Storm Rising

Chapter 6

Percy's POV

"Annabeth, " I whisper as I take in her paper white face. She struggles to focus on me. I take her limp hand in mine and sit dejectedly on the ground next to her.

"Percy," She croaks.

"Shh," I say, brushing the hair out of her face and giving her a light kiss on the forehead. "We'll get you some help, ambrosia or nectar.

She goes to protest but I put my finger to her mouth.

"Ambrosia? Nectar?" I call to my solemn, gathered around friends. "Anybody?"

"Percy," Persephone says softly to me as she kneels next to me. She looks like a regular mom with her blue jeans with little flowers on the side, a flowered shirt, and gardening sneakers. "The knife has a lethal poison. Since her blood has not completely turned into immortal golden ichor, there is no cure," Persephone says gently, putting her hand on my shoulder.

The words thud in my brain like falling stones. Thunk, thunk, thunk. Annabeth is going to die, Annebeth is going to die, ANNABETH IS GOING TO DIE! The words echo around my brain. A deep sense of despair floods me like a house being flooded in a hurricane. I slump forward, the hopelessness of the situation hitting me.

Percy. A voice says my name softly. I sit up abruptly and whip my head around. Percy. The voice is inside my head. No, I'm not going crazy. It's Hestia's voice, speaking to me telepathically. Never lose help. The hearth can heal as well as burn.

I shake my head. Another hand touches my shoulder. It's Reyna, concern evident in her eyes. "Are you okay?" She asks softly.

I nod but continue to listen for Hestia's voice inside of my head. Percy, your water powers can heal you. Combined with the powers of being my champion, you will be able to heal Annabeth. Just concentrate on what matters most. With that Hestia's voice is gone from my head; I can feel the absence of her presence in my head.

I stretch out my hands and place them softly on Annabeth's wound.

"Percy? What are you doing?" Nico asks. I ignore his comment and concentrate on all the good times Annabeth and I spent together. With my hands still on the wound that is killing her, I feel myself slipping into memories.

Fireworks crackle and sizzle nearby. I see Annabeth setting up a picnic blanket on Half blood hill. I jog up to her.

"Late as usual, Seaweed Brain," Annabeth says.

"Sorry, Wise Girl. Blackjack was-" She shuts me up with a kiss on the lips. Even after our first official kiss on my birthday last week, each kiss gets better and better. I scoop her up in my arms and sit down on the blanket with her in my lap, so we can keep kissing.

The first firework explodes in a multitude of colors above us, startling us apart. It may not be the fourth of July, but the campers wanted to celebrate the building of the new cabins. I set Annabeth down on the blanket next to me and she puts her head on my shoulder. Wrapping my arm around her, I rest my head on top of hers. I take in her lemony and vanilla smell with a deep breath. Gods, she smell like an angel. I lightly kiss the top of her head. She turns her face up towards mine and we begin a deep kiss, fireworks exploding around us and inside us.

The scene goes dark and I'm thrown into a world of blackness. When my senses come back, I see the Salt Lake City home depot where we got tar for the Argo 2.

Annabeth and I are hand in hand, wandering the aisles of Home Depot with Frank with us. Annabeth is going on and on about how children of Hephaestus started Home Depot.

"You see, they were always running out of supplies. So they prayed to their father and he gave them the idea of a hardware store. They were going to call it Hephaestus Demigods, but Chiron said the mortals might notice, hence the name Home Depot. Then, with the help of the Hermes kids, they duplicated the store so every hephaestus child could have supplies.