Chapter 34 Why is it always us?
Annabeth's POV
Naturally, I hardly slept that night, when I did manage to drift off my dreams were of course anything but restful. Lines from all the different Prophecies I'd seen come to pass kept playing on repeat, coupled with visions of what they belonged to. As unpleasant as that was, it wouldn't have been so bad if my dreams weren't Punctuated with the evil laughter and threats of revenge from the worst monsters and immortals I have fought over the years. Just before dawn, the mirthless laughter of Tartarus woke me up in a cold sweat. Gripping my sheets in one hand and my bead necklace
in the other, I took deep breaths to calm my racing heartbeat. All my senses were on high alert, which is probably the only reason I heard a soft noise. It was so quiet I wasn't sure if I'd actually heard something or if it was just my nerves and paranoia talking. Either way, I decided I may as well check it out, after all, there was no way I could go back to sleep now. Grabbing my knife from under my pillow I stepped barefoot on to the porch of my cabin. Vaguely I could see the silhouette of a person against the star-filled sky. Taking the key from its hiding place I locked the door, then started after the figure. It didn't take long for me to realize that the person I was stalking was Percy. I relaxed, allowing myself to just walk, rather than drift from shadow to shadow, and not worry about keeping a certain distance. Eventually, the damp springy grass gave way to grains of sand, of course, he would come to the beach tonight. Percy walked to the edge of the surf allowing the water to wash in and out over his feet. I stood at the base of a close dune and watched him look out over the dark ocean. Several seconds passed before Percy wordlessly held out his hand. Silently joining him in the tide line I took it. We stood together for a long time, watching the stars begin to set. The water was cool but Percy's power kept us dry, not really thinking about it I squeezed his hand. He looked at me, his eyes seeming to mirror the color of the sea in the pre-dawn light.
"Annabeth,"
His voice was quiet, but it sounded loud in comparison to the soft waves against the shore.
"Do you think the Prophecy is about us?"
I was tempted to lie, but I didn't want to give him any false hope.
"Given our track record…yes I think so."
"Any ideas of what it could mean?"
"Not really, though it probably doesn't mean anything we want."
"That's pretty typical for us. Just do me a favor would you?"
"Of course, what is it?"
"When you get an idea of what any of it could mean, tell me. Ok?"
I hesitated, feeling like if I mentioned the small nagging thought then it might make it come true.
"Annabeth please, I don't want you having to bear any more prophecy nonsense by yourself."
"Ok, ok, I promise."
"Thank you."
"Don't mention it seaweed brain. Now can we sit down? My feet hurt."
He chuckled but led me over to a dune, where we leaned on each other watching the sunrise. Until it was time to get ready for breakfast and the Counselors meeting. At the meeting, we gathered around the ping pong table as usual. The newest Head Counselors were standing around the donuts unsure of where to sit, while us Senior head Counselors gathered around the coffee pot or claimed our long-time seats. Finally, everyone was seated and an Iris message was made, connecting us to the Roman senate. Brief pleasantries were exchanged, Then Jason stood to initiate the meeting by addressing both the senate and us.
"Friends and allies, today we gather together on equal ground to discuss the next Great Prophecy. In the hope to determine what it may mean for both Camps. Though keep in mind the agenda of this meeting is not to determine the exact meaning of the Prophecy. I'm sure we are all aware of the danger in assuming the future. Therefore the purpose of this co-meeting is to ensure both Camps are up to speed on current events and come to a decision of what the next steps will be."
Through the rainbow mist, the Roman senate was nodding and preparing their notepads. While Percy addressed our table.
"That's a fancy way of saying we're going to talk about stuff and not make any decisions cuz it's too soon to know anything."
Leo gave him a high five as a few people on our side snickered, while the Romans stared at Percy like they couldn't believe they had once made him Praetor. I kicked Percy underneath the table before he could say something else.
"Ow, I mean let's get this meeting started."
There were some more snickers, and Leo looked like he was about to give his comment until I gave him a not-now look. Leo's smirk faltered, but he recovered by shoving a jelly-filled donut in his mouth, gesturing for us to continue. This time Piper spoke,
"As Jason said, we're here to talk about the Prophecy. Has the senate heard it?"
