"Tell me that isn't what I think it is," Percy pleaded quietly as he stared at it over my shoulder.
I didn't answer him. My heart was hammering and my blood was boiling in fury. She was using my own house against me now? "We need to leave," I insisted sternly, dropping the glass and spinning around. "Now." Percy nodded as thunder cracked loudly outside, rain suddenly splattering against the windows.
I followed Percy down the stairs, taking two at a time until we reached the front door. Percy's hand latched around the handle and pulled, but the door wouldn't budge. He shot me an exasperated look, and I took hold right beside him and put as much weight into it as possible. It still didn't move an inch.
"I don't think we're getting through there," he breathed, stepping away from the door with an irritated frown. My throat closed up at the thought of getting Percy caught in all this, and I could almost hear Poseidon telling me that Hera would never hurt Percy on purpose. I almost apologised.
Outside, I could hear Sasha's panicked barking and my heart seized. I wanted to yell, to tell her to get away from the building. Her claws scraped at the door, her voice an angry blur in my head. Whatever she was trying to do wasn't working. Anger faded and I gulped, hands pressed against the door anxiously. The walls of the house were trembling as though they couldn't stand the weight of the roof anymore.
Footsteps pounded back toward me, and Percy took a deep breath, shaking his head. "Back door locked as well," he muttered.
"ACACIA!" a shout came from outside. My heart stopped, and Percy's eyes widened.
"No," I breathed, shaking my head. My chest tightened so hard, it felt like my rib cage was pressing into my lungs.
"ACACIA!" Annabeth's scream came again.
"I don't think she can hear you!" Grover yelled over the noise of the thunder.
"GET BACK!" I shouted, slamming an angry fist into the door. "GET AWAY FROM THE HOUSE!"
"Can they hear?" Percy gulped, but from the sound of their yelling, I doubted it. I could almost see Hera's smug face. I had known there was nothing I could do to save myself from her anger, but Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Sasha . . . the fact I couldn't do anything for them irritated me so much more. They were the closest thing I had to family on this side of the Atlantic. If I couldn't help them, how on Earth could I ever do anything for the gods?"
"THE ENTIRE HOUSE IS GOING TO COLLASPE ON TOP OF MY BEST FRIEND, AND YOU'RE COMPLAINING THAT I AM SHOUTING?" Annabeth screamed at Grover. I scowled, heart almost bursting out of my chest. I could feel my body shaking in anger, my jaw locked. Thunder ripped the air again, and the temperature in the house dropped to well below freezing. Outside, Annabeth and Grover stopped yelling.
"There has to be a way out of here," Percy said desperately, and I shifted, thinking through every situation I'd ever been in while I lived here. I remembered a time when six hellhounds had chewed through the front door and tried to attack my mother, and another time when a monster I'd never heard of before shot through the window and wouldn't stay still long enough for me to target. And of course, there was that time Tisiphone managed to break in through the basement and . . .
"Basement," I breathed, wide eyed. "The basement! I was forever driving monsters out of there."
"That fills me with confidence," he groaned, but I ignored him and hurried past up to the other end of the hallway. Just before I came to the painting of the Big Three, I turned left, where an old door was locked with a rusty padlock. I paused, debating whether or not going underground right now was a good idea, but a pointed look from Percy made me shake the thought away. Stepping back, I slammed my foot into the door right beside the lock, just as the house gave a sudden violent tremble. The door burst open with a resounding crack, banging loudly on the wall behind it.
"Here goes nothing," I gulped, shrugging a shoulder. Trying to calm my panicked heart down, I tore down the stairs, Percy hot on my heels. He kept mumbling under his breath, cursing to himself so many times the air was beginning to turn blue.
Our footsteps sounded oddly depressing against the stone steps as we stumbled into the basement. The supports that held the house up were dotted around and all were shuddering and creaking loudly. My teeth sank into my bottom lip as I hurried around the dusty, cardboard boxes. On the opposite side of the room, more stones steps led up to double, wooden doors in line with the ceiling. They were old and feeble, just like the door I had come through. No problem for a demigod.
Percy and I bolted straight toward it, just as the house creaked and cracked above us. A thunderous thud made the house shudder again, the supports beginning to lean to one side. Cursing so many times, I wondered how I had the time, I hurried up the steps and slammed myself into the doors. But I was at an odd angle and couldn't apply enough force.
"Let me try," Percy insisted, and I staggered out of the way to make room from him. He moved toward it as fast as he could, slamming his shoulder into the door with a painful, dull thud. I winced when he stumbled back down, holding his arm with a tight grimace. "It isn't going to open."
