Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Heroes of Olympus Series.
Story: Divided Soul
Chapter 9: One Hell of an Escape
Camp Half Blood
An hour after Thalia and the Hunters of Artemis left on their way to California, Annabeth stepped into cabin three after making sure that no one spotted her. Waiting in her boyfriend's cabin were Jason, Piper, Clarisse, Nico and Grover. Everyone looked at the daughter of Athena curiously when she entered.
Annabeth smiled at her friends. "Rachel is keeping Chiron busy; she faked a fainting spell and he bought it hook, line and sinker." Nico gave her a mischievous smirk as he shook his head. "What?" Annabeth asked.
"You're starting to sound like Percy," Nico said, but he regretted it as soon as the words came out of his mouth. Annabeth's face fell and she looked at the ground sadly. Grover elbowed the son of Hades in the ribs, hard. "Hey, that hurt!" Grover just glared at his young friend.
"He didn't mean to upset you," Grover said.
Nico gave a sudden "ohhh" of realization and walked up to Annabeth, placing his hand on her shoulder tentatively. "I... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
Annabeth cut him off, "It's okay, let's get ready to go."
"How do you plan to get us out of here?" Piper asked curiously.
"Nico," Annabeth said.
The son of Hades stepped into the middle of the room; he pulled a small dark object out of his pocket. He pressed it to his lips and a high pitched noise reverberated around the room causing everyone to cover their ears. Suddenly out of the shadows a large hellhound the size of a garbage truck landed on the floor of the cabin. It was a good thing that the main room of the cabin was large or she would have crushed everyone against the walls.
"Mrs. O'Leary," Annabeth said.
Jason and Piper gasped in surprise before hugging the far wall of the cabin. They held onto each other in fear.
Grover and Nico looked at the two with a mischievous smile. "Are you scared or is this a date?" Grover asked as he pointed at the two.
Annabeth rolled her eyes at the satyr. "Don't worry, she's a good hellhound," Annabeth said.
Nico scratched behind the hellhound's ear as the monster beat her tail against the floor of the cabin causing the entire room to shake. "Calm down girl, this is Jason and Piper, be nice," Nico instructed. "This is Mrs. O'Leary, Percy's hellhound."
"Percy has a hellhound?" Jason asked nervously.
"Yeah, she's very sweet," Annabeth said.
"We'll take your word for it," Piper said.
The hellhound walked up to the two demigods and rubbed her head against the two half bloods that were still holding onto each other for dear life. Jason reached out his hand tentatively and rubbed the top of the hellhounds head. Mrs. O'Leary's tail began to beat the ground once again.
"She likes you," Annabeth said. Jason smiled at the hellhound. He turned to look at Piper, and then he realized the position they were in. His cheeks turned red, and then Piper's cheeks turned pink. Jason quickly let go of the daughter of Aphrodite.
"Sorry," he said with a sheepish grin on his face. Piper returned the smile as her cheeks reddened.
Nico cleared his throat. "As much fun as it is to watch another pair of clueless lovebirds, I would like to get out of here," he said sarcastically.
Annabeth punched him in the arm. "Leave them alone Nico," Annabeth ordered. Nico looked at her, and then nodded.
"Annabeth, one problem, we can't all ride Mrs. O'Leary out of here," Grover said.
Annabeth and Nico both smiled mischievously. "Don't worry, I've got a plan," Annabeth said.
"Now you two get on Mrs. O'Leary's back," Nico said as he pointed to Jason and Piper.
"Is it safe?" Piper asked.
Nico grinned fiendishly. "Perfectly." Clarisse rolled her eyes, but a slight smile crossed her lips.
Jason and Piper climbed onto the back of the hellhound. Nico walked up to Mrs. O'Leary and whispered into her ear. Suddenly, the hellhound stood up and ran into the shadows with a pair of screaming half bloods on her back.
Nico turned back to Annabeth who was glaring at him. "What?" Nico asked. Clarisse began to laugh.
"That wasn't very nice," Annabeth said. Nico just shrugged his shoulders. "Now go ahead."
Clarisse watched Nico closely as the son of Hades held the dark object in his hand again. "What is that?" Clarisse asked curiously.
Nico held out the object for Clarisse to see. In Nico's hand was a Stygian iron whistle. It was patterned after the Stygian ice whistle that Daedalus had given Percy years ago. "A whistle," Clarisse said. "I thought it was made of ice."
"The last one was, but it melts after one use," Nico said. "This... can be used over and over again." He said as he held the whistle in front of his face.
