Chapter 32! Hazzah!
I'm awoken by the aggravating tweeting of birds. I moan, crush my head into my pillow, and try to fall back asleep. It's no use. I give up and force my eyes open. It's very sunny out. It hurts my eyes. I sit up in bed and inspect my surroundings. It looks like I'm in some sort of infirmary. I have no idea which story I jumped into. And no sign of Nemo either…
As I stand up, someone enters the room.
"Annabeth! You are awake." He says. I look up. My eyes widen.
"Y-You're a centaur!" I observe. I fall back onto the bed. The centaur looks confused.
"Are you feeling alright Annabeth?" He asks. "You're wounds must have been more serious than I thought."
Annabeth? Where am I? This seems very familiar, but I just can't place it yet.
"I was just fooling around with you. Of course you're a centaur! W-why wouldn't you be a centaur? Ha. Ha." I say. The man gives me a strange look, then moves on.
"That is good. We were all very worried about you. Especially Percy." The man said. Suddenly it clicked.
"Percy! Percy Jackson!" I exclaim. The centaur nodded, looking solemn. He must be Chiron. And I must be Annabeth. RAAAD. I love being badass females.
"Tell me Annabeth, do you remember anything from last night? We found you unconscious, with this sword beside you." Chiron held up my sword from Lord of the Rings. "You'd lost a lot of blood. Luckily the ambrosia healed you up nicely."
"I don't remember anything from last night." I lie. Chiron looks worried. He probably thinks there's some lunatic running around attacking campers or something. He feigns a smile for me though.
"You're just in time for capture the flag too." Chiron says. It's weird because I don't remember eating any peaches, but there's a pit in my stomach.
"Right…And I'm the captain. In that case, I'd better get ready!" I say, and rush out of the infirmary. On the one hand, I've always loved the Percy Jackson books, but on the other hand, I'm horrified to be in charge of a team. And Nemo still has not appeared. I refuse to even think that the Editors might have gotten him.
"Annabeth!" I hear a voice behind me. At first I think its Percy, but I turn and instead it's Luke. Instinctually my eyes narrow in hatred.
"I was so worried about you! I'm glad you're back in time for capture the flag." He says. I just glare at him.
"Yeh. I bet you are." I hiss. He hesitates for a moment, then continues.
"Well…we're setting up over there. I'll show you." I follow him, but I don't speak to him. I know that in the end Luke did the right thing and was technically a "good guy" and "saved the day", but I'm still bitter about all those times he hurt and manipulated my favorite characters. And while I should bury the hatchet, I can't help but lose control of my emotions now that he's standing in front of me.
"Annabeth!" There's a chorus of welcome when we arrive.
"So what's the game plan?" One of the Athena kids asks. Good question. Hmmm. My brilliant plans haven't failed me so far…I quickly brainstorm, think out the details, and then explain my plan to the others.
"That seems a little risky." Luke says. I snap my head to glare at him.
"Mhm. SO IS WORKING WITH KRONOS BUT YOU SEEM TO BE OKAY WITH THAT!" I yell. I regret it immediately. Everyone is looking at me shocked, confused, and Luke just looks horrified. His face has paled, and he looks like he saw a ghost. I bit my lip nervously. I can fix this.
"…Is what I would say if I ever met someone working with Kronos. But I haven't. And probably won't. Because Kronos is lying dead in Tartarus. And will for a long time. A long, long, long, looooong time. HAHA. Ha." I force. Everyone is still a bit confused, but it seems to be passing. Luke is still recovering from his heart attack.
"Trust me, this plan will work." I'm not so sure this plan will work. I instruct two random kids to guard the flag, while the others come with me. I then split us up into three groups. Two large groups, and one small. My idea is that if the two large groups attack from two different sides, the small group will be able to infiltrate the poorly defended third side and hopefully safely retreat. My only problem is that Clarisse is a tough opponent and knows the game. I'm not quite sure what to do about her…oh well, I'll just wing it.
As we head out, Percy jogs up to me.
"Hey, Percy!"
"Hey! So what's the plan?" He asks. "Got any magic items you can loan me?"