"Acacia?" Annabeth suddenly yelled, banging on the door desperately.
"You can't hear us, right?" Percy sighed. No answer. Groaning, I stepped past him and pounded my fist as hard as I could into the wood. I felt a knuckle crack and was pretty sure Hera had thought of this exit too. Eyes watering in pain, I turned to glance back into the house. The supports were tilting too much now. They creaked and groaned their warnings, but there was nothing either of us could do.
I glanced sideways at Percy. "Move," I instructed, taking a few steps back and prizing my locket open. He immediately skidded out of the way, and I armed an arrow and drew it back as fast as I possibly could. Releasing it with a deep breath, the tip sparked dangerously and it thudded right into the lock. It cracked and rumbled, but nothing happened. Without a word, Percy drew Riptide and swung it directly beside the arrow. Again, the wood shuddered, but nothing happened.
Something Annabeth had said suddenly rang in my head.
"Percy," I breathed, eyes wide. "Remember what Annabeth said about sticking together?"
He snorted sourly. "Yeah, that's looking like it was a better idea."
I ignored him. "And Chiron. He said that children of the Big Three are stronger than other demigods, that's why everyone ended up at war, right?"
"Right," Percy said slowly.
"If that thing won't budge with one of us . . ."
Percy's eyes widened. "Think you can aim that accurately?"
I scowled. "That had better be a rhetorical question." He smirked slightly, swinging Riptide around dangerously. Taking a deep breath, I loaded another arrow and drew the string back. "On the count of three?"
The house gave a thunderous shudder. "Well, I'm not sure we can last any longer than that," he grimaced.
"Focus, Percy!" I frowned. "Ready? Three . . . two . . . one!"
I released the arrow, just as Percy swung Riptide as hard as possible at the rusty old lock.
The tip of the arrow cracked with lightning so bright, I was blink dots out of my eyes for ages. I heard Riptide slam into the same spot that I had aimed for, a millisecond after my arrow made contact. Then something happened, something I hadn't expected.
The gods didn't approve. I knew they didn't. Thunder might as well have screamed at us the rate it was going, but it was too late. Lightning met Riptide, and the resulting explosion was far more than anyone could have anticipated. The deafening bang managed to cancel out the thunder in the background, the light blinding my eyes more than any god's disappearance could have. I only had a second to debate this however, because a wave of force radiated from the blast, crashing into my chest and sending me flying into one of the already weak supports.
My spine killed. My head felt like it was ready to break in two and I couldn't see a thing, a black shroud descending over my eyes. But I didn't need to be able to see. The support gave way completely behind me, the first of many. The house gave an almighty crack on the far side and I felt the plaster breaking off, showering down on me. I blinked furiously, forcing my body to move so that I could stand. But everything burned in protest, refusing to let me move. I wasn't going anywhere. Hera had succeed. She was the cause of my death. Death by collapsing house. It sounded horrible and painful, and I found myself praying it was quick. Stupid really, that I chose now to given.
A shrill bark suddenly rang in my left ear and I cringed away from the noise, my head vibrating in anger. Hands clamped down hard on my arms and pulled, just as the house gave another crack and thud.
"Acacia!" Grover exclaimed desperately, shaking me like a rag doll. The pain was too much. My body shut down, everything numbing instantly. "Acacia, you have to move!" He hauled me toward the steps and I heard Sasha bark indignantly and Annabeth whimper loudly.
"Grover, quick! You're not moving fast enough!" she warned, gulping. I could just about make out Percy slumped in her arms.
"Thanks for the confidence Annabeth," Grover groaned, hauling me toward the door. I shuddered. I was going to die, right here, being dragged along by a satyr. How embarrassing.
Then I seemed to register that every single one of my friends was down here and the thought brought back the anger that had been burning so strongly just minutes before. I gritted my teeth, staggering to my feet and taking a handful of Grover's sleeve. He seemed frozen by my sudden movement, but I stumbled toward the steps. He shook himself, hurrying after me and helping me up the stairs.
Just as I felt my knees hit the grass outside, the house gave up its fight. The entire structure just collapsed, right behind us, as my body did the exact same thing. Eyes closed and breathing heavily, I slumped to the ground, muscles sore and tried. I'd barely been there for a second, when Ananbeth was hauling me to my feet.