Nico placed the whistle between his lips and blew. This time the whistle made several short high pitched noises that sounded like machine gun fire. Suddenly, the shadows in the room morphed into one large massive shape. The mass moved and out from the darkness stepped the guardian of the underworld himself, Cerberus.
Grover bleated loudly. "W-what's h-he doing h-here?"
Cerberus growled slightly at the satyr until Annabeth stepped forward holding a red rubber ball that was the size of a basketball. The three heads of the hellhound looked at the ball expectantly. Clarisse stared at Annabeth, before she gave the daughter of Athena a broad smile.
"You're a good boy, aren't you Cerberus?" Annabeth asked. Nico rolled his eyes.
"He's not a puppy, Annabeth," Nico declared.
"He's a big baby. Aren't you?" Annabeth said. Cerberus just looked at the ball with all three tongues sticking out of his mouths. "Now, I'll play ball once you take Grover, Clarisse and I to meet up with Mrs. O'Leary. Can you do that?" All three of the heads nodded quickly. Cerberus lowered himself to the ground, but he kept at least one or two eyes glued to the red rubber ball. Clarisse, Grover and Annabeth climbed onto the monster's back. Nico whispered into one of Cerberus's ears before the monster jumped into the nearest shadow and disappeared.
Nico stood in cabin three all alone. He looked at Percy's bed. He lowered his head in thought before standing straight with a determined look on his face. "We're going to get you back Perce, I promise," Nico said before he ran into the nearest shadow and disappeared.
Castra Semideus
Scipio stood looking over a map of the island. His hand brushed over the beach on the far side of the island. The water near the beach was shallow and the shoreline was fairly flat. It was a perfect place for a landing site.
"That's where the enemy will land," Scipio murmured.
"What was that, sir?" a voice said. Scipio looked up quickly to see Frank Durant, son of Vulcan. "Sorry sir, I didn't mean to disturb you." Scipio waved his hand dismissively.
"Report," Scipio ordered.
"We've completed enough weapons for each member of the legions," Frank said.
"Good," Scipio said. "What about ammunition?"
"Each legionnaire has thirty rounds each." Scipio smiled at the son of Vulcan.
"Good work, now join your legion. You need to know how to shoot, but make sure that all of you save at least twenty rounds for the enemy," Scipio said. Frank nodded before trading salutes with his leader.
Scipio went back to scanning the map. He looked at the area of beach that he had discovered earlier, and then suddenly he stood up straight just as Lupa stalked into the command tent. The look on Scipio's face made Lupa's eyes widen in surprise.
"Scipio," Lupa said. The son of Neptune snapped out of the trance he was in, but his face morphed into a look of excitement and trepidation.
"The enemy is approaching the island," Scipio said.
"Where?" Lupa asked before she transformed into her human form.
"They will land here." He gestured to the map. "We have two maybe three hours before they hit the beach." Scipio looked at Lupa for a moment, his brow furrowed in thought. "We can't wait for them to attack us; we need to draw first blood."
"How?" Lupa asked
"We know the location of the landing, it is the only logical spot on that side of the island," Scipio rationalized.
"You want to setup an ambush," Lupa guessed. She looked at Scipio with a hint of worry in her eyes.
Scipio nodded. "I want to prepare my plan. Can you contact the first, third, fifth and seventh legions?" he asked.
"Yes, I take it the rest will stay here for defense," Lupa said.
"Yes, have the legions that are part of my plan meet me near the eastern entrance to camp," Scipio said. Lupa nodded before she turned back into a wolf and raced out of the command tent. Scipio scanned the map again until he saw the forest near the beach. A broad smile lit up his face. "It's time to show our enemies what it means to fight Rome."
Scipio touched the trident pendant on his necklace; his body began to glow as the golden armor appeared on his body with the familiar gold helmet on his head. He pulled the shotgun out of his bag and slung it over his shoulder with a belt filled with shotgun shells. Scipio strode out of the command tent on his way to battle.
San Francisco, CA – Residential Neighborhood
The two hellhounds and the son of Hades exploded out of the shadows in a park just outside of downtown San Francisco. Kids pointed towards the two hellhounds, shouting about bulldozers and dump trucks. Jason and Piper fell off of Mrs. O'Leary's back clutching their stomachs as they emptied their breakfast into the grass.
Annabeth and Grover jumped off of Cerberus. Annabeth threw the ball into a group of trees. Cerberus bounded toward the ball and disappeared into the shadows as soon as one of its heads clutched the ball in its mouth.
Nico walked up to Mrs. O'Leary; he was a little wobbly from the shadow travelling, but he managed to whisper in the hellhound's ear. Mrs. O'Leary disappeared into the nearest shadow.
