Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians
Chapter 24: Victory is Short Lived
Gough Island
Annabeth's POV
"Nico, take that scum to your father." Poseidon said as he pointed toward the unconscious titan. Nico nodded and grabbed Atlas. "When you come back we will be on the research ship, don't forget."
"I won't." Nico said as he and Atlas disappeared into the nearest shadow. Calypso walked over to where I stood with Percy, Poseidon and Theseus.
"Calypso, it has been a long time." Poseidon said. His face did not show any emotion. Calypso bowed before the god of the sea.
"It has my lord. What will happen to me?" Calypso asked. I had a few ideas, but if I said them I knew that Theseus would most likely have my mom give me a good talking to, so I held my tongue.
Poseidon seemed to think about that question for a moment. "Well, we did free you from your prison after the war. How did you come to be in your father's company?" Poseidon asked curiously.
"My father found my island somehow and kidnapped me. I did not want to go with him. He thought he could use me as a hostage if need be. He thought Percy's loyalty could be used to his advantage." Calypso said. I have to admit Atlas was right about that, but in the end it didn't help him. He thought he could beat Percy, but he was surprised, well I guess we all were.
"Calypso, you can come to Camp Half Blood until you figure out what you're going to do." Theseus said. Theseus saw my shocked look and he smiled a crooked smile at me. Another thing he and Percy share in common, damn those twin sons of Poseidon.
"Who are you?" Calypso said. That's right she probably never met Theseus, he was one hero who was never lost on her island. Lucky for her or my mom would have killed her for sure.
"I'm Theseus, god of heroes, son of Poseidon and twin brother of Percy here." Theseus said as he pointed to the half asleep Percy that was held up between Poseidon and I. Calypso just stared at Theseus in awe and then I saw her recognize their similarities. Theseus held back a chuckle at the sight.
"The Theseus?" Calypso asked with a shocked look on her face.
Theseus smiled at her. "The one and only just ask my wife." Theseus said as he smiled looking toward a golden light that suddenly appeared behind us and dissolved into the goddess of wisdom herself. Calypso's eyes grew wide when she saw my mom.
"Lady Athena." Calypso said as she bowed politely. My mom smiled in return.
"Calypso it has been a long time." Athena said as she gave a questioning look at Theseus, Poseidon and I. She looked at Percy and suddenly a look of concern formed on her face. "Is Percy all right."
"He's just a little tired from kicking Atlas's ass." I said proudly. Athena eyes almost popped out of her head and then she smiled wildly.
"We all need to get back to the research ship. Is everyone over there?" Poseidon asked.
"Yes, Thalassa, Pontus and Triton helped the others to the ship. Where's Nico?" Athena asked.
"He's taking Atlas to Tartarus." Poseidon said. Athena smiled at that revelation, but she saw the concerned look on everyone's faces.
"What's wrong?" Athena asked. Theseus just looked at her with a grim look on his face.
"I'll tell you once we arrive on the ship my love. Can you transport Calypso there? I'll help dad with Annabeth and Percy." Theseus said expectantly.
"Yes, I can." Athena held onto Calypso's shoulder and disappeared into a golden light. Theseus walked over and put his arm around my shoulder and we all disappeared into a gold and blue light. A moment later we appeared in the infirmary of the research ship. The sight before me was surprising. There were four beds in the room from left to right opposite the port hole window. Light was streaming in brightly and helped to illuminate the room. The walls were a dull off-white color and the floor was composed of a shiny black tile. Fluorescent lights hung from the ceiling and gave the room the look of a hospital. In the bed on the left was Luke, he was being cared for by Hermes and Thalia. I wonder when Hermes got here? The next bed over I saw Malcolm lying in the bed with a bandage around his head. He smiled at me when he saw me. My mom walked over to him and sat down beside him. In the third bed layed Chris, his father sat in the chair next to him and Terra sat in the other one. A older women with dark brown hair and the same blue eyes that Chris and Scott shared stood between them. I had no idea who she was, but she radiated power and authority. I looked at Poseidon and Theseus and they both smiled when they saw her.
"Who is she?" I whispered to both Theseus and Poseidon. They both smiled at my question.
"That's Thetis, leader of the Nereids, mother of Achilles and grandmother of your friend Chris." Poseidon said. My eyes grew wide with surprise. Thetis rarely left the sea, this was a unique occurrence. Poseidon, Theseus and I carried the now sleeping Percy to the fourth bed. We laid him down and covered him. I felt the presence of three people walk over to us. I turned around to see the concerned faces of Triton, Thalassa and Pontus.
"How is he?" Triton asked anxiously. I looked at him and smiled.
"He'll be fine, he's just tired. He had a tough battle with Atlas." I said. I saw the surprised looks on each of their faces.
"He fought a titan?" Pontus asked in disbelief. Thalassa smiled at the surprised look on her husband's face. I smiled in return.
"He did more than fight him, he defeated him. Nico the son of Hades is taking his sorry butt to Tartarus as we speak." I said. All three looked surprised and proud all at the same time, it was hard for me to hold in a small laugh.
"Pontus, Thalassa thank you for helping Triton and saving Atlantis." Poseidon sad. Thalassa and Pontus smiled in return.
"It was our pleasure nephew, we will always come to your aid our lord. You have done much for us and we will always stand ready to support you and your family." Thalassa said as her husband nodded in agreement.
