The Battle for Olympus

Annabeth

The streets of New Rome were chaos. Annabeth led Thalia, Piper, and Leo through the cobblestones and statues, to the distant booms and sounds of fighting from the gardens. Annabeth and Reyna had their first conversation in the gardens, it seemed almost fitting to end it there.

Thalia jogged silently beside Annabeth, but seeing Jason clearly rattled her. Annabeth didn't have time to check in, and Thalia didn't offer any thoughts, so they forged on through the city.

"We have to find Reyna or the command center," Annabeth said, "then hold the romans off long enough for Percy to find us." Even just saying his name was enough to make Annabeth smile. The world was about to end and all she could think about was Percy.

Thalia drew her bow and shot a projectile out of the sky without breaking stride. "And then what?"

"Well then we wake Gaea."

Thalia stumbled to a halt. "What?"

"It's going to take too long to explain," Annabeth said, "but this is how we can unite the camps and beat Gaea in one fell swoop."

"You want to wake our greatest enemy? On purpose?"

"Yeah, we're not exactly sold on it either," Leo muttered.

Annabeth whipped her head around to glare at him. "No one's come up with anything better! You want to die and doom all of humanity? Be my guest."

Leo shook his head. "You know that's not what I'm saying."

"Isn't it though?"

"Okay." Piper stepped forward. "We're on your side, Annabeth. Let's not have this argument again."

"She's right," Thalia said with a nod to Piper. "We're wasting time. Where would you put your command area?"

Annabeth scanned the gardens through the gap in the narrow street. "There." She pointed ahead to a small tower in the center, probably a great sightseeing spot young couples would climb in the summer months. Roman soldiers ran back and forth out of view, a particular dark haired female soldier seemed to direct traffic.

Recognition dawned in Thalia's eyes. "You're right. And I bet if you figured that out, Clarisse did too. Our troops should be around here somewhere."

Annabeth lifted her head. "Clarisse came?"

"You really think she'd miss a chance for a good fight?"

Annabeth grinned. She and Clarisse had a rocky start, but when it came down to it Clarisse was one of her oldest friends. "Then let's find our people."

Thalia took the lead this time, slipping in and out of alleyways as they drew closer to the gardens. Distant yells and explosions shook the ground, but the streets were oddly empty. It was like the regular citizens of New Rome knew something was off and left. Annabeth didn't blame them.

"Guys!" A voice hissed from an ally. Ananbeth flinched and turned, but before she could blink Thalia had them pinned to the wall with a knife at their throat.

"Dude!" The guy choked. "I'm on your side."

Annabeth registered the purple shirt, military length black hair, and bow and arrows. "Frank!" She was genuinely happy to see him. "Thalia, he's fine."

Thalia blinked. "He is?"

"Yeah. If he wanted to hurt us, he could have."

"He definitely could have," Piper said. "He can turn into animals."

Thalia dropped the knife and stepped back. "He can what now?"

Frank cleared his throat. "It doesn't matter. What's the plan? Because I think everyone's about to kill each other."