Chapter 8: Broken Windows
Annabeth groaned, opening her eyes to see a cold, night sky spinning above her. Stars glittered in the black sky high up, tiny specks of light that seemed to be watching her. She was lying on cool, wet grass for some reason. Her head throbbed; reaching up, she felt a solid knot on the side of her head. She winced as she did so; her shoulder ached. Heck, her entire body ached!
She managed to sit up and nearly fell back again as her head began to spin wildly. After a minute or so she was able to see straight. Piper was walking towards her, an ashen look on her face. She was holding her upper right arm. Blood was running down the side, and her sleeve had a big hole in it. "Oh gods, are you okay?" She asked, helping Annabeth to her feet. Annabeth grimaced.
"I should be asking you that." she said, holding her head to try to stay on her feet. "Where are we?"
"Don't know. Some rich bum's front lawn." She said, looking around. Annabeth did the same and realized Piper was right. Tall, white walls surrounded a similarly white mansion. And an emphasis on mansion. It was huge. It was at least four stories tall, probably more. Three balconies jutted out from the side, and a turret stuck up from the roof. Strangely, charred pieces of metal littered the front lawn. Annabeth would've spent more time staring, but then she noticed Leo.
He was on his knees in the grass, holding something in his hands close to his body. Luke squatted next to him, face completely blank. Annabeth and Piper walked over, trying to keep Annabeth from falling over. When she got close enough, she realized Leo was crying. His head was bowed, and a few tears fell on the object in his hands. With a chill, Annabeth realized what it was. Festus's head.
It creaked and groaned, and Annabeth was surprised to see that he was still working. He whirled his teeth and creaked over and over, repeating the same pattern. Leo wiped his eyes and nodded. "I know. I will." Festus creaked once, and the small glow that was still in his eyes died. Leo cried harder, holding Festus's head close to his chest. Luke looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. Piper seemed like she wanted to comfort Leo, but she knew he wouldn't appreciate it. So they stood there, watching and waiting, not knowing what to do.
Finally Leo stopped and wiped his eyes. He whispered something that Annabeth didn't catch and stood up. A gust of wind blew Festus's head from his hands and carried it into the air. "A last blessing from Hephaestus." Leo whispered, watching Festus soar upwards until he disappeared.
"What?" Piper asked.
"Nothing." Leo said leadenly. "Come on. Hopefully we can spend a night in this house without another monster trying to kill us." He started walking towards the house, and the rest followed behind him uncomfortably. He stopped at the pathway, inspecting the concrete. Luke kept walking. His foot was coming down on the walk and was inches away when Leo yanked him backwards. He staggered backwards, trying to stay on his feet.
"What the heck?" Luke asked. In response, Leo took a step back, picked up a stick, and tossed it on the walkway. As soon as it hit, a hidden trapdoor opened up and the stick disappeared.
"That." Leo said dully. Luke and Annabeth exchanged sheepish looks. Leo looked up and down the walkway, eyes narrowed slightly. Annabeth could almost see the calculations going on inside his mind. She could envision a massive neuro-computer on his brain, taking in data and analyzing it like lightning. Random numbers and words scrolled up and down the screen, only able to be comprehended by the user.
"There's a ton of traps on the walkway." Leo said. He began walking towards the front door, next to the path, never taking his eyes off it. "Motioned-sensor arrow launcher here," He pointed to a square tile on the walkway, then to the bushes. "Nerve gas dispenser on the railing." He eyed the door itself. "Poison spikes in the doormat. And, of course, an exploding doorbell. Classic." He almost cracked a smile at that, Annabeth was sure. He surveyed the path for a second, then nodded. "We'll take the side route."
"Side route?" Luke questioned. In response, Leo turned and marched off to the side of the house. Befuddled, Annabeth followed. He sized up the nearest window, picked up a rock, and hurled it through. The shattered glass clattered to the carpet on the other side.
