I don't own PJO

Percy whistled, and we stood there along the riverside a few minutes before Blackjack, and another Pegasus named Porkpie landed beside us.

" Thanks for coming," Percy said to Blackjack," Hey, why do Pegasus gallop when they fly anyway?"

Seriously Seaweed Brain, you needed to ask that? Blackjack whinnied, and since Percy could understand him, he replied," We need to get to the Williamsburg Bridge."

The Apollo cabin was there right now, and another army was approaching, and from Michael Yew's call, it didn't seem likely that they could handle it. Plus, the Minotaur was leading that new army. I had no doubt that Percy could beat him again. If he could do it when he was twelve with no weapon, he could definitely do it at age sixteen, with a sword.

All I was worried about was time. I wasn't sure if the Apollo campers could beat the Minotaur, and if we didn't get there in time . . . I didn't want to think about it.

I hopped on the back of Porkpie, as Percy did Blackjack, and we shot into the starry sky.

When we arrived, there were burning arrows, and spears being thrown through the air. Cars were on fire. We got close enough to see individual fighters.

I noticed that the Apollo campers started to retreat, which was not good. Not good at all.

The enemy advanced, no matter how many different types of arrows were shot. One Apollo camper I couldn't make out was dragged away by a monster. I didn't really want to know what had happened.

Then, I spotted him. The Minotaur. He wore standard Greek battle armor from the waist down. The upper half of his body was all bull hair, and muscle. Huge horns stuck out from the top of his head, which was so huge that he should have toppled over from the weight of it. The proportions were all incorrect and- I stopped myself. Sometimes being the daughter of Athena had it's down sides. Like getting lost in thought about things that didn't really matter.

Before I could go in to my own little world again I yelled," There!"

Percy steered his head towards where I was pointing, and looked over the Minotaur. There was doubt in his eyes. Why? He was freaking invulnerable! And he had already beaten it. Why does Percy have so little confidence in himself, with certain things?

Suddenly, the Minotaur saw us, or rather Percy. He bellowed, and picked up a white limousine. I would have realized what was happening to late, but Percy yelled," Blackjack, dive!"

I swerved madly to the left, as the limo sailed passed me, and watched in horror as it only missed Percy's head by a few inches. Whew, close one.

Percy's eyes widened, and I looked to see the Minotaur picking up another car.

" Drop us behind the lines with the Apollo cabin," Percy told Blackjack, and Porkpie," Stay in earshot, but get out of danger."

We swooped over an overturned school bus, which had campers hiding behind it. As soon as the Pegasus's hooves touched the pavement, Percy and I leaped off, ready to help, and the winged horses flew into the night sky.

Michael Yew sprinted up to us. He had a bloody bandage on his arm. His face was smeared with dirt, and soot, and his quiver was almost empty, but he was smiling like this was all fun for him.

" Glad you could join us," he said," Where are the reinforcements?"

Percy looked grieved," for now, we're it."

" Then were dead."

I stepped in," you still have your flying chariot?" Maybe there was still some hope.

" Nah," Michael said," Left it at camp. I told Clarisse she could have it. Whatever, you know? Not worth fighting about any more. But she said it was too late. We'd insulted her honor for the last time, or some stupid thing." That had defiantly been the right thing to do; I nodded my head in approval.

" Least you tried," Percy said.

Michael shrugged," Yeah, well, I called her some names when she said she still wouldn't fight. I doubt that helped. Here come the uglies!"

He drew an arrow and shot it toward the enemies. As it flew, it made a high pitched screaming sound, and boomed with an overwhelming amount of sound as it landed.

Some monsters disinigrated on the spot. Others held their ears in pain. I know I would have been, if I were any closer.

" That was my last sonic arrow," Michael said sadly.

I wondered if it was a gift from his Dad.

" A gift from your Dad? God of music?" Percy asked mirroring my thoughts. For some reason it made me smile.

Michael grinned a wicked smile that sort of creped me out," Loud music can be bad for you. Unfortunately, it doesn't always kill."

