Chapter 35 Don't drop the mask

Annabeth's POV

Once I was safely behind the closed bathroom door, I leaned my whole weight against the sink as I fought down a wave of nausea. The meeting wasn't over yet. I had to hold it together for a little bit longer. But how? How could I? The more I thought about it the more impossible it all seemed, my knees shook threatening to send me to the floor. He was coming for us…Blinking back tears I forced myself to breathe normally. I had to stay in control of my emotions, I had to wear the mask of calm especially now. I was one of the only people who could provide any real information, if I panicked now everyone would follow. I can't allow myself to be the one that starts a chain reaction that would inevitably lead to all our deaths. If we don't stay calm…my breathing hitched. I had to think about something else. Percy, how was Percy doing? As soon as Chiron called a break I selfishly came here. Splashing my face with cold water I left the bathroom to find him. On the way I heard my friends talking about Percy and I . Stopping in the hallway just out of view from them I listened to their conversation. Piper was asking,

"Are they going to be ok?"

Travis replied,

"Define ok."

"You know…"

Leo finished,

"You're asking if they can keep it together without snapping."

"Yeah, I know how that sounds but, I can't imagine what they're going through right now you know?"

Jason said,

"I think they will be alright. They just need some time to process, they are some of the strongest people I know."

Conner's tone was grim as he said,

"I don't know Jason, I've known Annabeth for a long time, and I've never seen her that shaken about something. Excluding the time Percy disappeared without a trace."

Nico spoke up, his voice low but with a hint of anger in it which surprised me.

"You should all have more faith in them, you can't understand what they are going through, but I can. Percy and Annabeth are the strongest heroes I know, in body and mind. All they need right now is to know their friends are going to be by their side and believe in them, rather than doubting their sanity. Percy and Annabeth won't give up so neither should you, especially not on them."

There was an awkward pause in the conversation, I decided that I didn't want to hear any more of my friends' thoughts. I'd much rather join Percy than hear the speculations on if we'd snap or not. Mostly because I didn't know if we could handle it either. That place did change us in a lot of ways, it had almost taken Percy away from me. I pushed open the screen door and joined Percy on the section of the porch that looked over the sea. He reached out, rapping me in his protective arms. I leaned against him enjoying the feeling of comfort and safety he always provided. planting a kiss on the top of my head he said,

"Talk to me, wise girl."

"I'm scared."

"Me too, what about all this scares you the most?"

"You mean besides losing you?"

He chuckled,

"Yeah, besides that. Because you'll never lose me, I promise."

"It's going to sound silly."

"If it scares you it's not silly, just tell me. You know I won't judge."

"I love you."

"Love you, too wise girl, now tell me."

"I'm scared of dying. I don't know if we can come back from this one, and no one has died in Tartarus before. What if after we die we just stop existing altogether with no afterlife? Or what if we get trapped in his armor? What if we don't get to go to Elysium? Just trapped in eternal torment despite everything we have done and all that we have sacrificed."

Percy turned me to face him,

"Those are all valid fears but it won't happen."

"How can you sound so confident in that? Especially when you know it's a real possibility?"

Percy managed a small smile as he said,

"Because we have managed to survive everything the Fates have thrown at us so far. And if we do die then…"

He trailed off, as Grover rounded the corner. When he saw us he looked a little embarrassed and asked,

"Mind if I join you guys?"

"Of course not G-man."

Percy replied as he shifted so that just one arm was around my waist, the other now resting on the porch railing. Grover joined us on our left, and the three of us stood close together in silence watching the ocean. I wondered how he was able to handle all the emotions that were surrounding him. I could barely handle mine, I couldn't imagine having to contend with everyone else's as well. He had always been stronger than anyone gave him credit for. Percy seemed to be thinking something similar because he reached out a hand placing it on Grover's shoulder causing the poor goat to let out a loud sniff. Still, none of us said a word, there was nothing to say. So the three of us just stood arms wrapped around each other for support. Just like we had on so many occasions, blinking back tears that threatened to fall. After a few minutes of just drawing strength from each other someone came to tell us it was time for the meeting to resume. Upon reclaiming our seats in the ping-pong room Chiron spoke.

"Now that we have had a chance to collect our thoughts, where should we resume our discussions?"

Reyna answered,

"During your break, the Senate has agreed to my proposal. Which is that in the event of an attack on your borders nearly the full force of the Roman legion will march to your aid. One cohort will remain at camp Jupiter for the defense of our own home, if needed they will be reinforced by the troops we have on standby within the city. However, all other resources will be given to camp half-blood if the need arises. Whether it is soldiers at arms, or merely supplies it will be yours."

One of the new Head Counselors spoke.

"That's great, but do you think there's going to be an attack that is big enough that we might need that kind of help?"

No one spoke, probably not wanting to commit to answering what most of us were thinking. The long silence gave me time to marshal my thoughts and make a hasty plan for the weeks to come. Hoping to sound braver than I felt, I said,

"We can always hope that the aid of the Romans will not be needed, however, we should assume that with the kind of threat we are now facing there will be an attack. However, in the meantime, we will prepare as if we are going to war. I don't want to be caught like sitting ducks. Leo, have Cabin Nine pause all projects except those that could be used in defense of Camp. Also, I want more armor shields and weapons being made. Make sure every half-blood has a good set of armor and a few extras in every size just to be safe. We should intensify the training programs, and make sure no one in your cabin is slacking off. Before summer is over everyone should be fully capable of defending themselves against a multi-prong attack, and be knowledgeable about as many monsters as possible… Though I think it's important that the information that we have discussed in this room doesn't leave. At least not yet. For the time being there is no need to throw the entire camp in a panic, rather I think we should find something to distract the other campers from the fact that we will be preparing for war….again."