"Side route." Leo confirmed. He climbed up through the now empty window- frame and disappeared inside. Luke and Annabeth exchanged glances, this time incredulous.
"Interesting side route." Annabeth muttered as she began to clamber in. Luke rolled over the bottom of the frame and landed on his back amid the shattered glass. He muttered something uncomplimentary under his breath and got to his feet, brushing off his jeans. Piper came in last, landing on all fours and rising to her feet quickly. Leo sat on a couch on the far of side of the spacious entry hall, feet propped up on a coffee table.
"This is a pretty nice place." Piper admitted, looking around. Because it was so dark, they couldn't see much, but the couches were comfortable, and soon they were all settled down on the plush cushions. "Anyone got blankets?" Piper asked, looking around. They all shook their heads, and she shrugged. "Well, demigods are demigods."
"Leo, there aren't any poison spikes in the couches, are there?" Luke joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Leo shook his head solemnly. "Already checked. The coffee table had a flamethrower armed underneath it, but I deactivated it." He said seriously. Luke's smile disappeared.
"Oh." He said, seemingly disappointed. The demigods lapsed into an uncomfortable silence. Leo turned over so that his back was to everyone else. Annabeth shifted to try to get into a better sleeping position, leaning her head against the armrest of the couch. Staring up at the heavily shadowed roof, she didn't even realize that her eyes had drooped shut until she was asleep. Then the dream came.
Line Break
She was on Festus's back, riding through the sky. Festus was driving himself, and no one was sitting in front of her. Below her, black storm clouds rolled and grumbled, and she caught sight of something moving around inside them. They spun slowly in circles, resembling a massive maelstrom. Lightning forked in between them, sometimes yellow, sometimes red, and very occasionally black.
Festus followed a path opposite the swirling clouds below them, going counterclockwise. As Annabeth watched the strange storm below her, she began to notice something strange. Every time the black lightning flashed, the clouds broiled even more fiercely, and once she was certain something was straining inside them, flexing its body. She caught sight of a massive shape coiling underneath it, sliding endlessly along a bulge in the clouds. Her throat closed up; the thing was huge. It drew its body along under the bulge in the clouds for several minutes before finally submerging, yet Annabeth got the terrible feeling that she had only seen a fraction whatever that was.
"You can't stop it." A voice hissed behind her, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. She turned to see Leo sitting behind her, face pale. His eyes were opened wide and where completely white. Not a trace of iris or pupil remained, nor the veins. Just pure, awful, milky white. "There is no stopping it." He said again, and Annabeth almost screamed. It was his mouth moving, the voice coming from his lips, but it was anything but Leo. The voice was dry, hissing, like a snake, and it came in multitudes. It had almost a pre-echo, a sliding hiss that preceded the actual words.
"What-what did you d-do to him?" she stammered, hand reaching for a knife that wasn't there. She stared into those terrible eyes, wishing she were awake.
"He will leave you, and in return you will leave them." Leo hissed. "The serpent stirs, yearns to be free after millennia of imprisonment." His lips curled into a dead smile. "Older than the gods. All gods." He whispered.
His face blurred, and then it was Piper sitting there, with those same eyes. "Events have been started; events that have initiated a chain that will only grow faster. Dominoes have been set; small ones fall, growing larger and larger with every tumble, until the very sky itself is tumbling down, far down." She hissed.
Again, the face blurred, and Luke was sitting there, staring at her with an expression of contempt. "Humanity will crumble, and Earth will be the first to fall. The Great Wolf rises, and the dead stir, awaiting the one who will come and waken them fully."
Luke's face blurred one terrifying last time, and Percy was there, face completely blank. "You can't trust anyone, and no one can trust you. Devastation strikes and you will go. Because you are weak." He leaned close, so close that she could see that something was even worse with his face. Black veins spider webbed around it, running all up and down his neck. She tried to pull away, but was frozen. "Traitor." Percy whispered, and suddenly he was gone, leaving Annabeth alone, on Festus's back, circling over a giant storm that held something worse than Kronos.
