Chapter 34! Woo!

Also, sorry if it's kind of a sucky chapter. I wrote this over the span of about four days, and I haven't really read over it.

The best part, though? It's long! YAY.

Sigh, just for funsies I've been reading the Heroes of Olympus again, and I've just started reading Mark of Athena for the second time. I'm dreading the ending, even though I know what happens. Why do I do this to myself?

Anywho...

Let it commence.

Annabeth

I reached out and grabbed Bethany's shoulder and pulled her back.

"Let me handle the guards," I said. "I have my invisibility hat."

Nate looked intrigued, but he didn't say anything.

Bethany sighed. "Fine."

I walked back to Percy and put a hand on his shoulder before taking out my Yankees cap and putting it on my head.

I vanished, and I leaned over and gave Percy a peck on the cheek. I pulled out my knife and sprinted off towards the tunnel before I could see his reaction.

Two guards were at the entrance of the camp, and they had hands resting on swords and holding torches. The light from the rising sun was coming, and I needed to move fast. I snuck around behind one of the guards, and hit him across the head with the butt of my knife. He let out a small groan, and then collapsed on the floor, the torch rolling away out of his hands.

"What the—!" the second guard exclaimed. I clapped a hand over her mouth. She struggled, and tried to pull out her sword before I knocked her feet out from underneath her. She fell on her butt, and scrambled around, trying to find me. I danced out of the way as she groped around blindly. I ran behind her and also hit her on the head. Her eyes rolled up, and she fell to the ground like her partner.

Checking to make sure no one was behind me, I picked up one of the fallen torches and waved it around. The others got my signal, and soon they were standing beside me.

"I'm not sure how long they'll stay out," I said, pulling off my hat. "But we need to get to Reyna. The sun is starting to rise."

"Let Bethany and I scout ahead," Nate said. "To them, we're not the enemy." He opened the door in between the two tunnels, and it looked like a maintenance hallway.

Percy nodded grimly. "We'll wait for your signal."

Bethany's mouth was a straight line, but she followed Nate into the darkness of the corridor, pulling out her knife.

I heaved a sigh and leaned against the wall. Percy stepped over one of the guards and stood next to me.

"Everything will be fine," he said, more to himself.

"Percy…" I said slowly. He looked at me, his eyes soft. "What was it that you saw in the bushes?"

Percy hesitated. He looked hard at the opposite wall, as if he was trying to cut the stone with his stare. He was silent for a few minutes before he spoke.

"I saw the pithos," he said quietly.

"What?" I gasped. "You did?"

Before he could respond, a shout echoed down the tunnel. "Traitors! Traitors of Ro—!" It was cut off shortly with a yelp.

"Mother of Zeus," Percy groaned. "What happened to the plan of getting in quietly?" He pulled out Riptide, and I hefted my dagger. With one look at each other, we ran down the tunnel and into the camp.

Nate had taken Bethany's sword and was slashing at a flood of guards. Bethany was incredible. She danced in between the guards, cutting at their armor, knocking them to the ground, and landing punches in between. She looked almost exactly like Thalia.

Before Percy and I could even start battling, all the guards were either knocked out, injured, or groaning on the grass.

"Wow," Percy commented. "I guess that was the signal."

One guard staggered back to his feet, but Bethany quickly knocked him down with a roundhouse kick without saying a word. He spun to the grass and landed heavily, his arms splayed out. I had a feeling he wouldn't be getting up soon. We all stared at the guard wordlessly before I realized that the sun was beginning to rise.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain," I shouted, tugging him towards the city. "We need to make a getaway. They know we're here!"

"I remember how to get there!" Percy exclaimed. "It was by our prison."

He sprinted towards the river, jumped inside, and thrust his arms out. The water parted, and Nate, Bethany, and I ran after him on dry ground. Percy ran around the barracks and the mess hall, avoiding the sight of Romans.

We were suddenly halted by the appearance of Terminus at the Pomerian line. "You again?!"

Percy smacked his forehead. "Terminus."