Reyna shook her head,
"No, none of us have heard the Prophecy. Would one of you recite it?"
Everyone on our side of the rainbow looked at me, taking a breath. I recited the lines from memory.
"Wisdom's daughter and Son of the Sea
stand on edge of eternity,
Soon to fall immeasurably.
Truth and lies,
the Traveler's disguise.
Though camp decides
if he lives or dies.
Fait decreed
friends be freed
for hero's sake Olympus will bleed.
Title unwanted must be claimed
if son and daughter are to be saved.
For ebis eternal takes bone and skin
in hope to condemn two souls which escaped him.
All in vain lest sisters champion in worlds unreal and stand by them."
The silence which followed was heavy, everyone seemed to be processing the information. Or possibly thinking something they didn't want to say out loud, that is until Haley, the Counselor for Dionysus cabin spoke abruptly.
"Obviously it means Percy and Annabeth, and from the sound of it they are going to die unless we can figure out who the sisters are and send them on some kind of quest."
Everyone stared at her.
"What, why is everyone looking at me like that? I'm just saying what everyone is thinking?"
Across from me, Will muttered,
"Maybe, but you didn't have to say it like that."
Next to Reyna, Frank cleared his throat,
"It just says Wisdom's daughter and Son of the sea. How do we know that it means Percy and Annabeth?"
Haley scoffed,
"Because it's always about at least one of them. Besides, how many sons of a sea god do you guys know? Cuz I only know one and he's sitting right there."
A small debate started on the matter, I wasn't listening. Instead, I was thinking about the lines of the Prophecy, and my dreams from last night. Puzzle pieces started coming together, forming a picture I didn't like. Feeling eyes on me I glanced up from the table to see Chiron watching me. His eyes were full of sadness, yet he looked expectantly at me like he was waiting for me to figure something out. Then it hit me that I knew what some of the lines meant. My hands started shaking, and I could feel the color draining out of my face, as icey dread washed over me. I looked back at Chiron asking a silent question, praying to all the gods he would tell me I was wrong, but he merely bowed his head. Feeling another set of eyes on me I glanced to my right, Grover was looking anxiously at me. In an attempt to calm down I tried to take a sip from my coffee mug, but my hands were trembling so violently that I spilled the hot liquid on myself. I cursed a little louder than I meant to, and put my mug down a little too fast. It made a loud noise on the table, the impact sloshing more coffee out of the mug. Heads were turning towards me, the conversation dying completely as I tried to get up from the table. Only to discover I hadn't moved my chair back far enough. My waist hit the edge of the ping-pong table with enough force to knock over Will's metal water bottle. The loud bang made me and a few others flinch, slowly I sat back down. Everyone was staring at me, Percy reached over to take one of my still trembling hands. I squeezed it hard, thoughts flashing through my mind. I was so scared of what I had just figured out, but I couldn't let myself show it any more than I already was. I didn't want to tell them what I now knew, but I also couldn't keep the information from them.
The faces of my long-time friends were tight, they would know something had scared me. Some of the senators appeared displeased by the interruption as if they were wondering if I belonged in this meeting at all. Mentally stealing myself like I had so many times before I addressed the room.
"Sorry for the interruption. I've… figured out some of the lines."
Reyna asked,
"Which ones?"
"With this particular Prophecy I think it will be easier to go in reverse order, so just bear with me for a minute."
"Go ahead Annabeth."
"The last line of the Prophecy is,Yet all in vain lest sisters champion in worlds unreal and stand by them. Now I won't pretend to know what this part means, because I don't know where to start with this section. However, the beginning of that line is, For ebis eternal takes bone and skin
in hope to condemn two souls which escaped him. This is the part that got me thinking,
Percy what is the name of an eternal pit that can take a physical form?"
"Oh gods. You don't mean Him?"
I nodded,
"The Pit, which brings us to another Primordial taking on a human form, but why?"
Leo answered,
"So he can condemn some souls like any good endless pit."
