Chapter XVIII : Percy
Percy is sick of the control board.
"Just for a while. For a while," he mutters angrily.
Percy gazes out at the constellations that he had always loved. From far he could make out Orion in the north and a huntress in the south. He dismisses the thought and rubs his eyes. The last time he had looked into a mirror, he had run away screaming from his own reflection. His brown hair is unkempt and his eyes have dark rings around them.
They hadn't been attacked even once, which is surprising in his quest history. As they approach Greece, Percy is hating all this more and more. They have about five or four days left to reach Greece, defeat Gaea's abdominal army and then conquer the Earth itself. Provided, Nico and Reyna would reach in time, stop the war and bring the camp halfway across the world for the war. Piece of cake.
"Percy!" Annabeth calls out. He jogs towards her.
"I think a storm is brewing. Look at the sky and the sea. Looks dangerously close to a tornado," Annabeth observes. "Or a typhoon," she adds as an afterthought.
As much as Percy wants to disagree, she is right. The water below is churning with strong force. Thunder cackles above them. Percy knows there is something wrong immediately. He feels a shiver up his spine.
Annabeth seems to sense it too. "When we go to Greece, we'll have to avoid Troy as much as we can," she says quietly.
"Why?" Percy asks.
"Better not to use names right now."
Percy is about to interrupt when they see five demigods racing towards them.
Jason had flown the five of them back to the ship. Considering from all the bruises and cuts, Percy assumes that they had experienced an adventure too.
All of them assemble in the hall after taking a cold shower. All the other six followed him into the room and took their seats on what Percy like to call a 'conference table'.
"Okay," Annabeth startes off , her voice commanding. "Before we move on, I think the key to winning this battle is teamwork. None of us can do this thing on our own. That's why we were put together. All seven to work as one. And thats only going to work if we can be open to each other. We all know some things personally and I think its time to share those thoughts."
She takes a deep breath and begins to rattle about Tartarus. Annabeth is honestly the bravest demigod here. After everything, she is reliving Tartarus, the images, the nightmares without breaking down even once. She describes the scenery, the battles, Bob and Damasen, the rivers and the Death Mist. Everyone is staring at her, mouths open. Annabeth goes on further to talk about the Doors of Death.
"And I realized, when the prophecy said 'foes' it didn't mean the Greek and Romans. It meant demigods, one Titan and one Giant. While we escaped, Bob held the button while Damasen fended off the monsters. And now they're gone," she finishes.
The others have tears in their eyes. Piper holds Annabeth's hand. "You both were amazing. You survived Tartarus. And we're going to find Bob and Damasen, we're going to get them back."
Maybe Piper had used a bit of charmspeak, because Percy is feeling better.
The others begin to explain their stories. Percy learns about Chariclo and the car crash. He notices Leo and Jason looking uncomfortable but Percy was too. Towards the end, all of them are slumped over on their chairs, tired. Percy quickly dismisses the crowd and they all walk up to their cabins.
Percy is dreading to close his eyes. The last things he wants to see is nightmares from Tartarus or any of the recent missions.
An image appears before his eyelids. Nico, Reyna and Coach Hedge stand on a worn out pavement. From the looks, it seems like New Jersey.
"I have no idea where it is." Nico says
"Hell, no!" Reyna exclaims, worriedly. "Your stupid shadow travelling!"
"Dont you dare turn this back on me! If it weren't for my shadow travelling, you would never be able to stop the camps! And besides, you're supposed to take care of it while I take our entire load, two demigods, one satyr and a forty foot statue to places. Do you have any idea how hard and tiring that is? Least you could do was appreciate it," Nico yells.
"Oh, giving me a piece of your mind? We already might be too late to stop the camps. And, defending two demigods, one faun and a forty foot statue is harder thant your blasted secret shadow travelling. One demigod to protect everything because the other one's too drowsy to stand up!" Reyna yells back.
"SHUT YOUR TINY CUPCAKE MOUTHS!" Coach Hedge drowns the noise.
With a shock, Percy realizes that a passenger is missing from their load. The Athena Parthenos is nowhere to be seen. As fast as his heart beat, Percy's dream disappears.
Percy jerks up from his bed. He scrambles to his doorway. He has to tell Annabeth. The door flies open backward, smacking him square on his face. Frank walks in hurriedly and says something very fast and then looks at Percy expectantly.
"Slow down buddy!" Percy says, "I didn't get a thing of what you said."
"Hurry up, Percy!" Frank says more slowly now, "Annabeth had a nightmare and she's asking for you!"
Percy doesn't need to be told twice. He runs up to her cabin to find Annabeth on her bed, clearly having a nightmare. Her eyes are scrunched up, she is thrashing and everyone else standing around her, unsure of what to do.
"Percy, the Athena Parthenos!" she is saying.
"Okay, can everyone clear out and give us some space?" Percy pants, tired from running there.
They walk out shutting the door after them a bit too loudly hurting his ears but nothing could pain him as much as the sight of his girfriend. He walks over to her and gently shakes her awake.
"Oh! Oh! Percy! The Athena Parthenos!" she says.
"I know, I know. I had a dream too. Maybe we should just sit up and explain."
She sniffs, and props herself onto her her elbows. Percy takes her hand, and she squeezes it gratefully. "Thanks, Percy. For coming. I shouldn't have woken you up."
Percy puts a hand on her cheek. "We need to talk first. You're pretty shaken up, and we need to kind of mull things over."
Annabeth wipes the tears away from her eyes. "I had a dream. I saw the statue in this dark place, probably underground. And there were dark creatures with red eyes. Then, this voice says 'Beware, Daughter of Athena' . And-" Her voice is interrupted by a stifling sob.
"I know. I had a dream about Nico and Reyna. There were arguing about the statue and began to scream at each other."
"Oh no…."
"The Athena Parthenos," Percy finishes. "It was gone."
She nods reluctantly, covering her face with her hands. "Oh, Percy, what are we going to do? If the statue is missing, how will the war between the camps be prevented? Everything will be ruined!"
Percy shakes his head. "We'll figure this out soon, I promise."
"No! There is no soon, Percy! If we don't figure this out now, there will be eternal chaos and Gaea will win! Don't you understand? Think about it. We have less than a week until Gaea rises, and we haven't even gotten the statue to the camp? We're still in bloody Sparta!"
Percy opens his mouth to speak, but Annabeth interrupts him again. "We have to do this, now or never, Percy. Now or never."
"Do what?"
"Think of a plan to get us to Greece faster and defeat Gaea within a limit of five days! And find the statue, get it to camp, make peace and stop this thing!"
"Oh, okay. We'll discuss this first thing tomorrow morning. It's past midnight, now. "
He leans forward and wraps his arms around Annabeth, his face buried in her blonde hair. "We will survive this. You know that, right? We'll survive this together," he murmurs softly in her ear.
She nods. "Together," she whispers.
He releases her, and she lays her head back on her pillow. He bends down and kisses her forehead. She smiles. He straightens himself and walks to the door. He is about to walk out, but Annabeth's soft voice stops him.
"Percy?"
He turns. "Yes?"
"I love you."
He smiles. "I love you, too, Annabeth."
She closes her eyes, and Percy looks at her one last time before he leaves.
He whispers to nobody, "I won't let you die, Annabeth. I will protect you with my life. Nothing will ever happen to you. Nothing will come close to you. Never."