"I hope you have your memories back, Perseus Jackson, because I've had enough of all this!"

"They're back, and we're just about to take back the city," I said.

Terminus looked at me, and then at Nate and Bethany behind us. "Two Greeks and two Romans?"

"Yeah," Percy said hurriedly. "So, uh, if you don't mind, we're going to get Reyna now."

We didn't wait for an answer. We ran past him, and he started screaming at us about weapons inside the line. I just ignored him.

We weaved through the streets of New Rome, ducking down alleys and behind statues and fountains whenever a Roman was in sight. I ran breathlessly, trying hard not to make too loud of a noise. Nate ran up next to me, and it looked like he was about to say something when Percy shouted out, "Yes!" and dove into a bush.

We followed behind him and collapsed on the ground.

I fell backwards onto the grass, breathing heavily. Flying on a massive ship with almost no form of running exercise, being in prison, and staying in the Underworld for five days really made you get out of shape.

I sat up, took another deep breath, and gripped my knife tightly.

"You guys stay here," Nate said. "I need to get to the barracks and grab you guys purple t-shirts and get my keys."

"Yeah, by yourself?" Percy said sharply. "Not a chance. Just because you helped us out at the tunnel doesn't me we trust you completely."

Nate looked slightly hurt, but he nodded. "Fair enough. Bethany?"

"Sure," she said. She didn't act so stiff around him anymore, and she actually put a hand on his shoulder before stepping out of the bushes.

"Seems like they're doing everything," Percy grumbled, sitting next to me.

"Yeah, because last time I checked, we're wanted more dead than alive here," I told him.

He rolled his eyes at me, but didn't look convinced.

"Relax," I told him. "They're just trying to help. Especially Nate. I can tell he cares a lot about Bethany."

"I guess." Percy sighed. "But how do we know that they'll just betray us when they get the chance?" He fell backwards on the grass and covered his eyes with his hands, looking extremely torn.

I pulled a hand off his face and rubbed it in between my own. "We've got each other, Percy. Don't think for a second that I'll leave you."

A horribly pained look crossed Percy's face, and I knew what he was thinking about. I brushed hair back from his forehead.

"You had no choice," I whispered. "I will never hold it against you. You're the most perfect person I could ask for." I leaned down and gave him a soft kiss, and he kissed me back.

He put a hand behind my neck and pulled me down next to him, so I was lying down with my head on his chest. His fingers played with my hair as I felt his chest rise and fall with his breathing.

"I never want to be separated from you again," he said. "It was too hard." He paused. "Also, I just realized that I never told you what was always on my mind while I was here."

"What was it?" I asked, looking at the pink sky.

"You," he said simply. "That was the one memory that Hera didn't take away from me. I always had your face in my mind, your name always in my mouth. I knew that once I would get my memories back, I would find you."

I smiled to myself. "Wow, Seaweed Brain. I didn't know you could be so deep."

He picked a handful of grass and dumped it on my face.

I spit some out of my mouth, still grinning. "How are you feeling?"

His mood sobered quickly. "I think that once we get Reyna, I'll feel better."

A tiny flare of jealousy hit me, but I shoved it down. "She's that good?"

Percy nodded. "She's a daughter of Bellona, the Roman war goddess. If we have her one our side, we have a greater chance of winning."

He was quiet a bit longer. Then he sat up, making me fall off him onto the grass. He was grinning crazily at me. "Are you jealous, Wise Girl?"

I looked at him like he just announced that he was going to live with Poseidon as a dolphin. "Me? Jealous? Are you crazy? Sometimes I wonder why I'm even in a relationship with you!"

"Whatever," he said, still smirking. He looked at me a bit longer, and I pushed him over.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," I told him.

"I didn't say anything!" he snickered, falling back onto the grass.

Before I could smack him where it hurts, the bushes started to rustle. I immediately jumped to my feet and pulled out my dagger, pointing it at the bushes.