I swallowed hard, my voice had caught on the last two words but lifting my chin I tried my best to look as confident as I could. Despite the terror that boiled inside me at the thought of what war with Tartarus could mean. He was the eternal pit where all monsters went when they died. The embodiment of a place so evil that no living thing not born of it could survive for long.

"It sounds like a good plan to me."

Jason said, glancing around the table before continuing.

"I can only think of two more things that we need to discuss: the first and more pressing, how much time can we estimate we have before things pick up. Second, what to distract the campers with?"

Katie Gardner spoke for the first time saying,

"As for your first question Jason, I think we're just gonna have to wait for things to start unfolding. That's usually how prophecies go after all. We won't know how much time we have until the first few lines start happening. With the whole distraction thing though I don't know where to start on that one."

Travis replied,

"Don't worry Katie, I'm sure Connor and I can come up with some things in the meantime."

She shot him a glare while muttering,

"That's what worries me."

Chiron pushed himself back from the table saying,

"I believe we have discussed as much as we can for the present. A suitable plan has been made. Campers we will meet again upon discovering any new developments, or a better strategy for keeping the morale up. Romans, we thank you again for the promise of aid should we need it. Now I think this meeting is adjourned, and you'd best go inform your cabins about the changes in schedules."

With that, the Iris message was dissolved, we cleaned up and filed out of the big house, heading back towards the cabins. Even though we all walked together in the same direction no one was talking which was unusual for half-bloods, even with the threat of danger lurking just around the corner. It had been a long time since the counselors had been this solemn after a meeting. Glancing around the group I wondered how many of the newer head counselors truly understood the kind of changes that would be coming. After all, there were at least ten new head counselors who hadn't technically completed one full summer at camp, due to all the new cabins being built.

In the past three years, the cabin wing had grown from twelve to thirty-five, with eight more scheduled to be done by the end of the year. There were so many projects that were going on or that had just been started and I wondered how many of them would get the chance to finish… To distract myself from that wonderful thought I glanced around the group of counselors once again, only for another thought to occur to me. When the Titan War first started six years ago Percy and I were just two of many head counselors at camp. Now we are two of the seven original counselors that survived, everyone else we had sat with in the first meeting about the war was dead. How many more of us would be left after this prophecy came to pass? Upon reaching the cabins every one split up, going to their own. Either to inform siblings of the changes or just to be alone with their thoughts. Except for Percy who walked me to my cabin. He stopped me just out of sight of the door pulling me into a huge he whispered.

"I'll be in the arena if you want to talk and train."

"Will you still be there in an hour or so?"

"I'll be there for as many hours as you want me to wait."

Despite everything he always managed to make me smile. I knew he was asking for my company because he didn't want to be alone with his thoughts, and he wanted to train because it would help him work through them. Much like Luke used to do, but the way he asked told me he understood that I preferred to be alone as I worked things out in my head. Kissing him I said,

"I'll be there but it might be closer to two hours."

He smiled,

"Deal."

He kissed me again before leaving in the direction of the arena. Leaving me to talk to my cabin. Closing my eyes I drew in a long breath trying to strengthen the mask of calm I had managed to form on the way here. When I stepped through the open doorway my siblings looked up at me. As I stepped into the cabin most of my siblings waited quietly for their silent questions to be answered, Even and my newest siblings however started blurting out every question they had.

Lonnie- "what took so long?!"

Even- "did you figure out the prophecy?"

Lonnie- "what did you talk about?"

Even- "I saw you and Percy on the porch. Is something serious going on?"

Malcolm put a hand on Lonnie's shoulder silencing her next question as I raised my hands to cut off Even.

"Listen, I can't tell you everything yet, not until we know a little bit more. In the meantime I have some projects and an announcement. First starting next week the training programs will be intensified. I want you each to pick three weapons to learn how to use, not counting archery. Take that task seriously, don't just learn how to use them, do your best to master whatever weapons you choose and practice with them in your spare time. As for the projects I want someone to go through our weapons shed and take inventory. Also any weapons not suitable for use should be taken to the forges to be repaired or melted down and recast. However my big project for you is to get into groups of three: two experienced campers and one new. With your group I want you to come up with five plans to defend the camp and present them to me in two weeks time. We can even make it a game, the group with the best ideas doesn't have to do cabin chores for a week."

My sister lifted her index finger,

"Annabeth?"

"Yes Amara."

"To rephrase one of Evan's questions, what threat did you and the others discover in the lines of the prophecy?"

I started to shake my head but she continued,

"Annabeth, please, I'm not asking you to tell us everything, just that you trust us. You haven't given us assignments like this since that year the border was failing."

I waited for the murmurs of agreement to die down, before speaking. I tried to choose my words carefully, not wanting the fragile mask I had been able to put together on the walk to fracture. I couldn't show how scared I was in the meeting nor could I show it here, they were looking to me for answers and reassurance I couldn't provide. I could feel the fragile mask I had plastered on my face beginning to crack, my siblings must've sensed it too. Some began to move uneasily on their feet, others hands drifted unconsciously to their sides where weapons either sat or normally did.

"All right."

I said quietly,

"Here's what I can tell but listen closely because I will only tell you once."

They waited unmovingly for me to continue speaking.

"The threat we discussed in the meeting pertains to Percy and I. There is a possibility our enemy won't see it necessary to threaten the entire Camp, but there is always the chance he will."

I was about to leave but Even blurted out,

"That meeting took forever. What kind of personal threat is major enough to have its own Great Prophecy?"

The longer I stood in front of my siblings the harder it was to keep it together, what made matters worse. I had no good answer, at least no answer I could give to Evan's question. So I simply said,

"When you've been in the business of surviving as long as we have, you make a lot of enemies?"

With that I turned and left.