"Acacia, Hera's coming!" she hissed. I gulped silently, stumbling along beside her as Grover dragged Percy to safety. We hurried toward a group of trees nearby, where Annabeth let me sink to the ground behind one of them. I opened my eyes again, blinking furiously to try and get my sight back. The first thing I saw was Annabeth's arms tighten around me, tears sliding down her cheeks.
"I thought you were dead," she mumbled through her tears.
Percy snorted weakly from somewhere beside me. "Yeah, well Hera does," he muttered.
I frowned, breathing heavily. "What?" I asked, almost scared to believe him. He smirked, nodding around the tree. I leant over carefully and felt my eyebrows raise. Hera was stood beside the pile that had been my house, wearing a smug expression. "She thinks I'm dead?"
"Seems like it," Grover bleated quietly. I let out a relieved laugh, turning and pressing myself back into the tree.
"Hallelujah," I mumbled, trying not to fall asleep. "Maybe she'll leave me alone for a while, huh?"
"We'll stay here for an hour or so," Annabeth muttered. "Hera wouldn't expect us to hang around. Then we should really get on with the quest. We're running out of time."
"Oh, I'm sorry, is saving my life taking too much time?" I asked sarcastically. She rolled her eyes at me, but sent me a relieved smile. I snorted, scowling. "Don't do that next time."
"Do what?" Grover asked.
"Come back," I replied. "Especially you, Percy. Actually in the house, while Hera was trying so hard to kill me?" His eyes widened.
"I had no idea she'd collapse the house on you," he frowned.
"And if you three get killed because of me?" I questioned with a lump in my throat.
"You'd have never gotten out of there without Percy," Annabeth scowled irritably. "You don't have to do everything alone." I didn't have time to argue. Before I could so much as open my mouth, a blinding golden light emitted through the trees from the right, and the four of us winced, automatically turning our heads away with closed eyes.
When I finally managed to open them again, a woman was stood directly opposite me, her eyes never wavering from my face. Long black hair was wrapped into a bun on the back of her head, and her startling grey eyes looked so familiar I found myself frowning. She was tall, beautiful and lean, wearing jeans, combat boots and a white blouse. But it wasn't until Annabeth let out a small whimper that I realised who this was.
"Please, I wish to speak to Miss Grace alone," Athena said in a clear voice, without every looking at any of the others. Annabeth hesitated, her eyes wide as she stared up at her mother.
"Guys, go find somewhere to eat," I muttered, dropping my gaze, unable to look Athena in the eyes any longer. "I'll catch up."
"Acacia-"
"Percy, go," I ordered.
"Acacia will be fine Perseus Jackson," Athena said shortly. "You correctly assumed Hera believes her to be dead and I can assure you I mean her no harm. Now please, leave us. I will not ask again." Percy hauled himself to his feet and, even after Athena had threatened him, hesitated. Frowning slightly, he shook himself and headed out of the forest, Annabeth and Grover close behind him.
Athena paused for a moment, apparently waiting until the others were out of earshot. "I must say, I am impressed," she said with a small smile. "Fooling a god is never an easy task, but you seem to have managed rather well. I will admit, I did not agree with Artemis's decision to give you the tests, but you have accomplished more than I thought you would."
"Erm, thanks," I mumbled. Athena pursed her lips, as though waiting for something. "I don't mean to sound rude, but I did that by accident. And if it hadn't been for Percy-"
"Yes, yes, I know what the boy did," Athena dismissed quickly. "I do not deny he had a hand in this. For that reason, you will still have to prove yourself to me. You have passed Artemis's and Demeter's test, have you not?"
"Yes," I answered, a little uncertainly.
"Poseidon has visited you, has he not?"
"Yes."
"And you have evaded Hera several times, have you not?"
"Yes."
"Then there you go," she smiled. "I think it is fair to say you are far too impulsive to think things through. And though I do not agree with your methods, they appear effective. No one thinks your journey has been easy, young half-blood. But it will get worse. However, you have around two years."
"Two years? I thought I had ten days!" I gawped.
Athena grimaced at me, nodding. "With, erm, certain complications-"
"Hera," I scowled.
She sighed. "Quite. But Hera's actions are making things a little difficult to deal with. Every time a god tries to test you, she gets in the way. And I am afraid she will not give up. So yes child, you get two years."
"Wow," I breathed. I wasn't sure whether or not I was relieved or worried.
"Good luck, Acacia Grace," Athena said, as she turned to head back. "I do hope you succeed. Most demigods can be... tiresome." With that, she disappeared in a blinding gold light, leaving me predictably confused.