Poseidon smiled placing a hand on Thalassa's shoulder and the other on Pontus's shoulder. "Both of you are family don't forget that." Poseidon said. I smiled at his statement.
"We won't, we need to go back to our realm. Goodbye to all of you." Pontus said as he and Thalassa held hands and disappeared into a blue mist.
"Annabeth excuse us I need to borrow Theseus." Poseidon said as he pulled Theseus and Triton with him toward my mother. Once they were near Athena she stood, kissed Malcolm on the forehead and walked out of the infirmary with Poseidon and Percy's brothers. I knew they were going to talk about Iapetus and Crius. Nico appeared out of the shadows a few moments later. I saw him look at Thalia sitting beside Luke and Hermes. I saw flames appear in his eyes then he lowered his head in defeat. He walked dejectedly over to where I sat next to Percy and joined me. I thought about talking to him about Thalia, but I though better of it, maybe Percy should do that I thought.
"Is Atlas with your father?" I asked. Nico looked up at me and gave me a faked smile.
"Yes, dad was pretty happy to see him, put it this way he's been trying to think of some innovative punishments for him. I heard Prometheus screaming in the background, so it appears that he's doing a pretty good job." Nico said. He talked about eternal punishment like you had a bad dog that you would hit on the nose with a newspaper. Sons of Hades are weird, considering some of the previous children of Hades, Nico was a very good kid in fact. "How's Perce?"
"He'll be fine, he's just exhausted." I said.
"I imagine so I can't believe what he did and Poseidon saying he's the first of his children to do it is pretty cool." Nico said. I smiled at his little brother like awe of Percy. Percy and Nico had a strange relationship, but I knew they would gladly do anything to help the other. "If you'll excuse me I want to talk to Scott." I smiled as I watched Nico walk over to the next bed, he introduced himself and begin to speak with Scott. I saw Clarisse walk in with her older brother Alex, they made their way over to Percy and I.
"How's Prissy?" Clarisse asked sarcastically.
"He'll be fine just tired from whipping titan butt." I said sarcastically in return. Clarisse just laughed and shook her head. Then Alex and her walked out of the infirmary together talking about fighting style and weapons. What else would children of Ares talk about I thought? Nothing I guess. Percy was sleeping peacefully so I walked over to Malcolm, he was just lying in bed looking bored.
"Hey Mal, how do you feel?" I asked. Malcolm looked at me and smiled.
"Annie, thank the gods I'm so damn bored." Malcolm said, I just laughed at his statement. "Do you have a game or something to do here?" I looked around and saw a medical text book sitting on a table. I knew that Malcolm wanted to be a medical researcher so I handed him the book. He accepted it happily and began to read excitedly. Now I know how Percy feels when he sees me reading a architecture book I thought. I left Malcolm to his book and walked over to join the group surrounding Luke. I sat down next to Thalia. She was watching Hermes and Luke talk. I imagine it was a pretty interesting conversation. Luke and Hermes stopped talking when they saw me sit down. Luke smiled at me.
"How's Percy?" Luke asked with a smirk on his face.
"He's sleeping." I said as I smiled back. Thalia looked at me and cleared her throat.
"We're wondering about the whole fight with Atlas thing." Thalia said sarcastically. I saw Hermes smile at that comment. I went into the whole story of the fight and when I finished none of them were smiling they all craned their necks to look at Percy sleeping peacefully. Their eyes grew wide so I looked over to Percy and sitting next to him was Calypso, she was holding his hand with a worried look on her face. My face turned red and I felt like I wanted to hit something. I guess Thalia saw my expression.
"Annie, you all right?" Thalia asked knowingly. I looked away from Percy.
"I'm fine." I said a little too harshly.
I composed myself after a moment and then I went into the rest of the story and told them about Crius and Iapetus. When I finished, Hermes looked pale, he excused himself and walked out of the infirmary. I knew he was going to look for mom and the others.
"So I hear from Thals that you're going to Columbia studying architecture." Luke said trying to change the subject from Percy and the escaped titans.
"Yes, I just finished my second year." I said. I saw Luke look down to his blankets.
"I missed so much, five years." Luke said sadly.
"Hey, just think you're no longer seven years older than me, now you're only two. I'm sure your dad will help you get settled. Chiron will help as well." I said.
"I heard that Mr. D is no longer in charge of camp." Luke said. I knew that Thalia and Hermes told him.
"I guess you haven't met Theseus yet?" I asked. He smiled at me and laughed.
"No, but my dad and Thals have been regaling me with stories about him and the last five years as well as a certain twin brother of his." Luke said with a smile.
I laughed at that, it felt good to laugh like that. "I bet they have." I said. "Did Thalia tell you anything else?" I asked as I glared at Thalia. Her eyes widened, she knew that I meant her and Nico.
"No, is there something else?" Luke asked curiously.
"I think Thalia should tell you." I said as I leaned forward and kissed Luke on the cheek. I felt Thalia's glare as I stood up and walked out of the infirmary, I was smiling to myself. Then I looked over at Percy before I stepped out of the infirmary and I saw Calypso still there holding Percy's hand. I clinched my fists and walked out of the infirmary, my happy mood suddenly gone.
AN: Some people are concerned that I'm trying to breakup the couples. I just think that a little drama can be healthy. There is much more to this story, but just to let my reviewers know there will be a sequel. Thank you for all the great reviews.