Annabeth Chase and the Lightning Thief

Chapter 2 - I get scared by a storm

Our activities director was in a wheel chair so Luke and I couldn't see him above the crowd of campers that had gathered around him. But we could hear his voice, muffled among the questions and shouts of the campers.

I pushed my way through the crowd, Luke just behind me. We made it to the front to find Chiron just sitting there in the ring of campers, doing his best to smile at them all. His brown and grey hair was longer, as was his beard. He wore professor clothes, so nice trousers, scuffed shoes, a collared shirt beneath a tweed jacket. He looked happy and relieved to be back, but I could see that underneath it all, he was worried. His face had more worry lines than normal and his eyes didn't have the usual glint in them.

"Alright, that's enough!" Luke suddenly shouted, his voice ringing over the crowds. They all fell silent and turned to him for leadership. Like me, he had been at camp nearly the longest, was head counsellor of the Hermes Cabin and the best sword fighter in over 300 years. The whole camp respected him.

"Chiron's back but we have work to do still. Everyone, back to training!"

The crowd began to dispel, some shooting final looks at Chiron as if to make sure he was actually back. Luke shook Chiron's hand before heading off to the showers.

Once everyone was gone, Chiron heaved a sigh of relief and rose so he could free his legs out of the contraption that made him an invalid. He shook out his four legs gratefully, moving around to get them working.

"I've been cooped up way too long," he told me. "It's a relief to finally take my natural form."

Oh yeah, I forgot to add, Chiron's actually a centaur. Waist up, he looks like any ordinary human, but from the waist down, he's a white horse.

"Where were you?" I asked as we began heading towards the Big House. "You've been gone so long."

"I'm sorry, child, but I can't tell you," he said regretfully. "Godly secret."

He looked up at the sky as thunder rumbled.

I sighed through gritted teeth. I hated not knowing things.

"Can you tell me what was stolen then?" I asked and saw him flinch.

He glanced around as if to make sure we were truly alone.

"How'd you know that?" He murmured to me, his voice low.

"Wisdom's daughter?" I suggested. "It's the only logical explanation for the gods behaviour."

The sky rumbled again.

"I'm sorry Annabeth. I can't tell you," Chiron said, climbing up into the porch of the Big House.

"What about Grover?" I asked, following him still. "Can you at least tell me where he is? I haven't seen him in months."

Grover was a satyr, so half-human, half-goat. He was one of my best friends. I had a special interest in him, ever since he'd brought me to camp 5 years ago. We helped each other out, confided with problems and other stuff. I've missed him since he'd gone.

"He's on special satyr business," Chiron answered gruffly, almost as if he was reluctant to even tell me that.

"So you mean he's found a demigod?" I asked. "Is he at the same place you were? What demigod needs so much attention?"

"Annabeth!" Chiron snapped sharply, surprising me. He never raised his voice to anyone. "I'm sorry," he added, looking grieved. "I can't tell you anything, well anything you haven't guessed yet."

He turned to enter the Big House, probably to find Mr D.

"Can't you tell me at least something?" I blurted out as he was about to step into the Big House.

He looked back and again I could see the worry etched in his brow.

"Things are going to change," he answered before disappearing behind the door.

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I left the bonfire early that night, my mind buzzing with so many thoughts that I couldn't concentrate on anything else. Slipping away so no one would notice me, I wandered along the beach for a while to try and calm my thoughts. Normally I would have been comforted by the strange reassurance I got from the waves, but not today. I could see a storm brewing right on the horizon, a dark smudge against the night sky.

I gave up trying to distract myself and headed to my cabin to get some sleep. But even then I couldn't sleep, not even gazing at all the designs and architecture I had pasted all over the walls could help me.

When my cabin mates came up from the bonfire I pretended to be asleep, curling up under my blanket and squeezing my eyes shut. I don't think they were fooled though. Children of Athena rarely were.

I must have fallen asleep at some point as I woke with a start some time around early morning. At first, I didn't know what had woken me but when I heard the crack of thunder, I understood.

Sitting up in my bed, I frowned as the storm raged above. Something was wrong. We never got storms this bad, not even after the winter solstice. It wasn't raining in the camp as it couldn't without us wanting it too, thanks to out magical borders, but it normally wasn't this bad either.

I had to see Chiron. He'd know what was going on.

Dressing quickly, I put my cap on and sneaked outside, hurrying towards the Big House. It was too risky to go without being invisible. There was the danger of being eaten by the harpies of course.

At the Big House, I found Chiron on the porch, staring at Half-Blood Hill. He looked worried, his arms gripping the railings so tight that his knuckles were white.

"Chiron," I called, running up to him and taking off my cap. "What's wrong? What's going on?"

He looked surprised to see me, but then again, most people do when someone suddenly appears beside them.

"I don't know," he answered, sounding anxious. "It might be -"

A roar split the air, cutting him off. We both strained our eyes to make out what was happening on top of Half-Blood Hill, but it was too dark and the storm outside the camp borders was obscuring our sight.

"What was that?" I whisper, fear closing up my throat.

"I don't know," Chiron repeated. "But I fear the worse."

We both stood on the porch, waiting and watching, for what, I didn't have a clue. Gods, I hate saying that. Suddenly, Chiron tensed up and leaned forward as if he could hear something. I listened harder and heard heavy footsteps, mingled with crying. A boy appeared, a second smaller boy trailing at his side. The bigger boy was the one crying and was carrying the smaller one, who I recognized as Grover.

With a cry, I rushed forward and took Grover from the other boy, who didn't even seem to notice. Grover was unconscious, but moaning about enchiladas and bulls, so knew he'd be alright. I half-carried the satyr into the Big House, laying him on one of the beds inside before rushing back out to the porch. Chiron was leaning over the other boy, who'd collapsed on his back on the porch.

He looked about my age with dark scruffy hair and exhausted, red-rimmed eyes. He looked weak and ready to faint, but there was a strange sort of aura around him, something I had never felt before in a demigod. Strangely, he smelt like livestock, which I thought was a weird smell for a boy, but I didn't really have experience with that. Besides, I didn't really care because as I looked at him and his sea-green eyes flickered in exhaustion back, I felt a stirring of hope inside of me and my heart beginning to beat faster.

It was him, the one I had been waiting for. It'd been years since I'd heard the Great Prophecy, but I thought about it constantly. And now, the time was coming.

"He's the one," I told Chiron. "He must be."

"Silence, Annabeth," the centaur told me. "He's still conscious. Bring him inside."