Line Break
Annabeth woke up screaming. Piper sat bolt upright on the couch next to her. Leo woke with a start, rolling over to see what the noise was and ended up falling off with a startled, "Woah!" Luke just muttered something in his sleep and rolled to his side. Piper sat down next to Annabeth, putting an arm around her shoulders to comfort the sobbing girl. "Hey, calm down, it was just a dream." She said soothingly.
Annabeth shook her head. "You don't…you don't understand. It was worse. So much worse." She whispered hoarsely. Piper nodded uncomprehendingly, doing her best to comfort Annabeth.
"You want to talk about it?" she asked after a bit. Luke said something else, shifting again. Leo was sitting on the coffee table, rubbing his shoulder where it had hit.
Annabeth shook her head. "I…I don't understand it. It seemed like…something worse than Kronos, maybe as bad as Gaea. Or worse. It wasn't…I don't think it was Greek. I don't know any legends that compare to it." Piper and Leo were suddenly silent, exchanging nervous glances. Luke groaned, rolling onto his back. "There was some sort of prison." Annabeth continued. "Made of storm clouds. It was massive. Bigger than anything I've ever seen. Lightning flickered in between the clouds, and there was this…thing underneath it. It was bigger than Typhon, bigger than…." She trailed, finally able to get herself under control. She took a deep, shaky breath and looked up, wiping her eyes.
"Sorry. I don't want to scare you." She said, standing up.
"It's okay." Leo said, though he sounded apprehensive. He grinned at her, seeming to back to his normal self. "Just the end of the world we're talking about here. No worries. Hakuna matata, isn't that what they say? What movie is that from?" he asked.
"The Lion King." Piper suggested.
"No, it was the one with lions…Jumanji? No, wait, I got it. It was the Lion King!" Leo snapped his fingers, smiling in triumph. Piper rolled her eyes, sharing a small smile with Annabeth. Luke grumbled something again, raising one arm and waving it feebly around in the air before it dropped down to his side again. "What's up with him?" Leo asked, glancing down at his sleeping form.
"Dunno." Annabeth responded. "Should we wake him up?"
The door opened at the far end of the hall behind them, and all three demigods spun around. A fat old man in a bathrobe stepped out, freezing when he saw them. He turned and called through the door, "Lit, we have some unwelcome guests here!" A man stepped out behind the fat guy, huge and ripped, holding a sword that was as big as Annabeth.
"Problem." Piper muttered.
"Who are you?" the fat man asked.
"Demigods on a quest." Annabeth answered curtly.
"Names?"
"Annabeth, Piper, Leo, and Luke."
"Nice names. Now what exactly are you doing in my house?" He demanded, crossing his arms.
"What's your name?' Annabeth countered.
"Midas. What are you doing in my house?" the fat man answered. Annabeth gasped.
"Midas? As in, golden touch Midas?" she exclaimed.
Midas sighed, rolling his eyes. "Well, do you know any other Midas's? Now, one more time: what-exactly- are you doing in my house?" Annabeth recognized the look in the fat king's eyes. It was madness.
"Um…" she glanced at the others. "Someone wake Luke up." She muttered to Leo, and he started shaking him.
"What?" Midas demanded.
"We were just leaving." Annabeth said, bowing her head graciously. Midas narrowed his eyes, watching them move slowly to the door. Luke shook his head, standing up and picking his sword up. Leo was urging him arm. Luke turned around, saw Lit with his massive sword, and immediately went into assault mode. Annabeth watched his pupils dilate. "Dang!" she said under her breath.
Luke charged straight towards Lit, sword over his head. Leo ran after him, cussing Luke out in English and- strangely- Spanish. Lit lunged forward and met Luke's sword with his own, almost throwing Luke off his feet. All hell broke loose right then. Midas dashed forward, grabbing Piper's arm. Instantly, Piper was a gold statue with a surprised look on her face. Leo was chucking wrenches at Lit as he and Luke battled.
