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Annabeth

Orion got unsteadily to his feet, glaring at all of them. Annabeth's insides ate her. She squirmed with the idea of her plan. Her terrible terrible plan that was going to get them all killed. She looked at her friends out of the corner of her eye. Would they trust her? Would they actually do it?

"Frank? Hazel?" Annabeth said in a commanding tone. This was the voice she used when she was being the leader, commanding people, leading a war. It was the voice she used with her fellow campers during the Battle of Manhattan. At the time, she was alongside Percy. Just like she was now. So much had changed since then, but that much was a constant.

She looked at Percy, look of determination crossing his face. She knew this could not be easy for him. Waking up with no clue where he was or how he got there and being told he attacked his friends. But here he stood, sword raised anyway.

Frank and Hazel glanced over at her. Neither of them had been in war. They had been in battles, fights, but never in this situation. But they couldn't afford to be hesitant. They had to charge in just like everyone else here.

"Yeah, Annabeth?" Hazel said.

"Keep Orion occupied, will you?" Annabeth looked at Percy who looked at her. He gave her a grim smile, no doubt thinking about their past war as well.

"Already ahead of you." Frank readied his bow, and he and Hazel leapt into battle. Orion met them in the middle of the room. He and Hazel clashed swords, the scrape of metal against metal screeching through the room.

"Shouldn't we help them?" Jason asked.

"No. They can do it. I trust them." Annabeth watched their fight.

"But-" Leo started.

"The question is, do you trust me?" Annabeth turned to Piper. The four of them blinked. Piper had a look of concern cross her face. She stared into Annabeth's eyes. Annabeth watched her face darken.

"Of course." Was all Piper said. She seemed scared.

"I- yeah. Definitely." Leo nodded.

"Yeah Annabeth. I do." Jason said.

"Hmm let me think about it." Percy said in a sarcastic voice. Annabeth elbowed him.

"You're not my concern in this plan. I know you'll do whatever I tell you to." Annabeth muttered, rolling her eyes.

"That's fair." Percy grinned.

"It's just..." Annabeth paused, watching Frank and Hazel's battle. They didn't seem to be in any danger. "My plan is insane. You guys are all going to think I'm crazy and that I'm going to get us all killed, which actually has a high possibility, but you have to believe me. It's the only way."

Jason, Piper, Leo and Percy were all silently staring at her. Annabeth pressed on.

"I have gone through every possibility, and there is no avoiding it, so might as well do it on our own terms." Annabeth muttered.

"What is it?" Piper asked timidly.

"We need to wake Gaea." Annabeth said.

Silence. Then-

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?!" Jason exploded. "THAT'S WHAT WE'RE HERE TO STOP!"

"I know!" Annabeth screamed. "I just- there is no other way, Jason!"

"This is insane! You're insane!" Leo ran his fingers through his hair.

"You can't be serious." Piper looked close to tears.

"I've heard crazier plans." Percy crossed his arms.

"Look, just- just listen, okay? Percy and I are going to wake Gaea at midnight which is in about twenty minutes. The giants said they wanted it to be tomorrow. I don't know why, but we'll do it. Once Gaea rises, Leo will bring her up to the sky using the ship and Piper will charm speak her to sleep." Annabeth looked at all of them. They looked back at her shell shocked and freaked out.

"Wait, you think I can charm speak her back to sleep?" Piper was wide eyed.

"This makes no sense!" Leo yelled. "Why wake her up just to put her back to sleep?"

"Yeah, why not just charm speak her to go into a deeper sleep?" Jason frowned.

"Because, you can't tell someone who's asleep to fall into a deeper sleep. It doesn't work that way. To make her completely asleep, we have to wake her up." Annabeth looked at Percy. He gave a grim nod. He knew this was the only way. True success requires sacrifice. They had both seen it a million times.

"This is crazy." Leo put his face in his hands and spun around. He peaked his eyes over his fingers and locked eyes with Annabeth. A mutual understanding passed between them. He rubbed his face and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"You're right." Leo muttered. Annabeth nodded to him.

