Gods of Olympus

Chapter 24 - Percy's POV

 "Annabeth? Are you sure you should be doing that? I mean, especially after what happened and all?" I asked. Annabeth was practicing her battle moves and Carys was summoning snow dummies for Annabeth to practice on.

"Of course, I should! I need to be in my peak physical condition. I want to be ready when they attempt to kidnap me again!" Annabeth said slashing a few dummies with her spear.

"It's fine, I'm a doctor. I'm closely monitoring Annabeth's progress. She is a whole lot better now." Will said. Annabeth summoned a bow and a quiver of arrows and started shooting at the dummies. Unfortunately, she wasn't the best shot when it came to archery.

"Woah! Watch out!" Nico shouted, dodging a stray arrow. Carys has the fastest reflexes I have ever seen and caught two arrows just inches from her face.

"Sorry!" Annabeth called. "A daughter of Apollo, a horrible shot at archery. Go figure." She muttered, picking up her spear and slashing two more dummies. Soon, thirty more dummies were closing in and had tackled her. Reluctantly she closed her eyes and started glowing before going supernova. Carys, Will, Nico, and I put a hand in front of our eyes as all the snow dummies melted away.

"Well, you got a little bit closer this time!" Carys said, pulling a few arrows off the table that she and I were hiding behind.

"Why am I so bad at archery? Shouldn't I at least be decent? I'm a daughter of Apollo!" Annabeth complained, dropping her bow.

"It's not as easy as it looks. Trust me. I only got the healing and light gifts from Dad. It took a long time to get good at the archery part." Will said.

"I think it's time to take a field trip," Carys said with a smile. Chanting in Ancient Greek, she lifted off the ground and raised her hands over her head. A flurry of snow surrounded her hands as a stream of ice created a doorway in the air. The ice started glowing as she slowly made it back to the ground. "After you," she said, gesturing toward the ice doorway. Annabeth stepped inside first, then Carys, Will, Nico, and I followed last.

As soon as I stepped out on the other side of the door, I saw a sight that I hadn't seen in seven years. We were just outside the central hearth at Camp Half-Blood. "Ah Lady Carys, always a pleasure to see you again. And you brought Lady Annabeth, Lord Percy, Lord Will, and Lord Nico as well? Does your mother know?" Chiron asked Carys.

"No, she doesn't know and I would appreciate it if you didn't tell her. Are Kayla, Austin and the rest of the Apollo cabin here?" Carys asked.

"Yes, they are waiting in the Apollo Cabin. I hope you enjoy your visit." Chiron said.

"Thank you, Chiron," Carys said, leading us over to the Apollo cabin. She opened the door of the golden building and stepped inside.

"Annabeth, Will, Nico, is that you?" A woman asked. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties and had ginger hair that was dyed green at the bottom. She looked familiar but I couldn't quite place her. Annabeth, Will, and Nico seemed to recognize him though.

"Kayla?" Annabeth asked. The woman smiled and hugged Annabeth.

"Mommy? Who are they" A little boy asked. He looked like he was about four. He was wearing a camp T-shirt and black shorts and had an arrow necklace. He had a cut on his left cheek and both of his knees and hands were scraped up. Carys walked over to the little boy and kneeled down until she was at his height.

"May I?" She asked, holding out her hand. He nodded and put one of his scraped-up hands in hers. Carys started singing and all of his wounds started to close up and heal themselves.

"Woooooooaaaaahhhhhhhh! That's so cool!" The boy said, his eyes getting wide.

"What's your name?" Carys asked him.

"Michael Knowles. What's yours?" The boy asked.

"Carys. Want to see something else I can do?" Carys asked. Anthony nodded. Carys closed her eyes and summoned a small bow and arrows made of celestial bronze. Michael's eyes got wide as they appeared out of nowhere. "This is for you. It's just like mine." She said, handing the weapons to him. Normally, it would be pretty alarming to give a little kid weapons, but this kid was a second-generation demigod. He would need all the help he can get. "Watch this," Carys said. She drew back an arrow and fired it, cutting a string holding up a target, through a small ring suspended in mid-air and to the bullseye of a second target across the room.

"Wow!!!!! You're the third-best archer ever!" Jack said.

"And who are the first two best?" Carys asked with a smile.

"My mommy's dad, Apollo, and my mommy's aunt, Artemis," Michael said, admiring the bow.

"Anyway, as much as I'm enjoying being with everyone right now, we have to get back before our parents realize we aren't at home," Annabeth said.

"Too late. I already know." A male voice said from the doorway. Apollo looked like he was in his late twenties and he was leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed. He was wearing a pair of sunglasses over his blue eyes even though he was inside and had a blue flannel shirt over his white t-shirt and jeans. He had his golden quiver of arrows strapped to his back and a glowing golden bow casually slung over his shoulder.

"Dad?" Carys asked.

"Dad?" Annabeth said.

"Dad?" Will asked.

"Dad?" Kayla and 14 other kids asked.

"Grandpa?" Michael said.

"Yep, the great god Apollo is standing before you. Carys, Annabeth, Will, you're all grounded and Percy, Nico, you're not my sons but you're grounded too. Do you know how much danger you could have put yourselves in?" Apollo said, taking off his sunglasses and running a hand through his blond hair as he seemed to always do when he was stressed.

"Dad, it wasn't Annabeth, Will, Nico, or Percy's fault. It was my idea to come down to Camp. I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." Carys said, looking really ashamed. Apollo sighed.

"Okay, fine. Just this once. Wow, I can't stay mad at you! Just, don't tell your mom." Apollo said.

"Thank you!" Carys said, hugging Apollo. He smiled before going to talk with Kayla and his other kids.

I then felt as if there were a pit in my stomach. A strange sense of fear washed over me and my heart began to beat faster. Carys, Nico, Will, and Annabeth must have felt it too because they began to look very nervous. "EVERYBODY GET DOWN!" I yelled. Carys threw her arms up and created a shield of ice around us. Nico covered that with shadows. I raised my hand and summoned water to strengthen the ice while Apollo and Will covered it in pure light.

The last thing I saw was Annabeth's face before the world went dark.