νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 2-30: Nico di Angelo is on the lam

ANNABETH

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Compared to Mount Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Friday before Christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on Fifth Avenue. Argus, the many-eyed security chief, picked up Percy, Grover, Tempest, and me at the Empire State Building and ferried us back to camp through a light snowstorm. The Long Island Expressway was almost deserted.

As we trudged back up Half-Blood Hill to the pine tree where the Golden Fleece glittered, I half expected to see Thalia there, waiting for us. But she wasn't. She was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on their next adventure. It almost stung to know she was gone again, but I reminded myself that she isn't gone. Not like last time.

Chiron greeted us at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about his strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.

Tempest, Percy, and I sat with Chiron and some of the other senior campers- Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers. Even Clarisse from the Ares cabin was there, back from her secretive scouting mission. I knew she must've had a difficult quest, because she didn't even try to pulverize Percy. She had a new scar on her chin, and her hair had been cut short and ragged, like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors.

"I got news," she mumbled uneasily. "Bad news."

"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is you have prevailed. And you saved Annabeth!"

I smiled at Tempest gratefully. Her eyes widened and she quickly looked away from me.

Suddenly, Percy ruined it. "Luke is alive. Annabeth was right."

My smile fell off and I felt my chest falling eleven stories as I whipped my head to look at Percy. "How- How do you know?"

I noticed that Percy looked a little annoyed with me, even though he's the one that brought it up. Even still, he explained how his father, Poseidon, said that Luke survived the fall, and his ship is sailing away from San Francisco now with the remains of Kronos.

"He said they'll regroup and heal before they try anything," Percy finished.

"Well." I shifted uncomfortably in my chair. Suddenly, it felt like I was sitting on a million rusty nails. "If the final battle does come when Percy is sixteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out." Something that won't kill Luke, hopefully.

Chiron's expression was gloomy. Sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. I mean... he was really old, but he usually didn't look it.

"Two years may seem like a long time," he said. "But it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Percy. But if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos's first strike will be here."

"How do you know?" Percy asked. "Why would he care about camp?"

"Let's think about it," Tempest suggested. "The gods always use heroes as their tools. When you keep all your tools in one shed, you're setting yourself up to be attacked, really."