Percy Jackson and the Forgotten Heroes

15 - Not another dam prophecy

Percy's P.O.V

We were roasting marshmallows on the campfire, everyone was singing loudly, and Annabeth was sat next to me holding my hand, more or less recovered from earlier today. And yet something still felt wrong. I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened with Owen. He'd had his sword over my heart, the others were gone trying to help MJ. He would have killed me. And then... I still couldn't think about what had happened.

"Hey. You okay?" Annabeth whispered.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." I brushed away the thoughts. That was for another time.

"What happened with Owen? After I fell unconscious?"

I was asking myself the same question.

I tried to think of a way to not answer her question without her getting suspicious, which I soon realised was impossible - she knew me too well. Right on time, Rachel arrived.

"Hey guys." She sat on the bench beside Annabeth. Rachel hadn't changed much since she was 14, when we'd first met. She still had untameable red hair and a habit of speaking too fast for almost anyone to understand. She wore a paint-splattered t-shirt and ripped jeans with doodles all over them. "Annabeth told me what you found." She looked around and lowered her voice "Are you sure it was the Triumvirate?"

"Certain. Things got a bit... sidetracked. But it was definitely them." All I could think about now was the image of Caligula stabbing his spear through Jason's heart.

"But why would the Avengers or SHIELD have anything to do with 3 evil Roman emperors? And what do we do now?" Annabeth asked.

Immediately, Rachel stiffened and collapsed to the ground. I started forwards to catch her but she had already hit the floor.

Three campers came forwards, Keiran, Timothy and Yvette, Apollo's priests-in-training. Two of them picked her up and the third ran to grab her three-legged stool and they placed her on it. Everyone else fell silent and turned to look at her, gathering around. We all knew what was coming.

Green mist poured out of Rachel's mouth and wrapped around her feet. Her eyes flashed open and they were a bright emerald green. Her voice came out as a raspy hiss in what I recognised at the spirit of Delphi.

"The trident and the owl travel west by day,
The madman in the blue box leads the way,
You shall win or fail by the hand of Chase,
The child of Athena saved by grace,
The Forgotten Heroes revenge released,
Poseidon's fury through blood unleashed,
Spawn of sea and wisdom's child unite,
Enter the endless darkness for one last fight."

We all stared in silent shock at Rachel. She'd just given another Great Prophecy. And it was about me and Annabeth. I looked over at her but she wouldn't meet my eye. She was struggling to stop herself from crying. Then it hit me. The last line of the prophecy. It could only be about Tartarus. Somehow, someway, we were going back there.
"Annabeth - " I tried to reach out to her but she pulled away and ran off towards the cabins.

*****

Annabeth's P.O.V

I didn't know where I was going, I just had to leave. I found myself walking to Thalia's pine tree and I sat at the base of it, wishing she was here, just like I used to when I was 7. I wanted so badly to talk to her but she was with the Hunters of Artemis and I had no idea where she was. I needed to tell someone, anyone but Percy. I couldn't tell him my secret yet. Especially not after what just happened.

The words of the prophecy kept running around in my mind. It had to be about me and Percy. And it didn't exactly sound good. Questions that I couldn't answer kept coming to me, but it all led back to one thing. We were going back to Tartarus.

We had spent years together trying to forget that place and move on with our lives. I still had nightmares, but at least then I was comforted by the thought that I would never go back there. Now I didn't even have that.

At least I had Percy. I know that whatever happens, we're going to face it together. But this time will be worse than last time. And Percy doesn't even know why yet.

I was suddenly jolted out of my spiralling thoughts by a familiar voice saying "I thought I would find you here."

I looked up to see Percy walking towards me. I was immediately very conscious of the fact that I had been crying and tried to wipe away my tears. Zeus knows Percy had seen me worse than this, in fits of crying after some nightmares, but I knew the second he saw that I'd been crying he would start worrying about me. Then again, given the prophecy we'd just been given, we probably should be worried.

He sat down beside me "Look, I know how you feel. After everything we've been through, I thought we could finally have a normal life and... Let go of the past."

"Percy..."

He took both of my hands in his "But I promise to you, Annabeth Chase, I swear on the river Styx." Thunder rumbled. It was a reckless oath, but I had a feeling Percy didn't care "I will not let you go back there. Ever. I don't care what the prophecy says. We'll find some way to stop it. Because I will not let us go through that again."

By the gods, I love this man. I knew I should tell him now. In any other circumstance, this probably would have been great news. But definitely not now. I looked down at his hands gripping mine tightly, as if he was scared that if he let go then he would lose me, and the corner of my mouth twitched in a smile "...Percy, I'm pregnant."