Flowergirl, Percy Jackson

10. Achilles Heels

Guido drops Lila at the Plaza, an ancient stone hotel in the southeast corner of Central Park. Lila's heard of it; apparently it's a hub for famous demigods, which bodes badly for their future prospects. After all, aren't demigods usually more famous after they're dead?

She gets there at about the same time as Percy, which is a relief - she'd worried something would happen to him, after he pulled down the bridge. "What happened?" 

He takes a deep breath, running his hands through his hair. "Is Annabeth okay?" Dropping his Yamaha over the curb, both him and Will Solace jump off.

 Before Lila can answer, the statue at the top of the fountain cries, "Oh, fine. I suppose you want me to watch your bike too!" She must be one of Daedalus's automatons - a life size bronze woman in the middle of a bowl, holding a basket of fruit. 

"Are you supposed to be Demeter?" Percy asks. 

She chucks an apple at his head.  "Everyone thinks I'm Demeter.'" she complained. "I'm Pompona, the Roman Goddess of Plenty, but why should you care? Nobody cares about the minor gods. If you cared about the minor gods, you wouldn't be losing this war! Three cheers for Morpheus and Hecate, I say!"

Lila rolls her eyes, while Percy says "Watch the bike."

Pompona curses in Latin, throwing more fruit at both Will and Percy, as the three demigods rush inside the hotel. Lila can hardly breathe for worrying about Annabeth, now that she's out of the heat of battle. In the top floors of the hotel, Campers and Hunters are lying on sofas, washing, eating, bandaging their wounds. Everyone looks bruised and battered - Lila's covered in blood herself, but none of it's her own. 

"Percy! Lila!" Jake Mason appears. "We're getting reports—"

"Later," Percy says. "Where's Annabeth?"

Jake swallows. "The terrace. She's alive, man, but . . ."

Before he can finish, they've pushed past him onto the terrace, where Annabeth is lying on a lounge chair. Her face is pale and sweaty, like she's on the brink of death. Silena - thank the gods she's alive - is wiping her forehead. 

"Lila," Silena says, as soon as she sees her friend, a little bit of colour coming back into her face. "You're okay." 

Lila nods to her, leaning forward to kneel at Annabeth's side, gripping her hand tightly. Annabeth's palm is cold and clammy, with blood still stained on it from where she touched her wound. 

Will unwraps the bandages to examine the wound, and Lila stops herself from making a noise of disgust. Though it's stopped bleeding, it looks deep, and the skin around the cut is green, like an infection. 

"Poison?" Lila whispers, her voice sounding choked even to her own ears. Ethan poisoned the dagger he used. That's a man who is trying to kill, not wound. 

"Annabeth . . ." Percy manages.

"Pretty stupid of me, huh?" She mumbles. 

Will Solace exhales, his face brightening. "It's not so bad, Annabeth. A few more minutes and we would've been in trouble, but the venom hasn't gotten past the shoulder yet. Just lie still. Somebody hand me some nectar."

Percy runs over to find some, returning with a canteen. Will cleans out the wound with the nectar, while Silena gives Annabeth a little bit of ambrosia - but not too much, so she doesn't combust. While he cleans the wound, Annabeth presses her lips together, and Lila's hand turns purple from her grasp. 

Will puts a paste over the wound, hums something in Ancient Greek, before applying fresh banadages. He now looks almost as pale as Annabeth, tired from his healing. He reminds Lila a bit of Nico, exhausted after using his powers.