That triggers a memory. My hand moves to my pocket to find Annabeth's invisibility cap. I smile. That'll make this much easier.
"What're you smiling about?"
"Our secret weapon." I say slyly.
"Should I be worried?"
"No. We've got this in the bag." I say. I can't wait to see the look on Clarisse's face when we get that flag. "Have you gotten your job?"
"Border patrol, whatever that means."
"It's easy." I say. I look around. I see a creek. That looks like a nice spot. "Stand by the creek, keep the reds away." The reds are the other team. We're blue. "Leave the rest to me. Athena always has a plan." So do I.
I hurry away, duck behind a tree, and put my cap on. Instantly I'm invisible. Now I just need to walk into the camp, grab the flag, and we've won. Suddenly, I remember something. I pray for a miracle, and unfurl my wings. YES! I still have wings. This flag is IN DA BAG. I fly into the air, and head towards the enemy camp.
It feels great to fly again. The wind in my hair, the sun on my back, it's great. So great I fly right past the flag. I do a 360, and land right next to the flag. The two kids guarding the flag feel a breeze as I land, but think nothing of it. Now the only problem is that I won't be able to get the flag into the air without being noticed.
Suddenly, there's a noise to my left. One of the guards leaves to investigate. Then Luke appears from behind a tree and quickly takes down the other guard. I frown. I quickly grab the flag and start running back towards our base. Unfortunately, Luke sees the flag and catches up to me.
"Hey Annabeth! Nice job."
"Don't speak too soon. We still need to get back to our side. By the way, have you seen Clarisse and her posse?" I ask.
"Hmm. I think I might have seen them heading towards Jackson."
"Are you kidding me? Percy!" I drop the flag and rush to help Percy. I can't leave him to take Clarisse and her friends by himself.
I rush into the clearing just in time to see Percy fall into the creek. I'm about to move to help him up, when he gets up on his own accord. And let me say, he KICKS ASS. Damn. He didn't even need me there. It gives me great satisfaction to see him break Clarisse's spear.
Then I hear yelling, elated screams, and my good mood is ruined as I see Luke racing towards the boundary line with the red team's banner lifted high. He is flanked by a couple of Hermes guys covering his retreat, and a few Apollos behind them, fighting off the Hephaestus kids. The Ares kids get up, and Clarisse mutters a dazed curse.
"A trick!" She shouts. "It was a trick."
They stagger after Luke, but it's too late. Everybody converges on the creek as Luke runs across friendly territory. Our side explodes into cheers. The enemy red banner shimmers and turns to silver. Don't cha just love magic? The boar and spear symbols for Ares are replaced by a huge caduceus, the symbol of Hermes. Everybody on the blue team picks up Luke and starts carrying him around on their shoulders. Chiron canters out from the woods and blows a conch horn.
The game is over. We've won. I'm just bitter than Luke was the person who got the flag across the line. I turn to Percy. "Not bad."
"You set me up." Percy says angrily. "You put me here because you knew Clarisse would come after me, while you sent Luke around the flank. You had it all figured out." In all honesty, I didn't. But Luke already took my credit for getting the banner, so I'm just gonna pretend I totally planned on this happening.
"I told you. Athena always, always has a plan."
"A plan to get me pulverized." Percy says bitterly.
"I came as fast as I could. I was about to jump in but…" I shrug. "You didn't need help."
Then I notice Percy's arm. There's a deep cut across it, yet I watch the cut heal itself before my very eyes.
"Whoa. Can you show me how to do that?" I ask. Percy looks confused.
"Do what?"
"You just healed your cut! Like, instantly." I say. Percy looks down at his arm, baffled.
"I-I don't get it." He says. I get an idea.
"Can I try something? Step out of the water."
"What-"
"Just do it." I say. He does. Immediately, he starts looking woozy.
"Now, go back into the water." He does, and immediately more color comes back into his face.
"That's weird." He observes. I laugh.
