Sorry it took so long to update, things have been kind of busy here. Just so you guys know, this is a chapter building up for the next few.
Annabeth knew exactly how this was going to work. The "horde" of Monsters that they all thought was there was actually only about 100. Sure she knew this was still going to be dangerous, but not as bad as Nico made it seem like it would be.
On top of the mountain they were on she could see the monsters they were about to face. Just what she usually saw on quest with Percy. Cyclopes, Hellhounds, Harpies, and many other monsters that Annabeth knew exactly how at beat.
She mostly wanted to just end this fast, so she could be there when Percy got back. Gods, he was so close, she could almost feel it, it was hard to hold back a smile but it would have looked weird sense they were about to go to battle.
"Hey, Annabeth are you sure this is going to work?" Frank said, he didn't mean for it to come out as an insult but for a child of Athena, he may as well just called her an idiot.
"Yes I am sure, Percy made the same type of decision when he was in charge during the Battle of Manhattan. All it is we do is divide and conquer." She said, she already explained the battle for everyone. Piper and Leo were going to the, side of the mountain where Piper would shout commands at the monsters using her Charm Speak. Leo would just through fire balls, and anything of use out of his tool belt he could at them.
Even though she didn't want to do it at first, Hazel finally decided that she will try to make gems large enough to crush most of the monsters. Wile Annabeth uses the bow and arrows that Leo pulled form his tool belt earlier. She wondered why, he never used it before he just replied with. "Its the only one I got, so I didn't want to break it."
Wile all of this was going on, Frank would actually be down there, changing into what ever he could to cause the most damage. Annabeth wasn't going to have him do that, she wanted him to use the bow, but with her sprained ankle he demanded that he go in her place. Hazel didn't seem to thrilled with the idea, but she knew she couldn't stop him.
They decided that they were going to attack the next day. Well everyone besides Annabeth did, she knew it was the smarter thing to do, but with Percy so close she acting more irresponsible then when he first disappeared.
"Well, you should probably get some sleep, you have been working on this plan, I bet your tired so I can keep watch." He said, even though she never really talked to him much Annabeth liked Frank. He wasn't as cocky as most guys his age, and he always tired to help other people. She had to admit it was a good quality in him.
"Thanks, but I am okay, besides I don't think I would be able to get much sleep anyways." Annabeth said, of course not all of it was a lie. She knew that even laying down wouldn't help her get much sleep.
It wasn't because of the battle they were going to face tomorrow either. It was about Nico. The way he acted when he said that she should lead the fight was different. Sure he was always a bit of a creepy kid. That wasn't the problem, Annabeth had gotten use to it, but he was acting extra weird, and nervous. She had known the son of Hades ever sense the found out he was a demi-god and not once had he acted like that.
Trying to figure out the way of thinking about a child of Hades, strategizing a battle, and thinking about your boyfriend who jumped into hell for you can put strain on someone. So maybe Frank was onto something.
"Actually, Frank, yah I think I might just lay down, just to rest my eyes a bit." She said, knowing full well it wasn't going to work.
She laid down, turning her face away form the monsters down below. She closed her eyes and to her surprise fell asleep almost immediately.
The only thing she was able to dream of though, was Percy falling into Tartarus. She remembered watching him slip into the blackness, with that smile on his face. The same smile that she fell in love with. She didn't know if it was possible to cry wile sleeping, but she was pretty sure that she was doing it.
"Amazing isn't it?" She heard a voice behind her say. Annabeth turned around, but she was no longer on the Argo II watching Percy fall, she was on Olympus, the new one she was designing
"Mother, wh... what are you doing here?" She said, Annabeth was pretty sure that her mother had never wanted to see her again.
"What do you mean? You are my daughter so I believe that I have every right to be here." Athena said with that same sense of pride that she always had.
"I thought that you hated me?" Annabeth said, her tears were no longer filled with sadness but confusion and rage. How could her mother just treat her like she did in that subway, and then all of a sudden act like nothing had happened.
"Annabeth, you know I would never hate you. Being a god has its advantages, however when something like this happens even the gods cant always be perfect." She said, looking at her daughter with sad eyes.
"I never indented on giving you that quest Annabeth. However, being a Greek and the most capable you had to be the one to accept it." She said, looking off at the architecture that her daughter had designed.
"Well, then why did you take away the power of the hat you gave me?" Annabeth said, almost yelling now. She knew better then to yell at her mother, even though Athena loved her children more then most gods, she was no the one you wanted to anger.
"That has happened to all of my children who had this quest was given to. The gifts they received form me would no longer be of use to them. The Mark of Athena would not allow it. You had to find the Athena Parthenos on your own, with your own skill."
"Why couldn't you just tell me that in the first place? Why did you have to act the way you did when you gave me the coin?" Annabeth said, her tears were gone now, but her rage was not.
"You know why already Annabeth, we gods can not always live the easy life that we want. That was one of those instances where I was at a cross roads between Athena and Minerva. Now if you don't mind I would like to watch this." She said, looking back off to the distance again.
When Annabeth turned around, they were no longer on Olympus, but back on the Argo II watching Percy fall again.
"Why, why do you want to watch that?" Annabeth demanded, her tears coming back now. "Do you really hate him that much?" She asked.
"It is not because I hate him. I never have, I do not like the fact that my favorite thing I have ever created is in love with a child of Poseidon." The way she said that made Annabeth blush just a little bit, she didn't know if it was from her mother telling her she was her favorite thing she ever created. Or if it was her saying she knew she was in love with Percy.
"I watch this, because that does things that even surprises me." She said, with a tone that seemed almost like admiration.
"Wait, he surprises you, but your the goddess of wisdom, how can anything be a surprise to you?" Annabeth, was beginning to wonder if her mother and been replaced with Aphrodite, or one of the other Olympians.
"That just goes to show you how much that child shakes the foundations of Olympus. Every god was watching, when he threw you to safety. None of them expected it either."
"Your boyfriend, did something that not even any god has experienced. Accepting and bearing Tartarus alone, so the person he loved would not. I may not like him, I may disapprove of your relationship with him, but even I can not deny how far he is willing to go for you."
That made Annabeth blush, she never really talked to her mother much, and the times she did, she never talked about things like this. It felt weird talking about her love life with her mother for the first time.
"However I do warn you Annabeth, Tartarus is a place that can destroy one's soul. I do not want to watch my daughter get killed by the person she loves." Athena made no more comments, and she didn't emphasize on what she said, all she did was disappear in a cloud of smoke.
Annabeth, woke up in a shock to the sound of a war horn.
"What is going on?" She said, trying to shake off the sleep.
"The monsters discovered we were here. Looks like we are going to have to attack now." Piper said, getting our of her sleeping bag. She looked like she didn't get much sleep either. Annabeth could see the sun starting to rise, so at least she got a few hours in.
"Alright, the same plan as before everyone understand?" She shouted, everyone replied with either a "yah, you know it, or a yawn."
"Perfect, lets go, we need to make sure that they don't reach Jason, Nico or the Argo II." She said, but what really worried her now, was what Athena had said to her. If Annabeth had any idea to what it was, she knew it was going to be the hardest battle of her life.
Hope you guys liked it. If it was a little boring I can understand that, but I wanted some "godly point of view on this whole situation. I am going to try and start the next chapter as soon as I post this one, but sense I write just of the top of my head, it might take a little bit longer then I want it too. The next one will be Percy's POV and it will explain why he freaked out on Jason like that. And don't worry, I don't really plan on anything other then Percabeth, but I haven't decided yet if it is a happy ending or not.