Midas turned and grinned evilly at Annabeth, who pulled out her dagger and held it ready. "Knife fighter, eh?" Midas said. "Too bad. A spear would be more helpful. All I need to do it touch you once, and…." He tapped Piper on the head, chuckling. "Well, you know." Annabeth could feel anger rising inside her, and without thinking, she stepped forward and kicked the old king in the chest, knocking him backwards into the couch. Cursing, he stood up and lunged for her. She danced out of the way, just barely avoiding his grasping fingers.
Spinning, Annabeth readied her knife, expecting to see Midas a little off balance. Instead, she saw him standing right in front of her, arm extended. She tried to throw herself backwards, away from him, but it was too late. His hand touched her stomach, and suddenly, everything was black.
Line Break
Leo turned around just in time to see Midas grab Annabeth. A frost of gold spread the spot lightning-fast, covering her whole body in less than a second. He blinked and swore again. Man, he thought, I need to watch my language a bit. Nah, screw it.
He pulled out a hammer and charged Midas, waving it above his head madly. Midas turned and reached out to grab him, but Leo sidestepped and smacked him it his fat gut, light enough not to kill or injure but enough to knock the wind out of him. Midas doubled over, clutching his stomach. Leo stepped behind him and kicked him hard in the rear end. Midas stumbled forward and dropped. Leo looked up and shot a bolt of fire at the chandelier, which snapped and crashed down atop the old king. He struggled underneath it. "Curse you, get me out from under here!" he yelled.
"Tempting, but no." Leo said, and ran to help Luke.
Good thing to. Luke was on one knee, sword held above his head, trying to push away Lit's blade. It inched slowly closer towards his face. Leo did the first thing he thought of: take a screwdriver from his amazing tool belt and throw it.
It worked.
Lit bellowed, clutching his hip where the point of a Philips head screwdriver had struck. Luke shoved upwards, knocking Lit off-balance. He rammed him in the face with the pommel of his sword, and Lit stumbled backwards, holding his nose. Leo hit him in the back of the knee, causing him to drop. Unfortunately, he pulled Leo down with him. Rolling over, he pinned Leo to the ground and wrapped two huge hands around his throat. As they started to squeeze, Luke slammed Lit with a chair, and Leo braced his feet against his stomach. Rolling backwards, he thrust Lit upwards. The man crashed through an unbroken window into the grass below. Luke threw the chair after him, hitting him in the head. He then helped Leo to his feet.
"Thanks." Leo coughed, massaging his throat. Luke just nodded.
"Come on. We need to get out of here before Lit wakes up." They ran past a still-struggling Midas who yelled at them to free him.
"Shut up." Leo said helpfully as they ran by. Picking up the two strangely light golden statues, they began struggling out of the house. When in the yard, after Leo had deactivated all the traps, Luke made a strange request.
"Can you pull a Molotov cocktail out of that belt of yours?" he asked.
"Yeah." Leo said, pulling one out and handing it to him. Luke turned around and threw it through the front door. Leo heard the glass shatter and saw flames begin to spread. He stared at Luke in horror. "What did you do!?" he exclaimed.
"What had to be done." Luke answered emotionlessly, dragging Piper along behind him. Leo followed, with one last reluctant look at the now burning house, with broken windows littering the first floor.
A.N: Hey guys! So sorry about disappearing for three weeks, but I'm back now, and I'm back into it! Just so you know I will try to post a new chapter of Wolf of the Seas by the end of the week.
By the way, this is not a Percabeth! I know it looks like it, but I made some altercations to the storyline (hey, it's writing. What'd you expect?) and whatever you think, it will not be PercyxAnnabeth.
Again, I apologize for the long wait between the chapters, but I'm back now, and if I do say so myself, better than before!
READ ON!