Wow. Hey, remember me? The person who hasn't updated in, like, forever? I'm sorry for the wait. I actually had this chapter half-done a few months back, and accidently deleted it. And then I just didn't have a chance to write again, and when I did, I couldn't bring myself to re-write so much work. But, in the end I obviously sucked it up and I think it turned out better in this version than my first draft, anyways. :) Shout outs:
Swimmergirl101- I did see Catching Fire! :D It was awesome! I honestly don't have a favorite scene, though. It was just great all the way through! ;) Jennifer Lawrence did an incredible job!
Wisdom's Daughter6- Yeah, I'm not a huge Thalico fan, either. I'm just writing it 'cuz I kinda promised to in School of Secrets. *SPOILER* It doesn't last ;)
Many thanks to everyone who reviewed and stuck with me through the ridiculous wait! Here's your much-deserved update! ;)
Disclaimer: (*To the tune of ABCs*) A-B-C-D-E-F-G, PJO for you and me, H-I-J-K-L-M-N-O-P, UH-OH, RR is mad at me, Q-R-S-T-U-V, I own nothing, oops hehe ,W-X-Y and Z, he owns all, enjoy my stor-y
Annabeth's POV
"He could be anywhere," Percy grumbled for the umpteenth time. I ignored him; I knew secretly, he was just as worried about our mentor as I was. If he hadn't been, he would have returned to the Base long ago.
"That's why we need to be practical about this," I said matter-of-factly, waving my paper brochure map in one hand. Across the web of lines and street names, little red marks denoted where we'd already checked. It felt like we'd been everywhere, and my feet were killing me, but out trail of red slashes barely made a dent in Manhattan.
Besides that, it was hot. Really hot. There was no cloud cover, so the sun beamed down on our uncovered heads and arms with all the ferocity it could muster. Ah, the joys of summer.
Was it summer? It had to be, it was too hot to be any other season. It seemed not to long ago, it would have seemed stupid to not know something as simple as the date. Now, with my train wreck of a life, it was an easy thing to overlook. I couldn't even recall what month Percy had arrived at the MIST Academy. November? Or was it October? For some reason, it bothered me. I felt disoriented, not knowing common facts that I'd used to know off the top of my head.
"Percy, what day is it?" I blurted out, watching him from the corner of my eye as we walked. His face twisted into a mask of confusion, and my heart sank. He didn't know, either.
"Uh… June something, I think. Maybe? It is June, right?"
"I don't know," I muttered miserably. When had this happened to us? When did we stop keeping up with little mundane things like dates? "Do you know what day of the week it is?"
"Tuesday?" Percy said hesitantly, shooting me a baffled look. "Does it matter, Wise Girl?"
"No," I sighed, making an effort to shake it off. Of course Percy wouldn't care about something like the date. He was a guy, just like Zoe had said. Little things tended to slip past guys.
Thinking of Zoe, my mind turned in another direction. Zoe, and her group. All girls, travelling the country, fighting monsters. Something about the idea made me feel wistful inside, like a kid watching her friend open presents on her birthday. I want that, I thought sullenly. Never going home. I'd never have to see my stepmom. I wouldn't have to stick around and fight for a mom who left me.
Besides me, Percy started whistling in a small attempt to lighten the mood.
I'd have to leave Percy. The thought made me sick, and I tried to make myself believe it was because I was a good, caring girlfriend. Some part of me wasn't sure that was it, though. Some part of me wondered if it was just because I knew he'd never consider leaving me, just to escape his problems. The sky seemed to darken with my guilt- or so I thought, until Percy broke off his whistling, staring at the sky in surprise. The sky really had darkened.
"What the…" I began, following Percy's gaze up to the suddenly overcast sky. The previously clear, sunny sky was now covered in clouds speeding across the sky at unnatural speeds. It reminded me of those videos, where the weather's been sped up to give the illusion of time passing.
I followed the path of the rain-dark clouds, my eyes no doubt widening when I saw the clouds weren't just going way too fast; they were gathering around the top of the Empire State building. Bolts of lightning split through the clouds, illuminating the darkened shape of the huge building in blinding flashes of white light. Then I noticed another odd thing; there was no thunder. It had an eerie effect, the bolts of lightning streaking across a quiet city. Not just quiet; silent. No birds chirping, no people talking, and no thunder filling Manhattan with the sound of its booming bang.
Percy glanced at me, his green eyes as wide as saucers. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his ballpoint pen, gripping it so tightly his knuckles turned white. Pulling out a knife I'd tucked in my belt, I tried to school my shaking hands to no avail. I tried not to think about our fight with Kronos- also to no avail. We weren't prepared for another fight, and we both knew it.
