Forbidden Quests

Chapter 23

I am so sorry, I just realized I posted the same chapter twice for Chapters 22 and 23. Sorry! Here's the actual chapter 23! :\

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Annabeth

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We traveled hard and fast, for we had to get there earlier than the actual council.

In about a day and a half, we had reached the Teleporting Twin's fortress. We had decided that not all of us would go to Olympus for the council. Well, most of us would go, but a few would stay.

Most of Percy's group would stay, except for Jason, Nico, Leo, Frank, Hazel, and of course, Percy. All of my group would go, because my mother would probably want that. Out of Piper's group, it was just her and Lacy.

The people that were going to the home of the gods walked up to the fortress entrance.

The fortress was an impressive sight. It was about as wide and long as Athena's temple, but the height differed.

Most of the roof only reached about sixty feet, but one part looked to be at least twice that much. But it was only a small part, so maybe one room.

For the outside, it was mostly stone. There was a moat around it, and a large drawbridge stood up against the gate, making the fortress resemble a castle. The moat was made of dark looking water, that didn't look too sanitary. The weird thing was that the water was rushing, but the moat should go all around the fortress in a circle, and be the same depth. So I have no idea why or how it was moving. Maybe the Teleporting Twins had something moving it. Well, whatever was doing it, it was making it go really fast. The dingy liquid looked made a continuous rushing sound of water.

We didn't know what to do, so we went up to the edge of the moat, and Percy yelled, "Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, Commander of the God's Questers, and some of my warriors, Annabeth Chase, Daughter of Athena, and her guards, and Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite, and her sister."

For a moment, nothing happened, then a loud groan filled the silence. The drawbridge dropped, landing with a booming sound in front of us.

Dust flew up, and when it settled, we could see the iron gate in front of us. None of us moved for a moment.

Then, with deep breath, we started across the overpass. The clanking of our boots was the only sound.

We had figured earlier today that we didn't need to wear our full armor set, just a few choice pieces. Most people just took their shields, weapons, and breastplate and backplate. I was wearing my throwing needles scabbard, my blade, bracers, and a front breastplate and backplate on top of my brown leggings and grey tunic.

When we reached the gate, Percy raised a fist, and knocked hard. The booms were answered by a returning thumps, and the gates swung open.

So far, I had seen no one in the fortress, not even a guard. When we walked through the gate into the great hall, I still saw no one. I wondered who had let us in.

But my curiosity soon vanished at the sight of the great hall. "Great" was definitely a word to describe it.

The top of the room stood at least fifty feet tall, but I couldn't tell for sure, cause it was pitch black at the ceiling area. The only source of light were the green greek fire torches placed about ten feet apart until the end of the hall. The hall was about seventy-five feet long, and the door at the end was small in comparison to the corridor.

The passage floor was plain stone tiles, but the walls made up for it. Covering the walls were paintings and portraits. Several of them. Each illustration was incredibly detailed, from the lashes on the eyes, to the lace or armor designs on the clothes.