Chapter Twenty-Three

We Destroy the Empire State Building

ANNABETH POV

I prayed to Athena that this would work. Just in case you don't know the story, years ago Hades cursed the Oracle to be trapped to one person's body. Rachel came along, the curse was broken, and now she had the spirit of Delphi use her as a host body. Now, Rachel is also a mortal, so celestial bronze shouldn't hurt her (and being the host for the Oracle means that she can't die either). However, I took a gamble that stabbing her might end up hurting Ran since it was her Nid that controlled her. My theory proved right when Ran cried out in pain.

"Stop!" Ran screeched, turning her entire focus to me. I took my knife and stabbed Rachel's body again. Ran continued to writhe as I repeated this action again and again. Finally, Ran flicked her wrist and the flaming glow around the Nid on Rachel's forehead disappeared. Her mouth opened wide, and a green mist shot out, dissipating instantly. Her green eyes refocused, reminding me briefly of Percy. Rachel glanced around.

"Annabeth? What the Hades is going on?"

I didn't have time to explain because Ran flicked her wrist again and we began tumbling 12,000 feet to our death. Ran raised her hand again, but Magnus rammed into her, using his sword to swipe at her face. Rachel was gasping to my wrist tightly as we plummeted.

"So long story short, you were cursed and being controlled like a voodoo doll. I stabbed you a bunch of times, and now we're falling to our deaths." I cried out to her. She didn't say anything but just squeezed tighter. I shut my eyes, bracing for an impact I likely wouldn't even feel. Just as I thought contact was imminent, my body shifted sideways as something grabbed onto my shirt. My arms snapped and I lost my grip on Rachel. Swiftly I opened my eyes to find BlackJack holding me with his teeth. I looked down to find Alex, still in eagle form, catching Rachel in their claws.

"BlackJack says hi, girl-boss," I heard a familiar voice say. Sophia popped her head over the side of BlackJack's wings.

"Sophia Jackson! What are you doing here?" I yelled up at her.

"I wanted to help!" She protested, her cute smile growing sour.

"I wanted to keep you safe, honey," I argued back. "BlackJack, flip me up."

BlackJack obeyed and used his head to toss me up in the air while simultaneously flying lower so he could catch me on his back. He whinnied triumphantly as I settled in. I wrapped Sophia up in a hug.

"I love you, Sophie, but you get BlackJack to get you out of here. And tell him I don't want any of his excuses about how he was going to turn around earlier."

Sophia pouted as I directed BlackJack to set down next to Alex and Rachel. I climbed off the Pegasus and checked on Rachel. Alex helped her up.

"Thank you, Alex. Do you think you can get Sadie for me? I've got a crazy idea."

They nodded and took off again. I turned to Rachel.

"How do you feel about hosting a god?" I asked.

"A god? I'm already host for Delphi." Rachel said.

"Yeah, I know, but I keep thinking about the prophecy, gods and magic will prevail, lest Wisdom sever the mortal veil. Ran already has control of so many gods. We were too late to save the gods before, but we can still sever the mortal veil. It didn't click with me what that meant until now. In Isiac religion, the piercing of the veil was a ritual in which the one performing it would go through a spiritual awakening. The caveat is, that no mortal is allowed to pierce the veil. They can't. There's a famous statue of Isis in which she holds the past, present, and future in her right hand, the key of life in her left hand. So, what if Isis herself were to pierce the veil along with the Oracle of Delphi? Delphi helps to keep the metaphorical veil between gods and mortals."

"I don't know," Rachel confessed, running her hand through her hair.

I paused. "Okay, I don't know either, but I can't help but think that's what the Prophecy means. If all else fails, we must break the mortal veil. We have to break the veil of Isis and we need you to do it."

As Rachel pondered the idea, Sadie popped up, wiping blood from her combat boots. I relayed by plan to her. She thought about it for a moment.

"First, there's no guarantee Isis will even show up. I can try to summon her. But also, isn't Rachel a mortal? If mortals can't pierce the veil, how will that work? Then, on another note, Isis really needs a host that isn't already hosting something else. That could cause some issues."

I cursed. I hadn't thought about that. The solution came just as quickly, though.

"Me. Isis has to use me as a host. Lest Wisdom sever the mortal veil. The Prophecy is talking about me and Isis. Isis is the Egyptian goddess of Wisdom, right?"

"I fear she is right," a new voice spoke behind me. I wheeled around to find a stunning woman with dark hair, braided with diamonds and brown eyes.

"Isis, I presume?" I inquired.

"Yes. I am the only living being that knows how to pierce the veil. I can do so with you as host but know that I can no longer use you as host after the ritual and I will return to Sadie Kane."

"That's fine. I don't think I want to play host to a god for very long." I replied.

Isis gave a lopsided smirk. "I can tell you are Wisdom's daughter." Isis turned to Sadie.
"This will probably hurt a bit."

Sadie eyes widened. "Annabeth, wait! I have to warn you about- "

But her voice was cut off and I lost vision momentarily as I felt my consciousness floating. Isis's voice spoke to my mind.

"Sadie was always so nitpicky about letting me have control. What do you say?"

"Have at it. I'm new to this, so just do your thing." I spoke. At that moment, Isis flowed into me. I knew everything about her – her past, her fears, her hopes. Even her favorite song. She began to speak, and I heard myself speaking along with her. Even though I could see all my friends standing around me, it was though I was watching someone else watch them. Like I was the only audience for a movie.

"Delphi, follow my movements." Isis and I commanded.

"Annabeth, this is- "Sadie started before we cut her off.

"Silence, Sadie! She has made her choice, and it is the only way. You know it."

Sadie swallowed and watched the scene unfold. Rachel stood in front of us and mirrored our movements. We slowly stretched out both arms and fully extended them, offering our palms to Rachel, fingers pointed toward the sky. Rachel made contact. Once she did, we rotated our arms outwards in a T pose. We brought our palms flat and then slipped them up, so the palm faced upwards now. At this moment, I felt a power surge through me unlike anything I had ever felt before. The entire sky crackled with a bright gold energy and New York City flashed back into existence. Mortals returned to the streets, screaming in fear. The Nid that previously encompassed the Empire State Building vanished. Then the building itself exploded, sending Ran crashing into the earth. The carved Nid on Rachel's face disappeared as well. Thankfully, she didn't explode. I suddenly felt weird as I glanced down and saw that I didn't have any legs anymore. I looked up to see my friends jump back in surprise before my vision turned black.