Sometimes, though, you don't have a choice. I'd just have to hope it wouldn't come to that.
The Lobby in the Empire State building was empty, the swivel desk chair still spinning like the guard had only just left. With no better plan, Percy and I hurried to the elevator, planning to go as far up as we could. To our surprise, that turned out to be the 600th floor.
"Doesn't this place have only 102 floors?" Percy asked hesitantly, his hand ghosting over the golden impossible button.
I swallowed dryly and said, "Yeah."
"Right, then," Percy said, exhaling roughly. "Here goes nothing." And he pressed the button. What happened next was surprisingly anticlimactic, for an elevator that could supposedly go 498 extra floors into thin air.
The elevator began to move upwards, and the customary terrible elevator music filled the carrier. I could have done without all the suspense.
"This is torture," I gulped, sharing my thoughts if only to break the stifling silence.
"What, the wait or the Britney Spears music?" Percy joked weakly, attempting a smile. I gave a small laugh, giving him a real grin. Even with our mentor missing and a possible war brewing above our heads, Percy could still crack lame jokes. I loved him all the more for it.
Ding, announced the elevator, coming to a sudden stop that made my stomach drop. Before us, the doors slid open.
"Whoa," Percy gasped, and I could only nod in mute agreement. The sight that greeted us was both terrifying and amazing. Ahead of us, a thin path just wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side stretched into empty air. As if to further defy gravity, the path was made of what looked suspiciously like golden bricks. After several feet, the path widened into a small road- still made of gold- lined with flowers so perfect they had to be fake and small mansions made of marble. The further down the path I could see, the more elaborate the buildings got, until eventually my eyes found a huge building with huge columns supporting a pointed, gold-rimmed roof. Steps led up to an enormous set of double doors shut tight.
That was the amazing part. The terrifying part was the empty space just below the path, where spaces in the dark clouds showed specks of pavement and the tops of buildings, hundreds of feet below us. Not only that, but the clouds were even thicker up here, to the point where it was dark enough to have been night. They appeared to center around the huge building at the end of the twisting golden path, and I knew that was where Percy and I needed to go.
"C'mon," Percy said, evidently reaching the same conclusion. Stepping hesitantly onto the path, he deemed it solid and hurried a few steps further. "Coming, Wise Girl?" He asked when he saw I hadn't moved an inch.
"Yeah," I said, taking a deep breath and taking a small step forward. Now, I'm not scared of heights. But I am a firm believer in things like- oh, I don't know- say, the laws of physics, for example. And gravity. And I also know that something cannot be suspended in midair without any support without falling. Did I mention gravity?
"It'll hold, Annabeth," Percy assured me, seeming to pick up on my concern.
"How do you know?" I challenged, stepping a little further nonetheless.
"I don't," my boyfriend admitted. "But it is, right? And we need to get up there," he added, pointing to the huge building. "Like, right now."
Priority defeated logic. I gave in and followed him, trying to ignore my sweating palms and the dizzying drop below me.
As we passed the marble houses, I distracted myself by taking in the amazing detail. Huge columns with elaborate gold carvings, marble archways and delicate fountains pouring crystal clear water into little basins, stain glass windows that caught the little available light and filtered it in a magnificent display of color- the list went on and on. Then we reached the huge castle/mansion, which was more impressive than anything else we'd seen.
"What is this place?" Percy asked, shaking his head in disbelief. "It's impossible."
"Must be a Base," I suggested.
"The Titans' Base, or the gods'?" Percy asked. I didn't reply. I didn't know, either.
"One way to find out," I said finally. The doors, despite their size, swung open with surprising ease. Slipping inside, Percy and I braced ourselves for what we might find-
-and froze. It wasn't a war, but it might have well have been. We were in an expansive, lavish room with a long meeting table in the middle. Sitting at the table were several people dressed in varying clothes, seated in odd chairs ranging from one carved with skulls to one that smelt strongly of perfume and flowers. The occupants of the chairs- each odder than the last- were all alight with fury, yelling at each other over the table, their faces red with anger. They were so busy screaming at each other, they didn't notice us slip inside.
In a split second, I made up my mind. Grabbing Percy's hand, I pulled him behind a huge potted plant, ducking down so I was out of view. Percy, although confused, followed my lead.
"Why are we hiding?" He whispered. "Don't we want to know what's wrong?"
"If we go out there, they'll send us away. We'll find out more this way." I explained under my breath.
"How do you know they'll send us away?" Percy asked, still looking confused.
"Isn't that what parents do when they don't want their kids to know how serious something is?" I retorted, and Percy stared.
"These are the gods?" He asked, looking slightly dubious as his shock receded.
