Hello! How's everyone doing? Wonderful I hope! Thanks for all the reviews lately, with all the excitement and drama in my life i forgot to mention! I got my baby Rosie today, she's so cute! For those of you that don't pay attention, Rosie is a turtle. My poll is still up if you're that last minute kind of person, it's almost last minute! So hurry up. I own nothing, but please enjoy this chapter.
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Pat's POV
After a very short moment, our attention returned to John. He was about three-fourths of the way up the wall now, very close to the end. We cheered him on, as did the rest of the crowd.
Until his hand slipped, and his foot fell. He was hanging on my the toe of his sneaker and the tips of fingers.
Irene screamed, a sound nearly deafening me.
And then his other foot slipped. Only hanging on a hand now, three-fourths of the way up the wall. A fall from there would kill him instantly. And quite possibly me as well.
John started to swing his body back and forth. One hand was still hanging on to the rock in an iron grip. Suddenly, the other hand shot out as John swung himself up, and he latched onto another handhold. Irene breathed a huge sigh of relief;mine was slightly less audible.
"He did it," she whispered, more to herself than to me. "He did it! He really did it."
Irene then turned to me and gave me a huge hug. "Thank you. Thank you so so much."
Awkwardly, I patted Irene on the back. Growing up with the Olympians that raised me, I was either not used to physical affection other than punches, or I was only shown the kind of affection in R rated movies. Like Fifty Shades of Grey. If you know what I mean by that.
Sensing that I was uncomfortable, Ieene pulled back. She looked me in the eye, not even looking at her fiancé for the moment. She asked, "Who are your employers?"
For a second, I didn't know what to say. It wasn't a spoken rule not to give away the name of the employers, but I've never done it. It turns out, I didn't have to answer her.
As I opened my mouth to speak, John called out. He stood at the edge of the top of the hole, and he yelled down to us. "I did it!"
Everyone cheered, but Irene outshone everyone in her excitement. Anne picked Irene to climb the rope first, so she was tied down. Before climbing, Irene turned to me and mouthed another thank you. Calmly, I nodded.
In in a few minutes, Irene had scaled the rope and others were lining up below to have their turn. I knew I was going last, or second to last. Anne needs to go too.
After what seemed like days but was probably just hours, almost everyone had climbed the rope. Only five of us remained. Anne, Thalia, Artemis, Percy, and myself. Artemis climbed first, sensing the tension between the rest of us. She was right.
Anne was mad at Percy. Thalia was also mad at Percy. I was mad at Anne, and Percy was mad at Thalia. Though I don't know why he was mad at Thalia... Something must've happened since I last saw the two.
Percy climbed next. He said nothing, which would've been odd. But I knew that he had changed, so it wasn't overly confusing. Now he was quiet, serious, extremely athletic. He knew that most of the tension was aimed at him, so it was very smart of him to go next.
After Percy took two minutes to climb the rope, Thalia went. She took around six minutes, still faster than normal. But not faster than Percy.
Now it was only Anne and j left. I indicated that I wanted her to go first, so that way I could follow her. She shrugged, and began to climb. Once she was a few feet up, I followed.
Halfway up, Anne realized what was happening. She realized that I had thwarted her plan, although I don't think she knows that I know it. I must've just been blundering along and decided it was safer for me this way. When in all reality, it was much safer for her. If she fell, I might grab her. If i fall, I'll crash into the solid dirt ground and possibly die.
Not it a fun way to go.
Anne started trying to climb down the rope, but was stopped by me. I had not backed up. "What are you doing?" I asked.
She was quick on her feet, I admit it. She came up with a lie so fast that I would've believed it if I didn't know the plan. "I forgot my bag on the ground. I put it down to tie someone ip, then forgot to pick it up."
If thats the game she wants to play, I ain't gonna be a part of it. "I didn't see you holding a bag."
"Oh well..." She obviously hadn't expected that. "Artemis was carrying it for me!"
I chuckled under my breath. She was desperate. I love it. This is my favorite part of the gig. "If Artemis was carrying it, then maybe she has it right now!"
We called up to Artemis. "Do you have a bag?" I yelled.
"Yeah!" came the reply.
Anne's face paled. Her alibi didn't work.
"Let's keep climbing!" I ushered.
Startled, Anne kept climbing closer to Olympus. Almost there. I did my job. A we can't run away now.