Run

Chapter 14

It wasn't easy saying our good-byes. The thunder and lightning were still boiling over Mount Tamalpais in the north. Artemis was so upset she flickered with silver light. This made me nervous, because if she suddenly lost control and appeared in her fully divine form, we would disintegrate by looking at her.

"I must go to Olympus immediately," Artemis said. "I will not be able to take you, but I will send help."

The goddess set her hand on Annabeth's shoulder. "You are brave beyond measure, my girl. You will do what is right."

Then she looked quizzically at Thalia, as if she weren't sure what to make of this younger daughter of Zeus. Thalia seemed reluctant to look up, but something made her, and she held the goddess's eyes. I wasn't sure what passed between them, but Artemis's gaze softened with sympathy. Then she turned to me.

She walked over and placed a finger under my chin, tilting my face to look at her "You are so full of pain, my child. and it will only get worse. but I hope for your sake, that it will not last forever." she patted my head. I didn't know what to make of her words. she turned to Percy.

"You did well," she said. "For a man."

She mounted her chariot, which began to glow. We averted our eyes. There was a flash of silver, and the goddess was gone.

"Well," Dr. Chase sighed. "She was impressive; though I must say I still prefer Athena."

Annabeth turned toward him. "Dad, I... I'm sorry that—"

"Shh." He hugged her. "Do what you must, my dear. I know this isn't easy for you."

His voice was a little shaky, but he gave Annabeth a brave smile.

Then I heard the whoosh of large wings. Three pegasi descended through the fog: two white winged horses and one pure black one.

"Blackjack!" Percy called. I could hear everything the horses said to Percy, it was a shock the first time it happened at camp, but then I found out it was just a Poseidon thing.

"It was rough," Percy admitted.

I brought Guido and Porkpie with me.

How ya doin? The other two pegasi spoke in my mind, but I think it was intended for Percy. so I didn't respond.

Blackjack looked me over with concern, then checked out Dr. Chase, Thalia, me, and Annabeth. Any of these goons you want us to stampede?

"Please no stampeding" I said "i'm kinda tired and would rather not deal with that at the moment"

Percy turned to me "oh yeah, you can talk to horses too"

I nodded. Annabeth was staring at me, "who are you?" She asked

"I'll explain on the flight" I said, smiling at her. she nodded warily.

Dr. Chase was staring openmouthed at the pegasi. "Fascinating," he said. "Such maneuverability! How does the wingspan compensate for the weight of the horse's body, I wonder?"

Blackjack cocked his head. Whaaaat?

"Why, if the British had had these pegasi in the cavalry charges on the Crimea," Dr. Chase said, "the charge of the light brigade—"

"Dad!" Annabeth interrupted.

Dr. Chase blinked. He looked at his daughter and managed a smile. "I'm sorry, my dear, I know you must go."

He gave her one last awkward, well-meaning hug. As she turned to climb aboard the pegasus Guido, Dr. Chase called, "Annabeth. I know... I know San Francisco is a dangerous place for you. But please remember, you always have a home with us. We will keep you safe."

Annabeth didn't answer, but her eyes were red as she turned away. Dr. Chase started to say more, then apparently thought better of it. He raised his hand in a sad farewell and trudged away across the dark field.

I walked over to Annabeth, there were only three pegasi, so one of us would have to share, I figured since I needed to introduce myself to Annabeth, I may as well ride with her. "Hey, can I ride with you?" she nodded.

We all climbed on our horses and took off. After a few minutes of awkward silence, in witch Thalia fell asleep, I didn't really know how to start the conversation, but luckily Annabeth did.

"You and Percy seem close" She was trying to sound nonchalant, and I don't think she knew it, but she definatley liked Percy, and from how frantic Percy was to find her the entire quest, I would say the feeling is mutual. I smiled inwardly. they were cute together.

"yeah, brother sister bond i guess. I mean, I only found out he existed like a couple weeks ago, but I would kill for the big doofus."

Annabeth stared at me "Your... his sister? Poseidon only had one demigod kid, so are you a child of Sally?"

I sighed and shook my head "No, I'm a Poseidon kid, I guess he just didn't feel like telling you guys about me, or me about me...."

She stared at me for a bit "makes since, the gods are like that" I chuckled dryly "so, you gotta story, how long have you known you were a demigod?"

I tried to figure out how much of my story I would tell her. I decided to stick to the basics. "well, I lived with my mom my whole life, I think she knew I was a demigod, but she never told me. She was always training me, like she knew I had powers, and taught me how to use them, she taught me how to fight, and all that. I learned a lot from her, but... my mom. my mother wasn't a good person. after my 12th birthday, I couldn't take it anymore. It took a couple months of planning, but a few weeks ago, I ran away."

"I ran away from my home too" Annabeth said, trying to comfort me, I only now noticed there were tears in my eyes, and I had scratched a new mark into my arm, I hid it before she noticed.

I forced out a little laugh "we got something in common already" she seemed to see through the acting, so I went on talking "After I ran away, I stayed in an old abandoned school for a few night, then Grover found me, told me I was a demigod and took me to camp. when I got there things were already in motion for the quest, in fact I was only there one day before we left. Chiron said that there was this big prophesy about me that meant I was supposed to join them on their quest as like a side helper or something. even though I wasn't in the original prophesy. And then a lot of stuff happened on the quest, aaaaaaaand, here we are"

Annabeth stared at me for a minute, then seemed to remember something. "Did you hold off an entire monster army by yourself?"

I thought back to the fight "well, it wasn't that hard, the mouth of the cave served as a kind of bottleneck, so I would only have to fight like 5 monsters at a time"

She smiled "So not all Poseidon children are idiots..." she laughed "but even so, it was still really impressive"

I stared at her "me, impressive, bitch you held up the literal sky!"

she blushed "so did Percy"

I rolled my eyes "yeah, but you held it for way longer, so before we get to camp and everyone starts congratulating Percy because hes the big strong man, you need to know how much of a baddass you are"

She beamed at me "same goes for you"

we sat in comfortable silence for a little while, and I knew that I would always have a sister in Annabeth, and hopefully, if Percy could stop being such a dumbass and realize his feelings, and ask her out, and eventually marry her, she would become my sister in law. I would definatley be pushing for it... if my mother doesn't find me and take me back....

sorry its been a while since I updated, I was really sick and unable to function. this chapter is short. but I was wondering, for my 4 readers (i'm very thankfull to you) would you prefer longer or shorter chapters?