I slashed Riptide toward the monster. He whinnied and flew backward. Wait, whinnied?
"Blackjack!" I cried, capping Riptide again. "How many times have I told you not to do that!?"
Sorry boss. Oh, man, I can still feel that Celestial Bronze...
"Well," I said, "that's your fault."
Oh, sure, blame the horse.
"What are you doing out of the stables?"
Porkpie was annoying me.
"Again? Come on, I told you to just tell him to stop."
Yeah, well, he stole my sugar cubes. What are you doing out after curfew? Aren't you worried about harpies?
"This is for Annabeth, Blackjack. Wanna give me a lift to the Big House?"
Too lazy?
"Ha-ha."
Blackjack knelt on the ground and allowed me to climb on. He soared down the hill, and right before we reached the Big House, skirted up above it. He did several 360s and spun upside down, basically anything to make me sick.
"Just set me down!" I cried.
You're boring. Fine.
We touched down in front of the Big House. I climbed off Blackjack's back.
"Thanks, big guy. I'll tell the Demeter cabin to give you some extra sugar cubes."
He neighed happily and flew off.
Inside the Big House, I could see the fireplace. Chiron say by it in wheelchair-form, reading The Illiad in Ancient Greek. Mr. D wasn't there, probably off sleeping or arguing
with his siblings or griping to satyrs.
"Chiron?" I asked quietly.
He turned and gave me a warm smile. "Percy, what are you doing here? It's after curfew."
"It's... It's about Annabeth."
The centaur's smile faded. He'd known Annabeth since she was seven, so almost ten years, and he didn't like to see her hurt. He set his book on the table beside him and motioned for me to come in. I closed the door quietly behind me, just in case Dionysus was sleeping. I'd heard enough of his annoying "reasons" and griping, I didn't need it tonight. Luckily, he didn't come downstairs.
"What's going on?" Chiron asked.
I told him about all that had happened, though I left out the part about Nico. It hurt too much to say aloud. When I finished, he nodded quietly, thinking.
"What should I do?" I asked.
"The last time a disease came through the borders," he started, then shook his head.
"What?"
"No, I swore on the River Styx."
Thunder boomed in the distance.
"What should I do?" I asked again.
Chiron didn't answer at first, just starred off quietly. I could tell that his mind was running a million miles an hour, perhaps to Olympus and back. Finally, he sighed.
"I can't tell you."
Anger bubbled inside of me. "What do you mean you can't tell me?"
"Percy, do you remember your journey to the Sea of Monsters? What your mother told you?"
"To follow my heart."
Chiron watched me expectantly. I sighed.
"So, you want me to watch her, and follow her if she leaves again? And watch out for Nico?"
Chiron smiled. "If you say so."
The next morning came quickly, and luckily, without dreams. Demigod dreams are never good, especially when your girlfriend has a disease that your trainer who's thousands of years old can't tell you.
I dressed quickly, inspected the cabin, and helped Tyson clean out. We waited for Drew, the counselor of the Aphrodite cabin after Silena... died, to inspect it. She was by all means a brat, like most of Aphrodite's children, so I wasn't expecting a 5 out of 5. She came and stood at the door, gave us an unamused look, then gagged.
"What?" I demanded.
"Seawater," she muttered, and marked us down as 3 out of 5. Better than 1, I guess.
Breakfast came shortly after. This morning it was french toast (it would've been my favorite if it were blue). I scraped a portion into the fire and prayed,
"Poseidon, please aid me on this... Well, just help me!"
I also mentioned Athena, but I doubted she would hear me. The goddess of wisdom tends to frown upon her enemy's son dating her daughter.
I ate in silence, unhappily. I still had no idea how I was going to deal with this, let alone fix it. I hoped that Poseidon had heard my prayer, because I was going to need it. As I finished eating, I was too lazy to go to fencing, even if Clarisse would gut me. Wouldn't be the first time. The lake seemed beautiful today, which shouldn't have been. Annabeth was sick. Even through the camp's borders, it should be hailing.
Before I could work myself up too much, Annabeth's half-brother Malcolm came running up to me.
"Annabeth... she... is..." he stammered between breaths.
"Malcolm, calm down. What's going on?"
He took a deep breath and starred at me. "What did you do to Annabeth?"
"What?"
"She came to the cabin angry, and this morning Nico showed up at our cabin."
Anger boiled in me. "Nico?"
"She... She thought we were asleep, but I wasn't. I watched her as she packed a bag, then left the cabin."
"Where'd she go?" I demanded, standing up.
He shrugged. "With Nico. Something about Mae Castellan..."
I got up and sprinted toward my cabin. I grabbed my shield off the wall (Tyson had fixed it up for me) and bolted out. Nico was going to pay.