Chapter 9: Bronze and Silver

Rated T for violence and light swearing

Annabeth had shadow-traveled before but probably could never get used to it. As convenient as shadow travel was, it felt like she was going so fast that her skin was being ripped from her body, even after the whole ordeal she felt like someone had cranked through a pasta maker.

So as she woke up to the sound of traffic and the echoes of screams from her dream, she immediately threw up.

Some combination of the possible concussion from fighting monsters in the woods, lack of sleep, and shadow travel definitely wasn't working with her stomach. Before Annabeth could do anything else she immediately opened the driver's side door and vomited when they appeared in New York.

Luckily, it was night time and there didn't seem to be any monsters around to keep her awake. Annabeth finished vomiting, wiped her mouth on her shirt, shut the door, and closed her eyes.

When Annabeth opened her eyes again, she could see the sun rising from outside what looked to be a mostly full parking structure. She almost went back to sleep but then her memories of driving the car into the Carlsbad Caverns hit her like a ton of bricks.

That had been a wild ride. Thank goodness they had Bianca around to shadow-travel them.

Then a bump in her thought pattern almost yelled, "How come they haven't said anything yet? Are they okay?"

She quickly turned around and sighed in relief when she saw Jason and Bianca pass out in the back. Judging by Jason's breathing, he was just passed out. But Bianca seemed to be barely breathing, and it almost looked like she was fading and so pale, she seemed to be on the verge of being translucent.

Annabeth didn't need to be a daughter of Apollo to assume that looking like a ghost was not a good sign. But Annabeth definitely didn't know what to do it, they needed to get to this base. She hoped it was where her Camp Half-Blood would be, but she couldn't be sure of anything in this world.

"Jason!" she said.

No response. Annabeth sighed and undid her seat belt so she could reach back and shake Jason's shoulder.

Still no response. Definitely still alive though, that was a plus.

For some reason though, Annabeth didn't really feel too lost. On day four of waking up in an alternate universe, she may have been in a stolen Roman car with knocked-out Bianca di Angelo and Jason Grace. But she knew where she was. She knew where Camp Half-Blood was.

Maybe it was an alternate universe, but this was New York City. She could hear the all too familiar traffic and endless movement of New York City. It was an addicting white noise that made her sleepy. With the sunrise, out the window, she could see the high rises and buildings with familiar architecture that she had spent hours of her time just staring at. They were probably in a parking garage of some sort.

Part of her wanted to drive to the Jackson-Blofis apartment and sit at the dining room table with Sally.

Sally probably lived in New York in this world too. She was probably alive in this world. Right? Annabeth couldn't imagine a universe where someone like Sally Jackson didn't exist. Then again, this world seemed to be nothing but one crappy inconvenience after another so maybe Sally was dead here.

Annabeth pushed those thoughts away, her mind wandered to her dream. Demigod dreams usually indicated something that had happened or might happen in real life. It was pretty clear what happened. But she had no idea what it had to do with anything that was happening in this universe.

It was just another confusing puzzle piece that was keeping her from going back home and filling out her FASFA or going to the movies with Percy. But Chiron could help her, hopefully going to this Camp Half-Blood knockoff would answer those questions.

She should just head to Long Island Sound. Annabeth felt like something clicked inside her with that thought like it was the right answer. She should just go to Camp Halblood.

That had to be where The base was. It had to be. There was hardly a doubt in Annabeth's mind. Not calling it Camp Halfblood was one thing, but surely the base was on Long Island Sound. Even if it wasn't Annabeth couldn't help but be drawn to go there. Camp was home. She wanted to go home it was calling her. And something else was pulling her there too, something familiar.

Before Annabeth could change her mind and wait for Jason to wake up she started the car and made her way out of the parking garage.

Even with two unconscious demigods in Annabeth's stolen vehicle, it sort of felt great to be stuck in traffic in downtown New York. It was a little different. Some of the buildings were different colors or the architecture was just slightly different. Not in a bad way, but even while waiting for the light she couldn't but stare and the slight differences. She would have to write some of this down somewhere and bring it back to her universe.

While driving she had managed to look in the back seat with the rearview mirror. Sometimes out of the corner of her eye, Annabeth could swear Bianca was flickering. Not good. But as far as she knew from when Nico had similar issues, as long as she didn't use her powers more and she rested. She should be fine. Some extra fluids and some godly food would probably still make it a lot better though.

