other hunters were present. One them had something that said, 3000. It had to have been referring to 3000 B.C.
"I pledge myself to the Goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men, accept eternal maidenhood and join the Hunt."
Artemis shot a silver light at Sandya. Her gold aura faded and was surrounded by silver. It showed Sandya after performing the spell. Circe was nowhere to be found.
"I can't believe it. That man who was murdered was my father..." Sandya clinched her fist. "If that's the case, then I'll be the one to conquer the world. Make the Gods pay for that they've done to him. I'll succeed where he failed."
The vision then ended. "What is taking her so long?" I asked the empty air.
"You can't count on your friends to be here for you, can you Annabeth?" a voice asked.
I looked towards the speaker briefly. "No, I can't." I looked away and then did a double take. I screamed. Clytius had found me. And he had some friends; Enyo, Eris, Ella, Alabaster and a mind-controlled Pheme. "Oh crap..."
"You've got nowhere to run, so give it up!" Eris stated.
I needed backup. If I tried to face them myself, I'd wind up dead! I backed away and reached for my ice medallion. I thought to myself, Goddess of snow, hear... A fire arrow had been shot at me as the ice cracked. Khione didn't show up immediately, and I feared my prayer went unheard.
"It's over, Annabeth!" Enyo stated.
She threw several arrows at me, and I felt myself succumbing to terror. I feared the worst. I closed my eyes, expecting this to be the end.
"Leave her alone, you evil rapscallions!" a voice commanded.
I opened my eyes. Khione had appeared. She had protected me with a wall of ice, which had arrows sticking out of it. She turned the ice wall around and fired the arrows at Enyo, knocking her out.
"Khione! Thank the gods, I'm so glad to see you!" I exclaimed.
"You traitor! You joined Gaea in the Second Giant War! You should be on our side!" Clytius exclaimed.
Khione glared at her former ally. "I'm not going to make the same mistake twice!"
"No one worships you. No one cares about you, just like they don't care about me." Eris stated.
She looked down sadly. Pheme spoke, "You're living the mortal realm because you can't live in the Underworld, the ocean, or on Olympus. You're an outcast, a misfit, and so very lonely."
"You should join us." Ella mentioned.
Alabaster nodded in agreement. "Your pain and suffering will end."
"Don't listen to her!" I cried out.
Khione glared at them all, especially Clytius. "It doesn't matter that I'm an outcast! Being lonely for all eternity would be better than an eternity of pledging myself to evil deities. I learned my lesson, and I won't succumb to the darkness!"
"Ella and Alabaster are under the maiden's control. Don't kill them."
"I'm aware, but thanks."
I fought against Eris while she froze the two mind-controlled demigods. Eris battled me with her sword. She came close to striking me in the chest, but I dodged her every move. Not bad for a demigod who's almost nine weeks into her pregnancy. I struck Eris right at the neck, causing her to gasp. Ichor dripped from her neck onto her dress. While she was stunned, I kicked her down. I tied her and Enyo up, and put them into a cardboard box. Pheme had been chained to the wall with ice chains and then thrown into a dumpster. Then I noticed Khione being knocked down. I stabbed Clytius with both of my weapons simultaneously. He writhed in pain. He got out his Stygian iron sword, but Khione used a cold spell to make it so cold that he dropped it. She froze his legs, slowing him down.
"Now Annabeth, finish him!" Khione commanded.
She formed a set of ice stairs. I dashed up, and slashed him repetitively before hitting the ground. Clytius groaned in agony and fell over. He was vanquished.
"Nicely done, daughter of wisdom."
I zoned out for a moment before replying, "Oh, um, thanks."
She looked at me with concern as the ice stairs broke. "What's wrong?"
"That comment, daughter of wisdom, is only reminding me what happened to my mother."
"It's sad, isn't it?" a voice asked. "Your mother gone insane."
"Diana... Where are you hiding?!"
Suddenly, Khione was frozen in time. I found myself surrounded by golden energy, swarming around me. I was beginning to panic, and soon I found myself spinning. I screamed. Suddenly, everything went black. I had a very brief dream.
Gwen was running from a pack of hellhounds. She passed a sign that said Mark Twain National Forest. She was somewhere in Missouri. She climbed a tree and hid there. Her heart was beating rapidly as she breathed heavily. Eventually the hellhounds disappeared.
"Is this my punishment for killing the president and vice-president? I was only trying to save lives. Or so I was told." She sighed. "What is that voice in my head? Why did it tell me to kill them? I'm behind schedule. Reyna was supposed to have been saved by now. Stupid rogue demigods and evil criminals slowing me down."
She jumped down, formed a crack in the earth and continued traveling at high speeds underground. The scene then switched. The black-cloaked figure was underwater, and they turned their attention over to me and Percy in the water. As the pocket watch fell, I realized that it was the same design as Tiana's was on the Princess Andromeda. The figure noticed that Percy was slowly removing my bikini top as I lay on the bottom of the lake-floor. He held it in his hands, and then the figure snapped their fingers. Time froze around the two of us in a golden bubble but the figure was still moving. They got out a waterproof camera and took a few pictures of us from various different angles. Sometime after getting pictures of us in various positions (you can guess), they showed the images to my mother. She gasped.