At this point, the monsters were regrouping becoming less confused.

" We have to fall back," Michael told us," I've got Kayla and Austin setting traps further down the bridge."

No, I thought." No." Percy said, I smiled again," Bring your campers forward to this position and wait for my signal"

" How do you plan to do that?" Michael laughed.

Percy drew his sword. Oh no. He wasn't seriously thinking about charging in that pile of monsters alone right? I mean sure, he's almost totally invulnerable, but what if he gets hit in his weak spot? I had read up on the curse, and the chances of that happening had increased.

" Percy," I pleaded," Let me come with you."

" Too dangerous," he told me," Besides, I need you to help Michael coordinate the defensive line. You group up here. Move the sleeping mortals out of the way. Then you can start picking off monsters while I keep them focused on me. If anybody can do all that, you can."

Honestly, I wasn't sure whether to feel complimented, or insulted. He thought it was too dangerous. Did that mean he thought I couldn't do that well? Or he was just concerned for me? He did compliment me in the end.

Michael interrupted my thoughts," Thanks a lot."

Percy kept his gaze on me.

I reluctantly nodded," All right. Get moving."

Percy looked a bit nervous for a second, straightened a bit, and then asked," Don't I get a kiss for good luck? It's kind of a tradition, right?"

Oh. My. Freaking. Gods. Did he just ask me to kiss him? Perceus Jackson wants me to kiss him? Maybe that kiss last summer had meant something after all, even though it hadn't been mentioned until now. Just, oh my gods! Annabeth, keep your cool here, I reminded myself.

I drew my knife, and said way more calmly than I felt," Come back alive, Seaweed Brain. Then we'll see."

He looked a bit disappointed, then strolled right in to plain sight of all the monsters straight down the middle of the bridge.

When the Minotaur saw him, he made this really noisy MOOO sound that I can't really describe beyond that.

" Hey beef boy," Percy shouted back," Didn't I kill you already?"

This made it angrier, and it slammed its fist into a Lexus, which crumpled quickly under the impact.

Some dracaenae threw these javelins at Percy, which were also on fire, but he easily dodged them. When a hellhound leaped at Percy, he only sidestepped, but I saw the hesitation flash across his face. Probably thinking of Mrs. O'Leary.

When it pounced again, Percy stabbed it, and it disinigrated in to dust and fur.

More monsters went forward to challenge Percy, but the Minotaur did that really weird mooing sound again, and they backed off. Guess he wanted to challenge Percy one on one.

" One on one?" Percy called," Just like old times?"

The bull mans nostrils flared. He unstrapped a huge battle-ax, and swung it around testingly. I studied it closer, and realized that the hilt had necklaces wrapped around it. Camp Half Blood Necklaces. How many demigods had been defeated already. Then, I realized how angry Percy would get if he saw them. His fatal flaw was loyalty after all.

Suddenly Percy's expression changed. Yep, he saw them alright. He made that face that would make someone who didn't know him wonder whether he was the bad guy or not. I found it cute.

He charged, and the Minotaur swung at him. Like lighting, he dodged it, and swung Riptide down, splitting the ax in half, dead down the middle.

" Whoo," Michael muttered next to me," he's angry."

I rolled my eyes, remembering we had a task to do," Come on, let's gather the campers.

I walked over to some campers just a bit further down the bridge," We need to pull back, come on." They followed me. When I looked around, there were no more campers to collect. Seems like Michael had done a pretty good job.

We went back to the starting point; and I turned to watch where Percy was with the fight.

I heard a CRUNCH, and was surprised to see Percy and the Minotaur standing near the edge of the bridge, his own ax stuck in the Minotaur's armor.

I laughed as Percy threw him over the edge of the bridge, that look of determination still on his face." Thanks for playing." I heard him say.

Everyone was watching now, as Percy turned to the army, roughly 200 to 1. He charged, and I silently cheered him on.