Annabeth walked up to Jason and Piper. They were both on the ground, but they were no longer puking their guts out.
"It's strange at first, but you'll get used to it," Annabeth said.
Jason stood up, and then he helped Piper to her feet. "We're okay," Jason said as he looked at Piper questioningly. Piper nodded.
"Where are we?" Piper asked curiously.
Annabeth pointed to a light blue three story house. It had a large bay window in the front and a rounded turret on the corner. "That's my house," Annabeth said. Everyone looked at the house, and then Grover smiled.
"I hear your step mom makes good sandwiches," Grover said. Annabeth rolled her eyes.
"Who'd you hear that from, Percy?" Annabeth asked.
"I told him," a familiar voice said. Everyone turned to see Thalia standing next to the group of trees. She whistled and eleven other teenage girls appeared dressed in silver. They all eyed Jason and Nico warily as they approached the group of demigods and their satyr friend.
Grover's eyes lit up at the sight of the hunters. Thalia shook her head at Grover's antics. "Thank the gods Flaming Valdez isn't here, I don't think I could take another admirer."
Jason and Piper laughed.
"Let's go, and Thalia," Annabeth started as she looked at her best friend. "Try to keep the hunters from killing my dad and half brothers." Thalia nodded.
Annabeth knocked on the door of the house; she looked around the neighborhood to make sure no monsters were around. The door opened to reveal her father dressed in a strange outfit, he wore some type of full body work suit and a skull cap with goggles. He had thick gloves on his hands and he smelled of diesel fuel.
"Annabeth," Dr. Chase said.
"Hi Dad. Can my friends and I come in? I called, remember?" Annabeth asked.
Dr. Chase seemed to think of something at first, and then his brow furrowed in thought. "Ah yes, you've come to help Percy." Annabeth nodded at her father before turning towards Thalia as she rolled her eyes. "Come on in."
The demigods and hunters entered the house. Two little boys sat in the living room playing Lego Star Wars on their Wii game system. They were arguing about which character they were going to play. When the demigods and hunters entered the house they both stopped and eyed the silver clad girls curiously.
"Annabeth!" they yelled as they spotted her and ran to hug her tightly. Annabeth's face turned red as Nico and Grover smiled at her mischievously.
"Hey guys, can you let me go? My friends and I need to talk to dad."
"Sure thing, are you going to be here for a while?" Bobby asked.
"A little, but we're trying to help Percy," Annabeth said quietly. When she said Percy the twin's eyes widened and sly smiles spread across their faces.
"Annie's got a boyfriend," they both sang, over and over again.
Normally, Annabeth would threaten them, but she just stood there quietly as a look of pain and anguish crossed her face. The look changed quickly to anger as she grabbed her half brothers by their collars.
"Hey, let us go," Matthew yelled.
Helen, Annabeth's stepmom stepped out of the kitchen. She had seen the whole incident. When she saw Annabeth's face she grabbed the two twins under each arm and dragged them to the stairs. Annabeth let go of them quickly.
"Go to your room this instant," Helen said.
"Mom," the two boys whined.
"I don't want to hear it, go to your room now," Helen yelled. The two boys ran up the stairs quickly, their footsteps echoing across the floor upstairs before they slammed their bedroom door angrily.
Helen walked over to Annabeth and gave her a hug. She whispered something in her ear before letting go. Annabeth stared at her stepmother thankfully, but her face was no longer angry, instead it was filled with sadness. Dr. Chase walked back into the living room.
"Are you okay, dear?" Dr. Chase asked worriedly when he saw her face.
"Yeah, dad. My friends and I need to talk to you," Annabeth said. The demigods and the satyr followed Dr. Chase into his study. Annabeth's dad's study was usually filled with books and model displays, but today it was crammed full of machine parts. There was oil on the floor and tools everywhere.
"Dad, what is all this?" Annabeth asked as she shook her head at the mess.
"Oh, this is a Sherman tank; I've always wanted to put one together," Dr. Chase said. The demigods just stared at him like he was a mad professor, which was actually not too far from the truth.
Thalia stepped forward. "You might remember me," she said. "I'm Thalia, Annabeth's friend."
"Of course, I remember you. So nice to see you again," Dr. Chase said.
Annabeth cleared her throat. "Dad, do you have a map of San Francisco in here?"
Dr. Chase started opening desk drawers and file cabinets until he eventually pulled out an old beat up map. He knocked a few loose parts off his desk that hit the floor with a loud bang. He unrolled the map and spread it across the desk. "Here you go," Dr. Chase said proudly.