Bethany fell into the clearing, Nate right behind her. They had changed into clean clothes, and Bethany had also brushed her hair

"Why did you push me?" Bethany said, trying to sound irritated through her smile.

"I didn't," Nate said innocently.

Bethany was about to say something, but she saw us staring at them.

"Oh, here are your shirts," Bethany said causally, tossing them to us.

I shot her a look, and then glanced at Nate, but she just shrugged. Not now.

I took off my t-shirt I was wearing, thankful I had a tanktop on underneath, and pulled on the purple t-shirt. I immediately felt like I should rip the shirt off.

Percy looked uncomfortable too. Even though he had stayed at Camp Jupiter, and probably wore this type of shirt most of the time, it didn't mean he had to like it.

Nate saw our faces. "What? It's not like we dipped the shirts in acid."

"No, it's not that," I said, tugging at the hem. "It just feels…wrong."

"Do you have the keys?" Percy asked.

Bethany held them up and dangled them.

"Well, Annabeth," Percy said, turning to me. "Lead the way."

I took my knife and walked over to the patch of grass hidden in the back of the clearing. It looked like the right place. I plunged the knife into the grass, and I heard the deep click. Prying the knife up, a disguised manhole popped out of the grass. Percy's eyes widened as I lifted the manhole out of its place and pushed it to the side.

"They're down there?" Percy asked.

"Everyone," I confirmed. "I saw them all."

Without giving them another glance, I swung my legs over the hole and dropped down. I somersaulted and landed smoothly on my feet, only to get knocked down by Percy falling on top of me.

"Holy Olympus!" I gasped, shoving him off me. "You could have waited until I'd moved!"

He had the decency to look sheepish.

"Is everything okay down there?" Bethany's voice called.

"Just peachy," I grumbled.

I heard the whistling of air and Bethany sprung to her feet next to me. Nate lowered himself into the tunnel and dropped down as well. I climbed up the ladder and pushed the manhole into its place, plunging the tunnel into darkness.

Percy uncapped his sword and the tunnel was lit faintly by the glow of Riptide. I climbed down the ladder and stood next to him. "We walk down the tunnel until we hit an intersection. We turn left, and there's a door at the end."

I started walking and everyone else followed. Percy held his sword in front of him while we walked so I could see where I was going.

Suddenly we heard voices echoing in the tunnel in front of us. I froze, and Percy nearly cut me with his sword.

"Here!" Nate whispered. He grabbed my wrists and pulled them behind my back. I instantly understood what he was doing. Bethany caught on too, and she grabbed Percy's sword, capped it and shoved it in her pocket.

"Hey!" he yelped, but she clamped a hand over his mouth.

"Shut up and keep your head down. Don't say anything," she hissed.

She took his wrists and started leading him down the tunnel. Nate followed her, and I hung my head so my hair would fall in my face.

Soon we passed the guards walking down the tunnel towards us.

"More traitors of New Rome," Nate said shortly. They nodded and didn't give us a second glance.

Once we were sure they were out of sight, Nate let go of my hands. Bethany let Percy go and handed over his sword.

"Sorry," she said.

"No problem," Percy replied.

We walked the rest of the way in silence. We never passed any more guards, and soon we made it to the intersection. I turned left and we ran down the rest of the tunnel.

I stopped in front of the door and Bethany handed over the keys. Percy peered through the small window and saw Reyna shackled to the wall.

"When I get my hands on him—" Percy growled.

"Move, Percy. I can't open the door if you're in my way," I ordered.

I stuffed the key into the lock and turned it. The door gave a heavy click and swung open.

We ran into the room, and Leo looked up.

"Holy Hephaestus!" he cried. "You're here!"

Reyna lifted her head and her mouth dropped open. "Percy? Nate? Bethany!"

"We're here to bust you out," Percy said. "And take New Rome back."

Boom. We've made it to the prison. Aw yeah.

Can't wait to see you guys next week with a new chapter! And, if you live in the US, have a fabulous Thanksgiving! (It's my favorite holiday, because I love food)

OKAY BYE.