It was still strange to see Bianca Di Angelo in person. It was kind of crazy. Though Annabeth had a feeling that she would be meeting a couple more people who were supposed to be dead very soon. She probably shouldn't have let it distract her from the whole saving the world problem.

She just had to remember, they aren't from her world. She didn't really technically know anything about any of these people.

She didn't technically know where she was going either but Annabeth couldn't be that far off. She'd driven from New York and back so many times that she didn't need a map. The streets in this world didn't seem any different from hers.

When Annabeth finally got out of traffic and started to see more trees, she let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding in. She turned onto a more narrow road and could see the farmhouses and white picket fences with the pick your own strawberry signs.

Without even realizing it, Annabeth a smile had started to form on her face.

As she saw the hill in the distance she almost didn't recognize it.

She could see the clearing of the hill perfectly in the morning light. But there was no tree. No dragon guarding its base. Nothing, just a clearing and the sun high in the sky.

Annabeth gripped her hands tighter on the wheel and pressed a little harder on the gas as a feeling of dread grew in her chest.

Maybe Thalia's death on Halfblood Hill never happened. After all, Bianca never died. Maybe Thalia died a different way in this world. A way she couldn't be brought back from.

But there had to be a Camp Halfblood. There had to be.

When Annabeth parked she didn't even try to wake Jason or Bianca. Something inside Annabeth made her want to run up the hill and straight to the lake or the strawberry fields. Despite her mind telling her to wait and be rational. That pull was stronger than ever.

Before she could think twice got out and made her way up Halfblood Hill.

...

Annabeth hoped that when she got to the top of the hill she'd be hit by the smell of the strawberry fields. She'd see the Big House in the distance and the Hearth from the cabin area still burning in the distance.

When Annabeth reached the top of Halfblood Hill she couldn't believe her eyes.

It was there.

But, it wasn't.

It was a nightmare. One she'd had more than once over the course of helping save the world twice. But this was real.

And it dragged her in. Before she could turn back and drive away her eyes caught a hold of the Big House, once big and blue, was a huge pile of ash and wood.

She slowly made her way past the volleyball nets that were ripped and burned. Annabeth could see a field of newly growing weeds and black ash where the strawberry fields had once cabins were burned and lying as pieces of wood and stone or demolished into pieces where they once stood. She couldn't see the climbing wall in the distance. Before Annabeth knew it, she was running. But there was nothing. The arena, gone. The armory, gone. The stables were just a pile of abandoned burnt wood.

As she surveyed the forest that seemed empty without a tree spirit in sight, her final straw came as she saw a glint of bronze in the forest, towards Zeus Fist.

But there it was, surrounding bronze knives, spears, and swords stuck in the ground. A bronze life-sized statue of a centaur and a plaque at the base that read, "Chiron Teacher of Heroes. May he rest in Elysium."

Gods, it felt like a knife stab to the heart.

This alternate universe was becoming crappier and crappier by the second.

Annabeth took a step back and stared in horror and awe. And like a chat all she could think was, This is not your camp, this is not your camp.

Before Annabeth knew it, she was slowly walking away from the statue. On auto-pilot, she walked back through the ruins of camp and ended up sitting at the hearth in the center of where the cabins used to be. Even the hearth, which Annabeth had never seen any other way but a blazing fire, was a pile of silent ashes.

How was she supposed to help save a world that didn't even have a Camp Half-Blood to save?

Annabeth had never really lived in a world without Camp Half-Blood. Come to think of it, when Annabeth thought about saving the world, she usually was thinking about her world. As big as the entire world was, her world was just the strawberry fields on Long Island sound where the sound of lava bubbled from the climbing wall and the hearth never stopped burning.

Then as Annabeth stared into the ashes of the hearth another glint caught her eye. Something silver, something haunting familiar. She knew at that moment what had called her camp, and now that she had seen it, she couldn't stop herself from slowly picking up the silver coin that had spent months in the pockets of her jeans. Her mother wasn't there to give it to her, but there was no doubt in Annabeth's mind that this was meant for her.

The Mark of Athena.

A/N: Hey Hey. This chapter is a little bit filler I know. But I want Annabeth to see how this world has been affected by the war. Also, she needed to get the coin somehow. I might rewrite the first chapter of this story just cause it's a little idk weird start? I'm not even sure how to explain it. But I'm also not really sure how to make it start less weird. Anyway if you have any ideas let me know.

Let me know what you think! Have a great day!