"That's awesome." I say. My good mood is back, but is interrupted by the growl of a dog. Instinctually, I turn and start hissing. My hair sticks up a bit and I raise my hands like claws. It's a hellhound. Before I can hiss more, the hellhound jumps over me and lands on Percy. While my catlike instincts are telling me to hiss and run away at full speed, I instead pull out my sword and slash at it. The hellhound falls over. I race over to Percy. There are claw marks all over his chest and armor.
"D-Did you hiss?" He asks. It seems he's still able to make jokes. Although on second thought, I think I did hiss. Must be leftover from when I was a cat. Luckily, before I have to explain myself, Chiron trots over.
"Someone summoned it." He says. "Someone inside the camp."
"It's all Percy's fault! He summoned it!" She butts in. Before I slap her, Chiron silences her.
"Be quiet, child." That gives me satisfaction. Then I remember Percy's wounds.
"Here, Percy get into the water." I say, and help him into the water.
"Annabeth, what are-" Chiron begins, but trails off. He sees that as Percy wades into the water his wounds heal themselves.
"Isn't that rad? That's rad." I say to Chiron. But I notice he's no longer looking at Percy's wounds but above his head. I look too.
"Now that's rad." I say about the trident that has suddenly appeared above Percy's head.
A few days pass. Percy seems upset, which was understandable. I'm starting to get impatient myself because storms are been brewing (both metaphorically and literally). I'm gazing at the stormy sky when I noticed Percy being summoned to the Big House. I couldn't let him go alone, so I rush back to my cabin, grab my baseball cap, and run back. I arrive (invisible of course) just as Percy comes back from the Oracle. Both Grover and Chiron are there too.
"What did the Oracle say exactly?" Chiron presses. "This is important."
"She…she said I would go west and face a god who had turned. I would retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned." Percy explains.
"I knew it." Grover says. Chiron doesn't look satisfied.
"Anything else?"
"No. That's about it." Percy says. I roll my eyes. It's obvious he's lying.
"Very well, Percy." Chiron says. "But know that the Oracle's words often have double meanings. Don't dwell on them too much. The truth is not always clear until events come to pass."
"Okay." Percy says. "So where do I go? Who's this god in the west?"
"*Cough*Cough* HADES." I say. I can't help myself.
"Annabeth is right." Chiron says. I blush and remove my baseball cap.
"I was just passing by when I overheard your conversation. But Hades seems like the logical answer. He'd have the most to gain by a war between Poseidon and Zeus…Although I'm sure other people, or gods, or titans AHEM wouldn't mind a war either." I say.
"Percy must go to the Underworld, find the master bolt, and reveal the truth." Chiron explains.
"Ooh. Spooky." I comment. "So, when do we leave?"
"We?" Percy asks.
"Yeah. Three people go on quests. I count three of us here, not counting you Chiron (sorry)." I explain.
"A trio. That'll work." Percy says.
"Excellent," Chiron says. "This afternoon, we can take you as far as the bus terminal in Manhattan. After that, you are on your own." Lightning flashes outside.
"No time to waste," Chiron says. "I think you should all get packing."
"I'm ready to ride." I say, while dragging my twenty pound suitcase behind me.
"What's in there?" Asks Percy.
"Some clothes, a book, and seventeen jars of Nutella."
"Nutella? Seventeen jars?" Percy asks, bewildered.
"I know. I know." I say. "There may not be enough to share. But maybe if I ration myself, you and Grover can split one of the jars?"
"Hahaha. Alright then." Percy laughs. "Let's go find a lightning bolt."
Just as we're about to head out, Luke comes running up.
"Hey!" He pants. "Glad I caught you."
"Mhm. I'm sure you are." I hiss.
"Just wanted to say good luck." Luke says. "And I thought…um maybe you could use these."
He pulls out a pair of sneakers. Then he says, "Maia!" and a pair of wings appear.
"Thanks for the offer, but I don't think those'll even fit any of our feet. Sorry. Maybe next-" I say while pushing Luke and his shoes away. But Percy interrupts me.
"Actually, I think those might fit me." He says. Luke smiles. To anyone else, it would just look like the smile a friend might give to a friend, but I know better. It's the smile a spider gives to a fly that just flew into its web. I narrow my eyes at Luke.
