νεκρός || Annabeth Chase x Fem!OC

Vol. 3-6: I worry and then I worry some more

ANNABETH

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☀︎ ⋆⁺₊⋆

I stumbled into the arena, and everyone immediately noticed. Tempest stopped playing with the hellhound, Mrs. O'leary, and I looked at her first, envisioning what might happen to her from that horrible line in the prophecy.

"My dear," Chiron said. "You made it."

I stared at Tempest. She looked concerned, her face hardened and chiseled like stone. I couldn't look at her any longer, or I'd start crying. I turned to Quintus instead, who watched me carefully.

"I got the prophecy. I will lead the quest to find Daedalus's workshop." 

Nobody cheered. It was evident enough that I didn't want to do this, and nobody could see this as a great heroic quest. This might be the most dangerous quest the camp's ever faced- the most important one. Stopping Luke's forces from invading is hard enough. Descending into the Labyrinth? That's a death trap.

And, lucky me, I get this as my first leading quest.

Chiron scraped a hoof on the dirt floor. "What did the prophecy say exactly, my dear? The wording is important."

I really didn't want to do this, but I knew I had to, and I took a deep breath. "I, ah... well, it said, You shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze..."

They waited.

"The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise."

Grover perked up. "The lost one! That must mean Pan! That's great!"

"With the dead and the traitor," Percy oh-so helpfully added. "Not so great."

"Hey, dead people can be cool," Tempest argued.

"And?" Chiron asked. "What is the rest?"

"You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand," Annabeth said, "The child of Athena's final stand."

Everyone looked around uncomfortably. I was a daughter of Athena, and a final stand didn't sound good.

"Hey... we shouldn't jump to conclusions," Silena said. "Annabeth isn't the only child of Athena, right?"

"But who's this ghost king?" Beckendorf asked.

Everyone looked at Tempest.

"What?" She said, quirking an eyebrow up.

Silena's face fell. "You don't know?"

"Melinoe isn't married, and there isn't a male god of ghosts," Tempest said. "The ghost king probably doesn't mean king of ghosts. That's not a title for Hades, either. It's a metaphor, and one that we probably won't deduce until the heat of the moment."

Nobody really liked that, either.

"Are there more lines?" Chiron asked. "The prophecy does not sound complete."

I hesitated. There just wasn't any way I could say it aloud, and Tempest clearly knew that. She watched me carefully, and I realized she wasn't going to make me say it. Her face made me feel calmer.