I hoped he would be ok, and was a bit worried, but I hadn't really seen him fight since the Achilles dip. My mouth literally dropped open.

Percy swung through monsters four at a time, like it was absolutely nothing. There was this circle of space surrounding him with no monsters, because he didn't let any get closer. I couldn't even keep total track of him, he was a whirlwind of killing, I swear. He was amazing.

He laughed, this crazy laugh that scared me a bit. He sounded evil almost. Like all of this was just fun. It sort of reminded me of the Michael had been acting before.

" Annabeth," Michael smirked," If you don't close that mouth of yours, your going to catch flies in there."

" Oh, shut up." I gave him the glare, and he turned his attention back to Percy.

" Yes! That's what I'm talking about!"

Percy continued, driving the enemy pretty far back." Percy," I yelled through all the noise," You've already routed them. Pull back! Were overextended!"

He probably was about to when the monsters cleared a pathway, and a group of about 40 demigods appeared, ready to battle us. Leading them was the gold-eyed Luke. Kronos. I felt remorse grow in my chest. A voice kept whispering to me this war is your fault. You could have stopped him. There was nothing I could do now though.

" Now," Percy said," We pull back." The other demigods drew their swords, ready for battle, and charged.

The archers kept shooting arrows, but it wasn't enough.

" Retreat," Percy yelled," I'll hold them." That certainly wasn't happening. I don't know why, but I just had this bad feeling. I needed to stay by Percy.

The others tried to retreat, but I stayed. I noticed Percy was only slashing at the enemy, wounding but not killing. I started to do the same. They were demigods after all. It's not like they would ever come back from Tartarus.

I found myself shoulder to shoulder with Percy, facing opposite directions. I saw a shadow pass over the monsters, and noticed Blackjack, and Porkpie were kicking monsters in the head. I said a silent thank you.

We had almost made it to the middle of the bridge, when I saw Ethan come up behind Percy.

" Please Mother," he prayed," Just give me one lucky shot. Let me kill him."

Horror struck through me, when I realized what would happen. He would hit Percy right in his Achilles spot. Percy would die. No, it couldn't happen.

There had been so many times I had almost lost him, and I knew, I needed him. He was more than a friend to me now.

Everything seemed to slow down. I felt an icy chill fill the air, as Ethan Nakumara went to stab Percy. I didn't have enough time to block it with my blade; I was busy fighting another demigod.

I made the split second decision to intercept it.

I cried out painfully, as a thousand needles seemed to jam there way into my shoulder. Poison. There was poison on the blade, and I could feel it coursing through my veins, slowly, and painfully making it's way to my heart. I was surrounded in a pool of my own blood. My vision blurred.

" Annabeth," I heard Percy cry out, but it seemed distant. I vaguely saw a blurry image of Percy's face growing with rage as he figured out the situation. He locked eyes with Ethan, and then smashed the sword hilt in the face so hard he crumpled the armor.

" Get back," he screamed, sounding deeply hurt," No one touches her." He made an arc shaped circle around where we were standing with his sword.

" Interesting," Kronos muttered, was that my imagination. I felt myself loosing more and more blood. I started to feel nocuous.

" Bravely fought, Percy Jackson," I heard Luke, no definitely Kronos say," But it's time to surrender . . . or the girl dies." No. I thought, this couldn't be happening. And not when Percy had started to have feelings for me. But I preferred he let me die, to save the world that was for sure. But, knowing Percy, I wasn't sure what he would do.

He was just too loyal, I needed to make sure he didn't surrender," Percy don't" I managed. All I was able to see at this point was red dots swimming around in my vision. A high-pitched ringing sound filled my ears.

" Blackjack," Percy whispered. No, wait, had he yelled it? I couldn't tell due to the ringing. The next thing I knew, I was soaring over Manhattan, the wind forcing my hair to blow right in my face.

Before I knew it, everything was washed in red, and I passed out hoping that Percy would be ok.

AN: Please tell me what you think! Review!