"I- yeah. You're right, I think it's the only way." Jason closed his eyes.

Piper's face seemed drained. She looked back and forth between all of them. "You guys actually believe that I can do this? That I'm powerful enough?"

"If anyone can, it's you." Annabeth looked at her.

"B-but what if I can't?" Piper asked.

"Listen to me Piper." Annabeth grabbed her shoulders. "If I believe you can, you can. I would not rest this whole thing on your shoulders if I thought you couldn't do it."

Piper gave a shaky nod. They were all silent for a moment. Frank and Hazel were still fighting Orion, getting tired, but refusing to let up.

"Well, let's get into positions. Percy, let's go on that ledge. It would be better for us to be off the ground." Annabeth said shakily. They all stared at each other, silently wishing each other good luck. Finally, they all started to move away.

Percy helped Annabeth climb up the side of the wall. He pulled her up by her hand and they rested on the ledge. The room was walled with the side of a cave, shelving was expected. They sat on the lip and dangled their feet over the edge. Annabeth leaned into Percy, watching everyone below.

"Never thought I'd be in this situation again." Annabeth muttered.

"I thought after Manhattan a couple months ago, we'd be done." He sighed.

"Percy, that was almost a year ago." Annabeth corrected.

"Geez, was it really? I guess after being asleep for six months, then forgetting another month, time really flies, doesn't it." He gave a sad laugh.

"This last year has been a mess." She sighed.

"When hasn't it been?" Percy said.

"But it wasn't all bad. We met them." Annabeth looked at the crew.

"They're good people." She finally said, watching Jason and Leo talking. She felt Percy's shoulders raise slightly as he smiled.

"Good crew to have in a fight." He smiled.

"We had a good crew last time." Annabeth laughed, remembering.

"Yeah, like Grover. Man, I wish Grover was here. I mean, not in danger, but... here." Percy said.

"Yeah, or Thalia."

"Or if Clarisse was here, Gaea wouldn't even think about waking up."

Annabeth laughed. "Or Connor and Travis."

"Oh yeah, they'd make a dent in that army Gaea has."

Their nervous laughing faded to silence for a minute. They stared off into space for a while until Annabeth turned to Percy.

"Or Beckendorph." She said in a low voice.

He nodded, seeing the ship, Beckendorph's last expression. "Or Silena."

"Luke."

"Zoe."

"Bianca."

"Lee."

"Geez, I really don't want to add another name to that list." Annabeth hugged Percy's arm.

Percy dropped his head onto the top of her's. "It's all going to be okay. We'll figure out something. We always do."

Annabeth looked at Percy, and for a second, she saw the little twelve year old kid she first met. Scared, confused, grieving. She was the veteran then. Telling him what to do, telling him about the gods, about the world he had just entered. But, then he grew. And she grew with him. And now, they were both each other's rock. They both trusted each other. Percy accepted her crazy plan without a second thought. He almost died just to keep her safe.

Annabeth hugged him, face in his shoulder. He hugged her back and they stayed that way for a long time. The alarm went off on Annabeth's watch, and she stiffened. She leaned out of the hug and faced Percy.

Everyone below had heard the beeping and all looked up at her. Frank and Hazel, who had defeated Orion and were now caught up on the plan, shifted uncomfortably. Jason grabbed Piper and prepared to get off the ground. Leo lit his hands on fire in preparation. Piper looked terrified.

"Here we go." Percy helped Annabeth to her feet. They looked at their friends.

They both drew their respective blades and looked at each other. Riptide was gleaming in the torch light, just like it had through so many battles over the years. Annabeth held her knife, given to her by Luke, found in Tartarus after being dropped. She remembered him giving it to her in that alley, promising family.

Annabeth had found her family.

And she refused to let anything happen to them.

"3, 2, 1." She counted down and her and Percy let the metal slice across their palms.

Blood dripped down and hit the ground in splatters. The earth below turned a bright gold and started moving, like uncoordinated waves.

Gaea was awake.

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