Annabeth and her friends stood around the table as Annabeth and Jason looked at the map. Annabeth looked up at Jason expectantly. "Does any of this look familiar?" she asked.
Jason looked at the map, his brow was furrowed and he looked like he was concentrating hard. Suddenly, he clutched his head in pain. Thalia and Piper grabbed a hold of him before he fell to the floor.
"Are you okay?" Thalia asked in concern.
Jason shook his head a few times and massaged his temples with his hands. He steadied himself as his sister and friend let go of him. He held onto the table carefully. "Camp is on an island, it's some kind of nature preserve," Jason said shakily.
Annabeth looked at the San Francisco Bay; she looked at all the islands on the map until she came to a large island in the middle of the bay.
"Angel Island is run by the park service, could that be it?" Annabeth asked.
Jason studied the map of the island. "No, there's too much on that island, the camp's too well hidden to be there," Jason said.
Annabeth looked at the map again until she saw a group of islands just outside of San Francisco Bay; they were rocky and incredibly hard to get to. There were large reefs and rock outcrops that would have made boat travel treacherous. "What about the Farrallon Islands?" Annabeth asked.
Jason's eyes seemed to widen in realization. He pulled the map closer to him. He stared at it as if suddenly a light had gone off in his mind. "That's it, but the island is positioned here, in the middle of those rocky outcrops. The island is actually hidden by the Mist, no one knows about it at all," Jason said as he pointed to the location on the map.
Grover visibly gulped as he looked at the area. "How do we get there?" he asked.
Dr. Chase looked at the map. "That's where this company shark dives. They're supposed to have some terrific cage diving expeditions," Dr. Chase said.
"What k-kind of sh-sharks?" Grover stammered nervously.
"Great whites I believe," Dr. Chase said. Everyone in the room eyed Annabeth's dad in fear.
"How in Hades are we supposed to get there?" Thalia asked incredulously.
"Personally, I don't want to end up an appetizer," Nico said, as Grover flopped on the floor. He curled up in the corner of the room murmuring something about red water and the movie Jaws.
"I have a boat you could use," Dr. Chase suggested. Everyone looked at Annabeth's father in wonder.
"Dad, when did you get a boat?" Annabeth asked curiously.
"Well, a navy friend and I have been restoring this world war two PT boat. We just finished last week, it should be able to get you all through the rocks and to the island," Dr. Chase explained.
Thalia stepped toward the door of the room. "What are we waiting for?" Thalia asked. Annabeth rolled up the map off the table and walked toward Thalia. Jason, Nico and Clarisse all turned to look at Grover. He was still on the floor, but he looked up as he sensed the others watching him.
"What?" Grover asked.
"Get up goat boy, we gotta go," Clarisse said loudly. Grover flinched as the daughter of Ares walked toward him. Grover stood up quickly and joined the others.
Dr. Chase led the group to his large cargo van. There was plenty of room for the demigods, satyr and Hunters. Annabeth sat in the passenger seat as her dad drove the group to the marina. They parked the van in the large lot filled with trucks and boats on trailers. Everyone exited the van carrying their weapons and duffel bags.
"Can all of us fit on the boat?" Jason asked.
"Sure, PT boats would sometimes hold over twenty people, especially during rescue operations," Dr. Chase said.
The group walked down the dock until they reached a group of floating docks just off the main boat ramp. Everyone followed Dr. Chase expectantly as they approached a large olive green boat. It was long and sleek, and looked like it could fly through the water.
"Annabeth, here are the keys, please take care of it. I'd hate to have to explain to my friend Roger if something happened to his pride and joy," Dr. Chase said.
"We'll do our best, dad," Annabeth said, before giving her dad a tight hug.
"All of you please be careful," Dr. Chase said as he walked off the dock and toward his van. Everyone, including the Hunters, waved after him.
Annabeth stood in front of the controls and turned the key. The motor roared to life. It was loud and the boat shook at the power of the engines.
"This is so damn cool," Clarisse said as she stood next to Annabeth.
Thalia walked over with Jason at her side. "Are you sure you can drive this thing?" she asked nervously.
Annabeth eyed her friends. "Don't worry, Poseidon won't drown either of you or Nico," she reassured them. "Remember, we're doing this for Percy." Thalia, Jason and Nico both nodded. Annabeth backed the boat out of the slip and maneuvered toward San Francisco Bay. "Next stop, Castra Semideus."
AN: Next chapter includes the battle, plus the arrival of the Greeks and Jason. Stay tuned more to come.