Hi, sorry for the wait! Been busy.
A stunned silence hangs in the air between us.
"We have to go back… there's got to be something!"
"There's no time!"
"Can we fight them off?"
"I…not without casualties."
The roaring gets louder, and we all turn toward the corridor behind us.
We're just in time to see the first dracaena round the corner.
Suddenly, everything slows. I can hear the wind, Percy's breath, even his heartbeat. My vison zooms for a second, then goes back to normal, but I can tell it's enhanced.
"You must not die here," A woman's voice says. I can tell that the others heard it too. "Your powers are blocked from you. I can only break so many barriers. I will break all of Annabeth's. She will break the others.
"And remember—don't be afraid."
The voice leaves, and I hear something shatter. I cry out and fall to my knees, holding my head as if to block it from the sudden wave of pain.
"Annabeth!" Percy crouches in front of me. "What's…"
His voice trails off as I gasp. The world has entered high definition.
I stand, surveying our suroundings. The dracaena fumble closer, and the only way to go is down…or out.
"Okay. Jason, grab hold of Piper and Reyna. Hold their hands."
They do as I say, eyeing the dracaena nervously.
"Frank, crouch down. Hazel, Leo—on his back."
They look at me like I've gone crazy, but do it."
"Percy, hold my waist and hold onto Malcom. Ready?"
Percy grabs my waist and Malcom's arm. "Annabeth—"
I shove Jason, and he pulls the girls with him. I hear them screaming, but Jason's not. He knows there's something.
"The wind, Jason!" I scream, shoving Frank and his load. They free-fall.
"Percy!" I pull on him, toward the edge. His eyes are doubtful, resisting. "Trust me."
He lets me pull him off the edge.
The wind whistles past our ears.
"The water, Percy!" I yell in his ear. "Feel it, pull i—"
The water hits. The three of us are submerged. I almost choke water, but then it's gone—on our backs, holding us up. Percy let's out an exhilarated whoop. Jason, Reyna, and Piper are floating with some difficulty. And Leo and Hazel are riding a dragon.
The dracaena look stunned, whispering.
"Frank!" I yell. He swoops closer.
"They can't know. Torch them!"
Frank goes off toward the tunnel entrance, making the dracaena scramble backward. He shoots a controlled stream of fire toward them, and the entire legion of monsters is reduced to ash in seconds.
"The beach!" I say, waving toward it. The nine of us all move toward it, flying and swimming and screaming.
We reach it and I fall onto the sand, moaning. My leg stings from where the dracaena slashed me, and the salt water didn't help.
The others crowd around me. They've all got small cuts and bruises, but mine is the worst.
"Annabeth—what—how?" Reyna splutters. I pull my legs up to my chin.
"Um. After the voice left, I heard something shatter. Did you guys?"
They shake their heads. "Just a small crack," Percy says, making the others nod.
"Well." I twirl my hair around. "After something shattered, my head hurt for a second, then I understood."
"What?"
"Like, everything. Anyone remember the legends of the gods?"
I get a chorus of yeses.
"They aren't legends. They're real. And we're all decendents of them, and inheirited some of their powers."
"That's…that's impossible!" Jason exclaims.
"Really?" I ask. "Then explain to me why we're alive? How you flew? How Percy's completely dry and Malcom and I are sopping wet?"
There's quiet as they digest what I said. Then come the questions.
"How'd you know?"
"Do the rest of us have powers?"
"Where are we?"
"Is that all we can do?"
"Do we—"
I hold up my hands. "Guys, we can't do this here. We're all injured, tired, and hungry. Let's find a place to rest, and then we'll talk."
They all agree. Reyna hands out jobs.
"Jason, Piper—a nice place to sleep. Hazel, Frank—food. Not poisonous. Percy, Annabeth—fresh water supply. Leo—fire. Malcom—help me find something soft to rest on. Meet back here in half hour, or when we've done or found what we need."
We all agree again, and Percy grabs my hand as we walk through the jungle. It's quiet between us.