"It can't be..."
"It's true." The figure had her hood down, revealing her as Diana. "Your daughter, Annabeth Chase, was raped by Percy Jackson."
"No... I... I can't believe he would do such a thing!"
"It truly is a tragedy. And here's even more reason to kill him; Annabeth is pregnant as a result of that rape."
"No..."
"It's true..." Diana lied while walking around Athena in a circle.
"That damned bastard!" Athena screamed.
She stopped walking and her hand glowed with a ball of golden energy. "You should join me, Goddess of Wisdom. You can get your revenge on Perseus Jackson. Challenge him to a duel and kill him."
Her eyes flashed gold. "Yes... I will join you. I will kill Percy Jackson, as I should have all those years ago when he joined the Romans..."
When I woke up, I found myself on the rooftop. A young girl was floating in midair, several feet above me. For once she wasn't wearing her cloak. The evil maiden wore an empire waist silver dress with a crescent moon belt and a gold bracelet on each wrist. She wore a golden crown with an assortment of precious jewels. She wore an hourglass necklace on a gold chain and triple moon symbol earrings. She looked beautiful yet deadly.
"So, you're finally awake," a familiar voice said.
"Diana! Why are you doing all this?"
She smirked. Hercules and a few other deities were with her. "Oh young girl, I have my reasons. The downfall of the Olympians is long overdue. This world was cruel and never accepted me for who I am. The truth is the world is cruel, cold, and dark. Even if you weren't facing me, do you think you'd survive in your current condition?"
Did she know the truth? Before I could answer, Calypso and the six other demigods of the prophecy appeared. Much to my surprise, Hazel didn't faint.
"Leave her alone you punk!" Percy yelled.
Suddenly, something clicked. I saw all of my visions of Horatia, Sandya and Tiana pass by in chronological order of when they appeared. All at once, everything made sense. Then I saw one last vision before coming to my senses.
Tiana had been resurrected, just came out from the Doors of Death.
"You may have stopped Kronos, but you can't stop me." she said to herself. "I will conquer the cosmos, even if it takes me forever."
The vision ended. Diana looked at Calypso. "You don't know who I am, do you, Calypso? My name is Diana, goddess of time, magic and vengeance."
I glared at her. "No, you're not."
"What words are you trying to fool me with?"
"I should be asking you that. You're not a goddess, you're a hunter of Artemis, whom you chained up and forced to take the burden of the sky. And your real name isn't Diana. It's Horatia. You died a long time ago because Hyperion and Epimetheus killed you indirectly. You came back, pledged loyalty to Artemis and learned magic from Circe. You learned who your father is, and swore vengeance against the gods. You faked your death as Sandya, pledged loyalty to Kronos as Tiana, died in the Battle of Manhattan and came back again through the Doors of Death for a second time during the Second Giant War. You're a liar, and you're manipulative, just like your dear old deceased dad, Kronos!"
The evil maiden gasped. I smirked.
Her loyal followers looked at her. Hercules looked at her sadly. "Is this true?"
I thought she would cry or break down. Her next sentence surprised all of us. "It may be true," she began. "But that doesn't mean I'm any less powerful than I said I was." She formed a sphere of golden energy in her hands. "I'm still extremely powerful, although it's not enough for me." She threw it into the air and a portal opened. Several monsters came crashing down onto the roof including... I gasped aloud.
"Annabeth?" Percy asked.
Arachne and Medusa looked over towards me, bloodthirsty and hungry for revenge. Arachne was the same as she ever was, while Medusa wore a white long dress instead of a long black gown. She wore a black wig, and a pair of sunglasses over her eyes. Despite looking like a normal human, I knew that it was Medusa. I felt all of my courage abandon me when I needed it most.
"That feeling you feel right now, Annabeth, is how I felt when the wolves were after me. This time, however, when you die, you'll never see yourself in the living realm again!" Horatia laughed. "You may have been able to evade death time and time again, but do you and your pathetic friends have any chance against the army of monsters, human mercenaries and demigods?"
Leo glared at Horatia. "You monster! Don't you know that one of your foes is with child?"
"Oh I know, but I don't care. Face it, you can't win. Time is not on your side. Albert Einstein once said that time is an illusion. He couldn't be anymore wrong. Time is very much real. I am more powerful than Kronos was when he took on the host of Luke Castallan! You cannot hope to stop me!"
She snapped her fingers. Horatia and her allies disappeared, but they left a camera in place to watch us die a terrible painful death. Suddenly, our enemies attacked the other seven fighters. Except for two; Medusa and Arachne slowly crept towards me. Medusa begin to discard her disguise and I closed my eyes. With my eyes shut, I walked backwards until my feet hit the one inch concrete railing around the roof. The fall would certainly kill me.
"Give it up Annabeth." Arachne said.
"This is where you meet your end. Now look into my eyes and I can make this pain end..." Medusa spoke.
I dared not look at either of them. How was I going to die? Being encased in stone, or torn apart limb from limb by a monstrous spider? Why did it have to be like this? Why did I have to die at the hands of my worst adversaries? I never asked for this. For this war, this unborn child, this battle... None of it. I never thought it would end this way...