"Well, yes but in the context of the Prophecy it sounds more like…"
"Revenge."
Everyone looked at Carma,
"What? My mom is Nemesis, I know what a revenge plot sounds like."
A senator stood,
"Very insightful Miss Chase, though not very helpful if we don't know who the Pit wants revenge on or why."
Carma shook her head,
"Were you not paying attention to the first half of the conversation? The Pit wants revenge on the two souls that escaped him."
Haley cut in,
"And who are the two people we all know that escaped Tartarus without being captured?"
A wave of cold washed over the room at the mention of the Pit's name, causing everyone to Shudder. At the same time the Stoles said in unison ,
"Percy and Annabeth."
I looked at Percy. His face had lost color and his hand was clammy, but he tried his best to give me a somewhat reassuring smile. I squeezed his hand looking around the room. The Senior Head Counselors were grave-faced while the Jr's were nervously talking to each other. The Romans had begun another debate until Reyna held up a hand.
"If The Pit is truly rising, we must decide what to do about it and come to some kind of conclusion about how much time we have to prepare. Annabeth you seem to have the most insight about the Prophecy, can you shed any more light on the matter?"
"I'm afraid so, though I'm not sure what the two Middle lines mean so let's revisit the first line of the Prophecy.Wisdom's daughter and Son of the Sea. As we already discussed it means Percy and I. Now the next bit, stand on edge of eternity, I…I believe it's a metaphor for standing at the edge…of Tartarus. This means if I'm right,
soon to fall immeasurably. Would not only mean that the Prophecy will come about soon but also we… we have to go back down there."
After a moment of silence passed, as temperature in the room dropped farther. Finally, Jason asked,
"Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the whole point of building the Argo Two so we could stay away from the Primordial's domain?"
"It was."
"Then why does it sound like you're saying you have to go back to the Pit's domain to face him? Wouldn't it be safer and make more sense to make him come to us?"
"It's true that in most cases you would want to avoid the realm of the immortal that's..trying.. to kill you. However, with… Him, it's different."
The Nike twins asked,
"Different how? You've already kicked the butts of one Primordial and a handful of Giants/Titans as well."
"Remember when Gia woke up?"
"Of course, who could forget that."
"Well, Percy and I have seen His physical form."
The room filled with a chorus of,
"You have!?"
Percy and I shuddered at the memory, Nico stepped out of his corner,
"Annabeth, Percy I don't want to have to make you remember what you saw. I know we relieve it enough in our worst nightmares, I also saw a lot of terrible things down there, but I didn't see His form. We need to know what we're up against."
Nico was right they needed to know, after all, knowledge is the best weapon we have in a situation like this. I just didn't think I could keep myself together if I went into any more detail. It was hard enough just walking the others through the lines of the Prophecy. I looked to Percy for help, thank the gods he understood.
"You should be thankful the guy couldn't squeeze you into his schedule. He was huge, bigger than any of the giants. If monsters had soles, his armor was made out of them, like Hades's robes but monsters. Not only that he had a freaking vortex for a face."
"It's true, He had a gravitational pull. Anything that got too close was sucked in, not even Titans stood a chance against him. He just dissolved their existence, adding them to His armor. Just imagine what that kind of power would do if He emerged in the city. Buildings would be ripped apart, mortal casualties would be catastrophic. It would be so much worse than when Typhon escaped.
The horrified silence was eventually broken by Clarisse.
"If that's the case how do you plan on defeating Him?"
"I don't know."
I hated that my voice shook, but I couldn't help it. It was clear Percy and I had practically been given a death sentence. Then again what did I expect? Heroes never got a happy ending. If there was one thing I had learned it was heroes always die young in terrible ways. I was foolish to hope we could be an exception. Chiron broke the long silence
"Though we have unpacked a lot already there is still much to discuss. I suggest we take a fifteen-minute break to gather our thoughts, then we may make plans with sound judgment."
Reyna agreed,
"That sounds like a good idea, however, the Senate will use that time to discuss a proposal I have. We will call back when a decision has been reached."