"Yeah. Look at that one- he looks just like you, Percy. That has to be your dad." I explained, nodding toward a tall, tanned man in a palm tree t-shirt. Recognition flashed across my boyfriend's face, and he nodded.
"'Course," he muttered. "'Cuz only the most powerful Union in the world would argue with each other by screaming like toddlers."
"Percy," I scolded. "Have a little respect. These are our parents!"
"Not all of them," he retorted smugly. I had no answer to that. Turning my attention back to the scene before us, I focused on the argument.
"-Have to find him right away!" One man argued.
"No, Hermes, we do not," another shot back, hitting his lightning shaped staff against the hard floor for emphasize. Glancing at me, Percy mouthed "Zeus". I nodded, returning my attention to the quarreling Union.
"Our children need Chiron," Another snarled, rolling up his leather jacket as if to punch Zeus.
"Control yourself, Ares," snapped a woman sitting to Zeus's right.
"Oh, please, Hera," spat Leather Jacket- Ares. "Just because you don't have any kids-"
"I didn't break the rules!" The woman shrieked in return.
"-doesn't mean you have the right to leave ours stranded!"
"No one's stranding anyone," Percy's dad jumped in.
"Chiron's your friend, Poseidon," Ares spat. "I'd think you of all people would want to find him!"
"I never said I didn't," Poseidon argued, his green eyes flashing dangerously. "But the Titans-"
"Can wait!" Shrieked a gorgeous woman in a long dress. "My children-"
"Trust me, Aphrodite, no one would attack your children," sneered Hera haughtily. "No one cares about them, despite what your Instagram followers tell you."
"Why you little-"
"Why don't we all just calm down and-"
"Shut up, Apollo, nobody asked you!"
"Don't give me that, you-"
"-this is-"
"-can we-"
"-why you-"
"SILENCE!"
Immediately everyone's words died in their throats, lost in the fury of the new speaker. An eerie quit fell across the group, all looking at the woman who'd stood up, her eyes blazing with rage. I couldn't move, and for a moment I swear I stopped breathing.
The woman had curly blonde hair pulled into a tight ponytail and gray eyes that dared anyone to challenge her. Looking at her, I saw someone else. Myself. She looked like me.
Mom.
"You are all acting like children," she hissed, her voice dangerous and quiet. Besides me, Percy gave me an I-told-you-so look, but I ignored him."Since you cannot solve this like mature adults, I'll tell you what we'll do."
Protests broke out, ("Who put you in charge, Athena? Sit down!") but the tall blonde silenced them with a burning glare.
"We'll send the minor gods out as searchers to locate Chiron and retrieve him. Our job here is against the Titans. We cannot afford to be divided now. Is that understood?" Silence met her words, which she seemed to take as a "yes".
"Good," she said with a curt nod. "Meeting dismissed." She didn't walk out like I'd thought she would, though. Instead, she waited, watching as all the others slowly filed out. Then, once the last god had slipped away and the door had swept shut, she spoke.
"Come out."
Behind the plant, Percy and I froze. As if to dispel any lingering doubt, Athena fixed her piercing gaze on the plant.
"Now."
Like children caught with one hand in the cookie jar, Percy and I got to our feet and shuffled out from behind the plant. Athena's eyes skirted over Percy distastefully, but then froze on me. I realized for the first time that she was surprised; she'd seen Percy come in, but I must have somehow slipped her notice. Then the moment was over, and the goddess had buried her shock.
"Names," she said simply.
"Percy Jackson," Percy muttered sheepishly. "I'm, uh, Pos-"
"Yes, I can tell," Athena interrupted, her chilling gaze sweeping back over to me. "And you?"
"Annabeth Chase," I said, my voice sounding small in the huge room. I'd never felt younger in my life.
"Daughter of…?" Athena prompted, her eyes never leaving mine.
"Athena," I said, my voice echoing again, as if taunting eyes abruptly left mine, and she turned away from us.
"Leave," she ordered, walking away. "Go back to your Base."
"Wait, Mom!" I blurted, stepping toward her, suddenly wanting so badly to hear her say something nice and parent-like. Maybe tell me she hadn't wanted to leave, or that she was proud of our escape from MIST Academy. Something, anything.
She stopped, turning back to face me. Her cool eyes showed no emotion, and her face might have well have been carved marble.
"Go home, Annabeth," she ordered.
"But-"
"Go home." Then she turned and kept on walking away. This time, she didn't stop.
"C'mon, Annabeth," Percy said softly, taking my hand in his gently. "Who needs her, anyway? Let's get out of here." I followed him out in a stunned silence.
I was almost to the elevator before I noticed I was crying.
Aw, poor Annabeth :( Once again, sorry for the long wait! I'll try to be quicker next time. Until next time!