Chapter XII: Annabeth
Annabeth is trying to sleep in her cabin.
They had landed at Sparta. Hazel and Leo had got off while Percy and Jason were guarding. Annabeth can't catch a wink of sleep. Or maybe she is just afraid to. The last few days had been a nightmare. After Tartarus, she thought nothing could be worse.
She was wrong. First the telkhines, then Euryale and now the Panes. She had tried to convince the others that they were harmless but she knew that with so many in number, the Panes would easily overtake them.
She rests her head on the bed and stares up at the ceiling. Thats when the trouble begins.
The warning bell rings loud and clear. Annabeth leaps out of bed. She cautiously creeps around the corner of the lower floor of the Argo II when she hears rustling behind her. She brings her sword down to level with Piper's face. Piper lets out a gasp.
"I'm so sorry!" Annabeth exclaims. "I thought it was a monster!"
"Chill, its okay," Piper replies. "Speaking of monsters, we should check on the others."
Annabeth can't agree more. They both turn around and sprint in the direction they had just came from.
Annabeth wishes she didn't come upstairs. The Panes have somehow made it up onto the ship. Percy, Jason and Frank stand back to back in the middle, trapped by the Panes.
The minute she walks on deck, they turn their attention to her. There are too many to count. Annabeth considers fainting on the spot and then shakes her head defiantly. She expertly wields her sword in hand and turns to face the Panes.
After that is chaos. She lifts her sword and slashes right through a Pane. It provides a boost of energy in Annabeth. The others take on the rest. One of the creatures charged at Annabeth. She sidesteps easily and stabs it in its chest.
Frank appears beside her. He parries a strike and slams it with his shield. Frank presses forward and falls to the ground. Annabeth rushes to his side. "Frank?"
"I'm fine!" he breathes out. "Keep going!"
Annabeth blocks the next blade. She rolls to the side and brings her sword down. Another one jabs at her stomach. She locks its hilt in hers and twists it. Her opponent's sword falls to the ground. Annabeth drives her blade straight through.
Percy had taken care of most of the Panes. That was so comforting about him. You could always trust him to be a whirlpool. Right now, he charges against a Pane and defends its strike. He slammed its head with the butt of his sword and it fell backwards. Percy didnt wait to slash Riptide straight through it.
Meanwhile Jason has struck his blade into two of the Panes at once. His eyes are wide and hair is ruffled. Beside him, stands Piper. She is in the monster's grasp. Piper whips her knife Katropis upwards which cuts the Pane's shoulder.
On Annabeth's other side is Frank. His face is defiant. He slices his way through a couple of Panes and vaporises any who come close to him. Annabeth regrets thinking that he would not have been able to hold off the telkhines. When she next looks around her, there were only the five of them left. She is so glad to have such a reliable crew.
Frank walks over to the edge of the ship and speaks in a loud voice. Probably practicing for Praetor. "We just killed every single Pane you sent aboard. Surrender or face the same fate!".
It takes them a while to understand that there was nobody left at the receiving end.
Annabeth seems to end up in the same place she was before the battle begun. At her cabin. Trying to sleep. Annabeth shuts her eyes and forces them to close. An invisible force gives way to her world of dream and then she begins to fall straight into it.
A tall, robed figure's form makes its way through Annabeth's vision. As her form becomes clearer, Annabeth's eyes widen, realizing who it is.
"Mother!"
The goddess releases the hood from her head, revealing her long brown hair in a silver plait down her back. Her face is stern, her forehead creased, her eyebrows furrowed together. Her gray eyes burn into Annabeth's own.
"D-Does this mean Nico and Reyna have brought your statue back to Camp Half-blood?" Annabeth asks.
Athena shakes her head. "No, child," she says, in her soothing, soft voice. "Though they are very close. I am beginning to regain my strength, but not completely so."
After a few seconds, Athena smiles. Her form flickers. "Annabeth, I am so proud of you," she says, and her image flickers again. "Stay strong, and you and your friends will succeed."
Her aura fades, and she vanishes.
Annabeth blinks her eyes open.
She had just seen her mother, after so many months, She had seen her mother's face.
Athena said Nico and Reyna were close. They had made their way across the giant ocean. They were safe.
The thought relaxes Annabeth a little. At least something had gone right.
She sighs and puts her head back onto the pillow. After all the war, after everything was over, Annabeth could have a normal life. She would settle somewhere in New York with Percy, and have a nice, peaceful life.
She smiles to herself and wills herself back to sleep.
The end was definitely a new beginning.