"Hey man, thanks." Percy says. He shakes hands with Luke. Then Luke pats Grover head. Then Luke comes in to hug me. I don't want to, but I do. When we hug, I pull him in close and whisper in his ear, "I'm onto you."
When we pull away, I smile as if nothing happened. Luke keeps a straight face, but I see his eye twitch. Percy and Grover turn away to head towards the bus. While they're not looking, I motion to Luke with my hands that I'm watching him. I then run to catch up to Percy and Grover.
"Annabeth? Did something happen between you and Luke? Something seems off between you two." Percy observes. Uh oh. He's onto me.
"Nope. We're still as tight as ever. That backstabbing cowar…I-I mean. That back supporting courageous um, friend." I say. Good save. I give myself a pat on the back for a great recovery. Now I just need a bs reason for Percy to not wear the shoes.
"But um, Percy I don't think you should wear those shoes." I say.
"You're right. It's a bad idea for me to be anywhere near the air. Hey Grover, do you want 'em?" Percy asks, offering Grover the shoes. Grover takes them excitedly. I'll just come up with some reason for him to not wear them later. We're also intercepted by Chiron who gives us a last good luck and farewell. He also gives Percy the sword Riptide.
By the time we had gotten to the bus terminal, I had already eaten four of the jars of Nutella.
"You guys, I only have thirteen jars left. I think we should turn around. We're already off to a bad start." I say. Percy and Grover just laugh, clearly not understanding the gravity of the situation. As we get onto the bus, I realize that I should have asked Chiron about my "predicament" to see if he could help me. Stupid, stupid, stupid. At least I remembered my Nutella. I eat another spoonful to make myself feel better.
I entertain myself by people-watching. This old lady boards the bus. She's wearing a crumpled velvet dress, lace gloves, and a shapeless orange-knit hat that shadows her face, and she's carrying a big paisley purse. I start laughing.
"You guys, look at that lady up front." I say. Percy and Grover don't laugh though. In fact their faces pale.
"Sorry… I thought it was funny." I mumble. Percy shakes his head.
"It's Mrs. Dodds." He whispers. Hmm…Mrs. Dodds…I don't know who that is. I wrack my brain.
"OOOHH. She's a Fury." I say, probably louder than I should have. I frown as Mrs. Dodds looks straight at me. Two more old ladies walk on behind her. I look at Grover and Percy.
"I got this. Percy, take my invisible cap. Sneak out behind us. Grover, follow me." The two boys look at each other for a moment, then follow my advice.
I walk up to the front, with my jars of Nutella. As we pass the old ladies, they give us intense looks.
"Where is it?" One of them asks me.
"It? OOOOh. "It". Yes. I have it, right here." I lie. I rummage around through my things. All I can find is jars of Nutella. I bite my lip. I have no other options. I hold out a jar of Nutella.
"It's in here. But you'll probably have to eat the Nutella to find it." The Furies look at each other. One of them takes the jar, opens it, and stares curiously at the delicious hazelnut spread.
"I-It's definitely in there." I lie. The Fury dips a finger into the spread, and then licks her finger. For a moment, she doesn't do anything. Then she puts her finger back in and tries more Nutella. Then she puts her entire hand into the jar and starts sucking in Nutella like a vacuum. Soon her sisters are curious, and they try some too. Next thing I know, I've accidentally started a Fury feeding frenzy in the middle of a crowded public bus. And it looks like they're almost done with the jar. They seemed to have forgotten they were even searching for something. All I know is that I need to get them away from these civilians.
"I have more!" I yell. The Furies rush towards me. I run out of the bus. I thrust my bag full of Nutella jars as far away as I can. The Furies fly after it.
"Come on!" I hear Percy say next to me. I can't see him, but I feel him grab my hand. Grover and I follow Percy into some nearby woods and away from the Furies. A moment later, I hear a loud BOOM and see an explosion from the direction of the bus.
"H-How?" I yell at the sky. Percy just grabs my arm and pulls me along. After a while, we stop running and just pant.
"I can't believe I lost all my Nutella." I whimper. This day sucks.
Yaayy. Please read and review! And I already have the next chapter written, so I'll upload it real soon. Promise!