"Where do you think we are?" He asks.
"Hard to tell." He's not paying attention, but I keep talking. "Jungle means probably near Hermond, or an island of its coast." He's looking back for the others. "But I don't know where the jail was…it might have been Athens, since the countries do make a bay, but I'd think there'd be more ships—"
He grabs my shoulders and pushes me back into a tree, kissing me. His hands cup my face, mine on his waist.
"I couldn't bear being away from you earlier," He says, leaning his forehead against mine.
"Me neither." I trace his cheekbone with my thumb.
"I was terrified something would happen to you."
"I was—I almost shut down."
"But you didn't."
"You might've needed me."
"I always need you."
We're together again, moving with each other. Until I hear Leo gag.
"Oh, my eyes! The kissing! It's everywhere, it buuuuuuurns!" He staggers around, clutching his throat. Percy makes a rude gesture.
"Find your own part of the jungle."
"Everything's wet! This is the only dry section."
"Don't believe you. You just like sneaking up on people kissing."
"I don't!"
"Go away."
Leo stumbles away. Percy comes back to me. He doesn't kiss me, just holds me.
"We oughta find some water."
"Yeah."
"Let's go."
Neither of us move. We're still in that position when we hear Reyna shouting for us. It jolts us, and we pull apart and run down to the beach.
Leo's glaring at everyone. "Well? Who did what they were supposed to?"
Silence.
Leo harrumphs. "Well, I found a nice place to sleep and also found Piper and Jason doing things that scarred me.
"Then I found some berries that some kind of animal was eating, so I knew it's safe. And Hazel and Frank in the weirdest position.
"After being burned, I found a river and Percy and Annabeth right in front of it. They didn't even realize it was there.
"Then I found some soft leaves to sleep on, and Malcom and Reyna in a tree. They said they were looking for leaves, but I suspect they were about to get very intimate."
"And where's your fire, Leo?"
He stands up, face red. "I couldn't start one since I was busy doing all of your jobs!"
We all start laughing our heads off. He looks scandalized.
"I'm going to go catch some fish," He mutters.
"I got it," Percy says, stopping him. He wades up to his waist as Leo starts with the fire. "Here," Percy tells him, throwing six fish on his lap. Leo looks astounded.
"That was fast!"
"They all wanted to be eaten by me. I promised a bite from each."
I giggle, but try to stifle it. Percy sits next to me and wraps his arm around me. Leo glances up, once, and back down. The wood bursts into fire.
"Wow," I remark. Leo looks stunned.
"I—I didn't know I could do that!" He stammers.
"I did."
All eyes turn to me. I take a deep breath.
"Please don't interrupt.
"So, I heard that voice. Then something shattered, and then I sort of—remembered.
"Our parents are all named after the old gods. If we take the throne, everyone but our spouses will know us as the god's name.
"Every country has a focus, right? Zeus. Jupiter. He's in charge of power and air, right? The god named Zeus was King of the gods, and Lord of the skies—he controlled the airwaves and storms. Hades. Pluto. In charge of mining, and their funeral rituals are very serious. The god Hades lived in the Underworld, ruling over the dead. Poseidon. The god lived underwater, in a palace. Controlled all the seas and could cause earthquakes. Hephaestus was god of blacksmiths and inventors—could build anything. He was also immune to fire, from working in the forges for so long. Aphrodite—the goddess of love. Could make anyone fall in love with anyone or anything. Athena, the goddess of battle and wisdom. Ares, or Mars, the god of war. Bellona was also goddess of battle, but in a different version of religion.
"Malcom, Reyna and I are all brilliant fighters and very smart. Percy can control water, and Jason can control winds. Leo has fire abilities, and is an incredible mechanic. Frank is a strategist, and can change forms. Hazel can draw metals to her through the ground, and is able to make people see the wrong thing. And Piper can make anyone do what she wants with her voice."
Yayayayayayayayayayayayayayayay! I'm so pumped about this! Please please tell me what you thought was confusing, I'll bring it up next chapter! Review, follow, favorite!